Tag Archives: popular struggle

Brave Words from Cairo

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I received an email this morning from an Egyptian friend who is literally fighting for her rights on the streets of Cairo. Her email is pasted below (emphases are mine), followed by an update from a conversation with her later in the evening.

Dear Friends,

First, I wanted to write you about the day I spent in front of the Coptic Hospital in Abbasiyya. That dreadful Monday morning on October 10th when we woke up to pure evil: a brutal, ruthless massacre. When my friend Ali broke down in tears in front of me as he watched hundreds of Coptic families mourn the loss of their children, friends and relatives at the hands of our military while I stayed still and empty.

Then, I wanted to write you about a wonderful trip I took two weeks later to Aswan. A trip that confirmed what we all already knew that tribes in Egypt are marginalized, and that the Nubians are the noblest people on earth.

Then I thought of writing about the up-coming elections and my involvement with a group called “Guard Your Voice” which aims at securing the rights of voters and at creating a viable and like minded block within parliament which would oppose un-democratic legislation suggested by other non-democratic forces.

But now, I find myself writing about Tahrir. People have been fighting for over 3 days now. The tear gas is unbearable. Their resilience is admirable. The spirit is beautiful. We buy gas masks from Gumhuriyya street, a special gas mask because the gas they are using this time is 10 times worse than the one they used in January. We buy medical supplies because 5 field hospitals have been set up by the protesters themselves and are constantly in need of medicine, needles, syringes

etc. We arrange meeting points for people to donate their blankets, food and other supplies and transport them to Tahrir. We create rescue teams and buy phosphoric vests so that they may be visible to the wounded. Some of us are in the front lines, others like myself are in the back. We chant “Yasqut Hukm al A’skar” (Down with Military Rule) with all our mind and with all our heart because we cannot stand what the military has done to us. And sometimes we defy those who for the last 60 years have told us that the military is sacred by chanting my favorite slogan: “Aiwa Binihtif Ded el ‘Askar” ( YES! We’re chanting against the MILITARY)

We actually have no idea what the hell we are doing there. We just want those who are in the front lines, those who lost their eyes, those whose lungs have been poisoned to be safe. It’s about making sure you have enough people so that they don’t dare to wipe you out. It’s a question of numbers. But regardless, it’s a miracle.

Last night, as my friend gave me a peanut butter sandwich, out of all things, I thought about how surreal this moment was. I don’t know what this means but we are in a much better position than we were two weeks ago. We are very close to declaring the beginning of the end of a 60 year old military dictatorship, at least this is what we hope.

I am about to head back to the square but I just thought of sharing these thoughts with you.
I hope you are all good and in high spirits like me.

And later, when I asked her permission to post her words here, she told me that things were happening fast and the situation had become catastrophic. The military began diffusing toxic gasses from the metro ventilation below the square on the protestors. Some people are saying it’s pepper gas, others that it’s mustard gas, of the WWI variety. And it’s working to scare away the

protestors; there’s no buy cialis online telling how many will return tomorrow.

She hopes people will continue the fight. I told her to stay safe and that I was inspired by her courage. She said: “Not really. There are people who are much much braver- the people who are still there. I ran out when I started smelling the gas, but some people continue.”

I salute and stand with my brave friend and all of the brave Egyptians who are taking to the streets once again to say ENOUGH.

Just a thought:

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli authorities on Saturday began deporting pro-Palestinian activists who tried to breach the Jewish state’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

What does it mean, actually, to be pro-Palestinian? Is that an accurate description of the activists aboard the flotilla?

What does it mean that the writer switched from “Israel” to “Jewish state”? Can they be used synonymously, or do they carry different connotations?

Occupy Maine!

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Monument Square, Portland, ME. Wed., Oct. 12, 2011.

Overcast and chilly, it was a real New England fall day. The crowd was small but dedicated, and more than willing to talk. We talked about Obama and Ron Paul, about minarchism and anarchism and socialism and capitalism. It was the most intimate Occupation I’ve attended, and though not particularly inspiring as far as the scale of participation it was meaningful to see familiar faces.
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LOVE. Philly.

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I love being in Philadelphia. I love everything about it. I love that it smells like pee and beer and dirty city grime. I love that it is so diverse, so proud, so hard-working.

