Mubarak Hospitalized

Husni Mubarak was hospitalized in Sharm all-Sheikh today, the very day he was supposed to be interrogated on misappropriation of funds. It's too early to tell if this is real or an illness of convenience, but he has been rumored to be seriously ill for some time, and turns 83 next month. More as we know it.

You have read this article Egypt / Husni Mubarak with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/mubarak-hospitalized.html. Thanks!

For the 150th of Fort Sumter: The US Civil War and the Middle East: the Khedive's Yanks and Rebs

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, beginning the US Civil War. Thursday will mark the 146th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, so this week in many ways frames the four years of the US Civil War. It gives me an excuse to revisit a connection between the US Civil War and the Middle East. My Georgia great-grandfather fought for the Union and my Missouri great-great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy (as they say on Facebook, "It's complicated"), so I'll remember both by telling of the American vets who ran the Egyptian Army after the war. Yes, I can find a Middle Eastern connection to just about anything. (Royal Wedding coming up? Piece of cake. Prince William's multiple descents from the Prophet Muhammad, of course.)

Since I've told the US Civil War vets' story at length before, I'll refer you to the longer version there. To persuade you to click through, here's the short version. The Egyptian Khedive Isma‘il, builder of the Suez Canal, modernizer of Cairo, and so lavish in his spending he eventually spent Egypt into debt that led to British occupation under his successor Tawfiq, was building up the Egyptian Army at the time the US Civil War ended. He needed foreign military men, and was distrustful of the British and French, suspecting them (correctly of course) of having ambitions in Egypt, but a lot of experienced American officers were suddenly available once the war ended. It made little difference to the Khedive whether they'd worn blue or gray, so he hired veterans of both. Thus Brigadier General Charles P. Stone (left) of the Union Army became Lieutenant General Charles P. Stone (Stone Pasha), Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Army (second photo).

There's another ir0ny in all this: though the Khedive ultimately bankrupted the country, one of the things that gave him his first burst of prosperity to embark on his great building efforts was the Union blockade of southern cotton exports during the war. As a result, Egyptian cotton suddenly surged to dominate the world market. Until, of course, 1865.

And, to balance things out after showing Stone Pasha, the second set of photos are of General Charles Loring, CSA in his Confederate uniform, and as Loring Pasha, Inspector General of the Egyptian Army (below, left); the empty left sleeve in both photos dates from his first war, in Mexico in 1846. (And the Khedivial uniform sure is fancier than the Confederate.)

In all several dozen Americans served in Egyptian service, and in its campaigns in Sudan and elsewhere, and while they mostly got on fairly well with their former enemies now in the same uniform, there was one duel between ex-Yanks and ex-Rebs fought in Alexandria, surely one of the last hostilities of the war.

For the fuller version of the tale, click the link above. As the US marks a century and a half since its great trial by fire, I thought it worth again remembering the men who also served another flag in the decades that followed. The whole adventure ended when the British moved in in 1881-82.

You'll find the longer story at the link above.

You have read this article Egypt / US Civil War with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/for-150th-of-fort-sumter-us-civil-war.html. Thanks!

On the Egyptin Military and the Protests

Following up on my post of yesterday, here's a useful assessment from Al-Masry Al-Youm English.

On the day after a blogger was convicted for "lying" about the military, it's a sign of the new climate of confidence that a major independent newspaper can venture to write openly about growing rifts.

You have read this article Egypt with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-egyptin-military-and-protests.html. Thanks!

The Tahrir Protests: The Jacobin Temptation?

It is difficult at this distance, even with all the social media today, to assess the developments of the last few days in Cairo. The crackdown Friday night on those camped out in Tahrir Square seems to have exacerbated tensions between the Armed Forces Council and the demonstrators, but it also seems to have divided supporters of the revolution. While many might prefer a civilian Presidential council during the interim period (one of the demands of the current protest), others recognize that the Army is going to be calling the shots anyway and a smooth transition may require their presence. I've seen a number of reformers and young revolutionaries worried that too radical an agenda will alienate the average Egyptian, which will only help the already well-organized Muslim Brotherhood and the old guard of the National Democratic Party (which will likely run some sort of list even if the party itself is banned). There seems to be some concern that if the revolutionary protests take a radical turn, yield to a temptation to Jacobinism, it will alienate voters. It is also threatening the economy. The peacefulness of the protests had much to do with their success. The more radical protesters in Tahrir now are said to have booed some of the Youth Council who organized the revolution.

