The people’s coup (San Diego Daily Transcript)

The people’s coup

By Dina Touta

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The people of Egypt have said their word. They have lined their future and nothing could stop them, they made a choice and are more than willing to pay the price of their freedom. They said no to radicalism and disguised terrorism, as the whole world watched, and remained mute.

So Egyptians walked out in their millions, they walked out against a year of misery the likes of which Egypt had not witnessed in all of its ancient or modern history

Exactly a year earlier, on June 30, 2012, the first democratically elected president had been chosen, Mohamed Morsi. A turning point in the modern history of Egypt that some received with immense hope while others received with great apprehension, Morsi, after all, had a long history as a devout member and a leader of the Moslem Brotherhood, a secret society for over 80 years of plotting, conspiracies, violence and blood, in Egypt, and in many other Arab and Muslim Countries.

But still, in the first free democratic presidential elections after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed Morsi narrowly won, a very doubtful and controversial 51 percent of the votes, against his pro-Mubarak opponent’s exact share of 49 percent. Many Egyptians refused to vote for either candidate, for either’s notorious background, yet when all the signs pointed to a win by the old regime of a pro-Mubarak candidate, and under the nose of the interim governing Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), there was the last minute surprise Morsi-Muslim Brotherhood win. It is rumored and still believed till now that the Muslim Brotherhood threatened to burn Egypt down if they lose and that SCAF rigged the election results for fear of that. Egyptians stood hopeful and tried to overlook the fact that the president belongs to an organization that promotes terror openly, that is holy blessed by Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman Al Zawahry himself, and that even the Iranian Ayatollah, the Iranian God Father, gave a speech describing Egypt under the Brotherhood’s rule as “The New Iran.”

So Egyptians walked out in their millions, they walked out against a government that never kept its support of terror and terrorism a secret, shamelessly, whether inside Egypt or Internationally.

For it was among Mohamed Morsi’s early requests of the U.S. government was the release of Omar Abdel Rahman, the infamous blind terrorist who master minded the world trade center bombings of February 1993, and also known to be the head of Gama’a Islamiya, the Egyptian terrorist group, responsible for many horrific atrocities in Egypt, including the November 1997 Luxor massacre where 58 foreign tourists were killed and mutilated. Locally though, and to the shock and dismay of Egyptians, he released over 2,000 criminals already convicted in terrorist crimes (some facing the death penalty), and even allowed members of Jihadist groups, Egyptians and foreign, to flock back to Egypt.

And on Aug. 5, 2012, 16 soldiers were shot to death on the borders with Gaza, a brutal massacre that took place during the Holy Month of Ramadan as they were breaking fast. This accident would be one of many to be conducted on the borders with the Gaza Strip. The massacre left the army in fury, and it immediately launched a military operation to destroy the numerous tunnels that have been illegally dug from Gaza into Sinai, but lo and behold, Mohamed Morsi personally intervened (on behalf of the fellow Muslim Brotherhood of Hamas) and stopped the operation in its tracks, stopped the destruction of the tunnels, and gave a public speech that he would personally conduct investigations to reach the identity of the criminals, which he never did, as it turned out that one of them is a convicted terrorist who had been released through Morsi’s Presidential pardon.

Then on Oct. 6, 2012, when Egypt annually celebrates a National Victory Day, the date of the last confrontation with Israel in 1973, masterminded by the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and with teary eyes, a shocked nation watched Morsi celebrate this day of honor with his special guest of “honor,” the infamous Aboud Al Zomor, one of the assassins who shot President Sadat to death on the same day in 1981.

So Egyptians walked out in their millions, they walked out against a governing entity set out to control all aspects of life in the country, with the sole purpose of extending their power from the formidable Middle Eastern core, Egypt, to all over the their planned targeted Arab, Muslim, and world domination.

