After the escalation of popular protests calling for the departure of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the actor and army contractor, Muhammad Ali, called on Egyptians to demonstrate in Tahrir Square next Friday under the slogan "Friday of Victory".
Activists interacted with Muhammad Ali’s call, and some of them launched a tag entitled "The Second Friday of Anger", which is published on social networking sites.
Since September 20, demonstrations have continued in Egypt to protest against the deterioration of living conditions, and against a law permitting the removal of real estate and the demolition of homes on the grounds that they violate building requirements if their owners do not pay financial fines to the authority, and the demonstrations have evolved to demand the departure of the current president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The demonstrations reached a climax last Friday, when Egyptians turned out more after Friday prayers and the evening of the same day, in response to the "Friday of Rage" call launched by activists, who said that it is only a beginning that will be followed by more "days of rage."
Yesterday evening, Monday, Muhammad Ali broadcast a video on his official page, in which he calls on Egyptians to demonstrate next Friday in Tahrir Square, calling it "Friday of Victory", in honor of the same name that the Egyptians gave to celebrations in Tahrir Square after the resignation of the late President Hosni Mubarak On February 11, 2011.
Muhammad Ali justified his call to demonstrate in Tahrir Square, in the heart of Cairo, with the weak impact of successive demonstrations in the villages and outskirts of Cairo, noting that Tahrir Square is the symbol of the Egyptian revolution.
He called on the Egyptians to flock to Tahrir Square individually, to avoid the police forces that prevent the demonstrators from entering the square.
The pioneers of the communication sites interacted with Muhammad Ali’s call, and the hashtag "The Second Friday of Rage" was the most popular.
Tweeters provided suggestions to the demonstrators to deal with the expected security crackdown, while others spoke of the need to exhaust the security services from today until Friday.
Some asserted that the major demonstrations are the real pressure on the regime, which may push the Egyptian army to move and force Sisi to leave.
Others pointed out that the late President Mubarak did not take the step to step down except under the impact of major demonstrations and the threat to march towards the Republican Palace, and Sisi took advantage of the crowd on June 30, 2013, to turn against the late President Mohamed Morsi, claiming to respond to the popular will.
Activists demanded that the army and police leave Tahrir Square, so that Egyptians could express their opinion of Sisi staying or leaving, as happened on June 30.
All people buy the Egyptian flag from now, and it is hung on balconies and cars, and on Friday, people all go down with the Egyptian flag # Friday_fury_second
- Oh God, your victory that you promised (@ Yassere32575502) September 29, 2020
God willing, on Tahrir # Gomaa_Anger_Second
- Abdo El-Qady (@ FWpS0mAot009aBm) September 29, 2020
Retreat is tantamount to betraying the blood of the martyr, which was poured out for freedom .. # Second Friday of Anger
- Ahmed Abdel Rahman (@farshoha) September 29, 2020
It is necessary to remain in the liberation # Collection_Fury_Second
- Yalhowie (@ DGkawd8lAGrikL1) September 29, 2020
# Gomaa_fury_the second, Lord Suez_ Alexandria_Tahrir Square
- Egypt is beautiful (@ Twv7AVxwslUQlps) September 29, 2020
Despite the interaction of the pioneers of communication sites and activists with the call to demonstrate in Tahrir Square, others rejected it as a haste in reaping the fruits of the escalating popular movement during the past weeks.
Tweeters said that Muhammad Ali hastened his call because it puts the popular movement at risk of betting on complete success or failure, but the truth is that anger is escalating and will reach its climax soon without rush.
Some asserted that the Sisi regime still possesses the security force that gives it an advantage in ending the demonstrations inside the main streets and squares, and that the security services have been overworked by demonstrations in villages and small streets, which should last for a longer period until more Egyptians join the demonstrators.
They emphasized that the gains the demonstrators achieved during the past days, and the regime's reversal of some of its decisions, will give the silent people additional courage and push them towards positive action.
I think that there is a recklessness to enter Tahrir Square now, as the security forces seize the high level # Gomaa_Fury_2
- Mohmed (@ Mohmed56074555) September 29, 2020
Revolutions do not take place in a "day and night". To achieve victory in the battle of freedom and get rid of tyranny, a "long breath" policy must be followed, and the successful experiences in democratic transformation in both "Argentina - Chile and others" are proof of this, as popular action continued for months and sometimes years without interruption. Until it bore fruit # Egypt
- mahmoud gamal (@ mahmoud14gamal) September 28, 2020
Although the Egyptian authorities initially chose to deny the daily demonstrations since September 20, and later turned to recognition while minimizing them, the reality indicates that these same authorities have taken many measures that represent a kind of retreat in the face of the pressure of the demonstrators, and an attempt to absorb the anger before Aggravate it.
The most prominent of these government measures was the partial permission for the return of construction, after Al-Sisi's decision to stop all construction work in Egypt for a period of 6 months (with the exception of government and tourism agencies), extending the period for reconciliation in construction violations, and reducing the value of the fine more than once, in addition to the authority party bearing thousands of fines Violations, bearing in mind that the authority’s demolition of the homes of citizens on the grounds that it violated building requirements and that the owners did not pay a fine under the name of reconciliation was among the main causes of the current wave of anger.
In addition to this, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced yesterday, Sunday, the continuation of the government support scheduled for temporary employment for another 3 months until the end of the year, as well as news of a decision to return building permits suspended by Sisi himself for a period of 6 months.
As the popular protests continued in Egypt, it seems that the movement has moved from demonstrations in villages and the outskirts of Cairo to political demands and warnings of an explosion of conditions.
After the Constitution Party called for the regime two days ago to listen to the people's demands, the Revolutionary Socialists Movement stood in solidarity with the demonstrations and demanded the release of the detainees, which was also announced by the Socialist Popular Alliance Party.
A human rights organization monitored the outbreak of 164 protests within 8 days to demand the departure of Sisi, during which hundreds of demonstrators, including children, were arrested.
This came in a report by the Arab Foundation for Supporting Civil Society (non-governmental), which indicated that the security forces arrested hundreds of demonstrators, including 68 children who were later released, while at least 150 demonstrators were investigated by State Security Prosecutors In terrorism cases).
The report added that all those arrested are being investigated on basic charges, such as joining a terrorist group, broadcasting and spreading rumors, false news and data, and misuse of communication means, and some of them were added to charges of financing and incitement to gather.
He explained that the reasons for the outbreak of protests in Egypt are due to the absence of participation in decision-making, the continuing nationalization of parties, trade unions and civil society, the blockage of the political horizon, the domination of state agencies over parliaments, the continued imprisonment of thousands of prisoners of conscience, and the deterioration of living conditions.
The human rights organization called on the Egyptian authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest, to release all those arrested in the events of the protest, and to stop using excessive force against opponents and demonstrators.