...will follow later tonight as I have Arabic lesson now and will meet a friend, who yesterday "didn't care whether I die, this guy [Mubarak] simple has to leave!" for celebration lunch.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Celebrating the Egyptian people's greatest victory - Part I
Yesterday ways the most specular day in the emotional rollercoaster which this country, it's people, my friends and me have jumped in (or been pushed in) 18 days ago on January 25th. After the widespread anger and disappointment that Mubarak's speech on Thursday night had provoked, many people feared the worst: a violent, massive crackdown on protestors seemed possible. I for one was wondeirng whether this was another attempt to provoke the so far peaceful protestors to act violently in order to provide the justification for an even more heavy-handed response than we had seen in the first week of protests, this time including violence by the armed forces. A clash seemed nearly unavoidable as reportedly some 1000 people had moved to the presidential palace, called „Oruba“ situated in the district of Heliopolis, already night and many more were expected to march there the next morning.
On Friday morning, again, all appeared to be in the hands of the army, the three possible scnearios seemed:
1) The army stands back and allows people to gather and march to the presidential palace in even greater numbers.
2) The armed forces block the entrances to Midan Tahrir and prevent new people from coming in and make those who are already inside stay in place, so they cant move to the presidential palace and escalate the situation.
3) The armed forces topple Mubarak in a coup.
3) The armed forces topple Mubarak in a coup.
Which one was the most likely no one could tell, so my flatmate and me decided to brace for the worst. First thing on Friday morning (after having a look at alJazeera, twitter and facebook, of course) we went shopping in our area, buying huge amounts of water, bread, nescafe, sugar, matches, basically the things one needs to survive in Egypt. In the streets around our house everything went it's usual way, it was the same appearance of normality that had been irritating me already in the days before...
After we returned from our get-ready-to-survive-two-days-and-a-half-of-civil-war shopping tour, I gave an interview to the BR (local radio channel in Bavaria) via cellphone. Unfortunately I didn't do a good job in emphasizing how Egyptian's where divided, but in any case highly determined to make this a thoroughly peaceful and constructive revolution. The interviewer was not too interested in it. I don't know which part of the 10minute interview they sent eventually. In any case there was one outright lie in it: The interviewer asked me about my plans for the rest of the day and I stated we'd meet with an Egyptian friend and then decide what to do but most likely would not go to Midan Tahrir. At that point I was tending strongly towards going already, but I didn't want to seem an adventurous idiot.
Eventually I might be exactly this, but anyways....we went to downtown Cairo (which is the larger area around Midan Tahrir) shortly after noon prayers, entered via the backside of Midan Tahrir, got checked by an army officer, passed by several groups of people who where marching towards the television building, chanting slogans and waving Egyptian flags, and too a seat somewhere in the smaller passways of downtown, in a café called After Eight. We had some tea there and then moved on to Midan Tahrir, passing three checkpoints where volunteers checked our ID, our bags, and did a body-check that ressembled that of airport security, but in a much less effective way...
Once in Midan Tahrir we walked around, welcomed by some people, but in general I felt highly uncomfortable. Although a friend who had spent the last days at the Midan and the mother of a close friend, whose advice I highly trust, had told me it would be totally allright to go as a foreigner, I felt uncofmortable. I was not supposed to be there, because it was their revolution. It was as simple as that. Just think about it: how much was at stake for them? And how little for me? I can always leave Egypt … with my heart bleeding, but still: I can leave and find a home somewhere else. They can't. They were born on this soil, they wanna die on it, and by expressing their demand to live this life on Egyptian soil in dignity they risked dying by the hands of the regime.
So after having a look around, passing by the tents, the many signs, the many people who cleaned up, distributed bread and other food, we quickly sat down behind a tent with another German friend. Even she, who has spent the last three years in Egypt, is married to an Egyptian and considers Egypt her home was eager to keep a low profile. We sat behind a tent, visible only from two sides and nonetheless still drew some attention, which made me feel highly incomfortable. So after few time, I urged my flatmate and the Egyptian friend to eather leave with me or take me out of Midan Tahrir so I could make the way home on my own. They decided to join and we walked back to where we live. Over the bridge we excited the area many more people were streaming into the Midan, it was constant flow of people coming and going. People of all ages, women, men, children, some in suits, some obviously rather poor were moving away from or towards the Midan, the latter being able to buy popcorn, drinks, peanuts, and all other kinds of snack at an abundance of small stalls at the road leading up to the Midan, as if people were going to the movies. In general this seemed at many moments and sites more than a huge celebration, a social event for the whole family, rather than a political demonstration.
Once back home we returned to our usual routine and opened alJazeera, Twitter, Facebook, prepared to spend another eve and night in front of the computer and the tv.....
Another round of hoping, waiting and fearing on Friday 11 Feb 2010 10 am
Once again Egyptians are divided – at least my friends are. In how far this reflects the state of the nation I cannot tell, the media are focusing exclusively on the protestors' behaviour and the army's and politicians' reaction to it. So it remains unclear what the that part of Egyptians who are not visible out in the streets are thinking.
