It is not the first time and it will not be the last in which a dispute takes place between a Christian priest and a Muslim cleric, resulting in the spread of strife in a society that can no longer bear any more violence. The matter usually end with a correction issued by one or a clarification announced by the other, both washing their hands of the matter and denying their responsibility for the strife, which adds to the record of tension between Muslims and Christians in Egypt. And as long as the reasons for tension remain, more strife will take place and those who wish Egypt no good will ride its wave –joined by those who, lacking awareness, imagine that they are defending their religion, while they are in reality demolishing the principles and striking at the bases upon which their society was established.
It is also not the first time and it will not be the last in which the supporters of one sports team come out to smash what they believe to be the other team’s property and assault the latter’s supporters. Indeed, this has become synonymous with being a sports supporter in Egypt and in other countries. Yet the latest incident revealed the extent of the mix up between sports and “hooliganism”, between supporting and hating, and between sports clubs and politics. It has also confirmed that anger is no longer restricted to a particular segment of opposition members who feel oppressed or of politicians who find the situation unacceptable, but has rather become a more general form of anger that can explode from the mere presence of a motive to detonate it. A number of supporters of the Zamalek team came out protesting their not being allowed to attend a handball match. They smashed up the neighborhood of the Al-Ahly club, and then walked around the surrounding streets, wrecking the cars of residents of the Zamalek district, who might include supporters of the Zamalek team. They later threw firebombs at the balconies of homes, as if they had the desire to take revenge on all of society, not the Al-Ahly team or its supporters. A colleague from the Al-Ahram newspaper, journalist Sahar Abdel-Rahman, told me that the perpetrators were in a state of maddened frenzy, and that her car, that of her husband car and more than 30 other cars were damaged in the street where she lives, which is quite far from the Al-Ahly club where the match took place. She also said that although the building in which she lives contains two apartments owned by security officials, the assault lasted for a substantial period of time, and that although the buildings’ guards tried to close their gates, the assault was overwhelming. The assailants entered the parking lots of buildings and smashed the cars that were parked there, as if looking for a prey to vent the anger seething within them.
This is not the first time in which clashes occur in a political protest inside the Egyptian capital between those opposing political inheritance and security forces, but the latest protest revealed the absence of a protest culture as well as the rejection of freedom of speech. It is violence that has come to dominate the behavior of broad segments of the Egyptian population in various fields, and it manifests itself for various reasons. It is anger that has taken hold of hearts and is being fueled by minds. It is the desire to terrorize, arouse fear and spread terror by one party against other parties, even if the latter are unrelated to this or that angry segment of the population. It is the image of Egyptian society before the parliamentary elections scheduled at the end of next November. All past elections have witnessed acts of hooliganism and violent incidents, what then to expect of the coming elections, which will be taking place amid a climate of strife and a state of tension?
It is no secret that some Egyptians express their fears of an outbreak of security incidents that could take place, leading up to the inhabitants of the slums surrounding cities coming out to smash everything. It is no secret that crime rates in Egypt over the past few years have witnessed developments and “innovations” that were unheard of in times past. And it is no secret that some people feel that the government is weak and resort to taking what they believe to be their rights by force. It is also no secret that the belief prevails among many that Egypt is at the threshold of a decisive phase, which may witness unprecedented behavior and measures. And as long as none of this is a secret anymore, why do those who hold matters in their hands neglect to provide solutions, before such solutions become useless? …that is the question Egyptians think of and find no answer to.