by AlicetheKurious » Sat May 28, 2011 9:09 am
Truly Egypt is the land of miracles. We experienced one first-hand, yesterday.
The euphoria that accompanied the dictator's removal on February 11 had entirely dissipated. In the state media, nothing but bad news about the economy, about the emergence of crazy fanatic groups and sectarian violence, crime out of control, rising poverty, politics in disarray, confusing and contradictory reports about the legal proceedings against leaders of the "former" regime, etc., etc. The people seemed hopelessly divided and angry; some were openly blaming the revolution for every problem, including traffic and the refusal of children to do as they're told. The government seemed unwilling or unable to do its job -- all the ministries seemed paralyzed, ineffective and confused about what to do.
The worst, however, was the dawning suspicion (hardening into certainty) among others -- including me -- that the revolution had been hijacked before our very eyes: the masses, and those who had led it and sacrificed so much for it were being locked out of the decision-making process. Instead, it became very obvious that the Armed Forces Council and the Muslim Brotherhood, both of whom were taken entirely by surprise by the revolution and had initially refused to join it, and neither of whom have ever evidenced the slightest interest in "democracy" had somehow managed to take it over and were rapidly laying the foundation for a new dictatorship in a different guise.
First, you have to understand that the Armed Forces Council consists of individuals who are by definition authoritarian, extremely conservative and secretive (we don't even know all their names!!), who have reaped enormous personal and institutional benefits from their close relationship with the United States and, by virtue of the Army's vast business holdings in Egypt (some experts estimate that it controls around 40% of the Egyptian economy), comprise a significant part of Egypt's capitalist elite. At the same time, journalists are legally forbidden to write about the army's top leadership, let alone describe their personal fortunes or criticize them in any way; workers in the many army-owned factories are forbidden by law to form labor unions; and the army has its own parallel police and judiciary that operate according to its own rules on any matter related to "national security", which it has been allowed to define at will.
The Muslim Brotherhood, like the army, has an extremely authoritarian, top-down structure, it is also very secretive, especially at the top. Its leaders enjoy close personal and political ties to elites in the rich oil-producing Gulf states. Paradoxically, the Muslim Brotherhood has long had a populist image because like the army, its regular members are ordinary Egyptians from all classes. Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood and the army are both widely considered free of the taint of corruption (bordering on debauchery) that was associated with the Mubarak regime's political elite, and both claim to be national guardians and defenders: the army's sacred mission being to protect Egypt's borders, while the Muslim Brothers' equally sacred mission being to guard Egypt's moral and religious integrity.
For the first four days of the revolution, both were literally paralyzed with panic. The uprising was determinedly non-sectarian, anti-authoritarian, and its key demands were secular and democratic, for a political and economic transformation. By the night of the fourth day, however, the Muslim Brotherhood could see which way the wind was blowing and decided to adjust its sail accordingly. When one of the panicked revolutionary youth, Nawara Negm, telephoned former Muslim Brotherhood Member of Parliament Mohamed Beltagui in the middle of the night on January 28-29 and begged him to do something because they were being attacked by armed thugs in Tahrir Square, the Muslim Brotherhood grabbed the chance: within an hour, thousands of Muslim Brotherhood youths were rushing to Tahrir Square to defend the besieged protesters, which they did bravely and effectively, earning them instant respect and admiration among the vast majority of Egyptians (including me).
Meanwhile, at the army headquarters a decision had been taken, either independently or more likely at the instigation of the US, to ditch Mubarak. Being extremely cautious by nature, however, the army wouldn't burn its bridges just in case Mubarak could somehow manage to turn things around: while sending encouraging messages to the revolutionaries, the army took a "neutral" stance, refusing to attack the revolutionaries but at the same time refusing to defend them from the weapons of the regime's security forces and mercenary thugs. It was only when workers rose up across the nation that they stepped in decisively and ordered Mubarak out. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the army leadership suddenly found itself hailed as guardians and defenders of the revolution.
To cut a long story short, the army found itself in charge of a country in upheaval, under immense pressure to meet impossibly conflicting demands. The Americans ordered the army to provide a "peaceful transition" to a superficially democratic new regime that will provide internal stability while ensuring that the US' and Israel's interests were not affected. The people charged the army with simply carrying out their demands for genuinely revolutionary transformation, including a radical shift in the nation's economic and foreign policies that would remove it decisively from the Western (and Israeli) sphere of influence. Suddenly and with no preparation, the army found itself thrust into the spotlight, its leaders forced to communicate with and explain and defend their decisions to a suddenly assertive public, something that they have no experience or skills at doing, and which freaked them out.
