close. Residents joined the protest as they poured out of mosques after midday prayers, according to live videos posted on Facebook and a local journalist and activist who had spoken to protesters there. El-Sisi plays down protest call as Egypt tightens security President tells supporters not to worry as security forces ramped up checks and closed off Tahrir Square in Cairo. Lawyers said those arrested included both veteran opposition figures and ordinary Egyptians who appeared to have no connection to the protests. Small anti-government protests have broken out in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. The protests did not match last week’s in number or size, at least partly a result of how fiercely the Egyptian government had moved to smother them. Central Cairo was teeming with security forces and nearly empty of civilians. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI The harsh crackdown — one of the largest waves of arrests in Egypt in decades — has ended the short-lived protest movement and put Mr. el-Sisi back in control, at least for now. The protests against President el-Sisi’s authoritarian rule were smaller than last week’s, but given the risks of dissent in Egypt, they still represented a stunning challenge to his authority. The protests began on September 20, the first anniversary of 2019 protests called by Mohamed Ali, a self-exiled whistleblower and former army contractor. Share page. The authorities had arrested more than 2,000 Egyptians, packed Cairo neighborhoods with security personnel, blocked or restricted popular web services and news websites, and blamed the unrest on Islamists and outside agitators. State television channels showed them waving Egyptian flags, holding up portraits of the president and chanting, “Long live Egypt.”. Mr. Tawfik said he had also witnessed about 70 people trying to gather in Giza, across the Nile from Cairo, but security forces dispersed the group as it tried to reach Giza Square. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. Protest locations included Cairo, Giza, Suez, Kafr El Dawwar, Alexandria, Aswan, El Qanater El Khayreya, Faiyum, Minya and Luxor. Protesters chant slogans against the regime in Cairo, Egypt, early Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. The original demonstrations stemmed from a call by Mohamed Ali, a military construction contractor turned self-proclaimed whistle-blower living in exile in Spain. Published 22 September 2019. Dozens of people held a rare protest in Cairo during which they … The protests started after videos came out accusing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and others around him of using their power to help themselves. Dozens of people held a rare protest in Cairo during which they called on Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to quit. Almost 500 people have been detained in Egypt in the past few days after protests against alleged government corruption, human rights activists say. Live videos posted on Facebook also showed a march in Qena, a city in southern Egypt. “Don’t worry about anything. Protesters chant slogans against the regime in Cairo, Egypt, early Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. Over 2,000 Arrested in Egypt in Growing Protests Against Sisi, Trump’s “Favorite Dictator” Story September 27, 2019. ... “Protests are simply not possible in Egypt without permission from the authorities. Protesters and police clash in Egypt for second day running. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was at the United Nations this week, returned to Cairo on Friday. Its flag-waving crowds swelled with civil servants, employees of state-owned companies and other Cairo residents bused to the rally or ordered to go. “They certainly don’t seem to be organized or politically calculating about exactly what they’re trying to achieve, other than bringing down this one man,” she said, but “they will regather themselves and come out when there’s an opportunity to.”. The one protest that was still going strong late Friday night was a pro-Sisi counterprotest organized by the authorities in the Nasr City neighborhood of Cairo. Egypt: Protests and clashes enter second day. Fri 27 Sep 2019 12.50 EDT First published on Fri 27 Sep 2019 09.13 EDT. Media Options. Watch Full Show. Dozens of people held a rare protest … ... Egypt protests over viral videos alleging taxpayer funds stolen to build lavish hotel and palace. See details. Given the risks of dissent in Egypt, where Mr. el-Sisi has jailed thousands of political opponents and controls politics and most of the news media, even modest protests represent a stunning challenge to his authority. In a rare show of dissent against their president, thousands of people have protested across Egypt, demanding the resignation of Abdel Fattah el Sisi. Arrests Follow Protests in Egypt. The recent protests demanding the fall of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were Egypt’s largest since the 2013 military coup. Central Cairo was teeming with security forces and nearly empty of civilians. There were reports on social media of demonstrations in a few other areas, but no other evidence surfaced on Friday to verify them. Later, a smaller group threaded through crop fields on the island, watched from above by riot police and other security personnel stationed on a bridge. Egypt is preparing for a second weekend of protest pro and contra the government of President al-Sisi. Hosni Mubarak dies at 91. Egyptian security forces blocked a road leading to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday. The authorities blocked independent media outlets such as the website Mada Masr as well as that of the BBC. News Protests in Egypt demand el-Sissi's ouster. Sat 21 Sep 2019 10.51 EDT. Dozens of people held a rare protest in Cairo during which they called on Egyptian … Protests are uncommon in current Egypt with riot police heavily cracking down on gatherers in Tahrir Square or calls for protests online. