The stillborn baby

What we have been witnessing for the past 10 months is the alternative scenario that could have occurred in 1954 when the rebels besieged the Abdeen Palace to kill Abdel Nasser who ordered the opening of fire on University of Cairo students. The students took to the streets carrying their fellow students’ T-shirts, chanting “the blood of Gamal in exchange for the blood of the martyrs”.

The Brotherhood refused to leave the streets from day one, and they resorted to staging a sit-in, and less than two months later, the coup government had two choices, either allow the sit-in to expand or to disperse it, and thus, the infamous Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda Square massacres were committed. It was that exact moment that was the turning point of the conflict between the military state and the civil state.

It was the first time that murder was committed outside the confines of Abdel Nasser’s detention centres and was committed on the streets and in front of television stations. The rebels then realised that the conflict is a conflict of existence that can only be won peacefully and by withstanding the brutal bloody blows. It is an equation where only one party can win and one can lose.

The army now only has the option of openly professing its repression and violence, while the rebels only have the option of openly revolting, and this caused a state of mental resistance in a large number of the Egyptian people. This resistance has lasted for the past 10 months and it does not seem like it will be stopping anytime soon. It resulted in a spectacle that rivals Gandhi’s peaceful resistance during the British occupation of India, as the Egyptians simply refused to participate in the military’s sham elections.

The people could have corrected the illegitimate coup by participating in the military’s elections, but the majority of the people refrained from participating, and this denied the coup of legal legitimacy they sought. The coup wasn’t even able to establish status quo legitimacy on the ground over the past 10 months, as the coup administration and all of its institutions were unsuccessful in deterring large masses of the nation from participating in demonstrations, protests, and expanding the revolution, despite the fact the coup possessed every means of strength possessed by any other state, but they were unable to impose a fait accompli. The Minister of Defence reached the position he wanted and falsely gained the title that had cost him thousands of lives, but he reached his position humiliated and broken with his face in the dirt.

The situation reversed and the largest hunting process in Egyptian history began, as the Defence Minister, who possesses all the power, is hiding in an unknown basement and is afraid to appear in public because he fears being kidnapped by the Egyptians. The backdrop of the area where he films his speeches is hidden as he addresses his supporters through Skype, feeding on fear and eroding from the panic that seems to accompany him at all times. Meanwhile the protestors who are stigmatised as terrorists are free in the streets asking for his head, along with the heads of his military council. He falsely won his seat in elections that no one participated in, and he was exposed as everyone realised his popularity was only on television. Even the fake celebrations staged by the thugs in Tahrir Square seem more like a slaughtering dance, the closer the camera comes to them, their true numbers are revealed and the type of people that were hired to stage the celebrations are exposed, including thugs and Central Security officers who were shipped to the revolution square. As usual, the day ended with killings amongst the coup supporters in the several usual places.

There is not a day that goes by without novelty. His attempts to disguise his disgraced face with several layers of make-up are ironic and amuse activists on social networking sites. Even the inauguration ceremony is a neurotic attempt to achieve legitimacy. There is only one week left before the ceremony and after that, he will remain trapped, afraid to appear in public out of fear of meeting the same fate as Gaddafi, especially since the revolution is spreading and doesn’t seem to be slowing down until he and his entire military government, a government they tried to resurrect by means of a stillborn coup, are overthrown.

Translated from Arabi21, 6 June, 2014

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