Adventures of an Egyptian Housewife

Cooking is kind of my thing.  I love doing it and I think I'm pretty good at it.  Lasagna, beef wellington,  salted brown butter nutella cookies, cinnamon rolls, you name it I can probably have a half decent go at it.  But Egyptian food is something I haven't quite worked out yet.  I can make a solid fool and a fairly decent messaka but that's about it.  So today I decided that each week I will try to master a different Egyptian dish.  Think Julie and Julia but way less aggressive.  I will also give you the recipes so you can give it a go yourself.

I started today with bisilla bel gazar we sauce tamatam.... peas with carrots and tomato sauce.  Simple enough to be sure I got this project off on a good foot.  This is a delicious thick stew like dish with meat.  I wanted to make it with lamb but the store only had giant hunks of lamb that required deboning and chopping and what not and I am not quite there yet.  So I went with veal cutlets.  I actually made two separate dishes since our friend Matthew is a vegetarian - the one with veal and another with potato. They were both DELICIOUS and super duper easy.  I am not entirely sure what it is supposed to taste like but Mohamed assures me it was done right and it was certainly delicious so I feel pretty good about it.  I asked him if his mom would approve and he assured me that she would.  So without further ado, the recipe that I pieced together from friends' suggestions and a little innerwebs searching:

bisilla bel gazar we tamatam

1 lb veal cutlets

1 lb frozen peas, thawed but not cooked

3 carrots (chopped)

1 big white  onion (chopped)

4 ripe tomatoes

3 T tomato paste

butter or olive oil

water

salt and pepper

1.  Cook the onion in a little butter over low heat until it gets a bit opaque and smells amazing

2.  Add the meat cutlets and cook them until they are brown

3.  Add the peas and chopped carrots and about 1/2 cup water and cook for about 10-15 minutes adding water as needed so that there is always a bit of water at the bottom of the pan

4.  Blend the tomatoes and another 1/2 cup of water until it is a liquid and add this liquid along with the tomato paste to the meat and veggie mix

5.  Add whatever spices you fancy.  I added salt, pepper and an ambiguous blend simply called "meat seasoning"

6.  Cover the pan and cook on low for 20-25 minutes until the sauce is thick almost like a paste that sticks to the meat and veggies

7.  Serve with rice (or whatever)

If you want to make this vegetarian you can substitute potatoes for the meat.  Just cut them into big hunks and boil them until they are soft before adding them to the onions.

(can you believe how gigantic these Egyptian carrots are?!)

The final product

Filling in the Missing Pieces

I am an awful blogger.  I know.  Over the last few months I've started to write dozens of posts catching you all up on me, on Egypt, on everything I have so regretfully failed to write about.  Today, as every few minutes military apaches fly so low over me that I can see the faces of the pilots and soldiers with weapons pointed down at their own people, I realize that all I really need to do is explain to you how we got here.  How Egypt went from a bad to worse, from broken and corrupt to downright fascist.

In June 2013 the military "deposed" the president elect Mohamed Morsi.  Morsi was elected by the people in May of 2012 (though the results weren't publicly announced until June likely because he had to work out a power sharing deal with the military before they would "allow" him to be president.  But that's not official) in the first "democratic" elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.  Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, Ikhwan.  His election was far from surprising.  Although the masses that fought for the removal of Mubarak certainly didn't have the election of a Muslim Brotherhood (I will refer to then as the MB from here out) member in mind, the MB has been a popular opposition movement in Egypt for over 60 years.  Under Mubarak the MB was banned from the public eye and unable to participate in politics, so given the chance to be a real player in the game support for the well organized and strong community service oriented Muslim Brotherhood was wide and real.  They were the only political party with the organization, publicity and support needed to win an election.  And they did.

I like to compare Morsi to Bush.  Neither one was well spoken, both came off as slightly less intelligent than we might like our leaders to be and both certainly made horribly embarrassing social gaffes at the worst of times.  Morsi adjusted his, ahem, "package" while sitting with Australia's Julia Denarde on live TV, he said things like "gaz and alcohol don't mix" and "nobody can finger Egypt".  But the real problem of the Morsi presidency was that it was very apparent Morsi was merely a puppet for the goals and agenda of the wider regional Muslim Brotherhood leadership.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't this teddy bear looking guy that was really calling the shots.  And the shots he was calling were just bad.  He started out by issuing a decree protecting the controversial constitutional committee from disolution along with the upper (mostly unelected) chamber of the parliament, neutralizing the judicial system (meaning he was free to issue any sort of orders he pleased without and court nullifying them as illegal), basically making himself a dictator.  This didn't bode well.  This along with increasing violence in the Sinai at the hands of religiously led groups, tricky dealings with Hamas in the occupied Gaza strip, increasing prices on basic food items, frequent power cuts and long long lines at petrol stations made him wildly unpopular.

