The most worrying thing about Amr Mostafa isn’t what he says, but that there are numerous others just like him. I stumbled across this blog post. Believe it or not, this person has a decent job and is considered educated. Can you imagine how many others are out there? These are the literate people.
Here is a short summary for those who don’t know Arabic and don’t want to be bothered going to google translate, or don’t want to be infuriated. This s a fictional scenario where the owner of the blog imagines meeting some revolutionary friend and opens his mind to the conspiracy theory that the US, Israel and Iran are behind the revolution together with Iran and Israel. He describes revolutionaries as marionettes whose strings are being pulled by foreign agendas. To top this off, he claims that revolutionaries are the ones who killed other protesters and police officers and they are the ones that should be tried.
The trouble with the post is that it is so pompous and arrogant, and makes the ignorance all the more painful.
To recap, Israel, Iran and the United States all agreed together that the one thing they needed to do was create a revolution. The US backed 6 of April movement and Iran backed the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran, we can understand, but the US and Israel?
So, they gave up their greatest ally, Mubarak, because ... he wasn't giving them gas? or because he wasn’t contributing to the Gaza blockade? Or because he was making sure Egypt never does what America tells it to do? Or maybe because we were very advanced in technology and intel and Microsoft were threatened? Or maybe because everyone is jealous of Egypt?
These Americans must be stupid to agree with the Iranians, their sworn enemy to remove Mubarak, their greatest treasure.
Also, the mathematics is brilliant, while the Muslim Brotherhood could only afford mass protests for one day costing them millions, the US, besides funding the dictatorship has lots of billions to spare to work AGAINST the regime they’re supporting... Not to mention Iran who have little to spare anyway, and Israel who just doesn’t want free gas anymore
Oh America, it really is a land of opportunity, funding governments and protests against it. I'm glad the April 6 guys extorted them.
So the whole revolution was their making, right? They're very clever you know, they killed Khaled Said, forged the forensic reports and insisted that his killers not be tried for murder. They also forged elections as part of the plan to infuriate people. They also put snipers up on rooftops and they were dressed in army clothes that did virginity checks on 19 women and tortured numerous others. They were also in charge of the church bombings of Alexandria on New Year’s and they caused the mass protests against that in Shubra, Mansheyet Nasser and near Maspero.
Our government on the other hand, didn't deserve to be pushed out, because it didn't do anything. However some might argue that being incompetent enough to allow ALL of that to happen is reason enough, but no… we’re the marionettes not those taking billions of dollars of funding from the US.
Israel infiltrated our policemen too, they sent in the camels, horses, snipers and thugs and we're all marionettes playing to their tune… even our government. Our government tried to warn us you know, telling us these attacks were coming. They couldn’t fend off the Israeli spies on Camels though, that’s why our beloved army was ordered not to interfere.
Sometimes I wonder how stupid one has to be not to actually believe this nonsense. I’m an advocate of engaging people with a different point of view and I generally have the patience to hear it out and see things differently. But with such level of insipidness how does one even start? I draw the line when someone is unable to recognize a contradiction, or admit it to themselves.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
He Who Wins the War
History has a way of changing over time. By the time historians are done with it, it may hardly resemble what really happened. This is not the case for all of history, but perhaps when there is a battle of sorts. The history of our revolution will be written largely depending on the outcome of this war, which we have not yet won.
It has taken the regime six months to recover from the devastating blow delivered by the people in the Jan 25 revolution. It was knocked down but not knocked out. It’s up again with full force, responding to our earlier blow. Make no mistake, the SCAF is the backbone of the corrupt regime we continue to live with today.
Past regime figures are re-emerging, telling us false tales of what we saw unfold before our eyes. Figures like Osama Saray, the editor and chief of the venomous Ahram, are emerging to tell us fantasies of what they did during the revolution. Hossam Badrawy, briefly head of NDP, is emerging to give us a dramatization of the last days of Mubarak. State Security is working full throttle too. The amount of videos defaming activists and the revolution are increasingly worrying. The media is full of falsified facts accusing April 6 Movement , revolutionaries are being tried in military courts, and there are no signs that the rulers are in any way supporting the values of the revolution.
It has taken the regime six months to come up with its version of the truth. Now it’s trying to sell it to Egyptians once again, trying to tell them that what they saw wasn’t true. They’re back there, playing victim. No, it was some foreign hand, they tell us, that caused the revolution as if we had nothing to complain about before it, as though the foreign hands were in charge of corruption, murder and misinformation. They’re trying to tell us that some unknown elements killed protesters, as though Khaled Said wasn’t killed at the hand of the police force, as if the forensic reports were not forged to get the culprits off the hook. They’re trying to tell us Mubarak was in the dark, as if he were not a dictator who ripped the country apart and deprived us of our freedoms.
They’re trying to retell the story we just told. They’re trying to take away our victories, as though we’re not entitled to even that. They even want to deprive us of the place that symbolized the collapse of their leader and our dictator. They’re trying to take back everything we gained through truth with their lies.
The good news is that we’re fighting back and we’re writing our own history. We hold some ground despite some defeats. We’re still hanging in there. The bad news is that they might succeed in the end. Remember how Mohamed Naguib was erased from history books? Remember how Nasser was glorified? Remember how King Farouk was defamed?
The regime might succeed because they control the tools necessary for writing history. They control media, state TV, weapons, books and they have all sorts of powers. We, on the other hand, possess only the truth. But the truth isn’t always enough. The truth needs the tools, needs the medium and it needs belief.
Our truth will be buried if we do not fight for it. It seems that those we aimed to bring down are taking credit for the revolution today. They remain at their posts and pretending they revolted against corruption and injustice. We have no choice but to win, because as the saying goes, “He who wins the war, writes the history."
It has taken the regime six months to recover from the devastating blow delivered by the people in the Jan 25 revolution. It was knocked down but not knocked out. It’s up again with full force, responding to our earlier blow. Make no mistake, the SCAF is the backbone of the corrupt regime we continue to live with today.
