Ever since last January when millions took to the streets celebrating one year anniversary past the revolution following deadly clashes in the winter of 2011 and the continuation of iron-fist SCAF rule, and the people have never stopped a day believing in the revolution. We continued despite all the mishaps, weaknesses, and continuous repressions.
In February, after the Portsaid massacre, people turned to the streets to remind every official that the blood of our brothers will not go in vain and retribution must be delivered. We will fight for freedom & retribution until the last drop of blood in the last person of us. Ever since, football has been put on hold until justice is obtained. I lost an AUC friend in Portsaid, Mogrem, I will never forget your beautiful face, or your loud chants, and your revolutionary spirit, may they all rest in peace.
During the presidential elections mess, people chose against the flool, people didn’t fall in the trap of Shafique bringing counter-revolution on in full force so bluntly. Even though we are not in a much better position now, but I still believe that the best thing that has happened in the presidential elections mess was for Shafique to lose and for Ikhwan to finally be in power so people can get disillusioned about Ikhwan ways and their true ugly face show, which many back then, more than now, believed that they are “God’s people, they will be good.” Yeah! Try to tell that now to an average man on the street, you most possibly will get hit in the face with a rock. This would not have happened any other way than Ikhwan coming into power, and they are so bad at it that it is good for us; less and less people will choose Ikhwan as the revolution matures (they already have compared to parliamentary votes) and the Ikhwan have hit record-breaking low in just 6 months! Imagine how 2013 will be like? I am very hopeful.
Ever since Morsy came to power, the 100 days have passed, all promises were not fulfilled, and the people started rising again. Neoliberal economic policies such as the IMF loan and the World Bank are all signs that Morsy is Mubarak just with a beard, and prays a lot. Since the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes II and the streets have not been still. The loss of Jika, a young man who voted for Morsy, killed by Morsy’s men (police) only few months later, and nothing has been delivered in return; no prosecution, no investigation, nothing. Despite all this people are still revolting and persistent on continuing the revolution.
In November and December, we were dealing with a full force dictatorship with Morsy having more powers than Superman himself; judicial, executive, and legislative in addition to the 1000s of Ikhwan militias who are ready with a push of a button to go, kill, rape, torture, detain, besiege, or beat anyone they are ordered to attack like what happened on the deadly night at the presidential palace on 4 December 2012. We were force fed a dictatorial constitutional declaration, an unrepresentative illegal constitutional assembly, and a referendum in two weeks when millions of Egyptians on the streets and square all across Egypt protesting all these violations and on the eve of a deadly massacre on the brink of civil war between pro-Morsy supporters (Ikhwan & Salafies) and literally everybody else (liberals, leftists, independents, flool, secularists, Christians, all minorities, workers, and even children!).
Despite all this, we, the people, are applying all the pressure in our hands to object, protest, and revolt against this dictatorship and continuing the revolution until all of our demands are met; bread freedom, social equality. The persistence of the Egyptian people to gain what they revolted for inspires the living hell out of anyone watching Egypt closely, and is feeding into it more strength and hope like never before. I believe that we can and we will achieve those goals, but the road is very steep and long. It reminds me when I used to run cross country, when you know that the coming hill will last for a while and you can no longer feel your legs, but you know that you have to climb it and pass it to reach the peek and then go into free falling limbs lingering downhill so effortlessly and beautifully knowing that, yes, you made it at last.
Morsy is fat in every way, fat in fortune, fat in lies, fat in body, fat in powers, fat in weaknesses, and he grabs his male parts on TV, on the other hand; the revolution is young and persistent, when the two face each other, you know who will win in the end. As dark as these days may seem with possible “bankruptcy,” dictatorial overrule in all ministries and branches of governments, soaring prices and Egyptian pound taking a nose dive, I am still hopeful because I have no doubt that the people will not stand still, we will not accept, we will fight, we will persist on revolting , and we will win because we have given so much to give up now.
Revolution continues with persistence!
