NOVANEWS
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Palestine Papers– Fantasy and fiasco
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This is all that matters
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Revolutionary thought
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The Palestine Cables: Egyptian VP Suleiman, Israel’s favorite, wants ‘Gaza to go ‘hungry’ but not ‘starve”
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The Egyptian uprising is united in one goal – Remove the Mubarak regime
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Crash on the Nile– Mubarak isn’t stepping down!
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Getting to know the ‘son of Egypt,’ Wael Ghonim
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Al Arakib villagers beaten and gassed as they protest the 16th demolition of their homes
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Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib recounts torture at the hands of the US/Israeli favorite Omar Suleiman
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J Street says it invited boycott advocate to its conference so as to pillory her
Palestine Papers– Fantasy and fiasco
Feb 11, 2011
Issa Khalaf
Most of us who admire and respect Hanan Ashrawi are keen to hear her thoughts on the current Palestinian situation, especially on the recent, so-called Palestine Papers. In an Al Jazeera interview with David Frost, “Frost Over the World” on 29 January 2011 found on You Tube, her position struck me as curious. I’ll summarize using many of her words without inserting quotation marks. She said that leaks are acceptable but not if they’re used as a political weapon, for ill-will, and in order to steer leaked documents in a certain direction, that is, not if they form a certain type of incitement or provocation, if they’re taken out of context, and if they’re doctored here and there. This, she said, makes the Palestine Papers, unlike WikLeaks whose leaks are neutral, a PR campaign with serious political objectives seeking to destabilize the PA and put a certain spin on those leaks. Al Jazeera, she says, is suspect. Some of the documents are doctored, some are true, some selected out of context. They are a deliberate attempt to show everything that is negative and that would negatively resonate among the Palestinian public and undermine the Palestinian negotiators and the leadership. Sometimes, they serve to break certain taboos and expose hidden attitudes. However, the Papers will enhance the rift and polarization between Hamas and the nationalists, making it much more difficult to reach conciliation. The documents show absolute American bias for Israel, the helplessness and pressure on the Palestinians, and Americans trying to manage the conflict rather than solve it, presenting no position beyond legal, political, and public discourse cover for Israel. They show Israel will not accept anything nor reciprocate in contrast to Palestinian flexibility and creativity. The talks, she said, have long been non-existent anyway, and the documents are merely “chats,” nothing agreed or conclusive or signed, just exploratory, not official positions.
It’s true that the hurried, journalistic and expert deluge of commentary on the Papers are isolated snapshots of one or more documents, not a comprehensive analysis and interpretation by professional historians, in context, of the entire bunch, and predicated on sound research of other sources. And that the Palestinian and other Arab analysts have a clear agenda, including advocacy of a one state strategy, and are not always fair, sometimes brutal, in their assessments and judgments.
Dr. Ashrawi is right: the Papers reveal nothing that we didn’t know—except perhaps that the Palestinians actually offered as much as they did. In 2008, the Palestinian negotiators were apparently willing to concede annexation of large areas of Palestinian East Jerusalem. These include the huge Jewish colonies and Palestinian “neighborhoods” where Jewish colonists set up shop, quarters of the Old City, and abdication of exclusive sovereignty over the Haram al-Sharif. Offered too, were land swaps to include 70-80 percent of the Jewish settlers, estimated to be 500,000 plus, in the Jewish state. They also capitulated on the non-return of refugees, accepted demilitarization, partial sovereignty over resources, transfer of some Palestino-Israelis into the Palestinian state, and, not (at that point) agreed to by Palestinian negotiators, recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state,” essentially an exclusive national state for Jews only. Israeli negotiators refused a 1:1 land swap ratio, and insisted on larger annexation of West Bank land than the Palestinians were willing to give up, which was quite a bit. Pretty much what the Israelis tried to get out of Arafat at Camp David in 2000. Yet, the Israelis would have none of it, including their rejection of dismantling two mega-colonies further north that cut the West Bank in half and held precious land and water aquifers. In any case, in recent years, one should add the Jordan Valley to Israel’s eternal possessions.
The Papers also show, despite their craven, undignified, sycophantic slips—(where is the principled dignity and humility of a negotiator such as the late Gazan, Dr. Haidar abd al-Shafi, or Hanan Ashrawi, herself?)—the Palestinians standing their principled ground on 1967 baseline, international law, UN resolutions, etc., and threatening to pursue a strategy of one state to prod their intransigent interlocutors. The Israelis were not negotiating seriously, just buying time as usual, while the Americans, especially George Mitchell, behaving like children pathetically fearful of their Israeli masters, refusing to contextualize the negotiations in international law and UN resolutions, and dismissive of their previous commitments to the Palestinians, such as the 1967 baseline. Whatever the Israelis won’t concede, which is pretty much everything, we’ll wring it out of the Palestinians. This is the wretched story as always. The weak, perhaps, should not “negotiate” with the strong.
As I write, my mind goes off into an aside, which is this. Washington is an extension of Israel’s diplomacy, its vanguard, as it is of Israel’s military and economy. The two are virtually indistinguishable, their strategy formed around a bi-national oneness, as if Israel—its needs and misdeeds, its worldview and psychology so deeply woven in American politics, foreign policy, and media—is, indeed, the fifty-first state, the coddled stepchild, as I believe Ron Paul referred to it. Washington will pressure and threaten any party—the Palestine Authority, an individual Arab state, the Arab League, at the UN, NGOs—use any “tool” at its disposal, go to any length to protect Israel from the consequences of its reckless, even suicidal path—right or wrong, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, decent or indecent. It will spend billions of Americans’ hard-earned dollars to maintain dictators, such as Hosni Mubarak, and their repressive police apparatus, to secure Israel’s southern borders, not to mention more billions to keep Israel happy and American politicians free of domestic hassle. Human rights and freedom be damned. Real, sane American national interest and security be damned. Talking to Washington on Israel-Palestine is the same as talking to Tel-Aviv. The US effectively negotiates, sanctions, bribes, menaces, and wars on Israel’s behalf. The “peace process” in actuality constitutes an endless act of torment inflicted on the Palestinians in which the US pressures them for ever-growing concessions to meet endless Israeli demands. Without this reality, Israel cannot sustain its policies of occupation, expansion, wars, and violations of international law. Dependence or more accurately extraordinary access to the halls of power of a great state to realize colonization is an intrinsic part of Zionism. First Britain, then, since the 1940s, the US. Israel truly cannot exist without this bizarre phenomenon dubbed the special relationship. Not in the sense that the Arab hordes are out to throw it into the sea, but in the sense that it absolutely could not have carried on its decades-long brutality and aggressions with impunity, and therefore, left to its own devices, would have made peace with the Arabs long, long ago. Its power as well as the other side of the coin, its mirage of power, is a reflection of Washington’s might applied on its behalf, at the cost of America’s exhaustion and decline. Peace remains elusive precisely because there is no countervailing power to force an unaccountable Israel, virtually the only state in the world to enjoy this exceptional status, to reach a settlement with the Palestinians and its neighbors, inverting reality with the mantra that the Arabs understand only force.
Returning to where I was. I am puzzled by Hanan’s statements . How does she know some of the Papers are doctored, and which ones? Who is trying to destabilize the PA and why? Exploratory or otherwise, did not the Palestinian negotiators effectively make an offer that the Israelis could very well have accepted? Why and how is Al Jazeera “suspect”? More importantly, how can one say that the Papers will enhance the Hamas-PA rift when, in fact, the PA with the US, Israel, and Egypt worked mightily to undermine an agreement with a willing Hamas, effectively refusing national unity? When the PA looked the other way as Gaza was pummeled? Or is dead set on sealing the Egyptian-Gaza border and suffocating the Gazans to dislodge Hamas? Has not the Palestinian leadershipalready undermined itself because of its willingness to continue with this outrage?
Aaron David Miller who was interviewed with Hanan, argued that, while the Palestinians were prepared with flexible and creative fixes, they and the Israelis did not depart from their narratives. Israelis were silent because they had more questions than answers and were reluctant to express their positions. They are a strong power but also vulnerable and extremely cautious, hence careful and deliberate in negotiations. The peace process is in trouble because of leaders’ weakness on both sides and their inability to close the gaps. No one is prepared to consider making difficult decisions on the core issues and sell them to their respective constituencies. There is a lack of ownership.
Indeed. The Palestinians must shoot down the awful logic that has made the careers of countless academics, especially those Jewish-Americans motivated on behalf of Israel: the conflict is not a dispute between two states but one in which one state occupies and brutalizes another people. Peace is elusive not because of conventional wisdom, viz., that the politically survivable Israeli maximum offered to the Palestinians is far below the politically survivable minimum the Palestinians can accept. This is nonsense, because the Palestinians have been ready to accept a state in 1967 borders for decades, and this should not be hostage to domestic Israeli colonial politics. They are reasonably asking for viability to exist in what is theirs; Israel will not give them anything close to it. Thus, it is not a matter of reducing a fantasy gap; instead, it is a matter of one side wanting all the land without the other in it; of making one side abide by international law and decency.
It’s not that, per incredulous Israel supporters, the Palestinians don’t comprehend the nature of negotiations, whose fundamental purpose is compromise, not getting all one wants. The Palestinians understood these principles since the late 1980s, knowing they’d have to make concessions, but starting from the 1967 baseline. The Israelis, on the other hand, want a settlement exclusively on their own terms, their rights God-given. Israeli governments, certainly the current one, are more extreme in their position towards peace than Hamas, which has accepted a settlement based on 1967 lines. They rejected the Palestinians’ generous offer. We must therefore remember that the sensationalism about the Papers are unwarranted. At least we can say the Palestinians tried, negotiated in good faith, even capitulated. Now we can say, as if we didn’t conclude this by at least the late 1990s, that the Palestinians must move on.