The incompetence of Mohamed Morsi and his Brotherhood in steering state affairs had become as obvious as daylight as time passed by. He systematically changed and removed all heads, subheads, key figures and influential staff members of almost all state and civil ministries, organizations, and civil bodies, replacing them with members, followers and sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood who, mostly unqualified or fit for the job, caused only catastrophic problems and stirred national public anger. He appointed a governor of Luxor (where one-third of the world heritage exists; the pharaohs’ temples, treasures and artifacts), a member of, again, Gama’a Islamiya, the same terrorist group, with the blood of the Luxor massacre of 58 tourists on its hands. Deterioration befell the nation on every level, the increase of poverty became a time bomb. The Egyptian economy and stock market collapsed as never before. This in turn led to an unprecedented increase in crime rates and an unfamiliar state of absolute chaos. Morsi deliberately acted with great carelessness toward tourism, so it was only normal that historical sites became filled with thugs who terrorized and scared off tourists. And with the decay of tourism, the backbone of Egyptian economy, companies were closing up in their hundreds, so in his infinite wisdom, he tried to make up for the nose diving economy by indirectly introducing the idea of renting the Suez Canal to the state of Qatar for a 99 year lease, or, on another occasion, the idea was introduced to rent Egyptian antiquity; The Pyramids and the temples. Only the Muslim Brotherhood would contemplate a horrendous unthinkable idea of renting such a world heritage to the highest bidder.

Gas problem in Egypt escalated, Egyptians queued for hours at gas stations. Egyptians for the first time stayed in darkness and heat as electricity went out on neighborhoods for hours every single day. The president, as well as dominant figures in his organization, boldly gave speeches that it is the national duty to share fuel with his fellow Brotherhood in Gaza, as it turned out he was paying off an old debt to Hamas who helped him escape jail on the night of Jan. 28, 2011, when Mubarak’s regime was days from coming to an end.

So Egyptians walked out in their millions, they walked out against the Brotherhood of Darkness, the darkness that was set out to kill and extinguish any hope of democracy, and foundations of a free civil society.

Mohamed Morsi further dug his grave when he tailored a constitution of his own, on his own. Egyptians witnessed the constitution committee members resign one after the other, from a dummy body of legislators, yet he proceeded with his constitution. A constitution that gave no freedom to minorities, women, and more dangerously that gave him only, as the president, to decide where the borders of Egypt end and start, paving the way for him to give away land on the Gaza borders to Hamas militants, and on the Sudanese and Libyan borders to the extremist governing Muslim brotherhood there.

A self-proclaimed protector of freedom of speech in Egypt, his actions, as had become accustomed, never matched his words. The number of lawsuits the Egyptian presidency filed against journalists and anyone who dared to publicly oppose the Muslim Brotherhood, in one year, had exceeded the number of cases conducted by Mubarak in 30 years, not to mention the blasphemy cases, the hate preachers on religious channels, the public sermons inciting hate, the increase in violence against women, and the ever constant exponential rise in attacks against the Christian minority (nearer to 20 million minority), whether these attacks are physical; killing and kidnapping, or against the churches; burning and demolishing, or public and media stark direct mockery, foul verbal attacks and made up accusations, culminating in the infamous mob attack on the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral on April 7, 2013.

So Egyptians walked out in their millions, they walked out in a man made coup d’état, a nation made coup d’état, an Egyptian people self conceived and publicly unanimous coup d’état.

Yes it is a coup. A coup led by 33 million Egyptians who went out on the streets of Egypt. One third of the Egyptian population walked out to say “No” to Tyranny. And the Egyptian Armed Forces, that will always remain the jewel on the people’s crown, had a choice between giving in to terror or upholding their oath of honor to protect the Egyptian people, and they chose honor. They chose the people and sided with their future. In Egyptians’ Eyes, their Armed forces are the light that burnt the Muslim Brotherhood forces of darkness and evil. Today Egyptians tell the whole world “check mate.” They might not have much, but they are eternally gifted by a massive 7,000 year civilization backbone, that they will never shame.

So I walked out amongst the millions, I walked out and said “No.”

