Photo by suezinthecity http://yfrog.com/hsynvtj
2/11/2011
2/09/2011
Beautiful Egypt, Beautiful Egyptians, Beautiful Tahrir
Stunning photo by Sarz Republic. Date unknown.
http://yfrog.com/h3lyk6j
Guardian Reporter was not tortured but heard it happening all around him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/09/egypt-torture-machine-mubarak-security
This reporter arrived the same day as my husband. He is not a reporter but holds US and Egyptian passports. He wasn't able to let me know he arrived for too long. I told myself it was far too early to feel this rising sense of panic but feared the worst.
This regime should not be our ally.
This reporter arrived the same day as my husband. He is not a reporter but holds US and Egyptian passports. He wasn't able to let me know he arrived for too long. I told myself it was far too early to feel this rising sense of panic but feared the worst.
This regime should not be our ally.
Caught offguard by the scale of their success READ THIS!
Leaders of the initial Jan 25 uprising explain their tactics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html?_r=1&hp
Another leader is interviewed in the Globe and Mail. He says:
“The plan was to start with as many nucleus points as possible and in different areas from the back streets of Cairo. Then we moved from those back streets, chanting for others to join the rally, and the march grew bigger. What started with 20 or 30 activists turned into tens of thousands. It brought tears to my eyes. We were trying to make it the beginning of something, not actually the revolution itself.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/crisis-in-egypt/beyond-tahrir-square-a-turning-point-for-egypt-awaits/article1901125/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html?_r=1&hp
Another leader is interviewed in the Globe and Mail. He says:
“The plan was to start with as many nucleus points as possible and in different areas from the back streets of Cairo. Then we moved from those back streets, chanting for others to join the rally, and the march grew bigger. What started with 20 or 30 activists turned into tens of thousands. It brought tears to my eyes. We were trying to make it the beginning of something, not actually the revolution itself.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/crisis-in-egypt/beyond-tahrir-square-a-turning-point-for-egypt-awaits/article1901125/
Tweets tonight are full of links to pictures of "unidentified martyrs" and an injured boy with downs syndrome who doesn't know his name or address
I cannot get their families out of my mind.
Postscript: The boys family has been located. His name is Sayed.
Postscript: The boys family has been located. His name is Sayed.
Today in Tahrir: Writing a revolution. Drawing a revolution.
Photo by Frederik Pleitgen of CNN
http://plixi.com/p/75989199
Photo by mosarabizing
http://yfrog.com/h3pd8uoj
Nick Bygon's poster
". . . please use it to promote the struggle of the Egyptian people and not to profiteer."
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickbygon/5412410519/#/
Today in Tahrir: Quiet Optimism
First hand account by Ursula Lyndsey at The Arabist:
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/9/dispatch-from-tahrir-1.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/9/dispatch-from-tahrir-1.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
More information on the worker's strikes
Dan Murphy writes about how socialist activists have been working to encourage workers to support the pro-democracy movement but also about how the links between the two types of unrest are tenuous.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0209/Egypt-protesters-seek-to-spread-beyond-Tahrir-Square
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0209/Egypt-protesters-seek-to-spread-beyond-Tahrir-Square
Personal stories of Egyptians from the provinces traveling to join the protesters in Tahrir
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/tahrir-square-egypts-new-transit
by Noha al-Hennawy
"Standing in his religious uniform among a dozen fellow preachers, Ahmed Gamal Eddin, a 38-year-old state-sanctioned imam, explains why he left his wife and two small children to join the sit-in last week.
“This is a national cause, nobody asked me to be here. We were dreaming of this day long time ago. ..I dream of a better life for my children. I hope my kids can enjoy freedom and good education away from oppression and despotism,” says Gamal Eddin.
“My wife is happy that I am here. She never asked me to go back,” he says. Gamal Eddin has been sleeping in Tahrir for over eight days.
By adopting a clearly anti-Mubarak stance, Gamal Eddin and colleagues might be jeopardizing their jobs with the state religious establishment. These low-rank clerics have refused to toe the line with Egypt’s top religious figures, namely the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti, who have remained supportive of Mubarak’s regime throughout the uprising."
by Noha al-Hennawy
"Standing in his religious uniform among a dozen fellow preachers, Ahmed Gamal Eddin, a 38-year-old state-sanctioned imam, explains why he left his wife and two small children to join the sit-in last week.
“This is a national cause, nobody asked me to be here. We were dreaming of this day long time ago. ..I dream of a better life for my children. I hope my kids can enjoy freedom and good education away from oppression and despotism,” says Gamal Eddin.
