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