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Monday, Jan 28, 2013 8:59 PM UTC

Egypt’s ongoing revolution erupts in violence

Two years after overthrowing Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians appear headed for civil war

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Topics: GlobalPost, Egypt, Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood, The Middle East,

Egypt's ongoing revolution erupts in violence
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

Global Post CAIRO, Egypt — Smoke billowed out from the fire raging at a nearby government building as live ammo ricocheted off the streets of Suez. Nine people were killed in this single night of fighting between protesters and police.

This latest round of mayhem in Egypt — in which nearly 50 people have been killed since Friday in ongoing clashes around the country — marks the two-year anniversary of the start of Egypt’s uprising. Activists here said they are seeking to resurrect a rebellion they feel was thwarted first by military rule and now by the power-hungry Muslim Brotherhood that commands the presidency.

But this is a grittier, more crude version of the revolt that kicked off two years ago.

Today the demonstrators, hardened by a series of broken promises and violent crackdowns, have dropped almost entirely the pretense of a peaceful revolution. Gone is the innocent hope of the young revolutionaries who seized and held Tahrir Square in the name of a future democratic Egypt, defying authorities by transforming central Cairo’s massive plaza into a utopian mini-state for 18 days.

Instead, the focus is on attacking, fighting and destroying symbols of a state protesters say is unwilling or unable to reform.

In the historically fierce canal-side city of Suez, protesters lit the former provincial headquarters on fire Friday, then stormed and looted a police station Saturday, reportedly freeing dozens of prisoners. Vandals also looted and burned the headquarters of the Brotherhood’s ruling Freedom and Justice Party in the movement’s birthplace in nearby Ismailia. Cairo saw fires at ministries and military supply depots.

Similar attacks on governors’ offices, police stations, intelligence buildings and other institutions took place in more than a dozen cities across the country over the past three days. Attacks like this did occur during the 2011 revolt, but the euphoric presence in Tahrir Square was the defining characteristic of the uprising.

“There is absolutely a wave of radicalization of violence within the revolution’s camps,” said Ziad Akl, senior researcher at the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. “There was a always a core that was against the interior ministry, that was against the state. And over time, they were able to organize.”

A new self-described anarchist group, the Black Bloc, which has similar branches around the world, announced its existence on the eve of the anniversary Friday. Dressed in black masks, they have been engaged in sabotage and other tactics like burning tires and blocking major highways.

In a significant break from the nature of previous protests, the residents of Port Said used automatic rifles to fire on and kill police after a Saturday court verdict implicated locals in a deadly soccer riot last year.

Ensuing clashes left 32 dead, with 40 killed across the country and hundreds more injured. On Sunday, after shots were fired on a massive funeral procession for those slain in Port Said, armed residents again engaged army and police in battles on the city’s deserted streets.

“Everyone’s angry at something, this is normal when justice is absent,” said Wael Eskander, an Egyptian activist, posted on Twitter Saturday. “The protesters aren’t evil enough to kill indiscriminately, but when they pick up arms and kill, they will feel justified,” he also said.

Akl said the tactic reflects the powerful Brotherhood’s resilience against mass street mobilization. With their grassroots reach, the Brotherhood is perhaps the strongest engine for street mobilization in the country — and can handle its effects.

“[The former regime of Hosni] Mubarak was vulnerable to mass mobilization. The Brotherhood is not. They are capable of mobilization, counter mobilization and demobilization,” he said.

The evolution of the protesters from a peaceful movement to a violent, if rag-tag and sporadic, fighting force, also signifies a serious mistrust in the government, which is dominated by heavy-handed security policies, to dispense equitable justice.

Egypt’s sclerotic political institutions have made little in the way of meaningful reform, including among the country’s poorly trained and corrupt security forces. President and former Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi, approved a controversial constitution that enshrines military trials for civilians, and has unleashed his own supporters on peaceful protesters.

Indeed, on the second anniversary of the uprising, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International chided the Morsi government for failing to properly investigate human rights abuses by the country’s security forces, which were a key grievance of the bid to topple the former regime. The police continue to regularly torture — and sometimes kill — detainees in their custody, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said.

It is little wonder then, activists here say, that they’ve abandoned — though not entirely — peaceful sit-ins for violent clashes this time around.

“The violence is basically a result of ongoing problems, ongoing errors that the revolution has always called for rectifying,” Akl said. “They have never been seriously handled. Now people are organizing and violently rectifying” the problems, he said.

Erin Cunningham

More Erin Cunningham.

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Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

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  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

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