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'Graffiti Week' paints walls with calls to resume revolution

2012-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent
Graffiti week returns with calls to resume revolution

January 25, 2012

Jano Charbel

In the run-up to the anniversary of the 25 January revolution, a street art campaign dubbed “Mad Graffiti Week” spread like wildfire across Egypt. The call for the event was announced on Facebook, Twitter and the blogs of Egyptian street artists and activists.

A growing number of Egyptian and foreign artists and activists, male and female alike, have responded to the call. They have painted their art and their messages on walls, not only in Egypt, but also in Germany, UK, Austria, Poland and Canada.

Most of the themes center around calls for completing the revolution, deposing the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and transferring power to civilian authorities.

Over the course of “Mad Graffiti Week,” three youths are reported to have been arrested — one in Banha City and two in Mahalla City — for acts of “vandalism.” These youths were reportedly detained, questioned and then released on the same day.

Graffiti and street art “are very powerful and effective tools of public expression,” said artist-activist Omar X-ist Mostafa. “This is evident in the fact that the police and army arrest people for painting graffiti with a political message, while the municipal authorities are constantly erasing and painting over it.”

The Facebook page “Graffiti the streets of Egypt” documents and disseminates information on this event, posting photos and circulating news from cities across the world. The page calls on Egyptians to “take to the streets and paint across your country. Think, innovate, struggle and paint.” Twitter updates on the street artists are made using the hashtag #MadGraffitiWeek with links to photos of their art and messages. These social networking sites are also being used to post and circulate booklets full of stencils that can be printed or traced and instructions on how to cut and paint these designs.

One of the stencils, which has been widely spray painted across Cairo, reads, “Take to the streets on 25 January.” Another stencil with stylized letters reads “Kazeboon” (“Liars”), a reference to a campaign against military rulers. The most common portrait is that of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi — some of the stencils read “Put him on trial” or “Tantawi is Mubarak,” and some portray him with bloody fangs.

Moving beyond the hotbeds of street art in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, “Mad Graffiti Week” has made new inroads across Egypt, spreading to the canal cities of Port Said and Ismailia, to Nile Delta cities including Zagazig, Mahalla, Mansoura, Banha and Tanta, and to Upper Egypt in Assiut, Sohag and Minya.

Last year, on 20–22 May, an event dubbed "Mad Graffiti Weekend" was organized by teams of artist-activists in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, primarily to campaign against the military trials of some 12,000 civilians. Professional graffiti artists and groups of assistants produced massive murals, stencils and intricate works of street art.

In contrast, this “Mad Graffiti Week” has more of a DIY approach.

“There is actually no centrality to this campaign, so everyone working on it is doing so independently,” says prominent visual artist Mohamed Fahmy, who is known as Ganzeer.

According to Mostafa, “more amateurs and first-timers have joined in this time around, especially given that stencils have been posted online for users to trace and cut out.” This has apparently translated into a greater quantity — rather than a greater quality — of graffiti and street art.

The signature marks of spray-cans in the hands of amateur street artists are indeed apparent on numerous walls with stencils smeared, dripping paint and blurred graffiti writing.

“It’s important that stencils and murals are made to look appealing and catch the eye. But, in my opinion, it’s more important that street art becomes a common art of the people. The important thing is that people are expressing themselves and getting their messages out there in public spaces,” says Mostafa.

“If you have no other outlet, graffiti is the most direct means of publicly expressing yourself,” he says. “The number of graffiti artists has increased dramatically since the revolution in parallel to the rise of street music, public poetry recitals, performances and plays.”

Graffiti artist El Teneen (The Dragon) says the initiative “has helped move graffiti and street art into new grounds within Cairo,” such as the populous working-class neighborhoods Shubra and Imbaba. “It has helped bring the messages of Tahrir Square home. In this sense, these messages of freedom are no longer distant or isolated demands. They are on your street and in your face.”

El Teneen has spray-painted stencils with the message: “We will resume the revolution.”

“I don't know what effect this graffiti will have on passersby, but I hope it will help people think about their rights and freedoms, and thus help them act in order to realize those rights.”

According to street-artist Kareem Gouda, aka Dokhan (Smoke) the aim of “Mad Graffiti Week,” and “Mad Graffiti Weekend” before it, is “the use of street art as a means of raising demands — using street art to reclaim your own rights, for your own sake and for the sake of others.”

Dokhan says, “The populace is now aware of this art's influence. The authorities paint over graffiti and street art because they want to hide its messages, while some civilians often vandalize street art because they disagree with the messages portrayed, or because they misunderstand these messages. Street art and street artists are often viewed with suspicion.”

Dokhan found the posters he put up in the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood of Cairo during “Mad Graffiti Week” torn down hours later. His posters feature a black-and-white image of a girl with missing eyes and a disfigured mouth, underneath which is the text, “Open your eyes and speak up before it is too late.” It was meant to be an artwork against censorship and police brutality, but “was misunderstood, and thus torn down,” the artist says.