So in June of 2013 a group called Tamarod ("rebel") called for nationwide protests against the Morsi government.  It was clear that the military was thrilled.  Recently there have been conspiracy theorists claiming that Tamarod was actually the brain child of the Egyptian security state, and I must admit I wouldn't be surprised.  As protesters gathered in public squares around the country military helicopters flew low overhead dropping flags and flowers (yes.  FLOWERS) and making hearts in the sky.  No, I am not joking.

After a few days it was announced that the military, led by Chief General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi was removing President Morsi from power.  Ummmmm what?  I thought we were moving towards democracy here.  Apparently not.  Sisi announced a "roadmap" to new elections that was very popular among the people, it was similiar to the roadmap the people had called for after the toppling of Mubarak.  And the people were thrilled.  So thrilled in fact that most refused to see the change for what it really was, a coup d'etat.  Even saying the word "coup" was an offense punishable by a good word thrashing or at times even physical violence.  But it was a coup.  COUP COUP COUP.  To make a long story short Sisi announced the appointment of an interim president called Adly Mansour which has been one of the biggest jokes of this whole thing.  Mansour has no power, no voice, no nothing.  He is a face to meet and greet foreign leaders and nothing else.  General Sisi is the man.

None too surprising supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were outraged,  They have been trying to take power in Egypt for decades and in less that one year their guy was taken out by the military.  So they set up rather large protests in two main areas of Cairo where they sat in for about two months.  One of these areas is located at a major traffic artery in a very busy and commercial suburb of Cairo called Heliopolis in front of a mosque called al Rabaa al-Adiwayya.  Rumors exploded about the sit in at Rabaa.  People thought to be spies were being tortured, there were dozens of dead bodies piled up under the stages, they were armed dangerous and out for blood.  I have never heard a credible report that any of this is true.  Meanwhile the TV stations began referring to the Rabaa protesters as terrorists and anytime the news talked about the situation a little text box appeared in the corner of the screen that said something along the lines of "Egypt Fights Terrorism".  WHAT?!  People were growing increasingly impatient with these sit ins and the rhetoric was explosive.  Even people who had once protested agaisnt the military and police were encouraging their rhetoric and even suggesting a violent removal of protesters was the answer.  Sisi in all his fascist brilliance called for Egyptians to take to the streets to give their support for his military to remove protesters.  I mean seriously?

In all honestly it was time for the protest to end.  It was blocking a major traffic pattern and it was a huge pain in the ass.  So I supported the removal of protesters.  The military announced that they would clear the protests in a peaceful manner and only use force if necessary.  Anyone who was willing to leave would be allowed a safe and protected exit and not arrested.  I should add that there were whole families protesting at Rabaa.  Families with kids, senior citizens, it was a wide segment of the population.  Early in the morning of August 14th security forces showed up to clear Rabaa.  There is no clear picture of what really happened except that at the end of the day hundreds of people were dead.  HUNDREDS.

What I can tell you is what I experienced.  I was at work this day and we left early due to what was unfolding.  Instead of having multiple drop off points like it usually does our bus stopped only once, very close to the massacre that was happening at Rabaa.  I had to take a taxi from that point to my home in Maadi which is on the other side of the battle.  Like I said this was all happening at a major traffic artery and so we had no choice but to get uncomfortably close.  At this point I had not seen or read and news of what was happening but as we got closer it was obvious.  There was constant gunfire, smoke and police snipers on most rooftops.  The streets were blocked meaning anyone who was inside the perimeter was stuck there and anyone trying to leave was vulnerable to sniper fire.  I saw  ambulances being denied entry to help the wounded and at one point we pickled up a teenager who had been shot twice and took him to a field clinic that was set up behind a kiosk.  Anyone caught helping wounded protesters was arrested including doctors and good samaritans.

Anyways, the fall out of this was a nightmare.  People blamed the protesters saying they should have known better, they deserved it, etc.  A complete loss of humanity.  Suddenly those who had just months before been protesting against the trigger happy military were supporting its use of excessive violence and justifying murder.  Again, it was awful.  At this point Egyptian society split between supporters of the military and supporters of Morsi.  You had to be one or the other.  People like me who thought they were both wrong were labeled Morsi sympathizers.  It was a mess.  I have never seen such a vehement and manufactured polarization of a society,

Over the following months we were under a military imposed curfew.  From 7pm util 6am we had to be inside our homes.  MB supporters have held weekly marches and protests but the voices that had once protested so loudly against the military after the revolution have disappeared.  The revolution is officially dead.  Every advancement, every win made has been away and reversed by Sisi.

