Egypt
(→2011 regime change) |
Stunteddwarf (Talk | contribs) (→6th february 'Sunday of Martyrs' - 7th February) |
||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
===6th february '' 'Sunday of Martyrs' '' - 7th February=== | ===6th february '' 'Sunday of Martyrs' '' - 7th February=== | ||
| − | Organisers of the'' 'Day of Revolt' '', '' 'Friday of Anger' '', '' 'March of the Millions' '' and '' 'Friday of Departure' '' marked 6th February as the '' 'Sunday of Martyrs' ''. In reciprocation of Friday's events, Coptic | + | Organisers of the'' 'Day of Revolt' '', '' 'Friday of Anger' '', '' 'March of the Millions' '' and '' 'Friday of Departure' '' marked 6th February as the '' 'Sunday of Martyrs' ''. In reciprocation of Friday's events, [[wp:Coptic Christian|Coptic Christian]] held morning mass in [[wp:Tahrir Square|Tahrir Square]] whilst [[Muslim]] and other protesters formed a human chain around them to protect them. Prayers, including [[wp:Salat al-Janazah|Salat al-Janazah]] were held for those killed in the protests, and a [[marriage]] was conducted in Tahrir Square itself. |
| − | In Tahrir Square, on 7th February, a symbolic funeral was held for the journalist Ahmed Mahmoud and the state-owned, and up to this point, state supporting Al-Ahram newspaper switched its support to the pro-democracy protesters. However, the feeling since 5ht February was that the pro-democracy protests were loosing momentum. This would change later that evening when news of the release of Wael Ghonim reached the crowds in Tahrir Square along with a highly charged and emotive interview between him and Mona El-Shazly on DreamTV. As a result of the TV interview thousands of supporters joined the Facebook page: '' 'We authorise Wael Ghoneim to speak on behalf of the Egyptian revolution.' '' Wael Ghonim released the statement | + | In Tahrir Square, on 7th February, a symbolic funeral was held for the journalist Ahmed Mahmoud and the state-owned, and up to this point, state supporting [[wp:Al-Ahram|Al-Ahram]] newspaper switched its support to the pro-democracy protesters. However, the feeling since 5ht February was that the pro-democracy protests were loosing momentum. This would change later that evening when news of the release of [[wp:Wael Ghonim|Wael Ghonim]] reached the crowds in Tahrir Square along with a highly charged and emotive interview between him and [[wp:Mona el-Shazly|Mona El-Shazly]] on DreamTV. As a result of the TV interview thousands of supporters joined the Facebook page: '' 'We authorise Wael Ghoneim to speak on behalf of the Egyptian revolution.' '' Wael Ghonim released the statement |
{{cquote|First of all my sincere condolences for all the Egyptians that lost their lives. I am really sorry for their loss, none of us wanted this. We were not destroying things. We all wanted peaceful protests, and our slogan was no to vandalism. Please don't turn me into a hero. I am not a hero, I am someone that was asleep for 12 days. The real heroes are the ones that took to the streets, please focus your cameras on the right people. I am ok. (sic) God willing we will change our country, and all the filth that was taking place in the country has to stop. Together we will clean this country.}} | {{cquote|First of all my sincere condolences for all the Egyptians that lost their lives. I am really sorry for their loss, none of us wanted this. We were not destroying things. We all wanted peaceful protests, and our slogan was no to vandalism. Please don't turn me into a hero. I am not a hero, I am someone that was asleep for 12 days. The real heroes are the ones that took to the streets, please focus your cameras on the right people. I am ok. (sic) God willing we will change our country, and all the filth that was taking place in the country has to stop. Together we will clean this country.}} | ||
| − | |||
===8th February '' 'Day of Egypt's Love' '' - 10th February=== | ===8th February '' 'Day of Egypt's Love' '' - 10th February=== | ||
Revision as of 03:55, 19 February 2011
Egypt is a state in north-east Africa. Its capital, Cairo, is home to the Pyramids of Giza. While geographically located in Africa, culturally and politically Egypt is considered to be part of the Middle East, in part because of its proximity, and in part because of its large Muslim, Arabic-speaking population. In 1967 Egypt went to war with Israel; in 1978 it became the first state in the region to make peace with Israel and acknowledge its existence with the signing of the Camp David Accords.
