A Call for Eyewitness Accounts of the Events in Egypt

Hi everyone!

When I'm not following current affairs in the Middle East or tutoring high school kids in the inner-city, I'm a playwright. I'm in the process of writing a new play, tentatively titled "Tahrir." It's a very different sort of piece from what I've written in the past, different in that it's very topical as one can probably assume from its title. I mention it here because I know I have readers in Egypt and other places in the Middle East that are currently being rocked by the tidal wave of the Arab Spring. And while I've done all this research, what I feel I'm lacking is some in-depth stories from the trenches from people who have been actively involved in the protest movement, whether it be in Egypt or Tunisia, Syria or Lebanon. I am currently reading Wael Ghonim's excellent memoir "Revolution 2.0" that gives a brilliant first-hand account of how social media was responsible in large part for putting the Egyptian revolution into motion. This is very helpful, but I need more.

In a nutshell, the play tells the story of Alistair, a young American blogger who goes to Cairo in the early days of Tahrir, meets and becomes influenced by a young Egyptian activist named Gamal. Gamal comes from the Egyptian elite. He is Western-educated, lives in Heliopolis, and prides himself in his life as a playboy. His father is one of Egypt's leading businessmen with very strong ties to the Mubarak regime. But despite all this, Gamal is moved by the protesters' demands and the plight of the everyday Egyptian. As much as this is a story about Alistair's understanding of these events, it is also--perhaps more so--the story of Gamal's social awakening and the conflict he feels between his socioeconomic background and what he believes to be right. I'm still in the early days of writing the play but I do know that Gamal will be arrested in Tahrir, will be tortured at the hands of the police, and will eventually be martyred.

Contrary to the impression many of you may have received of me from this blog, I have never been particularly politically motivated...that is, until I started following the extraordinary events of the past year. I have become very impassioned and feel a strong need to express this passion through my writing, which has always been my strongest suit. So if any of you who follow my blogs regularly or just happened to stumble upon it can offer any insights or put me in touch with anyone who may have been in Tahrir or have been arrested or suffered first-hand the injustices of these governing regimes, please let me know. You can respond here with a comment or contact me on Twitter at @jonmalysiak. Your insights are invaluable. I want my play to do your story justice, especially here in the West where people may not be as aware or well-versed on what's happening in Egypt or Syria on a daily basis.

At any rate, that's my pitch. Tomorrow, back to the news analysis.

Ciao.

One Citizen--An Extraordinary Plea for Human Rights by Maikal Nabil Sanad

Hi everybody!

I want to introduce you all to a remarkable young man. Maikel Nabil Sanad is a twenty-six year-old Egyptian who was released from prison yesterday after enduring a hunger strike and nearly a year in Cairo's El Marg Prison. You probably haven't heard of him, right?

Mr. Sanad never really got the opportunity to join his peers in the protests at Tahrir Square. In 2009, he spoke out against conscription into the all-powerful (and corrupt) Egyptian army. In 2010, he ignored his draft notice and was subsequently detained and released. Then, last February, Mr. Sanad was arrested again en route to Tahrir Square. After a sequence of further arrests and beatings, he began writing anti-military statements on his Facebook page and other blogs, claiming that the army did not share the democratic values of the protest movement and that it cared nothing for the rights of citizens but rather only for preserving and inflating its power. He went on to say that the revolution "so far managed to get rid of the dictator but not of the dictatorship," a criticism that has been expressed frequently by many who fear the interim military council will never step down from power as promised in June.

Mr. Sanad was then arrested again on March 28, 2011, initially sentenced by a military tribunal to three years that was then shortened to two for the 'crime' of criticizing the Egyptian army.

As Michael Wahid Hanna, a lawyer and fellow at the Century Foundation, writes in today's New York Times: "[Mr. Sanad's case] illuminates a broader challenge facing Egyptian society itself, if it hopes that democracy and pluralism will replace the Mubarak government."

The reason Mr. Sanad's case hasn't received the same amount of attention as other Egyptian dissidents who have been unjustly imprisoned is because, as Mr. Hanna points out, 1) Mr. Sanad is a Coptic Christian, a member of a religious community traditionally aligned with the former Mubarak regime; 2) Mr. Sanad is an avowed atheist and pacifist; and 3) he is a passionate supporter of Israel in a region that for the most part would probably rather that Israel didn't exist at all.