And now here we are.  Since the Rabaa massacre the military was again has god like status.  Sisi has slowly returned civil law to the Mubarak era making protest illegal, authorizing the military and police to use excessive force, reinstating the torture state and the secret police.  Its a mess.  Sisi is on track to be the next president of Egypt and the military has written itself into the constitution being voted on today and tomorrow as the most powerful entity in Egypt.  If you can, google "Sisi dream" and read about the dream Sisi had.  It's pretty comical.  Sisi has deemed the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organization" and so they are back underground where they were under Mubarak.

Today and tomorrow Egyptians are voting in a referendum to approve the new constitution.  The third in as many years.  This version includes more rights for the people but also makes the military untouchable.  Military trials for civilians are legal, the military gets to appoint the Defense Minister who serves for twice as long as the President, etc.  Its a joke.  Many groups are boycotting the vote but it is readily apparent that it will be approved.  Hopefully the next two days will go without incident.  Security is high, every few minutes military helicopters are overhead to remind the people that they are watching.  There are armed police and military everywhere to remind us all that they are watching.  They are always watching...

When Morsi became the president. Or Shafiq did. Or maybe neither. God this sh*t is confusing…

If you are like most of the world you are likely super confused at the twisted and tangled state of Egyptian politics – specifically elections.  And rightfully so.   Honestly we all are.  But being that I do live here and follow this train wreck and I teach politics and all I feel I am informed enough to offer some sort of an (overly simplified, slightly biased and under researched thanks to my crap internet connection) explanation. 

First a quick note on the state of the deposed Hosni Mubarak.  Mubarak was found guilty of not stopping the deaths of protesters and given a life sentence.  (This is only 25 yrs in Egypt)  No one was held responsible for giving the orders to shoot at protesters and all the heads of the police got off with no charges.  Really sad.  Mubarak was moved from the hospital he’s been in to Tora prison hospital where he spent 4 hours refusing to get off the helicopter.  Last Tuesday night state TV announced that Mubarak had died in custody.  Then 10 minutes later they announced he was mostly alive or maybe mostly dead.  Or deadish.  Or kind of alive.  So he was taken to another hospital where he has apparently miraculously recovered.  Seems to me like a plot to get him out of jail. 

Now lets take it back to parliamentary elections in January.  Egyptians vote using 2 separate ballots – one for individual candidates (candidates who are running as independents, unaffiliated with any political party) and the other as a closed party system list (voters choose a political party and based on the percentage of their overall votes they get a certain number of seats in the parliament.)  The point here is to allow individual candidates a chance to run.  Well for some reason the Elections Board decided to allow political parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the ultra conservative-boarding on fundamentalist Salafi’s Al Nour Party to run candidates on the individual list ballot.  So when the votes all came in the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis won an overwhelming percentage of the parliament.  (They respectively hold 49% and 20% of seats, which makes 69% of seats in parliament Islamist.)  This has been a bit of a thorn in the side of a parliament, which owes its existence to a secular revolution with democratic goals.  The biggest issue I would argue has been the make up of the committee that will hopefully maybe someday write Egypt’s new constitution.  Islamists and liberals within parliament had been in a bitter battle over who exactly should be on this committee.  The Muslim Brotherhood argued that the committee should be made up of parliamentarians (not a surprise as they dominate parliament and this would ensure a constitution rooted in Islam) while liberals demanded a committee made up of outside experts – constitutional lawyers, economists, doctors, etc to ensure a constitution rooted in –get this – democracy.  So far 2 committees have been formed and liberals have walked out in protest of both.  Soooo we are left without a constitution.  Not a great environment to elect a president into.  Just to school you a bit on constitutions, a constitution is where the powers of the president are laid out.  What he/she can and cannot do.  So to elect a president with undefined powers is insane.

A few months after parliament was elected the buzz about presidential elections began.  Under Mubarak no opposition political parties had the right to exist.  Opposition candidates were barred from participating in elections and even jailed.  So there were an overwhelming number of inexperienced and unaffiliated candidates running.  The Elections Committee decided to pass legislation known as the Political Isolation Law shortly before the deadline for announcing official candidacy.  This law said that anyone who had been a high-ranking member of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party was to be excluded from presidential elections.  (ummmm Shafiq?!)

