Things that Transnational Civil Society Could do to Support Egypt

Well, we had an interesting class discussion yesterday evening.

I was with Dr. Jerry Leach, Dr. Jennifer Bremer in my department (Public Policy and Administration Department), as well as an Egyptian director of an organization at the Kennedy School, Ashraf Hegazy. There were about 10 Egyptian masters students present. (I teach a leadership course)

Here are some of the ideas we had regarding how international civil society organizations could support Egypt in its transition to democracy.
1) Egyptian citizens need a lot of work on dialoguing about issues. Due to the 30 years of dictatorship, Egyptians have little experience with actually discussing politics in a civil way.

2) Civil society could provide technical support in helping new parties to prepare for the upcoming elections.

3) Clearly, there needs to be significant support for women's participation in Egyptian politics.

4) Elections should be held on time in the fall, so that the military is replaced with a civilian government. Even if the NDP and the MB are elected, if it is a fair election, it is likely preferable to an unelected military regime.

5) There needs to be research on how other African countries have rewritten their constitutions. In the recent past, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa have undergone successful efforts at redeveloping constitutions. Egypt is Arab, but it is also African. It could learn from its neighbors to the South.

6) Writing the constitution is a long term process. The current constitution is flawed, but it works. It would be advisable to take a long term view. There need to be procedural safeguards so that the process is somewhat representative, at least regionally. In addition, in my view, it would be desirable to have special attention paid to the needs of minorities like the Nubians, and Christians. Furthermore, attention should be paid to the role of women in the Egyptian state.  

7) Focus needs to be placed on strengthening parties, organizations and institutions so that Egypt can have substantive democracy. There need to be institutions, such as the judiciary and a parliament, that place a check on the President. Egypt had formal, paper institutions under Mubarak, but they were weak. How do we strengthen them, so that people have a real voice, and that another dictatorship does not emerge?

8) As Professor Jerry Leach pointed out, the way the elections are currently structured, Egypt may be inadvertently backing itself into a presidential system, and crippling future efforts to have a possible parliamentary system.

Thanks to AnnaMaria Shaker of Human Rights First for making me put my thoughts down in an organized way.

Salam, WMB

Violence in Tahrir Square in late June

Photo Credits, Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper, English Edition, June 29, 2011

Dear readers

I have been very busy with work. I just finished teaching an accelerated class on leadership. However, I got some worrisome emails from the office of the Vice President for Planning at AUC yesterday.

Dear AUC Community,


Please note that because of recent security environment changes in Down Town, all bus pick-ups will start from Al Zahraa bus station instead of Mohamed Mahmoud stop.

Thank you.


Well, that was a bit worrisome, but I just went about my routine. Then yesterday, I got an even scarier message.


Due to the continuing violence on the streets surrounding the Tahrir Campus (including Falaki Building); students, faculty and staff are not to come to the Tahrir Campus until further advised.

We are monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis and will update the AUC community as new information becomes available.

Thank you.

At this point, I decided that it might be advisable to get my head out of my guzitza and to actually read the newspaper.

Al Masry Al Youm reports that protesters threw rocks and molotov cocktails, and that the CSF fired multiple rounds of tear gas. The causes of the clash were unclear.

From speaking to colleagues and staff at the university yesterday, people told me that the clashes began because some families had raised money for the martyrs of the revolution. When the families went to collect the money, other families showed up, and also demanded money. By the way, the money was not being given out by the government. The money had been raised by well-meaning citizens. So, the legitimate families were standing in line, waiting to collect their money, and other families, who were allegedly not legitimate, started a fight. There was some sense that the "other families" were thugs.

Okay, back to the news reports.

Fifteen people were arrested as the relatives protested at the Balloon Theater in the Agouza district, after which the group decided to march on the Interior Ministry, close to Tahrir Square, where a further 20 were arrested.

Again, based on conversations, there was a sense that the group were actually thugs. People who I spoke to said that of 50 people treated for wounds, only one was a civilian. The others were all police.

According to Abdel Rahman Hussein, writing in Al Masry, (June 29, 2011)

As these later arrests were made, protesters clashed with security forces, and the confrontation spread to Qasr al-Aini Street, a main Cairo thoroughfare, and Mohamed Mahmoud Street, which borders the American University in Cairo’s downtown campus.


