Smoke billowed out from the fire raging at a nearbygovernment building as live ammo ricocheted off the streets of Suez. Ninepeople were killed in this single night of fighting between protesters andpolice.
This latest round of mayhem in Egypt ” in which nearly 50people have been killed in ongoing clashes around the country ” marks thetwo-year anniversary of the start of Egypt's uprising. Activists here said theyare seeking to resurrect a rebellion they feel was thwarted first by militaryrule and now by the power-hungry Muslim Brotherhood that commands thepresidency. But this is a grittier, more crude version of the revolt thatkicked off two years ago.
Today the demonstrators, hardened by a series of brokenpromises and violent crackdowns, have dropped almost entirely the pretense of apeaceful revolution. Gone is the innocent hope of the young revolutionaries whoseized and held Tahrir Square in the name of a future democratic Egypt, defyingauthorities by transforming central Cairo’s massive plaza into a utopian mini-statefor 18 days.
Instead, the focus is on attacking, fighting and destroyingsymbols of a state protesters say is unwilling or unable to reform. “There isabsolutely a wave of radicalization of violence within the revolution’s camps,”said Ziad Akl, senior researcher at the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center forStrategic Studies. “There was always acore that was against the interior ministry, that was against the state. Andover time, they were able to organise.”
A new self-described anarchist group, the Black Bloc, whichhas similar branches around the world, announced its existence on the eve ofthe anniversary. Dressed in black masks, they have been engaged in sabotage andother tactics like burning tires and blocking major highways.
“Everyone’s angry atsomething, this is normal when justice is absent,” said Wael Eskander, anEgyptian activist, posted on Twitter. “The protesters aren’t evil enough tokill indiscriminately, but when they pick up arms and kill, they will feeljustified,” he also said.
Akl said the tactic reflects the powerful Brotherhood’sresilience against mass street mobilisation. With their grassroots reach, theBrotherhood is perhaps the strongest engine for street mobilisation in thecountry ” and can handle its effects. The evolution of the protesters from apeaceful movement to a violent, if rag-tag and sporadic, fighting force, alsosignifies a serious mistrust in the government, which is dominated byheavy-handed security policies, to dispense equitable justice.
Indeed, on the second anniversary of the uprising, bothHuman Rights Watch and Amnesty International chided the Morsi government forfailing to properly investigate human rights abuses by the country’s securityforces, which were a key grievance of the bid to topple the former regime. Thepolice continue to regularly torture ” and sometimes kill ” detainees in theircustody, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said. It is little wonderthen, activists here say, that they’ve abandoned ” though not entirely ” peacefulsit-ins for violent clashes this time around.
