The Revolution Continues?
Twitpic by @anjucomet
Force has been the ne plus ultra of the Egyptian regime, and only counter-force, by demonstrators, has proved effective at winning concessions. This weekend’s violence by the state seems like it could spark a full-fledged uprising like the one that began Jan. 25 and lasted 18 days. So far, there are 20 dead in two days, and at least 2,000 injured — enough to endow the protest in Tahrir Square with a logic of its own, beyond its original demand (transfer of authority from the military to a civilian president by April 2012).
The more demonstrators that are killed, the greater will be the popular fury: “the blood of the martyrs” was a potent rallying cry in January and February, and has been taken up again in Tahrir this weekend.
