Filed under: Historical, Literary, Political | Tags: egypt, poetry, sheikh imam
Sheikh Imam graffiti
احنا مين وهما مين
احنا قرنفل على ياسمين
احنا الحرب حطبها ونارها
واحنا الجيش اللي يحررها
واحنا الشهدا ف كل مدراها
منتصرين او منكسرين
Thirty years of tyranny and corruption were enough for the regime to stretch its arms out in all directions, and so the fall of its head is no longer enough. Rather, it has become necessary for the revolution to continue in order to remove those arms and complete the cycle of the revolution by tearing down the former regime, and building a new one. It was upon this principle that the people of the rebellion worked toward establishing the revolution’s bases and roots everywhere, and Committees for the Defense of the Revolution popped up in various neighborhoods, cities and provinces. Workers strove to establish unions and committees in labor sites. These roots and missions are no less important than the heroic struggle fought by the masses from January 25th to February 11th to topple Mubarak. For if the Egyptian Revolution leaves the body of the regime in the provinces, cities, and official establishments, it will sprout a thousand new heads, so as to hijack the revolution.
Members of the 25 January Revolution Youth Coalition in Alexandria gathered to commemorate the martyrs of the revolution while calling for the prosecution of National Democratic Party members and police officers responsible for killing protesters.
…
Bystanders asked the protesters to end the demonstration at the mosque, saying that any further demonstrations would put the country in turmoil.
We are a nation of hypocrites.
The referendum of March 19 was nothing more than an attempt by the Egyptian military to gauge just how many Egyptians were willing to compromise their freedom in the name of stability. The results demonstrated that the military had in fact overestimated the pressure it was under to enact meaningful political reform and to hold the last remnants of the old regime accountable for the crimes committed under their watch. As for the rewriting of the constitution, that should never have even been an option.
Regardless of the reasons for which specific individuals chose to vote Yes or No, the fact of the matter is: those votes are positioned within a larger context. A Yes vote was posited as a vote for stability and a return to normalcy. Things in Egypt are, however, a) not stable and b) not normal, nor will the situation be “resolved” by an acceptance of amendments to a constitution that was rendered illegitimate (غير شرعي) by a large-scale popular uprising against a regime that had comprehensively abused that same constitution and neglected the rule of law. Despite what you would think is an obvious logical inconsistency, the majority did vote Yes.
It is very much in the army’s interests to foster this discourse of “moving on” (even if it doesn’t actually translate into concrete change) and the referendum was only part of it. It is now beginning to seep into the culture itself, even into the freaking billboards (حفظك الله يا مصر). This is the counter-revolution. The idea that in the past we were oppressed, but then we had a revolution and now everyone is free. The army handed out freedom packages and LOOK YOU GUYS people are cleaning the streets which means we’re living in a new Egypt (?).
Every new protest that emerges (Cairo University, Maspero, Nubians, Alexandria) is not seen as part of an emerging culture of dissent or even as a continuation of the revolution to dismantle the regime (still alive and well), but as a setback to the triumph of law and order. The revolution came out of a need to carve out a new social space for accountability and politics of contention, and yet here we are persisting in an illusion that this is what has been achieved and now is the time to go about “building our democracy” and people who are still demanding their rights are selfish and making everything worse.
Meanwhile,
- The dregs of Amn Dawla are leeching into positions in the new government.
- The army is torturing people and lying about it (even using the language of the old regime).
- The army is submitting female detainees to virginity tests and threatening to charge them with prostitution.
- The army entered Cairo University last Wednesday, forcibly broke up a sit-in, beat and arrested students and faculty.
- Essam Sharaf’s cabinet has passed legislation that would make protests and demonstrations illegal.
Stability? Fuck that noise. Wasn’t it only two months ago that Mubarak was using the same excuses to keep himself in power? What the fuck is going on? I am utterly baffled. Does the army conjure up a fog of nostalgia of such density that we are unable to sustain a critical discourse? These abuses are being reported in the media (as opposed to before) and yet no one is doing anything about them. I say it isn’t yet the time for politicking. It’s not even the time to concentrate exclusively on the old regime and how we’re going to bring its colluders to justice. Now is the time to air out in the open the things that are being done post-revolution (or at least what is being called the post-revolution), and address the certainty that there are still structures of power in place that are doing their utmost to keep it from fully succeeding. I am not currently interested in a sham democracy. I am interested in the still-pervasive culture of torture and the forces that shift the national discourse away from acknowledging it.
Finally, I want to draw your attention to this Shorouk headline (of which I approve out of context) which I think illustrates my point:
الثورة المضادة تنتقل من المظاهرات إلى الوزارات
NY Times
Incredible spirit at the voting stations today. I’m not very optimistic, however. The Brotherhood is playing dirty tricks/spreading propaganda. Also, watch.
- Allegations of voter intimidation and illegal campaigning.
- A lot of the ballots weren’t stamped in advance and therefore not valid. A lot of people who went early voted on unstamped ballots.
- ElBaradei physically assaulted (by Islamists) while trying to vote.
- Ballot stuffing and allegations of bribery.
On the other hand, amazing turnout.
Shorouk headline
“We don’t torture anyone… and there are attempts to (create a fallout) between the people and the army.”
Well, fuck.
They spit on her. All of her belongings were stolen. She was given kerosene-soaked bread for food. But the most humiliating moment was when they first brought her into the prison. She and 10 other women arrested in the square were stripped and forcibly examined to determine whether they were virgins. She had been told that any woman found not to be a virgin would have prostitution added to her charges.
‘The military is above the nation’ — William J. Dobson
Things are not exactly great. Reading things like this makes the present seem even more precarious. I don’t know why this is being kept out of the discourse. I didn’t understand why people initially trusted the military and I don’t understand why they continue to do so. Why are we pretending like it’s time to move on to the next stage when it’s clear that the same kind of repression and degradation continues unencumbered?
I’m thinking “martyr” is the new “insha’allah.” Detached from religious meaning now it’s entered the vernacular.
Gorgeous artwork. Hope it isn’t erased in the aftermath.
Confirming stereotypes since 1918
Upon hearing a rumor in 1953 that Hitler was still alive in Brazil, the Egyptian weekly al-Musawwar asked seven public figures … what they would say to Hitler.
Sadat’s message: “I congratulate you with all my heart, because, though you appear to have been defeated, you were the real victor, you were able to sow dissension between Churchill, the “old man,” and his allies on the one hand and their ally, the devil, on the other … There will be no peace until Germany is restored to what it was … That you have become immortal in Germany is reason enough for pride. And we should not be surprised to see you again in Germany, or a new Hitler in your place.”
Yeah, Egyptians, I really don’t know why you’re not more proud of your presidents.
