People power forces change in Tunisia

[Joe Hillshoist]

Demonstrators in downtown Cairo calling for an end to the Mubarak regime (literal translation: "The people /want/ the regime to fall!" (around 20 minutes ago).



Thanks, Joe. Those are good kids, they just might save Egypt yet.

I posted that video on my blog Alice. Good luck.

Reminds me of the songline:

"But this is the story of something much more.
How power and priviledge cannot move a people.
Who know where they stand and stand in their law."

[SonicG]

Wow- I just came back from Egypt on Sunday evening. Total tourist trip and only spent the last two nights in Giza. Driving through Cairo on Sunday morning (to the unbelievably awesome and disorganized museum), I saw the tiniest protest on a street corner, probably unrelated, but I thought, "hmmm, must be some officially sanctioned protest..."
Did not see Mubarak at the airport and did not sneak any gold out either .
Seriously though, bless those protesters and their bravery! Inshallah there will be some change for the better...

[Searcher08]

Tweets from Skynews reporter in Cairo...

# Cairo Protestors split up and chased towards bridges and side streets. Sirens everywhere. Occasional tear gas still being fired. 2 minutes ago via web

# Cairo. Protestors fleeing into side streets chased by riot squads. Tear gas still being fired. Cops followed by armoured cars. 5 minutes ago via web

# Cairo. Square now completely cleared of protestors. Huge tear gass attack. Thousands feeling towards bridges. People furious 6 minutes ago via web

# Cairo Massive gas attack. Square has been cleared. 8 minutes ago via web

# Cairo:Massie tear gas attack, square being cleared. choking clouds of gas, thousands fleeing 9 minutes ago via web

# Cairo: Approaching midnight. 1,000s still in square.1,000s of cops. Twitter from phones still down. Amazing spririt. 2morow is another day

[Plutonia]

Jacob Appelbaum tweets:

ioerror Jacob Appelbaum
What other sites do people need tested in Egypt? #january25 #Egypt #jan25
57 minutes ago

ioerror Jacob Appelbaum
If you want to bypass censorship in Egypt - Tor works to bypass TE Data filtering: https://www.torproject.org/download/download.html #jan25
26 minutes ago

The censors at TE Data failed to block 128.121.243.237 and 168.143.161.29 for Twitter. You can use those without a proxy directly. #jan25
11 minutes ago

Edit:

ioerror Jacob Appelbaum
If Twitter gives me a list of names/addresses to test, I will probe the Egyptian filters and advise how to respond to censorship attempts.
1 hour ago

[Plutonia]

Photo stream of the square: http://min.us/mvpmWCz#1

[stefano]

The media are presenting this as a sequel to the Tunisian unpleasantness. If true, it makes it a tiny bit harder to see those events as orchestrated by the Usual Suspects.

Do you really think Tunisia's 'unpleasantness' (is that what we're calling revolutions now?) was a CIA operation? Why?

In the interests of presenting both sides, Gaddafi reckons 'foreign interests' are interfering in Tunisia now. Without specifying. He would say that, though, wouldn't he? Can't have people thinking democracy can work.

[stefano]

Hillary Clinton reckons the Egypt gvt is "stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people"... Apparently a small protest this morning, but I reckon if there's another big one it'll be on Friday (weekend)?

[AlicetheKurious]

It is impossible to exaggerate the symbolic significance of Tahrir Square (Midan Tahrir), on so many levels, as the ultimate destination of the various demonstrations that began elsewhere yesterday across Cairo.

It used to be the heart of the "European quarter", surrounded by the palaces and villas and elegant apartment buildings of Egypt's privileged British, French and other residents. Then, it was called Midan Ismailia, after the Khedive Ismail, who ruled Egypt from to 1863 until he was removed by the British in 1879, and who among other things, was famous for wanting to transform Cairo into a "Paris on the Nile" and built many grandiose palaces and promenades and parks surrounding it. The Khedive Ismail built his army barracks on the current site of the square, and these were later taken over by the British occupying army; the barracks were torn down in 1947 after the British army withdrew from Cairo, leaving the square empty.

In 1952, it was the site of massive crowds of Egyptians celebrating the end of the monarchy and their new revolutionary republic; two years later it was officially renamed "Tahrir Square" (Liberation Square).

