Jul 07, 2013
Reporting from Cairo University, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid said she had seen crowds moving towards Tahrir Square, carrying Egyptian flags and chanting slogans in favor of the armed forces and against the Muslim Brotherhood.
The youth-led Rebellion Movement which was behind the protests that sparked the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi have dubbed Sunday's rally in Tahrir the "Dawaran Shubra" march to protect the gains of the revolution.
Meanwhile, a crowd of thousands of Morsi supporters have begun to assemble in Nasr City while approximately 1,000 regime supporters have completely blocked Salah Salem, the main artery that connects the city to the airport, reports Al Jazeera's Matthew Cassel.
On Saturday, the interim president Adly Mansour attempted to appoint former UN nuclear watchdog chief and Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed Elbaradei as his prime minister. However, the process was suspended when the ultra-fundamentalist Salafi Nur Party objected on the basis that he is 'too secular.'
The pro-Morsi protesters have an obvious message, but it may be less clear what their victorious opponents are still in the streets for.
In essence, it's to ensure their goals are met. In the short term, that means the appointment as prime minister of Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN diplomat turned liberal figurehead, whose elevation to higher office was stalled by the Salafi Nour party.
Mohamed Khamis, a leading Tamarod organiser, known to activists as 'the General', explains:
"Mohamed ElBaradei is our choice for prime minister - why should we change our plans just because one group, the Nour party, says they don't want him? This is unbelievable, especially after so many people went on the streets this week. The citizens are asking for Baradei. Why should we change plans just for a small group."
Khamis says that activists have learnt their lesson from 2011, when they left Tahrir too soon to achieve meaningful systemic change following the decapitation of Mubarak.
"There's no way that we can do what we did on 11 February 2013, and think that everything would be paradise. We're not going to leave Tahrir or any other place until we achieve the goals of the revolution."
Updates on twitter detail the unfolding situation in Cairo:
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Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Reporting from Cairo University, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid said she had seen crowds moving towards Tahrir Square, carrying Egyptian flags and chanting slogans in favor of the armed forces and against the Muslim Brotherhood.
The youth-led Rebellion Movement which was behind the protests that sparked the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi have dubbed Sunday's rally in Tahrir the "Dawaran Shubra" march to protect the gains of the revolution.
Meanwhile, a crowd of thousands of Morsi supporters have begun to assemble in Nasr City while approximately 1,000 regime supporters have completely blocked Salah Salem, the main artery that connects the city to the airport, reports Al Jazeera's Matthew Cassel.
On Saturday, the interim president Adly Mansour attempted to appoint former UN nuclear watchdog chief and Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed Elbaradei as his prime minister. However, the process was suspended when the ultra-fundamentalist Salafi Nur Party objected on the basis that he is 'too secular.'
The pro-Morsi protesters have an obvious message, but it may be less clear what their victorious opponents are still in the streets for.
In essence, it's to ensure their goals are met. In the short term, that means the appointment as prime minister of Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN diplomat turned liberal figurehead, whose elevation to higher office was stalled by the Salafi Nour party.
Mohamed Khamis, a leading Tamarod organiser, known to activists as 'the General', explains:
"Mohamed ElBaradei is our choice for prime minister - why should we change our plans just because one group, the Nour party, says they don't want him? This is unbelievable, especially after so many people went on the streets this week. The citizens are asking for Baradei. Why should we change plans just for a small group."
Khamis says that activists have learnt their lesson from 2011, when they left Tahrir too soon to achieve meaningful systemic change following the decapitation of Mubarak.
"There's no way that we can do what we did on 11 February 2013, and think that everything would be paradise. We're not going to leave Tahrir or any other place until we achieve the goals of the revolution."
Updates on twitter detail the unfolding situation in Cairo:
_____________________
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Reporting from Cairo University, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid said she had seen crowds moving towards Tahrir Square, carrying Egyptian flags and chanting slogans in favor of the armed forces and against the Muslim Brotherhood.
The youth-led Rebellion Movement which was behind the protests that sparked the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi have dubbed Sunday's rally in Tahrir the "Dawaran Shubra" march to protect the gains of the revolution.
Meanwhile, a crowd of thousands of Morsi supporters have begun to assemble in Nasr City while approximately 1,000 regime supporters have completely blocked Salah Salem, the main artery that connects the city to the airport, reports Al Jazeera's Matthew Cassel.
On Saturday, the interim president Adly Mansour attempted to appoint former UN nuclear watchdog chief and Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed Elbaradei as his prime minister. However, the process was suspended when the ultra-fundamentalist Salafi Nur Party objected on the basis that he is 'too secular.'
The pro-Morsi protesters have an obvious message, but it may be less clear what their victorious opponents are still in the streets for.
In essence, it's to ensure their goals are met. In the short term, that means the appointment as prime minister of Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN diplomat turned liberal figurehead, whose elevation to higher office was stalled by the Salafi Nour party.
Mohamed Khamis, a leading Tamarod organiser, known to activists as 'the General', explains:
"Mohamed ElBaradei is our choice for prime minister - why should we change our plans just because one group, the Nour party, says they don't want him? This is unbelievable, especially after so many people went on the streets this week. The citizens are asking for Baradei. Why should we change plans just for a small group."
Khamis says that activists have learnt their lesson from 2011, when they left Tahrir too soon to achieve meaningful systemic change following the decapitation of Mubarak.
"There's no way that we can do what we did on 11 February 2013, and think that everything would be paradise. We're not going to leave Tahrir or any other place until we achieve the goals of the revolution."
Updates on twitter detail the unfolding situation in Cairo:
_____________________
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