Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

 

 

‘My friend, Mahmoud Maher, a doctor, was killed at Tahrir Square’

Feb 05, 2011

Parvez Sharma

 

At 1:15 am Cairo time on Saturday morning I spoke to my friend Ghassen. His friend was killed at Tahrir Square during the 24 hours of horrific violence we all saw on Feb 1st and 2nd. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time someone has been able to put a name and back-story to a person killed by the regime during this unfolding revolution. English is not Ghassen’s first language so I have taken the liberty of creating complete sentences from our fragmented conversation, partially in Arabic, to enable easy reading. I have no way to confirm the details of this death, but I know Ghassen revealed his friend’s name after some hesitation. (With confirmed reports I have from friends now that the regime is “trolling” the internet, I am also changing his name. Ghassen is not his real name)

Me: How are you feeling?

G: I am OK but my country NOT OK, Parvez…I hope people are getting this message about Mubarak Dictator. Mubarak is corrupt and his people are corrupt. I am sad.

Me: Did you go to Tahrir today as well like other days?

G: Yes I did. Of course yaani. Today started after salat elgom3a [Friday prayers]. It was very powerful. Even the sheikh was crying when he were praying. I prayed too. But I am Muslim, but my Islam are free. Many of my friends are Coptic. They not pray but they protect us.

Me: Every time the praying times end, people seem to feel new energy and start chanting again, right?

G: Yes. Parvez, 2 million people say this word in Arabic. ارحـــــــل

Me: Erhal, Leave?

G: Yes. I felt so strong when I pray there today. But also very sad because I remember how friends I lost through this revolution.

Me: Wait! One of your friends died?

G: Yes one of my friends-he is doctor. He was in Tahrir. He was treated patients. His name Mahmoud. People from Mubarak system going to our place, where we standing with horses and gamal [camels]..holding weapons…they hit him on his head many times. He died. But we are peaceful revolution. We did not have any weapons. And through that night also they came from Mubarak system…they want to put us out of Square Tahrir…The fuckin bad system. We lost this night I think 10 people and there were 1000 patients, who hurt. It was night of February 2nd. Night was Magzara. It was massacre night. I donn know if u understand me or not maybe have bad english

Me: I understand. Tell me more about Mahmoud please. It is also important to know his full name because he is already gone, what can they do to him anymore. No one has been able to name people who died you know. Did you go to his funeral? I know this is difficult to talk about. Please forgive me. But it is important.

Me: Are you there? Silence…Can you please tell me his full name…this is important Habibi…

G: His name Mahmoud Maher. I was not there at the moment he killed. I was on my way home. My friends called me to tell. Yes I went to his funeral. It is at Masjed Rabba. It was Mubarak people of course that kill him. They are paid a lot of money to kill us that day.

Me: How are you feeling about all this.

G: I am shock Parvez. I just wake up and go Tahrir and I am shock.

Me: You still live near Heliopolis? Near Mubarak palace?

G: Yes I live in Nozha. You know Masr el Gadida. Near Hosni Mubarak home.Masr el gadida. Why you asking this question?

Me: Because cameras have been so focused on Tahrir. We have seen no images from that area really. That is all, trust me…

G: OK..yes it is calm place. People have good life so you can see nice car. Calm place, not crowded. No police but you know Mubarak live there so they must save by a lot of Egyptian armys.

Me: Its far from Tahrir. How do you get to downtown everyday?

G: I take taxi. There are taxi when no curfew is happening. I think Parvez we doing the right thing. The Mubarak system are loses. Mubarak should leave now and then in six months we move our system to another in calm way.

Me: Do u think people will give up fighting? Feel exhausted? Tired?

G: Nooooo! There is a lack of confidence in the system lost its legitimacy and Hosni…we have to save our requests, if Mubrak will do that or not we dont know yet

Me: How does your heart feel my friend?

G: I feel Square Tahrer is here, if he lie or something happen wrong we will going there again …but for now feel we have to start work

Me: Wait so you are saying you want to go back to work and not protest?

G: No …. Mubarak know our requests ….and he get the lesson…if he lie or bad thing happen we will back again to square…dont know yet really am so confused…mubarak he lost his legitimacy from 25-1…why he donn leave egypt

why he still…no one support him…no one like him…no one want him…

people talk here he want to save his money till going out …but I do want to go to work…I go to work and then I join people in Tahrir…tomorrow…

Me: I know. My other friends say they also want to go back to work but also don’t know if they should leave Tahrir to go back to work. Listen how did Tahrir feel like today?

G: Tahrir? Heart of Egypt. Really, Heart of Egypt.

Me: That is true. You said it in three words my friend 😉

G: No, it true…Lawyers of Egypt and Dr. workers, professors, judges, Muslims and Christians adults and children…Imagine 2 million people say leave Mubarak at one voice…2 million voice Parvez …I have lived one year in one week…No…I feel I am born again…I donn know why media from all the world donn send our voice

Me: No they are. They are sending everyone’s voice. You have no idea how much they are sending the voice.

G: Anyhow it is late. I am so tired. I will go to work and will back after work to square…My work in Zamalk near Tahrer square…and Parvez so much happening in rest of country too—even women were raped in villages on that night…and from Alex there is  2 million going out too…in Aswan there’s like 200000

Me: Go to sleep now…Yalla…shukran Habibi…stay safe ;-))

G: Yes. I go now. Please send me interview when they publish on my email. I want to see and show my friends.

Me: Promise.

 
     

O hear Tahrir break into song!!

Feb 05, 2011

Seham

 

 

Protesters in Tahrir Square break into song
We are all one hand, and we have one demand: Leave! leave!
Down down Husni Mubarak! Down down Husni Mubarak!
The people want to overthrow the regime! The people want to overthrow the regime!
He should leave! We’re not leaving!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahCwBBndlVY&feature=player_embedded#

and other news from the Egyptian revolution:

