Egypt's writers, artists and thinkers have in the main supported the demands of the 25 January revolution. Rania Khallaf gauges their views Last Sunday, a statement was issued by a group of 100 Egyptian artists and writers calling for the immediate departure of President Hosni Mubarak. The statement, entitled the "Resolution to this Crisis is the Immediate Departure of President Mubarak", expressed the view in the country's artistic and intellectual community that the only way forward was the immediate departure of President Mubarak, described as being responsible for the problems that have faced the Egyptian people over the last 30 years. The statement blamed Mubarak for the violence against the demonstrators and for the deaths of those who lost their lives over the past 10 days. One step needed to be taken to achieve a "democratic regime based on the cancellation of the emergency law and ensuring the peaceful transition of power, the respect for human rights, and the free formation of political parties and unions," and this was the departure of Mubarak. The statement was signed by many prominent writers and artists, among them film director Khaled Youssef, actress Basma, actors Khaled Abul-Naga and Mohsena Tawfik, painter Mohamed Abla, writer and activist Alaa El-Aswani and poet Sayed Hegab, among others. The Writers' Union, presided over by playwright and journalist Mohamed Salmawy, was also the first of the country's syndicates to announce its stance, issuing a satatement one day after the demonstrations on 25 January. The union's statement backed the demands of the demonstrators and urged the government to answer them, calling for a peaceful demonstration at union premises in Zamalek in Cairo on 29 January. While this demonstration was not well organised, and the union has not yet issued another statement, in a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly Salmawy confirmed that the union's stance towards the demands of the demonstrators had not changed. "While I fully support their demands, our next step will be decided upon as a result of the negotiations now underway between the Committee of the Wise and the representatives of the young people," he said. The Union has called yesterday for another peaceful demonstration on Thursday 10 February at Tahrir Square. In addition to the union's public stance, it has been left up to individual writers to decide their own positions. Some have opted to demonstrate on the "battlefield" themselves, as they term Tahrir Square. "I am standing in Tahrir Square now, and it is full of energetic, powerful and well-organised people who dream of change and a civilised country," 70-year-old novelist Said El-Kafrawi told the Weekly. Abdel-Moneim Ramadan, a prominent poet and representative of the 1970s' generation of Egyptian writers, was not enthusiastic about signing a public statement. Instead, he described his participation on the "battlefield" as being a more effective way to show his solidarity with the young people. Ramadan said that he believed that the representation of writers and intellectuals in Tahrir Square was weak when compared to other groups in the population. "Most writers were not sure of the direction the 'revolutionary train' was taking, and they have their own interests that may clash with the government if they took seats on it," he told the Weekly. As a participant in the demonstrations, Ramadan went on to say that "demolishing the regime should also mean getting rid of the opposition parties, because they accepted to act as mere décor during the last 30 years and were necessary for the ruling party to paint a fake democratic picture." "I am very impressed by the new language being used by the young people in their slogans, since these do not employ the old dogmatic ideologies used by our generations." Ramadan gave examples of two slogans he admired: "Leave means go, in case you don't know," and "Why are you staying, uncle? I wish you would be more sensitive." A liberal and non-conservative writer, Ramadan does not believe that the Muslim Brotherhood poses a threat to freedom of speech or expression. "The presence of the Brotherhood in the demonstrations is only natural, just like any other political current," he said. In fact, Tahrir Square over recent days has turned into something of a cultural carnival, in which creative activities have been invented. Amateur actors have put on plays and sketches to entertain the demonstrators, and singers and musicians have brought out their guitars and sung national songs. Not everyone has joined the demonstrators in Tahrir, however. Pro-Mubarak demonstrations have been led by Ashraf Zaki, an actor and the ex-head of the Actors Syndicate. A small group of actors and actresses accompanied him, including the actress Mona Zaki and scriptwriter Mohamed El-Shaqanqiri. "We all want the stability and security of the country. I am with whoever can achieve this," Zaki told the Weekly. One week ago, Zaki appeared on the television channel Al-Arabiya, defending the Mubarak regime and saying that "we, the country's actors, will never allow anyone to insult president Mubarak." "I was not defending Mubarak. I was criticising the offensive language used by Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera in their television coverage," Zaki later told the Weekly. Amar El-Sherei, a popular and prominent composer, showed his solidarity with the young people from the first days by joining the demonstrations. He even took the brave step of addressing a message to President Mubarak, this being delivered on air in a telephone call to the TV programme "10 o'clock" on the satellite Dream Channel. In his message, El-Sherei urged Mubarak to address the demonstrators directly, to consider them like his own sons, and to promise to answer their political demands. Two days later, and in another interview with Mona El-Shazli, the presenter of the programme, El-Sherei again criticised the new government's slow response to the young people's demands, calling them "our mentors". "Due to this slow reaction, Egypt is losing millions of dollars every day," he said. Salmawy also echoed this "slackness in the government's reaction," saying that it could be designed to create an atmosphere of "distrust and dissatisfaction among the youth". Offering concessions drop by drop was not a smart strategy on the part of the regime, Salmawy said. "If the regime had conceded to the young people's demands at the proper time, they would have evacuated the square by now," he added. El-Sherei further criticised what he called the one-sided reporting by Egyptian state television. He also called for the putting on trial of members of the National Democratic Party, including Habib El-Adli, the ex-minister of the interior. In a further statement, another group of 200 journalists, writers and artists issued a call on Monday to ignore the official media coverage of the revolution, together with its "predetermined, naïve, false and flawed portrayal of these pure and liberal protesters who persist in their dreams of a free and democratic country." "Our generation has lost its momentum. This glorious revolution, made by those wonderful young people, has regained the dignity of the whole Egyptian people," said El-Sherei. "I have never voted in any elections before, but now that I feel that my vote counts I will certainly be an active voter in the coming elections," said the 60-year-old composer, who had previously composed national songs hailing the political and military achievements of President Mubarak. For his part, Ramadan detected a link between Egypt's young people's revolution and the youth movement in Europe in 1968. "If this current revolution succeeds, all the Arab countries will carry out their own revolutions against their corrupt regimes," Ramadan said. However, he also warned against techniques being used by the government to suppress the youth revolution. "Instead of the violence and suppression that were used last week by the regime, a new technique is now being adopted, which is to let the flower die on its own without outside intervention." This may be a metaphorical vision, he said, but that does not stop it from being a true one. The negotiations between the government and the representatives of the young demonstrators, Ramadan believes, are "a waste of time. They are just designed to find the time necessary for the flower to die on its own."
