From July 27, 2014
There has been a belief that it was necessary to continue mass demonstrations in Egypt in order to keep the people active and energized; that, if demonstrations stopped, the revolution would be over.
I have been writing for some time now that this notion is a mistake, and that the right way to keep people active and energized is to adapt to the realities on the ground, and mobilize for new tactics that can have greater direct impact with fewer numbers of participants, targeting the real power structure in Egypt.
If you insist on mass demonstrations, even while your numbers are dwindling, and you are getting no results, this is only a method for discouraging the people and advertising the weakness of your strategic leadership.
You will lose people at the demonstrations through death or injury, or through imprisonment, and you will lose more because they will see it as a futile exercise that accomplishes nothing more than helping to train the police in crowd control tactics.
Insisting on mass demonstrations will undermine, not invigorate the revolution. It is time to initiate action independent of the large organizations, and designed to affect the real power structure. There is nothing more inspiring or mobilizing than effective action.