Egyptian and Tunisian Revolts and the Limits of Nationalism

Among all the amazing events occurring in Tunisia, Egypt, and across the Middle East and North Africa, one of the most recurrent pictures has been massive crowds of people waving and even wearing national flags. News coverage has stressed that people from "all walks of life" have come out to protest the decrepit and failing dictatorships as they cling to power, and indeed it seems to be the case that entire countries have entered into revolt against these governments. Yet among the momentous events in recent weeks, there have been reminders that these riots are about more than overthrowing dictatorships and gaining political representation.

Within the battles against repressive governments, a class war has been unleashed. While protests continue to rage in Tunisia, shopkeepers are fighting against protesters in defense of the transitional government. In Egypt, the poor and dispossessed are looting wealthier areas. It is especially notable in Egypt, where the fearful specter of the mob has been conjured by both US media and Al Jazeera, that we see comments like this emerging:

“These big guys are stealing all the money,” said Mohamed Ibraham, a 24-year-old textile worker standing at his second job as a fruit peddler in a hard-pressed neighborhood called Dar-al-Salam. “If they were giving us our rights, why would we protest? People are desperate.”

He had little sympathy for those frightened by the specter of looting. He complained that he could barely afford his rent and said the police routinely humiliated him by shaking him down for money, overturning his cart or stealing his fruit. “And then we hear about how these big guys all have these new boats and the 100,000 pound villas. They are building housing, but not for us — for those people up high.”

In a massive protest against a dictatorship, just as everywhere else, class matters. "The Egyptian people" and "the Tunisian people" are not a single unit, and in both of these countries there are serious disparities in wealth (although not as serious as in the United States...). At the end of the day, will it be the "big guys" who take power again? Let's hope not.