Overload.
I'm sitting here trying to explain what's going on, but there's no way to encapsulate everything that has happened over the past day and a half. There are so many moving parts, so many groups, so many nuances, and I don't want to rush to conclusions. My brain hurts from information overload and I don't feel like I can put coherent sentences together. But I'll try.
The political situation here remains very fluid. Last night there were clashes outside the presidential palace, located in a suburban area called Heliopolis. Two nights ago thousands of Egyptians protests outside the presidential palace, in Tahrir, and cities across the country. These protests were largely peaceful. Last night, what appears to be pro-Ikhwanis attacked the anti-Morsi protesters. Incredible clashes ensued, four people died and around 450 people were injured. There were reports of birdshot, rifles, bludgeoning, crazy stuff. I'm a little mentally exhausted right now, but it was bad. Tanks have been deployed and the military is saying they will enforce a 3pm (30 minutes ago) curfew. I believe people are still on the streets.
I've been let out of work early the last two Tuesdays because of massive protests.
Things are incredibly inflamed right now. There is so much anger on Facebook and Twitter and just in general.
On a separate but somewhat related note, I have to be honest, I'm getting really sick of the anti-American sentiment in Egypt's upper class right now. It's worse than anything I experienced in the Bush years. My roommate took a photo of this sign, which has also been circulating on twitter, saying, "Obama, your bitch is our dictator."
Every day I'm bitched at because Obama is supporting a dictator, because the US isn't demanding the Egyptian regime codify human/women's/etc rights, because the Western press is not covering whats going on, or not covering it correctly. I just sit there as people scream at me. When I try to interject, try to give my perspective or what I believe is that of my governments, they just get even more angry that I'm not seeing things from their perspective. It's not a debate, it's not a conversation, they're not listening to me. To them, it's even more evidence that I am/the USG is an Ikhwan supporter. I have people getting pissed off about the coverage on the Huffington Post. THE HUFFINGTON POST! It's not even real news! There is so much shit for Egyptians to be pissed at, why be pissed at some douchebag sitting in his mom's basement in rural Idaho opining
More updates to come.
I'm sitting here trying to explain what's going on, but there's no way to encapsulate everything that has happened over the past day and a half. There are so many moving parts, so many groups, so many nuances, and I don't want to rush to conclusions. My brain hurts from information overload and I don't feel like I can put coherent sentences together. But I'll try.
The political situation here remains very fluid. Last night there were clashes outside the presidential palace, located in a suburban area called Heliopolis. Two nights ago thousands of Egyptians protests outside the presidential palace, in Tahrir, and cities across the country. These protests were largely peaceful. Last night, what appears to be pro-Ikhwanis attacked the anti-Morsi protesters. Incredible clashes ensued, four people died and around 450 people were injured. There were reports of birdshot, rifles, bludgeoning, crazy stuff. I'm a little mentally exhausted right now, but it was bad. Tanks have been deployed and the military is saying they will enforce a 3pm (30 minutes ago) curfew. I believe people are still on the streets.
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| Outside the Presidential Palace |
I've been let out of work early the last two Tuesdays because of massive protests.
Things are incredibly inflamed right now. There is so much anger on Facebook and Twitter and just in general.
On a separate but somewhat related note, I have to be honest, I'm getting really sick of the anti-American sentiment in Egypt's upper class right now. It's worse than anything I experienced in the Bush years. My roommate took a photo of this sign, which has also been circulating on twitter, saying, "Obama, your bitch is our dictator."
Every day I'm bitched at because Obama is supporting a dictator, because the US isn't demanding the Egyptian regime codify human/women's/etc rights, because the Western press is not covering whats going on, or not covering it correctly. I just sit there as people scream at me. When I try to interject, try to give my perspective or what I believe is that of my governments, they just get even more angry that I'm not seeing things from their perspective. It's not a debate, it's not a conversation, they're not listening to me. To them, it's even more evidence that I am/the USG is an Ikhwan supporter. I have people getting pissed off about the coverage on the Huffington Post. THE HUFFINGTON POST! It's not even real news! There is so much shit for Egyptians to be pissed at, why be pissed at some douchebag sitting in his mom's basement in rural Idaho opining
More updates to come.
