The June 30 protests occurred in Egypt on June 30 2013, marking the first anniversary of Mohamed Morsi’s inauguration as president. The events ended with the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état after mass protests across Egypt demanding the president’s immediate resignation. The rallies partly responded to Tamarod, an ostensibly grassroots movement that launched a petition in April 2013, calling for Morsi and his government to step down. Tamarod claimed to have collected more than 22 million signatures for their petition by June 30, although independent sources did not verify this. A counter-campaign in support of Morsi’s presidency, Tagarod (meaning impartiality), claimed to have collected 26 million signatures by the same date. Still, this figure was also unverified and not mentioned nearly as much as Tamarod’s in the media, with no reliable sources repeating it.

The movements opposing Morsi culminated in the June 30 protests across the country. According to the Egyptian military, which calculated the number of protesters via helicopter scans of demonstration perimeters across the country, the June 30 protests had 32 million protesters, making them “the biggest protests in Egypt’s history.” However, independent observers raised concerns that the Egyptian government exaggerated the actual number of anti-Morsi protestors, with some research determining that only around one to two million people protested against Morsi across the country.

Reasons for demanding Morsi’s resignation included accusations of increasing authoritarianism and his pushing through an Islamist agenda disregarding the predominantly secular opposition or the rule of law. The uprising concluded seven months of protests that started when the Morsi government issued a highly controversial constitutional declaration that gave him temporary sweeping powers over the state’s judicial system until the new constitution was passed. The June 30 protests resulted in the overthrow of Morsi by the Egyptian military three days later, with Adly Mansour replacing Morsi as president of Egypt on July 4.

Terminology

The events are also widely called the June 30 Revolution (Arabic:ثورة ٣٠ يونيو) or simply the 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. The Tamarod movement’s highly successful goal of mobilising the protests is also strongly associated with the naming of the uprising. Some organisations, like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, dubbed it the Tamarod Revolution.

Background of June 2013 Egyptian protests

Amid growing anger towards the regime, President Hosni Mubarak, whose reign was marked by increasing corruption and authoritarianism, resigned on February 11 2011, following 18 days of mass protests that marked the beginning of a new era of political instability in Egypt. The subsequent transitional period saw the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) taking power under Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi immediately after Mubarak’s ouster and renewed deadly clashes and human rights abuses. A round of elections started in the country, starting with the 2011 referendum, in which a majority approved 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 ten days and offered to the public only three weeks before the referendum. Two of the country’s most significant political forces back then, the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of the former National Democratic Party, have endorsed the reforms. 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 many opposition figures accused the Brotherhood of making deals with the military while security forces were killing protesters. Their efforts culminated with Mohamed Morsi winning against Ahmed Shafik by 51.7% in the 2012 presidential election.

Constituent Assembly of 2012

In April, a couple of months before Morsi’s inauguration, the Administrative Court suspended a constituent assembly previously appointed in March without giving any clear reasons for this decision, which the Brotherhood claimed was politically motivated. In mid-June, however, another 100-member assembly was officially selected a week after a deal was reached between the ruling military council and representatives of 22 parties. Tensions later resumed after a court ruled that the entire Islamist-dominated parliament was illegally elected and ordered the body to dissolve, angered the Brotherhood, and Mohamed Beltagy called it a “full-fledged coup”.

On June 18, the SCAF issued a supplementary constitutional declaration that limits the to-be president’s power over the military and gives it complete control over all army decisions. However, those controversial moves never changed the status of the constituent assembly as the Shura Council elected it, not by parliament. Also, on the same day the military delivered its statement, Hossam El-Gheriany was elected assembly chairman. Military chief Mohamed Hussein Tantawi was forced to retire by Morsi on August 12, a month after the latter was elected and a week after a militant attack in Sinai that had the military preoccupied, leaving the constituent assembly’s drafting process unchallenged.

Tamarod campaign

Amid a climate of dissent and division, Tamarod (Arabic for “rebellion”), a grassroots movement, was founded in April 2013 by five young activists aged 22 and 30. They orchestrated a door-to-door, street-level campaign collecting signatures from Egyptians across the country calling for, among other demands, President Morsi’s resignation, early presidential elections and the start of a renewed constituent process

Various opposition parties and autonomous social movements supported Tamarod. The campaign, reminiscent of 1919’s collection of petitions against British occupation, called for massive nationwide protests on June 30, 2013, the first anniversary of Morsi’s inauguration, to pressure the government to see through their demands. The campaign’s leading members, Mahmoud Badr, Hassan Shahin, Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Mai Wahba and Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, initially unfamiliar to the public, started to gain strong popularity among Egyptians continuously, reflected in the people’s eagerness to publicly register their names, identification card numbers and signatures on the petition form.

