Tamarod's Facebook page was launched on April 22nd and immediately everyone in Egypt was talking about it. They were gathering signatures on the streets. They took the initiative to go out of their way and reach out to the Egyptian public. Finally offering a glimpse of hope during this dark time now when tyranny is baring its teeth at the Egyptian people. Their approach was simple: they will gather signatures from Egyptians who want Dr. Morsi's reign to end and early elections to take place, and on the 30th of June, everyone who signed will be asked to participate in a march to the presidential palace. Surely, Dr. Morsi's government will have something to say about this. In its own time, of course, once Tamarod starts posing a real threat. President Morsi's government is no stranger to procrastination. There were many a time when protesters filled the streets of Egypt with chants against his regime and the president was nowhere to be found. Almost as if he had thought that if he ignored a problem long enough, it would simply disappear. This is not how the real world works, unfortunately for Dr. Morsi and his government. Another fine example for this is the Ethiopian dam dilemma, which should have been given attention long ago. However, it was not until work was initiated on the dam when Dr. Morsi gave the matter some attention. This is why when Tamarod started out and the government ignored the movement as if it was not there, I was not surprised in the slightest. It was not a reason for me to doubt the legitimacy of the movement or even its effectiveness, because like many other Egyptians, I was given hope when I first heard they were collecting signatures. As well as, of course, knowing that no matter how much media attention the movement gets, our government will probably wait until the very last moment to actually start taking action. By then, no one could blame Egyptians for not accepting calls for negotiations. However, I was proven wrong and when Dr. Morsi's government took action for the very first time – less than a month prior to the protests which Tamarod called for – it was not by calling for negotiations, not by trying to figure out what Egyptians wanted and trying to reach common ground, not even by listening. No, as a matter of fact, Dr. Morsi's government did not make an official statement regarding Tamarod at all and all the actions which I am going to detail below have been taken by Dr. Morsi's and the Muslim Brotherhood's supporters. First, Tagarod was launched. Its Facebook page starting on May 13th, and although Tamarod means "rebel" in Arabic, Tagarod has absolutely no meaning in this context as the Arabic translation to it is literally "to rid one's self", which means they probably just looked for anything that rhymed with Tamarod. Tagarod started collecting signatures and participating in debates with Tamarod on different television channels and media outlets. On May 29th, Tamarod announced in a press conference that they have gathered over seven million signatures. Only a few days later on Sunday, the 2nd of June, three members of Tamarod were taken to the National Security building in 6th of October as they were collecting signatures. Then later on June 5th, Tamarod volunteers were attacked twice in Port Said by Muslim Brotherhood supporters. And finally, during the late hours of last night on June 6th, Tamarod's headquarters was almost set on fire after it was attacked with Molotov cocktails. Muslim Brotherhood supporters have also announced earlier the same night that a sit-in will take place in front of the presidential palace starting from June 29th. Keeping in mind that Tamarod has announced since April that protests will take place in the exact same location on June 30th, one can only assume that this could be a catastrophe waiting to happen. Which brings us to our main questions; has Dr. Morsi's government finally started to see Tamarod as a threat? And if so, would it not be wiser to try to talk to them? Instead of launching copycat campaigns, conducting random arrests, attacking Tamarod's headquarters and finally keeping Brotherhood supporters close on the same day when people have planned to protest? Is there not a clever political ploy to soothe the people, reach out to them as the Tamarod campaign has? Or is it too much to expect from our government and this is as clever as they will get? Even if we assume that Dr. Morsi and his government have no hand in all the aforementioned events, however unlikely it may seem, he can still be held accountable for what his supporters are doing and for his failure to stop them. By threatening the safety of Egyptians – whether they are members of the opposition or protesters – he is only yet again failing to do his primary job which is to protect the people of Egypt! Dr. Morsi's reaction to Tamarod or the lack thereof, is not the first of its kind. We all remember those who were injured and killed because of that very same attitude of his. I am certain he does not want to hear this and therefore his supporters will never say it, but it has to be said. Dr. Morsi must meet the opposition, and the Egyptian people as a whole, with a lot more respect than that, if not out of concern over their well-being, then at least out of concern over his position as president of Egypt. It has been almost a year since Dr. Morsi became president and Egyptians have seen the pattern with which he takes action. First, there's apathy, then procrastination and finally his supporters take over and when they do, it almost always gets violent. It is safe to say that people have grew tired of it and I sincerely hope they do not accept it anymore. And more than anything in the world, I hope he has the compassion to do what it takes to prevent possible bloodshed. I hope that protecting his post and the Muslim Brotherhood as a whole will not come first on the expense of more Egyptian lives. BN