Must the Palestinians, as it is argued by Israel’s supporters infuriated at Al Jazeera, accept whatever Israel offers, essentially surrender, to save it from itself and at least end Palestinian torment? That, given Israel’s internal contradictions and domestic calculus, this is the best that could now be realized for the Palestinians? That it will reassure Jewish Holocaust fear and paranoia? I don’t know. I do know that America forcing (no, not “pressuring”) Israel to do what is in its best interest is also good for it and its long-term safety and survival, and everyone else’s.
The central question is, knowing all this, now what, and why not recommend the PA quit the whole scene, nationally unify all elements, including civil society, and pursue a strategy of nonviolent resistance? Is there anything else left to do? Clearly, Dr. Ashrawi cannot get herself to say the two state fiasco is (long) over. On the one hand, because of the asymmetry in power between the two parties, she knows there can be no negotiated solution. On the other, the peace process is only in “serious trouble.” So she implores the “Quartet” (really the US using the others to continue the sham) to do something, unilaterally, about a two state solution before it is too late. Here’s what she says in Foreign Policy on February 4, 2011 (“The Quartet needs a qualitative shift on Palestine”):
The Middle East “peace process” is in serious trouble. After years of fruitless negotiations, Israel’s occupation is still firmly entrenched, eroding what hope remains for establishing a sovereign Palestinian state and concluding a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. …
In the absence of a neutral and principled third party, the vast inequalities separating Palestinians and Israelis have doomed bilateral negotiations to failure. The overall power disparities between occupier and occupied have been transposed to the negotiating table. …
It is not enough just to repeat the mantra in support of a return to bilateral negotiations. Two decades of such negotiations have eroded the very viability of the two-state solution, and the credibility of the Quartet members. It is already too late for statements without actual enactment and intervention. Israel’s immunity from accountability and from compliance with the global rule of law must end. The rights and needs of the Palestinian people must be respected and safeguarded.
While the Palestinian Authority continues to build the institutions of state in spite of the occupation, Israel persists in destroying the territorial, economic and demographic viability of a sovereign Palestinian state. These mutually exclusive policies cannot be reconciled.
To render the Palestinian nation-building process successful, Israel’s occupation must end before it does irreparable damage to the two-state solution. The September 2011 deadline is drawing closer. It is imperative that the Quartet take concrete steps before it is too late.
A good start on February 5th is for the Quartet to take a clear and bold decision to recognize the Palestinian state on the 1967 border, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It can also convene an international conference to map out Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders within a binding timeline. It is also essential that the Quartet afford the nascent Palestinian state the appropriate protection it needs. The whole region is currently undergoing critical transitions. The challenge before the Quartet now is to prove that it can inject a positive momentum for peace and stability in the midst of this sea of change.
The hope for a two state solution is “eroded,” not dead, the damage to it, not yet “irreparable,” hence canvassing the Quartet to recognize a Palestinian state, protect it, and arrange (force?) Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders. What she is not saying is why, what arguments and rationales, compels her to hold on to the two state option, why she defends the PA without apparent criticism, and, considering that these requests, these pleas, will not be fulfilled or heeded, what she feels about other alternatives. What other options do the Palestinians have?
Given what’s happening in Egypt, and in light of the Palestine Papers, one would think the Palestinian people in the territories would also be galvanized. Yes and no. The Palestinians are weary and cautious, disenchanted, so many failed strategies, peaceful revolts, mass protests, mobilizations, so much sacrifice, including at the hands of the repressive apparatus of their leaders’ little security state. The Papers reveal little they did not know or suspect; their grasp of the complexity and politics of the Palestinian dilemma is deep and sophisticated. Where to focus the energy of anger: Israeli occupation or corrupt leaders? Weary too, especially the middle classes, that a peaceful revolt against the PA may cause great economic damage and hardship and elicit violence against them from all sides. And the leadership cannot countenance the thought of losing its comfort and privileges, the sacrifices required by a peaceful mass struggle. Fatah, who’s gotten fat on US aid and has a vested structural and institutional interest, is not an enthusiastic supporter of this sort of democracy, and still sings the praises of Hosni Mubarak. Did he not support a peace process and strangle Gaza, wherein rule Fatah’s enemies, with the Israelis? However, it may be soon a reality that Tunisia and Egypt’s empowering and electrifying examples will galvanize the younger generation of Palestinians.
6 February 2011
This is all that matters
Feb 11, 2011
Philip Weiss
Guardian blog the other day:
5.36pm: The Egyptian finance minister, Samir Radwan, has just told Sky News that Suleiman has been running Egypt for the last week.
In the US, James Steinberg, the deputy secretary of state, said Washington was committed to ensuring that political changes in the Middle East did not threaten Israel and that any Egyptian government honours the treaty with Tel Aviv.
Revolutionary thought
Feb 10, 2011
Philip Weiss
For years my main reservation about the one-state/binational solution for Israel/Palestine was that realists said that even if democracy is the right thing, it would take years of bloodshed to get there. And I have given that argument weight.
Did anyone think that Egypt could get as far as it has toward democracy so swiftly, and with so little bloodshed? Did any of these people on TV ever ever admit the possibility that politically-sophisticated Arabs could lead a revolution without slicing people’s throats?
NO.
Let Egypt be a light unto the nations. Let us climb down from suspicion of other races. Let us imagine a peaceful transition to democracy in Egypt’s neighbors too.
The Palestine Cables: Egyptian VP Suleiman, Israel’s favorite, wants ‘Gaza to go ‘hungry’ but not ‘starve”
Feb 10, 2011
Alex Kane
The Israeli establishment is pleased to see that Omar Suleiman, the former head of Egypt’s intelligence services who was recently appointed to be Egypt’s first vice president, is angling to continue the Mubarak regime. As reports circulate that Hosni Mubarak may step down tonight, examining Suleiman, Mubarak’s presumed successor, seems all the more important. State Department cablesreleased by WikiLeaks show that Suleiman directs Egypt’s policies on Israel/Palestine, policies that are in line with Israeli goals: weakening Hamas, continuing the blockade of Gaza and halting Iranian influence.
In fact, Israel has explicitly voiced that Suleiman–spelled “Soliman” in the diplomatic cables–is their favored choice to assume the helm of the Egyptian presidency once Mubarak is gone. An August 2008 cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv reads:
[Arab Affairs Adviser David] Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a “hot line” set up between the MOD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use…Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim President if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated. (Note: We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman.)
Egypt has been Israel’s chief partner in the devastating blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has caused Gaza’s economy to be on the “brink of collapse,” as a UN spokesman put it yesterday. Suleiman is quoted in a December 2007 cable as wanting the blockade to cause “Gaza to go ‘hungry’ but not ‘starve.'” 80 percent of the people of Gaza rely on UN aid to survive.
The leaked “Palestine Papers” published by Al Jazeera provide more details on Suleiman and Egypt’s complicity in the siege. As Abdullah Al-Arian, writing in Al Jazeera, notes:
Throughout the documents, Suleiman in particular is singled out as the point person whom Israeli and American officials could count on to execute their agenda of dividing the Palestinian factions or pressing the PA for greater concessions…
In early 2007, as the siege on Gaza had crippling consequences on the lives of Palestinians, negotiators complained that Egyptian leaders were duplicitous, speaking publicly in support of allowing goods into Gaza, but in reality, “it remains blocked on the ground …. This is a general problem with the Egyptians”.
An internal report from April 2007 confirms these suspicions. The Agreement on Movement and Access states: “Although there has been political agreement by Omar Suleiman and President Mubarak on allowing exports through, this agreement has never been translated into operational reality.”
Suleiman, and the Mubarak regime, have also been intent on weakening Hamas in the wake of the party being democratically elected in the 2006 Palestinian elections. The Dec. 2007 cable reports:
In their moments of greatest frustration, Tantawi and Soliman each have claimed that the IDF would be “welcome” to re-invade Philadelphi…Mubarak and his security chiefs viscerally want Hamas “to fail.”
A separate April 2009 cable reports:
On reconciliation, Soliman explained, the ultimate goal was to return the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, as “Gaza in the hands of radicals will never be calm.”
Suleiman’s viewpoint on Iran also lines up with Israeli goals. An October 2007 cable reports that “Omar Soliman takes an especially hard line on Tehran and frequently refers to the Iranians as ‘devils.’”
Alex Kane is a freelance journalist and blogger based in New York City. You can read all of ‘The Palestine Cables’ reports here and he blogs on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia in the United States at alexbkane.wordpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane.
The Egyptian uprising is united in one goal – Remove the Mubarak regime
Feb 10, 2011
Sarah Hawas
“Go to Tel Aviv, They like you over there” (Photo: Hossam El Hamalawy)
9th February, Downtown Cairo
It’s not Facebook, or Twitter, or the Muslim Brotherhood, or the middle class, or Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the CIA, Mossad, Saudi, the PA, Timbuktu OR the illuminati! Read the signs – aren’t there enough? This uprising has one single goal – the removal of Mubarak and his regime, and nothing less than that. Mubarak himself says he’s “fed up” with being president. One of many running jokes on the streets here in Cairo suggests that any day now he might just self-immolate in protest! Perhaps we could all calm down and review the symptoms before, next thing we know, the Haitians are being accused of financially backing this uprising!
