The illusion of choice

Crossroads – The illusion of choice and #TasleemSolta

With the anniversary of the Jan25 revolution coming up, much of the national dialogue has been consumed with how SCAF will hand over power (and to whom) so we can start moving forward – but SCAF are not in the habit of “handing” things over.

Any gains in the past year have been taken, not given. It’s important to accept that.

It is also important to understand the meaning of a power transfer (I will no longer call it a hand over, since being approached by a limping unicorn is far more likely).

Let’s talk about what power transfer is not.

If SCAF continue to lurk above the law, enjoying any level of political/economic influence, I’m afraid you’ve got yourself a lemon; a superficial makeover designed to pacify a public that is so despondent, that we’d be willing to forgo commonsense (tempting, but overrated and wildly ineffective) and follow what we perceive as the path of least resistance to a return to “normalcy” – forgetting what normalcy under dictatorship entails.  I’m afraid that path is round in nature.

If the army enjoys any supremacy in the constitution and/or are not susceptible to public scrutiny (most of us who enjoy “aydee khafeya” or “invisible hand” status seem to think this is SCAF’s plan), we will be left (again) with that incessant feeling of deja vu and will continue to be the subject of an authoritarian regime.

In short, you can only be certain that there was a genuine power transfer when, and only when, the civilian body that inherits power has the authority and intent to prosecute the sordid SCAF.

Although one of my most treasured pastimes, I will not get into a rant on SCAF’s unprecedented abuses of power, obstruction of justice, and the unceasing state of trauma they’ve subjected us to in the past year, because unless you’ve been in a coma on a distant planet this past year, you know that as leadership to the counter revolution, SCAF has diligently been implementing an agenda to create a broken state and in turn, a chastised population rendered completely hopeless and stripped of their will for change.

What we are witnessing is a dictatorship struggling to survive and reinstate its power in the face of a substantial portion of the population, be it workers, students or your run of the mill invisible-handed protesters in Tahrir Squares throughout Egypt, that refuse to allow SCAF’s barefaced, shameless practices to curb their resolve for placing ownership of this country in the hands of its people.

Ever since their reign, SCAF have been actively engaged in a process of eliminating choices.

They create choices in a controlled atmosphere and then make them the only choices perceptible to the public – otherwise known as “El Talat Wara2at” or ‘Fein El Sanyoura?’

The first clear example of this was the referendum. We were so tantalized with the prospect of having a voice in a free and fair process, for the first time in decades, that we forgot who was engineering this process, what their motives were, and most importantly, that they had no right/legitimacy to hold that process to begin with.

The choices we thought we had: Yes or No.

The choice they intently hid from us and that we heedlessly failed to see for ourselves – was to say ’we are not participating in a process under your authority, you were a central part of the very gov’t we overthrew, so please, do send us a postcard from prison.’

So here we are again, at another crossroads.  Faced with choices and again our vision has been obstructed. We are being drawn into corners where the only choices we think we have, are ones that have been predetermined, accounted for, and integrated into their callous plans.

The first choice is waiting until June and helping them vote in a president. A choice that is only acceptable if you’re a thriving member of the counter revolution or Satan. People will die, opposition will disappear and much more damage will have to be undone. SCAF are pure evil and should not be allowed to rule for another six months.

The second choice is transferring power over to parliament. A tricky one, but unless you believe that you can recruit Mini-Me to help you destroy Dr. Evil, this choice is also unacceptable. This parliament is SCAF’s bitch (for now). There was nothing free or fair about the elections, they were practically handpicked while we were literally being held at gunpoint. Conditions were created, alliances were formed and yes, fraud was committed to secure a parliament that is complacent and will guarantee the army’s future role in the country and their status in the constitution. They have no legitimacy. These people have complicitly disregarded human dignity and the welfare of the people for the opportunity to sit at the grown up’s table. They can’t be trusted with the constitution, let alone the country.  Please, don’t ever let yourself forget who created and supervised the repugnant elections that brought us this parliament.

The third choice is that we move up presidential elections and transfer power to the victor. Egypt cannot be entrusted to one person. Again, we’ve got the same parliament – SCAF dynamic. As long as we play their game, with their rules, while they referee, the fight will be fixed every time. Nothing that comes under the umbrella of SCAF will be legit, period.

