katie in cairo, egypt

Ok, so not everyone in Egypt is caught up in this political mess--there are still a few Egyptians who know how to party like its...the Sufi era?

One of the more bizarre and surprisingly quite fun experiences I've had in Egypt as of late was an attendance to an Egyptian "rock star" show at al-Husayn, the area home to the famous al-Husayn Mosque, the al-Azhar Mosque, and of course the popular tourist market Khan al-Khalili in the heart of Islamic Cairo. After getting wind of some major happenings in the area from the local coffee shop guys, Sayed, his friend Mohammad, and I took a quick cab ride there around midnight. Though the show was already underway, apparently it had just started, and the square was packed with old clunker station wagons packed with 'Sa'id'is' (Upper Egyptians) and galibayya clad men and women from the Delta area.

The concert was held in the open area in front of the al-Husayn mosque, where the singer and his little band of traditional musicians stood up on stage, and the thousands of fans stood all around on the ground, extending out to the outskirts of the park. I've been in Egypt for almost a full year, but NEVER in my life have I seen so many galibayyas! (These are like long dresses that men and women who dress in the traditional fashion wear.) It struck me as kind of funny to see them pushing and shoving to get close to the stage, incessanty waving at the video camera arm which was "scanning" the crowd. Though there wasn't exactly what I would call a "mash pit," it was pretty packed in the front and if you weren't careful, you could easily get caught up in the rocking and swaying of the head and the body, in a back and forth, back and forth lull, that is the traditional Sufi dance. The music goes on for hours and hours, and you feel yourself getting into a trance with the drums, the rhythyms, and the ascending, declining, and wavering drawn out voice of the singer.

I felt a little strange being there, (being the only foreigner that I saw), but everyone was pleasant and just wanted to show off their dance moves to me or perhaps get in on a picture. Though I only stayed for a few hours, apparently Egyptian families come from all over to attend the event which goes on for almost the whole week. I could see whole families, men, women, children, even little babies, in their big picnic setups, the children dancing about, eating sandwiches and dates, and buying sweet berry juice from the roaming juice man. They and me included--were all having a great time.

Sufi 'rock star' show @ al-Husayn

Party crashers

Mohammad (wearing a party hat instead of galibayya?)

the juice man (just think Budweiser vendor ala Egyptian style)

Galibayya party at the Hussein Mosque!

Ok, now for the explanation. I've received several emails of concern about the photos I posted last week of protestors being beaten by the police in the streets over the last month. I suppose it's not good to post photos without any sort of explanation.

First of all, I am fine. The pictures I posted, while some were taken by locals and others by local news agencies (the ones with the '2') at the bottom corner, were not taken by me namely because I avoided being caught at the center of the protests. I actually recieved these photos from a Yahoo Groups mailing list of activists in Egypt. As is apparent, no photos like these exist anywhere else either in the Egyptian news or the international press, namely because journalists (local and international) were arrested, hastled, and their cameras were broken and confiscated. While it is hard to find out exactly what has happened during and in the aftermath of these demonstrations because the press is unable to cover it, most of my information has come from friends who have been involved, from professors at the university who have been looking into the issue, and also from my own observations. While the protests have been for the most part quiet this week, allegations of human rights abuses, police brutality, and calls for further statements and investigations have been rampant.

The demonstrations which have been going on over the past month are most directly related to the "detainment" and "disciplinary trials" of two high court judges, who spoke out about the 2005 presidential elections, calling them a "fraud" and asking for further investigations into the matter. While the judiciary has traditionally been relatively independent from the personalism of the executive (unlike parliament or the bureaucracy and military), it appears that the accusations by the judges went too far--"crossing the red line." Following the removal of the judges, a series of demonstrations and protests broke out in the downtown area of Cairo, especially by the Journalists Syndicate and other major areas which happen to be near my university. The protests were for the large part organized by the group Kefeya, or "Enough," which has been a key activist group (in the past year, especially during the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2005. The group, while not endorsing any candidates for elections, has called for massive political reform and liberalization. While during the time of the elections these demonstrations were permitted to be a little more "rowdy" than usual, likely because at the time the president was running for re-election under the call for political reform and liberalization, he has since "tightened the strings." Technically, under the "Emergency Laws," which have been in place since the 1970s under President Sadat and were recently renewed for another 2 years following the Dahab bombings in the Sinai, public demonstrations are not permitted unless a permit is obtained--which of course, is difficult and rarely is granted. Thus the police are able to "legally" break up these protests, because every person attending is technically breaking the law.