Egypt is the birthplace of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and houses the only surviving "Wonder of the Classical World," the Great Pyramid at Giza.
The former "president" of Egypt (or more accurately the head of a military junta) Hosni Mubarak was seen by the West as being a fairly benign autocrat, though he did have the rather nasty habit of locking up political rivals, repressing civil rights, allowing corruption, turning a blind eye to police brutality and torture, and neglecting the poor, the middle classes, the educated professionals, in short, anyone who didn't actively support Hosni Mubarak. The United States tended to turn a blind eye to this behaviour since said rivals were either Islamists, organisations that Mubarak painted as being Islamists, or unimportant to United States interests. Egypt receives a great deal of American aid, mostly because the Americans saw Mubarak as a "moderate" in a region full of extremists, and because Egypt is one of the few Middle Eastern nations to have recognized Israel's right to exist (though the main journalists' organization, as well as the Egyptian Writers' Guild and Actors' Guild, have forbidden their members to work in Israel). Moreover, the aid is in part the price of Egypt's continued recognition of and peace with Israel.
2011 regime change
Following from and inspired by the Jasmine Revolution, or more properly the Sidi Bouzid revolt, in Tunisia, on the 25th January 2011 Egypt experienced the first moments of the revolution that would see Mubarak removed from power. Known as the "Day of Anger" or "Day of Revolt", on 25 January saw protests took place in Cairo, Alexandria, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Aswan, and Ismaïlia. Organised through social networking groups, as well as by word-of-mouth, tens of thousands of people took to the streets, with most of the protesters concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria. The size of the protest in Cairo was much larger than the police expected it to be and so, as a result of this, the protesters were able to break out of the cordon that the police had placed them in and head to Tahrir Square which, in the days to come, would become the focal point for a protest movement seeking democratic reform in Egypt. Although the police deployed tear-gas and water cannon in an attempt to disperse the protesters this failed and the police were eventually forced to retreat from the stones and the police's own tear-gas that was being thrown back at them.
26th - 28th January
On 26th and 27th the clashes continued between the police and protesters with live ammunition now being deployed, alongside tear-gas and water cannon. Although the clashes quietened slightly on the 27th January this would change on the following day, the day of jumu'ah or Friday prayer.
On 28th January, which became known as the 'Day of Rage' or 'Friday of Anger' , the Egyptian government shut down internet services just prior to 01:00 in an attempt to remove the protest organisers means of communication and to blunt the upcoming protests. This move failed, partially due to the fact that some people were still able to communicate using a text-to-speech telephone service operated between Google and Twitter. Once Friday Prayers ended tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the main cities of Egypt to continue the pro-democracy protest against Mubarak. After a matter of hours the number of protesters rose until hundreds of thousands of people were on the streets. Mohamed ElBaradei flew from Giza to Cairo to join the protests where he was promptly arrested and placed under house arrest. This obviously didn't work as Mohamed ElBaradei was then to go on and, in a later interview with Al-Jazeera, state that he was unaware of his house arrest. It probably helped that, as a result of his arrest, the US decided to review the amount of aid it was willing to continue giving to Egypt, or more specifically, the Egyptian military and the people at the top, which was mostly the Egyptian military anyway, and so El-Baradei was promptly released.
The police response to the numbers of people protesting in Eqypt was too continue with pretty much the same tactics (tear-gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and something that just screams riot control, buckshot) that had singularly failed to work against smaller numbers in the previous days. To help the police the Egyptian government deployed the army alongside them as a show of intimidation. However, Al-Jazeera reported that in both Suez and Alexandria the army seemed to want to avoid open armed conflict with the protesters. By the end of the day the police had been withdrawn from the streets of the major Egyptian cities.
As a result of the protests and clashes with police a number of government buildings were set ablaze, and casualties were experienced on both sides, with most casualties being experienced by the pro-democracy protesters. Looting was also taking place, with many of the pro-democracy protesters claiming that many of the looters were either plain-clothed security forces or people being egged on by the security forces so that the government could claim that pro-democracy demonstrations were destabilising the country, winning the support of the majority and thereby getting justification for a crackdown against the protesters. Instead local communities grouped together and patrolled their local areas, scaring off looters and dealing harshly with the ones they caught. With a lack of police on the streets there was also concern that the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities would also be looted and so the army secured the museum and were joined in their efforts by the pro-democracy protesters.
