They Wanted Justice

One of the most phenomenal aspects of the revolution in Egypt is how young people went out in masses despite their usual passiveness and the pervasive culture of fear security bodies have built.

(Down with the regime)

30 years of oppression provide ample reason to go out and protest whether for price increases, poor wages, taxes, pensions or the corruption within the entire People’s Assembly. Many of the protests before January 25 were related to professional grievances. There were protests for doctors’ wages, railway workers, government employees and factory workers. All of these in my opinion were just catalysts.

The real reason people went out and protested on January 25, 2011 was because of Khaled Said. In June 2010, Khaled Said, a young man of age 27, was murdered in Alexandria at the hands of two police goons in plain sight. He died for seemingly no reason but refusing to show his identification to the plain clothed policemen who did not want to present him with their ID. They violently dragged him out of a cyber café, took him inside a building next door and beat him till he died. When charges were brought against the police, the forensic report was falsified and the Ministry of Interior started a smear campaign against the young man full of lies in order to cover up for the policemen.

This incident of brutality infuriated most of the young people of Khaled’s age and class. It had been a long standing unspoken rule that people from good families were never mistreated by the police. This incident, the blatant smear campaign and the protection of the murderers struck a chord with young middle-class Egyptians. In retaliation, they staged demonstrations that took place opposite the Ministry of Interior protesting the injustice that had befallen Khaled. This was one of the few mass protests where ordinary citizens other than activists, journalists and certain professionals decided to partake including the disgruntled youth.

The Ministry of Interior confronted the protests against police violence with police violence. Brutality terrorized protesters and many were arrested through the use of violent thugs.

The young men and women, desperately trying to get their message across devised alternate forms of protests that wouldn’t anger authorities. They decided to protest in creative ways, such as asking people in Cairo and Alexandria to wear black, stand on the bank of the Nile or the Mediterranean, backs to the street reading whatever holy book they believe in. The authorities were still angered at this form of silent protest and cracked down on the protesters in various ways. It felt that authorities were not angered by the manner of protest, but by the concept of citizens expressing themselves collectively in any way.

The feeling of oppression was driven to new limits with a clear message from security bodies: anyone can be picked on; anyone can be beaten to death. Not only do you have to accept it, but you have no right to object.

The feeling of injustice lingered on with those young men and women. It was an implosive force waiting for a chance to explode. Khaled Said was a true symbol of someone young, talented and vibrant, whose life was stolen unlawfully by those who were supposed to uphold the law. The slogan, which authorities may have taken lightly was, “We are all Khaled Said.”

Till today the authorities are wary of some sort of conspiracy theory unaware of how true the slogan was. The young men and women felt as though they were Khaled Said, it wasn’t a shallow slogan like those the government invents. They felt his mother’s pain and they felt his injustice as he asked he pleaded with his murders to stop their brutality.

Despite all efforts, Khaled Said was not forgotten. He was the epitome of everything that was wrong with this country. Everything was building up in the background: poverty, ignorance, corruption, dictatorship and misrepresentation, but Khaled Said hit very close to home.

When the Saints’ Church in Alexandria was bombed right after the biggest falsification of the People’s Assembly, people were further charged. When Tunisia proved that dictators can go and that injustice can be fought, the implosive energy exploded.

Joined by others with various grievances, those young men and women took to the streets starting January 25 charged with a load of injustice. The young men and women fighting for their freedoms went out fighting for one another. They went out fighting so that there wouldn’t be another Khaled Said.

They did not want police brutality to continue unquestioned; they did not want to live in a sea of injustice. They wanted the perpetrators held accountable. They wanted to be safe and they wanted their friends safe. They wanted a future where parents would not wonder if their child has been beaten to death by the so-called upholders of the law. They wanted a chance to express their anger, and tell the world not to believe the lies of the police and the regime. They wanted life; they wanted justice.

I Cried Today

I had thought the country would take numerous years to change into that which we hoped for. All it takes is a visit to Tahrir Square (which I now call Tahrir Republic) to see that it took only four days to change people. It is a revolution of the people, by the people. Like my fellow Egyptians, I too am shocked. Yet for the first time I look upon my country with pride. Many have died for us to have that piece of land in Tahrir that gives us hope for the future.

Tahrir Republic is all that is good about Egyptians.

I cried today. Like many others who watched Wael Ghonim's interview, I cried today. It was a moment that I felt so well. They were tears for a country that could have been. It was not the first time I shed those tears. I often cried for my country when moved by the goodness of its people; we don’t deserve this prison, we don’t deserve this injustice. I did not cry for Wael Ghonim but for the same reasons he did.