As independent labor unions make their way to Tahrir and thousands set up camp outside Parliament, over two weeks into the popular Egyptian intifada, many workers throughout the country have reportedly gone on strike in solidarity and in demand for higher wages and social equality. It would be a mistake to assume that this is a “new development” or that these actions merely adorn this national liberation struggle, whose main international symbol has become Tahrir square. The reality is quite the opposite.
The events of the last two weeks are not new and they are not unprecedented. They are the culmination of many years’ worth of social organizing in the face of consistently brutal repression. My generation of students and activists was born in part out of the solidarity protests of the second Palestinian intifada, but more importantly, through witnessing virtually uninterrupted workers’ strikes and sit-ins throughout the country. The last year alone rarely saw a quiet day in the downtown area of Cairo, where the People’s Assembly is located, along with several ministries and the notoriously sinister-looking Mugamma’ building which houses the government’s largest archive of paperwork and has been a symbol of foreboding bureaucratic nightmares for Egyptians in the last four decades and more. These strikes and sit-ins were almost always ended by force, thanks to relentless police violence that most people have – had – simply become accustomed to. On January 25th, and then again most definitively on Friday the 28th, the people of Egypt said ENOUGH.
It is an insult to Egypt’s people, particularly Egyptian workers, to suggest – as many media outlets and international officials have continuously done, since January 25th – that the current Egyptian uprising is a) new to the streets of Egypt, b) led or characterized exclusively by middle-class youth or, even worse, c) staged or hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood. It speaks to the vast ignorance of some, and the racism of many, to espouse the stale Zionist mantra that chalks up any political activity to the “Islamist influence”, just as it is wildly untrue that the Egyptian uprising exclusively (or even just primarily) owes its debt to a Facebook page, twitter, or the internet at large. I say this as someone who has not used Facebook or any other social networking site in over a year: the chants, slogans, signs and anger on the streets of Egypt are all too familiar to the ears of anyone who’s been listening in the last few years.
The people in Tahrir square, outside the Parliament building, and their counterparts throughout Cairo and the rest of Egypt have been resisting with both conventional forms of protest, mass strikes, sit-ins and even factory takeovers and self-management for years. They have also been resisting the neoliberal ghetto run by the NDP and its mafia through more autonomous, day-to-day strategies of mutual aid and cooperative production. Almost half the country (if not more) survives through informal economy, and communities outside Greater Cairo have traditionally relied on their own collective forms of production and distribution, in the face of unruly privatization programs and microcredit slavery.
It was through a thoroughly grassroots, decentralized and localized form of mobilization that we came to see the success story of January 25th and the days to follow. It was through an uncontained, unled presence that we saw the central security forces pushed back and nearly destroyed on Friday the 28th. It was through popular word of mouth, neighborhood organization and voluntary participation that Egyptians survived the absence of the police, and their murderous return. It was through fearless cooperation and trust that Egyptians protected their homes and neighborhoods by night, defended eachother and the square against rabid, “pro-Mubarak” thugs and it is through the same cooperative spirit that they continue to share food, water and medical supplies in Tahrir square today.
There is enormous diversity in Egypt – social, political, ideological, and so on. Even our opposition movement has historically been characterized as a joke, because its parties and members run the gamut from Islamists to liberals to die-hard Trotskyites and Nasserites, and much much more. But the absence of any agenda or blueprint in Tahrir square is seriously outdone by the presence of direct, cooperative action between people who are united by one thing only: their determination to end the reign of Mubarak and his appointed regime, at all costs. If anyone is to blame for this, it is Mubarak and his government itself.
Sarah Hawas, 23, is an Egyptian-American student activist based in Cairo for the last five years where she has been studying at the American University in Cairo.
Crash on the Nile– Mubarak isn’t stepping down!
Feb 10, 2011
Seham and Philip Weiss
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Live video of Tahrir Square from MSNBC
Update: Well you heard the speech. He owes it to the minds of the unborn not to step down? Now how can he trust anyone around him? This is tragic… And how many networks will be eating crow? Richard Engel’s two sources. Hmmmm.
Earlier: NBC is reporting that Mubarak will step down tonight. CNN says that CIA director Leon Panetta has said that Mubarak will resign today. Wael Ghonim has tweeted: “Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians.” Everyone should be listening to Al Jazeera English now, all of us who can’t speak Arabic, which has passed along reports that the presidency is “now vacant.” The “Supreme Council of Armed Forces,” a gov’t council minus its head, Mubarak, has come out for supporting the protesters’ demands. Can it really be true? Victory, victory. Delirium in Tahrir. Say AJE’s reporters: “The chanting has not stopped… Revolution till the end, revolution to the end.” “Within touching distance of a dream that they thought could never come true just a couple of weeks ago…”
And let’s just be clear: When NBC announced the news in a Special Report, Andrea Mitchell assured American viewers of vice president Omar Suleiman. “He is a friend to Israel.” (Jeez. Can’t anyone else in the world ever have a birthday party?)
Here is the unfolding news on Twitter:
Here are more of the latest developments:
Egypt’s Mubarak ‘may stand down’
A senior member of Egypt’s ruling party tells the BBC he is “hoping” that President Mubarak will transfer power to to his vice-president on Thursday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12421000
Egypt army detains protesters – rights groups
CAIRO, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Egypt’s army has detained dozens of Egyptians involved in massive protests against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak and abused some of them in custody, a U.S. rights groups and Egyptian activists said on Thursday. The army was ordered to the streets on Jan. 28 to restore order. It was welcomed by protesters as a neutral force. The army said it would protect protesters from Mubarak supporters who have attacked them but also asked them to return home.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypt-army-detains-protesters-rights-groups
Egyptian army ‘torturing’ prisoners
Human rights groups allege that pro-democracy protesters have been detained or tortured in an “organised campaign”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/2011210135310479662.html
Four killed in Egypt desert clash with police
CAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Four people were killed and several suffered gunshot wounds in clashes between security forces and about 3,000 protesters in a western province of Egypt, the state news agency and security sources said on Wednesday. The clashes in New Valley, a province that includes an oasis in Egypt’s western desert, erupted on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, according to the security sources.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/three-killed-in-egypt-desert-clash-with-police
Five dead, 100 wounded in south Egypt clash: Official
CAIRO – AT LEAST five people were killed and around 100 wounded in two days of clashes between police and demonstrators in a town in southern Egypt’s New Valley region, medics told AFP on Wednesday. Earlier, a security official had confirmed three dead. Police fired live rounds on Tuesday when local people rioted in the oasis town of Kharga, more than 400km south of Cairo, the security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Scores were wounded and three people died of their injuries on Wednesday.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_633250.html
Egyptians mourn uprising dead
Residents count the cost of ongoing protests and mourn those who died in the clashes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_Om1bebJM&feature=youtube_gdata
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201129181744289932.html
Police use live ammunition against protesters in Kharga
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPqUap9z8BU&feature=player_embedded
Revolutionary Justice: Egyptian police car runs over protesters, protesters flip it over, set it on fire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAQCjSQ9Yqw&sns=fb
Resisting Mubarak’s Thugs
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/thugs-2/
28 hours in the dark heart of Egypt’s torture machine
A blindfolded Robert Tait could only listen as fellow captives were electrocuted and beaten by Mubarak’s security services
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-torture-machine-mubarak-security
Egypt’s army ‘involved in detentions and torture’
Military accused by human rights campaigners of targeting hundreds of anti-government protesters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-army-detentions-torture-accused
VIDEO: Concern for Egypt’s missing protesters
Human rights activists in Egypt have told the BBC that the country’s security forces have been detaining increasing numbers of people over the last fortnight, including doctors who treated the injured in Tahrir Square.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12412962
Human Rights Watch: 300 Deaths, Massive Detentions and Abuse Under Mubarak Regime Crackdown
Human Rights Watch is reporting that at least 302 people have died in Egypt since pro-Mubarak forces launched a violent response to the popular uprising last month. The group says at least 232 people have died in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria, and 18 in Suez, but warns the actual death toll could be far higher. We speak with Human Rights Watch researcher Heba Morayef, who has been monitoring the situation on the ground since the protests began.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/9/human_rights_watch_300_deaths_massive
Egyptian talks near collapse as unions back protests
Government refuses transition plan as demonstrations are joined by strikes – and vice-president’s coup ultimatum raises tensions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-protest-talks-union-mubarak
Egypt’s top opposition party abandons talks with Mubarak regime
Tagammu becomes first party to announce withdrawal from negotiations; Muslim Brotherhood has criticized the talks, but expressed no intention about eschewing talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/egypt-s-top-opposition-party-abandons-talks-with-mubarak-regime-1.342502?localLinksEnabled=false
News Update: Deadlock in Egypt
The fact that Egyptian workers are on strike across the country may be a more worrying development for the government. Behind the scenes, negotiations are under way between a committee of “wise men” and the government to agree on a transition. But despite those talks, Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, says the deadlock between the government and the protesters looks set to continue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na_xn1Yp5SA&feature=youtube_gdata
Egypt crisis: Doubts rise over Omar Suleiman’s handling of situation
Egyptians now feel the Mubarak regime has lost the initiative as momentum shifts back to the streets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-crisis-doubts-omar-suleiman
US says Egyptians’ demands unmet
White House says Hosni Mubarak’s government hasn’t met minimum threshold of what pro-democracy protesters have demanded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112101545960427.html
US:Egypt govt must do more to meet protester demands
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Wednesday Egypt’s government must do more to meet the demands of protesters in the country’s streets. “What you see happening on the streets of Cairo is not all that surprising when you see the lack of steps that their government has taken to meet their concerns,” Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, told a daily news briefing.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/usegypt-govt-must-do-more-to-meet-protester-demands
U.S., Egypt exchange verbal blows over inability to quell persisting unrest
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit says U.S. imposing its will on Cairo, as White House slams Egyptian leadership for lack of reform.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-egypt-exchange-verbal-blows-over-inability-to-quell-persisting-unrest-1.342317?localLinksEnabled=false
Egyptian Foreign Minister: US Should Not Impose Will on Egypt; Violence Against Uprising Possible
PBS NewsHour‘s Margaret Warner has secured very important interviews with Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. In the five minute clip above, Foreign Minister Gheit is pushing back, telling the US that its expectations are out of line with political and time realities in Egypt. The Egyptian government, including the Foreign Minister in this interview, have forcefully rebuffed Vice President Biden’s and President Obama’s request for the Egyptian government to suspend its stifling Emergency Law.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/egyptian-foreign-minister_b_821092.html
Egypt Foreign Minister Gheit: Mubarak Feels He is an “Indispensable President
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit gave PBS a lengthy interview today. In addition to the usual jargon, he revealed Egyptian Hosni Mubarak’s true beliefs about his role in Egypt, his legacy, and how he feels about US pressure for him to step down.
