Springtime in the New Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

From Springtime in the New Egypt

The first thing I loved about Cairo was its flora. After all that time in Jordan, it was so refreshing to live with towering old trees and big bright hibiscus flowers and all sorts of other greens and colors. Now that the gardens of Zamalek line my route to school and are awash in spring blooms, I've been carrying my camera with me everywhere I go.

My route to class also follows along the banks of Zamalek Island over looking the gardens that line the Nile. In particular are some shallow waters, docks and moorings under the 15 May Bridge that attract a selection of water birds that I've been stalking for weeks now.

Now, not only is it springtime in the literal sense of the word, but commentators are beginning to speak of an "Arab Spring" as a collective term for the rash of revolutions across the region. In that spirit, let me also share my images of the Egyptian Spring, as portrayed by the youth in murals across downtown Cairo.

ANNOUNCING TAHRIR DOCUMENTS

I'm pleased to share this press release for a project I and many of my CASIC colleagues have been participating in here in Cairo.

ANNOUNCING TAHRIR DOCUMENTS

We are pleased to announce the launch of Tahrir Documents, an ongoing project to archive and translate printed discourse from the 2011 Egyptian revolution and its aftermath. The website presents a diverse collection of materials — among them activist newspapers, personal essays, advertisements, missives, and party communications —- in complete English translation alongside reproductions of the Arabic-language originals. The site will be updated regularly, frequently, and indefinitely as new writings appear in response to post-revolution developments, and as we locate earlier materials.  

The assembled documents address a variety of contemporary concerns including Muslim-Christian relations, constitutional amendments, moral conduct, revolutionary strategy, and the women's rights movement. Some of the highlights of the collection:

• A defense of protestors' continued sit-in at Tahrir Square released on March 9th, the same day on which their encampment was destroyed by thugs
• Guidelines for personal behavior after the revolution
• Numerous denunciations of sectarian violence
• The announcement of new political parties and presidential candidates.
• Numerous articles debating the constitutional amendments passed last week  
• Selections from Gurnal and Revolutionary Egypt, activist newspapers founded after the revolution    

We invite you to examine the the website, and to return regularly as we post communications and commentaries from the post-Mubarak era. We believe the archive indicative of the diversity of political thought and action in contemporary Egypt, and hope that this diversity is of interest to anyone following the country's transforming situation. The archive is searchable. 

Tahrir Documents is the work of volunteer translators in Egypt and abroad. It is not affiliated with any of those authors or groups whose works appear in translation on the website, nor with any organization foreign or domestic.

For more information please write to the editorial board at tahrirdocuments@gmail.com. We invite the submission of materials for translation and publication on the website.

Regards,

The Editors and Staff of Tahrir Documents

 www.tahrirdocuments.org / tahrirdocuments@gmail.com / twitter.com/tahrirdocuments

A Little Further Up the Rift Valley....

Cairo, Egypt

After reviewing an essay assignment for which I assessed the effects of geography on Jordan's economy, my professor asked me why I thought there hadn't been widespread protests in Jordan. Naturally, I was all to happy to explicate. In fact, it's a question I've discussed before in the last month, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the matter.

I think it's obvious to most Jordanians, both in the cities and the villages, both the educated elite and the less educated middle and lower classes, that reform actually is happening in Jordan at a fairly rapid pace, and that the king is the primary impetus behind it. They may have their critiques about what the king pushes, how and why, but they can see positive change happening from year to year.

Since King Abdullah II came into power, there have been drastic ongoing improvements in education at all levels, with a focus on an IT economy, and Jordanian Internet entrepreneurs have been among the most successful in the Arab world. The national debt has decreased, the salaries of teachers have more than doubled in the last two years, tourism and medical tourism have steadily increased despite regional instability, and many other factors of economic health have shown obvious evidence of improvement. Freedom of expression continues to expand, and Jordanian bloggers are award-winning. There has also been significant development in infrastructure.

In addition, King Abdullah II has demonstrated repeatedly that he listens to the concerns of his people, and acts decisively to address those concerns whenever possible. I don't know anyone in Jordan who really believes that a significant segment of Jordanians have any intention of being rid of the king that has done so well by them.

