Egypt beyond Tahrir Square

Description

On January 25, 2011, the world's eyes were on Egypt's Tahrir Square as millions of people poured into the city center to call for the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak. Since then, few scholars or journalists have been given the opportunity to reflect on the nationwide moment of transformation and the hope that was embodied by the Egyptian Revolution. In this important and necessary volume, leading Egyptian academics and writers share their eyewitness experiences. They examine how events unfolded in relation to key social groups and institutions such as the military, police, labor, intellectuals, Coptic Christians, and the media; share the mood of the nation; assess what happened when three recent regimes of Egyptian rule came to an end; and account for the dramatic rise and fall of the Muslim Brotherhood. The contributors' deep engagement with politics and society in their country is evident and sets this volume apart from most of what has been published in English about the Arab Spring. The diversity of views brought together here is a testament to the contradictions and complexities of historical and political changes that affect Egypt and beyond.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Egypt's Revolutionary Spirit across Time
Belal Fadl and Maissaa Almustafa
2. Egyptian Revolutionaries' Unrealistic Expectations
Mohammad Fadel
3. Egypt's Revolutionary Moment Turned Uprising
Sahar Aziz
4. The New Intellectual in Egypt's Revolutions
Shereen Abouelnaga
5. The Muslim Brotherhood: Between Opposition and Power
Dalia Fahmy
6. Copts' Role in Modern Egypt
Mai Mogib Mosad
7. Egyptian Media Capturing the Revolution
Mohamad Hamas Elmasry and Mohammed El-Nawawy
8. The Egyptian Military and the Presidency: Continuity and Change
Dina Rashed
9. Policing Egypt During Revolutionary Times
Hesham Genidy and Justine Salam
Conclusion: Moving Beyond Tahrir
Ismail Alexandrani and Isaac Friesen
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Comparative Politics
• Middle Est
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Histoire
• Revolutions
• Egipto
• Egypt
• History of the Middle East
• Military
• Revolution
• Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 26 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253023315
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

