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Interview with an anarcho-communist activist in Freedom Square in Cairo
category north africa | community struggles | interview author
Friday February 04, 2011 12:40
author by Yasser Abdullah

Interview with an anarcho-communist activist in Freedom Square, Cairo

Can you please tell me your name and what movement you are from?

I'm Nidal Tahrir, from Black Flag, a small group of Anarcho-Communists
in Egypt.

The world is watching Egypt, and even moving in solidarity. However, due
to the internet being cut, information was difficult to find. Can you
tell me about what has happened in Egypt in the past week? What did it
look like from your perspective?

The situation in Egypt is so crucial right now. It began with an
invitation to the day of rage against the Mubarak regime on January
25th. No-one expected that an invitation to a day of rage from a loose
group, a Facebook page, not really organized, called "We are all Khalid
Said" (Khalid Said is a young Egyptian who was killed by Mubarak's
police in Alexandria last summer), it was that Tuesday that began
everything, it was the spark for the whole fire. On Tuesday there were
big demonstrations in the streets in every Egyptian town, on Wednesday
the massacre began. It began with trying to finish the sit-in in Tahrir
Square late on Tuesday night, and continued into the following days,
especially in Suez town. Suez has a special value in every Egyptian
heart. It was the centre for resistance against the Zionists in 1956 and
1967, in the same district. It fought Sharon's troops back in the
Egyptian-Israeli wars. Mubarak's police carried out a massacre - at
least 4 people killed, 100 injured, gas bombs, rubber bullets, flame
throwers, a strange yellow substance thrown above people, maybe mustard
gas. Friday was called the Jumu'ah of Rage - Jumu'ah is Arabic for
Friday, it's the national weekend in Egypt, in many Islamic countries
also. It's a sacred day in Islam because of the big prayers on this day,
called Jumu'ah prayer. It was planned for demonstrations to go on after
prayers, at noon, but the police tried to prevent the marches with all
of its power and violence. There were many clashes in Cairo, (downtown,
in Mattareyah, east of Cairo), all over Egypt, especially in Suez,
Alexandria, Mahalla (in the delta, one of the centres of the working
class). From noon to sunset, people marched in Cairo to Downtown, for a
sit-in in Tahrir, till Mubarak's regime was removed, chanting one
slogan: "The people demand the removal of the regime". At sunset, 5pm
CLT, Mubarak declared a curfew and brought the army into Egyptian towns.
This curfew was followed by a police-planned breakout, letting out the
criminals and thugs called Baltagayyah. The police planned a widescale
breakout of criminals in many Egyptian prisons to scare people in Egypt.
No police, many army troops couldn't control the street, people were
scared. It was followed by a news jam on Egyptian TV channels, radios,
newspaper about luddites in many towns, about thieves firing at people.
People organized "popular committees" to secure every street. This was
welcomed by the regime to make people more scared about instability in
the country, but it is also a point we could start from to build workers
councils.

As of Wednesday, there are clashes between pro- and anti-Mubarak people.
Is that the correct way to describe it? Who are the "Mubarak
supporters?" How are these clashes affecting the attitudes of average
working-class Egyptians?

It's absolutely wrong to call it clashes between anti- and pro-Mubarak.
The pro-Mubarak demonstration consisted mostly of Baltagayyah and secret
police, to attack the protesters in Tahrir. It only began after
Mubarak's speech yesterday, after Obama's speech too. Personally I think
Mubarak feels like a slaughtered ox who is trying to throw his blood
over his killers. He feels like Nero and wants to burn Egypt before his
removal, trying to make people believe he's a synonym for stability,
safety and security. In this way he's really made some progress - a holy
national alliance has now been formed against the Tahrirites (Tahrir
protesters) and the "Tahrir Commune". Many people, especially the middle
class, are saying that the demonstrations must end because Egypt has
been burned, famine has begun, but it's not true at all - it's only an
exaggeration. Every revolution has its difficulties and Mubarak is using
fear and terror to stay longer. Personally, I'm saying that even if the
protesters were responsible for this situation, even IF, Mubarak must
leave, he MUST go because of his inability to deal with the situation
right now.

What do you see happening in the next week? How much is the position
taken by the US government affecting the situation there?

Nobody can figure out what will happen tomorrow or next week. Mubarak is
a stubborn idiot and the Egyptian media is making the biggest media
campaign in its history to detain the protests planned for next Friday,
4th February. There are calls for another million-person march to
Tahrir, called the "Jumu'ah of salvation". The position taken by the US
government affects us more than the demonstrations. Mubarak is such a
traitor, capable of killing the whole people, but he couldn't say no to
his masters.

What has the participation of class-struggle anarchists been? Who are
their allies?

Anarchism in Egypt is not a big trend. You can find some anarchists but
it's not a big trend yet. Anarchists in Egypt have joined both the
protests and the popular committees to defend the streets from the
thugs. Anarchists in Egypt put some hope in these councils. The
anarchists' allies in Egypt are the Marxists, of course. We are not now
at a time of ideological debate - the whole left is calling for unity
and then argue about anything. The anarchists in Egypt are a part of the
Egyptian left.

What forms of solidarity can be built between revolutionaries in Egypt
and revolutionaries in the "West"? What can be done immediately and what
should we do in the long term?

The most difficult obstacle Egyptian revolutionaries face is the cutting
of communications. Western revolutionaries must put pressure on their
governments to prevent the Egyptian regime from doing this. That's for
now, but no-one can say what will happen in the long term. If the
revolution is successful, then Western revolutionaries must build
solidarity with their Egyptian comrades against the expected aggression
from the USA and Israel. If the revolution is defeated, then it will be
a massacre for all Egyptian revolutionaries.

What will the main tasks be, once Mubarak leaves? Has there been much
planning about this on the street level? What have anti-capitalist
revolutionaries proposed?

The main task now, speaking about the street demands, is new
constitution and provisional government, and then new elections. There's
much planning about this issue by many political trends here, especially
the Muslim Brotherhood. Anti-capitalist revolutionaries are not very
numerous in Cairo - the communists, democratic left and Trotskyites are
calling for the same demands about the constitution and new elections,
but for us as anarchists - anti-capital, anti-State too - we will try to
ensure that the committees that have been formed protect and secure the
streets, make them stronger and try to turn them into real councils.

What do you want to say to revolutionaries abroad?

Dear Comrades all over the world, we need solidarity, a large solidarity
campaign and the Egyptian Revolution will win!

Audio Interview:
http://electricrnb.podomatic.com/entry/2011-02-03T00_56_54-08_00?x

Interview edited by Anarkismo.net

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Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"