When I saw those young beautiful faces of those who died for the revolution I was moved to tears. The reason I cried is because of their smiling faces. They weren’t soldiers, set on spreading their ideologies. They weren’t serious about fighting for some political cause. They were smiling because they loved life. Some seemed to have had a comfortable life. They looked like many I knew who ordinarily would have brushed off the prospect of making our country a better place and sat at a café. They all looked like they would have been happier driving off to a coastal city than walk into danger, into the hands of the tyrants that were sworn to protect us. They all could have stayed home that dreadful but glorious day.

But on 25 January, they decided they must speak up. They would leave the luxury of their comfortable lives and fight for their dignity and ours. They would go to the streets and voice out their woes despite their fear. They would overcome violence with peace. Those ordinary young men and women of this country chose to care; they chose to fight for something great. They chose to fight for our children, for our future.

Those faces on screen, so full of life, are dead for no reason but greed and evil. I look into their faces and I feel like I’ve always known them. They are my friends before I ever got to know them, and I will miss them although I never spent time with them. More than that, I love them all because they loved us all without having met us.

I used to be afraid, now I'm Egyptian

Must they Protest?

There is a recurring pattern regarding the protests. On the day of the protests Jan 25, State Television remarked that the protests started well but turned violent in the middle of the day. This was done to justify police violence. On Jan 28, reports of the protest of Jan 25 changed completely, and the whole day was turned miraculously into a flawless, peaceful march, but that the real perpetrators infiltrated the protests on Jan 28. Some of the protesters were accused of setting police stations on fire.

In the following weeks, the same thing happened, again and again. Previous protests were commendable but the most recent were or maneuvered by a foreign agenda. Do you see a pattern?

Today, Safwat El Sherif and Gamal Mubarak have been removed and Hussam Badrawy, a man of more moderate opinions was put in charge of the NDP. Those who have asked for an end to the revolution have celebrated its triumphs. Every day they ask for protests to end, and are surprised by the results of its continuation.

On Friday Feb 4 there was propaganda that almost 70 percent of the protesters were from the Muslim Brotherhood. Irrespective of sources that tell me otherwise, how does one reconcile the mixed messages? There were around one million people in Tahrir, this means 700 thousand of them were Muslim Brotherhood. If they had that many people in Tahrir, they would have been obvious for starters. If the Muslim Brotherhood had these numbers, why weren’t they there on Friday? They wouldn’t have waited all these years to start demonstrations. It’s highly improbable. Also if Muslim Brotherhood were leading this movement, why would they stick so much to the peaceful demonstration philosophy?

If 70 percent were the brotherhood, that leaves 30 percent. Since almost everyone has been accused of having a hidden agenda, we can estimate a total of 25 percent of Syrians, Iranians, Israelis, Tunisians and Americans, which leaves 5 percent that can only be Egyptians unhappy with our dictatorship. Does that even make sense?

The game is to convince people that protesters are to blame. But are they now? Let’s consider the facts. The reason work did not resume after protests is because the internet was out and because the Ministry of Interior let prisoners out. So why are protesters being blamed? It’s because the government said so, and nothing else. Why is there a curfew? Because the government has organized militia to terrorize Egyptian people. If you come to think of it, protesters are to blame because they stood against tyranny and terror, and for that the whole of Egypt is punished using tyranny and terror. When you ask protesters to go home, you are asking for the punishment by the government to stop. You are succumbing to the tyranny we all resent. People are risking their lives for our collective rights, and they’re being backstabbed by those who fear oppression and thus will end up being oppressed.

The argument that the economy is collapsing is meaningless. It is also a form of collective punishment. The regime is hurting our economy to scare us. Why do you support the regime in the terrorist activity of destroying our economy? Don’t you know that if corruption is removed, we’ll rebuild our country in very little time? Don’t you know that one corrupt official like Ahmed Ezz can balance out any deficit even if they punish us like this for another month?

Before talking of the economy, remember again how it is being robbed. Our losses due to theft and corruption are more than those due to the suspension of trade. We will make it up when we become a true democracy. There will be investments to rebuild and this time, they will flow to the economy rather than some Swiss bank or mansions in Paris, New York or Frankfurt. Mubarak has 40 -70 billion dollars of our country’s wealth. To put that into perspective, our total deficit is 32 billion dollars. Don’t worry about our economy, if some people can amass that much wealth, then the country will be fine when they leave.

To those saying ‘give the government a chance’, I agree, but what’s stopping them? If they are true to their promises, the country will change irrespective of the protesters. The protesters are there to ensure that the decisions taken align with the promises. If the protesters had left when you first asked them to, Safwat El Sherif would have still been in power, Ezz and Adly on the loose, and a million other promises not unfulfilled. You really don’t know what you’re talking about asking people to leave and reaping their victories. You’re entitled to have an opinion, but please don’t discourage those in Tahrir fighting for your rights. It’s enough as it is that you’re not doing any of the fighting.

