Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[Hammer of Los]

...

We don't need their lying media anymore.

We have our own.

Thanks for all the information Alice.

[AlicetheKurious]

Speaking of media, this is a BBC interview with Yosri Fouda, who stopped his show rather than bow to pressure to censor it himself. Its very high journalist standards and willingness to push the limits made "Akher Kalam" (The Last Word) THE must-watch show for people who wanted to know what was really happening in Egypt. Frequently, the show itself made news and provoked major changes, as when Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was forced to resign the morning after appearing as a guest, and when Egypt's Chief Coroner was not only fired, but criminally charged, again after appearing on his show. So when he walked out it caused very big shock-waves, on so many levels, that are still reverberating.

Fouda was a hero to many even before his gesture, but now even more so. He and a group of other principled writers and journalists and broadcasters are putting together a totally independent satellite channel that will be financed by small shareholders from among the Egyptian public, none of whom will be allowed to own more than 1% of all shares.

Anyway, here's the interview (around 25 minutes):

[JackRiddler]

.

Three weeks to parliamentary elections. No idea how it's been going. Horrible massacre outside TV station last month.

http://www.accuracy.org/release/militar ... evolution/

Military Trials “Crushing Egyptian Revolution”

November 11, 2011


Protests are resuming today in Cairo. AP is reporting: “The mother of a prominent blogger jailed by Egypt’s ruling generals has gone on a hunger strike to protest her son’s detention and the military’s increasingly heavy-handed approach against critics.

“The strike by Alaa Abdel-Fattah’s 55-year-old mother could turn into a major embarrassment for Egypt’s military three weeks ahead of landmark parliamentary elections, the first since the uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak nine months ago.”

SHERIF GABER, sgaber at gmail.com
Gaber recently graduated from law school at the University of Texas at Austin and, back in his native Egypt, has been active with the group No Military Trials for Civilians. He said today: “Since, Jan. 28, 2011, we’ve seen at least 12,000 civilians tried in military courts. At least 8,000 have received prison sentences, at least 18 have received death sentences. We know of at least 58 minors tried and sentenced as adults. Activists, journalists, demonstrators and others have been targeted by this system to stifle criticism of the army and put down those who would seek to continue the goals of the revolution. The military trials issue is one of the largest obstacles currently facing the Egyptian revolution right now, they are infact in the process of crushing it.

“With respect to [today's] protest, it is the 40-day remembrance of the Maspero massacre, where 27 people were killed as the army brutally and unprovokedly attacked a peaceful demonstration in front of the state TV building (Maspero). The massacre has been covered up by the army and state media (which itself incited a great deal of violence against the demonstrators at the time), 29 people have been given prison sentences in connection with the incident through the military tribunal system and 29 others are being questioned by the military prosecutor. Alaa Abd El Fattah is one of these and he has rejected the military tribunal system for its injustices and lack of impartiality in investigating events in which it is itself implicated.

“So the demonstration [Friday] is both in remembrance of those killed on the 9th of October, and a statement against the continued cover-up of the massacre demanding an independent investigation. So far, many of those who have asked for the same, and have criticized the army and state media for perpetrating this massacre have been terrorized by the military tribunal system, this also has to stop.

“To perhaps nobody’s surprise, for all of the flowery rhetoric about democracy and the like that we hear from the U.S. government right now, they’re still playing the same game of defending their own strategic interests in the region by backing autocratic strong men with a penchant for repression. The U.S. is giving well over a billion dollars year to the Egyptian army directly, and while it may act upset at each new violation or abuse by the army (and the U.S. rarely even bothers to go that far), it seems completely comfortable with their rule for political and economic reasons. We don’t want intervention, but at the same time openly supporting the counter-revolution is obscene. On the other hand, many ordinary Americans, particularly those involved in the ‘occupy’ movement, have shown us real support and solidarity, making the U.S. government’s two-faced position on democracy seem all the more hollow.”

See the video “The Maspero Massacre | 9/10/11 | What Really Happened”

An “International Day of Solidarity” is taking place on Saturday, with protests in London, New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Oakland, Eugene, Paris, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Geneva, Stockholm, Oslo and Manila.

Also see the webpage “Global Solidarity with Egypt”

Gaber tweets.

[Stephen Morgan]

[tazmic]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12522848

When I pointed out that these non-violent weapons were the writings of an American academic he protested strongly. "This is an Egyptian revolution", he said. "We are not being told what to do by the Americans."

