#jan25two : Revolution reloaded

January 25 is a bittersweet day for us Egyptians. Last year on January 25 thousands of courageous protesters were heading to Tahrir to start the Egyptian revolution. 18days and 890 victims later, Mubarak was stepping down and each of us was exploding with joy. One more month, and we were waiting in queues to vote as free egyptian citizen for the first time; tears of joy, pride, happinness. Alas; the military rule continued the repression, tried 12’000 Egyptians in military courts when Mubarak was granted a civilian trial, forces shot protesters and caused massacres, the most opaque elections ever took place. Our revolution was technically hijacked by the army.

The story would be over if the Egyptian people weren’t unsubmitted by nature. Revolution lost in popularity in Egypt; because it is exhausting, because life is hard, still it is alive in every one of us, only waiting for the right impulsion, the right firestarter. Maybe is January 25 2012 that firestarter? Revolution is a long road still in construction; it is not a highway, it is a mountain road and we encounter difficulties, but in the end, we’ll cross the mountain, we’ll get to see what is behind.

The Egyptian people is too great to be defeated when it stands like one man. We know it is only a matter of time. The day is coming where the victory will be complete. Until then, the revolution is a continuous state of mind.

Like Sheikh Imam told us: Eshee ya Masr (Wake Up Egypt)

Why I am boycotting the coming Egyptian elections

As an Egyptian living abroad, voting would have been one of the very few means my voice would have been significant for Egypt. Indeed, if I am not able to be physically on Tahrir square protesting for the future of my country, is there anything else than a voting ballot to have an influence? But alas, regarding to the events of the last weeks, I took the decision to boycott the Egyptian elections.

The main reason for me to boycott the elections is the growing brutality of the SCAF and the police with the Egyptian people, acting like the dictator they promised to protect us from. The transitory period should have lasted 6 months, but we are today 9months after Ferbruary 11th, and nothing changed in Egypt. There is no reform of justice, protestors are targeted with tear gas, if not with real bullets, some of them die.Freedom of speech has not improved in Egypt, where 12’000 people had to face military trials, sometimes only for emitting opinions. The regime didn’t downfall with Mubarak, it is continuing with the SCAF. If I went voting, I would feel like I am spitting on the bodies of the martyrs of Tahrir and Maspero, and all the others; indeed, it would be like approving the way the SCAF is running the country.

The other reason for me to boycott the elections is that the organization is very opaque, and we can’t be confident in it. The elections are not organized by an independant institute like were Tunisian elections and SCAF and Ministry of Interior that are today attacking the people in the streets are those who manage the process. We know nothing of the details of the monitoring and there is no independant observers. Everything is left to the random mood of the SCAF. Where is the difference with Mubarak-era elections? Why would we participate to such a mascarade?

The Armed Forces led by General Tantawi are all-powerful in Egypt and I don’t want to contribute with my voting ballot to chose their civilian puppets. Six months were more than enough for such a mighty institution to transfer the power to the people and organize fair and transparent elections. And they didn’t.

In conclusion I would just say that as a half-tunisian half-egyptian, I had the chance to vote last month for the Tunisian elections. My eyes still fill up with tears of joy thinking back of that day where Tunisian citizen could freely vote for their leaders, without any form of threat coming from the army or another institution. And even if I didn’t vote for Ennahda, the fact that they were elected by my fellow-citizens whom were given a free choice is enough for me. And that is no more no less what I wish for Egypt, my other country. Today I can be a proponent or an opponent in Tunisia. Sadly, I don’t think we can say the same about Egypt; boycotting the elections is my way of disapproving the hijack by the SCAF of the revolution made by the great people of Egypt.

Mubarak’s Trial: that special moment in History of Egypt

One year ago, if told that Hosni Mubarak, his sons and the feared Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly were to face charges of corruption, murder conspiracy against unarmed protestors, any Egyptian would have bitterly laughed. We would have believed seeing one day the Nile getting dry or the desert getting green rather than this trial. This morning, when the trial of the ex-dictator opened, I first had this feeling of something truly unreal happening.

