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From Middletown to the Middle East

~ Reflections on travel and teaching

From Middletown to the Middle East

Tag Archives: Egypt

Egypt today

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by tgilheany in Uncategorized

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Egypt, military, Muslim Brotherhood, revolution, SCAF

Egypt’s military just gave Morsi 48 hours to “comply with the peoples’ wishes.” Some tweets I found insightful: “Raise your hand if you think a highly disciplined religious movement that survived arrests and killings for 85 years is going to go quietly.” – Evan Hill, Cairo-based journalist. “Choice facing Egyptian people: Generals who’ve proved they can’t govern. MB ditto & an opposition that can’t get organized enough to govern.” – Paul Danahar, BBC Middle East Bureau Chief. “The one thing I can say with certainty is this: I have no idea of how any of this will play out. I am as in the dark as you are.” – Mahmoud Salem, Egyptian secular activist.

In May 2012 I was in Egypt as the people expressed great enthusiasm for their first free elections. I then watched as the democratically elected president worked the military out of power and expressed his willingness to work with all parties. I was hopeful, and nowhere near as critical of his ties with the Muslim Brotherhood as many others.

Then came the steady decline – forcing representatives of the other religious groups and the seculars out of the constitutional process. Anti-semitic rantings from several years prior emerging. Losing control of the Sinai. More and more people becoming nervous – with a corresponding drop in the economy.

Yesterday’s protests were amazing to watch, though obviously concerning as well. After all, setting a precedent for toppling an elected leader isn’t ideal. And now the army is here to “help.” I’m reminded of the title character’s deadpan reaction in the 1985 film “Fletch” when confronted by an armed crooked cop: “Thank God. The…police.”

I don’t know the route forward, but I hope this is the bumpy road to progress and not the backsliding to some form of authoritarian or oligarchic rule.

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More discharging of projectiles into one’s own pedal extremities

08 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by tgilheany in Uncategorized

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anti-Semitism, democratization, Egypt, Gaza marathon, sexism, shooting oneself in the foot

Another day, another potentially effective reformer with a record of vile anti-Semitic remarks. An Egyptian activist, who was about to receive an award from the U.S. government, apparently had tweeted that the deaths of Israelis in a bus bombing was good news, and had celebrated September 11th.  This comes two days after Hamas canceled the three year-old Gaza marathon rather than let women participate.

The Palestinian people desire the end of the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. The Egyptian people desire the end of dictatorship and the establishment of a free and democratic government. While these peoples have to make these difficult changes themselves, they would benefit greatly from international support. This support would come in many forms: more enthusiastic NGO workers, more pressure on the Israeli government and oppressive Arab regimes, and a generally positive world attitude to Arab empowerment.

If it appears to the rest of the world, however, that rights of women and religious minorities will not be respected, the good will and the political support that the changes engender will remain tepid. Recently I spoke with a retired CIA officer who had spent most of his career in the Middle East. He was well informed, spoke Arabic, and seemed to not be a reactionary. He, however, did put forth the familiar argument that the Arab world was generations away from the ability to field governments that upheld rule of law and minority rights. He cited anti-Semitism and sexism (as well as corruption) as his major pieces of evidence. The implication for U.S. policy was clear: it should retain a “realist” posture vis-à-vis Arab countries, and not invest much time and effort into democratization efforts likely to fail.

The PBS series Makers, on the modern feminist movement in the United States, does a terrific job showing how the broad civil right movement was weakened at times by the various constituents failing to support one another: racial and anti-war activists being sexist, feminist activists being anti-gay and unconscious of black women’s needs, and more. So these failures are hardly unique to the world of Arab activism.

As a teacher, I keep coming back to education. What does the Egyptian school system teach about other religions? Where did the Hamas leaders who made the decision about the marathon go to school? As U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt said, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”

Oh, and Happy International Women’s Day!

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Egypt on election day

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by tgilheany in Uncategorized

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Egypt, elections, Hamdeen Sabahi, tourism

20120523-191455.jpgSince this is my first time in Egypt, I have nothing with which to compare my experiences. Several impressions, however, have stuck with me. The people with whom I have spoken seem very upbeat. Several people brought up independently that today was election day. There are posters of the candidates everywhere, covering an enormous amount of wall space. People seem quite invested, in a positive way.

All four of the Egyptians I have asked so far favored Hamdeen Sabahi. They described him as one of the people. Our guide at the Pyramids, a man who had learned his very good English on the job and had never gone to school, pointed to the little boy working with him and said, “Hamdeen cares about people like us, like him.” They happily described Sabahi as Nassarite, which to me means stifling protectionism, inefficient nationalized industries, and unrealizable dreams of pan-Arabism. I’m not sure he would be my choice, though as this article notes, I’m not sure my candidate is on the scene. I also get the sense that the people with whom I spoke (all male, all young or middle aged, all working in tourism) don’t think their candidate will win. One predicted Ahmed Shafiq, with the rest saying they had no idea.

Tourism is way down here, and we can feel it. It works to our advantage – we were able to ride horses right up to the Pyramids, have never waited in line, and have had some museums and monuments all to ourselves. Of course, however, it is terrible for the country. We have felt totally safe and would come back in a flash – I hope both events and perceptions bring back the tourist trade.

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