Thursday, July 4, 2013

المصري اليوم

The cover of the newspaper "Al-Misri al-Yom. The title reads: Morsi deposed on the people's command.


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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The tanks rolled in... And Egypt celebrates

Alexandria after Morsi was deposed. Photo by Moustafa Alaa El-din Badawy
Dokki, Cairo: 9:30PM

Downtown Cairo is a live with celebrations. From my balcony, I hear the cracking of fireworks and the honking of horns. Military choppers are passing Midan at-Tahrir, dropping Egypt flags over the thousands of the people gathered there. Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has just finished speaking. Morsi has officially been deposed by the Egyptian military. As soon as he completed his statement, Cairo erupted into waves of cheering while my neighbors banged pots and pans in approval. It is the news that Egyptians have been waiting for most of the day and demonstrations will continue long into the wee hours of the morning.

 This morning started out rather tense as Egyptians waited for the 48-hour ultimatum from the military to run out at 4 p.m. I spent a great deal of the afternoon reading the news and discussing events here with people back home. At around 1 p.m., my roommate, a friend and I  headed out for some lunch and visited a local cafe. We chatted with some of the patrons and the waiter about the current political situations. They were not sure about the this evening but largely planned to join the demonstrations in Midan at-Tahrir. They completely rejected the idea that a coup was about depose Morsi and defended the role of the military in possibly bring about the end of the current crisis. Just before 3pm, everyone began to clear out so we did the same, returning to wait for the military's statement. I was pretty confident that we could not hear from them until Morsi had been removed from power but it was possible this political standoff might continue indefinitely.
Photo by Alexia Underwood

 The military's deadline came and went with out any statement. We waited while the various news channels tried to fill airtime. At around 6 p.m. information began to trickle in from around the city. Egypt's Army General was  meeting with religious, national, political and youth figures. At the same time, the military was moving decisively against the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egypt's Republican Guards had taken control of state television's headquarters in Cairo. By 7 p.m., any doubt that a coup was taking place vanished as tanks and soldiers moved into key location in downtown Cairo, controlling at least two bridges. Just before 9 p.m., the news then broke that Sheikh Al Azhar, Ahmed al-Tayyeb; Mohammad il-Baradei; and Coptic Pope, Pope Tawadros II, would announce a new "roadmap." We did not have to wait a long time before al-Sisi appeared on television to make his public statement.

 Interestingly, things remained rather normal in much of Cairo during all of this turmoil. Egyptians have a way of weathering even the worst political crises. One of my friends mention that a meter reader from the power company came by to collect last month's electric bill during the middle of the coup. Life continued to move forward even as the government was collapsing...

 After al-Sisi spoke, a pundit on al-Arabiyya refereed to this move by the military as a popular coup with the help of the military, trying to come to terms with the popular support for a military takeover of power. No one is exactly sure what the next few weeks will hold but Egyptians are generally rejecting the term "coup" completely. Even for those that are apprehensive about the future, this is the will of the Egyptian people. During al-Sisi's speech, people broke down into tears of happiness, welcoming a future without Morsi and the Brotherhood.



The fact that the military deposed its first elected government is deeply problematic for the future of Egypt and the development of democratic institutions. With equivocation, I oppose military rule. The idea that the military is a neutral body in Egyptian society, completely misunderstands their role as well as their entrenched political and economic interests. Fundamentally, they have sought in the past to marginalization the energy of the revolutionary movement in order to secure the interests of the Egyptian economic elite. Any faith in them seems misplaced. Even those that welcome this development, need to not forget the dark days of the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) (For more on this please see: When Democracy Dies to Roaring Applause).

In spite of my misgivings, there were some relatively positive developments given the circumstances. The program that al-Sisi announced is largely the same one proposed by the Tamarod (Rebellion) Campaign before June 30. This include calling for early elections and the appointment of Adel Mansour, the head of the Constitutional Court, as the head of the transitional government. Therefore, the interim government will at least in theory be a civilian rather than a military government. The problem is that in the past the military has used the civilian government as a cover for their own rule. After the revolution in 2011,  Dr. Essam Sharaf, then prime minister of the transitional government, turned out to be a mere puppet of the SCAF. I do not envy Adel Mansour his new position.

 There are also some other early developments that give many Egyptians and myself  serious pause. There is an ongoing crackdown happening against the Islamist media channels, and journalists are being rounded up at the Muslim Brotherhood-run Misr 25 and at the Salafist in-Nas and il-Hafez. For the future of freedom of expression, this seems troubling. There has also been reports of the violent suppression of those that remain loyal to Morsi around Egypt including in Cairo. 

From the other side, Morsi is missing. Before his disappearance, he rejected army road map, referring to it as a coup and arguing that he remains Egypt's legitimate president. Although many of their allies have abandoned them, it is unclear what percentage of the Muslim Brotherhood plans to continue to oppose the military but four people have already been killed in the clashes between pro-Morsi and army in Mersa Matruh this evening. This may be the dying gasps of armed opposition or the opening shots of a longer conflict. My instincts say the former but its too early to tell.

After all this, the US State Department is recommending that U.S. citizens living in Egypt depart at this time because of the continuing political and social unrest. Due to this uncertainty, the International Office at the University of Texas is evacuating all of the CASA Fellows, at least temporarily. It is unclear if this will be permanent and what this means for my future studies in Egypt. After a long day of waiting, one questions has been answered but many others still remain.

