Who's Responsible for ISIS?

Think Progress and Juan Cole present a well informed, substantiated representation of most of my thoughts on Graeme Wood's article What ISIS Really Wants in the Atlantic.

Jerusha Tanner Lamptey
Professor of Islam and Ministry at Union Theological Seminary

By suggesting that Islam is ultimately beholden to specific literal readings of texts, Lamptey said Wood and other pundits inadvertently validate ISIS’s voice.
“[Wood’s position] confirms exactly what people like ISIS want people to think about them, which is that they are the only legitimate voice,” she said. “It echoes that rhetoric 100%. Yes, that is what ISIS says about themselves, but it is a different step to say ‘Yes, that is true about the Islamic tradition and all Muslims.’”

Nihad Awad
Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

“Scholars who study Islam, authorities of Islamic jurisprudence, are telling ISIS that they are wrong, and Mr. Wood knows more than what they do, and he’s saying that ISIS is Islamic?” Awad said. “I don’t think Mr. Wood has the background or the scholarship to make that dangerous statement, that historically inaccurate statement...."

Mohammad Fadel
Associate Professor & Toronto Research Chair for the Law and Economics of Islamic Law at the University of Toronto

“Yes, [ISIS is] Islamic in that they use Islamic sources to justify all their actions,” Fadel said. “But I think the question that bothers most Muslims is the idea that just because someone says they are Muslim or that their actions are representative of Islam doesn’t make it so. Just because a group can appropriate Islamic sources and Islamic symbols, and then go around doing all sorts of awful things, doesn’t mean that they get to be the ones who define for the world what Islam means.”

I have much greater respect for Jerusha Lamptey and Juan Cole as experts on Islam and Iraq, respectively, than I have for the Middle Eastern Studies Department at Princeton, which is closely affiliated with the neo-cons who took us to war in Iraq under false/exaggerated pretenses. Wood, in contrast, leans heavily on Princeton's Bernard Haykel. I'm more trusting of the Edward Said school of Middle Eastern studies that Haykel dismisses as 'rooted in an “interfaith-Christian-nonsense tradition.”'

* * *

What I would add that I haven't seen in other articles about ISIS is that the actions of the West in Iraq, from colonialism to Iran Contra to sanctions to invasion and occupation, have created fertile ground for conservatism, fanaticism, retaliation and flat-out fury.

Since about the time that ISIS emerged, I have given myself an entirely amateur self-diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). If it's an accurate self-diagnosis, mine is still only a mild, entirely manageable case. Still, coming to terms with my own trauma has changed my relationship to a long-held opinion of mine. I first formed my theory years ago in reference to the Palestinians, especially Gazans. Now I feel strongly that most of the Middle East, especially Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, suffers from the complications of several generations of moderate to severe trauma disorders.

In America, we've all learned since 2001 something about PTSD and how it effects our soldiers when they return home. Right now, PTSD is on trial in Texas in the so-called "American Sniper" case. But our soldiers get to come home. Our soldiers, to one degree or another, chose to enter the fight in the first place. What about the Iraqi kids who came of age during the Sunni Awakening, or the heyday of the Mahdi Army? What about their parents, who watched them die indiscriminately, as collateral damage in the conflict between Islamists and Coalition forces?

ISIL recruited them, but how much of a role did we play in making them recruit-able?

Sure, there are what Graeme Wood in another article calls the Psychopaths. I don't believe - and I don't think Wood believes - that their bloodthirsty enthusiasm for ISIS is really about religious conviction. If not this movement, I believe they would have found another, similarly bloody movement to join. In any case, Juan Cole makes a good case for their importance being exaggerated:

.01 percent of the community volunteered. They are often teens, some are on the lam from petty criminal charges, and many come back disillusioned. You could get 400 people to believe almost anything. It isn’t a significant statistic.

Al Qaeda, Abu Mas'ab Zarqawi, Salafi quietism, ISIL - all of these movements, self-styled resistance or liberation movements, were born at times when the United States and her allies were flexing their muscles in the Middle East. When do we turn from criticizing Islam to a serious critique of our own contributions to what's happening in the Arabian Peninsula?

Honoring Margot Adler

New York, NY, USA

I was more deeply moved than I would have expected by the death of Margot Adler: journalist, priestess, lover of vampires, and fellow member of the great family of All Souls Unitarian Church.

I knew Margot Adler’s name and voice long before I ever met her. My father literally sets his watch by All Things Considered, and he always has his favorite reporters: Baxter Black the cowboy poet, Scott Simon, a few others, and Margot Adler. When their voices came on the air, the volume went up and we stopped to listen. I am an NPR junkie myself now, with my own list of favorites -- Soraya Sarhatti-Nelson, Robert Krulwich, Laila Fadl -- but Dad and I still have Margot Adler in common.

So in the fall of 2012, when she was going to preach in the pulpit of All Souls, where I was newly employed, I was ecstatic. When I was proofreading the Order of Service and saw her sermon title, “Why We Love Vampires,” I was enraptured. Even though she had preached at All Souls a few times before, I got there extra early that morning in case she needed anything.

When I walked through the parish house door, there she was, shorter and more stooped than I had pictured for such a giant of journalism, but with a radiant smile you can't see on the radio. The other worship leader wouldn’t arrive for almost an hour, so I walked Margot upstairs and we stood at my desk and chatted, just as if we were old colleagues.

I had loved vampires for at least a dozen years longer than Margot, but of the 260 vampire novels she had read while researching her e-book Vampires Are Us, we had settled on most of the same favorites for mostly the same reasons. I had probably also been pondering why we love vampires longer than she had, but she had come to all my conclusions and taken them a step further.

Eventually, from vampires, we turned quite naturally to witches in popular literature. I have long said that if I were any kind of theist, I would be a Wiccan polytheist, and Margot Adler remains the Wiccan priestess most admired by the practicing pagans of my childhood church. In conversation, I learned that both Margot and I were impressed by the representation of witches in bestselling romance novelist Nora Roberts’ work.

We were interrupted by the arrival of the assistant minister, but I made time to sit and listen to Margot’s sermon in both services. Two years later, chatting with Margot is still one of my best memories of All Souls.

After that, she always had a hug for me when I saw her in church. Through Superstorm Sandy, New York mayoral politics and more, I always stopped to listen when Margot Adler’s familiar voice came on the air.

This past spring, I was walking through Central Park, listening to All Things Considered on my iPod, when Margot came on the air. It was a story about new super skyscrapers on the west side of Central Park that were stealing the sunlight from some of the park’s trees. I almost logged into the church database right there in the park to email her about how I had enjoyed the story and that I couldn’t recall seeing her at church recently.

Now I never will and wish I had.

Sitting Out the Storm

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, USA

It's funny. Olga and I are usually content to sit at home in Bushwick for literally days at a time. Today, though, we woke up around noon, and by two in the afternoon we were going absolutely stir-crazy!

From Superstorm Sandy

From our windows, there doesn't seem to be anything going on in particular. Some wind, almost no rain, and eerily empty streets. Actually, not even that empty. The bodega across Wilson Street is open, and the Chinese restaurant, and the new coffee shop across Suydam Street, too. The coffee shop has only been open for a couple weeks, so they probably can't afford to close ... and they're still getting customers! As for the bodega and the Chinese restaurant, the families that own and run them also live on the second floor with an internal staircase to get home, so why wouldn't they stay open for as long as they have even a trickle of customers?

Meanwhile, I'm more than a little jealous of friends like Tiffany who are living close enough to the rivers to go for a short walk and see the storm sweeping in. I love storms, especially after all those years in the desert, but I love being safe and dry even more!

So we're sitting at home, watching it unfold on Facebook and TV (our electricity and Internet are just fine!), playing wild and vicious card games of Spit and Speed, and trying not to remember that we couldn't go anywhere even if we wanted to....

May Day NYC

Manhattan, NY, USA

From May Day NYC

When I first came to New York City, I told myself I wouldn't get involved with activism in my first year. I was teaching full time, going to graduate school at night, and the teaching alone was all the activism I needed in my life.

Then I left teaching and graduate school. For the first weeks of my unemployment, I moped and was miserable and sat at my computer all day long looking and applying for jobs ... any kind of job that seemed remotely related to my talents and would pay the bills. Over time, I became more and more involved with All Souls UU Church's young adults, for fun, networking and plain old human contact. Last week, I realized that even that was not enough.  I needed to get out more, to volunteer for something, to do more fun things with people. With lingering Socialist sympathies from all my years in Europe, and a life-long interest in civics, I asked around the church to see who was doing something for Occupy Wall Street's General Strike on May Day.