I'm not sure exactly how many protests there have been over the judges, but at least 10 as far as I can remember. Though I didn't see all of them (rather passed by on my way to school or incidentally ran into as an outside 'observer'), everyone always knows when there's something going on because of the massive influx of riot police into the downtown area. They come in huge green trucks, with the Egyptian riot police peeping their heads out from the slit windows. After parking around the embassy and public buildings areas, they then shuffle out into long lines along the curb, with only about 6 inches between them. While the numbers vary, there are usually about 10 times as many police as protestors. I don't have any pictures (as I'm not trying to get my nice little digi camera confiscated), there are usually huge trucks of riot police surrounding the university to "protect" us.

Some protests have been worse than others--the photos are from one of the big ones that went down a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, most of the actual beatings are not by men in uniform, but by plainclothesmen. Though to the first time observer these police appear to be normal citizens, I've lived here long enough to be able to pick them out for the most part, and they are EVERYWHERE. Often, these are the police who do the 'real work'--also, it's easier to shrug off than having a uniformed officer beating someone openly in the street. Often, the state security responds to allegations of abuse by insisting that it is the protestors beating the protestors, but this is clearly not true.

The most recent reports I've heard are surrounding allegations of police torture by two protestors. Last week Mohammed Al-Sharqawy and Karim Al-Shaer were arrested after a protest and taking to an Egyptian prison. In a letter that was smuggled from the prison, al-Sharqawy wrote that he was being tortured, and had even been sodomized by a rolled up piece of cardboard. Others who have seen the bruises on the two detainess have also made allegations of torture.

What is most shocking to me--aside from the events themselves--is the relative silence from the state as well as the international community. President Hosni Mubarak has not yet made any real public statements about the matter, and the state security insist that all of their actions have been within the limits of the law. While recently the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and the State Department have called on the Egyptian government to further investigate these matters, their tone has not necessarily been very aggressive. Though I heard blurbs from the American press about potential cuts in foreign aid to Egypt over the events, nothing major has come of it. Furthermore, what's especially disturbing is that at the same time people were being beaten by the police in the streets, the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, who is suspected to try a takeover after his father's term endes, was being greeted in Washington by Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush with warm welcomes. Though officially in the states for "business," Gamal stopped in for a quick hello with the two. So much for building peace and "democracy" in the Middle East...

I'm both stunned and disturbed by what has been going on. Actually since I arrived here the city has been boiling with tension from the elections, then the bombings, now all of this. The future of Egypt is pretty shaky right now, and it remains to be seen what path the country will take. Will it be the liberalizers or the Islamists? Democracy or international (by that I mean the U.S.) control over the decisions of who and what will be next?

Police beating demonstraters who were protesting in downtown Cairo over the arrest of two judges who called the 2005 presidential elections "fraud"

Plainclothes police officers struggling with Egyptian protestors in downtown Cairo

Egyptian riot police

Plainclothes police officers beating protestors in the street

Police taking control

Riot police

Egyptian protestors (the small book is a Quran)

Egyptian police and state security (including many plainclothes officers) chasing down protestors

Police detaining protestors in downtown Cairo

Demonstrators suffered numerous injuries and abuse by the police...some have even accused the police of "torture" after detainment

Police beating demonstraters who were protesting in downtown Cairo over the arrest of two judges who called the 2005 presidential elections "fraud"

If I have to sit and hear one more lecture about the U.S. interest in 'democracy in the Middle East' I think I might become a communist. Ok, well just kidding about that, but after learning of the 'restored relations' between the U.S. and Libya on top of the little admonishing Egypt was given after judges, protestors and the international press were basically beaten in the streets by riot police last week, any semblance of an ideological American foreign policy was lost. Or perhaps I've just become a realist.

While Bush continues to wag the finger of democracy in his weakly radio address, the diplomatic force has under the table started shaking hands with the world's worst dictators. Not that this is anything new--despite Bush's claim in last year's State of the Union that even 'Saudi Arabia is making a step at democratic reforms' (even though women still can't drive and legal measures allow and have practiced the 'eye for an eye' law literally). Though Gaddafi, who certainly ranks in the regions worst of the worst, has gone through a long period of being on the 'outs' with Western diplomacy, he's now not only shaking hands with Tony Blair, but the oil deprived U.S. has again opened warm relations. While some have said that the Libyan regime has converted from a 'radical' opposition regime to one of 'accommodation,' the dictator still doesn't exactly have the world's best human rights record. Also, it doesn't look like he's about to leave his post--which he's occupied since 1969--anytime soon.

Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam pretty much summed up the new relationship by simply saying that, "It is a result of mutual interests, agreements and understandings. In politics there is no such thing as a reward, but there are interests." Let's face it, the U.S. is best friends with some of the world's worst, and it has nothing to do with democracy. Sure democracy is good, but only when it's the right kind let by the right person. And if it's not a democracy, well so long as the government's led by the right person--or at least has something to offer us--that's just fine.

I'm not saying we shouldn't keep fighting for democracy (meaning, fighting for democracy in our own countries and allowing others to do so in theirs), but it seems silly that we should continue with the facade. Nothing new, but let's just stop kidding ourselves.

I've been feeling like a total slacker for not having written more in my blog about my various travels and adventures, but every time I open the blogger to add a post, I just can't seem to think about anything but what crazy and disturbing things are going on here. I suppose I really don't feel too emotional about it, but if I were Egyptian, I'm not sure I would be able to stand it. While Egyptians are perhaps some of the most cynacle people I know, ready to criticize the government at any time, pass around sarcastic jokes about Mr. Mubarak, and talk until sunrise about the 'problems' of the nation, they are also perhaps the most patient people as well--'oh, the regime will change eventually', or 'it's just always been this way,' or 'in time we'll see what happens, but right now i'm just worried about putting food on the table.'

Not to go into too much detail, but after supposedly arresting the 'persons responsible' for the Dahab, Sharm, and Taba bombings (though he of course was killed in a shoot out with the police so we have no definite proof), now the regime is playing the 'security' card, linking increasing security and safety measures of the state with quieting any types of government opposition in the name of 'unity.'

The traffick stopping issue on the streets right now is over two top judges, Bastawisi and Mekki, who claimed that the 2005 Presidential elections were fraud (is there really any doubt?), and called for a subsequent investigation. Now it is the judges who are on trial facing disciplinary actions. Thousands of supporters have protested outside the Judges and Journalist syndicates downtown only to be met by harsh crackdowns and brutality by the police. You know the country is in disorder when the police are beating the judges. Even the international press isn't allowed to cover the issue. Journalists along with hundreds of protestors (including several AUC students) have been arrested and taken into 'detention centers' (i.e. dungeons) for causing social disorder. Huge green trucks full of riot police line the streets downtown, next to the university, in all the main areas--there are actually quite more police than protestors. Perhaps the real scary thing is that I imagine the police are tense simply because of the number of protestors, and they are probably unsure of what is allowed and what isn't. Emergency laws (which were recently renewed for another 2 years) hold that protesting in groups is actually illegal unless allowed a special permit by the government (and you can imagine how many times that happens). But since the 2005 elections, the regime loosened these regulations slightly, perhaps to show how 'free and fair' the elections really were supposed to be. But several months after the election, it appears that the regime is once again tightening its grasp, and going back to the old non-opposition status quo game.

To me, everything seems to just be chaos. Will the government crackdowns succeed in quieting the newly politically active Egyptians who are starting to find a voice in society? Or will they continue to stand up to the regime? How many more years of emergency laws will the people here take? And is Condoleeza Rice just going to keep cancelling or postponing her visits to Mubarak to show that the U.S. thinks 'real democracy' would be better?