And of course that is exactly what Sharp would want.

[AlicetheKurious]

'Occupy' activists worldwide rally in defence of Egypt uprising
Activists in cities across the globe express solidarity with Egypt's as-yet-unfinished revolution, calling it the 'inspiration' for the global 'Occupy' movement

Washington - Dina Samir, Wednesday 16 Nov 2011

Following an “International Day of Solidarity” on 12 November, during which activists around the world demonstrated in solidarity with Egypt’s ongoing revolution, new marches are being organised this week – in the Arab world and beyond – to protest Egypt’s longstanding practice of referring civilians to military courts.

Lebanese activists, for example, are calling for a protest march on 18 November outside the Egyptian embassy in Beirut, timed to coincide with a scheduled million-man demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square this Friday.

And in Toronto’s Dundas Square, Egyptian expatriate activists are organising a protest slated for Saturday. “We’re demanding the immediate release of all those detained by Egypt’s military, including blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah,” event organisers declared on a dedicated Facebook page.

Initiated by Egypt’s own “No Military Trials for Civilians” campaign, the global call for an international day of solidarity with the Egyptian revolution appears to have been answered.

On 12 November, participants in the burgeoning “Occupy” movement in 23 cities around the world marched to express support for Egypt’s popular uprising. Along with US cities such as Oakland, New York, San Francisco and Houston, pro-Egypt revolution marches were also reported in Paris, Frankfurt, Manila, Montreal, London and Stockholm.

“We condemn the climate of fear and terror that [Egypt’s] ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is spreading to snuff out the burning desire of the Egyptian people for fundamental changes,” Jose Maria Sison, chairman of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle in Canada, wrote.

“From Oakland to Cairo, free them all,” demonstrators associated with Occupy Oakland shouted in reference to wrongfully detained civilians throughout the world. Many carried signs reading, “Free Alaa Abdel Fatah.”

“It’s our responsibility as a movement against economic injustice to stand with the global 99 per cent and reach out to those most affected,” explained one demonstrator in Oakland, who went on to describe the Arab Spring – and Egypt’s January 25 Revolution in particular – as “the inspiration for the global Occupy movement.”

Oakland’s occupiers also expressed gratitude for Egyptian revolutionaries who recently staged demonstrations in Tahrir Square to protest police violence against Oakland protesters.

“Egyptians have marched in support of Occupy Oakland,” said one Oakland occupier. “As we were being targeted by our own government, Egyptians are now being targeted by brutal military oppression. We stand in full solidarity with them.”

Jessica Bradford, a protester affiliated with Occupy Austin, took it upon herself to organize a march in defence of Egypt’s revolution. Along with several colleagues, Bradford drove 165 miles to demonstrate in front of the Egyptian consulate in Houston.

“Say it loud, say it clear: We support Tahrir,” Austin occupiers chanted.

Bradford says she feels responsible for raising awareness in the US about what is going on in Egypt.

“Many Americans think that Egypt has rid itself of [ousted president Hosni] Mubarak and that the country is now on the path to democracy,” she said. “But we’re here to expose the Egyptian military’s oppression of – and aggression against – Egyptian revolutionaries.”

Occupy demonstrators around the world have also expressed anger over Washington’s longstanding funding of the Egyptian armed forces.

“We want to highlight the role of the US military’s economic activity against the 99 per cent of the world in order to benefit the 1 per cent in the US and abroad – particularly the practice of installing and maintaining dictators,” said one Oakland protester.

“Instead of funding the Israeli military to occupy Palestine, and the Egyptian military to repress the revolution, why not allocate funding towards education, housing, employment, and health care?” he asked.

Houston occupier Leah Gilman said: “I march today because I feel the need to speak out against the actions of my government. I believe that US foreign policy has negatively impacted the Middle East due to its economic and political interests in the region.”

Sison expressed similar sentiments.

“The military’s ongoing stranglehold on the Egyptian political system is directed by US imperialism to suppress the people’s movement that has risen in Egypt since January,” he said. “The US seeks to maintain neo-colonial control over Egypt and prevent Egypt’s popular uprising from turning into an anti-imperialist struggle.”

Gilman, for her part, expressed her confidence in the Egyptian people and their revolutionary cause.

