Saturday, October 13, 2012

Anniversary of Maspero, and other thoughts

Dear readers

I think we should just commemorate the anniversary of the Maspero massacre on October 9, 2011. It was a very stressful and emotional time in my life, and the life of my colleagues. It really made me pay attention to the discrimination faced by Christians, and Bahai in Egypt. What was particularly eerie about the Maspero Massacre was how the state run press tried to pretend that a) it had not attacked the protesters, and b) the protesters were violent terrorists who had attacked the army.

The Maspero episode also made me worry about the fate of any minority group, Bedouin, Nubian, or women, who want to make a peaceful point in the face of a violent state. This is particularly a matter of concern, because Syria has devolved into a bloody civil war. Egypt's revolution was supposed to lead to a brighter future.

My colleague Abdel Rahman has written a few posts worth reading that I would like to share with you

As my brother Abu says, "Meet the old state, same as the new state." We need to keep our eyes on the prize and hold Morsi accountable. We need to keep fighting to finish this revolution.

Amnesty reports on persistent violence

Maspero Massacre, a Year on from the terrible turning point

The Morsi Maneuver

~WMB

1 comment:

  1. Dear Dr. Warigia, this is an excellent topic to write about..and I believe that we still do not feel the fruits of the revolution..you are right about your concern regarding minorities in Egypt, either Christians or women, WE'RE ALL WORRIED.. Maspero massacre is one of the disastrous events of 2011 that has not been fairly covered by state media nor dealt with in a just way by the judicial system...btw,it is not the only case, there is port said massacre nfor example, the Camel battle that is even worth after the clearance of all indicted in the case because there was no evidence to charge them..frustrating and so far away from the concept of justice and the sense of logic

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