The movement was also intensifying its political activity, uniting all anti-Brotherhood parties and most political factions in its mission. The groups supporting it were the National Salvation Front, the Kefaya Movement and the April 6 Youth Movement. These also included members of the former National Democratic Party who, as stated by Mohamed ElBaradei, were allowed to participate as long as they weren’t convicted of any crimes, such as Morsi’s 2012 rival candidate Ahmed Shafik, who supported the protests.

On June 26, Tamarod launched the June 30 Front to administer the upcoming demonstrations and to manage the transitional period following Morsi’s ouster. This was in collaboration with several political movements and parties. Founders included Ahmed Douma, a former member of the April 6 movement, and youth activists such as Esraa Abdel Fattah. According to the roadmap offered by the front, the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court will be the acting interim president and all executive powers will be handed over to a new prime minister. The demands also included the suspension of the 2012 constitution, the dissolution of the Shura Council, and forming a committee of experts to draft a new constitution and put it to a referendum. At the press conference where the front was announced and in the presence of many prominent revolutionary and political figures, Mohamed Abdel Aziz, co-founder of the campaign, said:

We announce the 30 June Front as an initiative from Tamarod to represent Egyptians who refuse Muslim Brotherhood rule and to share with the great Egyptian people their political vision to avoid the mistakes of the past period and to continue on the path of 25 January Revolution”.

However, the presidency and its supporters reacted differently to Tamarod, far from appeasing the population. A counter-campaign called “Tagarod” (Arabic for “impartiality”) was started by Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya member Assem Abdel Maged, who called on Morsi’s supporters to sign this petition to keep the “legitimately elected president in his post”. Abdel Maged’s campaign, however, proved unsuccessful in terms of an impact compared to Tamarod, which was able to penetrate and mobilise the “Couch Party”, the silent majority of Egyptians who usually avoid participating in political events but prominently joined anti-Morsi demonstrations this time. The movement’s effectiveness in sparking the uprising inspired many other copycat campaigns throughout the Arab world, such as Gaza, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen, and a new wave of protests in Bahrain.

Allegations of military involvement in Tamarod

Egypt’s military had long shown discontent at Morsi’s policies and viewed the political tensions between the government and its opponents as threatening the nation’s stability. This had come to light following a massive Islamist rally in support of the Syrian uprising sponsored by the Brotherhood in Cairo Stadium. What worried the army, though, is that Morsi, while not explicitly calling himself for holy war, delivered a speech in which he called for foreign intervention against Bashar al-Assad’s government by establishing a no-fly zone over Syria. The military responded by issuing a statement arguing that its only role was to guard Egypt’s borders.

On June 23, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a statement warning all sides, saying the army would not allow the country to fall into a “dark tunnel of conflict”. He also added:

Those who think we (the military) are oblivious to the dangers threatening the Egyptian state are mistaken. We will not remain silent while the country slips into a conflict that will be hard to control

After Morsi was ousted on July 3, most of the country’s energy crises[clarification needed], which were very common during Morsi’s presidency, were surprisingly diminished following the Revolution. David D. Kirkpatrick, Cairo’s bureau chief of The New York Times, claimed there might have been a campaign orchestrated by members of the old Mubarak regime and top military generals that were meant to undermine Mohamed Morsi’s one-year rule. Kirkpatrick also claimed that a smear media campaign against Morsi, which began immediately following Morsi’s inauguration, helped feed popular discontent towards the authorities by adopting a contradictory stance by favouring the military while honouring Morsi’s position as president of the republic.

Later, in 2015, leaked tapes from the summer of 2013 that J. P. French Associates last verified emerged recording figures of the Egyptian military, including then-Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, suggesting Egyptian military involvement in the mass protests preceding Morsi’s ouster. In one of the leaked tapes, the generals are heard discussing the withdrawal of a large sum of money from Tamarod’s bank account for the army’s use. This independent grassroots group was organising protests against President Morsi. The tapes also suggest high-level cooperation between the coup plotters and the Government of the United Arab Emirates, as the UAE provided the money to be transferred from Tamarod’s account into the army’s account. The tapes were first released on the Turkish Islamist channel Mekameleen, a fact that the Egyptian government says discredits the tapes as fakes. American officials later confirmed that the United Arab Emirates provided financial support for the protests against Morsi.

Issues of June 2013 Egyptian Protests

Economic crisis

Preparation and security precautions

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 to avoid the 2011 scenario due to the risk of violence. Aswan saw a heavy security presence, and the police chief announced that he would personally head to the operation room to receive complaints and information during the demonstrations. He said that security personnel would protect their stations as well as state property and added that the people would be saved, 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 June 30, the day of the protests.

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

Fears of violence against Copts

Weeks before the protests, Coptic Christians, particularly in Upper Egypt, received threats from Morsi’s Islamist supporters, pressuring them not to participate. Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a member of parliament’s Shura Council, said in an interview on television that Christians should not participate in the protests and warned them, “Do not sacrifice your children [since the] general Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president.” Letters were delivered to Christian families in Minya, where they were threatened not to join the protests. Otherwise, their “businesses, cars, homes, schools, and churches” might “catch fire”. The letters, signed by “People zealous of the nation”, read:

If you are not worried about any of these, then worry about your children and home. This message is being delivered with tact. But when the moment of truth comes, there will be no tact.

