Thursday, February 3, 2011
Mubarak Defies a Humiliated America, Emulating Netanyahu
It should be remembered that Egypt’s elite of multi-millionaires has benefited enormously from its set of corrupt bargains with the US and Israel and from the maintenance of a martial law regime that deflects labor demands and pesky human rights critiques. It is no wonder that to defend his billions and those of his cronies, Hosni Mubarak was perfectly willing to order thousands of his security thugs into the Tahrir Square to beat up and expel the demonstrators, leaving 7 dead and over 800 wounded, 200 of them just on Thursday morning.
It might seem surprising that Mubarak was so willing to defy the Obama administration’s clear hint that he sould quickly transition out of power. In fact, Mubarak’s slap in the face of President Obama will not be punished and it is nothing new. It shows again American toothlessness and weakness in the Middle East, and will encourage the enemies of the US to treat it with similar disdain.
Mubarak is taking his cues for impudence from the far rightwing government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which began the Middle Eastern custom of humiliating President Barack Obama with impunity. Obama came into office pledging finally to move smartly to a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Netanyahu government did not have the slightest intention of allowing a Palestinian state to come into existence. Israel was founded on the primal sin of expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel, and then conniving at keeping them stateless, helpless and weak ever after. Those who fled the machine guns of the Irgun terrorist group to the West Bank and Gaza, where they dwelt in squalid refugee camps, were dismayed to see the Israelis come after them in 1967 and occupy them and further dispossess them. This slow genocide against a people that had been recognized as a Class A Mandate by the League of Nations and scheduled once upon a time for independent statehood is among the worst ongoing crimes of one people against another in the world. Many governments are greedy to rule over people reluctant to be so ruled. But no other government but Israel keeps millions of people stateless while stealing their land and resources or maintaining them in a state of economic blockade and food insecurity.
It might seem surprising that Mubarak was so willing to defy the Obama administration’s clear hint that he sould quickly transition out of power. In fact, Mubarak’s slap in the face of President Obama will not be punished and it is nothing new. It shows again American toothlessness and weakness in the Middle East, and will encourage the enemies of the US to treat it with similar disdain.
Mubarak is taking his cues for impudence from the far rightwing government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which began the Middle Eastern custom of humiliating President Barack Obama with impunity. Obama came into office pledging finally to move smartly to a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Netanyahu government did not have the slightest intention of allowing a Palestinian state to come into existence. Israel was founded on the primal sin of expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel, and then conniving at keeping them stateless, helpless and weak ever after. Those who fled the machine guns of the Irgun terrorist group to the West Bank and Gaza, where they dwelt in squalid refugee camps, were dismayed to see the Israelis come after them in 1967 and occupy them and further dispossess them. This slow genocide against a people that had been recognized as a Class A Mandate by the League of Nations and scheduled once upon a time for independent statehood is among the worst ongoing crimes of one people against another in the world. Many governments are greedy to rule over people reluctant to be so ruled. But no other government but Israel keeps millions of people stateless while stealing their land and resources or maintaining them in a state of economic blockade and food insecurity.
Palestinian Authority: End Violence Against Egypt Demonstrators
US, EU Should Suspend Security Assistance to PA Unless Abuses are Addressed
"(Ramallah) - The Palestinian Authority should end police violence against peaceful demonstrators, the latest instance being an attack against demonstrators at an evening rally on February 2, 2011, in Ramallah in support of the Egypt protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Police punched, kicked, and detained participants in the demonstration, as well as at least two journalists and a Human Rights Watch research assistant.
"The Palestinian Authority should immediately make clear that its ‘state-building' training of security forces does not include beating peaceful demonstrators," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The PA should take action against the responsible police officers or the US and EU should find another use for their taxpayers' money."
Protesters began to arrive at Manara Square in downtown Ramallah at 9 p.m. in response to messages sent out earlier in the day via Facebook and SMS asking people to demonstrate in solidarity with protesters in Egypt. The number of protesters swelled to around 100 to 150 people, who chanted slogans such as, "Long live Egypt!" and "Mubarak, Mubarak, Ben Ali is waiting for you," a reference to the ousted Tunisian president. Human Rights Watch observed as Palestinian Authority (PA) police gathered at the side of the square.
"(Ramallah) - The Palestinian Authority should end police violence against peaceful demonstrators, the latest instance being an attack against demonstrators at an evening rally on February 2, 2011, in Ramallah in support of the Egypt protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Police punched, kicked, and detained participants in the demonstration, as well as at least two journalists and a Human Rights Watch research assistant.
"The Palestinian Authority should immediately make clear that its ‘state-building' training of security forces does not include beating peaceful demonstrators," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The PA should take action against the responsible police officers or the US and EU should find another use for their taxpayers' money."
Protesters began to arrive at Manara Square in downtown Ramallah at 9 p.m. in response to messages sent out earlier in the day via Facebook and SMS asking people to demonstrate in solidarity with protesters in Egypt. The number of protesters swelled to around 100 to 150 people, who chanted slogans such as, "Long live Egypt!" and "Mubarak, Mubarak, Ben Ali is waiting for you," a reference to the ousted Tunisian president. Human Rights Watch observed as Palestinian Authority (PA) police gathered at the side of the square.
The demonstration had been peaceful when regular police and "special forces" police, identifiable by their uniforms, began beating demonstrators without warning. Police used teargas and batons to disperse the protesters. A police officer told Human Rights Watch that "all the security forces were present tonight," including police detectives and officers from the Preventive Security agency and General Intelligence Service, all in street clothes.
Human Rights Watch saw police continuing to beat protesters after they were arrested while taking the protesters to the police station. Police grabbed participants by the neck, punched them in the face, and hit them in the legs and torso with their knees........
The US and the EU should suspend aid to Palestinian Authority security forces unless the Palestinian authorities take appropriate measures to end such abuses and allow Palestinians to enjoy their rights to freedom of assembly and expression, Human Rights Watch said."
Human Rights Watch saw police continuing to beat protesters after they were arrested while taking the protesters to the police station. Police grabbed participants by the neck, punched them in the face, and hit them in the legs and torso with their knees........
The US and the EU should suspend aid to Palestinian Authority security forces unless the Palestinian authorities take appropriate measures to end such abuses and allow Palestinians to enjoy their rights to freedom of assembly and expression, Human Rights Watch said."
The Arab 'street' is more complex than we grasp
By Donald Macintyre
The Independent
".......One of the many consequences of the past nine days is, or should be, a much wider understanding that the "street" is a much more complex human organism than that. As Western politicians have wrung their hands and worried that the "stability" afforded by President Hosni Mubarak's autocracy could give way to the rise of a new and dangerously Islamist Egypt, the hundreds of thousands who have marched and stood in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in central Alexandria have started to tell the world a story that conspicuously fails to fit neatly into this binary model. One part of this is the price paid domestically over the past 30 years for that stability: a brutally thuggish police, a fawning and utterly controlled state television network, the concentration of absolute power in the hands of a dictator who rigs elections and is chief, not only of the government, but of the judiciary, the army, the non-military security forces, even the journalists' association. Indeed, the widespread public understanding by Egyptians of just how concentrated is this power is why the protests are focused so personally on the President, and why his appointment of a new deputy or a new cabinet cuts so little ice with the protesters......"
The Independent
".......One of the many consequences of the past nine days is, or should be, a much wider understanding that the "street" is a much more complex human organism than that. As Western politicians have wrung their hands and worried that the "stability" afforded by President Hosni Mubarak's autocracy could give way to the rise of a new and dangerously Islamist Egypt, the hundreds of thousands who have marched and stood in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in central Alexandria have started to tell the world a story that conspicuously fails to fit neatly into this binary model. One part of this is the price paid domestically over the past 30 years for that stability: a brutally thuggish police, a fawning and utterly controlled state television network, the concentration of absolute power in the hands of a dictator who rigs elections and is chief, not only of the government, but of the judiciary, the army, the non-military security forces, even the journalists' association. Indeed, the widespread public understanding by Egyptians of just how concentrated is this power is why the protests are focused so personally on the President, and why his appointment of a new deputy or a new cabinet cuts so little ice with the protesters......"
Egypt protests: Mubarak shows his dark side
The counter-revolutionary message to the people from an unvanquished, still vicious regime is: it's over – go home, or else
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"Hosni Mubarak launched his counter-revolution today, sending waves of armed thugs to do battle with pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo and other cities. The attacks, reportedly involving plainclothes police and vigilantes as well as pro-regime citizens, appeared to be carefully co-ordinated and timed. And the army, which only days earlier had sworn to protect "legitimate" rights of protesters, stood back and watched as the blood flowed.......
As he tries to reassert his primacy, Mubarak can rely on the conservative Arab states of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Algeria, and on any number of African governments that have no wish to encourage popular revolution. Even old enemy Iran is privately ambivalent on this score.
He can offer negotiations to the opposition and hope to gain advantage from their refusal, so far, to participate. And if all this fails, the regime can always let loose its thugs and hooligans, just to emphasise that without state-imposed order, only chaos, not democracy, reigns.
Mubarak's counter-revolution is still a long shot. Too much has changed in Egypt for it ever to go back the way things were. But today saw the beginning of a new stage in a complex internal struggle whose ultimate outcome remains deeply uncertain."
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"Hosni Mubarak launched his counter-revolution today, sending waves of armed thugs to do battle with pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo and other cities. The attacks, reportedly involving plainclothes police and vigilantes as well as pro-regime citizens, appeared to be carefully co-ordinated and timed. And the army, which only days earlier had sworn to protect "legitimate" rights of protesters, stood back and watched as the blood flowed.......
