JEDDAH — On Jan. 26, a court sentenced 21 Egyptians to death based on the worst incident of football hooliganism in Egypt that took place in February 2012. Scuffles that broke out during a football match between Egyptian teams El-Ahly and Al-Masry in Port Said resulted in the deaths of 74 people and injuries to approximately 400 others. The violence began after Al-Masry fans whose team won 3-1 flocked to the playground attacking supporters of El-Ahly. The closure of the stadium's gates and authorities shutting off the lights added to the mayhem. Shock and anger engulfed the nation following the match, and people demanded severe punishments for the perpetrators. The announcements of the death verdicts against the guilty sparked the current unrest. At least 33 people were killed and hundreds of others injured in violence last Saturday. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi ordered a 30-day, dusk-to-dawn curfew in the three Suez Canal cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia. However, residents of the three cities demonstrated overnight in defiance of the curfew. Egyptians living in the Kingdom voiced concerns about the ugly developments back home, especially in the three Canal cities. According to Mohammed Abdul Monem, who recently moved to Jeddah, “People now don't trust the judiciary; they are not convinced that the accused people were actually responsible for the deaths. We knew that some of these people were arrested just because they were fans of a certain club. People have become aggressive and the barrier of fear has been broken. A state of lawlessness has descended on these cities. I believe that the (opposition alliance) National Salvation Front is not supporting them. I'm pessimistic, as the future of the country is bleak. The Muslim Brotherhood is now controlling the government and the local councils and they won't give up so easily,” Abdul Monem said. Rania Mosaad, consultant at a center for the mentally challenged, said: “Two main reasons for the unrest are political rivalry and the Salvation Front, which is misusing the current events to destroy the state. On the other hand, there is no alternative to Muslim Brotherhood, which is currently the biggest party in the country.” Najat Hussain, a teacher, said, “It is all organized since the beginning of the Port Said tragedy last year. They wanted to take revenge on El-Ahly fans, or what they call ‘Ultras'. It is said that the convicted ones are thugs and the judge is known for being impartial. “There are hidden people behind all these chaos and they want to clear themselves of blame. This is why they sent their men to break into prisons to either free the accused or even kill them so that their names will not be dragged into the case. The current state of affairs is deliberately created chaos.” Samir Al-Arabi, a legal adviser, said, “What is happening in the cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia is a political game that lacks statesmanship. This is why the political leadership was forced to retract as usual and authorize the governors to impose curfews. Yet, curfews will never work with the people of the Canal cities because they are used to conflicts and displacement. “There were three main reasons for these happenings. The first was to move the hotspot of opposition protests from Cairo, the country's capital and business hub. Secondly, they want to fragment the opposition, but in fact the reaction against the curfew reflects the resilience of resistance against the president and his decisions. “The third and most important reason, in my view, is to make the eastern part of the Suez Canal accessible to investments from Qatar and this is something that the people reject. The army interferes to protect vital spots, so people would be away when that part of the country is delivered to Qatar,” Al-Arabi charged. Zeinab Ibrahim, a housewife, said: “It is really disgraceful to kill nearly 36 people in a protest against the execution of 21 people who were convicted of mass murder. But, if we carefully look at the incidents from the very beginning, we can clearly see through the conspiracy. I wonder how a judge sentenced 21 people to death in one go.” Ibrahim continued, “I don't think that Port Said people can kill themselves and burn their city in protest against the execution of thugs. How can they object to being accused of bullying and then do things that defame them and negatively affect their lives? Everyone has to look for who will benefit from this chaos. Who is the real beneficiary from the distortion of the revolution and revolutionaries and branding the people of Canal cities as bullies?” “Everything goes back to what was published in Al-Dastoor newspaper when Suez Canal Chairman Ehab Mamish refused to establish Qatari projects on both sides of the waterway since the Canal is vital for national security. So, they created this mess and in the middle of the chaotic situation Egypt could be sold both wholesale and retail in the form of Islamic bonds.”
