June 2013 Egyptian protests

The events are also widely called the 30 June Revolution (Arabic:ثورة ٣٠ يونيو) or simply 30/6 Revolution by the Egyptian and Middle Eastern media. They are also referred to as the Second Egyptian Revolution by several international media outlets.[46] The Tamarod movement's highly successful goal to mobilize the protests is also strongly associated with the naming of the uprising and some organizations like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy dubbed it the Tamarod Revolution.[47]

Amid growing anger aganist the regime, President Hosni Mubarak, whose reign was marked by increasing corruption and authoritarianism, resigned on 11 February 2011 following 18 days of mass protests that marked the beginning of a new era of political instability in Egypt.[48] The subsequent transitional period, which saw the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) taking power under Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi immediately after Mubarak's ouster, saw renewed deadly clashes and human rights abuses.[49] A round of elections started to take place in the country starting with the 2011 referendum, in which a majority approved of reforms drafted by a military-formed committee. The election however proved to be highly controversial despite some positive reforms such as limiting the president's time in office to two four-year terms. Many opposition figures and activists were upset with the reforms as they were drafted in just ten days and were offered to the public for only three weeks before the referendum. Two of the country's largest political forces back then, the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of the former National Democratic Party, have endorsed the reforms.[50][51] This turnout proved highly beneficial for the Brotherhood in the following months as they achieved nearly all of their political ambitions including a majority win for the Islamist current in the 2011–12 parliamentary election, during which the Brotherhood was accused by many opposition figures of making deals with the military while protesters were being killed by security forces.[52][53] Their efforts culminated with Mohamed Morsi winning against Ahmed Shafik by 51.7% in the 2012 presidential election.[54]

During security measures in Upper Egypt, the Luxor security directorate announced that it had transferred all those jailed in the local police station to Qena prison as a mean of avoiding the 2011 scenario due to the risk of violence. Aswan saw heavy security presence and the police chief announced that he will personally head the operation room to receive complaints and information during the demonstrations and said that security personnel will protect their stations as well as state property, and added that the people will be protected, not the regime or any political party. Members of the FJP have gathered in front of their party headquarters to secure the complex. These procedures took place on 30 June, the day of protests.[89][90][91]

According to information that came out after the removal of Morsi, officials claimed that Morsi stopped working at the presidential office as early as 26 June in anticipation to the protests and moved with his family to Koubbeh Palace, just a few blocks away from the main palace.[92]

Cairo

The much anticipated day began with several marches throughout Cairo on Sunday heading to either Tahrir Square or Ittihadiya Palace with other comparatively smaller protests taking place at Rabaa al-Adawiya square, where pro-Morsi demonstrators were mainly centered, and another around the Ministry of Culture in Zamalek with artists and intellectuals staging a sit-in chanting against the Morsi-appointed culture minister. The 30 June Front announced that open-ended sit-ins have been staged in Tahrir and across the country until President Mohamed Morsi steps down and until the people's legitimate demands have been answered.[89] Protesters started to fill Tahrir as early as 8:00 AM with streets emptied of traffic and nearly all shops were closed for this day. The people started chanting "Down, down with the rule of the Morshed (Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood)" and "He will leave, we won't leave".[103] By 11:00 AM, thousands had already gathered in the square and organizers claimed in advance the support of millions to come.[104] Two main marches that headed to Tahrir came from Giza. One saw tens of thousands rallying along Dokki's Tahrir Street and were joined by opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahi and prominent leftist filmmaker Khaled Youssef. It later merged with the other march in Al Nahda square near Cairo University and was led by Mohamed ElBaradei forming the bigger 'Mostafa Mahmoud march' that later reached Tahrir Square at around 18:10 PM while still stretching back into Dokki. Other rallies that also arrived in Tahrir are the Dawaran Shubra march coming from Shubra, the Maadi march whose participants first gathered in Maadi's Horreya Square, and several other rallies whether organized or individual ones including the journalists' march led by the Press Syndicate chairman Diaa Rashwan that began from the union's headquarters in Downtown Cairo.[89] Later that day, the crowd in Tahrir Square has reached its maximum capacity of 500,000 demonstrators.[22][33] This prompted other joining protesters to fill up the square's neighboring alleys instead such as the nearby Talaat Harb Street and Qasr al-Nil Bridge.[105][106]