As he tries to reassert his primacy, Mubarak can rely on the conservative Arab states of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Algeria, and on any number of African governments that have no wish to encourage popular revolution. Even old enemy Iran is privately ambivalent on this score.
He can offer negotiations to the opposition and hope to gain advantage from their refusal, so far, to participate. And if all this fails, the regime can always let loose its thugs and hooligans, just to emphasise that without state-imposed order, only chaos, not democracy, reigns.
Mubarak's counter-revolution is still a long shot. Too much has changed in Egypt for it ever to go back the way things were. But today saw the beginning of a new stage in a complex internal struggle whose ultimate outcome remains deeply uncertain."
Egyptian protesters clash with Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square - video
Violent clashes between forces loyal to the Egyptian president and anti-Mubarak demonstrators continued in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight and in to this morning, after a day of bloodshed yesterday
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 February 2011
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 February 2011
Egyptian army disperses Mubarak supporters from bridge
Military intervenes in attempt to end violence between government loyalists and anti-regime protesters in Cairo
Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 February 2011
"The Egyptian army intervened this morning in a belated attempt to end the violence that flared overnight in central Cairo as supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked anti-government protesters.
A small group of soldiers cleared about 1,000 pro-government loyalists from a flyover in Tahrir Square, where they had been throwing stones at anti-government protesters below. It was not immediately clear if the steps were part of a wider decision for the army to begin protecting the demonstrations.
The intervention came as a retired Egyptian army general told the BBC the military was losing patience with the embattled Mubarak, and would open fire at regime loyalists if there were fresh attacks on protesters.
The general, who said he had spoken with tank crews in Tahrir Square, said he believed the military would move very soon against the president, possibly as soon as tomorrow.....
"We had over 1,000 injured through the night, including several dead from gunshots," said Dr Ibrahim Fata, a professor of surgery and one of more than 70 doctors who have volunteered to help treat those injured at the square. "It's like a war situation in here; some of the pro-change resistance did not bring their wounded to us because they didn't want to leave their positions. I haven't slept in the last day and a half."......
"Where have you been, this government is killing us," appealed Wael Abdel Aziz, a pharmacist camped out in Tahrir. A second man, who would give his name only as Osama, added: "Mubarak decided to kill the Egyptian people. He is treating us like insects, trying to crush us.""
Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 February 2011
"The Egyptian army intervened this morning in a belated attempt to end the violence that flared overnight in central Cairo as supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked anti-government protesters.
A small group of soldiers cleared about 1,000 pro-government loyalists from a flyover in Tahrir Square, where they had been throwing stones at anti-government protesters below. It was not immediately clear if the steps were part of a wider decision for the army to begin protecting the demonstrations.
The intervention came as a retired Egyptian army general told the BBC the military was losing patience with the embattled Mubarak, and would open fire at regime loyalists if there were fresh attacks on protesters.
The general, who said he had spoken with tank crews in Tahrir Square, said he believed the military would move very soon against the president, possibly as soon as tomorrow.....
"We had over 1,000 injured through the night, including several dead from gunshots," said Dr Ibrahim Fata, a professor of surgery and one of more than 70 doctors who have volunteered to help treat those injured at the square. "It's like a war situation in here; some of the pro-change resistance did not bring their wounded to us because they didn't want to leave their positions. I haven't slept in the last day and a half."......
"Where have you been, this government is killing us," appealed Wael Abdel Aziz, a pharmacist camped out in Tahrir. A second man, who would give his name only as Osama, added: "Mubarak decided to kill the Egyptian people. He is treating us like insects, trying to crush us.""
Why isn't the PA supporting the Egypt uprising?
By Amira Hass
"The Palestinian leadership has been careful not to support the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and has banned demonstrations in solidarity with the rebelling peoples. Palestinian television has virtually ignored the events in Egypt.
Dr. Mamdouh al-Aker, a 68-year-old urologist, studied in Cairo and was a member of the Palestinian-Jordanian delegation at the Washington-Madrid talks. He treats patients in Ramallah and Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria Hospital.
For the past seven years, he has been the general commissioner of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, an organization formed by a decree by Yasser Arafat in 1993. The commission seeks to guarantee that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet the requirements for safeguarding human rights.
How is that so many people like yourself are happy about the developments in Egypt [before the bloody clashes erupted], yet there is no public expression of support in West Bank cities?....
Demonstrators who went to the Egyptian consulate in Ramallah and were dispersed told me that security personnel in civilian clothes monitored them, threateningly. Two weeks ago, other young people organized a similar solidarity event for Tunisia. They told me they intended to demonstrate even though they had been told this was forbidden. In both cases, young people said they were thankful to the two peoples for their support of the Palestinian cause.
I was impressed by their enthusiasm. But most people don't demonstrate because they know it is not welcomed. We have a pattern of restricting the freedom of demonstration and assembly. Demonstrations of support for our own people, during the attack on Gaza and against the occupation, were suppressed.
