{"id":5778,"date":"2013-08-27T17:48:21","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T17:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=5778"},"modified":"2021-03-14T12:37:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T12:37:11","slug":"5778","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/27\/5778\/","title":{"rendered":"Massacre In Cairo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below are two articles on the ongoing situation in Egypt. The first comes from the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. This is followed by an article from the Green Left Weekly (Australia) blog, posted by John Riddell, which asks Socialists to rethink some of the prior positions some held over the Egyptian revolution, highlighted by the change adopted by the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. Both these articles have been taken from the Socialist Democracy (Ireland) blog (see http:\/\/www.socialistdemocracy.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n

1. STATEMENT FROM THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISTS ON THE MASSACRE IN CAIRO<\/h2>\n
\"Muslim
Muslim Brotherhood victims of the Egyptian army’s massacre at Al Nadha Square in Cairo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Down with military rule! Down with Al-Sisi, the leader of the counter-revolution!<\/p>\n

The bloody dissolution of the sit-ins in Al-Nahda Square and Raba’a al-Adawiyya is nothing but a massacre\u2014prepared in advance. It aims to liquidate the Muslim Brotherhood. But, it is also part of a plan to liquidate the Egyptian Revolution and restore the military-police state of the Mubarak regime.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Revolutionary Socialists did not defend the regime of Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood for a single day. We were always in the front ranks of the opposition to that criminal, failed regime which betrayed the goals of the Egyptian Revolution. It even protected the pillars of the Mubarak regime and its security apparatus, armed forces and corrupt businessmen. We strongly participated in the revolutionary wave of 30 June.<\/p>\n

Neither did we defend for a single day the sit-ins by the Brotherhood and their attempts to return Mursi to power.<\/p>\n

But we have to put the events of today in their context, which is the use of the military to smash up workers’ strikes. We also see the appointment of new provincial governors\u2014largely drawn from the ranks of the remnants of the old regime, the police and military generals. Then there are the policies of General Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi’s government. It has adopted a road-map clearly hostile to the goals and demands of the Egyptian revolution, which are freedom, dignity and social justice.<\/p>\n

This is the context for the brutal massacre which the army and police are committing. It is a bloody dress rehearsal for the liquidation of the Egyptian Revolution. It aims to break the revolutionary will of all Egyptians who are claiming their rights, whether workers, poor, or revolutionary youth, by creating a state of terror.<\/p>\n

However, the reaction by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists in attacking Christians and their churches, is a sectarian crime which only serves the forces of counter-revolution. The filthy attempt to create a civil war, in which Egyptian Christians will fall victims to the reactionary Muslim Brotherhood, is one in which Mubarak’s state and Al-Sisi are complicit, who have never for a single day defended the Copts and their churches.<\/p>\n

We stand firmly against Al-Sisi’s massacres, and against his ugly attempt to abort the Egyptian Revolution. For today’s massacre is the first step in the road towards counter-revolution. We stand with the same firmness against all assaults on Egypt’s Christians and against the sectarian campaign which only serves the interests of Al-Sisi and his bloody project.<\/p>\n

Many who described themselves as liberals and leftists have betrayed the Egyptian Revolution, led by those who took part in Al-Sisi’s government. They have sold the blood of the martyrs to whitewash the military and the counter-revolution. These people have blood on their hands.<\/p>\n

We, the Revolutionary Socialists, will never deviate for an instant from the path of the Egyptian Revolution. We will never compromise on the rights of the revolutionary martyrs and their pure blood: those who fell confronting Mubarak, those who fell confronting the Military Council, those who fell confronting Mursi’s regime, and those who fall now confronting Al-Sisi and his dogs.<\/p>\n

Down with military rule! No the return of the old regime! No to the return of the Brotherhood! All power and wealth to the people.<\/p>\n

14 August 2013<\/p>\n

2. EGYPT: SOCIALISTS NEED TO RETHINK MILITARY TAKEOVER<\/h2>\n
\"A
A People’s Revolution hijacked by the Egyptian military<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The military massacres in Egypt are \u201cpart of a plan to liquidate the Egyptian Revolution and restore the military-police state of the Mubarak regime,\u201d say the Revolutionary Socialists (RS) of Egypt in an August 15 statement<\/a>. Their present analysis contrasts sharply with their previous positive appraisal the July 3 military coup that ousted Egypt\u2019s elected government.<\/p>\n

The RS, who enjoy a wide reputation as a revolutionary voice in the Egyptian struggle, are reconsidering the meaning of this experience. Socialists abroad should be rethinking it as well.<\/p>\n