There had been incitements against Copts by some of Morsi’s staunchest allies. For instance, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya’s leading hardline cleric, Assem Abdel Maged, directly threatened the country’s Christian community by saying, “If you go down into the streets on June 30, you will bring black days onto yourselves.” President Morsi himself invited Pope Tawadros II to a meeting at the country’s presidential palace in what has been seen as an attempt to put pressure on him. The pope told Morsi to do what was necessary to bring the nation together and work for the peace of Egypt, not to stir quarrels. “I am still hoping to see improvements in the economic and social life of the country,” he said. At the same time, Morsi suggested that the church should advise Egypt’s Christian community not to participate in the protests. Pro-Morsi cleric Safwat Hegazi addressed the country’s Christians by saying: “You share this country with us, but there are red lines, and one red line is the legitimacy of Dr Morsi. Whoever splashes water on that, we will spill his blood.”

Early events

June 28

On Friday, June 28, protests against Morsi started to build throughout Egypt, including in such cities as Cairo, Alexandria, Dakahlia, Gharbiya and Aswan, as a “warm-up” for the massive protests expected on June 30 that Tamarod planned. Pro-Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood supporters started counterdemonstrations at the Rabia Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City.

June 29

Deadly clashes broke out that day in several Egyptian cities, most notably Alexandria, where armed confrontations between Morsi’s supporters and his opponents, with both sides in the fighting armed with different kinds of firearms, left many injured. Three dead: a 14-year-old boy, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was shot dead, and an American student, Andrew Pochter, was killed after being stabbed in the chest during an anti-Morsi rally. Protesters stormed the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and set the building ablaze. In Port Said, a bomb detonated in the city’s Martyr’s Square, where protesters had gathered to protest against Mohamed Morsi. The explosion, AFP reported as a hand grenade thrown by unidentified men, injured 14 demonstrators and killed a journalist. A police general in Sinai was gunned down by militants in an ambush when he left his car before they ran away.

In Cairo, the president’s opponents started building up in anticipation of June 30’s uprising as thousands of anti-Morsi demonstrators took to Tahrir Square, with the number of tents increasing to 150. At the presidential palace, protesters set up 18 tents and erected a stage at the entrance of Heliopolis Sporting Club. As a security precaution, five CSF trucks and a fire-fighting vehicle went to reside in the location. This day, Tamarod claimed to have collected more than 22 million signatures on their petition calling for Morsi to step down. The numbers were announced in a press conference statement in which the group’s leaders described the June 30 protests as a new wave of the 2011 revolution and stressed that “Morsy has lost legitimacy after millions of signatures calling for his removal were collected and after he refused to respect the constitution and the law”. The statement also urged protesters to remain peaceful. On the other hand, thousands staged an open-ended rally since Friday, which was called for by 40 Islamist parties and groups led by the FJP and was held under the banner “Democratic legitimacy is a red line”.

Events of June 2013 Egyptian protests

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 centred, 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 June 30 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. 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”.

By 11:00 AM, thousands had already gathered in the square, and organisers claimed in advance the support of millions to come. Two central marches that headed to Tahrir came from Giza. One saw tens of thousands rallying along Dokki’s Tahrir Street, joined by opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahi and prominent leftist filmmaker Khaled Youssef. It merged with the other March in Al Nahda Square near Cairo University. It was led by Mohamed ElBaradei, forming the more significant ‘Mostafa Mahmoud march’ that reached Tahrir Square around 6:10 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 organised 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. Later that day, the crowd in Tahrir Square reached its maximum capacity of 500,000 demonstrators. This prompted other protesters to fill the square’s neighbouring alleys, such as the nearby Talaat Harb Street and Qasr al-Nil Bridge.

A less famous sit-in occurred at the Culture Ministry in Zamalek’s Shagarat al Dur Street. Artists organised it, 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 accused along with the Brotherhood of attempting to “Islamize” the country’s cultural traditions. They later headed to the Cairo Opera House to stage public performances and manifestations, and they were expected to continue to Tahrir. Still, whether they all went there or if some remained is unclear.

In Shubra El-Kheima, nearly 3,000 demonstrators, mostly women, formed human chains extending over one kilometre and were organised by the Popular Current and the Constitution Party. 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. Another thousand protesters gathered in front of the Qubba Palace, only three kilometres from Ittihadiya, following rumours that Mohamed Morsi was residing there at the time, which was later semi-confirmed when the president announced it would hold a press conference at the palace later in the afternoon.

The satellite town of October 6 also saw hundreds rallying in Juhayna Square. Demonstrations have occurred in similar locations around Cairo, such as the wealthy district of New Cairo, where several dozen have gathered in front of Morsi’s residence, waving Egyptian flags and red cards calling for his resignation. At the same time, security forces deployed barriers to keep protesters away from the building.