I think it is also worth noting that in a kingdom with relatively low oppression, like Jordan and Morocco, it is neither a surprise nor an imposition when the son of that king is next in line to lead the country. The effect of Presidents Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt, Gaddhafi in Libya and Saleh in Yemen all conspiring to put their sons in the presidency after them should not be underestimated in determining the reasons for their respective ousters and attempted ousters.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....
When I arrived at St. Andrews to teach my Arabic class for Somali refugees, the education coordinator said to me, "So the Interior Ministry's burning down, is it?"
"What?" I asked. "That's two blocks from my apartment, and I've just come from there! How could I not have noticed?" If I'd known, I might not have left home for fear that my road would be blocked off when I came home.
So we turned to the local paper's Website and found this stunning image. Apparently Interior Ministry employees were also protesting downtown today, and I had no idea, holed up taking classes and doing homework in the AUC dorms in cozy Zamalek - an island in more ways than one!

The Center Party

Cairo, Egypt

Today in our Islamic Political Movements class, we had a special guest, Dr. Tareq Malt of the al-Wasat Party, or Center Party, one of the few "opposition" parties allowed under the Mubarak regime, and therefore one of the best-prepared players in Saturday's referendum and the elections coming up in late May.

The Center: from liberation ... to reconstruction

The al-Wasat Party formed in 1996 when about 20 leaders of the younger generation in the Muslim Brotherhood differed on political matters and broke away. The Muslim Brotherhood seeks an Islamic state that protects women and religious minorities but excludes them from full participation in public life. The al-Wasat Party, however, promotes a secular political system inspired by Islamic values, which are after all the same values on which Judaism and Christianity, and therefore liberalism are built. (There are obvious parallels to be drawn here with the Justice and Development Party that has been so successful in Turkey.)

They affirm the right of any Egyptian, regardless of religion, race or gender, to achieve even the presidency of the republic. They promote freedom of expression, human rights including women's rights, and full social and political equality of all Egyptians. They support a free market economy so long as there are regulations in place to protect the rights of the poor. Above all, they promote education as the surest path towards development of the economy and standard of living in Egypt. The regime of Hosni Mubarak, said Dr. Malt, blamed Egypt's problems on overpopulation, but that's a faulty analysis. With proper education, Egypt could exploit their human, historical and natural resources much more effectively, and this is the key to improving Egypt's economy.

Naturally, as a teacher by trade, I jumped on the idea of education as the key to development. I believe this wholeheartedly, and I've written about it for graduate school, so I know that one of the fundamental challenges to education reform in Egypt is financial. The Ministry of Education simply doesn't have the money to provide a living wage to teachers, which makes teaching a job of last resort and consequently of very low quality. When I asked Dr. Tareq how he proposed to solve the financial crisis in education, he said, "Without corruption, we'll have all the money we need!" There are so many problems with that statement! For starters:
1) Assuming that corruption will simply disappear post-revolution is incredibly naive.
2) Ending corruption doesn't guarantee the appearance of that money in public coffers.

In general, this was the problem with his presentation, and frankly with the platform and program of the al-Wasat Party in general. They have high, idealistic aspirations to find a "third way" between Islamism and liberal democracy, at least on paper, but they don't have a sufficiently detailed plans to achieve them.

al-Wasat Party and the Amendments
I think we were all most disappointed in al-Wasat Party's stance on the constitutional amendments approved by referendum on Saturday. The party supported a "yes" vote on the amendments, as a way of returning stability to the nation. Like many of the youth movements and other liberal parties, most CASAween believe that the constitutional amendments are the most powerful weapon of the counter-revolution, an effort to block real democratic change. Al-Wasat Party, on the other hand, believes that approving the amendments is necessary to provide the necessary political infrastructure to write a new constitution, which will be the first order of business of the new Parliament later this year. Of course, as one of the few political parties with an established apparatus before the revolution, the al-Wasat Party has a great deal to gain from a continuation of the former system and the accelerated timetable of 3 elections (Lower House, Upper House and presidential) and 2 referendum (on the constitutional amendments, and then the new constitution) in 12 months.

Dr. Tareq on the Revolution
What interested me most was his editorializing on the Egyptian Revolution. It was not Egypt's elites, intellectuals, politicians or Islamists who caused the revolution to succeed, he said (even if elites and intellectuals may have started it). It was the apolitical families and the poor who brought the real power to the revolution when they came out late in the second week of protests. They're the real power behind the revolution, and they're the ones to whom the New Egypt is accountable.

Moreover, he said, "Don't be afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood!" They were not the power behind this revolution, and that they represented less than 20% of participation in the revolution. (I don't know how he calculates that number, so we'll call it opinion.)

He also noted that "unlike some of those other parties" who were against the revolution at first, and then for the revolution when it was politically expedient, the al-Wasat Party was with the revolution from the very first ... even before! The founders of the Kefaya movement, he claimed, were members of al-Wasat Party, and the party has supported all the youth movements of recent years, and will continue to work with youth as the New Egypt emerges.