A less notable sit-in took place at the Culture Ministry in Zamalek's Shagarat al Dur Street and was organized by artists, among them actors, musicians and painters, who were banging clogs and were led by some intellectuals, such as Bahaa Taher, who called for the toppling of the regime, and especially the newly appointed Islamist minister whom they accuse along with the Brotherhood of attempting to "Islamize" the country's cultural traditions.[107][108] They later headed to the Cairo Opera House to stage public performances and manifestations and they were expected to continue to Tahrir but it is unclear whether all of them went there or if some remained.[89][109]

In Shubra El-Kheima, nearly 3,000 demonstrators, mostly women, formed human chains extending over one kilometer and were organized by the Popular Current and the Constitution Party.[110] In addition, the April 6 Youth Movement and Constitution Party announced a sit-in in front of Abdeen Palace as soon as they received information that Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was there.[91] Another thousand protesters gathered in front of the Qubba Palace only three kilometers away from Ittihadiya following rumors that Mohamed Morsi was residing there at the time, which was later semi-confirmed when the presidency announced it would hold a press conference at the palace later in the afternoon.[89]

The satellite town of 6 October also saw hundreds rallying in Juhayna Square.[89][111] Demonstrations have taken place in other similar locations around Cairo such as the wealthy district of New Cairo, where several dozens have gathered in front of Morsi's residency waving Egyptian flags and red cards calling for his resignation while security forces deployed barriers to keep protesters away from the building.[91][112][113]

This day, the main opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) issued a statement it called "Revolution Statement 1" and which goes:

In the name of the Egyptian people with all their factions, the National Salvation Front announces public endorsement of the ouster of the regime of Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood," the statement reads.

"The Egyptian population continue their revolution and will impose their will, which has become unequivocally clear in all Egypt's squares."

"The Salvation Front also trusts that the Egyptian people will protect its revolution until peaceful transition of power is fulfilled...we also call on all political forces and all citizens to remain peaceful...and refrain from dealing with the failed Brotherhood government until the fall of this tyrannical organisation."[91]

Although Morsi opponents had staged protest camps outside Ittihadiya Palace, one of the country's main presidential palaces, in Cairo's Heliopolis suburb two days prior to the revolution, the number of protesters was relatively low with only a few hundred demonstrators present at the vicinity around 5:30 PM, compared to the big masses staged in Tahrir Square and Sidi Gaber in Egypt's second city of Alexandria at the time. At the beginning, this was surprising to some commentators who considered the location to be a second focal point of anti-Morsi protests in Cairo along with Tahrir. Most of the palace's gates were left unguarded except for gate 5 which saw a high concentration of armoured vehicles and police was nowhere to be seen but three were reportedly arrested by night in possession of weapons including blades and firearms, according to state news agency MENA.[89][114] By 5:45 PM however, demonstrators started pouring in with tens of thousands coming individually or in rallies such as the march coming from Saray el-Qubba carrying Egyptian flags, red cards and waving banners of previously slain protesters such as Khalid Said while chanting anti-Morsi slogans, most notably "The people demand the fall of the regime".[89][91][115] At around 7:30 PM, the palace's surroundings were reportedly packed with protesters filling a broad boulevard for blocks and spilling into nearby avenues and Al-Ahram reported that the site was extremely crowded with even moving small distances taking a long time and according to the Health Ministry, one protester suffocated to death as a result of a crowd crush.[91][116][117] The demonstrations' mood was seemingly jovial with fireworks keeping the atmosphere upbeat and protesters cheering patrolling military helicopters the vicinity with laser lights.[91][118] MENA reported that political forces present there announced that they will stage an open-ended sit-in till the president steps down.[91]

Only five kilometers away from the presidential palace, Islamist supporters of Mohamed Morsi and the government held their sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in the Nasr City neighborhood of Cairo for a third consecutive day. They called their demonstration this day "Tagarod" as a counter name to the Tamarod campaign aimed at ousting Morsi.[89][103] The number of demonstrators was reportedly estimated at hundreds of thousands although the ruling Muslim Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) claimed on its Facebook page that the number was four million and a Shura Council member of the party had also claimed that the number of people in Rabaa al-Adawiya exceeded the numbers of anti-Morsi protesters in Cairo and all of Egypt. The number however, could not be verified as some experts ruled it out and said that the square and surrounding areas could hardly contain such a number.[119][120] Most of them chanted for the protection of the president's democratic legitimacy while some believed that the president needed more time to deal with the country's difficulties.[121] The sit-in was prominently joined by the hardline Salafist group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya which called on the army and police to protect the president and, although initially wishing for non-violence to be exercised, threatened that if the police and army "fail to do their job in protecting the president's legitimacy … we will do so ourselves," said Mohamed Hassan, the group's spokesman while refusing to clarify whether he implicated the group would use violence or not and also added that Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya would not allow the overthrow of the democratically elected president by any means.[122] However, the demonstrations continued peacefully with no reported clashes occurring between supporters and opponents of Morsi either at Rabaa al-Adawiya or at the presidential palace.[91]

