It must be hoped that the Egyptian authorities are right in their judgment that Saturday’s attack on tourists in Cairo does not signal a return of militant Islamist violence. So far the attack in which all three assailants were killed and nine people wounded — four were foreigners — seems to involve some kind of family affair. Police were chasing a suspect, Ihab Yousri Yassin, in connection with an earlier attack last month in which three people were killed. Yassin was cornered on a highway overpass when he set off a bomb. Almost immediately after, two women, identified as his sister and wife, opened fire on a tourist bus. Police say the two women shot at the bus in revenge for Yassin’s death and then shot themselves.
With the attacks last month and the ones on Saturday, there is anxiety that militants are launching a new round of violence in Egypt. The assaults are not nearly as serious as the bloody campaign in the 1990s which culminated in the Luxor massacre of 1997 and resulted in the deaths of more than 60 tourists. There is, however, a real fear that things are growing worse. The perpetrators must be dealt with sternly. Innocents are being killed and wounded; an industry as vital as tourism is being affected, and Islam’s image abroad is worsening. As such, a crackdown is absolutely necessary. Terrorism, like many countries know only too well, must be fought at all levels, with all available resources, until it is overcome. There must be no compromises, no concessions and no negotiations.
No justification, but there are reasons. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades said Saturday’s violence was in revenge for the arrests of thousands of people in Sinai after the bombings there. The Egyptian authorities in turn say that the October attack was connected to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not domestic politics.
Indeed, there are those who warn that US and Israeli aggression against Arabs and Muslims is to blame for the current violence. Anti-Western sentiment is growing and young people in particular are seeking ways to respond to what they see as an assault on their culture and society.
At the same time, socioeconomic reasons must not be overlooked. Statistics indicated there are millions of unemployed young people in Egypt. In their frustration and hopelessness they are easy prey for religious extremists. The recent attacks are thus a warning sign, even if, as the authorities say, the attacks are not part of a well-funded, well-planned campaign, even if they do not bear the hallmarks of a sophisticated cell but of individuals, and even if the latest attacks appear to close a chapter on immediate violence, political and economic malaise at home and in the region are creating desperate people who are being pushed to commit desperate acts.
The political reform introduced recently by President Hosni Mubarak is a positive response to the violence at hand. If people want to decide their future and those of others, the ballot box is the way of doing so. Bullets and bombs are not.