That's how I found myself on Union Square this afternoon with Occupy Faith. Their intention today was to bring a message of peaceful nonviolence and be witnesses to whatever might transpire. Several among them have previously been arrested and detained for their participation in a variety of Occupy-related demonstrations, while standing as examples of nonviolent civil disobedience. (I don't believe any of us were today, but apparently one never knows....)

In our march down Broadway to Zuccotti Park and Wall Street, we saw a lot of signs for a lot of different campaigns and issues. We sang songs and chanted. When we passed people watching from balconys and windows, we chanted, "Don't watch! Join us!" In the shopping district, we chanted, "Don't shop! Join us!" When construction workers and other union sorts paused their work to come out on the sidewalk and salute us, we cheered them on. It was a lot of fun. Here are some of my favorite images, with more in the WebAlbum:

From May Day NYC

Another Theorist on Collaborative Teaching

Don Tapscott was speaking on NPR about re-designing the way universities deliver education, but I think this applies all the way down to pre-K. I noticed that he said again and again that our teaching methodologies are "the very best that the Industrial Revolution can offer," and are completely out-dated. Of course, this is exactly what Sir Ken Robinson has been saying for years, and I agree completely.

It's the same theory behind Karl Fisch's "Shift Happens" meme that went viral four years ago. The Fall 2009 update is equally enlightening in the age of social networking. (Amazing how 4 years just became an "age" in that sentence....) We need to start envisioning 21st Century education. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I'm on a quest to find out!

Comic Differentiation

NPR reported today on something that's been on my mind for a few days, an often overlooked tool for teaching and encouraging literacy.

One of the challenges in special education is this ubiquitous, vague term we call "differentiation." (It's funny think back to myself in Peace Corps teaching two whole Saturday seminars for the Jerash Directorate of Education on the term, and today feeling like I haven't a clue what it means.) Essentially this means varying your instruction to play to the strengths to as many students in the classroom as possible. This could be playing to the strengths of visual, aural, kinesthetic and interpersonal learners. It could mean providing support to weak readers, children who struggle to concentrate and self-regulate, students with processing disorders, as well as high-achieving students.

In our public schools, especially in high need schools like the ones where we as Teaching Fellows will be teaching, one of the biggest problems is with reading. Students in NYC schools tend to be at least 3 grade levels behind in reading. A surprisingly high number of high school students are still reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. Add to that the significant population of English Language Learners, and you have a serious problem across the curriculum.

But more daunting than students' inability to read is their disinterest and resentment of reading. This is where I think the graphic novel could be a high quality tool, and I know that my friend Nicole Bailey and other researchers are really pushing the literary and literacy value of the graphic novel. They're not just superhero stories.

There's Maus by Art Spiegelman about his father's journey to and survival of Auschwitz, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. There's Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi about growing up in Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by legendary comic book artist R. Crumb generated lots of headlines in the past year for its absolutely faithful but surprisingly unique adaptation of the first book of the Bible. In short, comic books aren't just for kids and nerds anymore, and I'd like to incorporate them into my classroom in the fall as part of that all-powerful, pervasive imperative to differentiate instruction.

Computers in Education

If a computer can do it better than a teacher, get rid of the teacher!

- Arthur C Clarke
to Sugata Mitra

(I don't mean to say that I agree with Mr. Clarke ... but it's an interesting idea!)

Despite the mountain of work I have left to do before I start the New York Teaching Fellowship on the 15th, I keep getting lost on TED again. It's so easy to just keep clicking on video after video. I started showing my artist mother my perennial favorite on education, Sir Ken Robinson's "Schools Kill Creativity", because I knew she'd agree totally with it.

Then I discovered an awesome guy, Salman Khan, whose Khan Academy is transforming the way kids learn math - and now other subjects - across the world, and particularly in the Oakland city schools where he's been running a fascinating experiment in teaching and tracking student understanding.

So I was telling my friend Sean about this when I surfed his couch last week, because it seemed like the perfect job for him when he said he wanted to use his computer skills to help technology do something transformative in the classroom. Sean jumped right up to grab his laptop. "You have to see this guy!" he said, and headed for TED.com to show me another visionary in technology transforming learning, Sugatra Mitra.

I know there's more of this out there. As the famous "Shift Happens" videos have been expressing for years, we are training our students for careers that haven't even been invented yet, and the old models of education aren't going to work. Moreover, we can't even begin to appreciate what education will look like in 10 years, but these and other innovative education and IT thinkers are working towards something really transformative. Getting lost on TED this week has only fed my enthusiasm about my "new" career in education...

...so I'm calling it "research" instead of "procrastination"!

Ding, dong! The Warlord's Dead!

Cairo, Egypt

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

- Mark Twain

It's not that I'm happy Bin Laden the man is dead. I would have preferred a trial, public humiliation, and a long prison sentence in Guantanamo or some Saudi shit-hole of a prison ... but even as I write that I'm conflicted, because those words descend to a level of vindictiveness that I don't want to live by. In the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Standing By the Side of Love:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,

begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.

Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

Through violence you may murder the liar,

but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.

Through violence you may murder the hater,

but you do not murder hate.

In fact, violence merely increases hate.

So it goes.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,

adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness:

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

(Thanks to Carter for the quote.)

No, mostly I'm happy that Bin Laden the symbol and the excuse is dead. I'm listening to Talk of the Nation's coverage of Bin Laden's death on NPR, and one of their Middle East correspondents was talking about how Arabs see this as an end to a decade of collective punishments of the Arabs and other Muslims for the actions of Bin Laden and a few other fanatics. Afghanistan, Iraq, Bagram, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, extraordinary rendition, Pakistani drone attacks ... all of these look from the Middle East like punishment for 9/11, the USS Cole, the African embassy bombings, the first WTC bombing.... Now, finally, we've gotten rid of the man who, for the West, represents the deepest evil that Islam has to offer and too often blinds us to the great good that's present in Islam. True, Zawahiri and al-Masri are still out there, and hundreds of others bent on wreaking havoc on the West and Western installations in the East, but the biggest, baddest wolf is gone. It doesn't mean we automatically withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, close Guantanamo and put it all behind us, but it's a powerful step in the right direction.

At the same time, I think it's important to put this event into context. While Americans are making a big deal out of this attack, Arabs have other things on their minds. Hundreds are dying in Syria every day, and in Libya, standing up to mad, relentless dictators. The outlook for Yemen is not much better. Egypt and Tunisia are busy rebuilding - or, I should say, building - nations they can be proud of. Jordanians, Palestinians, Iraqis, Bahrainis, Saudis, Lebanese ... they're all busy with extremely important and emotional domestic issues.

Osama Bin Laden is barely relevant here anymore, and the single desperate act of a fruit vendor in Tunisia deserves more credit for that than a 10-year, trillions-of-dollars manhunt. The youth of the Arab Spring are disciples of Rev. King and Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, with whom some of the April 6 Youth studied nonviolent resistance techniques. Even when they were being attacked with horses and Molotov cocktails on Tahrir Square, Egyptian protesters were chanting "Peaceful! Peaceful!" to hold themselves and each other to a philosophy that rejects violence, even in retaliation for violence. Disciples of Osama Bin Laden still exist, but a much larger portion of Arab youth have found a far more powerful and effective means of expression.

A Lawyer And Everything!

Cairo, Egypt

I've started going to the grocery around the corner more frequently. They carry fresh milk and most of my other staples, and they're open after dark unlike the supermarket I used to frequent. The cashier there is enchanted by an American who speaks Arabic as well as I do, and he always engages me in conversation.

Tonight he was very pleased to my attention the prosecution of former president Mubarak. "There's going to be a real trial, with a judge, and they've given him an attorney. They're giving him his human rights!" As if to say, after all the years he denied us our human rights, we're better people than that.

Then he said, getting serious, "You know, America talks all the time about human rights, but they don't really mean it, do they? As soon as they want something from a leader like Mubarak, there's no more talk of human rights." I agreed with him, and clearly that wasn't the response he was looking for. "Really? You know this?" Of course, I agreed, governments are inherently selfish institutions. "And Americans know this?" he wanted to know.

Of course, that's where the conversation gets tricky, isn't it? My friends and family know that America is not the paragon of democratic virtues it claims to be, that it operates both domestically and abroad in ways that don't always serve the rights and interests of the people effected. Jon Stewart's audience knows this, and those who listen to NPR and watch PBS and stream al-Jazeera. Unitarian Universalists know this, and MoveOn.org members know this, and Peace Corps Volunteers see this.

But do "Americans" know that their government, for its own self-interests, is propping up evil despots and oil barons and CIA stooges and oppressive states who are willing to torture for the US Government? How do I answer that question?