I couldn’t believe my eyes – I was watching the trial through the Egyptian TV live stream -  seeing this weak old man lying in his bed, a man that once  held a whole nation under state of emergency for three decades, that stole the country’s wealth and traded so many lives with his personnal power and his clan’s. He was dressed in white, like his two sons Alaa and Gamal. A stupid thought crossed my mind at this moment: “Not in blue?“. I was taking it from all the Egyptian movies where defendants in trials were always wearing blue suits.

The court first went about technicalities for ages, the lawyers were all talking at the same time, the mess was complete.One of the lawyers even asked to the court to proceed to a DNA test on Hosni Mubarak to prove it is the real Hosni Mubarak and not a lookalike, his theory being that the ‘real’ Mubarak was dead since 2004 and the ‘false’ Mubarak being an agent of the American-Zionist conspiracy. At this point I really thought the trial was going to be nothing more than a big joke.

From time to time, the camera was framing this cage where seven men were held, including Hosni Mubarak in his bed and Alaa Mubarak holding a Quran behind his back. Somehow, as a human being I could a bit feel sorry for the humiliating situation: a cage where a sick man was lying. But this feeling was very soon muted by that other voice in me “reminding” me that after all, a man who has ordered mass killings of peaceful protestors, caused the poverty, the misery, the sad destiny of so many men and women I’ll never see on a TV screen, this kind of man, if not ashamed of his records, is certainly beyond feeling ashamed just for a cage or a bed.

The strongest moment of the trial was when the prosecutor read the charges against the defandants. He listed the facts, about the January 25th revolution protestors killings, but also about all the protestors killings since 2000, about the corruption of the regime, about the millions and billions of Egyptian Pounds, about the scandalous gas deal with Israel, about the legitim demands of the people wanting to live better, to live dignifully, met with guns, with torture. I found myself in tears hearing all our country went through because of this man, and I know many Egyptians like me were in tears too. But I was also in tears because I was proud: proud to be part of a country that at the end chose the right side. And thankful: thankful to God to have allowed me to live long enough to see this historical moment of a nation asking for justice. Thankful also to all the martyrs of the Revolution who gave their lives for this New Egypt to exist, this New Egypt where Egyptians say they don’t want anymore to be silent.

After the prosecutors intervention, Hosni Mubarak and his sons announced they were pleading non-guilty. Just hearing Mubarak saying to the president of the court “Efendim” (a honorific denomination in Arabic), was like a… delight. After all, he was now refering to the president of the court with the same denomination that any defendant or person present in the trial had: he was no more above all of us, he was no more above justice.

At the end of this first session of the Mubarak Trial I thought of course of the Arab Spring martyrs, let it be in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, but also to the Iraqis and the Yougoslavians: I remembered the mascarade of a trial they had for Saddam Hussein and also the incredible slowness of Slobodan Milosevic trial that could never even really start before he died. All this waste: its maybe once or twice in History of a country a tyrant is put in front of his deeds and below the justice; for example, in Egypt, we had Pharaoh swallowen by the Red Sea and we have now Mubarak crushed by the will of a whole people asking for its dignity. These very rare occasions act like a massive psychanalysis for the populations. And this opportunity was stolen from Iraqis and from Serbs and Bosniacs. ‘Justice’ can help ‘History’ to take such a ridiculous turn sometimes.

May 27: Egypt’s Second Revolution

The Revolution was never finished on February 11th: Egypt is in a continuous revolutionary state since then. So many has to be done, and it is not the new constitution or the first trials of Mubarak ministers that will end this. Now Egyptians are facing a new challenge: the Supreme Council of Armed Forces of Egypt (SCAF) that is ensuring the management of Egypt during this period of transition, is going too far beyond its duties. Arbitrary detention of activists, unability to secure the country, lack of concrete decisions for Egyptians standard of life. And many more. On May 27th, Egyptians are back in the streets, in Tahrir Square and on other squares all over the country, to ask to the SCAF to meet the duties the people entrusted them with.

