Name: You Have Not Yet Been Defeated
ISBN: 9781913097745

Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Arguably the most high profile political prisoner in Egypt, if not the Arab world, Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been in prison for most of the last seven years. You Have Not Yet Been Defeated collects his writings between 2011-2019, many of them smuggled out of his cell.

Selected Writings 2011-2019

You Have Not Yet Been Defeated

Prashanth Srivatsa

It's hard to remain rooted to your thoughts, impressions and prejudices when you witness, through the eyes of Alaa, the years beyond the Egyptian revolution of 2011. These are words that stretch beyond boundaries, beyond Tahrir Square, beyond Palestine. Alaa is a revolutionary, but he's also a father, a techie, a Game of Thrones fan, someone who knows the limits of a revolution, its failures, of what constitutes defeat, and - thus giving this book that title - addresses these essays to those who haven't yet been defeated. He is excruciatingly honest, brutal in his assessment of police, prisons and state, of technology and leaders, tender when it comes to topics as easily misspoken about as autism, and grieves through his struggle, for people both close to him and those who lie beyond his borders. This book is absolutely chilling, both in terms of Alaa's prescience as well as his precision when it comes to dissecting terrible events. It's a book that cuts into your heart and tells you how there's little to romanticize about revolutions and martyrs, that "only the monstrous can hold both the history of dreams and hopes, and the reality of defeat and pain together."

An unforgettable reading experience.

Bassel Katamish

Essential reading for anyone who considers themselves an Egyptian, an Arab, or even a leftist. Alaa writes poetically but also cleary, cutting through the bullshit that so often accompanies discussions on Egyptian politics. He is equally convincing writing about concrete political solutions as he is writing about technology and capitalism or his own personal psychological struggles in the wake of his defeat and imprisonment.

Perhaps my favourite paragraph comes on the penultimate page:

“There are cities that inspire poets and musicians and so become immortalised in depictions that might not reflect their reality. Free Jerusalem; tranquil Alexandria, Bride of the Sea; Beirut, the Sheltering Tent—the symbols seem more real than the cities. But Gaza and Cairo are both cities that resist romanticisation and so elude song. No one sings to Cairo, but it is the capital of the Arabs. No one sings to Gaza either, but it remains the indisputable capital of Palestine. Both are always present in a crisis.”

Powerful ideas of protest and freedom of expression from the world-reknown Egyptian political prisoner and activist. With a Foreword by Naomi Klein. "The text you are holding is living history." — Naomi Klein, from the Foreword Alaa Abd el-Fattah is arguably the most high-profile political prisoner in Egypt, if not the Arab world, rising to international prominence during the revolution of 2011. A fiercely independent thinker who fuses politics and technology in powerful prose, an activist whose ideas represent a global generation which has only known struggle against a failing system, a public intellectual with the rare courage to offer personal, painful honesty, Alaa’s written voice came to symbolize much of what was fresh, inspiring and revolutionary about the uprisings that have defined the last decade. Collected here for the first time in English are a selection of his essays, social media posts and interviews from 2011 until the present. He has spent the majority of those years in prison, where many of these pieces were written. Together, they present not only a unique account from the frontline of a decade of global upheaval, but a catalogue of ideas about other futures those upheavals could yet reveal. From theories on technology and history to profound reflections on the meaning of prison, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated is a book about the importance of ideas, whatever their cost.

You Have Not Yet Been Defeated Selected Writings 2011-2019

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