Dokhan added that street artist Sad Panda’s works were also recently vandalized in Sayeda Zeinab, and a massive mural Ganzeer painted in Zamalek during “Mad Graffiti Weekend” was similarly defaced.

Under military rule, Egypt falls in press freedom rankings

2012-01-28T23:16:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent
Under military rule, Egypt falls in press freedom rankings

Thu, 26/01/2012

Press freedom in Egypt has suffered under military rule, with the country dropping 39 spots on the annual Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Egypt was ranked 127th in 2010 and 166th in 2011, the Paris-based organization said in a statement Wednesday.

Heightened unrest around the world resulted in a significant shake-up of the index, which assesses governments' commitment to protecting media freedoms, noted the statement.

“Egypt fell because the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since February, dashed the hopes of democrats by continuing the Mubarak dictatorship’s practices. There were three periods of exceptional violence for journalists: in February, November and December,” the non-profit organization said.

In its report released Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders listed Egypt among the “countries where repression continues and changes are just cosmetic.”

“Most of the region’s countries have fallen in the index because of the measures taken in a bid to impose a news blackout on a crackdown,” the report said of the Middle East and North Africa region.

“Egypt plummeted 39 places because of the attempts by Hosni Mubarak’s government and then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to rein in the revolution’s successive phases," read the report.

“The hounding of foreign journalists for three days at the start of February, the interrogations, arrests and convictions of journalists and bloggers by military courts, and the searches without warrants all contributed to Egypt’s dramatic fall in the index.”

The changes resulting from Arab revolutions did not push toward greater pluralism and the freedoms Egypt achieved last year have started to unfold, the report said. Some media outlets paid dearly for covering democratic aspirations and the opposition movements last year, according to the statement, and media censorship has remained under the control of authoritarian and oppressive regimes since the uprisings.

Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea still occupy the lowest ranks on the index of 179 countries and represent absolute dictatorship regimes, followed by Syria (176), Iran and China. Bahrain and Vietnam also fall near the bottom and other countries including Uganda and Belarus dropped in the rankings.

Tunisia made notable progress on the index, climbing 30 spots from 164 to 134 thanks to what the statement called turning the page of repression of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s regime.

Libya moved up from 160 to 154, while Bahrain fell 29 spots to occupy the 173rd position and join the ranks of the 10 most repressive countries. Yemen also fell one place to 171.

*Photographed by Mohamed Maarouf

Military junta responsible for failed Egyptian economy

2012-01-28T23:05:00.001-08:00

Daily News Egypt
What really ruined Egypt's economy in 2011?

January 24, 2012

Amira Salah-Ahmed

CAIRO: It wasn’t the protests. Not the strikes. Not the revolution. And it definitely wasn’t an unidentified foreign object – the proverbial invisible hand.

The simple answer to what brought Egypt’s economy to its knees: a mismanaged and slow transition.

The long-winded version: Unwillingness on the part of the ruling powers to meet peoples’ demands in a manner that does not disrupt national economic affairs for prolonged periods of time. Coupled with haphazard decisions, unclear policies and a series of crisis management failures on the political and economic fronts, while creating a state of fear and chaos, this has caused uncertainty among investors and set off a domino effect of negative economic repercussions, all made worse by an extended and murky transition to civilian rule.

In power since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is often criticized for failing to steer Egypt on a proper economic roadmap.

“The military has proven to be inflexible, much more reactionary and much less compromising — this sort of stalemate politically has impacted the economic situation,” said Hani Sabra, Eurasia Group’s Egypt analyst.

“Reality is, if you have a civilian authority in place with people that can make decisions then the economy wouldn’t be in the state it’s in,” Sabra added.

Hoda Selim, economist at Egypt’s Economic Research Forum (ERF), agreed, citing “uncertainty including the absence of a roadmap that sets a clear date for the handing of power from military to civilian rule and the unnecessary delay in legislative elections.”

Let’s start from the beginning.

At the onset of the 18-day uprising in January 2011, businesses came to a complete standstill, as if someone had switched off the economy button. It’s convenient to blame the mass protests for that, but logistically speaking, it was the measures taken by Mubarak’s regime that made it impossible for many sectors to function.

The telecom cut, internet blackout and stifling curfews meant to put pro-democracy activists in the dark disrupted the regular work flow by handicapping communication, shortening operational hours and hampering the transportation of goods.

Yes the stock market crashed and the pound slid to fresh lows, but these are predictable reflex reactions to any unexpected unrest. The overall economy, beyond the volatile realm of speculation on listed stocks and the value of the currency, was more or less crippled by the government itself.

As mass protest gained momentum, the government’s closure of banks and the stock market proved detrimental to capital flow.

