Arab Spring Medley Awards

November the 29th 2014
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/world/hosni-mubarak-charges-dismissed-by-egyptian-court.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
"Judge Rashidi, who led a panel of three judges, did not elaborate from the bench on their reasoning, insisting that any commentators read at least a 240-page summary of their 1,340-page explanation of the case.

He dismissed the most serious charges: that Mr. Mubarak was responsible for the killing of hundreds of nonviolent demonstrators during the protests that ended his rule. He acquitted him of the corruption charges, which involved allegations that as president he had sold natural gas to Israel at below-market prices, as well as other allegations Mr. Mubarak and his sons were given vacation homes on the Red Sea as kickbacks in a land deal."
Verdicts were uttered not unlike the taking part of an award ceremony. 

ميدياوي - MediaWay

 A poster shared on Facebook ~ in memory of some of those who lost their lives in the January 2011 revolution.

November the 28th 2014
"Although the protest was under the banner of protecting Egypt's religious identity, the chant from those demonstrating had a different message,( Down with Military Rule)'يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر'

photo by Khaled Salah

First civilian casualty shot and killed shown unarmed ~ image of him dead, a blur of gore. Protest has been called illegal. The MB and those organising the protest had called on their supporters not to confront the police or army. Instead, encouraging them to gather in the smaller streets and roads of Egypt. Despite this it wasn't long before the first fatality occurred.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/28/us-egypt-security-general-idUSKCN0JC11H20141128 

includes video

"Army soldiers take their positions with their armoured personnel vehicle during clashes with supporters of Muslim Brotherhood and ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in the Cairo suburb of Matariya November 28, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany"

"The Salafi Front termed its call for protests on Friday the "Uprising of Islamist Youth", alienating secular critics of Sisi and also limiting turnout.
The Salafi Front said demonstrations would continue into the evening and issued a statement urging protesters to remain peaceful."

Sahar Aziz,  author on Egyptian politics and a professor of law at the Texas A and M University; says the Egyptian government must listen to the concerns of the protesters.

"I think these protests signify that without a political solution, Egypt will continue to be plagued by violence, unfortunately. What happened on July 3rd 2013, when the first democratically elected president Morsi was deposed, was a political crisis, and unfortunately, the government since then, whoever was in charge, they have misguidedly used violent state  repression and oppression of protests as a way to 'hope' that this problem will go away. 
It's clear the way the country is operating is the same as the way in which Abdel Nasser and Sadat and Mubarak operated which tends to happen when you have a military run government - the only language the government knows is the language of the gun, of force- and that in 2014 is no longer a feasible option for the Middle East and the Arab world. 
The youth have rejected these forms of police brutality and state oppression and they now want a democratic system where their voices are heard and are part of the decision making process as opposed to being used as objects or infantilized; that they should just sit, be quiet and listen to what the elders tell them. 

Q: "You mentioned Egypt's youth, some people say this is the beginning of the 'Muslim Youth Intefada', what does it look like to you?"

Sahar Aziz: "Well, 90% of Egypt is Muslim, so when you say Muslim youth of Egypt you are not talking about some extremist group, this is essentially all the youth, 90% of the youth in Egypt. The reason why January 25th occurred, which was a revolutionary moment that could have produced a revolutionary outcome... the reason why these uprisings occurred was because the youths' futures had been robbed, had been stolen by corrupt business elite and corrupt military elite... and every time they tried to tell their government that they had no jobs and that they were starving, couldn't get married, couldn't live a life of dignity, they were put in prisons, they were tortured and they were subject to police brutality...  and the same conditions exist now. The people who have the most to lose from the current police state which is expanding, are the youth... and when you have nothing and also the most to lose at the same time, you are forced into violence.

I think the Sisi regime needs to take very seriously this robbed future  that the youth have experienced and it needs to figure out a way to give them something to live for so that violence is not the only means they have to survive."