Okay so this is an overview of the situation here at the moment, with a bit of potted history. Opinions represented are my
own.
The president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, has been in power of a stable, but developmentally fairly stale country for 30 years
and is widely disliked, especially by younger Egyptians who have never known another government and are waking up to a
world outside of Egypt. He is, technically, a military dictator, but one who has presented a more business-like front to
the world and without the aggressive or religious tendencies of other states in the region. Egypt has a very devoutly
religious population, comprising different faiths mostly respectful of their differences, but Mubarak has kept a generally
secular approach to government. The almighty is green, preferably crisp, and non-sequential.
The first demonstrations, organised for the 25th January, were initially harshly clamped down on by the widely disliked police, with tear gas, rubber bullets and eventually live rounds being fired which has resulted in approximately 300 deaths, most of which probably occurred on Friday night. Since Saturday, the police disappeared and the military rolled into town. The demonstrations since then have been described as having an almost carnival atmosphere, with the military promising not to use force. The protesters have one simple demand - Mubarak out.
Here in Sharm, life has been mostly normal, with some odd random banning of drift diving by the marine police in certain
areas, but otherwise, apart from being very quiet, we have seen little obvious sign of the demonstrations. They are being
played on TV in cafes for locals and for sure it is the constant subject of discussion for the Egyptian staff and I bet
some of them secretly wish they could be there to give their support. Our barman is particularly distraught.
The banks have been closed and the ATMs offline so we haven't been paid but that will be rectified tomorrow. There has of
course been no internet access and phone networks have not been reliable.
Mubarak has been very quiet, reshuffled his cabinet and, this afternoon, refused to step down. Some of his own
"demonstrators" have arrived in Tahrier square, the focus of the demonstrations now in their 9th day. These pro-Mubarak
demonstrators are reported to contain out of uniform police, escaped prisoners, and people paid to participate. The anti-
government protestors brought their families; these guys have brought knives.
Shooting has literally just broken out as I am writing this and it could turn ugly again over the next few days if not
tonight. The military is an odd factor - supposedly controlled by Mubarak but since Egypt retains National Service, a lot
of the military is comprised of young men who will have friends and relatives amongst the demonstrators, who have also
carried out their mandatory service. The military is a key factor and could end the whole affair swiftly if it were not for the fact that most of its senior members are cronies of the president.
What it means for Sharm and me? Pffft who the hell knows. I can't afford to stay here for long without an income and tour
operators are pulling out. The management is mostly in Germany at the Boat Show but we have been told that they will
understand if people want to leave. At the moment, there is no reason to leave from a diving perspective, it's business as
usual, although it is of course very very quiet. There is very little work available, which actually is fine by me at the
moment, because I have a ghastly cold and can't dive anyway.
Egpytian Military deployment to Sharm would require approval from Israel and America, as a result of the Egypt-Israel peace
accords brokered by the USA in 1979. Sharm lies inside a zone where military prescence is prohibited (you can read more
about this in my article in the last issue of Equalizer at WELCOME TO AZIAB) but yes, there are more roadblocks on the way in and out of town, and Carrefoure in Na'ama Bay was closed for a day after its Cairo branch was looted. It has since reopened. The shops remain stocked at the moment, the water delivery man comes daily and the revolution has been nothing more than an inconvenience to Sharm - so far!
The day to watch is Friday - which has been designated as Mubarak's "Leaving day" by the anti-government protestors. This
may well prove a turning point with, it has to be said, a worst case potential to deteriorate into civil war. A smooth
transition would be a good thing, but it's difficult to see that happening
I've sort of refrained from politicising the affair directly but it really is amazing that no government except Turkey's
has come out and stated the blindingly obvious - Mubarak must go. Mubarak is a good friend to the "West", and has, to his
credit, provided a huge rock of stability in a very volatile region so it's difficult to condemn your good friend even
though more than 80 million of his own countrymen would like to see him hang. Aww shucks, he even gave Tony Blair a cliff-
top private holiday residence in Sharm El Sheikh. I can't tell him to go, He gave me a house!
There are interim options, by which I mean escape routes for major world powers, but I think other authoritarian
governments (for example, the British and American) are privately pooping their pants because if governments can toppled
because enough people shout loudly enough, maybe people in other countries will start shouting.
I think this is enough for most people, in terms of tourism. If we have a quick transition and some respectable elections
that would be great, but who takes charge, the militiary? Other countries overthrew their governments before and then
strangely found the military in power thirty years later after they said they were just taking over for a few months.
People are not going to visit without some guarantee of stability. Sharm and Dahab are almost as far away from the trouble
as you can get without leaving Egypt, are subject to different controls to mainland Egypt and also have their own airport, so tourists can, to some extent, remain out of the loop, but how many people, not knowing the country, are going to take that risk?
Even if people want to come here, tour operators will stop flying to Egypt because their insurance underwriters won't allow it. It's already happening.
So - that's about the size of it. I am not afraid for my personal safety at the moment, and given that I survived the Thai coup of 2006 I have some experience of living in countries trying to overthrow their governments. Haha. There is no reason yet to cancel holidays to the East coast of Sinai - but then last week, if you said 300 people would be killed on the streets of Cairo, you'd have been laughed at.
