Algeria boycott
Attacks against Egyptian football fans in Khartoum and Egyptian businesses in Algiers have stirred widespread public anger, reports
Mona El-Nahhas
The stories told by Egyptian football fans upon their return from Khartoum were unanimous in portraying the Sudanese capital on the day of the play-off between Egypt and Algeria as a battlefield.
The violence started after Algeria won the play-off, qualifying it for the 2010 World Cup. On the way to Khartoum airport Egyptian fans, including members of the NDP, artists, intellectuals and performers, say they were surprised to encounter truckloads of Algerians carrying knives and machetes and threatening to kill Egyptians. Buses transporting Egyptians were smashed and a number of injuries was reported. Egyptians were chased by knife wielding Algerians through the streets and many were forced to seek refuge in restaurants, shops or hotels until the Sudanese police managed to escort them to the airport.
Appearing on TV after his return, popular Egyptian singer Mohamed Fouad, who attended the Khartoum match, called the violence "a bloodbath".
Trouble began brewing in the wake of reports about stones being thrown at the Algerian team's bus before the two teams' first match in Cairo on 14 November. In an official document forwarded to the Algerian government by the Algerian Ambassador to Egypt Abdel-Qader Hadjar, it was stated that three Algerian players were injured and a number of Algerian fans killed following the match which Egypt won 2-0. Hadjar later issued an official statement denying there were any deaths.
The Algerian media immediately responded by fanning anti-Egyptian sentiments. Reports of the incident and pictures of the injured players prompted revenge attacks on Egyptians.
In the days following the match 15 offices belonging to Egypt's Orascom Telecom in Algiers were ransacked, the offices of EgyptAir were attacked, and Egyptians living in the city were besieged in their homes.
The public response in Egypt to the news from Algeria was furious, with many calling for diplomatic relations to be cut.
On Thursday evening dozens of students began to move towards the Algerian embassy in Zamalek, beating drums and carrying a 10- metre long Egyptian flag. The protests continued on Friday, with Algerian flags being burned near the embassy. When riot police headed off the crowds angry protesters started to throw stones, smashing nearby cars and shop windows.
The Interior Ministry reports that 11 policemen and 24 protesters were injured, 20 people arrested, a petrol station ransacked and 15 vehicles damaged.
Protests were not restricted to Cairo. In Alexandria, more than 2,500 took to the streets in the early hours of Friday morning, demanding the expulsion of the Algerian ambassador.
In Suez, amid heavy security presence, dozens of journalists staged a protest in front of the Martyrs Mosque shouting anti-Algerian slogans while in Port Said 500 lawyers gathered in front of their branch syndicate. Students demonstrated at the Mansoura University campus, issuing a statement condemning the "barbaric" behaviour of Algerians and demanding that expatriate Egyptian workers return.
On Saturday, dozens of lawyers gathered in front of the Downtown headquarters of the Lawyers' Syndicate and called for the expulsion of the Algerian ambassador. The protest was organised by "Lawyers against Corruption". The group has announced its intention to form a legal defence team and says it will seek to hold the Algerian government responsible for criminal acts targeting Egyptians both in Algiers and Khartoum.
Defending the rights of Egyptians living in Algeria will, say syndicate officials, be the top priority of the legal team.
University professors have decided to boycott all forms of scientific cooperation with Algerian research centres and universities. Hussein Eweida, chairman of Al-Azhar University Teaching Staff Club, insists "what happened has uncovered latent Algerian hostility towards Egyptians and Arabs."
The independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Yom launched a public campaign under the banner "Egypt's dignity" and called for a mock trial of all Algerian officials involved in the bloody events of 18 November to be staged. The list included the names of the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports Al-Hashemi Gayyar, the Algerian ambassador to Cairo, the head of the Algerian Football Association and the editors of four Algerian newspapers. The Bar Association Chairman Hamdi Khalifa expressed willingness to host the trial at the syndicate.
The Federation of Artistic Syndicates has halted all forms of cooperation with Algerian cultural and artistic institutions, including festivals. Algerians will no longer be able to attend festivals in Egypt until the Algerian government offers an official apology.
Actor Youssef Shaaban has already turned down an award from Algeria. "I would not be honoured to receive a prize from a country that has such hatred towards Egyptians," he said, while Sherif Mounir has returned a prize he received from the Wahran Film Festival to the Algerian embassy.
Singer Amr Diab has cancelled a concert due to be held in Algeria while Ezzat Abu Ouf, chairman of the Cairo International Film Festival, organised a protest before the festival's final ceremony on Friday evening.
"What happened to Egyptian intellectuals and public at the hands of a brotherly Arab country is totally saddening," said Ashraf Zaki, chairman of the Actors' Syndicate. "We never imagined that Algerian intellectuals and artists, whom we always welcomed in our country, would react with such passivity and silence."
Recommend
Comment
Printer-friendly