“My wife is happy that I am here. She never asked me to go back,” he says. Gamal Eddin has been sleeping in Tahrir for over eight days.
By adopting a clearly anti-Mubarak stance, Gamal Eddin and colleagues might be jeopardizing their jobs with the state religious establishment. These low-rank clerics have refused to toe the line with Egypt’s top religious figures, namely the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti, who have remained supportive of Mubarak’s regime throughout the uprising."
Background on Khaled Said
"Egyptian man's death became a symbol of callous state" by Ernesto Londono.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020806421.html?hpid=topnews
See the facebook page administered by Wael Ghonim and others in memory of Khaled Said and where the call for protests on Jan 25 began here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/elshaheeed.co.uk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020806421.html?hpid=topnews
See the facebook page administered by Wael Ghonim and others in memory of Khaled Said and where the call for protests on Jan 25 began here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/elshaheeed.co.uk
Another brilliant video from NYTimes
"Cairo's Facebook Flat: A new generation of Egyptian revolutionaries, ensconced in a communal apartment, are trying to bring down President Hosni Mubarak's government by broadcasting the revolt in Tahrir Square on Facebook."
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/08/world/middleeast/1248069622796/cairo-s-facebook-flat.html?hp
The activists in this video echo the unbridled optimism I hear on the phone each morning.
The activists in this video echo the unbridled optimism I hear on the phone each morning.
Muslim Brotherhood discussed.
Here are links to two articles on the Muslim Brotherhood with rather different conclusions.
Muslim Brotherhood uncovered: In an exclusive Guardian interview, Egypt's Islamist opposition group sets out its demands by Jack Shenker and Brian Whitaker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/08/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-uncovered
How would democracy change the brotherhood: Operating within an authoritarian regime has moderated the group, but that could reverse by Daniel Blumburg
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/how-would-democracy-in-egypt-change-the-muslim-brotherhood/70926/
Muslim Brotherhood uncovered: In an exclusive Guardian interview, Egypt's Islamist opposition group sets out its demands by Jack Shenker and Brian Whitaker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/08/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-uncovered
How would democracy change the brotherhood: Operating within an authoritarian regime has moderated the group, but that could reverse by Daniel Blumburg
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/how-would-democracy-in-egypt-change-the-muslim-brotherhood/70926/
Youth Coalition Comittee Formed
This useful article names the participants in the coalition and the representatives of each movement.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/5257/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-revolution-youth-form-national-coalition.aspx
A different view of what things look like by Blake Hounshell on the ground here:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/07/a_new_leader_for_egypt_s_protesters?hpid=topnews
"The organization that administers the square itself, it's important to understand, is a completely separate entity from the various other Facebook groups, political parties, and other movements that often get (or take) credit for the uprising. Ahmed Naguib, 33, a member of the 1,000-plus strong Tahrir organizing committee, told me that few of the volunteers who man the barricades, seek to root out regime infiltrators, staff the increasingly well-stocked field hospitals and pharmacies, and bring in supplies are "political" types -- as is the case with the roughly 100-member steering committee that more or less makes key logistical decisions. Many if not most of these people didn't even know each other before last week -- and they aren't necessarily activists. The ad hoc organizers have resisted efforts by some groups to secure representational seating in the inner circle of the steering committee, Naguib told me."
This article also points out what I have heard from multiple sources that the "representatives" of the youth movement at the meeting with Suleiman on Sunday did not represent anyone.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/5257/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-revolution-youth-form-national-coalition.aspx
A different view of what things look like by Blake Hounshell on the ground here:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/07/a_new_leader_for_egypt_s_protesters?hpid=topnews
"The organization that administers the square itself, it's important to understand, is a completely separate entity from the various other Facebook groups, political parties, and other movements that often get (or take) credit for the uprising. Ahmed Naguib, 33, a member of the 1,000-plus strong Tahrir organizing committee, told me that few of the volunteers who man the barricades, seek to root out regime infiltrators, staff the increasingly well-stocked field hospitals and pharmacies, and bring in supplies are "political" types -- as is the case with the roughly 100-member steering committee that more or less makes key logistical decisions. Many if not most of these people didn't even know each other before last week -- and they aren't necessarily activists. The ad hoc organizers have resisted efforts by some groups to secure representational seating in the inner circle of the steering committee, Naguib told me."
This article also points out what I have heard from multiple sources that the "representatives" of the youth movement at the meeting with Suleiman on Sunday did not represent anyone.