and lead picture 
Christians Protecting Muslims During Friday Prayers
http://yfrog.com/h24n34j
Protests/Attacks & Arrests/Eyewitness Account
Images from Egypt’s protests 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBAGF7d53lg 
‘I will not leave’ 
Ahmed, a pro-democracy protester in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, speaks to Al Jazeera about the injuries that he has recieved while demonstrating, and who he wants to see in government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li2E7SCNmgk
A tense calm grips Egypt
After 11 days of unrest – some days violent, others jubilant – Egyptian protesters are determined to stay the course.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112420435766522.html
Egypt protesters hold their ground
With protests demanding end to Mubarak’s rule entering the 12th day, people in Tahrir Square prepared to wait him out.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/20112541240504912.html
Egypt protesters consolidate gains
Pro-democracy protesters remain in Cairo’s Tahrir Square after pitched battle with Mubarak supporters.
http://english.aljazeera.net//indepth/spotlight/anger-in-egypt/2011/02/201125422278848.html
Google Exec Who Went Missing In Egypt Now A Spokesman For Opposition Group (GOOG)
A Google executive who has gone missing in Egypt has been “symbolically” named the spokesman for an opposition group, in an attempt to free him from being held by Egyptian authorities, CBS News reports. Wael Ghonim, Google’s head of marketing for the middle east, flew into Egypt last week to participate in the demonstrations against the government. At some point he went missing, and one of his last tweets ominously read, “we are all ready to die.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/02/04/businessinsider-missing-google-exec-egypt-2011-2.DTL#ixzz1D3AEdtJe 
Egypt Protests: Mubarak Security Forces Drive Through Crowd, Hit Protesters (VIDEO)
A pack of Egyptian protesters were terrified when a vehicle, believed to be part of President Hosni Mubarak’s security team, drove through the crowd at a shocking speed. A shocking new video has made its way onto YouTubeshowing the purported incident in Cairo. Unseen protesters are heard shouting, “Yasqot Yasqot, Hosni Mubarak!” (or “Down down, Hosni Mubarak!”)  Users have since been hotly debating the clip’s legitimacy. One user writes: “Are they too clueless to realize that they’re being filmed, or do they just not care what the people think of them?” 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/egypt-protests-mubarak-se_n_818425.html
Egypt’s ‘day of departure’ protests – in pictures
Anti-Mubarak protesters have gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt on the ‘day of departure’, a reference to demands that the Egyptian president step down immediately
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/feb/04/egypt-protest?CMP=twt_gu 
Egypt holds ‘Day of Departure’
Hundreds of thousands flood Tahrir Square for largely peaceful ‘Day of Departure’ protest against President Mubarak.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201124201329162409.html
2011, بالصور: مظاهرات جمعة الرحيل في طنطا “Departure Friday” protests in Tanta
http://sareerqalm.blogspot.com/2011/02/friday-protests-in-tanta.html 
Mass protests in city of Alexandria
Tens of thousands of people are protesting against President Hosni Mubarak in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112414420594592.html
Report: 50,000 protest in Egyptian Rafah
Al-Jazeera network reports tens of thousands join nationwide protests against Egyptian President Mubarak near Gaza border. EU leaders issue statement saying ‘transition process must start now’ 
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4023992,00.html
Video Report on the Battle For Tahrir: An Inside Look at How Pro-Democracy Activists Reclaimed Tahrir Square After Attacks by Mubarak Forces
On Thursday, pro-democracy activists ventured back to Tahrir Square, to reclaim the downtown Cairo public space, which had become a battleground in the effort to oust President Hosni Mubarak. Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Hany Massoud walked through the streets, talking with Cairo residents—many who were injured from the attacks the day before—and witnesses the efforts to cleaning up the trash and rock-filled square while also organizing a system of grassroots resistance and community care programs to defend the square from pro-Mubarak forces who threatened to return.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/4/video_report_on_the_battle_for 
Day of Departure: Massive Demonstrations Across Egypt Aim to Oust Mubarak. Sharif Abdel Kouddous Reports Live from Cairo
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian pro-democracy protesters have returned to Cairo’s Tahrir Square in defiance of violent attacks from supporters of President Hosni Mubarak in the last two days. The New York Times reports the Obama administration has opened talks with Egyptian officials on Mubarak’s immediate resignation. The proposal under discussion would see Vice President Omar Suleiman lead a transitional government before elections later this year; however, Suleiman remains deeply unpopular in Egypt. Pro-democracy organizers have labeled today the “Day of Departure,” a final push for Mubarak’s immediate resignation. The demonstrations immediately swelled at the end of Friday prayers. We speak to Democracy Now! senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who reports live from Tahrir Square.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/4/day_of_departure_massive_demonstrations_across 
Asmaa Mahfouz: The girl who kicked Egypt’s hornet’s nest!, Helena Cobban
A friend sent me this vlog, which was recorded on January 18 by Asmaa Mahfouz, a young Egyptian woman who describes on it how earlier in the month she had responded to the self-immolations then taking place in Egypt by deciding to go down to Tahrir Square and undertake a regular public vigil there “For dignity! Against hunger!” … And she invited her friends to join her. And the first time “We were only three people– along with three armored cars full of police, and the baltagiyeh thugs were also there… ” But they carried on doing their vigils regularly, and in this video, she’s asking people to join her there on January 25, and…. the rest is history.
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004147.html 
Egyptian Riot Grrls: Finding the Feminine Face of Fury
by Beenish Ahmed Much has been aflutter on twitter about the very visible presence of women among the protests that have taken Egypt by storm over the last few weeks, but images of them have remained sparse amid the digital slideshows strung together by major media outlets, portraying mainly dense crowds of the manly.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/04/egyptian-riot-grrls-finding-the-feminine-face-of-fury/ 
Ahmed Moor: There is a sense in Tahrir now that democracy is coming– and medics and journalists are granted respect
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/ahmed-moor-in-tahrir-optimism-triumph-a-sense-that-democracy-is-coming-and-medics-and-journalists-are-granted-respect.html 
Stronger sense of Egyptian identity emerges among protesters
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters flooded Egypt’s Tahrir Square today to press for the departure of President Mubarak. ‘I’m here for Egypt,’ said one middle-aged man.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/jsx4fySIwy8/Stronger-sense-of-Egyptian-identity-emerges-among-protesters 
Egypt protests are peaceful; throngs insist that Mubarak leave
‘We are not leaving. You are leaving,’ demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yell. Top government officials appear to be positioning themselves for a transition of power. Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied peacefully in the center of Egypt’s capital Friday, demanding their president step down after days of protest and violence that have shaken the Arab world.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/1yXR1UG5NuQ/la-fg-egypt-protests-20110205,0,5969696.story 
Medea Benjamin: Mubarak Mobs and Street Vendors: Welcome to Egypt
I was in the middle of buying some mints from a street vendor on Cairo’s Talat Harb Street when the rocks started flying. He gave me one pack of mints, and all hell broke loose. “Run, run,” people yelled at me.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/medea-benjamin/mubarak-mobs-and-street-v_b_818979.html 
Defying violence, Egyptian protesters find unity – and pride – at peaceful mass rally
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters flooded Egypt’s Tahrir Square today to press for the departure of President Mubarak. ‘I’m here for Egypt,’ said one middle-aged man.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/cgmTcyrVMYQ/Defying-violence-Egyptian-protesters-find-unity-and-pride-at-peaceful-mass-rally
Robert Fisk: Exhausted, scared and trapped, protesters put forward plan for future
Caged yesterday inside a new army cordon of riot-visored troops and coils of barbed wire – the very protection which Washington had demanded for the protesters of Tahrir Square – the tens of thousands of young Egyptians demanding Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow have taken the first concrete political steps to create a new nation to replace the corrupt government which has ruled them for 30 years.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-exhausted-scared-and-trapped-protesters-put-forward-plan-for-future-2205079.html 
‘Thanks to the young people … we are free’
A town near Cairo, Kerdasa, revels in a newfound freedom from the hated police, though witnesses say five people were killed in the protests. Residents take responsibility for their own security. Even the elders of this small Egyptian city in the shadow of the great pyramids of Giza could not remember weekly prayers like this one.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/BclQj5gcwz4/la-fg-egypt-village-20110205,0,6349062.story 
Egypt Protests Grow Larger As Pressure On Mubarak Mounts
CAIRO — Protesters demanding President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster packed Cairo’s central square by the tens of thousands Friday, waving Egyptian flags, singing the national anthem and cheering, appearing undaunted and determined after their camp withstood two days of street battles with regime supporters trying to dislodge them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/egypt-protests-mubarak_n_818599.html 
#Jan25 Egypt Revolution مشهد رائع لميدان التحرير في جمعة الرحيل
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Ji9m4t89w&feature=player_embedded 
#Jan25 Singing for the Revolution الغناء للثورة
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/05/revolt-15/ 
Tahrir protesters consolidate their gains 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB5PeWyfrcs&feature=player_embedded 
“Bravest girl in Egypt” translated into English 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwIY6ivf70A 
Day of Departure
Protesters shout slogans and sing the national anthem during a demonstration in Egypt’s capital. 
http://www.time.com/time/today-in-pictures 
Revolution
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solilos/sets/72157625840802619/ 
Jasmina Metwaly and Philip Rizk, “Cairo Intifada” (Video)
“This is an American shell, an American shell. Mubarak is a collaborator funded by foreigners. Mubarak is a spy. We don’t want’ him. Enough. The people are suffocating. The people are hungry.”
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/mr040211.html
Media Repression and Intimidation
Egypt must release detained activists and journalists
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch call on the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of over 30 people arrested during a raid on law center in Cairo. The Egyptian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Egyptian and international human rights activists, lawyers and journalists arrested during a raid on the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo on the afternoon of February 3, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. 
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-must-release-detained-activists-and-journalists-2011-02-04 
Egypt Protests: Egyptian Journalist Ahmed Mahmoud Dies Of Gunshot Wounds; First Reported Journalist Death In Uprising
CAIRO — An Egyptian reporter who was shot during clashes a week ago died of his wounds Friday, his employer said, in the first reported death of a journalist in the chaos surrounding Egypt’s anti-government protests. Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud, 36, was taking photographs of fighting between protesters and security forces from the balcony of his home when he was shot Jan. 28, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said on its website.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/egyptian-journalist-dies-ahmed-mahmoud_n_818988.html
Eliminate the Witnesses: Committee to Protect Journalists Criticizes Mubarak’s Policy of Attacking and Silencing Journalists in Egypt
The Mubarak regime’s violent crackdown has included deliberate targeting of journalists covering the protests across Egypt. News outlets including Al Jazeera, CBS News, ABC News, Fox News, CNN, BBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Australian Broadcasting, Danish TV2 News and Swiss television have reported assaults, intimidation or arrests of their workers. We speak to Frank Smyth with the Committee to Protect Journalists, who reports there has been a record of 100 attacks on journalists, 30 detentions, 26 assaults, and eight cases of media equipment seized. “This is worst case of the most blatant violence against the press I have seen in my 24 years reporting and my 10 years at CPJ,” Smyth says. “Clearly the Mubarak regime is responsible. They are implementing a policy to eliminate witnesses to what is occurring. It seems that the Mubarak regime is attempting to literally unplug Egypt from the world.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/4/eliminate_the_witnesses_committee_to_protect 
`You Will Be Lynched,’ Says Egyptian Policeman: First Person
Having a policeman say he wanted to kill me wasn’t my most frightening moment yesterday in Cairo. That came when police and civilians smashed our car windows — with the five of us inside it — jumped up and down on the roof, spat on us, pulled my hair, beat my friends and dragged us into a police van. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/-you-will-be-lynched-egyptian-policeman-tells-reporters-first-person.html 
Al Jazeera’s Cairo office burned down by pro-Mubarak ‘thugs’
Al Jazeera’s office in Cairo was stormed by a “gang of thugs” and set on fire along with all the equipment inside it, the Arab news network said Friday.  “It appears to be the latest attempt by the Egyptian regime or its supporters to hinder Al Jazeera’s coverage of events in the country,” the news network said in a statement.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/aljazeeras-cairo-office-torched-violence-journalists-escalates/ 
Mubarak thugs force Anderson Cooper into hiding
CNN reporter Anderson Cooper admitted Thursday he was “a little bit scared” for his safety after being repeatedly attacked by supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Cooper and his crew were violently attacked by pro-Mubarak forces Wednesday as they tried to make their way through the streets of Cairo
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/anderson-cooper-a-bit-scared-attacks-egypt/ 
2 Detained Reporters Saw Secret Police’s Methods Firsthand
WE had been detained by Egyptian authorities, handed over to the country’s dreaded Mukhabarat, the secret police, and interrogated. They left us all night in a cold room, on hard orange plastic stools, under fluorescent lights. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/weekinreview/06held.html?_r=1&src=tptw
Amid crackdown, al-Jazeera endures
BAGHDAD – Though few foreign news organizations have escaped the onslaught of attacks against journalists in Cairo by supporters of Egypt’s regime, none has faced quite so many challenges as the pan-Arab al-Jazeera satellite network.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=351a78ac9d61e9f672e17c321f3723e4 
Developments
Failed assassination attempt on Egyptian VP leaves two dead, FoxNews alleges
An alleged attempt on the life of the newly named vice president of Egypt left two of his bodyguards dead the day after his appointment, a recent report said. “It’s so organized that it’s been classified an assassination attempt,” Fox News reported Friday.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/failed-assassination-attempt-egyptian-vp-leaves-dead-foxnews-reports/ 
WITNESS-Egypt police keep firm grip in Cairo’s slums
* Police, unidentified armed men, patrol Cairo slums
* Authorities deny intimidation
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/witness-egypt-police-keep-firm-grip-in-cairos-slums
Egypt’s army: On the sidelines
What is the army’s role in Egypt’s crisis and for how long will it stand aside?
http://english.aljazeera.net//programmes/insidestory/2011/02/201124172222208929.html 
Obama urges Mubarak to ‘listen’
US president says Egyptian leader should hear concerns of protesters and focus on creating legitimate transition.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/americas/2011/02/20112421336274453.html
Is the White House using Congress to send tough messages to Mubarak?
Congress is out ahead of the administration in calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down and for the United States to cut off military aid to his regime. But while some believe the White House is using Congress to send Mubarak tough messages they don’t want to — or can’t — send themselves, it appears that Congress is reacting to events independently from the administration.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/04/is_the_white_house_using_congress_to_send_tough_messages_to_mubarak
Egypt’s Mubarak Likely to Retain Vast Wealth
Mubarak Family May Have as Much as $70 Billion Stashed Away, Experts Estimate.  President Hosni Mubarak’s power may have visibly crumbled before the world on Jan. 25 when protesters took to the streets of Cairo, but his personal wealth will likely be intact when he leaves office as pledged at the end of the year, or sooner if the crowds have their way. 
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/egypt-mubarak-family-accumulated-wealth-days-military/story?id=12821073
Egypt’s ex-fin min Boutros-Ghali quits IMF panel
* Boutros-Ghali resigns with immediate effect
* Resignation follows replacement as Egyptian finance min
* Helped modernize IMF in time of financial crisis (Adds quotes, background)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypts-ex-fin-min-boutros-ghali-quits-imf-panel
(OFFICIAL)-ElBaradei says sees himself as change agent
(Corrects headline, first, third and fourth paragraph after newspaper amends interview text to omit quote from ElBaradei saying that he will not take part in presidential elections)  VIENNA, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Egyptian opposition activist Mohamed ElBaradei could run for president in future elections if asked by the people, an Austrian newspaper reported on Friday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypts-elbaradei-says-wont-run-for-president-paper 
In Egypt, a former Mubarak loyalist emerges as presidential possibility
CAIRO – The charismatic chief of the Arab League on Friday joined the throngs of protesters in downtown Cairo who have been clamoring for President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and hinted that he would consider running for the post.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=2dcc9ea359a5678490fea209e5c5ef52 
Egypt demonstrations costing $310 million per day: report
CAIRO: Egypt’s economy has lost at least $3.1 billion as a result of the political crisis in the country, investment bank Credit Agricole said in a report released Friday, as tens of thousands of protesters massed in Downtown Cairo demanding the president’s ouster.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=124550 
  
