Posts tagged revolt

Nation of Sons of Bitches

“Allah Yenawwar” or “May God light your path” says the smiling police officer to me as I work on a four-meter high mural together with Ammar Abo Bakr. The mural is an image of a protester being dragged by two Military Police officers and its based on a sketch that Ammar drew just last night, which is based on a photograph taken in Alexandria and posted online only yesterday afternoon.

People hanging around the near by parking lot bring us tea and coffee, and the guy running the public toilet close by tells us we can pee for free. At least six Central Security trucks are parked in close vicinity, but we work away without trouble. Nothing can seemingly go wrong today, I think to myself.

Five hours later, however, I am proved wrong. A crew from Japanese television shows up and starts filming. A little commotion starts around the crew and a debate about the Egyptian military leads to a debate about the mural-in-progress.

“This is wrong!” some people proclaim. Others ask “why don’t you draw something nice about the military?”

Ammar and I try to explain that we are merely drawing a factual scene, not even expressing a personal opinion. Someone proclaims “well maybe the military police is arresting a thug and protecting the country.”

Okay, I say. So if I’m drawing military police arresting a thug, you shouldn’t be offended. The mural should make you proud of military police, I argue.

“Well, it doesn’t say that he’s a thug in the drawing, does it?!” he notes.

Exactly, I respond, so you will see him as a thug if you think they’re doing the right thing. Someone else might think they’re arresting an innocent protestor. It’s up to the viewer to decide.

“No, I don’t like it! ERASE IT NOW!!” he commands us.

Why do you want to blind people from the truth, I ask? Let them see it, go home, and think about it.

“WE WANT TO STAY BLINDED,” he screams, “WE’RE A NATION OF SONS OF BITCHES, OKAY?”

Okay, I say. And we pick up our things and leave, as hordes of people rush to deface the incomplete mural.

مناظر #١٦ عن صواف أرت - ٢٧/١٠/٢٠١١

Manazer #16 by Sawaf-Art - 27/10/2011

Adam & Greed: An analysis of current global uprisings in relation to economics, history, and mythology - by Ganzeer

Foreign Agendas & Popular Uprisings

The Egyptian military truly does believe there’s a foreign conspiracy at work.

As far as they are concerned, things haven’t much changed since before Mubarak’s step down. Omar Suleiman’s comments to Christiane Amanpour, that “other people are pushing” Egypt’s young masses to revolt still ring true to Egypt’s military men and those influenced by them. Omar Suleiman may be out of the media spotlight right now -partially due to people’s discomfort with his uncanny resemblance to Darth Vader- but its hard to believe a man whose involvement with military/intelligence, which stems back to the 1950’s, would end with Mubarak’s step-down. Especially with Suleiman viewed as “the most successful element of the [CIA’s] relationship with Egypt,” according to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks. If the United States was willing to let Mubarak go, I doubt it would also be willing to let Suleiman or any of Egypt’s old military guard go. 

[Omar Suleiman as Darth Vader]

Before Mubarak’s step-down, popular media claimed “foreign elements” to be behind the “chaos” in Tahrir. Journalists’ cameras were confiscated. Al Jazeera’s office was raided. Protestors were regularly abducted by Egyptian military, subject to torture, and asked “who put you up to this?” Officials would appear on TV and stress that the only person who can keep the country together is Mubarak.

[Egyptian singer/songwriter Ramy Essam shows scars of torture by Egyptian Military.]

Today, protests are condemned by popular media, “foreign elements” are still blamed to be behind any “irregularities.” Al Jazeera’s office was raided again. Protestors are regularly arrested by Egyptian military and subject to torture. The only difference is that officials appear on TV and stress that the only thing that can keep the country together is “the army”, instead of Mubarak.

[Members of Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on public television explaining that the military is the people’s last line of defense.] 

Ah, and there’s one more difference. The only sit-in not condemned by popular media and not dispersed by Egyptian military is the small “Islamist” sit-in right in front of the American embassy. Y’know… before the sit-in ever started, I sat there once, on the side walk, waiting on a friend of mine. Security there were quick to come and tell me to move along.

This leads me to believe that the strategy undertaken by the Egyptian military is two-fold:

1. Create enough of a sense of insecurity in the masses to drive them to entrust the military with everything.
2. Allow Western powers, namely America, to believe that an Islamist movement is on the rise, leading the West to entrust the Egyptian military with everything.

The former point is further emphasized by instigation of additional threats such as:

1. Nile river countries bent on limiting Egypt’s share of water.
2. Israel’s attack on Egyptian soldiers at the border.
3. The collapsing economy.
4. The internal security vaccum.

The result? Popular domestic and international support. The Egyptian military wins.

Funnily enough, it is the same strategy undertaken by the ruling power in every single country to see an uprising. Qaddaffi’s popular line “Mnn antom?!” (Who are you?) is now carved into the funny sides of our brains, and will likely be a popular internet meme for a long time to come, but it has not stopped other countries from taking the same stance. Syrian foreign minister Walid Mouallem issued a statement saying “There are groups carrying out acts of violence in Syria and who have killed a great number of martyrs. The West speaks of a peaceful revolution and does not admit these groups exist but arms them anyhow.” These views have even led to a number of pro-Assad demonstrations outside of Syria. Sultan Assour, a pro-Assad protestor outside the Turkish embassy in Amman, asserted that “there are foreign entities trying to destroy the Syrian regime because it has been successful,” as reported by the Jordan Times on October 10, 2011.

[Qaddafi’s “Mn Antom?” speech remixed by Youtube user Blackjack101.]

When protests erupted in the eastern Saudi Arabian town of Qatif in early October, dominated by chants that apparently condemned the Saudi court’s sentencing a woman to 10 lashes for breaking the country’s ban on female drivers, Saudi authorities didn’t act much differently. “You Coward, you coward, you who hit women,” chanted protestors, before being attacked by Saudi police, and resorting to physical measures, which led to 14 injuries, 11 of which were Saudi security forces according to reports. The Saudi Ministry of Interior issued a statement on October 5th claiming to have “thwarted an attempt by foreign elements to destabilize national security.”

In Jordan, authorities have managed to weaken the position of the country’s pro-reform uprising by suggesting that Palestinian interests are behind the movement, tapping into society’s collective memory/knowledge of 1970’s Black September. This has succeeded in subduing the inertia of Jordan’s pro-reform sentiments.

When Bahrain’s February uprising took place, not only did authorities, together with Bahraini media, heavily suggest the involvement of foreign elements, but the Bahraini government even claimed in a report to the UN in April 2011 that Lebanese political organization Hezbollah, considered a terrorist group by the US, was actively involved in organizing the unrest.

The sad truth is that these claims find resonance with portions of the population, leading to much societal conflict in regards to sentiments towards a regime, no matter how brutal or unjust it may be. The result is, instead of being in a situation of the people against the regime, it turns into a situation of some people against most people and the regime. The regime wins.

Now, if I have the common sense to see that the Tunisian uprising was not caused by foreign elements, or to see that the Libyan people’s rise against Qaddaffi only stemmed from a legitimate need to overthrow the idiot, or that Saudi Arabian protestors are merely agitated by a life of oppression, or that Syrian protestors have simply had enough of Assad’s reign of terror, why would I assume that the Egyptian revolution is any different?

I’m With Stupid

There’s a consensus among every Egyptian military man I’ve spoken to that this is an obvious Israeli ploy to weaken the Arab states. “Look at Libya”, I’ve been told “Military men have defected. Look at Yemen; Military men have defected! Look at Syria! Military men have defected! By weakening the armies of its neighboring Arab countries, Israel will have the upper hand, and the entire region will be up for grabs!”

Yes, I’ve actually been told that. The problem with that argument is that it assumes that Arab militaries have been a threat to Israel’s security, when in fact, Arab militaries have been the only thing ensuring Israel’s safety, and keeping millions of angry Arabs from marching there and ripping the Jewish state to shreds! Israel has enough problems dealing with Palestinians living in sub-horrible conditions. The last thing it needs is unleashing the wrath of millions from Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and whoever else decides to hop on the bandwagon of vengeance. 

That’s the first reason why igniting-mass-uprisings-as-an-Israeli ploy is the stupidest explanation anyone can ever think of. The second reason would be that courage is obviously contagious, as has been demonstrated by the emergence of uprisings all around the world, including Israel itself. What may have started as a massive protest against Tel Aviv’s housing shortage and cost of living, eventually turned into a call for social justice. Israel is known for its racism against its own people; Druze, Bedouins, and Ethiopian Jews serving in Israel’s military force are systematically stationed at the front lines of heavy conflict zones, for example. Protests numbering in the hundreds of thousands giving Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu the ultimatum of making “real and serious recommendations” or “on October 29, just before the Knesset returns to session, we will take to the streets in full force” cannot at all be good for the Israeli government’s stability.

Not to mention the other 1500 cities that have seen mass protests on October 15th alone! Madrid, Barcelona, London, Berlin, Athens, Rome, New York City, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, Auckland, Mumbai, Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan, and more! It’s happening everywhere!

So why is there so much conviction amongst Egyptian military men that this whole revolution thing is an Israeli plot? Well, It’s obviously a way for Egyptian military masterminds to discourage men in the ranks from defecting. 

So Arabs Want to Rip Israel apart?

Pretty much, yeah. But Israel has nothing to worry about anyway. Unless seriously provoked, there’s no way a dozen-million-Arab-march to Tel Aviv will ever happen, because people will be people, even Arab people. And what Arab people want, just like the people of Israel, is a secure life where true social justice roams.