Violent conflict between protesters and security forces near Kharga Oasis
Tweets report a forth person has now died from conflict in a small town in the eastern desert, al-Wadi al-Jadid. Not much information on this yet. The conflict began late last night.
First report I've come across:
http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/three-dead-100-wounded-in-south-egypt-clash-official-2011-02-09-1.354039
First report I've come across:
http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/three-dead-100-wounded-in-south-egypt-clash-official-2011-02-09-1.354039
Regime's effort to divide the protesters seems to have failed
"Muslim Brotherhood give Muabarak a week to resign. They need some time. We give them this chance. A week," said Essam el-Erian.
From the Guardian's live newsblog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/09/egypt-protests-live-updates-9-february
From the Guardian's live newsblog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/09/egypt-protests-live-updates-9-february
Feb 8 protests in al-Mansoura
Another relatively rare view of popular discontent outside the capital. This protest is in my husband's home town, on the road we walk to catch the microbus to his home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB1tjMZrJzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB1tjMZrJzY
Rural Egyptians add voices to demand for change
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE7171TQ20110209?sp=true
A reporter interviews Egyptians who live "outside Tanta." and finds most people are ready for Mubarak to go. A rare media piece about someplace outside Cairo and Alexandria.
A reporter interviews Egyptians who live "outside Tanta." and finds most people are ready for Mubarak to go. A rare media piece about someplace outside Cairo and Alexandria.
Andrew Burton photo-essay of Feb 6 in Tahrir.
http://www.andrewburtonphoto.com/blog/
The beautiful and the mundane on last Sunday on the square. LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS!
The beautiful and the mundane on last Sunday on the square. LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS!
Strikes by workers across the country began yesterday
Egypt Telecom, State newspaper print-shop employees, journalists at a magazine protesting against their pro-Mubarak editor, workers want higher wages and strike in solidarity with protesters.
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/labor-professional-protests-join-popular-uprising
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/labor-professional-protests-join-popular-uprising
Large greeting committee welcomes protestors to Tahrir
Taking inspiration from Walmart? : ) See their enthusiastic chants at the site below. Look for the often reported laminated ID tags for the people working the security detail checking IDs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBiFEXP8rTY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBiFEXP8rTY
Most detailed description of organization of life on the square so far: Wanna know about pharmacies, where and how big the hospitals are, and public bathrooms?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/5187/Egypt/Politics-/In-Egypts-Tahrir-Square-Life-is-a-battlefield.aspx
This was published yesterday, but perhaps because this is produced by the state-run newspaper this story also emphasizes violent deaths that must have occurred on earlier days.
Sidenote: A tweet from late last night reported that the Hardees on Tahrir was now open as a source of free water and public "cleanish" restroom for women.
This was published yesterday, but perhaps because this is produced by the state-run newspaper this story also emphasizes violent deaths that must have occurred on earlier days.
Sidenote: A tweet from late last night reported that the Hardees on Tahrir was now open as a source of free water and public "cleanish" restroom for women.
Egypt Remembers
I posted this once, but the number of faces and names has grown. A website dedicated to all the dead: policemen, protesters and innocent bystanders. This is heartbreaking.
http://1000memories.com/egypt
http://1000memories.com/egypt
Today in Tahrir: Memorial services
SamiDaoud tweets: 2day at 4 a silent min at 4pm in #tahrir square , followed by christian prayers 4 those who died in the church in alexandria.
2/08/2011
Ominously . . . .
Egypt VP: Protests cannot be allowed to go on long
© 2011
He told them the regime wants dialogue to resolve protesters' demands for democratic reform, adding in a veiled warning, "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."
Full story here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7418581.html
Victims begin to be recognized
See theheartbreaking facebook page that appears to have been the source for the story below:
Faces of the Revolution
See these beautiful images of Egyptians at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/02/egypt-slideshow.html
Late night Tweets from Tahrir:
300 people marched out of the State TV building in solidarity today, chanting for the fall of the regime.
Did suleiman say Egypt is not ready for democracy? well obv. suleiman is not ready for Egypt
Did suleiman say Egypt is not ready for democracy? well obv. suleiman is not ready for Egypt
Washington Post Editorial: Wrongly choosing Egypt's generals over the democrats
"The biggest threat to the stated U.S. objective of a "real democracy" in Egypt is not an extreme opposition but the very regime the administration is backing - which is attempting to limit change and perpetuate its hold on power beyond President Hosni Mubarak's announced retirement in September."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020705407.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020705407.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Guardian's Mark Tran compiled a list of the very limited concessions offered by the government so far
• Mubarak will stand down in September, when his term expires and when new elections are to be held.
