A New Meaning For Fridays

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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Religious tradition allocates one day per week for worship, reflection and rest.  Friday for Muslims; Saturday for Jews; and Sunday for Christians.  But with the Arab Spring and Summer, Friday in Egypt as well as in several other Arab countries has acquired a new meaning.  Worship, yes; reflection, maybe; rest, has been now replaced by the word "revolution."  And each Friday has not only a revolutionary connotation, but also a name indicative of the progression of the revolutionary mood, demands and aspiration.

To illustrate, at Tahrir Square, which has become the pulsing revolutionary heart of Egypt and which is being emulated in other Arab lands, Friday of July 15 was named: "Last Warning Friday," or "Final Ultimatum Friday."  But ultimatum to whom and for what?

The fear for the future of the Egyptian Revolution is palpable.  In op-ed articles in the Egyptian press, the most used phrase is "beware of the theft of the Revolution."  Arabic language newspapers which are published outside Egypt frequently headlines "The Egyptian Revolution is in Danger."  The continuous sit-ins and demonstrations in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt  have paralyzed more than traffic in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.  They have paralyzed the swearing-in of a new Cabinet, headed again by Prime Minister Issam Sharaf, because of unending popular demand for a Cabinet whose members had nothing to do with the collapsed Mubarak regime.

Superficially, the scene appears chaotic.  But a close examination, the phenomenon is confirming in the Egyptian public mind that sovereignty belongs to the people, and that the present role of the Supreme Military Council, headed by Defense Minister General Tantawi is transitional, leading to a parliamentary democracy, where a secular state is firm, though gradually, in place.

Through "Final Ultimatum Friday," the demonstrators demands produced a Cabinet of technocrats.  Beyond that, 34 parties and political movements issued what they called "The Tahrir Manifesto."  That document called for: ending the political polemics which have tended to fragment the broad revolutionary movement; speedy and public trials of the "symbols" of the Mubarak regime, including Mubarak, his wife and sons; muscular powers for the Sharaf Cabinet; trial of security personnel implicated in the death of nearly 900 demonstrators and in injuring thousands; return of public funds spirited outside of Egypt; abolishing trials of civilians before military tribunals; and the abrogation of laws prohibiting public demonstrations.  Twenty-five persons suspected of attacking the Tahrir demonstrators in Feb. 2 and 3 in what  is known as "the Camel Battle" are being tried by the Egyptian criminal justice system.  They include the former Presidents of the two chambers of Parliament.

The Prime Minister, in the spirit of the new openness of the Egyptian political environment, one day before the swearing in of his new Cabinet before General Tantawi on  July 21, used his Facebook page to complain of unnamed quarters which he said are working hard to impede the progress of Egypt towards stability and productivity.  He stressed that: "The most important thing I care for now is for the public to develop public trust in the fact that every decision I took or shall take has only one objective: to benefit Egypt."

In consequence of that steady march toward stable governance, demonstrators in cities all over Egypt, including Zagazi, the provincial capital of Sharkia where I have originally hailed from, have marched peacefully.  No police was on hand except for guarding critical installations.  The public has been policing itself.  "Selmia, Selmia" (Peaceful, Peaceful).

The ripple effects on the march of Egypt towards democracy have been in evidence: the laws governing the composition of the two parliamentary chambers and the practice of political rights have been promulgated; dates for the one-day elections of 504 members of the House of Representatives and of 390 members of the Senate will be announced in September; the minimum age for candidates has been reduced to 25 years, a nod for the youth who brought about the Tahrir dramatic changes; election dates will be spread over 30 days covering all of Egypt as divided in 3 huge electoral zones constituting 120 districts.

A new magazine from Cairo's Al-Ahram newspaper establishment has just made its debut.  Its title is "Democracy"; its editor is a woman journalist, Dr. Hala Mustapha who wrote its lead editorial under the title of "The Elections and the Constitution."  Among the articles of that maiden issue is one written by another woman journalist, Dr. Mona Abu-Sinnah, under the tantalizing title of "Democracy and the Terrorism of Demagoguery."

Within the framework of this emerging democracy, a new organization has been established in Cairo under the name of "The Arab/African Working Group for Democratic Action," whose Executive Director is a young articulate Judge, Aly Mokhtar.  I could not turn down the invitation to becoming its President, though residing for the most time in the USA.

Here we again quote from the poem by Mohja Kahf entitled "My People are Rising."  "I see their faces changing under fresh fresh tears, mine and theirs... some spigot in my chest just opened that has been stopped up for forty-eight years..."

Now, every Arab dictator wishes that he could expunge Fridays from the weekly calendar!!