From State Journal

As Egyptians mark the third anniversary of their spectacular revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak in the name of democracy, there has been a powerful sign of the country’s stunning reversals since: letters of despair by some of the prominent activists who helped lead the uprising, leaked from the prisons where they are now jailed.

The letters show a battered spirit, no longer speaking of imminent democracy, but of injustices and a failed struggle that they say has been robbed repeatedly.

“What adds to my feeling of oppression is that I feel this particular lock up has no value. This is not struggle, and there is no revolution,” wrote Alaa Abdel-Fattah, one of the most prominent figures in the 2011 uprising. He was jailed several times in the past and was taken back into detention in November for calling for protests against Egypt’s current, military-backed government.

The 18-day uprising launched on Jan. 25, 2011, rode on hopes for dramatic change in a country long ruled by an iron grip – for an end to corruption and police power, for freedoms of speech and political rights and for greater economic equality. Those hopes went largely unfulfilled in the ensuing political roller coaster, as a council of generals took power for nearly 17 months after Mubarak’s removal, and a string of elections brought Islamists to political dominance. Their rise was crowned by the 2012 election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi as president.

Now the “Jan. 25 Revolution” has been swallowed up by another mass movement: The “June 30 Revolution,” named for the giant wave of protests starting on that date in 2013 against Morsi. It erupted after many Egyptians became convinced he and his Brotherhood had violated the dream of an inclusive, democratic Egypt. The millions in the street prompted the military to remove Morsi within days.

The demand of the June 30 revolt has become to restore stability, bringing together a military-backed government, the powerful police agencies and a broad sector of the public determined to crush Islamists they believe conspired to wreck the nation and change its identity. Security forces have arrested thousands of Brotherhood supporters and killed hundreds.

At the same time, the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies have adamantly stuck to a campaign of protests demanding Morsi’s reinstatement – a virtually impossible goal that the group vows it is willing to risk destruction to achieve.

A campaign of violence by Islamic militants, apparently a backlash to the removal of the first Islamist leader of the Arab world’s largest country, has only heightened the public fears fueling the June 30 movement. A string of bombings against police on Friday, particularly a dramatic truck bombing that smashed Cairo’s main security headquarters, killed six people and intensified a public backlash against the Brotherhood. Police and angry residents clashed with Brotherhood protesters around the country, leaving 14 more dead.

Written by Sarah Deeb/Read more at State Journal