On this day, the main opposition, National Salvation Front (NSF), issued a statement it called “Revolution Statement 1”, 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.”

Although Morsi’s opponents had staged protest camps outside Ittihadiya Palace, one of the country’s main presidential palaces, in Cairo’s Heliopolis suburb two days before 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 enormous masses staged in Tahrir Square and Sidi Gaber in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria at the time. Initially, this surprised some commentators who considered the location a second focal point of anti-Morsi protests in Cairo and Tahrir.

Most of the palace’s gates were left unguarded except for gate 5, which saw a high concentration of armoured vehicles, and police were nowhere to be seen. Still, according to state news agency MENA, three were reportedly arrested by night for possessing weapons, including blades and firearms. 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”. 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. Al-Ahram reported that the site was extremely crowded, even moving small distances taking a long time.

According to the Health Ministry, one protester suffocated to death due to a crowd crush. The demonstrations’ mood was seemingly festive, with fireworks keeping the atmosphere upbeat and protesters cheering patrolling military helicopters in the vicinity with laser lights. MENA reported that political forces there announced they would stage an open-ended sit-in until the president steps down.

Only five kilometres 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 neighbourhood of Cairo for a third consecutive day. They called their demonstration “Tagarod” to counter the Tamarod campaign aimed at ousting Morsi. The number of demonstrators was reportedly estimated at hundreds of thousands. However, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) claimed on its Facebook page that the number was four million.

A Shura Council member of the party claimed that the number of people in Rabaa al-Adawiya exceeded the number 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. Most of them chanted to protect the president’s democratic legitimacy, while some believed the president needed more time to deal with the country’s difficulties.

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 the military “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. However, the demonstrations continued peacefully, with no reported clashes occurring between supporters and opponents of Morsi either at Rabaa al-Adawiya or the presidential palace.

Alexandria

Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, saw protesters gathering at Al Qa’ed Ibrahim Mosque, a meeting point for the city’s rallies and at the railway station in the neighbourhood 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 courtroom officials heading from the Lawyers’ Union headquarters toward the station, chanting “Leave! Leave!”.

By approximately 7:00 PM, the station’s vicinity 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, to prepare for the coming days. The situation alarmed political activists who organised the demonstrations the few days before the Revolution due to the violent clashes between opponents and supporters of Morsi, resulting in several deaths, including an American student. The city hadn’t seen the clashes it had witnessed in the previous days. Still, the FJP 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.

Other governorates

Nearly every governorate saw big demonstrations 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 Ashmoun. Some in other parts of the governorate have cut off the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural road. In contrast, others have closed off seven city council buildings, including Menouf’s, with chains and signs reading “Closed by order of the people”. 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. 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 version of Sunday’s protests, claiming 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 to the reporters. Zagazig had a strong anti-Morsi sentiment and was prominent with graffiti and posters slamming the Muslim Brotherhood. Gharbia saw tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital Tanta. Several marches were delayed till afternoon prayers in Mahalla, known for its solid revolutionary spirit. However, the city witnessed significant protests, and the numbers dramatically increased afterwards, with workers forming most of the protesters. Textile workers went on strike across the city and have previously warned several times that their factories were threatened with closure under Morsi. The protesters chanted slogans like “Abdel Nasser said it before the Muslim Brotherhood are not to be trusted”. Prominent labour activist Kamal el-Fayoumi told Al-Ahram, “Mahalla contributed heavily to removing Mubarak from power, and we will do the same thing with Morsi”. 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?” The Dakahlia Governorate city of Mansoura saw hundreds of thousands continuously flocking in the city’s central 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.

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 until the regime was ousted. This kind of action also took place in Beheira. Thousands were demonstrated in Damanhour’s main square, where some carried police officers on their shoulders, chanting against the government. Marches in the city attracted around 30,000 protesters, 10,000 in Kafr el-Dawwar and 5,000 in Kom Hamada. 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 local educational authority offices and planned to occupy other government buildings to prevent Governor Tarek Khedr from entering his office.

