Thousands of Egyptians started to gather in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on Friday to participate in a protest in support of national unity and to condemn the sectarian confrontations that took place last week and resulted in the death of 15 Christians and Muslims.Egyptian political forces, including the campaign to support Mohamed El-Baradei, the April 6 Youth Movement and the Muslim Brotherhood, called for the protest to condemn the confrontations between Muslims and Christians in the neighborhood of Imbaba. The confrontations took place last Saturday after rumors that a Christian woman who had converted to Islam was being detained in a church in the area.
Other groups called for a protest on Tahrir Square to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (calamity) and the establishment of the state of Israel.
| So was this a 'spontaneous' demonstration or just the usual rubes? |