Alexandria

Egypt's second city of Alexandria saw protesters gathering at Al Qa'ed Ibrahim Mosque, a meeting point for the city's rallies and also at the railway station in the neighborhood of Sidi Gaber. Hundreds of protesters had gathered by 4:35 PM, according to Al-Ahram, but in the following few hours the square started filling with demonstrators who poured in from all over the coastal city in thousands, including hundreds of lawyers and court room officials heading from the Lawyers' Union headquarters toward the station, chanting "Leave! Leave!". By approximately 7:00 pm, the vicinity of the station was reportedly packed and people could hardly move. A sit-in was also declared with a stage and tents being erected, including a large one near Omar al-Islam Mosque, as a preparation for the coming days.[89][123][124] The situation was alarming though to political activists who organized the demonstrations in the few days prior to the revolution due to the violent clashes that erupted between opponents and supporters of Morsi resulting in a number of deaths including an American student. The city hasn't seen the kind of clashes it had witnessed in the previous days but the FJP however accused anti-Morsi protesters of rioting and of being behind the ransacking of their party's office in the El-Hadara district earlier on Sunday.[89][91]

Other governorates

Nearly every governorate saw its own demonstrations with big ones taking place in several cities all over Egypt, including Mansoura, Damanhour, Mahalla, Suez, Port Said and Minya. In the Nile Delta's Menoufia, hundreds staged anti-Morsi protests in the city of Ashmoun. Some in other parts of the governorate have cut off the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural road while others have closed off seven city council buildings, among them Menouf's, with chains and signs reading "Closed by order of the people".[89][110][125] Sharqia, where Morsi had lost before to his rival candidate Ahmed Shafik by about 160,000 votes in the 2012 election, had thousands demonstrating across the province with the capital Zagazig hosting several protests concentrated around the governorate building and in Orabi Square.[89] The FJP office was attacked by armed assailants just hours after an Al-Ahram interview with the local party leader Ahmed Shehata when he presented his own version of Sunday's protests claiming that the number of "real revolutionaries" protesting peacefully that day would not exceed 20,000 across Egypt. The attack claimed the life of 21-year-old student Hossam Shoqqi, who had previously served tea for the reporters. Zagazig overall had a strong anti-Morsi sentiment already and was prominent with graffiti and posters slamming the Muslim Brotherhood.[126] Gharbia saw tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital Tanta. Several marches were delayed till afternoon prayers in Mahalla, known for its strong revolutionary spirit.[89][127] But the city witnessed major protests and the numbers dramatically increased afterwards, with workers forming the majority of the protesters. Textile workers went on strike across the city, have previously warned several times that under Morsi their factories are threatened with closure altogether.[128][129] The protesters chanted slogans like "Abdel Nasser said it before, the Muslim Brotherhood are not to be trusted".[91] Prominent labour activist Kamal el-Fayoumi told Al-Ahram that "Mahalla contributed heavily to the removal of Mubarak from power, and we will do the same thing with Morsi".[89] Hundreds participated in demonstrations in Kafr El Zayat against Morsi with anti-Muslim Brotherhood chants such as "National unity against the Brotherhood" and "You who rule in the name of religion, where is justice and where is religion?"[91] The Dakahlia Governorate city of Mansoura saw hundreds of thousands continuously flocking in the city's main Al-Shaheed Square from several rally points. Chants included "Go, you're two-faced, you've divided the people in two" and the protests had notable persons participating such as Mohamed Ghonim, a leading Middle East urologist, in a different mass march in the city.[89][130] Similarly to the events in Sharqia and Gharbia, the city of Desouk in Kafr el-Sheikh had demonstrators closing the city council building and the governorate complex. The protesters said the buildings would be locked down until the regime was ousted.[125] This kind of action also took place in Beheira. Thousands demonstrated in Damanhour's main square, where some carried police officers on their shoulders chanting against the government, and marches in the city attracted around 30,000 protesters, along with 10,000 in Kafr el-Dawwar and 5,000 in Kom Hamada.[89][110][125] The port city of Damietta in the north was estimated to have several thousand demonstrators in the streets, according to a member of the Socialist Popular Alliance, with some in Al-Saa'a Square demanding early presidential elections. Around 250 fishing boats sailed in the Nile heading to the square using megaphones to chant anti-Mori slogans. They have taken over the governorate headquarters and the offices of the local educational authority and also planned to occupy other government buildings to prevent governor Tarek Khedr from entering his office.[91][125][131]