EGYPT
BEYOND
TAHRIR SQUARE
EGYPT
BEYOND
TAHRIR SQUARE
Edited by
Bessma Momani and Eid Mohamed
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2016 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Momani, Bessma, editor. | Mohamed, Eid, editor.
Title: Egypt beyond Tahrir Square / edited by Bessma Momani and Eid Mohamed.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016024307 (print) | LCCN 2016040104 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253022837 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253023100 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253023315 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Arab Spring, 2010- | Egypt-History-Protests, 2011- | Revolutions-Egypt-History-21st century. | Egypt-History.
Classification: LCC DT107.88 .E346 2016 (print) | LCC DT107.88 (ebook) | DDC 962.05/6-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016024307
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Bessma Momani and Eid Mohamed
1 Egypt s Revolutionary Spirit across Time
Belal Fadl and Maissaa Almustafa
2 Egyptian Revolutionaries Unrealistic Expectations
Mohammad Fadel
3 Egypt s Revolutionary Moment Turned Uprising
Sahar Aziz
4 The New Intellectual in Egypt s Revolutions
Shereen Abouelnaga
5 The Muslim Brotherhood: Between Opposition and Power
Dalia Fahmy
6 Copts Role in Modern Egypt
Mai Mogib Mosad
7 Egyptian Media Capturing the Revolution
Mohamad Hamas Elmasry and Mohammed El-Nawawy
8 The Egyptian Military and the Presidency: Continuity and Change
Dina Rashed
9 Policing Egypt during Revolutionary Times
Hesham Genidy and Justine Salam
Conclusion: Moving beyond Tahrir
Ismail Alexandrani and Isaac Friesen
List of Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
T HERE ARE SEVERAL people whom we would like to thank for their work, time, and hospitality. Thanks to the Balsillie School of International Affairs ( BSIA ) in Waterloo, Ontario, where they hosted our book workshop on May 5 and 6, 2014. We would like to thank the BSIA , especially Tiffany Bradley, John Ravenhill, and Joanne Weston, for providing us with the facilities to hold this workshop and to eventually complete this book with additional funding.
We extend our appreciation to all those who participated in this workshop, our contributing authors as well as participants and discussants, including Mohamed Arafa, David Dewitt, Timothy Donais, Nathan Funk, Hannah R. Gerber, Jasmin Habib, Wael Haddara, Amr Hamzawy, Paul Kingston, Waleed Mahdi, Andrew Thompson, and Renee Worringer.
We would like to thank Indiana University Press, and especially Rebecca Tolen for guiding us through the publication process and for providing us with such helpful feedback throughout the process. Thanks as well to Dee Mortensen and Paige Rasmussen of Indiana University Press.
A special thank you to Elnaz Borandeh and Amanda Sadowski for their work in organizing the book workshop and assisting in preparing chapters. We also thank Busra Hacioglu, Tanzeel Hakak, Reshem Khan, Anna Klimbovskaia, Nick McEwan, and Nadine Thibeh for their assistance. Many thanks to Anton Malkin for his copyediting.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the International Development Research Council, which was essential to the success of bringing Egyptian scholars together in one room to discuss the book project. Dr. Momani would also like to thank the BSIA for partial funding of book preparation and copyediting.
Drs. Momani and Mohamed would like to thank their respective Egyptian families for their love, support, and patience. The people of Egypt deserve a great nation and this book was written with love for all Egyptians.
EGYPT
BEYOND
TAHRIR SQUARE
Introduction
Bessma Momani and Eid Mohamed
O N JANUARY 25, 2011, the world s eyes were on Egypt s Tahrir Square as millions of people poured into Cairo s city center, demanding freedom, bread, social justice and human dignity and defiantly calling for then president Hosni Mubarak to step down. After a successful overthrow of Tunisian longtime autocratic president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, it seemed as though the entire Arab region would be reshaped by a domino effect of falling Arab dictators. The Egyptian people also felt empowered like never before and believed this would be the moment for real revolutionary change. After camping out in the square for weeks, most Egyptians hoped that through a sheer determination to bring about change, they could uproot and address Egypt s ailing socioeconomic conditions and political institutions. The uprisings in Tahrir soon spread nationwide to cities across Egypt. Mubarak and his notorious police responded violently, with tear gas, batons, and arrests of peaceful demonstrators. On January 28, 2011, the embattled police force collapsed, and army tanks entered the scene to play the role of the popular savior of a revolution. On February 11, 2011, Mubarak relinquished all powers to the military, which, two days later, dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution. In fewer than twenty days, it seemed the authoritarian regime under Mubarak had come to an end. The military s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ( SCAF ) rode into power on a wave of popular support as it appeared to usher in a transition toward democracy.
Welcomed by the masses as a caretaker government, the SCAF managed to supervise successful parliamentary and presidential elections. On March 19, 2011, and in the first post-Mubarak vote, Egyptians cast ballots on constitutional amendments sponsored by the military, setting the framework for the transition to democracy, including scheduling the first parliamentary and presidential elections. Islamists backed the amendments as they were eager to hold elections and take advantage of their widespread grassroots support built during the years of repression under Mubarak and his predecessors; in contrast, smaller and newly founded parties had less time to prepare for elections and cried for more time. Many liberal revolutionaries pushed for a no vote on the military-written constitutional amendments and argued that a constitution should be written from the bottom up and not rushed. Despite liberals objections, the constitutional amendments were overwhelmingly approved as people anxiously waited for presidential and parliamentary elections.
In the meantime, the ruling SCAF made plenty of enemies along the way. After churches were sacked and burned in Upper Egypt, peaceful Egyptian protesters, mostly Coptic Christians, called for the dissolution of the SCAF , the resignation of Chairman Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, and the dismissal of the governor of Aswan Province. On October 9, 2011, the mainly Coptic protesters were attacked outside the state news and radio building, known as Maspero, by military police that killed dozens. Under pressure from the Coptic protesters and the continued nationwide demonstrations against what was called the Maspero massacre, the military announced parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections were held in stages from November 28, 2011, to February 15, 2012, and lead to the victory of Islamist parties. The Muslim Brotherhood, which ran under the banner of the Freedom and Justice Party, won the majority of seats while Salafists, under the banner of the Nour Party, took another quarter of the parliamentary seats. The remaining parliamentary seats went to liberals, leftists, independents, and secular forces. In the Shura Council (consultative council), few voters bothered to cast their ballots, ushering in an Islamist takeover of nearly 90 percent of the seats. The disappointed military, Egypt s SCAF , eventually handed power to the democratically elected Islamist government of the Muslim Brotherhood, and plans for the presidential election were set in motion. On May 23-24, 2012, Egypt witnessed the first round of voting in the presidential elections, with a field of thirteen candidates. The Muslim Brotherhood s Mohammed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerged as the top two contenders and would face each other in a runoff. On June 14, 2012, a few days before the second round of voting in the presidential elections, the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated People s Assembly on grounds that a third of its members were elected illegally. The military swiftly closed down the parliament while the presidential elections continued. On June 16-17, 2012, Egyptians voted in the presidential runoff between Morsi and Shafiq. The military issued a constitutional declaration giving the SCAF sweeping authority and limiting the powers of the next president. Morsi won the presidential ru