Past regime figures are re-emerging, telling us false tales of what we saw unfold before our eyes. Figures like Osama Saray, the editor and chief of the venomous Ahram, are emerging to tell us fantasies of what they did during the revolution. Hossam Badrawy, briefly head of NDP, is emerging to give us a dramatization of the last days of Mubarak. State Security is working full throttle too. The amount of videos defaming activists and the revolution are increasingly worrying. The media is full of falsified facts accusing April 6 Movement , revolutionaries are being tried in military courts, and there are no signs that the rulers are in any way supporting the values of the revolution.
It has taken the regime six months to come up with its version of the truth. Now it’s trying to sell it to Egyptians once again, trying to tell them that what they saw wasn’t true. They’re back there, playing victim. No, it was some foreign hand, they tell us, that caused the revolution as if we had nothing to complain about before it, as though the foreign hands were in charge of corruption, murder and misinformation. They’re trying to tell us that some unknown elements killed protesters, as though Khaled Said wasn’t killed at the hand of the police force, as if the forensic reports were not forged to get the culprits off the hook. They’re trying to tell us Mubarak was in the dark, as if he were not a dictator who ripped the country apart and deprived us of our freedoms.
They’re trying to retell the story we just told. They’re trying to take away our victories, as though we’re not entitled to even that. They even want to deprive us of the place that symbolized the collapse of their leader and our dictator. They’re trying to take back everything we gained through truth with their lies.
The good news is that we’re fighting back and we’re writing our own history. We hold some ground despite some defeats. We’re still hanging in there. The bad news is that they might succeed in the end. Remember how Mohamed Naguib was erased from history books? Remember how Nasser was glorified? Remember how King Farouk was defamed?
The regime might succeed because they control the tools necessary for writing history. They control media, state TV, weapons, books and they have all sorts of powers. We, on the other hand, possess only the truth. But the truth isn’t always enough. The truth needs the tools, needs the medium and it needs belief.
Our truth will be buried if we do not fight for it. It seems that those we aimed to bring down are taking credit for the revolution today. They remain at their posts and pretending they revolted against corruption and injustice. We have no choice but to win, because as the saying goes, “He who wins the war, writes the history."
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Why Next Elections Won't Matter
At what point exactly did the revolution become about elections? What started out as a call for freedom, justice, dignity and economic reform is transformed into calls for elections and nothing else. The most common rhetoric goes something like, “Now we’ll have elections and we’ll get the democracy you asked for, what more do you want?”
But our calls weren’t for elections, they were for democracy and there’s a big difference. Democracy is a way of life, not an action performed once every five years. The answer to my first question: the point at which the revolution became about elections is when we thought we had successfully brought down there regime. The talk became about elections because we thought we had brought down injustice, tyranny, thuggery and gave value to the Egyptian’s dignity. The idea was that there were no more such battles to fight (not so vehemently anyway) and that the military was just an interim ruler with no hidden agenda.
It follows that if we have not successfully changed the regime, elections will not guarantee democracy, because they never have. Where have the elections of the old regime got us?
One then must establish that the regime is still intact. It seems such a claim hardly need establishment, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume the regime has changed. What are the characteristics of the new regime? How does it differ from the old? Will the changes or similarities guarantee democracy or at the very least free and fair elections?
The old regime manipulated state media to spread venomous lies. They censored television programs and newspapers and used their security apparatus to clamp down on anyone trying to disseminate information that threatens the regime. Currently all media is monitored by the current rulers. Anything that may portray these rulers as they truly are is punished, banned or reprimanded. In the event of news that incriminates the army, the presenters are summoned for questioning. How could there be free and fair elections when lies propagated in state media are so predominant? How will Egyptians be informed when rulers are creating news to match their objectives?
The old regime clamped down on protests whenever people called for their rights. They made arbitrary arrests through the use of plain clothed thugs and held people in prison without trail under the emergency law. Not only did one experience injustice but one was not allowed to even object to it. There was a constant violation of human rights in all forms. The current regime has gone even further by criminalizing protests. They have arrested protesters and illegally tried close to 10,000 in military courts without a fair trial in just six months. The sentences handed out were up to 15 years. They have tortured protesters and performed virginity tests on female protesters (a form of torture) and have not been held accountable. At the time of writing, CSF and military forces are banning entry to Tahrir, ensuring that the human right of freedom of assembly is violated.
The old regime relied on thugs to intimidate and hurt voters and citizens. They always had the backing of a political party that claims the governing of the country is impeccable. Other puppet opposition gave legitimacy to the corrupt state.
The events of Abbaseya on 23 July prove without doubt that the rulers are willing to hire more thugs than ever before and even protect them with our armed forces and central security forces. In addition, they created a new way of recruiting citizens to do their dirty work. They spread rumors about unarmed protesters inciting citizens to hurt them or even kill them. These injustices and violations have the support of the foremost, most organized political party today, the Muslim Brotherhood, along with other factions such as Salafis and old opposition. How can we not expect thuggery and intimidation during elections?
It seems to me that the current regime is more brutal than the previous regime, if not a vicious mutation or extension. So how is this regime really any different from the former and what evidence is there that supports the claim that the next elections are guaranteed to lead us to democracy or at the very least be free and fair? (Don’t tell me the people)
That is why elections won’t matter. It’s the same system with different players and new labels. If we don’t fight for democracy, elections won’t mean a thing.
But our calls weren’t for elections, they were for democracy and there’s a big difference. Democracy is a way of life, not an action performed once every five years. The answer to my first question: the point at which the revolution became about elections is when we thought we had successfully brought down there regime. The talk became about elections because we thought we had brought down injustice, tyranny, thuggery and gave value to the Egyptian’s dignity. The idea was that there were no more such battles to fight (not so vehemently anyway) and that the military was just an interim ruler with no hidden agenda.
It follows that if we have not successfully changed the regime, elections will not guarantee democracy, because they never have. Where have the elections of the old regime got us?
One then must establish that the regime is still intact. It seems such a claim hardly need establishment, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume the regime has changed. What are the characteristics of the new regime? How does it differ from the old? Will the changes or similarities guarantee democracy or at the very least free and fair elections?
