Calendars
in Egypt will not only remember the 27th of July 2013 as the 19th
day of Ramadan , they will also remember the day as the day the civilized world
condoned a massacre of immense proportions; the day the world lost a little
more of its humanity, with minimal fuss.
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| Statistics of the Coup since President Morsi was deposed in Egypt |
The
Guardian reports
that at least 120 supporters of Egypt's
ousted president, Mohamed
Morsi, were shot dead on Saturday by security officials in what is being
described as the worst state-led massacre in the country since the fall of
Hosni Mubarak. Ground sources have however, put the death toll at as high as 200 deaths. Aljazeera reported
that Ahmed Aref, the Muslim Brotherhood
spokesperson, said 66 people were killed, another 61 are "clinically
dead", and a further 4,500 people were injured, 700 of which were injured
by live bullets. The health ministry, meanwhile, has put the figure at 80
killed so far, based on the number of bodies received at the morgue. It said
792 people had been injured in the clashes.
The massacre took place in the small hours of Saturday
morning, at a sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya, east Cairo, where tens of thousands
of pro-democracy supporters have camped amidst calls for his reinstatement since
Morsi was deposed on 3 July. They were killed over a period of six hours
during a drive by Central Security forces (CSF) flanked by on a road near the anti military coup sit-in
at Rabaa al-Adawiya in eastern Cairo.
The butchery only came hours after Interim President Adly
Mansour announced, “the state has to impose order by all force and
decisiveness.” The same day, Interior Minister Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim warned
that security forces would be clearing pro-democracy sit-ins from Rabaa and
Nahda squares “soon.”
It needs no reiteration that this slaughter of defenseless
citizens materialized less than 24 hours after hundreds of thousands of
anti-Morsi protesters gathered in Egyptian streets to give General Abdel Fatah
al-Sisi, the army chief who ousted Morsi, their assent to crackdown on what he
had on Wednesday called "terrorism".
As a verification of the media blackout in place, Egyptian
media has largely remained silent. It was a testament to the deep roots of the
Mubarak era regime in Egyptian media that the British newspaper, The Guardian
was among the first to say this, “Sceptics say this (Sisi’s speech) is a
euphemism for a violent campaign on largely peaceful Morsi supporters, who have
held sit-ins and marches across several Egyptian cities since Morsi was
overthrown – including at Rabaa al-Adawiya. For weeks, most Egyptian media have
depicted pro-Morsi supporters as terrorists.”
It was just a few days earlier that the Guardian outlined the dangerous consequences of a failed 'Islamist' experiment in Egypt, emphasizing on repercussions that could affect regions far outside Egypt. As if to test the Guardian perspective, the security forces carried out a bone chilling massacre. In the early hours of 8 July, 51 Muslim Brotherhood supporters camped outside the Republican Guard club in Cairo were killed by security forces. Egypt's military claimed the protesters had attempted to break into the compound with the aid of armed motorcyclists. However, after examining video evidence and speaking to witnesses, medics and protesters, the Guardian uncovered a chilling story of a cold blooded massacre. The Rabaa massacre on the 27th is indicative of a situation that is fast deteriorating towards a point of no return.
Statement of Human Rights Watch:
“The use of deadly fire on such a scale so soon after the interim president announced the need to impose order by force suggests a shocking willingness by the police and by certain politicians to ratchet up violence against pro-Morsy protesters,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “It is almost impossible to imagine that so many killings would take place without an intention to kill, or at least a criminal disregard for people’s lives.”
This is the detailed statement on the Rabaa
massacre by the New York based human rights organization.
Verifcation of the massacre:
These are on-site video certifications of the massacre in
Nasr City, at Rabba's podium on the road leading to Rab'aa Sq. which started on
Jul 27th, after 1:00 a.m. and took place on the grounds of the authorization
that General Sisi requested from his advocates, to cleanse the country from
what he labeled as " possible
terrorism."
The result was attacking peaceful, unarmed
demonstrators with live bullets, cartouche, and heavy tear gases that turned
out poisonous because they have expired; not excluding children or women. The
military's armored vehicles joined hands with security forces and thugs against
the peaceful marching civilians, in an effort to break in to Rab'aa Sq. to
attack the in-sitters there. The demonstrators, however, built human shields
with their bare chests to block their way and save the peaceful in-sitters at
Rab'aa.