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/egypt-foreign-minister-gheit-mubarak-feels-
Mubarak government issues warning as unrest, dissent grow in Egypt
CAIRO – An array of new developments turned against President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday as Egypt moved closer to a full rupture between its autocratic government and a growing popular rebellion.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=1fe3ec7f14091600a4b6d3e064fb3955
Egypt rejects US advice on reforms
Foreign minister rejects calls for immediate repeal of emergency law and says US “imposing its will” on Cairo
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112919546727393.html#
U.S., Egypt square off over protesters’ demands
* White House says Mubarak’s govt must do more to change
* Egyptian minister rejects US “imposing will” on Cairo
* Violence flares in desert province, breaking relative calm
* Next big demonstrations planned for Friday
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-egypt-square-off-over-protesters-demands
Obama’s advisors split on when and how Mubarak should go
White House aides acknowledge that the differing views among Obama’s team of advisors has resulted in a mixed message on Egypt. The Obama administration’s shifting response to the crisis in Egypt reflects a sharp debate over how and when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should leave office, a policy decision that could have long-term implications for America’s image in the Middle East.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/-Ys81cMakfU/la-fg-obama-team-20110210,0,3809182.story
Inside the White House – State Department rift on Egypt
The White House and the State Department have been sending out different messages over the past few days regarding the U.S. position on Egypt. The seeming disparity between the focus and tone of remarks by officials from each part of the government has the Washington community wondering if there’s a rift between Pennsylvania Avenue and Foggy Bottom and who’s really in charge.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/09/inside_the_white_house_state_department_rift_on_egypt
Egypt’s Brotherhood says “real talks” yet to start
CAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Egypt’s biggest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Wednesday it would stick to its demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down in talks with the authorities that many in the opposition fear are a trick.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egypts-brotherhood-says-real-talks-yet-to-start
Egyptian minister quits Mubarak’s new cabinet
CAIRO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – A minister has resigned from the Egyptian cabinet formed by President Hosni Mubarak in response to an uprising against his rule, a family member said on Wednesday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/egyptian-minister-quits-mubaraks-new-cabinet
Cables: FBI trained Egypt’s state security ‘torturers’
‘Thousands’ of protesters may have been tortured: report Egypt’s secret police, long accused of torturing suspects and intimidating political opponents of President Hosni Mubarak, received training at the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, even as US diplomats compiled allegations of brutality against them, according to US State Department cables released by WikiLeaks.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/cables-fbi-trained-egypt-torturers/
WikiLeaks: Suleiman told Israel he would ‘cleanse’ Sinai of arms runners to Gaza
Omar Suleiman, the new vice-president of Egypt, told the Israelis he wanted to start “cleansing the Sinai” of Palestinian arms smugglers, according to leaked cables.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8314459/WikiLeaks-Suleiman-told-Israel-he-would-cleanse-Sinai-of-arms-
runners-to-Gaza.html
Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib recounts torture at the hands of the US/Israeli favorite Omar Suleiman
Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib was captured and tortured in the years after September 11 in both Egypt and Guantanamo Bay.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/australian-detainee-mamdouh-habib-recounts-torture-at-the-hands-of-the-usisraeli-favorite-omar-suleiman.html
Soliman : Fear Al Qaeda !!
So Soliman has not convinced anybody whether the international community or the Egyptians with the Muslim brotherhood conspiracy theory , he actually does not care that much about those people “who lack the culture of democracy and so he is speaking the language the West knows very : Al Qaeda phobia !! We found suddenly the general wearing us that there are Al Qaeda members who escaped from the Egyptian prisons , thus we should be very afraid or rather the West should be very fear.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/02/soliman-fear-al-qaeda.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
“..Nobody has any illusions about what Omar Suleiman wants to do,.. what is unknown is what Suleiman could be persuaded to do. ..”
“..The White House invited several Middle East scholars to discuss the Egypt upheaval Tuesday. Among those who attended were the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Jon Alterman, Dan Brumberg of the U.S. Institute of Peace, Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins University and the Wall Street Journal, former George W. Bush White House Middle East and democracy advisor Elliott Abrams, Human Rights Watch’s Tom Malinowski, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Michele Dunne, and Scott Carpenter, a former State Department Middle East democracy official now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The one and a half hour meeting, with the NSC’s Dan Shapiro, Samantha Power, and Ben Rhodes, was off the record.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/nobody-has-any-illusions-about-what.html
“.. Samy Anan can end the crisis “in a minute” ..”
In a conversation with a group of young military officers I came out with strong impressions that the real strong man now is the CJCS Gen Samy Anan. The young officers believe that it is him who has the key to the solution and that he will “do something”. Gen Sulliman does not have the same weight in the military like Anan. The young officers hint to the fact that the Air Force is very loyal to Mubarak and that the Presidential guard is hostile to Anan. They also oppose the idea that the next president should be a civilian. One of them said that Anan can end the crisis “in a minute” but did not explain how. All of them agreed that using force by the military is a very remote possibility. I do not understand why Anan did not make a move yet. He solidly refuses to use force against the demonstrators and seem to be letting events unfold so far as they do not reach a certain tipping point. He refused orders by Mubarak to use force. If he just goes to the TV building and announce the termination of the Mubarak regime he could turn in a minute to a national hero and possibly the next President. Anan sent a text mssg to all cell phones in Egypt that the army will not use force. That was almost 10 days ago. Everybody seem to be talking now about the expected role of the army and Anan refusal to use force and his role in ending the current situation. Yusuf al-Misry
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/samy-anan-can-end-crisis-in-minute.html
Obama speaks with Saudi king about Egypt crisis
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on Wednesday about the political situation in Egypt, the White House said. “The president emphasized the importance of taking immediate steps toward an orderly transition that is meaningful, lasting, legitimate, and responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” the White House said in a statement. “The president also reaffirmed the long-term commitment of the United States to peace and security in the region.”
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/obama-speaks-with-saudi-king-about-egypt-crisis
Egypt Nobel laureate Zewail urges Mubarak to go now
U.S.-Egyptian scientist Ahmed Zewail once received a medal from President Hosni Mubarak. Now, he says, it’s time for the Egyptian leader to heed the demonstrators clamoring for his departure. “He should step down tomorrow and allow for a transitional government,” Zewail told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/10/137041.html
Hamas says Egypt ex-minister tied to church attack
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas says legal action against former Egyptian Minister of Interior Habib Al-Adili linking him to the Alexandria church bombing exposes the baselessness of the minister’s accusations against Palestinians. The Islamist movement said in a statement that accusations that Palestinians targeted the Saints Church on New Year’s Day was to incite the world against Palestinians, distort the resistance, and justify the blockade of Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=358537
Egypt passport official: No Palestinians allowed into Egypt
An official at the Egyptian passports authority said on Wednesday that instructions were received banning entry of Palestinians into Egypt.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Media Suppression and Repression
Where Is Kareem Amer?
