Egypt protests: 'Something has changed in the Egyptian psyche '

The demonstrations this week against the Mubarak regime have gripped Egypt – while the world has looked on. We asked local bloggers and photographers for their frontline reports

The Guardian, Friday 28 January 2011

".... Thousands were calling for one thing: the end of Mubarak rule. There is no part of Egypt that is not suffering from the corruption of that dying old regime. The scene in Tahrir Square was like a new hope for millions of Egyptians. When the news came that the police had attacked the protests, ending them violently, I was so sad. But next day hope was revived as people again began to protest across the country, defying all expectations. The arrest of the protesters did not make people scared, but angrier than before. At this moment there are several protests in Egypt; people are not going to leave the street except when their demands are met.
Egyptians are patient people, but as the old Arab proverb says: Beware the patient man's anger.....

The protests have drawn Egyptians from all walks of life, many of whom have never participated in demonstrations and feel they need to voice their opinion. Listening to the protesters, one gets the feeling that they have not been deterred by the severity of the beatings; rather, their resolve has been hardened. Before they head to another day of protests, they will have exchanged stories of heroism and courage, humanity and unity......

'Egypt is in the midst of true change'

The last two days have been momentous for Egypt and Egyptians, unlike anything we have seen in decades. Less than a year ago, when 1,000 people took to the streets, it was considered a "large demonstration". Today, that number seems almost insignificant.
We all should be, on some level, proud of what Egyptians are doing. For the last six years we have seen hope rise and dwindle as one opposition "leader" after another comes into the fray, only to be as ineffective as their predecessor. This time, as tens of thousands of Egyptians pour on to the streets of Cairo and across the country, we are witnessing a true revolution of tactics and mindset as a result of Tunisia's success in bringing down its dictator....."

Egypt cuts off internet access

Most of the major internet service providers in Egypt are offline following week-long protests

SCharles Arthur
guardian.co.uk, Friday 28 January 2011

"Egypt appears to have cut off almost all access to the internet from inside and outside the country from late on Thursday night, in a move that has concerned observers of the protests that have been building in strength through the week.

"According to our analysis, 88% of the 'Egyptian internet' has fallen off the internet," said Andree Toonk at BGPmon, a monitoring site that checks connectivity of countries and networks.

"What's different in this case as compared to other 'similar' cases is that all of the major ISP's seem to be almost completely offline. Whereas in other cases, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were typically blocked, in this case the government seems to be taking a shotgun approach by ordering ISPs to stop routing all networks.".......

An analysis by Renesys, which provides real-time monitoring of internet access, says that "every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, internet cafe, website, school, embassy and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air."

That has caused concern among observers who believe that internet access – which the Egyptian government limited earlier this week by cutting off social networks – is essential to ensure that government acts responsibly towards its citizens. Tim Bray, an engineer at Google, tweeted: "I feel that as soon as the world can't use the net to watch, awful things will start happening."......"

Egyptian government on last legs, says ElBaradei

Exclusive: Mohamed ElBaradei says he is sending a message 'to the Guardian and to the world'

Jack Shenker in Cairo and Haroon Siddique
guardian.co.uk, Friday 28 January 2011


"The Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei warned President Hosni Mubarak today that his regime is on its last legs, as tens of thousands of people prepared to take to the streets for a fourth day of anti-government protests.

The Nobel peace prize winner's comments to the Guardian represented his strongest intervention against the country's authoritarian government since he announced his intention to return to Egypt to join the protests. "I'm sending a message to the Guardian and to the world that Egypt is being isolated by a regime on its last legs," he said.

His words marked an escalation of the language he used on arrival in Cairo last night, when he merely urged the Mubarak government to "listen to the people" and not to use violence.

ElBaradei has been criticised by some Egyptians for the late return to his homeland, two days after the protests began – hundreds of people have already been arrested and exposed to the brutal tactics of the security services. But ElBaradei was keen to stress his solidarity with the protesters.

"There is of course a risk to my safety today, but it's a risk worth taking when you see your country in such a state you have to take risks," he said. "I will be with the people today."

In an apparent bid to scupper the protests, the Egyptian authorities have cut off almost all access to the internet from inside and outside the country.

ElBaradei said the move was proof the government was in "a state of panic".

"Egypt today is in a pre-information age," he said. "The Egyptians are in solitary confinement – that's how unstable and uncomfortable the regime is. Being able to communicate is the first of our human rights and it's being taken away from us. I haven't seen this in any other country before."....."

Interview with Hossam el-Hamalawy

Professor Mark LeVine interviews journalist and blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy on the situation in Egypt.

AN EXCELLENT INTERVIEW
Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera

"Hossam el-Hamalawy, is an Egyptian journalist and blogger for the website arabawy. Mark LeVine, professor of History at UC Irvine, managed to catch up with Hossam via Skype to get a first-hand account of events unfolding in Egypt.