If the regime is not changed, you will have a powerful, more oppressive police state. This is a regime that shuts down phones and the internet. This is a regime that sends in camels and horses to disperse crowds. This is a regime that runs people over with police trucks. This is a regime that promises freedoms and safe passage to all protesters in Tahrir and arrests them as its Prime Minister makes these statements. Do you think it is in any way serious about reforms?

These people have died and been injured and you’re upset because you weren’t able to go to the movies or make an extra hundred pounds? Freedom comes at a cost and you’re not paying any of it. If you want to be enslaved by a tyrant, it’s your choice, but don’t force others around you to become as cowardly as you are.

The Conspiracy Theory

Two concerns have been planted by the regime in an attempt to divide Egyptians over their support of the protests which started on 25 January. The first and foremost is whether the Muslim Brotherhood will take over, the second is whether there is a conspiracy within the government orchestrated by some unknown entity within the ministry of interior and executed by rogue agents and thugs. I’ll answer the latter even though in theory it should not matter because all responsibility lies on Mubarak.

In case you’re extremely confused and things seem conflicting, the answer to the question is a definite ‘No’. There is no conspiracy within the government, but there is a conspiracy taking place against the Egyptian people trying to win back their rights. Let me explain why there appears to be a conspiracy and why there isn’t one.

The idea that what happened on Friday was a conspiracy is appealing in order to avoid having to think that this sinister plot is one devised by our rulers. To spread this idea is extremely clever, but here’s why it’s not true.

How can we believe that a brutal police state does not have control over its most important tool? Is it conceivable that after 30 years, the police would defy the regime it has served so devotedly?

Where is the traitor? If there were a culprit, the government would have offered them as a scapegoat at least to appease public opinion especially since these events only managed to infuriate the people and the protesters. Instead, like a guilty party, the government points fingers randomly at no one in specific and makes very general accusations to everyone but itself. The fact that businessmen were not allowed to leave, and their accounts frozen, is a publicity stunt and none of them will be prosecuted. The idea is to give the impression that an investigation is being launched without actually conducting one. The same is true for all the arrests claimed, where the charges are never made public.

Notice how both Ahmed Shafik and Omar Suliman claim that all guilty parties will be brought to trial with no indication as to who the guilty parties are. In the end, they will most likely pin everything on the Muslim Brotherhood after investigations.

When Vice President Omar Suliman was asked if the police had done any wrong, he denied that they had. He said they did a wonderful job. But the real problem is that police used excessive violence during the protests and had been given a signal to retreat simultaneously from all positions at the same time in various cities. If he were not aware, he would have been quick to point fingers at least somewhere within the Ministry of Interior. The question you must ask yourself is, what would Omar Suliman do differently if the regime was in fact the culprit? My answer is nothing, his statements reeked of guilt.

On Wednesday, thugs hiding within pro Mubarak protests attacked the pro democracy protesters. Not only did they use knives and Molotov cocktails, they also sent in horses and camels and used live ammunition at the break of dawn. If you notice that on this particular day, Ahmed Shafik did not appear on television nor did he call shows to issue statements. This comes in stark contrast to the previous day where he appeared on several programs and the day after where he called many. This absence of comment is an implication of knowledge, firstly because I’m sure the prime minister watches Al Jazeera and secondly because camels and horses in Tahrir square are hard to miss if you’re following the situation closely. The fact that live fire from an automatic weapon was fired just before dawn waking up residents of Zamalek is just an overkill. Al Dostour writes that Ahmed Shafik considered handing in his resignation due to his disapproval of these tactics.

There is a new Minister of Interior now, and yet the police seem to be absent. All we have left are thugs that are systematically cracking down on international journalists and kidnapping activists and bloggers.

One of the prominent media personnel, Emad Eldin Adeeb, is spreading the idea that there’s a conspiracy against Mubarak. Mr. Adeeb analyses everything correctly, about how people feel, the Muslim Brotherhood, the youth, but fails to identify with equal accuracy who the traitor is within the system. He has accusations but the aim is to shift the focus on everyone other than Mubarak and his regime. Also note that when he says there is foreign involvement, he uses it very loosely without identifying what the foreign elements are, he only claims they exist. If he were really trying to warn youth about a certain danger, he would identify those elements clearly, but the ambiguity of such accusations make them baseless.

There are a few other questions. Why was the internet restored on the same day these violent attacks took place? The plan was to drive the protesters out of Tahrir square and spread news of pro Mubarak protests taking over. However camels and horses did not manage to implement the plan, and neither did Molotov cocktails nor live ammunition. The resilience of the protesters of Tahrir in the face of death was not something the regime counted on.

Why don’t these protesters go home so that normal life resumes? The protesters never caused banks to close. It was the absence of police and their organized militia and the shutting down of internet and a decision from the top. The protesters are in no way linked to the siege on the major cities in Egypt. This is a collective punishment for asking for our rights.