At least 25 civilians have been injured in the clashes so far.


Some protesters said they feared this was a continuation of the fallen regime's tactics. "It's the same thing happening again, nothing has changed," said Mohamed Abdel Raouf, a protester. Central Security Forces used tear gas extensively, as well as beatings and water cannons, during the early days of the 25 January revolution.

At least 44 people have been arrested in conjunction with the violence. Dalia Othman writes, that the cases have been referred to the military prosecutor. By the end of the day, writes Heba Hasham on the 29th, at least 655 people had been treated for injuries.

The impact on the economy has been negative. According to the AP wire

The Egyptian stock exchange's benchmark index has tumbled over two percent amid fresh clashes between security forces and protesters in central Cairo.


The benchmark EGX30 index closed at 5,283 points, shedding 2.03 percent from its previous day's settlement, as overnight fighting between security forces and hundreds of protesters in the capital's iconic Tahrir Square stretched into Wednesday.


The protesters were demanding the acceleration of the prosecution of police officers accused of brutality in during the uprising in five months earlier that ended with former President Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

The violence underscored the continued tension in the country as it struggles to rebuild its economy and push forward on democratic reforms.


As usual in Cairo, it is very difficult to figure out what is going on. As of this morning, reports are that 1036 persons have been injured.  My colleague in the law department tells me that the Egyptian people are becoming very disenchanted with the military. They are wondering if it is not time to have a revolution against the military.

Palms [Arecaceae]

Egypt is a desert. It defines the edge of the Sahara. Without the River Nile, Egypt would be barren. However, where the Nile flows, or where the a spring bubbles to the surface, some beautiful plants grow. The most majestic of these are palms.

There are many different kinds of palms. Palms are evergreen, mostly tropical plants. Palms are "morphologically diverse," which means they have many different shapes. Palms can inhabit many habitats, from rain forests to deserts

 There are date palms (Phoenix dactylifera). The date palm is not only beautiful, it provides food and shade. During Ramadan, which is coming up, most Muslims break fast with a date, and some milk. Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) provide oil, milk and food (which I know from Mombasa), King palms (Archontophoenix alexandrae) (from my El Paso days). I love the Doum palm (Hyphaene thebaica), which I affectionately call the Dr. Seuss tree. I have seen the Doum palm in Samburu.  I think I mentioned in a previous post, that there are fake metal palms in Rehab, where I live, which a reader tells me are actually cell phone towers. Apparently, there are more than 2500 palm species world wide. I think we take palms for granted. They are very important to our ecosystem in the desert.

According to El Masry El Youm some palms are endangered. "Egyptian environmentalists and botanists are calling for the preservation of the millennia-old argun palm, a species of palm tree present in Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs. This rare desert oasis palm, whose population does not exceed 30 wild individuals in Egypt and a few hundred in Sudan, is on the verge of extinction. Located in remote, arid and very sparsely-populated oases in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, these ancient palm trees are exposed to two kinds of threats: human overuse and climate change. Haitham Ibrahim, a conservation researcher for the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), explains that both factors cause stress to the argun palm community."

According to the sacred places website, "in Egypt, the evergreen date palm was a sacred tree, and a palm branch was the symbol of the god Heh, the personification of eternity. For later cultures, the palm branch also served as an emblem of fecundity and victory. For Christians, the palm branch is a symbol of Christ's victory over death. It also signified immortality and divine blessings and is often seen as an attribute of Christian martyrs. It also denotes particular Christian saints such Paul the Hermit and Christopher, as well as the Archangel Michael. The palm tree is also a symbol of the garden of paradise."

During my recent travels in Egypt, I saw images of the palms engraved in Pharaonic temples.

I think these are coconut palms. Look closely.

These photos are from the temple of Queen Hatsheput.

I love the beautiful stylized fronds

For now, in the midst of your busy work day, enjoy some more beautiful palm pictures. This photo was taken boat-side, on the Nile, from the deck of my boat, the Nile Festival.

 The top two photos were taken from a felucca, near the temple of Philae. 

 

This last photo was taken during a sandstorm, during the late winter, in El Rehab. These palms look so fragile.Compare their spare foliage to the lush foliage of the palms by the Nile. If you look very closely, in the background of this picture, you can see a tank . . . .