It begs another question, too, that's been on my mind for a couple weeks now. When I go back to America, how do I answer the inevitable questions about what "Egyptians" or "Jordanians" or, worse, "Arabs" and "Muslims" think about America, about democracy, about freedom, about terrorism, about revolution...? As if any of those terms represented a uniform monolithic entity that had one opinion about anything!

Meanwhile....
They've been chanting on Tahrir Square since last night. I don't know what they're chanting, but there are a lot of them, and they're very enthusiastic, not about to back down until they've got everything they demand.

Gunshots

Cairo, Egypt

It started around 3am. At first I thought it was fireworks. There had been fireworks all over downtown Thursday night while my classmates and I were celebrating Sarah's birthday on top of the Happy City Hotel, and it's a sound I certainly got used to in my years in Amman.

Then I realized that I could still hear chanting and the distant roar of a crowd coming from Tahrir Square. There hadn't been crowds on Tahrir at 3am since I got back from Jordan, and even though the curfew has been eased a bit more, it's still in effect from 2am-5am, and usually pretty well enforced here in the downtown.

Gunfire, some of it semi-automatic, waxed and waned through the next couple hours. There wasn't much to see from where we live, though at one point early on my roommates saw several hundreds of people come flooding across Falaky Square, running from Tahrir. Al-Jazeera was busy talking about how the US Congress avoided a government shut-down, and Twitter only revealed to me that "protesters are being cleared from the square" amid sounds of gunfire and possibly teargas, and these videos by YouTube user Kikhote:

After the first call to prayer near 5am, things went quiet again.

This noon, I can still hear chanting on Tahrir Square and traffic is unusually light on Tahrir Street in front of our apartment. The neighborhood watch is out again. Reuters and Al-Jazeera report that some but probably not all of the military officers who joined the protests last night were arrested by Central Security and the military, who had been promising court martial for any officers joining protests last night. Also, a video has emerged of the officers' demands:

Their demands include: dissolution of the military government, appointment of a civil governing council, removal of Tantawi from leadership of the country, prosecution of the "symbols of corruption" (Mubarak, al-Adly, etc.), and of those who killed protesters during the revolution.

'Copters and Cops

Cairo, Egypt

Helicopters have been circling downtown all day today, and when the wind is right you can hear the cacophony of voices down the street on Tahrir Square.

I'm under the weather and haven't gone out to see for myself, but my German roommate says there's a bigger crowd than (the new) usual gathered on the square. They're protesting a hodgepodge of things on behalf of Egyptians and the greater so-called Arab Spring: against military control, in support of the budding Syrian revolution, against Gaddhafi, for the release of political prisoners, death to Israel, support for Palestine, against the Emergency Laws ... you name it.

Al-Jazeera English is reporting that the protesters are concentrating on a call for Mubarak and his cronies to be put on trial, and for the military to hand over power to a civilian council.

There's a rumor that there will be 1,300 officers coming sometime today to march against abuses by the State Security, with al-Jazeera reporting that any military personnel participating in today's protests will do so under threat of court martial.

Al-Masry al-Youm (Egypt Today), English Edition, is reporting that tens of thousands are marching on what they've dubbed the "Friday of Cleansing" and calling for a renewed groundswell of protests until the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces demonstrates a significant commitment to fulfilling the demands of the original January 25 Revolution.

My classmate Yasmine has posted pictures on Facebook from today's protests that include several banners from unions demanding a new Labor Union Law and more protection of their right to organize (take that, Teaparty!), independence and freedom of expression for the ancient and revered Islamic institution of al-Azhar University, independence of the judiciary, and more.

Some Fridays are like this. Sometimes there's a unifying cause like Muslim-Coptic unity following events of sectarian violence, or opposition to the constitutional amendments in the next day's referendum. Other Fridays, without specific events to focus their attention, people come to Tahrir Square on behalf of whatever cause is dear to them, or whatever slogans they think will make a splash. Today is one of the latter, except that the numbers seem to be unprecedented for this sort of a free-for-all Friday rally. As I've said before, they sometimes seem drunk with people power in the New Egypt.

As usual, when things get interesting again, I find myself wondering if they'll turn off the Internet again, but I think Egypt has learned its lesson there. As one protester put it, "When your government shuts down the Internet, shut down your government!"

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.

More From Me!

I've been published again on New Matilda! Read about the cleanup and a new attitude in Egypt, and see them in action on YouTube:



UPDATE: January 1, 2016
No longer available at NewMatilda.com, I am reprinting the article here:

EGYPT 14 Feb 2011
Cleaning Up Cairo
By Maryah Converse

The profound effect of Mubarak's resignation on Egyptian society may take time to emerge - but change is already visible on the streets, writes Maryah Converse

Ask just about anyone who's been to Egypt, and one of the first words they'll use to describe Cairo is "dirty." The streets of Egypt's capital are notoriously strewn with trash, dust and pollution. Visitors to the country frequently complain about how little Egyptians seem to care about the appearance of the city that was once known as "the Paris of the Mediterranean." Now that Hosni Mubarak has resigned, that attitude may be changing.

As I watched for updates over Facebook and wrote to friends still in Cairo the day after Mubarak left the presidential post he'd held for 30 years, a dominant theme emerged. Everyone was talking about the clean-up efforts occurring around downtown Cairo.

My classmate Yasmeen Mekawy returned to Cairo on Saturday morning and went straight to Tahrir Square, the focal point of the protests over the last two weeks. "The first thing I noticed," she said, "was that there were youth all over the square and surrounding streets cleaning up".

Mekawy posted pictures on Facebook that showed young people bringing brooms and dustpans to the square. She photographed them dragging full plastic rubbish bags across the square to load them into lorries. In one picture, a group of them are sitting on top of a lorry full of rubbish flashing the victory sign.

These youth were not just conducting a superficial pick-up. Mekawy's pictures also show them rinsing the streets with water. She told me that they were "even mopping up the disgusting sludge of the alleyways."

An American friend of mine is doing an internship with an NGO in Cairo. She lives on Mohammad Mahmoud Street near the Interior Ministry, where the worst of the violence and vandalism happened on 28 and 29 January. On the day after Mubarak's resignation, she reported on Facebook, "This afternoon they are repainting walls along my street, formerly covered in angry graffiti and scorch marks from the clashes here, with murals of love, hope and freedom. 'Yesterday we were demonstrators, today we build Egypt,' signs read."

This new sense of civic responsibility among Egyptian youth didn't start after the fall of Mubarak. It was evident two weeks ago, in the earliest days of the protests. When I was on Tahrir Square on Monday 31 January, there were already piles of rubbish in bags on the edges of the square. I saw many young men and women walking around with plastic bags, collecting rubbish. On Tuesday 1 February, when I returned to Tahrir Square to witness the March of Millions, I heard several Egyptians scold each other for littering, something I had never heard before.

This clean-up is symptomatic of a broader change in Egyptian consciousness. I've only been in Cairo since June, but what I've seen in the last month represents an entirely new Egyptian people. For the first time, I see Egyptians who are hopeful about the future. Egyptians have always been proud of their culture, but for the first time in decades they're also proud of their country.

With that pride comes a sense of responsibility. Egyptians are not only holding their government to account for its actions. They are also holding themselves responsible for making Egypt a better place.

It's not all over yet, though. Without any indication from the Supreme Military Council about when they'll lift the Emergency Laws, some pro-democracy activists are not yet ready to stop the protests. Mekawy was on Tahrir Square again on Sunday, and reports that "the atmosphere there has definitely changed from yesterday. It's less celebratory, more tense. There are a lot of groups discussing politics and arguing and making speeches."

But one thing has definitely changed. A month ago, Egyptians didn't stand around talking about politics in public, but now they believe they have a say in the political future of their country.

Cycling in Celebration!

Dead Sea, Jordan

I chose to celebrate Egypt's new-found democracy with a Bike & Hike with the group that was formerly known as Tareef Cycling Club.

From Wadi Himara Once More

Jad warmed me that cycling and hiking with the organization Tareef had become was not the same experience as outings with Tareef. Even so, I'd really missed those weekly trips, and I wanted to get out of the city and get some exercise while I was here. Plus, I knew when I'd RSVP'ed to Aktham that he, at least, would be going, and I was looking forward to seeing him. He brought along a fellow Iraqi Kurdish refugee who's been living in Orange County, California, since she was relocated several years ago, and she was also fun to spend time with. We talked a lot about the cultural differences between Jordan and the US: what she and I had learned and Aktham will discover when his resettlement to Anaheim finally comes through.

