Is Culture Ministry Sit-In a Warm Up For Egypt's June 30 Protests?
Egyptian artists and intellectuals have staged a festive sit-in to demand removal of Minister of Culture Alaa Abdel-Aziz and a halt to his “Ikhwanization” policies.
CAIRO — June 12 marks the one-week anniversary of an ongoing sit-in by prominent Egyptian writers, filmmakers, performers and intellectuals seeking the removal of Minister of Culture Alaa Abdel-Aziz. They broke into the ministry building on June 5 to protest what they see as efforts to “Ikhwanize” the arts.
While the sit-in and accompanying protests in front of the ministry have been peaceful, with artistic performances every evening, the arrival of pro-Islamist counterdemonstrators in the late afternoon of June 11 led to minor skirmishes. Al-Ahram Online reported that the pro-Islamists, some from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya’s Building and Development Party, chanted, “Clean up [the ministry], clean up, minister.”
Eyewitness accounts by protesters and residents in buildings overlooking the ministry reported that protesters chased the small group of Islamists away from the building, where there were incidents of rock throwing and beatings of some of the Islamists, including Ahmed al-Mogheer, a Muslim Brotherhood media organizer notorious for smear campaigns, a reputation for instigating violence and targeting outspoken anti-Islamists.
Mohamed Radwan, a media committee member for the sit-in, explained to Al-Monitor on June 11 that the artists and their supporters had received threats the day before from supporters of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the populist, hardline preacher and disqualified presidential candidate. The pro-Islamists intended to break up the artists’ protest. In turn, the artists called on support from the Ultras Ahlawy, the club of hardcore soccer fans who have protected anti-government protesters at demonstrations and caused disruptions around Cairo with their political dissent.