Then again, he's a politician, so take that as you will!

Voting In Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

Congratulations to my Egyptian-American classmate Yasmine, and to all my other Egyptian friends who voted today in Egypt's referendum on the military's proposed amendments to the constitution. Whatever the outcome, it's wonderful to know that your voices are being heard!

No to the Amendments!

Cairo, Egypt

Today, when I took my Friday stroll through the protests with Emma and Erin, there was pretty much only one message being delivered: No to the constitutional amendments!

From No To The Amendments!

I also read today about the Association for the Protection of the Revolution, an umbrella activist organization from Port Said doing great things to sustain the power of a peaceful revolution in one of its most violent centers.

Foreign Interference

Cairo, Egypt

There was a protest of mostly women in black headscarves and big trendy sunglasses on the sidewalk in front of the Embassy of Bahrain in Zamalek today as I was walking home.

From Bahrain Embassy, Zamalek

What's happening in Bahrain is in some ways the most disturbing of all the uprisings in the Middle East. Until Sunday, those uprisings were domestic affairs. Financial assets have been frozen in foreign accounts, and plenty of rhetoric has flown about concerning the rest of the world's recommendations to the leaders of Algeria, Egypt, Yemen.... After weeks of discussing it and making proclamations, no country has even stepped in militarily to stop the atrocities in Libya.

On Sunday, the Saudi army rolled across the border into Bahrain to assist the police there in crushing the opposition protests. By Tuesday there was blood in the streets. It doesn't bode well for the future of democracy in the oil-rich Persian Gulf states. The interests of oppressive Arab governments in that region are too deeply entrenched to allow free expression, and too essential to the global economy for the international community to intervene.

"In Order to Form a More Perfect Union"

Cairo, Egypt

Tonight Erin and I went to a meeting of the Popular Coalition for Reform, one of the many fledgling political organizations just beginning to find their feet. The topic was "Why we oppose the amendments to the constitution."

The basic argument boils down to this: The constitution was written under Pres. Anwar Sadat to support a military intelligence state, and expanded under Mubarak to lock in that dictatorship. Amending that dictatorial constitution is not reform; it's a cosmetic change to the process of presidential elections that doesn't alter the fundamental oppression of the constitution or the political system.

They point to the banner that went up on Tahrir Square in the last days of January, listing the main demands of the revolutionaries, and a new constitution was on that list, as was a reform of the Parliament and political party system. These amendments, written by a council formed by the military that put the dictatorship in power in the first place, and pushed through so quickly on the heels of the revolution, is an attempt to placate Egyptian revolutionaries without any substantive changes.

All of that I'd heard before. The most energetic speaker, however, had a slightly different angle that I hadn't heard before:

This, he claimed, was Egypt's first broadly based popular revolution since Moses led the Israelites away from the the pharaoh. (Some would argue that the 1919 Revolution was also a broadly based popular revolution, but I don't know enough to quibble about the details.) Unlike the military coups that brought Nasser and Sadat to power, this was a grassroots revolution supported by intellectuals, the working classes, the poor, women, students ... all walks of life. As such, the creation of a new government should not be left to the military, but should include the participation of all those parties that demanded the reform. He quoted the Constitution of the United States: "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union." He quoted a similar line from the constitution of the French Revolution (in French, so I didn't quite catch it). He quoted Rousseau, saying that this Egyptian Revolution also called for a tabula rasa, a clean slate on which to draft a new constitution, a new political system such as Egypt has never seen.

But however impassioned the words of the new revolutionary parties, with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis and al-Azhar University supporting the amendments and the recommendations of the Supreme Military Council, there's still a great deal of doubt as to whether the amendments will truly be rejected.

It Was Fun Until....

Fayoum, Egypt

From Fayoum

My old roommate Pip always raved about Fayoum as her weekend getaway of choice for recovering from the stresses of Cairo life, so I was excited when Noel organized a trip there for a dozen CASAween plus Heather's family. Fayoum is the first manmade oasis, built by the pharaohs, and was sacred to the crocodile god, so we began by visiting a pyramid.

This pyramid was once covered with limestone, but the Ptolemies pirated the good stone for their own structures in the later dynasties. All that remains now is the mud brick core of the pyramid.

Unfortunately, when we went into town to see Fayoum's famous waterwheels, we also picked up a police escort. Any group of Americans larger than 10 is supposed to have one "for security." From a tourist's perspective, though, if you can avoid it, do! We spent all afternoon arguing with the police escort, who insisted that it was only "safe" to eat at the most expensive restaurants along the lake (where they could get a free meal for their trouble) and it pretty much ruined the rest of the day!

