If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
It took Egypt's military brass less than six months to first isolate street-battle hardened soccer fans, the country's most militant opponents of military rule, and then restore their waning popularity amid mushrooming protests.
All cities and towns in Egypt are, to some extent, football-mad, but Port Said is a city which takes its football fervor to the extreme.
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA), acting on instructions of the interior ministry, has cancelled the rest of this season's league matches in the wake of rioting at a match last month that killed 74 people and injured hundreds of others.
We are discovering that rule by the military council is a carbon copy of Mubarak's regime. The ruler may have changed but the system remains as it was.
At least 16 people were killed in the wake of the Port Said incident in six days of fighting between security forces and youths seeking to storm the interior ministry in central Cairo.
Fears of renewed clashes this week are reinforced by a growing sense that the militant soccer fans' raison d'etre increasingly has become their deep-seated hatred of the police and the Central Security Force rather than a political vision for the future of Egypt.
There's the tried-and-true means of stifling the press: whack the reporters. Jail them. Beat them. And what better opportunity than during protests that demanded the ultimate taboo -- that the generals should immediately transfer authority to a civilian government?
Egypt has a rich legal history that has produced one of the most complex and sophisticated legal systems in the Middle East. But this very system has been one of the strongest tools in the arsenal of Egypt's dictators.
There are four stories to be told in Tahrir: tear gas suffocation and death; extreme police brutality; incredible acts of sacrifice, and the foundation of a new social contract.
As during the Mubarak era, the administration appears to believe that U.S. interests, including Egypt's peace accord with Israel, are more important than the lives of the Egyptian people.
Distressing signals from Egypt indicate it has veered off course from the freedom and democracy goals of Tahrir Square.
When it comes to bigotry, hate and prejudice, it is difficult to undo quickly what generations of propaganda has instilled. When it comes to anger over socioeconomic trouble, nothing is better than a scapegoat.
It is very important that Egypt should succeed: not only for the 85 million Egyptians (expected to be 100 million by 2025), but also for the entire Arab world (currently at 350 million, expected to reach 590 million by 2050).
Questions from all interested stakeholders persist, the foremost among them: Who will stand as the voice for the Egyptian revolution?
Three young Egyptian women spoke movingly this morning about their part in Egypt's revolution. Americans should listen to their voices to understand what's at stake across Northern Africa.
Revolution or no revolution, Egypt has a long way to go before freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and human rights gain widespread acceptance.