A similar scene took place in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Luxor, where a flotilla consisting of boats and motor launches packed with people in hundreds waving Egyptian flags and chanting "Leave Morsi!" accompanied by drums, reportedly sailed down the Nile voicing their opposition to the president. Both river banks saw a significant number of protesters in a city that rarely witnesses unrest, with masses demonstrating across Luxor en route to one of their rallying points at the governorate building, where a sit-in was planned until their demands are met. There was a line of men on the corniche holding hands and making a corridor packed with women of all ages into the front, sealing off area of the governor's office. Luxor Temple was the site another gathering, where marches from Karnak, Sawagi and Awamea had met and the temple's exterior became full in the afternoon despite the stifling heat that day.[132][133][134] 3,500 anti-Morsi demonstrators were reported in the city of Aswan south of the Luxor and Qena governorates. There were escalating verbal confrontations between opponents and supporters of Morsi in Aswan's main Shohadah Square as lawyers had gathered for a march heading to the square from the city court.[90][132] Tamarod, joined by a number of parties such as the Wafd Party, announced an open ended sit-in and blockade at the government offices in Sohag.[110] In the provincial capital's Culture Square, the city's largest, revolutionary forces have announced their intention to march after mid-day prayers. Shops were closed and the city's trading activity was relatively calm. The protesters chanted against the Brotherhood and called for national unity between Muslims and Christians while other marches were arriving from all over Sohag and from surrounding villages. On the other hand, hundreds of Islamists and their supporters gathered in front of the city's Korman mosque in support of Morsi. A near confrontation would inevitable between pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators if the police had not intervened forcing the Islamists to abandon the site for Tamarod.[90][135][136] Tahta, another city in the Sohag Governorate, witnessed thousands in its main streets demanding the removal of President Mohamed Morsi.[137] The governorate of Assiut, an Islamist stronghold which was the site of this day's deadliest clashes, a drive-by took place in the capital Assiut where it was estimated that more than 50,000 were protesting in the city by night. Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a protest in which tens of thousands were participating, killing one person and wounding four, sending the panicked crowd running. The enraged protesters later marched on the nearby FJP offices, where gunmen inside the compound shot at them, killing two more demonstrators, according to security officials who were speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the press. The clashes later escalated with protesters fighting alongside security forces on one side and Morsi's supporters on the other.[91][138][139] Another deadly confrontation occurred in Beni Suef where opponents of Mohamed Morsi torched the ruling FJP's offices earlier in the morning, hours before mass protests were about to take place in the province. Nasser Saad, the FJP's media spokesman in Beni Suef, said that several protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the building's balconies around two o'clock in the morning before moving to a secretariat office and torched it too.[140] Later that day, one protester was killed and 30 were injured, according to Beni Suef's security chief, when unknown assailants fired at anti-Morsi protests in El-Modereya Square. Following the shooting, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya claimed in a statement that the person killed was a member of the Islamist group while the office of Hamdeen Sabahi's Popular Current claimed that members of the "jihadist movement" in the city was the one behind the attack. The health ministry confirmed however that 25-year-old Ammar Gouda was the protester who died while participating in anti-Morsi protests. The army arrived to break up the situation and the demonstrations quietly continued later on.[91][141][142] There were other violent clashes in the Faiyum Governorate in which hundreds of Morsi opponents clashed with his Islamist supporters outside the Muslim Brotherhood's local FJP office. Both sides were pelting sticks and stones at each other in the Al-Masala district and there were also unconfirmed reports of rubber bullets being used mutually by the clashing demonstrators.[143]

On 3 July 2013, General el-Sisi led a coalition to remove Morsi from power and suspended the constitution. The move came after the military claimed their ultimatum for the government to "resolve its differences" with opponents was ignored. The military arrested Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders,[194] and declared Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt. The announcement was followed by demonstrations and clashes between supporters and opponents of the move throughout Egypt.[195] The military's action was supported by the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei.[196]