Asking a president or parliament to supervise the formation of a constitution that will fairly distribute power is like asking me to fairly divide up a jar of Nutella – it’s just not going to happen. The indisputable conflict of interest that goes hand in hand with all of these choices alone is enough to discard of them immediately.

One of the ways they eliminate choices is by making them seem unrealistic.  That may be the case, but isn’t reality the very thing we are trying to change?

A transfer of power to a civilian interim “founding” governing body was formally “requested” on February the 17^th. It is also the choice they keep tilting our heads away from. Gosh, I wonder why.

Here are some of the advantages of a founding civil council

A)     They are not SCAF.

B)      The council incorporates members of the various factions in our community.

C)      They come from different schools of thought and so will keep each other in check.

D)     They will have a set of objectives to accomplish in a predetermined time period.

E)      They will not be brought to us by SCAF, nor will SCAF enjoy any level of authority.

F)      Running for future public office, at least for the following four years will not be permissible. This will help make them impartial and so you avert the disheartening conflict of interest of a parliament or president presiding over the formation of a new constitution.

G)     They are not SCAF.

Some of the tasks of the founding civil council

A)     Restructuring the Ministry of Interior (or maybe consider other forms of security?).

B)      The constitution.

C)      Trying figures of past regime plus those responsible for killing protesters.

D)     Restructuring wages

E)      Reclaiming national funds stolen by past regime.

F)      Creating a monetary fund to care for martyrs’ families and the injured.

G)     A memorial commemorating the revolution along with the martyrs and the injured.

H)   Trying SCAF.

Logistically speaking, there are many ways to accomplish this, but SCAF must be overthrown first. Anything that comes under the SCAF umbrella (especially elections), will be tainted with them.

This does not mean that we “pack our bags and go home”.  We need to redraw our political map during this interim period so that never again is our government as centralized as it currently is.  We need a system that incorporates the average citizen in the decision making process by making government much, much smaller and more decentralized. We’ve tried apathy; the results were coarse and unappealing.  This is our community and like it or not, unless we are actively involved in it, the wolves will always find their way back into the barn.

@fazerofzanight

Another Election Mishap

I just got a call on the emergency line from Islam Magdy from gam3eyet el monazama el masreya l’7o2oo2 el ensan (an Egyptian human rights organization). He was supervising the elections in Zakazeek, Al Shar2eya (lagna 209) when he witnessed the following:

A young woman named Mariam (23 yr old Bachelor of Law) went to vote with her elderly parents. She voted along with her father but her mother was unable to vote. Mariam asked el mostashar (judge) Mohamed Mostafa to let her vote on her mother’s behalf as she held power of attorney. He refused her request and informed her that he would cast her mother’s vote. Mariam had no problem with this, but having a legal background, she knew that she was entitled to be present during this procedure. The judge was deeply offended by this, to which Mariam explained that it was her legal right and that there was no way for her to know if he would cast the right vote. This agitated him further and so he called the military police who arrested her and handed her over to officer Hossam Khalaf to transport her to the nearest police station.

In the custody of officer Khalaf, Mariam’s father tried to intervene on his daughter’s behalf, citing the legality of her request to the judge as grounds for her immediate release. To this, the officer responded by pushing and cursing him. Her father then made the grave mistake of telling the officer that this type of “language” should not be used with Egyptian citizens post #Jan25. In response, the officer proceeded to violently beat and curse the man. Mariam then tried to interfere to stop the officer from pounding her father. As a result, she received a pounding of her own. They were both arrested and taken to a police station where they are being charged with attacking two government officials (the officer and the judge). Islam Magdy, the eyewitness, offered his testimony but was threatened and told to stay quiet. What they didn’t know is that Magdy has a short video clearly showing Mariam and her father being beaten by this officer. When I asked him if he’d rather stay anonymous, he said “Did all these people die so we can go back to being threatened and intimidated by the state?” A story about this was published in El Youm El Sabe3 and it tells a completely different tale, which according to this witness, is completely fabricated. Shocker.

It is frustrating watching an entire country relentlessly plead with the security apparatus to grace us again with their presence in the streets when time and time again, their presence proves to be a much greater hazard than their absence. Something to think about.