There are enough signs of backlash to be cause for concern: a blogger who criticized the Army has been sentenced to three years in prison by a military tribunal; tight new security restrictions have been announced at the University of Cairo, and the crackdown showed that the Army has its red lines.

It doesn't help that the Army itself has tried to insist that someone else, perhaps the NDP, was firing live ammunition Friday, insisting it was not, despite testimony to the contrary. This sort of disingenuousness has been seen before: first a crackdown, then a denial that it was the Army's doing.

There is plenty of reason for the young revolutionaries to suspect the Army, but so far, the Army has shown every sign of deliberately moving towards free elections, but with every intent to keep order in the meantime. Radical demands make many people nervous, and could lose a lot of the popular support the youth have achieved to date.

And yielding to Jacobin temptations can lead to a Thermidorian Reaction.

I do wish the Army was more open about what happened and did not seem to be asserting thiNGS easily disproved by YouTube videos. They refused to allow live broadcast of their last press conference. And, though some demonstrators are now calling for Field Marshal Tantawi to step down, the Field Marshal continues to make the Sphinx look talkative. Though he has posed for pictures with visiting foreign leaders (he is the protocol head of state), he hasn't delivered any public statements of any kind, preferring to let military spokesmen speak for the Council. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wonders who's really calling the shots. (Though Tantawi has never had the reputation of being a public speaker: charisma was not something Husni Mubarak welcomed in a Defense Minister.)

It's still a delicate time, and I hope that everyone (protesters and army both) pauses for reflection before demanding too much, lest what has already been won be in jeopardy.

You have read this article Egypt with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/tahrir-protests-jacobin-temptation.html. Thanks!

Video of the Tahrir Crackdown

Friday night's clashes in Tahrir. Things get nasty at about the six minute mark. I'll discuss this further later today.

You have read this article Egypt with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/video-of-tahrir-crackdown.html. Thanks!

After a Bad Night in Tahrir: First Year Arabic Students at UT Sing "Sawt al-Hurriya"

Bad stuff seems to have happened last night/this morning in Tahrir Square, and the situation iS still unclear. After a day of protests demanding that Mubarak be tried and other issues, some military officers, apparently, joined the protest, and at this point the Army moved in to arrest them. Clashes ensued, and while the Army seemed to succeed for a while, in the end the people apparently retook the square. This is going to increase tensions with the Army, which still seems uncertain of its real role.

While this sorts itself out: One of the great folk anthems of the Egyptian Revolution was "Sawt al-Hurriya," (In every street of my country/the voice of freedom is sounding). I posted it on Feburary 11, the day Mubarak stepped down. It has an inspiring beat and inspiring words. The original video is here:



The words are in some ways pretty easy for beginning Arabic students, and now the University of Texas First Year Arabic Students have done their own version for YouTube:



If I'd had that in my first year of Arabic, I'd probably have learned the language with less pain and struggle.

I'll be celebrating my daughter's birthday this weekend, so I'll see you Monday.

You have read this article Arabic language / Egypt / revolutions with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/after-bad-night-in-tahrir-first-year.html. Thanks!

From "Sandmonkey": "7 Popular Myths About the [Egyptian] Revolution"

The blogger (I think his name is Mahmoud Salem from his Twitter account) who calls his blog "Rantings of a Sandmonkey," and who tweets more than he blogs these days, is (as you might guess from his nom de blog) usually an irreverent, profane, and outspoken voice of young Egyptian rebellion, though one with an uncharacteristically pro-Western bias. Since the Revolution, his longer-form blogging has picked up again, and he has a very interesting piece up called "7 Popular Myths About the Revolution," which I think is very balanced and sane, not to mention well-informed. And since his language is for once in the PG-13 range or mite warmer, I recommend it to you.

You have read this article blogs and blogging / Egypt / revolutions with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/from-popular-myths-about-egyptian.html. Thanks!

AUC's Substitute Cairo Book Fair

One of the casualties of the Egyptian revolution was the Cairo Annual Book Fair in January. The American University in Cairo Press recently sponsored a substitute fair held (where else?) in Midan al-Tahrir. The BBC offers an encouraging report.

Publishing in the Arab world has notoriously lagged far behind other countries, not least because of censorship; if the Arab spring leads to a new literary springtime, that would be truly encouraging.

You have read this article books / Cairo / Egypt with the title Egypt. You can bookmark this page URL http://ogbcommunity.blogspot.com/2011/04/auc-substitute-cairo-book-fair.html. Thanks!