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 many 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 were met. A line of men on the corniche was holding hands and making a corridor packed with women of all ages into the front, sealing off the governor’s office area. Luxor Temple was another gathering site where marches from Karnak, Sawagi and Awamea had met, and the temple’s exterior became complete in the afternoon despite the oppressive heat that day. Three thousand five hundred anti-Morsi demonstrators were reported in Aswan south of the Luxor and Qena governorates. There were escalating verbal confrontations between opponents and supporters of Morsi in Aswan’s central Shohadah Square as lawyers had gathered for a march heading to the square from the city court. Tamarod, joined by several parties such as the Wafd Party, announced an open-ended sit-in and blockade at the government offices in Sohag. In the provincial capital’s Culture Square, the city’s most significant 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 around Sohag and surrounding villages. On the other hand, hundreds of Islamists and their supporters gathered in front of the city’s Korman mosque to support Morsi. An immediate confrontation would be inevitable between pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators if the police did not intervene, forcing the Islamists to abandon the site for Tamarod. Tahta, another city in the Sohag Governorate, witnessed thousands in its main streets demanding the removal of President Mohamed Morsi. In 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. Shooters 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 shooters inside the compound shot at them, killing two more demonstrators, according to security officials who were speaking anonymously because they weren’t authorised to talk to the press. The clashes later escalated, with protesters fighting alongside security forces and Morsi’s supporters on the side. 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 torched it too. 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. At the same time, the office of Hamdeen Sabahi’s Popular Current contended that members of the “jihadist movement” in the city were behind the attack. The health ministry confirmed 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. There were other violent clashes in the Faiyum Governorate in which hundreds of Morsi’s opponents clashed with his Islamist supporters outside the Muslim Brotherhood’s local FJP office. Both sides pelted sticks and stones at each other in the Al-Masala district. There were also unconfirmed reports of rubber bullets used mutually by the clashing demonstrators.

Storming of the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters

Around midnight, the Muslim Brotherhood’s national headquarters in Cairo’s Mokattam district, which Morsi’s critics view as the government’s actual seat of power in the country, came under attack when anti-Morsi protesters started throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at the six-story building’s windows. There were also reports of shotguns from the side of the protesters, according to the Brotherhood’s spokesman, Gehad El-Haddad, who said that the officials in the building had successfully repelled the attackers. However, this proved untrue as clashes immediately followed the all-night siege, with birdshot and ammunition reportedly exchanged between the two sides. According to the Health Ministry, eight people were killed as the rioting continued until the following day when anti-Morsi protesters eventually stormed the compound, despite being barricaded with sandbags before the attack, and the building was later ransacked and torched. Looting took place the following day, with rioters carting off furniture, blankets, rugs, files and air-conditioning devices, among others. The fire was reportedly still raging from one floor as protesters tore down the Muslim Brotherhood signs from the building’s front facade, and another waved the Egyptian flag from an upper-story window.

Continuing protests

1 July

As the protests headed into their second day, the plundering persisted at the Brotherhood’s headquarters compound, the site of fierce clashes the previous night. The protesters were already gearing up for new rallies that day, with some having spent the night in several tents in Tahrir Square and around Ittihadiya Palace. Protesters in Tahrir staged a sit-in around the Mogamma building. They surrounded the government complex early in the morning, demanding the departure of President Mohamed Morsi and early presidential elections. Around 600 families who were affiliated with the so-called “Couch Party” staged demonstrations in the up-scale Greater Cairo district of Mohandessin, along with others in the El-Manial neighbourhood in southern Cairo, calling for Morsi to resign, and some brought sofas with them as a way of displaying how unashamed they are of belonging to this movement. In the evening, the band Cairokee performed for thousands of protesters in front of the presidential palace after receiving an invitation from volunteer organisers. They later thanked all the protesters who sang along with them during their performance. There have been calls by organisers for sit-ins at the Cabinet building, interim parliament, and another presidential place for the demonstrations’ organisers, as well as other calls for nationwide labour and strikes to pressure the government. Still, there were no reported responses by the country’s trade unions. Tamarod released a statement giving Morsi a deadline to step down until the next day at 5:00 PM, warning him they would hike up the demonstrations marching on all palaces and that he would face a mass campaign of “complete civil disobedience”. They also requested a new presidential election as part of their declaration and called on the military and police to clarify that they support the protesters. In addition, five cabinet ministers resigned in solidarity with the protests. They were Minister of Communication and IT Atef Helmy, Minister of Environment Khaled Abdel-Aal, Minister of Water Utilities Abdel Qawi Khalifa, and Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Hatem Bagato, who had previously stated on Sunday that the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) could not dismiss the president from office. Finally, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou, who had previously submitted his resignation to PM Hesham Qandil earlier in June after Morsi appointed as governor of Luxor an ex-militant linked to a group that was responsible for the massacre of tourists in 1997, but later came back to the office when the governor resigned instead. Also, eight independent parliamentarians from the Islamist-dominated Shura Council resigned from the body in protest and solidarity with the opposition’s demands.

In Assiut, thousands attended the funerals of the three protesters killed on Sunday during evening clashes chanting against the Brotherhood. Mohamed Abdel Hamid’s body, a National Bank director, was carried to the cemetery by hundreds of activists who proceeded in front of the governorate building where the confrontation took place the night before, waving national flags and calling for retribution. The funeral of the second victim, Mohamed Nasef, was marked by anger on the part of the family and tight security. The service for Abanoub Atef, the third victim, took place in the Church of the Resurrection and was attended by several activists. The local Wafd Party held the Brotherhood and the Islamist group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya responsible for the deaths and injuries. It accused them of encouraging their supporters to attack unarmed civilians under jihad for God. Supporters and opponents of Mohamed Morsi exchanged gunfire in Suez as the sound of shots rocked the city while the governor of Ismailia, Hassan el-Rifaai, resigned from office.