The continued closure of the stock market — more specifically, repeatedly reneging on promises to reopen it for trading — showed how the government’s confused hesitation and indecisiveness can cause unnecessary panic and uncertainty in the market.

When banks opened, to everyone’s relief, the anticipated run on banks did not materialize. However, they promptly closed days later after protests by workers in the public sector banks. Why all banks, public and private, around the country had to shut down for a whole week remains a mystery, but the move prompted more wariness about access to liquidity. Local businesses had trouble paying employees’ salaries.

Essentially, people’s money was locked in vaults, adding another hindrance to business operations.

For almost two months the stock market remained closed despite frantic resounding calls by local and foreign investors, analysts and asset managers to open for trading and deal with the inevitable nosedive. What’s worse was the lack of clarity about the reasons behind the decision.

Egypt risked being delisted from the MSCI emerging markets index and the people in charge let it reach the brink, waiting until the last possible moment to reopen the stock exchange. The longer they waited, the worse the sentiment around the market became, and like a virus, the negativity spread to the overall economy.

“The greatest obstacle for investors at the start of 2011 was the restriction of capital flow, initially because of the closure of the banks, but chiefly in the unjustifiably long period during which the stock market was closed,” Roelof Horne, Africa fund manager at UK-based Investec Asset Management, told Daily News Egypt.

Investec Asset Management is the largest manager of third party assets in Africa. Horne manages the world’s largest Africa fund, excluding South Africa.

“As long term investors…we took a view from the start that a peaceful uprising in Egypt calling for democracy and accountability was a reason to be more excited about the country, not to capitulate,” he said.

PROPPING THE POUND

When Mubarak stepped down, the outburst of celebration was matched by palpable, though duly cautious, optimism on the economy.

At the time, most analysts and investors cited two longstanding risk assessment nightmares as having been removed along with the ousted president: the question of succession and rampant corruption. These two factors had for years tainted the reputation of the market and made Egypt a risky investment destination. While the former was whispered about, the latter was noted on every outlook or assessment report on Egypt.

The overriding sentiment in February 2011 was that if people’s demands are met, if their political aspirations are fulfilled, then investors, tourists and businesses will want to be part of the “new Egypt” story.

The night Mubarak stepped down, Beltone Financial’s Angus Blair told DNE, “The army [council] has to realize that there has to be good microeconomic governance of Egypt.”

That didn’t happen, and even the term “new Egypt” soon turned sour.

On February 11, the Egyptian pound was at 5.879 to the dollar and the country’s foreign reserves totaled more than $30 billion. Today, the pound is steadily sliding, at around 6.04 with reserves at $18.1 billion and swiftly depleting. Throughout the year, much of the reserves went to propping up the pound instead of letting it gradually devalue to its real rate.

According to an ISI Emerging Markets Blog from April 2011, “The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) intervened to control the depreciating pound against the dollar.” This while the CBE repeatedly stated that it has not and will not artificially support the pound.

“Foreign reserves have dropped because they’ve burned through the reserves to prop up the currency. But if they stop doing that, then the value of the Egyptian pound nosedives and basic food prices will rise, that’s very sensitive politically,” Sabra said.

At the same time, several downgrades from ratings agencies have affected Egypt’s ability to borrow from abroad and increased the cost of doing so. The budget deficit mushroomed before being repeatedly revised and reined in to an expected LE 144 billion, or 8.7 percent of GDP — still quite high.

Beltone Financial reported in the last quarter of 2011 that foreign investors began dumping Egyptian debt as a result of increasing concern over the country’s widening deficit, also citing a messy political transition.

“Foreign reserves are … being depleted, adding fears of additional losses for foreign investors from a currency devaluation. The high budget deficit is unsustainable, is covered by borrowing, and will lead to unsustainable indebtedness if not addressed soon,” said Horne.

Selim, however, said that compared to costs incurred by Eastern European economies during their political transformation, “the pressure on the exchange rate and the depletion of reserves, as well as pressure on external and public finances — such costs in the short-term were not too drastic.”

POLITICAL ECONOMY

On the political side, it took a while for the ruling military council to announce its first Cabinet reshuffle, after continued pressure from protesters. Since then, Egypt has seen a series of Cabinets occupied by ministers lacking any real authority or policymaking power.

The result? Stagnant and murky economic policies that left investors, both local and foreign, scratching their heads.

The ERF’s Selim said, “Four governments since January 2011 made it very difficult to infer the economic orientation of the government…[and they] failed to take any short-measures to mitigate the economic slowdown.

“This uncertainty was transmitted to investors and consumers who became more reluctant to take new production and spending decisions, especially in the absence of security.”

Investec’s Horne agrees. “The current interim government seems confined by its ‘care-taker’ status. Foreign tourists still don’t know if the country is safe. Investors fear reprisal actions against companies that could lead to shareholder losses.”