Here are some of the demands of the Egyptians, like very well discribed here:

1. Setting up a minimum wage for workers in public sector as well as in private sector. Only a decent living for all can make of Egypt the land of free Egyptians.
2. End of military trials, back to civil justice, end of emergency law. The psychological and physical intimidation of activists must end. When protestors are arrested and “kindly” told that they are contributing in unstabilizing the country, they are not doing anything different than what was under the old regime.
3. Transparency in the affairs of the State. It is not a few trials of some personnalities that are going to end the whole systemic corruption. Concrete measures have to be taken to ensure a corruption-free and transparent state.
4. Getting back the police in the streets to secure the country. Police is extremely absent from the streets since the Revolution. The army arrests activists and brings them to military trial, but who arrests thiefs, rapists and thugs?
5. Dismantling the extremists groups. Like we saw with Embaba violent confrontation of Muslims and Christians, the SCAF puts very few effort to identify the extremists among the two communities. How can SCAF let a violent escalade happen in Embaba without intervening, and on the other side the same SCAF violently repress a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy where nobody’s life was ever threatened?
6. Compensation for victims and family of victims of the January 25th Revolution.

None of the Egyptians ignore that we are living a crucial and difficult phase of the revolutionnary process. We know and understand that the SCAF task is not only critical but also essential. The SCAF and the people must cooperate to achieve the goals of the Revolution, but Egyptians cannot let the SCAF take too much power. Egypt will never be a military dictatorship hidden behind a superficial democracy like Turkey, where one can vote but where one can be thrown 10 years in jail if one speaks in kurdish in the Parliament or mentions the Armenian genocide. And when the people sees Egypt’s SCAF taking the same kind of path that Turkey’s,  they say NO.

After Jan25, May27 revolution is our new grant for freedom!

Egyptian workers are the heart and soul of the Revolution

May 1st Egypt traditionnally celebrates the International Workers’ Day. The 29 last times, this was the occasion of a speech of Hosni Mubarak, gloryfying Egypt labour forces, the hardwork to build the Nation, and so on. Very abstract, indeed, given the fact that Mubarak and his team were neglecting as much as it can be the Egyptian workers, their difficult working conditions and their indecently low wages. May 1st 2011 will be maybe the first Workers’ Day in Egypt where the workers will be really celebrated.

But what about the Egyptian workers and the Revolution? International community had on the Egyptian Revolutionnaries an image of young, urban, well-educated people, tweeting, facebooking, gathering on Tahrir Square. The truth is that Tahrir Square and the young people might well have been the firestarter of the January 25th movement that ousted dictator Mubarak and one of the most visible “showcases” displaying what happens in Egypt, revolution still was much more than this. First, it has to be pointed out that before 2011, all social and political movements in Egypt were essentially due to the working class. Such for example were the cotton industry workers: throughout all post-colonial history of Egypt, the workers in the factories in Mahalla al-Kubra, the main location of the cotton industry, were leading protests in order to ask for their rights. Al Jazeera broadcast about Mahalla al-Kubra is quite enlightening concerning this topic:

Communist or popular social movements most came from Mahalla al Kubra. The demands were less “politically worded” but essentially focused on equality, decent living conditions, end of corruption. 10, 20, 30 years before Twitter or Facebook ever existed, these movements already existed.

In the post-September 11th world, the natinonal scale movements did not start in 2011; for example, the call of national strike of the April 6th movement (who invented the know well spread in the Arab World expression “Yom elGhadhb“=”Day of Anger“) gathered millions of Egyptians, from all social conditions. One has merely to see 2011 and Tahrir Square like being the decisive step of the chain reaction called the Egyptian Revolution (where the Tunisian Revolution acted on Egypt like a catalyzer), but not being all the Egyptian Revolution itself. After the ousting of the Dictator on February 11th, the strikes, protests, calls from syndicated workers increase in power and ask for decent conditions.

Today, as Egypt celebrates the Workers’ Day, it has to be remembered that no democratic Nation builds without fair conditions for the working class. Most of Egyptian workers still earn as low as 2$ per day, most of the economy is still centralized in Cairo, letting the rest of Egypt poorly industrialy developped, too many Egyptians must emigrate to find a job, too many children labour is still used in factories of small businesses. A first workshop on the burning issue of the minimum wage in Egypt  was organized by the Ministry of Finance with participation of international Labour Organization, syndicates and other experts and representative: a good first step towards equality.