2 July

In Cairo, demonstrators were pouring into Tahrir Square, where popular committees blocked all roads leading in and out of the already packed square after two major marches arrived from Shubra and Mohandessin. An artists’ rally, smaller in size than the one from Sunday but still counting several hundred, marched to Tahrir through Qasr al-Nil Bridge after gathering again in front of the culture ministry. Some professional vocalists led them to sing the Egyptian national anthem with chants such as “Egypt is a secular country” and “Revolution continues”. Mass rallies of thousands in Ittihadiya Palace’s surroundings were peaceful and jubilant, with men and women dancing to patriotic music. Al-Ahram reported that the numbers were more significant than on Monday, with an increase of tents on al-Merghany Street by the palace. Volunteer-manned checkpoints were also tightened up the day before, searching car trunks and women’s purses. Tens of thousands gathered at the Qubba presidential palace, and the numbers kept increasing till the end of the day. Fireworks are lighting up the sky. At a nearby underground metro station, crowds were so large that the station workers opened the metro barriers to allow people to exit quickly. Groups of people wearing high-visibility jackets were spreading out, patrolling the demonstration. Qubba’s vicinity, one of this day’s highlights, became a significant location for protests only this weekend because during the previous months’ anti-Morsi marches usually headed to Tahrir Square or Ittihadiya instead. The reason is that the president moved from Egypt’s official presidential palace to Quba Palace. As a result, the site became a popular rallying point for demonstrations during this uprising. Many protesters were chanting in favour of the military and General el-Sisi, as chants of “the people and the army are one hand” were very common, and “Game Over” was spray-painted on the palace gates. Another wave of resignations similar to Monday’s included Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, who decided to step down in response to the unrest, along with presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmy and cabinet spokesman Alaa al-Hadidi.

This day saw significant pro-Morsi marches across the country as many started to suspect a Revolution would occur. Hundreds of Morsi supporters gathered before Cairo University in Al-Nahda Square as nationwide demonstrations entered their third consecutive day. The protesters, whose numbers were increasing, blocked roads leading to the front gates of the campus and erected a stage in a show of support for the embattled president’s legitimacy following a statement issued by the armed forces on Monday. The rallies, along with many other similar ones in several parts of Egypt, were organised by Salafist groups such as Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, which stated that pro-Morsi demonstrations this day would take place in 11 different governorates. Around Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque in Nasr City, the president’s supporters gathered in hundreds of thousands, an apparent defiance of the millions of anti-Morsi demonstrators gathered in dozens of squares across Egypt. In Upper Egypt, thousands of Morsi supporters gathered in Minya, Assiut and Qena. In front of Minya’s Al-Rahman mosque, known in the city as an Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya spot, thousands gathered in a march towards the city’s Palace Square, where hundreds of anti-Morsi protesters had been staging a sit-in against the recently appointed Islamist affiliated governor. According to Al-Ahram, several people from the pro-Morsi rally reportedly fired at protesters in front of the governorate building, resulting in a violent confrontation. Thousands of Morsi’s supporters took to the streets in Sa’a Square in Qena in a rally organised by the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, along with their allies, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, the Raya Party and the Homeland Party. Assiut’s Omar Makram Mosque vicinity also saw thousands gathering to support what they called “the present’s legitimacy”. At the same time, hundreds of Morsi’s opponents gathered in a demonstration in front of the city’s governorate headquarters. Thousands of pro-Morsi demonstrators took over Sohag’s Culture Square, pushing anti-Morsi protesters to retreat into other town streets for fear of clashes. Protests also took place in the northern city of Marsa Matruh.

There were deadly clashes across the country, as the Cairo University demonstration in Giza’s Al-Nahda Square witnessed a violent confrontation between pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators in the surrounding streets. Human Rights Watch reported that the clashes left 18 killed, 4 confirmed residents, and scores injured when, according to Muslim Brotherhood supporters, armed “thugs” attacked their sit-in as an exchange of automatic gunfire intensified after 10:00 PM. Residents acknowledged they armed themselves with rocks and knives. In contrast, Morsi’s supporters believed in having carried guns during the riot at the campus’ main road intersection and Ahmed Zewail Street. Security forces intervened to restore order but ended up clashing with Morsi supporters instead, and teargas were used. There was a conflict in other parts of Giza earlier that day, such as on Faisal Street, where seven were wounded after their March was shot at from the side of Morsi’s supporters. In the Imbaba district, gunfire was exchanged during clashes in Kit Kat Square using pellets and Molotov cocktails. The health ministry confirmed one death, and the injured were taken to hospitals in Imbaba and Agouza, leaving the site of the confrontation with rocks and glass scattered all over. Other parts of Egypt also saw violent clashes, such as Agami in the governorate of Alexandria, where the police tried to contain the scuffles between pro and anti-Morsi protesters by firing teargas with the head of Alexandria’s investigative department reporting 25 injured. In Qalyubia’s city of Banha, the Brotherhood’s FJP local headquarters was torched after anti-Morsi protesters stormed it. The building was ransacked, and the banner with the party’s name was removed. Other clashes were confirmed in the Beheira and Luxor governorates.

