'The Invisible Arab' Book link

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012214121210448673.html

photos: S.el-Wakil

In the Arab world, the West's interests trump its values 
"The Invisible Arab" Marwan Bishara. 

"Since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, Western military and political interference has had a role in all major transformations in the Arab world and the region in general. After European colonialism redrew the fault lines and contours of the new Middle East and North African regions, the Cold War reshaped the region with the United States at the helm of interregional and even domestic affairs of most Arab countries. The United States, guided by imperial security doctrines, put itself centre-stage as the most powerful player in the Middle East."

Read more:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012214121210448673.html
 
Photos: S.el-Wakil

broken pavements broken spirits                                                         photo:amiraT

Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

The sun rises on anti-government protesters as they collect their belongings and leave Tahrir Square
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/feb/12/egypt-new-dawn-in-pictures 

• 

Clean-up. Easy.

 A municipal worker cleans Mohamed Mahmoud street in central Cairo, the scene of deadly riot police clashes with protesters [AFP]

SUBTITLED VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJA3tGwkp4&feature=player_embedded

Whilst viewing the above video we would do well to bear in mind SCAF's statement saying a strike would 'pull down the economy and risk chaos.'

Perhaps no threat in light of the present economy and daily chaos, but if that isn't a warning we can but wonder what is.

 'You bring it upon yourselves' 

seems to resound as an echo surrounding the call for reform

When smite fails

Assume the voice of reason

And blame the victims

 https://www.google.com/search?q=images+of+egyptian+protesters+injured&hl=en&prmd=imvnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Y-YzT46uOKOi0QXA4a2ZAg&ved=0CCMQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=756

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/Joe-Lieberman
"The current crisis with the Egyptian government has escalated to such a level that it now threatens our long-standing partnership. There are committed opponents of the United States and the US-Egypt relationship within the government in Cairo who are exacerbating tensions and inflaming public opinion in order to advance a narrow political agenda. At the same time, there are people of good will in both countries, civilian and military, who are working hard to resolve this crisis. This cannot happen soon enough."

If the above statement is perceived in good faith then it may appear equally reasonable to assume foreign policies should be not only  addressed but considerably reviewed. Instead, we are left with only the most poignant perpetuating quandary of all: Who continues to pay the price? 

Little other than a brief revisit to Noam Chomski's birds eyeview in:

That’s what’s happening in Egypt

  is required:

http://wilyawil.com/en/2011/11/video-noam-chomsky-thats-whats-happening-in-egypt/ 

Respect the Spring bud ...

http://depositphotos.com/1503558/stock-photo-Young-plant-in-desert.html

.. that grows in the desert.

Just like thinking outside the box allows ideas to breathe it also helps ideologies continue to pulsate.

Conventional negative responses may fill us with despondency and yet they are wherever we turn. For every person wishing Egypt maintain its dignity and grow in strength there must be at least the equivalent if not ten-fold who believe it is far cleverer to assume the worst. This observation is not restricted to outsiders but applies to individuals and constituents in Egypt itself, many who believe it their right to pilfer from the state for services rendered. 
And yet the revolution did occur, sparked by an unadulterated cry for change. May it remain unforgotten, undismissed. Respect for its source must remain.

  
In a most insightful article in the Guardian, titled: 
'Egypt's revolution has been misread', Khaled Abdullah writes:
"There are three main poles of power in Egypt: the army, the Islamists and the revolution. No single event is powerful enough to obliterate the influence of any one of them. Only time can. The real question is: whose ideology is most resilient?"
 
"As people take their seats in parliament on 23 January, deep down they will know that it is blood that got them there."...

Astutely, those who have tapped into directing efforts into helping the starving and deprived are perhaps those who may well impose religious sanctions upon the nation if they were ever to find themselves in a position of firmly established power. Moderately inclined political members must indeed begin to focus or lose out ~ in the short term at the very least.

"If the Islamists can bring that future in one choppy parliament, expect the future to be theirs, deservedly. But presuming they can't; it will be civil society that writes the future, as the street finds ways to organise itself and build its vision"  
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/16/egypt-revolution-misread

photo: amiraT

The Egyptian spirit has always had an integral sense of  directing energy towards aiding the most down and out through community spirit and good old-fashioned methods of direct donation and support. This would appear to have been on the decline in recent years and the Ta7reer episodes of affirmed unison served as acute reminders; innate expressions of visible support and thereby laying emphasis on infinite possibilities for change.

But now in the aftermath and sense of limbo felt nationwide there appears to remain the ongoing antithesis of this very ideal. With the sudden surges of apparent great wealth preceding the revolution; grand statements in the public domain still appear to claim precedence over any other national enterprise. This fake aggrandisement does little more than add to the already substantial confusion and bewilderment among those struggling most. Simplicity is abandoned in favour of pomp, contributing  nothing to the basic upholding edifices of the nation. These serve as mere distractions; imported costly frills depleting even further a struggling economy. Currents that fight against conscientious development and progress may well bring about more devastating scenarios than the country has ever known and it is for this very reason that the spirit of the revolution must remain strong in order to survive.

photo: amiraT

Egypt has a very long way to go. With hardship and insecurity the more self-serving in a community care less for its spirit and the echoing after-shocks of revolution are but hindrances. All would be lost were there not a counteracting force, a spirit greater and more resilient that still spurts feverishly through; perhaps most visible in spontaneous expression, a flourish of art, in all its forms, uninhibited creative thinking outside the box.

  And like the common garden plant that leans towards the sun and reaches for the rain, without expression of thought, dreams and hopes, a nation would be little more cherishable than a barren piece of land. 

When a heart is grateful it is also replenished. Here is a cheerful 'thank you' of sweet sorrow. 'Shukran' from a duo depicting Egyptian spirit. Thanks to those who have passed, those present and with a hopeful look to the future, a light-hearted rendering, poignantly illustrative:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lAk8FrtKvU Mohamed Abdel-3al Mado and Wael 3amer.