I can assure those hesitant about what’s happening that there is no internal strife in the government, they are only trying to use psychological warfare through unfounded theories, conflicting actions and media games. We all know who knows how to play these media games, and it’s obvious they don’t want Mubarak to leave.

When Words Have No Place

I’m asked often how I feel about what’s going on in my country. I’m asked for news while I follow the news on Al Jazeera, twitter, friends from the scene or what have you. I haven’t found the right words to describe how I feel today, perhaps because it is a mixture of emotion and grief. It’s sad to belong to a group of people betrayed by everyone around them. An army chooses to stand idle as civilians it is sworn to protect are killed by a police that were sworn to protect. The words cannot express my rage at this injustice that we face, betrayed everywhere from all sides, except the people of other nations. Together we stand in solitude against the oppression of our governments and their quest for power.

What can I say, when words have no place. I am shocked at the amount of evil we’re faced with. At dark times like these how can one believe that the power of goodness can overcome these dark forces. The people protesting are not angels, they are human beings who might have taken bribes, or broken the law. But they are showing goodness beyond the capacity of human beings. Those people brought up in the most dire conditions, where you take what you need by force have embraced an idea based on faith not logic, that these protests will be peaceful. They did not take up arms, or weapons or make Molotov cocktails to prepare for their protests. They went unarmed in open space against the oppressive of governments with the sole faith that goodness shall prevail, that they must adhere to peaceful protests and not throw the first stone.

How did these people, lacking education, lacking the experience of right prevailing, overcome their past experiences and decide to protest peacefully for a change such as this.

The Egyptian people would make any nation proud. They have stood up for their rights in the most admirable way imaginable. The atrocities of this regime are the worst and anything change will bring will be better. A wounded beast hanging on to dear life, taking down everything around, destructive and sinister. For the regime, they are slaves, to be herded, intimidated and killed.

The country is in ruins as we speak, and those who rule it are determined to destroy it before they leave. They would rather burn it all than give any of its citizens a piece of it.

Scary Nights and Tyranny

Tonight is a scary night despite so many things that relay a sense of security. The scene in Tahrir completely festive, friends I’ve met, people I’ve talked to. The army is protecting people against the tyranny of the police. Tomorrow the million march begins and what scares me is that I have too many questions about what just happened this past month.

A church bombing; a policeman killing copts, police brutality. All of these took place. Surprisingly enough the army moved in and nobody was hurt. The army protected Egyptians. For a while, no one knew whose side the army was on. Then, the army made it clear that it means the people no harm. But who controls the army, isn’t it Hosny Mubarak? If he was behind police violence, why did he not order the army to shoot at protesters? Did he give the order and did the army refuse?

So many questions and mixed messages that cannot be interpreted easily. Passion is blind and does not ask for explanations and that’s why I suppress my passion and search for answers. If Mubarak controlled the police, why did he order them out of every inch of the country at the same time? But at the same time, why did the army take steps to fill that void?

Is Mubarak sinister? I don’t have the answer to that question, because I’m not looking for my answer through passion. Is Mubarak capable of such grand treason to the people of Egypt? Why then has he kept Egypt out of wars and bloodshed. He may sell parts of the country, he may make friends with our enemies, but is he a man who has no regard for human life? He may not care for people’s financial well being, but is he mad enough to tear down everything he has built?

I’ve liked Mubarak on a personal level. He can be funny sometimes and is largely considered a war hero. Whenever anyone he knows gets sick, he calls, for he knows that health is such an important thing. In my opinion he does so out of a sense of respect for that matter. He is a tyrant however and cannot be trusted. I loathe the way he runs the country, and I believe that whether it is intentional or out of ignorance, the result is that he must leave sooner or later. Unlike the rest of the revolution, I opt for later.

The truth is that Arabs have seldom had an ex –president, and that would be nice to have. He hasn’t massacred people like a Stalin, he hasn’t sent our troops to die for another person’s war like Nasser. In fact, he hasn’t done anything but take away our dignity. He should stay in Egypt and be tried for the dereliction of his duties.

I’ve said this before but no one really listened, we’ve already won, but we just don’t realize it. We have made our voices heard, worn down the seemingly invincible police, brought in the army and for the first time applied enough pressure for immediate change.

A voice of reason asks me not to make this overthrow an illegitimate one. I want to wait so as to do it right. I fear for the plans of these power hungry men to subdue us again, but I feel it is our duty to do things right and not be like them. We can’t be unlawful just because they are. We’re becoming the new tyrants. Each of us, from the oppression and injustice we faced exploded into self righteousness and from there on tyranny.

The messages are mixed. Omar Suliman, the vice president has promised to talk things out with opposition, and at the same time he promised to uphold the rule of law. That sounds promising but is it true? Many things make me doubt the regime’s intentions. Why has the internet been blocked? Will the phones be blocked? Why?

