Question:
What is your advice for the Ahraar Movement?
Answer:
My advice is just to continue as much as possible to raise awareness about real policy issues among the general public. If they have the human resources to engage in confrontational disruptive actions against multinationals and foreign investments, of course, I would encourage them to do it.
I firmly believe that disruptive action will be the best method of spreading awareness. The impact of such actions will do more to demonstrate the logic of this strategy than any number of words explaining it.
If that is not feasible for these groups at this time, there are many initiatives they can undertake to try to educate the population about the dangers of neoliberalism and the threat of corporate domination.
There are several specific issues that can be addressed through standard organizing techniques, like petitions, or the drafting of a “People’s Constitution”, or distribution of pamphlets, graffiti, multimedia projects and so on.
You can raise awareness about the inherently crippling effect of energy contracts, debt to private foreign financial institutions, IMF structural adjustment reforms, the issue of subsidies, the ban on third-party challenges to foreign investment agreements, VAT tax plans, privatization, public-private partnership agreements, and so on.
These things represent the links in the chains that are being bound around the neck of Egypt, and you can educate the population about them, and incite them to oppose them.