We know that Friday in Cairo was bloody. Depending on reports, somewhere between 22 and 215 people were killed. Either the army opened fire on a demonstration in support of ousted president Morsi or residents in the neighborhood where the demonstration was being held tried to reopen a street closed for more than 24 hours by the Moslem Brotherhood with resulting violence followed by tear gas being fired by the army and police and then shots coming from the demonstrators in response with fire returned by the army. Literally, there is no way to know which side is telling the truth (if either is).
We do, however, know one thing. The Moslem Brotherhood has a history of staging injuries and deaths for political purposes. Hamas, which is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, used the body of a dead child to blame Israeli troops for his murder in the past. After world media picked up the story and condemned Israel, a UN investigation (which surely was not friendly to Israel) determined that the boy had not been killed by Israelis (a fact which got little publicity). There are also occasional photos of dead bodies of people supposedly killed by Israeli artillery which get followed an hour or so later of new photos showing the "dead" man walking away from the scene. The Brotherhood stages the photos but is not to good about covering its tracks.
In this case, it may be that the 215 dead are really 50 dead and 165 phonies. Again, there is no way to know for certain. There is also no way to know for certain who began the melee.
One thing is certain. Tempers are rising in Egypt and calm is not being restored. Hopefully, the injection of these deaths into the political climate there will result in people being hesitant to go back into the streets to demonstrate. If that happens, we will see new calm spread across Cairo. More likely, however, is an increase in violence and revenge. If that happens, no one will win.
We do, however, know one thing. The Moslem Brotherhood has a history of staging injuries and deaths for political purposes. Hamas, which is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, used the body of a dead child to blame Israeli troops for his murder in the past. After world media picked up the story and condemned Israel, a UN investigation (which surely was not friendly to Israel) determined that the boy had not been killed by Israelis (a fact which got little publicity). There are also occasional photos of dead bodies of people supposedly killed by Israeli artillery which get followed an hour or so later of new photos showing the "dead" man walking away from the scene. The Brotherhood stages the photos but is not to good about covering its tracks.
In this case, it may be that the 215 dead are really 50 dead and 165 phonies. Again, there is no way to know for certain. There is also no way to know for certain who began the melee.
One thing is certain. Tempers are rising in Egypt and calm is not being restored. Hopefully, the injection of these deaths into the political climate there will result in people being hesitant to go back into the streets to demonstrate. If that happens, we will see new calm spread across Cairo. More likely, however, is an increase in violence and revenge. If that happens, no one will win.
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