What is that Palestinian Authority afraid of when it bans solidarity demonstrations?
There are two reasons. Due to the close relations with the Mubarak regime, the leadership is perplexed by expressions of support for the opponents of a friend. The second reason - when a regime is insufficiently democratic, it fears that popular demonstrations might spin out of control.
There are reasons to suppose that many of the factors that drove people to protest in Tunisia and Egypt are in play here......
Isn't it strange that the leaders of an occupied people are not supporting a popular uprising?
That's the result and the price of being dragged to the status of a regime, before liberation, while giving up on the agenda of a national liberation movement. As a regime, they must identify with regimes.
Is the situation reversible? Can the PLO return from its status as a virtual regime to a national liberation movement?
The same people? No....."
"The Palestinian leadership has been careful not to support the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and has banned demonstrations in solidarity with the rebelling peoples. Palestinian television has virtually ignored the events in Egypt.
Dr. Mamdouh al-Aker, a 68-year-old urologist, studied in Cairo and was a member of the Palestinian-Jordanian delegation at the Washington-Madrid talks. He treats patients in Ramallah and Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria Hospital.
For the past seven years, he has been the general commissioner of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, an organization formed by a decree by Yasser Arafat in 1993. The commission seeks to guarantee that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet the requirements for safeguarding human rights.
How is that so many people like yourself are happy about the developments in Egypt [before the bloody clashes erupted], yet there is no public expression of support in West Bank cities?....
Demonstrators who went to the Egyptian consulate in Ramallah and were dispersed told me that security personnel in civilian clothes monitored them, threateningly. Two weeks ago, other young people organized a similar solidarity event for Tunisia. They told me they intended to demonstrate even though they had been told this was forbidden. In both cases, young people said they were thankful to the two peoples for their support of the Palestinian cause.
I was impressed by their enthusiasm. But most people don't demonstrate because they know it is not welcomed. We have a pattern of restricting the freedom of demonstration and assembly. Demonstrations of support for our own people, during the attack on Gaza and against the occupation, were suppressed.
What is that Palestinian Authority afraid of when it bans solidarity demonstrations?
There are two reasons. Due to the close relations with the Mubarak regime, the leadership is perplexed by expressions of support for the opponents of a friend. The second reason - when a regime is insufficiently democratic, it fears that popular demonstrations might spin out of control.
There are reasons to suppose that many of the factors that drove people to protest in Tunisia and Egypt are in play here......
Isn't it strange that the leaders of an occupied people are not supporting a popular uprising?
That's the result and the price of being dragged to the status of a regime, before liberation, while giving up on the agenda of a national liberation movement. As a regime, they must identify with regimes.
Is the situation reversible? Can the PLO return from its status as a virtual regime to a national liberation movement?
The same people? No....."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
WikiLeaks: Releases Egyptian related Cable leaks
. (SBU) Egypt's police and domestic security services continue to be dogged by persistent, credible allegations of abuse of detainees. Prosecutors occasionally investigate and convict low-level police officers of human rights violations, but senior officials receive little scrutiny. The State Department's annual human rights report posits that the Egyptian police services are characterized by a culture of impunity. Prosecutors have only filed human rights-related charges against one SSIS officer since 1986. (Note: SSIS is the elite Interior Ministry force responsible for counter-terrorism and political crimes. End note.) In September, three days after a judge exonerated that SSIS officer on charges of the 2003 torture-murder of a detainee, the government closed the human rights NGO that had provided advocacy and support to the surviving family members of the alleged victim. A new Police Advisor at the Embassy, under the auspices of a State-funded program, recently began working with the Egyptian police on heightening civil rights awareness and community policing issues. We would appreciate your highlighting USG enthusiasm about this program, and our hope that it will continue. RICCIARDONE
السّلطة تقمع اعتصامًا مؤيدا للشعب المصري، وتسمح بآخر مؤيد لمبارك
THE MAFIA STICKS TOGETHER
ABBAS-NETANYAHU-ABDULLAH-MUBARAK
"قامت قوات الأمن التابعة للسلطة الفلسطينية اليوم، بقمع وقفة اعتصام تضامنيّة سلميّة مع ثورة الشّعب المصري، نظّمها مجموعة من الشباب الفلسطينيّ بشكل مستقلّ ووحدويّ.
وقال شهود عيان لموقع عرب 48 إن ما يقارب الـ 100 معتصم احتشدوا بالقرب من دوار المنارة، وأنهم رفعوا شعارات وأطلقوا هتافاتٍ تؤيد الشعب المصريّ وثورته، وتطالب الرئيس حسني مبارك بالرحيل واللحاق بزين العابدين بن علي، وأنهم رددوا طيلة الوقت: تحيا مصر.