LeVine: Why did it take a revolution in Tunisia to get Egyptians onto the streets in unprecedented numbers?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: In Egypt we say that Tunis was more or less a catalyst, not an instigator, because the objective conditions for an uprising existed in Egypt, and revolt has been in the air over the past few years. Indeed, we already managed to have 2 mini-intifadas or "mini Tunisias" in 2008. The first was the April 2008 uprising in Mahalla, followed by another one in Borollos, in the north of the country.

Revolutions don't happen out of the blue. It's not because of Tunisia yesterday that we have one in Egypt mechanically the next day.....

LeVine: How are the protests evolving?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: It's too early to say how they will go. It's a miracle how they continued past midnight yesterday in the face of fear and repression. But having said that, the situation has reached a level that everyone is fed up, seriously fed up. And even if security forces manage to put down protests today they will fail to put down the ones that happen next week, or next month or later this year.....

LeVine: In Tunisia the labour unions played a crucial role in the revolution, as their large and disciplined membership ensured that protests could not be easily quashed and gave an organisational edge. What's the role of the labour movement in Egypt in the current uprising?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: The Egyptian labour movement was quite under attack in the 1980s and 1990s by police, who used live ammunition against peaceful strikers in 1989 during strikes in the steel mills and in 1994 in the textile mill strikes. But steadily since December 2006 our country has been witnessing the biggest and most sustained waves of strike actions since 1946, triggered by textile strikes in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla, home of largest labour force in the Middle East with over 28,000 workers. It started because of labour issues but spread to every sector in society except the police and military.

As a result of these strikes we've managed to get 2 independent unions, the first of their kind since 1957 property tax collectors, including more than 40,000 civil servants, and then health technicians, more than 30,000 of whom launched a union just last month outside of the state controlled unions.

But it's true that one major distinction between us and Tunisia is that although it was a dictatorship, Tunisia had a semi-independent trade union federation....

LeVine: The Tunisian revolution has been described as very much a "youth"-led revolt and dependent on social media technologies like Facebook and Twitter for its success. And now people are focusing on youth in Egypt as a major catalyst event. Is this a "youth intifada" and could it happen without Facebook and other new media technologies?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: Yes, it's youth intifada on the ground. The internet plays only a role in spreading the word and the images about what goes on the ground. We do not use the internet to organise. We use the internet to publicise what we are doing on the ground hoping to inspire others into action.....

LeVine: What is the role of the Muslim Brotherhood and how will its remaining aloof from the current protests impact the situation?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: The Brotherhood has been suffering from divisions since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada. Its involvement in the Palestinian Solidarity Movement when it came to confronting the regime was abysmal. Basically, whenever their leadership makes a compromise with the regime, especially the most recent leadership of the current supreme guide, it has demoralised its base cadres. I know personally many young brothers who left the group, some of them have joined other groups or remained independent. As the current street movement grows and the lower leadership gets involved, there will be more divisions because the higher leadership can't justify why they're not part of the new uprising...

LeVine: What about the role of the US in this conflict. How do people on the street view its positions?

Hossam el-Hamalawy: Mubarak is the second largest recipient of US foreign aid aside from Israel. He's known to be America's thug in the region; one of the tools of American foreign policy and implementing its agenda of security for Israel and the smooth flow of oil while keeping Palestinians in line...."

Latest Video From Al-Jazeera About the Egyptian Uprising

Fascist Sniper shoots a demonstrator in Egypt

Egypt prepares for fresh protests

Internet and SMS services reportedly disrupted and Muslim Brotherhood members arrested ahead of planned demonstrations.

Al-Jazeera

"Internet and mobile phone text message users in Egypt have reported a major disruption to services as the country prepares for a new wave of protests against the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the president.

Anti-government protesters have called for mass protests after noon prayers on Friday as they increase the pressure on the fourth day of the most serious unrest in decades.

The Associated Press news agency reported that an elite special counterterrorism force had been deployed at strategic points around Cairo in the hours before the planned protests as Egypt's interior ministry warned of "decisive measures".

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the opposition Muslim Brotherhood said that two senior members of the officially banned group had been detained overnight.

"The police detained Dr Essam El-Erian and Dr Mohamed Mursi, and there were others also detained. Many people, it's hard to figure out the exact number," Abdel-Moniem Abdel-Maksoud told the Reuters news agency.

"The reason is of course known: it's what is expected to happen tomorrow."

El-Erian is the Brotherhood's main spokesman and Mursi is a prominent Brotherhood leader.

'Popular calls'

El-Erian had earlier warned the Mubarak government of the consequences of a breakdown of the situation "if the government continued to turn a deaf ear to popular calls".

"The protest rallies will not stop while Friday will be another 'day of wrath'," he said. ...."

