Program Date:
Media Type: Audio • Time: 53 Minutes and 57 Secs
Guests: Sherif Gaber
Topics: Egypt in Rebellion/Revolution
Media Type: Audio • Time: 53 Minutes and 57 Secs
Guests: Sherif Gaber
Topics: Egypt in Rebellion/Revolution
December 1, 2011 - Sherif Gaber from Egypt on the r3volution going on there
Gaber recently graduated from law school at the University of Texas at
Austin and, back in his native Egypt, has been active with the group No
Military Trials for Civilians. He said today: "Tomorrow [Friday] is going
to be an important day, a symbolic funeral for the 56 people who have been
killed by the army and police in the last week and tribute to the over 3000
wounded. The elections have siphoned off a lot of energy from the movement
in the streets, with many if not most political parties and organizations
bailing on the movement to pursue a dubious electoral strategy. The vote
for the Muslim Brotherhood and businessmen and others who were around
during the Mubarak-era and have attempted to re-brand themselves was in the
cards for a long time. We have seen a lot of corrupt campaigning and we
have also seen a lot of money from the Gulf, funding Salafis and others.
There's been horrific violence by the army and the police the last several
months against protesters and others, but the army has nonetheless pushed
for these elections, avoiding any responsibility. Regardless of the outcome
of the election, the army is still in power and the parliamentary powers
are very limited, so it's all something of a political circus; in the end
we still have authoritarianism under a different name. The army is touting
the long lines as a show of its legitimacy, but the turnout seems more
likely to be 30 or at most 40 percent, quite low given there was no
organized boycott. People need to realize that even though we're seeing
elections now, and supposedly entering a democratic era, the real fight of
the revolution is still on the streets and those who have fought and died
still haven't received their due." Last month Gaber was on an IPA news
release titled: "Military Trials 'Crushing Egyptian Revolution.'"
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