EGYPT: Cracking down on dissent: The fascist State and persecution of political opponents

Egyptian woman mourns following verdict sentencing 683 alleged supporters of Muslim Brotherhood to death (Photo: AP)

By Leila Al Shami for Tahrir-ICN

Since the July coup the fascist military regime in Egypt has continued to persecute political opponents. Those who have faced the worst repression of the State have been Muslim Brotherhood supporters, but also affected have been anarchists, leftist activists, workers, journalists and civil organizations.

Today (28 April 2014) an Egyptian court in Minya sentenced 683 alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death, including leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood. They were found guilty of attacking the Adawa police station in August and killing a policeman following the violent dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Nahda and Rabaa Squares. Last month 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters were sentenced to death for attacking a police station in the same province despite evidence that many defendants were not present at the scene on the day in question and despite claims by some defendants that they are not Brotherhood supporters. 492 of the March death sentences have now been commuted to life imprisonment.

EGYPT: After long absence, revolutionaries return to the square

19.11.2013 by Mada Masr

The absence of so-called “revolutionary” demonstrators from Tahrir Square has been apparent for some time. After some of their numbers helped depose former President Mohamed Morsi this summer, few returned to downtown Cairo after July 3. So why did they return in high numbers on Tuesday, the second anniversary of 2011’s brutal Mohamed Mahmoud clashes?

EGYPT: The main enemy is the state

03.09.2013   Interview: Mostafa Ali

Egyptian strongman Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi is using the brutal repression of the Muslim Brotherhood to consolidate his grip on power, overshadowing the military-appointed civilian government and a commission charged with drafting a new constitution.

EGYPT:Fetishizing the State

 August 08, 2013 by Baheyya

 

An old and pernicious idea is back in circulation since the July 3 coup. It was a running theme in the military ruler’s speech on July 24 where he demanded a popular mandate to “confront terrorism.” Right on cue, government officials parroted it repeatedly in their stern warnings to dissenters. Pro-military activists, politicians, and intellectuals happily invoked it in their jihad against the Ikhwan. The idea is haybat al-dawla, or the state’s standing and prestige, a central plank of the Arab authoritarian order that’s making a big comeback.

EGYPT: Anarchism in Egypt, after the Brotherhood

12.07.2013 by Joshua Stephens

Mohommed Mahmoud St. in Cairo. (WNV/Joshua Stephens)

The morning after the June 30 uprising that brought down Mohammed Morsi, I did an interview with Mohammed Hassan Aazab as he helped hold down four anarchist tents in one of Cairo’s major sit-ins. Shortly thereafter, the military stepped in, removed Morsi from office, and set about rounding up Islamists and shuttering media outlets deemed to be partial to the Muslim Brotherhood. In some cases they shot party members under arrest, even massacring a number of supporters during prayers. Islamists have responded by blocking the airport road and carrying out low-scale warfare in scattered parts of the country.

EGYPT: NO MB, NO ARMY: The Revolution Continues

10.07.2013  Blabiush from Tahrir ICN

So you are confused? Maybe because the complexity of every society is
confusing, especially in its turning points and the process of change.
Anyway let’s try to answer some questions and accusations which emerge now and provide another perspective on the current situation.

EGYPT: Are the Army and the People One Hand?

04.07.2013 by Nidya Five-Shots

I had been waiting for Sunday the 30th of June in trepidation, wondering what was going to happen for my dear Egyptian friends, and a country I love so much.
The last two trips I took to Egypt were only a few months apart, yet I could feel the situation and general frustration had evolved…

EGYPT: Down with Military Rule…Again?

02.07.2013 by Hesham Salam

[“Down with military rule” and “Muslim Brotherhood are the enemies of the nation” written on the walls of the al-Qubba Presidential Palace. 2 July 2013. Photo by Alaa Abd El Fattah]

Millions of Egyptians are continuing to take to the streets. They are calling on President Mohamed Morsi to resign and to hold early presidential elections. At the same time many express concern about the army’s 1 July statement and the potential for a return to military rule at the hands of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF). The statement said that SCAF would impose its own “roadmap” to exit the current impasse if no solutions surface in the next forty-eight hours:

EGYPT: Anarchism in Egypt — an interview from Tahrir Square

02 July 2013 by Joshua Stephens

An anarchist tent in Tahrir Square. (WNV/Mohammed Hassan Aazab)

I met Mohammed Hassan Aazab earlier this year over tea at a table of young anarchists in downtown Cairo. The anniversary of the revolution had just passed with massive protests and the emergence of a Western-style black bloc that appeared to have little to do with anarchists in the city. At the time, much of the ongoing grassroots organizing was against sexual violence — in particular, the mob sexual assaults that have become synonymous with any large gathering in Tahrir. The trauma of such violence carried out against protesters was apparent in our conversation. In fact, Aazab told me that he was done with protests and politics, and had resigned himself to the dysfunction of day-to-day life in Egypt.

SYRIA: FSA statement to Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood

This statement is issued by the Free Syrian Army joint leadership, addressed to Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood. Statement published beginning of April 2013.

We hold you responsible for delaying the victory of the revolution and the fragmentation of the opposition