وقالت إحدى المشاركات في الاعتصام: "تجمعت قوات كبيرة من الأمن حولنا، جاؤوا بحوالي 10 سيارات، كانوا يرتدون الخوذات ويحملون الهراوات، هم على ما يبدو قوات منع شغب لأنهم كانوا مجهزين بأدوات لقمع المظاهرات. أغلقوا منطقة دوار المنارة، ثم قاموا بإيقاف مجموعة من الشباب وأخذهم إلى قسم شرطة المنارة،
....
وتروي مشاركة أخرى في الاعتصام لعرب 48 مجريات ما حدث، تقول: "غادرنا قسم الشرطة وعدنا إلى المنارة لنواصل وقفتنا، وبدأنا نهتف لمصر وتونس وإرادة الشعوب العربيّة، وننشد (بلادي.. بلادي) و(موطني)، والشرطة بعد تحيط بنا، وفجأة وتطالبنا بالمغادرة، وبعد أن هتف أحد الشباب: الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام؛ قامت مجموعة عناصر الأمن بالهجوم عليه وإشباعه ضربا شديدا، وقد رشوا في وجه بعض الشباب الغاز، ثم أخذوا بالصراخ علينا ودفعنا وضربنا."
هذا ومنع عناصر الأمن أيا من المعتصمين بالتصوير، وصادروا الهواتف النقالة والكاميرات التي استخدمها المعتصمون في التصوير.
.....
اعتصام تأييدي لحسني مبارك، والمشاركون يحذرون الشعب المصري من الانفلات
هذا وكان العشرات في وقت سابق من اليوم، قد نظموا اعتصاما وسط رام الله، تعبيرا عن دعهم للرئيس المصري حسني مبارك، وسط
"قامت قوات الأمن التابعة للسلطة الفلسطينية اليوم، بقمع وقفة اعتصام تضامنيّة سلميّة مع ثورة الشّعب المصري، نظّمها مجموعة من الشباب الفلسطينيّ بشكل مستقلّ ووحدويّ.
وقال شهود عيان لموقع عرب 48 إن ما يقارب الـ 100 معتصم احتشدوا بالقرب من دوار المنارة، وأنهم رفعوا شعارات وأطلقوا هتافاتٍ تؤيد الشعب المصريّ وثورته، وتطالب الرئيس حسني مبارك بالرحيل واللحاق بزين العابدين بن علي، وأنهم رددوا طيلة الوقت: تحيا مصر.
وقالت إحدى المشاركات في الاعتصام: "تجمعت قوات كبيرة من الأمن حولنا، جاؤوا بحوالي 10 سيارات، كانوا يرتدون الخوذات ويحملون الهراوات، هم على ما يبدو قوات منع شغب لأنهم كانوا مجهزين بأدوات لقمع المظاهرات. أغلقوا منطقة دوار المنارة، ثم قاموا بإيقاف مجموعة من الشباب وأخذهم إلى قسم شرطة المنارة،
....
وتروي مشاركة أخرى في الاعتصام لعرب 48 مجريات ما حدث، تقول: "غادرنا قسم الشرطة وعدنا إلى المنارة لنواصل وقفتنا، وبدأنا نهتف لمصر وتونس وإرادة الشعوب العربيّة، وننشد (بلادي.. بلادي) و(موطني)، والشرطة بعد تحيط بنا، وفجأة وتطالبنا بالمغادرة، وبعد أن هتف أحد الشباب: الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام؛ قامت مجموعة عناصر الأمن بالهجوم عليه وإشباعه ضربا شديدا، وقد رشوا في وجه بعض الشباب الغاز، ثم أخذوا بالصراخ علينا ودفعنا وضربنا."
هذا ومنع عناصر الأمن أيا من المعتصمين بالتصوير، وصادروا الهواتف النقالة والكاميرات التي استخدمها المعتصمون في التصوير.
.....
اعتصام تأييدي لحسني مبارك، والمشاركون يحذرون الشعب المصري من الانفلات
هذا وكان العشرات في وقت سابق من اليوم، قد نظموا اعتصاما وسط رام الله، تعبيرا عن دعهم للرئيس المصري حسني مبارك، وسط
ترديد هتافات وشعارات متضامنة مع الشعب المصريّ، وتحذيره من "مخاطر الفتنة والفوضى والفلتان الأمنيّ."
ورفع المشاركون في الاعتصام الأعلام المصريّة، ورددوا الهتافات المنتقدة لمحمد البرادعي، واتّهموه بالعمالة للولايات المتحدة الأمريكيّة
....."
ورفع المشاركون في الاعتصام الأعلام المصريّة، ورددوا الهتافات المنتقدة لمحمد البرادعي، واتّهموه بالعمالة للولايات المتحدة الأمريكيّة
....."