Happy New Year
Ever since I came back from Gaza, I haven’t felt the same. I have been through other traumatic experiences through the revolution, of course nothing like Gaza, but I am even surprised how heart-felt Gaza has hit me. It is like it shattered all my core into little pieces of sadness, not because ‘poor them, people are dying’ feeling, but because i wish we could do more as Egyptians. We are one of the most crucial countries in solving this whole “complicated issue” also known as, the deadly Zionist occupation. After all the path to Jerusalem passes through Cairo, not just symbolically or physically, but politically.
For Israel to exist, Palestinians must die, this is a fact proved over the last 60 years since Israel’s existence This is not an even battle field for war, where two countries are fighting over land like most Western media, academics, and pundits insists on explaining the reason behind the deeply rooted conflict. This is a genocide, this is colonialism, this is Zionist imperialism, where Israel together with the support of the United States administration (all of them) kill, destroy, steal, rape, and expand at any cost in order to simply sustain the Zionist state. I have always believed so, I will always do, and my trip to Gaza reassured this belief even more.
After 8 hours on the road from Cairo to Rafah, 4 hours in the Rafah border on the Egyptian side, 2 hours on the Rafah border on the Palestinian side, the 8-bus Egyptian People’s convoy reached Gaza city at Shifaa Hospital, the main and largest medical center in Gaza. We spent the entire night of 7 hours in the hospital and around it hearing the soundtrack of war, Israeli rockets and drones shaking the ground and our hearts with it every few minutes one was dropped on the civilian people of Gaza, injuring mostly children, women, and elders as I saw in the hospital.
I can’t even describe in words how that was like, for even an Egyptian who spent most of the revolution on the front lines of the battle field, the war on Gaza shook me to the core of my soul on every level. It was the first time I experience how a rocket feels when it hit near by five minutes after we reached the Rafah Border Port on the Palestinian side, I literally almost fell over from the impact. Israel was attacking Gaza from sea and air while the buzzing sound of drones never stopped all the time we were there. Gaza was seemed like a ghost town, pitch black, only the light of our buses lit the road. Power kept going off every hour leaving us in a pitch black night with our uncertain future and Gazans’ resilience & courage to carry us through the intense night.
Once we reached Shifaa hospital we were greeted with ear-to-ear smiles from Palestinians, who were so happy to see that some Egyptians would risk their lives at a time of war to bring them solidarity. What they didn’t realize was how much each Gazans we met lifted our spirit and gave us more power to fight than any solidarity we may have brought them. I went into the hospital expected to find sad faces, miserable people who have just lost their families, but I was amazed at how every doctor, nurse, volunteer, injured patient, and family was in the highest revolutionary spirit full of strength, courage, resilience, and determination against the Zionist occupation.
It was as if every drop of blood gave them more fuel to fight and optimistic that they themselves are still alive despite the harshest conditions to live in anyone can possibly imagine. This is exactly what brought me to tears a lot of times because we, as Egypt, could be doing much more to lift the blockade on Gaza and support the resistance in every way we could; it is not only our duty, it is in our very own interest and security.
The continuation of same-old Mubarak policies when it comes to Palestine will no longer be tolerated. Egypt post revolution especially with a president, who phrases himself on being ‘pro Palestine and revolutionary’, must and ought to take radical steps in support of Palestinians against Israel. Symbolic change like recalling our ambassador or even evicting the Israeli ambassador in Egypt was our demand since 2000 if not even before! We must cut all ties with Israel, we must open the Rafah border for all goods and people without any strings attached, and we must end the Camp David accord even with a referendum.
This is the least we could do and anything Morsi does less than those three things would simply be bogus.
[From custodial workers strike in fall 2010, increased wages 100% & established the AUC Independent Syndicate]
In the past few days, AUC has witnessed a crisis that was faced with mixed reactions from the AUC community as well as the student movement as a whole, and this is simply due to the complexity of the nature of AUC student politics and what led to these current events. Since the move to New Cairo Campus from the Tahrir campus, AUC has witnessed several student actions including protests against the lack of and the quality of facility services in 2008, sit-ins and strikes by workers together with students regarding wage and contracts in fall 2010, and most recently in 2011 a student movement sit-in together with different sectors of workers within the university regarding wages, contracts, impeaching some corrupt officials, tuition caps, limit to the increase of tuition fees, and investigating the overall corruption. In all of the last three recent cases of students and/or workers actions, there were always a good number of faculty, staff, students, workers, and alumni actively taking part each time and an overall support and solidarity from the entire AUC community in finding solutions to the matters of concern.
