Medan Mesaha, I told the cab driver, headed home for the evening. Mosh 'ayza Medan Tahrir?? Wla 'Asr el Etehadya? he joked. (You're sure you don't want Tahrir Square or the presidential palace?) This was some dark humor given the current situation. I had just gotten off the phone with a friend who was on his way to the demonstrations at the presidential palace. The night before, Wednesday, the death toll there reached 6 and the number of injured around 450. These casualties were the result of factional fighting between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators, not, as before, between the security forces and the people. As of Thursday evening, Morsi still had not appeared before the nation since the violence began, and anti-Morsi protesters were back. Their demands are the withdrawal of Morsi's constitutional declaration declaring himself extraordinary temporary powers, and the cancellation of the referendum on the Constituent Assembly's rushed draft constitution (now scheduled for Dec. 15). Seven of Morsi's inner circle of advisers, including the lone Christian, resigned as a result of Wednesday's events, saying they could not participate in a regime that caused Egyptians to shed other Egyptians' blood. I asked the taxi driver -- a white-haired man with deep-set wrinkles and an amazing ability to transition in a second from joking with me to spewing the vilest curses I've yet heard at other drivers -- what he thought of what was happening with Morsi and the palace protests. Mosh kwayyes, mosh kwayyes khales, he said briefly -- Not good, not good at all. What would be the outcome, I wanted to know. Inshallah Morsi hayemshy, he said -- God willing, Morsi will leave.
Morsi himself didn't seem ready to give in quite so quickly. Twenty-four hours after the violence escalated outside his palace, he finally gave a speech. Mostly, he condemned the use of violence, but blamed the opposition for it. He also said that a new constituent assembly will be formed if the referendum on the constitution fails on the 15th. And he proposed a dialogue with opposition leaders on Saturday, but thus far it looks like they won't take part unless more concessions are guaranteed first. Today, Friday, demonstrators will return to the palace after midday prayers. People are heartsick. That two years ago, people of all kinds stood together in Tahrir with a common goal, and now they have turned on each other. The Ikhwan have superior organization and pure numbers, while anti-Morsi forces (now largely liberal secularists and leftists) are burning with righteous fury that the revolution - their revolution - was stolen out from under their noses.
Below is what a pro-Morsi acquaintance wrote on Facebook a couple of days after Wednesday's violence. While I can't say that I agree with the Brotherhood's ideology or many of its tactics, his point about the relative numerical strength of each group should be heeded by the liberal opposition as well. The Brotherhood still, as it appeared last week, has the ability to summon militias -- it was, after all, a highly disciplined, secret organization for almost 85 years. My acquaintance wrote:
When will the secular liberals be convinced that the Islamists top them in number and mass? In the elections, they said [that the reason for Islamists' success was]: oil and sugar, heaven and hell, and religious polarization. And in the millioniyyat [marches] they said: mobilization and meals. And in the syndicates and other organizations, they said: ignorance and polarization. And in the Constituent Assembly, they said: strife, not cooperation. I'm not saying that the liberals are wrong or vice versa, but I only wish for each side to know its true strength in the street.
On Thursday night, after speaking to my friend who was en route to Etehadya Palace, I walked around my neighborhood buying last-minute decorations and refreshments for my birthday party. It felt inappropriate to be having a party, on the one hand, but on the other I knew it would be a chance to gather with friends, at least the Americans, and talk about the unfolding events. The streets were quiet. No customers tonight, the taxi driver had told me gratefully, people are scared. At the beauty salon early that day, as I had my hair teased into a beehive for the Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema theme, Al Jazeera was blasting at full volume from the small television. Aboul Fotouh, a former leading presidential contender who is considered a moderate Islamist from outside the Brotherhood, was giving an angry press conference. In it, he defended the secularists and blasted Morsi for failing to stop the bloodshed at the palace. He also went on for some time about how no Egyptian group would accept the interference of the United States -- something along the lines of 'we don't need you and we don't want you.' (Perhaps this defense is a necessary one, since the liberals are indeed subject to accusations that they are simply American agents, more interested in Western values than Islamic ones. There was a Tweet circulating on Wednesday that American dollars were found on an opposition protester -- what incriminating evidence! How ironic, since when Morsi was elected many liberals told me that the U.S. was behind him. Whichever way you slice it, when you get accused of having America on your side, you know you're screwed.) Later, at the party, I spoke with the handful of Egyptian friends who had come rather than attend the demonstrations. When we start shedding each other's blood, that's when I stop going. But others disagreed -- They're right to be there. I'll go next time. And indeed there was a next time: there have been marches of varying sizes nearly every day for the last week.
What begins to happen, though, is that yesterday's front page story is immediately superseded by today's news, and is forgotten. I can hardly remember the timeline of the last two or three weeks, save for the fact that last Wednesday was the day the six were killed. This weekend, a few cities in the Delta apparently declared that they were seceding from the nation, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the MB government's rule and driving out their regional officials. By yesterday evening, there was no further news about that phenomenon and the big story was Morsi's suggestion that he was about to impose martial law if things didn't get themselves under control fast. The military issued a statement saying it was ready to protect the nation's institutions from dangerous troublemakers aiming to sow discord. But when we woke up this morning, Sunday, all that was gone and we were reading that Morsi had agreed to make concessions to the opposition instead. That is, he has withdrawn the immensely controversial declaration of Nov. 22, which sparked the recent escalation. But, the constitutional referendum will still take place on December 15 as scheduled. If the people reject the constitution, a new Constituent Assembly will be formed within 3 months and must draft a new constitution within 6 months. Will the constitution fail, though? It still seems unlikely, especially given that the opposition is divided on whether to vote no or to boycott the referendum altogether (on the premise that voting legitimizes the regime and especially the Constituent Assembly). Personally, I think the boycott is a pretty bad idea, considering that there is no minimum participation requirement in the referendum and the country will simply move ahead with this piecemeal constitution if it gets sufficient votes.