His criticism of the military is merely icing on the cake. Coptic Christians are a minority in this increasingly Islamist country. Last October, the military unleashed the full might of its power on a Coptic demonstration that resulted in the deaths of 27 people. It would seem that there's a strong community in Egypt--even among the protesters--who don't necessarily believe in freedom or justice for all...and I'm not just talking about the military.

Mr. Sanad eloquently argues his points in an essay he wrote last year while in prison that was smuggled out and published online in December. Entitled "One Citizen," Mr. Sanad writes that in a truly democratic society, if there's even one citizen with a view that runs counter to the majority, society has an obligation to allow that citizen his/her freedom to express their opinion. I've included the full text of that essay below.

Mr. Sanad's words pertain not only to Egypt as it grapples with its ongoing democratic transition, but to all citizens and all nations of the world.

The One Citizen

by Maikel Nabil Sanad

Thanks to Nariman Youssef for the translation.

At a press conference last week, SCAF’s Mukhtar Al-Mullah issued a number of statements that revealed the hidden intentions of the military to kill the nascent democracy in Egypt. When towards the end of the conference he was asked about me, he refrained from answering. And when asked about Alaa Abdel-Fattah, he tried to justify the detainment of Alaa, and then concluded by a very telling sentence, “Maikel Nabil and Alaa Abdel Fattah are Egyptian citizens, and we are very keen to protect all Egyptians, but we’re talking here about one citizen out of 85 million”.  Al-Mullah did not say who that “One Citizen”  was, Alaa or myself but what difference would that make?

-     The Military in their stupidity think that One Citizen is without value and easily marginalized… Their minds do not comprehend the fact that One Citizen put an end to Mubarak’s regime, one citizen: Khaled Said.

-     The first thing that came to my mind when I read Al-Mullah’s words was a quote by John Stuart Mill: “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind”…  This is precisely the difference between fascism and freedom. Fascists claim that there’s no harm in sacrificing One Citizen for the good of the community, and it was under this banner that people in Germany, in the Soviet Union, in fascist Italy, Nasserist Egypt, Baathist Syria and Maoist China, in Cuba and Milosevic’s Serbia, lost their freedom to tyrants who massacred whole communities while claiming each time that it’s just One Citizen, sacrificed for the community.

      In my lectures on liberalism I always said “that if the individual was at odds with society, as liberals we should take the side of the individual against society.”  Protecting the individual (the One Citizen) means protecting the values of individualism and individual liberties. Those who claim they can build a society made up of oppressed members are deceiving themselves, for if the individual is the building block of society, how do you construct a building out of stones that are crushed and broken?!

–     Neo-fascists forget that all great deeds in history were done by “One Citizen”.  It was One Citizen named Galileo who maintained that the earth was round, while all the inhabitants of the planet denied it. One Citizen named “Muhammad”  who brought Islam to humanity; the message was not revealed to 85 million people, but to One Citizen… Throughout history, human creativity has always been individual creativity: Plato, Aristotle, Newton, Nietzsche, Darwin, Edison – great deeds were always carried out by individuals who stood out, even while the rest of society did not go far beyond their natural instincts… The sacrifice of one individual for the good of the community is the argument put forward by tyrants to enable them to persecute thinkers, philosophers, scientists and all others who offered their services and their creativity to humanity.

-     I am not addressing myself to the military, for they are advancing toward their end like the enchanted, ignoring all indications of their fate. I am addressing myself to society, a society that was taught to accept the violation of One Citizen’s rights for the greater good of the community, as if the power that oppresses one will be able to later respect the rights of the community. This society that has accepted the displacement of the Nubian community in the name of national interest, that has accepted the expulsion of Egyptian Jews, the confiscation of their property, the revoking of their nationality, in the name of the interests of the majority. The same society that has sequestered homosexual rights, that has limited the individual freedoms of individuals under the guise of maintaining the family system and the interests of the greater society. It is time for the 85 Million to understand that their freedom is tied to the freedom of that One Citizen, that all freedom is lost once they allow the wolf to choose the first victim from amongst the herd, that they cannot regain the freedom of society unless every One Citizen is free.