One of the misleads to avoid is to open the Egyptian market to too much liberalist/capitalist market; indeed, entrepreuneurs/inverstors workshops often take place now in Egypt (like for example the Cairo Startup Weekend of April 28-30 powered by the Kauffmann Fundation, an American Entrepreneur association willing to expand American market model), where cooperations are willing to build, in a free market perspective. If economy growth has to be enhanced, and the cost of years of corruption to be damped, it would be a mistake to try to import to Egypt too much of “American business” style. Egypt is a ‘Social Republic’ since the Independance, and if these words were a bit meaningless until now, since Febrary 2011 we have in our hand the tools to not become an ultra competitive, consumption-centered society. A Revolution has been made by the Egyptians for the Egyptians; not for the benefit alone of investors and investment.

Why I think Dr Zahi Hawass should not resign

For many Egyptians – and I am part of them – the archeologist Zahi Hawass was our “Egyptian Indiana Jones“. When we were watching him on our TV screens chasing mummies, wearing his pionner’s hat, we were exploring with him, we were sharing the journey to the past and back. But beyond the emotional link between Dr Zahi Hawass and the Egyptian people, there is a life long struggle: advocacing the cause of the sovereignty of Egypt on their own Antiquities and conservation of the Egyptian acheological patrimony. This entire dedication to his cause even led him to be appointed as Minister of Antiquities in the last days of the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak, before to resign, and be re-appointed again.

The recent scandal about the launching of a menswear line carrying his name using for its visuals archeological objects of great value that most of Egyptians not only cannot photography but would not even have the chance to see once in their lifetime shook all of us. As an Egyptian, extremely proud of my ancestors and the wonders they let behind them, to see a model sitten in King Tut’s throne was a bit like watching Egypt “raped”, a symbolical rape, where identity is an edible good like any other, good to sell and good to make some money. The word “rape” might seem to strong to many of the readers, but I am sure majority of Egyptians understand perfectly what I mean. Sunday Moreover, Dr Hawass was sentenced to one year in jail on sunday after refusing to implement a court decision over a bookshop dispute (see here for more details). Anyway, the sentence is currently suspended until appeal.

Dr Hawass has always been controversed for his unusual way of doing things, but here, it is coming to more serious matters: being part of the regime we toppled, taking profit for personal interests and a court sentence. We carried on this revolution because we wanted our New Egypt to be a land of justice and fairness. This led me naturally to ask myself: would it be better for the fate  of Egyptian Antiquities if Dr Hawass resigns?

At this point, one should try to think less emotional and more rational. Evaluate precisely what Dr Hawass did, for what reasons he did so, and if those acts are forgivable or not.

