Things Tantawi & Co. Don't Seem to Understand ..

.. based on this speech:

1. When people are being killed on the streets, you don't offer condolences. You stop the violence immediately, and bring its perpetrators to justice.
2. Lack of security over a period of months is not an excuse for bad governance, it is a result of it. The same is true of a deteriorating economy.
3. Complaining about "ever-increasing" demands without identifying a single concrete achievement during your rule is a mark of irresponsibility.
4. Refraining from shooting civilians is not a concrete achievement.
5. Saying that you have "stopped trying civilians by military tribunal except in cases where military law applies" is ... such nonsense that I'm not sure where to begin, except to say that it does nothing for the 12,000 civilians who have already faced military tribunals since February.
6. Declaring support for democracy while arguing that "the criticisms directed at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces only aim to weaken our resolve, reduce public trust in the military, and indeed cause the collapse of the Egyptian state" is a contradiction.
7. Assurances of parliamentary and presidential elections are insufficient if the resulting civilian government has no authority over the military.
8. If you can offer to hold an "immediate" referendum on military rule, you can complete parliamentary and presidential elections and hand over power a lot sooner than June 2012.

Watching Egypt

I was just listening to BBC's World Have Your Say, where someone called Susie insisted that "the majority of Egyptians" are tired of watching the protesters in Tahrir Square.

Speaking as one of the majority of Egyptians who are watching what is happening in Egypt (in my case, watching from Canada), I can't claim to speak for the rest of the majority. I can, however, describe some of what we've seen.

• We are watching the Ministry of Interior attack protesters using tactics and weapons indistinguishable from those employed in January and February. Just as we watched, for months, the MoI's apparent inability to secure Egypt's streets form the seemingly omnipotent and omnipresent baltagiyya (thugs).

• We are watching military police join the MoI in its crackdown. Just as we watched, again for months, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces claiming to be the "guardians of the revolution" who "had not and would never fire on the people".

• We are watching SCAF members like General Fengary dismiss the injured from January and February's protests as they return to Tahrir Square. Just as we watched, back in February, as General Fengary saluted those who had died to free Egypt from oppression.

• We are watching Essam Sharaf call on the protesters to leave Tahrir Square. Just as we watched, the day Sharaf was appointed prime minister, as he stood in that same square and promised to join the protests the moment he felt he could no longer serve the revolution from his office.

And now we are watching those who insist on doing more than just watch, fighting to bring down a regime of oppression which remains very much in place. And I know that, while I'm fed up of watching many things in Egypt, those who are risking and giving up everything for freedom will never be on that list. Just as I know that, if all that some of us can or will do is watch, we can at least be honest about what we are witnessing.

الآمر والمأمور

في أواخر فيلم "الإرهاب والكباب"، دخل وزير الداخلية (كمال الشناوي) الطابق الأرضي من مجمع التحرير، ووقف بين ضباط أمن الدولة يصرخ في "الإرهابيين" اللابثين في الطوابق العليا من المجمع، بعد أن فاض به من مطالبهم. وختم الوزير خطابه الشائط بأن أشار بإصبعه تجاه المشاهدين عبر الشاشة وقال: لازم تعرفوا إن الحكومة مالهاش دراع عشان يتلوي

استرجعت ذلك المشهد وذلك الوزير "الخيالي"، الذي تمثلت فيه السلطة التي تأمر ولا تؤمر، وأنا أشاهد البيان الأخير للواء محسن الفنجري، الذي استبدل فيه تحيته العسكرية لشهداء ثورة يناير باصبع التحذير لمتظاهري الثورة المستمرة، والذي تبعه توجيه متزايد بأصابع الإتهام تجاه الثوار من قبل بعض أعضاء المجلس العسكري وصفحته الرسمية بالفيسبوك. لست من الذين يساوون بين المجلس العسكري و نظام مبارك، فلم نر من المجلس (أو لم يثبت عليه) القمع والفساد كما رأيناه من النظام البائد. ولكن المجلس، برغم ما أعلنه من تأييد للثورة، واقرار بشرعية مطالبها، لم يثبت بعد أنه قابل بسلطة القانون والشعب عليه. بل يمكننا أن نلتمس العكس مما يقوله أعضاء المجلس عبر الإعلام والتصريحات الرسمية، حيث نسمع أنهم هم الذين يعلمون الشعب الديمقراطية، وهم الذين يفرقون بين المطالب المشروعة والغير مشروعة، والاعلام البناء والمخرب، بل وبين المواطنين الشرفاء و العملاء، الأمر الذي يدفع بنا إلى القول اننا اذا كنا نريد لهذه الثورة النجاح فإننا مازلنا في حاجة الى اعادة تنظيم العلاقة بين الحكومة والشعب، وأن هذا الأمر لا يحتمل التأجيل

لو أنني اليوم من أعضاء حركة ٦ ابريل، لتوجهت فوراً إلى القضاء المصري بدعوى ضد اللواء الرويني، وكل من قام بقذف الثوار باتهامات بلا دلائل، ليس بغرض ايذاء أولئك القاذفين أو الانتقام منهم، ولكن لتذكيرهم أنهم أفراد مثلهم كمثل غيرهم من أهل مصر، خاضعون للقانون مسئولون عن أقوالهم وتصرفاتهم. فحينما تشهد العباسية معركة شوارع يصاب بها المئات، فان كل من حرض ضد المسيرة السلمية التي كانت تمر بالحي يجب أن يكون عرضة للمسائلة. أما لو ثبت (من خلال لجنة تقصي للحقائق في تلك الأحداث، التي بات تشكيلها ضروريا) ما هو أسوأ من ذلك، وهو أن الهجوم ضد المتظاهرين كان موجهاً ومتعمداً (مثل معركة الجمل)، فهذا جرم يجب أن يعاقب عليه كل من شارك فيه أياً كان

آمال ثمانية يوليو

:آمال لأهل التحرير من مصري في الخارج

الوحدة، التي هي أقوى سلاح

الغضب، الذي لا يزال حقاً و واجباً

السلام، الذي يحافظ على الشرعية

الكرامة، التي لا تفريط فيها

الثبات، الذي تُجتاز به المحن

النصر، الذي هو في متناول يدكم

Reactions

Some of my favourite reactions to the dictator's ouster. Baheyya:

In the end, they leave, with hollow eyes and a few plain words. Stripped of their ill-gotten power, they are miserable, ashen, and base. All of the rhetoric they spewed lingers like a bad smell, soon to evaporate in the fresh air of freedom.