Egypt protest leaflets distributed in Cairo give blueprint for mass action

Anonymous flyers provide practical and tactical advice for confronting riot police, and besieging government offices

Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 27 January 2011

"Egyptians have been urged to come out after Friday prayers tomorrow and demand the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's government, along with freedom, justice and a democratic regime.

Anonymous leaflets circulating in Cairo also provide practical and tactical advice for mass demonstrations, confronting riot police, and besieging and taking control of government offices.

Signed "long live Egypt", the slickly produced 26-page document calls on demonstrators to begin with peaceful protests, carrying roses but no banners, and march on official buildings while persuading policemen and soldiers to join their ranks.

The leaflet ask recipients to redistribute it by email and photocopy, but not to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter, which are being monitored by the security forces.

Protesters in Cairo are advised to gather in large numbers in their own neighbourhoods away from police and troops and then move towards key installations such the state broadcasting HQ on the Nile-side Corniche and try to take control "in the name of the people". Other priority targets are the presidential palace and police stations in several parts of central Cairo....."

Mohamed ElBaradei Biography

Thanks to W for this contribution

"....After completing his doctorate, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Egypt, a position he held until 1978. President Nasser's successor, Anwar al-Sadat, broke the close ties to the Soviet Union that Nasser had cultivated. Instead, Sadat sought closer ties with the West and peace with Israel. ElBaradei served on the Egyptian negotiating team at the historic Camp David peace talks that led to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.....

In the wake of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, ElBaradei was sent to Iraq to uproot the country's nuclear weapons program. His team blew up laboratories and pulverized equipment. In 1997, ElBaradei was chosen to succeed Hans Blix as Director General of the IAEA. The following year, Saddam Hussein expelled the weapons inspectors from his country. By then, ElBaradei was convinced they had destroyed Iraq's entire nuclear weapons program, although the status of chemical and biological weapons remained more mysterious.....

In a State of the Union address, U.S. President Bush asserted that Iraq was buying uranium in Africa. Several weeks elapsed before the U.S. presented the IAEA with a document, obtained in Italy, that purported to validate the allegation. IAEA investigators quickly identified the document as a forgery. ElBaradei dismissed the evidence before the UN Security Council....."

"How to Revolt Intelligently"

By Angry Arab

" have just received from Egypt a secret document titled "How to Revolt Intelligently" prepared by the youth activists in Egypt. It is a most sophisticated manual by activist that I have seen. I am not exaggerating. It has very specific instructions as how to deal with the oppression tactics and methods of the Mubarak regime. I would have shared it with you, but the activists are circulating it as a secret document with special instruction against wide distribution for fear of falling into the hands of police. It has specific instruction as to how to deal with tear gas canisters and the repression vehicles and baton of the police. It sets the demands and style of the movement with well-done illustration. It ends with an illustration of Jamal Mubarak nicknamed Jaban Mubarak (Coward Mubarak). It is most impressive and makes me more hopeful about change in Egypt. I have not seen anything like this before, not by any revolutionary or activist movement anywhere. The title in Egyptian accent is:
كيف تثور بحدائة
"

Guardian Journalist Arrested and Beaten Alongside Protesters in Egypt, Secretly Records Ordeal

MOST OF DEMOCRACY NOW! WITH AMY GOODMAN TODAY
IS ABOUT THE UPRISING IN EGYPT



"In Egypt, running battles between police and anti-government protesters continued into the early hours of Thursday morning. Police have arrested up to 1,200 people, including a number of journalists. Among them was Guardian reporter, Jack Shenker. He was arrested and beaten by plainclothes police on Tuesday night and shoved into a truck with dozens of other people. He managed to keep his dictaphone with him and recorded what was happening as the truck carried them outside of Cairo. We play some of the dramatic audio and speak to him live by telephone....."

Guardian Reporter Jack Shenker on Egypt Protests: "Fear Barrier Seems to Have Been Broken"

DON'T MISS THIS ONE!

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Unprecedented protests in Egypt continue for a second day. On Wednesday, demonstrators defied a government ban on gatherings and took to streets in the biggest popular protests against President Hosni Mubarak in three decades. We go to Cairo to speak with Guardian reporter Jack Shenker. "That fear barrier seems to have been broken," Shenker says. "These are sort of middle-class people who are generally enjoying quite a comfortable standard of living... They’ve got a lot to lose, and yet they’re still being motivated to come out, to be beaten, to be hit by water cannons, to be carried off into the desert," he says. "There’s so much energy and so much momentum behind what’s going on ... I think we’ll still see a lot of people on the streets tomorrow."...."

