January 2015: A Rabid State… and a Resisting Revolution

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The fourth anniversary of the January 25 Revolution witnessed a new massacre, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. Sondos in Alexandria and Shaimaa in Cairo were at the forefront of the victims—of what has become the most violent regime in Egypt’s modern history. By the following day, the list had grown to include dozens of martyrs and hundreds of wounded, their blood spilled across the country.

The regime and its security state prepared for the anniversary by deploying more than 200,000 troops. Despite this massive show of force, the regime appeared gripped by fear—opening fire on a peaceful protest carrying flowers and unleashing its rabid thugs onto the streets to attack anyone who dared raise a voice in dissent—even girls and children.

A year and a half after Sisi’s mandate, it has become clear to all—even those once fooled by his slogans—that this is a counter-revolutionary regime. A coalition of the military and the Interior Ministry, along with their media arms that receive direct instructions from sovereign bodies, has exploited the rest of the state apparatus to destroy the January Revolution—its goals and its memory—in the hearts and minds of Egyptians. January still represents, to them, a painful lesson they will not forget, and they are willing to use every form of brutality to ensure it is never repeated.

This failed authoritarian regime knows well that it has not and will not fulfill any of the people’s demands—whether for stability, safety, freedom, or social justice. It also knows that the public’s confidence has grown after toppling two presidents and confronting the military council. That is why the regime resorts to this insane bloodshed—to silence all opposition, intimidate the public, and smear any dissenting voice.
The martyrdom of our comrade Shaimaa El-Sabbagh, struck down by police birdshot from just meters away, has made her yet another icon of the January Revolution—just as Khaled Said was its symbol in the beginning. We value the pressure exerted by the youth of the revolutionary forces and the parties within the Democratic Alliance on their leaders to adopt the following demands as preconditions for returning to any political process:
• Dismissal of the Minister of Interior and restructuring of the police force.
• Release of all prisoners of conscience and amendment of the protest law.
• An immediate and transparent investigation into the murder of Shaimaa El-Sabbagh.
• Review of the parliamentary elections law and redrawing of electoral districts.

We consider these demands the minimum threshold that all those who believe in the January Revolution must unite around—to prevent any attempt at compromise or manipulation by opportunists chasing after scraps from the regime and its deals.

We also call on all revolutionary forces to unite in turning these demands into real struggles on the ground—in working-class neighborhoods, factories, and university campuses—to expose this repressive regime. A regime that jails revolutionaries while acquitting Mubarak and his cronies, murders opponents in cold blood, and rigs elections to ensure control by remnants of the old regime and generals loyal to Sisi. A regime under which prices have soared to unprecedented levels after lifting energy subsidies, with gas cylinders sold to people experiencing poverty for sixty pounds or more, while social justice and human dignity vanish, and education, healthcare, and public infrastructure collapse. And with all this, the general’s popularity continues to erode—while even the tired excuse of the “war on terror” no longer offers him cover.
The same people who ignited the January Revolution are the only ones capable of toppling this authoritarian regime. Let us stand with them and be at the very heart of their struggle.

Let us believe in the people, ourselves, and the victory of our revolution—for the regime’s fear of our voice and its desperate attempts to crush our will are the most substantial evidence of our power.
Glory to the martyrs… Victory to the revolution… Shame on the murderers.