"It's a God-sent issue"
Interesting quote from this Washington Post article about staged protests in the Middle East:
Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim said the government was happy to let its people vent their anger over the plight of the Palestinians instead of focusing on unemployment, inflation, lack of economic or political opportunity or other problems.
"It is a God-sent issue for the government for the time being, to sidetrack and deflect attention from problems at home," Ibrahim said. But "whenever it threatens to spill outside the university gates, then the ugly face of the security forces is shown."