Occupy Tahrir Square vs. Occupy America

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat

November 22, 2011

Wounded protester carried to Tahrir square makeshift hospital on Monday 21 November

“We could all temporarily lose sight of who is pulling the strings in this counter-revolution currently playing out in Egypt … but make no mistake, the thousands in Tahrir square will not lose hope nor can they afford to.”

Egypt, a land embedded in ancient history with an old legacy of oppression and abuse of power, its people are awakening and refusing to yield to any kind of tyranny or autocracy be it of civilian or military authority.

But obviously somebody, and that somebody is unfortunately in command right now, doesn’t seem to get this message.

Some political analyst once said “An autocracy or a tyranny is a far simpler form of social and political organization than a democracy.” … I think he is absolutely right considering the complexity of Egypt’s transitional phase towards what a lot of people hope to be a true and functioning democracy.

I also believe that he would have rephrased his statement had he had the chance to witness the police brutality confronting the occupy movements in the democratic United States of America.

Protesters flee tear gas in Tahrir Squaire on Monday, 21 November.

You could lose your eye sight (hit by a rubber coated bullet in the eye), you could lose your laptop or your briefcase -as in my case- in the protest pandemonium and you could very well lose your life choking on tear gas or get run over by an armored vehicle but one thing you definitely would not lose and that is your self-respect and dignity.
And that is why Egyptians are back in Tahrir square again to regain their lost dignity. They are taking to the streets by the thousands, not only because they are not satisfied with the performance of the interim government or the lack of security and the decline of the economy but mainly because the last couple of days revealed, through the violent confrontation with the police and military, that Mubarak may be gone but his regime is very much still alive and operating.

We all could temporarily lose sight of who is pulling the strings of this counter-revolution currently playing out in Egypt … but make no mistake, the thousands in Tahrir square will not lose hope nor can they afford to.

Quite a few suspects on Egypt’s counter-revolution list; we have the still surviving lords of Mubarak’s regime with their smuggled billions, we have Mubarak-loyal state security apparatus with an army of on the payroll thugs, we have the ambitious Islamists and their Gulf financers eying the biggest chunk of the cake, we have the White House and their administration playing the universal patrons of freedom and democracy while backstage stabbing the Arab spring in the heart and of course we have got the Israeli cousins placing all their money on a chaotic Egypt and pushing hard for the friendly and American aided Egypt military to continue running the show in this leading Arab country .

Don’t grumble, the Americans do it too

The generals- all Mubarak appointees- of Egypt military council of armed forces (SCAF), battling thousands of angry protesters who seem adamant on occupying Tahrir square once again, have defended their use of excessive and unjustified force against protesters by drawing an embarrassing comparison between their brutal performance and the tactics of the American police forces who are dealing violently with the Occupy protests all over the United State.

Pepper spray or rubber bullets, two different tactics but both serve the same purpose, to Silence dissent.

American police officer uses pepper spray to move seated Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad in Davis, Calif.

It seems that the American democracy, with the long legacy of respect for human rights which used to be a prominent model to follow, has lately turned into an inspirational and a credible reference for brutality against civilians and protesters.

But even though the comparison bears some eligibility, the Egyptian police and army forces in their recent barbaric crackdown on the Tahrir revolutionaries and activists has gone way beyond any world competition.

Watch for yourself, only to be sure that the fighters for human freedom and dignity can’t afford to lose hope nor can they stop struggling on behalf of the silent 99%


“The military can rule, only in one case … over our dead bodies” chanted the thousands in Tahrir square as they swarmed the iconic revolution hub to denounce the SCAF reluctance to hand over power to a civilian government.

Tahrir saga 2

Tahrir square on monday night, November 21, 2001 ...The revolution continues.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian