These are the activists in Egypt that I support

[cali]

While Egyptians against deposed president Mohammed Morsi stand in Tahrir Square, and Morsi supporters gather in Rabia al-Adawiya, another group of activists comes together in Sphinx Square. They refer to themselves as the Third Square, people who reject both the army and the Muslim Brotherhood. This group only contains a few hundred people, but youth activists expect that it will grow as more people get fed up with the current situation.

Although Amr Nazeer, 23, was not participating, he sympathizes with the Third Square. He is critical of Egyptians being forced to choose between two camps. As a young revolutionary who participated in the 2011 revolution and was a "helper" of the April 6 Youth Movement, he still remembers how Muslim Brotherhood youth supporters and young liberals were once unified. Nazeer says this has all changed.

"The last couple of days have been really scary. There is a lot of hatred between people, especially against the Muslim Brotherhood," he told Al-Monitor in Cairo earlier this month. "When I talk to friends about the racist comments they make about Morsi supporters — even well-educated Egyptians — they accuse me of being a Muslim Brotherhood supporter. I’m not. And Muslim Brotherhood supporters think I support the army, but I don’t. I just don’t support killing people. We’re turning into Syria."

A few weeks ago, his cousin was killed while walking in a Muslim Brotherhood march, but he also has friends who are liberals and embrace the army. With just a few other young revolutionaries, he now spreads posters of General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s face with the word "joke" on it.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/egypt-third-square-protests-morsi-muslim-brotherhood-youth.html#ixzz2cLHlfGQ2




To many, the profiles of the murdered protestors reflect a less publicized reality. The sit-ins included more than just Muslim Brotherhood (MB) members, and even more than just the supporters of the pro-Mursi coalition (the National Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy).

The victims of the crackdown included young activists, such as Abdullah Sultan an activist who organized petitions and distributed anti-Mursi posters on June 30, celebrated his ouster on July 3, and then joined the Rabaa sit-in to protest the Presidential Guard massacre of July 8, 2013.

Leftist groups, like April 6, published obituaries of affiliates and supporters killed during the crackdown. And so, a wider-circle of what can be called an “anti-coup” movement extends beyond the MB and the pro-Mursi coalition. This is not surprising.

The pattern shown since January 2011 is that the blood spilled by the security forces brings in mobilization. Among the post-revolution events, this pattern was seen on the “Day of Rage” on 28 January 2011, Mohammed Mahmoud protests in November 2011, and now the Presidential Guard and Nasr Road protests in July 2013.

<snip>

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/08/18-egypt-crossroads-ashour

They fought to overthrow Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and came back onto the streets six weeks ago to bring down Mohamed Mursi after just a year as president. But the relief that the Muslim Brotherhood-led government's disastrous year in power had come to an end quickly turned to dismay for some Egyptians as the country's all-powerful army reasserted itself and the feared state security apparatus was given renewed powers.

As the mood across Egypt darkens and the country's opposing camps harden their positions, a breakaway group of young activists has emerged to call for a different way though the political crisis.

Fearful that the aims of the January 25, 2011 revolution have been abandoned and that the increasing polarisation in Egyptian society will only lead to more violence, the Third Square movement says it rejects both the rule of the military and that of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The alliance, led by leftist groups such as the April 6 Youth Movement, is much smaller in number than the tens of thousands who for six weeks have been demonstrating against the ousting of Dr Mursi, or the many tens of thousands who turned out to support army leader General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, but organisers say it is growing.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/third-square-movement--searching-for-egypts-middle-ground-20130811-2rppm.html#ixzz2cLGKT4TX


These are all really good, informative articles.

[tblue]

1. Good find, cali!

I'd heard nothing about Third Square, and it's so hard to know what to do or think, as an outsider, in a civil war. These are very brave and wise people. If only they could be allowed to run that country.

[cali]

2. thanks, tblue

here's to hoping that April 6 and Third Square grow in numbers and influence.

[Downwinder]

3. al Jazeera has done some good pieces on April 6th group.

[cali]

4. More:

The Third Square (Arabic: الميدان الثالث‎ is an Egyptian political movement created by liberal, leftist and moderate Islamist activists who reject both Muslim Brotherhood and military rule following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.

The movement first appeared when the Egyptian defence minister, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, called for mass demonstrations on 26 July 2013 to grant his forces a "mandate" to crack down on "terrorism",[1] which was seen as contradicting the military's pledges to hand over power to civilians after removing Morsi and as an indication for an imminent crackdown against Islamists.[2] The announcement by General Al-Sisi was rejected by a number of political groups that had initially supported the military coup, such as the revolutionary April 6 Youth Movement,[3] the moderate Strong Egypt Party,[4] the Salafi Al-Nour Party[5] and Egyptian human rights groups

In response, The Third Square, a group of activists who mistrust both the military and the Islamists, called for a separate protest in Sphinx Square in Mohandessin, Cairo.[7] One of the activists described the movement as "a group of young people whose views are not represented either in Tahrir Square or Rabia Al-Adawiya",[8] referring to the military-organised protests in Tahrir Square and the Islamist protests in Rabia Al-Adawiya square in Nasr City.[9] In a leaflet, they declared their opposition to "the defense minister calling for an authorization to kill Egyptians on the pretext of fighting terrorism".[10]

Interviewed on the French television news channel France 24, activist Firas Mokhtar said: "The Third Square is an attempt to bring Egyptians together and put an end to the polarisation of our society". Fellow activist and singer of Egyptian band Eskenderella, Samia Jahin, added: "Maybe there's only a few of us tonight. But soon you might hear of another group like ours in another square."[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Square

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. Thank you.