A few years ago, he was one of Egypt’s boldest bloggers, scathingly critical of his government and of conservative Islam. His release from prison came only last November, and now he’s gone again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anastasia-hobbet/where-is-kareem-amer_b_821018.html
Magda Abu-Fadil: Egyptian Media Defects Highlighted by Local Journalists
Journalists working for major state-run dailies and television channels have revealed, off the record, that senior officials in their news organizations were corrupt, abused power, and lined their pockets at taxpayers’ expense.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/egyptian-media-defects-hi_b_820849.html
Mohamed Abdel Dayem: Egyptian Journalists Take a Stand
The wave of defiance against entrenched censorship and interference by the state in Egypt is likely to reach a crescendo tomorrow, when journalists are calling for a massive demonstration by media practitioners.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohamed-abdel-dayem/egyptian-journalists-take_b_821073.html
Protests/Protesters/Attacks Against Them & Eyewitness Accounts
The Lede: Latest Updates on Day 17 of Egypt Protests
The Lede continues to follow the protest movement in Egypt, now in its third week.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=8909c1509434ad59a946f9da24a40c1f
“We are attempting to name all of the brave Egyptians who have been killed…”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/we-are-attempting-to-name-all-of-brave.html
Striking doctors join Egypt rally
Striking doctors join protesters in central Cairo, with reports of walkouts by lawyers, textile workers and bus drivers around Egypt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12417205
Workers continue Egypt strikes
Doctors and lawyers among thousands of workers joining strike as anti-Mubarak demonstrations enter 17th day.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121011390957342.html
Egypt Labor Strikes Break Out Across The Country; Protesters Defiant
CAIRO – Thousands of state workers and impoverished Egyptians launched strikes and protests around the country on Wednesday over their economic woes as anti-government activists sought to expand their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak despite warnings from the vice president that protests won’t be tolerated much longer.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/egypt-labor-strikes-break_n_820909.html
Unions boost Egypt protests
Thousands have gathered in Tahrir oSquare to continue their call for President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation. Three independent unions have joined them, meaning that in addition to the anti-Mubarak protests hundreds of workers are on strike in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez demanding better pay. But Mubarak is still in office – refusing to step down. Alan Fisher reports from Cairo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL3C8wA4QSQ&feature=youtube_gdata
Wael Ghonim, Freed Google Manager, ‘Ready To Die’ For Egypt
Wael Ghonim, a Google manager who has become something of a hero among Egyptian protesters, said on Wednesday that it is “no longer the time to negotiate” with the government. In an interview with CNN, Ghonim said, “We went on the streets on the 25th, and we wanted to negotiate. We wanted to talk to our government…. They decided to negotiate with us at night, with rubber bullets, with police sticks, with water hoses, with tear gas.” According to CNN’s Ivan Watson, Ghonim also said he is “ready to die” for the cause.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/wael-ghonim-google-ready-to-die_n_821059.html
Come home to force change, Ghonim urges Egyptians
Dubai: Wael Ghonim, Google’s marketing manager for the Middle East and North Africa, and one of the youth leaders of the ongoing Egyptian mass movement, has called on his compatriots from all over the world to return home and support the youth in Al Tahrir Square as they strive for a political rejuvenation in the country.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/egypt/come-home-to-force-change-ghonim-urges-egyptians-1.759806
Google executive earns star status in Egypt’s revolt
CAIRO (AFP) — Cyberactivist Wael Ghonim, a young executive at internet giant Google, rallied thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators and catapulted to star status among Egypt’s youth thanks to Facebook. Part fashionable marketing man, part engaging cyber-geek, the 30-year-old who launched the January 25 online call to arms against the Egyptian regime, has the polish of a politician in-the-making and an intellectual veneer.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=358573
Wael Ghonim interview on CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/09/wael.ghonim.interview.cnn?hpt=C2
Victims’ mothers drawn into Egypt protests
‘Egypt is my real mother. I must go save her,’ said one of the men killed in the early days of the protests. Organizers are using images of the ‘martyrs’ and their mothers to keep passions stoked. Day laborer Mohammed Badr clearly didn’t expect trouble when he left home to join the pro-democracy protests in Tahrir Square early on Jan. 29. He took his 5-year-old son, Mahmoud, and promised to return for dinner.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/5LiIKnDd_7A/la-fg-egypt-mothers-20110210,0,2796341.story
Scenes from Egypt’s Parliament: Two Nights of Sitting In
On Tuesday, February 8, protesters in Cairo began sleeping in front of the parliament building a short walk from Tahrir Square, the center of the protests. Their protest, like its twin in Tahrir, quickly exploded into a semi-permanent encampment, complete with graffiti. At the end of the video, one of the parliament protesters bears a street sign that used to say “Maglis el-Shaab” or “People’s Assembly” street – now it just says “People’s Street.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VphYUbHXACA&feature=youtube_gdata
Anti-Mubarak demonstrators remain defiant
It is midnight in Egypt and protesters remain camped out on the streets of Cairo. But the fact that workers are on strike across the country may be a more worrying development for the government. We continue our live blogging for February 10, as protests enter the 17th day in Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA_-v1QBqEU&feature=youtube_gdata
The Lede: Latest Updates on Day 16 of Egypt Protests
The Lede continues to follow the protest movement in Egypt, now in its third week.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5c3d752fc5a2786500b58a03756c8465
Egypt protesters seek to spread beyond Tahrir Square
Egypt’s protesters yesterday staged the largest protest since the democracy uprising began more than two weeks ago. Now, they may join forces with Egyptian laborers.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/4iSAluSkOo8/Egypt-protesters-seek-to-spread-beyond-Tahrir-Square
Hossam el-Hamalawy “The Egyptian Working Class Enters the Arena with Full Force”
My sources have just confirmed this now. The Cairo Public Transportation workers, who started a strike today in six garages — Nasr Station, Fateh Station, Ter’a Station, Amiriya Station, Mezzalat Station, Sawwah Station — have issued a statement with a list of demands, calling for overthrowing Mubarak. No public buses will roam Cairo tomorrow, except those buses that will bring the drivers to the central station in Nasr City’s el-Gabal el-Ahmar, where the strikers have announced they will declare an independent union. . . . This comes as strikes have spread literally everywhere. It’s happening, people. It’s happening. The working class has entered the arena with full force today. Mubarak’s regime’s fate will be sealed SOON!
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/hamalawy090211.html
Interview with an Egyptian blogger
Al Jazeera speaks to Hossam El-Hamalawy, a blogger and activist from Cairo, on the strikes set to sweep Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHkHJRnZdw&feature=player_embedded
After Record-Level Turnout in Tahrir, Egyptian Protests Spread to Parliament, Cabinet Buildings; Labor Unions Launch Strikes Nationwide
Egypt’s pro-democracy uprising is seizing new momentum one day after hundreds of thousands turned out for one of the largest protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to date. A gathering of protesters led to the evacuation of the Egyptian cabinet building today, and tent camps are also being set up outside the Egyptian parliament. Egypt’s labor movement has launched new strikes across the country, with an estimated 10,000 workers taking part. Democracy Now! Senior Producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous interviews a demonstrator outside the Egyptian parliament building.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/9/after_record_level_turnout_in_tahrir
“We Are Writing History By Our Blood”: Egyptian Physician on Why Protests Won’t End Until Mubarak Resigns
Democracy Now! Senior Producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous speaks to Egyptian physician Dr. Ali El Mashad in Cairo’s Tahrir square over the weekend. Dr. Mashad describes being injured in the streets and bleeding from the head. “We are writing history by our blood,” he says. Mashad says he will not stop demonstrating until Mubarak leaves office.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/9/we_are_writing_history_by_our
“People Are Taking Care of Each Other”: Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat Camps With Protesters Overnight in Tahrir Square
Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat reports on the festive atmosphere in Tahrir Square last night following a record-level turnout of protesters: “People are taking care of each other very well, giving each other food, water and blankets. It is a very moving experience,” Kamat says.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/9/people_are_taking_care_of_each
#Jan25 Public transportation workers call for overthrowing Mubarak
My sources has just confirmed this now… The Cairo Public Transportation workers, who started a strike today in five Garages: Nasr Station, Fateh Station, Ter’a Station, Amiriya Station, Mezzalat Station, Sawwah Station, have issued a statement with a list of demands, calling for overthrowing Mubarak. No public buses will roam Cairo tomorrow, except those buses that will bring the drivers to the central station in Nasr City’s el-Gabal el-Ahmar, where the strikers have announced they will declare an independent union.The strikers’ statement has also called for abolishing the emergency law, removing NDP from the state institutions, dissolving the parliament, drafting new constitution, forming a national unity govt and setting a national minimum wage of LE1200 and prosecuting corrupt officials… This comes as strikes have spread literally everywhere… It’s happening people… It’s happening… The working class has entered the arena with full force today. Mubarak’s regime’s fate will be sealed off SOON!
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/09/jan25-public-transportation-workers-call-for-overthrowing-mubarak/
The youth of Tahrir Square
Al Jazeera meets the newly formed “youth coalition” who are speaking on behalf of a broad array of voices in the square.
http://english.aljazeera.net//indepth/features/2011/02/201129214957928702.html
Dispatch from Tahrir
I spent most of the day today walking around Downtown Cairo and Midan Tahrir. There are still tens of thousands of people in the square. A definite rhythm has established itself, with Tuesday and Fridays the serious turn-out days; the rest of the week a moulid-like atmosphere pervades the area, with families visiting it, taking pictures next to tanks and the various memorials and displays set up in the square–out on the fun excursion. Some genius has started making hundreds of laminated مصر فوق الجميع (“Egypt Above Us All”) tags that you can wear around your neck (they sell for 2 pounds, about 30 cents). Sellers are also doing a brisk business in Egyptian flags, snacks and drinks. Opposition newspapers are taped to walls so everyone can read them; and some enterprising local restaurateur has set up shop in the demolished Hardee’s.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/9/dispatch-from-tahrir-1.html
I know you all fear that our fervor is waning. It is not, Ahmed Moor
Almost universally, everyone I’ve spoken to who isn’t in Egypt over the past few days has expressed a concern that the revolutionary fervor here is waning. I am happy to report that isn’t what I’ve been witnessing. But a few new developments both here and internationally are worth discussing. News that economic activity was returning to Cairo appeared to suggest that the protesters had begun to grow weary. That isn’t what I’ve observed. Yesterday, more people participated in the Tahrir demonstration than at any other time in the past 16 days. What surprised me was the number of first-time demonstrators who showed up. I don’t doubt that the Ghonim interview touched a lot of people and encouraged them to participate (and many hope he’ll lead the movement). But, I also think that increased food and cash security alleviated the sense of siege that persisted for much of last week. For instance, food and water were very difficult to come by in downtown Cairo on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday, I was offered food and drinks at pretty short and regular intervals. I think that that security positively impacted energy levels and turnout.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/i-know-you-all-fear-that-our-fervor-is-waning-it-is-not.html
Actors for the Revolution
Cinema actors and actresses have issued a statement in support of the revolution and will be staging a march today Thursday 12 pm in solidarity from their syndicate headquarters to Tahrir Square…
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/cinema-for-the-revolution/
Egypt’s Tahrir Square MC rocks protest crowds
CAIRO (AFP) — Like a rock star, Ali Elfi faces adoring crowds, a microphone in hand as he belts out lines. But his lyrics are anti-regime chants and his stage is Cairo’s protest central: Tahrir Square. Elfi is dressed like a rocker, in jeans and a leather jacket, but his role is more like that of an orchestra conductor, controlling the mood of the crowd, riling them up and leading call-and-response chants against the government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=358564
29/1/11 The Battle for Lazoughli
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/police/
Damietta protesters clash with Mubarak’s thugs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGDNi8rQRm8&feature=player_embedded
Revolutionaries expand the area they control, moving to besiege the parliament….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWmnKVOnDyw&feature=player_embedded
Children revolt in Tahrir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvL16jOffX0&feature=player_embedded
Amazing: Egyptian Uprising
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgCziE-Qxg&feature=player_embedded
Dancing in Tahrir
Chanting in Tahrir
Tahrir
Divers for the Revolution
Long Live Egypt
Video of Egyptian Workers Protesting and Parliament Takeover & More
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFoNhpocKBc&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKoh9UxEu9s&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWoFnssadTY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33rAtzihDs&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYYnqBP1oJ4&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNgwnPcvteg&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAM_AUs3SU&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoT7ILQHoLI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXLTu1LmiKU&feature=player_embedded
Go to Tel Aviv, They like you over there
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/tel-aviv/
Great Pictures Capturing the Revolution
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/striker-3/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/workers-24/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/workers-23/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/workers-22/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/telecom-workers-in-ramses/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/telecom-workers-on-strike/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/unions-against-mubarak/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/workers-21/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/jan25-telecommunication-egyworkers-on-
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/photography-jan25-%D8%A7%D9
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/tahrir-24/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/workers-in-ramses/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/peoples-street/
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/parliament-6/
Divers holding a banner addressed to Mubarak that reads: Leave before air runs out!
