Op-Ed: Egypt's Black Bloc
Published: Thursday, May 16, 2013 12:13 AM -- Arutz Sheva 7
Black Bloc, Egypt's new anti-Muslim-Brotherhood militia, is radically different from the US organization of the same name, says the writer.
Ashraf Ramelah
Ashraf Ramelah, founder and president of Voice of the Copts, has recently given testimony to the Canadian Parliament on the revolution taking place in Egypt. Please visit www.voiceofthecopts.org to read more.
Egypt's Black Bloc grew out of the struggle for liberation from an authoritarian system, only after non-violent civil efforts had failed.
Ironically,
the U.S. Black Bloc and Egypt's Black Bloc are on opposite sides of the
political struggle – one, in the U.S., a friend to the Muslim
Brotherhood and doubtless trying to gain prestige through their nominal
association with international fighters; the other, in Egypt, an enemy
to the Brotherhood, and fighting for democracy and legitimate government.
Clad
in black, faceless in black ski masks, the nameless Black Bloc soldiers
lock arms to create a human shield in defense of pro-freedom protesters
-- the Black Bloc's number-one priority -- in the streets and squares
of Egypt. Expert in martial arts and ostensibly military-trained, Black
Bloc warriors only recently surfaced in Egypt to safeguard fellow
freedom-fighters from their arch-enemies, the foes of democracy:
President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas militia.
Originating
out of a plan to protect women protesters from sexual assault, this
huge band of men and women numbering in the thousands (the exact number
is not known) form a dedicated and determined corps of combatants
divided into local groups of 30-50 individuals in Egypt's communities.
Self-described as "anti-Muslim-Brotherhood," and generated out of
disgust toward years of police and military brutality, the Black Bloc
is, for modern Egypt, a completely new phenomenon.
As participants in this well-organized system for safety and preservation, the secret
members of the "elite" Black Bloc guard first appeared in the streets
of Cairo this January, when revolutionaries commemorated their two-year
anniversary with protests in Tahrir Square. Now everywhere the Egyptian
opposition stages protests, the rank-and-file Black Bloc, whose leaders
remain unknown to them, dutifully move in to police the area on behalf
of fellow protesters.
Deemed
"terrorists" and "outlaws" by the Morsi regime, the shadowy Zorro-like
heroes refer to their network as the "United Ghosts Revolution" and
represent a just cause in the ongoing rebellion against Egypt's Islamist
government. The Black Bloc mission is to ensure that no more assaults,
kidnappings, and torture occur from Morsi's security forces [the Muslim
Brotherhood militia] and so-called law enforcement, and that a "camel
gazwa," [invading crowds on galloping camels] as in the early days of
the revolt, never takes place again. Many Black Bloc members carry
firearms, most likely acquired through the illegal networks smuggling
weapons from Libya and Gaza.
If
the best defense is a good offense, the forceful Black Bloc has
aggressively expanded its scope beyond the scene of gathered protesters
and their protection. With a physical presence in more than eight cities
across Egypt, the anonymous soldiers have claimed responsibility for
ransacking at least eight separate Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and
Justice Party offices.
At
first, the shrouded Black Bloc raised the fears; the public saw them as
terrorists. This wrong impression, however, was soon dispelled as their
image as guardians took shape. Appearing first in the social media, the
Black Bloc now has the moral support of more than 57,000 Facebook
members for the purpose of countering Islamic supremacy and brutality.
Their
core concern is to facilitate the pursuit of Western-style democracy.
Its members claim no affiliation with existing political parties, as the
group states that it "aims only to stand against the Muslim Brotherhood
and any group exploiting religion to achieve political goals." As
pro-democracy secularists using slogans such as, "Our mess prevents
chaos" and, "We are confusion that prevents confusion," their challenge
to the Muslim Brotherhood has prompted a new crackdown by President
Morsi and his Prime Minister, Hasham Kandil. The state now targets
opposition protesters who wear black, tracking those who do and conducting investigations. By mid-February, Morsi began arresting members of Black Bloc and its sympathizers.
