Egypt Military Attacks Occupy Cabinet Protesters

Soldiers stormed a sit-in protest camp outside Egypt’s Cabinet building, expelling demonstrators calling for an end to military rule.  The number of injured was at least 99, according to Adel Adawy, assistant to the minister of health. The injuries include gunshot wounds, broken bones and bruises as a result of the military’s use of beatings, stones and pellet bullets. The sit-in was in its third week, and presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaredei tweeted, “Even if sit-in [is] illegal, use of brutal force not the answer & should be condemned. Gross mismanagement & trampling of human rights continues.”

A Los Angeles Times editorial writes that Egyptian Coptic Christians may endure similar difficulties encountered by Christians in the broader Arab world, saying that “even when Christians stay — as the vast majority of Copts most likely would — their influence and well-being can suffer under an intolerant regime. That shouldn’t happen in post-revolutionary Egypt.” Dov Zakheim expresses pessimism about the fate of the Arab Spring: “Whether the Arab Spring will lead directly into winter remains unclear, but Washington and its allies, including its Arab allies, have every good reason to worry that it might.” Ruth Pollard argues, ”in places such as Jordan and Morocco … [it is] likely that activists will use the threat of an Arab Spring-style revolution to force change, rather than a revolution itself.” Finally, Shlomo Avineri contends it’s become clear that Islamism, not democracy, is taking hold.