Among the crowd of demonstrators is 38-year-old Ahmed Amin, screaming “bread, freedom and Islamic law” at the top of his lungs. It has become a common slogan in the tourist resort of Luxor, 670 kilometres south of Cairo.

Among the crowd of demonstrators is 38-year-old Ahmed Amin, screaming “bread, freedom and Islamic law” at the top of his lungs. It has become a common slogan in the tourist resort of Luxor, 670 kilometres south of Cairo.

Hundreds of followers of ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi participated in the rally that started from the Salah al-Din Mosque in the city center. Such rallies have continued throughout the standoff between pro and anti-Morsi supporters in the last six weeks and this week the interim government appointed a new governor for Luxor province to fill a post formerly held by a Muslim Brotherhood candidate, further stoking the anger of Morsi supporters.

“We are bitter”

At a recent pro-Morsi rally on Mahtta Street in the city centre in Luxor, participants waved pictures of the ousted president. People watching from the sidewalks varied in their reactions: sympathetic, antagonistic and often, simply indignant.

“We, as Islamists, are bitter about what happened in the country and we have lost our faith in democracy. Once we consented to democracy, our opponents destroyed its results,” said 27-year-old Mahmoud Husseini. 

The majority of participants in the rally came from the city of Armant, about 20 kilometres south of Luxor, where Islamic movements have been succesfully gaining influence, especially Jemaah Islamiyah (The Islamic Group). Influential leaders have emerged, the most prominent of whom is Rifai Ahmed Taha, head of the Shura Council in the 1980’s.

Taha recently threatened resorting to violence if Islamists were persecuted and excluded from the political scene as under former President Hosni Mubarak. “If Islamists resorted to violence, it would be in response to the violence against them,” said Taha.

Football or political Ultras?

Others echoed the possibility of armed struggle. “We will not surrender and will continue our activities rejecting the coup against legitimacy, even if more people are killed. We are all martyr projects and we will turn all the squares of Egypt into sit-ins,” said Ahmed Amin.

The Ministry of the Interior and the army this week Wednesday disbanded the Rabaa El-Adawiya and Ennahda sit-ins in Cairo by force, with violent clashes resulting in the loss of dozens of lives. The government says 149 people were killed in Wednesday’s use of force by the army against pro and anti-Morsi sits-ins, but the Muslim Brotherhood says 2,000 of its followers were killed on August 14, according to reports in the BBC. The interim government has declared a month-long state of emergency.

The earlier march in Luxor showed signs of developing tensions. “Islamic, Islamic despite the will of secularists. It is meant for God, neither for power nor for prestige. The people want the return of legitimacy,” sang pro-Morsi protesters.

The march walked under the protection of a number of people armed with sticks. Youth from Ultras Morsawi, a civilian militia, chanted anthems similar to those heard sung by Ultras at Egyptian football stadiums.

The demonstrators then targeted the southern military headquarters and military air base. They painted the walls with slogans and graffiti opposed to the Minister of Defense General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Interim President Adly Mansour. Further slogans criticised other political figures in the country, such as Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabahi. Vice-president ElBaradei resigned in protest at the force used by the army on Wednseday to disband the pro-Morsi protests.

Tourist guides against the Coup

In such volatile times, the demonstrators remembered to thank their own security too:  “You are the best soldiers of the earth”. Morsi’s followers have been accused of trying to influence lower rank soldiers with such partisan tactics to create divisions within the army. 

Ahmed Jadel-Rab, coordinator of Tourist Guides against the Coup Coalition and a pro-Morsi demonstrator, refuses to rely on the negotiations conducted by various parties to end the current crisis.  Jadel-Rab believes Islamists should only rely on their own grassroots movements on the ground.

Outside the Luxor building overlooking the Nile, two men were caught in debate. One supported the July 3 intervention of the army to remove President Morsi. The other called it a military coup.

Back at the rally, demonstrators welcomed statements made by U.S. Senator John McCain describing the aftermath of June 30, in which the army removed Mohammed Morsi from power, as a “coup.” Meeting with Egyptian military leaders last week, Senator McCain urged the army to release Muslim Brotherhood prisoners.