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October 6-12, 2014

Weekly Media Monitoring report for Egypt
Posted on October 14, 2014

Contents

Compiled by Youssef Benzouine

Climate of security instability
Privately-owned media

Al Watan – 06/10/2014

  • An artisanal bomb exploded near The “Church of God” of the Coptic Evangelists (at the city of Al-Minya). Even though there were no casualties, this act caused terror and panic among the local population. There is no information about the perpetrators of the attack. 

Shorouk News – 08/10/2014

  • Fahmy Howeidy (journalist) looks at the motives of the perpetrators. The media and the government label these acts as “terrorist attacks” but they refuse to look at the motives or the identity of the bombers.
  • For Howeidy, there is a clear overlooked pattern. A string of attacks of the same kind occurred during September. In the light of such information, these events may be related to the stigmatization of the Muslim Brotherhood (mass arrests) and the destitution of Morsi. The perpetrators could be family members of victims of the regime.
Third anniversary of the “Maspero Demonstrations”
State-owned media

Al Ahram - 10/10/2014

  • Violent confrontations took place during the Third Anniversary of The Maspero Demonstrations between members of the “Maspero Youth Union” (Itihad Chabab Maspiro) and families of the victims. The families considered that the union is a “blood dealer”, exploiting the events for political ends. 

Al Ahram – 8/10/2014

  • Several revolutionary forces (at their head the “Tawra” movement, with other movements, associations and militants) organised a memorial march to commemorate the events of Maspero.
    Carrying candles, the marchers headed to the headquarters of the press syndicate in order to organize sit-in. They intended to pressure the journalists to write about the stories of the victims. 
Privately Owned

Media Al Yaoum 7 – 09/10/2014

  • The march was pacific at first but clashes erupted between members of the “Maspero Union Youth” and members of the “Free Copts” movement. Apparently, the “Free Copts” chanted slogans against the army.
  • In parallel, tensions arose between the “6 April” movement and “Misr Al Kawiya” (The Strong Egypt). The reason was The Strong Egypt’s links to the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Al Tahrir – 10/10/2014

  • According to the presenter, the military did not attack in the Copts. He goes further by assuring that the military did played no role in the events. He claims that this is primarily the work of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as foreign agents. 
Mass imprisonments of Muslim Brothers
Privately Owned Media

Egypt News – 10/10/2014

  • Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood organized a march in Alexandria. They carrying pamphlets and fireworks, and uttered threats toward the government, the authorities, as well as public and private media. Security forces intervened, apprehending 22 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt News – 8/10/2014

  • 8 members of the Muslim Brothers were arrested at the city of Beheira. They were charged with “public disorder”, “incitement to violence”, and for demonstrating in a violent way in front of the governorate.
Student protests in the Universities
Privately Owned Media

Moheet.com – 12/10/2014

  • 56 students were arrested on the first day of the academic year. Most of them were leaders of the movement “Students Against The Coup” (Toulab dida el inakilab) – a student movement linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • Security forces allegedly arrested students in their houses. In opposition to these allegations, the representative of the ministry of Interior, Hany Abd Al Latif, ensured that the security forces never committed any “raids targeting the students in their own homes.”
  • The government considered these manifestations disorder-generating protests, justifying the intervention of the security forces. 

Al Misry Al Yaoum – 12/10/2014

  • The dean of the Mansoura University stated that he will not allow the freedom of speech and opinion in the university after the events that shook the University. Any gathering within the university is for now on prohibited. 
The Sinai War between the Army and the Takfirists
Privately Owned Media

Egypt News – 09/10/2014

  • During an operation in the north of the Sinai, the army killed seven members of the terrorist organization “Supporters of the Holy House” (Ansar Bayt el-Maqdis). It is believed that their leader and mufti, Abou Oussama Al Misry, was amongst them. Since October 7th, the army’s has been targeting the strongholds of the organization in the south of Al Cheikh Zouaid and Rafah. 
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