It is, of course, believed by Israel and the United States of America, that once social justice is achieved in the Arab world and a better education system ensued, the result would be a smarter population with a better economic status, less domestic worries, and a higher capability of wiping Israel off the face of the planet!!

Now, before we jump to that conclusion one must sit down and think about where this Arab “hostility” towards Israel stems from. Aside from the obvious reason of Israel mainly being a military-driven occupying presence, and aside from the escalating addition of settlements on Palestinian land, and aside from Israel’s discrimination and regular injustices towards Palestenians, aside all of that,  Arab governments, even those that have healthy diplomatic relations with Israel, have for decades been cultivating the notion of Israel-as-the-enemy in the minds and hearts of Arab people.

Take Egypt for example; since Sadat’s peace treaty with Israel, regular trade and business has been established between both countries. Israel has exported $181 million worth of goods to Egypt between 1994 to 2000, with $58.1 million in year 2000 alone. Egypt’s exports to Israel, on the other hand, have totaled $1.6 billion during the same six years. Although Egypt’s revenue from trade with Israel surpasses Israel’s, the Egyptian government has been subject to heavy domestic criticism for the sale of natural gas to Israel at the significantly reduced price of $1-$3 per 1000 cubic feet, whereas the lowest value natural gas has ever reached elsewhere is actually $7 per 1000 cubic feet.

Israelis regularly travel to the Sinai peninsula for tourism, and Sinai bedouins regularly travel to Israel for trade and tourism. I, however, a Cairo resident would not be able to travel to Israel so easily, and heavy interrogation by Egyptian intelligence upon return would occur without question. Egyptians have grown up with the notion that Israel is ready to attack Egypt at any moment. They teach it to you at schools and they talk about it at the coffee shops. They show it in films, television series, and talk shows. 

My buddy Sherif did obligatory Egyptian military service for a whole year, half of which he was stationed in Aswan at an air-defense base near Egypt’s High Dam. When a high ranking officer doing check ups would pass by the base and see something that was not in order, he would scuffle the troops and typically shout “What’s wrong with you, soldier?! What if Israel decides to attack The Dam right now?”

[A recruitment poster published in American magazines throughout World War I, featuring Daughter of Zion, a representation symbolizing the Jewish people. The text reads “Your Old New Land must have you! Join the Jewish regiment.]

Now although I, during my 29 years of existence in this here world, have never got to experience any hostility from Israel first hand, but have in fact been subject to many injustices by my own government on a regular basis, my idea of the enemy is still emblematic in Israel’s Star-of-David. This is my government’s way of controlling its people. By cultivating the fear of an exterior enemy, people will let go of certain rights and liberties in exchange for a sense of security at home. This may also be said about Israel’s government.

Therefore, complete dismantlement of both the Egyptian and Israeli regimes may very well be the salvation of both people.

Show Me The Money

Such insecurity suits Israel just fine though, because it’s how it makes the big monies. Without insuring at least a sense of hostility from its neighboring countries, Israel would no longer be legible to receive the annual $3 billion military aid from the United States, 25% of which is actually spent on purchasing equipment from Israeli manufacturers! Of course, a condition to receive this aid is for Israel to “seek peace.” If, of course, peace is actually accomplished, there will be no unachieved peace to seek out, and no basis for Israel to claim hostility from its neighbors. No more aid.

Moreover, Israel’s acquiring of U.S. military technology is giving the Jewish state a chance at reverse engineering U.S. weapons, quickly becoming a top weapons innovator and manufacturer, ranking itself as the 10th largest exporter of arms in an industry estimated at over $1.5 trillion annually.

It isn’t in the Egyptian regime’s interest either to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict, as that would mean a very possible end to US aid to Egypt as well, accounting for $2 billion annually, much of what probably goes into the pockets of corrupt Egyptian officials. As long as there’s unrest at the border, and Egypt is keen on facilitating “peace talks” between Israel and Palestine, then Egypt is legible to receive aid. Also, as the 11th largest cement producer in the world, Egypt regularly exports cement to Gaza after Israeli attacks to be utilized for rebuilding efforts. It has also been reported that 20,000 tons of Egyptian cement were sold to Palestinian Authorities and then resold to Israel at humungous profits for use in the construction of Israel’s apartheid separation barriers.

This signals that even the Palestinian Authority benefits from this bad situation. It’s known, for example, that the Palestinian Authority incurs serious “taxes” on the smuggling of goods through the Rafah Tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.