The old regime manipulated state media to spread venomous lies. They censored television programs and newspapers and used their security apparatus to clamp down on anyone trying to disseminate information that threatens the regime. Currently all media is monitored by the current rulers. Anything that may portray these rulers as they truly are is punished, banned or reprimanded. In the event of news that incriminates the army, the presenters are summoned for questioning. How could there be free and fair elections when lies propagated in state media are so predominant? How will Egyptians be informed when rulers are creating news to match their objectives?
The old regime clamped down on protests whenever people called for their rights. They made arbitrary arrests through the use of plain clothed thugs and held people in prison without trail under the emergency law. Not only did one experience injustice but one was not allowed to even object to it. There was a constant violation of human rights in all forms. The current regime has gone even further by criminalizing protests. They have arrested protesters and illegally tried close to 10,000 in military courts without a fair trial in just six months. The sentences handed out were up to 15 years. They have tortured protesters and performed virginity tests on female protesters (a form of torture) and have not been held accountable. At the time of writing, CSF and military forces are banning entry to Tahrir, ensuring that the human right of freedom of assembly is violated.
The old regime relied on thugs to intimidate and hurt voters and citizens. They always had the backing of a political party that claims the governing of the country is impeccable. Other puppet opposition gave legitimacy to the corrupt state.
The events of Abbaseya on 23 July prove without doubt that the rulers are willing to hire more thugs than ever before and even protect them with our armed forces and central security forces. In addition, they created a new way of recruiting citizens to do their dirty work. They spread rumors about unarmed protesters inciting citizens to hurt them or even kill them. These injustices and violations have the support of the foremost, most organized political party today, the Muslim Brotherhood, along with other factions such as Salafis and old opposition. How can we not expect thuggery and intimidation during elections?
It seems to me that the current regime is more brutal than the previous regime, if not a vicious mutation or extension. So how is this regime really any different from the former and what evidence is there that supports the claim that the next elections are guaranteed to lead us to democracy or at the very least be free and fair? (Don’t tell me the people)
That is why elections won’t matter. It’s the same system with different players and new labels. If we don’t fight for democracy, elections won’t mean a thing.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Mubarak’s Trial – Never Lose Heart
Seeing Mubarak in a cage, being tried through the will of the people is one of the greatest testimonies to the revolution. Only the most ardent of skeptics could claim that Mubarak would have showed up in court on 3 August if it wasn’t for the 8 July sit-in. It wasn’t the Islamists who came out on a very short burst and went back home before the day’s end, it wasn’t the SCAF who has unjustly tried over 10,000 people in military courts, it wasn’t the passive people who did nothing but criticize. They were the brave protesters of the July 8 sit-in. This is a great triumph for protesters in the face of adversity from the most powerful people in the country.
Before seeing Mubarak in court, I hadn’t really cared for what would become of this farcical trial, but then it hit me. We did it; we forced a tyrant into court despite being surrounded with his own people. We fought our way through traps and snares to come out on top.
I am still certain that the SCAF has no real intention of brining Mubarak to justice and when the pressure eases, they’ll go back to their old tricks. But we have forced them into this, they can pretend all they want that it isn’t real or that they’re in control, but part of it will always be real. They are now performing to please the crowd. No matter what happens afterwards, we brought a president we deposed to court and we demanded justice. This can’t be taken from us.
I must confess the events of the past few days wore me down. I was inclined to let it all go and try the all-comforting blindness of denial. I too can ignore the facts or fit them to my conclusions. I too can fain superiority and pretend to be above it all because both sides are mistaken. I too can condemn without knowing, can pick up and drive to the North coast and pretend that what I believe about the matter doesn’t matter.
My deep sorrow resulted from grave injustices experienced around us. It was exacerbated by the smear campaign against the sit-in and protesters. The large show of muscle by Islamists on Friday 29 July, and people’s insistence on not seeing it for what it is, troubled me. I sincerely believed in the 8 July sit-in and felt the demands were necessary to move forward. We were accused, defamed and degraded by people around us. To make matters worse, people cheered as Tahrir square was violently evacuated.
At the height of my temptation, I was reminded by a friend what it means to hold on. Without him even knowing how I felt, he sent me a message encouraging me to endure. I was reminded how much comfort I felt being around like minded individuals who held on to the closest thing possible to the truth. I was reminded of the sorrow that fills me when someone gives up on it.
The July 8 sit-in triumphed. It brought Mubarak to Cairo in a cage, it pressured the SCAF not to try the protesters it violently evacuated in a military court, it took the moral high ground. At a time when citizens were calling for execution of protesters, the protesters called for fair trials of their oppressors. The difference between citizens and protesters they were mad at was that citizens want selfish forms of justice while protesters want justice for all. At a time when the SCAF were spreading rumors about 6 April and protesters peacefully heading to the Ministry of Defense, the protesters spoke the truth and courageously soldiered on into the venomous trap set up by the SCAF, the police and armed thugs. The protesters proved beyond a doubt they are the better people, not those of the police, not those of the armed forces and not those who do nothing but criticize.
If there is one thing I must constantly remind myself of, it’s to choose the right side, not necessarily the winning side. There are far too many people around us that need us to keep the faith and never lose heart. There are so many strangers that are closer to us than people we see every day. We need to hold on to what we feel is right for one another. We must stand for justice when we can, because when injustice catches up with us, others will stand up for us too. We’re in troubling times when things too quickly get too dark, but no matter what, never lose heart.
Before seeing Mubarak in court, I hadn’t really cared for what would become of this farcical trial, but then it hit me. We did it; we forced a tyrant into court despite being surrounded with his own people. We fought our way through traps and snares to come out on top.
I am still certain that the SCAF has no real intention of brining Mubarak to justice and when the pressure eases, they’ll go back to their old tricks. But we have forced them into this, they can pretend all they want that it isn’t real or that they’re in control, but part of it will always be real. They are now performing to please the crowd. No matter what happens afterwards, we brought a president we deposed to court and we demanded justice. This can’t be taken from us.
I must confess the events of the past few days wore me down. I was inclined to let it all go and try the all-comforting blindness of denial. I too can ignore the facts or fit them to my conclusions. I too can fain superiority and pretend to be above it all because both sides are mistaken. I too can condemn without knowing, can pick up and drive to the North coast and pretend that what I believe about the matter doesn’t matter.