Solidarity with the Egyptian People
Palestinians demonstrate in from the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eqyOSWfZ0k&feature=player_embedded 
Sheikh Jarrah protesters in solidarity with Egyptian protesters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mWyY1cpL8U&feature=youtu.be&a
‘Mubarak must go,’ protesters in New York City chant
Mubarak must go, protesters in New York City chantNEW YORK – Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of New York’s famed Times Square and downtown Chicago Friday, calling for the immediate departure of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Protesters chanted “Mubarak must go” while waving Egyptian flags and holding placards that read “End US aid to the Mubarak regime” and “Egyptians united will never be defeated.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/mubarak-go-protesters-york-city/ 
Not Your Prisoner (Arabian Knightz feat Shadia Mansour, Fredwreck) EGYPTS REVOLUTION SONG 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=schIdC3LdLk&feature=youtu.be 
Gaza feeds hungry Egyptian troops in role reversal
Underground tunnels generally used to smuggle goods into Gaza are moving traffic in the opposite direction in the wake of the popular uprising in Egypt.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-feeds-hungry-egyptian-troops-in-role-reversal-1.341316?localLinksEnabled=false 
Protesters in Europe demand “Mubarak must go”
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Protesters in London and Paris rallied on Friday in support of hundreds of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators demanding an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule.  On the 11th day of unprecedented mass protests in Egypt, 200,000 people rallied in Cairo on Friday following demonstrations and bloody clashes with Mubarak supporters.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/protesters-in-europe-demand-mubarak-must-go 
Lebanese show solidarity with Egyptian uprising
BEIRUT: Over 1,000 protesters ascended on the Egyptian Embassy Friday for the seventh consecutive day of protests in solidarity with the Egyptian people. Masked youths appeared in the crowd shortly before 5 p.m., when they began throwing sticks at riot police, but scenes failed to descend into large-scale rioting after protest organizers took a firm stance against the violence.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=124590 
Lebanese leaders voice support for Egyptian protesters’ demands
BEIRUT: Leading politicians voiced their support Friday for the Egyptian people’s demands to oust embattled President Hosni Mubarak and called for keeping demonstrations peaceful and democratic, whether at the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut or in Cairo’s Tahrir square.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=124591 
Guilt and grief at Sydney Egyptian rally
Hundreds of demonstrators have staged an emotion-charged rally in Sydney demanding that beleaguered Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stand down., In a passionate outpouring of guilt, anger and grief, about 200 people, mainly members of the Egyptian community, braved soaring temperatures in the city on Saturday., Waving flags and protest banners, they listened intently to rousing speeches in Martin Place, occasionally breaking out in chants of “Down, down Mubarak” and “Free, free Egypt”.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/guilt-and-grief-at-sydney-egyptian-rally-20110205-1ahio.html
WorldWide Tahrir
http://worldwidetahrir.wordpress.com/ 
Tunisian cyber activists take on Egyptian cause
Social media played in organising the uprising in Tunisia, and now, activists there are focusing their technical skills on helping anti-government protesters in Egypt. Tunisian hackers say they will attack website belonging to the Egyptian government in solidarity with the pro-democracy activists protesting there. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCVBXuO3HrE&feature=player_embedded
Amid mass protests, ‘Anonymous’ topples Egyptian gov’t websites
Tunisian members of an online group of hacktivists known as “Anonymous” received attention Friday when Al Jazeera English profiled their efforts to attack Egyptian government Web sites. “Anonymous” first attacked Tunisian government websites after the country blocked access to secrets outlet WikiLeaks.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/tunisian-members-anonymous-target-egyptian-government/
Best Protest Signs From Around The World
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-best-egypt-protest-signs-from-around-the-world
Victor Jara Manifiesto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8yqVxuT-U
Friends of the Dictator
Berlusconi calls Mubarak ‘wise man’
Italian president praises Egyptian counterpart, calls for ‘transition toward a more democratic system’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4023982,00.html 
PA envoy in Egypt refuses to help stranded Palestinians in Cairo airport
Dozens of Palestinian citizens stranded in Cairo airport have accused the PA ambassador in Cairo of ignoring their appeals to help them return back to the Gaza Strip by air.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%

Israel’s government raises alarm at events in Egypt
Jerusalem Post editor warns Israel’s ‘concrete strategic assumptions liquefied almost overnight’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/04/israel-government-egypt-jerusalem-post
Israelis Discover a New Love for Mubarak
JERUSALEM – Around the world, peoples revel in anticipation of the fall of a regime that has denied its citizens their basic rights. But most Israelis are haunted by nightmare scenarios of ‘the day after’, as if their country’s stability was anchored in the continuity of the rule of Hosni Mubarak – not in peace.

Israelis Discover a New Love for Mubarak


Chris Matthews Rips Obama’s Handling of Egypt Crisis: ‘I Feel Ashamed As an American’
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews appeared on Morning Joe, Friday, to slam President Obama’s handling of the escalating crisis in Egypt, saying it made him ” ashamed as an American .” Matthews, who famously declared Obama gave him a “thrill” up his leg, excoriated what he perceived to be the President’s disloyalty to Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak. The Hardball host berated, ” And Barack Obama, as much I support him in many ways, there is a transitional quality to the guy that is chilling.” He added, “I believe in relationships…You treat your friends a certain way. You’re loyal to them.” Matthews has previously lauded the authoritarian Mubarak.. Pointing out Mubarak’s stand against Hezbollah and other extremist elements in the region, the anchor on January 31 wondered, “How can you say he’ll easily be replaced? This guy’s the George Washington of peace over there.” [See video below.] Deriding immediate calls for Mubarak to step down, Matthews lamented, “Character and planning…I feel shame about this. I feel ashamed as an American, the way we’re doing this. I know he has to change. I know we’re for democracy, but the way we’ve handled it is not the way a friend handles a matter.” Matthews even attacked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s performance: “I watched Secretary Clinton today. I don’t get anything. I don’t see anything other than two and two are four. I keep waiting for five. Show me you’ve done your jobs over there.” A transcript of his answer to Joe Scarborough’s question, which aired at 8:22am EST, follows: JOE SCARBOROUGH: Chris, a statement yesterday from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, real concern among Arab states, if this is how we treat our ally of 30 years and I know it’s tough to bring these facts up to people who want to call for his immediate lynching, but if we treat an ally of 30 years this way, demanding that he leaves quote “now,” Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, are other allies in the region start questioning America’s character [sic]?
http://newsbreakingonline.com/news/chris-matthews-rips-obamas-handling-of-egypt-crisis-i-feel-ashamed-as-an-american.html 
As`ad Abukhalil’s Commentary
The clerics of the dictator
The Mufti of Al-Azhar–the religious institution that has only produced misogyny, repression, intolerance, fanaticism, and obscurantism–called Mubarak and expressed support for dictatorship.  What do you expect from a bunch of unlearned clerics who produce fatwas for a fee?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/clerics-of-dictator.html 
American officials don’t disguise their preference for a military dicatorship
“U.S. officials in Washington noted with approval the positive response by the demonstrators to an appearance in the square by Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Egyptian defense minister. Ostensibly there to talk with the troops, Tantawi stopped to chat with a group of protesters.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/american-officials-dont-disguise-their.html
Look how some foreign correspondents don’t do their homework
“The Obama administration hopes that respected figures whom one administration official referred to as Egypt’s “wise men””.  No, dude. It is not the official who named them the “wise men”.  That is how they refer to themselves–rather immodestly. 
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/look-how-some-foreign-correspondents.html
The head of Mubarak’s secret police as the Obama’s choice for democratic Egypt
“But, the officials said, Suleiman was increasingly aware that his own credibility was diminishing the longer he remained tethered to Mubarak, as was the likelihood that he could serve as an acceptable alternative.”  This betrays how protective the US administration is of the image of Sulayman.  But Sulayman, with five heart attacks on his resume, can’t be a long term choice for the US.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/head-of-mubaraks-secret-police-as.html
The Muslim Brotherhood
Now, I don’t believe that it is up to the White Man to tell Arabs and Muslims who should lead them.  And it is not up to past and present colonial powers to issue certificates of legitimacy to leaders of Arabs and Muslims.  Frankly my dear, as Clark Gable said in Gone with the Winds, we don’t give a damn.  And, we have seen your choices of preferable Middle East leaders and–to put it politely–they are despicable: those puppets, kings and presidents in our region.  But I don’t trust the Muslim Brotherhood and its variations, one bit.  It is up to the Egyptian people to decide, but I won’t rust that lousy organization given its opportunistic history.  It was a too of US/Saudi Arabia during the Arab cold war, and sided consistently with the Zionist camp.  It is the organization that welcomed the advent of the Sadat regime.  Not to mention its archaic views on women and minorities.  I don’t even trust them on Palestine: they have been allies of the friends of Israel throughout the region.  And they are now pretending to have found a new courage: they con’t come close to the Egyptian and Tunisian secular protesters.  In Lebanon, the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood  there (Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah) marched in support of the the Egyptian Uprising.  This organization has been bought off in full by Hariri family and is part of an alliance that was aligned solidly with Mubarak.  Who are you fooling.  And the most cowardly branch of the brotherhood in Jordan, heaped praise on King `Abdullah of Jordan, simply because he agreed to shake their hands.  And they there demonstrate against Mubarak, and yet it would be much more impressive if they demonstrate against their own tyrant.  The Muslim Brotherhood deserves another century: maybe ten centuries ago, or even earlier.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/muslim-brotherhood.html
Dictatorship for Beginners
By the Egyptian cartoonist, Bahjat.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/dictatorship-for-beginners.html

