Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Hesham Qandil imagined that the problem had been solved when he described those protesting in front of the US Embassy as having been paid to attack the police and storm the embassy. A leading figure of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Doctor Mohammed Al-Baltagi, had said practically the same thing, and major figures from the opposition had also issued similar statements, which confirms that the prominent figures of the Egyptian elite, whether in power or in the opposition, refuse to admit to reality out of fear that this would strip them of the attribute of being revolutionaries. Thus the events at the embassy and the reactions to the offensive film insulting Prophet Muhammad have shown how great the rift is between the elite and the people, as well as the extent to which the elites have exploited the marginalized, who answered their call and rebelled against the Mubarak regime, in search of freedom, livelihood and human dignity – only to discover, after the regime's fall, that they had been mere tools, and that the problem did not only reside in the rule of Mubarak and his National Democratic Party (NDP), but also in those who opposed him. The question continued to be repeated for around a week: who are those people in front of the embassy who seek to storm it, resort to exhausting security forces and keep the world preoccupied? They are neither members of the Muslim Brotherhood nor Salafists, neither Liberals nor Leftists, neither Ultras Ahlawy nor White Knights Zamalkawy (supporters of the Al-Ahly and Zamalek football teams who consider themselves enemies of the police). Furthermore, they are neither affiliated to existing or fledgling political parties, nor to non-partisan protest movements such as the April 6 Youth Movement or Kefaya. Indeed, all such parties have asserted that they were not taking part in the demonstration, and in fact have all condemned it. Moreover, some prominent figures of the elite were driven out of the place merely for approaching it, when they had sought to mediate or negotiate with the angry crowd. The events have not been devoid of spontaneous scenes that have negated the notion that those demonstrating were religious radicals or even angry religious folks. Indeed, when the call to prayer sounded from the Omar Makram Mosque, located in the middle of the embassy's neighborhood, none of them were found going to perform ablution or prayer. Satellite television channels were broadcasting the events live, and those watching at home heard abuse and insults being uttered by some demonstrators, including religious abuse directed at officers and members of the police force. Even more baffling was the fact that insults and religious abuse was part of the language these people were using with each other. Similarly, the majority of television or press reports covering the events contained one main question directed at the demonstrators: who are you? And most often the answers to it would be superficial, uneasy or untrue. Indeed, it appeared that some of them, if not most of them, had come to the place without knowledge of the details of the issue of the offensive film, but rather simply to confront the police and the regime. And just as the elite has become accustomed to doing, justifications were put forward: they are remnants or supporters of the former regime, or being directed by prominent figures of the Mubarak regime from their prison in Tura, or – as stated by Qandil and Baltagi – have been paid to do what they were doing. Some revolutionaries were embarrassed to admit that some of the faces seen among the embassy demonstrators were the same that had been seen in clashes with the police and the army during the transitional period – in Maspero, in Mohamed Mahmoud Street and near government cabinet headquarters. Indeed, admitting to this would represent condemnation for the revolutionary forces which at the time had considered them to be revolutionaries and had condemned the violence used by the police and the army against them. And then the time came when the elite denounced security forces for failing to confront them at the embassy, or the government accused them of “getting paid" to attack security forces and institutions – without realizing that these people were its own responsibility, that these deeds of theirs had not been the first and would not be the last, that the existence of groups of people who “get paid" to threaten peace and security was an issue that needed to be resolved, that the perpetrators were part of the people, and that their deeds were the same ones that had previously brought Mubarak out of his palace. Far from the contradictions of the ruling elite and the opposition, the answer to the question (who are you?) is a simple, easy and logical one: they are the marginalized, children and young people who have been squashed by poverty, and crushed by the difficult circumstances of life; they are the random inhabitants of random neighborhoods, their morals and behavior having become part of the environment in which they have lived. They were a striking force for the Revolution, and with their violence they broke through, along with the revolutionary elite, the ranks of central security to bring everyone into Tahrir Square and all other public squares. By attacking police stations (the centers of oppression in their view), they broke the arm of the regime, and they always answered every call to confront the rule of the military during the transitional period, without even understanding why they were confronting it. Indeed, the prominent figures of the elite, throughout the night on satellite television shows, had made them understand that the Revolution was ongoing until the fulfillment of its slogan “livelihood, freedom and social justice". They are the street children of whom no street is devoid – and they are also food for the fish of the Mediterranean Sea, when they drown with the boats they thought would carry them to their Western dream... They were on Mubarak's side, and then they turned against him, supported the Revolution, and turned against those who had taken advantage of them – you will thus find them at the forefront of every coming confrontation. Indeed, they have turned into cheap fuel for every incident and clash that attracts attention and captures the spotlight, which shines bright and under which dwell the prominent figures of the elite, from among those in power and those in the opposition.