“Even though I’m frightened by what’s happening in Egypt, I have faith in the Egyptian people,” she said. “They proved to the world that they’re willing to fight for their rights, freedom and bread.” Link

[AlicetheKurious]

Stephen, I wasn't going to respond to that video's ridiculous allegations, because they've already been thoroughly debunked on this very thread. But just for the record, I will say this:

At around 3:28, Engdahl says:

The target countries they target, like Egypt most recently, are precisely the countries that are on the Pentagon agenda for destabilization and regime change.

That is patently absurd. The Mubarak regime actually represented a model of subservience to Washington's, Israel's, the IMF and the World Bank's agendas. It was a Western-oriented, neo-liberal playground for American multinational corporations, and a police state where the government, security forces, media and top business circles were infested with agents for the CIA and Mossad, who always put their foreign patrons' interests above those of Egypt.

Under Mubarak, Egypt's Investment Minister, Mahmoud Mohieddin (who escaped to the US just after the revolution started and is currently living there) was also Managing Director of the World Bank. Egypt's Finance Minister, Youssef Boutros-Ghali, was Chairman of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the key policy-making agency in the IMF. He also escaped around the same time, and is currently living in England, which has no extradition treaty with Egypt.

Under Mubarak's neo-liberal Prime Minister, Ahmed Nazif, Egypt's state lands and other national assets were being sold off at a breathtaking rate, many to foreign investors, at dirt-cheap prices. Egypt was a dumping ground for toxic waste from the West, and for highly polluting industries like cement and fertilizer, which were allowed to dump their untreated waste into the Nile and on farmland. Egypt's domestic agriculture was dominated by GM seeds and chemicals imported from Israel and the US. Its textile industry was, through the QIZ agreement, dominated by Israeli "investors". Egypt's foreign policy was dictated only by Israeli and American interests, at the expense of Egypt's own and Arab national interests.

Under the Mubarak regime, the Egyptian nation was undergoing a slow process of balkanization: in the south, Nubian nationalism was being promoted at the expense of Egyptian nationalism, by USAID so-called "educational projects", at the same time that the Mubarak regime was oppressing and alienating Nubian people. A similar process was well underway on Egypt's eastern border, with the Sinai bedouin. The Egyptian government thwarted every attempt to populate the Sinai with Egyptians, while selling Egyptian gas dirt-cheap to Israel and allowing Israelis to buy up large tracts of land there. The regime systematically pushed Egypt's Coptic population into the exclusive orbit of the Church, politically, socially and in so many other ways, in a clear plan to weaken the fabric of Egyptian society.

The revolution rose up against all this. If it was inspired by anything, it was by the fear that soon there would be no Egypt left, that it would all be owned and controlled by Mubarak's foreign sponsors, Egypt's enemies. The iconic image of Gamal Abdelnasser, the symbol of Arab Socialism and the non-aligned movement, was raised up high in Tahrir Square and all over Egypt. Unlike the Soros-inspired phony-baloney "color" revolutions that looked to the West, especially the US, as a model of democracy, the Egyptian revolution was and is very nationalist, anti-imperialist and has a very strong Leftist current.

The clenched fist has been a generic symbol for revolution and united resistance since long, long before Gene Sharp. In fact, that is precisely why this powerful universal symbol was appropriated by Gene Sharp and his shady organization, not the other way around. The video's claim that a raised fist means OTPOR and therefore CIA sponsorship is idiotic and anachronistic.

I'm not sure if the allegations of this video are prompted simply by ignorance and facile analysis, or if this is part of the massive campaign of psychological warfare that has been waged against the revolution during the past 9 months, but in any case, they are false and they are dangerous. Already, the deeply corrupt US-supported junta, led by a man who was Mubarak's Minister of Defense for 20 years, has arrested over 12,000 Egyptian civilians, most of them revolutionaries, and subjected them to torture, military trials and military prison.

The US and the military junta are turning a blind eye to the vast sums of money from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere swelling the coffers of the most fanatic and counter-revolutionary religious groups, which are being spent lavishly and openly, and at the same time falsely and without a shred of evidence accusing the revolutionaries of receiving foreign money to pursue a foreign agenda.

This is especially interesting if we contrast the supposed "concern" expressed by Israel at the possibility that Islamists could take over Egypt, with the absence of any criticism against the US proxies Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even Kuwait, who are actively funding their activities in Egypt and using their media to make previously obscure fanatics into media stars.

Why would the US and Israel, like the military junta, deliberately ignore the fact that their own puppets are doing everything possible to ensure an Islamist takeover of Egypt, unless that is the plan?

