On Tuesday, December 4, the growing opposition coalitions (against President Morsi, his decree, and the draft constitution) mobilized their Tahrir sit-in to become a day of "civil disobedience", resulting in media black outs, newspapers on strike, and tens of thousands joining the demonstration. There is an upcoming referendum on the draft Constitution, the vote through which President Morsi and his supporters hope will end the demonstrations; however, the opposition has been opposed to the "dictatorial" power grab by President Morsi that allowed an embattled Constituent Assembly to suddenly pass a large, conflicting draft Constitution--so, they're pushing for a withdrawal of his power and a halt to the referendum on a "weak" Constitution that they say lacks "consensus".
Tuesday's demonstration was labeled "The Final Warning". The demonstrations moved from Tahrir Square--now world famous as the hub of Egypt and the gathering point of the revolution that began on January 25, 2011--and moved to Heliopolis, a northeastern district of Cairo where the Presidential Palace is located. The "Palace" is not a residence, but the official offices of the President of Egypt.
As you can see from the pictures, thousands moved through the streets, admittedly removing barricades so that the thousands could assemble as one outside the Palace for a peaceful sit-in. As there have been throughout the last few years, angry youth looking for a fight were among the group and were causing some destructive behavior along the way; however, the crowd with the intent of making a statement rather than making trouble kept these away from pushing into the gates and they merely sat in protest.
The demonstration went throughout the night and into Wednesday morning, thousands sitting, chanting, tweeting, and marveling at the number committed to coming out in a statement together on an usually cold December night. Mahmoud Salem, aka SandMonkey, is a popular writer, blogger, and political activist since the Revolution--he and thousands of young adults like him have been vocal and active throughout this opposition process; on Wednesday morning, this article "Tuesday is the New Friday" by him was published on Daily News Egypt--this is an interesting article chronicling the thoughts and opinions of one of these younger revolutionaries.
By Wednesday afternoon, responding to a Muslim Brotherhood call to "protect the legitimacy of the president" (according to this Egypt Independent article and eyewitness account), bus loads of Muslim Brotherhood supporters began arriving in Heliopolis near the Palace--countless witnesses described the scene through news interviews and tweets saying that the MB supporters were exiting the buses with clubs, sticks, and a variety of other "weapons" in hand. The angry pro-Morsi forces disbursed through the crowds leading to clashes throughout the sit-in.
Reports vary, but 100's have been injured badly while as many as 4 are dead.
Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood, issued statements that have blamed the opposition leaders for the violence and the crisis outside the Palace gates:
Al Jazeera's report included this: "But the Muslim Brotherhood quickly turned around and blamed their opponents for the clashes. Gehad el-Haddad, a senior adviser to the Freedom and Justice Party, accused the three opposition leaders of 'inciting violence'.
Yet, despite this blame game by the pro-Morsi supporters and the Presidency, the President began suffering his own losses within his ranks. According to this Al Arabiya article, as many as six of President Mori's appointed advisors and leaders have resigned--some of whom began resigning last week after his Presidential decree, but kept from making it public with hope of helping to resolve the crisis privately.
Among these resignations is the resignation of Zaghloul al-Balshy, the secretary general of the high elections commission -- not only is he refusing to oversee the December 15 referendum on the draft Constitution, he is publicly calling on President Morsi to withdraw the referendum.
Security forces were sent in to the Palace area to attempt to restore order. Muslim Brotherhood leaders called for their supporters to leave the area to preserve the sanctity and symbolism of the Presidential Palace. Further, the Muslim Brotherhood have called for yet another "million man march" (location to be determined) to demonstrate that they have the larger number of supporters and to contradict the photos that circulated worldwide on Tuesday evening.
CNN now reports that President Morsi will address the nation sometime today, Thursday, August 6 about this growing crisis.
It is not certain what he will say, but I am certain of the Old Testament Proverb: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (18:21)
In a country teetering on the edge of turmoil and ongoing violent crisis, he will need to choose his words carefully.
Thank you for your ongoing interest and prayers for Egypt...
As you can see from the pictures, thousands moved through the streets, admittedly removing barricades so that the thousands could assemble as one outside the Palace for a peaceful sit-in. As there have been throughout the last few years, angry youth looking for a fight were among the group and were causing some destructive behavior along the way; however, the crowd with the intent of making a statement rather than making trouble kept these away from pushing into the gates and they merely sat in protest.
By Wednesday afternoon, responding to a Muslim Brotherhood call to "protect the legitimacy of the president" (according to this Egypt Independent article and eyewitness account), bus loads of Muslim Brotherhood supporters began arriving in Heliopolis near the Palace--countless witnesses described the scene through news interviews and tweets saying that the MB supporters were exiting the buses with clubs, sticks, and a variety of other "weapons" in hand. The angry pro-Morsi forces disbursed through the crowds leading to clashes throughout the sit-in.
Reports vary, but 100's have been injured badly while as many as 4 are dead.
Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood, issued statements that have blamed the opposition leaders for the violence and the crisis outside the Palace gates:
Al Jazeera's report included this: "But the Muslim Brotherhood quickly turned around and blamed their opponents for the clashes. Gehad el-Haddad, a senior adviser to the Freedom and Justice Party, accused the three opposition leaders of 'inciting violence'.
'It's very sad to see opposition leaders such as ElBaradei, Hamdeen and Amr Moussa to resort to such levels of talk,' he told Al Jazeera. 'Such disrespect to the sanctity of peaceful protesting, within the context of democracy, is very alarming.'"
And...
Deputy head of the Freedom and Justice Party Essam al-Erian said the events “are not clashes between supporters and opponents, but rather skirmishes between the guardians of legitimacy and the revolution against the counterrevolutionary attempts to topple legitimacy.” (Egypt Independent)
Yet, despite this blame game by the pro-Morsi supporters and the Presidency, the President began suffering his own losses within his ranks. According to this Al Arabiya article, as many as six of President Mori's appointed advisors and leaders have resigned--some of whom began resigning last week after his Presidential decree, but kept from making it public with hope of helping to resolve the crisis privately.
 |
| Screen shot from Al Arabiya website |
Among these resignations is the resignation of Zaghloul al-Balshy, the secretary general of the high elections commission -- not only is he refusing to oversee the December 15 referendum on the draft Constitution, he is publicly calling on President Morsi to withdraw the referendum.
Egypt Independent quotes an Al Jazeera phone interview with one resigned advisor:
'Saif Abdel Fattah told Al-Jazeera on the phone that he has resigned in protest of the clashes that took place outside the presidential palace on Wednesday.
'The Muslim Brotherhood is a narrow-minded and mummified group not worthy of Egypt,' he said. 'I cannot bear seeing our young die.'
'The young are the ones who made the revolution, and who are still paying the price,' he added. 'And the crisis could have been resolved, had the Brotherhood not been only working for its own interests.'
'I am going to unite the young and work with them,' he said."
Security forces were sent in to the Palace area to attempt to restore order. Muslim Brotherhood leaders called for their supporters to leave the area to preserve the sanctity and symbolism of the Presidential Palace. Further, the Muslim Brotherhood have called for yet another "million man march" (location to be determined) to demonstrate that they have the larger number of supporters and to contradict the photos that circulated worldwide on Tuesday evening.
CNN now reports that President Morsi will address the nation sometime today, Thursday, August 6 about this growing crisis.
It is not certain what he will say, but I am certain of the Old Testament Proverb: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (18:21)
In a country teetering on the edge of turmoil and ongoing violent crisis, he will need to choose his words carefully.
Thank you for your ongoing interest and prayers for Egypt...
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