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/diving-3/
Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Feb 8, 2011
https://picasaweb.google.com/dharmaworks108/TahrirSquareInCairoEgyptFeb82011#
The Role of Social Media
Wired, Educated and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt
As the Egyptian government has sought to splinter a protest movement led by young professionals, its leaders have stepped forward for the first time to describe their hidden role.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=755861620e87af5ac5801ede915db60c
Inside Story – The tool for revolution?
Social media has been dubbed the new tool for revolutionaries. But with many of the protesters on the ground having little or no access to the internet in Egypt, can social media really be credited with sparking the recent uprisings across the Middle East?
Egypt activists have upper hand in cyber war
CAIRO – President Hosni Mubarak’s supporters took their battle against anti-government protesters to cyberspace but their voices were drowned out by an army of tech-savvy activists willing to wage keyboard war. Anti-regime street protests had for years been stifled by Egypt’s powerful security apparatus but, much to everyone’s surprise, it only took a few clicks to launch the biggest ever challenge to Mubarak’s 30-year presidency.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/egypt-activists-upper-hand-cyber-war/
From the Blogosphere to the Street: The Role of Social Media in the Egyptian Uprising
While the uprising in Egypt caught most observers of the Middle East off guard, it did not come out of the blue. The seeds of this spectacular mobilization had been sown as far back as the early 2000s and had been carefully cultivated by activists from across the political spectrum, many of these working online via Facebook, twitter, and within the Egyptian blogosphere. Working within these media, activists began to forge a new political language, one that cut across the institutional barriers that had until then polarized Egypt’s political terrain, between more Islamicly-oriented currents (most prominent among them, the Muslim Brotherhood) and secular-liberal ones. Since the rise of the Islamist Revival in the 1970s, Egypt’s political opposition had remained sharply divided around contrasting visions of the proper place of religious authority within the country’s social and political future, with one side viewing secularization as the eminent danger, and the other emphasizing the threat of politicized religion to personal freedoms and democratic rights. This polarity tended to result in a defensive political rhetoric and a corresponding amplification of political antagonisms, a dynamic the Mubarak regime has repeatedly encouraged and exploited over the last 30 years in order to ensure a weak opposition. What was striking about the Egyptian blogosphere as it developed in the last 7 or so years is the extent to which it engendered a political language free from the problematic of secularization vs. fundamentalism that had governed so much of political discourse in the Middle East and elsewhere.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/599/from-the-blogosphere-to-the-street_the-role-of-social-media-in-the-egyptian-uprising
World Solidarity
Despite PA repression, Palestinians rally for Egypt
In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah last weekend, security forces belonging to the Palestinian Authority attempted to pacify a protest of 2,000 persons.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11788.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Palestinians in Gaza hold Egypt solidarity rally
Several hundred students rallied in central Gaza on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests in Egypt
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/0/5305/Egypt/Gazan-students-hold-Egypt-solidarity-rally-.aspx
Friends of the Dictator
Congress debates the Muslim Brotherhood and aid to Egypt
Today’s first hearing of the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee was dominated by the question of how much the United States should fear the empowerment of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and what leverage should be used against the Egyptian military to get them to behave in accordance with U.S. interests. Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) opened the hearing with a broad criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in Egypt, which she said is now tilting too far in support of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and is failing to counteract the threat posed by the rise of Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/09/congress_debates_the_muslim_brotherhood_and_aid_to_egypt
PA security forces targeting Egypt-supporting Palestinians
Peaceful demonstrators targeted by Palestinian Authority security forces during a demonstration in support of the Egyptian uprising.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1679
These are some of the celebrity assholes who denounced the revolution…
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/10/shame-on-you/
As’ad Abukhalil’s Commentary
Angry Arab on Egypt at UC, Davis [Feb 8,11]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIp0CCYVcVg&feature=player_embedded
The heroic Egyptian Army
This is a picture of the heroic Egyptian Army. I am reminded of its heroism as I listen to Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal praise the Egyptian Army.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/heroic-egyptian-army.html
Obama receives expert opinion on democracy
“The President spoke today with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia about the situation in Egypt. The President emphasized the importance of taking immediate steps toward an orderly transition that is meaningful, lasting, legitimate, and responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people. The President also reaffirmed the long-term commitment of the United States to peace and security in the region.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/obama-receive-expert-opinion-on.html
so what would you do without Sulayman?
“The agency has cultivated its relationships with people such as Gen. Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s chief of intelligence and now vice
president, but it has not done as well understanding the world of the protesters.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/so-what-would-you-do-without-sulayman.html
A Panel On Egypt at Emory University
A reader at Emory University sent me this account): “yesterday, there was a panel discussion in EMory University about the egyptian revolution. It was a joke. The panelists were so “white”. The whole 2-hour discussion boiled down to discussing the fear from the muslim brotherhood and how they should be careful not to let the brother take over. One of the speakers, a pro-israeli prof. and the director of the “institute for the study of modern Israel” at Emory, was discussing something when he said that israel “withdrew” from Sinai in 1973. Another speaker called Michael Youssef, a pastor, said that egyptians dont know what a tyrant is and then he went on to explain the suffering of the jews. Then I interfered and was made to shut up. his whole argument was flawed and focused on the brotherhood control of egypt and comparing that to iran. Another thing he said was: ” make no mistake, aljazeera English is completely the opposite from the arabic channel because it has american anchors”. He also said that he saw people getting paid money to stay in the “Midan el Ta7rir” (though he has not been in egypt recently”. I felt it was so weird to highjack the stage and intead of talking about the dreams and aspirations of the live and dead egyptians and their courage for change but rather go and scare the audience from something that does not really exist (at least now). I thought u might want to know that about emory.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/panel-on-egypt-at-emory-university.html
THEY ARE FREAKING OUT IN ISRAEL
“Should the government of Hosni Mubarak be replaced by one not truly committed to freedom and peace, the consequences for Israel could be devastating. As Egypt struggles toward an internal balance that appeases all forces, including the Muslim Brotherhood, peace with Israel could be the price of an Egyptian compromise. And the risks are worse if the Brotherhood, an organization deeply hostile to Israel, America and the West, gets to call the shots.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/they-are-freaking-out-in-israel_09.html
Analysis/Op-ed
The Great Egyptian Revolution, Dr. Azmi Bishara
The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions heralded a new Arab era in which it is possible to couple freedom and social rights, sovereignty and citizenship. Arab regimes will not deride their populations anymore; and they will be facing a choice between comprehensive reforms and the complete overthrow of the regime. On the level of political powers and ideological splits, everything will change as well. Past divisions will lose their significance for the importance of past debates between ideological currents has greatly diminished. None of these actors was capable of engaging with the challenge of overthrowing despotism, and the phenomenon of new social powers that reject injustice and embrace ethical values without giving up their identity has risen. A new polyarchy shall emerge, and leading the ranks will be a thought that can combine democracy, social justice, and Arab identity without denying the legacy of the Islamic civilization.