Tahrir Square is not only geographically at the very heart of Cairo, it is the symbolic and actual epicenter of power in Egypt. Surrounding it, within a few blocks, are the huge, fortress-like American and British embassies, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt's Parliament, the massive Mogama' building that has become a symbol of suffocating and intimidating state bureaucracy, a number of super-luxurious hotels, the Egyptian Antiquities Museum (housing the world's largest collection -- by far -- of pharaonic artifacts), until recently the main campus of the American University in Cairo and the world headquarters of the Arab League, to name but a few. Beneath Tahrir Square is the Sadat Metro Station.

It has been the site of some of the largest public demonstrations in Egypt's history, beginning with the one I mentioned above, that celebrated the fall of the monarchy and the birth of the republic in 1952. Under Sadat's rule, in 1972, Tahrir Square was "occupied" by enormous crowds of ordinary Egyptians led by Leftist students demanding their democratic rights, a more just distribution of wealth, and calling for the launch of a "people's war" against Israel's occupation of Egyptian territory.

In 2003, downtown Cairo was paralysed once again when Egyptians gathered en masse to protest the American invasion of Iraq. (I remember that one well -- I was stuck in my car for four full hours only a couple of blocks away from Tahrir Square, not specifically because of the demonstrators, but because of the sea of black-clad "security" forces that surrounded them to prevent anybody from reaching the American embassy). An excellent description of the events of that day can be found here.

Tahrir Square has been one of the most important, if not the most important, venues where the collective will of the Egyptian people has been clearly and unambiguously articulated in 1952, 1972 and 2003. In 1972 and 2003, and now again in 2011, the regime has responded with its characteristic brutality and contempt for the people over whom in rules on behalf of its own foreign masters. This time, the free people of Tunisia have served as a role model for Egyptians that provokes both pride in their Tunisian brothers and shame that we have yet to liberate ourselves and our country from the parasites and oppressors (foreign and domestic) who have plagued us for far, far, far too long.

[vanlose kid]

Egypt protests are breaking new ground
Egyptians have been here before, but the nature of this protest will unsettle a regime for which complacency is a way of life

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 January 2011 19.02 GMT

Egypt is not Tunisia. It's much bigger. Eighty million people, compared with 10 million. Geographically, politically, strategically, it's in a different league – the Arab world's natural leader and its most populous nation. But many of the grievances on the street are the same. Tunis and Cairo differ only in size. If Egypt explodes, the explosion will be much bigger, too.

Egyptians have been here before. The so-called Cairo spring of 2005 briefly lifted hopes of peaceful reform and open elections. Those hopes died, like autumn leaves, blown away by a withering sirocco of regressive measures and reimposed emergency laws. Food and price riots in Mahalla el Kubra in 2008 briefly raised the standard of revolt again. They were quickly suppressed.

But Tuesday's large-scale protests were different in significant ways, sending unsettling signals to a regime that has made complacency a way of life. "Day of Rage" demonstrators in Cairo did not merely stand and shout in small groups, as is usual. They did not remain in one place. They joined together – and they marched. And in some cases, the police could not, or would not, stop them.

This took President Hosni Mubarak and his ministers way out of their comfort zone. Interior minister Habib al-Adli had said earlier he held no objection to stationary protests by small groups. But marching en masse, uncontrolled and officially undirected, along a central Cairo boulevard, heading for the regime heartland of Tahrir Square – this was something new and dangerous.

The protests' organisation was different, too – recalling Tunisia, and Iran in 2009. The biggest opposition grouping, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, for so long a useful Islamist idiot manipulated to bolster western support for the secular regime, declined to take part. Egypt's establishment rebel, the former UN nuclear watchdog chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, also steered clear.

Instead an ad hoc coalition of students, unemployed youths, industrial workers, intellectuals, football fans and women, connected by social media such as Twitter and Facebook, instigated a series of fast-moving, rapidly shifting demos across half a dozen or more Egyptian cities. The police could not keep up – and predictably, resorted to violence. Egypt's protests already have their martyrs, killed by police or burned to death by their own hands. But Egypt does not yet have a Neda Agha-Soltan. Pray it never does.

The language and symbolism were different, too. "Enough, enough (kifaya)!" they shouted in 2005, giving a name to the movement for change. Now the message is: "Too much, too far, for too long!"


