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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Apr-06
Who's responsible for the Egypt tourist resort bombings?

Web Log - April, 2006

Who's responsible for the Egypt tourist resort bombings?

Monday's was the third seaside resort bombing in two years, and officials are uncertain exactly whom to blame.

Seaside tourist resort Dahab, in Sinai desert, Egypt <font size=-2>(Source: <i>Toronto Star</i>)</font>

Seaside tourist resort Dahab, in Sinai desert, Egypt (Source: Toronto Star)

On Monday, three buildings were bombed at the packed tourist resort of Dahab in the Sinai desert on the Red Sea: a restaurant, a cafe and a supermarket. 24 people were killed, mostly Egyptians on vacation, and 80 were wounded. Dahab is a vacation resort for backpackers, surfers and scuba divers, while the two previous bombing sites -- Taba in 2004 and Sharm el Sheikh in 2005 -- had far more luxurious five-star hotels, where 34 and 70 were killed, respectively.

Ten people have been arrested as suspects in the bombings, but who's masterminding them?

Although al-Qaeda is the obvious suspect for the mastermind, there's a completely different group suspected in this case. It's a small militant group called Al Tawhid Wal Jihad ("Monotheism and Jihad"), drawn from Bedouin tribes in the Sinai.

The idea that a local Bedouin group is responsible for the bombings is supported by the fact that all three bombings occurred on Egyptians national holidays - days when the resorts are sure to be crowded with Egyptian vacationers.

The day of the Taba attack fell on October 5 when Egyptians commemorate the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The Sharm el Sheikh bombs exploded on July 22, Egyptian Independence Day. And the latest bombing occurred during a holiday period celebrating the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.

Who are the Bedouins? They've been around longer than anyone. They're nomadic tribes that have lived on the Arabian peninsula since time immemorial. Their way of life survived until well into the 20th century, and they were pretty much the sole inhabitants of the Sinai desert until Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979.

That's when the "Nile Valley people" of Egypt started pouring into the Sinai, and dominated the police, the government and the tourist industry. Thus, we see the same textbook situation that we've described in countries around the world -- two distinct cultures, one wealthy one poor, trying to share the same piece of land.

Bedouins live throughout the Arabian peninsula, and there's one more interesting fact to know about them: Arab Bedouins are the only Arabs that can serve in the Israeli Army. There's also a Bedouin member of the Israeli Knesset.

That's not to say that the Israelis and Bedouins get along particularly well, but they do have long-standing relationship dating back to the formation of Israel, and that makes the the objects of even greater suspicion on the part of the Egyptians, with the result that the Israelis are the lesser of two evils when compared to the Egyptians.

Thus, the Bedouins are the logical suspects for bombings that target Egyptian vacationers at lucrative Egyptian seaside resorts on Egyptian holidays.

But even if the Bedouins are directly responsible for the Dahab attacks -- and that's far from proven -- that still doesn't mean that al-Qaeda wasn't involved.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which is at least loosely linked with al-Qaeda, is a radical Islamist group determined to turn Egypt into an Islamic theocracy. With regard to that 1979 peace treaty mentioned above: When Egypt's president at that time, Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat, signed the peace treaty with Israel, it was considered a traitorous act in the Arab world. Egypt was expelled from the Arab League for ten years, and El-Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sadat was succeeded by the current president, Hosni Mubarak, whom the Muslim Brotherhood considers to be almost as much an infidel as George Bush, if only because Mubarak has continued good (though strained) relations with Israel.

By the way, Hamas is a military offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and even if there were no other reason, that reason alone would explain why it's impossible for the Hamas-led Palestinian government cannot possibly recognize Israel. Nonetheless, in a Monday press release, the Hamas government said that the Palestinians "strongly condemn the criminal act which goes against religious beliefs and is against Arab interests."

Still there's no doubt that the Bedouin group Al Tawhid Wal Jihad could have links to either the Muslim Brotherhood or al-Qaeda or both, and could have received money or weapons from either.

As the Mideast continues its accelerating descent into total chaos, the Bedouins and Al Tawhid Wal Jihad in particular are two more groups that will be playing a part. (26-Apr-06) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Apr-06 Who's responsible for the Egypt tourist resort bombings?

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 26-Apr-06
Who's responsible for the Egypt tourist resort bombings?