You may have heard about the violent clashes between protestors and the police in Tahrir Square this weekend. If you haven't seen the news reports, in short, police raided Tahrir Friday night to kick out a few hundred protestors that were camped there (sound familiar?). People were outraged by this treatment and took to the streets by the thousands to clash with the police. This was the worst face-off since February. Only one casualty reported thus far, but over 160 injured. A lot of tear gas and rubber bullets and rocks. The conflict went into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Some are concerned that this is exactly what the army wanted, and that now they'll claim grounds for postponing the parliamentary elections that are supposed to take place in a week.
It's difficult to put these events in perspective when you're caught up in the turmoil of the present. But here are a few thoughts that my dad shared with me today:
- This is the necessary second phase of the Revolution. The first phase was, of course, getting rid of Mubarak. The next phase is to get rid of military rule. It had to happen. It was absolutely right for the army to interfere during the revolts in January, but then they failed to hand over power when they said they would in September. They are not politicians, nor do they understand their own history. But all they need to do is look at their neighbors on either side to realize that they can 1) hand over power to civilian government and withdraw peacefully, or 2) attempt to hold on to power and end up like Ghadafi or Asad.
- This struggle will not be as difficult as the first. The army is made up of Egyptians - hardly any family does not have a member serving in the army. The soldiers will be quick to side with civilians because they do not see themselves as a separate ruling entity the way Mubarak's police officers did.
- This is good for the Egyptians: The disagreements that were arising between political factions have been put on hold, and the people are united by a common cause once again.
We'll see how the elections play out next week - hopefully they WILL play out...
Some are concerned that this is exactly what the army wanted, and that now they'll claim grounds for postponing the parliamentary elections that are supposed to take place in a week.
It's difficult to put these events in perspective when you're caught up in the turmoil of the present. But here are a few thoughts that my dad shared with me today:
- This is the necessary second phase of the Revolution. The first phase was, of course, getting rid of Mubarak. The next phase is to get rid of military rule. It had to happen. It was absolutely right for the army to interfere during the revolts in January, but then they failed to hand over power when they said they would in September. They are not politicians, nor do they understand their own history. But all they need to do is look at their neighbors on either side to realize that they can 1) hand over power to civilian government and withdraw peacefully, or 2) attempt to hold on to power and end up like Ghadafi or Asad.
- This struggle will not be as difficult as the first. The army is made up of Egyptians - hardly any family does not have a member serving in the army. The soldiers will be quick to side with civilians because they do not see themselves as a separate ruling entity the way Mubarak's police officers did.
- This is good for the Egyptians: The disagreements that were arising between political factions have been put on hold, and the people are united by a common cause once again.
We'll see how the elections play out next week - hopefully they WILL play out...
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