Here are video links:
1- Thugs and security forces attack demonstrators with cartouche, live bullets, and tear gases:
http://www.youtube.com/
2- Security-forces bullets at Rab'aa Massacre
http://www.youtube.com/
3- Martyrs and casualties at Rab'aa
Massacre.. All by Security-forces snipers aiming at the head and the heart
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
4- The first 4 martyrs in Al-Manassa
Massacre, with the blessings and care of the military
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
5- Martyrs and Casualties of Rab'aa
Massacre
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
6- Scenes from the field hospital at Rab'aa
Massacre
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
7- A demonstrator turns dumb after serious
break in the skull during the massacre.. He draws signs in the air meaning
"I testify that there is no God but Allah"
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
8- Urgent: cries and appeal for aid from
Rab'aa field hospital
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
9- Doctor Hisham Ibraheem, field-hospital
coordinator
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
10- Appeal for aid from the head of the
field hospital : we need doctors in all specializations
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
11- An eye-witness, Dr. Rabab Mohammad,
cries for help after witnessing security forces in masks
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
12- Another eye-witness who lost an eye in
the attack
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
13- A fiery message to Al-Azhar Sheikh
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
14- Urgent: Mohammad El-Beltagy cries and
appeals to UN and Human Rights Organizations
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
15- Rab'aa Masacre: police vehicles attacks
the demonstrators
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
Here are links to photo galleries of the
massacre:
1-Andalou
Agency photo gallery: http://www.aa.com.tr/en/mod/photo-gallery
2-One
of the most clear and graphic sets of the massacre by Mosa’ab AlShamy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mosaaberising/sets/72157634814310842/
Message
from the MOI:
Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim hailed
Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and said "he responded to the
nation's call" and put the country's best interest above all. Speaking in a graduation ceremony of police academy
on Sunday, he congratulated the "Great Egyptian people" for achieving
'miracles' on June 30 and July 26 when they united with the military and police
forces and gave them the mandate to deal firmly and strongly with those who try
to destabilize the nation with what they described as "terrorist
acts." He said that the police forces were adamant on achieving
security and stability and proved that they only had the people's and the
nation's security at heart.
Gehad al Haddad’s predicament:
Gehad Al Haddad, English spokesperson for the Muslim
Brotherhood , when asked about what precautions
the Muslim Brotherhood was taking to avoid further bloodshed in light of the
massacre, said,
” There are not many precautions that
one can take. These are peaceful protesters, they carry nothing in their hands
but their own chants and their own pictures. There's nothing more that they can
do except to appeal to the humanity of the one's attacking them, if there's any
left in that, or to that of the rest of the world, that are allowing such
massacres to continue. But I think that this military coup leadership has
already crossed all red lines that it can cross. They killed men, women and children.
They arrested thousands of people. The death toll now since the start of
this coup is bigger than the entire Egyptian transition period of
three years since the January 25 revolution.”
Reactions
in light of the massacre:
First
it was all silence.
For the
world was shocked.
As the condemnations and
reactions of millions around the world poured it, a disturbing phenomenon was
observed. The governments of the world were mostly quiet.
The state apparatus of Egypt
remained mum too. It was the Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei who strongly
condemned the "excessive use of force" in Egypt and the resultant
deaths after the deadly massacre in light of the attacks by the security
forces against the supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. However, it
was limited to one simple tweet from his twitter account. It suffices to say
that he was largely ignored due to his inconsequential standing in Egypt’s
politics at the present moment.
The sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed
al-Tayyeb, who heads the Cairo-based Al-Azhar, said in a statement that he deplored
and condemned the deaths of a number of martyrs who were victims of the day’s
events. The grand imam called for an "urgent judicial investigation"
and punishment of those responsible "regardless of their
affiliation".
In stark contrast, the Coptic
Pope, Tawadros II, sent a thank you tweet to the army, which
read: “Thanks
thanks thanks ... For all of the open doors of hope for all of us: Egypt's
great army, the police, the people of Egypt inherent;”.
The April 6 national
Movement called for removal of the interior minister while the main
ex-opposition, the National Salvation Front released a statement, expressing
"deep sadness" for the deaths of Egyptian citizens in the clashes
while ultimately going on to blame the Brotherhood for organizing the protests
in the first place, raising questions as to how much aggrieved they really
were.
The U.S. and the EU mouthed
eloquently worded statements that reeked of complicity with the new regime in Egypt,
as they diplomatically showed shock at the deaths on the streets, while being
limited to scolding the military to be a mite more careful in doling out human
rights to the supporters of the deposed democratically elected President Morsi.
The flow of aid to the Egyptian military still continues unabated to this minute.
The only voice
of dissent was the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who actively condemned
the violence, saying "In Egypt, democracy was massacred, national
aspirations were massacred, and now the nation is being massacred."
"Those who remain silent in
the face of this massacre have blood on their hands and on their faces,"
As self professed progressives turned secularists of the world unite in finding
thousands upon thousands of excuses of the how the Brotherhood was responsible for
it all, I shall finish with a quote by Gehad Haddad: “This is the beginning of a new military [dictatorship] in
Egypt, even if a few civilian faces are slapped on top of it”
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