Graduation at the Pyramids

I have a guilty admission to make, a type of admission that many a New Yorker or Londoner or Memphian could make. Manhattanites don't visit Lady Liberty and Londoners rarely tour the Houses of Parliament. Just like a surprising number of Memphians never make the pilgrimage to Graceland. Here's the admission: Dana and I had yet to make it to the Pyramids until June of 2014. The closest ancient structures to our flat in Ma'adi, and it took us almost a year to cross the river to Giza to see the last Wonder of the Ancient World still standing.

In our defense, we arrived in Cairo in late July of 2013 just as former president Mohammed Morsi was being booted out of office. Then there were the violent clearances of camps of protestors. Note: ancient wonders lose their allure when bullets are whizzing about and barrel bombs are being ignited. And there was the damn curfew and the massive street protests every Friday after prayers. We follow a Muslim work week here in Cairo, so Friday and Saturday constitute the weekend for us. Another note: ancient wonders lose their luster when throngs of angry protestors are throwing Molotov Cocktails at nearby security forces. Most Saturdays we did not really feel brave enough to be driven down towards Tahrir Square to cross the river to Giza. By the time the situation here in Cairo was safe enough for us to easily go for a visit, we found that we already had other plans; we had shit to do. So we kept putting off a trip to the Great Pyramids.

Until June.

June is graduation month at Cairo American College (CAC), and the graduate Eagles of CAC have their graduation ceremony at the Pyramids. Yep, every year the school rents out the sound stage just in front of the majestic structures in order to host the two-hour graduation ceremony. The place has to be the all-time, Top-5 greatest graduation venues in the universe. Let me tell you, the ceremony is THE most important tradition at CAC, full of pomp, processions, and speeches. And the spectacle plays out with the the Great Pyramids and the somber face of the Great Sphinx in the immediate background. 

Let me tell you something else, the ceremony is an absolute mother----er to prepare for. Planning begins almost a year in advance, characterized by preliminary negotiations with the Ministry of Antiquities and with the U.S. Embassy. This year these negotiations were more than a little difficult. Following the preliminary meetings, there are security details to plan out, seating arrangements for a couple of thousand spectators to be arranged, and local police with whom to consult. Then there are more meetings. At one point this year during a later round of negotiations, the Ministry of Antiquities jacked up an already astronomically high rental fee. At another point this year, the diplomats at the U.S. Embassy expressed their fears that they would not be able to permit their families and their CAC graduates to attend the ceremony due to security concerns. When a suggestion was offered to perhaps hold the ceremony in the gym, the outrage expressed made Tea Partiers seem sane and tame.

So the tense negotiations finally end and the decision is made to go ahead with graduation at the Pyramids. CAC grads and their parents heave a huge collective  sigh of relief as Dana and I make plans to attend. One of our colleagues scores a great rate at the historic Mena House Hotel just across the street from the Pyramid complex and so Dana and I make arrangements to stay. The hotel is over 100 years old and has played host to royalty, celebrities, and scores of politicians. Back in the late 70s, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Jimmy Carter met at the hotel for one of the rounds of peace talks between Egypt and Israel. One of my favorite authors, Arthur Conan Doyle, stayed here as did both Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower. Walking the marbled halls, peering into paneled oak rooms filled with trophies and old guns and over-stuffed red leather chairs, it is easy to imagine Ernest Hemingway and his buds here, getting absolutely sloshed while planning their next big hunt. That is the kind of ambiance the Mena House Hotel possesses.

The day before graduation, we set out from our school to the hotel. We are being driven in one of the school vans. Thank goodness too, because the neighborhoods surrounding the Pyramids and the Mena House are poverty-stricken. At one point while stopped at a stop sign, beggars and cart-drivers run up to the sides of our van, beating against the sides and demanding money. It is a little bit frightening.  

A few tense minutes later, and we are ushered through the gates of the hotel. Check in goes quickly. We are on foot now, walking through the lush gardens of the hotel, a far cry from the streets just outside of the hotel walls. Passing through several sets of metal detectors, we are gently escorted to our room, one of the rooms with a Pyramid view. And the view is astounding.

We are now gypsies in the palace. We eat at what is reported to be one of the finest restaurants in Cairo. We stuff our faces full of Indian food. We watch the sun set behind the Pyramids. We order room service.

