Haunted by the ghost of the revolution

Demands for democracy, human rights and dignity drove hundreds of thousands of Egyptians onto the streets in January 2011. Their protest led to the resignation of the long-standing dictator Hosni Mubarak. However, hopes for a democratic transition of the country were crushed by the military coup in which Abd Al-Fattah al-Sisi seized power in the summer of 2013.

He had promised security, economic development and a better health and education system. But ten years after Al-Sisi’s seizure of power the country is worse off than ever before: the human rights situation in the country is worse than under any previous president, 70,000 political prisoners are locked up in Egyptian prisons, spaces for civil society engagement are continuously shrinking and the Egyptian economy is at the brink of collapse.

And yet the entire political spectrum is haunted by the ghost of the revolution, argues Dr. Dina Wahba in her book “Counter Revolutionary Egypt From the Midan to the Neighbourhood”. The political and social structures and networks as well as the solidarity created during the revolution strongly influence the actions of political actors in Egypt. While al-Sisi’s regime attempts to destroy these very structures with its repressive politics, the memory of the revolution shapes the actions of government critics.

After insights into the findings of Dr. Wahba’s research, we will discuss lessons learnt from revolution and counterrevolution, visions for Egypt in the future and how a value-based European and German policy towards Egypt can be shaped.

With:

• Mohamed Amjahid (Journalist and Author, Berlin)
• Max Lucks (Member of the German Bundestag, Chairman of the Committee for human rights and humanitarian aid, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Berlin)
• Leslie Piquemal (Senior EU Advocacy Representative, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Brussels)
• Anna Schwarz (Senior Programme Officer North Africa, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin)
• Dr. Dina Wahba (Postdoctoral Researcher, Freie Universität, Berlin)

Languages: English and German with simultaneous interpretation

Information: Anna Schwarz, Senior programme Officer North Africa, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, E-Mail, schwarz@boell.de

Venue: Refugio Berlin, Lenaustraße 3, 12047 Berlin