Running
under the banner of "Allah, Country, Revolution," the "outlaws" have
been accused by Islamists of having Israeli backing and connections to
Western funding. Further, rumors charge them with burning the rear
building of the scientific complex in Cairo, and of involvement in
attacks upon city infrastructure, including damaging government
buildings, paralyzing traffic, and obstructing subway transportation.
The Black Bloc flatly denies participation in these crimes and blames
the Muslim Brotherhood for tarnishing their image and credibility.
The
group does fully admit, however, to targeting Brotherhood locations in
the following Cairo incidents: burning the Muslim Brotherhood
headquarters in the Sixth October area, storming the media offices of
"Brothers Online," torching the Freedom and Justice Party newspaper
headquarters and targeting more than one Moomen[Believer] Brotherhood-owned restaurant.
In keeping with their mission statement, Egypt's Black Bloc members claim they have nothing against state institutions per se, "but
against control by a particular system, the supremacy of a certain
group." They further contend that "the best thing is to hit the existing
system and its economy by sabotaging the system's institutions and not
ones belonging to the public." Despite this, a U.S. "Black Bloc"
attempts to connect its mission against America and governmental power
structures to the cause of Egypt's Black Bloc.
Egypt's
Black Bloc grew out of the chaos of President Morsi's actions, which
necessitated a course correction – such as the use of security, weaponry
and attacks -- for freedom-fighters in their struggle for liberation
from an authoritarian system.
Although
tactics similar to the U.S. Black Bloc anarchists are used, Egypt's
fighters do not seek anarchism. Furthermore, the Shariah religious state
is contrary to the western democratic state, and the roles of their
respective revolts find their meaning and identity by way of the system
they fight, not the tactics and strategies they use.
U.S.
Black Bloc vandalism is class-warfare, a staple of the progressive
political agenda of some in America who opportunistically seem to have
intertwined themselves with Muslim Brotherhood goals. While actions by
the U.S. Black Bloc ultimately favor the short-term goals of the Muslim
Brotherhood, Egypt's Black Bloc interrupts the Muslim Brotherhood's
power structure with material and moral losses.
Ironically, the U.S. Black Bloc and Egypt's Black Bloc are on opposite sides
of the political struggle – the one in the U.S. a friend to the Muslim
Brotherhood; the other, in Egypt, an enemy to the Brotherhood.
Nonetheless,
the U.S. Black Bloc has appealed to Egypt's Black Bloc in a Feb 9th
open letter to initiate intercontinental dialogue. The naive U.S. Black
Bloc views tactics and strategies on YouTube and mistakes them for
"consensus" – then seeks the thrill of joining hands with Egyptians, and
using these tactics as a more "generalized revolt." They are hardly, as
the letter suggests, fighting the same "stable power structure."
Egypt's revolt reached the point of violence only after non-violent
civil efforts failed and were no longer an option for achieving
democracy.
The
U.S. Black Bloc members, in advancing their "project of revolt," are
doubtless trying to gain prestige through their nominal association with
international fighters, and probably see their dream being "enacted
spontaneously" in a full-fledged, high-stakes revolt on the brink of
civil war in Egypt. The Egyptian freedom-fighters, on the contrary, aim
unequivocally for democracy and legitimate government. "We want to take
the struggle out of the hands of political parties entirely," states the
U.S. Black Bloc; but Egypt's Black Bloc struggles with the hope of the
rise of new political leadership and a real democratic party.
The U.S. Black Bloc, according to its letter to Egypt, wishes to have the
Muslim Brotherhood in governments around the world, to "clarify" the
global power structure and then assert Black Bloc tactics uniformly
worldwide to defeat the state.
Egypt's
revolutionaries, fighting for freedom within the heart of political
Islam, would not take any chance with such a sinister plan.
Tags: Black Bloc
Labels: Conflict, Controversy, Democracy, Egypt, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood, Revolution
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, May 16, 2013
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