The one thing about this revolution you need to keep in mind is its consistent objectives: the rebuilding of Egypt's shattered economy and its restructuring in a way that promotes social and economic justice; freedom and dignity and human rights for all Egyptians; a foreign policy driven by Egypt's and the greater Arab national interests rather than those of foreign imperialists.

All these objectives are anathema to the US and Israel. In fact, the Israelis are still wailing and lamenting the loss of their 'strategic treasure' Mubarak.

But after recovering from their initial panic, Israel and the US and their Gulf allies are funding and supporting in every way possible the vicious physical and psychological warfare being waged against the revolution's objectives and its supporters on several fronts. These include, among other tactics, spreading the false claim that it was an Islamist revolution all along, even while they work hard to push an Islamist takeover today, and the parallel attempt to portray it as yet another fake "color" revolution, courtesy of the CIA.

The revolution is besieged, the revolutionaries are in a desperate struggle to save our country and our people from the predators that are surrounding them on all sides. Please, Stephen, don't add to our troubles even in a small way, by repeating such false and defamatory propaganda.

Published 01:55 30.01.11
Latest update 01:55 30.01.11

Cairo tremors will be felt here
The collapse of the old regime in Cairo, if it takes place, will have a tremendous influence, mostly negative, on Israel's situation.
By Amos Harel


The events of the past few days in Egypt - seemingly the most important development in the region since the Islamic revolution in Iran and the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord in 1979 - represent a nightmare to Israeli intelligence leaders and planners. While many other countries view the possible ouster of a government that denies basic rights to its citizens with satisfaction, the Israeli point of view is completely different.

The collapse of the old regime in Cairo, if it takes place, will have a tremendous influence, mostly negative, on Israel's situation. In the long run, it threatens to endanger peace with Egypt and Jordan, the greatest of Israel's strategic assets after U.S. support. It is likely to bring about changes in the Israel Defense Forces and worsen the Israeli economy.
Egypt protests

Israeli intelligence, like most of the West, did not foresee the force of the turnabout (the conclusive epithet "revolution" will have to wait, it seems ).

Like them, the overwhelming majority of media pundits and academic experts were also mistaken. While the intelligence services did depict 2011 as a year of possible regime changes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, accompanied by unpredictable results, it did not forecast a popular uprising.

Furthermore, the new head of intelligence, Gen. Aviv Kochavi, at his first appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, told the MKs that "there is no concern at the moment about the stability of the Egyptian government." That same day Egyptians took to the streets.

By the end of the week, the midnight oil was burning at intelligence headquarters. The main questions of the coming days are about what Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the army will decide to do.

Mubarak, who suffers from cancer and whose health has been worsening recently, faces a dilemma reminiscent of the bind Tehran found itself in with the "Green Revolution" of 2009.

However, while the ayatollahs in the end used unrestrained force, the elderly Egyptian president must decide whether he wants his 30-year rule to be remembered for a bloodbath near its end.

Yet yesterday, the number of deaths among demonstrators had climbed above 35.

The army was called out to the streets of large cities yesterday in order to spell the exhausted police force. The soldiers, unlike the police, have no means to disperse demonstrators. If they receive orders to shoot, it will be live fire, and thousands of people will be killed.

Is the army still loyal to the president? Dozens of tanks that streamed into central Cairo bore graffiti that read "Mubarak will fall" - sprayed on by demonstrators.

Israeli suspicions about the functioning of the American administration in the Middle East, which began with U.S. President Barak Obama's speech at a Cairo university 18 months ago, have now turned to astonishment at the stammering coming out of Washington over the last few days.

Here too, the precedent is Iranian. Like Jimmy Carter facing the shah's ouster, Obama hesitates between supporting a loyal but tyrannical ally, and the basic American instinct in favor of a popular struggle for freedom.

And like Carter the Democrat, Obama too favors the second option.

The Israeli suspicion is that under the surface of the Egyptian struggle, which is on the face about economics and democracy, lies an Islamic element. Islamists are not yet pulling strings and making plans, but they will be the first to recover and exploit the confusion to attract followers.

The fall of the Mubarak government, father and son, will have far reaching security consequences for Israel. It will immediately damage Israel's quiet cooperation with the Egyptians on this front and it may lead to a thaw between Egypt and the Hamas government in Gaza.