During the election there were 23 officially registered candidates.  23!  One of the problems with this is that the liberal and secular vote was split up between a few different candidates whereas the Muslim Brotherhood supporters had only one person to support.  In the end no one candidate received over 50% of votes and so the final round of elections comes down to the top 2 equally disturbing and horrible options for president that Egyptians voted for last week:  The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Morsi and Mubarak’s formed Aviation Minister and Prime Minister for the last month of his presidency – Ahmed Shafiq.  What the deuce.  So people are not happy.  How does one choose from these two clowns?  The choice is between having an Islamist as president or going back to virtually the same government as Mubarak.  Both of these options effectively shit on the revolution.  Many people choose to invalidate their votes either to show resistance or simply because they wanted to be sure their ballots weren’t sold in the polling places.  (word on the street is you can buy an unused ballot for 4LE in polling stations.)  My roommate Sarah checked both candidates and wrote “Down with military rule!” on the bottom of her ballot.

But let me back up a little bit.  DAYS before the elections the Constitutional Court decided to issue verdicts on 2 cases that have been before them for months.  The first dealt with the aforementioned individual vs. party ballot system.  The court ruled that the 1/3 of seats in parliament that were to have been filled by individual candidates were filled unconstitutionally as parties were allowed to run their own candidates.  Solid legal decision but very suspect timing.  So the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) in all of it’s infinite wisdom, dissolved parliament days before the final presidential election.  At the same time the court announced a decision regarding a case involving Shafiq and the Political Isolation Law.  You see the law says that no high-ranking member under Muarak was to run in the elections, but Shafiq was his Prime Minister for Chrissake!  Anyways, unsurprisingly (since SCAF loves Shafiq and nothing in Egypt happens unless SCAF allows it to happen) the court allowed Shafiq to remain as a finalist for the presidency.  So it is under these conditions that Egyptians went to the polls to “vote” for a new president:  no parliament and no constitution.  Which basically means that SCAF is waiting to see who is president before they decide what powers he will have.  Oh yeah!  SCAF also decided that since there is no parliament, they would oversee the writing of the constitution.  Because letting the military write the most important legal document in a country is such a great idea.


Added to all this is the Constitutional Declaration that SCAF announced a day before final elections giving themselves pretty much full autonomy in matters of the military (new president will not be commander in chief nor will he have any oversight of military budget) and extensive legislative powers which seem to render any new president pretty much powerless.  

So where does that leave us?  In a clusterfuck of stupid is where.  Elections were last week and results were supposed to have been announced on Thursday.  Which they weren’t.  Initial reports are that Morsi got the most votes but both sides have claimed victory and both sides have been scolded by SCAF.  The way I see it (along with many others) is that the wait now is not about counting votes, the wait is about negotiations with SCAF.  Largely substantiated rumors claim that SCAF is negotiating with the Muslim Brotherhood.  SCAF wants them to accept certain conditions before they will “allow” Morsi to be declared president.  Things like a permanent place in the political scene, no civilian oversight of the military budget and lord knows what else.  If the Brotherhood accepts these conditions, SCAF will “allow” Morsi to be the president.  If not, they will announce a Shafiq victory.  Now this is all rumors of course but after a year of following this circus I am fairly confident that this is in fact the case.

Once again Tahrir is full of people.  Islamists who are tired of the constant battle they fight for political inclusion (they have been fighting to be allowed into the political scene for 30 yrs); revolutionaries who see this last year and a half as a total waste since we are likely to see a return to Mubarak style government with a Shafiq victory, and everyone else who just wants something, anything to happen to bring back some sort of stability to a corrupt and broken system. 

Everyone is a bit on edge uncertain of the reaction of the people if Shafiq is announced as the winner.  Silly ex-pats are whispering about stocking up on pet food, phone credits and beer in case of another revolution and Shafiq has vowed to respond to any protests with “brutal force”.  Call me naïve but I just don’t see any of that happening.  It seems to me that the majority of Egyptians are exhausted and just want it to be over.  So for now we wait....

Long Overdue Update

It is a beautiful morning in Cairo.  In the seventies, birds chirping and I got to sleep in!  Ive been horrible at keeping this current so I am going to cut and paste an email I wrote to some people back in the states as a quick update...

Things here are amazing.  I love work, my kids drive me insane but if they didn't something would be wrong, right?  The military and security forces have been cracking down on American NGOs in Cairo and 3 wks ago the school asked for my passport.  Usually this is because they are updating my visa but generally I get it back after a few days.  So after a week I asked why they had it and when I could get it back.  The people who generally know these kinds of things had no answers for me and didn't know when I would get it back.  So logically I started freaking the fuck out.  "Shit.  I'm an American political science teacher who is openly critical of the government and military and who is currently teaching a section of the book that the school ripped out (***holy god story to follow***)  So I was convinced for a week or so that they were investing me and had my passport so I couldn't leave the country.  I got it back the other day 7amdulilah but still have no clue why they had it. Ahhhhh the life of a "foreign hand" under military rule.