"Mubarak, Saudi Arabia awaits you," the demonstrators chanted, referring to the refuge of the Tunisian ex-dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. "Out! Out! Revolution until victory," shouted a group of mothers, babes in arms. Across Cairo, Alexandria and beyond, the banners of the Tunisian intifada waved liked semaphore flags, wishfully signalling an end to the ancien regime.

But Egypt is not Tunisia. Egypt is a much more efficient police state, a much harder nut to crack. Its leader is as tough and as canny as an old fox. Its military and ruling elite is in hock to the Americans to the tune of $2bn a year – and the American republic, itself born of revolt, has no love of revolutions. Mubarak, 82, has held power for 30 years. He is his own, and Washington's man. According to WikiLeaks cables, he likely plans to die in office – and then hand over to his son.

There is no revolution in Egypt, yet. But, hypothetically, if Mubarak were to fall, the consequences would be incalculable – for Israel and the peace process, for the ascending power of Iran, for US influence across the Middle East, and for the future rise and spread of militant, anti-western Islam. And not least, for 80 million Egyptians.

"Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton declared on Tuesday night. They thought that about Ben Ali's Tunisia, too. Clinton's hurried words show how worried they are.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... t-protests

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[vanlose kid]

It's (Semi) Official: Egyptian President's Son And Family Have Fled To The UK
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/25/2011 18:47 -0500

Earlier we reported that according to rumors, Gamal Mubarak, together with his family, had left Egypt and were spotted in the UK. We now have confirmation from the Examiner, that indeed, the Egyptian president, Hosni's, son has left his battered country and had relocated to London indefinitely. What is unclear is how much gold, and other inedible commodities, the president-in-waiting had stowed away in his 97 pieces of luggage. Then again, with Egypt holding (having held?) 75.6 tonnes of gold to Tunisia now 5.7, 97 sounds about right...

An Italian news publication has just announced that Gamal Mubarak, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son who is widely tipped as his successor, has fled to London with his family, Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab said on Tuesday, January 24, 2011.

Gamal Mubarak is seen as Hosni Mubarak's successor. The report is unconfirmed, but goes on to say that the family and 97 pieces of luggage on board left for London on Tuesday from an airport in western Cairo.

The day has seen a revolutionary uprising of Egyptians against the regime of Hosni Mubarak asking for his resignation. Police and protesters clashed, and an anti-riot police officer was killed in Central Cairo.

Taking part in the protest were supporters of former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohammed El Baradei, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the opposition al-Ghad party, the al-Wafd party and supporters of the '6 April' movement.

Mubarak has shown little tolerance for protests in the past.

In the meantime, the Egyptian government, which is still in control, has released the following statement on today's fatal escalations as the country teeters on the verge of a revolution:

PRESS RELEASE

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Egyptians have a right to express themselves
• Interior: Committed to protecting demonstrators and the public; calls for respect for the rule of law

Cairo – Groups of protesters organized a number of demonstrations in Egypt today, mainly in the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, El-Beheira, El-Giza, and El-Gharbia, with smaller demonstrations in a number of other regions.

Commenting on today’s events the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Hosam Zaki said that “Egyptians have the right to express themselves”, adding that these events while notable were not new to the country which had witnessed a number of protests since 2004 as part of its open environment of freedom of expression.

Ambassador Zaki added that Egyptian police forces were focused on protecting the demonstrators and the public, in notable contrast to recent situations in the region.

In a statement released this evening, the Ministry of Interior said that its policy was to allow demonstrators to voice their demands and exercise their freedom of expression, and that during the course of today’s events it had, as noted by all observers, exercised maximum restraint and that it had “been committed to securing and not confronting these gatherings”.

The Ministry noted that beginning around 3PM, a number of protesters, particularly a large number of those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the Qasr El-Einy Street began to riot, damage public property and throws stones at police forces, leading to the wounding of a number of personnel. The Ministry said that when around 10,000 protesters entered Al-Tahrir square, police forces took necessary measures to maintain order and protect public safety.

The Ministry called on all demonstrators to abide by the law and legitimate means of expression, and to avoid threatening the safety of bystanders, and public and private property.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/its-of ... ve-fled-uk

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[yathrib]

The media are presenting this as a sequel to the Tunisian unpleasantness. If true, it makes it a tiny bit harder to see those events as orchestrated by the Usual Suspects.

