Democracy is the Answer
Egypt`s Years of Revolution
Published on 9. December 2014
Book
Hardback
700 pages
978-1-909942-71-4 (ISBN)
Description
As the Egyptian revolution unfolded throughout 2011 and the ensuing years, no one was better positioned to comment on it - and try to push it in productive directions - than best-selling novelist and political commentator Alba Al Aswany. For years a leading critic of the Mubarak regime, Al Aswany used his weekly newspaper column for Al-Masry Al-Youm to propound the revolution's ideals and to confront the increasingly troubled politics of its aftermath. This book presents, for the first time in English, all of Al Aswany's columns from the period, a comprehensive account of the turmoil of the post-revolutionary years, and a portrait of a country and a people in flux. Each column is presented along with a context - setting introduction, as well as notes and a glossary, all designed to give non-Egyptian readers the background they need to understand the events and figures that Al Aswany chronicles. The result is a definitive portrait of Egypt today - how it got here, and where it might be headed.
Reviews / Votes
Al Aswany [is the] greatest living Egyptian novelist and the finest weather vane of the country s contemporary up-again, down-again revolutionary history. --Robert Fisk"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
GINGKO
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 48 mm
Weight
817 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-909942-71-4 (9781909942714)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2015
Gingko Library
€16.49
Available for download
Persons
Alaa Al Aswany is the author of The Yacoubian Building and many other novels. Sarah Cleave is an editor at Gingko Library. Aran Byrne is the editor of East-West Divan, also published by the Gingko Library. Russell Harris is a curator, author, and translator. He works as an academic consultant at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London and is the translator of Amin Maalouf's Samarkand and Ahmed Faqih's Gardens of the Night. Paul Naylor works as a researcher and translator for media clients such as Al Arabiya and PBS.
Content
Introduction ix
Chronology xiii
2011
The President Has Fallen but the Regime Still Stands, 1 March 1
The Sickness of Dictatorship, 8 March 5
Five Attitudes Towards the Revolution, 15 March 8
Before the Revolution Becomes a Wasted Opportunity, 22 March 12
What Did the Monkey Say to the Lion? 29 March 18
Masters of Egypt, 5 April 21
How to Fight Counter-revolution, 12 April 24
The Writing on the Wall, 19 April 28
Whale Like an Egyptian, Roar Like a Lion, 26 April 32
How Did the Revolution Reach Montreal? 3 May 36
Who Is Pushing Egypt Towards Chaos? 10 May 40
Who Killed General al-Batran? 17 May 44
Tyranny Begets Tyranny, 24 May 48
Are We Living with Cannibals? 31 May 52
Who Will Protect Egypt From the Police? 7 June 57
Would a Civil State Allow Sharia Law? 14 June 62
What to Expect from the Military Council, 21 June 67
An Egyptian Mother to Field Marshal Tantawi, 28 June 70
What is Holding the Military Council Back? 5 July 72
Has the Revolution Gone Awry? 12 July 76
The Story of Abu Shama, 19 July 80
Do You Support the Revolution? 26 July 84
How to Abolish the Revolution in Six Steps, 2 August 89
How to Save the Revolution, 9 August 93
The Interrogation of Asmaa Mahfouz, 16 August 97
How Should We Respond to Israeli Aggression? 23 August 101
God Bless Your Hands, Ali Farzat, 30 August 104
Tomorrow You Will Stand Accused, 6 September 107
The Revolution Must Continue, 20 September 111
What Does Egypt Lack? 27 September 119
Muslim, Christian or Human Being? 4 October 124
Religious Fascism in Egypt, 11 October 127
The Moment of Truth has Arrived, 17 October 131
What the Military Council Didn't Hear, 25 October 135
A Conversation Between Two Important Men, 1 November 138
Anxiety for the Future, 15 November 143
The Emperor Has No Clothes, 22 November 148
Five Questions About the Crisis, 29 November 152
What Happened to the General? 13 December 156
Defending Egypt's Revolution, 20 December 160
See No Evil, 27 December 163
2012
Five Types of Honourable Citizen, 3 January 167