So here is a crazy story for you.  As I'm sure you all know there was some horrible things that  went down at a soccer match here in early February.  A little background: the Zamalek (a neighborhood in Cairo) team, Al Ahly has VERY devoted fans who call themselves "Ultras", most who are teenage boys and men under 30.  .The ultras are not only notoriously prone to fighting with other teams fans, they have also been a huge part of the revolution.  Their field is just across the Nile bridge that runs into Tahrir Sq. and after every match since last Jan they walk to Tahrir. They are the largest, loudest group at every protest and have marches in Cairo all the time. The revolution would not be what it was without the Ultras.

Since Egyptian soccer fans can be a bit rowdy, they are separated in the stadium on opposite sides with locked gates down the middle so they cant be near each other.  After matches each team leaves out a separate gate on opposite sides of the stadium and there is an enormous amount of security from the stadium staff as well as police and military.  Also everyone goes through metal detectors and is patted down and bags checked on the way in. ALWAYS.  In a nutshel l....security anticipates violence and when it happens it is stopped VERY quickly.  

In early Feb Al Ahly was playing in a town called Port Said and after the game over 75 ultras were massacred.  It is abundantly clear that this was a planned event.  First of all, fans were not patted down or bags checked on the way into the stadium.  Furthermore close to the end of the match people were let into the stadium carrying clubs and bats.  Then, after the game (which al ahly won so their fans had no reason to cause trouble), security OPENED THE GATES between the port said and ultras sides and hundreds of port said fans (many of whom are believed to have been paid by someone (ahem the police)) poured into the ultras stands and began massacring them using bats, guns, metal batons, you name it.  As if this isn't enough evidence, security, the military and the police (who generally break up  these fights before they even have a chance to get bad) stood there and WATCHED.  Hundreds of armed security forces who had the means to stop the fighting are on tape standing and watching the massacre.  So 74 fans (all under 30, the youngest was 11) were slaughtered.  It is clear that this is a sort of retribution against the ultras by the police and military for their role in the revolution.  And it is heart breaking.  I do not know anyone who did not know someone who died that day.  Luckily I don't.  2 of my students had brothers die though.  SOOO of course this happens while I am in Luxor with my parents and I have taken the week of of school.  Thank God I was not in school because I would have quit or been fired due to the following incident...

The school I work at is a campus with 5 separate international schools (American, British, French, German, Egyptian).  Each has its own administration but there is one horrid woman, Nadia Hafez, who is the superintendent of them all. (she actually owns the place as well.  hello conflict of interest!!!) This woman sucks.  She runs the school like a business, for serious profit.  Plus we are fairly certain she has ties to the military.  OK back to story... I have a student, Sarah, who is amazing.  She is a great student, super sweet and generally quiet.  There was a general strike planned in Egypt for Feb 11 to protest SCAF and the handling of the port said incident.  So on the 8th Sarah handed out fliers just explaining what civil disobedience is.  Not advocating any action just informational.  so the administration gets wind of this, confiscates the fliers and calls an emergency meeting with the students.  During this meeting Ms Nadia tells the students that they must be patient with the SCAF and let them do what they need to do.  She says that "the retarded girl" who handed out the fliers knows nothing about civil disobedience.  that civil disobedience was first used in SERBIA IN THE 1990s and that the United States would NEVER resort to something like civil disobedience and so anyone who chooses not to attend school on the day of the strike will be expelled.  She then opens the floor up for questions.  Another of my students stands up and says wait..."what about Gandhi and martin luther king?  wasn't the whole civil rights movement based on civil disobedience?"   "No" she says "that was a group of NIGGER boys acting out against the government."  and by the way, they were apparently hanged.  So Sarah asks a question about Port Said and during her question she starts to cry (she lost 2 friends in the incident)  Ms Nadia starts screaming at her about how she is a sissy and to sit down until she stops crying.  So from this point on, anytime a student asks a question that is critical of the government or SCAF or the police, Ms Nadia straight up turns off the microphone.  What?!  WHAT?!  Bitch is CRAAAAZY.  So I get back to school and all my friends and students are like thank god you weren't there you would have quit or been fired.  And yeah, i probs would have been.  So if that is not enough, the administration calls Sarah's parents and tells them she has been ditching school to go to Tahrir.  TOTAL LIE.  First of all, I would know.  Secondly, she is such a good kid.  Her parents believe her but still, what the heck?!  Also, a few weeks ago one of my boys needed to go to the nurse; he'd been in the tear gas near Tahrir and was feeling short of breath and weak.  The tear gas recently has led to over 70 deaths so this is of great concern.  In order to go to the nurse you need permission from your grade supervisor.  For 12th grade this is Ms Nadia's daughter, Rania.  So Rania asks him why is it that he thinks he feels sick and he finally admits hes been at Tahrir.  Rania tells him this is his own fault, she does not feel bad for him and no - he may not go to the nurse.  What!?  WHAT?!?!?  So i walked him down to her myself.