Former Minister of Trade: real reforms in Egypt
So the Mubarak government today wants to fight corruption.  They issued a ban against travel by the former Minister of Trade.  Only the guy is already in Dubai.  Upon hearing the news, Hillary praised reform in the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty–sorry, I meant Egypt.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/former-minister-of-trade-real-reforms.html

 

An important trend
There is a trend that can be discerned in Arab political culture–especially since the uprising in Tunisia.  There is an increasing resort to Arab national identity and Arabism.  This is true even by Islamists.  We may be witnessing a grassroots resurgence of Arab identities in the region.  I listened today to a speech by Tunisian Islamist, Rashid Ghannushi, and it was striking how much he made references to Arabism and Arab identity.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/important-trend.html
Egyptian prisoners who broke out of jail
Some of those who were arrested spoke to Egyptian Mubarak state tv. It is hilarious TV.  One prisoner said that he really did not want to leave the prison but saw that everyone was leaving, so he just went along with them. Another one said: he really did not break out of prison, but that he briefly left to say hi to his his friends and relatives.  He was asked why he was apprehended with weapons, he said: these are tense time, u know.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/egyptian-prisoners-who-broke-out-of.html
The Jordanian royal schmuck is now a man of the people
“He has been paying surprise visits in recent days to poor areas and villages and ordering assistance to the families he has encountered.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/jordanian-royal-schmuck-is-now-man-of.html
Angry Arab correspondent on Bahrain
R. sent me this:  “Apparently, in anticipation of Feb 14 (a national holiday in bahrain – there is no mention of the movement), the Bahraini King just announced that he will be injecting the national budget with 100 million bahraini dinars with money going mostly to the poor for subsidies etc (see copy and pasted newspaper articles below).  What he doesn’t get is that money for the poor isn’t really the issue.  The Feb 14 movement is changing its tone – they have removed the silly clause about banning alcohol and changed it to decreasing prostitution, alcohol etc. (unfortunately I can’t access facebook right now at work to check  for the exact arabic phrase).  The english facebook page doesn’t contain the clause at all which is interesting.  The setting up of the english facebook page is important by the way – not only for the west – but for (unfortunately) those bahrainis who are more comfortable writing in english. I am getting a much more positive vibe from this movement from the people I know and it seems like the secular opposition youth will be participating after all!  The big question mark is on the “private school kids” as well call them.  I talked to a friend a few days ago and she was really angry saying that she supported their demands but was against the way and if we continue using these messages us shia will be hated everywhere.  She was referring to a really stupid poster that had a little paragraph on how Al Khalifa will all go to hell and their are the epitomy of what haram means. continued.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/angry-arab-correspondent-on-bahrain.html
Analysis/Op-ed
Turkish model for Egypt?
Egypt’s transition toward a post-Hosni Mubarak era, as incremental and painful as it might be, has sparked interest in the “Turkish model” of democracy-craft, i.e. the art of conducting democratic affairs, which in Turkey involves the military playing a stabilizing role during the transition process while Islamist parties moderate through political participation. Can Turkey’s experience be repeated in Egypt?
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-model-for-egypt-2011-02-03 
Egypt’s military-industrial complex | Pratap Chatterjee
With US-made tear gas canisters fired on protesters in Cairo, Washington’s role in arming Egypt is under the spotlight. In early January 2010, Bob Livingston, a former chairman of the appropriations committee in the US House of Representatives, flew to Cairo accompanied by William Miner, one of his staff. The two men were granted meetings with US Ambassador Margaret Scobey, as well as Major General FC “Pink” Williams, the defence attaché and director of the US Office of Military Cooperation in Egypt. Livingston and Miner were lobbyists employed by the government of Egypt, helping them to open doors to senior officers in the US government. Records of their meetings, required under law, were recently published by the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, DC watchdog group.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/04/egypt-arms-trade 
At the core
Egypt’s military lies at the heart of the country’s state apparatus.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12368711
Egypt’s military holds the key but continues to play the sphinx
CAIRO: The wait-and-see stance of the Egyptian military is raising many questions, but underlining one fact: its role will be decisive regardless of how the ongoing turmoil will end.  Political analysts are scrambling to decipher its sphinx-like conduct. Is it complicit in police brutality? Prudent in the face of a fluid situation? Split at the top of its command structure? Just biding its time?
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124566 
Does the Obama administration have any sway over Egypt’s military?
Top Obama administration officials pressed the Egyptian military on Thursday to intervene on behalf of the activists, journalists, and protesters being attacked by groups of thugs supporting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as concerns grew in Washington about the military’s role and agenda.  Vice President Joseph Biden placed responsibility for restoring calm in the streets of Cairo squarely in the hands of Vice President Omar Suleiman, who is also chief of the country’s intelligence apparatus, when the two leaders spoke over the phone on Thursday afternoon. 
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/04/does_the_obama_administration_have_any_sway_over_egypt_s_military 
Egypt Officials Seek to Nudge Mubarak Out
Egypt’s new vice president and other military leaders were discussing steps to limit President Hosni Mubarak’s decision-making authority, officials said.

Stephen Soldz, “The Torture Career of Egypt’s New Vice President”
Katherine Hawkins, an expert on the US’s rendition to torture program, in an email, has sent some critical texts where Suleiman pops up. Thus, Jane Mayer, in The Dark Side, pointed to Suleiman’s role in the rendition program: “Each rendition was authorized at the very top levels of both governments. . . . The long-serving chief of the Egyptian central intelligence agency, Omar Suleiman, negotiated directly with top Agency officials. [Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt] Walker described the Egyptian counterpart, Suleiman, as ‘very bright, very realistic,’ adding that he was cognizant that there was a downside to ‘some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way'” (pp. 113). . . . However, Suleiman wasn’t just the go-to bureaucrat for when the Americans wanted to arrange a little torture. This “urbane and sophisticated man” apparently enjoyed a little rough stuff himself. . . . “To loosen Habib’s tongue, Suleiman ordered a guard to murder a gruesomely shackled Turkistan prisoner in front of Habib — and he did, with a vicious karate kick.”
http://bit.ly/eI1AYZ
It’s not radical Islam that worries the US – it’s independence | Noam Chomsky
The nature of any regime it backs in the Arab world is secondary to control. Subjects are ignored until they break their chains ‘The Arab world is on fire,” al-Jazeera reported last week, while throughout the region, western allies “are quickly losing their influence”. The shock wave was set in motion by the dramatic uprising in Tunisia that drove out a western-backed dictator, with reverberations especially in Egypt, where demonstrators overwhelmed a dictator’s brutal police.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/04/radical-islam-united-states-independence 
Discontented Within Egypt Face Power of Old Elites, ANTHONY SHADID
The rebellion pits those disenfranchised by Egypt’s government against the military and security apparatus and a fabulously wealthy clique.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=e402efbf91d3576f46cf16746011b422 
Obama administration contemplates legal nightmare in Egypt after Mubarak, Josh Rogin
As the Obama administration works to encourage the Egyptian government and opposition groups to sit down together and chart a path forward, they are grappling with problem of what to do about a legal system in Egypt that is inherently unfair but that remains the law of the land.  The Obama administration’s message is that the path forward in Egypt must be negotiated between all of the stakeholders in Egypt rather than imposed from abroad. However, the administration also has concrete ideals and standards its wants to see included in that process and officials are involved in discussing those details with the Egyptian government.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/04/obama_administration_contemplates_legal_nightmare_in_egypt_after_mubarak
Impromptu: The Cairo Commune
They fought tooth and nail Wednesday night and defended al-Tahrir Square after a long day during which the last Pharao played his last card by unleashing his hired dogs to attack unarmed protesters who shook the earth in Egypt under his throne. When darkness fell, those heroes persevered despite a rain of rocks, Molotov cocktails and sniper bullets. They barricaded themselves and sealed the entrances to al-Tahrir. Their real barricades, however, were their hearts and spirit and those supporting them. Hundreds were wounded and some lost their lives. Their spirits were hovering over al-Tahrir, waiting and looking down at their comrades who were determined to defend the popular revolution and its legitimate demands.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/539/impromptu_the-cairo-commune 
Mistaken notions about the Egyptian uprising
One of the most devious claims doing the rounds in the media is that the crisis in Egypt is about food; this is only partly true. There is another side to the picture. Egypt’s abject poverty and pervasive hunger did not spring out of a vacuum. It came about from the plunder and squandering of the country’s national wealth and its franchise to foreign interests. In addition, there are other major causes of this unprecedented popular uprising which have to do with the sense of national humiliation and indignity to which the people of Egypt have been subjected by a western-backed dictatorship masquerading as democracy.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/commentary-and-analysis/2024-mistaken-notions-about-the-egyptian-uprising 
Looking to Egypt, Again
I grew up hearing about Egypt.  The Egypt of those stories, woven inextricably into the memories of my father and his brothers and sisters, was always one of strength, inspiration, beauty and steadfastness. It was the Egypt of Nasser and Um Kulthoum, of Arab Nationalism and of the Bandung Conference. It was the Egypt of solidarity with Palestine. As a child in Beirut, that place seemed as close as the catch in my father’s voice when he would talk about hearing Nasser on the radio. As I grew older, I noticed the bitterness that always laced those stories, the slight shake of my aunt’s head at the end of a sentence, the drop in of my uncle’s shoulders as he described the year he was 30, 1967. I always envied them these memories.  I wanted to live in a time of magic, possibility, and pride. A time far away from civil wars, foreign invasions, Arab dictators, the slow aging of refugee camps, and the refashioning of Arab capitals into crude and expensive museums of what they once were. By the time I was 20, my envy had turned into something harder as I could clearly hear the defeat in their stories, their naiveté as to the machinations of politics, and the growing abyss between their memories and their, and my, realities.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/541/looking-to-egypt-again 
Day of departure: What’s next for Egypt?, Stephen M. Walt
Egyptians have returned to the streets for what anti-government forces have dubbed a “day of departure.” The early reports I’ve seen are heartening: the demonstrations are peaceful, more and more members of the elite appear to be embracing change, and key institutions like the army continue to behave with restraint and to enjoy respect from the crowds. If it holds up, this augurs well for a transition that avoids most of the worst-case scenarios.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/04/day_of_departure 
Egypt – The Peoples’ Voices
Arguably never has a momentous event, its triumphs and blood soaked tragedies, been so instantly transmitted across the globe, panicking governments, bent on quelling it, inspiring millions with similar aspirations to Egypt’s populus, into “can do” and unstinting support mode, with, literally, a vengeance.  The first act of Egypt’s regime was to put an end to this extraordinary avalanche of people to people’s freedom of information – and pull the plug. It failed. The internet generation is a young people’s domain. Like wildfire, instructions instantly flew around the net, informing those with contacts in Egypt, the prefixes which would circumvent the cut off. “Anonymous”, a “hacktivist” group, promptly brought down systems still working in Egypt – those of government offices.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/02/egypt-the-peoples-voices/ 
Egyptians seek light at end of tunnel
Hundreds of thousands of defiant Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo and other Egyptian cities Friday to demand an end to Hosni Mubarak’s rule while varying scenarios were being put forward for the first time in the 11-day-old wave of protests.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124593 
Magda Abu-Fadil: Media Coverage of Egyptian Events Draws Fire, Praise
A sign carried by a demonstrator in Cairo’s Tahrir Square read: “Egyptian media don’t see, don’t hear, they just talk.” It was right on the mark.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/media-coverage-of-egyptia_b_818618.html
How Can Egypt Get From Tahrir Square to Democracy? Lessons from Poland in 1989
“To Husni Mubarak: leave already. Arabs around the world are trying to sleep,” read a tweet. “Leave already, my hand hurts,” read a sign held up by a man on Cairo’s streets. From Tahrir Square, we hear that protesters are facing a new pressure possibly more strong than the pro-Mubarak thugs set lose on them in recent days. Family members, neighbors and merchants in the Tahrir area are pleading with them to go home already and let life get “back to normal.” The White House has heard the message that Mubarak must go, and must go now. But what next? 
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/542/how-can-egypt-get-from-tahrir-square-to-democracy-lessons-from-poland-in-1989 
We Are All Egypt!, Susan Abulhawa
Rightly proud of their history, Egyptians like to announce, especially to other Arabs, that Egypt is the world’s mother. The Arabic version is far more tender and poetic ‘Misr Um el Dounia’! Light-hearted banter will often ensue between Egyptian and non-Egyptian friends when that statement is brought into the conversation. 
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16620 
We Are All Egyptians Now, Dennis Rahkonen
The powerfully inspirational uprising of impassioned, freedom-seeking masses in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said and other Egyptian locales has captured the world’s imagination, and hearts, to a historically unprecedented degree. Is there a decent, fair-minded person on this planet who doesn’t extend immense solidarity toward those brave souls standing their ground in Tahrir Square and elsewhere, in the face of the most cruelly brutal violence that dictator Hosni Mubarak’s mercenary thugs can sadistically muster?
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/02/we-are-all-egyptians-now/ 
How the Egyptian revolt will recast the Middle East
Three scenarios for the way the uprising might end and what it all means for the US, Israel, and Iran.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/5p6Cu1SdFnM/How-the-Egyptian-revolt-will-recast-the-Middle-East
Mubarak, save Egypt and leave
Although hundreds of thousands of protesters reportedly filed Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square for Friday’s so-called “Day of Departure,” President Hosni Mubarak still refuses to depart. Mubarak is under intense pressure at home, and numerous foreign nations also say they are pushing him to go – and yet he continues to procrastinate.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=124569 
Egypt’s Revolt: How Democracy Can Work In The Middle East
Whatever happens in the next few days will not change the central narrative of Egypt’s revolution. Historians will note that Jan. 25 marked the start of the end of Mubarak’s 30-year reign. And now we’ll test the theory that politicians and scholars have long debated. Will a more democratic Egypt become a radical Islamic state? Can democracy work in the Arab world?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/04/egypt-revolt-fareed-zakaria_n_818849.html 
In Cairo, trudging to the work of revolution
Anti-Mubarak Egyptians pour in to Tahrir Square determined to do their own small part — forever, they say, if necessary. Emad Mohammed’s morning commute these days is a five-mile trudge through the streets at dawn.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/Md4EFg0Gn_8/la-fg-egypt-protests-color-20110205,0,1523490.story
Obama Pressed to Pressurise Egypt’s Military, Jim Lobe, February 05, 2011
On the eve of massive planned protests dubbed “Day of Departure” in Egypt, continuing attacks by pro-government conspirators on anti-government protestors and roundups of human rights activists and foreign journalists are contributing to pressures on the administration of President Barack Obama to take a tougher line, including withholding military aid, toward the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Obama Pressed to Pressurise Egypt’s Military


