CAIRO: The aftermath of protests in Sinai on Friday has seen a polarization of tribes and groups in the area as disparate voices call for the end of mistreatment of the Bedouin in Northern Sinai by government authorities in the shape of arbitrary arrests and non-provision of basic services.
The main reason for the Friday protest in Al-Maassura, which lies between Rafah and Al-Arish in Northern Sinai near the border with Gaza, was the detention of 17 residents three days earlier after a fight broke out at a wedding.
According to press reports, some 5,000 Bedouins gathered in the main square in Al-Maassura as well as in other parts of Sinai on Friday burning tires and blocking roads demanding better basic services and the release of Sinai residents detained in the aftermath of bombings in Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba and Dahab since 2004.
An Egyptian security official told the Associated Press that the police were given “strict orders not to intervene. Instead, local authorities would negotiate with the Bedouin to reach a solution.
Opposition groups in the area claim they were prohibited from attending the protest as tires were burnt, roads blocked and stones were thrown at passing cars in what they believe was a deliberate sabotage of the protest.
Representatives of the Bedouin disagreed and downplayed the violence, reiterating their demands which also included the dismissal of government plans to evacuate all buildings within 150 meters of the border with Gaza in an effort to curb smuggling through tunnels built beneath the border.
Tribal elder and spokesman for the Bedouin Sheikh Mussa Al-Dilh told Daily News Egypt, “We want better security measures, they give us promises about easing up but they continue to repress us.
“Trouble between people in a wedding doesn’t warrant all this reaction – seventeen arrested and 12 taken to military stations, 5 of them minors, he added.
Al-Dilh said, “Bedouins occupy a special place, city laws don’t apply to us; we have tribal laws. This doesn’t mean we are above the law. And, of course, if any of us commits a crime, they must be tried for it.
“There is also the case of the Sinai detainees. I was one of them, I was held for two years. President Mubarak promised the detainees would be released but they stopped releasing them a month ago, he said.
North Sinai Tagammu party member and member of the National Front of Northern Sinai Hussein El Qayem told Daily News Egypt that trouble erupted at a wedding in an Events Center run by the Armed Forces three days before the protest on Friday. A fight broke out between attendees and chairs were set on fire. Security intervened and arrested 17 people.
“Opposition groups were banned from the demonstration, and there was no security intervention at the protest. Those who called for the protest didn’t attend. Hundreds of people, mostly young children, threw stones at passing cars, he said, “and we believe there was a deliberate attempt to sabotage the protest. We [Tagammu party] released a statement to condemn the violence that took place.
Nada Kassass, part of a group of opposition activists transporting aid and supplies to Northern Sinai told Daily News Egypt that people at the protest “took unnecessary actions, like setting things on fire which gives security forces a pretext to crack down when something important happens.
“Tribes are shooting each other and the security forces are not intervening, I have never seen people walk around with guns in Sinai before, but that has changed over the past three months since the protests began. Rafah has become barbaric, where people are shooting at each other with no consequences, El Qayem said.
Mossag Abul Fagr, a Bedouin resident of Northern Sinai and the man who called for the protest said, “The security forces are responsible for any violence. If a few kids threw stones, we will admonish them but it wasn’t like people were setting cars on fire like in Paris.
But Abul Fagr, also a coordinator for the “Bedna Ne’eesh (We Want to Live) organization in Sinai, is responsible for part of mishaps, some claim,
“Mossad [Abul Fagr] said he was arrested and detained in Ismailia, but he wasn’t. I think some people are working for security forces to sabotage efforts to call for the rights of North Sinai residents, El Qayem said.
For his part, Abul Fagr told Daily News Egypt that he called for the protest but couldn’t attend.
“I was stopped at a checkpoint in Ismailia and detained for two days. My car is still with the authorities, he said “Those who claim I wasn’t arrested can say what they want, but it is not true.
Kassass said that this is the fourth time Abul Fagr called for a protest and didn’t attend it, a figure Abul Fagr disputed. “This is the second time I miss a protest, he said, “The first time, I missed Ouda’s [Mohammed Ouda Arafat, a boy killed last month at a protest in Al-Maassura] funeral as a State Security Brigadier visited my office on the day for a cup of tea and the door was locked from the outside.
“It was a polite way of keeping me away from the funeral procession, he added.
As for the opposition being prohibited from attending the protest, Abul Fagr said: “This is not true, anyone can come, but they cannot hold up slogans. When asked why, he responded “because of the Muslim Brotherhood. Shall they come and raise Qurans in the air? This is not a religious protest, but a civil one. The opposition can cause us problems and they often argue with each other.
Abul Fagr, who is also employed at the Suez Canal Association, refuted any accusations of complicity and said, “I suffer a lot of trouble at work because of my activities in Sinai; they want to keep me away from there. I have recently been temporarily sent to Marsa Matrouh to count forks and spoons so as to be as far away from Sinai as possible.
As for plans to evacuate buildings 150 meters from the Gaza border El Qayem said Rafah residents were split, some completely opposed to the idea and others willing to acquiesce if the compensation was sufficient.
Kassass said, “There have been evacuations in other parts of Sinai near Sharm El-Sheikh but not in Al-Arish because the situation has been tense since the death of Ouda Mohammed Ouda. But it seems that the decision to not go through with the evacuation plans can’t be taken by the government. There is great pressure from abroad to clear the area.
“Give the people jobs and they will not build tunnels. Anyone who can eat and drink will not do anything illegal. The problem is unemployment. This is not about Rafah or the Bedouins, this is about Egypt and its security, Abul Fagr said.
Al-Dilh called for more humane treatment of Bedouins. “Every Bedouin is humiliated at every police checkpoint and Sinai is full of these checkpoints. To be Bedouin is a crime, we are always under suspicion.
“The government told us to stay away from the beaches in Sharm El-Sheikh because of tourists and investment which they said would benefit us, but we received the lowest of jobs and we are a people who value their pride. Sinai is all state land, give me back my land.
“We still have our demands; we want our demands to be met. The release of the Sinai detainees and a pardon for the many tried in absentia by military courts.