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and an Honourable Citizen, 10 January 170
What Does Mohamed ElBaradei Want? 16 January 175
Why Should We Demonstrate Tomorrow? 24 January 179
What Can We Expect from the Brotherhood and the Salafists? 31 January 183
Four Telephone Calls in a Deluxe Hospital, 6 February 188
When Will the Mubarak Regime Fall? 13 February 191
Are They Really Religious? 20 February 195
A Secret Report on a Consensus Candidate, 27 February 199
When Will They Stop Insulting Us? 5 March 203
Awaiting Military Trial, 12 March 207
Who Will Welcome Pope Shenouda? 19 March 211
You Can Have Your Constitution; We Will Have the Revolution, 26 March 216
Do They Represent Islam? 2 April 220
How to Become an Extra, 9 April 228
How to Save the Revolution in Four Steps, 16 April 232
Who Pays the Price for Dignity? 30 April 236
A Conversation Between a Presidential Candidate and an Important Person, 7 May 239
Are These Elections Fair? 21 May 244
Before You Cast Your Vote, 4 June 248
The Phenomenon of the Tame Citizen, 12 June 252
How Did Mohamed Morsi Win? 25 June 256
Are We Repeating el-Senhouri's Mistake? 9 July 260
A Future Imagined, 16 July 265
Truth is a Virtue, 23 July 269
Should We Support the Brotherhood or the Military Council? 30 July 273
What is Egypt Waiting For? 6 August 277
Heartfelt Joy and Rightful Concerns, 13 August 281
Do Egyptians Resent Success? 27 August 284
Are Egyptians Civilised? 3 September 289
How to Make a Dictator, 11 September 292
In Defence of the Prophet, 17 September 297
Where is the President Taking Us? 24 September 301
When Will the West Respect Us? 1 October 305
The Art of Putting on Shoes, 8 October 309
A President Who Serves Two Masters, 15 October 313
On State Prestige and National Symbols, 22 October 318
In Defence of Women, 5 November 322
A Great Writer and a Good Friend, 12 November 326
Before You Chop Off Our Hands, 19 November 332
Some Questions and Answers About the Crisis, 26 November 336
Who Can Cure the President? 10 December 337
In Secret, 17 December 342
How to Lie and Maintain Moral Purity, 24 December 346
Where Does Your Money Come From? 31 December 351
2013
Being a Muslim in Britain, 7 January 359
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Good Citizen, 21 January 362
Why Is Morsi Killing Egyptians? 28 January 367
Six Ways to Keep Hold of Power, 4 February 371
Exercises Upon Seeing the Sun, 11 February 375
How Can Flexibility Kill Us? 18 February 379
What Do You Do With Blood? 25 February 383
An Angry Discussion in Mokattam, 4 March 387
When Will Morsi Go? 11 March 392
Who Respects Women? 18 March 396
How Did the Faithful Muslim Become a Torturer? 25 March 400
Having a Divine Mandate from God, 1 April 404
Will Mubarak Keep His Smile? 15 April 408
When Will Don Quixote Come to His Senses? 22 April 412
How the News Will Look in the Future, 29 April 417
Morsi and the Three Fish, 6 May 422
A Conversation Between a Young Revolutionary and a Frustrated Citizen, 20 May 426
Who Will Drive Out the Sheep? 27 May 431
How to Break Free from Fascism, 3 June 435
The Importance of Cinema, 10 June 439
How Can the President Sleep at Night? 3 June 444
Revolt or Die, 24 June 449
Candid Thoughts on a Wonderful Scene, 8 July 453
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Muslim Brother, 15 July 457
The Fate of Fujimori, 22 July 462
Thoughts on the Course of the Revolution, 29 July 467
An Emergency Meeting at the Zoo, 5 August 471
Who Is Letting Egypt Down? 19 August 476
Mistakes Made in the Midst of Battle, 26 August 480
The Tragedy and Farce of Egypt's Democracy, 2 September 485
What Have We Learnt from the Disaster? 9 September 490
Who is Iskandar Tusi? 16 September 494
A Piece of Candy, 23 September 498
The Disadvantages of Expediency, 30 September 503
Are We Building a State or an Authority? 7 October 507
Reflections from a Chambre de Bonne, 21 October 512
Citizens or Tribesmen? 29 October 516
The Story of the Hall of Mirrors, the Lord and His Servants, 4 November 520
An Altercation at Maadi Hospital, 11 November 524
How to Build a Modern Democratic State, 18 November 529
Our Justice, May God Protect It, 2 December 532
What Disturbed Rocca? 9 December 536