29th January - 31st January
The following day, the 29th January, saw Tahrir Square continuing to be packed with pro-democracy supporters and ringed with army tanks. At the Abu Zabaal prison in Cairo inmates attempted to escape and this was echoed at Cairo's Wadi Natrun prison. There the prison was attacked by an angry mob and this lead to the escape of several more prisoners. Worryingly, it has been claimed that 'there have been orders from the very top to free known felons from the prisons, to arm them and to let them mingle with protesters.'
30th and 31st of January saw the protests continue, although in somewhat quieter fashion to begin with. The morning of the 29th saw Tahrir Square relatively quiet, with only a few hundred protesters gathered there. However, later that morning several thousand protesters once more occupied Tahrir Square and this time they were joined by hundreds of state judges. Mubarak's regime gave orders to the army to use live ammunition, but in something of a stunning development, the army refused, stating that they were there to, 'protect the people' . Following the army's refusal to use lethal force to clear the protesters from Tahrir Square the regime resorted to overflights of military helicoptors and two Egyptian Air Force F-16s in an attempt to intimidate the protesters. This failed and the protests continued pretty much as they had until the 1st of February.
1st February - 'March of the Millions'
1st February saw what the pro-democracy organisers called a 'March of the Millions' , the stated aim of which was the march of a million pro-democracy protesters from Tahrir Square to the Presidential Palace. Although the march didn't make it to the palace itself, the call to do so brought the largest gathering of protestors to date onto the streets of Cairo and the other major Egyptian cities. Estimates of the crowd size varied wildly, with the BBC putting the number of people at Tahrir Square itself at between 100 000 and 250 000 people, Egyptian security forces claiming that 500 000 people participated in Cairo as a whole, and Al Jazeera putting the numbers protesting in Cairo at 1 million, growing to 2 million as the day progressed. In what would transpire to be a graphic example of just how much the regime misunderstood the situation on the ground President Mubarak addressed the people of Egypt on Nile TV (a propaganda arm of the government) stating that he did not, and indeed never had, intended to run for another term as President. Mubarak went on to say that he would stay in office until September 2011, and also promised to make political reforms. Using classic disinformation techniques that had served him well in the past President Mubarak also said that he would demand that Egyptian authorities pursue 'outlaws' and 'investigate those who caused the security disarray,' adding that peaceful protests were transformed into "unfortunate clashes, mobilised and controlled by political forces that wanted to escalate and worsen the situation". Mubarak was once again trying to place the blame for the unrest on the shoulders of the protesters, hoping that by doing so he could win enough support back from what appeared to be a split, almost a civil war, within the ranks of the ruling junta, by appealing for stability with the oft used promise that he was the only one that could deliver it.
2nd February - 3rd February
2nd February witnessed what would threaten to become a full scale civil war. During the night many of the protesters from the March of the Millions stayed in Tahrir Square, but by midday the army was asking the protesters to leave with state television announcing, 'You have to evacuate Tahrir Square immediately. We've got confirmed information that violent groups are heading toward Tahrir Square carrying firebombs and seeking to burn the Square.' Unwilling to believe State TV, or willing to fight for their position the pro-democracy supporters stayed in Tahrir Square. The ruling party of Egypt, the National Democratic Party , arranged for pro-Mubarak supporters to march on Tahrir Square with the view to drive the pro-democracy protesters out by whatever means they could manage. In what would become known as the 'Battle of Jamal,' or Battle of the Camel, some Mubarak supporters, mounted on camels and armed with swords, knives, maces, rocks, and riding whips, charged the pro-democracy supporters. Although this irregular cavalry caused casualties to their victims, the pro-democracy protesters managed to drive them off, in some cases dismounting riders and beating them before either handing them over to the army or detaining them in utility rooms in the subway system near Tahrir Square.
The greatest threat to the pro-democracy supporters were hordes of pro-Mubarak supporters armed mostly with stones and firebombs. In order to boost the numbers attacking the pro-democracy protesters, security officials were witnessed bribing ordinary citizens, whilst other Pro-Mubarak supporters were off-duty and undercover police, a fact confirmed by Al Jazeera's live reports that showed some Mubarak supporters carrying police IDs. Whilst these clashes were carried out on the ground, Pro-Mubarak supporters also dropped stones and Molotov cocktails from buildings onto demonstrators below them, and gunfire was heard in Tahrir Square, although it was unsure whether this was the army firing over the head of both groups of protesters, or people from one side or the other discharging one or more firearms.
It was during this time that journalists began being attacked, mostly by pro-Mubarak supporters, after word had been spread by the regime that the troubles had been stirred up by foreign elements, including Israeli spies. This was an incendiary charge, even in a moderate country like Egypt, and was seen as an attempt to stop international journalists broadcasting what was happening in Egypt to Egyptian citizens. Egypt's state TV had, too this point, been steadfastly broadcasting images of calm and stability, doing everything it could to underplay the depth of what was happening in Egypt's cities.
The evening and night of 2nd February continued to see clashes between pro-democracy and pro-Mubarak supporters, with the army taking a strictly neutral role. However, and unexpected to the international journalists covering the events at Tahrir Square, the pro-democracy supporters managed to throw back the pro-Mubarak rioters and, during the day of 3rd February, established a zone of control around Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Museum. The protesters bolstered their positions by barricades made from tipped over, burnt out trucks and sheets of metal. The pro-democracy demonstrators used these barricades to create chokepoints into Tahrir Square and stepped up their efforts to verify everyone entering the square, seeking to keep out the security forces who were making attempts to infiltrate the pro-democracy camp. By the evening of 3rd February the deputy head of Nile TV resigned in protest over the state TV's coverage of the events in Cairo and elsewhere. Meanwhile the regime continued with its almost mystical ability to completely misjudge the depth of anger and passion empowering the protesters and managed to insert yet another foot into their collective mouths when newly-minted Vice President Omar Suleiman said that the Egyptian people did not 'have a culture of democracy' and that it was the Islamists that were inciting young people to protest. In the same interview President Mubarak said that he was 'fed up' with being President, but wasn't quite ready to step down because the moment he did the Nazgûl Muslim Brotherhood would take over.
4th February - 5th February
4th February saw what was fore-titled by the protest organisers as the 'Day of Departure' . The plan was for the protesters to march on the Presidential Palace at Heliopolis and demand that Mubarak step down immediately and relinquish his powers. On the morning of 4th February 2 million Muslims flocked to Tahrir Square to take part in jumu'ah, with about a million actually being able to enter the square itself, whilst Coptic Christian and other pro-democracy supporters formed a human chain around them to protect them from possible disruptions by pro-Mubarak forces. Although protesters in Cairo didn't manage to march on the Presidential Palace over a million more protesters gathered in Alexandria and, in response to previous attacks against their brethen in Cairo, promised to march to Cairo if the government used violence against the protesters there. Protests also took place in Aswan, Asyut, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, Ismailiya, Port Said, Rafah, Suez, and Zagazig. Violence continued against journalists, both foreign and local, and Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud of Al-Ta'awun was the first journalist to be killed covering the protests. The day finished with President Mubarak continuing to refuse to step down.
5th February saw things quieten down a little from the day before. The army's position towards the pro-democracy protesters hardened, with the head of the army meeting protesters and asking them to go home, whilst other army officers unsuccessfully attempted to dismantle the barricades that the pro-democracy supporters had put up and pro-democracy supporters formed human chains to stop army tanks occupying Tahrir Square. Clashes still continued between pro-democracy and pro-Mubarak supporters, though the number of clashes was much reduced compared to previous days.
6th february 'Sunday of Martyrs' - 7th February
Organisers of the 'Day of Revolt' , 'Friday of Anger' , 'March of the Millions' and 'Friday of Departure' marked 6th February as the 'Sunday of Martyrs' . In reciprocation of Friday's events, Coptic Christian held morning mass in Tahrir Square whilst Muslim and other protesters formed a human chain around them to protect them. Prayers, including Salat al-Janazah were held for those killed in the protests, and a marriage was conducted in Tahrir Square itself.
In Tahrir Square, on 7th February, a symbolic funeral was held for the journalist Ahmed Mahmoud and the state-owned, and up to this point, state supporting Al-Ahram newspaper switched its support to the pro-democracy protesters. However, the feeling since 5ht February was that the pro-democracy protests were loosing momentum. This would change later that evening when news of the release of Wael Ghonim reached the crowds in Tahrir Square along with a highly charged and emotive interview between him and Mona El-Shazly on DreamTV. As a result of the TV interview thousands of supporters joined the Facebook page: 'We authorise Wael Ghoneim to speak on behalf of the Egyptian revolution.' Wael Ghonim released the statement
“”First of all my sincere condolences for all the Egyptians that lost their lives. I am really sorry for their loss, none of us wanted this. We were not destroying things. We all wanted peaceful protests, and our slogan was no to vandalism. Please don't turn me into a hero. I am not a hero, I am someone that was asleep for 12 days. The real heroes are the ones that took to the streets, please focus your cameras on the right people. I am ok. (sic) God willing we will change our country, and all the filth that was taking place in the country has to stop. Together we will clean this country.
|
8th February 'Day of Egypt's Love' - 10th February
Re-energised by the events of the previous night the organisers of the protests called for 8th February to be known as the 'Day of Egypt's Love' . With numbers that rivalled the March of Millions and Friday of Departure, pro-democracy protesters started to protest outside outside the Parliament, the Shura Council and the Council of Ministers, as well as continuing to occupy Tahrir Square. Journalists also gathered at the Al-Ahram headquarters, the state-owned newspaper to protest against the government's actions, corruption and a lack of freedom for the press. 8th of February also saw the first strikes in Egypt associated with the actions of the pro-democracy protesters.
The protests continued into 9th February, with protesters now setting up camp outside Parliament. The Cabinet Officers in Cairo were evacuated and more strikes sprung up throughout Egypt as unions demanded higher wages and better working conditions for their members. The government's response to this was to warn the protesters of a military crackdown if the protests were to continue. This had no effect on the pro-democracy protests which continued into 10th February and saw both lawyers and physicians joining the protests, as well as an increase in the number of strikes in the national industries.
10th February - Mubarak in FantasyLand
As word was received that President Mubarak would give a statement at 20:00GMT/22:00Cairo Local Time expectation grew both amongst the protesters and within the international community that the President was to announce that he would step down. As the state of excitement grew throughout the day, more and more people joined the protesters in Tahrir Square, ready to watch the President's speech on the giant screen that had been in Tahrir Square for a number of days. Somewhat characteristically for the President, the speech was given 40 minutes late and highlighted just how far behind the curve the regime was, as President Mubarak addressed the nation saying little more than what he had already "promised" in his previous televised speech. In disbelief and shock the crowd in Tahrir Square erupted, with many of the protesters waving their shoes at the screen and the crowd chanting 'Leave! Leave! Leave!' relatively early on in the speech, when it became clear that Mubarak was still unwilling to step down. After the speech finished part of the crowd at Tahrir Square marched towards the Presidential Palace.
11th February - Ding, Dong, the Dictator's gone
With the shock of Mubarak's non-resignation still a raw wound to the pro-democracy protesters, 11th February saw an increase in the number of protesters from the day before. The organisers called this day 'Farewell Friday' , presumably in the hope that if they kept on hitting the regime over the head with the same message over and over again, the message would sink in. In addition to the crowds in Tahrir Square, thousands of protesters also continued to surround the Parliament and the Presidential Palace, and crowds also blockaded the state TV building. Something had to give and at about 16:13GMT/18:13 Cairo Local Time, it did, when Vice-President Suleiman announced that the office of President had been vacated and that the military council would take over and the running of Egypt. Quite unsurprisingly this announcement triggered wild celebrations throughout Egypt, celebrations that would be continued on the following Friday as a reminder to the Egyptian Military Council that the pro-democracy supporters still had their eye on them, and expected real change. Friday 18th February also saw the Military Council announce that a new constitution would be adopted within 10 days.
Other places named Egypt
Egypt is also a town in Maine. Little Egypt is an alternative name for southern Illinois, where several towns took their names from towns in the country of Egypt.
Fundamentalism
It can be said that Egypt sparked the modern wave of Islamic fundamentalism. Namely, under the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Muslim Brotherhood and icons such as Sayyid Qutb were pushed to the fringes of society and all but forced to "fundamentalize."