* * *
Morsi himself didn't seem ready to give in quite so quickly. Twenty-four hours after the violence escalated outside his palace, he finally gave a speech. Mostly, he condemned the use of violence, but blamed the opposition for it. He also said that a new constituent assembly will be formed if the referendum on the constitution fails on the 15th. And he proposed a dialogue with opposition leaders on Saturday, but thus far it looks like they won't take part unless more concessions are guaranteed first. Today, Friday, demonstrators will return to the palace after midday prayers. People are heartsick. That two years ago, people of all kinds stood together in Tahrir with a common goal, and now they have turned on each other. The Ikhwan have superior organization and pure numbers, while anti-Morsi forces (now largely liberal secularists and leftists) are burning with righteous fury that the revolution - their revolution - was stolen out from under their noses.
Below is what a pro-Morsi acquaintance wrote on Facebook a couple of days after Wednesday's violence. While I can't say that I agree with the Brotherhood's ideology or many of its tactics, his point about the relative numerical strength of each group should be heeded by the liberal opposition as well. The Brotherhood still, as it appeared last week, has the ability to summon militias -- it was, after all, a highly disciplined, secret organization for almost 85 years. My acquaintance wrote:
When will the secular liberals be convinced that the Islamists top them in number and mass? In the elections, they said [that the reason for Islamists' success was]: oil and sugar, heaven and hell, and religious polarization. And in the millioniyyat [marches] they said: mobilization and meals. And in the syndicates and other organizations, they said: ignorance and polarization. And in the Constituent Assembly, they said: strife, not cooperation. I'm not saying that the liberals are wrong or vice versa, but I only wish for each side to know its true strength in the street.
On Thursday night, after speaking to my friend who was en route to Etehadya Palace, I walked around my neighborhood buying last-minute decorations and refreshments for my birthday party. It felt inappropriate to be having a party, on the one hand, but on the other I knew it would be a chance to gather with friends, at least the Americans, and talk about the unfolding events. The streets were quiet. No customers tonight, the taxi driver had told me gratefully, people are scared. At the beauty salon early that day, as I had my hair teased into a beehive for the Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema theme, Al Jazeera was blasting at full volume from the small television. Aboul Fotouh, a former leading presidential contender who is considered a moderate Islamist from outside the Brotherhood, was giving an angry press conference. In it, he defended the secularists and blasted Morsi for failing to stop the bloodshed at the palace. He also went on for some time about how no Egyptian group would accept the interference of the United States -- something along the lines of 'we don't need you and we don't want you.' (Perhaps this defense is a necessary one, since the liberals are indeed subject to accusations that they are simply American agents, more interested in Western values than Islamic ones. There was a Tweet circulating on Wednesday that American dollars were found on an opposition protester -- what incriminating evidence! How ironic, since when Morsi was elected many liberals told me that the U.S. was behind him. Whichever way you slice it, when you get accused of having America on your side, you know you're screwed.) Later, at the party, I spoke with the handful of Egyptian friends who had come rather than attend the demonstrations. When we start shedding each other's blood, that's when I stop going. But others disagreed -- They're right to be there. I'll go next time. And indeed there was a next time: there have been marches of varying sizes nearly every day for the last week.
What begins to happen, though, is that yesterday's front page story is immediately superseded by today's news, and is forgotten. I can hardly remember the timeline of the last two or three weeks, save for the fact that last Wednesday was the day the six were killed. This weekend, a few cities in the Delta apparently declared that they were seceding from the nation, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the MB government's rule and driving out their regional officials. By yesterday evening, there was no further news about that phenomenon and the big story was Morsi's suggestion that he was about to impose martial law if things didn't get themselves under control fast. The military issued a statement saying it was ready to protect the nation's institutions from dangerous troublemakers aiming to sow discord. But when we woke up this morning, Sunday, all that was gone and we were reading that Morsi had agreed to make concessions to the opposition instead. That is, he has withdrawn the immensely controversial declaration of Nov. 22, which sparked the recent escalation. But, the constitutional referendum will still take place on December 15 as scheduled. If the people reject the constitution, a new Constituent Assembly will be formed within 3 months and must draft a new constitution within 6 months. Will the constitution fail, though? It still seems unlikely, especially given that the opposition is divided on whether to vote no or to boycott the referendum altogether (on the premise that voting legitimizes the regime and especially the Constituent Assembly). Personally, I think the boycott is a pretty bad idea, considering that there is no minimum participation requirement in the referendum and the country will simply move ahead with this piecemeal constitution if it gets sufficient votes.
* * *
Celebrating the big old 23 in Cairo with good friends and good (cookie dough flavored) cake
My surrogate Egyptian family, Yehya and Nada
I must say, ya Chloe, after I sent you the msg on fb, I thought about the situation in Egypt and parisian ballets felt very frivolous in contrast. You might miss out on a lot coming here, but it might also be a good break from all that political uncertainty!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I can't help but notice that you're the only one following through with the Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema theme in these pictures.. It's like a beehive photo bomb. ahhaha but I love it.