Touta, independent Egyptologist for over 20 years, is a popular speaker and lecturer at some of Egypt’s universities and international organizations. Touta lives in Egypt and is an advocate of women rights, secularism and civil transitions in evolving democracies.

A Message To Erdoğan From The People Of Egypt

It seems that Erdoğan got all matters confused .. he might have even forgotten how military coups look like to call our revolution of June 30th a coup .. he really needs to read more history books to refresh his memory .. The 1980 Turkish military coup was launched “to

bring peace to a polarized society where thousands of people were being killed on the streets,” according to the coup generals and their supporters. 

 The results, however, were devastating:

1. 650,000 people were under arrest.
2. 1,683,000 people were blacklisted.
3. 230,000 people were judged in 210.000 lawsuits.
4. 7,000 people were asked for the death penalty.
5. 517 persons were sentenced to death.
6. 50 of those given the death penalty were executed (26 political prisoners, 23 criminal offenders and 1 ASALA militant).
7. The files of 259 people, which were asked for the death penalty, were sent to the National Assembly.
8. 71,000 people were judged on account of the articles 141, 142 and 163 in Turkish Penal Code.
9. 98,404 people were judged on charges of being members of a leftist, a rightist, a nationalist, a conservative, etc. organization.
10. 388,000 people were not given a passport.
11. 30,000 people were dismissed from their firms because they were suspects and therefore inconvenient.
12. 14,000 people were removed from citizenship.
13. 30,000 people went abroad as a political refugee.
14. 300 people died in a suspicious manner.
15. Documented that 171 people died by reason of torture.
16. 937 films were banned because these were found objectionable.
17. 23,677 associations had their activities stopped.
18. 3,854 teachers, 120 lecturers and 47 judges were dismissed.
19. 400 journalists were sentenced to a total of 3315 years’ imprisonment.
20. 300 journalists were attacked.
21. 3 journalists were shot dead.
22. 300 days in which newspapers were not published.
23. 303 cases were opened for 13 major newspapers.
24. 39 tonnes of newspapers and magazines were destroyed.
25. 299 people lost their lives in prison.
26. 144 people died in a suspicious manner.
27. 14 people died in a hunger strike.
28. While fleeing, 16 people were shot.
29. 95 people were killed in combat.
30. “Natural death report” for 73 persons was given.
31. The cause of death of 43 people was announced as “suicide”.

 This is how a military coup looks like Mr. Erdoğan .. and since none of the above happen in Egypt after June 30th we would like to advise you to keep your opinion to yourself and concern yourself more with the demands of your people who have took to the streets against your policies since May 31st and were and still are being brutally cracked down by your police .. one who has a house of glass should not throw stones at others .. especially if it is non of his concern .. or are you just terrified you will meet the same end of your colleague Morsi ?? Well, we think you should ..

Don't Worry .. We're Happy ! The Egyptian Way ..

A great article by Adam Mowafi: 

DON'T WORRY, WE'RE HAPPY!

Though the mission of Egypt's revolution is not yet complete, the return of the Egyptian identity that came with the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood is a step in the right direction, says Adam Mowafi.