Immediate freedom for Alaa Abdel-Fattah, for myself, for Ayman Mansour, for Amr Al-Beheiry, for each and every One Citizen in Egypt. Not because that would be the moral thing to do, but because you will never be free as long as the “One Citizen”  remains captive.

Maikel Nabil Sanad
El-Marg general prison – prison hospital


2011/12/15

Brother vs Brother?: A Generation Gap in the Muslim Brotherhood

Hi everyone!

I came across an interesting article in today's New York Times Magazine about a gentleman named Mohamed Beltagy. Mr. Beltagy is a doctor and a popular leader within the Muslim Brotherhood, which incidentally won 40 percent of the seats in the new Egyptian parliament.

The article discusses the conflict brewing within the Brotherhood between its moderate members--like Mr. Beltagy--and the hardliners who have traditionally been the more dominant faction. Because of this, many fear that any government majority comprised of hardcore Islamists is going to result in a repressive society, a fact that would appear to contradict the democratic values upon which the Egyptian protest movement was founded. It's disappointing that the youth movement, at least from a political perspective, appears to have lost its influence. The party it backed in the recent elections barely registered with voters who turned out in droves to elect a parliament that is at least 65 percent Islamist.

While the Muslim Brotherhood came out with the majority of votes, not too far behind it are the Salafists who advocate strict religious rule...a theocracy if you will. It would appear then that there should be a modicum of overlapping values between these two political parties. But, as the article points out, there is not. In fact, although the Brotherhood claims to have abandoned its more fundamentalist leanings--at least for the sake of elections--the Salafists have hardened their more extremist stance. This poses an obvious problem for the future, let alone stability, of any Egyptian government. If the two leading parties are unable to compromise for the sake of a united and stable parliament, it just gives the military council (SCAF) further reason not to step down as promised in June. In fact, when the unofficial election results started to trickle in late last month, the military revised its position and said it would not step down and would in fact take control of the writing of the Constitution.

But there are other, perhaps more immediate concerns as well...or if not concerns per se, then questions. Where, for example, has the Brotherhood been in the most recent bout of protests? A year ago, the Brotherhood was a dominant presence in Tahrir Square, serving--according to New York Times writer Robert Worth--as a sort of makeshift security apparatus, frisking anyone who came to the protests before allowing them into the square, etc. This is no longer the case. In fact, the Brotherhood has consciously put distance between itself and the protests, at least from an external perspective. The reasons for this are about murky as the politics.

Many believe that most of the top dogs in the Brotherhood (who are used to a strong military involvement in government)  are not necessarily as adamant about getting rid of the military as are the younger generation, or for example, Mr. Beltagy. The military is still viewed by many older Egyptians as a stabilizing presence without which many fear anarchy. This may just be a case of better the devil you know...

But it does give cause for concern. The Brotherhood appears to be contradicting itself. In response to the most recent spate of violence that left at least 10 dead and hundreds more wounded, the Brotherhood spoke out against the violence--which it conceded was committed at the hands of the military--while telling protesters that their efforts would be better served by going to the polls and encouraging others to do the same. While elections are certainly an important part of the democratic process, if the military ultimately refuses to step down and widespread violence once again returns to Tahrir Square, on what side of the conflict is the Brotherhood going to find itself? After a year of dramatic change and continued uncertainty, the Egyptian public are not going to stand for a parliament--elected for the first time by the public--that sits on the fence and does nothing.

And as for that conflict within the Muslim Brotherhood between moderates like Mr. Beltagy and the traditional hardline cohort, many predict that once the Brotherhood is firmly in power, the moderates are going to be pushed out in favor of the old school...or the old madrassah, as it were. The hardline Brothers will align themselves with the hardline Salafists and you'll have a theocracy like Iran at worst, or Saudi Arabia at best, which isn't saying much.

The one-year anniversary of Tahrir Square is this Wednesday, the 25th. The new Parliament is also supposed to sit for the first time this week. Whatever happens, Egypt is definitely in the spotlight once again.

Ciao.

Saturday Book Review: "Justine" by Lawrence Durrell

Hi everyone!