My deep sorrow resulted from grave injustices experienced around us. It was exacerbated by the smear campaign against the sit-in and protesters. The large show of muscle by Islamists on Friday 29 July, and people’s insistence on not seeing it for what it is, troubled me. I sincerely believed in the 8 July sit-in and felt the demands were necessary to move forward. We were accused, defamed and degraded by people around us. To make matters worse, people cheered as Tahrir square was violently evacuated.
At the height of my temptation, I was reminded by a friend what it means to hold on. Without him even knowing how I felt, he sent me a message encouraging me to endure. I was reminded how much comfort I felt being around like minded individuals who held on to the closest thing possible to the truth. I was reminded of the sorrow that fills me when someone gives up on it.
The July 8 sit-in triumphed. It brought Mubarak to Cairo in a cage, it pressured the SCAF not to try the protesters it violently evacuated in a military court, it took the moral high ground. At a time when citizens were calling for execution of protesters, the protesters called for fair trials of their oppressors. The difference between citizens and protesters they were mad at was that citizens want selfish forms of justice while protesters want justice for all. At a time when the SCAF were spreading rumors about 6 April and protesters peacefully heading to the Ministry of Defense, the protesters spoke the truth and courageously soldiered on into the venomous trap set up by the SCAF, the police and armed thugs. The protesters proved beyond a doubt they are the better people, not those of the police, not those of the armed forces and not those who do nothing but criticize.
If there is one thing I must constantly remind myself of, it’s to choose the right side, not necessarily the winning side. There are far too many people around us that need us to keep the faith and never lose heart. There are so many strangers that are closer to us than people we see every day. We need to hold on to what we feel is right for one another. We must stand for justice when we can, because when injustice catches up with us, others will stand up for us too. We’re in troubling times when things too quickly get too dark, but no matter what, never lose heart.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
The Great Divide
Instead of ranting on about things we don’t know, I’ll list the things we do. There is a great divide within Egypt. The truth is bitter. We’re in the same dictatorship, the Islamic factions are on the rise, people are sedated and revolutionaries are alone yet again. Tahrir has replaced the steps of the journalist syndicate, where a few warriors soldier on and the rest of the people are oblivious to what is truly happening.
People are tired; they’ve been dragged into a revolution they could have done without and with the heat, and with Ramadan, the situation has become unbearable. The businessmen are sick of not doing real business, they’re in limbo. If it’s a free market economy, so be it, if it’s a dictatorship, they need to know who’s running the show so they get down to business. The Copts resent the revolution because the Islamists are gaining ground. The Muslims aegypt, life, politicsre sick of what’s become of the revolution because it slows down Islamists from coming to power.
The liberals and the leftists want real change and policies that will ensure a democratic process and they are hoping for education to enlighten the people politically. The Islamists are happy to use religion as a political tool to mobilize masses. The SCAF is happy to let the whole thing burn as long as the pay off from Washington to protect Israel’s interests does not stop.
This is a great part of the truth, but the divide does not come from the truth, but from denial. There is a denial that prevents real unity. It is those little things around the truth such as intentions and interpretations that are causing the great divide.
Let me start with the revolutionaries, as others will take more offence to what I will be pointing out. Public support and international pressure is what aids a sit-in or protest. Without these, there is no winning, especially when up against an army of sinister men. There is great value in resilience, but the environment has to be conducive to this resilience. The lies of State TV work and Egyptians are alienated because of their lack of political foresight.
As for the masses, almost everyone knows that the sit-in that started on 8 July has nothing to do with security or our economy, yet many delude themselves into thinking that people there are spies, take money and are the cause of the economic problem. They are in denial that the SCAF is punishing Egyptians for the sit-in and that the regime we aimed to bring down is still alive.
Many of the moderate Muslims are in denial that the so called ‘Islamists’ are no representatives of Islam at all. Islamists have proven aggressive, deceitful and have a history of back stabbing anyone they’ve made a deal with. Many tend to forget that the Muslim Brotherhood sold out the Egyptian people to the English back in the day. They tend to forget that Islamic groups pick up arms in order to control other people’s lives. They tend to imagine that a few hundred thousand showed up at different cities at the same time, shouting the same slogans in defiance to prior agreement and left at the same time without it being orchestrated.
The Islamic groups being hunted down for ages and imprisoned are in denial that they are supporting the same injustices inflicted upon them. They hail the military ruler whose unjust sentences destroyed the lives of at least 7000 Egyptians from 28 Jan to date.
So much more denied, so much more. That is the real reason of the divide. It’s easy to listen to State TV and get the simple convenient lie that everything is fixed. It’s so much easier than finding out the troubling truth by reading between the lines and asking the right questions. It’s much easier to believe that the coming elections will be fair without any real evidence than to imagine the day where everything is bought and rigged again. It’s much easier to believe that our protectors are really protecting us than to believe that we’re being betrayed by corrupt men in uniforms.
It’s much easier to believe that those who were hurt deserved it and that it could never happen to you. It’s much easier to believe that you would now be respected in a country that robbed you of dignity, than think that you’re a voice that they want silenced if you speak the truth. It’s easier to believe that others don’t understand things the way you do, and that they’re deluded by one thing or another than it is to carefully examine all the facts and really listen to what others have to say.
It’s easy to have beliefs that oversimplify the truth and put your mind to rest, but the easiest of them all is to believe that it’s not your battle, that your choices will not make a difference; that they will do whatever they want anyway. The easiest thing is to believe that speaking up will not change a thing, and that it’s someone else’s responsibility to make things right.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A Momentary Relapse of Values
Where we go from here depends on how much we believe in the values we preach. Despite the values we adopted for a brief period of time during the 18 days that overthrew Mubarak, we relapsed into a state similar to that we've been in over the course of the past decades. The state I'm referring to is a combination of denial, ignorance, fear and apathy.