This year’s students action has started in the beginning of the fall 2012 semester on 2 September with a campaign called “mosh dafe3,” which means “we won’t pay” during the drop-and-add week when the administration broke the agreement made in last year’s sit-in, which promised no more tuition increase on returning students. However, according to a student leader in these recent student action of closing all New Cairo campus gates with chains, Mohamed Hassan known as Antak said, “only 4 % didn’t pay, while the rest of the students paid tuition in fear of the university dropping their classes.” The second week of classes some students also mobilized in form of protests and marches within campus wearing vendetta masks calling for the removal of the 7% fee increase, but the administration failed to adhere to the demands of the students.
AUC students march campus against increased fees with Vendetta masks beginning of semester
As a result, a group of students felt that it was appropriate to escalate the pressure on the administration by shutting down the gates to return the 7% increase already paid, locking out students, faculty, staff, and all members of the AUC community from entering the New Cairo campus starting on 16 September 2012 as shown in these videos:
The group, who took control of chaining down the gates locking out all community members were no more than maximum 50 people according to the various eyewitnesses who were present.As a result the university suspended at least 5 students one of which was the Student Union Vice President Nazar El Zanaty, and after the first hearing held on Tues 18 Sep, the 5 students were allowed to enter campus and attend classes while the investigation was ongoing. When many opposed this method not necessarily the valid demands, the group controlling the gates calling themselves “Yes We Can Occupy AUC” started an online petition on 18 September 2012, which reached 2,838 signatories by 26 September 2012, in support to close the gates. On Saturday 22 Sep 2012, in attempt to lift the siege on campus after already suspending 5 students on Thursday 20 Sep 2012, the administration removed at least two of the gates to the AUC campus by the evening, which made students supporting gate closure furious. In return, the students built and put on back the gates to ensure the lock down of the university until all the demands are met.
On Sunday 23 Sep 2012 a group of students protested in front of AUC gates with a banner against closing the gates in addition to some faculty, who denounce the gate closure mechanism as it is: a) an infringement on others’ rights, b) not a collective decision by all or at least most members of the AUC community, and c) was not preceded by other legitimate escalating protesting methods such a strike or a sit-in.. Some of these professors include faculty such as Dr. Hani Sayed, Dr. Hanan Sabea, and Dr. Rabab El Mahdi, who have been actively involved and in support of every student mobilization in the recent years, also who fully support the valid demands put forth by the students. At some point in the day, a clash broke out at gate two between few of those professors previously mentioned and few students, who refused to open the gates, thus a staff member, Tarek Maghrabi, head of the AUC independent syndicate founded in 2011 following the successful workers strike in fall 2010, intervened to open the gates with a key he had, later student Ahmed El Demerdash filed a police report against Tarek Maghrabi accusing him of possessing a knife, which Maghrabi denied. A testimony by the AUC Independent Syndicate was published which states most of the details. Hisham Shafiq, in person, confirmed El Demerdash assault on Maghrabi out side the prosecutor and actually defended El Demerdash’s claims and “rights.”
The administration’s reaction was to suspend classes at first each day the gates were closed by the students since 16 Sep and then later the whole operation was suspended on 23 Sep. Several negotiation meetings between the administration and AUC community representatives have been conducted in order to find a solution to meet the demands. However, the stance of the “Occupy AUC” students that they will not negotiate nor open the gates until their two demands met, which are: 1) 7% fee increase to be returned to the students in form of deposits in each student’s account. 2) Tuition cap models to be effective immediately. President of the university Lisa Anderson has rejected the first demand saying that “it is impossible since budget is already in effect.”
Regarding the tuition caps she said that “3 models will be presented on November 15th to the students from which they may choose.” On the other hand, a preliminary agreement was reached between some students, who don’t represent “Occupy AUC” nor the official Student Union, and the administration with the presence of some alumni and Parent Association representatives in an attempt to defuse the deadlock. This preliminary agreement is represented in a form of list of updated demands the administration have confirmed its commitment, at least verbally, to work on implementing it. The highlight of these demands accepted are: The reopening of financial aid to all student as of now, 3 tuition cap models to be presented to students on November 15th, corruption committee to be formed to investigate the budget including expenses without signing a nondisclosure agreement, deferred payments to be paid in installments with no interest rate, and more student representation in committees that take financial and educational quality decisions.