Blood and fear in Cairo's streets as Mubarak's men crack down on protests
The sky was filled with rocks. The fighting around me was so terrible we could smell the blood
By Robert Fisk
""President" Hosni Mubarak's counter-revolution smashed into his opponents yesterday in a barrage of stones, cudgels, iron bars and clubs, an all-day battle in the very centre of the capital he claims to rule between tens of thousands of young men, both – and here lies the most dangerous of all weapons – brandishing in each other's faces the banner of Egypt. It was vicious and ruthless and bloody and well planned, a final vindication of all Mubarak's critics and a shameful indictment of the Obamas and Clintons who failed to denounce this faithful ally of America and Israel.
The fighting around me in the square called Tahrir was so terrible that we could smell the blood. The men and women who are demanding the end of Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship – and I saw young women in scarves and long skirts on their knees, breaking up the paving stones as rocks fell around them – fought back with an immense courage which later turned into a kind of terrible cruelty.
Some dragged Mubarak's security men across the square, beating them until blood broke from their heads and splashed down their clothes. The Egyptian Third Army, famous in legend and song for crossing the Suez Canal in 1973, couldn't – or wouldn't – even cross Tahrir Square to help the wounded.......
And where, amid all this hatred and bloodshed, was the West? Reporting this shame every day, you suffer from insomnia. Sometime around 3am yesterday, I had watched Lord Blair of Isfahan as he struggled to explain to CNN the need to "partner the process of change" in the Middle East. We had to avoid the "anarchy" of the "most extreme elements". And – my favourite, this – Lord Blair spoke of "a government that is not elected according to the system of democracy that we would espouse". Well, we all know which old man's "democracy" he was referring to.
Street rumour had it that this man – Mitt Romney's "monarch-type figure" – might actually creep out of Egypt on Friday. I'm not so sure...."
By Robert Fisk
""President" Hosni Mubarak's counter-revolution smashed into his opponents yesterday in a barrage of stones, cudgels, iron bars and clubs, an all-day battle in the very centre of the capital he claims to rule between tens of thousands of young men, both – and here lies the most dangerous of all weapons – brandishing in each other's faces the banner of Egypt. It was vicious and ruthless and bloody and well planned, a final vindication of all Mubarak's critics and a shameful indictment of the Obamas and Clintons who failed to denounce this faithful ally of America and Israel.
The fighting around me in the square called Tahrir was so terrible that we could smell the blood. The men and women who are demanding the end of Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship – and I saw young women in scarves and long skirts on their knees, breaking up the paving stones as rocks fell around them – fought back with an immense courage which later turned into a kind of terrible cruelty.
Some dragged Mubarak's security men across the square, beating them until blood broke from their heads and splashed down their clothes. The Egyptian Third Army, famous in legend and song for crossing the Suez Canal in 1973, couldn't – or wouldn't – even cross Tahrir Square to help the wounded.......
And where, amid all this hatred and bloodshed, was the West? Reporting this shame every day, you suffer from insomnia. Sometime around 3am yesterday, I had watched Lord Blair of Isfahan as he struggled to explain to CNN the need to "partner the process of change" in the Middle East. We had to avoid the "anarchy" of the "most extreme elements". And – my favourite, this – Lord Blair spoke of "a government that is not elected according to the system of democracy that we would espouse". Well, we all know which old man's "democracy" he was referring to.
Street rumour had it that this man – Mitt Romney's "monarch-type figure" – might actually creep out of Egypt on Friday. I'm not so sure...."
The forces unleashed in Egypt can't be turned back
The upheaval spreading across the Arab world is at heart a movement for self-determination. The west resists it at its peril
A GREAT COMMENT
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"The fate of the Egyptian uprising is in the balance. There is a revolutionary situation in Egypt, but there has not yet been a revolution. In the wake of Hosni Mubarak's pledge not to stand again for the presidency next September, gangs of government loyalists were today let loose on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria.
First, the army spokesman called for the protesters to stand down now "your message has arrived". Truckloads of thugs, armed with iron bars and machetes, many clearly members of the security forces, were then dispatched to Cairo's Tahrir Square to assault and terrorise the mass of peaceful demonstrators and drive them from the city centre – with reports of killings and hundreds injured.
It's the latest and potentially deadliest of the regime's counterattacks against the tide of popular pressure for change. First there was the withdrawal of police from the streets, orchestrated looting and armed provocations apparently staged to scare people into submission with the threat of chaos and social breakdown.
Now Mubarak and his cronies have switched to direct confrontation and the risk of a full-scale bloodbath – after more than 300 people have already been killed – presumably as a prelude to demands that the army take control to keep the "two sides" apart.........
The army high command were in the US capital for consultations when the protests began last week. And Omar Suleiman – the intelligence boss now appointed vice-president to oversee political reform – is famously close to the US and Israel; oversaw the CIA's rendition and torture programme in Egypt; and publicly champions the crushing of its largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, by force......
