11:37PM
Inverting the flag
Hossam el-Hamalawy
An interesting phenomenon indeed… The Egyptian bloggers are circulating inverted Egyptian flags on their websites and mailing lists.
The initiative was launched, it seems, shortly before the May 25 pro-judges demo, but it’s picking up now. Several blogs have posted the picture including:
-Wael 3abbass put the inverted flag on his front page of this week's issue of MisrDigital, with a caption: “Yes, we’ve inverted the flag, because the country is in a catastrophe. We will not correct it, till the country itself is corrected.�
-Al-Shawakish Qademoon, (the Hammers are Coming), the website of the “30th of February Organization-Retards for Change� also ran the icon. The 30th of Feb Organization is cyber-joke launched by the bloggers in March, following the attacks on Coptic churches in Alexandria, for which the interior ministry blamed a "mentally retarded" suspect. The bloggers were mocking the security services’ constant blaming of “retards� for terror, homicide, and whatever crimes they couldn’t solve, like the massacre in Bani Mazar.
-3amr 3ezzat, another prominent Egyptian blogger, ran the poster following the assault on Sharqawi.
The flag has always been a taboo in Egypt’s political culture, both left and right.
I’ve heard across the years all sorts of jokes on how Americans are flag-waving patriots, but honestly, I think (or at least used to) Egyptians are worse in that regards. And probably what happened to the Sudanese refugees in Mohandessin last December was a strong evidence of that.
Even at the height of Egyptian leftist radicalism in the 1970s, flag-burning traditions, like those pictures we saw of the US anti-war demos, never really took off in Egypt. The flag was extremely sacred. I remember sometime in the late 1990s, the media went hysterical when Muslim Brothers students at Dar el-3oloum raised the flag of Egypt, but with the Quran and the two swords (the MB's symbol) replacing Saladin's Eagle.
I always felt the opposition was in a constant competition with the regime over who is more "patriotic"--and as an internationalist that sickens me, and I hope the latest cyber-campaign might be a departure from this narrow chauvinist view.
The initiative was launched, it seems, shortly before the May 25 pro-judges demo, but it’s picking up now. Several blogs have posted the picture including:
-Wael 3abbass put the inverted flag on his front page of this week's issue of MisrDigital, with a caption: “Yes, we’ve inverted the flag, because the country is in a catastrophe. We will not correct it, till the country itself is corrected.�
-Al-Shawakish Qademoon, (the Hammers are Coming), the website of the “30th of February Organization-Retards for Change� also ran the icon. The 30th of Feb Organization is cyber-joke launched by the bloggers in March, following the attacks on Coptic churches in Alexandria, for which the interior ministry blamed a "mentally retarded" suspect. The bloggers were mocking the security services’ constant blaming of “retards� for terror, homicide, and whatever crimes they couldn’t solve, like the massacre in Bani Mazar.
-3amr 3ezzat, another prominent Egyptian blogger, ran the poster following the assault on Sharqawi.
The flag has always been a taboo in Egypt’s political culture, both left and right.
I’ve heard across the years all sorts of jokes on how Americans are flag-waving patriots, but honestly, I think (or at least used to) Egyptians are worse in that regards. And probably what happened to the Sudanese refugees in Mohandessin last December was a strong evidence of that.
Even at the height of Egyptian leftist radicalism in the 1970s, flag-burning traditions, like those pictures we saw of the US anti-war demos, never really took off in Egypt. The flag was extremely sacred. I remember sometime in the late 1990s, the media went hysterical when Muslim Brothers students at Dar el-3oloum raised the flag of Egypt, but with the Quran and the two swords (the MB's symbol) replacing Saladin's Eagle.
I always felt the opposition was in a constant competition with the regime over who is more "patriotic"--and as an internationalist that sickens me, and I hope the latest cyber-campaign might be a departure from this narrow chauvinist view.
Reader Comments (3)
I have to say that I don't know if this is such a good idea. I know that when people invert the U.S. flag, it is seen as a symbol of extreme disrespect for the country (except in a few very exceptional circumstances such as a sign of immediate and tangible distress or in some traditional uses by Native Americans).
Recently in the U.S., during pro-immigration protests, some Hispanic students at a local high school inverted the American flag and flew the Mexican flag above the the U.S. flag. Needless to say, people were outraged.
So while you (or rather, those who are doing this) might be trying to convey a message, it might be taken among your countrymen and women as indicating you don't give a damn about Egypt rather than being interested in reforming the country.
But then, I'm not Egyptian, so I don't know if Egyptians would feel differently.
If flying one's national flag inverted is a signal of distress, this could become a potent and useful protest --one that gains traction over time.
Given the brutal repression of street demonstrations, angry Egyptians are looking for other ways to express dissent. This one could easily be produced as posters and bumper stickers --nothing overtly wrong about printing up flag decals -- or teeshirts and other mass produced items.
The symbolism is powerful and immediate. I like it.
One can love Egypt and still invert the country's flag - that's OK. In fact one can love Egypt and burn the flag - at times this is appropriate.
I believe that the Egyptian flag should've been inverted/burned during the events of December 29-30 in Mohandessin when the Ministry of Oppression/the Interior called in its troops to kill 28 innocent Sudanese refugees - including the elderly, women, and children.
In this case it is a national duty to burn the Egyptian flag along with photos of the criminals Habib el Adly and Hosni Mubarak.
The flag of the UNHCR should definitely have been burned as well - since the refugee agency was directly complicit in these murders, as they had asked the forces to remove the Sudanese.
The Egyptian flag should also have been burned during the country's invasion of Yemen from 1962-67.
Personally I believe that all the nations of the world should stop manufacturing their flags - and utilize the cloth used to make them into garments/blankets for the needy.