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26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 Special |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
The students, again and again
Palestinian solidarity has been re-born in the Egyptian collective psyche. But it is the students who have been the most vocal in expressing their resistance. Fatemah Farag investigates the dynamics that propel the young into action and interviews a founding member of the Egyptian Popular Committee for Solidarity with Palestine
The day Egyptians watched in anguish and anger as Palestinian civilians were shot down by Israeli occupation forces, after clashes erupted between both sides as a result of a visit made by hard-line Likud leader Ariel Sharon to Al- Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem, is one to remember. It was a day that heralded a new political mood. After years of what had amounted to only mild concern in Egyptian public opinion with regards to the developments in Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian cause became a household concern.
And so it began: the development of committees for solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada, convoys of medical and other supplies to the Egyptian/Israeli border town of Rafah, the call to boycott American and Israeli products and the many blacklists of commodities, distributed in alley-ways and posted in the elevators of upper- class buildings from one side of town to another. In the course of two years there have been high points, such as when the Palestinian hatta's -- which have come to symbolise the resistance -- were being sold on street corners, and it would not be an odd sight at mid-day to see the traffic blocked by a group of people demonstrating. And while things may seem quieter now, a less overt anger and resistance has settled in. And so soft drinks manufactured by multinationals on the boycott list continue to be sent back at restaurants, and Palestinian paraphernalia remains a must.
But perhaps the most pronounced forms of resistance and anger came from the universities. In that first week when violence erupted in the occupied territories, signalling the beginning of the second Intifada, the first and most emphatic public outcry came from Egypt's student body. Over 6,000 students demonstrated in Alexandria, only to be followed by their colleagues from Menoufia and Zaqaziq through to Cairo's universities, including the usually apolitical student body of the American University in Cairo (AUC), and eventually down south as far as Aswan. At that time the image of Mohamed Al-Durra, the twelve-year-old Palestinian boy shot in cold blood by Israeli soldiers, was a strong impetus to student wrath. Since then they have repeatedly challenged the gates that confine them to campuses and in attempting to take their movement beyond university borders have burned flags and donated blood. They have been arrested and struck by police batons. And it is the students who have suffered the most casualties as a result of these confrontations, including the death of one of their rank.
Student solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada has been characterised by an ebb and flow in activity, but throughout it has remained the most vocal of resistance movements within Egypt.
And while the relationship between national/regional concerns and the level of student activism in Egypt has been long established, the movement of the past two years is particularly unusual given that this activism comes as a renunciation of a decade-long heritage of political apathy. Often said to resemble the student movement of the 1970s (which shook the system to its foundations) the activism of today does not have the 1967 defeat as emotional impulse or 1968 to provide intellectual framework.
"I think it is important to realise that students have been very influenced by the media focus on the violence in the occupied territories. Kids -- boys and girls -- would come into school crying after having spent the night watching images of the carnage," one student activist from Cairo University, who prefers anonymity, explained to Al-Ahram Weekly. The student pointed out that, "Of course it is not just the middle -- or upper -- class students who were getting access to coverage such as that provided by Al-Jazeera. Students from popular districts spend their afternoons and evenings at coffee shops, most of which today are hooked up to a satellite dish."
And hence many -- perhaps most -- of those who took action were not politicised students. "The movement has really been a spontaneous movement," commented a woman activist from Ain Shams who also preferred anonymity. "Students were moved on the grounds of humanity and in many cases on the grounds of religion in the general sense."
The point, according to those who participated in the events of the past two years, is reflected in what became by far the slogan of choice: With our souls, with our blood we will avenge you Palestine.
"This is a very unideological slogan and it beat all the others. So imagine a demonstration starting up with the Islamists chanting 'Khaybar [a battle between the early Moslems and the Jews in which the latter were defeated] oh Jews will make a comeback,' and then the leftists joining in with more secular and anti-regime slogans and people watching on, obviously interested but not really into it. And then the soul and blood slogan would ring out and everyone would join in," recounted one activist who recently graduated from Cairo University.
And yet there was nothing ambiguous about the anger and willingness to violence that characterised the demonstrations of the past two years. The images of young men pulling up the sidewalk to pelt policemen hiding behind high-pressure water houses and walls of tear gas was all but commonplace. "It is true that students were defending themselves against the violence of the police. It is also true that there is a lot of violence lurking within these young people waiting for an opportunity to vent itself," said the Cairo University activist. He went on to point out that violent incidents between the security at his university and students are an almost daily occurrence. He added, "Before the wave of demonstrations and since, we have noted that arguments between us and the police take place all the time. Not for political reasons but for reasons closer to what brought about 1968. Issues of personal freedom like a boy and girl friend wanting to sit alone and not be bothered, or a boy or girl trying to bring their partner from another university into campus. And so when a demonstration erupts and there is anger at what is happening in Palestine and a general mood in the country which is pro-solidarity, these guys are ready for a fight."
The predisposition to confront is not just a function of Palestine. It is also a function of high unemployment, lack of services, and poverty. "A lot of kids feel they have nothing to loose. They come from families who are just about making ends meet. They know that it will be close to impossible for most to get decent employment and there are no social activities to absorb their energy. They are frustrated in a big way," noted the Ain Shams woman student.
And not just frustrated. According to Akram Alfi, a social researcher focused on the student movement, "There is a reformulation of the macho persona. In the 1960s, the cool guy was the one who would sit at the coffee shop and talk slick politics and read a lot. Later it would be the guy with the beard who went to prayers on time. Today it is the guy in the nifty brand-imitation jeans who looks good but when he fights is a winner."
Corroborating Alfi's view are stories of how during one of the early demonstrations, the security guards office was burnt down by students an hour after the demonstration had ended because two guys realised that their girlfriends had fainted as a result of the tear gas used against the demonstration.
Adolescents account for half the population and this week over one million will be entering university. Unemployment accounts for around 17 per cent of the potential workforce -- the highest percentage of which is among college graduates -- and poverty (meaning wages of less than US$2 a day) estimated by the government to account for approximately 50 per cent of the population. "There is a lot of tension and the students are looking for a fight," argued the Cairo University activist.
And yet, after two years of successive actions, the political forces that have footholds on campus have not succeeded in building on the momentum. "Everyone has done better. The Islamists were teetering in 1999/2000 and have enjoyed a breath of new life. The Nasserists and Leftists were always much smaller in number than the Islamists and yet they have also enjoyed more action. However, none of these has succeeded in creating political fronts or blocks. This means that the movement remains unorganised," argues the Cairo University activist.
According to the recent graduate, if the future does not witness the build up of a political block, or more, the movement is bound to loose momentum. As we spoke this week, two demonstrations scheduled for Saturday and Sunday had already failed to get off the ground. "What is new about the news? The fact that [Palestinian President Yasser] Arafat is under siege was news two years ago. Today we are so used to this state of affairs it fails to move. For a renewed life of the experience of resistance gained in the past two years, something on the scale of an American invasion of Iraq will probably have to take place," added the Ain Shams student.
In the 1970s Sheik Imam sang the poetry of Ahmed Fouad Nigm urging students on in their struggle. "The students have got it right once again," he sang. It may not be quite so anymore, but for the young there is always the promise of the future.
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