Utter disappointment on 10 Feb 2011 11:08 pm
Sift. The Egyptian word for shit. And this is the most appropriate word I can find right now. On the one hand as it describes the situation rather well, and also, because I am rather speechless right now. Mubarak has spoken. But he hasnt said anything new. NOT A THING. He has basically repeated his pledges from Tuesday 2nd February (consider: the night before he unleashed his thugs on horses and camels on the protesters) which include not running again in September, investigating the outbreak of violence, persecuting those responsible for it and amending the constitution – mixed with acknowledging the pain of the families who have lost a member in the protests. The gap between the aspirations and hopes stirred up by the announcement of his speech and the speech itself could not have been larger. And of course the excitement and hope of protestors instantly turned into anger. It's gonna be a hot night in Egypt.
As my blog is down another note from earlier today (with many tiping mistakes I assume, but after Mubarak's speech most of it is irrelevant anyways....or at least: all assumptions and statements dis-proven by reality)
Waiting for Mubarak's resignation on 10 Feb 2011 10:30 pm
Some of you might have been wondering about the three day silence on this blog. Actually I was busy with finally moving myself from the safety of my desk at home in Germany to my (so far similarly safe) new temporary home in Cairo. After going through 10 days of painful undecidedness I finally realized on Sunday eve that I simply HAD to go. Unfortunately that only left me with 24 hours to pack my stuff, get together all the necessary documents (stating my harmlessness...) from various university bodies, get cash in foreign currencies, vaccinations and German cheese for my flatmate in Cairo....So when I arrived in Cairo on Tuesday 8 Feb afternoon I was quite exhausted and this has been lasting on, mixing with the usual slight exhaustion the process of adjusting to weather, dust, noise, language, food, people and everything else in Cairo causes.
I might tell you more aboutmy personal experience since later on, but for now, lets turn to the political situation:
Egypt is at the peak of excitedness right now!!! Mubarak is supposed to appear on TV within 15 minutes time. There have been rumours that he will step down and hand over to vice-president Suleiman tonight. Some Egyptian official, a CIA representative, Barkawi (new head of NDP), minister of finance have expressed that they'd expect Mubarak to step down tonight. AlJazeera is speaking of a historic moment while state TV refers to the minister of media denying that Mubarak the president would hand over. MB warns of a military coup, commentators are weary as well that the military might now take over. I am not fully getting what exactly the feared „coup“ is supposed to be in this case? Does coup mean military personel being in power instead of elected representatives of the people? That's what we've got here in Egypt. Does a coup mean dis-abling the rule if law or the constitution, ruling by use of decrees within some kind of emergency law? That's what we've got in Egypt....So actually: what is it we are talking about when we warn of a coup in Egypt?
The situation has hardly become more transparent in these last days. Many Egyptians I spoke to are really undecided, „torn apart“, some even label it as „confused“. Partially this is due to the fact that in politics there rarely (if ever) are clear, clean, perfect solutions. Take this as an example: on the one hand the protests are to a large part driven by the demand to social justice, addressing the widespread poverty and the huge and ever widening gap between rich and poor. Yet: it is in particular the very poor, paid on a day by day basis which are suffering most from the economic impact of the protests. They simply don't know how to get their family through the month as they had not been or still are not able to work because of the protests. Many Eyptians were convinced that it was necessary to prevent these people from further economic harm by getting the economy up and running again. So they felt they should get back to work... at the same time with half (or more) of their heart they were with the protestors in Tahrir, and recognized how important it was to keep up pressure on the government. I have encountered more than one Egyptian who has „changed sides“ more than once in the course of the last two weeks.
Besides the contradictious arguments, pro and cons for the different positions and according ways of behaviour, various kinds of „stories“ are out there. In many cases it is impossible to judge which story is more „viable“ in the sense of functioning as a representation of reality. Misinformation is widespread, and has come to serve all sides in what has become a veritable media war. Even now there is one story saying: Mubarak is now talking to Suleiman in his palace (footage shown live on TV) and he will deliver a speech live soon. The other story goes: Mubarak has recorded a speech yesterday and has already left for a retreat to Sharm elSheikh.
One important aspect: state television is changing its tone of reporting. Also the content has changed from an agenda of complete misinformation to one that actually seems intent to show in how far protests start having effects. The issue of corruption, the amassing of wealth by the Egyptian political class (which had become a major focus of popular dissatisfaction in the recent days) has come to feature prominently in the current programme.
10 Feb 2011 6 pm - Some interesting articles
Egyptian Army accused of making ppl disappear
Robert Taits Report
Strike, Overview of last days' events
Regime not being able to solve situation?
Note on suleiman and Ghonim
overview, details strikes
A friend's personal example confirmed what also the second part of NYT's article implies: indeed this rising awareness and changing self-understanding of Egyptians is not limited to their actions in Tahrir and vis-a-vis the government. Egyptian's are also rising up against their direct superiors, against the unbearable conditions, which are very real to so many. In my friend's company employees, when returning on Sunday after the 10-day-break due to revolution and closure of most businesses, were told their 10 day absence would be treated as if they had taken ten days off. Even though the government had decreed (by its law-making capacity deriving from emergency law?) that Egyptians should not be to suffer from their absence in the last 10 days, receiving their salary just as if they had attended work. Thus the employees of my friend's company complained to their superiors and eventually managed to assert their right to ongoing payment. Apparently this is something which had been widely unthinkable in pre-25 Jan Egypt.
Arab rulers and regime now showing their real persistency
Sunday, February 6, 2011
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for previous posts (including 28th Jan to 6th February 2011) please go to http://sinacai.simpleblog.org/
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