• EGYPT
  • August 21, 2013
  • 8 minutes read

Anti-Coup National Alliance Calls for Boycott Campaign in Preparation for Civil Disobedience

Anti-Coup National Alliance Calls for Boycott Campaign in Preparation for Civil Disobedience

Egypt is passing through the most difficult and dangerous conditions in its thousands of years’ history, which threaten its stability and unity and push it into a deadly spiral of violence from which there is no way out.

The Pro-Democracy National Alliance had warned of this situation prior to June 30 events, when signs emerged of opponents and conspirators against the elected President Mohamed Morsi plotting to circumvent constitutional legitimacy.

The military coup leader General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi thought he could rob the homeland by pushing a segment of the people in make-believe demonstrations for a few hours to get his justification for a coup against the elected President.

However, the coup commander was not destined to enjoy his illegitimate power-grab, as the people quickly rose up against the coup in a most civilized manner that dazzled the whole world just as the January 25 Revolution did in 2011.

The people came out in millions, in Egypt’s scorching summer sun, in continuous vigil that lasted more than 6 weeks in Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda squares, in Cairo and Giza, as well as in all the provinces across the nation.

This confirmed the continuity of the people’s revolution and its durability despite the massacres committed by the murderous coup commanders and their illegitimate government against peaceful protesters as they went down in prayers outside the Republican Guard Officers’ Club, and against those observing the Ramadan fast, in the ‘podium’ -also known as "Manassa" – massacre.

Faced with this steadfast stance of the great Egyptian people and their refusal to succumb to the usurpers of power, the coup commander, his criminal interior minister and puppet government ordered and executed Rabaa El-Adaweya and Nahda massacres.

Their security forces killed approximately five thousand martyrs and wounded more than twenty thousand peaceful protesters in the worst unspeakable war crimes unprecedented in human history.

Despite these heinous massacres, the Egyptian people refused to succumb. They came out in "Friday of Rage" million-man demonstrations, which ended up in Ramses Square, the heart of Cairo. Then, security forces and thugs went mad, with their snipers firing live bullets into the unarmed crowds from army and police helicopters, from Sixth of October Bridge and also from the buildings surrounding the square and Fateh Mosque. They killed more than two hundred and wounded thousands more in this barbaric and brutal incident alone.

When the demonstrators and the martyrs’ families gathered to prepare martyrs for burial and treat the wounded, they were besieged inside Al Fat’h mosque by the army, police and thugs. The mosque siege continued for more than twenty hours, after which these forces stormed the mosque and arrested hundreds of people, including men, women and youths, pushing them out of the mosque like prisoners of war.

Then came the most abhorrent mass killing crime on Sunday (August 18) when security forces killed protesters in their custody in Abu Zaabal prison after torturing and burning them with poisonous gases, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity – crimes against the sons of their homeland.

Not content with mass killing, wounding and arresting unarmed demonstrators and peaceful protestors, the coup commanders and collaborators and their putschist government orchestrated a campaign of misinformation to demonize and dehumanize their opponents who still insisted on a return to legitimacy and rejection of the coup. The putschists were helped in that effort by hostile media organizations belonging to remnants of the corrupt ancien régime and dubious businessmen.

They turned facts upside down, lied repeatedly, exposed their own lies, and even committed most reprehensible crimes against innocent Egyptians in order to cover up their earlier heinous crimes, including the recent mass killing of 25 soldiers in the Sinai.

After this quick review of events, the Anti-Coup, Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance affirms as follows:

1) The Alliance condemns the Sinai events and accuses the putschist government’s security services of orchestrating these events to divert attention from the criminal massacre in Abu Zaabal prison, which claimed the lives of dozens of innocent people, and to find a justification for the crimes they committed against the Egyptian people.

2) The Alliance condemns acts of violence, arson and looting against some churches, public facilities and town-hall buildings as well as police stations. The Alliance reaffirms its commitment to peacefulness and that its objectives are limited to restoring legitimacy and rejection of the coup.

The Alliance also points that the security services have a bad and bitter history in committing such colossal follies in order to sow sedition in Egypt, as happened in the Two-Saints Church incident under Mubarak, because sedition and sectarian strife guarantees them power.

3) These totally absurd practices by the putschists are proof that they entered a swamp they cannot paddle out of back again. So, they aim to spread terror in a desperate attempt to completely abort our Revolution and take revenge for the ousted Mubarak regime.

4) What Egypt is witnessing now is a popular revolution in every sense of the word. This aims to wrest the glorious January 25 Revolution from the clutches of the putschists.

5) The people are the real leader of the Revolution, who drive all non-violent pro-legitimacy, anti-coup events, at the times and locations set by each region according to their circumstances.

The work of the Alliance does not exceed the role of coordinator, supervisor and announcer for these events, because the people are sovereign – they have the inherent right to recover legitimacy and reject and defeat the coup.

6) In his latest speech, the illegitimate coup commander wanted to send a message to the people of Egypt… "You have only two options: submission or genocide". They either give in and accept the military coup or get exterminated in massacres like those witnessed in recent days. However, the great Egyptian people will not give in, and will continue in their peaceful activities to reject the coup and restore constitutional legitimacy.

7) The people of Egypt, backed by the Alliance, will honor the blood of the martyrs and the injured, and call on everyone to document the facts and testimonies of the massacres committed by the putschists, and shame them in mass media and on the pages of electronic information networks’ websites.

The Alliance calls Egypt’s honorable lawyers and human rights organizations to play their part in bringing all those who committed crimes against the great Egyptian people’s right to justice promptly – both in Egypt and in international courts.

9) In response to calls by honorable sons of the Egyptian people for civil disobedience, the Alliance urges the use of a gradual boycott drive in accordance with the following initial steps:

• Boycotting the media (newspapers, satellite TV channels and Websites) that support the coup, cover up the massacres, incite hatred, promote lies, and generally work to mislead public opinion.

• Boycotting businesses that support and finance the military coup.

• Boycotting products from countries that fund the military coup.

• Escalating civil disobedience activities gradually, according to circumstances and events.

O great people of Egypt… Do not trust the putschist who failed to honor his oath of allegiance, who betrayed his boss and leader. Do not trust the putschist who overturned the will of his people and robbed them of their freedom.

Do not trust the putschist who kidnapped Egypt’s elected President and fabricated farcical, implausible charges against him. Do not trust the mass murderer who thrives on blood of the Egyptians.

On several occasions, the Alliance confirmed its acceptance of national initiatives, by many patriotic figures, including initiatives to calm tensions and stop the shedding of Egyptian blood, but the putschists always rejected these initiatives, as their commander said… "You have only two options: submission or genocide". But our will is strong. We shall continue our non-violent struggle for the restoration of full legitimacy.

The Anti-Coup, Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance

Cairo: August 20, 2013