All I know is that we have power, and we need to negotiate our terms with someone. It took them so long to do this, and while the decision may be delayed due to unforeseen reasons, it seems that they don’t want to give us what we want.

Today is a night to be remembered. Are we being played by various forces? Why did burglars try to break into Maspero (the television building), why were there documents that asked protesters to occupy Maspero. There is a grand conspiracy out there somewhere, and it may be that the young people were being played. I feel there are so many unanswered questions and my theories which I did not share may all be false. At times like these, despite my innumerable thoughts and hypotheses, I will do nothing but pray. For with such unknown odds, one must ask the powers that be to allow the best to happen. I pray for no bloodshed, too much has been spilt already. I pray for no chaos, too much has taken place already. I pray for justice, too much injustice has been served to us already.

A mob has no brain, I pray they stumble upon one tomorrow.

31 Jan 2011

Gun Shots and Coffee

Another night spent out in the streets as one man clings to power even if it means harming several million. The world watches, silently, waiting for they tyrant to bring those people to their knees so that their lives don’t risk being disrupted.

The night was pleasant, even though reports of gun fire and danger were delivered consistently throughout the night. The early hours of the evening seemed like the middle of the night, a scene very uncharacteristic of Cairo where heavy traffic doesn’t stop till an hour or two past midnight. The atmosphere is very communal, young men and old around camp fires, others playing football in the blocked off street. The streets are ours minus the menacing cars that were always stuck in traffic. It was like going to a cafe to meet people without the service.

In the distance, gun shots could be heard and rumors of ongoing battles and such. Still, the people armed with sticks and stones prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.

People stuck together and worked together. Some went to protest, others guarded the neighborhood. There’s no one on our side but ourselves. The whole regime is against us without sympathy for the rights we ask for. The police are certainly the most venomous, but there are others. The army so far has not harmed the people, which is something people may have expected anyway from a treacherous ruler. The people look thankfully upon the army for doing its job, something which all other government bodies have failed to do for years and years. But the army still follows the order of one man who puts his interests above all others. I’ve wondered how so much control can be exerted over honorable men without question.

The internet is still amiss, and it will not be up again till the revolution is quelled. The US continues its hypocrisy with very weak responses to a villainous regime. The people, like prisoners out of control, are being herded in, intimidated and conspired against.

I always thought this revolution was about loyalties. The turning of loyalty is key to victory. Some people will choose to betray their brethren to serve a dictator, others will betray the dictator to serve their brethren. Some people will betray their values, others may find them.

That’s the funny thing about people, they’re unpredictable, some of them anyway. Who knows what a man wants, and why he wants it, but those who find themselves wanting a better future for their children will give people what’s rightfully theirs.

30 Jan 2011

Egyptian Police: A Manner of Treason

A group of people hopeless due to an oppressive government that decided their services were not required stumbled upon something quite extraordinary: hope.

The vibrant youth that walked in the first protests on January 25th were not thinking of all the hardships that such a positive move brings. They only thought hope was afloat and so they must act. They acted responsibly, peacefully, exercising much restraint despite the mountain of repression within. The consequences were the whole nation’s to bear.

Following the violent attacks from the police on January 28, matters escalated and between the hours of 5 and 6 pm, as army units arrived to the scene cheered on by protesters, the police disappeared. All the police from all of the governments in every post were gone and were not to be heard of for the remainder of the night. In the heat of the moment, protesters celebrated the victory over their archrival, but something else happened that night. Organized mobs looted and burned shops, attacked police stations, freed prisoners, took weaponry, terrorized neighborhoods and attacked houses. Naively we believed that to be a price to pay for the successful uprising as all revolutions or uprisings had their share.

The army declared a curfew, and we did not understand why at the time. The following day, the same militia seemed relentless, looting and terrorizing. The act of thousands changed the lives of millions. The same young men with many more took upon themselves the responsibility of seeing this through.

As media covered the catastrophe of how Egypt, one of the safest countries in the world was turned into a den of thieves, people called upon the army to help in a panicked frenzy. They, in turn, called upon their youth who were never needed before to protect their neighborhoods. The young men took to the streets and set up local checkpoints with roadblocks to keep the streets safe. They were armed in sticks, stones or knives, anything they can get their hands on while the perpetrators possibly had guns. Bravely they stood their ground in the face of a danger they did not set out to bring upon themselves that very first Tuesday they marched out.

Interestingly, those left in such a vulnerable position commended the youth of January 25 and never complained as to the state they were in. The people had accepted these brave hopeful young people of as representatives to their cause. More than that, they were proud of them despite their fear.

The young men took it upon themselves to bring down the perpetrators. Thugs were caught and much to everyone’s surprise some were found to be from the police force.

