Egypt: A fine line between patriotism and chauvinism · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

From ferocious marketing campaigns to Facebook wars, the hacking of websites, and owl burning, the November 14th football match between Egypt and Algeria has turned into an ugly war which got worse after Egypt's defeat on November 18 in Sudan. Egyptian and Algerian youth got sucked into a Twitter war and in real life Egyptians went on demonstrations, attacked the Algerian Embassy, and demanded revenge. Egyptian-Algerian actor Ahmed Mekky dedicated a song called “Wake Up“ to the hypnotized mobs before the first match, where he asked Egyptians and Algerians to remember their legacy of Arabism. Alaa Mubarak, the Egyptian President's eldest son, turned into a national hero when he called live on TV and beat the drums of war.
From the President's son to renowned actors and actresses, media figures, writers, and Facebook users, fury has blinded common sense; Dr. Mostafa Al Naggar was there the night of the demonstrations in Zamalek and he hated what he saw:
Wael Nawara knows that a hairline separates patriotism from chauvinism:
Ahmed Naje is disgusted with the Egyptian cultural scene
Naje goes on to denounce the shameful statements of those who should carry the torch of enlightenment. He actually believes that they have tricked us into looking up to them for decades and tricked those in charge of film festivals into believing that they were worthy of honors and awards:
Naje continues the saga of prejudice saying:
When asked to choose sides, Egyptian-Algerian actor Ahmed Mekky chose Egypt. Zeinobia cheered for his new song “I am Egyptian“:
Ahmed Mekky has released a new Rap song but this time he is singing for  Egypt. Egyptian-Algerian Mekky demands an official apology from Algeria for what  happened. It is the best among all these songs released lately may be because it  is more honest and it is not about the crisis rather about Egypt itself.
Instead of separate Egyptian and Algerian statements, Wael Nawara published a joint Egyptian-Algerian statement signed by 140 people from all over the Arab world:
Karim El Beheiry of Egyworkers posted ” A common Decision … We Won't Separate” in English, Arabic, and French:
Ahmed Al Sabbagh posted an initiative to reconcile the two countries on Facebook and on his blog: