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?
posted by Katie Warren @ 12:12 PM
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