It came as shocking news to some that the police had betrayed Egypt in such a manner, but to most of the young people who went out to protest it came as no surprise. The police had always betrayed Egypt’s trust as of late, so what if the manner of treason was so blatant this time around? It was one of the reasons that triggered all these protests.

The government media denied all allegations against the police and vindicated them, but now, accusations were out in the open. The police betrayed everyone including those defending them. Every news anchor and every news writer that attacked the protesters and defended the police was in jeopardy and now it was those protesters falsely accused that were protecting them.

As the police continue in their treason, people continue to defend their homes. Even valiant officers who were given indefinite leave from the force join the ranks of people and help defend the neighborhoods as citizens. The police failed the people but more than that it failed policemen.

I left tonight to try and keep my streets safe not knowing what would happen if we met with armed gunmen. I met many from my neighborhood whom I had never seen before. We talked and found ourselves united in our grievances. Having been guilty of being amongst those who partook in the protests I asked those who had not participated if it was worth it. Despite the bitter cold and the lack of sleep, there were no complaints. Everyone knew that we had to set out to change the way things are and that we had to win back our dignity somehow.

I write this now as the usual thugs employed in every protest, in every electoral rig, in every bullying feat storm the streets of Egypt. They set out to unleash chaos in every governorate in a methodological manner. Fear is in the air as bullets are heard across the capital and other cities, but so is hope and pride as young people protect the streets. A sense of calm is present as the army commits to protecting its citizens against those cancerous cells.

They don’t have a chance, because we know what we’re fighting for.

We’re winning but we’ve got lots more to go. We’re winning because for the first time, we’re all proud of one another, for being given the opportunity to live up to a responsibility. These are difficult times, but they are also very moving. The same people who did not care to make a stand earlier deeming things hopeless are now making a stand. The same people who had nothing but fears, broke those barrier and face more dangers. We’re winning because youth who were given no choice but oppression are trying to break free, paying a heavy price set by their oppressors and trying to buy themselves back.

Jan 29 2011

Why I Protest

I write this now mostly to those who are not in Egypt, mainly because internet has been blocked amidst an intentional media blackout orchestrated by the Egyptian government, conspiring against its own people.

The complete and utter brutality of the Egyptian regime has never been exemplified as much as it has during the protests that started on 25 January of 2011. As I went out to protest, people around me were from all classes and all ages, yet contrary to what was reputed about the Egyptian characters, they were very responsible, peaceful and disciplined. Egyptians knew the rules of a protest well, to keep it peaceful and not to use foul language. For every one person who even thought of breaking these rules, there were 10 to point him back to the way chosen for this protest.

Unprovoked, the police would use tear gas, beat up protesters, and hire thugs with bats, knives and swords to intimidate and beat up citizens. All this is captured on video and yet the US refuses to act and continues to provide Egypt with weapons. Police fire live ammunitions on protesters and America remains silent. America supplies weapons to criminals who break the law put by their own country and the worst part is that they’re the ones trying to uphold it. Contrary to US popular belief, Egyptians are fond of Americans, but when the US does not practice what it preaches about democracy, freedom and human rights, people become wary of their treason to their own values. It’s not true that only Mubarak will serve America’s interests, unless America will only rely on dictators to serve its own end.

I may seem to have been sidetracked, but it only seems that way. It’s not the US, but the values that Americans and westerners can relate to that I’m really trying to express. Since I send this out to places with less oppressive regimes, I want to tell you that the reason I went out to protest are the values that west preaches.

I come from an upper middle class family, with an upper middle class job. I have a car, I have a phone, I have money and I’ve been around the world. I’m not financially impoverished and yet I protest. I protest because in Egypt we lack dignity and a sense of humanity. I protest because I cannot take part in any elections and they’re all rigged. I have no voice, I have no vote. I protest because poverty around me impoverishes me even though I possess money. I protest because everyone around me is unhappy and we’re capable of so much more, so much more.

I protest because it’s not enough to have money, one needs a sense of respect as a human being and we don’t have that. I protest because those who are poor do not even have the little respect I’m given. There are too many injustices and the regime sits idle, at most commending the bad and punishing the good. I don’t know how one can stand for that, and yet America does. I don’t know how one can be silent for 30 years and yet Egyptians have.

The world is silent, watching, waiting as a media blackout takes control of Egyptians. Governments like vultures watch and wait for an outcome, condemning weakly by voice, and not at all through action. It seems that money means more for governments than human lives. I know that this is not the sentiments of people it represents. I know that people in the US like Egyptians value freedom, dignity and equality more than they value selfish gains by unlawful dictators.