Sure enough, it was not the same mixed demographic I remember. It was almost entirely 16-18 year old boys. In fact, it reminded me of backpacking with the Boy Scouts in high school, where everything's a race, and the boys were literally climbing the walls of the canyon. Still, it was the same beautiful Wadi Himara I remember from previous trips!

Politics was Inevitable
One of the things I always loved about Tareef was that even while we were raising money for the Gazans in the Hannukah War, no one spoiled our fun with discussions of politics. But Egypt's revolution is something entirely different. It has infused Arabs with a sense of hope they can't remember ever having, perhaps best explained by the Black Iris and Christine Makhamra of 7iber.com. When they find out that I fled Egypt to Jordan, everyone wants to know what it was like to be there at this exciting time. I keep coming back to the same point: for the first time since I've been in Egypt, I'm finally seeing Egyptians proud of their country, hopeful for the future, and believing in their ability to influence national politics. It's inspiring, and I can't wait to go back on Wednesday!

Hosni Speaks Again

Amman, Jordan

I'm watching Hosni Mubarak's speech on Egyptian national television, which protesters have been waiting with great anticipation.

He's promising to bring to justice those who caused the violence and deaths of the last 3 weeks. He praises the youth for calling for justice, but refuses to be dictated to by outside forces.

[As he says this, protesters are giving him thumbs-down from Tahrir Square.]

He refuses to take orders from outside, and repeats his commitment to not run in the upcoming elections, and his commitment to continue in his office until the September elections. He says that he has initiated the requested dialogue with the opposition, and that he is leading the nation out of crisis over the coming months.

[The crowd on Tahrir is erupting in shouting and thumbs-down.]

Yesterday, he says, the committee examining the constitution gave its first recommendations. In response, he is proposing to amend Articles 76, 77, 88, 93 and 189 of the Constitution, and to anull Article 179. At a later stage, he promises to amend further articles as recommended by the committee. This will, he says, ensure fair and transparent elections, under the authority of the judiciary. In time, he says, he will lift the Emergency Laws. For now, it is more important to restore confidence in Egypt's people that progress is being made. He is threatening that the economic crisis related to the protests will effect the youth first.

[Now people are holding up their shoes in the crowd on Tahrir, soles facing the televised image of Mubarak, a grave insult in Arab culture.]

He declares that these demonstrations are not about Hosni Mubarak personally. He repeats that he has done everything for Egypt, gone to war for her, lived through her occupation, and liberated Sinai.

[The crowd is roaring and shaking their shoes in the air.]

He insists he has only ever worked for the betterment of Egypt, and denies that he has never sought power or popularity, and that all people know this. He says that he has realized the necessity of turning over some of his power to VP Omar Suleiman. Egypt, he says, will prove that it is an independent state that does not bow to foreign pressure. At great length, he speaks about the eternal uniqueness and strength of the Egyptian nation. He repeats his determination to die in Egypt [one way or another, Hosni!], and says goodbye.

Now the crowds are shouting, "He must leave!" It was a patronizing speech, by a president who seems delusional in his apparently sincere belief that he is a hero of Egyptian history. I can't even express the disbelief I'm feeling right now. My heart is pounding. If I were Egyptian, I would.... I can't even imagine what. The hubris of this man is unbelievable!

11:37PM
Now I'm listening to Omar Suleiman's response.

He's saying that Pres. Mubarak has put the needs of Egypt above all else. He says they have opened the door to dialogue, and commits himself to anything necessary for a peaceful transfer of power, including national dialogue. He calls on all Egyptians to look together to the future, a free and democratic future for a nation of heroes. He asks the youth of Egypt to go home, to go back to work, and to return to the development of the country. He accuses the satellite television stations of fomenting discord. He praises the armed forces that defended both the revolution and the nation. He invokes the blessings of God in conclusion.

On al-Jazeera, John Bradley is calling this "political suicide" and a "double insult to the Egyptian people," a catalyst for the people to stage a real revolution. I have my problems with some of the analysis in Bradley's book Inside Egypt, but I have to agree with his analysis today. Now not only do Egyptians have incredible hatred for Mubarak, but they've got reason to see that the army is not the savior that they've thought it would be. Furious crowds are already marching towards the Television Building in Cairo, and the military base in Alexandria. I'm afraid that things are going to get really nasty now, and I'm worried about tonight and tomorrow.

This afternoon, as recently as 2 hours ago, I was sorry to be here in Jordan, and sorry that I had changed my plane ticket from tomorrow till Wednesday, wishing I could be in Cairo tomorrow to celebrate the fall of Mubarak. Now I think I'm glad I'll be here. In fact, I'm pretty doubtful now that CASA will resume at all this spring. But of course, my future in Egypt is not nearly as important as the future of Egypt's citizens there. I wish them the best, but am braced for the worst. Viva la revolution!

The pertinent bits of the Constitution:
Article 76:
The People’s Assembly shall nominate the President of the Republic. The nomination shall be referred to the people for a plebiscite. The nomination for the President of the Republic shall be made in the People’ Assembly upon the proposal of at least one third of its members. The candidate who obtains two thirds of the votes of the members of the People’s Assembly shall be referred to the people for a plebiscite . If he does not obtain the said majority the nomination process shall be repeated two days after the first vote. The candidate obtaining an absolute majority of the votes of the Assembly members shall be referred to the citizens for a plebiscite. The candidate shall be considered President of the Republic when he obtains an absolute majority of votes cast in the plebiscite. If the candidate does not obtain this majority, the Assembly shall propose the nomination of another candidate and the same procedure shall follow concerning his candidature and election.

Article 77:
The term of the presidency shall be six Gregorian years starting from the date of the announcement of result of the plebiscite. The President of the Republic may be re-elected for other successive terms.
(**) Amended according to the unanimity of the people's approval to the constitutional amendment in the plebiscite conducted May, 22nd 1980.

Article 88:
The Law shall determine the conditions which members of the Assembly must fulfil as well as the rules of election and referendum, while the ballot shall be conducted under the supervision of the members of a judiciary organ.

Article 93:
The People’s Assembly shall be competent to decide upon the validity of the membership of its members. The Court of Cassation shall be competent to investigate the validity of contestations on membership presented to the Assembly after referring them to the Court by the Speaker of the Assembly. The contestation shall be referred to the Court of Cassation within fifteen days as from the date on which the Assembly has been informed thereof while the investigation shall be completed within ninety days from the date on which the contestation is referred to the Court of Cassation. The result of the investigation and the decision reached by the Court shall be submitted to the Assembly to decide upon the validity of the contestation within sixty days from the date of submission of the result of the investigation to the Assembly. Memberships shall not be deemed invalid expect by a decision taken by a majority of two-thirds of the Assembly members.

Article 189:
The President of the Republic as well as the People’s Assembly may request the amendment of one or more of the articles of the Constitution. The articles to be amended and the reasons justifying such amendments shall be mentioned in the request for amendment . If the request emanates from the People’s Assembly, it should be signed by at least one third of the Assembly members . In all cases, the Assembly shall discuss the amendment in principle, and the decision in this respect shall be taken by the majority of its members. If the request is rejected, the amendment of the same particular articles may not be requested again before the expiration of one year from the date of such rejection. If the People’s Assembly approves an amendment, in principle, the articles requested to be amended shall be discussed two months after the date of the said approval. If the amendment is approved by two thirds of the members of the Assembly, it shall be referred to the people for a plebiscite. If it is approved by the people it shall be considered in force from the date of the announcement of the result of the plebiscite.

Article 179:
The Socialist Public Prosecutor shall be responsible for taking the measures which secure the people’s rights, the safety of the society and its political regime, the preservation of the socialist achievements and commitment to socialist behaviour. The law shall prescribe his other competences. He shall be subject to the control of the People’s Assembly in accordance with what is prescribed by law.

My Opinion In Print!

Cairo From The Streets | newmatilda.com

Maryah Converse is an American student in Cairo and the reports of the protests she’s seeing on television don’t look much like what’s happening on the streets.

  I've been published! This is an opinion piece I wrote about what I was seeing on the streets in Cairo versus what I and my parents were seeing on the news.

UPDATE: January 1, 2016
No longer available at NewMatilda.com, I am reprinting the article here:

EGYPT 4 Feb 2011
Cairo From The Streets
By Maryah Converse

Maryah Converse is an American student in Cairo and the reports of the protests she's seeing on television don’t look much like what's happening on the streets

As my classmates and I watched live coverage of the Egyptian protests after curfew on Monday, we became angrier and angrier.

What we were seeing on international news channels was nothing like what we had seen on the ground that morning. Al Jazeera English broadcast the best coverage by far, especially when they were streaming live footage of Tahrir Square and speaking over the phone with their reporters in the crowd.