This week's book is "Justine," the first volume of British writer Lawrence Durrell's classic The Alexandria Quartet. First published in 1957, "Justine" and its companion novels have acquired somewhat of a cult following over the years.

On the surface, the book tells the story of a quartet of lovers in Alexandria, Egypt in the years immediately preceding the Second World War. On the one hand, we have Justine, an exotic Jewess with a vague but tragic past, married to Nessim, a handsome and vaguely mysterious Coptic Christian. On the other, we have Melissa, the consumptive cabaret dancer of Greek origin who falls in love with the Narrator, an Irish schoolteacher whose name we never learn and whose real identity remains a cipher. Through a series of betrayals and adulterous liaisons intermixed with rhapsodic descriptions of the Levant and the seething, vaguely menacing and hyper-sexualized atmosphere of Alexandria in the 1930s, the reader isn't presented so much with a traditional story, but with a series of gauzy perceptions and stunning imagery, philosophical dispositions on the nature of love, sex, marriage, and the Kabbalah, and an intricacy of puzzle pieces that, by novel's end, really don't quite all fit together.

This last point, however, is by no means a criticism. We get the sense as we turn the last page that the Narrator has deliberately kept certain truths concealed--perhaps out of ignorance himself (which calls to mind the age-old question about the reliability of first-person narratives) or from the mere fact that these characters--Justine, Nessim, Melissa, and the Narrator--in addition to the studied and colorful supporting cast, are simply unknowable...to the Narrator, to the reader, and to themselves.

Of course this is the first in a series. The second novel, "Balthazar," is purported to be told from the perspective of one of "Justine's" peripheral characters. I haven't read it yet, but will report back soon.

What I found so captivating about this novel is Mr. Durrell's writing. His sentences exude an erotic languor that sucks the reader in with an almost hypnotic power. Each word feels meticulously and perfectly chosen. While the novel is relatively brief at 250 pages, the narrative scope is epic while still being quietly intimate. A case in point, describing the tortured agony of Nessim's almost obsessive love for his wife Justine, a woman seemingly incapable of being faithful to him:

Of course this is the unhappiest love-relationship of which a human being is capable--weighed down by something as heartbreaking as the post-coital sadness which clings to every endearment, which lingers like a sediment in the clear waters of a kiss.

The novel is comprised of many such beautifully-rendered passages. While occasionally the beauty of the prose veers a little too much towards the poetic, I found myself going back and rereading whole sections not because I wasn't understanding it (though I'll admit there were a few instances that had me scratching my head in perplexity) but for the sheer joy of hearing and reading Durrell's descriptions out loud.

"Justine" is a novel to be savored and read at leisure. It presents for the reader a sepia-toned picture postcard of an exotic time and place that hints at the darkness and corruption of a pre-Arab Spring Egypt, though an argument can be made that things haven't changed all that much today.  The menace is there, but it is the beauty that shines through.

Ciao.

From the Arab Spring to the Russian Winter: 2011 in Review

Hi everyone!

Hard to believe it's the end of another year...and what an eventful year 2011 has been. From an international perspective, 2011 brought about waves of tremendous change: from Tunis to Cairo, Tripoli to Damascus, Benghazi to Moscow and beyond, the world witnessed demonstration after demonstration that affirmed and reaffirmed the power of the individual and collective voice to move mountains and bring about positive change. From the Arab Spring to the Russian Winter, it seemed not a day went by when we weren't greeted with incredible scenes of personal courage spurred on by gross government abuse and corruption.

2011 wasn't a good year for dictators. We saw the demise of longtime Libyan strongman and resident crazy Muammar Qaddafi; the overthrow of Egyptian dictator and Western ally Hosni Mubarak; and the fall of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In the midst of all this, we witnessed the deaths of terrorist icon Osama bin Laden and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. 2011 ended with the largest anti-government demonstrations in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union and, for the first time in eight years, Prime Minister Putin's iron grip on the Kremlin may be loosening as another round of protests has been called for February.