Morsi’s speech

Later that night, President Mohamed Morsi made his first official speech since the events began on Sunday, where he appeared defiant to the military’s ultimatum and refused to back down. He admitted that he made mistakes but insisted he was the legitimate democratically elected president. In the speech, he said:

The people empowered me and chose me through a free and fair election.

Legitimacy is the only way to protect our country and prevent bloodshed from moving to a new phase… Legitimacy is the only thing that guarantees for all of us that there will not be any fighting and conflict, that there will not be bloodshed.

If the price of protecting legitimacy is my blood, I’m willing to pay it… And it would be a low price to protect this country.

Opposition activists immediately denounced the speech.

3 July: Reaching the deadline

Before the deadline passed, Tahrir Square was still filling up with anti-Morsi demonstrators, with the central square partially full while surrounding streets were still relatively empty. It started to crowd, however, and when the 48-hour period ended, Tahrir was packed with hundreds of thousands of protesters awaiting a statement by General el-Sisi. Protesters closed the gates of Tahrir’s iconic Mogamma building in the southern part of the square for the second time since Monday, two days before, but reopened it on Tuesday. Hundreds of demonstrators carried a coffin representing President Mohamed Morsi in a symbolic funeral which roamed around Tahrir Square as three lambs were slaughtered representing Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and Brotherhood deputy leader Khairat el-Shater, referring to “sheep”, a derogatory term popular among Brotherhood opponents used to describe followers of the group in Egypt. The atmosphere was generally celebratory as the thousands of demonstrators were waving national flags and chanting against Morsi. Hundreds of women holding hands were chanting, “Morsi, get out!”. At the same time, they were encircled by a human shield that was considered necessary to curb the number of sexual assaults reported in Tahrir and its surroundings since the uprising began on 30 June. Anti-sexual violence groups such as Tahrir Bodyguard and Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment wore recognisable neon yellow vests and helmets and were monitoring the scene. The vicinity of Ittihadiya Palace was almost complete with people protesting against Morsi, as the band Cairokee attended the demonstrations for a second time since Monday’s rallies in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo and performed in front of hundreds of thousands of protesters cheering them, with lyrics such as “we are the people… and our path is right” and “you say ‘justice’, and they call you a betrayer”. Several miles from the presidential palace, anti-Morsi demonstrators assembled outside the Ministry of Defence building and chanted patriotically. The group of pro-military protesters was building up until the waited announcement, and they had been holding a sit-in in the location for twelve days. Ninety-three diplomats, some based in the foreign affairs ministry, declared a strike as an objection to the “failure of the president to meet the people’s demands.”

Alexandria’s streets witnessed mass protests, with anti-Morsi rallies marching along its main streets, including the seafront. Several thousand people flocked to Sidi Gaber’s station square, surroundings, and the Al Qaeda Ibrahim Mosque in the city centre, two typical rally points for anti-government demonstrations. There were also tens of thousands of Morsi opponents stationed in the Sidi Bishr district’s Mahatta Square, calling for the regime’s fall. Clashes occurred in the neighbourhood when Morsi supporters scuffled with the residents, leaving five injured. There were violent clashes that erupted in other parts of the city when a rally by estimated hundreds of Morsi’s Islamist supporters, who were chanting, “The people want to apply the law of God!”, was intercepted by residents of the Agami district who tried to obstruct the March in objection to the demonstration’s slogans. The confrontation left nearly seventeen injured and later required police intervention, the latter using teargas to disperse the fighting. Hundreds of thousands rallied in Mansoura’s Thawra Square, which significantly increased after el-Sisi’s statement later that night. Protesters in the city continued to blockade several state institutions for the fourth consecutive day of their civil disobedience campaign. “The people already brought down the regime,” protesters chanted, and “Mansoura will turn you back into a banned group”. Damietta saw 10,000 protesters gathering in Al-Bosta Square since Sunday.

In different acts of civil disobedience across the country, Kafr el-Sheikh saw protesters still besieging the governorate headquarters and announced their intention to keep doing so until Morsi and his Brotherhood-appointed governor resigned. In Tanta, members of youth protest groups shut the gate to the Gharbiya governorate offices with metal chains, preventing employees from entering the building. In Menoufia, demonstrators blocked one of the city’s main roads. In Sharqia, Morsi’s hometown, crowds of protesters gathered outside the president’s residence, chanting anti-regime slogans, stating that they would start an open-ended sit-in until their demands were met, threatening to bring the whole city to a halt. Port Said witnessed protesters shutting down the Investment Authority compound.

