Revolutionary Socialists الاشتراكيون الثوريون al-ištirākiyyūn aṯ-ṯawriyyūn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Collective leadership |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Center for Socialist Studies, 7 Mourad Street, Giza Square,Giza,Egypt |
| Newspaper | The Socialist |
| Ideology | Revolutionary socialism[1] Trotskyism[1] Feminism[2] |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Website | |
| http://revsoc.me/ | |
TheRevolutionary Socialists (Arabic:الاشتراكيون الثوريون;Egyptian Arabic:[elʔeʃteɾˤɑkejˈjiːnessæwɾejˈjiːn]) (RS) are aTrotskyist organisation inEgypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologistSameh Naguib.[3][4] The organisation produces a newspaper calledThe Socialist.
The group began in the late 1980s among small circles of students influenced byTrotskyism. Adopting the current name by April 1995, the RS grew from a few active members, when the Egyptian left was very much underground,[5] to a couple of hundred by theSecond Palestinian Intifada. Despite not being able to freely organise underPresidentHosni Mubarak,[6][7] the group's membership still increased due to their participation in the Palestinian solidarity movement. The intifada was seen to have a radicalising effect on Egyptian youth, which in turn helped to re-establishgrassroots activism, which had long been repressed under the Mubarak regime.[8]
The RS' relationship with the outlawedMuslim Brotherhood is also distinct from earlier leftist organisations in Egypt which held similar positions to that of theEgyptian Communist Party, which generally equatedIslamism withfascism. The RS however, advanced the slogan "Sometimes with the Islamists, never with thestate". The slogan was coined byChris Harman of theSocialist Workers Party ofBritain, in his book,The Prophet and the Proletariat,[9] which was translated intoArabic, and widely distributed by the RS in 1997. The RS has thus been able to campaign alongside the Brotherhood at times, for example, during the pro-intifada and anti-war movements.[10]
According toMark LeVine, a professor of history at theUniversity of California, the RS "played a crucial role organisingTahrir (during theEgyptian Revolution of 2011) and now in theworkers movement" post-PresidentHosni Mubarak.[11]
The RS claims to have, along with the rest of the Egyptianfar-left and theApril 6 Youth Movement, played a key role in mobilising for 25 January 2011, marking the first day of the Egyptian Revolution. The various forces previously met and developed strategies, such as demonstrating in different parts ofCairo simultaneously, before marching onTahrir Square, to avoid a concentration of security forces.[3]
The RS later issued a statement calling on Egyptian workers to instigate ageneral strike in the hope of finally ousting Mubarak:
The regime can afford to wait out the sit-ins and demonstrations for days and weeks, but it cannot last beyond a few hours if workers use strikes as a weapon. Strike on the railways, on public transport, the airports and large industrial companies! Egyptian workers, on behalf of the rebellious youth and on behalf of the blood of our martyrs, join the ranks of the revolution, use your power and victory will be ours!
- Glory to the martyrs!
- Down with the system!
- All power to the people!
- Victory to the revolution![12]
In the aftermath of Mubarak's resignation as president, the RS is calling forpermanent revolution.[13] OnMay Day 2011, they chanted "A workers’ revolution against thecapitalist government", while marching to Tahrir Square.[14] They argue that theworking class, particularly of Cairo,Alexandria andMansoura were the key players in ousting Mubarak, rather than the Egyptian youths' use ofsocial networking sites, such asFacebook andTwitter, as has been widely reported.[15] The RS sees the role of the Muslim Brotherhood post-Mubarak as "counter-revolutionary".[16]
In March 2011, RS activist and journalistHossam el-Hamalawy was among many protesters who stormed and seized offices of theState Security Investigations Service inNasr City. The building had been used prior to the revolution to detain andtorture many activists. El-Hamalawy was able to visit the cell where he had been imprisoned, later writing on his Twitter feed that he could not stop crying.[17][18]
The RS calls for the dismantling of the rulingMilitary Council, thearmy andpolice force, and for Mubarak and his former regime, includingMohamed Hussein Tantawi andSami Hafez Anan, (who currently form part of the Military Council) to stand trial.[19] They oppose thedecree-law that criminalises strikes, protests, demonstrations and sit-ins imposed by the council on 24 March 2011.[20]
In July 2013, following themilitary coup againstPresident Morsi, members of the Revolutionary Socialists participated in the Third Square, a movement created by liberal, leftist and moderate Islamist activists who reject bothMuslim Brotherhood and military rule.[21]
On 23 August 2013, the Revolutionary Socialists organised a demonstration at the High Court inCairo, in protest against the release of former presidentHosni Mubarak from prison.[22] In a statement, they criticised that Mubarak had been acquitted from most of the charges against him, while the judiciary had no trouble issuing sentences against revolutionaries.[23]
The Revolutionary Socialists joined with other movements in rejecting, opposing, and protesting against an anti-protest law passed by the Egyptian transitional government in 2013.[24]
RS members, such asHaitham Mohamedain, participated in the founding of the Road of the Revolution Front organization and the Revolutionary Socialist movement been an important component of the Front.[25]
The Revolutionary Socialists opposed theEgyptian Constitution of 2014 on the grounds that it would entrench military dominance of the political and judicial systems, solidify and perpetuate military trials of civilians, as well as provide inadequate protection for freedoms and labor rights.[26][27]
In 2006,Sameh Naguib - a leading RS member - labeledHezbollah's conflict withIsrael in the2006 Lebanon War "a very important victory for theanti-war movement worldwide", claiming it prevented or delayedUS andIsraeli plans to attackIran andSyria.[28]
On 2 March 2011, during the USWisconsin budget protests, the RS sent a message of solidarity to the USInternational Socialist Organization, urging them to build "a revolutionary socialist alternative" against "Zionism andimperialism".[29]
The RS were amongst many socialists who condemned theRobert Mugabe regime ofZimbabwe for arresting and torturing activists, amongst who were members of Zimbabwe's International Socialist Organisation, for hosting a meeting discussing the revolutions inTunisia andEgypt. They said "[t]he masses in Tunisia and Egypt have proven that no matter how longautocratic regimes last, the revolution's earthquake can break the walls and dams. Be sure that the earthquake is coming and that Mugabe will fall--".[30]
On 20 March 2011, during theLibyan uprising, the RS condemned theUN Security Council, theEuropean Union and theObama administration on their decision to implement ano-fly zone andforeign military intervention inLibya as "part of the counter-revolution". They accused them of remaining silent "for decades whileGaddafi, and his like among theArab regimes, suppressed their people with the utmost brutality and piled up wealth... so long as these regimes implemented the recommendations of theInternational Monetary Fund for the abolition of anysocial support for the poor... as long as companies kept open their doors to globalcapitalism...".[31]