Should We Approve the Constitution? 16 December 539
Will You Detain All of Egypt? 23 December 544
Old Realities Impact the Future, 30 December 548
2014
Does General el-Sisi Like Poetry? 6 January 552
Some Remarks on a "Yes" Vote, 13 January 557
What Do You Know About Chairophilia? 20 January 561
Are Egyptians Looking for a Father? 27 January 565
Let's Listen to Them This Time, 3 February 569
When Will Hajj Saleh Respond? 10 February 574
The Revolution Is Going Backwards, 24 February 578
In Defence of Adversaries, 3 March 582
Down with the Virtual Republic, 10 March 586
Reviewing the Lessons of History, 17 March 591
From Albert Einstein to General el-Sisi, 31 March 595
How Can We Stop the Conspiracy? 7 April 600
On the Evils of Brainwashing, 14 April 604
Our Way to Good Morals, 21 April 608
What Happened to General el-Sisi? 28 April 612
How to Become a Strategic Expert? 7 April 616
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Law-abiding Citizen, 5 May 620
Who Dares Speak? 2 June 625
Egyptians Who Missed the Celebration, 9 June 630
A Message from an Undercover Agent, 16 June 635
Afterword 639
Glossary 641
Index 649
Chronology xiii
2011
The President Has Fallen but the Regime Still Stands, 1 March 1
The Sickness of Dictatorship, 8 March 5
Five Attitudes Towards the Revolution, 15 March 8
Before the Revolution Becomes a Wasted Opportunity, 22 March 12
What Did the Monkey Say to the Lion? 29 March 18
Masters of Egypt, 5 April 21
How to Fight Counter-revolution, 12 April 24
The Writing on the Wall, 19 April 28
Whale Like an Egyptian, Roar Like a Lion, 26 April 32
How Did the Revolution Reach Montreal? 3 May 36
Who Is Pushing Egypt Towards Chaos? 10 May 40
Who Killed General al-Batran? 17 May 44
Tyranny Begets Tyranny, 24 May 48
Are We Living with Cannibals? 31 May 52
Who Will Protect Egypt From the Police? 7 June 57
Would a Civil State Allow Sharia Law? 14 June 62
What to Expect from the Military Council, 21 June 67
An Egyptian Mother to Field Marshal Tantawi, 28 June 70
What is Holding the Military Council Back? 5 July 72
Has the Revolution Gone Awry? 12 July 76
The Story of Abu Shama, 19 July 80
Do You Support the Revolution? 26 July 84
How to Abolish the Revolution in Six Steps, 2 August 89
How to Save the Revolution, 9 August 93
The Interrogation of Asmaa Mahfouz, 16 August 97
How Should We Respond to Israeli Aggression? 23 August 101
God Bless Your Hands, Ali Farzat, 30 August 104
Tomorrow You Will Stand Accused, 6 September 107
The Revolution Must Continue, 20 September 111
What Does Egypt Lack? 27 September 119
Muslim, Christian or Human Being? 4 October 124
Religious Fascism in Egypt, 11 October 127
The Moment of Truth has Arrived, 17 October 131
What the Military Council Didn't Hear, 25 October 135
A Conversation Between Two Important Men, 1 November 138
Anxiety for the Future, 15 November 143
The Emperor Has No Clothes, 22 November 148
Five Questions About the Crisis, 29 November 152
What Happened to the General? 13 December 156
Defending Egypt's Revolution, 20 December 160
See No Evil, 27 December 163
2012
Five Types of Honourable Citizen, 3 January 167
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and an Honourable Citizen, 10 January 170
What Does Mohamed ElBaradei Want? 16 January 175
Why Should We Demonstrate Tomorrow? 24 January 179
What Can We Expect from the Brotherhood and the Salafists? 31 January 183
Four Telephone Calls in a Deluxe Hospital, 6 February 188
When Will the Mubarak Regime Fall? 13 February 191
Are They Really Religious? 20 February 195
A Secret Report on a Consensus Candidate, 27 February 199
When Will They Stop Insulting Us? 5 March 203
Awaiting Military Trial, 12 March 207
Who Will Welcome Pope Shenouda? 19 March 211
You Can Have Your Constitution; We Will Have the Revolution, 26 March 216
Do They Represent Islam? 2 April 220
How to Become an Extra, 9 April 228
How to Save the Revolution in Four Steps, 16 April 232
Who Pays the Price for Dignity? 30 April 236
A Conversation Between a Presidential Candidate and an Important Person, 7 May 239
Are These Elections Fair? 21 May 244
Before You Cast Your Vote, 4 June 248
The Phenomenon of the Tame Citizen, 12 June 252
How Did Mohamed Morsi Win? 25 June 256
