Storm Coming

We are sensing a growing feeling of public unrest. It is like watching a stalking lioness about to pounce. The week's national news has been disquieting, adding to the feeling that violence is approaching. There is an unusual lull in the fighting in the Sinai. We have had several days in Cairo without an organized protest march. The streets at night have been unusually quiet these past days. This should point toward an easing of the crisis here in Egypt, but we do not feel as if this is the case; neither do our Egyptian friends. These positive prognostics are overshadowed by ominous events happening around us.

We are reading other disturbing reports in the news. In the center of Cairo, the 50 people participating in the constitutional convention are at an impasse. The conservative, religious members of the convention, members who have sworn to provide this nation with a viable and sustainable constitution, are readying themselves to quit the convention, feeling that they are being betrayed by the proceedings. There is talk of upcoming elections being further postponed. Here in Ma'adi, several judges that were overseeing the trials of prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood have stepped down this week, forcing the trial process to reset and also lengthening the period of time where the defendants in these cases remain imprisoned while awaiting trial. Again here in Ma'adi at the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land, the trial of deposed President Mohamed Morsi is set to begin in just a few days.

We are seeing sinister portents. All this week trucks carrying scores of blue-clad security forces, their M-16s glittering in the sunlight, somberly pass through our neighborhood streets. We have never seen security forces passing through our neighborhoods. Several times a day we hear the thudding of massive military helicopters thundering over our heads. One week ago, there was just one tank installation on alert outside our local police precinct. Now there are three. The grocery stores have become more crowded this week. We usually see quite a bit of mirthful banter among shoppers and store owners, but this week the banter has been replaced by a quiet and nervous resignation. Our Egyptian students are telling us that their families are discussing their fears at their evening dinner tables. For the first time since we have arrived, I hear students expressing their worries.

I share their sense of worry. I feel like there is a hurricane coming, and we are not prepared.