• A committee to recommend constitutional amendments to relax presidential eligibility rules and impose term limits. The panel to be led by the head of Egypt's highest appellate court and composed of six senior judges and four constitutional experts. It will make its recommendations to Suleiman, by the end of this month. (This is similar to promises made in the past--the resulting reforms composed so as to be meaningless
• A separate committee to monitor implementation of all proposed reforms.
• An inquiry into last week's clashes as well as the mass detentions of human rights activists and journalists. The findings willl be referred to the attorney-general.
• No constraints on media.
• Investigations of allegations of corruption and detention of those responsible for the breakdown in security.
• A lifting of the state of emergency "based on the security situation".
(also promised in the past--a promise not kept when it was signed once again just last year)
Source: Guardian Live Blog 4:41
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/08/egypt-protests-live-updates1
• A committee to recommend constitutional amendments to relax presidential eligibility rules and impose term limits. The panel to be led by the head of Egypt's highest appellate court and composed of six senior judges and four constitutional experts. It will make its recommendations to Suleiman, by the end of this month. (This is similar to promises made in the past--the resulting reforms composed so as to be meaningless
• A separate committee to monitor implementation of all proposed reforms.
• An inquiry into last week's clashes as well as the mass detentions of human rights activists and journalists. The findings willl be referred to the attorney-general.
• No constraints on media.
• Investigations of allegations of corruption and detention of those responsible for the breakdown in security.
• A lifting of the state of emergency "based on the security situation".
(also promised in the past--a promise not kept when it was signed once again just last year)
Source: Guardian Live Blog 4:41
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/08/egypt-protests-live-updates1
A whole range of workers seem to be walking out of their jobs in solidarity with the protesters. We've already mentioned Cairo University staff and journalists but Ahram online reports that over 6,000 Suez Canal Company workers from the cities of Suez, Port Said, and Ismailia began an open-ended sit in today over poor wages and working conditions . And thousands of Telecom Egypt staff at various branches are protesting and threatening a sit-in if their demands are not met.
The reach of this movment continues to expand.
Source: Guardian live update 3:01
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/08/egypt-protests-live-updates1
Source: Guardian live update 3:01
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/08/egypt-protests-live-updates1
The world protesters have created in Tahrir described
Laminated ID tags for security personal who check ID cards. Informal iconomy. Sense of humor. READ THIS!
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/anger-in-egypt/2011/02/20112811181499676.html#
To see a darker point of view read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/paranoia-strikes-among-egypts-protesters-a-day-and-night-in-tahrir/70860/
And a video about spending the night on the square:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/07/world/middleeast/1248069620275/a-night-in-tahrir-square.html?ref=middleeast
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/anger-in-egypt/2011/02/20112811181499676.html#
To see a darker point of view read:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/02/paranoia-strikes-among-egypts-protesters-a-day-and-night-in-tahrir/70860/
And a video about spending the night on the square:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/07/world/middleeast/1248069620275/a-night-in-tahrir-square.html?ref=middleeast
Hundreds of Thousands demonstrate in Cairo and across Egypt. BBC pronounces it the biggest crowd yet in Tahrir.
CNN and BBC reporters talk to Egyptians who are just now joining the protests for the first time.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201128123235508653.html#
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201128123235508653.html#
Today in Tahrir: tens of thousands. so full it is hard to make your way in.
From blogger Sandmonkey
http://twitpic.com/3xp5jj
Statement of the “Coalition of Youths of the Wrath Revolution"
Press Conference in El-Shorook Newspaper Headquarters
Fellow great Egyptian citizens … We are your daughters, your brothers and sisters who are protesting in Tahrir square and other squares of Egypt, promise you not to go back to our homes until the demands of your great revolution are realized.
Millions have gone out to overthrow the regime, and so the matter goes beyond figures in particular to the whole administration of the Egyptian State , which was transformed from a servant of the people to a master of the them.
We have heard the president’s disappointing speech. And really someone who has killed more than 300 youths, kidnapped and injured thousands more is not entitled to brag about past glories. Nor are his followers entitled to talk about the President’s dignity, because the dignity life and security of the Egyptian people is far more valuable than any single person’s dignity no matter how high a position he holds.