http://english.dohainstitute.org/Home/Details?entityID=5ea4b31b-155d-4a9f-8f4d-a5b428135cd5&resourceId=db353bc5-3dd7-413e-8fc5-65301b7c5dcc
“The Great Tragedy is Obama Chose Not to Hold Out His Hand”: Robert Fisk on the Gap Between U.S. Rhetoric and Action in Egyptian Uprising
The longtime Middle East correspondent of The Independent newspaper in London joins us from Cairo to talk about the popular uprising ongoing across Egypt, its regional implications, and how Obama should respond. “[The protesters] are asking for nothing less than Americans expect in their own lives,” Fisk says.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/9/the_great_tragedy_is_obama_chose
Robert Fisk: Hypocrisy is exposed by the wind of change sweeping Arab world
There is nothing like an Arab revolution to show up the hypocrisy of your friends. Especially if that revolution is one of civility and humanism and powered by an overwhelming demand for the kind of democracy that we enjoy in Europe and America. The pussyfooting nonsense uttered by Obama and La Clinton these past two weeks is only part of the problem. From “stability” to “perfect storm” – Gone With the Wind might have recommended itself to the State Department if they really must pilfer Hollywood for their failure to adopt moral values in the Middle East – we’ve ended up with the presidential “now-means-yesterday”, and “orderly transition”, which translates: no violence while ex-air force General Mubarak is put out to graze so that ex-intelligence General Suleiman can take over the regime on behalf of America and Israel.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-hypocrisy-is-exposed-by-the-wind-of-change-sweeping-arab-world-2209881.html
The tide is changing for the army, Issandr El Amrani
When the uprising began in Egypt and tanks deployed on the streets on January 28, the military was initially welcomed. Perhaps many thought it had carried out a coup against Mubarak (in fact it probably partially has), and many more still cherished the myth of the Egyptian army triumphant in 1973 after the defeat of 1967. Things began to turn last week when the army stood and did nothing while pro-Mubarak thugs attacked the crowd in Tahrir. The protestors issued an ultimatum to the army to pick its side: with them, or with Mubarak. The army has still done nothing. Then, over the weekend, military police (and probably military intelligence) were deployed to beef up security on the streets. It then came out that they have been arresting dozens if not hundreds of people, and began raiding the offices of human rights activists and visiting the homes of people asking to poke around their computers.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/10/the-tide-is-changing-for-the-army.html
People & Power – Egypt: Seeds of change
People & Power reveals the story behind the unprecedented political protests in Egypt. Over the course of a remarkable fortnight, People&Power has been filming exclusively behind the scenes with a core group of young activists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrNz0dZgqN8&feature=youtube_gdata
Muslims and Christians Protest as One, Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – Over recent years, Egypt has witnessed mounting tension between its Muslim majority and its sizeable Coptic Christian minority. But in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the site of ongoing mass protests against the ruling regime, members of both faiths chant in unison: “Muslim, Christian, doesn’t matter; We’re all in this boat together!”
http://original.antiwar.com/adam-morrow-khaled-moussa-al-omrani/2011/02/09/muslims-and-christians-protest-as-one/
Tahrir’s Other Sky, Noura Erakat and Sherene Seikaly
Egypt’s exhilarating call for freedom, as Elliot Cola recently noted is an astonishing moment of poetry. The refrain, “Ish-sha‘b/yu-rîd/is-qât/in-ni-zâm,” [The People Want the Fall of the Regime]resoundingly rings for millions in the Arab world and beyond. With all eyes on Liberation Square, many are wrestling with what Maya Mikdashi aptly called the unfamiliar restlessness of hope. As the twists and turns of the 25 January Revolution quickly unfold, another extraordinary process is taking place. The relentless resilience of Egyptians risking life and limb for freedom has seared cracks in the sky and revealed another horizon of politics.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/597/tahrirs-other-sky
Jim Cowie: The Resilience of Egypt
The Egyptian “kill switch” was simultaneously a technical success and a mystifying strategic blunder. Could other governments implement such a kill switch?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-cowie/the-resilience-of-egypt_b_821049.html
Wael Ghonim vs. Barack Obama: Change we Can Believe in, Yes we Can, Juan Cole
It is no secret that President Barack Obama has been in some regards a profound disappointment to the American Left, and his erratic and often disgraceful performance on the Egypt crisis exemplifies his faults in this regard. He just seems to lack empathy with the little people and is unwilling to buck the rich and powerful, even though they all opposed his run for the presidency. As Iran’s speaker of the house put it, the Obama administration, faced with a choice of supporting the youth revolution or the camels unleashed on it, has chosen the camels. It makes a person think there should be rule that no one can run for the presidency who didn’t have a proper father figure in his or her life (Bill Clinton, W., Obama), since apparently once they get into office they start thinking the billionaires are their long-lost parent, whom they have to bend over backward to please.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/wael-ghonim-vs-barack-obama-change-we-can-believe-in-yes-we-can-2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
How hard would it be to back Egyptian democracy, Mr President? | Joshua Treviño
This is a simple enough choice between liberty and tyranny, yet the White House has done nothing but equivocate and dodge. The administration of Barack Obama has reacted to the uprising against Hosni Mubarak with the enthusiasm of a man condemned to consume a gallon of plain yoghurt. The president of the United States is not against Egyptian democracy, exactly – but neither is he especially for it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/09/barack-obama-white-house-egypt
Beyond Tahrir: Two faces of Egypt | Editorial
On the one hand there is vice-president Omar Suleiman, and on the other young activist Wael Ghonim. You only have to hear and see the two men for a few minutes to understand what is at stake in Egypt. On the one hand there is vice-president Omar Suleiman, with his clipped moustache and beautifully cut suits. Clearly intelligent, but also inherently slippery, his words are intended to be reassuring, but every now and then there is a hint of menace. He may well be less wily and less in control than he likes to appear, as our story today on the state of negotiations suggests, but this is still the face of a survivor, a fixer, and a believer in the authority over others of old foxes like himself which his own body language so obviously conveys.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/10/beyond-tahrir-two-faces-egypt
My love for you, Egypt increases by the day
The call begins with a song portraying the love people of Egypt have for their country. Caller: My love for you, Egypt increases by the day. And you know that Egypt. You know it Egypt. You know that I live and die for you. Every day I love you more than the day before. It ends here my dear country, so be happy and proud of your children and martyrs. Because we want no safe comfort. I swear to you we gave up everything, just so we can hold onto you, dear country. So be filled with joy, because that’s it! We are freeing you! And in no time you will become again the magnificent country you once were. Be happy, because the next regime that will rule you will be worthy of that responsibility, it will be everything unlike the lowlife revolting system led by the lowlife Mubarak and his followers. I swear to God you will be free, and soon! Because, we are not leaving. I swear we are not leaving. We are not buying all this nonsense talk about negotiation. All these negotiation’s meetings being planned are fruitless, because it is just a charade played by 2 parts of the corrupted system and political parties trying to converse together. And this is not our conversation. And pardon me for saying this, but before people used to grovel for the sake of those political parties but not anymore. So again I repeat we are not leaving before we cleanse Egypt from this corrupted regime. This regime must be wiped out completely. He and his followers will that robbed this country.
http://egypt.alive.in/2011/02/08/my-love-for-you-egypt-increases-by-the-day/
Memo from Egypt: We Shall Not Be Moved, Ahmed Amr
With every passing day, the Egyptian uprising gathers strength as more citizens rally to the cause and demand the immediate resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The regime’s pillars are crumbling. Yesterday, the demonstrators surged out of Tahrir Square and marched towards the National Assembly and the building that houses the Ministry of Interior. But perhaps the most important development was the smaller demonstrations held in front of government owned media outlets and the resignations of a number of prominent journalists on the regime’s payroll.
The Arab Pro-Democracy Movement: Struggles to Redefine Citizenship
We are witnessing a historic moment in Egypt and the Arab world. The youth of the region have a revolutionary opportunity to enfranchise citizens—this is the antithesis of the entire post-colonial formula. I am trying to identify the tangible but radical changes that can take place. Clearly there are many forces in Egypt that might undermine this revolutionary situation. The old political parties, and most importantly the Muslim Brotherhood—might try cutting deals. I think the most that may come out of this is a serious democratic revolution–not a small achievement–to alter relations of power, and promote a serious agenda for socio-economic justice. The role of youth and the street is crucial, and their new form of organization (network as opposed to hierarchical) is an advantage but it has its pitfalls and limitations. It is unparalleled, but who and what will play a crucial role in reversing the social and political relations? I am unable to provide an answer for this from Orange, CA.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/588/the-arab-pro-democracy-movement_struggles-to-redefine-citizenship
The west’s debt to Egypt | Ahmed Salah
After actively supporting Mubarak’s corrupt and violent rule, the west has a duty to help end it. This week has seen the biggest protest in the history of Egypt. Millions have demonstrated in Cairo and other cities all over the country – north, south, east, and west. All had the same demands. The first, as the world knows now, is that the dictator Hosni Mubarak must step down.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/10/the-west-has-debts-to-egypt
Trade unions: the revolutionary social network at play in Egypt and Tunisia | Eric Lee and Benjamin Weinthal | Eric Lee and Benjamin Weinthal
The media have focused on Facebook and Twitter, but the pro-democracy movements have flourished thanks to unions. Perhaps the most overlooked factor in the demise of the authoritarian Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, and the weakening of Hosni Mubarak’s grip on state power in Egypt, has been the trade unions in both countries. While the media has reported on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook as revolutionary methods of mobilisation, it was the old-fashioned working class that enabled the pro-democracy movements to flourish.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/10/trade-unions-egypt-tunisia
Recuperating the Democracy Narrative: Fareed Zakaria and Preparing for a Post-Mubarak World
On February 8, 2011 Secretary of Defense and ex-CIA chief Robert Gates urged “ governments in the region” to “take measures to begin moving in a positive direction toward addressing the political and economic grievances of their people.”[1] The mantra has droned out of Obama administration corridors for weeks including Hilary Clinton’s now infamous and indeed racist admonition of Arab regimes to reform in early January. In Doha, the Secretary of State criticizes the “corrupt institutions and stagnant political order,” which are “sinking into the sands.” For anyone vaguely familiar with the modern history of the Middle East, the rhetoric of reform espoused by Gates, Clinton and Obama among others smacks of a grotesque hybrid of arrogant superpower paternalism and selective memory.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/600/recuperating-the-democracy-narrative_fareed-zakaria-and-preparing-for-a-post-mubarak-world
Robert Scheer: Hey Obama, Read WikiLeaks
The new script in Egypt is out of an all-too-familiar playbook: Pick the longtime chief of Egyptian intelligence who has consistently done our bidding in matters of torture and retrofit him as a modern democratic leader.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/hey-obama-read-wikileaks_b_820592.html
Michael Hughes: U.S. Fears Democracy Might Actually Flourish in Egypt
The Obama administration has acted in accordance with standard U.S. operating procedure by supporting a dictatorial government, regardless how oppressive and undemocratic, in the name of serving U.S. national interest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hughes/us-fears-democracy-might-_b_820053.html
People Power v. Duplicity in Egypt and Washington, Stephen Lendman
Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Egypt’s capital and across the country remain resilient. They continue “mass demonstrations, with a new wave of optimism reaching the pro-democracy camp.