If you are someone who spends time following the political Tweets in Egypt, your state of mind is somewhere between a mental break down and a panic attack. Tweet after tweet, there’s nothing but negative commentary and links to American articles of how Egypt destroyed democracy, despite the big elephant in the room - that it was more like Islamic fascism to begin with. You would also think Egypt is teetering on the edge of disaster with millions of pro-Morsi protesters roaming the streets, proving a 50/50 split in the nation’s political views.
The reality is Egyptians are happy again. While the Muslim Brotherhood can bring out numbers by bussing them into Raba’a El Adaweya and Cairo University from across the country, the word “protest” was given a new meaning on June 30th when millions came out to show their dissonance for Morsi’s government. Frankly, people do not seem that bothered about the MB anymore as we are no longer intimidated by them or their ability to mobilise because June 30th outdid them without any busses. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off everyone's shoulders. Maybe the foreign correspondents do not get it because they just aren’t Egyptian, but the last year felt like a nightmare where the MB would blatantly lie to our faces and the rest of the world would accept their nonsense. It felt like we were in a parallel universe.
Despite the MB's best efforts to reform Egypt in their likeness, the state, the people, the poor and the rich were battling them every step of the way. While some people cite this as stubbornness on the Egyptian people’s part and a refusal of democratic principles, for the majority of Egyptians, the fight ceased to be about politics. We felt our identity was being threatened by an invading force. While it might seem odd to the outside world, most Egyptians have far more anger for Morsi than they did for Mubarak because of the perceived attack on our Egyptianess. Whether this perception is right or wrong, there’s a strong feeling that, although founded here, the Muslim Brotherhood just doesn’t care about Egypt.
This Egyptian identity has been ingrained into us and, as a civilisation which has lasted millennia, throughout countless occupations, it is all we have to fall back on when times are tough and it’s where our sense of pride stems from. It is also the reason that even though we were occupied by both the French and the English, unlike other colonies, by the time they left we had barely learnt a word of either language or changed our habits.
We also love our army and this is not something likely to change anytime soon. Frankly, I hope it doesn’t. I just want a slow reform process to happen from people we trust. The army has learnt a lot and, as an institution, has realised it must change to survive in the long run. What they did on June 30th should be commended; while wrong in the democracy book, it is what suits Egypt and Egypt's rule book. We might be the only case where democracy was achieved through a military coup. It is not definite but it is a possibility.
Anyone ruling Egypt will have to understand that whatever you do and how ever good your policies are, if we do not feel you are Egyptian, it just won’t fly. Today, as you walk down the streets, you’ll see people are happy again. The world will never get Egypt because there are three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way and the Egyptian way.

We Are Egypt .. And We Are Angry ..

Mohamed Raouf Ghoneim

Dear friends - chers amis - liebe Freunde - cari amici - queridos amigos. To everyone around the world - from EGYPT:

We Egyptians are hitting the streets today SIMPLY because we have decided that we will not let Egypt become another Iran or Afghanistan, or even Saudi Arabia or any other country. Egypt is Egypt, and we decided that it will always stay Egypt. We will stay peaceful cheerful humble loving human beings. We will stay Moslems and Christians, living side by side in peace and harmony. And our country will remain a place where human beings are FREE to wear as they wish, FREE to act as they wish, FREE to pray as they wish, FREE to play as they wish. We Egyptians believe that God created us FREE, and that we must fight till the day we die, to remain FREE. 

That's why we Egyptians have decided TODAY - June 30th 2013 - that we will not be ruled anymore by the religious fascist regime of Mohamed Morsi and his Moslem Brotherhood. 

And just so you know who and what we are up against, we are fighting against a regime that wants a radicalized society and seeks a fanatic religious orientation for our country as a first step towards their goal which they openly call world domination. 
We are fighting against a regime that uses poverty and ignorance to mislead poor Egyptians to believe their lie that they are the representatives of Islam in the global war to defend it against the bad infidel Western Christian world. 
We are fighting against a regime that believes in political assassinations as a way of reaching goals, and which has killed many politicians and public figures and writers and thinkers because they tried to liberate minds and steer Egyptians away from extremism and ignorance.
We are fighting against a regime that has its fingers even in your own home country and has spread its influence to reach your politicians and your presidents, so that they ignore everything they know about them and consider them legitimate, thus handing us over to them, and putting you also in direct danger of their terrorist acts, right at your back door. 
We are fighting against a regime that has been involved in terrorist acts and bombings and mass slaughter and killings from Barcelona to London to New York to Madrid to Berlin as well as right here at home in Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo and Luxor - each time murdering and massacring innocent defenseless civilians for their filthy cause. 

We don't expect this to be easy at all, but we will take this fight till the bitter end. And no matter what pictures the media show you, be sure that our EGYPTIAN revolution started peaceful, and will stay peaceful all the way, and no matter what those terrorists in power are planning to do to fight us, we will stand still with no arms in hand but our bare fists, and no weapons in our bags but our belief in freedom, and our determination to reach our aim only through PEACEFUL RESISTANCE. 