At first, the SCAF promised a transition to civilian rule within six months. The prolonged transition at one point looked like it would last well into 2013, but was shortened to June 2012 after mass protests demanded a swift handover of power.

“The decision to bring forward the presidential elections from 2013 to mid-2012, as a response to sit-ins, was a welcome development,” Horne said.

This counters the propagated idea that protests are bad for the economy and slow down the mythical “wheel of production.”

Escalating crackdowns on pro-democracy activists brought blood back to the streets several times in 2011 as the relationship between protesters and the army became irreconcilable. The blame game began as the official rhetoric changed, with ruling powers putting the onus of the faltering economy on continued protests.

“It’s convenient for the military, using powerful tools such as state media, to portray protests as slowing down the economy…even if there is no real connection between the two,” said Eurasia Group’s Sabra.

“I don’t think protests have been a cause to slow tourism, but if there’s violence that results in death, well that scares off tourists and investors. … The lack of security or the perception of lack of security hurts the economy,” he added.

Expectedly, tourism numbers dropped drastically in early 2011, looked like they may recover by mid-year, but then faltered again after violent crackdowns on protests in October (Maspero), November (Mohamed Mahmoud) and December (Cabinet).

According to the latest numbers announced by the tourism ministry, the sector saw a 30 percent drop this year, actually much better than what was expected. While Cairo tourists are scarce, the Red Sea resorts performed better throughout the year.

All the while, investors, both domestic and foreign, have repeatedly said that all they were looking for in 2011 was a clear timetable for the transition to an elected civilian power — they are still waiting.

“In the short term, we worry that any further delay in the transition to a civilian government can pose higher fiscal and therefore currency risk and continue to slow the process,” Horne added.

Compounding these problems is uncertainty over which contracts will be honored by the state and which are vulnerable to be disputed in courts — be it land deals, factory licenses, or previously privatized companies. Until there’s a clear answer and confidence over terms of contracts, investors are left bidding their time.

“New investors will probably wait until a representative civilian government, with a mandate to take bold policy decisions and which shows a willingness to honor existing contractual agreements, is in place before committing capital,” Horne said.

Similarly, Sabra said that the “biggest obstacle [to foreign investors] is lack of clarity about politics — investors by and large prize predictability above everything.”

TO IMF OR NOT?

Meanwhile, a flighty courtship between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund over a $3.2 billion loan was the talk of the town in 2011. Egypt, essentially SCAF, first rejected the loan in June, then it was on and off the table for months before Egypt finally made an official request for it at the turn of the new year.

At the same time, little has trickled in of the billions in promised aid from Gulf countries and the G8.

“The military council is so intent on playing the role of the good guy, so on their watch they don’t want the currency to devalue,” Sabra said, or grow Egypt’s foreign debt.

“It’s not for nothing that you’re now seeing the IMF engage more, because the military now has cover — there’s a parliament and transitional government so they can start to withdraw to the power behind the scenes and have the people up front taking those decisions,” he added.

Agree or disagree with borrowing from the IMF, the on again off again negotiations have been a laughable reflection of the government’s decision-making power, or lack thereof. It’s also slow in coming, and now Egypt’s needs are much more than the announced $3.2 billion.

“Borrowing from international institutions could finance some of the reforms during the transition as long as the funds are used prudently and adequately,” Selim said. “Dependence on foreign borrowing should be considered temporary until reforms create an environment that attracts private capital.”

With foreign reserves down, Egypt has increasingly less import cover, a factor that’s beginning to manifest into supply shortages of vital necessities. But lack of transparency around this issue is only fueling concerns.

Left unexplained are an ongoing butane gas shortage and, most recently, a sudden fuel crisis that left car owners scrambling to fill their tanks and queuing up for hours at gas stations. If confidence in the state to provide the most basic and most socially sensitive goods falters, analysts believe Egypt will see unrest of a different kind this coming year.

Economists have long urged Egypt to gradually scale back energy subsidies to alleviate pressure on the national budget. However, this will likely be delayed given the current circumstances.

“If you look 2012 forward, the economic situation is actually quite grim. Any incoming government is inheriting a mess economically…[and] has limited political capital — they can’t use it up making unpopular decisions,” Sabra said.

Still, it was true in February 2011 and it’s true today: The fundamentals of Egypt as an investment destination remain unchanged: a massive consumer market of mostly youth, skilled labor with a lot of unrealized potential, a strategic geographic location — as well as control of the vital trade route through the Suez Canal — and ample touristic treasures.

All that’s needed is for the nation’s youth — the human capital that has been talked about for years, but poorly utilized — to recapture the sense of ownership it had when Mubarak was ousted.

More urgently, as Horne said, “The country needs decisive leadership to stabilize the economy, currency and fiscal situation.”