So I decided at this point i needed to teach civil resistance.  i went to the poli sci book and found the chapter about it in my book in the table of contents.  imagine my surprise when i went to the page number it said in the book and it wasn't there!  The school had removed the whole chapter!  So I am teaching it anyways using a power point.  hahahaha.  Other than that nothing big in the news here.  Presidential elections will take place in June which is sure to be a complete circus.  Oy.  I plan on being in the states for that whole affair.

Parliament is currently debating who should be chosen for the 100 member panel that will write the new constitution.  Islamists (the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis combined) control about 60% if not more of parliament and so they want 40-60% of the panel to come from within parliament.  Liberals on the other hand think that the majority of the panel should be from outside the parliament.  It is messy and I have little faith it will get done this spring as planned.  But we shall see.

Here are some photos I took on a walk through Old Cairo a month or so ago while my parents were here...

 This one is graffitt on a wall on Mohamed Mahmoud St where much of the violence between police, security and protesters takes place.  It was recently painted over by the military,

I am planning a trip back to the states sometime in June-July for 3 weeks or so and hope to see you all!!!

Christmas Trees and Molotov Cocktails on a Not So Silent Night...

I  ventured onto facebook this morning and was slapped in the face by one of the most surreal moments I have had in Egypt thus far.  It was like being at the intersection of two parallel universe where beings exist alongside each other, they intersect with each other, but they are incompatible and the inhabitants of the two different universes are not aware of the intersection.

As I scrolled down the ‘news feed’ literally one after the other over and over were photos of Christmas and photos of yesterday’s clashes between military police and protesters outside the cabinet building in my beloved Cairo.  I think that words are not the best way to describe this so here is a brief version of what I saw:

My purpose in sharing this with all of you is not some "put my American friends in their place" social commentary on the triviality of Christmas trees and ugly sweater holiday parties, but rather a statement on how the reality of living here in Egypt has shifted my entire worldview.  And how every once in awhile my two worlds come crashing together in ways that are both difficult for me to reconcile and make me wildly uncomfortable. 

I honestly do hope all of my American friends and family enjoy their Christmas season.  It is a beautiful time of year, full of lights and smiles, where everyone can talk openly about peace and hope without being labeled a socialist or out of touch left wing idealist.  Unfortunately late December in Egypt and much of the world is not so cheery and "peace on earth-y," it's a bit more dodge molotov cocktails thrown at you by the military from the roof of a bulding-y.

Love from Cairo,

Martha

The week the shit hit the fan. Again.

I was awoken this morning by the sound of low flying helicopters.   Surely out to "protect the people" as they participate in the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections.  I still haven't decided how to feel today.  It is somewhere between anxious and hopeful, doubtful and cynical.  The elections are here.   The elections we have been hearing about for so long, the elections I have spent weeks discussing with my friends, my students, my co-workers.  The elections that have been the backdrop of CNN and Al Jazeera coverage of a heartbreakingly long and chaotic week in this city that I have fallen so head over heels in love with.  

While I would like to say that today is the beginning of a new Egypt, the reality is that it is not.  It is more of the same bullshit with a shiny new cover.  Many Egyptians are battling with whether or not to vote in this scam of an election.  For one, most (even the most educated among Egyptians) have not had the time, or the guidance to understand the candidates, the parties, or even the overwhelmingly complex process itself.  It took me hours to even gain a basic understanding of the process.  Not to mention there are almost 50 new political parties since February.  There are many who are choosing not to vote because they doubt the legitimacy of the elections themselves - how can they participate in an election being run by a regime they are trying to topple?  But then there are the optimists.  The ones that feel that this election does matter, even if only symbolically.  So we will see how today and tomorrow go.  The process here is in 3 stages.  Cairo and 8 of the other Egyptian governates vote today and tomorrow, 3 weeks from now 9 more governates vote and 3 weeks form then the remaining 9 will cast votes.