As of Friday 28 September 2012, the Student Union and the “Occupy AUC” group have rejected or at least not signed this agreement, which leaves the situation at a standstill. However, groups of students started to organize and call for alternatives such as the AUC Front and For The Cause, Not The Method group in addition to efforts made by the-under-establishment AUC Alumni Association all in order to solve the core problem of financial transparency and end the siege by the few on the New Cairo campus. There are also attempts to call for opening of the gates while negotiations are finalized by an online petition against closure of gates signed by total of 880+ members of AUC as well as a conjoined statement to the AUC community adopted by the AUC Front.
“Occupy AUC” is NOTt a strike or a mass movement or a civil disobedience act by any loose definitions of these terms. A group of 100 students assumed that simply by collecting 2,000+ signatures on an online petition to impose actions on thousands of other students, staff, faculty and workers by locking down campus gates with chains while verbally and physically assaulting other members of the AUC community at times, is a “revolutionary” act when in fact, it is exactly the opposite and unjustifiable under these circumstance. This act is completely unacceptable by the standard of any legitimate act of protest in demanding rights. The students’ demands are and have been acknowledged from all sides to be valid and legitimate, if not revolutionary in the history of AUC student movement; however, the tactic used, in this particular case, can never be justified nor defended. Substitutionism can never replace the power of mass action. Students could have expanded their movement and mobilized others to make the decision to put the campus on standstill by a collective force instead of making it by the few with the help of chains, locks, cars, and intimidation. The exercise of power delivered by the few number of students controlling the gates raises one important question: why would a small group of students insist on closing the AUC gates by force despite that a preliminary agreement has been reached, and endorsed by different community members? Should infringing on other people’s rights ever be considered as a “revolutionary” or even a legitimate act when in the context of substitutionism? The answer lies in Lenin’s Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder.
The American University in Cairo has been going through a crisis that led to severe fractures within our community and has damaged many of the values upon which the AUC student movement was founded upon when workers, staff, alumni, students, and faculty stood in solidarity with one another in any member’s struggle until all rights were achieved. I urge the students at the gates to accept the preliminary agreement, but not to stop in demanding more and persisting that all demands are implemented. This can only be achieved by opening the gates, accepting the preliminary agreement, but, and this is the crucial part for the movement to become legitimate, is to continue in uniting the different sectors of the university on the demands and not the actions, mobilizing others through debates, awareness, and forums, inviting others who are dedicated to the cause and pressurizing the administration with this unbreakable united front of all members of the AUC community through the various collective legitimate means and escalations. The power of the masses is greater than any chains holding our freedom to education.
When I would get ready to attend a protest before the revolution, my father would tell me, “nothing will ever change, Mubarak and his regime will stay the same forever, you are just wasting your energy and risking your life for nothing.” I would respond, “every little demonstration is a stepping stone in a long-term process called a revolution that will end this regime.” I still believe that every mobilization is an essential piece of the puzzle to topple the regime. The revolution started and without one single group leading it, we managed to kick it off. What will take to achieve the revolution’s goals is another important question that we must start answering. We, revolutionaries, spent a year and half boiling our energy in reaction, in mobilizing to achieve the goals we set out on 25 January 201, yet only few things have been achieved. One sure gain is that Mubarak is out, put on trial, and now in Tora prison facing a life sentence. Even though nothing less than death to the dictator would have satisfied my anger, I can’t say that I am not happy to see him suffer his last days in a prison hospital. As for the rest of the murderers who are free, their day shall come when they will suffer just like they tortured many Egyptians.
