Maspero- 2 months and counting

Today marks the two month anniversary of the Maspero tragedy; it passed with little fanfare-- no newspaper headlines, no massive demonstration. Over the past month I have photographed many pieces of street art pertaining to the Maspero tragedy.

NOTE: All stencils reference the distinctive shape of the Maspero building (a circular building, with a tower jutting out of the middle) which houses the state-run TV industry and is located along the Nile in downtown, not far from Midan Tahrir.

Translation:"Dead poison"

This photo was taken on Monday 21 November in front of the Mugamma. Within a few days it was completely covered by new street art.

This photograph was taken on Sunday 27 November across the street from the Maglis Al Sha'ab on Qasr Al-Aini Street.

This photograph was taken on Sunday 27 November on the street of the Maglis Al Sha'ab. The wall was initially covered in only distinctive, pre-planned stencils, over time it has increasingly been covered in impromptu spray-paint.

This stencil is by the street artist El Teneen.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

UPDATE, 28 November 2011:

Alaa Abdel Fattah's has been transferred to a civilian court and his detention has been extended by 15 days.

http://bikyamasr.com/49824/detention-of-egyptian-blogger-alaa-abdel-fattah-extended-by-civilian-court/

Above are several portraits of Alaa Abdel Fattah in various colors located on a wall of the AUC downtown campus.

Fattah is a prominent political activist. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail after refusing to report to a military prosecution to be questioned about the Maspero events. He does not believe that civilians should be subject to military courts and thus refused to be interrogated by the military. He also does not believe that the military should be investigating the Maspero events because it was the military who allegedly attacked peaceful protesters.

Fattah was jailed for 45 days in 2006 after participating in a peaceful protest. At the time his arrest garnered international attention because it was interpreted as a crackdown on bloggers by the Mubarak regime.

Fattah comes from a family of notable political activists. Fattah and his wife, Manal Hussein, moved to South Africa in 2008 and returned to Egypt during the Revolution.

He and his wife write the well-known blog www.manalaa.net.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/25533/Egypt/Politics-/Alaa-Abdel-Fattah-Portrait-of-a-revolutionary.aspx

All of us are Mina Daniel

Translation: "We are All Mina Daniel"

The street artist is writing "martyr" under the portrait of Mina Daniel. This street artist didn't paint the portrait of Mina Daniel, but he is one of the many anonymous street artists to continue to spread the message.

This stencil appeared during the 28 October demonstration.

Mina Daniel was an activist killed in the 9 October "Bloody Sunday" Maspero clashes.(http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/23860/Egypt/Politics-/Activists-mourn-death-of-Maspero-martyr-Mina-Danie.aspx)

Christians marched from Shubra to Maspero, the state-run television building in downtown, to protest against the failure of the government to investigate attacks on churches in Upper Egypt. The military attacked the peaceful protesters, killing 27. During the violence, there were many rumors that state-run TV was calling on Muslims to protect the military who were being attacked by Christian protesters. The state-run TV did report that "The injured in the Maspero confirm the possesion of Coptic protesters of live ammunition." In reality, while the state-run media blamed the violence on religious tensions between Muslims and Christians, eye-witness accounts prove that it was in fact the military who were attacking Egyptians.

A curfew [2am-7am] was issued the night of 9 October, the first such curfew since I have arrived in Egypt.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContentP/1/25077/Egypt/Human-Rights-Watch-Report-Egypt-Don%E2%80%99t-Cover-Up-Mil.aspx

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/25708/Egypt/Politics-/Reconstructing-Masperos-Bloody-Sunday-An-Ahram-Onl.aspx

While Mina Daniel was an activist, he was not widely known before his death. The martyrdom of individuals is not unique to Mina.

The death of Khalid Said was a major rallying-point during the Revolution. Khalid Said died as a result of police torture in June 2010 in Alexandria.

(http://www.arabist.net/blog/2010/6/14/the-murder-of-khaled-said.html)

Khalid Said's death represented the brutality of the police, just as Mina Daniel's death represents the brutality of 9 October.

The "We are All Khalid Said" Facebook page was instrumental in organizing and mobilizing individuals in the revolution-- and is still active to this day. The Facebook page's anonymous-turned public administrator is Wael Ghonim, the Google-executive who has since because an international ambassador for the Egyptian revolution. "We are All X [name of martyr]" is now a popular slogan in Egypt.