What to do? What to do? I believe that at this point, the Muslim Brotherhood approached the Armed Forces Council with what must have seemed like a perfect plan: if the Armed Forces Council would play along and "give" them the next parliament, and thus the power to oversee the creation of Egypt's new constitution, the Muslim Brotherhood would ensure that the army got the nation's presidency, and everybody would be happy. The people would have their "democracy", with genuinely elected leaders to run their internal affairs, the Muslim Brothers would dominate the country's internal politics and at the same time the president would prevent any serious change to the country's foreign policy or general direction.
The Muslim Brotherhood's main selling-point was that they had the street creds and the disciplined cadres and the populist support to deliver voters. What they wanted from the Armed Forces Council was to take advantage of its temporary but absolute power to shape the legal and security landscape to promote the Brotherhood and prevent other players, especially the revolutionary and liberal elements, from mounting an effective challenge.
I believe that the Armed Forces Council, cautious as ever, decided to test whether the Muslim Brotherhood could walk the walk, not just talk the talk, and that the March 19th referendum on constitutional amendments was this test. The subject of the referendum was 8 amendments to the old constitution, almost all dealing with personal qualifications for presidential candidates (like he or she can't have a foreign spouse, etc.), none dealing with presidential powers or other substantive issues. Bizarrely, the Muslim Brotherhood fought for the "yes" camp as though their very lives depended on it. On the other side, almost all the revolution's leadership, as well as the religious leadership of the Copts, liberals, secularists, businesspeople, and labor unions supported the "no" side, arguing that the old constitution was tailor-made for a dictatorship and, since the revolution had nullified it, it was crazy to re-legitimize it with a few minor amendments.
But the Muslim Brotherhood (and the Armed Forces Council) played dirty. While the Armed Forces Council gave people only a few days to even read the amendments and then rigidly enforced a legal clampdown on any media coverage 48 hours before the referendum, the Muslim Brothers were allowed to hang enormous banners in the poorest neighborhoods proclaiming a "yes" vote to be a religious duty, and to distribute pamphlets and food packages in green bags with "YES" printed on them. Then they mobilized rural preachers in village mosques and got the Salafists on board in popular neighborhoods. Like Tea Partiers in the US identifying universal health care as an insidious communist plot, they claimed that the real reason the "no" camp wants to get rid of the old constitution is because of Article 2, which Sadat inserted and which says, "Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its language." The "no" camp's protests that they have no problem with Article 2 fell on deaf ears. They supplemented the religious appeals with arguments to the middle class that the "yes" vote means "yes" to economic and political stability and that "no" means prolonging the uncertainty. Another of their effective talking points was that a "no" vote would alienate the Armed Forces Council, but that a "yes" vote would affirm the public's support for the AFC and at the same time speed up their withdrawal from civilian politics.
Bottom line, the Muslim Brotherhood ran a campaign for the "yes" vote that was a masterpiece of deceit and demagoguery. When the votes were counted, 77.8% had voted "yes" and 22.2% had voted "no". The "no" camp didn't see it coming and emerged shell-shocked from the experience. In contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood dropped its conciliatory and humble mask and began talking and acting like they owned the country. As for the Armed Forces Council, clearly it had seen enough. Suddenly it began issuing law after law that violated the spirit and every principle of the revolution and ignoring the consequent outcry. In each case, all the political forces were opposed, except for the Muslim Brotherhood, which enthusiastically supported them. Tellingly, the Armed Forces Council, after declaring the results to be a triumph of democracy, nullified the results by issuing a "Constitutional Decree" comprising 62 clauses which voters had never seen before and had certainly not voted on. The Muslim Brotherhood solemnly hailed the Armed Forces Council's allegiance to the revolution and to democracy.
It was during this same period that Egypt began experiencing a bizarre and unprecedented outbreak of sectarian attacks against churches and mosques, to which the Armed Forces Council responded with inexplicable passivity. The state media began issuing alarmist headlines about the imminent collapse of the economy, and for the first time it became acceptable for state-owned newspapers, radio and television to attack the revolution and accuse its instigators of "sowing chaos" and destroying the country. "Soon, because of you, we will all become beggars!" they screamed. Those economic experts and political analysts who tried to respond with facts and logic, were banned and relegated to the few independent media outlets and the internet. Still reeling in the aftermath of the March 19 referendum, and struggling to deal with the rapid-fire emergence of seemingly random crises, the revolutionaries found themselves on the defensive at every turn and treated with arrogance and contempt by both the Armed Forces Council and their strutting partners, the Muslim Brotherhood.
