This was among the first set of photos I snapped of Kareem el-Beheiri, the currently “disappeared” Ghazl el-Mahalla activist. It was a Workers’ Coordination Committee meeting in downtown Cairo, which took place on a Friday, one day after the victory of the Kafr el-Dawar textile strike. I recall I was totally exhausted that Friday, after my return on the previous night from Kafr el-Dawar and then stayed up late till I posted a report. I wanted to go home early on that day, but I had already volunteered to translate for three Swedish journalists who showed up at the event. Also I wanted to hear any of the participants in Ghazl el-Mahalla December 2006 strike. And it was Kareem that day who spoke very eloquently about the strike and the future of the struggle against the state-backed labor unions.
The photo below, which unfortunately not that focused and in low resolution, is the first I snapped of Kamal el-Fayoumi, the currently “disappeared” Textile Workers’ League activist. It was January 2007, and Kamal was among a delegation of the Ghazl el-Mahalla December 2006 strike leaders who descended on Cairo to meet with the (state-backed) General Union of Textile Workers officials in Shobra demanding the impeachment of the corrupt local union members who opposed the strike. He was the most fiery among the strike leaders, I recall. In response to Said el-Gohary scoffing the workers’ demands saying they had no right to ask for any since Ghazl el-Mahalla was losing and not generating profits anymore, Kamal stood up and with a high-pitched voice he thundered, while waiving his hands and pointing at the corrupt union officials, “I’m a worker! You give me a production plan every year, and I implement it. It’s not my business what I produced later gets marketed or not! This is the management’s responsibility not mine!” I remember I told myself, “Wow! This guy destroyed the neoliberal logic in four sentences, and I bet he never read either Chomsky or Klein.”
I hope to see Kareem, Kamal, all the political detainees free soon. My heart and thoughts go out to them and their families.