New Foe, New Revolution?
CAIRO, Egypt — The spasm of state violence here over the weekend marks one of two things: either an entrenchment of military dictatorship, or the long-deferred resumption of the January 25 uprising. The unusually large demonstrations that began on Friday in protest of the military’s tightening hold on power were met with violence from security forces and the military itself. Though the clashes are still ongoing, the nature of Egypt’s new military rulers and its struggling revolution appear already to have changed in fundamental ways.
The “Friday of One Demand,” orchestrated by the Islamists, who have sat out most of the year’s demonstrations, drew some of the biggest crowds seen in Tahrir since the original uprising that ousted Mubarak. Tens of thousands of the usual secular demonstrators joined hundreds of thousands of Salafis and Muslim Brothers.
“We are here to continue the revolution for a civil state,” said Adel Hamed, a former member of parliament for the Muslim Brotherhood. “No one is above the law, including the army.”
All year, secular liberals have accused the Brotherhood — the most powerful political party in the country — of playing footsy with the military. Finally, however, the Brothers broke with the military over the legal role of the armed forces, rather than, as many expected, over whether Egypt would be defined as a secular state.
Demonstrators from across the spectrum stayed on script on Friday, all demanding that the military honor its promise to leave power. Fringe elements, like the jihadis who waved photos of Osama bin Laden, were jeered even by fundamentalist Salafist protesters. When some zealous Islamists chanted for sharia, they were silenced by their peers.