Hundreds, Egyptians and Australians, took part in demonstrations against Mohamed Morsi in Australia's Melbourne where jubilant crowds gathered at the city's State Library before marching to the Egyptian Consulate. They chanted in unity for a better future.[202] Another protest took place in Sydney, where hundreds from the Egyptian community gathered to protest against Morsi, demanding him to leave. The demonstration was organised by members of the Tamarod movement in Australia.[203][204]

There were demonstrations in front of the Egyptian consulate in Canada's Montreal, where members of the Egyptian community in the city and their supporters called on the United Nations to publicly condemn the Muslim Brotherhood regime as well as policies of the United States, whom they accuse of supporting the "rise of political Islam" in the Middle East and of transforming the region into a den of terrorism. They also called on the Canadian government not to adhere to this position.[205] Other cities such as Toronto, Calgary and the capital Ottawa, also witnessed protests against Morsi.[203][205]

The French capital Paris, where the local Tamarod campaign claimed to have collected 1,800 signatures, also saw a rally joined by activists from diverse organizations protesting against Mohamed Morsi in the Place Saint-Michel and was organized in coordination with several revolutionary and secular forces in the city. The April 6 Youth Movement organized a demonstrations in the Place de l'Opéra, while another in front of the Egyptian embassy took place on both Saturday and Sunday.[203][206][207] A rival demonstration however, was reported in Trocadéro in support of the president.[203][206]

In Italy, anti-Morsi protests took place in five cities across the country: Milan, Rome, Bologna, Napoli and Palermo. According to MENA, most Egyptians in Italy joined the anti-Morsi demonstrations and that the biggest protests were located in the industrial city of Milan where two demonstrations were held, one in Duomo Square and the other in front of the Egyptian consulate in Via Restelli by the Egyptian community ending at the city's central station.[89][208] Another fifty people gathered in Piazza Duca d'Aosta calling for Morsi's resignation.[209]

The Constitution Party reported protests in other European cities such as Denmark's capital Copenhagen, Sweden's capital Stockholm, Ireland's capital Dublin as well as several German cities, including the capital Berlin, where around 80 demonstrators gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy carrying red cards in a show of solidarity with the Tamarod movement.[203][210] Switzerland's Geneva also witnessed protests against Morsi.[203]

From South Korea, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) delivered a message of solidarity with the Egyptian workers participating in the protests, where it said:"The struggle of Egyptian people is our struggle". The statement begins with:[211]

We, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) extend our warm hearted solidarity to the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU) and all the workers and people of Egypt who took the street for bread, freedom and social justice.

Unjum Mirza of Britain's RMT Union gave a speech of solidarity with the protesters in Egypt on behalf of the union in front of the Egyptian embassy in London, where he was joined by nearly 200 people, in which he said:[89][212]

I've decided to extend a very short message of solidarity from the Transport Union in Britain to the hundreds of thousands of millions marching across Egypt to bring down this corrupt Morsi regime

Hundreds of Egyptians raised their national flag in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City voicing their opposition to President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.[203][213] Also, several hundred demonstrators gathered in Washington, D.C., in front of the White House. Many of them were young and chanted against Mohamed Morsi with slogans such as "Leave" on both Saturday and Sunday.[214]

In Saudi Arabia, a number of Egyptian demonstrators raised red cards signifying their rejection of the government in front of the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh, while the embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana'a saw some of Yemen's political groups calling on Morsi to step down.[203]

Supranational bodies

•  European Union - The European Union released a brief statement where it says: "We call all political forces in Egypt to remain calm, avoid violence and start a political dialogue".[215]
•  United Nations - UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey stated that while most of the protests appear to be peaceful, "the reports of a number of deaths and injuries, of sexual assault against women demonstrators, as well as acts of destruction of property are to be strongly condemned."[215]

On Tuesday, Rupert Colville of the UN human rights office read a statement. "We are following with great concern the extremely tense situation in Egypt and wish to convey a strong message of solidarity and support to the Egyptian people." ... "We call on the President of Egypt to listen to the demands and wishes of the Egyptian people [...] and to address key issues raised by the opposition and civil society in recent months, as well as to heed the lessons of the past in this particularly fragile situation," he said.[216]

