The Revolution Continues. Mubarak may be gone, but for Egyptians who fought for actual change, the revolution is nowhere near done. With the country having fallen into the control of Field Marshal Tantawi and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, much of the tactics and policies of the Mubarak era have seen no improvement and Egyptians remain denied their freedoms. Here are a selection of revolutionary songs made since Mubarak’s ouster that speak to the theme of a fight not yet fully won.
This is genuinely one of my favorite songs of all time, revolutionary or no. Essam’s lyrics don’t mention the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, but they promote a revolutionary spirit and a hearty dose of Egyptian popular nationalism that clearly implies that the Egyptian activists remain up for the important fight. Essam has proven himself a genuine talent, not just an authentic revolutionary voice, over the past year. Check out his album Manshorat, which is available for free download and is well worth a close listen. (“When you say the word “freedom,” you must raise up your hand”)
- Arabian Knightz (ft. Isam Bachiri and Shadia Mansour): Sisters
The Arabian Knightz are probably Egypt’s most popular rap crew, made up of Rush, E Money and Sphinx. They’ve been around since 2006, making them early voices on the budding and still young Egyptian rap scene. They rap in a mix of both Arabic and English, and gained some international recognition for their “Rebel” song, released during Egypt’s eighteen day uprising against Mubarak. “Sisters” is a tribute to the female activists in Egypt, released following the infamous instance of the female activist who was chased down, stripped and beaten by police on the street. (“But you are the star to the crescent/The heart and the essence of what we are”)
Another Egyptian rapper of growing repute, hailing from Mansoura. MC Amin pulls no punches on this song, which is fairly in-your-face and defiantly vulgar in the face of corrupt power. He very clearly attacks SCAF and the leader Field Marshal Tantawi. (“We said no to the Field Marshal, and said yes to change/ With only one demand from Tahrir Square”)
The Narcicyst isn’t Egyptian. He’s Iraqi in origin, living in Canada and rapping as part of a growing population of Arab diaspora artists. “Fly Over Egypt,” is therefore a solidarity song, a celebratory song, acknowledging the continued fight. It isn’t necessarily a songjust for Egypt; it’s messages apply to an entire region fighting for change. (“More Power to the People/Point out your brothers evils/Give your sister a hand, although she doesn’t need you…”)
Revolution Records is Egypt’s first underground rap label, and like the Arabian Knightz, has been around since 2006. “Kazeboon,” which means liars, is a direct challenge to the rule of SCAF and Field Marshal Tantawi. (Which one of us is the prisoner now?/No one is protecting the revolution… [but] the revolution is stronger than you/You sold it to serve your interest… and sold yourselves.”)
![This Week in War. A Friday round-up of what happened and what’s been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week. It’s a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts and longform journalism.
A policy shift for the US over drone strikes launched against Al Qaeda in Yemen now allows the military to fire without knowing the identities of those who could be killed.
An explosion in the Syrian city of Hama killed 70. BBC’s Jim Muir reports that the explosion could not have been achieved through conventional shelling.
An inside look at the Free Syrian Army shows committed revolutionary fighters intent on fighting on.
US and Afghan officials reached an agreement on a pact affirming US withdrawal in 2014 and economic commitment through 2024.
Over the weekend, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was denied entry to Afghanistan by Karzai. Here is his account of the matter.
Pakistan announced that it successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile on Wednesday.
A US envoy is currently in Pakistan to address the issue of re-opening NATO supply routes.
I wrote a piece for The Risky Shift about ongoing violence in Karachi.
A new paper out by Chatham House argues that if Egypt fails to fix its economy it could face a second coming of the revolution.
Sudan continues air strikes on South Sudan.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted of eleven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the role he played in Sierra Leone’s insurgency in the 1990s. Here’s the judgment summary.
The UK has announced reforms to the European Court of Human Rights.
The US has agreed to reduce the size of its forces in Okinawa.
As a result of reporting done by Spencer Ackerman for Wired, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey has ordered a full investigation to scour anti-Islamic sentiment from military training.
A new report by the GAO says that the Pentagon squanders millions of dollars in poorly thought-out weapons buys because of a strategy called concurrency. Concurrency is the practice of putting a weapon on the final production line before full testing.
An inspector general’s report out on Monday declared that the VA overstates how quickly it provides veterans with mental health care. A hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs saw a lot of challenges to the VA’s current culture that “give[s] more importance to meeting meaningless performance goals than helping veterans.”
The Army is, meanwhile, encouraging new ways of diagnosing and treating PTSD in ways that try to accommodate for the ways in which soldiers tend to speak of their symptoms.
The Army is increasing oversight at now-infamous Joint Base Lewis-McChord by moving division headquarters there.
The Marines are taking steps to move women into ground combat units at the battalion level and have opened up infantry officer school to female students, although women still are barred from infantry service. The message sent by Marine commandant Gen. James Amos says that information about mixed gender units and female combat service taken from these steps will impact “future recommendations regarding the potential assignment of women to ground combat element units.”
The Pentagon has asked Congress to make improvements to benefits for federal civilian employees working overseas in combat zones.
A new Pentagon spy agency has been established: the Defense Clandestine Service.
An interview with Sebastian Junger about Tim Hetherington (who was killed with Chris Hondros in Misrata a year ago last Friday) and his new organization, Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC) to offer freelance journos with emergency medical training.
Karley Marquet and Annie Kendzior have both filed suit against former defense sec’y Gates, the former superintendents of West Point and Annapolis, and the current secretaries of the Army and Navy for ignoring and failing to act on the pervasive sexual harassment in the nation’s top military training schools.
A student veterans group has revoked the charters of 26 for-profit schools for misrepresenting themselves to boost a military friendly image. You should all watch this PBS Frontline piece about for-profit schools shamelessly taking advantage of returning veterans.
Photo: A soldier in the 82nd Airborne directs his rifle at the doorway after coming under fire. Zharay District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Baz Ratner/Reuters.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m34ti1QikB1qchhhqo1_r1_400.jpg)
![Cairo, Egypt. A protester covers her head in the rain outside the Syrian embassy at a protest calling for the Syrian ambassador’s expulsion.
Photo Credit: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty
[via]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzlz3ayeXQ1qchhhqo1_400.jpg)
![The newswires are reporting that a UN freelance consultant was the victim of a fatal “random daytime shooting” in one of Cairo’s upper crust neighborhoods, Mohandiseen, today. Adam Makary of Al Jazeera has identified her on his Twitter after talking to her employer at the UN women’s fund as Nesrine Khalil. Not much more is known.
[Twitter; AP]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzai8wiQT21qchhhqo1_400.png)
![Cairo, February 4th. A protester sits in front of revolutionary graffiti near the interior ministry: “We want revolutionary law.”
[Al-Akhbar]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz9l0mWEo41qchhhqo1_400.jpg)
![Have you listened to Wael Ghonim’s interview on NPR Fresh Air today? His interview about the Egyptian revolution and his new book, Revolution 2.0 (which is at the top of my reading list), is fascinating.
“It’s basically the power of the people that made this revolution happen, not the power of Facebook, or the power of Twitter or social media.”
His discussions of how different versions social media supplemented the revolution and his heartfelt discussions of his own activism are must-listens.
[NPR]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz54ktrdeY1qchhhqo1_250.jpg)