These elements are intricately linked in a loop. They feed off each other and one has to wonder what it would take to break this cycle. State media and other news sources are spreading lies which leads to ignorance, but that of itself is not enough. Denial must exist in order for you to act against every logical bone in your body that tells you not to believe state media that is well known for lying. Denial comes from fear; fear of authority, fear of a uniform, fear of the future, fear for safety, fear of change. In a country that has been at a stand still for decades, change may be more frightening than one would expect. And because the truth lingers in the background and seeps in, apathy is there to fend off any impulse to act against injustice.
The cycle needs to be broken, but what was it that brought about such a relapse after a miraculous awakening of dead Egyptians? The biggest change since the fall of Mubarak was the absence of the face of the smug leader smiling as his people suffered. The bitterness of thirty years directed at that face. Many may have went out with a pretense of scorn against injustice, but in reality the matters had become a personal matter between them and Mubarak. That is why many Egyptians will not speak up today against injustice. Those who opposed Mubarak during the 18 days before his fall and do not speak up against the SCAF injustices never really stood for something, it was always a personal vendetta between them and Mubarak.*
Egyptians have reverted to the same signature shortsightedness that haunted them throughout these years. The main question is 'How will this affect me?'. The self serving attitude is the norm that has simplified life for Egyptians over the years. That's not to say there aren't other flavors and reasons as to why Egyptians have backed down. There are those who firmly believe in the wisdom of their choice of silence. Many believe that things are not what they appear and numerous others are deceived by what the regime wants them to see.
It is saddening that protesters are more respected in the free world than they are in their own country. In the 18 days the international pressure to respect revolutionaries forced the couch party and other apathetic Egyptians to respect those calling for change. That pressure is now relieved by the lack of international media coverage and Egyptians are free to despise their proud countrymen.
Effectively, it comes down to values. Do the majority of Egyptians believe injustice to be unacceptable only when inflicted upon them personally or when inflicted upon just anyone? The answer to that will determine how we move forward or whether we move at all. Injustices must be taken personally, but not only when inflicted upon our person, otherwise, we have no hope of escaping failure at merely being human.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Battle of Abbaseya
Something about this protest in particular reminds me of the protest against the murder of Khaled Said last year. The protest that objected to the brutality and impunity of Egyptian police was met with brutality. The message was clear, we can do whatever we want. In essence the protest of 23rd of July was similar. We went out to protest against the SCAF’s lies and dirty tactics and we were met with lies and dirty tactics.
The march started to Abbaseya a little after four in order protest in front of the Ministry of Defense. The weather had become more bearable and became much cooler along the way. What started out as a thousand protesters quickly grew to a little over three thousand as we marched on. The march was reminiscent of 28 January, and we called on to people to join us. This time it was different. Some people supported the march and others did not. The further we went from Tahrir, the more the people’s aggression towards us became palpable.
We arrived to the end of our road, blocked off by the military at the Mosque just before the bridge that takes you to Salah Salem road. It started out well, we were chanting against the SCAF and we were expressing our disappointment in a ruling council that had betrayed the people. Ten minutes had passed when the first clashes erupted from a side street near where the army troops were standing. The exchange of stone throwing commenced and from then on it was a disaster.
The military, being chanted against was happy to see rocks and glass flying at protesters from all sides. The protesters tried to escape but the stone throwing would not stop. The protesters fought back, but all too feebly. As time progressed they fought some more, but all exists were blocked either by the military or by men armed with rocks, Molotov cocktails and swords.
The military fired rounds in the air, but there was nowhere to escape to. The protesters were stuck between the military and hostile men who would not stop their aggression. As time passed by, there was shotgun fire, but the injuries from all the stone throwing were numerous. Every minute a protester was rushed in to the faculty of medicine close to fighting area.
It was difficult to find a spot where rocks were not being thrown. They came from all sides. They came from the top of the buildings along with Molotov cocktails all across the thin strip where protesters resided. They were hard to avoid and there was a consistent sense of danger.
The mosque was locked and would not let protesters in. There were army personnel inside the mosque. The protesters broke down the iron gate of the mosque that kept the protesters cordoned and created an exit.
At long last the Central Security Forces (CSF) appeared from behind the Molotov throwing aggressors and fired their long range tear gas canisters, upon which numerous protesters rushed out through the safe exit through the mosque gates into a safer street at the back.
On the way back, residents were accusing protesters of being spies and one of the bloggers Amr Gharbeya was kidnapped. He was accused of being part of the 6 of April movement which has been dubbed an enemy by the SCAF.
This is a brief recap of the events but they don’t do it any justice. In fact, there was no justice on that day. The protesters were trapped and the army and the violent antagonists were prepared for such a confrontation. The SCAF had already prepared the scapegoat, the 6 of April movement. People in the neighborhood were deluded into thinking the protesters aimed to burn down the Ministry of Defense.
There was so much blood. There were scores of protesters being rushed out of the battle front in order to get treatment with mostly bleeding heads. The people throwing rocks back were defending everyone else against a gruesome attack. The military stood idly, proud that the plan had worked. Protesters were no longer concerned with getting to the Ministry of Defense, they were concerned with their own survival. We walked through protesters with many injuries, but with even more determination. There was tension in the air, and a sadness that so much violence would occur for no reason.
It’s a hard truth to swallow that the army is currently betraying the people. No one is convinced. The Muslim Brotherhood are happy to condone injustice as long as their elections are not touched. The couch party does not care if we achieve stability through colonization. The rest of the regime are happy to spread lies so that they continue to thrive. Most people are too lazy to think. They don’t even ask themselves the expected questions. Why would the army not stop violence? Why was there nothing thrown at the army? Why did the army trap the people and not let them escape? But no, these questions are too much of an effort for most.
One of these days the foolish lazy people who do not even apply logic to the insanely naïve statements given by the SCAF will realize that they handed their lives and their dignity to an oppressor on a silver plate.
Those who went out in the first 18 days and do not understand what is going on today have forgotten why we went out in the first place. It was never about elections, we've always had elections. It was never about government, we've always had a government. It was about dignity, and we never had dignity. We still don't and that's why giving us all else but that will not console us.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
We are the People
The bravery, resilience, valor and persistence expressed by people all over Egypt to fight injustice brings the cynic in me to his knees. The events around me have come to challenge my thoughts and perceptions ever so strongly.