It could damage the status of the international peacekeeping force in Sinai and lead to a refusal by Egypt to allow movement of Israeli military submarines and ships in the Suez Canal, employed in the last two years as a deterrent against Iran and to combat weapons smuggling from Sudan to Gaza.

In the long run, if a radical government achieves power, rather than a variation of the current one, there is likely to be a real freeze in the already cold peace with Israel.

From the army's point of view, this will require reorganization. It has been more than 20 years since the army has had to prepare to deal with a real threat from Egypt.

Over the last decades, peace with Egypt has enabled a gradual cutback in the deployment of forces, a reduction in the age of those exempt from reserve duty, and a sweeping diversion of resources toward social and economic goals.

The army is trained for clashes with Hezbollah and Hamas, at the most in combination with Syria. No one has seriously planned for a scenario in which Egyptian divisions enter Sinai, for example.

If in the end the Egyptian regime falls, one possibility that seemed incomprehensible just a few days ago, is that the uprising will spread to Jordan and threaten Hashemite rule.

Then Israel's two long, peaceful borders will face an entirely new reality. A new Middle East, but not the one we wished for.

The Palestinians too are likely to reach the conclusion that mass demonstrations, combined with a limited amount of popular violence, will advance their statehood bid without the need for an agreement that would include obligations to Israel. Link

[AlicetheKurious]

Update: the number of injured has climbed to over 90, some very seriously. According to witnesses, at least 5 protesters have lost an eye after being shot with rubber bullets. One of them was a well-known human rights activist, Malek Mustafa. There are unconfirmed reports that some demonstrators were killed, but photographic and film evidence that the police used live gunfire. In addition to Malek Mustafa, a blogger, Ahmed Abdel Fattah, has also lost an eye to a rubber bullet. Two women reporters have been wounded by gunshot. Yosri Fouda and others are reporting that journalists were specifically and individually targeted. Egyptian media coverage has been appalling, with a very few notable exceptions.

Update II: the number of injured is now being estimated at over 500, mostly from tear gas inhalation, but around 150 from gunshot, rubber and live bullets and others. There are Twitter reports that snipers have been spotted on rooftops along one of the main roads leading towards Tahrir Square.

Thousands of really, really angry demonstrators have flocked to Tahrir and forced the police and Central Security Forces to withdraw from everywhere except the Ministry of the Interior, which is located a few blocks from Tahrir, to prevent demonstrators from storming it. Protests have sprung up all over Egypt in support of the demonstrators in Tahrir. It's 8:15pm and the atmosphere is tense but non-violent for now. The air is reportedly thick with tear gas and hundreds of protesters have been hospitalized with severe breathing difficulties.

This photo of a tear-gas canister is being widely Tweeted:



Another photo taken today, of another type of tear-gas canister, also made in the USA, can be found here.

Egypt: violent clashes in Cairo leave dozens injured

Egyptian government security forces open fire on thousands of anti-junta protesters in Tahrir Square, leaving 81 injured

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 November 2011 17.16 GMT


An Egyptian protester holds a national flag in front of a burning police vehicle in Cairo during after government forces fire on thousands of protesters. Photograph: Ahmed Assadya/EPA

Violent clashes have returned to central Cairo after government security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters who had been demonstrating against the military junta. Egyptian state TV reported 81 people were injured in clashes with police in Tahrir Square.

The clashes come just nine days before nationwide parliamentary elections are due to begin.

Trouble began after riot police moved to disperse tents that had been set up in Tahrir Square following a large rally on Friday calling on Egypt's ruling generals to return the country to civilian rule. Following hours of scuffles, protesters succeeded in driving the central security forces (CSF) from the square and captured one of their trucks in the process. Crowds jumped up and down on the vehicle chanting "the interior ministry are thugs" and calling for the downfall of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the country's de facto leader since the toppling of former president Hosni Mubarak in February.

By mid-afternoon, armed police had returned to Tahrir square in far greater numbers, launching volleys of teargas, rubber bullets and 'birdshot' pellet cartridges into the crowd, often from armoured vehicles. Eyewitnesses claimed they were targeted at head height, and ambulances ferried away several protesters suffering from serious head wounds. As darkness fell both the police and the protesters saw their ranks swell in number, with the unrest spilling down side streets and along several of downtown Cairo's most important thoroughfares.

"The scenes are reminiscent of the Friday of Anger," said journalist and pro-change activist Hossam el-Hamalawy, referring to 28 January, the day protesters succeeded in beating Mubarak's security forces off the streets during the uprising against his regime. "We are being hit with showers of US-made tear gas canisters, and I've watched with my own eyes at least five people being struck by rubber bullets."

