Egyptian Association for Change

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"The Egyptian Association for Change is a driving force for effective reforms in Egypt." [1]

According to the Rand Corporation their 2008 report The Kefaya Movement: A Case Study of a Grassroots Reform Initiative, "documents the history of the Egyptian Movement for Change, also known as Kefaya (kefaya is the Arabic word for enough)." Formed in 2004 they noted that Ahmad Baha' al-Din Sha'ban was "one of the principal architects of Kefaya", (p.10) while one of their cofounders was George Ishaq (p.11), others included Iman Ramadan (p.13), Abu el-Maadi (p.24): "Described as a secular organization, Kefaya was widely diverse, uniting communist, nationalist, and Islamist members in 'the most significant model of modern political parties in the Arab world' (Al-Sayied, 2004)." (p.11) They add that:

"The principal architects of the Kefaya coalition were as diverse as its political groups. he movement included intellectuals such as Ishaq, its first secretary general (who was a secularist and communist Copt); Majid Ahmad Hussein, an Islamist who ardently believes in the slogan “Islam is the Solution”; and Abul-Ela Madi, an Islamist who founded al-Wasat party, a moderate version of the Muslim Brotherhood." (p.11)

Later they write:

"According to Kefaya member Mustafa Kamil Al Sayid, the peaceful, grassroots democratization movements of Eastern Europe and Central Asia—particularly Georgia’s Revolution of the Roses, which led to the collapse of Eduard Shevardnadze’s regime, and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution—were particularly inspirational and instructive for Kefaya (author interview, May 2007). These were peaceful mass movements that produced political change." (p.14)

With reference to the previous decline of the movement, the report notes how:

"Unlike Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Kefaya also faced financial challenges. he Muslim Brotherhood has claimed that it relies on donations from individual members (Hamid, 1979). Kefaya was also financed by individual donations, but these donations were meager compared to those received by the Islamic parties. Kefaya accepted no foreign funding to maintain its legitimacy and avoid accusations that it was serving foreign interests (Caten, 2005)." (p.40)

For Caten reference, see George Caten, “The Egyptian Movement—Kefaya—Going Beyond Ideological Parties [harakat Kefaya al-misriyya tatajawaz al-’ahzab al-’aydiyulujiyya],” Civilized Dialogue, No. 1238, June 24, 2005.

Board Members

Regional Coordinators

Accessed February 2011: [2]

Background Reports

The acknowledgments for this report note:

"The authors are thankful for the support of our sponsors, including Benjamin Riley, director of the Rapid Reaction Technology Office in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technol- ogy, and Logistics, and Richard Higgins and Chris Dufour, both of the Irregular Warfare Support Branch in the Office of the Assistant Sec- retary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities. We also benefited from the support and encouragement of James Dobbins, director of RAND’s International Security and Defense Policy Center. We thank our colleagues Michael Lostumbo, Angel Rabasa, Clifford Grammich, and Francisco Walterfor all their help with this project. Finally, we thank the contributors to this monograph who prefer to remain anonymous." (p.xiii)

Contact

URL: http://eacusa.org

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch

References

  1. ↑ About, Egyptian Association for Change, accessed February 3, 2011.
  2. ↑ Contact, Egyptian Association for Change, accessed February 3, 2011.
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