Philadelphia was pretty much everything I think an occupation should be. Sprawling out from the west side of Philadelphia’s majestic city hall is a city of tents, a network of pop-up alleys and fabricated quiet corners. There is a family section, where children are welcome not just to protest during the day but to join in the full-time occupation. There is an arts section that occupies a whole row of benches in the square, and the entire northern end of the square is dedicated to the “cafe”: the 24/7 access to food and drink donated by insiders and outsiders. They’ve located themselves in just such a way so when you emerge from the City Hall subway station, you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the largest people’s movement in this country since the 1960s or ’70s.
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The Illusion of Freedom: Occupy Baltimore

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“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. at the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will take down the scenery, pull back the curtain, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”

Baltimore, Mon., Oct. 10, 2011

First impressions: #occupydc

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Occupy DC is small, way smaller than New York. But that’s unsurprising. I saw a baton twirler I had seen in New York, though, so that was cool. Small world, I guess.

The scene in New York is a mix of “dirty hippie,” hipster Brooklyn-ite, and nondescript people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors.

DC is a little heavier on the “dirty hippie” thing. It doesn’t have the same sardines encampment feel, although the park is bigger and there is more grass. A much more pleasant sleeping arrangement, I can only imagine.
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What is this, Tahrir?

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When Adbusters originally sounded the call for the Occupy Wall Street protests, they sold it as our “Tahrir moment.” It’s a suggestion of revolution, of upheaval, of rebirth. Is this what we’re looking at? Obviously for real change to come it will require something drastic, but Tahrir?

Though a strong selling point, it is hard to imagine this movement toppling any regimes à la Cairo. Fellow blogger and family friend Jason Stern makes the point that they are more analogous to the intermediary Kefaya (Enough) protests in Egypt; an important step, but not the penultimate. I agree that this is not the end, and that it will engender some change, but I’m not sure it is as unlike Tahrir as he assumes.

First, he suggests there is no unified demand as there was in Tahrir. This is true, but simply because it hasn’t had time to develop. There is, however, a unified grievance: corporations are not people. Adbusters’ call to arms suggests we “end the monied corruption of our democracy,” which feels to me about halfway between a grievance and a solution. In any case, in that the demand is economic equality, it will inevitably take time to coalesce into a workable suggestion.

Secondly, he presents OWS and the Tea Party as seeking opposing ends. The original Tea Party movement, stripped of its Christianity, is mostly libertarian and, like OWS, sees the systematic disenfranchising of the American worker as an egregious problem. The OWS and authentic Tea Party movements are actually very aligned in their grievances. Further, he foists upon OWS the desire to expand government and regulation. I suspect many OWSers, such as the ones who are registered Democrats, do hold this desire. In this sense, they are diametrically opposed to a libertarian stance. But OWS has its roots in an anarchic intellectualism, and as such cannot legitimately be said to be sprouted from or represent a socialistic or big-d-Democratic point of view. Honestly, OWS and the Tea Party are really on the same side. Like in Tahrir, there is unity of grievance and demand: end corporate personhood.

Lastly, he correctly suggests that the American system is designed to incorporate large-scale grievances and dissent such as these. But I don’t think he goes far enough: it’s not just that the American political system can be changed and strengthened by things like this. The civil rights movement, perhaps the only comparable contemporary movement in terms of scale and universality of grievances, didn’t just change government policy. In its process, it went a long way in changing Americans’ outlook on the world. In the same way, OWS is trying to open Americans’ eyes to an injustice against the majority of the population. The civil rights movement was a relative success not just because it changed US policy, it changed US society. OWS must, can, and will do the same — that is, fundamentally alter both society and policy — in order to succeed.

“These movements will likely fade as did Kefaya. But without serious change and reform, their ideological offspring will return with a vengeance to the streets. The result won’t be revolution like Egypt, but it will shake America’s political foundation nonetheless.”

OWSers calls for revolution could mean the overthrow of the regime of American capitalism. But revolution can also mean a change in thought, in the social order, or in ideology. Revolution does not innately require bayonets and bombs. In that sense, this is a “Tahrir moment”: a moment when an idea of revolution becomes a reality. No one is burning D.C. (at least, not yet, but don’t get any ideas). But ideas of change are burning hot and bright, and when this is over, we will have achieved a revolution of thought and social awareness.