Egypt’s Fate Lies in a Square, Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani, February 05, 2011
CAIRO – Demonstrators who turned up in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Friday in even larger numbers than on earlier days are from all walks of life: old men wearing traditional galibiyas, young people in jeans and T-shirts, and women of all ages wearing Islamic head scarves. The protesters, whose numbers across the nation are now estimated at more than one million and growing, shout variations of one slogan: “The people want the fall of the regime!”

Egypt’s Fate Lies in a Square


Ripple Effects of Tunisia and Egypt
Amid Egypt-inspired unrest, Iraqi prime minister cuts salary in half
Baghdad (CNN) — Amid growing unrest about poor public services and water shortages, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday agreed to cut his salary in half.  Protesters around Iraq have said recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia inspired their weeklong demonstrations for improvements in government services and their quality of life.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/04/iraq.maliki.protesters/ 
Egypt sends shockwaves across Middle East
The upheaval in Egypt has had repercussions across the entire Middle East, and created concern in Israel about the stability of the region.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12371871
Egyptian turmoil complicates Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
The uprising in Egypt threatens to further derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, with the United States and other key actors distracted and no one sure whether President Hosni Mubarak’s successor will maintain Egypt’s mediating role, diplomats and analysts said.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=186ac0a35b27d8f19c6b7fbb61d13bdc 
Rallies for reform held in Jordan
Hundreds of protesters demand reform in Amman while a “day of rage” planned for Damascus fails to get underway.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/201124141624836763.html
France rocked by news of aid to Tunisia and Egypt
France trained Egyptian police officers in crowd control and sent tear gas to Tunis. And its foreign minister vacationed in Tunisia after the uprising, using the jet of a man linked to the ousted president. As French officials continue to grapple with the fallout of their African foreign policy, they have been rocked by new disclosures about aid to security forces in Tunisia and Egypt, and calls for the foreign minister’s resignation over her holiday in Tunisia during the uprising there.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/t8BLI7f2h2U/la-fg-france-scandal-20110205,0,3337828.story 
     

Moor: Television fails to capture the wider experience of Tahrir

Feb 05, 2011

Ahmed Moor

 

I just wanted to write a quick note about media coverage of what’s been going on here in Cairo. 

I haven’t had much access to outside media over the past eleven days, but I managed to watch a few hours of BBC and CNN coverage last night. Most of the coverage highlighted the ongoing clashes between demonstrators and Mubarak’s goons. The footage, the commentary, the anchor’s questions to correspondents on the ground all seemed focused on the violence. But what wasn’t communicated on either network while I watched was that there were more than one hundred thousand people in Tahrir Square at the time.

It’s a huge space, and I went back and forth between the front line and the center of the square where there was a relative measure of safety several times throughout the day. The distance between where the front developed and the center of the square is about five hundred meters. Unsurprisingly, all of the journalists were cloistered at front.

There has been real violence here over the past twelve days; I’ve witnessed a great deal of it especially on the first few days of the revolution and on Wed of this week. But a whole lot of other things have been going on. And a group of several hundred men throwing stones is always going to be more newsworthy than the thousands standing behind them. 

My point is just that journalism skews towards sensationalism and narrow story lines -and I’m as guilty of that as anyone else. But that’s why my experience on the ground yesterday was so different from the scenes I witnessed on television (of course, it doesn’t help that footage is looped). The scope of events – and geography – is much larger a single camera lens. 
     

They’re dancing in Palestine, too

Feb 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Pro-Egypt demonstration in Ramallah. One arrested, reportedly.

 
     

‘NYT’ pulls back the curtain (For U.S., Egypt is about Israel)

Feb 05, 2011

Ira Glunts

 

In an extraordinary report which appeared today both on the Internet and in the print edition of The New York Times, writers Helene Cooper and Mark Landler make plain the huge importance of Israel and the Israel lobby in all American government decisions regarding the ongoing crisis in Egypt.

Among those quoted in the article, which is innocuously titled “Crisis In Egypt Tests US Ties With Israel,” are some of the usual players in the lobby game, such as Daniel Shapiro, a White House adviser, Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Josh Block, the former AIPAC spokesperson, Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents, and the ubiquitous pro-Israel writer Jeffrey Goldberg.  Some of their comments, such as Honlein’s characterization of Mohamed ElBaradei as “a stooge of Iran” are incendiary.

But the most prominent and sane voice is that of Daniel Levy, the former Israeli negotiator who is presently a so-called pro-Israel critic of the occupation and Israeli militarism.  Levy declares,

…the core of what is the American interest in this [Egypt]. It’s Israel. It’s not worry about whether the Egyptians are going to close down the Suez Canal, or even the narrower terror issue. It really can be distilled down to one thing, and that’s Israel.

The problem for America is, you can balance being the carrier for the Israeli agenda with Arab autocrats, but with Arab democracies, you can’t do that.

It occurs to me that in the revised and updated edition of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer will have to add a new chapter on the role of the lobby in the new U.S. relationship with Egypt.

 
     

America is about to begin a love affair with the Arab world

Feb 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Photos from Tahrir Square (c) Christina Rizk. See her album here.

Like you I have spent the last ten days glued to the screen, and the only way to convey my joy and excitement is: these are the greatest public events of my adult life. I wasn’t around for the civil rights movement, the counter-culture had its hedonistic side, and I was too walled in by maleness and straightness to understand feminism and Stonewall for what they were. Eastern Europe seemed inevitable. Obama’s election was 8 on the Richter scale. This is 11, this is Pompei, it’s buried the old world.

Is there anything more noble in human conduct than people with their bare hands taking on a dictator and a superpower so as to lead their children to a more enlightened future? Nothing. And when you combine that ravishing spectacle with the thoroughgoing prejudice against Arabs to which I have also been prey– they are lesser, uneducated, clannish, violent, fundamentalist, sexist, etc– well this has been shattering and transformative, as great as any revolution we read about in our schoolbooks.

And I’m not alone. All Americans have been swept up in this glory. You see this in the attitude of our reporters, Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper, and in Barack Obama himself. His statement yesterday was his best yet. He is being led by the Egyptian street.

 

Historic revolutions go well beyond their borders. The Russian revolution affected world discourse for two generations, the American and French revolution transformed the west, the Soviet Union’s collapse led the way to the application of international law. The Egyptian revolution will also sweep the world, arm in arm with the internet.