A military police car which at one point approached the centre of the unrest was chased away by protesters, another sign of public support for the junta apparently waning. "Ordinary people are making a stronger link than ever between the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf) and the hated troops of the interior ministry," added el-Hamalawy. "The police and the Scaf are revealing their true colours with this brutal attack on Egyptians. They have succeeded in only one thing today, and that is mobilising even more of Egyptian society against them."

By Saturday evening the number of demonstrators had grown to several thousand, and fires could be seen dotted around the central square. There were reports that the ultras – hardcore fans on Cairo's main football teams, some of whom played a significant role in the anti-regime uprising earlier this year – were also joining the protests. Solidarity rallies quickly sprung up in other towns, including the port city of Alexandria. Link

[AlicetheKurious]

Report shows that Salafists, Mubaraks, not April 6 Youth Movement, receive millions in foreign funding

[JackRiddler]

.

A report on Friday's huge protests.

http://bikyamasr.com/48827/hundreds-of- ... ary-junta/



Hundreds of thousands in Egypt protest military junta

Hayden Pirkle | 18 November 2011


Hundreds of thousands poured into Cairo's Tahrir.


CAIRO: Nearly everyone aboard the metro cars today exited at Tahrir Square’s Sadat station and spilled out of its multiple exits. Identification was checked, bags searched, and bodies patted down, as waves of Egyptians poured into Tahrir Square to protest against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

The shear amount of people was almost disorienting as one exited the underground metro station. There was a sea of people spanning throughout the entirety of the square, the same square that was the stage for the Egyptian revolution against President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Several elevated platforms, equipped with concert-style amplifiers, were the centerpieces of today’s massive demonstration.

Protest organizers, activists, and political leaders from organizations and parties from across Egypt’s political spectrum galvanized the masses from above.

Today’s demonstration, which aimed to gather over one million participants, came in light of a SCAF legislation proposal that seeks to give the military council supra-constitutional power.

The legislation, know as the “El-Selmy Communiqué” was proposed by Egypt’s deputy prime minister, Ali El-Selmy, last week.


Egyptians protest against the military junta.

“The SCAF is trying to create a law that supercedes the constitution and we are here demanding that they cancel it,” Bilal Sidee, a 20-year-old member of the Salafi Front, told Bikyamasr.com.

Although the organizations and ideologies represented at today’s protest were varied, a single, unified message was clear; the Egyptian people want the SCAF out and political power truly put in the hands of the people.

“The people are one and we want an end to SCAF rule,” said a group of Muslim Brotherhood protesters, showing the largest faction of the masses: Egypt’s conservative Islamists.

“There is a plan to make the common man hate the revolution,” stated Maisara Mohammad, a 31-year-old project manager.

According to Mohammad, 10 months after the ousting of the Mubarak regime some sectors of Egyptian society believe that the youth were responsible for the revolution and that it destroyed the nation.

“This is not true,” he added, “I have a 3-year-old son, I merely want him to grow up in a free country.”

In addition to expressing their discontent with the rule of the SCAF, demonstrators were eager to point out that the perceived sectarianism between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority is being manipulated by the military council to help justify its existence.

“We are one, Muslims and Christians,” stated Muslim Brotherhood member, Mohammad Ahmed. “There is no racism between Muslims and Christians in Egypt,” added Sharif Sameer, a fellow Brotherhood supporter.

Today’s protest is a clear sign that the revolution is still alive in the minds of many Egyptians, as they massed together in its birthplace to voice that the Egyptian people will accept nothing short of freedom and justice that they fought to secure some 10 months ago.

Other demonstrations elsewhere in the country were also strong, with thousands taking to the streets in Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city on the northern Mediterranean coast.

BM
ShortURL: http://goo.gl/mkgSW

In the NY Times headline today this was characterized this as something like "Islamists Call for End to Junta" with the subhead "Liberals Sit On Sidelines."

Grrrrrrrrrrr

.

[AlicetheKurious]

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A report on Friday's huge protests.

I was there. It was huge, alright, but it had nothing to do with the revolution. On the contrary, it represented everything the revolution rose up against. The Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood spent enormous amounts of money to create the illusion that they control the Egyptian "street". I swear, most of those there couldn't have told you why they had come. Reporters had to rely on official MB spokesmen for coherent answers -- most of the "demonstrators" who were interviewed had clearly not even read the Supra-Constitutional Principles that they had supposedly traveled so far to protest, nor could they describe what they were. I wrote this report and posted it in the comments section over at Zeinobia's blog:

We arrived downtown at around 12:45pm, from the May 15 Bridge. We could see many large buses and microbuses either parked under the bridge or stopped in downtown streets, with very poor-looking people being led off by organizers dressed in fluorescent green traffic vests, who guided them towards Tahrir Square.

The crowd was huge, way, way more than 100,000, but the vast majority didn't look like they were there for a political demonstration, but for a family picnic.

Every green space and most sidewalks were covered with women and children and men eating from styrofoam trays and koshary containers and looking around them. The amount of garbage in the Midan and all over the streets was unbelievable.

Around 3 or 4 really big Salafist stages were set up, but the crowd around them seemed quite passive. I decided to take a chance during a brief silence in the speech by some Salafist guy (that nobody seemed to be listening to) and yelled out at the top of my lungs: "We are in Egypt, not Saudi Arabia!" There was no reaction. Some people smiled at me.

Somebody handed me a Hazem Abu Ismail leaflet. I tore it up and then stepped on the pieces. The guy who handed it to me just smiled. He couldn't care less.

I went back towards Talaat Harb Street, where there was a very big, loud march towards Tahrir: they were Leftists, carrying signs for the Socialist and Communist Parties. Their chants were so loud they echoed, mostly against the SCAF. My personal favorite was:

"Matlab wahed lel sowwar,
madaneya ya homar!"

(One demand for the revolutionaries:
a civil state, you donkey!)

Maybe a half-hour later, they were followed by another loud march, with tabla (traditional Egyptian drumbeat), for "no to military trials", carrying signs with Mina Daniel and Alaa Abdel Fatah's pictures. They chanted against the SCAF and military rule.

Still later, there was another march, this time led by Salafists, yelling "Islameya, Islameya." ("Islamic, Islamic.") It was bigger, but most of the marchers weren't even joining the chants. Unlike the other marches, this one was being guided by those men in fluorescent green traffic vests I saw earlier.

I went back to Tahrir, and it was a big mess. It didn't look like any kind of political rally. There was not even a hint of the kind of solidarity and purpose and energy that I had seen in Tahrir back in February, or even on May 27. People were milling around aimlessly, stepping around the picnickers and the others sitting on the ground eating. Most people seemed to have no idea why they were even there.

I think it was a mistake for the Leftist/Liberal/January 25 revolutionaries to participate in this phony "millioneya" ("million-man march"), for which the Islamists bussed in poor people from all over the country just to use them as extras or props in their show.

Instead of demonstrating a strong and unified will, it reflected disarray and confusion and sent conflicting messages, and nothing was accomplished.

What happened yesterday was the real thing: instead of destitute families being bussed in for a free day-trip and food to create the illusion of a political movement, we saw Egypt's young people braving bullets and tear gas and beatings and arrest to defend the human and legal rights of all Egyptian citizens against an incredibly brutal police state. Right now, in Tahrir Square and in towns all over Egypt, the best of our youth are putting their safety and health on the line for all of us, not just showing up to fulfill the cynical ambitions and greed of politicians with forked tongues and deep pockets.

The contrast couldn't be greater: unlike Friday's "Kandahar 2" demonstration, in which hungry and ignorant people were herded like sheep from all over the country into Tahrir, yesterday's events caused spontaneous demonstrations to break out all over the country in solidarity.

The Muslim Brotherhood once again showed its true colors: while young people were being shot and beaten and teargassed in the street, a few blocks away the Muslim Brotherhood leadership, along with the Salafists, were cutting a back-room deal with Egypt's ruling military junta.

[AlicetheKurious]

BTW, for those who don't know what caused yesterday's events, here's a brief summary:

After Friday's "Kandahar 2" demonstration, at around 6:00PM, the Islamists herded their sheep back into the buses and left. The revolutionary and Leftist groups were asked by a small group of protesters to remain in the Square for a sit-in, but decided to go home. By around 10:00, only the small group was left in the Square. The small group, of around 50 people, consisted of relatives of demonstrators who had been murdered in the January 25th revolution along with people who had suffered permanent disabilities at the hands of the police. These people had been suffering from harassment and none of the promises to them had been respected by the government.