The same applies to Jordan, as it is the 4th largest recipient of U.S. Military aid, valued at around $209 million. Together with other aid packages, Jordan receives an annual sum of around $500 million. Add to that, one of Jordan’s main sources of income today is made via Qualifying Industrial Zones that were set up in 1998, allowing Jordan to export goods to the United States on the condition that some input material comes from Israel. Jordan has since signed a Free Trade Agreement with the States, but 75% of all articles entering the United States from Jordan are still produced in Qualifying Industrial Zones. Egypt, too, exports to the United States from the production of its Qualifying Industrial Zones.

This explains why the peace talks we’ve been witnessing for decades have been nothing more than exactly that: talks. Because anything beyond that would not be of interest to the politicians at hand, but the show… the show must go on. This means that Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian, Israeli, and above all, American politicians are directly responsible for the gruesome situation that Palestinian and Israeli people have to live in today - most especially the Palestinian people.

Ah, but why would the United States spend so much tax money on benefiting the politicians of Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, you ask?

Well it just so happens that the Middle East accounts for 1/6 of the world’s arms imports, the bulk of that going to Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and the UAE. That is approximately $250 billion annually. A lucrative client to anyone in the arms business. And indeed, 50% of all U.S. arms exports go to the Middle East, which accounted for over 40 billion in 2010.

All U.S. aid in the Middle East is valued at $6 billion. If you add Afghanistan and Pakistan to the equation, the number would jump to no more than $16 billion. If you’re making 40 billion off the situation in the Middle East, then spending $16 billion isn’t such a bad investment, is it? Do the math. That’s a $24 billion profit, not even considering the profits made from oil and other goods.

Now, without the presence of an occupying nation right in the center of the Middle East: Israel, these rich Middle Eastern countries would not feel the need to stock on such an outrageous number of weapons, and the United States would lose the biggest contribution to its economy.

So basically, the world’s largest superpower has taken advantage of Zionist aspirations and the self interest of Arab dictators just to make some money. And millions of innocent lives are left to pay the sick price.

Capitalism Versus Democracy

The United States of America has somehow managed to create the illusion of a powerful link between the notion of democracy and the practice of capitalism. This can, in part, be credited to America’s successful dominance over mass media for the past few decades, as well as the sheer bleakness of what had seemed like the only possible alternative: communism.

It’s true that capitalism has offered much more freedom than its communist counterpart; in a capitalist society, one would be free to wear jeans, drive an air-conditioned car and buy a remote control robot for his/her kid. Albeit, work pretty damn hard to be able to afford those things, but still, the possibility exists. Under known communist structures, those things were in no way attainable, and no matter how hard you worked, your only option was to work for a government that provided an array of incredibly basic products for its people.

With these being the only options in sight, its no surprise that the majority of the world would seek to endorse capitalism. Upon closer inspection, however, it isn’t difficult to see that capitalism is in no way related to democracy. For democracy, whose origin is the greek word dēmokratía -which means “people power”- does not prevail under capitalism, which provides varying levels of power to different types of people, depending, for the most part, on financial income. Moreover, the adoption of capitalism by a number of hardcore dictatorships such as Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai, and China is proof of capitalism’s false association with democracy.

Also, come to inspect how communism has come to be applied and understood, it totally contradicts its theoretical basis of “Everything for everyone,” or as Karl Marx would put it: “a classless, stateless system based on common ownership and free-access, superabundance and maximum freedom for individuals to develop capacities and talents.” 

The way things have actually went down, communism was a way for governments to give nothing to anyone, and keep everything to itself. This, in strong contradiction to true communism, should more accurately be referred to as Leninism.

Ironically enough, it seems that true communism and true democracy are, in fact, two sides of the same shiny gold coin.

Bob Dylan Said

In Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, No Direction Home, there’s a scene where Dylan recalls being called a communist at times in the 60’s for singing about civil rights and walking around with a guitar. Dylan admits he “didn’t even know what a communist was.” The same can probably be said about most people today, but that won’t keep the masses from ending capitalism and seeking out social justice anyway.

And chances are, it’ll probably be called something else anyway. Moses may have called it Judaism when freeing Egypt’s large slave population of Israelites. Christianity, as Jesus Christ’s teachings are called, initially spread throughout the Roman Empire’s massive slave and under-privileged populations for its popular notions of equality and social justice. Muhammad of Mecca called it Islam when his proclamations that all people were equal before the eyes of God found resonance with Mecca’s youth, unprotected immigrants and slaves, as well as tribesman who had failed to attain first rank.

[A Roman slave, persuaded to convert to Christianity, distributes his master’s bread to the poor and needy. From Alejandro Amenábar’s film: Agora.]

The sheer success of what could arguably be the biggest “revolutions” in human history can probably be attributed to revelations that were beneficial to underprivileged majorities as opposed to the ruling minorities of any given time.

This means that the current Global Uprising in the making, soon-to-become Global Revolution, is deemed for success, for the world’s majority is definitely underprivileged, against a minority of politicians and capitalists who’ve had complete carte blanche in shaping the world of today. Alas, capitalism has failed humanity, and no number of reforms will alter that.

