One of the greatest accomplishments of the protests, for these three individuals, was the chance to meet and experience unity with people from different religions, classes and ethnicities.
January 25 2011 seemed forever immune, until now. Amidst the brutal violence, an ideological battle rages on for the soul of Egypt.
This bi-weekly Arab Awakening space is a holding operation on Egypt - excerpts from their articles, blogs and tweets - as people try to work out what is happening. The ‘You tell us’ feature offers some first hand accounts and a range of opinions, first and foremost from the people of Egypt.
With the Ergenekon verdict, Turkey was to put behind it a history of coup d’états, and to open a new page by convicting generals (whose raison d’etre for the past 30 years was to fight terrorism) for participating in what is now officially a ‘terrorist organization’.
Not only has the state so far been unable to bring the militias under control, it has also not managed to repair roads, rebuild buildings, clean the streets or provide power to its citizens.
We could choose between opposing this new authority, boycotting it, or participating in an attempt to contain the damage to come. In other words, we had to choose the option that implied the least damage, and we did.
Combined with the warnings of the collapse of state institutions and proliferation of corruption as a result of the absence of the state, the vacuum of sovereign responsibilities is increasing. A crippled economy does not help as more people turn to 'hybrid' state support.
Charitable initiatives, like Sadaggat and Shariee Alhawadith, have been providing food and clothes as well as medical care for years. They offer much-needed assistance and an ‘alternative’ to the official social welfare system which does not exist.
In addition to the transitional process falling into paralysis, there is also a palpable sense of insecurity. The political assassinations, once relatively unknown in Tunisia, are now picking up their own deadly momentum.