We often times forget that those who shout out orders over their phones and their wireless radio and command people left and right are merely human. It is only chance that gave them the power they have over others. We forgot the most important lesson of humanity, and that is that we’re all human. We need to belong to others like us. Often times we are blinded by the company we keep. It is dangerous to believe that the power we have comes from any form of superiority.
We are the people. The world was made for us. Countries were made for us. We have to ensure that we could all enjoy this world.
I look at old people and I’m haunted by a recurring thought. Could they have been somebody else? I look at an old man, who can barely make a living, toiling all day for a few pennies. He could have been somebody, you know. He could have been a manager in a big firm. He could have been an army general. He could have been a successful doctor, lawyer or an engineer. But fate has led him to where he is at today, and not necessarily because he is incompetent or unintelligent, but because the world we live in does not offer us that many chances.
I look at other old men in power; some of them important because they possess wisdom and others because they have had an opportunity to be in a position of power. Do they not think of themselves when they see other men who toil all day? Do they not think that it could have been them?
The world is hard enough as it is without an oppressive government that butchers the few chances that a good life may offer. I’m not calling for all people to be important. I’m not calling for everyone to be successful. I’m just calling for a chance for everyone to know what they’re made of, to be all they can be. Is that too much to ask?
We sometimes forget that men shouting orders are just men. They’re humans who have been given an opportunity to rule over others. The military governing Egypt at this time didn't get power over people through their intelligence, or competence or even by exercising force. They tried to shoot us, but it didn’t work. The military got their power by lying. Who are they to change the lives of millions? Is that worthy of any respect? Not to me. They are just people. I did not choose them to be my masters. They were afraid of us, and in order to overcome their fear, they decided to rule us.
I always wondered, what gives a man the right to take away another's life. Who are you to sentence someone innocent to 15 years in prison and completely destroy his life without a fair trial? Who are you to ruin those numerous seconds, hours and days where that person could have made a good life.The people sentenced to prison aren't a menace to society, those sentencing them are.
The main reason I want those false rulers out is because I’m fighting for a chance that I think most of us deserve. I’m fighting not for a better life for each of us, but for a chance of a better life. I’m fighting so that each of us gets that chance to be all they can be.
Now if you choose to do nothing, it’s your choice. If nothing is achieved at all, it should be our choice. But a few non select humans should not be in charge of decimating our hopes and dreams.
We’ve been in these chains for so long, that many feel as if they were part of their clothing. They believe that we should obey those who have cheated us out of our God given rights. Power is given to tyrants by people who accept the status quo. We need to remember that it’s not about them, it’s about us. They should join our ranks, we shouldn’t shrivel because of theirs. We are the people and it’s our right to demand a chance of a better life. It’s our children’s right to come into a world that fights for their chance to be all they can be. We are the people and we have to choose who we give the power to. Not liars, not thieves and not men in uniform who think they can scold us because they’re wiser.
The world is not idealistic, and we may win or lose this fight. I won’t pretend I have the answers, but I know one thing: we’ve been given a chance right here and right now to be all we can be. We can choose to make a difference. We can choose to use that chance. For the first time in ages we’ve been given this opportunity and it seems so unreal. It isn’t though, it’s a real as gets, the rest of life is what we’ve been conditioned to think. We are the people and even though we’ve always deserved this opportunity, we’ve had to work so hard to get it. We are the people and we deserve so much more than we’ve been given. We are the people and we’ve been given a chance. We can choose now to grow old and senile, or we can choose to grow old and wise.
We often times forget that those who shout out orders over their phones and their wireless radio and command people left and right are merely human. It is only chance that gave them the power they have over others. We forgot the most important lesson of humanity, and that is that we’re all human. We need to belong to others like us. Often times we are blinded by the company we keep. It is dangerous to believe that the power we have comes from any form of superiority.
We are the people. The world was made for us. Countries were made for us. We have to ensure that we could all enjoy this world.
I look at old people and I’m haunted by a recurring thought. Could they have been somebody else? I look at an old man, who can barely make a living, toiling all day for a few pennies. He could have been somebody, you know. He could have been a manager in a big firm. He could have been an army general. He could have been a successful doctor, lawyer or an engineer. But fate has led him to where he is at today, and not necessarily because he is incompetent or unintelligent, but because the world we live in does not offer us that many chances.
I look at other old men in power; some of them important because they possess wisdom and others because they have had an opportunity to be in a position of power. Do they not think of themselves when they see other men who toil all day? Do they not think that it could have been them?
The world is hard enough as it is without an oppressive government that butchers the few chances that a good life may offer. I’m not calling for all people to be important. I’m not calling for everyone to be successful. I’m just calling for a chance for everyone to know what they’re made of, to be all they can be. Is that too much to ask?
We sometimes forget that men shouting orders are just men. They’re humans who have been given an opportunity to rule over others. The military governing Egypt at this time didn't get power over people through their intelligence, or competence or even by exercising force. They tried to shoot us, but it didn’t work. The military got their power by lying. Who are they to change the lives of millions? Is that worthy of any respect? Not to me. They are just people. I did not choose them to be my masters. They were afraid of us, and in order to overcome their fear, they decided to rule us.
I always wondered, what gives a man the right to take away another's life. Who are you to sentence someone innocent to 15 years in prison and completely destroy his life without a fair trial? Who are you to ruin those numerous seconds, hours and days where that person could have made a good life.The people sentenced to prison aren't a menace to society, those sentencing them are.
The main reason I want those false rulers out is because I’m fighting for a chance that I think most of us deserve. I’m fighting not for a better life for each of us, but for a chance of a better life. I’m fighting so that each of us gets that chance to be all they can be.
Now if you choose to do nothing, it’s your choice. If nothing is achieved at all, it should be our choice. But a few non select humans should not be in charge of decimating our hopes and dreams.