Elections are finally finishing up with major expected disappointments and setbacks on the political road to “democracy.” I never expected any elections under military rule to achieve any results satisfying the revolution. Elections engineered and constructed by SCAF (Supreme Council for Armed Forces) can never produce revolutionary or even reformist accomplishments, only will result outcomes that would suit counter-revolution and its allies. History tells us too soon of elections are always used to bury revolutions. We are not the first by any means. Whether Romania, Chile, Portugal, or Bolivia, we can draw parallel where military junta institutionalized militarization and strengthened counter-revolution. We can go back and assess where “we went wrong” or where we could have done better, but one thing is clear, elections were inevitable since the regime is still in place since 1952. Sooner or later elections would have happened, conducted by the same old regime, benefiting the organized groups sufficient enough to run and win elections. In the case of Egypt; the Muslim Brotherhood and the National Democratic Party (the regime’s political arm).
The truth is the revolution has no machine, no organized group, no political party sufficient enough to adopt the revolution’s goals and capable of fighting the two most organized and biggest threatening machines to the revolution, the NDP & MB and SCAF. This is partially our fault yet partially out of our control for the many decades we were politically silenced under Mubarak. Many of the revolutionaries got politicized with the revolution or slightly prior to the revolution giving a major lead to the organized groups already existing under the repressive regime. This explains the great success of Islamists in parliamentary elections and in the first round of presidential elections despite their decreasing popularity on Egyptian streets due to their reactionary and opportunistic agenda that clearly contradicts with revolutionary goals.
What is to be done? We organize. Aside from fighting for civil liberties, constitution that reflects revolution principles, and for ending military authority in daily life, we must build our alternative power, our machine that will and can topple this regime once and for all. As a revolutionary socialist, I believe that the only group of society that has the power to topple this dictatorship is the workers. We must organize the working class. For this revolution, it is a matter of success or defeat. When I am talking about the working class, I am not only referring to the traditional blue collar worker at a factory, but I am referencing anyone who sells his or her hours to earn a wage. This includes doctors, teachers, public and private employees, those who have the power to put the country at a halt like the last 3 days of the 18 days in the revolution. The workers were the final bullet in Mubarak’s chest, and are the only ones who can finish off SCAF.
Tear gas and bullets are still being fiercely used by police against protesters around the ministry of interior for the third day in a row following the deadly football massacre in Port Said that resulted in more than 70 dead. The clashes in Cairo have intensified as police refusing to end the violence and the protesters determined to hold SCAF & police accountable for the deaths and injures of Egyptians. on the front line of battles, revolutionaries are never hesitant or afraid, they resist, they fight back with courage and bravery. Long live our glorious Egyptian revolution
After deadly clashes at Port said stadium resulting in 79 deaths of Ahly Ultras members, revolutionaries battle the police once again on Mohamed Mahmoud & Mansour st near Ministry of Interior.
The battle with police entered its second day with no sign of unrest on both sides. Protesters were resisting the police bullets and tear gas. All revolutionaries are holding SCAF & police responsible of these deadly clashes that is resulting in 1000s of injuries and at least 6 dead (Suez & Cairo) so far.
Many people have the misconception about how “peaceful” is the Egyptian revolution, but i bet you, these people have not been at the front lines of battles. Every time revolutionaries clash with police, the most militant youth are right there resisting and never backing down. Over the past few months, we even got better at it. Tear gas gets thrown, and we throw it right back at the police. This video just gives you a glimpse of what revolution looks like. Revolution = resistance = victory
After a conference by the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt on the future of the revolution that was held at the Center for Socialist Studies in Giza on 13 Dec 2011, the Revolutionary Socialists found their video (below) of the 20mins talk of Sameh Naguib being edited into 2 & 3 mins and re-posted with titles such as, “Revolutionary Socialists want to dismantle the State” or “The Revolutionary Socialists’ ruthless plan to burn and destroy Egypt.” As if we had raged war against the people of Egypt ignoring all our well established and credible resistance against oppressive regimes and systems from capitalism to Israel, and all in between, which is all very transparent on our website and in their files at State Security. I am not posting this to defend Revolutionary Socialists or convince how “awesome” and revolutionary we are, but simply to sum up what has been happening.
A media war directed by SCAF and led by Ikhwan & other political groups against revolutionaries and anyone who is challenging their interests to remain in power, has gone to the dirtiest tricks to protect their interests and kill the revolution.
Freedom & Justice Party newspaper 25 Dec 2011 "Revolutionary Socialists: Violence First!"