Egyptian Unity

Cairo, Egypt

From Unity March

The cross and the crescent raised together!

It was one of the slogans of the 1919 Revolution in Egypt against the British. Finally tiring of the British Empire's time-honored tradition of "divide and conquer," Muslims and Christians rose up together to throw off the imperialist yoke. Past is future in the New Egypt. In the wake of so-called Muslim-Christian violence this week, which some people have attributed to remnants of the former State Security apparatus, one of the focuses of this week's Friday protest is Christian-Muslim unity.

No to the constitutional amendments!

We're also only 8 days away from a referendum on amendments the Supreme Military Council is proposing to the constitution, and protesters on Tahrir are adamantly opposed to amending the constitution that kept Hosni Mubarak in power for 30 years. They will only accept the drafting of an entirely new constitution, they say. It has been their demand since the very first week of the protests.

One Lord: Muslim, Christian, one people. Destroy churches, destroy homes, [but] the voice of the Copts will not die.

Ten minutes' walk down the Nile, Coptic Christian Egyptians have been protesting for days. They're demanding respect for their rights as a minority, and insisting on a secular state. They're not the only ones. I saw plenty of Salafis there, with their distinctive beards, skullcaps and high-water thobes, bearing banners that called for Muslim-Christian unity, supporting the argument that Salafis were probably not behind the sectarian violence of this past week.

As we came back to Tahrir, we walked past a group of youth painting a banner along the edge of the street.

Behind them, on the fence of a construction site, they were displaying artwork about the revolution.

We also picked up a lot of revolutionary literature and other swag!

What's a Salafi?

Cairo, Egypt

Last night there was an altercation in Mokattam, aka Garbage City, a largely Christian suburb of Cairo. It was reported in the paper that a mob of Salafi Muslims attacked some Christians. When Andrew mentioned this headline in our class on Islamist political movements, it changed the course of the whole lesson.

Our teacher was adamant that it couldn't have been Salafis who attacked those Copts, and I found myself convinced by his arguments and what I know about Salafis. They're academics, scholars of Islam and followers of a literal interpretation of the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad. They're men who know not only exactly what the Quran and the Prophet say, but also understand the context in which those things were said. They understand that Islam is an Abrahamic religion that protects Christians and Jews, that advocates peace whenever possible, and abhors violence except in self defense. They are pacifists to a broad extent.

Moreover, they do not participate as a group in Egyptian politics. That is to say, they are not a united voting block behind any one party. A few vote with the Muslim Brotherhood, some with the National Party, some with the Wafd Party. Others don't participate at all in the corrupt, immoral, un-Islamic government that has made a practice of oppressing Egypt.

The common explanation for this week's violence is that the state newspapers' use of the term "Salafism" is a smoke screen. Nearly everyone I've asked is of the same opinion: the so-called "Salafis" attacking Christians could only be thugs of the old security apparatus. This conclusion is fueled by the evidence uncovered during the days of the revolution that the church bombing in Alexandria was, in fact, orchestrated by the former head of State Security. It became evident during the revolution that reports of a "sectarian conflict" between Muslims in Christians in Egypt was not a reality on the ground, but rather a divide-and-conquer tactic of the Mubarak regime.

The Slow Slog Forward

Cairo, Egypt

Sometimes it seems that Egyptians have just gone mad with people power. The handicapped are camped out on Kasr al-Aini Street, tents have gone back up on Tahrir for various causes, there's a solidarity demonstration of some sort in front of the Arab League every day, and different workers are on strike every day. And over and over, in taxis and stores and metro cars and coffee shops, you hear the same refrain: "There's no more government! There's no more order!" While a few Egyptians are mad with people power, most of them are slowly wearying of constant disruption by protesters.

Here's what I think is going on. 6 of April and other organizations of young people have very clear insight into the democratic process. I remember how impressed I was on 1 February when the pro-Mubarak supporters first started to appear. Everywhere I went, I heard pro-democracy protesters engaging Mubarak's supporters (or trying to) in quiet exchanges of opinion. They demonstrated a clear understanding that real democracy is about dialogue with the opposition. Others used tactics from Balkan nonviolent resistance movements like hugging policemen and chanting for national unity to show that they wanted respectful discourse with the regime and its security apparatus.