• Dr Hawass was part of Mubarak cabinet : yes he was. But, we have to admit it, he was maybe the only member of that government making his duty, serving Egypt. I don’t think he cares about a status and he never was one of Mubarak followers, he was part of that cabinet because it was at some point the only way to act efficiently for our patrimony. He was never a politician, he entered into politics upon a conviction and, we have to admit it, he made wonders in his position, that none but him could have done. When the revolution started, he gave himself the duty to protect our National Museum, when others were thinking about how to save their own interests. I also believe it is one of the very few members of the former government that is not involved in any way into corruption or criminal activities. He was also the only member of that cabinet taking a strong position towards Israel. Politically saying, one can thus say that Dr Hawass was one of the cleanest persons politically involved before January 2011, the only one whose assessment was positive, and one of the many that have the faith for fulfilling all the great expectations of our New Egypt.
• Dr Hawass makes money with our National Patrimony: Well, this is at the same time true and untrue. He is launching a clothing line in cooperation with Art Zulu, true. The American photographer James Weber has taken pictures of models wearing “Zahi Hawass” clothes using the Kind Tut’s exhibition as a decor, true. What is untrue though is what we suppose going on behind this: we might think he is taking advantage of his position as Chief of Antiquities to rule his personnal business. Indeed, how to explain that a man that fought all his life to preserve our patrimony would now use it, careless of how a photo shooting can damage some objects? If we are honest, if he wanted to use for making money upon Egyptian Antiquities, instead of being a more-than-30-years activist to bring back precious objects to Egypt from Europe, he would just have spent these years of impunity for the mighty in selling mummies, art items, etc, to European amateurs and museums; least he could do, he would have accepted on of the many propositions of the prestigious Universities around the world that were offering him pharaonic wages and all-facilities-included labs. Common’ he is not going to become a multimillionaire with this menswear line! In my point of view, I see an archeologist that endorsed almost alone a cause that is much bigger than one man, in a country were scientists are not fairly rewarded for their hard labour and not helped in their initiatives (Dr Farouk Al Baz would certainly concur). In a way, he makes me think of these highschool teachers that have to give private lessons (“doross khossossiya“), because the system is unconsequent in giving them the right retribution to what they do. Of course in Dr Hawass case it is a bit different,  he is not struggling for living, but yet if you take a University Professor wage (one of those who do not compromise into corruption) and compare it to the standards in Germany or UK where he spends a lot of his time, you might reach the conclusion that such an international personnality must be rewarded upon international prestige standards. I think we must first clear this point before to condemn Dr Hawass for the shooting in King Tut’s exhibition and be fair in our evaluation, and always keep in mind his dedication while trying to know more about the case.
• Dr Hawass is sentenced to prison: about this perticular matter, first he objects the sentence, second some of the clarifications he gives here could be enlightning. As a citizen, we should give him the right to claim his point of view before to drop a final conclusion over the case.

Honestly, when I first saw the pictures of the shooting I first thought Dr Hawass should resign; this was certainly a reaction of anger. Now, thinking of it, and trying to look at the long perspective of Egyptian Antiquities in Egypt, I believe he not only did a lot of valuable and positive things for Egyptian Antiquities and through that for Egyptian identity, but also still have much more to do and that is why I believe Dr Hawass should not resign. Anyway, as long as the Rosetta Stone, the Nefertiti Bust and other antiquities are not back in Egypt, I don’t think he’d ever rest and, as Egyptians, I don’t think we can think at anyone else who can advocate the cause of our Patrimony like he can do. Besides his passion for Egyptology, he is one of the very few that could lead a negociation and force out of European countries the return of some of our heritage, even when he had nothing and nobody at his side (the only other I know who had this strong negociation skills was the late Yasser Arafat, that could force out of the entire world the recognition of a Palestinian legitimacy).

And that is why I give my trust and support to Dr Hawass; I am sure a big percentage of the Egyptians do as well.

Egypt: tweeting a constitution

So much has been said and written about the use of social medias in the Egyptian uprising. I won’t tell you anything you don’t already know if I tell you that the censorship and the official media propaganda made Facebook and Twitter the favored source of information for a young, urban and educated youth. You’d certainly know too that bloggers among other activists were phished by the Mukhabarat (Egyptian Intelligence) for their strong influence and that the strong political conscience of young Arabs surprised at the same time the old cast of autocrats AND the Western World. You certainly know all of this.

But since the stepdown of Mubarak, does the new democratic state still need so much activism on the social medias, or the newly free traditionnal medias (television, radio, newspapers) are enough? Now that everybody can openly speak their minds, will the social medias go back to what they were originally used for, socializing and entertainment, aren’t they? After all, in a democratic US and Europe, teenagers and young adults mainly tweet and facebook about their moods, party pictures or congregate into groups of interests for artistic activities or social events. As far as we can witness today in Egypt, no, the political role of social media information is not over, but the use has slightly changed: it went from an information channel when under repression, to an open debate scene since revolution.