*Photo courtesy of the Associated Press

Military junta attempts to stall Egypt's labor revolution

2012-01-28T22:52:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent
One year on, the labor revolution is stalling

January 22, 2012

Jano Charbel

On 30 January, only five days into the revolution, the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions was born, the first such federation to be established since the union movement was monopolized by the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation in 1957. Since then, some 300 independent unions have been established nationwide, with a reported membership of nearly two million workers.

But nearly one year later, these unions remain unrecognized by the interim government. Many workers say they have yet to see conditions change, despite their critical role in the protests that forced former President Hosni Mubarak from office. "Workers continue to feel marginalized, just like they did under the Mubarak regime," says Mahmoud Rihan, a leading organizer of the recently established Federation of Transport Workers.

Rihan and other labor leaders met last Thursday, at a conference titled “Workers and Revolution,” to discuss how the declared objective of "Bread, Freedom and Social Justice" has yet to be realized for much of Egypt’s working class. The conference, which was held at the Center for Socialist Studies in Giza, also focused on the campaign "The Factories and the Square are One," with the aim of coordinating the struggles of protesters in the streets with those of laborers in their workplaces.

REMAINING DEMANDS

Workers have achieved few concrete victories in recent months. Many labor activists say they are running up against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' (SCAF) anti-strike and protest laws, along with a deep intransigence in many companies and institutions. “Administrative and financial corruption are still rampant in Egypt's post offices and in other companies,” says Osama Abdel Latif, an organizer of the Independent Postal Workers' Union. “The body of this corrupt regime remains alive and intact.”

Activists say they want full-time contracts for full-time work, a monthly minimum wage of LE1,500, a maximum wage of not more than ten times the minimum, official recognition of independent unions, passage of a trade union liberties law, the purging of corrupt officials from state institutions and companies, and the re-nationalization of privatized companies.

Abdel Latif says these goals will only be achieved through much persistence. "We will never be granted social justice," he says. "This can only be achieved by workers through their cooperation and joint struggles."

One of the biggest obstacles to organized labor is gaining government recognition for independent trade unions. Its members are currently not recognized according to the provisions of Trade Union Act 35/1976, which stipulates that the Egyptian Trade Union Federation is the only such federation allowed by law.

Though a draft law on trade union liberties has been formulated and finalized over the past year, the ruling military junta has shelved it for the past three months. Labor activists at the conference criticized the SCAF for rushing to pass a law in April criminalizing strikes and protests, while dragging their feet over the passage of the law on trade union liberties.

THREAT OF PRIVATIZATION

The military junta and Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri are actively obstructing progress in the field of labor reform, says Khaled Ali, a labor lawyer and the director of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. In addition, he said, they are actively resisting the court-ordered re-nationalization of companies. "Privatization is the biggest crime against the national economy," says Ali. "These are not my words, but rather the findings of the judges in the Administrative Court."

During the privatization drive under the Mubarak regime, thousands of workers lost their jobs when their factories were sold to private owners. Ali says that 128 companies were privatized during Ganzouri's first term as premier, says Ali. Among prime ministers, only Ahmed Nazif, who served under Mubarak from 2004 to 2011, presided over the privatization of a greater number of companies. The SCAF-appointed interim government is full of former board members of Mubarak's Ministerial Privatization Committee. They include Ganzouri, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Minister of International Cooperation and Planning Fayza Abouelnaga, and Electricity Minister Hassan Younis.

The Administrative Court nullified privatization contracts for three companies in September, upon finding that they were illegally sold to investors for less than their market price. Indorama Shebin Textile Company, the Tanta Flax and Oils Company, and the Nasr Company for Steam Boilers are to be returned to the public sector. The privatization contracts of two other companies, the Omar Effendi department stores and the Nile Cotton Ginning Company, were similarly annulled by administrative court rulings in May and December, respectively. However, the Ministry of Investment has recently filed judicial appeals against these verdicts in an attempt to overturn them.

"In keeping with the judiciary's verdicts, we workers must fulfill our duty of ensuring that these companies are re-nationalized," says Gamal Othman, a worker-activist from the Tanta Flax and Oils Company. "We will continue with our struggles for the re-nationalization of our companies. In doing so, we will be safeguarding our jobs and safeguarding the national economy."

The failure of the interim government to acknowledge workers' rights, activists said, means that they will be marking this 25 January not as merely an anniversary but as a time to take up the cause of Egypt’s workers again. "I hope that this coming 25 January isn't commemorated with celebrations, but with protests,” says Ali.

*Photo by Mahmoud Taha

Beware of 'B for Bendetta' & Brotherhood's Bullshit!

2012-01-28T22:28:00.000-08:00

BEWARE OF THE BROTHERHOOD'S BULLSHIT

Do you know what 'anarchism' means? It means your mother will wear a 'bandetta' mask!
Who? My mother?!

