A new statement and discussion document by the Revolutionary Socialists (RS) in Egypt has broken into the Egyptian mainstream media. This is highly unusual as critical voices challenging the official narrative of the “war on terror” rarely get a hearing. The statement and document call on the left opposed to the military dictatorship in Egypt to work alongside the young Islamist activists facing the brutal crackdown of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s military regime. They argue that seeing Islamist forces as “counter-revolutionary” is paralysing the left and playing into the hands of the regime. El-Sisi seized power in the coup of July 2013 in order to crush the revolutionary movement that began with the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011. El-Sisi has used … [read more]

Everybody is conscious that the main criterion is the turn-out, as the crowning as such has been decided long before. The regime put it somewhat below 50%, which is not credible given the empty polling stations. In any case no comparison whatsoever with the sprawling elections after the fall of the last Pharaoh. A revealing measure was the sudden prolongation of the referendum for an entire day. The methods employed by the junta are understood at once: Tight media control. Free transportation. Threats of a fine for those not casting their votes – no need to continue this list of techniques of coercion. We should not forget that the coup was extraordinarily bloody killing thousands of protesters, filling once again the prisons and banning any democratic articulation and not only … [read more]

I wonder what does "democracy" mean for the Anti Imperialist Movement, specially when we are facing an armed fascist groups supported by the biggest imperialist power which is USA? What does "democracy" mean for a revolutionary group in such a situation? How come you neglect that Muslim Brothers was the new elites assembled around the generals since 2011? Or should we condemn only the old one but welcome the new faces of these elites? I wonder why the Anti-Imperialist Movement kept silent when a Constitution was announced by Muslim Brothers in November 2012, which was considered the real coup d'etat declaring Mursi the new dictator of Egypt?[fn]see two articles on this topic: Mursi's presumption www.antiimperialista.org/mursi_s_presumtion Mursi: pharao or revolutionary? … [read more]

All those who believed that the popular movement could use the army against the Muslim Brothers have been taught a bitter lesson. It happened the other way round: the movement was used by the army against the Brotherhood suppressing the democratic achievements altogether! As revolutionary democrats we condemn the military rule and the massacre against the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). We demand democratic rights for all including the MB, despite the fact that they themselves did not act according to the same principle. In Egypt the strategic main enemy of revolutionary democrats are the old elites assembled around the generals. Political differences and conflicts with Islamists including the MB must not lead to neglecting the old oligarchy and their power apparatus. The military coup and … [read more]

Success of the Tahrir Everybody was surprised by the extraordinary momentum of the mass protests. Millions took to the streets across the entire county decisively tipping the relationship of forces within just a few days. This general mobilisation reached far beyond the original Tahrir milieu. (It suffices to watch the pictures of the numerous women with headscarves among the anti-Morsi camp to grasp how far the protest entered into the Islamic cultural environment.) Eventually the pressure became that big that the generals felt obliged to intervene. Failure of the Muslim Brothers On the other side of the medal stands the political failure of the Ikhwan, a failure whose extent has also surprised people. The Muslim Brothers proved unable to fulfil the democratic and social … [read more]

In his hubris the president assumed that the Tahrir would remain marginal. Actually the exclusion of the Tahrir from the constitutional process dates back to the time of the bloc between the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the military. Then came the clash between the MB on one side and the military junta with the judicial apparatus loyal to them on the other side. The idea behind Mursi’s operation looked as if he wanted to draw support and legitimacy by partially adopting the Tahrir’s demands against the judiciary thus taking the wind out of the Tahrir’s sails. The Islamists presumed to marginalise any opposition to their leadership by marking them as secularists and subsuming them under the old regime. They really seem to believe their own narrative of overwhelming popular support – … [read more]

It is all about this apparently small alteration which is dealt with in this piece – the turn from the struggle to rescind a dictatorial ukase into an attempt to topple the entire regime. For it makes a tremendous difference if one wants to approach this problem in terms of Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. The line of the Tahrir leftists is crystal clear: Mursi is usurping their revolution. They were in the forefront of the mass uprising to topple Mubarak, while the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) only followed suit. Many Salafis even supported Mubarak. After Mubarak’s disposal the MB did everything possible to soften and decelerate the popular movement. They even entered into a block with the army against the Tahrir. While the Tahrir wanted to finish off with the junta, the MB went for … [read more]