It took a while, but sometime during the past two weeks or so, the revolutionaries were finally able to overcome their denial, and fully recover from the referendum fiasco. The actions of the Armed Forces Council and the Muslim Brotherhood, and all the seemingly random pieces suddenly clicked together seamlessly and the picture became all too clear. They became angry, and began to fight back. The internet and the independent media raged with accusations against both, backed with documents, video clips and eyewitness testimonies. Clearly, the regime was still in place and this time the people will not be pacified until it was well and truly cleaned out. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
A date was set, May 27th, to revive the revolution and to demonstrate that its demands are not negotiable. The state media instantly reverted to its true role, with wall-to-wall lies and cheap propaganda on behalf of power. The government ministers who were associated with the Mubarak regime issued dire warnings about the disastrous cost to the nation of further instability caused by "irresponsible elements". The Muslim Brotherhood shrilly accused the revolutionaries of "ignoring the people's will" as manifested in the referendum results and of trying to create a new dictatorship in the name of the revolution. They accused people of disloyalty to the great "people's army" and of conspiring to create dangerous divisions between Egypt's armed forces and its people. The Salafists issued dire warnings about "infidels and Liberals" trying to destroy Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists ordered all Muslims to boycott the demonstration. Instead, they called for a massive counter-demonstration near Al-Azhar "In Support of the Armed Forces Council".
Even Field Marshal Tantawy took the unprecedented step of speaking directly to the people on tv (most people had never even heard his voice before), to warn people that the country is on the verge of bankruptcy and further demonstrations will only speed up the collapse. Military police began to arrest activists distributing pamphlets calling for the demonstrations on May 27. Finally, as the public anger continued to escalate, the Armed Forces Council began to backtrack a bit, making conciliatory but cosmetic and easily reversible gestures towards people's demands. Then they issued "Communique #58" warning people that on Friday, May 27th, the armed forces would be occupied guarding public property and would not be able to secure any demonstrations or protect the people who participated in them. At the same time, they ominously claimed that there were "indications" that "suspicious elements" "might" be planning to infiltrate or violently attack the demonstrators. I wouldn't even call it a covert threat. It was really quite a campaign; I think they used everything they had to prevent people from going out.
Even the biggest "opposition" party under Mubarak got into the act: it decided to hold its leadership elections on the other side of town at the same time as the planned demonstration.
By yesterday morning, most people were expecting a bloodbath, if indeed anybody was foolhardy enough to show up. The tension was unbelievable. I was so worked up that I decided that no matter what, I was going. I told my husband that he could come with me or not, but I'd be there -- I was damned if I'd let the bastards prance in and pluck the country out of the dead hands of the martyrs who had died and all the thousands who had paid in blood for this country to be free. He moaned and groaned and tried to make me feel guilty about the kids, but this time I wasn't having it. I told him he could stay in that restaurant near Tahrir Square and we'd keep in touch by phone.
As our car approached downtown, I strained to see Tahrir Square. It was still early, and I could make out some large banners, but there didn't seem to be many people. To make things worse, the temperature was already scorching and the sun was unbearably hot, which by itself would keep a lot of people away. My husband said, "See? Nobody's coming." My heart was pounding, because today would either demonstrate that the Muslim Brotherhood was right, and they do indeed control "the street", or it would mark a turning point for the people taking their revolution and their country back. The Armed Forces Council would be forced to pay attention to us again, or else.
We parked in front of the restaurant and went in to find it full of journalists and columnists from Egyptian, Arabic and European media, cadres from various leftist parties, dissident authors and artists, all smiling and friendly but clearly anxious at the same time, just like me. I asked the owner to turn the channel to the wonderful "Tahrir" satellite tv station, which I have come to depend on for reliable coverage of events in Egypt, and he did. The Square wasn't very full, but I and an old activist and veteran of many of Egypt's wars decided to walk there together. The sun really was unforgiving, which is quite normal for this time of year.
When he and I arrived, people were getting ready for Friday prayers, some performing their ablutions with bottled water, others spreading their prayer rugs or even newspapers on the ground. It was still a crowd, but nothing compared to those preceding or even immediately following Mubarak's removal. We walked around a bit, reading the various banners and signs outlining the revolution's demands, most prominently for a constitution first, before parliamentary or presidential elections. Another important demand was for real justice and impartial application of the law, and for the release of political prisoners and an end to military trials for civilians. Some signs demanded a civilian-led presidential council to replace the Armed Forces Council.