'B for Brotherhood's Bullshit'

*Artwork by Shahinaz Abdel Salam & Carlos Latuff (respectively)

“B For Bendetta” steers laugh at expense of the FJP

2012-01-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

Bikya Masr
“B For Bendetta” steers an online laugh in Egypt at the expense of the FJP

January 21, 2012

Manar Ammar

CAIRO: Egyptian online activists started a mockery campaign on Twitter over a recent Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) newspaper headline that read “Anarchists “Bendetta’s” mask leads chaos on January 25,” writing “Bendetta” instead of “Vendetta.”

A hashtag #BforBendetta mocking the spelling has trended on Twitter, as tweeps make jokes at the expense of the party.

The FJP is the political arm of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood, and recently came on top of the first parliamentary elections in the country, gaining a leading role in the future of Egypt.

@SaraHKhaled wrote “#BforBendetta Remember Remember the Fifth of NoBember,” while

@gr33ndata Tarek Amr wrote, “The name is the Breedome and Bustice Party.”

Host of ON TV’s al-Bernameg, Bassem Youssef @DrBassemYoussef , wrote: “Watch out for Bendetta! Damn you free education.”

Some pro-military rule groups have recently started a scare campaign against anarchists activists, portraying them as an evil group aiming to bring down the state.

A previous scare campaign against the liberals, led by political Islamists, has worked. Its results are manifested in the results of the parliamentary elections.

Egyptian anarchists seek self-governed society

2012-01-28T22:18:00.000-08:00

Daily News Egypt
Egyptian anarchists seek self-governed society

January 20, 2012

Hanan Solayman

CAIRO: They do not believe in governments, they boycotted the elections, they demand “direct democracy” and they’re associated with chaos and have been targeted by the military and some Islamists.

Egypt’s anarchists are anticipating a crackdown before the first anniversary of the January 25 uprising. They are perceived as seeking chaos; villains who want to bring down the state, defy authority and spread lawlessness.

The word ‘anarchy’ in Greek means "no authority." Anarchists’ central belief is that “no man is good enough to be another man’s master,” and that “good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

Anarchy became the new bogeyman — a place once reserved to the Muslim Brotherhood under the Mubarak regime. Many believe that this ideology is dangerous to Egypt.

“Egypt, the homeland, is not the same as the system or the state or the government. The people called for the overthrow of the regime and this means to bring the current system or the state down, as it happened before with the Abbasids, Ayyubids, Ottomans and others whose state was overthrown, but Egypt was not harmed,” said self-proclaimed anarchist Yasser Abdel Kawy, an artist, photographer and graphic designer.

The state, according to Abdel Kawy, is a means to practice authority which is why it needs to be replaced with a self-governed society. “I have no fear or worries about what may happen to Egypt if the state is gone. We don’t have this sharp division or difference when it comes to ethnicity or religion,” he added.

GLOBAL MOVEMENT

Egyptian anarchists established their first entity, the Libertarian Socialist Movement (LSM), in May amidst a global revolutionary wave that included tens of activists all calling for direct democracy as opposed to parliamentary democracy.

In direct democracy, decision-making comes from the people directly without mediators like members of parliament.

Similar protests and occupy movements known as “Take the Street” evolved in different parts of the world like the United States, Spain and Italy.

“It is true that much of the ‘Occupy’ movement can be traced to Anarchist ideals. This can't be explained by anarchist propaganda but more by the failure of the current system of capitalism and parliamentary democracy,” said architect Tamer Mowafy, who describes himself as an anarchist.

People feel vulnerable to the incisive attacks on their standards of living and no longer believe that politicians will help them, Mowafy said.

Leftist parties and the democrats in the US proved themselves useless. On the other hand, traditional Marxist alternatives have been discredited beyond reclamation after 1989, he said.

“It is evident that people taking part in the ‘Occupy’ movements almost spontaneously embrace anarchist principles. The movement is leaderless, all decisions are made within a general assembly, and instead of majority rule consensus is always sought,” he added.

“Anarchism means struggling against the authority of the state and capitalism; that’s why if you’re not a leftist, you can’t be anarchist,” said Yasser Abdullah, a freelance translator. Anarchism is a socio-political movement that mobilizes society without seeking power, he added.

HORIZONTAL AUTHORITY

Instead of vertical authority, anarchists call for horizontal cooperatives organized “by the people, for the people”. Supporting multi-independent syndicates is one of their goals. They support the idea of workers taking over factories and companies which will be self-managed by elected workers committees.

Abdullah gave the example of the Ultras, Egypt’s organized football fans. These groups are horizontal networking movements with grassroots support. They are leaderless and have joined the revolutionaries in the common fight against police brutality, and so they share common ground with anarchists.

Abdullah belonged to a communist entity before embracing anarchism. His father, he recalled, “was one of the workers who made the real wealth of Egypt for 42 years until retirement, but never tasted it.”