But more profoundly, the upheaval now spreading across the Arab world is at heart a movement for self-determination: a demand by the peoples of the region to run their own affairs, free of the dead hand of largely foreign-backed tyrannies. It's not a coincidence, or the product of some defect in Arab culture, that the Middle East has the largest collection of autocratic states in the world........
The contagion is already spreading across the region: to Yemen, Jordan, Algeria and elsewhere, as regimes scramble to offer cosmetic reforms to head off more radical change. Tunisia has demonstrated that people in the Arab world are more than capable of freeing themselves from dictatorship. They have seen and felt their power. If Mubarak is indeed forced out, it will only be the beginning for Egypt, but it will also reshape the Middle East – and the wider global balance of power – for decades to come.
After today's events, it's clear that the Egyptian regime will try to bludgeon or divert the popular movement for change into a phoney transition. If that is seen to happen with US or Israeli connivance, the radicalisation western leaders fear will only be greater. Whatever now happens, the forces that have been unleashed, in Egypt and beyond, cannot be turned back."
A GREAT COMMENT
Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"The fate of the Egyptian uprising is in the balance. There is a revolutionary situation in Egypt, but there has not yet been a revolution. In the wake of Hosni Mubarak's pledge not to stand again for the presidency next September, gangs of government loyalists were today let loose on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria.
First, the army spokesman called for the protesters to stand down now "your message has arrived". Truckloads of thugs, armed with iron bars and machetes, many clearly members of the security forces, were then dispatched to Cairo's Tahrir Square to assault and terrorise the mass of peaceful demonstrators and drive them from the city centre – with reports of killings and hundreds injured.
It's the latest and potentially deadliest of the regime's counterattacks against the tide of popular pressure for change. First there was the withdrawal of police from the streets, orchestrated looting and armed provocations apparently staged to scare people into submission with the threat of chaos and social breakdown.
Now Mubarak and his cronies have switched to direct confrontation and the risk of a full-scale bloodbath – after more than 300 people have already been killed – presumably as a prelude to demands that the army take control to keep the "two sides" apart.........
The army high command were in the US capital for consultations when the protests began last week. And Omar Suleiman – the intelligence boss now appointed vice-president to oversee political reform – is famously close to the US and Israel; oversaw the CIA's rendition and torture programme in Egypt; and publicly champions the crushing of its largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, by force......
But more profoundly, the upheaval now spreading across the Arab world is at heart a movement for self-determination: a demand by the peoples of the region to run their own affairs, free of the dead hand of largely foreign-backed tyrannies. It's not a coincidence, or the product of some defect in Arab culture, that the Middle East has the largest collection of autocratic states in the world........
The contagion is already spreading across the region: to Yemen, Jordan, Algeria and elsewhere, as regimes scramble to offer cosmetic reforms to head off more radical change. Tunisia has demonstrated that people in the Arab world are more than capable of freeing themselves from dictatorship. They have seen and felt their power. If Mubarak is indeed forced out, it will only be the beginning for Egypt, but it will also reshape the Middle East – and the wider global balance of power – for decades to come.
After today's events, it's clear that the Egyptian regime will try to bludgeon or divert the popular movement for change into a phoney transition. If that is seen to happen with US or Israeli connivance, the radicalisation western leaders fear will only be greater. Whatever now happens, the forces that have been unleashed, in Egypt and beyond, cannot be turned back."
The Egyptian regime has turned its thugs loose again ...
The tactics used against protesters at the last election have appeared with redoubled viciousness
Ahdaf Soueif
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
".....And the next morning, not 12 hours after the president's emotional appeal, the regime turned loose its thugs on the street. The same tactics that have been used against protesters over the last five years, the same tactics in force at the last elections to scare voters off the streets, appeared and with redoubled viciousness. This is the regime that is going to listen to the people and use the coming months to put in reforms. Sure.
Their next trick will be to say that the young people in Tahrir are "foreign" elements, that they have connections to "terrorism", that they've visited Afghanistan, that they want to destabilise Egypt. But by now the whole world knows that this regime lies as naturally as it breathes......
The people here are so way ahead of their government. If you could see the kids on the street telling you that the regime wants to pin the responsibility for this movement on the Islamists in order to scare the west – when actually it was started by 11 Facebook youth groups only one of which has any religious colouring, and very mild at that. If you could see the small field hospital that's gone up with volunteer doctors – mostly young women – treating the people, and the medicines pouring in from well-wishers. If you could see the young men with their dropped jeans and the tops of their boxers showing forming a human chain to protect what the people have gained over the last week in Tahrir Square. If you could see my nieces with their hair streaming like a triumphant banner tweeting for dear life in the midst of it all … you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt: Egypt deserves its place in the sun – out of the shadow of this brutal regime."
Ahdaf Soueif
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
".....And the next morning, not 12 hours after the president's emotional appeal, the regime turned loose its thugs on the street. The same tactics that have been used against protesters over the last five years, the same tactics in force at the last elections to scare voters off the streets, appeared and with redoubled viciousness. This is the regime that is going to listen to the people and use the coming months to put in reforms. Sure.