Do you really think Tunisia's 'unpleasantness' (is that what we're calling revolutions now?) was a CIA operation? Why?

In the interests of presenting both sides, Gaddafi reckons 'foreign interests' are interfering in Tunisia now. Without specifying. He would say that, though, wouldn't he? Can't have people thinking democracy can work.

I'm using "unpleasantness" ironically; I thought it was obvious enough that I didn't need to use a smiley face. Most of the color coded revolutions to date seem (to me) to be staged media events with intelligence community involvement, but I'm not absolutely sure. They all seem to end up serving the interests of neoliberalism and subservience to global elites, so it makes sense in a "Cui bono?" way to regard them as bogus. Tunisia seems different somehow, but who knows? I'm skeptical, and WRT Egypt, I see no way the fall of Mubarak can serve the interests of the Usual Scumbags.

As to democracy, I'm skeptical that anything of the kind exists in today's world, and even more skeptical that anyone can deifne it in any useful way. Whatever its noble lineage as an ideal/idea, it seems to have become yet another meaningless bit of cant from the neoliberals and the global elites.

[stefano]

Tunisia seems different somehow, but who knows?

I get you about the 'unpleasantness'... Well you could look at the fact that the neoliberals and global elites (including US secret services) were pretty thrilled with Tunisia, and the fact that the trade unionists were at the vanguard of the unpleasantness, and conclude as I have that it's the opposite of the European/ex-SSR colour revolutions... As with Mubarak, there's no way Ben Ali's overthrow was good news in Washington. But in Tunisia they can still tolerate a more democratic government and pretend they wanted one all along. In Egypt they can't without a pretty radical realignment of power relations for the better. That's something that I've always been confident would come to pass, but (and this is purely a feeling) I don't think it's happening yet. But I hope it is.

As to democracy, I'm skeptical that anything of the kind exists in today's world, and even more skeptical that anyone can deifne it in any useful way. Whatever its noble lineage as an ideal/idea, it seems to have become yet another meaningless bit of cant from the neoliberals and the global elites.

There's certainly a spectrum where you can place a society, compare it to others and to itself over time in terms of various personal freedoms, the power of citizens to participate in the decisions that concern them, etc. Its mendacious use by the neoliberals etc. is transparent except to a certain type of first-worlder, and I'm now very preoccupied with why that is and how it can be changed.

[vanlose kid]

Tunisia issues arrest warrant for Ali
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 | 10:42 AM ET
The Associated Press

Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, accusing him of taking money out of the North African nation illegally.

Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia after being driven from power this month by violent protests, is also being charged with illegally acquiring real estate and other assets abroad, Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said Wednesday.

Tunisia is seeking the arrest of Ben Ali's wife, Leila, as well as other family members. French media have reported that Leila left the country with millions in gold bullion.

Ben Ali, his wife and their clan have been widely accused of abusing their power to enrich themselves: In France, where family members are believed to have assets ranging from apartments to racehorses, the Paris prosecutors' office has opened a preliminary investigation into their holdings.

The former president fled Jan. 14 after 23 years in power, pushed out by weeks of protests driven by anger over joblessness, repression and corruption. His swift departure was followed by riots, looting and unrest.

On Wednesday, the justice minister released figures that highlighted the massive scope of that unrest: Some 11,029 prisoners, about a third of the country's prison population, were able to escape amid the chaos, he said. Of those, 1,532 prisoners have returned behind bars, he said. Another 74 prisoners died in fires that broke out at several prisons.

Chebbi spoke to reporters as Tunisian police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters who have been pressuring the interim government to get rid of old guard ministers who served under Ben Ali. The clashes broke out in front of the prime minister's office in Tunis, the capital. Acrid clouds of tear gas engulfed hundreds of people, and some demonstrators responded by throwing stones at police.

The state news agency TAP said officials are to announce changes to the interim government later Wednesday. The acting premier must replace five ministers who quit their posts, echoing protesters' concerns.

The caretaker government includes some former opposition leaders, but many top posts, including prime minister and the ministers of defence, foreign affairs and the interior, were retained by Ben Ali cronies.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who took that post in 1999 under Ben Ali and has kept it through the upheaval, has vowed to quit politics after elections in the coming months. But he insists he needs to stay on for now to guide Tunisia through a transition to democracy.