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Mr. el-Sisi, who landed in Cairo Friday morning after a weeklong trip to the United Nations, appeared to be taking no chances. Though many Egyptians credit Mr. el-Sisi with stabilizing the country after the upheavals of the last eight years, his economic policies and austerity measures have left much of the population struggling to pay for basics. Prior to her release, authorities rearrested her on July 4 in case number 800/2019 while still in custody on charges which included communicating with and facilitating support for a terrorist group while in jail. A plaza in the Zamalek district of Cairo on Friday. Security forces dispersed the protesters and no casualties were reported. The Egyptian authorities sought to prevent a second round of protests on 27 September by shutting down large parts of … Years of repression have devastated the organized opposition and its networks — but a fresh revolt by Egyptian youth has shown that the regime is anything but secure. “No matter how, we’ll bring Sisi down,” the crowds chanted. You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. CAIRO — Scattered protests calling for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt to step down broke out in multiple Egyptian cities on Friday afternoon, marking the second Friday in a row of rare, though small, demonstrations challenging his authoritarian rule. Other areas were studded with pop-up checkpoints. When the attorney general’s office announced Thursday that it was investigating about 1,000 people in connection with the protests, it said that many of them had cited economic grievances to explain their actions. In southern Egypt, small-scale protests were staged in Qus and Qena city, witnesses told Agence France-Presse. Share. 17 June 2019. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. The 2020 Egyptian Revolution, also known as the Gallabiya uprising, were decentralised street protests in Egypt that started on 20 September 2020, the anniversary of the 2019 Egyptian protests, calling for Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to resign. STR/AFP/Getty Images Egypt's Latest Protests are an Alarm Bell for Sisi Alessia Melcangi and Giuseppe Dentice Atlantic Council October 21, 2019 Egypt Is Using Apps to Track and Target Its Citizens, Report Says A third of Egyptians live in poverty, according to the government’s official statistics. — Haytham Abokhalil هيثم أبوخليل (@haythamabokhal1) September 20, 2019. At least 2,075 Egyptians were arrested in the crackdown during and since the protests last Friday, according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, a monitoring group. Watch Full Show. Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Background: Scattered protests first broke out in cities across Egypt on 20 and 21 September, calling on President al-Sisi to resign. Sisi wins snap Egyptian referendum amid vote-buying claims. Don’t be worried.”, Egyptian media condemned the protests, with one newscaster on Friday referring to those who supported the protesters as “the forces of evil.”. On Friday evening, hundreds of anti-regime protesters gathered in Cairo, near Tahrir Square – the epicenter of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution – demanding Sisi’s resignation. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Wall Street Journal reporter Jared Malsin about the latest protests in Egypt in which nearly 2,000 people have been arrested calling for the president's ouster. media caption The BBC's Sally Nabil reports from protests in … Mohamed Morsi, ousted president of Egypt, dies in court. Egypt's State Information Service also warned foreign correspondents that they should "abide by internationally recognised professional standards in their coverage of Egyptian affairs and news". NPR's Scott Simon asks Mohamed Zaree of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies what the protesters want. “The arrests and the heavy security measures have scared people off, but it’s too early to tell whether the momentum from last Friday is over,” said Mohamed Zaree, Egypt program director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, adding that it would be difficult for the government to maintain this level of security indefinitely. Listen. The government had moved swiftly to prevent a repeat of last week’s protests, making the low turnout on Friday a flawed measure of opposition to the president. Al-Qaradawi went on a hunger strike to protest her renewed detention in solitary confinement in Cairo. By JOHN LESLIE Protests have rocked Egypt since Sept. 19 as protesters have taken to the streets demanding the downfall of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi following the revelations of a corruption scandal. A government-sponsored rally in support of Mr. el-Sisi in Cairo on Friday. You can adjust your cookie choices in those tools at any time. A protest sprouted in the working-class Cairo neighborhood of Warraq, an island in the Nile where residents have agitated for years against government plans to clear them out to make room for development. September 27, 2019 at 8:19 p.m. UTC. Egyptian protesters shout slogans as they take part in a protest calling for the removal of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo's downtown on September 20, 2019. September 21, 2019 Protesters chant slogans against the regime in Cairo, Egypt, early Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. ... 