On the Eve of Friday’s Protests, Anti-Coup Alliance Reaffirms Commitment to Peaceful Protest Until Putsch Defeat

Despite all the massacres committed by the coup commanders, collaborators and their government against unarmed demonstrators and peaceful protestors for almost two months, burning some of them in their tents and plowing bodies with heavily armored bulldozers, the honorable patriotic people of Egypt remain steadfast, refusing to succumb to the usurpers of power, in a continuing scene of civilized and dignified protest that is, in fact, escalating day by day, throughout the nation, thus befuddling the putschists’ heinous plots.

The Alliance deeply appreciates and values ​​the historical role of the Egyptian people who dazzled the whole world, and proved they are free and patriotic people who defend their will in every legitimate peaceful way available, despite all the arbitrary arrest operations, the killings, the brutal massacres and merciless genocide committed by the military against pro-legitimacy, pro-democracy opponents of the military coup and putschists who are doing their worst to dissuade people from demanding their freedom and their free will.

The Egyptian masses rose up in non-violent activities of Martyrs’ Friday (August 23). Millions of people of all ages and political colors turned out in all liberty squares and streets of Egypt and marched through cities, neighborhoods, villages and hamlets in unprecedented numbers, compared to previous weeks.

Recognizing this collective popular revolt, the Alliance called this week’s campaign “The People Drive the Revolution” week, in preparation for tomorrow (August 30)’s million-man peaceful protests.

Through this week’s activities, the people seek to assure they rise to regain the January 25 (2011) Revolution that the generals are endeavoring, with their resources and heavy war machine to rob, as they restore Mubarak’s regime, in favor of foreign allies who want no freedom, democracy or progress for Egypt.

Throughout this week, forms of protests varied in new and diverse creative ways, from mass marches to solemn vigils, human chains, car and motorcycle rallies, to pot-clanking campaigns, to break the military-imposed dusk-to-dawn curfew.

The Alliance extends its sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Martyrs and the wounded of the Revolution who watered the tree of liberty with their blood, for Egypt to regain the glorious January 25 Revolution.

The Alliance reaffirms as follows:

1) What Egypt is witnessing now is a real popular revolution, in every sense of the word, to rescue the January 25 Revolution from the deathly clutches of the bloody coup. The people are the real leader of the Revolution, driving all peaceful events to restore legitimacy and defeat the brutal putschists.

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.

2) The Alliance condemns all acts of violence, arson and looting carried out against churches, mosques and police stations as well as public and private property and businesses, and against the army and police forces in the Sinai.

The Alliance also emphasizes the peaceful nature of the Revolution and stresses that its objectives are restoring legitimacy and rejection of the coup.

Every day, unfolding facts corroborate what the Alliance has been saying all along – that it is mainly the self-serving security apparatus and their hired henchmen and thugs who actively and vindictively sow discord and all manner of sectarian strife and spread fear and terror among the people, in order to fully abort the Revolution and accuse those who oppose the coup of committing these crimes, so as to demonize and dehumanize, then exterminate them.

3) The people of Egypt, backed by the Alliance, will honor the blood of the martyrs and the injured, and call on Egypt’s honorable lawyers and human rights organizations to form a national front for the defense of those detained in the events of this Revolution, and to do their duty in demanding retribution for the blood of the martyrs and the injured.

The Alliance also calls for bringing to justice all those who committed crimes against the Egyptian people, and demands international investigations into the putschists’ war crimes, including use of internationally-banned poisonous gases.

4) The Alliance stresses that arbitrary arrests of its leaders will not defeat it. On the contrary, they will increase its determination and resolve to realize all its demands in its commitment to legitimacy, rejection of the coup, and its endeavors to reclaim the January 25 Revolution and all its well-deserved gains.

The Alliance demands of the Public Prosecution immediate release of all detainees and a complete halt of the vicious security crackdown fabricating charges against those opposed to the coup, taking children and families of Muslim Brotherhood leaders hostage, with security forces hunting down women in unprecedented repressive security measures, just as Egyptians are baffled at the release of the ruthless killers of women in Mansoura and at the arrest of those peaceful protesters’ relatives.

5) The Alliance appreciates the effort made by Egyptians abroad and by partners and friends throughout the free world who helped expose the ugly face of this bloody coup.

6) The climate of state-sponsored hatred, fear and sharp division that threatens to dismantle Egyptian society, this pervasive climate created by the putschists and their media henchmen is by no means suitable for writing or amending the Constitution, especially since we are still picking the remains of martyrs after the bloody coup.

The coup’s illegitimate committee absurdly trusted with amending the country’s most important document, its national charter, works in total secrecy, as if it is working against natural enemies: the people of Egypt. Its amendments open a mighty wide door of opportunity to reincarnate the authoritarian presidential system that ruled over us for long and loathsome decades.

Offered amendments include that the President of the Republic cannot be removed as a result of demonstrations against him whatever the size and strength of popular protests. Perhaps this would loses the bloody July 3 coup its justification of removing the elected President following the protests masterminded by the coup commanders and collaborators on June 30.

Also, these amendments reproduce a corrupt political system through adoption of an ‘individual’ parliamentary elections system – which relies on the influence of money and thuggery, and weakens political party life.

The proposed amendments further places the armed forces and the judiciary above the Constitution, making their budgets an almost closed secret, excluded from parliament oversight. This is clearly inconsistent with the popular will expressed in the demonstrations that forced the rejection of Dr. Ali Selmi’s initiative in 2011 (he was Deputy Prime Minister then).

The coup’s committee also took into account the morbid sensitivity of many secularists to Islam, amending articles that emphasize the role of the state in protecting values ​​and ethics as well as the unique characteristics of Egyptian society, abolishing the article that criminalize insulting of the Prophets and Apostles, and also repealed Article 219 which explains the concept of Sharia principles.

7) Throughout this week, the people of Egypt escalated boycott campaigns against newspapers, satellite TV channels and websites that support the coup, rationalize its massacres and spread hatred, misinformation and utter lies in order to mislead public opinion.

The people also escalated boycott campaigns against companies and countries that support and finance the bloody coup. Young people started escalating boycott campaigns with blacklists posted on the pages of Facebook and Twitter.

Youths also began campaigns aimed at taking escalating actions towards civil disobedience, to challenge and defeat the coup.

8) The Alliance confirms that does not reject de-escalation initiatives made to stop further bloodshed, so long as those do not overturn the will of the people, the makers of the Revolution and the owners of real sovereignty, and so long as they aim to safeguard the rights of the martyrs.

9) Regarding the Syrian Revolution, the Alliance condemns the crimes and massacres committed against the Syrian people and their revolution by the ruling regime. Equally, the Alliance condemns any foreign military intervention in Syrian affairs, since that would open the door wide to dividing the region for the benefit of the enemies of the nation, which would certainly and seriously threaten Egyptian national security.

The Anti-Coup, Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance

Cairo on August 29 , 2013