Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[seemslikeadream]

academic and political analysts – are having a hard time understanding the complexity of forces driving and responding to these momentous events

so true, so very true

[crikkett]

@Meho_M: Friend in #Egypt reports: "My friend just received orders from his state-owned company to go join the pro-Mubarak protests" #Jan25

@esraa_ali: Confirmed news...100 EGP is the price for the person who will go with #Mubarak fake demo#jan25 #Egypt

[Canadian_watcher]

@Meho_M: Friend in #Egypt reports: "My friend just received orders from his state-owned company to go join the pro-Mubarak protests" #Jan25

@esraa_ali: Confirmed news...100 EGP is the price for the person who will go with #Mubarak fake demo#jan25 #Egypt

wow. I wish this could be verified and broadcast to the entire world.

[Jeff]

Most of the time I think I'm not naive. But then what little hope I can muster gets coldcocked by power and I'm reminded of just how goddamn naive I am still.

And it was a brilliant play yesterday around Tahrir Square. "The army is just checking for weapons; it's not stopping the people." Even the civilians were running their own checkpoints to ensure everyone was unarmed. It was exhilarating. So now today, let's pull back the checkpoints, and allow our armed thugs free reign. Gotcha again.

So give it up:



Female anti-government protester telling Al Jazeera that they cannot leave the square even if she wanted to - she is crying on air and sounds very scared and emotional. Telling Al Jazeera not to refer to the pro-government group as "demonstrators" because they are actually "violent thugs".


And Ground Hog Day is now leading the news.

[stefano]

That's a very good and informative piece, tazmic, thanks. But the guy's wrong, it really is as simple as People vs. Dictatorship. Some army elements and some elites are siding against Mubarak, that doesn't change the broad accuracy of the "binary model" (just as the existence of rich engineers doesn't invalidate a class analysis of an economy). And the army's role in this has been passive, not active, throughout. On Friday that looked like a good thing for protesters, today it isn't. I guess we all want to avoid naïveté but thinking there are no good and bad guys is a much more serious mistake.

[vanlose kid]

AJ: "pro-Mubarak" supporters lobbing molotovs from rooftops into the crowds in the square.

*

[beeline]

RNN | News
JUST IN| Molotov are bring thrown on the protesters!
19 seconds ago ·LikeUnlike ·
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RNN | News
Protestors are being hit with Molotov !!
about a minute ago · 1 ·LikeUnlike · Sameh Salah likes this.
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RNN | News
Al-Jazeera Talk reporter: An eyewitness confirms that Mubarak's supporters were paid from 100-200 pounds each
3 minutes ago · 44 ·LikeUnlike · 4 people like this.
Samar Refat Sootk amana het7asb 3leha yom la ynf3 maal wla bnoon
48 seconds ago · LikeUnlikeNadine Sarah how can these people live with the conscience that they are betraying their own brothers???
10 seconds ago · LikeUnlikeWrite a comment...

RNN | News
Eyewitness: I saw them "thugs" receiving money !!
8 minutes ago · 27 ·LikeUnlike · 7 people like this.
Sherine Monir Typical! Not surprised at all! Welcome to the Mubarak regime!
7 minutes ago · LikeUnlike · 3 people
Loading...Rafik Khoury Mubarak & his criminal cronies have a Death wish. So please abide by his wish and drag him to Tahrir Liberation Square. Rope is cheap.
3 minutes ago · LikeUnlikeWrite a comment...

RNN | News
The protestors: If we go back now, the regime will severly take revenge
11 minutes ago · 928 ·LikeUnlike · 28 people like this.



RNN | News
Elkhalefa police station is gathering thugs and ex-offenders to attack the demonstrators at El Tahrir Square


RNN | News
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=1 ... 84&index=1
pls come and support us and down with the regime
جمعة الخلاص
Location: في كل ميادين مصر
Time: 12:00PM Friday, February 4th
18 minutes ago · 87 ·LikeUnlike · · Share7 people like this.
Mahmoud Yassin Kfayaaa
4 minutes ago · LikeUnlikeFrancis Riedl ALLAH YEKHREB BEYOTKOM KHARABTOUHA YA RE3A3 YA MOTAKHALEFIN
about a minute ago · LikeUnlikeWrite a comment...

