Old rule. (Words of Women videos)

From Facebook, 

Sh.elS posted :

  Shadows of Light

 The bird thought it was free but it is still caught up in the cage: 

Egyptian revolution?! 

(N.Elkouni)

The struggle is on.

A resonating thought:

A people divided. 

So many choices and yet so little to choose from.

~It is with great pain that we find ourselves in times of dissent upon all levels. Damned if we do and damned if we don't~ 

Egyptians feel duped left right and centre. Any candidate arising from the spirit of the revolution is hardly considered to be in with a chance. The routes remaining are fraught with dangers and vexations of one kind or another.

People have different perspectives: High aspirations once relished are either quashed or severely constrained through one general consensus overriding all others; a longing for security, stability and order. 

Representatives of the old regime now appear as saviours, the only option to Islamist extremism. They have in fact adopted the Islamic charitable stance in order to remove any trace of competition among the poorer folk. They promise the general public relief from the shortages recently witnessed, orchestrated in the first place by their own woven scenarios linked to the economy: Withhold and proffer so as to appear magnanimously benevolent.

If the aim since the uprising was to divide a nation in order to conquer it once again, with maximum control, then the aim has all but been achieved. The old rule of divide and conquer appears to be precisely tailored by the presence of growing fears of religious extremism, serving to spook people into submission. With aspirations all but snuffed out, patriotism appears little more than a quest to salvage whatever inkling of security envisaged possible to achieve were one political party or other to achieve ruling power. 

Tolerance levels appear to have crumbled; with one economic crisis following another, a general search for security appears to supersede all else. Confusion is tangible, set about by multi-layered political strategies for control. Result: A society dysfunctional on almost every level. Issue of concern: Aggression, a common everyday phenomenon. Should dishing out judgemental axioms fail then common denigration steps right in. The transition from a united force to a community suffering from social impairment would appear almost complete.

There is heat in the air. The country seems to be facing a 'Hobson's choice': take it or leave it. Take what or leave what is the question that divides the country.

Before the revolution people who favoured neither the government nor the Muslim Brotherhood had no voice, they were referred to as the silent majority. The voice that people found with the onset of rebellion appeared to have no definitive goal and therefore ventured forth compromised from the offset, attached to an imminent threat of evaporation.

With a once upon a time pride of determination, former exhilaration is replaced with attempts to find safety in numbers through the maze of twisted power games.  

With hopes for visualised reform practically dashed and the onset of old regime candidacy, a strong feeling of betrayal prevails. With remembrance of so many young and innocent lives lost for having dared protest~ the phrase adding insult to injury can only be comprised as an understatement.

But there will always be minds, eyes, ears and above all beating hearts that will continue to address and battle on through the murky jungles of subjugation and control. Bloodshed is a terrifying prospect but remains one that many appear undaunted by if the alternative is yet another, more accentuated form of slavery due to manipulated oppression. 

The really poor await their blankets, their bread and their shelter and together with rebelling liberated minds struggle to find a way forward. All the while, 'the forces that be' play their power games and appear at least one step ahead, mapping out their targets with tactical mind games through their evident hold upon the country's economy and assets. 

All indictments, all trials, all penalties are swept effortlessly under the carpet of a blameless autocracy upheld by an army, considerable in strength and after all part of the country's defense mechanism and therefore indispensable. Whoever does make it to the ruling seat will undoubtedly need the army's well-backed approval or drop out at the first hurdle.

Here, subtitled, are very different, interesting perspectives from:

Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution

a group of independent film-makers and activists who are working to document the participation of women in the Egyptian Revolution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exStflgfBDY&feature=youtu.be 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NamUZHWJem0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9aXkZCr5hE&feature=youtu.be 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuiefMITEtI&feature=youtu.be 

more to come soon.

Links submitted by SaraH

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