In the rich and varied world discussion of these events, contributions in the Green Left Weekly<\/cite> newsgroup (Australia) provide useful starting points for reflection, as do the reactions of several ALBA governments.<\/p>\n

The army\/police massacre is \u201ca bloody dress rehearsal for the liquidation of the Egyptian Revolution,\u201d the RS now states. \u201cIt aims to break the revolutionary will of all Egyptians who are claiming their rights, whether workers, poor, or revolutionary youth, by creating a state of terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet only a month ago, the RS and socialist currents abroad that follow its lead looked on the military overturn of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi as the culmination of a great step forward for Egypt\u2019s revolution.<\/p>\n

The giant anti-Morsi demonstrations of June 30 that triggered his ouster were \u201cthe historic beginning of a new wave of the Egyptian revolution,\u201d the RS wrote on July 5<\/a>. True, the army and police had gained in authority, they stated, but \u201cthis influence is momentary and superficial.\u201d June 30 represented a \u201cnew revolutionary explosion.\u201d In replacing the elected government by a hand picked junta \u2013 the trademark of a military coup \u2013 the army\u2019s July 3 coup merely \u201cacquiesced to the will of the rebelling populace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that the RS has, finally, identified the military rulers as the main enemy, this must shape international solidarity efforts.<\/p>\n

Democratic rights<\/h3>\n

Other aspects of the RS analysis also need review. For example, the August 15 RS statement declares that they do not \u201cdefend for a single day the sit-ins by the Brotherhood and their attempts to return Morsi to power.\u201d In reality, the Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s public protests represent an attempt to assert their right to exist as a political movement after six weeks of brutal and bloody suppression. Their right to protest military violence must be defended.<\/p>\n

The RS has tended to be even-handed, attacking both the military and on the Brotherhood. Its August 20<\/a> statement now explicitly repudiates this approach, rejecting \u201ca kind of \u2018balance\u2019 in our attacks on the military and the Islamists.\u201d Yet its main slogan, \u201cDown with military rule \u2026 no to the return of the Muslim brotherhood,\u201d stays in the old groove.<\/p>\n

In fact, the military are in the saddle and the Brotherhood repressed and subjected to massacres. In this situation, an even-handed approach is a formula for paralysis and abstention. What is needed is a united defense of democratic and human rights.<\/p>\n

The earlier RS statement pointed the way on this issue. \u201cWe must be consistent in opposing all forms of abuse and repression to which the Islamists will be exposed in the form of arrests and closures of satellite channels and newspapers, for what happens to today to the Islamists will happen tomorrow to the workers and the leftists,\u201d the RS stated on July 5.<\/p>\n

Socialists internationally should support and encourage protests against the military\u2019s denial of democratic and human rights in Egypt \u2013 including the rights of the Brotherhood and its supporters. Morsi and other Brotherhood political prisoners should be released, the Brotherhood\u2019s political and legal rights should be restored, and new elections should be held without delay and without any restrictions on who may participate.<\/p>\n

In particular, socialists should highlight the role of imperialism, over several decades, in orchestrating, financing, and defending the rise of rightist military tyranny in Egypt \u2013 a process that transformed Egypt into a pliant tool of U.S.-Israeli policy.<\/p>\n

Bourgeois democracy<\/h3>\n

The overturn of Morsi swept away the limited forms of electoral democracy achieved following the 2011 revolution, replacing it with direct military rule. The earlier RS statement took no note of this change, suggesting instead that the overturn represented a step forward from \u201cformal democracy, with its ballot boxes\u201d to \u201clegitimacy via the democracy of the popular revolution \u2013 direct democracy creating revolutionary legitimacy.\u201d This \u201copens the horizons to new forms of popular power, which dwarf the temporary democracy of the ballot box,\u201d the RS said.<\/p>\n

The dismissal of elective institutions is still evident in the August 20 RS statement, which refers with apparent approval to \u201cthe downfall of the legitimacy of the ballot box.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is now clear that the talk of \u201cnew forms of popular power\u201d was delusionary. Far from achieving a new system of direct revolutionary democracy, Egypt\u2019s popular movement is now overshadowed by the rise of military tyranny. This misjudgement suggests the need to revisit our attitude to the limited democratic gains \u2013 the \u201cformal democracy, with its ballot boxes\u201d \u2013 achieved by the 2011 revolution.<\/p>\n

Since 2011, Egypt\u2019s limited democratic institutions have been subject to repeated heavy-handed intervention by the military wing of the bourgeoisie, including dissolution of an elected parliament. Nonetheless, election of a government in a process not subject to direct military control erected a safeguard of the democratic rights of working people. And when constitutional rule was swept away, there was no longer any institutional barrier to unrestrained and murderous military repression.<\/p>\n