Our people live though tragedy for a week now, since Mubarak’s regime practiced a siege against us, releasing criminals and outlaws to terrorize us, imposing a curfew, stopping public transportation, closing banks, cutting off communications and shutting down the internet .. But if it was not for the courage of Egyptian youths who stayed up nights in the People’s Committees it would have been a terrible tragedy.
We want this crisis to end as soon as possible and for our lives and our families’ lives to get back to normal, but we do not trust Hosni Mubarak in leading the transitional period. He is the same person, who refused over the past 30 years any real political and economic reforms, and he hired criminals to attack Tahrir square and the peaceful demonstrators there, killing dozens and enjuring thousands – including women, elderly, and children.
Also, we will not allow the corrupt to remain in charge of the state institutions; therefore, we will continue our sit-in until the following demands are realized:
Millions have gone out to overthrow the regime, and so the matter goes beyond figures in particular to the whole administration of the Egyptian State , which was transformed from a servant of the people to a master of the them.
We have heard the president’s disappointing speech. And really someone who has killed more than 300 youths, kidnapped and injured thousands more is not entitled to brag about past glories. Nor are his followers entitled to talk about the President’s dignity, because the dignity life and security of the Egyptian people is far more valuable than any single person’s dignity no matter how high a position he holds.
Our people live though tragedy for a week now, since Mubarak’s regime practiced a siege against us, releasing criminals and outlaws to terrorize us, imposing a curfew, stopping public transportation, closing banks, cutting off communications and shutting down the internet .. But if it was not for the courage of Egyptian youths who stayed up nights in the People’s Committees it would have been a terrible tragedy.
We want this crisis to end as soon as possible and for our lives and our families’ lives to get back to normal, but we do not trust Hosni Mubarak in leading the transitional period. He is the same person, who refused over the past 30 years any real political and economic reforms, and he hired criminals to attack Tahrir square and the peaceful demonstrators there, killing dozens and enjuring thousands – including women, elderly, and children.
Also, we will not allow the corrupt to remain in charge of the state institutions; therefore, we will continue our sit-in until the following demands are realized:
1- The resignation of the President and by the way this does not contradict the peaceful transition of power nor the current constitution which allows and organizes this process.
2- the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and releasing all freedoms and putting an immediate stop to the humiliation and torture that takes place in police stations
3- the immediate dissolve of both the Parliament and Shura Council
4- forming a national unity government that political forces agree upon which manages the processes of constitutional and political reform
5- forming a judicial committee with the participation of some figures from local human rights organizations to investigate the perpetrators of the collapse of state of security this past week and the murder and injury of thousands of our people.
6- Military in charge of protecting peaceful protestors from thugs and criminal affiliated with the corrupt regime and ensuring the safety of medical and nutritional convoys to civilians
7- the immediate release of all political detainees and in their forefront our colleague Wael Ghoneim
2- the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and releasing all freedoms and putting an immediate stop to the humiliation and torture that takes place in police stations
3- the immediate dissolve of both the Parliament and Shura Council
4- forming a national unity government that political forces agree upon which manages the processes of constitutional and political reform
5- forming a judicial committee with the participation of some figures from local human rights organizations to investigate the perpetrators of the collapse of state of security this past week and the murder and injury of thousands of our people.
6- Military in charge of protecting peaceful protestors from thugs and criminal affiliated with the corrupt regime and ensuring the safety of medical and nutritional convoys to civilians
7- the immediate release of all political detainees and in their forefront our colleague Wael Ghoneim
Salwa Ismail: A private estate called Egypt Only a thousand families count in a country that Mubarak and his cronies regard as their fiefdom
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/06/private-estate-egypt-mubarak-cronies
"A tiny economic elite controlling consumption-geared production and imports has accumulated great wealth. This elite includes representatives of foreign companies with exclusive import rights in electronics, electric cables and automobiles. It also includes real estate developers who created a construction boom in gated communities and resorts for the super-rich. Much of this development is on public land acquired at very low prices, with no proper tendering or bidding."
"A tiny economic elite controlling consumption-geared production and imports has accumulated great wealth. This elite includes representatives of foreign companies with exclusive import rights in electronics, electric cables and automobiles. It also includes real estate developers who created a construction boom in gated communities and resorts for the super-rich. Much of this development is on public land acquired at very low prices, with no proper tendering or bidding."