Sarah El-Sirgany, aka Sirgo:

Disbelief. It took me a few minutes to process the seconds-long announcement. It was short enough to fit in a tweet. But it was mighty. President Mubarak has stepped down.

I broke into tears when it downed on me. Protests worked. Peaceful street action worked. Egypt is free, for the first time in my life.

Tarek Shahin (yes, relation) at Al-Khan:

Sandmonkey:

Tonight will be the first night where I go to bed and don't have to worry about state security hunting me down, or about government goons sent to kidnap me; or about government sponsored hackers attacking my website. Tonight, for the first time ever, I feel free…and it is awesome!

Save any and all disagreements with any of the groups that operate them. We will disagree with each other, and that will be sweet because no more dictatorship. Tomorrow we squabble,and…tonite?

TONIGHT WE CELEBRATE!

Zeinobia:

The true heroes are our martyrs who brought down Mubarak , who purified us from fear , silence and hypocrisy with their pure blood.

The true heroes are those Egyptians who stood against what was believed to be the most fearful regimes in the Arab world for three weeks in Egypt biggest square , they were and are still standing despite the cold weather , despite the public criticism and doubt , they came from all Egypt to prove one thing : Egyptians are not passive , Egyptians are not sleeping they are only patient and the world not only the regime has to beware the anger of these patient people.

The true heroes are those great activists ,journalists and bloggers who stood against the Mubarak regime so bravely for years especially since 2005 and even before that risking everything including their own lives for that precious great moment.

The true heroes are those who are detained for no bloody reason except that they want better present and also future for their country.

Last but not least: one of the nice by-products of Egypt's revolution, in terms of international media coverage, is that many people got to hear of Mona El-Tahawy for the first time. She played an indispensable role in raising awareness and public support for Egypt's cause abroad, and it's been great seeing her get the credit she deserves as a writer and analyst of Egyptian and Middle Eastern affairs. Here is her first recorded reaction to the news:

Mubarak Overthrown

After all the celebration, and after all the joyous words shared with so many people over the past seventeen hours, part of me has felt speechless for all this time. I don't know how to let all of these thoughts out, and I don't think that what has happened has fully sunk in yet. Even thousands of miles away, the emotion is overwhelming.

Mubarak assumed the Egyptian presidency in 1981. Like most Egyptians, I was born during his presidency, what came to be called "Misr Mubarak" ("Mubarak's Egypt"). And we all knew that, when the regime used that phrase, it wasn't meant figuratively. He and his cronies really did see Egypt, with its tens of millions of people and millennia of history, as nothing more than their little fiefdom, a place where they could accumulate power and money by stealing away the rights and inheritance of the country's true owners.

And now I've seen those true owners step up to reclaim the country that we all love, and in so doing, showing the very best of Egypt's character: pride, determination, peacefulness, courage, responsibility, and humour. And the further the regime devolved into violence, lies, and arrogance, the more it showed itself to be completely unworthy of the country it presumed to rule.

Egypt is now free of Mubarak, thanks to the sacrifice and effort of many, many people to whom I am forever grateful and by whom I am forever humbled. The essential and monumental first step has been taken. We are now living a rare moment, where all Egyptians have an opportunity to build a better country, with a better system of governance.

Considerable challenges remain. A great deal of vigilance will be needed to ensure that the end of Mubarak's regime translates into true liberation for Egypt. And there are many important debates to be had about Egypt's future, in terms of its constitution, government, and policies. But won't it be beautiful to have all of these debates out from under the shadow of authoritarianism, in the light of freedom?

صباح الحرية

صباح الحرية

لمصر الثورية

وصبحتم بخير

يا أهل التحرير

وسلام وتحية

لاسكندرية

ولبور سعيد

والوادي الجديد

والسويس والمنصورة

والمحلة والاسماعيلية

* * *

شهدنا شيء عجيب

في تونس القريب

شعب رايد حياة

وقدر بيستجيب

ولما جاه النصر

وزين هرب مالقصر

سمعنا صوت بيقول

دورك بقى يا مصر

جات الردود تلقائية

دي مصر يابا سلبية

ونظامها ده مش حيهزوه

شوية عيال فيسبوكية

نزلوا شباب وكبار وصغار

وقالو مهما يكون جبار

لحد ما نزيل الطغيان

ثورة في كل ليل ونهار

ولسه حسني جي يقول

الأمر أمري وعليكوا القبول

وببلطجة وسرقة وكدب

يرهب ويضحك عالعقول

وادي شباب مصر الشجعان

من المدن الى الميدان

صامدين لحد ما ذلوه

وطفشوه زي الجبان

* * *

تحية لخالد سعيد

ولكل مصري شهيد

ذكراكوا دايماً جوّانا

وكمالة السيرة أمانة

وشعب مصر المتحرر

هو هيحكم ويقرر

وكل حاكم جوّه وبرّه

هيضل فاكر مثل الثورة

ثورة بلادي الحرة

عيشتي يا اغلى دره

عاشت مصر حرة مستقلة