RNN | News
A protestor: We are optimistic, We have no intention to go back, We have nothing to lose
19 minutes ago · 719 ·LikeUnlike ·

[seemslikeadream]

Alternative History: America's Iraq Atrocity and the Arab Awakening

WRITTEN BY CHRIS FLOYD
WEDNESDAY, 02 FEBRUARY 2011 14:14
One argument forever touted by apologists for the invasion of Iraq is that the war was worth it – despite all the “mistakes” that arose from our excess of good intentions – if only because it removed Saddam Hussein from power. This is the chief line taken by Tony Blair, one of the principals in the on-going war crime, which has spawned a million needless deaths already and is producing more with every passing week.

Blair – who now cheerfully admits that the WMD casus belli was bullshit from the beginning, and that the blatantly illegal goal of “regime change” was the goal all along – continually paints a nightmare scenario of a ruthless dictator still wielding an iron rod over his suffering people. “Can you imagine what would be happening if Saddam were in power today?!”

Well, as it turns out, we can imagine what would be happening: We would very likely be seeing Saddam Hussein announcing his intention to stand down at the next election, and promising that his sons would not take over in his place, while instituting reforms to widen political participation in the government. Heck, we might even be seeing him hastily boarding an airplane to Saudi Arabia, with a mob at his heels. We would, in other words, be seeing him in panic mode at the Arab uprising now sweeping across the Middle East.

This wave of broad-based popular revolution has -- in less than a month! -- already toppled one seemingly-entrenched dictator in Tunisia; forced an even more seemingly-entrenched dictator in Egypt to announce his impending retirement upon elections (and may yet still send him packing posthaste); impelled another entrenched strongman in Yemen to do the same; and forced still another entrenched autocrat to sack his government in Jordan and institute new reforms. In each case, these actions have been compelled by the anger – and great courage – of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people coming out on the streets, facing down tanks, troops and torturers to demand a new and more just order in their societies. It is one of the most remarkable movements in modern history. And it would have doubtless swept into a Saddam-controlled Iraq as well.

Without the murderous invasion of Iraq by the Anglo-American power structure, more than a million innocent people – including hundreds of thousands of children – would be alive today. The violent and virulent religious extremists unleashed -- and often armed and empowered by the occupiers -- would not be there. The Iranian influence in Iraq– so feared and decried by Washington – would be nil. The once-strong Christian population of Iraq would still be there, not fleeing for its life from the hatreds loosed by the war crime launched by two leaders who endlessly paraded their fervent Christianity. And we could now be seeing ordinary Iraqis – secular and sectarian, Sunni and Shiite, young and old – coming together, as in Egypt, to take charge of their own destiny.

Of course, Iraq may yet be touched by the Arab Awakening – although now this would have to take place in a ruined, shattered, fractious, ravaged land ... and with a vast, bristling American military machine still holding ultimate control. In a bitter irony, these “liberators” might be the one thing that stops the wave of genuine liberation from reaching Iraq.

NOTE: Simon Jenkins makes a similar point – and many other trenchant observations – in an excellent piece in the Guardian. Here’s an excerpt:

Had the west not intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan, I bet the Iraqi people would by now have found a way to be rid of Saddam. They or the army would have done what the Tunisians and the Egyptians are doing, and at far less cost in lives, upheaval and chaos. As for the Taliban, as clients of Islamabad they would have come to Pakistani heel. The Afghans would be a threat to nobody but themselves.

What history will call the Wars of 9/11 have killed immeasurably more people than did 9/11 itself. They have cost western taxpayers billions that would have gone far to relieving global disease and famine. American and British governments, for reasons embedded in some imperial paranoia, grotesquely exaggerated the threat posed to them by the Muslim world. They embarked on a campaign of intervention, regime change and nation building far from their shores. The campaign has been inept and counterproductive, as well as in breach of the United Nations charter on self-determination.

Egypt, Tunisia, Iran and Pakistan are all Muslim states wrestling with agonies of self-determination. The west's sole contribution has been to plunge two of their neighbours, Iraq and Afghanistan, into a bloodbath of insecurity and chaos. This is not our continent, these are not our countries and none of this is our business. We should leave them alone.

[crikkett]

And Ground Hog Day is now leading the news.