Description of some of the key opposition parties
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12290167
Human Rights Watch puts the death toll as at least 297 killed since January 28 – 232 in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria and 13 in Suez
http://www.hrw.org/egypt-live-updates
Interview with detained activist Wael Ghonim
http://egypt.alive.in/2011/02/08/dream-tv-interview-with-wael-ghonim-part-2-with-english-subtitles/
"you want to arrest me? there is a law, arrest me, question me, you have the right." But he was detained without charge for 12 days, outside their own legal systems, and the regime denied he was detained.
Is it time to send in the lawyers? Posted By Nathan J. Brown
Egypt's "revolution" (as many have begun to call it) has progressed so far precisely because it is so diffuse and decentralized. The regime can neither decapitate nor co-opt it. But that strength can also be a real weakness. . . .
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/07/is_it_time_to_send_in_the_lawyers
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/07/is_it_time_to_send_in_the_lawyers
2/06/2011
Today in Tahrir: Wet and cold, still raining, tweets say more tents going up. Reports of thousands demonstrating on the streets of Alexandria and Mansoura.
Earlier days, How to protest Egypt-style II: Well-known Socialist activist Kamal Khalil, impromtu political poet leads chants
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbkjE7UqDzo&feature=player_embedded#
Previous days: Young boy leads chanting. How to protest Egypt style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7eNEYrl15w
Fave Day 12 in Tahrir protest sign: "Get out. I miss my wife. We got married 20 days ago."
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=50300801&id=15906061
From Tahrir: "For the first time I feel free in my own country"
Photo by Monasosh, Permission to distribute under creative commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89031137@N00/5409888693/sizes/m/in/photostream/
From the Square: Feb 1, "Mubarak the People of Minufiyya disown you"
Minufiyya is Mubarak's hometown.
Photo by Monasosh. Permission under Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89031137@N00/5410499208/
US company sells internet/cell phone monitering softward to Egyptian goverment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uODOBCgNhZc&feature=player_embedded#
Owned by Boeing.
Owned by Boeing.
Today in Tahrir: A wedding
"Couple said they decided to tie the knot after they spent the past 10 days along with their friends in the square"
"Dr Ahmad Zaafan, pharmacologist, and his fiancee Oula Abdul Hamid, both camping in Tahrir Square in Cairo since January 28, announced on Sunday their marriage at a special ceremony attended by more than 300,000 people."
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/egypt/chime-of-wedding-bells-eases-tension-at-tahrir-square-1.758097
Another first hand account of the treatment of journalists in recent days
Egyptians could expect this kind of treatment from their local police station everyday of the week, and worse.
"Then the beating started. A smack on the back of the head, as I grabbed my bag by one hand, trying to shove in my computer, as the man with the mustache gripped my other arm. This was apparently a sign for more of them to begin pummelling me. I fell on the ground. Thieves were reaching into my pockets, too, trying to get what they could. I hugged my backpack and computer as kick after kick came. At one moment, I recall sitting on my knees, hands raised, yelling for my life—surreal."
"Then the beating started. A smack on the back of the head, as I grabbed my bag by one hand, trying to shove in my computer, as the man with the mustache gripped my other arm. This was apparently a sign for more of them to begin pummelling me. I fell on the ground. Thieves were reaching into my pockets, too, trying to get what they could. I hugged my backpack and computer as kick after kick came. At one moment, I recall sitting on my knees, hands raised, yelling for my life—surreal."
Egyptian blogger and Tahrir participant acknowledges the danger of this moment in the movment
http://www.sandmonkey.org/2011/02/06/the-way-forward/
If we are to assess the successes of the movement so far, there have been a few key victories, but not any truly major ones. Mubarak says he won’t run again, but he won’t step down. Mubarak will change the constitution but will use the same parliament that has election fraud indictment tarring over 85% of its members. Even with today’s news, what the NDP did so far has been more cosmetic than actual change. We shouldn’t be appeased by it. Mubarak is still President, Emergency law is still in effect, the parliament hasn’t been dissolved, new elections haven’t been called for and the constitution is still that flexible document that the ruling party can change whenever they see fit. Even though we appear to be winning, we are not by a long shot.
If we are to assess the successes of the movement so far, there have been a few key victories, but not any truly major ones. Mubarak says he won’t run again, but he won’t step down. Mubarak will change the constitution but will use the same parliament that has election fraud indictment tarring over 85% of its members. Even with today’s news, what the NDP did so far has been more cosmetic than actual change. We shouldn’t be appeased by it. Mubarak is still President, Emergency law is still in effect, the parliament hasn’t been dissolved, new elections haven’t been called for and the constitution is still that flexible document that the ruling party can change whenever they see fit. Even though we appear to be winning, we are not by a long shot.