And while no one can be sure how this one will play out, this much I am sure of: America is about to begin a love affair with the Arab world. The romance of this revolution will soon come to our shores. Americans will come to regard Arabs with not just respect but prestige. Arab culture will become hip. Hookahs and humus will be the rage. Arab artists and performers will come to the White House. New York networks and theaters and museums will celebrate Arab magnificence. And more and more people will wear kuffiyehs.

This is inevitable because the pleasure, eloquence and beauty of Arab culture have been dammed up too long in the American psyche, and this is a dam break. The neoconservatives who infected us with racist ideas are on the run, it has been more than 30 years since Edward Said published Orientalism, enough time to bear fruit. But most of all the love affair is a necessary response to the incredible policy errors of our government. We are far enough away from 9/11 and the Iraq war to understand that the U.S. made grave errors in its conduct.

Also, we can finally say that we are on the right side, and take pride in that. I believe that the Obama administration will play a positive role in carrying this revolution forward peacefully, and we had a role in fomenting the revolution; as the new prime minister of Tunisia told Piers Morgan on CNN last night, This is a revolution made by facebook and twitter.

How shocking to see America in such a good light in the Arab world. It can’t be long before the revolution will bring a tidal wave of American tourism to Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo, Tunis, and yes, walled Jerusalem. 

 

I have traveled in many Arab countries and always struggled to make out that world through the fearful screen of American prejudice. Even my travels in Palestine, meeting noble people forged by nonviolent resistance– I have seen Arabs as other. And I looked for the revolution to come inside American life, Jewish life, even Israel; and I was wrong (and Pamela Olson, Annie, and Susan Johnson and Rachel Corrie and Emily Henochowicz were way ahead of me) The Egyptians have shown greater bravery and vision. So they will lead Americans and American Jews too. I see it in Wolf Blitzer and Martin Indyk’s awe at these events– two powerful Jews who once worked for AIPAC and its offshoot; I see them deferring to the power of the Egyptian imagination. I see it in the prevalence of hijab-covered women on television, civil rights leaders for once, not signifiers of difference.

Is the Israel lobby still around to try and block this awareness? Of course. The reactionary are talking about sharia law and the Muslim brotherhood. That is the definition of reactionary. The intelligent are waking up. Today on the NPR show On the Media, they had segment after segment about Arab opinion, Arab attitudes. As I have said before, Mona Eltahawy and Tarek Masoud have become stars because we so crave their understanding. Intelligent reasonable Americans all share something of my joy, and now have deep curiosity about a world they have been lied to about again and again. The awakening that so many of us have had in the Palestinian solidarity community will occur across the U.S. discourse, and we will begin to see the beautiful diversity of Arab life.

Will it change the Israel/Palestine conflict? Of course it will. I’m not going to predict just how but that conflict has been a dam against human understanding, for over 60 years, way too long, but now a huge flood of understanding and sympathy will break the dam. Pro-Arab feeling will rival pro-Israel feeling. Jews in the power structure will begin to question their Zionism, or they will be forced to. Yes there is tremendous resistance. This Times piece today shows the hand-in-glove relationship of the US and Israel. (“Daniel Shapiro, a White House Middle East adviser, met on Tuesday with American Jewish leaders, and Mr. Obama talked to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday.”) Or last night Eliot Spitzer showed a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman stating that Palestinians had a right to resist Israel and imperialism in such a way as to make the man out to be a jihadist. But the dam will break over Spitzer too, as Americans demand to know more about the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas too, and learn about the steady racist dispossession of the Palestinians.

All the neocon lies about Arabs wanting to restore the Caliphate and smoldering Arab resentment over civilizational decline contained a shadow truth, of Arab greatness as members of the human family. They have been outcast too long. They are home at last. Let the Angry Arab stop being angry, let Abunimah into the NY Review of Books, break out the tabbouleh and the oud.

 
     

Even the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli cells are following the news from Egypt

Feb 05, 2011

Kate

 

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Concrete clashes / Aviva Lori
Israel’s newest urban center, Tzur Yitzhak, is just up the hill from Taibeh, built on lands that once belonged to the Arab town. It’s not clear what motivated some of the decisions that went into planning it … If you continue to the end of Nahal Poleg Street, you reach Taibeh. Without the separation fence built around Tzur Yitzhak, it would have been possible to roll down the hill straight into the two mosques at the bottom, or into one of the industrial plants at its foot. From Nahal Poleg Street, Taibeh is just a stone’s throw away. 
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/concrete-clashes-1.341242
Netanyahu commits to promoting Arab construction in East Jerusalem
Commitments comes as Israel plans gestures to Palestinians in bid to deflect Quartet criticism over settlement construction.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-commits-to-promoting-arab-construction-in-east-jerusalem-1.341285
Violence continues in Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) — Sporadic clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian residents of Silwan yesterday. Israeli troops fired tear gas grenades at Palestinian homes in Bir Ayyub and Baten al-Hawa, and were also stationed in Ein Silwan area on the outskirts of Wadi Hilweh. Daily clashes have been taking place throughout Silwan as Israeli troops continue to subject Palestinian residents to the violence of tear gas and sound grenades. A large number of residents, including many children and several pregnant women have suffered from severe suffocation as a result of gas inhalation, in some cases even losing their unborn babies to the toxic fumes. A vast number of gas grenades have also been fired directly inside Palestinian homes, sparking fires in two homes in Baten al-Hawa.
http://silwanic.net/?p=11564
AIC Video: Protest El Araqib demolitions
3 Feb – 200 Palestinians and Israelis attended a protest on Tuesday 1 February at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) office in Jerusalem against Israel’s 12 demolitions of the El Araqib village since last summer. The JNF is planning to plant a “peace forest” on the El Araqib resident’s land, thus uprooting people in order to plant trees. This is part of a wider Israeli attack against the Bedouin community in the Negev Desert and traditional ownership of the area’s land.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3250-aic-video-protest-el-araqib-demolitions
Incursions / Violence
PCHR: Israeli attacks left three Palestinians killed this week
Israeli military attacks left three Palestinians dead; troops arrested 23 civilians this week, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in its weekly report. The report, which documents daily human rights violations in the occupied territories, covers the period of Thursday, January 27, to Wednesday, February 2, 2011 … During the reporting period, the Israeli army conducted at least 31 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 23 Palestinian civilians, including a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and 7 children.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9505&Itemid=63
IOF troops raid Jenin villages
JENIN, (PIC)– …Local sources said that a number of army vehicles rolled into the village of Qabatya, set up a road block near the vegetable market and searched some of the farmers. IOF troops also raided the village of Kafr Raiand combed the area between this village and the neighbouring village of Fahma. They fired sound bombs disturbing the peace of the early dawn hours.Local residents also said that that IOF troops raided the village ofMaraka to the south of Jenin and roamed the streets of the village until late morning hours.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Family of Amr Qawasme, murdered in his bed, seeks accountability
“I sleep one night and then I don’t sleep because I am afraid something will happen. They killed him in front of me,” Subhya Qawasme explained, while fixing her intensely green eyes on me, and gesturing with her large, muscular hands. On 7 January, five Israeli soldiers invaded Subhya’s home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Her husband, Amr, was shot to death while he was sleeping in their bed as Subhya prayed beside him. Amr Qawasme was 66 years old. He was a former construction worker, a father of 12 and a grandfather of 37. The Israeli military quickly admitted that Amr’s murder was “a mistake,” that his killing was a botched attempted extra-judicial execution mission.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11776.shtml
Activism / Solidarity
The popular struggle in solidarity with the Egyptian people
Throughout the West Bank, demonstrations will call for the safety of Egyptian protesters engaged in legitimate political protest. The villages of Bil’in, Ni’ilin, Nabi Saleh, and Al Ma’asara will stand in solidarity with the Egyptian people. WHEN: Friday, 4 February 2011, 12:30 WHAT: Demonstrations Against the Israeli Occupation and Separation Barrier in Solidarity with the Egyptian People
http://josephdana.com/2011/02/the-popular-struggle-in-solidarity-with-the-egyptian-people/
Israeli troops attack anti-Wall protesters marching in solidarity with Egypt
[roundup] 4 Feb – Scores of Palestinians joined Israeli and international supporters to march against the Israeli wall in different locations in the West Bank on Friday. This week, protests were held in solidarity with the pro-democracy Egyptian demonstrators …In Wadi Rahal, many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation after Israeli troops attacked protesters … In the nearby village of Bil’in, Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest as soon as people and their international and Israeli supporters reached the gate of the wall separating local farmers form their lands. Troops used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets against the unarmed civilians. Local journalist Haytham al-Khateeb was injured in the hand and many others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9509&Itemid=59
The importance of countering Canada’s National Security Agenda for justice in Palestine
From February 4th to the 6th the peoples commission network will be holding a popular forum called Whose security? Our Security!, to bring activists, social justice organizers and communities together, in order to broaden the movement against Canada’s National Security Agenda. n terms of the ongoing work towards solidarity with Palestine through the growing Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign to end Israeli apartheid. It is critical for those who work on the question of Palestine to also build an analysis and a challenge to the way in which national security has been used by the Conservative government as a means to show its continued support for Israeli Apartheid, through the discourse of the war on terror and to delegitimise both the Palestine solidarity here and the struggle for self-determination and justice in Palestine.
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/8613
Detention
Witnesses: Army detains 3 Beit Ummar residents
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained three Palestinians on Thursday near the illegal settlement of Karmi Tzur in Hebron, witnesses said. Palestinian Solidarity Project spokesman Mohammad Awad said soldiers detained Belal Hamdan Abu Maria, 25, Issa Mohammad Issa Baher, 20, and Abdallah Samir Abdallah, 20. All three are residents ofBeit Ummar, he said. Awad added that soldiers attacked him and destroyed his camera.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356874
Israel authorities deprive family visits to prisoner for seven years

JENIN, February 3, 2011 (WAFA) – A prisoner’s wife from Jenin, north of the West Bank, called on international legal and human rights organizations Thursday to pressure the Israeli authorities to allow her and her daughter to visit her husband, after her husband had been denied visits for the last seven years. The husband, Anas Hithnawi, 27, from Jenin was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment, and has been prohibited from seeing his wife and child for the last seven years.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15064