Session of the Anti-imperialist Camp Assisi, Italy, August 23-26, 2012 Saturday, August 25, 9pm Cinema: Forbidden (67min, Arabic with English captions) Subsequently debate with the director Amal Ramsis Egypt between military, Islamists and Tahrir “Forbidden” (2011) is the fourth film of Amal Ramsis, after “In Beirut there is still the sea” (1999), “Only dreams” (2005), “One life” (2008). The film is a historic document about the months right before the uprising of January 25 in Egypt. It shows the bans suffered by the citizens under the Mubarak regime as well as the accumulating anger which eventually led to the popular eruption. The protagonists of the film are political activists like Arab Lotfi (film director), Salma Shokralla (journalist) or Mohamed … [read more]

Leftist candidate shooting star The surprise of the first round of the presidential elections was the result scored by the leftist Nasserist Hamdeen Sabbahi. He became third with 20.7% and some 4.8m votes. In most of the urban centres Sabbahi won, in the two largest cities, the capital Cairo and in Alexandria, even with about one third of the votes leaving his contenders far behind. Emblematic is the case of the Cairo slum quarter Imbaba which used to be a Salafi Jihadi stronghold in the 90s and later was taken over by the MB. Following the results: Sabbahi in the first place (32.2%) followed by Shafiq (23.2%); Mursi (18.3%); Abul-Fotouh (14.7%). Abul-Fotouh, the more liberal pro-Tahrir Islamist, who had been expelled from the MB, scored 17.1% which equates with roughly 4.1m … [read more]

By end of March the Muslim Brotherhood eventually had nominated their presidential candidate Khairat el-Shater. This ran against their original claim of refraining to contest the elections. El Shater is rich businessman and associated with the conservative wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Then came in Omar Suleiman, the highest-ranking torturer of Mubarak, who had been nominated by the pharaoh himself as his successor. This caused a major upheaval in Egypt public opinion. Meanwhile the judiciary had dissolved the constitutional commission as not being representative of the Egypt people. Thanks to their parliamentary majority the different Islamist factions were de facto able to take full control of the commission. All other forces had withdrawn their participation protesting against … [read more]

Q: With the downfall of Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) entered an instable bloc with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). What is the rationale behind and will they sustain it? The bloc is mainly punctuated by the US influence in the region. We are not talking of SCAF/MB but of SCAF/MB/US. Let us start with the army. Its leadership was fine with the revolution as they wanted to get rid of Mubarak and his son who tried to curb the army’s influence. They were against the succession of Mubarak by his son. Gamal’s idea was a kind of monarchy which the army could not accept. Actually it was Gamal who destroyed his father’s rule and it was clear that he was unable to carry on as his father has been doing. Already before Mubarak’s downfall it was the intelligence … [read more]

Is the crisis in Syria heading down the path of the Libyan scenario? And to what extent are the regime’s stubbornness and bloodiness preparing to open the door to a foreign armed intervention, which would transform the Syrian revolution into a tragedy that would threaten the very survival of the Syrian state? The danger is present, though not very likely, as Syria lacks petrol – the booty that attracted Western greed as in the case of Libya, and Iraq before. America and its satellites act in a very pragmatic way. They are not concerned about tens of thousands of people injured or martyred. They may even prefer the situation as it is: the Arab Syrian army worn out in a bloody war against the people. And the Syrian regime challenged and undermined, but not overthrown, because the … [read more]

Short-sighted Muslim Brotherhood’s calculus The spectrum most keen to go to the polls is the Islamist one with its two branches, namely the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the various Salafis. This might seem paradoxical as it does not fit into the European islamophobe prejudice and also the claim of some Salafi trends that elections do contradict the sovereign rule of good. Their rationale, however, is all too terrestrial. The MB is the best established opposition party and well prepared for electoral campaigning while the Salafis are lavished with Saudi money. They can expect a landslide victory enhancing their stance in the political system despite the severe limitations to the prerogatives of the parliament. It is nearly impossible to predict their share of votes but observers … [read more]