Their next trick will be to say that the young people in Tahrir are "foreign" elements, that they have connections to "terrorism", that they've visited Afghanistan, that they want to destabilise Egypt. But by now the whole world knows that this regime lies as naturally as it breathes......
The people here are so way ahead of their government. If you could see the kids on the street telling you that the regime wants to pin the responsibility for this movement on the Islamists in order to scare the west – when actually it was started by 11 Facebook youth groups only one of which has any religious colouring, and very mild at that. If you could see the small field hospital that's gone up with volunteer doctors – mostly young women – treating the people, and the medicines pouring in from well-wishers. If you could see the young men with their dropped jeans and the tops of their boxers showing forming a human chain to protect what the people have gained over the last week in Tahrir Square. If you could see my nieces with their hair streaming like a triumphant banner tweeting for dear life in the midst of it all … you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt: Egypt deserves its place in the sun – out of the shadow of this brutal regime."
Mubarak supporters stage brutal bid to crush Cairo uprising
Egyptian president's regime orchestrates bloody battles in Tahrir Square against protesters seeking his removal from power
Peter Beaumont, Jack Shenker and Mustafa Khalili in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"Supporters of Hosni Mubarak moved today to brutally crush the popular uprising against him as they stormed Cairo's Tahrir Square, for days the epicentre of the movement to remove the Egyptian president. Using clubs, bats, knives and even homemade spears, pro-Mubarak demonstrators charged the square at just before 2pm. They had been gathering for several hours 800 metres from the square on the Nile Corniche, outside the state television station......
While many had anticipated a move to clear Tahrir Square by the security forces, the use of mob violence, orchestrated by the regime, had not been foreseen.......
By late afternoon, groups of men were visible on roofs in Chapillion, a few hundred metres from the square where they hurled missiles down on those beneath them. Paving stones were broken up to be uses as weapons and, soon after six o'clock, shots from automatic weapons were heard.
Among those singled out for attack were western journalists who have been blamed by the pro-Mubarak camp for encouraging the movement against him.
The Guardian witnessed dozens of people being brought in for first aid, some with horrific injuries, at a makeshift aid station set up in the open at the entrance to the square.....
The differences between Tuesday's demonstration against Mubarak and today's violence were striking. Yesterday, army and activists staffed checkpoints to prevent violence; today, Egyptian soldiers made no effort to prevent confrontation. At one stage, they moved out of the way to allow pro-Mubarak demonstrators to reach their opponents.
Among those attacking the square were groups of armed men who appeared to be plainclothes police officers. Credible reports spoke of some of those involved in the assault in Tahrir Square having been paid by the regime....."
Peter Beaumont, Jack Shenker and Mustafa Khalili in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 February 2011
"Supporters of Hosni Mubarak moved today to brutally crush the popular uprising against him as they stormed Cairo's Tahrir Square, for days the epicentre of the movement to remove the Egyptian president. Using clubs, bats, knives and even homemade spears, pro-Mubarak demonstrators charged the square at just before 2pm. They had been gathering for several hours 800 metres from the square on the Nile Corniche, outside the state television station......
While many had anticipated a move to clear Tahrir Square by the security forces, the use of mob violence, orchestrated by the regime, had not been foreseen.......
By late afternoon, groups of men were visible on roofs in Chapillion, a few hundred metres from the square where they hurled missiles down on those beneath them. Paving stones were broken up to be uses as weapons and, soon after six o'clock, shots from automatic weapons were heard.
Among those singled out for attack were western journalists who have been blamed by the pro-Mubarak camp for encouraging the movement against him.
The Guardian witnessed dozens of people being brought in for first aid, some with horrific injuries, at a makeshift aid station set up in the open at the entrance to the square.....
The differences between Tuesday's demonstration against Mubarak and today's violence were striking. Yesterday, army and activists staffed checkpoints to prevent violence; today, Egyptian soldiers made no effort to prevent confrontation. At one stage, they moved out of the way to allow pro-Mubarak demonstrators to reach their opponents.
Among those attacking the square were groups of armed men who appeared to be plainclothes police officers. Credible reports spoke of some of those involved in the assault in Tahrir Square having been paid by the regime....."
Bloodshed in Egypt: Mubarak Supporters Riding on Horses and Camels Violently Attack Protesters in Tahrir Square, Over 100 Injured
"Violent clashes broke out just before our broadcast when supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attacked anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Reports are that more than 100 people have been injured. “The entire square is surrounded by thugs, and apparently there are more coming on the way,” reports Egyptian activist Nazly Hussein. "I have seen people come out injured… I saw people carried into the medical center injured." We get live reports from Hussein and Democracy Now!’s senior producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who are both in Cairo...."
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