Cheers,
C.
own.
The president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, has been in power of a stable, but developmentally fairly stale country for 30 years
and is widely disliked, especially by younger Egyptians who have never known another government and are waking up to a
world outside of Egypt. He is, technically, a military dictator, but one who has presented a more business-like front to
the world and without the aggressive or religious tendencies of other states in the region. Egypt has a very devoutly
religious population, comprising different faiths mostly respectful of their differences, but Mubarak has kept a generally
secular approach to government. The almighty is green, preferably crisp, and non-sequential.
The first demonstrations, organised for the 25th January, were initially harshly clamped down on by the widely disliked police, with tear gas, rubber bullets and eventually live rounds being fired which has resulted in approximately 300 deaths, most of which probably occurred on Friday night. Since Saturday, the police disappeared and the military rolled into town. The demonstrations since then have been described as having an almost carnival atmosphere, with the military promising not to use force. The protesters have one simple demand - Mubarak out.
Here in Sharm, life has been mostly normal, with some odd random banning of drift diving by the marine police in certain
areas, but otherwise, apart from being very quiet, we have seen little obvious sign of the demonstrations. They are being
played on TV in cafes for locals and for sure it is the constant subject of discussion for the Egyptian staff and I bet
some of them secretly wish they could be there to give their support. Our barman is particularly distraught.
The banks have been closed and the ATMs offline so we haven't been paid but that will be rectified tomorrow. There has of
course been no internet access and phone networks have not been reliable.
Mubarak has been very quiet, reshuffled his cabinet and, this afternoon, refused to step down. Some of his own
"demonstrators" have arrived in Tahrier square, the focus of the demonstrations now in their 9th day. These pro-Mubarak
demonstrators are reported to contain out of uniform police, escaped prisoners, and people paid to participate. The anti-
government protestors brought their families; these guys have brought knives.
Shooting has literally just broken out as I am writing this and it could turn ugly again over the next few days if not
tonight. The military is an odd factor - supposedly controlled by Mubarak but since Egypt retains National Service, a lot
of the military is comprised of young men who will have friends and relatives amongst the demonstrators, who have also
carried out their mandatory service. The military is a key factor and could end the whole affair swiftly if it were not for the fact that most of its senior members are cronies of the president.
What it means for Sharm and me? Pffft who the hell knows. I can't afford to stay here for long without an income and tour
operators are pulling out. The management is mostly in Germany at the Boat Show but we have been told that they will
understand if people want to leave. At the moment, there is no reason to leave from a diving perspective, it's business as
usual, although it is of course very very quiet. There is very little work available, which actually is fine by me at the
moment, because I have a ghastly cold and can't dive anyway.
Egpytian Military deployment to Sharm would require approval from Israel and America, as a result of the Egypt-Israel peace
accords brokered by the USA in 1979. Sharm lies inside a zone where military prescence is prohibited (you can read more
about this in my article in the last issue of Equalizer at WELCOME TO AZIAB) but yes, there are more roadblocks on the way in and out of town, and Carrefoure in Na'ama Bay was closed for a day after its Cairo branch was looted. It has since reopened. The shops remain stocked at the moment, the water delivery man comes daily and the revolution has been nothing more than an inconvenience to Sharm - so far!
The day to watch is Friday - which has been designated as Mubarak's "Leaving day" by the anti-government protestors. This
may well prove a turning point with, it has to be said, a worst case potential to deteriorate into civil war. A smooth
transition would be a good thing, but it's difficult to see that happening
I've sort of refrained from politicising the affair directly but it really is amazing that no government except Turkey's
has come out and stated the blindingly obvious - Mubarak must go. Mubarak is a good friend to the "West", and has, to his
credit, provided a huge rock of stability in a very volatile region so it's difficult to condemn your good friend even
though more than 80 million of his own countrymen would like to see him hang. Aww shucks, he even gave Tony Blair a cliff-
top private holiday residence in Sharm El Sheikh. I can't tell him to go, He gave me a house!
There are interim options, by which I mean escape routes for major world powers, but I think other authoritarian
governments (for example, the British and American) are privately pooping their pants because if governments can toppled
because enough people shout loudly enough, maybe people in other countries will start shouting.
I think this is enough for most people, in terms of tourism. If we have a quick transition and some respectable elections
that would be great, but who takes charge, the militiary? Other countries overthrew their governments before and then
strangely found the military in power thirty years later after they said they were just taking over for a few months.
People are not going to visit without some guarantee of stability. Sharm and Dahab are almost as far away from the trouble
as you can get without leaving Egypt, are subject to different controls to mainland Egypt and also have their own airport, so tourists can, to some extent, remain out of the loop, but how many people, not knowing the country, are going to take that risk?
Even if people want to come here, tour operators will stop flying to Egypt because their insurance underwriters won't allow it. It's already happening.
So - that's about the size of it. I am not afraid for my personal safety at the moment, and given that I survived the Thai coup of 2006 I have some experience of living in countries trying to overthrow their governments. Haha. There is no reason yet to cancel holidays to the East coast of Sinai - but then last week, if you said 300 people would be killed on the streets of Cairo, you'd have been laughed at.
Cheers,
C.
