http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-egypts-re
volutionary-youth-are-being-sidelined-2330213.html
Egypt's revolutionary youth are being sidelined
By Robert Fisk
Independent/UK: Tuesday, 2 August, 2011
Revolution betrayed. The Egyptian army now colludes with the hated Muslim
Brotherhood to bring you - well, a new Egypt that looks much like the old
one, cleansed of Mubarak and most (not all) of his henchmen, but with the
Army's corrupt privileges (housing, complexes, banks, etc) safely maintained
in return for allowing the bearded ones a share in power. Cut out of the
picture: the young and secular revolutionaries who actually fought Mubarak's
security thugs off the streets in order to rid themselves of the 83-year old
dictator.
The picture is a grim one - Arab Spring turned into eternal Arab autumn. And
the only bread and circuses to give the young Egyptians who demanded dignity
in return for their courage will be the sight of the weary, disbelieving old
lion in his iron cage at the Cairo convention centre tomorrow.
Yes, provided for the angry youth of Egypt - and to those families of the
revolution's 850 martyrs - the trial of the company that used to run the
whole shoddy enterprise, H Mubarak and Sons Ltd, all appearing in the cage
the company chairman invented for his enemies.
An ex-dictator gone to seed or a revolution gone to seed? The prospects
aren't good. The youth and secular parties suspect tomorrow will be a
one-day "opening" trial and then a postponement of a month or two to give
time for the former company chairman to die in his bed back in Sharm el
Sheikh. "But we are trying him, just like you asked us to," the army will
say. And they will hold further meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood.
It's not just that Field Marshal Tantawi, head of the Supreme Military
Council and friend of Mubarak, is running the show. Here, for example, is
Major-General Mohamed al-Assar, member of the Supreme Council, telling the
US Institute of Peace in Washington how jolly mature and co-operative the
Brotherhood have become: "Day by day, the Brotherhood are changing and
getting on a more moderate track," he told them. You bet they are. They took
over Tahrir Square last week, demanding the new Egyptian constitution be
based on sharia. But Tantawi, al-Assar and the rest of the gold-braid
brigade will do anything to avoid the real change the original
revolutionaries insist upon.
Instead of the destruction of the whole corrupt system, the revolutionaries
are going to get "reform from within", along with the plump, middle-aged
beardies whose existence was the very reason why the Americans backed
Mubarak in the first place. Later, no doubt, they can be turned into a
threat again - once the spirit of Mubarakitism is back in place.
Like Robert Fisk on The Independent on Facebook for updates
Eyewitness Account of the Gaza Flotilla
Speakers:
From Israel: Yonatan Shapira. (retired Israeli IDF pilot, refusenik,
Boycott From Within, & co-founder of Combatants for Peace)
From Los Angeles: Mary Hughes Thompson. (veteran peace activist
&co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement)
Where and When:
Sunday, Aug. 7, 2-4 PM
Westside Pavilion (corner Pico and Westwood)
Community Room B (3rd floor)
$10 donation requested (no one turned away)
Refreshments
Flyer at http://www.lajewsforpeace.org/Essays/Flotilla.pdf
distribute widely
Hope to see you there.
Jeff Warner
562-694-1637
La Habra Heights, CA 90631
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