Palestinian captives are following the Egyptian people’s revolution
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Palestinian captives in the Negev desert prison are following closely the progress of the Egyptian people’s revolution and the news emanating from the Tahrir Square in Cairo through whatever media means available to them in jail. In a letter leaked out of prison the captives said that despite the very cold weather at night captives of different political persuasions are following closely events taking place in Egypt and pray for the success of the people’s revolution … The captives said that most of them, even Fatah’s captives, support the demands of the Egyptian protesters.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Siege
Gaza facing fuel crisis as tunnel trade stops
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip is facing a fuel crisis since political unrest in Egypt led to the closure of smuggling tunnels, fuel company officials warned Thursday. Deputy head of fuel companies in the Strip Mahmoud Al-Khazendar said gas stations have completely run out of fuel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356879
Gaza crossings closed
Israeli authorities decided to close both crossings into the Gaza Strip on Friday and Saturday, Palestinian liaison officials said. On Thursday, between 170 and 180 truckloads of commercial and humanitarian goods were allowed into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, crossings official Raed Fattouh said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356918
Gaza bloggers build bridges to outside world
(CNN) 4 Feb — In Gaza, bloggers say they are using the internet to share the realities of their daily lives with the wider world. Mona El-Farra, a 56-year-old doctor and human rights activist, began writing her blog From Gaza, with Love in 2006.She said she started distributing her diary by email after her parents’ home was demolished by the Israeli army in 2000, and later the diary became a blog … Sharif Al Sharif, a 27-year-old media co-coordinator for a Palestinian youth organization, began blogging in 2006.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/04/gaza.bloggers/
Reprisals
Army: Gaza projectile hits Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — A projectile fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel on Friday morning, causing no damage or injuries, the Israeli military said. A military spokeswoman said the rocket hit the Sdot Negev district, just east of the coastal enclave. As yet no faction has claimed the launch.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356972
Egyptian uprising and Palestine
Anti, pro-Mubarak protests feared in Jerusalem
Following information Fatah and Hamas planning to protest in favor and against Egyptian regime’s downfall, Jerusalem Police restrict worshippers’ entry to Temple Mount for Friday prayers. Any attempt to cause disturbances will be dealt with firmly, officials say
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4023884,00.html
Report: 50,000 protest in Egyptian Rafah
4 Feb – Al-Jazeera network reports tens of thousands join nationwide protests against Egyptian President Mubarak near Gaza border. EU leaders issue statement saying ‘transition process must start now’
Gaza feeds hungry Egyptian troops in role reversal
(Reuters) 4 Feb – Underground tunnels generally used to smuggle goods into Gaza are moving traffic in the opposite direction in the wake of the popular uprising in Egypt… Egyptian soldiers isolated on the Gaza border by 10 days of internal upheaval are getting bread, canned goods and other food supplies from the enclave, which is usually on the receiving end of food aid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-feeds-hungry-egyptian-troops-in-role-reversal-1.341316
PA bans ‘unlicensed assembly’
4 Feb 13:26 The Palestinian Authority has banned “unlicensed gatherings” in order to preserve order in the West Bank, security spokesman Adnan Ad-Dmeiri announced Thursday. The PA official said the ruling was in response to demonstrations in solidarity with uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. In a statement, Ad-Dmeiri said the PA affirmed the right of expression but that the demonstrations would create chaos.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356917
Human Rights Watch: PA must end violence against demonstrators
3 Feb 21:11 RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority should end police violence against peaceful demonstrators, the latest instance being Wednesday evening in Ramallah, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. Police punched, kicked, and detained participants in the demonstration, as well as at least two journalists and a Human Rights Watch research assistant, the New York-based group said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356778
Hundreds in Gaza rally in solidarity with Egypt
Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rallied Thursday in solidarity with the uprising in Egypt. Marchers carried banners reading “People want the regime out” and “Down with Hosni Mubarak”. A student group distributed a statement calling on the UN to take action against the regime.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356866
VIDEO: Thousands support ‘day of rage’ against Hamas
Inspired by the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, a Facebook group called “The Revolution of Honor – Gaza” has called for a “day of rage” next Friday to protest against the Hamas government which rules the coastal enclave. The group has grown to some 10,000 members just three days after it was launched … Tawfiq Tirawi, a former intelligence chief in the Palestinian Authority and a current member of Fatah’s Central Committee, supported the group’s cause. “We are a nation which fights with all means at its disposal to gain freedom and independence from the Israeli occupation, so how can we accept Hamas’ despotic regime?” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4023806,00.html
Palestine’s Egypt ambassador defends response
CAIRO (Ma’an) — The Palestinian ambassador to Cairo said Thursday the embassy was following up with all Palestinians stranded in Egypt, after his response came under criticism. Barakat Al-Farra denounced the “media campaign” on Hamas websites about the embassy’s response to the crisis. Palestinians stranded at the airport or Rafah crossing are receiving all possible assistance, Al-Farra said … Staff distributed blankets, medication and 100 Egyptian pounds to every Palestinian stranded at the airport, he said, and embassy staff remain in constant communication. “Everything is being handled responsibly.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356833
Politics / Diplomacy
Israel, Palestinians float Gaza gas rapprochement
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 4 Feb – Israel and the Palestinians are eyeing talks to develop a gas field off the Gaza coast and other initiatives for an independent Palestinian infrastructure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday. The announcement anticipated a meeting on Saturday of world powers trying to revive peace talks mired by long-running Israeli-Palestinian disputes about West Bank boundaries as well as the inflexibility of Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110204/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_gas
Palestinian PM: Palestinian issues sparking unrest
3 Feb (AP) – PARIS—Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday that the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has helped fuel unrest in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mideast. During a visit to Paris, Fayyad said protesters’ complaints stem not only from internal problems in their own societies, but also from “a frustration, a desperation because of the failure of efforts to solve the Palestinian problem.”
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_17282413
Palestinian Authority to seek less aid in 2011
PARIS (Reuters) 4 Feb — The Palestinian Authority will ask for substantially less foreign aid from a donor conference this year than in the past and hopes to wean itself off budget assistance by 2013, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Friday. Fayyad also said he wanted June’s donor meeting to be accompanied by progress in the process of establishing statehood for the Palestinian entity by the end of 2011.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110204/wl_nm/us_palestinians_aid
UN rights chief to visit Israel, Palestinian areas
GENEVA (AFP) – UN human rights chief Navi Pillay will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, starting on Sunday where she will meet leaders from both sides, her office announced … Her office told AFP that the visit was requested by both governments. Israel has traditionally been sharply critical of UN human rights bodies and their criticism of violations in the Palestinian territories, and has refused to cooperate with some of the world body’s rights experts.http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110204/wl_mideast_afp/unrightsmideastpalestiniansisrael
Israel
Love the convert / Tamar Rotem
Alina Roise and Maxim Sardikov are confronting the rabbinic authorities in court, in the hope that no other converted couple will go through the bitter experience they had … About 30 percent of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who have come to Israel under the Law of Return are not Jews under rabbinical law, because only their father is Jewish … “It was only when they arrived here that a few of the immigrants realized they cannot marry because the rabbinate doesn’t accept that people with only a Jewish father are Jews.” 
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/love-the-convert-1.341218
Analysis / Opinion
Israel and Palestine: Breaking the silence / David Shulman
Feb 24 issue – A few weeks ago I was in al-Nabi Salih, a Palestinian village northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. It wasn’t so easy to get there; the Israeli army had closed off the area on every side, and we literally had to crawl through the olive groves, just beneath one of the army’s roadblocks, before we managed to reach the village. Al-Nabi Salih is a troubled place. The large Israeli settlement of Halamish nearby has taken over nearly half of the village lands, including a precious freshwater spring. Most Fridays there are dramatic confrontations between the soldiers and the villagers protesting this land grab and the other difficulties of life under occupation. Yet the first thing I saw in al-Nabi Salih was a huge sign in Arabic and English: “We Believe in Non-Violence. Do You?” It was World Peace Day, and speaker after speaker reaffirmed a commitment to peace and to nonviolent resistance to the occupation … Particularly eloquent was Ali Abu Awwad, a young activist who runs a new organization, the Palestinian Movement for Non-Violent Resistance, with its offices in Bethlehem and growing influence throughout the occupied territories. “Peace itself is the way to peace,” he said, “and there is no peace without freedom.” All of this is, in some ways, rather new in Palestine, although in his latest book the philosopher Sari Nusseibeh, the president of al-Quds University in Jerusalem, traces an earlier stage of organized Palestinian civil disobedience in the popular struggle of the first intifada in 1988 and 1989, in which he had a significant part.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/feb/24/israel-palestine-breaking-silence/
Twilight Zone: A tale of love and darkness / Gideon Levy
This week it was impossible for Israeli journalists who do not hold a foreign passport to enter Egypt to fulfill a journalist’s passionate desire to be there now, especially now … That first trip, in December 1977, with the first Israelis who ever visited Egypt, was certainly the most electrifying journalistic mission of my life; nothing will ever compare to it. Nothing can compare to the first visit to an Arab country after all those years of darkness; nothing will ever be like that misty morning at the Mena House hotel, when I opened the curtain in my room and my unbelieving eyes saw the pyramids looming in all their glory. Nothing will compare to the night when we stole out of the hotel, away from our security guards, and went to see the marvels of Cairo night life. Nothing will ever compare to the shattering of all the myths and the disinformation with which our brains had been washed, as we encountered Egypt and its inhabitants for ourselves. 
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/twilight-zone-a-tale-of-love-and-darkness-1.341250
A second chance / Aluf Benn
The turmoil in the region may prove to be a blessing in disguise for Netanyahu: Now maybe he’ll have an excuse to push through a peace deal with the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/a-second-chance-1.341213
When it comes to Arabs, Israel knows only what it wants to / Sayed Kashua
After listening to our Arab affairs analysts, I reached the conclusion that the Knesset should pass a law banning Jews from learning Arabic … most of our analysts have already decided that contrary to what the demonstrators in Cairo’s streets are demanding, there is no chance for democracy in the Islamic world. “That’s not right,” argued Dr. Uriya Shavit on Reshet’s morning program. “Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, and it has a real democracy.” “Yes,” countered Eli Shaked, “but Indonesia is not an Arab country. And there’s a difference.” According to the former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, whose employment history proves he must know Egypt like the back of his hand, Arabness is the problem that’s preventing democracy. 
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/when-it-comes-to-arabs-israel-knows-only-what-it-wants-to-1.341247
Book: Israeli Rejectionism, Zalman Amit & Daphna Levit
Zalman Amit and Daphna Levit find overwhelming evidence of Israeli rejectionism as the main cause for the failure of peace. They demonstrate that the Israeli leadership has always been against a fairly negotiated peace and have deliberately stalled negotiations for the last 80 years. The motivations behind this rejectionist position have changed, as have the circumstances of the conflict, but the conclusion has remained consistent – peace has not been in the interest of the state of Israel.
https://sites.google.com/a/plutobooks.com/amit/
Iraq
Thursday: 17 Iraqis killed, 47 wounded
At least 20 Iraqis were killed and 62 more were wounded in the latest violence. Although these figures appear to be closer to a daily average, there were no reports from Ninewa or Diyala, which are two of the more violent provinces in Iraq. While it is possible these two areas have suddenly become very peaceful, it is more likely that attacks are going unreported or the information is not reaching the West. Also, protests against a lack of vital services took place in Baghdad and Hamza, but Madia al Rawai, a member of the Iraqi Women’s Association, warns that Iraq’s million war widows are ready to protest their poverty as well.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/02/03/thursday-17-iraqis-killed-47-wounded/
Iraqi boy killed by gunmen aiming for his father
4 Feb BAGHDAD (AP) — A police chief in northern Iraq says the 8-year-old son of a local anti-terrorism chief was killed in a food market by gunmen aiming for his father. Tuz Khormato police chief Col. Hussein Rasheed said Friday that the target of the shooting was the chief of the city’s anti-terrorism security squads. The father and two of his other children were wounded in the Thursday night shooting.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110204/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq
Iraq not immune from Arab anger: clerics
KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) 4 Feb — Iraq is not immune to protests elsewhere in the Arab world because it is a democracy, and its leaders must work to fight corruption and promote social justice, clerics said in Friday sermons.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110204/wl_mideast_afp/egyptpoliticsunrestiraqreligion
Iraqi refugees trapped in Egypt appeal to UN
London, Asharq Al-Awsat  (4 Feb) — A number of Iraqis who are living in Egypt and who have applied for refugee status with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR] have expressed fears for their lives in light of the deteriorating security situation in the country. The Iraqi embassy in Egypt has offered to return any Iraqi citizens trapped in Egypt to Baghdad; however these Iraqi refugees are unable to return to Iraq for fear of what could happen to them there, whilst also fearing to remain in Egypt during this difficult stage. 
http://www.aawsa.tcom/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24035
Other Mideast / Arab world
Change in Egypt throws dark shadow over Jordan / Salameh Nematt
3 Feb – The stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process has heightened tension in Jordan over the past several months, deepening local fears that a worsening situation in the occupied Palestinian territories may spill over to the kingdom, where nearly half of the population is of Palestinian origin. 
http://www.bitterlemons-international.org/inside.php?id=1340
Jordan’s king admits reforms had floundered
4 Feb (AP) AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II Thursday acknowledged reforms in the kingdom have “slowed and stumbled,” and urged the nation’s Islamist opposition to work with the new cabinet to give the people a greater say in politics. The appeal came a day after the powerful Muslim Brotherhood rejected an offer from the newly appointed prime minister to join his Cabinet, saying the new premier was the wrong person to introduce reforms.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=124529#axzz1D1QxmH5d
Rallies held in Jordan and Syria
Hundreds of protesters demand reform in Amman while Damascus prepares for a “day of rage” inspired by events in Egypt … Meanwhile, security is being beefed up in Syria ahead of planned anti-government demonstrations in Damascus, the capital. Campaigns on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter have called for a “day of rage” on Friday and Saturday, following similar actions in Yemen, Egypt and Tunisia.Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed many critics of his regime.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201124141624836763.html