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/2 ... z1C9udzTuj

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[vanlose kid]

Egypt protests: 'We ran a gauntlet of officers beating us with sticks'
Jack Shenker, the Guardian's reporter in Cairo, was beaten and arrested alongside protesters in the capital last night. He made this remarkable recording while locked in the back of a security forces truck next to dozens of protesters. Listen to the audio


Jack Shenker Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 January 2011 14.23 GMT


Jack Shenker's remarkable recording while in the back of a security forces truck Link to this audio

At one o'clock in the morning, after a day covering the protests across the Egyptian capital, I found myself in Abdel Munim Riyad square, a downtown traffic junction close to Tahrir, Cairo's central plaza, which had been occupied by demonstrators for several hours. Egyptian security forces had just launched an attack on Tahrir and thousands of people were now pouring in my direction, teargas heavy in the air. A few hundred rallied in front of me on Al Galaa Street; spying an empty police truck in the road, several people began to smash it up, eventually tipping it over and setting it on fire.

In the distance, riot police could be seen advancing from Tahrir. I called the news desk to report that violence was spreading; while I was on the phone the police began to charge, sending me and several hundred protesters running. A short distance away I stopped, believing it safe; a number of ordinarily dressed young men were running in my direction and I assumed them to be protesters also fleeing the police charge behind them. Yet as two of them reached me I was punched by both simultaneously and thrown to the ground, before being hauled back up by the scruff of the neck and dragged towards the police lines.

The men were burly and wore leather jackets – up close I could see they were amin dowla, plain-clothes officers from Egypt's notorious state security service. All attempts I made to tell them in Arabic and English that I was an international journalist were met with more punches and slaps; around me I could make out other isolated protesters also being hauled along, receiving the same treatment.

We were being dragged towards a security building on the edge of the square, two streets away from my apartment, and as I approached the doorway of the building other security officers took flying kicks and punches at me. I spotted a high-ranking uniformed officer and shouted at him that I was a British journalist. He responded by walking over and punching me twice, saying in Arabic, "Fuck you and fuck Britain".

Other protesters and I were thrown through the doorway, where we had to run a gauntlet of officers beating us with sticks. Inside we were pushed against the wall; our mobiles and wallets were removed. Officers walked up and down ordering us to face the wall and not look back, as more and more protesters were brought in behind us. Anyone who turned round was instantly hit. After approximately an hour we were dragged out again one by one.

Outside we were loaded on to one of the green central security trucks that had been ubiquitous throughout the streets that day. The steps up to the vehicle were short and narrow, and the doorway into the pitch-black holding area inside the truck barely wide enough to fit a single person – my head was smashed against the metal door frame by a policeman as I entered. Inside, dozens of protesters were already packed in and crouched in the darkness – the trucks have barely any windows, just a handful of thick metal grates through which it is impossible to see anything. There were 44 of us inside the tiny space.

With barely room to move, the temperature rose quickly and several people fainted. Many of the protesters were nursing severe wounds, visible by occasional flashes of streetlight that came through the grates.

I realised I still had my dictaphone and started making recordings, describing what was happening and interviewing those around me. The truck drove east at top speed, towards the outskirts of the city – whenever it slowed or veered round a corner we were all sent flying. One protester, a diabetic, had slipped into a coma and was clearly in a grave medical condition; despite banging the side of the truck and shouting through the grates, we couldn't get the drivers to stop.

We eventually pulled up outside a government security headquarters on the desert fringes of the city. After a long delay a policeman unlocked the door to try to extract a specific prisoner called "Nour" – a young activist who is the son of Ayman Nour, a prominent dissident. As one we charged at the doorway, sending him flying and spilling out on the street. The unconscious protester was carried out and cars flagged down to take him to hospital. The rest of us had to find a way of making our own way back to city.

The full account of Jack Shenker's arrest will appear in tomorrow's Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ja ... t-protests

[sound file at link.]

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[vanlose kid]

Overnight Clips From A Revolutionary Egypt
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/26/2011 12:36 -0500



You won't see these images on the TV. After all we haven't even anniversaried Waddell & Reed's sudden and dramatic selling of ES into a bidless market that caused the world's most "liquid" stock market to lose 1,000 points. In the meantime, what is going on in Egypt is promptly deteriorating. Our only question is: who's next?








http://www.zerohedge.com/article/overni ... nary-egypt

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