Over the past year, this relatively obscure governorate in Upper Egypt, with a population of a little more than four million, has produced some of the country's most disturbing headlines. Burned churches, mass death sentences, a looted museum—these have all been prominent Minya stories since June 30, 2013, when protests were held across Egypt, eventually resulting in the army forcibly removing president Mohammed Morsi from office. In Minya, the worst incidents happened in August, when local mobs attacked government buildings, Coptic Christian churches, and a museum, killing dozens, including a number of police officers. The mobs were responding to events in Cairo, where security forces had violently dispersed two sit-ins held in support of Morsi, who had been a longtime leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Not long after that initial decision, I happened to be researching archaeology in the region, so I scheduled a meeting with the highest-ranking local official, Governor Salah Zeyada. I was surprised to hear whom the governor blamed for Minya's problems: Barack Obama and the United States of America.
"They broke into six police stations in Minya and stole all the weapons," the governor said, describing the events of last August. "They burned 14 churches completely. And they burned four prosecution offices and courts, and they attacked the Mallawi Museum and stole all the antiquities. This was an American plot to turn Egypt into a new Syria, or a new Libya, or a new Iraq. This is the democratic America?"
Through my translator, I asked the governor to clarify who was responsible for the burned churches.
"It was Obama," he said. "And all of the American politicians who have divided all of the world. They are the only people who supported the Muslim Brotherhood, because they knew that the Muslim Brotherhood would destroy all of Egypt."
NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN THEIR COUNTRIES IN THE END MUSLIMS ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO BLAME AMERICA.
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