OMG is that today? #Egypt

1. Its dark, fire on our way to army in Mogama. DO NOT USE ABDEEN PEOPLE! 4 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

2.Heading back towards mogama, will say we are lost tourists, and the child is my brother. Rushdi will back us up. 6 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

3.Omfg @TrellaLB if not abdine where :'( 7 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

4.Alleyway in Abdeen is open for now, dunno for how long. Its geing dark, alleyway is open, getting out through there. 9 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

5.Interviews? We want to live, we have to get out. Carrying child and @SarahKaram1 is rynning behind me. Rushdi bleeding, abdeen is open! 11 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

6.My internatoional phones reception is too low to upload pics of him. 13 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

7.Subways, use subways? I don't trust them, using omar makram! At least open... Tahrir get out, get out now 14 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

8.May god take your souls if this childs parents are dead, may mubarak die. Mubaral your a murderer. Allah yel3ankoun, allah la ywafi2koun 21 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

9.He doesn't know his patensts naems, he's 2 yrs max. Sarah has ggirl and rushdi calling ppl to come our way to omar makram 23 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

10.Rushdi says fake I'm pro mubarak, and leave this way. Ppl families in Tahrir, the men will die there, please. Im heading throguh omar makram 26 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

11.:'( omg I have someones child, I have a child. 2 yrs max, green eyes, says his name mahmoud. Tweet it for me 27 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

12.PEOPLE LEAVE TAHRIR VIA OMAR MAKRAM, SEMIRAMIS THEN VIA NILE! #jan25 30 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

13.Another entrance down... Omg there's dead people. There's dead people... 31 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

14.@justimage how did u, tell us, please! 33 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

15.HOW DO WE GET OUT, SOMEONE TELL US! 34 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

16.We are trying to find way out, we are blocked from ll sides. Please, mubarak stop, mubarak stop them! 35 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

17.Screaming, crying, injured, burned, they will kill us, I swear we will die. Omfg! #Jand25 36 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

18.Pro mubarak protesters broke into square!!! Entrance broken! OMFG there's blood, omfg OmFGf 37 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

19.Army blocking protesters near Nile bridge and in other areas, but can't stop the thugs?! #Jan25 38 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

20.Yes I can confirm, tanks were abandoned. Tanks just left. I defended this army, I called them clean.... I was wrong #Jan25 40 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

[23]

At the present moment, this is the top most news item on drudgereport.com:

"REPORT: US, EU discussing need for international military intervention to remove Mubarak... Developing..."

It isn't linkable, currently. But may be soon.

[beeline]

.

RNN | News Warnings of an imminent massacre in At-Tahrir Square

[beeline]

RNN | News White House says it "deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt, and we are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators". It adds: "We repeat our strong call for restraint."
a few seconds ago ·LikeUnlike ·
Write a comment...

Mark as SpamReport as AbuseRNN | News APPEAL,,,,
MILLIONS ARE BEING KILLED
ONLY AND ONLY
BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR
FREEDOM AND DIGNITY
...LIBERALS OF THE WORLD
HELP THEM
DEMONSTRATE
SUPPORT THEM

RNN | News Mubarak supporters are dropping concrete blocks on opposition protesters from roofs, AFP reports.

[23]

As a proud father of a young daughter... girls rule!

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/vide ... an-regime/
Video said to have helped trigger massive anti-Mubarak protests

An impassioned speech on human rights by Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz lad thousands of protesters to gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square on January 25, sparking a widespread movement against President Hosni Mubarak.

"Don't think you can be safe any more," Mahfouz said in her video, which was posted on Facebook January 18. "None of us are. Come down with us and demand your rights, my rights, your family's rights. I am going down on January 25th, and will say 'No to corruption. No to this regime.'"

The 25-year-old woman is a member of the April 6 Youth Movement, which has been using the Internet to organize protests against Egypt's authoritarian government since 2008.

As protests against President Mubarak continued to grow, the group called Monday for a "march of millions" and an indefinite general strike. The next day, Mubarak announced he would not seek reelection at the end of his term in September.

Mahfouz made the video after four Egyptian men set themselves on fire. The men were apparently inspired by the example of Tunisia, where a self-immolation triggered protests that eventually led to the ouster of the nation's president.

"Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire, thinking maybe we can have a revolution like Tunisia," she said. "Maybe we can have freedom, justice, honor, and human dignity. Today, one of these four has died."

"Of course, on all national media, whoever dies in protest is a psychopath," she continued. "If they were psychopaths, why did they burn themselves at the Parliament building?"

Looking straight at the camera, Mahfouz declared that she was making her video "to give you one simple message."