Thousands in the square, but losing the battle?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/feb/06/egypt-hosni-mubarak
Jack Shenker at 10:52 am
The standoff between protesters in Tahrir and the Mubarak regime is a media battle as much as anything else, and it's a vastly unequal one: the Egyptian government spends millions of dollars on a trio of top Washington lobbyists to help push its message to the international media and foreign policy-making circles, whilst those opposed to the regime have to rely on word of mouth and online social media sites, access to which has regularly been cut off by the authorities in recent days.
NYTimes Kristof: Lets support demoncracy
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/opinion/06kristof.html?_r=1
"Maybe my judgment is skewed because pro-Mubarak thugs tried to hunt down journalists, leading some of us to be stabbed, beaten and arrested — and forcing me to abandon hotel rooms and sneak with heart racing around mobs carrying clubs with nails embedded in them. The place I felt safest was Tahrir Square — “free Egypt,” in the protesters’ lexicon — where I could pull out a camera and notebook and ask anybody any question."
"Maybe my judgment is skewed because pro-Mubarak thugs tried to hunt down journalists, leading some of us to be stabbed, beaten and arrested — and forcing me to abandon hotel rooms and sneak with heart racing around mobs carrying clubs with nails embedded in them. The place I felt safest was Tahrir Square — “free Egypt,” in the protesters’ lexicon — where I could pull out a camera and notebook and ask anybody any question."
Two sites are recording information on the dead, some with photos
http://1000memories.com/egypt
https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?authkey=CLT_xkU&hl=en&key=to1CuqGTONV4Bu6ywvxID1Q&toomany=true
https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?authkey=CLT_xkU&hl=en&key=to1CuqGTONV4Bu6ywvxID1Q&toomany=true
2/05/2011
More on Wednesday's violence: GO BEHIND THE BARRICADES
This amazing video shows what it was like behind the barricades last Wednesday when the protesters found themselves under attack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_DcfKeMACU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_DcfKeMACU
Powerful testimony of Wednesday's violence
Listen to this emotional report by Mona Seif, sister of famous blogger and democracy activist Alaa abd al-Fattah, as she describes seeing a protester shot through the head by a sniper on AJE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8u11Mht6mQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8u11Mht6mQ&feature=related
Find links and photos from Mattew Cassell at his new facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JustImage/106879525999939?v=wall
Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud, journalist died today. Allah yarhamhu.
He was shot on Wednesday.
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/al-ahram-reporter-dies-wounds-sustained-demonstrations
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/al-ahram-reporter-dies-wounds-sustained-demonstrations
Personal account of a discussion between a secular protestor and member of the Muslim brotherhood
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150105745844905&id=532875443
While Tahrir was mostly peaceful yesterday, the regime continued to perperate violence on journalists, activists, and random citizens.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/-you-will-be-lynched-egyptian-policeman-tells-reporters-first-person.html
Very powerful testimony about why the regime and not just the president should go.
Very powerful testimony about why the regime and not just the president should go.
Very accesable article about the constitutional issues limiting the implementation of real change
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020404123.html
This article contains a link to the important article by Nathan Brown at Foreign Policy's website.
This article contains a link to the important article by Nathan Brown at Foreign Policy's website.
el-Hamalawi's pic of journalist Matthew Cassell in Tahrir.
See his fabulous pre-revolution photos of Egypt and beyond at his website: http://justimage.org/
See Journalist Hossam el-Hamalawy's powerful images
These images are from Jan 29. I will post a few here.
See all the images in color:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/sets/72157625821089247/
and black and white:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/sets/72157625947671262/?page=2
See all the images in color:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/sets/72157625821089247/
and black and white:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/sets/72157625947671262/?page=2
2/04/2011
Statement of the Shabab Masr, Youth of Egypt Movement
http://www.shabab-masr.com/
Their official English translation:
http://www.shabab-masr.com/Statement_of_Egyptian_youth_-_English.pdf
Unofficial translation at Foreign Policy:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=42510&prog=zgp
Their official English translation:
http://www.shabab-masr.com/Statement_of_Egyptian_youth_-_English.pdf
Unofficial translation at Foreign Policy:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=42510&prog=zgp
From Tahrir today
Photo from Egyptocracy http://twitpic.com/3wgdov
Bulliet: Do not fear the brotherhood
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/03/us-fear-muslim-brotherhood
The Obama administration needs to open its mind to the likelihood that the Muslim Brotherhood will be part of Egypt's post-Mubarak government. The Brotherhood has long formed the primary opposition to Egypt's dictatorship, and its members permeate Egyptian society from top to bottom. For them not to play a central role now would simply set the stage for continuing uncertainty, renewed oppression and future conflict.