On the other hand they kept showing stock footage of looting and rioting and violent clashes with police that were four days old, talking about them as if they were today's news. This might have something to do with the fact that Al Jazeera's Cairo office was shut down not long after the protests started.

Our parents would call with the latest headlines from CNN — which were exactly the same stories they'd called with days ago.

It's true that there was rioting, looting, vandalism and violence in Cairo last Friday.
An acquaintance saw men shot by the military with live ammunition right in front of her apartment building on Saturday night when protesters tried to storm the Interior Ministry. My roommate watched from a rooftop near Tahrir Square on Friday as looting and vandalism of shops took place right below — but he reported details that never made it on television.

It's true that some protesters did break into Hardees, McDonalds, Costa Coffee and other major international chains and steal food. But up the street, uniformed police officers, who also hadn't eaten all day, were not only stealing food from kiosks, they were completely destroying the basic structures. Such kiosks are the most tenuous of legal small businesses in Egypt. They operate on slim profit margins on their best days, unlike international chains like McDonalds, which is an expensive place to eat in Egypt.

That was on Friday and Saturday, before the police were withdrawn from the streets and the military took over.

On Sunday and Monday, as Al Jazeera was still airing pictures of violence, the mood on the streets had changed completely. We walked all over downtown Cairo, and spent hours on Tahrir Square, taking pictures and making notes so we'd be prepared to tell the real story of the 25 January Movement, now known as the "Lotus Revolution" — just as soon as internet access was restored.

We didn't see any violence or vandalism. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Protesters were going around Tahrir Square with plastic bags collecting rubbish — and this in a country where the streets are usually strewn with litter. By Tuesday morning they had organised their own security system, a dozen yards inside the military cordon. They were patting down everyone who came into Tahrir Square as thoroughly as any airport security agent, looking through everyone's bags, and reading everyone's placards. My nail clippers were even confiscated, which I've taken through airport security a dozen times.

By Tuesday afternoon they were organising the delivery of food, water and shelter to the Million Man March, determined not to leave the square until Hosni Mubarak leaves the presidency.

What I saw was an incredible sense of brotherhood, self realisation and pride of ownership.

According to our professors, this is something that has been sorely lacking in Egypt for a long time. There was a time, one of them told us last summer, when two men arguing in the street would have drawn a crowd of their neighbours, who would have helped resolve the argument peacefully. Under Mubarak, people became so afraid of getting arrested along with the men who were arguing that they would simply look away. That's not true anymore.

Bored young men who used to loiter on bridges and street corners to pick fights and harass passing women now have a cause, a plan and a hope that they might achieving it. Now when men stop us on the street, it's to shout "Down with Mubarak!" or get their pictures taken with their placards. "You'll send your pictures to America so they can see what's really happening here, right?" they ask us. "Tell your people about us, and tell your government to stand with us!"

Al Jazeera and the BBC had been reporting on anti-Americanism and rumours that the press was inciting the revolution — but none of that was evident on the streets of Cairo, either. Sure, plenty of people stopped us to deliver loud harangues on the Obama Administration's hypocrisy in taking the side of a dictator when real democracy was happening in the streets. To those who don't speak Arabic, impassioned Egyptians may look and sound very angry and threatening, but to us they were inspiring.

In our six months living in Egypt and studying intensely its politics, economy and society, we never guessed that this was coming. Tension was building, sure, and economic conditions were critical during Ramadan in September, but things have been bad in Egypt for years. We didn't see an end in sight. Now we do, and we are immensely proud of our Egyptian brothers and sisters for standing up for what's right and just.

On the news they're reporting that foreigners are frightened and fleeing Egypt, but not us. I didn't want to come to Egypt in June, but now I have a love for these people that I never could have imagined. Even as pro-government factions renew the violence on Tahrir Square Wednesday night, I still feel a pervasive optimism and excitement that Egyptians may finally get a government of their choosing.

a day in revolutionary times

by Amir Heinitz on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 1:33am

i start having difficulties with mastering the information influx and the various events that occur during one day, together with my current two flatmates we try to keep order in our thoughts and memories, but sometimes it's hard to remember what happened in the morning, what was said by whom yesterday, or was the time order the other way around.

let me try to write a bit about today - the morning was fine, the atmosphere ahead of the day of departure (tomorrow will be day of departure II) was much better than the last two days. people were smiling again, at least on my street people were being let through road blocks. trying to organize our thoughts, posting things on the internet and getting in touch with people outside the country, we only managed to leave the flat after lunch time. on midan falky we met up with two more friends for a juice, after a few minutes army police approached us, check our papers, asked us, where we were going, we replied correctly, to my friends place, and it was ok. we went to my friends place, from the roof we could see masses streaming into tahrir. we went down and walked in. the street there was controlled by muslim bortherhood, discernible by the large numbers of beards, but more importantly by me getting an escort by a muslim brotherhood member, who showed his MB membership card to everybody at the approximately 10 civilian checkpoints along the way and said that i was german, and that it was ok. we left cameras at home, and came as students and tried to keep a low profile. inside the square the atmosphere was a lot better than the last time we had been there. but even though the festive mood had returned to some degree, people were anxious, nervous and their conversations confused. people still welcomed us in the typical egyptian way, though we started being more of a curiosity, since many foreigners left during the last two days. some people were afraid of muslim brotherhood taking over, others of a military dictatorship being established and liberties being continued to be curtailed, but everybody wanted mubarak gone. the state media had been spreading that kfc was providing free food to demonstrators in an attempt to mark demonstrators as foreign directed stooges. we had gotten some koshary (typical egyptian food, rice noodles, lentils with a tomato onion sauce on top) from one of the local places. while we were eating it, people approached us and took pictures of us, making fun of the state media for its failing efforts to frame public opinion. obviously foreigners eating koshary on midan tahrir was a good sign for them. as we were leaving a rumour spread that mubarak had left the country - people started kissing each other men had tears in their eyes, a woman with veil started shouting at us, that this was the best day of her life, that she had been oppressed by the regime since she was a child, that mubarak killed his own people and stole the money of the egyptians. she was vehement about being an egyptian first, that she has christian friends, and repeatedly screamed that the outside world should know that she is not a terrorist.

the way back home went smoothly, but all of us were confused with the different impressions, while we were on the square an announcement came out that a committee to represent the people on tahrir square was formed - it numbered 100 people and as the names were announced later on, none of the political opposition parties, whether baradei MB, kefaya or 6th of april were included. it was a non-ideological non-religious committee solely intended to represent the egyptian people [i hear shots outside again, and people are shouting in big masses] later on we got into a discussion whether the MB or the army was the bigger threat, someone who was well informed came by, and we discussed the events of the day and what will happen on the next day. [i'm shutting the lights, the shots are getting closer, and my cat horreya wants to cuddle] the opposition will continue, but outside activity will be come paramount, there needs to be more pressure from the outside, the man needs to leave, and foreign governments need to get actively involved in whatever capacity they see fit in the transition process. foreign meddling won't lead to anything good, but offers of assistance in general terms will probably be heard. the people here are very capable, but mubarak is still fighting desperately and, if, like two of my egyptian friends have told me know, he shall not turn cairo into the rome that nero burned, more needs to happen from the outside, in culturally and politically appropriate manner, and the egyptian people shall overcome. [street hunts are continuing on the streets.] some prayers wherever would be nice

Amir Heinitz is my roommate, still living in our apartment just a few blocks from Tahrir Square in Cairo where the protests and street fights have been raging for 12 days.

Things Heat Up In Cairo

Cairo, Egypt

Wednesday, 2 February 2011, 9:30AM
Alex and Lev are leaving on the American-organized evacuation flights for Europe today, and my parents have bought me a ticket to Jordan for tomorrow. I’m feeling quite conflicted, as I know Alex has been as well. We want to be here to see Egypt get the democratic, popularly-driven government it wants and deserves. This is the first time I’ve really wanted to be here in Egypt, felt real, deep affection for the people of Egypt. But if Mubarak doesn’t get his head out of his ass and step down by Friday, we’re afraid of what might happen after the afternoon sermon. The military still hasn’t said whose side they’re on, and the pro-Mubarak rally we saw this afternoon was unsettling at best. Discretion being the better part of valor, we’re running for the hills.

It’s not just our safety that’s driving us abroad. For three days, Egyptians have been begging us to get our pictures and experiences out to the rest of the world, to let them know what’s really happening here, and to urge our governments to support the protesters. All along, we’ve been promising to do just that, but we’ve only been able to get things out in bits and pieces over our periodic phone calls from home. Without Internet, the bulk of what we have to show and say to the world is trapped in Egypt. Not to mention that our family and friends are worried at best, frantic at worst, watching on CNN and Fox the repeated reports of looting, vandalism, anti-Americanism and violence in Egypt. If we leave the country, we can get the truth out and better support our Egyptian brothers and sisters in their struggle. We can do our part to put pressure on our government representatives to intervene. And with Skype, we can easily stay in touch with our friends here to keep the lines of communication open.