@fazerofzanight

Day of Shame: My Testimony of the Tahrir Events of August 1st

This is my eye witness account of the August 1^st forceful breakup of the Tahrir sit-in. I will try to be as accurate and unbiased as possible. I wasn’t planning on going to Tahrir until sunset to have Iftar with the martyrs’ families. I received information that the army along with police forces were headed there to break up the sit-in. I didn’t quite believe it since protesters had released a statement saying that they were going to re-open traffic to the square. I decided to head there anyway since my friends were there along with the families of our martyrs. As I drove there, I kept saying to myself, there’s no way they would get violent on the first day of Ramadan while we were all fasting. Sure enough, I kept receiving intel that the sit-in was being broken up with all the mighty force they had. The only reason I decided to continue, is because my friends were trapped inside the metro station and couldn’t get out because every time they tried, they were attacked. I decided to go and figure out a way to get them out, but also, try to collect the names of those detained.

When I got there, I walked in with no problems. As I approached the square, I could see informants everywhere. These were people I knew; one of them even had tea with me weeks ago. Needless to say, I was pointed out by one of the informants and a military police officer grabbed me and took me to one of their jeeps. I was horrified. He took my camera then started asking me questions like “Who do you work with?” I answered honestly because I knew they knew who I was and what I do (if the informants know, then they know). I told him that I am an activist in the No Military Trials group. He told me that the people I work with are agents and would get me into a lot of trouble. I told him that that was not the case and that they were being lied to. I told him that if we were agents, we wouldn’t be here risking our lives, agents don’t take stupid risks. He then said to me “Ento hatwado nafsoko f dahya” or “You’re going to get yourself into a lot of trouble”. I told him that we’re not thinking of ourselves, we’re thinking of this golden opportunity for real change in Egypt. He didn’t care and stopped listening. He then said “What do you think of Libya’s or Syria’s army?” I told him “Our army is Egyptian not Libyan or Syrian, and please don’t compare us to the worst armies in the world” I went on to say “If you order the Egyptian army to do what the Syrian army is doing, you will have a civil war in the army and there will be a huge split”.  We went on to chat a bit and then he said that he would let me go but that I needed to be careful because or next time I won’t be so lucky.

I got a call that my friends were out of the metro and were headed to Beanos Café to hide out for a while since they were arresting
activists all around Tahrir. I decided to join them in Beanos. I was already on my way to Beanos when I saw a young man running after about six army men who had someone in their custody. The young man was screaming “That’s my brother, let him go! Let him go!” I was with Abdo (@Elfoulio) and Pam (@Bamyabombom) at the time. I couldn’t stand by and watch this so I headed to the fight (along with Abdo and Pam). I talked to the young man and tried to calm him down. He said that they just grabbed his brother, Amir Shabrawy, randomly and now he’s locked in the tank with other detainees. I went in and asked to talk to the officer who completely refused to let him go. I begged and begged along with Pam. When that didn’t work, I reminded him that the man they had was unarmed and fasting like them. The officers started making threatening gestures, like they would arrest us as well. At this point the officer said “No matter what you do, I will not let the people inside go” and asked the tank to leave. I kept banging on the tank as it drove off “Don’t worry” I screamed to reassure them, even though I had no assurance to give. I doubt they heard me. By this time, a few friends had seen me banging on the tank and quickly came to save me from my stupidity.

Again, I was ready to leave when I saw them starting to attack the martyrs’ families at the mogama3 who had staged a mini protest
chanting “Yangeeb 7a2ohom, yanmoot zayohom” or “Either we bring them justice (the martyrs) or we die as they did”. On the other side, a pro-army protest formed shouting “The people and the army are one hand”. We went to stand with the martyrs families because there were too few of them. The army cordoned us and started breaking us up violently so we jumped the mogama3 fence where again they cordoned us and came in to begin the assault. The military police started hitting us with thick wooden sticks and pushing us around. I watched the bastards hit an old woman holding her son’s picture (who died on Jan 28^th) on the head. A few minutes later, I saw them grab and beat the shit out of Walid, a man I had interviewed weeks earlier for injuries incurred on June 28th. I started running towards him and begged them to stop hitting him so one of them grabbed my hair and another hit me on the head; hard. In those few seconds, anyone who could hit me did. A couple of army officers saw this and didn’t quite feel right so one of them pulled me out where Pam grabbed me from them and told me we needed to get out. I had to keep checking my head for blood. It wasn’t bleeding, but later swelled up pretty badly. I didn’t know what to do; I couldn’t leave Walid and all the others. You see, working on military trials is what I do and I know very well that our best chance is to try and get them out before they are taken away to C 28 (prison) so leaving was not an easy choice, nor was it a choice I followed through with.  We started walking out and were pushed and threatened along the way. We all kept saying things like “Shame on you, this is our country, how dare you do this to us in our own country”. They cornered Salma (@salmasaid) so some of us turned back and got her out.

