Crack!
In the days leading up to the Fourth of July and for weeks after, the neighborhoods closest to the University of Oregon are rife with the sounds of tiny explosions. The acrid odor of burnt flash powder hangs in the air and the corpses of charred fireworks are scattered throughout the streets.
Bang!
Flanked by one of the state’s largest colleges to the east and one of the city’s largest high schools to the south, it’s no wonder the area west of Alder Street and south of 13th Avenue sounds like a miniature war zone when Independence Day nears.
Boom!
Halfway around the world in Cairo, Egypt, Mat Wolf, a 2012 graduate from the School of Journalism and Communication and former Emerald staffer, hears something similar most nights. But the bangs come from rifle fire and, although those heard in Tahrir Square in the beginning of the month were celebratory, shots these days mark scuffles between members of the Muslim Brotherhood and a contingency that helped expel Mohamed Morsi from the office of the president. And once the sounds of the rifle fire fade, there’s not much of a difference between the scents on the streets in Eugene and those in Cairo.
Although the military played a major role in the shake-up, don’t call it a coup. From what Wolf has observed, most Egyptians believe Americans use the term as a way to undermine the country returning to military rule.
“Many people do have a sense that they’re in control of the government now and that the military is an extension of the people’s will,” Wolf said.
(Courtesy of Mat Wolf)
Of course, what the military had on its hands in Tahrir Square in the days leading to Morsi’s ouster was a wave of protesters that needed to be addressed. Their conundrum? Either let the protests turn violent or mediate.
“The military had a hand in it to be sure, but the sheer mass of the civilian protests forced the military to act or create a national security crisis by not acting,” Wolf said.
As an American stepping into the heart of the Egyptian revolution — the country’s second in two years — Wolf has been able to approach the protests and ensuing civic struggle with a perspective uncommon in the area.
But he’s anything but a newcomer to the area.
For the last year, Wolf has been a reporter in Jordan, a country he left when the work dried up. Before going through the UO journalism program, Wolf was a Marine who spent considerable time in the area, becoming proficient in Arabic in the meantime.
“Do you really want to come to Egypt? Right now? Really?”
That’s what Wolf was asked during his interview for the gig in Cairo, as he wrote in a blog for The Huffington Post. But it wasn’t the lure of adventure that had Wolf enticed by the idea, at least not entirely. He said the idea of producing some solid stories from the area were his main motivation for seeking employment in Cairo.
“I just wasn’t in love with the idea of getting my journalism degree and then just turning around and continuing in community newspapers,” Wolf said. “It may be for some people — and for all I know it may be something I return to eventually — but I figured that while I was young, healthy and ambitious I wanted to try my hand working overseas again.”
While Veneta’s Country Fair, McMinnville’s Turkey Rama and other such community celebrations paint the front pages of Oregon’s newspapers in the colors inherent in each event, in Cairo the coverage skews more toward the political side of things. But even if rifle fire is common in some neighborhoods, life goes on amidst the revolution.
“Ramadan just started, which means shops are shuffling around their hours, anyway, and people only really hit restaurants and cafes at night but I expect that to continue” Wolf said. “There were some pitched gun battles last week, but I haven’t heard anything in the last few days even as arrests have continued, so it seems like things are quieting down.”
(Courtesy of Mat Wolf)
Indeed, the scenes marking a major political movement in Egypt are markedly different from those that have occurred in the U.S. over the last few years. While Americans flocked to Zuccotti Park in New York City and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. building makeshift communities and dressing up in colonial apparel, not much has changed on the political landscape, save for a different political party controlling the House of Representatives. The impact of citizens taking to the streets in Cairo has resulted in not one, but two presidential ousters since 2010.
“It’s been impressive watching what just happened in Egypt — a true revolution for better or worse, and comparing that to things like Occupy, which were all the rage my final year at school,” Wolf said, mentioning that major political movements stateside are branded as revolutionary because they’re easier to market that way. “They also do this long before they actually accomplish anything remotely impressive but get a lot of media attention doing so.”
Although civic engagement in Egypt has produced tangible results, Wolf says they may set dangerous precedents for political activity in the area.
“I’m not defending Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, but he was legitimately elected,” Wolf said. “What happens when the next guy they elect becomes unpopular? Do they just oust him as well?”