Witnesses were unable to identify a cause for the rioting in downtown Cairo, Egypt , that happened as the month of Ramadan ended on October 23. According to eyewitness reports, angry mobs of young men formed and began destroying property and chasing and assaulting women at random in the street. Without an identifiable proximate political or social cause, the event may be an indication of perpetually simmering civil unrest and a general weakening of social order in Cairo.
According to some witnesses, the riots started when hordes of young men waiting to gain entrance to a movie theater were told that the film was sold out, and they decided to destroy the box office. Others say that the violence was catharsis following the end of Ramadan, when Egyptians are under pressure to maintain a constant level of religious observance along with the rigors of fasting. A worsening economic situation in Egypt may also have had a role. One of the immediate social effects is that fewer young men can afford to marry in the current climate, which may have been why the men lashed out at women in the area.
Unlike other recent riots in Cairo, this incident seems to have been without political catalyst. One commentator opined that Egyptian police did not intervene in the riot because it was neither anti-regime nor a show of political dissent (source). Shop owners and cab drivers attempted to intervene to protect women and girls caught up in the riot when the police failed to react (source).
Some have speculated that the mass sexual assault during the riot may have been provoked by Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilalli, an Egyptian cleric, who is currently at the center of a massive controversy. Al-Hilalli made comments in Australia that women who did not cover themselves were inviting assault and that male perpetrators should not be held accountable. While al-Hilalli backpedaled under pressure, others have come out in favor of his original statement, turning the controversy into a theological debate with a strong Westernization versus Islamization undertone. Acting out on al-Hilalli?s remarks could be a crude way of asserting rejection of western norms.
Protests, riots, and other incidents of civil unrest in Egypt have increased in frequency and intensity over the past two years. In most cases, the response of Egyptian police has been less than satisfactory, with police accused of permitting or even participating in violence. In the wake of this recent incident, the Egyptian government has reacted by playing it down rather than investigating and addressing the causes?boding poorly for future stability. The suddenness and violence of this latest incident, with the bizarre lack of immediate provocation, suggests that the simmering undercurrent of frustration and discontent in Cairo is reaching a boiling point. Future events like this riot should be anticipated in Cairo, and the lack of a proximate cause means that such eruptions will also be unpredictable.