The fear of anarchism, Abdullah explained, stems from the “fear republic we live in.”

Egyptians have been practicing various brands of anarchism not related to politics unknowingly, the most popular example of which are the monthly co-ops, a communal money saving system which is entirely managed by the individuals in the group, replacing banks.

“In the past, people governed themselves when there was no government. However, we do not mean that we’ll restore the tribal system or go back to pre-modern times, but we seek more developed forms of ruling based on cooperatives, volunteerism and no central authority,” Abdullah said.

Even in times of natural disaster like earthquakes, he said, people self-organize and divide tasks between them.

There are no holy texts or models to follow in applying anarchism. It is open to new ideas and is tailored to the needs of diverse societies.

“In some areas, an anarchist model would include some centralized authorities when it comes to foreign representation and the military,” Abdullah said. “As long as there are foreign threats, the army can be kept as it is … as an institution.”

There’s no defined vision for how the society would look like. Yet, there are some basics like having no authority but voluntary cooperatives, syndicates and a general assembly that comprises of all citizens to ensure the maximum level of rights and freedoms in a society where all people are equal.

It also works for a fair distribution of wealth from a leftist point of view. Not a single group of people would who have the upper hand in the society, whether businessmen, politicians or members of parliament.

Laws are what people decide according to the norms and traditions, but each case would have a different ruling based on the circumstances.

“The ideology is ideal and unpopular in Egypt. It seeks a utopian society where there are no social class differences and no authoritarian state as in the police or the army, which is difficult to achieve”, said Dr. Mostafa Kamel El-Sayed, leftist political science professor at the American University in Cairo.

Only small communities around the world find their inspiration in anarchism, but historically, it’s hard for people to live outside the context of the state, he believes.

“They are not dangerous, however. They do not pose a security threat. Bringing the state down doesn’t mean using violence against some people in particular. This is the leftists’ rhetoric and it should be clearly understood to the society,” he added.

A decade ago, Dr. Heba Raouf Ezzat, political science professor at Cairo University, wrote an article titled, “Anarchism: The philosophy that translation was unfair to”. The Islamist academic explained how anarchism’s accurate translation is more close to “state-less society” rather than “chaos”.

“As the national state finds itself in a growing crisis amid globalization, anarchic ideas on how to manage a society without a state gains attention if developed more,” Raouf wrote. Recent developments like global networking, rise of the civil society and growing democracy in a way that fosters localities have common ground with anarchism according to Raouf.

WORLDWIDE UTOPIA

For Mowafy, Anarchism is an international movement that seeks a unified self-governed humanity. At this final stage no armies are needed.

“However, within the current context, nobody in his right mind can ask for the army to be dissolved,” he noted. The army, like any other national institution, should be under the control of elected civilians and its budget revised by people's representatives to protect national security, he added.

Viral Nassar, an Egyptian-French, believes in the ladder theory. "It will be pointless to spread anarchism now in Egypt. People don't understand basic politics to grasp the most infamous system ever and adapt to it,” he says.

"Democracy with all its deceits will let people know how ugly and bloody democracy is," he added.

Anarchic models include Christiania, the Freetown of Denmark. It’s an example of how a society can rule itself with no supervision from the municipality of Copenhagen which the town belongs to geographically. Only nine rules govern Christiania, some of which are: no weapons, no hard-drugs, no violence, no bulletproof clothing, no sale of fireworks and no stolen goods.

Michael Lund, journalist at Denmark Radio, said that Christiania has developed as a unique experiment where nobody owns land or homes and everything is decided by debating until everyone agrees. It has produced artists, new designs of everything from bicycles to clothes and is one of Denmark’s biggest tourist destinations.

“However, there are also problems. The idea of no leadership and everyone having to agree on everything has made it very difficult for the inhabitants to make fast decisions about anything. Also, Christiania’s belief that cannabis is not illegal has attracted gangs that sell hashish,” said Lund who lives less than 2 km from the “free city” and passes by it regularly. He has also visited it numerous times.

The people of Christiania, who often don’t trust the police, have not been able to keep these gangs out, which has let to violent incidents between different gangs, Lund said.

“There’s also a critique that Christiania has become a closed society, where only people who know somebody there can live — which is actually opposite to the original idea of the free city”, he said.

Although the January 25 revolution was leaderless — which is favored by anarchists who prefer to be unknown as soldiers in the life battle or “anonymous” as they prefer to call themselves — Abdullah stressed that the revolution found anarchy by itself and it was not anarchists who made it.

“It’s a disgrace to say that anarchists are behind the revolution because if we were, [the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] wouldn’t be ruling. We should have never left after Mubarak stepped down. Unfortunately, the people like to re-invent the wheel and fall into the same mistakes of other revolutions,” Abdel Kawy noted.

CREATIVE CHAOS?