Take Me to Your Leader

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in Egypt has continuously criticized the Egyptian uprising for not producing a unified leader to speak on the people’s behalf. This has lead to a continuously increasing number of coalition and political party formations, many of which have rendezvoused with the Supreme Council to sign agreements in hopes of putting the revolution to rest.

Demonstrations, strikes, and other forms of protest carry on regardless, because today’s revolution, unlike revolutions of the past, is leaderless.

If Muhammad of Mecca had agreed to the proposition offered by the powerful merchants of the time to abandon his preaching in exchange for his admission into their inner circle and an advantageous tribal marriage, that would’ve been the end of the “Islamic revolution” right then and there.

This revolution -this Global Revolution- unlike those historically helmed by a single leader,  is the type of organic manifestation of a shepherdless proletarian revolution that Karl Marx predicted. Stating it would take place upon the development of productive forces that would lead to a superabundance of material wealth.

For such a development to happen, the Industrial Age needed to copulate with the Digital Age. Only the development of sophisticated programming softwares, together with hi-tech manufacturing facilities could produce highly automated production capabilities. Combine that with the Information Age, and you have global “enlightenment,” a mass population immune to propaganda, and a society that interacts on a stateless level.

This would mean that machines, Information Technology, and the World-Wide Web… the products of capitalism itself… are to be the very death of capitalism.

How gorgeously mythological.

On Mythology

What we are ultimately facing here today is the culmination of humanity’s struggle to find justice while confronting the temptation of greed. 

An astonishingly resonating quote by ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaton, reads “To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he who increases his riches, increases his cares.”

A continuation of this struggle can be found in the stories and works of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Aristotle. Plato. Buddha. Al-Farabi. William Morris. Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Thomas Moore. Robin Hood. Leonardo Da Vinci. Laozi. Zhuangzi. Proudhon. Enragés. William Godwin. Thomas Jefferson. Ahmed Orabi. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Josiah Warren. Mikhael Bakunin. Karl Marx. Ernesto Guevara. Woody Guthrie. Bob Marley. Martin Luther King. Joey Skaggs. Noel Godin. Constant Nieuwenhuys. Angie Zelter. Charlie Todd. Vanya. John Jordan. Rage Against The Machine. Chuck Palahniuk. March Achbar. Adbusters Magazine. Michael Moore. Ahmad Fouad Nigm. Banksy. Naomi Klien. Tanya Stephens. Jeff Howe. And many, many more.

This revolution has been a long time coming.

Hello, World War III

We are bound to be subject to a lot more than just slurs and smear campaigns. For the guardians of capitalism will not let go without a hard, hard fight. Driven entirely by greed and fear, they will have no choice but to resort to violent measures against the revolting masses. And because fear is as contagious as courage, many will be swayed to protect capitalism and/or the old guard in the name of security and the well-being of humanity. Those guided by hope for human justice will press on.

The brutality of regimes against their own people will lead other governments to forcefully intervene. Other Powers with interests in these regimes will have to take harsh military measures. Massive alliances will be made -Allies and Axis style- and the many idle weapons of doom, produced by capitalism and sold throughout the world, will be put to their designated use.

The biggest war in human history will scorch the Earth and end in widespread destruction and despair. Super-boundless atomic radiation of epidemic proportions will throw the Earth’s ecosystems off balance. The limited human population remaining will be forced to scavenge the Earth for survival in a turbulent post-apocalyptic world. 

After millennia of recovery, the Earth will be reborn as the lush green paradise promised to humanity by our ancestors a long, long time ago.

———————————————————————————————————— 

References:

Watt, The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 36.

Israel-Egypt: A Review of Bilateral Ties - The Jewish Virtual Library:

F.A.Q. on U.S. Aid to Egypt: Where Does the Money Go - And Who Decides How It’s Spent? - ProPublica: 

James L. Williams (1998-10-02). “Graph of Natural Gas Futures Prices – NYMEX”. Wtrg.com. Retrieved 2011-02-06.

U.S. Military Aid and the Israel/Palestine Conflict - If Americans Knew

U.S. Arms Sales to Israel End Up In China, Iraq by Jonathan Reingold - CommonDreams.org:

World Military Spending by Anup Shah - Global Issues:

List of countries by cement production - Wikipedia:

The Chaos of the Corruption: Challenges for the improvement of the Palestinian society

 The Tunnels of Gaza by Sara Flounders: 

 UAE, Saudis, Egypt, Algeria top ME arms buyers - Jerusalem Post:

 America’s hottest export: Weapons - CNN Money

  Arms Industry - Wikipedia:

Outside In - by Ursula Lindsey

After nine years living in Egypt I would say that Egyptians have no problem with actual foreigners, but huge ones with imaginary ones. 

