April 6 — Mission not accomplished
CAIRO — “Egypt is our mother!”
“Raise your head, you are Egyptian!”
Sixty odd members of the April 6 Youth Movement took to the streets, or rather the narrow alleys, of Islamic Cairo Thursday night to ”invite people to feel the revolution.”
It also marked the first sohour gathering after the uprising — an annual Islamic observance when the early morning meal of Ramadan is shared.
”In the past they attacked our sohours and caught us, but now we are free. Or at least a little free,” laughs Ahmad Shurrab, 25, an architect and member of the loose-knit organization since last year.
The movement started as a Facebook group in the Spring of 2008 initially to support an industrial town strike in El-Mahalla El-Kubra on April 6. The event came to symbolize the national struggle against the Mubarak regime and spurred an annual day of protest.
”But we got no response. In the end it was good for us. If [Mubarak] would have responded then maybe the revolution wouldn’t have happened. But he refused to deal with us, so then most of Egyptians refused him too,” says Amr Elgandy, a skinny, sincere 22 year old.
”Mubarak destroyed this country. This is the reason for this revolution. There was no health care. Police caught people without reason.”
”When I ask the police why you catch, push, hit me, then they tell me you work with USA, you want to destroy this country. But I’m a young man. I want freedom. I want to choose my leaders,” says Elgandy.
So did one of the founders of the April 6 Movement, Asmaa Mahfouz, 26. She recorded a video that went viral and sparked the January 25 revolution. In it, she urged people to join her in Tahrir Square, saying she’s just a girl, but was going to protest against the regime and if the men had some guts, they should join.
Many activists still perceive this revolution as ongoing, though.
The regime charged Mahfouz for defamation of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Facebook and Twitter. The charges were dropped about a week ago.
”This is not human rights!” says Eltayeb, referring to the emergency law barring citizens from bad-mouthing the army. Human rights groups charge that 10,000 Egyptians have faced the secretive military tribunals since the uprisings began — more than in the entire three decades of rule by deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
In front of the Al-Hakim mosque, the activists have started chanting slogans against Army Commander-on-Chief Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, demanding his resignation. The protesters were accompanied by the drumming of a sufi mystician, totally clad in white cotton.
As head of SCAF, Tantawi is a stark reminder of the remaining vestiges of the brutal Mubarak regime.
”We won’t relax until Egypt becomes a democracy. That’s our target,” says Eltayeb.
Meanwhile, in the back alleys, it’s time for sohour.
The protesters break their fast with a traditional meal of mashed beans and vegetables fortified by the excitement of writing history on this warm Cairo night.
Hanna Sistek
Photos: Hanna Sistek
