Al-Mahalla al-Kubra 6.98

El Mahalla El Kubra – commonly shortened to '''' – is a large industrial and agricultural city in Egypt, located in the middle of the Nile Delta on the western bank of the Damietta Branch tributary. The city is known for its textile industry. It is the largest city of the Gharbia Governorate and the second largest in the Nile Delta, with a population of 535,278 as of 2012.History2006–11 protestsOver 15,000 protesters clashed with police in El Mahalla in 2006, following the publication of a cartoon mocking Islam in Denmark.Later in 2006 textile workers struck to protest market reforms, demanding better living conditions.Beginning in April 2008 the city held mass demonstrations protesting the election results of President Hosni Mubarak, claiming election fraud and demanding better wages. Security forces were ordered to crack down on the dissidents, and in May they killed two or three in the city and injured dozens. Images of protesters in Mahalla overturning billboards of Mubarak were viewed by some Egyptians as a turning point in Egyptian politics, according to The Washington Post. The Observer has written that protests in El Mahalla from 2006 to 2011 spearheaded larger political changes throughout Egypt. A Facebook group established by 28-year-old engineer Ahmad Maher to support striking textile workers in El Mahalla gained 70,000 followers and helped organize support for the strikers nationally.In 2011, protests in Mahalla contributed to the collapse of the Mubarak dictatorship.