But there remains a lot to be done. As we count down the final hours to 2012, Syrian President Bashir Assad seems determined to maintain control of his country by any and all means possible. While on the one hand he invites representatives from the Arab League to observe his "compliance" with an international mandate to cut back on the violence with which his government handles the protesters, on the other he sends troops to open fire on peaceful protesters in Hama and Homs a mere two-three blocks away from the Arab League delegation. Innocent Syrian men, women, and children are being mowed down in cold blood while the Arab League observers remark that nothing seems to be out of order. I suppose this isn't surprising when the delegation itself is led by Sudanese General Mustafa al-Dabi who has, no doubt, more than his share of blood on his hands from his work in support of Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir. (Darfur, anyone?)

Unfortunately, things aren't looking so great in Egypt either. The interim military-led government recently launched a series of raids on foreign and domestic NGOs in Cairo, stealing computers and documents and preventing humanitarian aid workers from doing their work. Iran appears to be flexing its muscles again in the wake of threatened sanctions against its banking industry by threatening to cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz, thus disrupting the flow and transport of oil to the rest of the world. North Korea continues to assure the smooth transition of power to Kim Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong-un, who vowed to continue his government's policy of zero cooperation with South Korea. The future is still up-in-the-air in Russia as well. Will Alexei Navalny and the tens of thousands who support him successfully alter the outcome of March's presidential elections? ... or will they and the rest of the democratic world be sorely disappointed?

And, of course, here in the US we face another election year. Will Obama's sadly underwhelming and arguably rather inept four years in office be awarded another term, or will we see the election of Republican Mitt Romney, who would be the nation's first Mormon president? Next week's upcoming Iowa caucus will officially launch the 2012 presidential race.

Hold on, folks...if you thought 2011 was a wild ride, wait till you see 2012!

Ciao.

The Arab Spring, Part Two

Hi everyone!

Well, yesterday there was yet another round of protests in Egypt and again the military did not hesitate to use violence in an effort to stem the tide. A peaceful sit-in outside the Egyptian cabinet building turned deadly as members of the military threw rocks and file cabinets down upon the protestors from the roof of a government building.

Polling stations across the country were also scenes of violence between civilians and the army as the second stage of the election was held for positions in the new parliament. The military--once all-powerful---is running scared. Once again, votes coming in confirm the fact that the new Egyptian Parliament is taking on an Islamic bent with the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis earning the majority share of votes, an identical outcome as was seen in round one. The military is secular. The prominence of the Islamists in the new government basically cancels out the influence of the military...at least this would be the case if the military backed down and let true democracy take its course. Unfortunately, it seems, the military has no such plans.

Protests yesterday were not confined to just Egypt. Syria was wracked by violence yet again with reports, according to the New York Times, of at least 17 people killed by government troops. A recent United Nations count puts the total Syrian death toll since the protests began there at 5,000.

Also there's a brouhaha brewing in the southwestern Chinese province of Wufan where the local population have basically taken over a village to protest a local government land-grab. It seems the Chinese government buys land at cut-rate prices that should be owned by the locals and then sells the same land to government-sponsored building companies for a considerable profit, completely shutting the villagers out of the deal. The current protest started after one of the village spokesmen was mysteriously taken into custody by the police and died. The police claim the man had a heart attack but family who came to identify the body said it betrayed signs of torture. The body of course has not been released back to the family while an escalating military presence on the outskirts of the village harbors the potential for rather unpleasant things to come.

Time magazine in its annual end-of-the-year 'Person of the Year' issue awarded this year's honor to the Protestor. It does indeed seem that 2011 is the year of the protest, of the long-oppressed silent majority finding their collective voice and using it to inspire change. The videos and Tweets coming out of places like Cairo, Homs, Manama, Moscow and Wufan frighten and inspire at the same time. My heart goes out to everyone--young and old--who are simply pursuing the basic human rights of democratic representation and the chance to create a better life for their young and loved ones. But, as I've said before and will undoubtedly say again, those in positions of power here in the West need to respect and support whatever results this democratic process brings into being, regardless of whether these new governments are secular or (in the Middle East) Islamic. That's what happens in a democracy--the people elect their leaders without outside pressure or influence. Sure, it may make many of us uncomfortable to see Egypt turn into another theocracy (not that this will happen) like Iran, but who are we to tell the people otherwise? Unless we live in these countries, or are out there occupying Tahrir Square, we don't have a voice. We can only observe and pass the message along.

Ciao.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: "Do you believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will ever cede control, or will he go down fighting like Qadaffi?"