#tamarod

A short one today, as I can only beat a dead horse for so long.

Egypt's liberals are now in the same boat as the Muslim Brotherhood. Yesterday, a two fold decision by the Egyptian judiciary has left 680 Muslim Brotherhood members facing death sentences, while the anti-Mubarak April 6th Youth Movement was banned on the same day. Their charge? Espionage. 

It's slightly ironic too, as the April 6th movement were, at one point, behind the anti-Morsi Tamarod movement, which, in effect had the backing of the military. And while hindsight is 20/20, it seems obvious in retrospect that the military was, in fact, playing on legitimate grievances held by the public towards Morsi in order to win support from the grassroots and assert their own power in the process.

But history is cyclical I suppose. Someone should tell el-Sisi and the judiciary about the legacy crackdowns on opposition parties and organizations have effected the state of Egypt. During Nasser and Sadat's reign, those volatile conditions bred men like Sayyid Qutb and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and inevitably leading to Sadat's death.

- The army have now officially taken position all around the Pearl Roundabout.

- More armed police and army men are entering the village of Sanabis as we speak. 

The Bahrain struggle is still going on two and a half years later. A coalition of Shiite groups and some Sunnis (the Waad or Promise Party) continues to agitate against the authoritarian practices of the Sunni monarchy. The dissidents have formed a Rebellion (Tamarrud) Movement in emulation of the one that brought down President Muhammad Morsi of Egypt, and are calling for big demonstrations on August 14.

The Bahrain regime has responded with Draconian new laws threatening to take away the citizenship of protesters and banning protests altogether in the capital. These measures are severe violations of international human rights laws. Washington has been relatively muted in its response to these violations. Bahrain hosts the HQ of the Fifth Fleet in the Gulf and its Sunni monarchy is an opponent of Iranian influence, covering a multitude of sins from the point of view of the Obama administration. Shiites are about 60% of the citizen population, but are discriminated against and many are relatively poor and powerless. The regime maintains that Shiite activists are terrorists working for Iran, but these charges are frankly ridiculous covers for a regime that practices arbitrary arrest and punishment.

On 28 and 30 July, Bahraini press and websites were observed to react to the 22 recommendations which were adopted by the parliament to counter terrorism. Bahraini King Hamad forwarded to the government the recommendations adopted on 28 July by parliament, ordering their “quick implementation.”

The parliament suggested a number of measures, including

- revoking the citizenship of anyone “recognized as guilty of committing or inciting an act of terrorism,”

- imposing “a ban on gatherings and rallies” in the capital Manama,

- declaring the emergency law if the need arose in the run-up to a major opposition demonstration called for mid-August,