Liberal commentators, activists and politicians — on state-controlled media and across a spectrum of independent channels — say it is long past time to evict the tens of thousands of Morsi supporters and Muslim Brotherhood backers from their sit-ins around Cairo University and the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

“They need to put a siege upon them, and cut off their supplies of water, of cement, because they are building walls. There are weapons and criminals in there, as well as good people, but they should deal with these criminals now,” Bassel Adel said in an interview. Adel is a former member of parliament and a leader of the Constitution Party, a liberal group founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, who is serving as interim vice president for foreign affairs.

The Egyptian liberals making these calls are aware that a crackdown by the military or police on a committed, cohesive, religiously inspired group could lead to bloodshed. The protesters have fortified their positions with sandbags and brick walls, and their encampments are filled with women and children. They vow not to disperse until Morsi — who has been detained without charges in an undisclosed location — is returned to office.