We didn't stay long, it was so hot and the prayers were about to start, so we went back to the restaurant, where I gratefully accepted an ice-cold beer, followed by two glasses of water, and talked and joked a bit with some activists. Ahmed, a young man who's been at the heart of the revolution from day one, was at his laptop. "Why aren't you in the Square?" I asked him. "Are you kidding? I'm running Tahrir Square from here!" he laughed, patting his computer. I said hi to a reporter I've met before from Al-Jazeera Arabic and said to him, "When are you people going to stop shoving the Muslim Brotherhood down our throats?" He said, "Give me a break, I'm doing what I can without getting fired!" People were walking past the restaurant towards Tahrir, and I decided to go back, this time for good.
This time, I couldn't believe my eyes. The square was filling up so fast, and still people were coming, streaming in from every direction. Several stages were set up and on each one people were making speeches, each one more amazing and inspiring than the other. The Tahrir tv station had its own stage, and there, a famous movie director was debunking the lies of the Muslim Brotherhood, who claim that they were the ones who defended the demonstrators from attack on February 2nd (the infamous "Camel Attack") -- he said that he was there and saw with his own eyes the people who defended the square that day, and they were all ordinary citizens unaffiliated with any political movement or group. Over and over, people chanted, "Muslim, Christian, we are one hand!" There were Muslim clerics, Coptic priests, people from all walks of life, some desperately poor, some obviously rich. It was Tahrir Square all over again. There were even some Salafists there, and women wearing the niqab. I had the ridiculous urge to ask them, "Don't you know this demonstration is only for ungodly infidels and communists?" I was so excited, I found myself shouting out loud and clapping and smiling at everybody.
Gradually, I became aware of something very strange. The sky had clouded over and a gentle, cool breeze had started. Suddenly the temperature was very comfortable. This was incredible -- this late in the spring, grey skies are very rare and besides, the weather forecasts had predicted clear skies and temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius (just over 102 Farenheit). To make things even weirder, a few drops of deliciously refreshing rain fell on us. The crowd was getting bigger and bigger. A parade walked past, made up of around 30 people carrying a huge flag horizontally over their heads and chanting; some of the signs were humorous, others were dead serious. A prominent banner said, "Armed Forces = Ours; Armed Forces Council = Theirs." One young man carried a large photo of a middle-aged bearded sheikh with the words, "I want my father" printed underneath. I looked at him and laughed out loud, because I thought it was a joke alluding to the Salafists' slogan "I want my sister," about the female converts to Islam who are allegedly kidnapped by the Church. Then, as I turned away, it struck me that this was not a joke, that his father had either been arrested or killed. I quickly went back to him and told him I was sorry, that I had misunderstood. He smiled at me and said, "No need to apologize, you light up the Square." I smiled back and said to him, "God bless you" and continued walking around, savoring "the voice of freedom" and the joyful relief of knowing that the prayers I hadn't even dared to make, had been answered beautifully.
Much later, as I walked back to the restaurant, going against the flow of people heading towards the square, my worries and fears had completely been washed away. The restaurant was now packed tight with people in a celebratory, even exultant mood. Some of the activists were being interviewed on the phone by tv news stations and they were shouting out above the din, "Today the people have spoken loud and clear and declared that the revolution belongs to THEM, not to the Armed Forces Council, nor the Muslim Brotherhood nor any other selfish opportunists!" Lots of people were remarking about the strange weather and one well-known political analyst said to me, "It turns out God is a Liberal, after all!" I laughed and said, "No, God is a secularist!"
That evening, I watched the coverage on tv. I didn't even bother to watch the state tv, but turned first to al-Jazeera Direct Egypt, to savor the blustering bald-faced lies of the Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, who claimed that the Brotherhood had most certainly NOT boycotted the demonstration, in response to the nearly gleeful interventions of the other guests. It was hilarious, listening to him telling them that this hostile interpretation of the day's events is unnecessarily divisive and undemocratic.
Then I turned to the Tahrir tv station, where I was able to see the pathetic demonstration that the Brotherhood had organized near al-Azhar. I'm not usually vindictive, but after all their antics and their puffery, and their betrayal of the revolution, they sure deserve to be exposed and shamed, and they sure are. The rest of the coverage was all about the magnificent day's events in Tahrir Square and all around our great nation.
We were knocked down for a while, but now we're back.
Last edited by
AlicetheKurious on Sat May 28, 2011 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
"If you're not careful the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
Alice 