States

•  Australia - While issuing a travel warning for Australians wishing to visit Egypt, Foreign Minister Bob Carr addressed the violence in Egypt. "Regrettably, there are also reports that Islamic extremists have threatened violence against Coptic churches and communities. We urge all parties to renounce violence in holding street rallies, and for the Egyptian police and military to exercise appropriate restraint in keeping public order," he said.[217]
•  Canada - Canada temporarily closed its Egyptian embassy. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney commented: "We're very concerned with the uncertainty that exists and that's why we closed the Canadian embassy for security reasons."[218]
•  France - French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot called Egyptian authorities to listen to "the legitimate concerns" of protesters.[215]
•  Iran - Iran's government on Tuesday, called on the Egyptian military to support national reconciliation and respect the "vote of the people". "Mohamed Morsi is the incumbent president based on the people's vote," Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the official IRNA news agency. "It is expected of the armed forces of Egypt that they play their role in supporting national reconciliation and respect the vote of the people".[219]
•  Israel - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "Like everybody, we are watching very carefully what's happening in Egypt". "Remember that for 30 years now we have had an anchor of peace and stability in the Middle East, and that was the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. We hope that peace will be kept".[220]

Former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Eli Shaked, said, "Instability is bad for Israel. Instability is bad for the Middle East." He added, "Even with the extremists in power, they have shown they understand the value, or the interests of Egypt."[220]

•  Nigeria - Foreign Affairs Minister Olugbenga Ashiru has urged the Nigerian community in Egypt to remain calm on Monday following the latest violence. "I am in touch with our ambassador in Cairo. We are watching developments carefully but there is no cause for alarm. I do believe that the authorities in Egypt will contain the situation. Also the ambassador is in contact with the leadership of the Nigerian community in Egypt on the need to remain calm," he said.[221]
•  Palestinian National Authority - Mahmoud al-Habbash, Minister of Religious Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, urged Arab Idol star Mohammed Assaf to cancel the concerts he planned for the West Bank stating that "certain conditions and developments necessitate that we delay festivities for two or more days". He also asked national television not to broadcast anything celebratory to show sympathy and solidarity with the Egyptian people. "I am worried about Egypt, and this worry is justified both politically and in the field. I am worried because Egypt is the heart of the Arab nation, and the army of the nation," he said. However, he made it clear that this was a personal stance not an official position.[222]
•  Russia - The Russian Foreign Ministry gave a statement in which it noted that all parties in Egyptian politics should refrain from using violence as it would "lead to further escalation" in the country. "We are fully aware that Egypt's contemporary issues cannot be solved unless dealt with through a legal context in order to ensure national unity and consensus on needed economic, social and political and reforms," the statement said.[215]
•  Syria - Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said that the political crisis in Egypt could only be overcome if Morsi realises that an overwhelming majority of his Egyptian people reject his presence and want him removed. On 3 July, he called the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist" organisation and a "U.S. tool."[223]
•  Tunisia - Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Laarayedh said in an interview on France 24: "The possibility of an Egypt scenario is unlikely in Tunisia because I have great confidence in the awareness of Tunisians and their ability to measure the potential of their country".[224]
•  United Arab Emirates - Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan described the statement issued by the Egyptian military as "supportive to the people's demands" on his Twitter account. "Be with people, not against them, as only they can make the country stable," he added.[215]
•  United Kingdom - Prime Minister David Cameron stated in the House of Commons on 3 July that: "We should appeal to all sides to stay calm and stop the levels of violence, and particularly sexual assaults", and that it is not for the United Kingdom "to support any single group or party. What we should support is proper democratic processes and proper government by consent."[225]
•  United States - President Barack Obama remarked on 1 July in a press conference in Tanzania that "our number-one priority has been making sure that our embassies and consulates are protected. Number two, what we've consistently insisted on is that all parties involved – whether it is members of Mr. Morsi's party or the opposition – that they remain peaceful. And although we have not seen the kind of violence that many had feared so far, the potential remains there, and everybody has to show restraint..."[226] The US government put on high alert around five hundred crisis-response marines who have been previously deployed in Italy and Spain in order to respond to the crisis in Egypt.[227]

Others

• Human Rights Watch alleged there were sexual assaults during the protests.[228][229] In the first three days of the month, women's activists reported 43 alleged sexual assaults of both foreign and domestic women.

• Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
• History of the Republic of Egypt
• Egyptian Armed Forces
• Egyptian Revolution of 1919
• Egyptian Revolution of 1952
• Egyptian Revolution of 2011
• 2021 Tunisian protests

• Egypt in Danger, 8 Reasons Why (The Palestine Chronicle, July 2013)