We’ve been in these chains for so long, that many feel as if they were part of their clothing. They believe that we should obey those who have cheated us out of our God given rights. Power is given to tyrants by people who accept the status quo. We need to remember that it’s not about them, it’s about us. They should join our ranks, we shouldn’t shrivel because of theirs. We are the people and it’s our right to demand a chance of a better life. It’s our children’s right to come into a world that fights for their chance to be all they can be. We are the people and we have to choose who we give the power to. Not liars, not thieves and not men in uniform who think they can scold us because they’re wiser.
The world is not idealistic, and we may win or lose this fight. I won’t pretend I have the answers, but I know one thing: we’ve been given a chance right here and right now to be all we can be. We can choose to make a difference. We can choose to use that chance. For the first time in ages we’ve been given this opportunity and it seems so unreal. It isn’t though, it’s a real as gets, the rest of life is what we’ve been conditioned to think. We are the people and even though we’ve always deserved this opportunity, we’ve had to work so hard to get it. We are the people and we deserve so much more than we’ve been given. We are the people and we’ve been given a chance. We can choose now to grow old and senile, or we can choose to grow old and wise.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Inside Story - Egypt: democracy in danger?
July 8 was more than just another protest. It was a message from the Egyptian people to the ruling military council that the old ways don't work anymore. This is my interview with Aljazeera English on inside story where I've tried to express the state of affairs at the time.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
The Show Won’t Go On
The show’s over folks. There will be no more of that same old charade of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) playing good guy anymore. There will be no more acts in that play where they pretend to support the revolution. Things are back to normal. Corrupt officials and mass murderers are being released in anticipation of July 8. After all, the old regime has to face the people with all its strength.
The army is being lead by a group of sinister men. They are worse than Mubarak, and they’re willing to do anything to stay in power and protect their friends. The revolution isn’t yet to be celebrated no matter what Egyptian state TV says. The revolution continues to fight against injustice.
The real danger of the couch party is that it raises doubts about the realities that citizen journalist experience and convey to the public. Their main source of information is the state TV and the official press releases. These are mostly lies. Even those who read will be surrounded by lies from Ahram, Akhbar, Al Yom El Sabe3 and Al Wafd. The danger is that they hinder the collective consciousness of the Egyptian people that led to this revolution.
It has become apparent that it is futile to argue with the couch party, firstly because they will waste a lot of energy, but more importantly because they will not go out into the streets no matter what the circumstances. They only talk about politics because of the pressure to say something and adopt a point of view. In the end, the best way is to allow them to examine the evidence. Most of them are apathetic at heart, and they’re angry at something they don’t really know and so they blame the revolution.
The reason this is difficult is because we are dealing with the most powerful men in the country. They are rich and they command an army. Going up against them seems to be a losing battle. But it’s not the army we’re against, but the SCAF. How can we go up against these tyrants and win?
I don’t have an answer as to how we can do it, but I know why we can. The most important belief is that we’re right, that’s all we need. Fighting for what’s right must be worth something. David can take down Goliath. We have to believe that we can win with truth on our side. We have to believe that we can win when we’re fighting for justice. It doesn’t matter how it’s going to happen, the chance will come if we hold our ground.
We’re halfway there, and ahead of us lay two paths, one of a complete dictatorship or one of freedom. We can’t go back now, not after experiencing a taste of it, not after knowing how powerful we are and what we can achieve.
The army is being lead by a group of sinister men. They are worse than Mubarak, and they’re willing to do anything to stay in power and protect their friends. The revolution isn’t yet to be celebrated no matter what Egyptian state TV says. The revolution continues to fight against injustice.
The real danger of the couch party is that it raises doubts about the realities that citizen journalist experience and convey to the public. Their main source of information is the state TV and the official press releases. These are mostly lies. Even those who read will be surrounded by lies from Ahram, Akhbar, Al Yom El Sabe3 and Al Wafd. The danger is that they hinder the collective consciousness of the Egyptian people that led to this revolution.
It has become apparent that it is futile to argue with the couch party, firstly because they will waste a lot of energy, but more importantly because they will not go out into the streets no matter what the circumstances. They only talk about politics because of the pressure to say something and adopt a point of view. In the end, the best way is to allow them to examine the evidence. Most of them are apathetic at heart, and they’re angry at something they don’t really know and so they blame the revolution.
The reason this is difficult is because we are dealing with the most powerful men in the country. They are rich and they command an army. Going up against them seems to be a losing battle. But it’s not the army we’re against, but the SCAF. How can we go up against these tyrants and win?
I don’t have an answer as to how we can do it, but I know why we can. The most important belief is that we’re right, that’s all we need. Fighting for what’s right must be worth something. David can take down Goliath. We have to believe that we can win with truth on our side. We have to believe that we can win when we’re fighting for justice. It doesn’t matter how it’s going to happen, the chance will come if we hold our ground.
We’re halfway there, and ahead of us lay two paths, one of a complete dictatorship or one of freedom. We can’t go back now, not after experiencing a taste of it, not after knowing how powerful we are and what we can achieve.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The More Things Change
It’s back again with all the violence, injustice and misinformation. One has to wonder, was it ever gone? The beast lay dormant in its cave waiting for the wounds to heal and now it strikes again.
Everything’s the same.
The events of yesterday prove beyond a doubt that we’re back to where we started. The families of martyrs are being punished for demanding justice. In this country we live in, there can be no justice and to demand it is close to blasphemous. Military personnel are infuriated by the word because they simply don’t believe in it. The police forces are crazed with madness when it is demanded because they are incapable of providing it. All the regime knows how to do is violence, and they’re doing it again.
What started out as hundreds of protesters turned into thousands as hundreds of people and activists rushed to the square. The scene was reminiscent of the night of 25 January when police forces violently evacuated the square. Going through to morning it is more reminiscent of 28 of January as police insists on clashing with protesters and using violence against them.
New tear gas canisters freshly imported from the US have been used this time. They’re smaller, not expired and with a very long range. It seems hypocritical of the US to reprimand violence against protesters and yet continue to supply the corrupt regime with ways to subdue them. You can tell from Obama’s face during his speech that he was sad at the loss of an ally like Mubarak, despite his well chosen words.
Everything’s the same.
The media is back to its dirty tricks. Lies are propagated by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior. The police are hiring thugs to do their dirty work.