This is the situation in Egypt, if it wasn’t already clear to outsiders. Egyptians of course know all this. They are aware of the tyranny and oppression we’ve been faced with for 30 years. They know what it’s like to fight so hard for the simplest right and not get it. In one day, a decision to cut us off from the world was taken, and the aim was to slaughter us in the absence of media reporting and as I speak now, wounded people are unable to communicate with hospitals, families and friends in order to receive medical care. The country is up in flames and still the government imposes the media blackout.

It took Mubarak four days of the most intense protests in the history of modern Egypt to even begin to listen to what was being said. Even then he did not understand any of the concerns of the people and accused them of violence rather than his police and thugs. Who could accept a ruler like that?

If it takes so much effort to get nothing, what use is it belonging to a government like this? The government must change, cheating must change and the criminals that govern us must change. Is it too much to ask?

Facebook and Twitter Blocked in Egypt

To anyone who stumbles upon this, please share with Egyptians.

To open the blocked content e.g. facebook and twitter from you browser, download one of the following and run it in the background
1- UltraSurf - www.ultrareach.com or
2- Hotspot Shield - http://anchorfree.com/
3- MediaFire - www.mediafire.com

For any questions send me an email directly.

For quick access to facebook: touch.facebook.com

Egypt is becoming a lunatic state, shutting down voice and data services from its citizens in order to shut them up.

Article 54

Article 54 of the Egyptian Constitution

Art.54: Citizens shall have the right to peaceful and unarmed private assembly, without the need for prior notice. Such private meetings should not be attended by security men. Public meetings, processions and gatherings shall be allowed within the limits of the law.

The funny thing is that I found this on the Egyptian government's website.

The Egyptian Protest Manifesto

The complete control over every aspect of the protest seems to be the main reason why protests have not managed develop much in Egypt. Protests as they stand are like choreography where both the protesters and the police do a little dance; each slightly improvising but certain of the moves. This goes well for the police but not too well for the protesters. I think the police are more aware of this. Police control everything but the chants, but even in that regard they are still partially in control. This subservience that the protesters experience is the most defeating part of the protest. Even onlookers are controlled by fear and abuse as they listen to chants and watch police violence.

The battle ground is set for the police, they know where it is and more than that they know exactly how to handle every aspect of the territory. The protests happen in centralized places near to the repository of goons and men in black. While protesters take their time to rally and regroup, the police are already deployed and ready for any move.

Protests in Cairo are far too conventional for the stronghold Egyptian police have on people and places. There must be new and creative ways of protesting. Like everything else, Egyptians have a way of immitating things without fully comprehending them. One of the aims of a protest is to give a police a hard time shutting you up, at least in countries where it's the police's job to do so. In a police state such as Egypt the question isn't whether or not they will shut you up, but how long it would take and how difficult it would be to do so. It shouldn't be as easy as it is today.

In order to make it worth the effort, protests should move to locations where it's much more taxing for the police to deploy an arsenal of goons and privates. Certainly it won't be difficult but it will be expensive and will give them some homework to do. It will at least distract some of them from other illegal activities. If things are organized correctly, many protests in decentralized locations should take place simultaneously. This will make the task difficult for the police to apply security measures adequately to all places and it will exhaust them. Protesters will be exhausted too, but they should be more mobile. If the police have too much trouble trying to control the protests (they shouldn't even attempt to terrorize and control) they might find it cost effective to avoid them by doing things right.

The point is that, like any other market system, if you change the cost, something will have to change. It may be argued that t this point protests will get more violent and it will be ahrder to keep track of people arrested and kidnapped. This is true but the decentralized nature of the protest might bring in more people to the protests from various neighborhoods. The added advantage to doing protests in various neighborhoods is that other people are exposed to the slogans that the media censors. It brings the protest to them rather than keep it something remote. Far more people must talk to people on the street and explain what we're protesting. If no police are around, it should be less threatening. The chants will be heard by people who need to protest rather than fall on the deaf ears of central security and contracted thugs.

That's why the slogans and chants need to change. They need to be less violent and less antagonistic. They should be focused and give a feeling of rational anger. They should be a voice of peace until more people know what's going on.

Violent chants antagonize the police, some of whom may be reluctant to inflict pain but are forced to do so. Their feeling of helplesness is fueled by the insults and turns the matters into something personal. Antagonizing chants can be a good thing but not when the numbers in the protest are small.

Police, much like the rest of the people are motivated by fear. It's fear of punishment, fear of failure and fear of everything but God. The duality of the nature of the police as both opressed people and the opressor might be vital in changing their attitude.

It is actually more important than all of the above to avoid direct confrontation until absolutely necessary. Hanging flags from windows is an example. It will be difficult for police to control every building of every neighborhood. Dressing in common colors or tying a ribon of some sort can be effective as well. What is the use of all the social networking and blogging if we can't spread a practical idea rather than a virtual group? There are things that will make it difficult for police to control and that should be the focus. More ideas are bound to be born if the approach is agreed upon. That is why protests and smart ones at that should be an additional resource rather than the main method of protesting.

