Egypt's religious book burning backfires

The Ministry of Education official responsible for burning several books in the yard of a Giza school defended herself to Al-Monitor and asserted that she operated under the direction of the ministry and security agencies.
A protester, opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, holds a book titled "President Mursi Building a New Egypt" in front of the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo's Moqattam district July 1, 2013. The Brotherhood said on Monday that armed men who ransacked its national headquarters had crossed a red line of violence, and the movement was considering action to defend itself. Hundreds of people threw petrol bombs and rocks at the building, which caught fire as guards and Brotherhood members in
A protester, opposing Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, holds a book titled "President Morsi Building a New Egypt" in front of the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo's Moqattam district, July 1, 2013. - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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The Directorate of Education in Giza, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, burned 82 mostly religious books in the yard of the Fadl Modern School in the Faisal area of al-Haram, Giza governorate.

The ceremonial burning to the tune of patriotic songs took place on the grounds that the books incite extremism and terrorism and that some of their authors, such as Rajab al-Banna and Mohammad Mohammad al-Madani, belong to the Muslim Brotherhood. The act triggered anger among Egyptian popular and human rights circles.

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