The young egyptian bloggers do not have to hide anymore, they are even invited on TV broadcasts, their faces are known and their columns are published in newspapers. But even if this bit of “prestige” made to the political numerical scene on the traditionnal media scene is quite honouring, the #jan25 youth  (if you are familiar with the twitter popular hashtag for the egyptian contestation movement) do not seem to fall into line. Yes they read the news, yes they watch TV speeches, youtube video’s and Al Jazeera (Arabic or English), but they build away from any influence their own opinion – and they share it. The referendum for the new Constitution of the Republic of Egypt (dostoor in arabic) has been the occasion of a vaste, multipolar open debate. Twitter is used as a giant web 2.0 agora where thousands of voices can express at the same time without one shouting louder than others. Display pictures are replaced by “No” written in white on a red background or “Yes” on a green background (and all the derivatives and parodies), a simple way for every twitterer to declare what they intend to vote. Arguments and critics on amendments go back and forth, with or without # or @. Relevant civil actions are relayed, when they are too small to interest a traditionnal media (a newspaper will not “use the time” of the journalist it employs for a flyers distribution on the Tahrir square) or brainstorming sessions are improvised (like the #EgyptHas one a few days ago aiming in listing everything that would encourage tourists to come). And inbetween, some breaknews from other arab revolutions, the Egyptian feeling very supportive of Libya, Bahrein or Yemen, and some entertainment with songs or a funny video.

This large online agora is one of a new kind: it is not a sum of persecuted voices that cannot express elsewhere, it has become a normal way of political expression besides all the other means. The Twitter and Facebook do not make a revolution and a democracy, it is the sum of all the interactions in a civil society that do, and the social medias have been now as normal as anything like a text message, e-mail service or as complementary as an organized meeting: what matters is how they are used, if they are used to transmit the free opinions of people and their true minds, or if they are used and misused to spread propagands.  The main difference I see with the american/european social media scene is that the Egyptian couterpart is much less hierachized and specialized: the western world political content tweets and retweets go more into public figures or institutions with thousands of followers, witty bloggers and their fans, supporters of one or the other political parties (the young green party, etc) or activists among specific networks of similar interests, while the Egyptians seem to be in a more generalist perspective: very few are part of any institution of a kind, official stakeolders (like political parties) have a very limited social media activity (even for example somebody like the former Atomic Agency General Secretary, Nobel Prize winner and candidate for Egyptian presidency Mohammad Al Baradei have not that much impact on the social medias). Just speak your mind in 140 characters, use the appropriate tag to be accessible to the rest of the users who are discussing the same thing than you, and Marhaba!

This “non-organization” specifity of the Egyptian agora makes the work of those who want to influence opinions through mass numerical media difficult, if not impossible: for every single info shared, for every argument expressed, there are 10 people objecting and analyzing on the live, and the “non-organization” of the crowds makes it almost impossible to categorize people into “pro-” or “anti-” something. Meaning it is their clustering into categorizable group of ideas that make people be possibly analyzed and inflirtated by strategic media specialists who look for subtle yet efficient ways to influence. So that’s something that we should maybe learn from this for anywhere in the world: if you want to be targetable as less as possible to political communication campaigns and to opinion formating, do not stick your presence on social medias on the clusters around opinion leaders, affiliated groups or currents; you should rather follow people like you and me, normal citizen that share their views, don’t exclude other currents of thoughts than yours, use your critical mind for everything that you read from others without hesitating in criticizing an illogical opinion. Because, if we are agree that dictatorship restricts citizen freedom of speech and act in ways we know, we should also be aware that the opinion formatting and mind manipulation the advertising and political communication specialists trying to implement to increase the number of their devotees,is not exactly what we could call democraty.

Egyptians are this morning on their way to vote for the constitution. Thanks to smartphones, the Constitution referendum was not only debated fow weeks, it is now too precisely observed and reported over regularities and irregularities: still need external observers?  We read messages like: “At voting station in school in Helwan. Looks clean and well organized. Judges in every booth, teachers running process.Ok” or  “people reporting ballots not stamped in Heliopolis #dostor2011” or “I voted in AlManial ElE3dadeya things are very positive, police officers are helpful & all papers are stamped. Things are great.“.

Whatever the result of the referendum is, this morning we can say that the new democratic Egypt is here and intends to stay: the voices of the young and the less young are heard in polling stations, but also on the virtual public scene. Whether the result will be a “YES” or a “NO” for the Constitution amendments, the Egyptians have already won their first electoral battle: they went massively to vote and they freely chose. Sounds very promising: a poitical sciencce empirical theorem states that anything significant that happens in Egypt, tends to spread and happen afterwards in the rest of the Arab World.