During the 18 days of the revolution, the demonstrators were foreign agents and foreign infiltrators. State TV ran interviews with hopped-up teenagers swearing they heard people in Tahrir speaking Arabic “but their accent was not Egyptian!!” 

[illustration by Ganzeer]

“We get your message,” the presenter would say, nodding gravely. My zabbal* told me matter-of-factly: “Those boys and girls are all trained by Israelis. Everybody says so.” Meanwhile, almost every foreign journalist I know was beaten or barely escaped a beating, by a real or a stage-managed mob. Mubarak said he wouldn’t step down because of “foreign dictates.” 

But also, late one night, leaving Tahrir Square with my husband, we heard someone running up behind us, and as we turned somewhat nervously, a young man we didn’t know caught up with us. “You must be the ones with the foreign agenda!” he laughed. Omar Suleiman** had just gone on in an interview about the “foreign agendas” behind the protests, and some demonstrators had brought actually agendas to shake mockingly in his face. 

[Omar Suleiman in an interview saying its the Islamic current that has pushed the young to revolt, that El Baradei does not count as opposition, that Egyptians are not ready for democracy, and any ideas they have about it are not their own and comes from abroad.]

Every single Arab regime in crisis has done the same: called its people traitors, trying to make them outcasts. It’s first and foremost a declaration of contempt: Only foreign minds could conceive of such bold change. 

It was to be expected, but I have to admit, I’m surprised by how this charge has persisted past its expiration date, the foreigner/activist/journalist/spy/agent/saboetur/thug/protester category continuing to morph and expand and confuse, cast its emotionally charged, intellectually sloppy shadow over every conflict. Sectarian clashes, street fights, terrorist attacks, general instability — it is all the work of unspecified outsiders.

Generals who receive a $1.3 billion allowance from the US are launching a special investigation into foreign funding to local human rights NGOs. One of Mubarak’s lawyers, Yousri Abdel Razeq, says it was foreigners — Iranians and members of Hamas —who shot the demonstrators.

 Of course this is all shameless bait-and-switch. While the SCAF drones on about “foreign hands,” the same gallery of grotesques still colonizes the airwaves with their choked-up, amnesiac hysterics. Patriotism is the last resort of a scoundrel, etc. I’m looking at you, Amr Adeeb***. 

But if this manipulation works, that must be because it speaks of and to something that is actually there — a wounded dignity, a persistent fear, a fantasy of closing ranks. (Islamists have it particularly bad, condemning the total corruption of Western society and in the same breath earnestly demanding that that very West recognize the superiority of Islam). 

In recent months, some Al Azhar students I contact on Facebook — where they have set up a public group demanding reforms — accuse me of “foreign interference” for asking for an interview. A lawyer who I want to go to court with says she is afraid people there will take me for a “spy.” 

I take it as a sign of both how assimilated I’ve become and how helpless I feel that I now fantasize regularly about appearing on Egyptian TV talk shows to demolish the bombastic fraudulent xenophobia of the moment. (I have long entertained similar fantasies about making guest appearances on Fox TV, to stump its screeching liars. The Egyptian version is a more intense fantasy, however, since in it I speak Arabic fluently). 

It’s not just foreigners but many Egyptians who — because of their haircuts, their fluent English or their political opinions — are dismissed as khawagas****. In the days I spent in Tahrir, more than once I stood by while Egyptians yelled at each other: “You’re not Egyptian! No, you‘re not Egyptian!” 

Today the country is continuing to play this dangerous game, banning Egyptians with a foreign grandparent from running for president; most likely not allowing Egyptians abroad to vote in the upcoming elections; smearing activists and youth groups for allegedly receiving foreign funding. Shrinking what it can mean to be Egyptian to the narrowest, stingiest definition. 

The Egyptian revolution — despite what both lobbyists in Washington and paranoids in State Security and demagogues on TV talk shows would have you believe — was 1% foreign interference (and that mostly in the form of Tunisian inspiration) and 99% Brave Angry Amazing Egyptian Crazy. 

So why this lack of confidence? The fact that Egypt has been the victim of real conspiracies and real attacks is no excuse. Of course foreign powers will meddle. But Egypt can write its own history. 

I’ve always felt it’s in poor taste to complain about my host country. I’ve written all this well knowing Egypt has bigger problems than my comfort level; well aware of my freedom to leave anytime, my expat privilege and my country’s shitty foreign policy in the region.

I’ve never had much patience for the sentimental, nostalgic literature of a Robert Solé, the laments for a lost cosmopolitan pre-1952 salon where the natives were little more than picturesque wallpaper. But I believe Egypt will be the richer for engaging with its foreign elements, with the full spectrum of what it has meant and means to be Egyptian.Look at Beer in the Snooker Club, that Egyptian masterpiece written in English, a grapple with the class-politics and the politics-politics and the plain humanity of a tragi-comic khawaga complex. 