Leaked Ballot

I sat down many times during the recent 6-day battle between protestors and security forces to write this blog.  Each time I began I was unable to finish.  I didn't know what to say, what angle to take, how much information to include.  Should it be my story?  Should it be Egypt's story?  From what I have seen in the news it appears that the U.S.  media did a fairly good job of covering this so I will focus more on my experiences.  

On Friday the 18th I went to Tahrir with Scott and Theo.  The mood was very upbeat.  There have been protests almost every Friday since I got here.  Most call for an end to emergency law and an end to military trials of civilians.  Increasingly however, as SCAF has failed over and over again to keep its promises, the call has been for SCAF to step down.  The protest on Friday the 18th was organized mainly by various political parties.  We were there for an hour or so and had some interesting experiences.  People left and right were asking to take pictures with us, at times I honestly felt like a celebrity of some sort.  Most were happy that we were there, supporting them and their cause.  There were a few who asked why we were there which as always turned into interesting conversation.  One guy explained to us that the end of the American Empire was near at which time the Middle East and Islam would rise to be the new world power so we should consider becoming Muslims.  When we'd had enough we grabbed some popcorn and rice pudding with konafa and headed out.  (A note on Tahrir:  AMAZING street food.  Grilled corn vendors, Tahrir sweet potatoes, popcorn, juice, etc)

Friday night families of some of the martyrs from the January Revolution as well as some activists peacefully spent the night in Tahrir.  Saturday morning, security forces stormed the square forcefully using batons and tear gas.  By Saturday evening the air was thick with tear gas and a central security force truck was on fire. Thus began the 6-day battle between protestors and central security.   This battle did not happen in the midan (square) itself, but on a side street, Mohamed Mahmoud St, leading to the Ministry of the Interior. This street has been renamed "Eyes of Freedom Street" by protestors because police purposely shot at protestors eyes.  Dozens of people have lost eyes in the lat week.  A prominent activist named Ahmed Harara was blinded this past week.  He lost one eye during the Jan 25 revolution and the other this past week at the hands of the police.  

Central Security claimed to be protecting the Ministry of the Interior and protestors were protecting Tahrir.  Throughout this 6 day battle tear gas (provided by the good 'ol US of A) was constant.  Protestors threw stones and Molotov cocktails while the police shot tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.   The tear gas used this time around is supposedly a CR mix as opposed to a CS gas mix. This is illegal by international law and while the US won't use it domestically, they have no problem supplying the Egyptian military and security forces with a seemingly endless supply.  This gas is much more harsh than the gas used in January.  It has led to multiple deaths by asphyxiation.  Convulsions, temporary blindness, temporary paralysis and other symptoms generally not seen from tear gas have kept Tahrir's well-equipped and staffed field hospitals full all week.  I was lucky enough (note sarcasm) to be in Tahrir on Monday the 21st when central security mass gassed the square.  Details are unclear but it is believed that they pumped gas through the subway vents that run under the square.  I will spare you the details but will tell you that it was unpleasant.

The level of organization and support in Tahrir is inspiring.  Despite thousands of people in the square an ambulance lane was kept open to bring injured protestors in to the main field hospital (usually on motorcycles or carried by other protestors) and then out to a nearby hospital if needed in ambulances. This was a CONSTANT traffic.  A Twitter feed, "Tahrir Supplies" coordinated what supplies were needed at field hospitals with volunteers buying, delivering and picking up supplies from all around Cairo. Medicine, surgical supplies, inhalers, food, juice, blankets, you name it.   On the days when tear gas was strong in the square people were walking around with spray bottles containing either milk or a yeast, water and vinegar mix to ease the incredibly painful sting of the tear gas on steroids being used against the people.  Even the men fighting on Mohamed Mahmoud were well organized, sending fireworks or flares up wherever new fights broke out so that medical help and more street soldiers knew where to go.

Those of you that know me don't even need to ask if I was there.  Of course I was there.  I witnessed the effects of CR gas first hand and I would do it again.  One of the most frustrating parts of this week for me has been reading accounts of Americans and other foreigners who went to Tahrir and had bad experiences because they failed to take the necessary precautions or decided to get more involved than they should have.  What is happening in Tahrir and on Mohamed Mahmoud is NOT OUR BATTLE.  I believe it is important to show support but I think it is even more important not to get in the way.  I feel that as a foreigner going to Tahrir I have many responsibilities.  First of all I am responsible for making sure I am going to a part of the midan that is safe.  (Nowhere near Mohamed Mahmoud st).  Secondly I have a responsibility to go with people who know where I should and shouldn't be and who speak enough Arabic to help me out if I get into trouble.  Thirdly I have a responsibility to be there for the right reasons. 

