A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Egypt's Bastille Day: Egyptians Dismantling State Security as Army Stands By

More State Security centers are falling. Not just one but many Bastilles. The State Security HQ in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo, had a reputation as a main center for torture. Having fallen to protesters, many documents, including files on large numbers of people, have been captured and are appearing online. Pictures of the storming here.

January 25 and February 11 will long be remembered, but March 4 and 5 are Bastille day in Egypt. This may be the real revolution. State Security is being dismantled by the people and the Army is not interfering; in fact by some accounts the Army is facilitating it.

Check out the #AmnDawla hashtag on Twitter. I thought this captured some of the mood:


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