We finally made it out but couldn’t quite leave without the detainees. Several activists were there including @nazlyhussein @aidaseif @salmasaid @norashalaby @Bamyabombom @tarekshalaby and others. We took turns demanding the release of the protesters. At this point, a random person got out of his car and came to help us since they had started attacking us again. They grabbed him and started pulling him to the tank but we held on to him like all our lives depended on it and just kept pulling until we set him free. Brave young man. We then shouted that no men should be here (since we know they are much more likely to detain and hit men). We walked off but I saw one of the older officers so I turned back to talk to him. Of course my friends wouldn’t leave me so they came along. He said that he will not speak to me while they are there. I asked them to leave, they wouldn’t (they know that I’m much more likely to be detained if I’m alone). So I begged them to leave, and they did, but they didn’t go far. The wonderful Dr. Laila Soeif stayed with me as I pleaded with the officer for the release of the detainees. I lied and told him that the people they have were actually here asking us to break up the sit-in and give the army a chance. I told him that they are destroying entire families and that these people will be sentenced to five years at least. I then burst out crying, not because I was hit, or even for the detainees, but because I realized that we had created a monster and that Egypt is in a shitload of trouble except now, the citizens of this country have no idea what’s about to happen to them and by the time they do, it’ll be too late. Not only will we continue living in a military dictatorship, but now that they realize how strong and effective the opposition can be, they will exercise a much tighter grip on our civil liberties. When I cried, the officer promised he would let them out after we leave. Naturally, I didn’t believe him; I even tweeted that I couldn’t get anyone out. Later, I was pleasantly surprised to know that this officer kept his word and let the people in his tank out, including Walid.

To those defending the army’s actions due to some twisted reasoning, shame on you. Shame on you for being silent again, like you were for thirty years. Shame on you for condoning violence against your fellow citizens. Shame on you for abandoning your martyrs and their families. Shame on you for standing by and applauding crimes against humanity. Shame on you for choosing not to see the crystal clear truth, that is, SCAF are just as corrupt as Mubarak, if not more. All they care about is maintaining power, just look at the concessions they plan to make in our new constitution. If you want people to stop protesting, pressure SCAF to try the officers who murdered their children, don’t ask the mothers to go home and wait for the justice we all know they will never see. You want stability and security? Talk to the people who can give it to you but are choosing to withhold it. Don’t just blame the protesters because some buffoon in a uniform told you so. Truth is, the protesters are the ones who want security, only they understand that Egypt will not have it without justice, democracy and the cleansing of our institutions from the fungus that remains nested inside of them.

@fazerofzanight

The Distance To Here

Lately, the state of affairs in Egypt has stirred much contention in the public sphere. There seems to be a communal dissent in terms of the direction the country has taken thus far. If we are to even begin to have a dialogue about the reparations required for this country to transform from a 59 year old military dictatorship to a civil democracy, it is essential to thoroughly examine the events that have led us to this point.

Now that we’re through with the formalities, let me get one little thing out of the way before I go any further. When I assess the actions of the army, my assessment pertains to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) as well as the higher up generals. SCAF is not the army; we are the army. The fact that SCAF has besieged the army, makes the army a bystander as far as I’m concerned. So, you can go ahead and save yourself the trouble of saying “the army is a red line”. They are a politicized entity that happens to be ruling the country at the moment and I will criticize them as I see fit (They’ll just have to learn to live with it).

On the night of January 28^th (Friday of anger), the coercive police force retreated after a crushing defeat by the protesters. The army tanks swiftly emerged onto the scene to find a reception only fit for kings. Protesters hailed the army’s participation as a neutral faction that would eventually have to choose a side. Personally, my heart dropped.

