Despite a ban on unauthorized demonstrations since 2013, and thousands detained and prosecuted since then, anti-Sisi protests returned to Egyptian streets on September 20^th, 2020 in a flurry of anger. Protesters shouted, “Say it out loud and don’t be scared, el-Sisi has got to go” as they took to the streets for a sixth day on September 25^th, a day termed the ‘Friday of Rage.’ The unrest was sparked across Egypt by el-Sisi’s move to start demolishing so-called illegally constructed buildings. The most affected neighborhoods will be the poorest. Last year, the national statistics agency reported that 33% of Egyptians were categorized as poor, up from 28% in 2015, despite a commitment from the Egyptian Government in 2018 to halve poverty by 2020 and eliminate it by 2030. Some organizations argue Egypt has set the official poverty line too low, for instance, The World Bank estimates that 60% of Egyptians are “poor or vulnerable.”

581 protestors have been arrested in 17 of Egypt’s 28 governorates including 68 children, some as young as 11, indicating that the protests are widespread. Amnesty International’s Hussein Baoumi has reported that they have received numerous human rights violation complaints, and that the police have used excessive force, including the use of live ammunition.

Al Jazeera reported that a 25-year-old male, Sami Wagdy Bashir, was shot and killed while protesting and that three others were wounded during the same incident. According to William Lawrence, a former U.S. diplomat and a professor of political science, the protests would have been more widespread had the Egyptian Government not performed a pre-emptive crackdown of over 1000 arrests of intellectuals, university students, and other key individuals. He emphasizes the importance of protests occurring at all in the tightly controlled Egyptian society, revealing the depth of the anger felt by citizens.

In response to the protests, the Egyptian Government has delayed the deadline for the payment of fines for buildings it has identified as being not up to code from the end of September to the end of October. Egyptian media outlets have reported that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has stated that around half of all Egyptians live in buildings erected without permits. With 12% of Egypt’s GDP based in tourism, and uncertainty across many other sectors, the dire economic situation will continue to fuel unrest. On October 1^st, 2020, Sisi issued decree #177, ratifying the $2.7 billion pandemic relief fund from the IMF. Last year Mohamed Ali, a former business contractor with the Egyptian military for 15 years, accused Sisi of wasting millions on vanity construction projects as poverty continued to rise, which sparked widespread outrage, protests, and a crackdown by Sisi on any political opposition.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Egypt remains an important ally for the United States against the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Further destabilization may allow terrorist groups to gain a stronger foothold in Egypt, resulting in the destabilization of Libya, both of which would threaten Israel. It remains to be seen how the outcome of the U.S. election may affect the relationship with Egypt. According to Matthew Spence, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy, Egypt has been “… one of the most significant policy divides between the White House and the State Department and the Department of Defense.”