The Secular Square
Maurice Chammah reviews Oscar-nominated documentary film, The Square. Continue Reading →
Tag: tahrir square
We Are All Egyptians
by Yasmin Moll
There are tens of thousands of Egyptians in Tahrir today. And there are millions of Egyptians who are not.
If we believe some international media outlets and domestic opposition papers, these groups make up two distinct camps: those for democracy and those for Mubarak. And if we believe the state press, the dividing line is between trouble-making youths allied with “foreign agents” and law-abiding citizens.
From the vantage point of those of us in Cairo, however, the picture is much more complex, fluid and messy. And simplifying it for the sake of a sexy story or a catchy headline risks marginalizing the many Egyptians from all classes and backgrounds whose political stances don’t fit neatly into one or the other of these categories.
Take my friend Mansour.* On January 28th he and I attended the protest downtown after Friday prayer. Marching peacefully along with hundreds of others up Kasr Al-Aini street, we were met with a volley of tear-gas fired by the central security police blocking access to Tahrir Square. Continue Reading →
Mubarak's Reality: Baksheesh
Hosni Mubarak didn’t contrive his I’m the preventer of chaos reality all alone. The tyrannical dictator of Egypt, who today told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour that he’d love to step down but can’t, has for three decades been appreciated (both politically and financially) by the West for what he is not: another critical voice in a troubled and troubling region. Poverty, ineptitude, graft, corruption, injustice: all were no match for Western fear of creeping radical Islam, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak’s spent his years making the most of Islamophobic rhetoric. In a nation that’s neither rich nor poor, African nor Middle Eastern, friendly nor hostile, familiar nor understood, Mubarak’s benefitted from playing the foil for Western projection. Continue Reading →
Mubarak’s Reality: Baksheesh
Hosni Mubarak didn’t contrive his I’m the preventer of chaos reality all alone. The tyrannical dictator of Egypt, who today told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour that he’d love to step down but can’t, has for three decades been appreciated (both politically and financially) by the West for what he is not: another critical voice in a troubled and troubling region. Poverty, ineptitude, graft, corruption, injustice: all were no match for Western fear of creeping radical Islam, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak’s spent his years making the most of Islamophobic rhetoric. In a nation that’s neither rich nor poor, African nor Middle Eastern, friendly nor hostile, familiar nor understood, Mubarak’s benefitted from playing the foil for Western projection. Continue Reading →
Mubarak’s Reality: Baksheesh
Hosni Mubarak didn’t contrive his I’m the preventer of chaos reality all alone. The tyrannical dictator of Egypt, who today told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour that he’d love to step down but can’t, has for three decades been appreciated (both politically and financially) by the West for what he is not: another critical voice in a troubled and troubling region. Poverty, ineptitude, graft, corruption, injustice: all were no match for Western fear of creeping radical Islam, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak’s spent his years making the most of Islamophobic rhetoric. In a nation that’s neither rich nor poor, African nor Middle Eastern, friendly nor hostile, familiar nor understood, Mubarak’s benefitted from playing the foil for Western projection. Continue Reading →