The army’s conduct henceforth became increasingly peculiar. They very subtly and arbitrarily started arresting and beating protesters (still during the first 18 days). People didn’t pay much attention for two reasons; first, they were still intoxicated with the idea that the army would take the side of the people; second, the army was still being discrete enough that many simply didn’t take notice.

Then, the army really starts rearing its ugly head. The first incident of physical force against a group of protesters happened in front of Magless El Sha3b on February 25th. The army started electrocuting, beating and arresting protesters. One of the people arrested this day was Amr El Behary, a peaceful demonstrator who received a sentence of 3 years in a military court with no defense. No worries, they apologized the next day and reminded us that we should be grateful they didn’t obliterate us during the 18 day sit in (my thank you note is still in the mail, did you send yours?). No one was held accountable. Later, the army took it a step further. On March 9^th, they broke up a peaceful demonstration in Tahrir using physical force as well as hired thugs. As though this weren’t bad enough, the demonstrators were taken to our Egyptian museum, home to our heritage, and exposed to ten hours of brutal torture (all the while complaining that tourism was taking a hit, hilarious). They were beaten, electrocuted, whipped, some had their heads shaved and the females were administered virginity tests.

While this was happening, I received a frantic call from a revolutionary that I had gotten to know during the 18 days of the Tahrir sit in. He was horrified at what was happening and felt guilty for having escaped without the others. I had no idea what to do, so I took my camera and ran to the museum. I hid well and waited for the tortured to come out so I can document what happened. What I witnessed cannot possibly be verbalized, so I won’t even try. Instead, I’m going to close my eyes and write down the words that come to mind when I remember this day, your imagination will have to do the rest. Inhumane, atrocious, viscous, calculated, systematic, horrifying, enraging, confusing, deceitful, heartbreaking and helplessness (that’s only to name a few). The interviews I held with the few who escaped were tragic (another word that comes to mind). They explained that there was no doubt in their minds that they were going to die in the museum. Their faces were simultaneously expressionless and deeply expressive. They were in shock, but also, they were in extreme emotional, psychological and physical pain. They explained how the officers torturing them kept hitting them on the head with their rifles while they lay helpless on the floor all the while saying to them mockingly “Erfa3 rassak fou2, enta masry” or “Raise your head high, you are Egyptian”, a rhyme that was often chanted during the 18 day sit in. The females were completely humiliated. They spoke about how the sadistic male officers probed them to see if they were virgins and how all the windows and doors were open to accentuate the element of shame. To add insult to injury, most of the tortured were taken to military courts where they were subjected to brutally unjust military trials that are unintended for civilians. Similarly, on April 9^th, the army broke up a peaceful sit in that included a few army officers demonstrating against SCAF. The army showed no restraint in its use of force. They showered demonstrators with live ammunition and several people were killed on this day. Again, those arrested were dragged to military courts where most of them received 5 years in prison.

The issue of military trials for civilians, especially revolutionaries is still shamefully happening until this very moment with about 11,000 civilians receiving sentences that range from 3 to 25 years, usually with no defense whatsoever (if this doesn’t sufficiently  enrage you, please read this last statement again and take a second to let it sink in). They are put on trial collectively (upto 50 at a time), they receive the same sentence for the same crime within 24 to 48 hours of their arrest. They are all tried in front of an army officer not a judge. In almost all the cases I’ve worked with, the families of the victims were  not informed until after sentencing and they usually found out by chance, not through a government official. There have been many reported cases of torture inside the prisons targeting revolutionaries. Military trials are a slap in the face of the revolution. Care to give them your other cheek? Read on and you’ll find out that you already did, many times over.

As a show of good faith, SCAF swore in Dr. Essam Sharaf as prime minister only to strip him away of the power to make any authentic changes. What business is it of theirs who he hires or fires? And if that weren’t bad enough, they give him the infamous Yehya El Gamal, the counter revolution personified. They may as well have hired Darth Vader. Sharaf needs to resign. And then, they approve a budget that is completely out of touch with the real needs of the Egyptian people. They cut the agreed upon minimum wage to 684 LE, a street cat can’t even live on that. They cut services such as education, health and housing. Which part of social justice don’t they understand? Shall we ask again in Hebrew?