As I left Zamalek, it became more and more apparent that my taxi driver was an outspoken pro-Mubarak supporter. He had national radio on in the cab, and spoke at great length on how it’s time to end the violence and destruction, to reunite as one Egyptian people behind their president, and to restart an economy that was already failing. I’m reminded of a placard I saw yesterday at the Million Man March that read, “Egypt’s heart has stopped. We’re giving CPR.” As we came across the 6 October Bridge, there were few pro-Mubarak supporters in sight below. As we reached street-level, traffic was backed up as usual in the interchange near Ramsis street. “Did you ever think,” I joked with my driver, “that you’d be happy to see a traffic jam in Cairo? Things feel so normal again!” He agreed, assuring me that the worst was over and today would be the last day of protests. The government had already announced that Internet service would resume today, and by tomorrow the country would be back to normal, he said. I hope he’s right, but I’m skeptical.

Here in my apartment near Tahrir Square, things look quiet. My French roommate is moving the last of her things to her new apartment around the corner, a move she’s been planning on for a couple weeks now. My German roommate, meanwhile, filled up all the beds and couches in the apartment with protesters and foreign observers who hadn’t been able to go home last night. They are very apologetic about sleeping in my bed, but I’m glad to have been able to extend that service, even unknowingly, in support of the revolution. The Eritrean-German girl across the hall is back in her apartment, looking much more confident and optimistic than the last time I saw her.

11:30AM
My taxi to Dokki had to take the long way around, through Mounira down to the Botanical Garden, and then back up along the Nile to Tahrir Street in Dokki. These are mostly lower middle class neighborhoods, very different from Zamalek where I’ve been staying until today. As we drove through, things looked pretty normal. About two thirds of shops, restaurants and businesses seemed to be open. Despite widespread rumors of food shortages, especially bread, shelves seem to be pretty well stocked here and the usual street vendors are out selling government-subsidized bread. Traffic was still nothing like its usual snarl, but seemed to be up to almost half its usual volume. There were police deployed in their usual numbers. We passed several knots of protesters, but it was unclear which side they were on. Those holding signs on the square in front of the Sheraton seemed to be pro-Mubarak supporters, calling for national unity.

The best news is that Internet is now back up, and I can start putting up pictures and updating my blog again, not to mention reassuring the dozens of people who’ve sent emails, Facebook messages and posts and tweets to express their concern and lend their support. It makes me feel a little more guilty about leaving Egypt at this critical juncture, knowing that I could still get this information out if I stayed, but there’s no telling how long Internet will remain available, and discretion is still the better part of valor!

12:30PM
Before we got sucked into all the things we have to do on the Internet (and while it’s still night in America and no one in America is sitting by their email and Facebook in suspense), we decided to walk to Tahrir Square and see for ourselves what demonstrations look like today. On our way down the main street of Dokki, we were stopped by several groups of men who told us that “the real protest” (the pro-Mubarak protest) was in the other direction. As we crossed over onto Gezira Island, we noticed that almost all the taxis had “Yes to Mubarak” signs in their windshields. Not only that, but they were all relatively late-model taxis, which prompted Rachel to mention that there’s a government program that helps taxi drivers buy new vehicles. We suspect the government may have been using that as leverage to get these drivers out with a pro-government message.

As we crossed Kasr al-Aini Bridge, we started to get an uneasy feeling. All along the bridge there were knots of people arguing. Most were having pretty civil conversations. The anti-government protesters understand that real democracy means dialogue with the opposition, and they’re seeking opportunities to do that. They’re also whole-heartedly dedicated to non-violence, which includes verbal non-violence, and they were demonstrating that all along the bridge. The pro-Mubarak supporters, though, were very different. They were shouting, even screaming, with a very angry edge to their tones. And they were arriving by the minibus-full, as they were at yesterday’s pro-Mubarak rally down the Corniche. We’re pretty sure that they’re being bussed in by the government.

The closer we got to the military roadblock on the far side of the bridge, the more uneasy we became. Arguments became more and more heated, and there was a definite threat of violence in the air. We decided we didn’t want to take the risk of getting stuck on Tahrir Square if violence does break out, and retreated back to Dokki.

On our way back towards Dokki, Rachel was stopped by a father moving towards Kasr al-Aini Bridge with his five grown daughters. They had heard reports of violence breaking out on Tahrir Square, and were stopping people coming from that direction to see if they could get more information. As we talked to them, several knots of men tried to start an angry political discussion with the father, but he was very quietly refusing to engage in political debate, and asking only for the facts. Eventually, several anti-government protesters came by, pointing out that the anti-government faction was so much bigger than the pro-Mubarak faction that they would be crazy to start violence.

4:00PM
Andrew and Cosette are on Tahrir Square, where things are getting scary. Pro-Mubarak supporters have gotten onto Tahrir Square and are picking fights with anti-government protesters. Hoping to maintain a peaceful protest, the anti-government protesters are surrounding pro-government instigators, moving them off the square, and throwing over the fence in front of the Mugamma to be arrested by the military. We’ve urged Andrew and Cosette to get out of there quickly, before it gets worse.

Yesterday on Tahrir Square felt very much like I imagine it would have felt to be on the National Mall in Washington, DC, listening to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Today, though, it feels more like Birmingham, Alabama. Even under threat of very real violence against them, protesters continue to stand by their vow of nonviolence, the vast majority of them refusing to engage in violence even when they’ve been attacked and their lives are at very real risk. I can only hope that they can maintain the peace.

In the interim, someone’s mother has passed on the gist of an interview she saw with one of the “pro-Mubarak supporters.” Apparently he told journalists that he didn’t particularly want to be there, but that he works for the national petroleum company, and his superiors ordered him to Tahrir Square to support his president. None of us are the least bit surprised by this.

4:58PM
We’re watching on al-Jazeera English the action on Tahrir Square. There is definite violence happening on the street, with pro-government supporters attacking the thus-far peaceful protesters in running street battles, with the battle lines flowing back and forth. Anti-government protesters are holding their ground as best as they can without weapons. Pro-government “protesters” have hijacked several military trucks, are hurling rocks and bricks and other debris from rooftops onto the protesters below, and are attacking anti-government protesters from horse- and camel-back. The army is just standing by and watching. Rumor is that many of these instigators are plain-clothes or secret police sent by the Mubarak government to foment violence. Others are claiming that pro-Mubarak supporters have been delivered to points near the square in police transports. Foreign journalists are reporting that pro-Mubarak supporters have attacked them. Meanwhile, there are no ambulances around to take away the injured, whose numbers are growing.

5:26PM
The Government is claiming that there are no plain-clothes or secret police among the pro-Mubarak supporters, and that these are simply ordinary Egyptians coming out to protest the violence and instability that has filled their streets for the last nine days. Of course, this jives with Mubarak’s attempt last night to paint himself as a force for stability and order. Moreover, the army is not making any effort to stop the pro-Mubarak supporters from their frightening acts of violence. That seems a pretty fair indication that the military has taken the side of the regime. The government is also denying that shots have been fired, though of course reporters have them on tape by this time.

5:37PM
Buildings are burning and tear gas is billowing on Ramsis Street beside the Egyptian Museum. El-Baradei is calling for the army to intervene, but it’s clear they have no intention to do any such thing. One emergency vehicle is coming up the Corniche towards Tahrir as night falls, but it’s unlikely it will come close enough to the square to be of any assistance. Only one emergency vehicle is not going to help a conflict of this scale. Now a second is on its way, but it’s still a mere palliative.

10:19PM
After hours of relative quiet on Tahrir Square, now there’s gunfire sounding over the plaza. My German roommate is making frequent reports over Facebook on the state of things in the downtown. He’s been onto Tahrir Square several times with medical supplies, water and moral support. I’m concerned for his safety, but impressed by his dedication to Egypt’s cause. He says that it’s a war zone down there, and with very little help in sight. Among other things, he reports that they’ve given shelter in our apartment to a foreign journalist who was attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square. I know a couple of German journalists who previously lived in our building have also been using our apartment as one their refuges.

