I'm going back to Tahrir Square today. I haven't been there since March. Haven't felt a part of the movement. But today I want to lend a warm body towards the attendance count. I'm not optimistic on our turn out.
I don't see much interest from the few contacts on my Facebook page. And there seems to be a rumor that the 11/11/11 group is shady. "Masionic" was one term I heard. It doesnt seem to matter that an open letter from Cairo went out asking for international support to shed light on the continued jailing and military tribunals for Egyptian activists and bloggers.
But it's not about any given group for me anyway. I do believe we need to keep our movement connected with the iNternational civil society that's forming.
It gives us enhanced legitimacy for one thing. It also keeps an international light shining on Cairo, making it a little more difficult for the internal manipulation of issues. And, it helps add our voice to this growing phenomena we are witnessing from Oakland, to Wall St., to London, Madrid, Rome, and so on.
If you walked in Tahrir in January, you can see today there is more to be done to resist the natural counter revolution. Emergency law is still in place. Military trials have sentenced over 12000 Egyptians. Even the state owned Al Ahram lists the many strong armed tactics we've seen since February 11.
Besides our own situation, there are regional issues that warrant our continued show of solidarity. Just as we stood unified in Tahrir to say we no longer recognize the regime - we can stand together with the people of Syria. We in Cairo have an advantage with the Arab League hosted right off the Square. I'd like to see this organization put in its proper context of a moribound agency that should be eliminated in favor of something that more accurately reflects the Arab street.
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