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Around three thousand people turned up on Friday at the
presidential palace in Cairo to take part in protests against what they
dubbed the "Brotherhoodisation" of Egypt.
Among the protesters were supporters of the military, liberals, and
activists calling for an end to the regime of President Mohamed Morsi,
the first democratically elected president since the ouster of Hosni
Mubarak in February 2011.
Protesters chanted against the president, who came to power in late
June, and accused him of being a traitor who wants to monopolise power
in Egypt. Morsi, who is a long time member of the Muslim Brotherhood and
was the former head of the group's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), was
accused of not being loyal to the Egyptian people.
"Morsi's loyalty goes to the Brotherhood only and the Egyptian people
need a president who makes them his first priority," said Said Darwich,
an employee at a telecommunication company, who joined the protest.
The group chanted "down with the rule of the Brotherhood," "we want a
civil state not a Brotherhood state," and “the Brotherhood are
murderers.”
Widespread calls for the protests had been spreading across social
networking sites for weeks. Two controversial Egyptian figures,
anti-revolution television presenter Tawfiq Okasha and former MP Mohamed
Abu-Hamed, were the first to call for mass protests aimed at "toppling
Muslim Brotherhood rule."
Anti-Brotherhood sentiment has been building after several key decisions made by Morsi.
Fears of Brotherhood control over state institutions led several
Egyptian writers and journalists to leave their columns blank on 9
August to protest perceived attempts by the Brotherhood to control
state-owned publications.
Islam Afify, the editor-in-chief of Al-Dostour newspaper, was put on
trial for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and publishing inaccurate
information.
The suspension of the Faraeen Egyptian television channel, which is
owned by prominent talk show host Okasha, ceased transmission in August
after Egyptian state authorities ordered the station's closure for at
least one month. Okasha also faces charges of inciting violence against
the president.
The death of 16 Egyptian soldiers after an attack on the border in
Sinai has also left many people angry. The protest was also transformed
into an anti-Brotherhood revolt, however, when it was picked up by
others whose fear of the Brotherhood was heightened after President
Mohamed Morsi retired Egypt's military rulers earlier this month.
Several marches were organised across Cairo, with the presidential
palace, Misr El-Gedida district, the focal point. One set off from the
memorial of the Unknown Soldier in the nearby Nasr City district.
Earlier in the day, heavy security was present around the palace which is situated in the affluent suburb of Heliopolis.
All roads leading to the palace were blocked, with security officers
directing traffic away from the area. Dozens of security trucks were
stationed around the palace and hundreds of baton wielding state
security troops stood around the area from the early morning.
The street where the palace was situated was blocked with barbed
wire. However, despite the tense atmosphere, the vicinity of the palace
remained calm for hours after the organised protests were expected to
begin.
Although the marches were scheduled to arrive promptly after the
Friday prayer, the area remained free of protesters, with only reporters
and state security officers in the area. At about 2:30pm, protesters
began filtering in, waving Egyptian flags.
Security and the barbed wire stopped them from entering the street of
the palace. However, by 4pm, thousands of protesters began arriving
from Abbasiya Square and Madinet Nasser.
"Look at all these army trucks and the barbed wire," fumed Suzan
Esmat, a tour guide. "I've been a political activist for 15 years and I
never saw anything like this. Not even during the Mubarak era.”
Esmat said the main demand of the protest was an end to the Brotherhood's domination of all sectors of Egyptian life.
"They are taking over the judiciary, the media, and the military," Esmat said.
She also expressed anger at Morsi's recent decision to release
Islamist political prisoners, while many activists arrested during the
past two years remain detained. She also criticised Morsi for attempting
to overrule a decision by the constitutional court to bring back
parliament after it was dissolved.
"We want a transparent democracy. We want to know what the reasons behind these decisions are," Esmat said.
She also demanded that an investigation be launched into the funding of the Brotherhood.
"Today is basically a message to tell Morsi that we hate him," Esmat
said. "And in the next few months we will have bigger and bigger
protests."
Esmat added that the Brotherhood does not respect the country's other
political forces which used to defend them against the repression of
the Mubarak regime.
"For years I used to go to protests to demand that they release
Khairat El-Shater and other Brotherhood members from prison,” said
Esmat. “We defended them when they were down and now that they are in
power, they've sold us out."
Mohamed Idris, another protester, also accused the Brotherhood of lying to the Egyptian people.
"At first they said that under Mubarak the group was illegal and that
their only wish was to have a licensed political party," said Idris.
"Then they said they want the parliament, then the constituent
assembly which is drafting the constitution, then they changed their
decision not to field a presidential candidate and now we have Morsi.
They are liars and they can’t rule Egypt."
Gamal Salem, a retired technician, told Ahram Online that he is angry
at the government’s decision to ban Okasha’s Faraeen channel.
"Everyone in Egypt loved that channel. Okasha is the voice of the Egyptian people," Salem said.
Others at the protest demanded the immediate dissolution of the both the Brotherhood and the FJP.
"They use religion as a tool to gain the sympathy of the Egyptian
people, because they know that we have strong faith," said Farag Abdel
Salam. "But this manipulation has to end."
While many expressed disappointment at the low turnout, they stressed that they would not give up.
"The Brotherhood scare the people. Now everyone feels that if they
oppose them they will go to prison," says Abdel Salam. "But we will come
back stronger than ever. They can't stop us."