My roommate also works with refugees in his usual job, and considers many of them his friends. As he gets them, he’s posting updates on Facebook about the refugee experience in the revolution. On a good day, it’s tough to be a refugee in Egypt, where unemployment is so high and wages so low for Egyptian citizens that they begrudge every pound spent on refugees they didn’t ask for. Now, with most ATMs out of cash and all the banks closed, UNHCR has been unable to pay out the usual food stipends that refugees depend on. At the same time, with rampant rumors of food shortages, shops are refusing to sell to refugees. This evening, as violence broke out on Tahrir Square, it’s also breaking out in refugee neighborhoods across the city, and many of the city’s Sudanese, Somali, Iraqi and other refugees now fear for their lives.

11:30PM
I’ve just spoken to an old Peace Corps friend, Ashley Bates, who works as a journalist with Mother Jones. I’ve linked in the past to her excellent reporting on the Gaza Strip, where she lived for a year as a freelance reporter, so she can relate more than almost anyone else I know to what it’s been like here. I’m not sure if it was an interview exactly, or just checking in and getting some background, but either way it was great to talk to her. She’s been tracking the experiences of Sudanese refugees in this crisis, the role of the Muslim Brotherhood, and other stories periphery to the street fighting. She’s putting me in touch with some of her other contacts, as well.

Thursday, 3 February 2011, 8:11AM
I’m at the airport. We decided it was best to leave Dokki as early as possible, to be sure that we could find a cab and get through the streets before too many pro- or anti-government protesters were awake and, in the case of the former, spoiling for a fight. As we walked out towards the main thoroughfare, there were amateur roadblocks set up every hundred meters or so, and a cluster of tough-looking men standing on the corner between the King Hotel and the Wafd Party offices. The neighborhood was well-protected and showed no signs of any sort of struggle last night. Out on Tahrir Street, it was easy to flag down a taxi. We didn’t even bother to ask about price, just deciding among ourselves that we’d pay LE150, a little more than twice the usual fare to the airport, and be glad to get there safe and sound. After all, it’s a number easily divisible by 3!

Our taxi was stopped once on the Dokki side by a neighborhood watch who wanted to see the driver’s license and peek in the trunk, but everyone was very calm and collected about it, and we went on easily enough. The streets were virtually empty, except for the overpasses on the east end of the 6 October Bridge. We’d seen footage on al-Jazeera last night of pro-government supporters throwing stones and Molotov cocktails off those overpasses on the anti-government protesters below. Men were still clustered between burnt-out carcasses of cars along those overpasses, brandishing machetes, kitchen knives, and big sticks. I’m just glad not to have seen any guns. After that it was smooth sailing through virtually deserted streets to the airport.

It’s crowded here, with long lines at the Domestic Departures end of Terminal 3, and every seat filled with people waiting for later flights here at the International Departures end. Emma and Sarah have gone through the first security checkpoint to Check-In. I’ve been told to wait out in the Entrance Hall until 1:30, as my flight will not leave till quarter of five. But I managed to find an electrical outlet to plug in my laptop (the battery only lasts about 20 minutes these days) and am settled in for the long haul on the floor along the wall. Now that I’m here at the airport, I feel safer than I have in more than a day. My flight is as scheduled, as have almost all flights been in the last 48 hours. We’ve heard that they’re loading people on their planes as soon as they’re checked in and through security, instead of the usual loitering in the terminal, so that when the plane is cleared for take-off, they can leave immediately.

I was telling the girls, it’s been a long time since I’ve been this emotional about flying, maybe even since I left for Switzerland at 16. I’ve been doing my best to pull what my mother calls “the stoic Maryah act,” but one thing’s for sure: I’ll never be a war reporter! Yesterday was really scary, and no one knows if today and especially tomorrow (Friday) will be any better. I’m incredibly excited for Egypt right now. For the first time, people have a pride in their country and a sense of agency to improve it that I’ve never seen. At the same time, I worry that things may get far worse before they get better. I’m sorry to go, but also relieved.

As I leave for Jordan, let me also put to rest any concerns you may have about Jordan. As an expression of how different the conditions are in Egypt and Jordan, take demonstrations last Friday. While the Egyptian police met protesters with teargas and rubber bullets, the Jordanian police met protesters with Pepsi and sandwiches. They handed out a light lunch, King Abdullah went on state television and said he’d make some changes, people said, “We just wanted to know you were listening,” and they went home. In the last six years that I’ve been following Jordan’s politics, I can assure you that asking for the resignation of the Jordanian government is a normal thing for King Abdullah. It happens about every 6 months or so. Furthermore, anyone who’s been to both Jordan and Egypt can tell you that the situations there are completely different. Jordan is a relatively poor country, but it does not have the kind of abject poverty you find in Egypt, and certainly not on the scale you see in Egypt. Jordan is a stable country. None of my dozens of friends there are the least bit worried, which includes officials of both the Jordanian and American governments, activist bloggers, expats and ordinary Jordanians. There are always changes being asked for in Jordan, but the people know that King Abdullah has their best interests at heart, and they see things getting better all the time.

The Lotus Revolution Picks Up Steam

Cairo, Egypt

Tuesday, February 01, 2011, 8:30AM
Down the street at the AUC dorms, all the CASA Fellows met up with our director to get our monthly stipend. It was great to see everybody, assure ourselves that we’re okay and even excited to be here in this historic time. Meanwhile, the lobby of the dorm was filling up with students who were getting ready to evacuate. It’s amazing to think that my fellow CASA students are most of them just a year or less away from being undergraduates. The difference in our very enthusiastic and engaged group of scholars and the very nervous, subdued undergrads waiting for evacuation was almost tangible. While many of them are here taking theoretical classes on Middle Eastern politics or literature on the pristine little bubble of the New Campus, many of us are students of revolution with experience living in Yemen, Lebanon, and even Iraq. This kind of experience is the bread and butter of many of my colleagues’ specialties, and we’re actually quite excited to be here to witness history (and more than a little aware of how it will look in a cover letter, job interview or grad school application to be able to say that we lived through the Lotus Revolution!). As I said on NPR last night, we’re proud to support the best chance of real change in Middle East authoritarianism in a long time.

10:30AM
A steady stream of protestors was coming across Kasr al-Aini to Tahrir Square, enthusiastic and positive. Where men would normally be leering and harassing us as we cross the bridge, instead they were stopping to tell us their political aspirations, to thank us for supporting their cause, and to have their pictures taken with their signs. As we came up to the military roadblock at Tahrir Square, we were waved right through, and then stopped by a line of protestors providing their own security. They were dividing incoming protestors by gender for pat-downs, to go through their bags, and to read their placards to make sure they’re appropriate. It’s impressive to see how organized and thoughtful the protestors have been, how pro-active in not only organizing the protests over the last year, but also the measures they’ve taken to make sure the people are peaceful, that they’re fed so they won’t break into any more restaurants or stores, and generally assuring the military has no reason to use force.

There were a wide variety of protestors in Tahrir Square today. Not only signs, but effigies of Mubarak hanging from the streetlights, men in shrouds laid out on the ground in “die-ins,” bullhorns leading the chanting, and much more. There were a lot more women today, and a lot more women in niqab and long khimar and other conservative dress. We felt like we were seeing more men with beards as well. Sheikhs from al-Azhar University, the most respected institution of Islamic law in the world, were out in full force in their distinctive red and white Ottoman turbans. There were also a lot more people who didn’t speak English, who were not educated in international and private schools, who were clearly of the middle and even lower classes. This crowd seemed like a truer cross-section of Egyptian society. It was still dominated by young intellectuals, but it’s now evident that the Facebook generation is expressing frustrations that are felt across all socio-economic levels.

Easily identified as foreigners, we were stopped repeatedly by Egyptians with a plea and a message. “You’ll show these pictures to the Americans, right? You’ll show them what’s really happening in Egypt!” As we agreed, we wished fervently for Internet to be restored so we could make good on those promises. We were also witness to many harangues about the American government. Egyptians have had extraordinarily high hopes for Obama, perhaps unreasonably high hopes (as have many Americans, I must add!), and they are furious that the Obama Administration can’t take a stand with the people against Mubarak. We foreigners find ourselves equally furious. There is real Thomas-Jefferson-and-Martin-Luther-King democracy going on today in the streets of Cairo, and we don’t understand how Obama can fail to support it.

11:30AM
We’re back on the square after a quick trip to my apartment, and numbers have swelled considerably in just the half hour we were down the street. Hundreds are lined up on each side of all the streets leading into Tahrir, waiting for a security check by teams of protesters. The girls who’ve patted me down and gone through my bag have been very apologetic about the intrusion, but I am anything but bothered. In fact, as I’ve told them all, I’m very glad to see them making sure that there’s security and peaceful protest on the square. I’m so impressed by the organization and responsibility and leadership that protesters have shown over the last few days. It reminds me of the aftermath of the Cairo Meeting in October, when volunteers who had never before had an opportunity for leadership suddenly discovered the sense of pride and fulfillment that comes from volunteering and leadership. I see the same spirit on Tahrir Square today, and the same exuberant feeling of community. It’s like they’ve suddenly woken up and realized that they can have a say in their future, that they can build a better nation for themselves, and that there’s a vast community of like-minded people - instant friends – that will stand beside them as they do.

2:00PM
There must be almost a million people, maybe more, on Tahrir Square by now. It’s an amazing sight, an amazing atmosphere. They’re chanting, they’re praying together in massive unified rows, they’re hanging effigies of Hosni Mubarak from the traffic lights. They’re painting a massive banner that says “The people want to change the regime.” We’re packed in shoulder to shoulder, back to front, and I with my claustrophobia and my constant distrust of Arab men should be really uncomfortable, but that’s not the case at all! In fact, I feel quite safe, like I’m part of a community of like-minded people. Occasionally people come over to complain to us about the Obama Administration’s unwillingness to take the side of the demonstrators, a frustration we share whole-heartedly. Sometimes their harangues are quite heated. One man, if we weren’t such good Arabic speakers, would have been absolutely terrifying. Egyptians tend to be loud people by nature, and this man was shouting at the top of his lungs, with a big graying beard and spittle flying, and I could suddenly understand why foreign correspondents who didn’t speak Arabic might be saying that there was a threat to foreigners from the protesters. But I don’t feel that at all.

In fact, we’ve run into a crowd of foreigners, including my journalist friend Sylvia and some of her Italian, American and other friends, holding signs with slogans like, “The foreigners in Egypt are with the people of Egypt,” or “We support the choice of the people of Egypt,” and “Game over, Obama!” They are drawing quite an excited crowd of Egyptians, filming them on their mobile phones, thanking them for support, giving them messages to deliver to their governments. A few feet away, a father and his daughters ask me to take their picture, holding signs saying “The children of Egypt want Mubarak to leave,” and “Leave, Mubarak! Tel Aviv is waiting for you!” The only foreign government the Egyptians seem to be more mad at than the Obama Administration is the Netanyahu government. After three decades of Mubarak’s propaganda machine deflecting all his people’s rage off himself onto Israel, now Israel has come out more strongly than any other government in support of Mubarak. The feeling here is definitely, if Tel Aviv wants him, they can take him, because Cairo won’t have him!

3:26PM
Alex, Lev and I have just gotten home from our observation of the protestors. As we were walking along the edge of the island looking over at the downtown, we found ourselves curious about the pro-Mubarak counter-demonstration we could see in front of the Foreign Ministry at the foot of 6 October Bridge. We stopped to ask a man along the way if he could make out what they were chanting across the river. At that moment, their slogan was “Stop the destruction!” he said, but they were shouting a variety of things. Mostly, he said, they were angry about the vandalism and violence, and the disruption to their livelihoods, and were ready for order to be restored to their country. That didn’t seem so unreasonable. But then it became apparent that he wasn’t just watching the pro-Mubarak demonstration, he approved of it. He started telling us what a force for stability Hosni Mubarak was in Egypt, that he had ruled in wartime and peacetime and was good for Egypt. At that moment, a group of men was walking past, and they were incensed by his little speech. They started scolding him for filling the poor foreigners’ heads with all this nonsense. When he started defending his point of view, the loudest of the other men kept repeating, “Have respect for yourself, man!” Things started to get emotional, and we took that as our cue to leave.

Having had that impassioned introduction, though, we wanted to get a closer look at the demonstration. As we walked across 6 October Bridge, the first thing I noticed was that people – mostly young men – were arriving by the minibus-load, not on foot as they were in Tahrir Square. I began to wonder in earnest then how sincere these demonstrators were. I remember during the recent parliamentary elections hearing stories from multiple sources of the NDP riding around the poorer neighborhoods, handing out 20 pound notes to anyone who would jump in the microbus and go off to the polling stations to vote for the NDP. In some neighborhoods, according to youth from Cairo University, votes could be bought for as little as a falafel sandwich (market value 1 Egyptian pound). I wonder how much it takes to convince angry, unemployed young men to go to a pro-Mubarak rally?

When we arrived at the other side of the bridge, on the edge of a significantly poorer neighborhood than the Tahrir Square area, we immediately sensed a difference. Instead of the camaraderie of Tahrir, the atmosphere was contentious. People were in shouting matches with a sharp, angry edge. There was an edge of violence in the air, and we quickly decided that we didn’t want to come any closer than the edge of the bridge, about 200m from the demonstration.

Now that we’re home, we’re plugged back into Al-Jazeera English. They’re saying that the youth movement Kafiya has formed a 10-person organizing committee which is offering to begin a dialogue with Sulaiman, but not Mubarak. Al-Jazeera is estimating up to 2 million protesters in Tahrir and the surrounding streets, 250,000 in Al-Arish in the Sinai, hundreds of thousands in Alexandria, plus protests in Suez, Mansouria, Ismailia, Luxor, Aswan, Tanta, Kufr Sheikh, Mahalla, etc. Based on al-Jazeera’s estimates, we estimate that there must be at least 4 million demonstrating across the country, or 5% of the population. Protesters on Tahrir Square are claiming (unverifiably) that 8 million people are marching across the nation, which would be 10% of the total population.

7:25PM
Egyptian state television has finally sent reporters to the protests, for the first time in a week of demonstrations. One of the first and best protected buildings in all of Egypt has been the Radio and Television Building on the Corniche, and they’ve shown no pictures at all of protestors up till now. Their reporters have thus far been clueless at best, outright liars at worst. They’ve reported on a mass prison break, which included political Palestinian prisoners. They’ve reported on the “heroic citizens” who have worked to defend their homes and national treasures. Finally, however, they’ve sent reporters to interview protesters, and Al-Jazeera says protesters on the square are interpreting it as a critical change in the government’s response to their demands.

7:35PM
Al-Jazeera is showing state television, and claiming that these are shots from Tahrir Square. As any beginning student of Arabic should know, though, the signs they’re showing on state television say “Yes to Mubarak!” Clearly this is the pro-government rally at 6 October Bridge, not Tahrir Square at all.

10:43PM
Sa’ad ad-Din Ibrahim, writer and activist, is on al-Jazeera English praising the young intellectuals who have brought about this peaceful “Lotus Revolution.” He is stressing that these protests have not been organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, but by young, secular, democratic, Westernized middle class young people. The Muslim Brotherhood is supporting regime change, but they are not the driving force behind this movement. He’s also speaking about the army, which has kept the trust of the people by living up to its promise not to use force against Egyptian civilians. His hope, and mine, is that the Egyptian army will take the traditional position of the Turkish army, as the guardian of democracy and secularism and peaceful demonstration. My fear, and my classmates’, is that the people are making a mistake by placing their faith in the military, which has not yet declared which side it’s on, but which is led by old cronies of President Mubarak.

Both the White House and President Mubarak are supposed to speak imminently, and we’re staying up to hear them both. Meanwhile, Egyptian state television is still showing images of “the protests,” but al-Jazeera English has now figured out that the signs saying “Yes to Mubarak” are from the little pro-Mubarak rally downstream, and not from Tahrir Square.

10:57PM
Pres. Mubarak is on State television. He’s praising the Egyptian people for exercising “their right to freedom of expression,” and condemning those who took advantage of those demonstrations to commit acts of violence. He goes on to extol the steps he took over the last week to reform the government in reaction to popular demands, and condemning those “political forces” that opposed his attempts to restore stability. He denies ever having any intention of running in the next presidential elections in September, or indeed ever seeking power except for the sake of his nation, but asserted his intention to stay in office until elections and supervise a peaceful transition to the next government. He’s calling on the Parliament to amend the qualifications for presidency in the constitution and in law, and for the Parliament to abide by rulings of the courts, especially regarding matters of electoral law. He promises economic and social reform. He’s charging the police to treat citizens with respect and dignity. He’s demanding that all measures be taken to bring to justice all looters, arsonists and other perpetrators of criminal acts.

It’s a preposterous speech, demonstrating once again how completely ignorant and blind Mubarak is to the realities of Egyptian life in general, and in particular to what’s happening on the streets right now. Demonstrators had set up televisions on Tahrir Square in anticipation of this speech, and their reaction was immediate and vehement. It was evident yesterday and this afternoon to anyone on the streets that protestors have no intention of stopping their demonstrations until Mubarak resigns and leaves the country, or is convicted and sentenced to death. They’re chanting, a million voices at once, “Leave, leave!” and “The people want the president to fall.”