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/02/09/people-power-v-duplicity-in-egypt-and-washington/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SabbahsBlog+%28Sabbah+Report%29
Philip N. Howard: A State Department 2.0 Response to the Arab Spring
It’s time to put State Department 2.0 to work, and the next step is to make more confident statements and commitments to supporting civil society.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-n-howard/state-department-arab-spring_b_820458.html
Uprising has revealed the real Egypt | Amira Nowaira
The US and its allies have to realise the Egypt they have been dealing with is no more than a figment of their imagination. There is no doubt in my mind that the Egyptian uprising that started on 25 January has caused a political earthquake whose aftershocks will resonate not only in Egypt but way beyond its borders as well. It will redraw lines, remap political topographies and create new perceptions. Those who ignore this fact will do so at their own peril.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/09/uprising-revealed-real-egypt
Meet Egypt’s Future Leaders, ESAM AL-AMIN
On June 6, 2010, soft-spoken businessman Khaled Said, 28, had his dinner before retreating to his room and embarking on his daily routine of surfing the Internet, blogging, and chatting with his friends on different social websites. Several days earlier, he had posted a seven-minute online video of Alexandria police officers dividing up confiscated drugs among themselves.
http://www.counterpunch.com/alamin02082011.html
On the Streets of Cairo, CHRIS FLOYD
For a few days, the imperial gang thought they had turned the tide — and their stenographers in the mainstream media followed suit. The protests in Egypt were running out of gas, we were told; now the power players were coming to the fore, in Washington and Cairo, to take charge of the situation and move things along — slowly, moderately — down a path of gradual reform and stability.
http://www.counterpunch.com/floyd02082011.html
From Tiananmen to Tahrir Square, STEVEN COLATRELLA
As I write this hundreds of thousands have again filled Tahrir Square in Cairo, and hundreds of thousands more march in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast , demanding an end to the authoritarian, pro-US government , pro-neoliberal regime that has caused the Egyptian people such suffering under the 30 year rule of Hosni Mubarak. Along with their revolutionary fellow Arabs in Tunisia, Egyptians fighting for democracy and for a better life, and against injustice and inequality are on the front line in the battle for global civilization today. For it is civilization itself, global society as a whole that is at stake in the struggle taking place in the streets and squares of Egypt and across the Arab world. To understand this however, we need to understand the full, global context of these struggles and revolutions.
http://www.counterpunch.com/colatrella02082011.html
Egypt’s Berlin Wall Moment, Richard Falk
When the Soviet empire collapsed, the way was opened for the triumphalist pursuit of the American imperial project, seizing the opportunity for geopolitical expansion provided by its self-anointed global leadership – as ‘the sole surviving superpower’.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/20112795229925377.html
Let’s Go to Plan B, Philip Giraldi
Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a definition of insanity. He might have been describing the foreign policy of the United States of America. In the past week we long suffering citizens have seen our government stand by the dictator in Egypt, then call on him to go, and most recently support his staying on while at the same time publicly demanding that some transition start immediately. All of which is not doing the same thing over and over except when one considers that the US Department of State and White House have followed precisely the same dysfunctional pattern when dealing with other client states throughout the Middle East and in Central Asia. Take one position based on faulty and incomplete information, then take a contrary position when it appears that the first position was rash, finally shifting into yet a third formulation when numbers one and two turn out to be fraught with unintended consequences.
http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2011/02/09/lets-go-to-plan-b/
Cartoon: Egypt: Obama’s Counter-Revolution, by Carlos Latuff
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/latuff090211.html
Cartoon: Mubarak the Laughing Cow, Carlos Latuff
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/latuff100211.html
Tunisia and Egypt Ripples Felt Throughout Arab World
Jordan king swears in new government after protests
Jordan’s King Abdullah swore in a new government on Wednesday, replacing a business friendly prime minister with an ex-general in response to anti-government protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/09/136995.html
Lawyers protest against Iraq government (AFP)
AFP – Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets across Iraq on Thursday to protest against widespread corruption and unemployment in demonstrations inspired by anti-government uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110210/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsdemo
Egypt inspires Iraq protests
Ongoing protests in Egypt are inspiring anti-government demonstrations in Iraq.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHu6C540nnU&feature=youtube_gdata
http://english.aljazeera.net//video/middleeast/2011/02/201129155521453319.html
Palestinians turning to Arab Street for inspiration
GLUED TO television sets in Ramallah’s shisha cafes, Palestinians have been watching al-Jazeera television attentively as Egyptian people rise up from Alexandria to Cairo. Looking on with admiration as tens of thousands fill the streets during the January 28th “Day of Rage”, cheers erupt through the cafes with every police retreat and every Molotov cocktail that lands on security vehicles. It was fresh reaction of unity and optimism following the shame that rocked Palestinian society earlier in the week in the wake of al-Jazeera’s release of the “Palestine Papers”, the more than 1,600 documents (part of the WikiLeaks hoard) on the US-brokered peace process exposing the extent of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) collaboration with Israel.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0210/1224289432068.html
Syria Restores Access to Facebook and YouTube
Human rights advocates greeted the change guardedly, warning that the government might try to monitor activity on social networking sites.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=642a6f981a0aa6f32cfb0776d023da5c
Protests in Libya
Comrade Farag sent me this: “Also for some background information on why the 17th of Feb. copied from a news group that i belong to: 3. The Feb. 17th date comemmorates the following, so make sure you talk about it in your tweets. – In 1987 a group of shabab were executed–their bodies dragged through the streets of Benghazi and left outside for days–for killing Ahmed Mufda’ Werfelli. Werfelli was one of Gaddafi’s executionners. He was known to smile and laugh when he put nooses around the people’s neck he executed. He was also known for going through the markets, bullying people and gnerally being a jerk. A group of young men followed him and killed him. They were executed for their role. – In 2006 the government called people into the streets, in front of the Italian embassy, to protest the Italian ambassador wearing a t-shirt with the infamous cartoon of the prophet. When people went to the embassy they began to riot…quickly the security forces turned against the people–beating them, etc. The chants then transformed into chants against the regime and gaddafi himself. 18 people were confirmed dead…more were probably killed, they were all young people with one being 15 years old. And 700 were imprisoned, many of which are still in jail. The protests spread through the region–reaching Tobruk. We are commemorating these brutal attacks on the people. 4. Gaddafi yesterday gathered a bunch of people, activists, bloggers, etc…to tell them, among other things, that if anybody joins these protests that their tribes will be punished. In hopes that the tribes will keep people quiet. He also said that all of these things were CIA and Mossad conspiracies to tear down Libya. He said that Mubarak wasn’t a rich man…he borrowed his clothes from people. He said a lot of delusional things, but mostly he wanted to scare people and to get the tribes to restrain people. 5. One of the Revolutionary committees (Gaddafi’s vanguard) called people to the streets to protest on 17th…as if Gaddafi was going to join them and demand his rights too. Today they organized a protest in Tripoli in front of the Main building of the People’s committee in Tripoli. They were blaming AlBaghdadi, the secretary of the committee, for everything in Libya….so you can see where this is all going. Gaddafi’s committees hijaking people’es legitimate claims. Tweet about it, talk about it. Please if you know any tidbit of info post it to dufungy immediately.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/protests-in-libya.html
The ascent of the Palestinian pharaoh
Economic dependency and an oppressive security state is the recipe that many dictatorial, one-person, or one-party regimes apply across the region. This model was followed by the once American-supported, and then American-deposed Saddam Hussein, to Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi, who was first a pariah in the West and then became its darling, to Tunisia’s Zine El Abedine Ben Ali who was overthrown by his people, among others. While the Egyptian people stand steadfast in an effort to overthrow their own Pharoah, a similar “pharoah regime” is steadily being built for Palestinians in the West Bank.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11790.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Getting to know the ‘son of Egypt,’ Wael Ghonim
Feb 10, 2011
Philip Weiss
“No one is going to go against our desire. We are getting back our country,” Wael Ghonim declared on CNN last night, and today the 30-year-old Google executive is arguably the most powerful man in Egypt. Ghonim’s spectacular interview on Egyptian TV Monday night hours after he was freed from 11 days of imprisonment spurred the revolution to new heights and stirred the White House (as David Gergen said on CNN).
This small passionate intellectual with the wide forehead instantly became the face of the revolution, and today as reports swirled that Mubarak was stepping down, Ghonim tweeted, “Revolution 2.0: Mission Accomplished,” and also:
“I promise every Egyptian that I will go back to my normal life & not be involved in any politics once Egyptians fulfill their dreams.”