Regional instability could spread to Syria
DAMASCUS (AFP) — The wave of pro-democracy protests engulfing the Arab world could spread to Syria, where the Baath party has been in power for almost half a century, according to analysts. “No Arab country is immune. These unprecedented opposition movements have demands. They feel aggrieved by absolute power and lack of democracy,” said Riad Qahwaji of the Institute for the Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356880
Syria’s policies may save it from a ‘dignity revolution’ / John Bell
Beyond its ruthlessness, Syria’s politics of Arab dignity and support for resistance against Israel may provide a measure of immunity from popular revolt. Its refusal to “fold” to Israeli and American demands make it that much less susceptible to the Dignity Revolution sweeping the Arab world. 
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/syria-s-policies-may-save-it-from-a-dignity-revolution-1.341182
Jordanians in fresh protest at PM’s office
AMMAN (AFP) 4 Feb — Around 1,000 protesters gathered on Friday outside the Jordanian prime minister’s office to demand reforms, before staging a sit-in near Cairo’s embassy in support of anti-regime protests in Egypt. The demonstrators, answering calls by the powerful Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood, chanted: “The people demand reform and change.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=357001
Tunisia replaces regional governors
3 Feb – Interim government continues efforts to dismantle Ben Ali’s legacy while struggling to restore order and stability.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201123195630165176.html
Lebanon economy to weather political storm: analysts
BEIRUT (AFP) 3 Feb — Lebanon’s economy should be able to survive the political turmoil that has seen the appointment of a Hezbollah-backed premier due to the strength of the country’s banking system and replete foreign currency reserves, analysts say.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110203/wl_mideast_afp/lebanonpoliticseconomy
Yemen gov’t supporters tighten grip on Sanaa square
[with map] SANAA (AFP) — Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh tightened their control of Sanaa’s central square on Friday, after crowding out a planned opposition rally there the previous day. Tents, national flags and portraits of Saleh were erected across Al-Tahrir Square, which was occupied by hundreds of supporters of the ruling Popular Congress General and patrolled by members of the security forces.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=356999
Bouteflika criticizes ‘excesses’ during Algerian riots
ALGIERS (AFP) — Algeria’s president denounced on Thursday “regrettable excesses” during deadly January riots while announcing measures demanded by the opposition including shortly lifting the state of emergency.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=357002
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks: Prince Philip claims he owns part of Jerusalem
Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II’s consort, claimed in the 1980s ownership of a famous piece of property in downtown Jerusalem … Marriages among European royal stock were once common, and so it is not surprising to find that the only living descendant of the 19th-century Russian prince who gave his name to the Jerusalem building is the 21st-century husband of Britain’s queen.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/wikileaks-prince-philip-claims-he-owns-part-of-jerusalem-1.341122
U.S.
‘Outrageous’: Guantanamo prisoner dies after being held for nine years without charge or trial / Andy Worthington
4 Feb – The Second World War lasted for six years, and at the end of it prisoners of war were released to resume their lives. At Guantánamo, on the other hand, the prison has just marked the ninth anniversary of its opening, and on Thursday the Pentagon announced that Awal Gul, a 48-year old Afghan prisoner, who had been held for nine years without charge or trial and was scheduled to be held forever, died in a shower after suffering a heart attack. Gul had never been held as a prisoner of war, and despite the US government’s assertions that he could be held forever, no one in a position of authority — neither President Bush nor President Obama — had never adequately demonstrated that he constituted a threat to the United States. 
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/02/04-6
US intelligence agencies in the crossfire amid ‘surprising’ Mideast unrest
(AP) Obama reportedly chides intel chief for failure to predict Tunisia protests; senior Democratic Senator: Events should not have surprised like they did.http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-intelligence-agencies-in-the-crossfire-amid-surprising-mideast-unrest-1.341206

 
Comment on this article >
     

Cardin, Democratic Senator, vows that Muslim Brotherhood should play ‘no part in governance of Egypt’
Feb 05, 2011 07:47 am | Philip Weiss

 

The other night on Jon Stewart they made fun of the Texas Christians who are against a Jew, Joe Straus, being speaker of the House down there. They quoted a leader of the Texas Pastors’ Council who said that a Muslim should not hold public office in Texas. Intolerance.

Well, on the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU in Washington yesterday, a powerful politician expressed similar intolerance with respect to a religious group in Egypt. The reporter is Tom Sherwood. Politician is Ben Cardin. By the way, he’s Jewish. Is he a Zionist? I can only guess. (thanks to Ali Gharib for all facts in this post)

SHERWOOD 12:14:47 What are the — what is the role and what is the Muslim Brotherhood, which some people are just hearing for the first time, as a participant in whatever happens next?

CARDIN 12:14:58 Well, the Muslim Brotherhood is probably the best organized of the opposition. It’s a very small group within Egypt, but it’s a group that has supported terrorists. It’s a group that is opposed to the peace process, and it’s a group that the United States — I think, the region and the international community has a legitimate right to say should it be — should have no part in the governance of Egypt.

 
     

Neocons get their talking points down: Sharia bogeyman

Feb 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Yesterday Josh Block formerly of AIPAC, formerly of Ted Kennedy’s staff, now of the Progressive Policy Institute, (and this resume shows what a hash Zionism has made of Democratic politics) sent out a memo to editors warning that the Muslim Brotherhood is taking over Egypt with Sharia law. Some of his questions:

1. Can the Muslim Brotherhood participate in a government, where Egypt continues to fulfill Egypt’s obligations to Israel under the Camp David Accords?

2. Can the Muslim Brotherhood lead or even be part of a government that continues extensive counter-terrorism cooperation with Israel and the United States, as conducted by the last government?

4. Can the Muslim Brotherhood participate in an Egyptian government that maintains the Western-backed closure of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip?

5. Would the party sit in a coalition government with female cabinet ministers? 

7. Does the Muslim Brotherhood intend to push Egyptian lawmakers to adopt Koran-based law for Egyptian Muslims and former Muslims, including mandating death for apostasy?

Also, this is from Ali Gharib:

Here’s Eli Lake’s article on a Muslim Brotherhood higher-up calling for ending the peace treaty with Israel, without ever mentioning that Egyptians just might view the peace treaty with Israel as the primary means of enabling Mubarak’s brutal repression of their country. And then there’s this little nasty bit:

“In the last week some al Qaeda affiliated websites have released messages praising the demonstrations against Mr. Mubarak.”
Right, and so have the leaders of the Islamic Republic and the Green Movement. And a whole lot of other people.

 
     

Colonialist misgivings (we should have put Jewish state in Missouri)

Feb 05, 2011

Philip Weiss

 

Now they tell us. David Rothkopf, a big Israel-supporter, at Foreign Policy:

Bibi faces a potentially seismic shift in Israel’s strategic position unequaled in nearly a half-century. As one worried, smart, well-known Israel-watcher said to me the other day, “They shouldn’t have located Israel in the Middle East. Too dangerous. They should have put it in the Middle … West.” For sure, if Kansas and Nebraska were his neighbors, Bibi Netanyahu would be a much more relaxed man today.

But as any student of Zionism can tell you, the Zionists knew at the turn of the last century, when Herzl was describing Zionism as a colonialist project, that the bride already had a husband, as one of them put it; Arabs lived in Palestine. The Zionists considered Argentina and Uganda too. I believe it was Noam Chomsky who said, Better they got New Jersey.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *