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Although I’m currently in Lebanon, I think it would be most prudent to talk about what everyone wants to hear, Egypt. Pictures are not loading successfully, but I will attempt a different internet location later in the day.
In order to fully understand the current situation in Cairo it is best to place it in the context of recent movements in the region, most notably the overthrow in January of Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Not longer after the success of the Tunisian revolutionaries, a Facebook event was created in Egypt scheduling a protest against crime and corruption in the Egyptian government. The event was scheduled for Tuesday January 25
th , Police Day in Egypt, clearly inspired by the successful regime overthrow in Tunisia as evidenced by the picture of the Facebook group- a Tunisian and Egyptian flag intertwined. As mentioned in the news, this movement was largely started by the Egyptian youth who are eager for change. Though, considering that, according to the UN Population Division there are over 17 million youth aged 15-24 in the country,
is this surprising?
Though Egyptian protests have certainly take on their own character, there is still a highly evident emotional connection with the recent events of Tunisia
A precursor to the dramatic events that unfolded in Tunisia were the actions of
Mohammad El Bouazizi, a Tunisian citizen who set himself on fire on front of a government building in protest of Tunisian policies. Likely in mimicry of this event, last week a number of Egyptians set themselves on fire in various locations around Egypt, including in front of the parliament building in Tahrir. One of these men has gained notoriety because of the emotional story behind his decision to burn himself. Though I question the accuracy of this story, especially since the English and Arabic version differ significantly from one another, it is as follows:
Abdou Abdel Monaim Gaafar was a participant in a government program that provides the impoverished with a modest monthly stipend and rations of bread at the beginning of each month. When he turned up to receive his stipend and ration he was refused because officials in charge were not able to locate his name among the list of those to receive assistance. After re-registering and applying for his bread, and despite having received official leave, Monaim was informed by the official in charge of distributing rations that it was only out of the goodness of her own heart and because she pitied him that he was receiving anything at all. So distraught by the constantly patronizing and disrespectful manner in which people of his station were so regularly treated, Monaim displayed in action what his words wouldn’t communicate and set himself on fire in front of the Parliament building in Tahrir.
Anger, not only with the government, but with their stooges, the Egyptian Police force, stems not only from their regularly invasive and pushy behavior, but from such horror stories as that of a conservative Muslim youth employed by a popular store owned by the Muslim Brotherhood (Tawhid al-Noor in Midan Ramses). When churches in Alexandria were bombed over new years, he was pulled off the street and taken in for questioning, seemingly for no apparent reason. After being beaten and tortured by the police, he was dropped outside a local hospital where he died. This is only one of many stories in a long line of evidence of corrupt and violent police behavior. This is certainly not the first unprecedented arrest and by no means the first violent death caused by the corrupt Egyptian Police.
Being no stranger to Facebook, the Egyptian government required the increased presence of police officers at all major sites around Cairo, though particularly in Tahrir Square, where the event was supposed to take place. Whether deterred by the police presence or by the failure of a similarly planned event in
April of 2008, a small crowd of only 200-300 people showed up. Lack of confidence in the veracity of the Facebook event was not peculiar since Mubarak’s regime has a long history not only of squashing protests in action, but of making sure they don’t happen in the first place. And so it is no surprise that not much happened on Tuesday, January 25
th. On my way to the airport through Tahrir and other parts of Cairo, other than an increased police presence there was no sign of protest or disruption. By the time I arrived in Beirut there was little news other than that a minor group of protestors had taken a stand in the centrally located Tahrir Square. The focus of news specials was in fact the unrest in my current location, Beirut, where anti-Hezbollah Lebanese flooded the streets to protest the election of a Hezbollah candidate (check back in a few days for a more detailed account of this Lebanese conflict).
Thanks to the efforts of the government, citizens were hard pressed to voice their opinions any more successfully on Wednesday or Thursday than they were on Tuesday. As it happened, in order to circumvent official efforts to thwart large groups from gathering to protest, a new Facebook event called for people to use the Friday prayers as a way to first gather and then form as a group to protest. When the government subsequently ordered that Cairo’s largest mosques refrain from holding Friday prayers, the religious leaders of the venerable Al- Azhar Mosque refused. The success of the Friday prayer protests prompted the government’s closure of Facebook and subsequent disruption of cell phone and internet services. Note however that land-lines are still in working order, and it is in this way that we’ve been able to receive information from family and friends on the ground in Cairo.
On Friday, as the effects of what has obviously become a full scale protest, and perhaps a revolution, began to ripple across the region and the marketplace, oil prices increased, leaders of Eypt’s ally countries began discussing the situation publicly, and Egyptians waited impatiently for their disgraced President of 30 years to speak to his country. Mubarak’s nighttime speech, meant to address the concerns of the protesters, only spurred them to greater action after he subtly refused to take responsibility for any of their concerns and laid the blame on the current government, which he promptly dismissed from duty. Note that Mubarak hardly considers himself a member of the government, current or no, because he is simply above such things. I suppose when you’ve been in office for nearly 30 years it’s much easier to settle into such a mindset.
The curfew, which began on Friday, was extended on Saturday from 4pm-8am. The establishment of a curfew only seems, again, to have encouraged protestors to disobey government orders. Thanks to the actions of the increasingly violent police force, the death toll currently stands at approximately 100. At the time of writing the death toll in Egypt’s major cities stands at: Cairo-25, Suez- 38, Alexandria- 36. Videos of Tahrir Sqare today showed the crowd supporting the lifeless body of a fallen protestor on a stretcher. 3 protestors were killed attempting to enter the Interior Ministry. Later footage showed scores of wailing Egyptians brandishing the National ID’s of their loved ones outside the entrance of the morgue at Salam Hospital, the best public hospital in the area. Later footage revealed a number of bodies inside the morgue, which the coroner identified as having been subject to live ammunition.
Amidst all of this, today National Democratic Party leader Ahmed Ezz resigned from his post and was revealed to have later attempted to leave the country, only to be denied an exit pass by Egyptian Authorities. The Eyptian Cabinet formally submitted resignations, and Hosni Mubarak appointed and swore in Omar Soliman as Vice President, the first in 15 years.
Police forces attacking the 'violent masses' at prayer
As Friday wore on, the decreased presence of Police forces was clearly evident, as was a rise in reports of looting and violence. While it would be correct to positively correlate the two, it is not necessarily for the reasons one would think. For example, although the Army arrived too late on Friday to stop significant looting of the Cairo museum there is great potential that the Police themselves are responsible for most of the looting and violence that is causing the movement to look bad. Further evidence in support of the this theory is that no artifacts were in fact, missing, only destroyed. Were the perpetrators to have been impoverished people looking to finally own something of value, it follows that they would have actually taken artifacts. A similar pattern is evident throughout Cairo where, in another incident, people attempting to protect their own homes from looters successfully captured a band of thugs and found Central Security ID’s on them. Though they do not comprise the entirety of looters, as evidenced by a recent large capture in Alexandria, it is clear that many members of the police force have retreated from the streets only to change into plainclothes and begin terrorizing the city. Thus we have the Egyptian Army emerging as the true policing force in Cairo at the moment.
It is important to consider that for the Police forces, an end of the Mubarak regime is rightly an end of a very particular way of life. Having ‘worked hard’ to become part of the rigidly corrupt bureaucracy that characterizes the Police Forces, most officers do not anticipate being reduced to simple civil servants without a fight. On the other hand, the army, being an enclosed institution in itself (and an underpaid one), has no incentive to clash with protestors or oppose the ushering in of a new regime. The army has no reason to expect that their way of life will change. In addition, protestors are treating the army with the greatest respect, handing them flowers, spray painting tanks with anti-Mubarak slogans, and buying them food. A recent shot showed an officer waving while being happily carried on the shoulders of a group of protestors. The army is comprised of Egyptians who live much more similarly to the average protestor than anyone in the police forces ever has or will. This is not surprising since service in the military is mandatory for almost all Egyptian males and so many people have intimate connections within the military, whether it be family or friends. Note especially among the protestors that no evidence of flags or words in support of any faction or sectarian group have emerged. All we have are Egyptian flags and the Egyptian national anthem being sung- all nationalist feelings and words. While some question the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in all of this I find they have made it very clear they do not wish to fill the power void that is emerging. They do not support anything different than the masses of protestors themselves and wish only to see the requests of thousands of Egyptians filled. Regardless of their stance, the Brotherhood would never find the support it needs from the Egyptian population at large. The only reason they ever participated in government, and were in fact elected in any capacity in the first place was simply to provide something that wasn’t the National Democractic Party.
I am currently in Beirut, Lebanon with my friend Mido and a number of other students from the German University in Cairo. Though cell phone service has now been mostly restored, we have been communicating most securely with those using land lines. After receiving such a call from Mido’s friend, Bassem, in Egypt, we know that as of Friday night even in the Shoubra Corniche residents of apartment buildings were coming to stand on the street with sticks and knives and anything they could think of to defend themselves from potential robberies. Nearby buildings have reported such actions, though these particular buildings have yet to actually fend anyone off. A nearby mall, one of the first casualties of the mob was looted and continues to burn. For many of Cairo’s poorest this is, unfortunately, the opportunity of a lifetime- perhaps one more thing to blame on Mubarak’s regime. The latest news from Shoubra terms the area a ‘war zone’ with thugs using guns to further threaten locals and their homes. It is nearly clear at this point that the Egyptian police, who have slowly been disappearing from sight are behind some of these attacks.
Mido’s Mother and sisters are currently in Mansoura, Egypt’s third largest city. While they report large crowds and a military presence, the city is calmer than Cairo or Alexandria. News does not bode so well for Mido’s old car though (it was just handed down to his sister). A policeman attempting to hide from objects being thrown at him by protestors instead caused the objects to be thrown at Mido’s car, which now bears evidence of the assault. There are also concerns that Mido’s brand new Jeep which has only been driven twice will be harmed seeing as how its sitting all alone in the wealthy Nasser City, without license plates.
Because all cell phone and internet lines have been cut in Egypt, internet discussion and activity, especially Facebook, has been limited to current Egyptian expatriates. This doesn’t mean they don’t have plenty to say though, and everything from passionate pleas that others pass along the voices of those stuck in Egypt via Facebook Status, to humorous political cartoons and Facebook events, like the “Mubarak Farewell Party” can be found gracing the daily news feed.
Egyptians encourage Mubarak to join his Tunisian counterpart in Saudi Arabia
My future in Egypt is entirely uncertain at this point. I have received notice from Johns Hopkins not only to register with ISOS, but that there is a very real possibility that the three of us currently enrolled at the American University in Cairo will be require to evacuate. AUC itself has canceled the first week of classes, which were to have begun today. I will be in touch with the State Department and the American Embassy in Beirut to ensure that things procede as smoothly as possibly. Though I am grateful for the safety, security, and wireless afforded by my current location, I part of me can’t help but wish I were in Egypt witnessing history, and supporting the brave people of a country I have come to love in their fight for a justice and independence that it is three decades overdue.
For an more specific concerns or questions, please post in the comments section. If there is anything you’d like to here from those currently in Cairo I’ll make sure they get asked, next time we hear from them.
