Egypt Independent
Jano Charbel
Tue, 12/02/2013
The
commemoration of the second anniversary of Hosni Mubarak’s abdication in Egypt
was centered around calls for the current president to step down, in a scene
indicative of the tough time ahead for authorities.
Tens were injured and others reportedly arrested, after peaceful protest marches turned into violent clashes between protesters and Central Security Forces outside the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace on Monday night.
Around 10,000 angry protesters marching from downtown Cairo, Tahrir Square and Nasr City, descended upon Mohamed Morsy’s presidential palace in Heliopolis to commemorate Mubarak’s toppling — and demanded the abdication of the new regime.
Thousands
of protesters chanted slogans reminiscent of the 2011 uprising between 25
January and 11 February 2011, indicating that the state of revolution has not
stopped. “The people demand the downfall of the regime” and “Irhal” (Arabic for
"leave") were among the chants.
However, newer slogans directed against Morsy’s regime were also chanted including: “Down with the rule of the guide” and “sell the revolution, sell. Sell the revolution Badie” in reference to Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.
Amidst
the choking clouds of tear gas, angry protesters also chanted “fuck you Morsy”
and “the Interior [Ministry] are thugs.” Others spray-painted messages of
dissent such as “Morsy is a murderer” on his palace walls, and other buildings
along Merghani Street where the palace is located.
Clashes
erupted after a small group of youth moved to dismantle barbed-wire fences
surrounding the palace’s main gate. Security forces within the palace used
water cannons to disperse all protesters away from the main gate, after a
couple of protesters had partially set it on fire.
Rocks were then hurled over
the palace walls, and shortly afterwards six armored riot police trucks were
deployed with hundreds of CSF troops behind them.
Volleys
of tear gas came raining down upon the protesters — violent and non-violent,
alike — pushing all away from the palace’s walls. The now famous Black Bloc
protesters built a makeshift barricade on the street outside the palace, while
hurling tear-gas canisters back at the CSF, along with rocks, glass bottles,
Molotovs, and fireworks.
Yet
amidst the violent chaos, there were politics in the form of grievances,
demands and propositions.
“We
demand the downfall of the entire regime, especially Morsy. He’s proven time
and time again that he is a liar. Morsy never sticks to the promises he made to
the Egyptian people,” said protester Gamal Ibrahim.
“We’ve seen that none
of those responsible for the killings of protesters have been brought to
justice, while more protesters are being killed every day across the country,
with others being abused and tortured."
Ibrahim
went on to say that Morsy lied when he said that he would be a president
representing all Egyptian people, and that a new constitution would be issued
to protect the rights of all Egyptians.
“Instead
we have a dictator serving only the interests of his Brotherhood, and sponsoring
a shameful constitution to protect his own direct interests and those of his
society,” he said. Ibrahim recommended the formation of an interim “national
coalition government” until new presidential elections could be held.
Besides
the call for the downfall of Morsy's administration, a more moderate demand was
the resignation of Prime Minister Hesham Qandil.
Sherif
al-Masry told Egypt Independent, “I travelled today from Beni Suef (about 120
kilometers south of Cairo) to demand the resignation and impeachment of Prime
Minister Qandil along with his cabinet.”
“Qandil
is an animal who understands nothing. He talks of women’s dirty breasts causing
diarrhea amongst babies while our country and its economy are collapsing,” he
said referring to Qandil's recent controversial statements about hygiene an
sanitation.
Referring
to Qandil’s former position as minister of irrigation and water resources,
Masry claimed that “he should just talk about irrigation, that’s the only thing
he knows. Leave the government to those who know how to govern.”
Masry
clarified, “I’m not here to protest against President Morsy. He is a decent
man, but his ministers — especially Qandil — are incompetent fools. If he
leaves them in place then country will surely collapse from mismanagement.”
Politics
in the midst of the violence were not only manifested in the anti-regime
demands, but also in resentment of the political class, including the
opposition.
Leading
members of the opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, were noticeably
missing from the protest at the palace. Even within the NSF there is
disagreement regarding their opposition toward the ruling regime, with some
demanding Morsy’s abdication, while others calling only for ministerial
shuffles and reforms.
A
middle-aged protester, Fathy Mahrous, noted that “Egypt’s revolutionary youth
are far more active and fearless in their demands for justice than the
opposition politicians and party chiefs.
“When
it comes to their basic rights, even the common simple folks have grown
fearless and outspoken since the revolution,” added Mahrous. He explained
“people aren’t afraid of authority figures anymore. They are willing to
confront the police on the street, as you can see. They even curse and assault
judges in their courts.”
Mahrous
concluded “Morsy will not be able to rule Egypt with an iron fist like Mubarak
did before him. The people are no longer willing to put up with such
subjugation.”
Well
into the middle of the night, and two years into the toppling of Mubarak, hundreds
of protesters remained in the palace, an area previously inaccessible for
protests, at a moment of the revolution many believe is critical.
In a perfect act of commemoration, they chanted, “Hey interior ministry, what do you think you’re doing? Did you forget about 25 January?"
In a perfect act of commemoration, they chanted, “Hey interior ministry, what do you think you’re doing? Did you forget about 25 January?"