One of SCAF and Sharaf’s first orders of business was to outlaw strikes. A right earned and paid for with the hardest of currencies during the revolution, just ask a martyr’s mother. Nevertheless, they passed the ludicrous law. They did so because, by this point, strikes were condemning them directly, not just Mubarak anymore, and that didn’t sit well with the big dogs. But more importantly, and please, remember this point, this law was put in place to prevent worker strikes that threatened SCAF’s economic interests. Worker strikes have been invaluable to this revolution and the formation of labor unions are one of the only positive outcomes thus far. It is important to note that the army owns about 40% of the Egyptian economy (no other institution enjoys such a privilege) which includes many factories, hotels, real-estate etc… and these businesses were under serious threat with the number of worker strikes they were experiencing. So, instead of negotiating, they simply outlawed strikes. Nice.

The referendum: The day they almost killed the revolution. My whole body cringes when I think of the audacity of this so called piece of defective legislative hypocrisy. An illegal as well as condescending ruse intended to con the already occluded Egyptian public back into submission under false pretenses. Primarily, this referendum was illegal because SCAF was never authorized to hold it to begin with. Up until this point, SCAF was ruling the country illegally since Mubarak, who authorized them to rule, had been ousted when he did so. Also, our constitution (joke that it was), never explicitly, or even indirectly implicates SCAF in any position of power over the country. On February 11^th, everyone in Tahrir chanted one word over and over again, “Madaneya, madaneya, madaneya” (civilian), that was the will of the people. If that’s not enough, let’s consider the fact that we had a revolution that demanded “Eskat el nezam” or “The fall of the regime” which surely includes the constitution seeing as it is the backbone of any nation’s “regime”. Needless to say, voting to make a few amendments to a constitution that’s been ousted, is as faulty as faulty can be. To make matters worse, these amendments were a decoy and SCAF never really intended to use them, this was simply a ploy to legitimize themselves and solidify their grip on the country. They later, basically, threw the referendum (your voices) in the trash and wrote a new declaration that gave them authority to govern (all unlawful thus far).

In order to sustain the façade that they have created (you know, the one that poorly insinuates that they are out to protect the revolution and fulfill its demands), they did something that, if not for how dangerous it is, would be quite comical. They passed a law outlawing the criticism of the army, themselves included of course. Again, this is a good place to stop and take a moment to be rightfully infuriated, if you need help, think of all the people who died for the sake of freedom. Maikel Nabil was one of the first victims of this law. He wrote a blog entitled “The Army and the People Were Never One Hand”. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison for insulting the army. He was chosen specifically for his controversial views on Israel since this guaranteed no public sympathy for him. Although I disagree with him on the issue of Israel, I will continue to defend his right to express it. What people didn’t and still don’t realize is that by condoning Maikel’s persecution, we are being proponents of tyrannical censorship. Media outlets were being monitored by the state and so were fairly cautious when discussing SCAF conduct as they were constantly harassed by them and asked to disclose any and all information pertaining to them for approval before broadcasting or publishing. And when they dared criticize them, they were summoned by the dark forces, SCAF that is. Until this day, our fraudulent media is one of the most corrupt in the world and SCAF does nothing but perpetuate this corruption. Very democratic indeed.

To further aggravate the population, SCAF has treated the figureheads from the old regime as though they were on sabbatical.  There has been no genuine effort to hold accountable those who have thrived and prospered by raping this country and its citizens for the past thirty years (I won’t discuss how SCAF was a central part of this mob; you already know that).  Quite the contrary, they have been given ample time to destroy incriminating evidence and stow away their blood money. Oh, and did I mention that they have the privilege of due process in a civilian court while revolutionaries continue to be tried in military courts? Can you feel the love yet? Furthermore, the people who were directly responsible for the murder of Egyptian citizens during the 18 day sit in have yet to be tried (naturally, because if they incarcerate them, how will they ever ask police officers to shoot us again when they need to in the future?). There can be no justice, no democracy, no freedom and no peace without accountability.