Protests are fueled by fear on all sides. People are afraid to demonstrate because of police violence and humiliation and protestors are afraid of being kidnapped, beaten and arrested indefinitely. The police are afraid not to follow orders and the hidden hands of the oppressors truly fear a real uprising from the people. The chain of fear must be broken and it must be broken through the weakest link.

Justified Anger

It has always perplexed me that Egypt was the second largest economy in the whole of Africa. The truly baffling aspect is that almost all other countries in Africa are actually worse off than we are. This has caused quite a conflict within me because I wonder why people keep complaining. There are others worse off than we are. I keep wondering how far we are from Tunisia’s explosion, and while I feel we’re very close, I also feel that we are so much better off than what they were living.

So why then do I feel we’re on the brink of explosion? I’m one of the better off people in Egypt with a few sources of income and a chance to make enough money so that I don’t have to suffer what the majority has to suffer yet I feel that same impatience and oppression felt by all. Are we just complainers or is it something else?

But recently I’ve been able to resolve why we are not content even though we’re better than those around us. I’ve been able to understand why I personally think we’re on the cusp of a revolution. It’s not just because we deserve better, but because we can have better. We live in a country that is better off than others around even though it has taken measures more severe in oppressing its own people. We are better off because the country has so much more to squander. The country has so much more to rob. The country has so many to take from.

If we were poor and times were rough, we would not be in a state of anger and irritation that we’re in now. We would suffer with patience if we felt that our leaders were doing the best they could, but they’re not. So what it boils down to is not that the country is in a horrible state, it is in a better state than many, but it’s about our leaders letting us down again and again. Those in the power to serve justice have served us injustice. That is why we’re angry.

I have no guilt about my anger, because it doesn’t take a genius to keep us afloat. There’s a difference between cutting down a thin tree and chiseling away at a thick strong tree. The strong tree takes more time to fall, but sooner or later it will fall. We are chiseled at with more force than many of the countries surrounding us.

So if the criterion of how good a job those in charge of the country have done is anything to base anger on, then it should have been Egypt that led a revolution, not Tunisia. They can throw numbers at us about growth and about accomplishments, and they might not even be lies, but we should never feel guilty about how much wrath we have, because it is founded on something real. Accusations of our own dereliction and of character traits like being whiney or lazy should not deter us from our justified anger.

A Love that Died

People accuse me of treason when I say that I don't love Egypt anymore. The reality is that I'm just being honest. I've held on to that so called love for as long as I could, but I ended up having to decide between lying to myself and fitting in with the rest. There is too much demand that the love for my country be unconditional. It isn't an unconditional sort of love though. The one condition is that the country I love exists, and Egypt does not exist anymore. This may come as a surprise to some, but it's true. Egypt has been lost and we're not even aware of it. It may have left, but the more likely explanation is that we buried it.

The quest for the missing Egypt is undermined by the fake love given to its proxy. As the real Egypt sinks, we keep smothering the fake, evil replacement that we have with so much love. The more love we give to the fake Egypt, the more the real Egypt sinks. I said I don't love Egypt anymore, but what I mean is that I don't love the fake Egypt anymore. I love the old sinking Egypt that was full of kindness, full of beauty. I don't like this new one that's full of ignorance, poverty, injustice, hate, extremism and disrespect. I don't like this Egypt that turns a blind eye to hatred. I don't like this new Egypt that turns a blind eye to the sexual harassment of its women. I don't like this new Egypt that breeds hatred amongst its citizens.

I do not fool myself by giving love to this evil replica. Surely this is not my country; it's not a country that I want to be associated with. It's a country of thugs, thieves and murderers. To bestow upon it my love is to accept being a part of them, and I'm not. I'm not a liar and I'm not a hypocrite. I accuse all those who demand a sick love from me of being traitors, complicit in the evil doings of an enslaving country. To love Egypt you must first be honest and hate it. This is a country that we shape, not a person that we have to accept.

I do not love the misery that comes with the country, nor the shape of what it has become. We are not invaded by a foreign power so that I can claim to hate what has been done to the country. I hate the country because its cells have become cancerous. The bad cells are spreading and there is no fixing them. I will fight off this cancer, and because I do, I'm accused of treason. It is the country that has betrayed itself, and those asking me to love it are asking for its destruction.

Having said all that, I burrow through the rubbles for the Egypt that once was. Once in a while I see a glimpse of the real thing, but it is quickly overshadowed by something unreal, something contrived, something forced.

I fear that the time for salvation has long passed us by. While we busy ourselves pretending that Egypt still exists, and fighting for a fake love, the real Egypt sinks, and to make matters worse, we're pushing it deeper into oblivion with our dishonest zeal.