Coup d’état

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 army arrested Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders and declared Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt. Demonstrations and clashes between supporters and opponents of the move throughout Egypt followed the announcement. 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.

Characteristics of June 2013 Egyptian protests

Anti-American sentiment

Since Mohamed Morsi’s inauguration in June 2012, a sense of anti-Americanism grew stronger in many Egyptian societies that opposed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Anne W. Patterson, the US Ambassador in Egypt, was singled out during the events as the one to blame for allegedly conspiring to bring Morsi to power and for holding deals with senior Brotherhood officials. Patterson previously said that the White House supported Mohamed Morsi. “Some say that street action will produce better results than elections. My government and I are deeply sceptical,” she said. Several prominent activists, such as George Ishaq, called her “an evil lady creating divisions”. At the same time, Hassan Shahin, a co-founder of Tamarod, said, “America and the Brotherhood have united to bring down the Egyptian people”. Morsi’s opponents made a symbol out of her in the streets, reflecting their anger at what they believed to be the American government’s meddlesome role in the country’s affairs.

In Tahrir Square and other protest locations across Egypt, large banners expressed love for the American people but hatred towards the US administration. Anti-American posters were standard among anti-Morsi demonstrators, with some having Patterson’s image plastered on banners crossed out with a blood-red X or smeared with insults, the most common being “Hayzaboon” (Arabic for “ogre”).

Solidarity and expatriate protests

Hundreds of Egyptians and Australians participated 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. Another protest occurred in Sydney, where hundreds from the Egyptian community gathered to protest against Morsi, demanding he leave. Members of the Tamarod movement in Australia organised the demonstration.

There were demonstrations in front of the Egyptian Consulate in Canada 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 the 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. Other cities, such as Toronto, Calgary and the capital, Ottawa, also witnessed protests against Morsi.

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 organisations protesting against Mohamed Morsi in the Place Saint-Michel, coordinated with several revolutionary and secular forces in the city. The April 6 Youth Movement organised a demonstration in the Place de l’Opéra, while another in front of the Egyptian embassy took place on Saturday and Sunday. A rival demonstration, however, was reported in Trocadéro in support of the president.

In Italy, anti-Morsi protests occurred in five cities: Milan, Rome, Bologna, Napoli and Palermo. According to MENA, most Egyptians in Italy joined the anti-Morsi demonstrations, and the most significant 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. Another fifty people gathered in Piazza Duca d’Aosta, demanding Morsi’s resignation.

The Constitution Party reported protests in European cities such as Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, Sweden’s capital; Stockholm, Ireland’s capital, Dublin. There were also several German cities, including the capital, Berlin, where around 80 demonstrators gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy carrying red cards to show solidarity with the Tamarod movement. Switzerland’s Geneva also witnessed protests against Morsi.

From South Korea, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) delivered a message of solidarity with the Egyptian workers participating in the protests, saying: “The struggle of Egyptian people is our struggle”. The statement begins with:

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, which he said:

I’ve decided to extend a concise 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. Also, several hundred demonstrators gathered in Washington, D.C., before the White House. Many were young and chanted against Mohamed Morsi with slogans such as “Leave” on Saturday and Sunday.

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

International reactions

Supranational bodies

European Union – The European Union released a brief statement: “We call all political forces in Egypt to remain calm, avoid violence and start a political dialogue”.

United Nations – UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey stated that while most of the protests appear to be peaceful, “the reports of several deaths and injuries, of sexual assault against women demonstrators, as well as acts of destruction of property are to be strongly condemned.”

On Tuesday, Rupert Colville of the UN human rights office read a statement. “We are following the agitated situation in Egypt with great concern 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.

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 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.
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.”
France – French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot called Egyptian authorities to listen to “the legitimate concerns” of protesters.
On Tuesday, Iran – Iran’s government 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 people’s vote”.
Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: “Like everybody, we are observing 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 peace will be kept”.
Eli Shaked, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, 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.”
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 overseeing developments, 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.
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 clarified that this was a personal stance, not an official position.
Russia – The Russian Foreign Ministry gave a statement that 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 to ensure national unity and consensus on needed economic, social and political reforms,” the statement said.
Syria – Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said that the political crisis in Egypt could only be overcome if Morsi realised that an overwhelming majority of his Egyptian people rejected his presence and wanted him removed. On 3 July, he called the Muslim Brotherhood a “terrorist” organisation and a “US tool.”
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”.
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.
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. We should support proper democratic processes and proper government by consent.”
United States – President Obama remarked on 1 July in a press conference in Tanzania that “our number-one priority has been ensuring that our embassies and consulates are protected. The US government put on high alert around five hundred crisis-response marines previously deployed in Italy and Spain to respond to the crisis in Egypt. Number two, we’ve consistently insisted that all parties involved remain peaceful, whether members of Mr Morsi’s party or the opposition. 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….”

Others

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