The journalists’ sit-in which has been going on for a month, has approached the government with a list of demands that must be met positively for they are essential to solving the problems facing the profession of journalism in Egypt. No one can imagine how the crisis might develop, and no one can imagine how the situation of journalism would be in Egypt, unless these demands are acted upon.

The journalists’ sit-in which has been going on for a month, has approached the government with a list of demands that must be met positively for they are essential to solving the problems facing the profession of journalism in Egypt. No one can imagine how the crisis might develop, and no one can imagine how the situation of journalism would be in Egypt, unless these demands are acted upon.

However, there are increasing attempts to marginalize this movement and divert it from its real aims of defending the freedom of journalism and protesting the continued ban on publications used by the Egyptian Public Attorney as a tool to ban knowledge. 

There had been many attempts to belittle this movement like trying to provoke its members into fighting with individuals sitting around the syndicate building protected by the police. This tactic aimed at creating an illusion that some sectors of the public opinion are against our movement. Moreover, rumors have been spread to smear the struggle of some journalists by saying that they ran away from the syndicate building in downtown Cairo.

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The current moment is crucial; no longer can we accept fake justifications for the “war on terrorism” and the need to delay the outrage. The state has used the “war on terrorism” argument for three years now.  Moreover, the state, according to the statements of the Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri at the UN last Wednesday, accused the syndicate of covering for individuals charged with incitement for assassinating the President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi.  

A close look at the crisis reveals that the state institutions like the government –since the presidency completely ignores the crisis- have accepted the narrative of the Ministry of Internal about the arrest of journalists Amru Badr and Mahmoud Al-Saka from the syndicate building on 1 May. The journalism community knows full well that the arrests were illegal since they were carried out without the presence of the head of the syndicate or a representative Public Attorney’s Office. However, the scale of disinformation had turned this fact into a soaring debate between the journalists and everyone else.

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In the beginning, the attacks targeted the syndicate council with accusations of practicing politics rather than trade union functions. Those who hold these views believe that the council took a politicized decision when it fulfilled the demands of the general assembly at its meeting on the fourth of last May.

The movement drove the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram newspaper – the oldest, largest and most regime-affiliated newspaper in the country- to call on the journalism family for a meeting. However, a limited number of journalists accepted this invitation, like the former head of the syndicate Makram Mohammad Ahmad, who was excluded from the syndicate after the 25 January revolution in 2011. At the end of this meeting, the journalism “family” called for a new election for all the Syndicate Council seats. These calls did not have any effect on the ground other than creating an illusion of a division within the ranks of journalists.

The results of the meeting held on 4 May expressed the views of journalism professionals, and the positive stance the Council took towards this meeting results falls in line with the well-being of the profession. However, it must be said that this stance does not express the positions of all council members, for five of them attended the “family” meeting on Sunday 8 May. There are increasing calls for a meeting next Tuesday the 17^th of May to affirm the same stance.

The future of the movement is still unclear, and we hope that journalists remain united around the results of the 4 May meeting.

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A surprising development happened when businessman Salah Diab, the Founder of Al-Masri Al-Youm newspaper and institution – the most prominent private newspaper- took a stance against the movement. Diab announced that his institution shall not repeat the same “mistake.” Diab expressed his views in an article saying: “The newspaper engaged with the Syndicate, completely adopted its views without criticism and formed its editorial positions depending on positions of one party rather than all parties. Moreover, our newspaper took political stances that are outside its professional area when it demanded the replacement of a minister, or when it demanded an apology from the state.” This article reshaped the Al-Masri Al-Youm position and made it similar to the positions of state-owned media outlets in addition to Al-Youm Al-Sabe private institution.
Yaser Rizk, Board Director of Akhbar Al-Youm government institution –and an insider to the military circles- proposed a meeting with President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi, away from the syndicate movement, in order to pass by the journalists sit-in that has been holding since the beginning of the crisis.

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The Egyptian Parliament assembled a special committee to solve the crisis. However, these efforts failed to deliver results, since the government deliberately ignores the events. Therefore, as the syndicate member Mahmoud Kamel told Correspondents: “The only possible scenario is escalation”.

Journalism professionals today are in the midst of a battle against not only the ruthless and restrictive state institutions, but also against newspaper publishers, be they public or private.

While the journalists participating in the sit-in include caricaturists like Duaa Al-Adl, Anwar and Makhlouf alongside newspaper covers, and while newspaper editors are holding on to the 4 May meeting decisions, like posting negative photos of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Majdi Abdulghafar, or demanding the removal of publishing bans, prominent media institutions seem to have abandoned the movement. The movement aims at changing the status quo that has brought journalism in Egypt to a miserable state of being. However, since journalism and media are no longer in agreement, and the numbers of imprisoned journalists are on a constant rise, it is normal to see increasing attempts to subvert any effort to create cracks in a security system that thwarts free speech. 

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Meanwhile, we see passerbys in Abdulkhalek Tharwat Street chanting against journalism … these chants are usually directed at anyone going towards the syndicate building in downtown Cairo. “Long live Egypt!” “Long live Al-Sisi!” and “You are a terrorist group!” they say.

Is the journalists group a terrorist group in legal terms? Is this a figure of speech or an accusation? However, under the current circumstances, there seems to be little difference between the two.