Their relentless strategy to divide and polarize the nation is both treacherous and calculated. Making false accusations against opposition groups such as April 6th and others who have been fighting the Mubarak regime for years while SCAF, well, they were the Mubarak regime. Claiming they receive foreign funding when they are the only confirmed entity that receives foreign funding. Of course that led to the Abbaseya events where a march of about 20,000 peaceful protesters met a dreadful end. The demonstrators were broken up into small groups and cordoned by the army that stood by as they were being butchered by hired thugs, but also, by Abbaseya residents who were positive they were beating up spies. I was unable to reach them because of how closed off they were by the army. SCAF would rather watch us kill each other than do the right thing.

The audacity becomes more and more blatant as SCAF decides to draw up a set of guidelines that would supersede the writing of the constitution. They plan to guarantee themselves political influence in order to protect the country from Islamists. How considerate. You know what SCAF, we’re not children, last I checked, only adults are allowed to vote so if we don’t want them, we won’t vote for them. Truth is, they want to ensure the continuation of their status as the underlying source of power in the country to ensure their autonomy from any civilian authority (the people), safeguard their distorted relationship with the US, Israel and the Gulf states as well as enjoy the political and economical privileges they’ve had for the past sixty years (a classic case of military dictatorship, the only known cure, amputation). There can be no real democracy if this occurs. In a real democracy, the people are the ultimate source of authority, not the army.

The very first mistake we made was wondering if the army would take the side of Mubarak or the people. We were asking the wrong question, the question should’ve been, will they take the side of Mubarak, the people or the army. They’ve made their choice, which choice will you make?

@fazerofzanight.

It’s more afraid of you than you are of it

This blog post was written as a form of symbolic protest against the military’s recent trespass on our rights to freedom of speech.  So, in case you’re wondering, yes, this is another anti-military blog post. There is something fundamentally wrong with criminalizing the criticism of any ruling party, especially post revolution when hundreds (if not thousands) have paid the price of freedom with their lives.

Earlier this week, we were all shocked by the news of Maikel Nabil’s conviction for insulting the army.  His three year sentence, according to his lawyers, was announced without the presence of council.  I’m not sure why we were shocked, as the military’s actions lately have been nothing if not defiant. If we examine the bigger picture, we may be able to make heads or tails of recent military conduct, especially towards peaceful protesters as well as proponents of freedom of speech.

The show of solidarity and camaraderie displayed by the Egyptian people during the revolution would make any dictatorship scramble in fright.  A chain of events has consequently been set in motion and there’s a real threat that it can’t be brought to a halt. The threat I’m referring to cannot be confined to Tahrir square, nor can it be contained in any physical space. The threat to the system is insubordination i.e. resistance.  Just pay a little attention to student and worker strikes and you’ll understand what I mean.

Okay, I don’t want to get ahead of myself here so let me clarify.  Authoritarian regimes do not derive pleasure out of oppressing you (although, it may be a bonus). On the contrary, if they can secure and guarantee their interests and those of their allies without doing so, they probably would.  Therein lies the dilemma; their interests and the peoples’ are mutually exclusive; one cannot exist in the presence of the other.  You see, to achieve their interests, you, the people must be exploited. The predicament is how to sustain a decades old dictatorship with strong economical and political interests after the great awakening of the Egyptian people. Here lies a small window of opportunity, the people, who have been rendered subservient out of fear and misinformation, are prepared to, essentially, accept the ruling junta as their sanctuary if that translates into a return to normalcy and security.  The threat arises when a defiant few attempt to reveal the facts to the public.  Facts such as military torture of detainees, virginity tests administered to female protesters, violently breaking up peaceful sit-ins and of course there’s Ali Maher’s death on April 9^th.  As anxious as the public is, they are still in the wake of a revolution and may be enraged into taking back to the streets if information that is provocative enough becomes accessible.  So here is where the motive to silence these few becomes abundantly clear.  The more information is available to the public, the more likely they are to arrive at the conclusion that the military’s ideology may not be in line with the revolution’s goals.

There is a reason why freedom of speech is a universal right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  In a country where power is hopelessly centralized (i.e. Egypt), freedom of speech is one of the only tools we have that can guarantee accountability.  Furthermore, when local media is being held hostage by the ruling party, it becomes our civic duty to do what they are unable to do; speak up.

It is our responsibility to desensitize them to the idea that we are changed Egyptians and our freedom is non-negotiable. Submission to authority can no longer be an option.  No longer are we afraid. No longer will we be silenced.

@fazerofzanight