Egyptian Government Crackdown Produces More Militants in Sinai
Salafists say the military does not seem to be able to distinguish between ordinary citizens and militants.
NORTH SINAI, Egypt — Salafist residents of the Sinai Peninsula, including those who once collaborated with Egypt's authorities to contain a security breakdown that followed the January 2011 uprising, are protesting a wave of persecution that accompanied the security crackdowns on armed groups waging attacks on security personnel and facilities since the July 3 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.
The ultraconservative, bearded men complained that the security crackdowns failed to differentiate between ordinary, apolitical citizens who happen to look devout, and members of militant groups attacking the state. They condemned the militant attacks, but harshly scolded the state for unleashing its fury on everyone, including innocent civilians.
They warned that the continued radicalization would ultimately push peaceful citizens into carrying arms against what they described as "a Mubarak-style brutality."
"We are against all forms of violence, but we are also against the fact that we cannot step foot on the main road because we will be detained for the way we look," Mohamed Abu Bilal, a bearded prominent member of North Sinai's powerful Al-Menaei clan, told Al-Monitor in the town of Mehdeyya, a conservative Bedouin stronghold south of the border town of Rafah.