Yes, one day working people will replace bourgeois parliamentarism with a superior form of democracy. But under today\u2019s circumstances, socialists are not indifferent to the form of capitalist rule. We strive to defend and to expand the democratic elements won within the capitalist order. Capitalist parliamentarism offers more favourable conditions for workers\u2019 struggle than unrestricted capitalist tyranny.<\/p>\n

\u2018The central issue is the nature of the regime\u2019<\/h3>\n

A probing debate on these and other issues in the Egyptian struggle has developed in the discussion list of Green Left Weekly<\/em>, an Australian newspaper associated with Socialist Alliance. The exchange was initiated by Roger Annis, Richard Fidler, and Art Young, socialists in Canada with whom I have collaborated for several decades. Their contribution<\/a> argues in support of the view of Australian socialist Michael Karadjis, who stated on the same list<\/a>, \u201cThe coup regime has now revealed itself to be a bloody, anti-working class, anti-democratic, anti-Palestinian regime of reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

A contrary view has been argued by Tony Iltis in a series of articles in Green Left Weekly<\/cite> and in four replies to Annis, Fidler, and Young. Karadjis added a comment<\/a> in reply to Iltis.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that Iltis\u2019s writings do not represent the position of Socialist Alliance. SA\u2019s views are expressed in August 16 statement<\/a> that concludes: \u201cThe Socialist Alliance adds its voice to those demanding that all political prisoners be released and supports those who are calling for an immediate end to military rule and a civilian-led process to democratically elect a new government.\u2019<\/p>\n

[The previous two paragraphs are open to misinterpretation regarding the views of Tony Iltis. I have posted a clarification<\/a> in the comments section; see http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/kuu9tlt<\/a>. — JR August 21]<\/p>\n

ALBA governments take action<\/h3>\n

While socialists debate how to respond to military tyranny in Egypt, several anti-imperialist Latin American governments, members of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) have moved into action.<\/p>\n

Days after the army takeover in Egypt, Venezuela\u2019s President Nicolas Maduro, speaking at a mass rally in Cochabamba in the presence of presidents of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Argentina, denounced the military coup. He explained that Venezuela defended the Morsi government against the coup despite its disagreements with Morsi regarding the civil war in Syria. (See reports in Telesur<\/cite> and AVN<\/cite>.)<\/p>\n

Recalling on July 23 Egypt\u2019s anti-imperialist stand during the presidency of Gamel Abdel Nasser, Maduro said, \u201cEgypt is in upheaval today because it has departed from the path of independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, and Venezuela have all denounced the army\u2019s massacres, and Ecuador and Venezuela have withdrawn their ambassadors from Egypt in protest.<\/p>\n

A call to action<\/h3>\n

On August 17, Egyptian-Canadians in Vancouver convened a demonstration against the coup d\u2019\u00e9tat and police\/army violence in Egypt. The remarks of Roger Annis<\/a> to this action provide a guide for socialists in Canada in expressing our solidarity:<\/p>\n

We demand that the governments in Canada, United States and Europe cease their complicity with the criminal, military regime and its July 3 coup d\u2019\u00e9tat. They must scrap all military assistance to the Egyptian military. They must condemn the coup and they must support a return to legal and constitutional government. They must demand that political prisoners be released forthwith, including President Mohamed Morsi and other leaders of his party. The draconian, emergency measures by the coup regime that effectively outlaw civil liberties must be ended.<\/p>\n

They must also demand that the punitive measures against the Palestinian people in Gaza who are suffering as a result of border restrictions by the military regime be ended. Emergency aid should be provided as needed. Israel must end its treatment of Gaza as an outdoor prison that it can bomb or cut off at will.<\/p>\n

(For a 21-item annotated selection of background materials on the Egyptian events, see Roger Annis\u2019s Reading Guide to the July 3, 2013, Military Coup in Egypt<\/a><\/cite>)
\n20 August 2013<\/p>\n

(also see earlier posting:- Egypt, The Army And The Muslim Brotherhood \u2013 Two Reactionary Forces<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below are two articles on the ongoing situation in Egypt. The first comes from the Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. This is followed by an article from the Green Left Weekly (Australia) blog, posted by John Riddell, which asks Socialists to rethink some of the prior positions some held over the Egyptian revolution, highlighted by the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1867,1868,1870],"tags":[1979],"class_list":["post-5778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emancipation-liberation-and-self-determination","category-against-imperialism","category-middle-east-and-north-africa","tag-author-john-riddell"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":4272,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5778"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18525,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5778\/revisions\/18525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}