At around midnight, a couple of thugs attacked the sit-in, but were beaten back by the demonstrators. At around 1:00AM, and at 2:00AM, another small group of thugs arrived, armed with knives and sticks, but again, the demonstrators successfully defended themselves. Finally, at around 10:00AM, 4 armored police cars approached the demonstrators, and hundreds of police officers along with Central Security Forces surrounded the small camp. They beat the demonstrators viciously, not distinguishing between men and women, young and old, destroyed the tents, and began arresting people. The demonstrators called for help via Twitter and their cell-phones, and hundreds of youths, including Jan25 youth groups and human rights activists, heeded the call. They in turn were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets, and the armored police cars were driven erratically around them. The youths managed to hijack one of the armored police cars and set it on fire.

By this time, the police presence had swelled dramatically, and they were firing rubber bullets, live bullets and gunshot. The air was thick with tear gas. The demonstrators began breaking up sidewalks to get stones, which they threw at police.

With every passing minute, and with the news that people were getting hurt, the number of demonstrators was growing bigger as people heeded the desperate cries for help. By around 7:00PM there were around 2000 demonstrators in the Square. Volunteer doctors set up two makeshift field hospitals to treat the wounded. At around 8:00PM, the police succeeded in clearing the Square, using armored police cars, live gunfire and rubber bullets. But instead of dispersing, the demonstrators were mobilizing and regrouping on the bridges and streets leading to downtown. At around 10:00, around 15,000 demonstrators re-took the Square and police were forced to withdraw. By late last night, the number of demonstrators was estimated to be around 40,000. Demonstrators set up barricades to defend the Square.

The Square itself was reported to be quiet and safe, but on one of the side streets, leading to the Ministry of Interior, there was a fierce battle between some stone-throwing demonstrators and heavily-armed police that continues sporadically even now. The latest figures from the Ministry of Health say that there are 667 wounded, including around 12 lightly-injured police officers, and two demonstrators dead: one in Tahrir Square in Cairo, and one in the city of Alexandria.

Note: Something's happening with my internet. It may be nothing. If anybody wants to follow what's happening here, I recommend Twitter, at #Nov19 and #Tahrir.

[Hammer of Los]

...
edited humble apologies to all

[JackRiddler]

.

Thank you Alice, I was confused about which was which. So the NYT was actually right in calling the Friday demo MB, and the events you've been describing happened afterwards and on Saturday.

.

[American Dream]

As Egyptians Return to Tahrir Square, the Obama Administration Sides with the Military

November 21st, 2011


Via:Salon:

In the nine months since Hosni Mubarak stepped aside, the Egyptian military has monopolized political decision-making. The SCAF has broken its promise to lift or modify the Emergency Laws, which have been in place since 1981 and give the state sweeping powers to detain citizens and restrict free speech, even though repeal of the laws was a central demand of the revolutionaries in Tahrir Square.

Since assuming power in February, the military has broken up protests, suppressed trade unionists, and imprisoned dissidents, journalists and bloggers. Human Rights Watch has accused the SCAF of subjecting between 7,000 and 10,000 civilians to military trials in the five months following the revolution. The recent imprisonment of blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah drew the attention of the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, which expressed concern about “what appears to be a diminishing public space for freedom of expression and association in Egypt.”

One of the more egregious incidents was the death of 27 Coptic Christian demonstrators at the hands of what many suspect to be military personnel on Oct. 9 at the Maspiro State Television building in downtown Cairo. The military blames the demonstrators themselves for the violence.

“Instead of identifying which members of the military were driving the military vehicles that crushed Coptic protesters, the military prosecutor is going after the activists who organized the march,” reported Sarah Whitson, the Middle East North Africa director of Human Rights Watch.

The U.S. government shrugs off these abuses, attributing them to the SCAF’s inexperience. At a Nov. 3 press conference in Washington, U.S. Ambassador for Middle East Transition William Taylor asserted that military abuse can be attributed to the fact that the military is unaccustomed to governing and may be overwhelmed. “[Governing] is not what the Egyptian military is trained to do,” explained Taylor.

Nadeem Mansour, the executive director of the Egyptian Association for Economic and Social Rights, a Cairo-based NGO, called Taylor’s assertion baseless. “You don’t need to torture civilians because you are overwhelmed. They [the SCAF] are a repressive force by nature and they require an authoritarian environment. After all, they were all appointed by Mubarak, served him well, and still represent this mind-set,” he told Salon.