The
commemoration of the second anniversary of Hosni Mubarak’s abdication
in Egypt was centered around calls for the current president to step
down, in a scene indicative of the tough time ahead for authorities.
Tens were injured and others reportedly
arrested, after peaceful protest marches turned into violent clashes
between protesters and Central Security Forces outside the Ettehadiya
Presidential Palace on Monday night. Around 10,000 angry protesters
marching from downtown Cairo, Tahrir Square and Nasr City, descended
upon Mohamed Morsy’s presidential palace in Heliopolis to commemorate
Mubarak’s toppling — and demanded the abdication of the new regime.
Thousands of protesters chanted slogans
reminiscent of the 2011 uprising between 25 January and 11 February
2011, indicating that the state of revolution has not stopped. “The
people demand the downfall of the regime” and “Irhal” (Arabic for
"leave") were among the chants. However, newer slogans directed against
Morsy’s regime were also chanted including: “Down with the rule of the
guide” and “sell the revolution, sell. Sell the revolution Badie” in
reference to Morsy's Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie.
Amidst the choking clouds of tear gas,
angry protesters also chanted “fuck you Morsy” and “the Interior
[Ministry] are thugs.” Others spray-painted messages of dissent such as
“Morsy is a murderer” on his palace walls, and other buildings along
Merghani Street where the palace is located.
Clashes erupted after a small group of
youth moved to dismantle barbed-wire fences surrounding the palace’s
main gate. Security forces within the palace used water cannons to
disperse all protesters away from the main gate, after a couple of
protesters had partially set it on fire. Rocks were then hurled over the
palace walls, and shortly afterwards six armored riot police trucks
were deployed with hundreds of CSF troops behind them.
Volleys of tear gas came raining down
upon the protesters — violent and non-violent, alike — pushing all away
from the palace’s walls. The now famous Black Bloc protesters built a
makeshift barricade on the street outside the palace, while hurling
tear-gas canisters back at the CSF, along with rocks, glass bottles,
Molotovs, and fireworks.
Yet amidst the violent chaos, there were politics in the form of grievances, demands and propositions.
“We demand the downfall of the entire
regime, especially Morsy. He’s proven time and time again that he is a
liar. Morsy never sticks to the promises he made to the Egyptian
people,” said protester Gamal Ibrahim. “We’ve seen that none of those
responsible for the killings of protesters have been brought to justice,
while more protesters are being killed every day across the country,
with others being abused and tortured."
Ibrahim went on to say that Morsy lied
when he said that he would be a president representing all Egyptian
people, and that a new constitution would be issued to protect the
rights of all Egyptians.
“Instead we have a dictator serving
only the interests of his Brotherhood, and sponsoring a shameful
constitution to protect his own direct interests and those of his
society,” he said. Ibrahim recommended the formation of an interim
“national coalition government” until new presidential elections could
be held.
Besides the call for the downfall of
Morsy's administration, a more moderate demand was the resignation of
Prime Minister Hesham Qandil.
Sherif al-Masry told Egypt Independent,
“I travelled today from Beni Suef (about 120 kilometers south of Cairo)
to demand the resignation and impeachment of Prime Minister Qandil
along with his cabinet.”
“Qandil is an animal who understands
nothing. He talks of women’s dirty breasts causing diarrhea amongst
babies while our country and its economy are collapsing,” he said
referring to Qandil's recent controversial statements about hygiene an
sanitation.
Referring to Qandil’s former position
as minister of irrigation and water resources, Masry claimed that “he
should just talk about irrigation, that’s the only thing he knows. Leave
the government to those who know how to govern.”
Masry clarified, “I’m not here to
protest against President Morsy. He is a decent man, but his ministers —
especially Qandil — are incompetent fools. If he leaves them in place
then country will surely collapse from mismanagement.”
Politics in the midst of the violence
were not only manifested in the anti-regime demands, but also in
resentment of the political class, including the opposition.
Leading members of the opposition
coalition, the National Salvation Front, were noticeably missing from
the protest at the palace. Even within the NSF there is disagreement
regarding their opposition toward the ruling regime, with some demanding
Morsy’s abdication, while others calling only for ministerial shuffles
and reforms.
A middle-aged protester, Fathy Mahrous,
noted that “Egypt’s revolutionary youth are far more active and
fearless in their demands for justice than the opposition politicians
and party chiefs.
“When it comes to their basic rights,
even the common simple folks have grown fearless and outspoken since the
revolution,” added Mahrous. He explained “people aren’t afraid of
authority figures anymore. They are willing to confront the police on
the street, as you can see. They even curse and assault judges in their
courts.”
Mahrous concluded “Morsy will not be
able to rule Egypt with an iron fist like Mubarak did before him. The
people are no longer willing to put up with such subjugation.”
Well into the middle of the night, and
two years into the toppling of Mubarak, hundreds of protesters remained
in the palace, an area previously inaccessible for protests, at a moment
of the revolution many believe is critical. In a perfect act of
commemoration, they chanted, “Hey interior ministry, what do you think
you’re doing? Did you forget about 25 January?"
- See more at:
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/violence-and-politics-day-mubarak-s-toppling-remembered#sthash.4JmLBcfu.dpuf Violence and politics on the day Mubarak's toppling is remembered
Tue, 12/02/2013
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