"We want to go down to Tahrir Square on January 25th," she said. "If we still have honor, and want to live in dignity on this land, we have to go down on January 25th. We go down and demand our rights, our fundamental human rights. I won't even talk about any political rights. We just want our human rights and nothing else."

Mahfouz's role in the April 6 Youth Movement was to help shape its public message and reach out to Egyptian youth, according to the New York Times.

"This entire government is corrupt - a corrupt president and a corrupt security force," she continued. "These self-immolators were not afraid of death but were afraid of security forces. I'm going down on January 25th, and from now till then, I'm going to distribute fliers in the street every day. I will not set myself on fire. If the security forces want to set me on fire, let them come and do it."

Documents from the US State Department, released by secrets outlet WikiLeaks, showed that Egyptian police regularly abused and tortured suspects.

Police were also caught trying to loot priceless artifacts from the museum in Cairo and commit other acts of violence "in an attempt to stoke fear of instability," a rights group claimed Tuesday.

"Whoever says women shouldn't go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25th," Mahfouz continued. "Whoever says its not worth it because there will be only a handful of people, I want to tell him, you are the reason behind this. And you are a traitor, just like the president or any security cop who us in the streets."

"Sitting at home and just following us on news or Facebook leads to our humiliation. If you have honor and dignity as a man, come. Come and protect me, and other girls in the protest. If you stay at home, then you deserve all that's being done to you. And you will be guilty, before your nation and your people. And you'll be responsible for what happens to us on the street while you sit at home."

"Instead of setting ourselves on fire, let us do something positive," she added. "God says that He 'will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. [Quran 13:11]'"

[Canadian_watcher]

Jeff, yeah, I was thinking about that, too.
Reminds me of that feeling immediately after 9/11 where the people of the world united to show support for the US .. and then GWB got out the mic & spoke of war & vengeance. Reminds me of Obama on the campaign trail, only to show his true colours after the fact.

Hope dashed - the ultimate demotivator of good people.

[crikkett]

1. The motherfucker has ID! I can't see far, but it looks like we are surrounded?! about 1 hour ago via Mobile Web

2. SarahKaram1 Man clashing with @bloggerseif and Rushdi IS POLICE! HE HAS ID!! #jan25 about 1 hour ago via Mobile Web

3. Acid burns, they are acid burns! They are using acid!? about 1 hour ago via Mobile Web

4. OMG! @bloggerseif and man in serious fight. They are thugs! THUGS! about 1 hour ago via Mobile Web

5. Fainting ppl all over. I have never seen men cry like today #Jan25 about 1 hour ago via Mobile Web

6. SarahKaram1 Army took my phone's sim card, jokes on them. Came with 5 extras. about 2 hours ago via Mobile Web

7. Rushdi and @Bloggerseif are clashing with thugs, they keep getting attacked. Shant with them. about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

8. Mubarak you are egyptian? Inta masri? Inta zift, about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

9. Ppl referring to Lebanese men here as Lubnaniya el gad3an about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

10. Lost sight of @bloggerseif, ppl pro mubarak are police, thugs, and low people! about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

11. @gabrielghali I'm ok hayati, ali is in clashes about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

12. More pro mubarak women pointing at me and woman named Samar. Praying going on, no rocks their way #Jan25 about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

13. @abzzyy I'm fine, his phone with me. He and the men at front of clashes throwing rocks about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

14. @bloggerseif in front of clashes, his phone with me. Rushdi and Seif are infront of thugs, small space between them #Jan25 about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

15. Anyone else wnt to attack me!? I said I will die here, nd I m serious #Jan25 about 3 hours ago via Mobile Web

16. Thugs want our phones. Army if ppl die it is your fault! Mubarak you created a war and possibe bloodbath here #Jan25 about 4 hours ago via Mobile Web

17. @bloggerseif and rushdi are spread out, Shant is pushing people away from them about 4 hours ago via Mobile Web

18. @bloggerseif and Rushdi and lebanese armenian atacked by two pro mubarak men about 4 hours ago via Mobile Web

19. Rushdi and Shant standing next to @blogerseif. Seif challenging him #Jan25 about 4 hours ago via Mobile Web

20. Pro Mubarak asking @bloggerseif what he is doing here. Clashes can't be ignored. #Jan25 about 4 hours ago via Mobile Web

Oh my I hope they got out.