The Square
The Egyptian revolution is an event for our time.
Incubated by grinding poverty and corruption
Spawned by hedge fund managers diabolical feat
in quintupling price of winter red wheat
and driving up the rate of inflation
devastating the masses of this ancient nation
where opportunities rapidly disappeared, it seems
shattering everyone’s hopes and dreams
Gene Sharp in Nonviolent Struggles said it most clear
Tyrants rule only by fear
causing the populace to acquiesce
under this overriding duress.
What The Square shows is that when this fear is overcome
The dictator’s reign is nearly done
The protagonists in this powerful story
Did not seek their personal glory
But only a government with a conscience
working for the good of all the citizens
free of the kinds of horror and evil we see
in governments run by clerics or the military
The Egyptian revolutionaries’ dedication
Is like a fire that consumes everything
It is that force that gives them strength
To keep on going to whatever length
Betrayed by the military’s deal with the brothers
They found themselves having traded one tyranny for another
But once again they were out in the square in numbers extreme
Demanding the end of this next corrupt regime
So the square is the beginning of a long process
Of yearning and striving for social justice
And the moral is clear for all who care
That they never can really leave the square
And for us there is a lesson that we too must persist
Occupy Wall Street was told to cease-and-desist
And countrywide encampments crushed in a coordinated manner-
But the spirit continues under the 99% banner
The 1% are terrified beyond comprehension
At the thought of the 99% achieving unification
For we outnumber them in numbers colossal
And when acting together we are unstoppable
Howard P. Charman, MD 11-9-2013
The producers of this documentary (Jehane Nouaim and Karim Amir) were supported financially by my friend, Jodie Evans. (They have done several films: Control Room, The Hindsight Files and more recently The Great Hack). The Egyptian Government banned handi-cam and professional video cameras. Jahane and Karim shot the video with Cannon EOS cameras which have a fully video mode. The documentary, The Square was a runner up for an Oscar. Jodie kept the crew in Cairo for the next year. They unfortunately documented the failure of the revolution with a coup against the democratically elected Mohammed Morsi. Followed by the election of Al-Sisi who banned the Muslim Brotherhood and became a dictator. HC 6-10-2020