23 April 2019. By nightfall, the counterprotest had turned into a concert with a stage, a huge video screen and cheering, dancing crowds. Other web services, including Twitter, worked only intermittently all week. Earlier Friday, state media reported that a contingent of adoring supporters had greeted Mr. el-Sisi at the airport on his return from New York, where President Trump had called him a “great leader” and dismissed the protests, saying, “Everybody has demonstrations.”, Egyptians are “more aware of how the picture is being formed to fabricate reality and fool people,” Mr. el-Sisi told supporters at the airport, according to a video posted on his official Facebook page. Copy link. In a rare challenge to President al-Sisi, and his government, small protests broke out in several cities across Egypt starting on 20 September. His government has arrested more than 2,000 people since last week’s protest. In a video he released Friday afternoon, he hinted that he was not finished, vowing to play a long game that, he declared to Mr. el-Sisi, would “wear you and your army out.”, “Sisi, you can be sure that one day, I, no, we, will have you hanged,” he said, “to avenge those who have been killed and imprisoned and the disgusting dirty tactics of the police.”, In Egypt, Scattered Protests Break Out for Second Week. Egyptian authorities have arrested nearly 2,000 people in a sweeping nationwide crackdown following anti-government protests that erupted on September 20, 2019. Security officers dispersed protests in the Cairo neighborhood of Warraq and the city of Giza, planted themselves at major intersections, stopped and searched cars, buses and passers-by, and shut down the capital’s downtown shopping district. — Eduard Cousin (@EduardCousin) September 20, 2019. Social media accounts that oppose Mr. el-Sisi have been circulating videos of old protests in the apparent hope of amplifying the impact of the more recent ones. Around 2,000 people have been arrested in Egypt for protesting against the government. Wael Tawfik, a local journalist who had spoken to protesters in Warraq, said he had been told the crowds there numbered in the thousands. Downtown Cairo, where some of last week’s protesters had converged, was nearly deserted apart from the police officers, special security forces and plainclothes intelligence agents who guarded major streets and squares. Protests and crackdowns are hitting the streets of Egypt. The marchers had tried to move toward a bridge leading to downtown Cairo, he said, only to be met by security personnel firing tear gas and birdshot. Investors have been unnerved by a call for further protests on Friday, with Egypt’s dollar bonds falling and the main stock index wiping out its 2019 gains in just three days. Protesters create a rare sight of dissent in Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s Egypt as they demonstrate in Cairo in September (Reuters) Rare anti-government protests broke out in Egypt … Listen. Michele Dunne, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted that while much of the traditional opposition was in prison or resigned to waiting Mr. el-Sisi out because the alternative was unclear, the makeup of the most recent protesters — mostly young and male, with little to lose — made the future of the movement hard to predict. “A barrier was broken last Friday, and things won’t go back to how they were before then.”. First published on Fri 20 Sep 2019 23.44 EDT. Mr. al-Sisi knows that protests can be powerful. In a series of widely watched videos posted on social media, he has accused Mr. el-Sisi of wasting public funds on extravagant projects, offering an insider account of what he described as presidential corruption and hypocrisy. Some state employees were offered perks like a day off to attend, and Cairo residents were reportedly given free meals to help fill out the rally. 27 Sep 2019 Egypt Protesters chant slogans against the regime in Cairo, Egypt, early Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. 25 February 2020. About sharing. The closed Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, on Sept. 27, 2019. Throngs marched and chanted through narrow streets. The arrests added to the ranks of imprisoned opposition figures, depriving the protests of potential future leaders and organizers. It could keep him in power until 2030. Tahrir Square, the scene of mass uprisings that brought down two of Mr. el-Sisi’s predecessors, in 2011 and 2013, was closed to traffic, along with roads, subway stations and a bridge in the area. Soccer games and a concert were canceled. The sixth day of …