Egyptian protesters of all ages have regularly demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square since their Jan/Feb revolution appeared to have some success at promising change for Egypt. There was even a second sit-in of the Square in July that lasted weeks. Some demonstrations served their immediate purposes, most not - and the sit-in in July was forcefully cleared by the military.
Now as of two days ago, Egypt seems to have awakened from the "nap" that the revolution had taken, as phrased by one of the youths (Omar) that we have been following since February. The killing of over 30 people yesterday by the always-hated security police - but reportedly also backed up by the police of the once-favored military - has surely cemented this current protest into a new phase of the revolution that promises to be more crucial, if also more violent, than the initial phase in the Spring.
I'll arrive tonight in Cairo and will be able to report directly from the voices of our youth as to the various details as to why now. However, it may be no more complicated than the declaration a few days ago from the "transitional" military custodian of the government (referred to as SCAF: Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) that they have formal intentions of solidying a privileged position for the military, in all aspects of Egypt's future government (e.g., drafting of constitution, immunity from prosecuation, etc.).
Not a chance in hell as far as the street is concerned.
1 comment:
Here are some realtime crisis mapping/crowd mapping resources that may be useful:
http://twitter.com/#!/TahrirSupplies
this links to a crisis map App
http://download.ushahidi.com/
or, just search Ushahidi in the Mac App store.
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