Congratulations Egypt. Morsi is gone. Tomorrow is a new day...
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Coup

It has become clear over the last hour that a coup is underway in Egypt. The military is rolling into downtown Cairo and most of the city is celebrating their arrival. The situation is changing quickly so I will write more when there is more concrete information. 

For breaking news, please follow me on twitter @KatrinaYeaw

This photo is 5 minutes from my apartment:

Midan al-Galaa. Photo by Mohamed Anwar Elsadat

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All of Egypt Awaits the Military's Statement

















Military tanks ahead of us now in the fourth .. Either victory or martyrdom ..I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

And the Ikhwan fell



The overthrow of the Brotherhood is "picnic" compared what is yet to come ... We are entering tough days.













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1 hour 23 minutes 22 seconds






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Countdown to Ultimatum

Cairo, Egypt: 10AM

Countdown until Military Ultimatum: 6 hours, 59 min and 5 seconds


The Cover of the Muslim Brotherhood Paper "Freedom and Justice." The title says: 'The president: My blood is the price of legitimacy'


Another quiet morning in Dokki. As I have mentioned previously, days are slow to get started here even when you wake up at 6 AM. Looking out over my sleepy street, it is hard to imagine that sporadic clashes broke out last night in parts of Giza. Thankful, they were far from my neighborhood, which is peaceful.

The only word to describe Cairo right now is a bit tense. Last night, President Muhammad Morsi gave a speech in response to the military's ultimatum. Unsurprisingly, he has no intention of giving up power, reiterating over and over again that he is the legitimate governor of Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood waited over 80 years, through state repression and torture, to come to power and they were not letting it go after just 1 year in office. Morsi largely looked out of touch with the events around him, given the fact that 17 million people demonstrated in favor of his removal just days before. It has become a familiar drama in the Middle East since the outbreak of the Arab Spring. The embattled ruler gives one more speech about his resolve to stay the course in spite of outside pressure. Will Morsi go the same way as Ben Ali and Mubarak? If I was him, I would start researching islands to spend his retirement. I hear Capri is nice this time of year.

Photo by Ahmed Farag
 This speech was not well received in Egypt to say the least. We immediately received a message from the CASA Program that classes today were being canceled due to concerns about transportation. Demonstrations in Cairo have largely been peaceful but some turned violent last night as members of the Muslim Brotherhood clashed with the opposition. Some of the leadership is ratcheting up their rhetoric with Mohamed El-Beltagy urging members “to seek martyrdom” in the battle against “a military coup.” The health ministry reports that 16 people died and 559 people were injured last night.

As for the life of a student in Cairo, the American University is closed until further notice. Currently, no embassies in Egypt have required the departure or evacuation of their citizens and the American University  does not believe it is necessary for international students to leave the country. However, some programs are considering recommending the departure of their students. As evidence of how tense things are, we can elect to be evacuated at any time. I plan to remain as long as I feel safe in Cairo or until the embassy requires our evacuation. I should be back in classes tomorrow as scheduled. We also have the option to move to the AUC dorms but I plan to stay in my apartment with the Internet, TV and 24-hour delivery for now.

At the other end of the extreme, the Cairo Scholars listserve, a list for academics in Egypt, continues as if nothing is happening. A woman just posted about English books for sale in Maadi. Used books are not at the top of my list right now. Anyone dying for a copy of Everything's Eventual by Stephen King? Light reading in case the government falls?

Photo by Ahmed Farag
With only hours until the military's ultimatum, this evening is likely to see huge demonstrations and more clashes between opponents and supports of Morsi. While Morsi appears publicly defiant, the military seems to be continuing to set the groundwork for a coup. Earlier in the day, Egypt’s generals took control of the state’s newspaper, Al Ahram. It is now reporting that Muslim Brotherhood senior officials have been placed under house arrest and the group's funds have been seized. The army has also began securing facilities across Egypt including those containing weapons and ammunition. It appears that the coup is eminent. 

While any steps that reduce bloodshed seem prudent, I still oppose the military stepping in to solve this current crisis. I went back to look at the Tamrod (Rebellion) Campaign's original plan for a transition after Morsi resigned. They demanded that Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) call for early presidential elections. During the transitional period, they proposed that the chairman of the SCC become acting president and a coalition cabinet would be formed to include all the national political movements and parties. 

In terms of a transition, this seems like a much better plan that secures civilian rather than military rule. However, it is no longer on the table. Tamarod spokesperson Mahmoud Badr said today: “We salute the Army! We salute them! They have shown that they are with the people.” While not everyone is pro-military, it seems that the majority of Egyptians view a coup - they don't call it that - as the only viable option.

For now, I wait to see what happens....
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Responses To Morsi's speech

I ask people who to look at the actual material of the show in order to look beyond the rhetoric. We repeat: In the interests of the safety of people there is no show this week






  He said Democracy and Shariah how many times?




Be stable .... It's a dark cloud that will pass ... they are digging their graves with their own hands ..





Are you paying attention that he talked about violence, opposition and remnants? He did not respond to the army's statement (in his speech)... or in the written presidential statement? Why do you think?

You are cursed chairs. You are cursed politics.



  Thank you Ahmed Khedr, Mohammad Salama and Mahmoud Amer for your assistance. All mistakes are my own.
 

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