It is all lovely until 4:30 AM the next morning. That is the time I have to get up in order to catch the bus over to the ceremony stage. The venue owners will not allow us to set up the night before, so we must complete the ceremony preparations the day of graduation. The bus ferries us, groggy and sleepy-headed, to the venue where we are greeted by an army of CAC and security staff. They have been waiting for a while, and by the looks of them they are already well into a second pack of cigarettes and a fourth or fifth cup of tea.

With scores of able-bodied individuals to help, the set-up goes quickly and efficiently. The graduates, resplendent in their crimson and white robes, arrive right on time. Proud parents and equally proud, if not a little relieved, faculty stream through the security checkpoints to take their seats. Invocations are made by imams and pastors, Muslims and Christians. Students take to the podium to deliver well-rehearsed speeches. Parents cry as graduates cross the stage to received their diplomas. Tassels rake across mortar boards and then those very same mortar boards are tossed high in the air.

And all the while, the silent stone faces of the Great Pyramids peer down upon us from on high, watching impassively as the ceremony draws to a close.

As parents and graduates slowly exit the venue, Dana and I walk towards the timeworn monoliths. Today's ceremony has been a metaphor for our year here: lots of planning and preparation punctuated by unforeseen events and peppered with a healthy dose of chaos. But amidst the chaos, there is a beauty and a timeless sense of majesty looming in the distance, providing a rich backdrop against which we play out our daily lives. We go to work, spending our week days in much the same manner that we did when we were in Memphis. We have similar ups and downs, we share similar school-related triumphs and frustrations. Different from our existence in Memphis however, we are foreigners in an ancient land. We are amazed at some of the sights and sounds of our foster country. Sometimes we are frightened because this can be a dangerous place and these are dangerous times in Egypt. 

And all this time, the sun rises and sets on the Great Pyramids and on the Great Sphinx. And the Nile flows gently and easily just as it has done for thousands and thousands of years.

An Inconvenient Election

After two days of voting and then a hastily organized third day of polling, Egyptians have elected Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi as their new president. With 97% of the vote counted, the former Field Marshal seems to have garnered over 90% of the ballots cast. That is a landslide, but the results are far from a mandate.

In the first presidential elections after the 2011 Revolution, the first "free" presidential election in Egypt's history, Mohammed Morsi won in 2012 with roughly 52% of registered voters casting their ballots. That kind of participation is about what voter turnout is in the U.S. during a presidential election when voter participation is considered to be "excellent." Compared with the U.S. there are many factors that contribute to non-voting behavior in Egypt: grinding poverty, comparatively low literacy rates, lack of understanding of voting procedures, a sense of disenfranchisement among those living in poverty, etc. The point is that 52% registered voter participation in the 2012 Egyptian presidential elections was considered to be "quite good."

Fast-forward to the Egyptian 2014 presidential election, the election pitting Mr. al-Sisi against leftist, Hamdeen Sabahi. The hope is that voter turnout will be higher, higher than the 2012 presidential election. With high voter participation, the victor could claim a strong sense of legitimacy. Under those kind of circumstances, a landslide victory would give the election winner a mandate. No such luck this time around. Voter turnout after the first two days of voting was an anaemic 37%. 

Blaming the perilously hot weather and a minor Muslim religious observation, authorities announced a federal holiday on the second day of voting and then abruptly announced a third day of voting. Registered voters who stayed at home were even threatened with a $70 fine (a large sum for some Egyptians) for not voting. When the votes are all finally counted, it is doubtful that vote turnout will have climbed above 40%.

This is bad news for al-Sisi on several fronts. First, he cannot claim anything remotely close to a mandate. Having garnered 90% of the vote he may try to make this claim, but he will face valid criticism and opposition in doing so. Secondly, the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and other conservative Muslim groups like the MB encouraged their followers to boycott the elections. Low voter participation fuels these groups and their causes. Although this election's relative low turnout is likely to have been the result of apathy and disenfranchisement, the MB and groups similar to the MB will claim these numbers as a sign of support. Finally, the numbers intimate that the fragmentation that has prevailed in Egyptian society since Mohammed Morsi's ouster last summer will probably continue. None of this is good news for incoming President al-Sisi.

And there is another dark and scary number lurking in the shadows. In the 2012 presidential election over 13 million Egyptians cast their vote for Mohammed Morsi, the same Mohammed Morsi that now languishes in prison. As a result of the 2014 election, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will have captured something close to that amount of votes. For all of the idolatry and talk of a cult of personality associated with al-Sisi, he will have garnered roughly the same number of votes as Morsi captured in the previous election. 