There is shooting and this strange nerve gas all the time and at around 10:30 p.m. yesterday night the shebab [youth, people] were attacked for one hour by 30 unknown uniformed special forces in black with different live ammunition and gas, no street lightning at all, the scene only lit up by the fire of the guns, the dim light of the moon and some strange phosphoric light at the end of the street leading to the Ministry of Interior. After an hour, they reconquered Bab El Louq square where I am living with nothing than stones and unbreakable determination and solidarity. Into the face of the shooting and the attacks onto their bare bodies, the shebab were shouting into the night "hurriya" (freedom) and "madaniya" (civil state)... not "ilsamiya" (islamic)... In parallel, Tahrir … [read more]

A few days back the new eruption started when a group of victims of Mubarak’s tyranny and their relative staged a protest against the impunity of the former torturers. The significance of their demand is underlined by the fact that many activists have been sentenced to prisons terms by military councils while the trial against Mubarak is being steadily delayed. The police intervened with utmost brutality. Instead of chasing out the protesters their call for solidarity was well received. Tens of thousands came to their rescue engaging in battles with the police. Within a few days millions are back to the streets unifying around the central demand: down with the military council – a civil transition government to be formed immediately. This pivotal conflict is, however, intertwined … [read more]

Long night at the Tahrir In the night of 28-29th of June, the Tahrir Square and the city center witnessed renewal of street fights between the Egyptian activists and the returning hated troops of the Central Security. Confrontations began as a group of relatives of the martyrs of the uprising had been attacked by civilian-dressed persons and prevented from attending a commemoration for the martyrs. During the ceremony, it had been demanded that those responsible for the murder of more than 800 demonstrators answer to the account. The relatives of the martyrs, and hundreds of activists moved towards the Ministry of Interior. After intense dispute in front of the ministry, the demonstrators decided to retreat to the Tahrir Square. The demonstration was attacked by thousands … [read more]

What we experienced, roughly speaking, was a boiling situation and a society in turmoil. The obvious attempt of the old regime to just get rid of its head and leave things as they used to be, has failed. The popular movement is in full swing and still growing. The first new accents in foreign policy, namely to soften the embargo on Gaza and to resume ties with Tehran, indicate a clear direction.Right after the fall of the dictator we used to speak of a bloc of the old regime which at least was able to set up the constitutional referendum of March 19. But two months later, this bloc is showing severe weaknesses and signs of disintegration. There have been some trials of former high-ranking officials, and further trials are looming. All need to embrace the “revolution”, including the … [read more]

An alliance of mainly leftist organisations had called for the Gaza march to stress the interrelation between Egpytian souverainty, the demands for reforms and the Palestinian question. This can also be considered as a test to the regime’s willingness to undertake reforms. The organizers planned to hold a march to Gaza starting on May 15, accompanied by several caravans of humanitarian supplies. During the last weeks, more than four thousand persons had registered for participation. The ‘freedom caravan’ was stopped on Friday evening in the city of Ismailia at the Suez channel. The supplies were confiscated and ten particpants arrested. Other five hundred participants tried during the night to bypass the army blocks on foot. Another caravan, composed of fifteen artists, was … [read more]

The current ambiguous situation is reflecting the instable power situation in Cairo itself. The vast majority of the Egyptian people is in support of the Palestinians and want to end Egypt’s subservient role towards Israel and the US. The military regime emerging from the old systems on one side wants to keep things as much as they used to be but, on the other side needs also to respond the popular demands. Hence the half-hearted announcement of the military rulers to stop being a pillar of the creeping genocide on Gaza is already an important success of the popular revolt. Even this simple and minor promise has shaken the entire imperialist set-up of the region. Also the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, which had been blocked by the West, Israel and Egypt, became possible due … [read more]

What is the impact of the Arab rebellion on the Palestinian movement within Israel? It is a great push and gives spirit and hope to the movement. It is a powerful inspiration which is already helping the resistance to grow. Furthermore it will strengthen the more determined, more radical forces whether secular or Islamic. What do you think about the reconciliation Hamas-Fatah? Some effects are positive, but not all. First Israel cannot continue to punish the resistance in co-operation with a Palestinian organisation in the same way as before. Second: Israel said not to negotiate with terrorists meaning Hamas. As Fatah is now in co-operation with Hamas, Israel already announced to stop talking to Fatah as well. Shimon Perez called the situation very sad. For the resistance this … [read more]