Egyptians laugh off EgyptAir plane hijacking

Cairo: The hijacking of an EgyptAir aircraft while on a domestic flight and forcing it to land in Cyprus have brought to the fore a characteristic side of Egyptians — satire — even in tough times.

Tuesday’s incident prompted Egyptians to turn to social media and set up popular trending hashtags, some of them were typically satirical.

The Airbus A320 aircraft was hijacked by an Egyptian man while on a flight from Alexandria to Cairo with 55 passengers and eight crew members on board.

The plane landed at the Cypriot airport of Larnaca where the passengers were eventually released unhurt and the hijacker arrested. The hijacker, identified Saif Al Deen Mustafa, used a fake suicide explosive belt.

“Thank God, the hijacker had not kidnapped the train shuttling between Cairo and Alexandria and forced it to go to Cyprus. This would have been a farce!” an Egyptian man, named Reda Dawoud, remarked online.

“Why did the passengers take a plane to travel from Alexandria to Cairo? What is wrong with the Peugeot?” Mohammad Al Sayed said sarcastically, referring to the usual way of travel between the two cities, which are around 220 kilometres apart.

Several online commentators jokingly voiced jealousy that the passengers, instead of flying to Cairo, landed in Cyprus.

“How lucky you are!” wrote Mohammad Al Khameesy, addressing the passengers. “I beg you come and kidnap me, too!”

Mido, another commentator sardonically said: “The release of Egyptian passengers dampened their joy of having been taken to Cyprus!”

In recent years, increasing numbers of mainly young Egyptians have sought to migrate to Europe in the hope of improving their economic conditions.

Dozens of them perished while taking illegal journeys to the continent on boats.

In the same vein, named Mohammad Anwar, mockingly quipped on Facebook: “The entire world feels sympathy for Egyptians. So, when some of us were kidnapped, their abductor felt sorry for them and took them to Cyprus!”

To Alaa, an Egyptian girl, the incident was a boon. “I am ready to be kidnapped!” she joked.

The motive for Tuesday’s hijacking is still unclear. However, initial reports suggested that the hijacker wanted to meet his ex-wife in Cyprus and patch up with her. He reportedly sent a letter with a released stewardess to his ex-wife.

This potential motive stirred online jokes.

“One usually hears that a man invites his wife to a party or brings her a gift to reconcile with her. But for a man and on his own (to) hijack a plane to make up with his woman, this for sure is something novel,” said an Egyptian man, named Badr Al Deen in a Facebook post.

“Love hijacks!” a commentator, nicknamed Teka, said.

As the drama dragged on Tuesday, TV stations showed a still picture of the hijacker with an explosive belt around his waist. For some Egyptian satirists, he looked too frail to commandeer an aircraft.

“Is this a man who could hijack a plane?” asked Mohammad Jamal on Facebook. “The biggest thing he could do is to go to a chemist’s store, seize a packet of Viagra and run away!”

Meanwhile, a British man who was pictured with the hijacker said he’s not sure why he posed for the bizarre photo.

Ben Innes told The Sun newspaper he wanted to take “the selfie of a lifetime” while the hijack was unfolding.

The photo of Innes standing next to the hijacker with what looked like an exposed suicide vest went viral on social media within hours. Innes, 26, told the newspaper in a story published on Wednesday that he had been texting his mother throughout the ordeal. He says, “I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway.”

— With inputs from AP