Given that massive economic restructuring in Egypt will have to soon commence, these numbers are quite inconvenient for the new president.

One Step Up and Two Steps Back?

One step up ... maybe

Following months of speculation, Egypt's worst kept secret was this week finally made public. Field Marshall Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces who led the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi, communicated his resignation from the military in order to run for the presidency. In a televised speech aired earlier in the week, al-Sisi announced his resignation, declaring his presidential candidacy. 

For many Egyptians this is good news. Al-Sisi has an almost cult-like following.  A career infantry officer, he is cut from the same military mold as Nasser and Sadat. In his previous speeches he has focused on security and stability, two themes popular among business owners and shop keepers. He is a devout Muslim who often quotes from the Koran, a personal characteristic that is popular among Egypt's poor and working classes. In his speech this week he stressed security, unity, hard work, and prosperity. Who doesn't support these ideas?

For some Egyptians the promises of a brighter future ring hollow. For them the prospect of an al-Sisi presidency represents catastrophe and failure. In 2012, when president Morsi tapped al-Sisi to head the armed forces, conservative Muslims and members of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood inwardly cheered. They saw in al-Sisi a kindred, pious spirit. Finally one of their own, a conservative Muslim, was heading Egypt's revered and powerful military apparatus. Less than a year later, al-Sisi was leading the charge against President Morsi, a charge that led to Morsi's fall and subsequent incarceration. A charge that led to the downfall of the Morsi government. Al-Sisi's former Muslim Brotherhood supporters now view him as a traitor. 

Some liberal-minded university students do not support al-Sisi either, although they do not see him as a traitor. Liberals view al-Sisi as another Mubarak, a former military commander assuming the reigns of the state. A return to business as usual. An outright denial of the ideals of the 2011 revolution.

Given the public display of flags, posters, even al-Sisi shaped chocolates however, the former general's supporters seem to grossly outnumber his detractors. Al-Sisi is expected to win the upcoming May elections by a wide margin. With elections just two months away, the only other candidate in the presidential race is Hamdeen Sabahi, a liberal/leftist politician and poet who finished third in the 2012 presidential election. Sabahi is popular among college liberals but is seen by most as a rather obscure leftist.

Pragmatists would question why either al-Sisi or Sabahi would want to seek the presidential post. The job will certainly not be easy. The next president will administer over an Egypt where one in every four or five citizens lives on less than two dollars per day. An Egypt where the government annually pays billions of dollars toward bread and fuel subsidies. An Egypt where inflation rates are rising into the double-digits. An Egypt where weekly public protests and clashes result in multiple deaths. An Egypt where daily power outages and rolling blackouts have become commonplace. To solve these crippling problems will be no easy task. Both al-Sisi and Sabahi have good reputations going into this election. Given the daunting tasks at hand, they have much to lose.

Two steps back ... certainly

If it wasn't al-Sisi's candidacy grabbing international headlines, it was Egyptian judge, Saeed Elgazar. Judge Elgazar is the man who this week sentenced 529 arrested protestors to death. The trial took place in the Minya district, a couple of hundred kilometers south of Cairo. 

Clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi demonstrators in Minya came to a head last August with protestors attacking a local police station, killing one officer. Security forces then overwhelmed the protestors, arresting hundreds. The protestors' trial was held this week. It lasted two days. Only 150 of the defendants, wearing their required white coveralls and locked behind a crowded cage in the courtroom, were present. The rest of the defendants were held in various prisons and detainment units throughout the country. Defense attorneys were not able to meet with most of the defendants. Testimony during the two-day trial was scant. In the end, 529 of the protestors received a death sentence. Judge Elgazar acquitted only 16 people. 

Human rights organizations immediately condemned the proceedings. Human Right Watch, Amnesty International, and even the United Nations Human Rights Commission have all criticized the conduct of the trial for its lack of respect to the rights of the accused and absence of procedural due process. Government officials and legal experts in Cairo were quick to distance themselves from the ruling, pointing out that provincial courts operate independently of the federal courts. The same Cairo officials were also quick to stress that the Minya ruling was subject to a federal appeals process. Few here in Cairo expect the sentences to be carried out, believing instead that a successful appeals process will overturn the decision. Still ...

Since August and the crackdown on political protests, over 16,000 people have been arrested. Most are still awaiting trial.