What these youth movements didn't have was hierarchy or leadership. They did this deliberately. It was all part and parcel of their message that despotism and the cult of personality wasn't getting Egypt anywhere they wanted to be. Perhaps they even have the humility to recognize that while they were able to topple their government, they don't have the skills or experience to constitute a new one. Community organizing is one thing, but not all community organizers are Barack Obama! Unfortunately, no one has yet stepped up who does have the skills and experience, or even the charisma to lead the New Egypt.

What we're seeing instead is evidence of the part of democracy that Egypt hasn't quite wrapped its head around yet. Yes, demonstrations and nonviolent resistance are powerful tools to end a policy, law, institution or regime you don't like. That, however, is the easy part of democracy. It's where we go from here that's difficult, and a hundred people pitching tents on Tahrir Square is not going to build institutions, write laws, implement policies or in other words, govern the most populous country in the Arab world!

In 2010, hardly anyone imagined that people power could topple thirty years of dictatorship and megalomania in just 18 days. In 2011, that failure of imagination has made a quagmire of the already chaotic downtown of the Mother of the World.

Inter-Taxi Chit-Chat

Cairo, Egypt

I don't ride around in taxis in America, so I don't know if this is just taxi driver culture, or specific to Arab taxi driver culture, but there are lots of conversations that go on between the open windows of taxis stuck in traffic. Especially Cairo traffic, and especially in the complete disaster that surrounds Tahrir Square for several blocks around.

Often drivers lean out their windows to ask a taxi driver for directions. Sometimes they're checking traffic conditions. "Is it better to go this way or that way?" In these exciting times, they talk more and more about politics, too. I noticed today that a great many taxis have "25 January" stickers on their cars; there are the ones that look like license plates, banners with the faces of the martyrs, "I was there" stickers, Egyptian flags, and more.

Today my driver spent half his time screaming invectives out his window: "You ass!" or "That's my spot, man!" He was definitely not loving his job today.

As we were sitting in traffic in front of the Arab League Headquarters, there was a small protest on the sidewalk. The driver on the other side of us asked, "Is that a protest for Libya?" That was the topic of protests in that spot last week. "No," said my driver, "that flag is for Iraq." Replied the other driver, "Whatever do they want in Iraq?" Said my driver, "God only knows! Some beans for their bread, maybe? The whole world is falling apart!"

It was a common refrain from him after that. The whole world is falling apart. And sometimes it seems that way in Egypt post-revolution. As I commiserated with my driver, Tahrir Square was a traffic disaster before the revolution. Now it's a place taxi drivers avoid whenever possible. Before picking up me, he turned down three fares to the same neighborhood because they would entail crossing Tahrir as he did with me. As a result, he gets angry, and I feel guilty and overpay for my ride. Having classes in Zamalek is getting damned expensive!

But it wasn't all politics. Along the way, as we were waiting on a corner for our turn to go around Tahrir Square, he shouted out his window for a cup of tea from a street vendor.

Security Leaks

Cairo, Egypt

I was all set to be abed by midnight for the first time in weeks. Lights were out and I was settling in when I started to hear shouting down the street towards Tahrir Square. A unified chant began to emerge, and as I came out on my roommate's balcony over Tahrir Street, there was a mob of young men and women shouting, "The people demand the fall of the system!" as they marched with Egyptian flags from Tahrir Square towards Abdeen Palace.

Not ten minutes later, I was out on the balcony again. Some of the protesters were coming back down the street. Residents of the street had come out in the "popular committees" or "neighborhood watch groups" that were so familiar during the 18 days of revolution, with their sticks and thin plastic pipes. They beat a few youth as they ran back down the street towards Tahrir Square.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, I was back out on the balcony watching an argument that had broken out on the intersection below. I noticed that the neighborhood watch and the employees of the gas station on the corner had once again erected a roadblock on the street heading towards the Interior Ministry. They were turning cars away from both the Ministry and the street to Abdeen Palace, but I couldn't hear clearly enough to understand why.

Eventually, sometime after 1am, things settled down enough that I could sleep.

The Leaking Begins
When I woke up this morning (not as rested as I'd planned), I discovered in Egypt Today that protesters had stormed a number of buildings of the Central Security, the intelligence service in the police force, to stop them from destroying documents, videos and other evidence proving their corruption and use of torture.

There are also rumors that senior police officials have been relieved of their jobs, and that they stormed several government offices in protest. My roommate, who was watching from a nearby balcony, heard that one of those government buildings was the Abdeen Prison down the street, where they supposedly released prisoners who attacked the Interior Ministry. I can't confirm either, just to say that rumors are rampant and the revolution is far from over yet!