[News] A Tale of Two Squares and Two Movements

[Anti-Imperialist News]

A Tale of Two Squares and Two Movements
Franklin Lamb
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=39276&cid=41&fromval=1&frid=41&seccatid=19&s1=0

Cairo

This observer spent a good part of Christmas Eve 
divided between two main Cairo Squares, Tahir and 
Abassiya, while waiting for a Visa from the Libyan Embassy.

A tale of two Squares and two Movements
Alexandria, 415 or 416
[]



In the year 415 or 416, on the streets of 
Alexandria, Egypt, a band of Christian monks 
seized Hypatia, one of the last great thinkers of 
ancient Alexandria, beat her, and dragged her 
body to a church where they mutilated her flesh 
with sharp tiles and burned her remains. 
<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/womens-history/Hypatia-Ancient-Alexandrias-Great-Female-Scholar.html#ixzz1hYQB8UzP>Read 
more.
Cairo in year 2011
[]

[]



It is evident here that the "blue bra girl" or 
"Tahrir Woman” whose assault by the Egyptian army 
has brought intense wrath upon the ruling Supreme 
Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and similar 
attacks are much on the minds of protestors in 
both Squares. But in Abassiya Sq. the 
participants focus more on the provocative 
demonstrators in Tahrir Sq. many of whom they 
claim are baltagiy (hoods or thugs).  Tahrir 
Square demonstrators feel about the same way 
regarding the pro- SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed 
Forces) demonstrators over in Tahrir Square.

In Abbasiya Square close to Noor Mosque, the 
attitudes and trappings are in opposition to what 
has been happening in Tahrir Square. Same 
souvenirs, candy, caps with the Egyptian flag on 
them, T-shirts, face painting, but with a different political message.

At Tahrir Square, visitors are lectured about the 
current protests focusing on “Reclaiming Honor” 
and condemning the military for violence against 
protestors while chanting slogans such as 
“Egypt’s women are a red line.”  Referring to 
women who have been beaten by the military 
including the “blue bra lady” demonstrators 
encourage each other with chants like, “Raise you 
head high, you’re more honorable than the one who 
stomped you.”  Last week’s violence at Tahrir Sq. 
left 17 dead and more than 900 injured and justice is demanded.

The ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) 
has since apologized to Egypt's women for the 
infamous incident, but it has also stepped up a 
campaign to portray the demonstrators as vandals).

At Abassiya Sq. slogans about the dignity of 
women and the value of martyrs tend include the 
not very subtle message that those Egyptians 
demonstrating in Tahrir Sq. are paid to be there 
and most are unpatriotic and influenced by 
foreign elements.  Is there are country in this 
region that has experienced an uprising where we 
have not heard essentially these same messages?

What I found interesting as I arrived at the 
Cairo Airport was the huge bill board (s) 
proclaiming: “American young people need to grow 
up more like Egyptian youngsters.”  At the end of 
the quote is the signature Barack Obama. I have 
no idea if it’s an accurate quote from Obama’s 
June 2009 speech at Cairo University but some 
here seem to think it is and they ask about it.

But even more intriguing , and quite surprising, 
are the number of young and older demonstrating 
Egyptians who are very knowledgeable about 
current American politics and even quite arcane 
details of US Middle East policy.  And their keen 
interest to discuss this subject even with the 
maelstrom swirling around this city of 25 million 
increasingly stressed citizens.

Maybe in the spirit of the holidays the current 
crop of Republican candidates could be forgiven 
for trying out various stump speeches on their 
audiences.  But not according to Egyptians I 
spoke with at both Cairo main Squares now that 
the campaign for US president is up and running.

The near unanimous opinions I heard included the 
insistence that the messages of US candidates for 
President as they tour Iowa and New Hampshire 
need to be rejected by American voters for the good of the USA.

One student told me, “They are reaching new 
lows­and that is truly low--in American political 
discourse.”  Before I could explain that I found 
Egyptian politics these days much more 
interesting than American politics, one young 
lady blurted out, “But Michele Bachman, who rival 
Ron Paul tells us simply hates Muslims told one 
Iowa audience that she is qualified to be 
President because of her grasp of foreign affairs 
and that being on the House Intelligence 
Committee, “I get the same intelligence briefings that President Obama does.”

