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The Dartmouth
July 13, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

TTLG: Making Sense of Revolt

While in Egypt, Ala' Alrababah '14 has saught to understand causes and reactions to the country's recent turmoil.
While in Egypt, Ala' Alrababah '14 has saught to understand causes and reactions to the country's recent turmoil.

This past summer, I interned at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. Afterwards, I planned to spend a few weeks home in Jordan, like I do every year. However, my visit to Jordan was cut short. My father started working in Cairo, and my family moved there. So at the end of the summer, I had the opportunity to visit Egypt.

For those not familiar with the events in Egypt, Egyptians took to the streets in 2011 to call on Hosni Mubarak, president since 1981, to step down. After Mubarak resigned, the Egyptian military led a turbulent transitional period before Egyptians voted for Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood to become their next president. Egypt's 2012 presidential election was its first democratic election in, well, a few thousand years. Nevertheless, during his rule Morsi abused his authority and increased presidential power. Perhaps more important, the economic situation in Egypt deteriorated during his year in office. Thus, Egyptians went into the streets again on June 30 to call for his ouster. At the beginning of July, the army forced Morsi out of office and took control of Egypt.

Despite these events, I worried that my time in Egypt would be dull. A few days before my plane landed in Cairo, the military installed a month-long curfew between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. everyday. This not only meant that all shops closed early (by 5 p.m.), but also that I could not witness many protests (I saw only two during my stay in Cairo).

Still as soon as I arrived, I started talking to Egyptians about the unfolding situation. I was surprised by the strong support for the army. During my first conversation in Egypt, with the cab driver who picked me up at the airport, I was told, "nehna met'awedeen" we are used to having the military rule over us. While the driver was not optimistic about the return of civilian rule, he did not seem sad at the loss of democracy.

The more Egyptians I talked to, the more I witnessed the strong hatred for the Muslim Brotherhood and the deep popularity of the army. This was shocking to me. The Egyptian military has essentially ruled the country since it became a republic in 1953, and its rule was far from democratic. Moreover, when Mubarak stepped down in 2011, the military took direct government control for a year before Morsi was elected president. The military rule during that year grew extremely unpopular. Have Egyptians forgotten all that?

I started looking for explanations. I thought the media campaign led by the military could explain this support. Or maybe Egyptians viewed the army as the only alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood. Perhaps the charisma of Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, the commander-in-chief of the military, is the reason behind the support for the army. However, over the next couple of weeks, I came to a different conclusion. Egyptians do not view the military as its own separate institution. Instead, they feel the military is a part of the Egyptian people, and the people are part of the military.

I arrived at this interpretation the first time I broke the curfew. One night, a few hours past curfew, I decided to offer Jordanian coffee to the guards at the checkpoint outside our apartment. The guards outside invited me to sit down. After some time, I asked them how they joined the security forces. They told me they were recruits. Most Egyptians have to serve in the military or other security branches, they explained. Those who did not graduate from high school serve for three years. Egyptians with a high school degree serve for two years and those with a college degree serve for one year. Since almost all Egyptian families have had members in the military, they view the military as a people's institution.

This realization was confirmed when I talked to Ahmed, an Egyptian I met near Tahrir Square. Ahmed told me to avoid Tahrir Square, as thugs often go there. This increased my resolve to visit the Square (I later found it too safe, the military was everywhere). When I saw protesters there, I asked about the reason for their protest. Ahmed explained that they were expressing their support of the military. But the military already took over, I wondered. Yes, he responded. But should they leave, Brotherhood thugs could take over the Square. Thus, they decided to stay indefinitely.

Ahmed explained that he too supports the military. He served for two years, and he feels for soldiers. After he left the military, he got engaged. He has been engaged for a full year now, but has not married because he could not afford an apartment. Even though the military paid him a salary during his service, the salary was essentially too small for him to save anything. Soldiers are "ghalbaneen," helpless. Another reason why many Egyptians feel with the military.

Ahmed added that he misses the years of Mubarak's rule. In those times, there was stability, and Egypt's economy was better. This left me disillusioned. Don't Egyptians want democracy? I started asking Egyptians: what if the military becomes as oppressive as the Mubarak regime? What if they start torturing people? One cab driver replied by saying that Egyptians are now eager for stability. But they also tasted freedom. Egyptians now understand and discuss politics more than ever before. Should anyone take that away from them, even the military, they would go to the streets again. Egyptian support for the military did not prevent them from going to the streets in 2011 and 2012, against the military. As he explained, "Mesr Um Ad-Dunya" Egypt is the mother of the world. Nobody can harm Egypt and escape with it.