A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, May 26, 2011

About Tahrir Tomorrow

Tomorrow, many of the Tahrir demonstrators who brought down Husni Mubarak plan to return to Tahrir Square to renew protests, this time expressing disillusionment with lingering elements of the old regime, the aloofness of the Military Council, and the slow pace of change. Last week a protest fizzled; they want a large turnout lest the old guard decide that the revolutionary fervor is spent and it's time for business as usual. They will be demanding — well, it depends on which organizing group you ask, since various lists of demands being circulated include everything from prosecution of a laundry list of former (and some current) officials to Nasser-style socialist reforms to breaking relations with Israel. Various groups are promoting their own ideological agendas, though a common list of demands is now circulating.

Mahmoud Salem, who has long blogged as  only revealed his identity during the Revolution, has a thoughtful post about why he will be attending, which include a call for a Bill of Rights-type set of guarantees of basic civil and political rights that are protected regardless of the ideological agenda of an elected government. I commend it to you.

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