In Iran, ignorance of Islamist political forces led the United States to overestimate the secular leadership and overreact to the emergence of a religious leadership. In Egypt, the secular opposition, ill-formed and inexperienced, is being touted as the main hope for a transition to free elections. Yet free elections will certainly confer legitimacy on the Brotherhood and award them a substantial bloc of parliamentary seats.
The Obama administration needs to open its mind to the likelihood that the Muslim Brotherhood will be part of Egypt's post-Mubarak government. The Brotherhood has long formed the primary opposition to Egypt's dictatorship, and its members permeate Egyptian society from top to bottom. For them not to play a central role now would simply set the stage for continuing uncertainty, renewed oppression and future conflict.
In Iran, ignorance of Islamist political forces led the United States to overestimate the secular leadership and overreact to the emergence of a religious leadership. In Egypt, the secular opposition, ill-formed and inexperienced, is being touted as the main hope for a transition to free elections. Yet free elections will certainly confer legitimacy on the Brotherhood and award them a substantial bloc of parliamentary seats.
Amr Shalakany on Departure Day
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/good-cheer-and-fear-on-departure-friday/
At these times only faith can save us, faith in the ability of the people to know right from wrong, to recognize the tastes of freedom and oppression, to tell without thought the difference and act on it by intuition alone.
At these times only faith can save us, faith in the ability of the people to know right from wrong, to recognize the tastes of freedom and oppression, to tell without thought the difference and act on it by intuition alone.
Guardian: Video of Tahrir today
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/feb/04/tahrir-square-day-departure-video
Further evidence the US adminstration is on the side of the regime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/world/middleeast/04diplomacy.html
The plan being floated by the White House for the transition represents an effort to prop up the regime.
"Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr. Suleiman, backed by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform."
Where are the civilians?
The plan being floated by the White House for the transition represents an effort to prop up the regime.
"Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr. Suleiman, backed by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform."
Where are the civilians?
Fisk reports on the Wednesday's battles in downtown Cairo
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-mubarak-will-go-tomorrow-they-cried-as-rocks-and-firebombs-flew-2203896.html
NYTimes Kristof: We are all Egyptians
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/opinion/04kristof.html
"Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours that he had needed medical treatment for injuries suffered at the hands of government-backed mobs. But as soon as Mahmood was bandaged, he tottered off once again to the front lines.
“I’ll fight as long as I can,” he told me."
"Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours that he had needed medical treatment for injuries suffered at the hands of government-backed mobs. But as soon as Mahmood was bandaged, he tottered off once again to the front lines.
“I’ll fight as long as I can,” he told me."
Egypt rises up: The West should celebrate, not fear, the upheaval in Egypt
"The popular rejection of Mr Mubarak offers the Middle East’s best chance for reform in decades."
"Revolutions do not have to be like those in France in 1789, Russia in 1917 or Iran in 1979. The protests sweeping the Middle East have more in common with the popular colour revolutions that changed the world map in the late 20th century: peaceful (until the government’s thugs turned up), popular (no Robespierre or Trotsky running things behind the scenes), and secular (Islam has hardly reared its head). Driven by the power of its citizens, Egypt’s upheaval could lead to a transformation as benign as those in eastern Europe."
http://www.economist.com/node/18070190?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
"Revolutions do not have to be like those in France in 1789, Russia in 1917 or Iran in 1979. The protests sweeping the Middle East have more in common with the popular colour revolutions that changed the world map in the late 20th century: peaceful (until the government’s thugs turned up), popular (no Robespierre or Trotsky running things behind the scenes), and secular (Islam has hardly reared its head). Driven by the power of its citizens, Egypt’s upheaval could lead to a transformation as benign as those in eastern Europe."
http://www.economist.com/node/18070190?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Crowd representative of Egypt
Egyptian Blogger Sandmonkey tweets: Coptic Church officials (Priests and Nuns) are showing up at the Protests. The Spirit of 1919 is upon us.
Moving images from Tahrir field hospital.
From Pakinam Amer:
http://yfrog.com/h8ozhvj
BBC's Lyse Ducet wrote, "Where there were shoes, now there are medicines."
http://yfrog.com/h8ozhvj
BBC's Lyse Ducet wrote, "Where there were shoes, now there are medicines."
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