So dear friends, now that you know what's happening in my country, please please spread the word about us, and PRAY FOR US, that is all we ask of you. Thank you and GOD BLESS ALL.

A proud EGYPTIAN

From Taksim to Tahrir, from Bulgaria to Brazil

From Taksim to Tahrir, from Bulgaria to Brazil, we fight the same struggle against oppressive state structures that benefit only a tiny wealthy elite ...

Open letter by the Egyptian activist collective ‘Comrades from Cairo’.

To you at whose side we struggle,

June 30 will mark a new stage of rebellion for us, building on what started on January 25 and 28, 2011. This time we rebel against the reign of the Muslim Brotherhood that has brought only more of the same forms of economic exploitation, police violence, torture and killings.

References to the coming of “democracy” have no relevance when there is no possibility of living a decent life with any signs of dignity and decent livelihood. Claims of legitimacy through an electoral process distract from the reality that in Egypt our struggle continues because we face the perpetuation of an oppressive regime that has changed its face but maintains the same logic of repression, austerity and police brutality. The authorities maintain the same lack of any accountability towards the public, and positions of power translate into opportunities to increase personal power and wealth.

June 30 renews the Revolution’s scream: “The People Want the Fall of the System”. We seek a future governed neither by the petty authoritarianism and crony capitalism of the Brotherhood nor a military apparatus which maintains a stranglehold over political and economic life nor a return to the old structures of the Mubarak era. Though the ranks of protesters that will take to the streets on June 30 are not united around this call, it must be ours — it must be our stance because we will not accept a return to the bloody periods of the past.

Though our networks are still weak we draw hope and inspiration from recent uprisings especially across Turkey and Brazil. Each is born out of different political and economic realities, but we have all been ruled by tight circles whose desire for more has perpetuated a lack of vision of any good for people. We are inspired by the horizontal organization of the Free Fare Movement founded in Bahía, Brazil in 2003 and the public assemblies spreading throughout Turkey.

In Egypt, the Brotherhood only adds a religious veneer to the process, while the logic of a localized neo-liberalism crushes the people. In Turkey a strategy of aggressive private-sector growth, likewise translates into authoritarian rule, the same logic of police brutality as the primary weapon to oppress opposition and any attempts to envision alternatives. In Brazil a government rooted in a revolutionary legitimacy has proven that its past is only a mask it wears while it partners with the same capitalist order in exploiting people and nature alike.

These recent struggles share in the fight of much older constant battles of the Kurds and the indigenous peoples of Latin America. For decades, the Turkish and Brazilian governments have tried but failed to wipe out these movements’ struggle for life. Their resistance to state repression was the precursor to the new wave of protests that have spread across Turkey and Brazil. We see an urgency in recognizing the depth in each other’s struggles and seek out forms of rebellion to spread into new spaces, neighborhoods and communities.

Our struggles share a potential to oppose the global regime of nation states. In crisis as in prosperity, the

state — in Egypt under the rule of Mubarak, the Military Junta or the Muslim Brotherhood — continues to dispossess and disenfranchise in order to preserve and expand the wealth and privilege of those in power.

None of us are fighting in isolation. We face common enemies from Bahrain, Brazil and Bosnia, Chile, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Tunisia, Sudan, the Western Sahara and Egypt. And the list goes on. Everywhere they call us thugs, vandals, looters and terrorists. We are fighting more than economic exploitation, naked police violence or an illegitimate legal system. It is not rights or reformed citizenship that we fight for.

We oppose the nation-state as a centralized tool of repression, that enables a local elite to suck the life out of us and global powers to retain their dominion over our everyday lives. The two work in unison with bullets and broadcasts and everything in between. We are not advocating to unify or equate our various battles, but it is the same structure of authority and power that we have to fight, dismantle, and bring down. Together, our struggle is stronger.

We want the downfall of the System.

Comrades from Cairo

via  Roar Magazine