Why is Minya such a hotbed for sectarian violence? Given that Minya was the setting for 10 incidents of sectarian incidents in just the past seven months, according to a report from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Heba Afify tries to get to the root causes of what dynamic is at play. Aside from being one of the “strongholds of the Jama’a al Islamiya since its foundation in the 1970s,” and other various Islamist groups, Afify explains the typical chain of events, quoting a Minya-based activist: “Most sectarian incidents starts with a personal altercation or criminal act and then, with a delay in security responses and because of widespread intolerance in the area, people take the side of those who belong to their group, which is more a reflection of tribalism than it is of religious fanaticism.” (Read Why do sectarian tensions run high in Minya?)