As someone who has gained so much by living in Egypt, I can’t help but feel how much Egypt has to gain by living in the world. And how much to lose by knee-jerk nativism, by building national identity on the shaky foundations of being aggrieved and self-righteous and suspicious. 

During the revolution, when Egyptians asked what I thought of what was going on, I tended to modulate my support, out of a certain professional coyness, that pretense journalists affect of not taking sides. Now, I also hesitate to express my enthusiasm for fear of tainting its object— my foreigner’s solidarity not only impugned, but incriminating to others. 

But of course I supported and I support the Egyptian revolution. On the first morning of it all, with the NDP building still billowing smoke, we expats wandered around Tahrir like everyone else, dazed and elated, taking in a reality set electrifyingly askew. But in the following weeks, among the crowds, I moved at a certain clip — pausing inevitably attracted too much attention, too many questions, the first of which was always: “Where are you from?” Then, “Why are you here?”

Perhaps I was too cautious, too self-conscious. It is one of my great regrets, that I was unable to melt, to mingle, to just take it all unreservedly in. I accept it, though — this isn’t a battle or a time I would pretend to call my own. It’s an honor just to assist.  

*Garbage collector

**Mubarak’s cadaverous spy-master, appointed vice-president during the revolution

***TV presenter with a distinguished record of sycophancy and demagoguery. Egypt’s less hallucinatory but equally obnoxious Glenn Beck. 

****Colloquial term for foreigner (the Egyptian equivalent of “gringo”) 

—

First published on Arabist.net on August 29, 2001

I Still Remember - by Psypherize

I remember during the early hours of January the 29th, after hours of battling with the police all over Cairo and Egypt. It was the first time for me to see the Army take to the streets of Cairo and descend on Tahrir Square where I was. Troops and tanks and APCs. An overwhelming sight to some, not so much to others. For others had shared with me the worries of the Army’s intervention in this revolution, that eventually it would evolve into a military dictatorship imposed by the Army generals who are basically just another group of Mubarak loyalists.

I remember the delay it took the army to separate the protesters from the police and stop the killings was deliberate and that it took hours, for the fighting stopped in the later hours of the morning of that day. The army found it much more of a priority to protect things like the American and British Embassies over the Egyptians themselves.

I remember the people flocking to the streets just to watch all those army tanks, take pictures next to them, shake hands with the Egyptian soldiers and junior officers. How everybody was too happy and too overwhelmed by the presence of all those people in military uniform on the streets and how much respect they had shown towards those people in comparison to the police personnel. How the police were entirely absent from the streets and everybody had to take up their own arms and create civilian police and neighborhood watch to protect their own shops and homes, with the help of the army.

I remember the people in Tahrir Square on the very first days of peaceful demonstrations in Tahrir Square chanting ‘The people and the army are one’. So many had their hopes up that the army would listen to the voice of the people and make sure their demands are made a reality and that the regime would actually fall.

I remember the early hours of the afternoon on February 2nd, and how the army had given way for all the pro-Mubarak thugs to attack us in Tahrir Square and it remained idle as the battle raged on for more than 15 hours all around the Egyptian Museum, the overpass over Abdul Moneim Riyad Square leading to Ramses St. and the 6th of October bridge, until they had finally started to take action and set up a perimeter around Tahrir Square.

I remember how people started getting arrested by the army during the early days of the revolution under ridiculous accusations; from being a spy to supplying foreign funds to the Square, how my Spanish friend, who was a photojournalist was arrested and abused by the military intelligence under accusations of being a spy, how Egyptian fixers who worked with foreign journalists during the revolution were subjected to worse treatment by the very people who should protect us.

I remember how after Mubarak had stepped down, people celebrated for many hours all over the country, thinking that the worst was over and that the regime was finally brought down and that the revolution was finally over, how later on dissensions started to manifest between the Egyptian people on the remnants of the older regime and the continued sit-in in Tahrir Square.

I remember how we had to act to disband State Security ourselves on March 4th, when it should have been the army doing it, instead giving time for those SS officers to destroy all the important documents that would incriminate a lot of corrupt figures of the old regime if brought to light. How they prompted to act quick in the main SS headquarters in Nasr City when people managed to break their way in and photograph many documents and break into many officers and cells. How an army captain had stopped me from taking a hard drive from a server computer in one of the senior SS officers’ offices.

I remember how Amr el-Beheiry was arrested by the army when we first protested against the former PM Ahmad Shafik in front of the Cabinet Council and how he was sentenced to 5 years in military prison after being falsely accused of possessing a weapon illegally without a permit after it was planted by the army.

