another thing about the city of Port Said

Fayrouz Karawya reminds us of some other features of Port Said’s recent history, including this:

“After Mubarak’s attempted assassination in Port Said in 1999, there was a systematic policy to ruin the city. Port Said had thrived on being a duty-free zone north of the Suez Canal. Port Said’s economy sank following the alleged assassination attempt due to state policies that aimed to end the city’s status as a duty-free zone. This has left many unemployed; some have been forced to make a living off of being paid thugs for state security.”

The only time I went to Port Said was in December 2000. It was still a duty-free port then, and seemed to be thriving for that reason at the time.