There were thugs in the square as the media claimed, but they were dressed in police uniform. The faces are of those who were in the revolution and I know for certain that I felt no danger from them. The real danger came from the police who do not show any signs of change.
The military try to play good cop, but it’s getting too old. Good cop, bad cop won’t work if you show no signs of fairness and if your actions don’t match your words.
People were attacked and abused and battered but they remained resilient. That is the one difference between last night and the night of Jan 25 is that people stood their ground. The fear had gone.
I guess I was wrong earlier, not everything’s the same. People have changed.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
#NoSCAF
(The Mask of Freedom -Regards from SCAF to the children of our beloved nation)
How can we condone tyrants, murderers and criminals? You say that we’re not, but our silence in the face of injustice makes us complicit in such troubled times. To be afraid of the consequences of facing the truth is deplorable. To delude ourselves into thinking that our fight for justice is over in 18 days is unacceptable.
For those seeking objectivity, I advise them to do a practical exercise: Go through all the communiqués delivered by SCAF and highlight the promises made and compare them to what has been done. I don’t mean started and I don’t mean about to start, I mean done as in completely scraped off that long list of promises. The number of unfulfilled promises is overwhelming, including things that could be done within hours of the communiqué like retrying some of the prisoners or pursuing the corrupt.
How is SCAF different to the previous government of broken promises? They were handed power by a trusting people only to abuse it and pretend the revolution was theirs to claim. They were never with the revolution. Not shooting protesters when they are in large numbers is not enough of an accomplishment. They have hurt smaller numbers when they knew they could do so without defeat. They have arrested protesters and tortured them when there were no great numbers to resist their arrest. They have sentenced innocents to military prison in a matter of hours when there were no lawyers to defend them. How are they different to the previous regime I entreat you.
The first thing we need to see is that Mubarak is still alive through SCAF. When we went out against Mubarak it wasn’t against his person, but his practices. No one was able to speak up against Mubarak when he was in power. No one is allowed to speak up against SCAF now that they are in power. How different are the SCAF practices to Mubarak’s? All we hear are unfulfilled words and statements that conflict with eye witness accounts.
I remember hearing Tharwat Badawy on television once saying that no one who ever comes to power ever relinquishes it. I strongly believe that this is true except for a few rare exceptions, but these men are no exception. They are men hired by Mubarak and he taught them all the tricks. If the SCAF were ready to show a sign of good will, they would have shared some of the power with civilians and yet to date, no civilian was involved in any decision regarding the fate of the nation.
Everything we took, we took by force and none of the promises they made voluntarily were truly fulfilled. They have given us as much freedom as we were willing to take by force, and have ordered a media blackout. The few rights we fought for will slowly be reclaimed, for they see us as petty slaves and view themselves as our masters.
It takes a blind person not to see this, and yet many are still blind. Yet it is the blind who are content with the abyss. I would rather be dragged there than willfully plummet.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sexual Harassment
It's repetitive and inconsequential to write a post about sexual harassment but I'm writing it anyway. I'm writing because even though this post won't change a thing, we have to keep talking. We have to keep bringing up the things we want changed until we find a way to change them. We have to keep acknowledging the problem before we know how to solve it.
I have no solutions offered in words because I know that the real solution is offered in action. Change comes first from the moments we choose to speak and then from the moments we choose to act.
The Egyptian streets are filthied with garbage, dust and dirt, but nothing on these streets is dirtier nor uglier than sexual harassment. The act of harassment is symbolic of numerous vices. The disrespect of human beings, invasion of privacy, hypocrisy and poor character. It is the greatest sign of the weakness of the male gender in today's Egypt and the resilience of women in the face of adversity.
If there is one thing I would change about Egypt, it would be sexual harassment. It threatens my freedom and fills me with shame. We have no excuse not to stand up anymore because it works. If we do it consistently enough, we would be able to greatly affect the rate at which it happens. We have many tools to help us do this. We have a revolution on our side, we have education, tazers, language but most of all, we have right on our side and that is the most powerful weapon.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Mubarak's Army
The Military Council had no choice but to save its skin and pretend to be with the revolution. Any order to shoot the protesters at a time when right and wrong were so obvious in Tahrir square would have meant the end of all the benefits the military Generals were reaping. The army of Egyptians would have been split. Some would have been loyal to the Generals and some loyal to the people. In any case it would have meant the disruption of the wealthy lives of the military commanders.
We kept shouting a lie, hoping it becomes true, that the army and the people are one. They never were. The army was controlled by the SCAF and they extended their control to the minds of most Egyptians who cannot accept the reality we're faced with. It's still the game of security, that the country will collapse without the SCAF and yet it is the collapse of this nation that has risen up that they wish to achieve.
Some things have changed, the people have become more aware and more political, but our rulers have become more ruthless and intolerant. The SCAF now intimidates freedom more than the past regime. No media is allowed to speak ill of them, remind you of something? They kidnap, torture and unjustly try innocent people who have no chance of defending themselves, remind you of anything? They make promises they never keep and fill our television stations with propaganda, remind you of something?
If you're not reminded of dictatorship and tyranny, then you're blind. It's not that you're blind really, but you're closing your eyes and you do not want to see the truth of it. Today an Egyptian is defined by his defiance of injustice and if you do not want to see injustice, then you're not Egyptian. This is not the definition that hundreds upon hundreds of martyrs died for. We are rewriting this definition to stand for justice and you will not be part of of it if you close your eyes.
The evidence is out there, and clear as day light. All you need to do is open your eyes to see it. Don't rely on your hearing to detect light. Don't ask these questions like 'where is the evidence? I can't hear it'. You cannot hear light, and you cannot see sound.
We are at a crossroads. We have been resurrected after decades of death. We knew our enemy and we now know how to fight the enemy. The same enemy comes in a different uniform. We must, not only open our eyes, but raise our shields and sharpen our swords. Our enemy is tyranny and injustice, it always has been. If we cannot tell the truth, then this resurrected body will die once more, and this time we will be the murderers.
Wearing a uniform is not a good enough excuse for men to inflict injustice upon other men.
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