Why especially the Revolutionary Socialists? I think because Sameh Naguib hit the nail with a hammer on its head exposing SCAF & Islamists. The video gave them all the right “keywords” like “dismantling of state” to incite fear in the public even more and turn the public against the revolution while all the deadly clashes in the past few days were taking place. Another reason is the timing. SCAF chose to do this attack now & not before, since we have statements as early as February that give the same message as the video, simply because they are shifting the blame & the attention from their own crimes committed against revolutionaries onto revolutionary groups like the Revolutionary Socialists & others, who are gaining popularity on the ground for their radical stands against SCAF. SCAF’s stupidity is gaining us more and more support because revolutionaries, with us or not, are against SCAF more than ever before.
This was our official response to the dirty organized campaign against the revolution & the Revolutionary Socialists. Statement in response to “accusations” in English & Arabic. We also held a press conference reaffirming our strong stand against SCAF and reassurance of the dismantling of the State of repression, inequality, and injustice in order to build a State based on freedom, social justice, and dignity for human rights.
Videos of statements and testimonies below.
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Down with military rule! Long live the Egyptian Revolution !
It was not enough the night the military police decided to shoot and run-over protesters murdering over 30 Egyptians during the Maspero Massacre on black Sunday , 9 October 2011. Thousands of Christians went out in peaceful protests and marches denouncing the tearing down of Edfu church in Southern Egypt. What started as a peaceful march out of Shubra to Maspero, state TV building, ended as the mass murder of protesters, whom mostly were Christians including a dear comrade Mina Daniel . The video below shows the collection of images showing military tanks running over bodies of protesters and soldiers firing their guns at civilians.
All this was not enough for the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces, who held a press conference denying any of these vivid images blaming “infiltrators” and those “inciting violence” ensuring that there will be an investigation. About 28 “infiltrators” are facing military tribunals for the Maspero massacre, and they are all being charged with inciting violence and/or destroying military property. Out of those accused the first one accused and charged is ironically Mina Daniel, the first dead military trial victim and martyr. Others include the prominent blogger and revolutionary activist Alaa Abdel Fatah now facing 15 days detention for refusing to recognize the legal legitimacy of military courts when he was summoned today.
This is the face of counter revolution, SCAF; they kill you and accuse you for the crime they committed. The military headed by the dictator Tantawi is doing all they can to ensure the revolution is dead, but luckily dictators are always stupid and they are being exposed increasingly everyday. I salute Alaa for his stance in refusing to recognize SCAF as the legal power, but accuse it as part of the massacre. They can kill some of us, they can detained some of us, but they cannot stop all of us.
On the same day Khaled Said murderers were sentenced to only 7 years in prison, another crime was being committed to another Khaled-said-like but in Torra prison. Meet Essam Atta , 23 year-old martyr tortured to death at the hands of police at Torra prison on 27 October 2011. Essam Atta was falsely sentenced to 2 years in prison after going through a military court post revolution. After being sexually abused to death according to eyewitnesses in prison and his own testimony to his sister on the phone minutes before his death, the officials at the morgue had the audacity to claim his death to “swallowing drugs.” It seems like any innocent man that gets tortured to death by police miraculously happen to have “drugs” stuck in his throat. Another Khaled Said after a revolution that was sparked on police day calling for an end to torture. What will it take? 1000s of Khaled Said?!! Even if it takes millions of martyrs for torture to end in Egypt, it still won’t stop us fighting for our rights! The blood of our brothers & sisters won’t die in vain. Either we live to avenge them or we die like them…
Police corporals have taken Tahrir to their work place not only demanding the unfulfilled 200% raise, but most importantly calling for the restructure of the ministry out of the corruption & the management belonging to the ousted & imprisoned ex-minister Habib El Adly. The videos show some low-rank officers during the sit-in in front of MOI speaking about their demands, against military trials, and against Habib El Adly, who recently undergone eye surgery at the Police Hospital even though he is a prisoner. My brief talk with them gave me the final conclusion that low-rank police officers are the bottom of the police business pyramid, so they are exploited the most and now they are speaking, organizing, and acting as workers not as policemen who harass us everyday. Our solidarity is needed because any striking worker is the backbone of this revolution.
