A man walks in front of the main zoo around Cairo University and Nahdet Misr Square where members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi are camping in Giza, south of Cairo. – Reuters



Renad Ghanem

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Many of Rabaa Al-Adawiya residents say that protests by Mohamed Morsi supporters have kept them trapped inside their homes since June 28. Many residents who tried to venture out for food or water faced body searches and harassments by the protesters.



Many Cairo residents interviewed on the phone told Saudi Gazette that protesters’ camps were blocking their homes, garbage was piling up spreading diseases. Loudspeakers and noise of fireworks keep residents around Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque awake at night.



Khadija Abdul Khalik, a resident of in Rabaa Al-Adawiya neighborhood, told Saudi Gazette that Morsi-supporters don’t respect the basic rights of residents of the area.



“We are trapped. I don’t go to my work and I go out from home only if necessary. They search us every time we leave home and when we come back. They have no rights to ask us for our ID but we will not pass until we show it,” said Khadija.



“Our rights to feel safe at home has been violated. We can not even go out to the balconies of our apartments, because we are afraid. We never let our children out because we feel that there are many criminals out there,” she said.



Khadija believes that Morsi supports are using the residents of Rabaa Al-Adawiya as human shields.



Ahmed Al-Bakry, another resident of the area, said that complaints were made to police but nothing has change, and in fact it is getting worse.



“Enough is enough. We are human and we can’t tolerate what’s happening any more. They sleep at the entrance to our buildings. They sleep in the garage. We can’t move our cars because of them,” he said.



“They threaten some of the residents that they will kill them if the don’t let them control the area as they want,” he said.



“They knock the doors and tell the residents that they want to use bathrooms. They consider our homes their homes, which is a total disrespect,” he said.



While Sharifa Wahdan, who lives in Rabaa Al-Adawiya, claimed that many protesters are armed with weapons.



“Some of the protesters forced themselves on our roofs and took position as snipers. The protest is not peaceful. They are talking about Islam 24 hours a day on the stage but what they are doing to us as residents and neighbors is totally not Islamic,” she added.  



“I never let my children out. I’m so afraid that they might hurt them, especially after I saw the weapons that they have. The loudspeakers never stop and their volume is high especially at night. We cannot go to sleep,” she said.



Reham Mahdy, who lives two streets away from Rabaa Al-Adawiya, said that she suffers a lot when she goes out, because the protesters are blocking the main roads.