Are We Repeating el-Senhouri's Mistake? 9 July 260
A Future Imagined, 16 July 265
Truth is a Virtue, 23 July 269
Should We Support the Brotherhood or the Military Council? 30 July 273
What is Egypt Waiting For? 6 August 277
Heartfelt Joy and Rightful Concerns, 13 August 281
Do Egyptians Resent Success? 27 August 284
Are Egyptians Civilised? 3 September 289
How to Make a Dictator, 11 September 292
In Defence of the Prophet, 17 September 297
Where is the President Taking Us? 24 September 301
When Will the West Respect Us? 1 October 305
The Art of Putting on Shoes, 8 October 309
A President Who Serves Two Masters, 15 October 313
On State Prestige and National Symbols, 22 October 318
In Defence of Women, 5 November 322
A Great Writer and a Good Friend, 12 November 326
Before You Chop Off Our Hands, 19 November 332
Some Questions and Answers About the Crisis, 26 November 336
Who Can Cure the President? 10 December 337
In Secret, 17 December 342
How to Lie and Maintain Moral Purity, 24 December 346
Where Does Your Money Come From? 31 December 351
2013
Being a Muslim in Britain, 7 January 359
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Good Citizen, 21 January 362
Why Is Morsi Killing Egyptians? 28 January 367
Six Ways to Keep Hold of Power, 4 February 371
Exercises Upon Seeing the Sun, 11 February 375
How Can Flexibility Kill Us? 18 February 379
What Do You Do With Blood? 25 February 383
An Angry Discussion in Mokattam, 4 March 387
When Will Morsi Go? 11 March 392
Who Respects Women? 18 March 396
How Did the Faithful Muslim Become a Torturer? 25 March 400
Having a Divine Mandate from God, 1 April 404
Will Mubarak Keep His Smile? 15 April 408
When Will Don Quixote Come to His Senses? 22 April 412
How the News Will Look in the Future, 29 April 417
Morsi and the Three Fish, 6 May 422
A Conversation Between a Young Revolutionary and a Frustrated Citizen, 20 May 426
Who Will Drive Out the Sheep? 27 May 431
How to Break Free from Fascism, 3 June 435
The Importance of Cinema, 10 June 439
How Can the President Sleep at Night? 3 June 444
Revolt or Die, 24 June 449
Candid Thoughts on a Wonderful Scene, 8 July 453
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Muslim Brother, 15 July 457
The Fate of Fujimori, 22 July 462
Thoughts on the Course of the Revolution, 29 July 467
An Emergency Meeting at the Zoo, 5 August 471
Who Is Letting Egypt Down? 19 August 476
Mistakes Made in the Midst of Battle, 26 August 480
The Tragedy and Farce of Egypt's Democracy, 2 September 485
What Have We Learnt from the Disaster? 9 September 490
Who is Iskandar Tusi? 16 September 494
A Piece of Candy, 23 September 498
The Disadvantages of Expediency, 30 September 503
Are We Building a State or an Authority? 7 October 507
Reflections from a Chambre de Bonne, 21 October 512
Citizens or Tribesmen? 29 October 516
The Story of the Hall of Mirrors, the Lord and His Servants, 4 November 520
An Altercation at Maadi Hospital, 11 November 524
How to Build a Modern Democratic State, 18 November 529
Our Justice, May God Protect It, 2 December 532
What Disturbed Rocca? 9 December 536
Should We Approve the Constitution? 16 December 539
Will You Detain All of Egypt? 23 December 544
Old Realities Impact the Future, 30 December 548
2014
Does General el-Sisi Like Poetry? 6 January 552
Some Remarks on a "Yes" Vote, 13 January 557
What Do You Know About Chairophilia? 20 January 561
Are Egyptians Looking for a Father? 27 January 565
Let's Listen to Them This Time, 3 February 569
When Will Hajj Saleh Respond? 10 February 574
The Revolution Is Going Backwards, 24 February 578
In Defence of Adversaries, 3 March 582
Down with the Virtual Republic, 10 March 586
Reviewing the Lessons of History, 17 March 591
From Albert Einstein to General el-Sisi, 31 March 595
How Can We Stop the Conspiracy? 7 April 600
On the Evils of Brainwashing, 14 April 604
Our Way to Good Morals, 21 April 608
What Happened to General el-Sisi? 28 April 612
How to Become a Strategic Expert? 7 April 616
A Conversation Between a Revolutionary and a Law-abiding Citizen, 5 May 620
Who Dares Speak? 2 June 625
Egyptians Who Missed the Celebration, 9 June 630
A Message from an Undercover Agent, 16 June 635
Afterword 639
Glossary 641
Index 649