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LETTERS FROM THE READERS

A Reader’s letter

02/19/2012

A view from a Socialist Student of Egypt about the “April 6th Movement”

April 6th Movement was founded by a group of 20 students, in 2008, in support of workers conducting a general strike on that date. After this process, many of the movement’s leaders were imprisoned and spent several years in prison. For their fighting and campaigns they won authority among the youth, who were joining the movement. Today they mobilize around 10,000 young people; many of them are no longer students but have graduated as professionals. There are engineers, teachers and young people who are not students, but who were joining the movement in the heat of the revolutionary battles of 2011. April 6th Movement is characterized by being very active and dynamic, unlike other groups, social organizations and political parties; however their moves are mainly peaceful mobilizations. The leadership defines itself as "a liberal, anti-violence movement, for democracy and freedom”.

Despite the fact that at the time of Mubarak they were very persecuted - and that meant the jail to several of its members – their orientation today is still a pacifist, non-violent one. So it is that on Wednesday 22 February, 2012 there will be a military trial of George Ramzy, an activist belonging in this movement and a political prisoner of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of Egypt, and the measure proposed by their peers is a huge mobilization in front of the Court, always stressing non-violence. Likewise another University March is proposed a day earlier, 21, where students are to be going on the one hand to Tahrir square and on the other, they will display their lines in front of the military barracks.

The main goal of the movement is to seek a democracy where there is a Parliament of deputies elected by the people that respond to the interests of the people, which would to take all the power, where the President is subordinate to it. As an exemplary case they mention the current form of Government in Tunisia, which they greet. They think that in Egypt there is not such a thing, and propose as a solution actions of pressure on the Parliament (or the Government) to take measures in favor of the people, and thus achieve the demands, including that of a "democratic  and representative Parliament". For coordinated international actions, this movement says to support the Libyan, Tunisian, Yemeni, Syrian, etc., revolutions but without violence and always within Egypt, i.e., marches to the embassies, protests in the streets, artistic expressions, etc. In the case of Syria, one of their leaders said, in relation to the masses of this country that he "prayed for them", thus meaning that he refrained from any jointly action with the Syrians, and therefore from a common task that necessarily has to be violent and armed because in Syria, the masses are being massacred. Anyway they manifest themselves not to be against anything or anyone that confronts in any way murderous Bashar.

I had the opportunity to meet one of their leaders; he showed great international solidarity, regarding a military front with the Palestinian masses, stating that if today he had to go to fight somewhere, it would be at Gaza. April 6th Movement has declared itself pro-Palestine and anti-Israel. In fact, they do not recognize the Zionist fascist State of Israel and support any action against him.
Decision of besieging the Zionist Embassy in Cairo occurred months ago, was greeted by this movement, including the indication about the action being not enough. This onslaught against the Embassy came as a response to the murder of five Egyptian rank-and-file soldiers by the Zionist army at the border and its subsequent "apology". The leaders of April 6th Movement then added contemptuously "Let them save their apologies".
But in terms of effective support and material, which this movement is in a position to provide much and better, it is only limited to some mobilization and publish statement, now and then.
In short, this movement, self-defined as a liberal and "center left" one, expresses a contradiction: it is composed of a rank and file of spirited young people very active in the revolution and a leadership that, while participating in all the revolutionary actions, searches, with medium pressure, reforming the current Parliament.