At least six demonstrators were killed today in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo when security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters called to rally against the military junta by the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned organization whose political wing led the government before the 2013 coup.
The Muslim Brotherhood had been calling on supporters to rally for the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, under the slogan “your Eid is your revolution.” Public protests without permit have been banned since the coup, and anyone even suspected of association with the brotherhood is routinely arrested.
Though witnesses insisted the police simply opened fire on the crowds of demonstrators, the Egyptian Interior Ministry claims that the demonstrators themselves fired live ammunition at the police first. Despite this claim, there was no report of a single injury among security forces.
All told, the Interior Ministry reported 5 killed in the neighborhood of Talibiya, another in Nahia, and 15 wounded. They also reported 15 arrested in Talibiya, and another 20 arrested in the area around Alexandria.
Assad did this. The old regime in Ukraine is accused of doing this. When those we don't like do this, we go beyond mere outrage.
Our bubby does this? In Egypt, in Bahrain? We supply the tear gas and other weapons, and send money, and provide diplomatic cover.
Not only is this wrong, it undermines what we do when we say the right thing. In a sense, we end up supporting Assad and the Russians in Ukraine, in the eyes of those we try to persuade.