Is that true?” She asked. Before I could utter a 
syllable, the same female student continued, “Not 
only is that not accurate what she claimed about 
getting the same intelligence briefings  as the 
US President but Michele then announced that as 
President she would close the American Embassy in 
Tehran, apparently unaware that President Carter 
did that 32 years ago. How can these candidate be 
so ignorant and still run for our Presidency?”

Then someone asked why Mitt Romney is assuring 
audiences in America and presumably Tel Aviv that 
his first trip as President will be to go to Israel.

Next I received a quick mini-lecture on the 
subject of, “and not to be outdone in groveling 
to Israel and ignoring American interests, former 
history teacher Newt Gingrich informs the world 
the Palestinians are an invented people while 
Rick Perry sees no difference between what Israel 
wants and what’s best for America. How is it 
possible they can say such things and run for President?”

Stunned, I am dazzled by how well informed these 
students are. In fact,  reports just in from Iowa 
and New Hampshire (12.24.11) suggest that this 
wannabe  Republican nominee quartet, among other 
candidates this year, believe the issue they have 
been pushing may be pure electoral gold: the fear 
which they believe American voters have of Islamic Terrorism.

Nervous about losing Israel-lobby cash, given 
their inclination to take the Bush and Obama 
administrations assault on civil liberties even 
further than attorney generals Ashcroft, 
Gonzales, and now Holder have done, the right 
wing Republicans are  touring the early primary 
states vilifying, by innuendo,  Arabs, Muslims 
and Islam itself­not to mention Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and Hamas.

Claiming that "the Democrats do not understand 
the full nature and scope of the terrorist war 
against us," the quartet tells their two 
audiences (the one in front of them and much more 
importantly, the one at the AIPAC HQ in 
Washington, the latter supplying  virtually all 
the Presidential candidates with reams of 
position papers on Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas, 
terrorism etc. and busy raising what they claim 
will be the most money every distributed in the 
history of the United States by the Israel lobby 
for a presidential election) that, as candidate 
Bachman likes to assure her audiences, "This war 
of terror ends when they stop coming here to kill 
us! Never, ever again must we be caught with our guard down.”

All the current Presidential candidates insist 
that American support for Israel with endless 
special arms programs and evermore cash and green 
lighting crimes against Palestine has nothing to 
do with the fact that the US is being driven out 
of the Middle East and that the American 
government has never been held in lower repute.

Mitt Romney claimed to speak for all the current 
White House aspirants when he said Arabs and 
Muslims have no hard feelings from the nearly one 
million deaths the Bush-Obama administrations 
have needlessly caused with their wars in Iraq 
and Afghanistan and support for Israel's fifth 
aggression against Lebanon, while urging a sixth. 
At the same time the Obama administrations 
violates international law weekly by impliedly 
threatening Iran with a nuclear attack in 
violation of Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter with 
its “all options are on the table! hysteria.

  Egyptian students ask: “Do these same 
candidates expect American voters not to be 
concerned about the projected two trillion 
dollars of US taxpayer money wasted -- money that 
every one of your countries 435 congressional 
districts needs for education, medical care, 
repairs to your deteriorating infrastructure, and myriad other urgent needs?

Egyptians in Tahriri and Abasssiya Squares have a 
better grasp of American politics and many of us have.

The precise authenticity of Barack Obama’s quote 
on the huge billboards at Cairo International 
airport is not sure.  But the insights and wisdom 
of the Egyptians protecting at both Tahrir and 
Abbassiya Squares  this season are most 
impressive and worth heeding as American go to 
the polls to vote in the coming months.

Franklin Lamb is doing research in Lebanon and 
Libya and is reachable <mailto:c/ofplamb at gmail.com>c/ofplamb at gmail.com

He is the author of The Price We Pay: A 
Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American 
Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon. Dr. Lamb is 
Director, Americans Concerned for Middle East 
Peace, Wash.DC-Beirut Board Member, The Sabra 
Shatila Foundation and the Palestine Civil Rights 
Campaign, Beirut-Washington DC
Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp
Beirut Mobile: +961-70-497-804
Office:  +961-01-352-127

Source: Al-Manar Website
26-12-2011 - 11:28 Last updated 26-12-2011 - 13:37 | 6542 View
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=39276&cid=41&fromval=1&frid=41&seccatid=19&s1=0




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20111227/fa8a6c04/attachment.htm>