Egyptian American Activist: Hillary Clinton Forgets to Mention Tear Gas, Tanks, Concussion Grenades Used Against Egyptian Protesters Are Made in the U

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"In Egypt, protesters faced tear gas, water cannon and beatings from security forces on the streets of Cairo on Wednesday. Up to 1,200 people were arrested, including a number of journalists. Six people have reportedly been killed since Tuesday. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not criticize the Egyptian government, saying only that the country was stable and Egyptians had the right to protest, while urging all parties to avoid violence. We speak with Mostafa Omar, an Egyptian American activist and writer...."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Is Mubarak's rule threatened?

Al-Jazeera Video: Anti-government protests erupt in Yemen

Real News Video: Protests Continue In Tunisia

Tunisians reject "national unity government" and demand more profound change

Documents reveal PA-Israel collaboration to target resistance

Report, The Electronic Intifada, 26 January 2011

"Details on the growing security cooperation between the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, the United States and the United Kingdom were revealed yesterday, the third day of Al Jazeera network's release of more than 1,600 internal documents and secret correspondence from the last decade of negotiations between the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority and the United States.


Al Jazeera also confirmed that the Palestinian Authority was behind -- or assisted Israel in -- extra-judicial executions of high-level political opposition leaders and resistance fighters in the occupied Gaza Strip......

US knew PA forces tortured dissidents

Additionally, more has been revealed in the details of the US's involvement with training, arming and organizing the PA's security forces.As The Electronic Intifada has previously reported, in 2005, US Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton began training security forces loyal to the PA in Jordan. Reporting directly to the US Secretary of State, Dayton's mission was to train Palestinian forces that would cooperate with Israel.In subsequent years, PA security forces were exposed as brutally repressive arms of the PA, whose main aim was to quash dissent ("A prescription for civil war," Jon Elmer, 8 February 2010).The Electronic Intifada has reported extensively on the repressive actions of the PA security forces, trained under Dayton.Al Jazeera's document leak reveals that Dayton had acknowledged systematic torture of Palestinian dissidents by the PA forces he was tasked to train ("Dayton's mission: A readers guide," Mark Perry, 25 January 2011)......

PA forces linked to MI6

The network also exposed documents on Tuesday linking the Palestinian Authority's security forces to the UK's intelligence agency, MI6, as the British agency provided funding for the PA's security forces ("MI6 offered to detain Hamas figures," 25 January 2011)......"

Video: Ali Abunimah on right of return and The Palestine Papers - Al Jazeera English 25 Jan 2011

By Ali Abunimah

"I was interviewed by David Foster on Al Jazeera English on 25 January 2011 on the revelations that the Palestinian Authority had conceded the right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel."

Al-Awda Condemns Betrayal by Unelected Palestinian leadership

By Ikhras.com

"Ikhras stands in solidarity and full support of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right To Return Coalition, an authentic, grassroots movement representing the Palestinian community in the United States, and Palestine solidarity activists from all backgrounds.

“The Palestine Papers” released this week by Aljazeera have confirmed what we’ve known about the quisling Palestinian Authority (PA). We expect the American Task Force On Palestine, the Washington Public Relations arm of the Israeli-sponsored, Western-funded, American-supervised collaborationist authority in occupied-Ramallah to continue promoting and defending the PA in the wake of the leaked damning evidence of its treason and crimes against the Palestinian people.

We are therefore reminding the supporters of the Palestinian people that the ATFP has virtually no base of support among the Palestinian-American community, and Palestine solidarity activists.

This is the full text of a statement released by Al-Awda in regards to “The Palestine Papers” and the PA. "

Public Noose Tightens Around Mubarak

By Emad Mekay

"CAIRO, Jan 26, 2011 (IPS) - Demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt continued for the second day in several Egyptian cities with police cracking down violently, a development that many analysts here say reflects the nervousness of the regime.

At least four people have died so far, 600 have been arrested and many more injured. Protests are flaring up in Cairo, 6th of October City, Suez, Mahal El- Kubra and Alexandria.

"Young people are standing in the way of heavily armed armoured vehicles and stopping them. People are genuinely frustrated," Khaled Al-Balashy, editor-in-chief of Al-Badil newspaper told IPS.

"That was the first time I see people literally sacrificing their lives in face of police brutality," Al-Balashy said. "They think nothing worse could happen to them. This is unprecedented. And the changes will be equally unprecedented. It is a matter of time.".....

Several women journalists were beaten by the police and were seen crying in pain. Many were seen yelling at officers who had used clubs against women reporters.

"These protests may not bring immediate or quick results," said Qutb Al- Arabi, an activist with the Egyptian Press Syndicate. "But it is a message to the government that we are truly fed up."

Al-Arabi said he was demonstrating with other journalists initially for greater press freedoms, but as the police cracked down with violence, the demands have now shifted to request the departure of 82-year old President Hosni Mubarak who has ruled Egypt since 1981.....

But all analysts agree on one thing; the emergence of a new generation of young Egyptians who are more combative and who are not afraid of the police - who are capable of bringing about more change than previously thought."