...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
The violence in Mesaha square in Cairo’s Dokki district took place as thousands of police and soldiers were deployed Monday across the Egyptian capital ahead of the planned demonstrations over the islands, a thorny issue which has already sparked the largest protests since el-Sissi assumed power nearly two years ago.
Following the arrest of dozens of activists and journalists in recent days, riot police backed by armored vehicles on Monday took up positions in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, They also deployed on the ring road, downtown and at a square where hundreds of Islamist protesters were killed when security forces broke up their sit-in in August 2013.
Many of the protest organizers’ gathering points were sealed off by police, including the doctors’ and journalists’ unions in central Cairo. Pedestrians near the Press Syndicate were stopped by police, who asked for IDs and about their destination before turning many of them away. Minivans loaded with plainclothes coppers were also deployed in the likely flashpoints.
The sheer number of coppers on the streets and fear of arrest prevented protesters from gathering, forcing them to trickle out from designated gathering points to assemble elsewhere. Fearing another round of unrest after years of turmoil, many city residents and shopkeepers were hostile toward the protesters on Monday.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
a group of some 500 protesters led by prominent activists managed to gather at the mostly residential Mesaha square. Their chants of "leave, leave" directed at el-Sissi, echoed across the square, along with "bread, freedom, the islands are Egyptian." Police in full riot gear arrived 10 minutes later and immediately fired tear gas and birshot. The protesters fled and later regrouped in smaller groups at nearby streets.
From their apartments’ balconies, the square’s pro-el-Sissi residents shouted "traitors" at the protesters below and pelted them with water.
Later, plainclothes coppers were seen by the AP news hound kicking and slapping protesters they incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
. The AP news hound also saw truckloads of protesters in police custody.
"Giving up our land is the final straw," said one protester, 16-year-old Youssef el-Agouza. "He (el-Sissi) has crossed all lines."
The military said in a video released late Sunday that troops were deployed to protect "vital and important installations" and deal with anyone who tries to "harm the people’s interests or attempt to ruin their happiness" on Sinai Liberation Day, a national holiday marking the completion of Israel’s withdrawal from the peninsula in 1982.