I knew that going to Tahrir (especially after Tantawi's speech in which he said "foreign hands" were behind the protests) might not be the safest or most comfortable place for me as a foreigner and a woman to be.  While on the 18th people were loving the fact that we Americans were there, as the violence intensified SCAF pointed fingers at foreign agendas and tear gas with the words "Made in USA" fell constantly.  This made people very skeptical of foreigners in the square, for good reason. I knew that if I was going I needed to be able to explain why.  I also knew that for those of you at home asking why I was there, I needed a good explanation.  So here it is...

I believe that what is going on even right now in Tahrir Square is important.  I support the right of the people to speak out against their government without fear of retaliation or violence at the hands of the military and the police.  I stand with the Egyptian people as they fight for democracy and justice in whatever form it may take and for however long it continues.  Who am I to say that I stand with anyone if I am not willing to actually literally stand with them.  Furthermore, I have friends who spent all 6 days on Mohamed Mahmoud St risking their lives for this cause.  I would never be able to reconcile saying that I support them if I stayed at home as they stood in constant tear gas, under fire from live ammo and rubber bullets.  

The last week has not been an easy one but it has certainly been an inspiring one.  I spent every day worried about my friends on the front lines.  Day in and day out I went to work with this thought in the back of my head.  At the same time I got to spend every day surrounded by my students whose interest, curiosity and passion inspire and uplift me every day.  This is their future and they deserve for it to be everything that has been promised to them.  Everything that they want.  The Egyptian people are passionate, resilient and strong and one day Egypt will belong to them.  Until then you can bet your ass that if Tahrir Square is in the news.... I’m there.

Love from Cairo,

Martha

When the Bad Turns Ugly...

Today is certainly a sad day in Egypt.   I’m sure most of you have seen the news that last night a number of people died during a protest march that eventually turned violent.  It is also clear to me from emails and facebook messages I have received that the news about this news in the states is not surprisingly overly alarming.

A little background.  There is a long history of violence between the Copts (a Christian sect) and Muslims in Egypt.  Copts have long felt marginalized and victimized by the majority Muslim population here and so their grievances are nothing new.  A few weeks ago a Coptic church was burned in Aswan.  This has set off a number of protests by the Coptic church calling for increased protection of Copts by the military who they feel do not offer them the same support and protection as they offer the Muslim population.  I have read that last week a soldier hit a priest during a smaller protest.  Yesterday’s protests appeared to be peaceful.  Copts were marching from an area of the city called Shubra to the state TV building Maspiro.  Two men leading the march were wearing long white robes reading, “martyrs on demand” others were carrying signs reading “god protect you my children” etc and chanting, “this is our country”. 

Apparently (mind you this is all from what I have read and seen over the past day) as the protestors crossed under the 6^th of October Bridge stones starting hailing down on them from above.  They continued their march and turned towards Tahrir Square where they were met by stones being thrown by the Egyptian military, tar gas and shots being fired into the crowd at random from armed tanks.  At this point things become even more unclear.  I think that protestors tried to turn around and head back the way they had come.  Out of nowhere two tanks drove at high speeds erratically through the protestors swaying from side to side on the road very clearly driving into crowds of people on purpose.  I watched this on live TV from a café a few miles away. 

As of this morning dozens were wounded and at least 26 are dead.  Many were crushed by the armored vehicles and others were shot.

Earlier in the evening the news stations were showing live coverage of the events.  Around 9pm however the military took control of the media and ended all live coverage.

It is my belief that the violence that was carried out yesterday was largely at the hands of the military.  I have seen photos of high ranking Central Security Forces amidst groups of thugs inciting violence as well as read multiple first hand accounts claiming that this is the case.  The takeover of the media last night would suggest this as well.  It appears that this was an attack on the Coptic Church by official Egyptian actors.

This is being seen as a national tragedy in Egypt.  All political parties and candidates have expressed outrage at the attacks and all Egyptians:  Christians and Muslims are in mourning at both the loss of life and the actions of the military.

At a time where SCAF is already losing the faith of Egyptians this latest move is sure to cause an even larger rift between the people and the leadership.

I would like to make it clear that as of today this was an isolated incident.  It took place in only one area and was over by this morning.

I am sure the West will capitalize on this as a way to highlight more violence in the Middle East and the prevalence of violence against Christians.  While after last night this cannot be denied please realize that this does not reflect the will or desires of the majority of Egyptians.  I talked about this incident in great detail with my students today all of whom were appalled at the actions of the thugs and the military. 

If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them. 

Love and tears from Cairo,

Martha