I remember how we were attacked on March 9th, how when the army intervened they started arresting all the protesters, had them rounded up in the Egyptian Museum and had them tortured while subjecting all the women to ‘virginity check’s thinking they were prostitutes. Many were cheering for such an incident for the army had been using the media to turn the public opinion against the protests in Tahrir Square.

I remember on April 8th, how the Free Army Officers of Egypt came to the Square and chanted with us against the SCAF, demanding Mubarak be tried and the demands of the revolution be met, how after midnight thousands of army personnel, from military police to stormtroopers to spec-ops descended on the Square, surrounding the protesters, and how the central security forces were using the army’s umbrella to attack them, how the firing lasted for 2 and a half hours, a well half hour after the curfew had ended, how Ali Maher was killed and how the April 8th officers were rounded up and sent to military prison with charges of ‘dissension and mutiny’.

I remember the death of Ramy Fakhry at the army checkpoint, how his car was shot by the army thinking he was a drug dealer and how when the truth came out, his family never got to have solace over knowing the circumstances of his death or see any kind of justice for such a killing.

I remember how the army had shown utter failure at protecting the churches that were attacked all over Cairo, especially Imbaba and Atfih, and how the Interior Ministry was attacked and set on fire, and how the old Central Bank Headquarters was set on fire as well.

I remember May 15th, and how the army had displayed such amazing feats at protecting the Zionist Embassy and attacking the protesters in Giza, how they gave way for the police to put an amazing show of their brutality and audacity in attacking the protesters using excessive force, as if we never had #Jan25 at all. How several friends of mine were arrested along with many and how they were abused by both the police and the military until they were later on released by military court only due to the large support they had from the public.

I remember May 27th and how many looked at it with disgust and malcontent, thinking that we’re instigators, only seeking complete chaos and wanting to ruin Egypt. I remember how plans for July 8th had started to take form and how before that the families of the martyrs had decided to do a head start and begin their sit-in at Maspero on June 24th.

I remember how on June 28th, they were attacked by the police and how the battle raged on for more than 15 hours in Tahrir Square and Mohammad Mahmoud St. before the army showed up later only to protect the Interior Ministry and round-up all the arrested “thugs” and had them undergo military trials, including the blogger and activist Loai Nagati.

I remember how when the July 8th sit-in had started, the SCAF kept using the state media to turn the public opinion gradually against the protesting in Tahrir Square. How they related the ‘smooth traffic flow’ in Tahrir Square to things like the country’s GDP, economy and production. How we were called thugs, rioters, spies, instigators and traitors.

I remember how on the 1st of Ramadan, the sit-in was brutally attacked by the army, in their supreme battle to “free” Tahrir Square from it’s “foreign occupation”. How many people cheered thinking that salvation had come at least, and that all the ‘trouble-makers’ were being rounded up. How they attacked the people inside Omar Makram mosque (a reminiscent of Napoleon and his army). How a mother of one of the #Jan25 martyrs was attacked and how many were arrested.

I remember how heroes like former Chief of Staff Saad Eddin el-Shazly were forgotten and exiled. Conscript Sulaiman Khater and how he was killed, Ahmad Hassan and how he was imprisoned. Mahmoud Noor Eddin and how he was betrayed, imprisoned and left to die in prison. Last but not least, Lieutenant Colonel Ayman Salem. How our own military intelligence was part of the CIA rendition program. How Omar Sulaiman and his goons were responsible for the torture of many ‘terrorist’ suspects who were handed over by American intelligence. Major Ahmad Shuman and the April 8th Officers.

I remember the thousands of people currently held in military prisons. How an activist was fined 20,000 EGPs for what she had said on Twitter. How a TV presenter was fired from her job for criticizing the SCAF. How activists are falsely accused of receiving foreign funds when it’s the SCAF itself receiving a 1.3 billion USD of military aid from the US every year. How people simply get prosecuted and jailed by the military for chanting against the SCAF.

I remember how I had a conversation with a special forces lieutenant at the American Embassy once and saw how he was brainwashed by the SCAF into thinking that this revolution is a foreign conspiracy. How a former Major General of Staff named Hussam Suwailem had accused America of paying $270 million USD for Egyptian activists to start #Jan25. How Major General Hassan el-Ruweini had been spreading lies in Tahrir Square.

I remember how the police would keep saying ‘The Army is on our side’, ‘Do you really think you did a revolution?’ while they would be beating up people that they managed to arrest during clashes with the police in different stages of the revolution.

I remember all the lies I have seen coming from the SCAF ever since #Jan25 whether it came from their own statements or the media that they control.

I remember all the lies I was taught in history class in our schools about the revolution in 1952, the Naksa in 1967 and the October War in 1973 and the Camp David Accords. All the lies about Nasser and Sadat, all the lies about Mubarak and several Army Generals. All the lies they keep feeding to young students in schools everyday and new recruits in the army everyday.

I still remember.