According to anarchists, anarchism can never be imposed from above. The real bet is the people who will realize the flaws of parliamentary democracy and choose direct democracy.

“We seek to build libertarian constructs within the current society, mainly cooperatives, labor unions and syndicates. Lower levels in the society as in localities are the most jammed because as you go smaller, more issues become common to inhabitants of such localities. Once people become confident of their ability to manage their own affairs democratically, they will seek to extend the space where they can practice self-management,” Mowafy said.

How would a country of nearly 80 million govern themselves making decisions altogether?

“Think outside the box,” said Abdullah. “Voting can be on Twitter.”

*Photo courtesy of the Associated Press, Tara Todras-Whitehill

Fuel shortage in Egypt leads to rising tensions

2012-01-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

REUTERS
Fuel shortage in Egypt leads to rising tensions

CAIRO | Mon Jan 16, 2012

Sherine El Madany

(Reuters) - A gasoline shortage in Egypt has led to long queues at fuel stations and raised suspicions among drivers that it may be a prelude to a cut in subsidies, despite official reassurances that there is no plan to hike prices.

The streets of Cairo and other cities have been blocked by queues of cars, often snaking around the block, since shortages started becoming apparent on Saturday.

Many drivers have reached the pumps only to find fuel had run out, stoking tensions in a nation already reeling from months of political unrest and leaving many people frustrated that the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February last year has not yielded the economic dividend they expected.

"I have toured 15 gasoline stations looking for fuel," said Mahmoud Rabie, a merchant who travelled from his hometown in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, north of Cairo, to the capital searching for gasoline.

The shortages have prompted speculation that the government, which has asked the International Monetary Fund to help plug a gaping budget deficit, may be using a tactic to prepare people to pay more for fuel and rein in subsidies that weigh on state coffers. The government has said it has no such plan.

Some have speculated that it shows how dire Egypt's finances are as its foreign currency reserves have tumbled. Egypt exports crude but also imports some refined products to meet its needs.

Oil Deputy Minister Mahmoud Nazim said on Monday the government had no intention of raising gasoline prices and said that supplies to local markets had been increased.

"Companies providing petroleum products to stations have begun increasing their gasoline supplies to 5.21 million liters per day, 33 percent higher than usual quantities," Nazim said in an Oil Ministry statement.

But he did not explain the reason for the shortage.

HOARDING

Some analysts say that, whatever the original cause, it may have been exacerbated by hoarding for fear of a possible flare-up during the January 25 anniversary of the start of the anti-Mubarak uprising. Some fear renewed violence during protests by those opposed to the generals now in charge.

Gasoline station managers are puzzled.

"There is barely any fuel across the country. Quantities supplied to us are very low. We don't even know why," said Howaida al-Sayid, deputy manager at a Cairo Exxon Mobil station.

Egypt's economy is in tatters after a series of protests against the ruling military council turned violent, hammering investment and tourism.

Any jump in gasoline prices would put upward pressure on inflation, which is accelerating and was one of the main drivers of the January 25 uprising. Inflation in the 12 months to December climbed to 9.5 percent from 9.1 percent in November.

Several fuel station employees in Cairo said their stations were receiving only a third of their regular quotas, with queues piling up as early as 6 a.m. and supplies running out by noon.

"I told you to fill up my entire tank, and it's only half full," one customer shouted at a worker at one packed station.

Egypt, which subsidizes fuel, has about a fifth of its 80 million people living on $2 a day. The cheapest and lowest grade fuel, 80 Octane, is sold for just 1 Egyptian pound (17 U.S. cents) a liter, well below its market value.

"I have been searching in vain for gasoline since last night, and now that I have found a station that actually sells gasoline, I will fill up my entire tank," said Alaa al-Sheikh, manager of a garments factory.

"This shortage seems to either be a prelude by the authorities to hike prices or an attempt to prevent people from taking to the streets again on January 25."

Mounting public anger over what many see as the military council's mismanagement of the transition is seen as possibly sparking another flare-up of protests on the revolt anniversary.

"I believe this is just one problem created by the authorities to try and divert attention away from the January 25 anniversary," Sheikh said. "They are still following the exact same steps of the previous regime."

Analysts say the most pressing economic threat is the slide in Egypt's foreign reserves, which tumbled from around $36 billion at the end of 2010 to about $18 billion at the end of 2011.

Islamist 'Morality Police' trains volunteers with electric batons

2012-01-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Ahram Online
Islamist 'Morality Police' to train volunteers in using electric batons
Thursday 12 Jan 2012

A controversial hardliner group in Egypt announces that it purchased 1000 tazers to help its cadre defend themselves as they 'promote virtue' on the country's streets

The self-proclaimed Islamist "Morality Police" announced on its new official Facebook page that it has acquired 1,000 tazers to be distributed to volunteers who will promote "virtue" and combat "vice" in the Egyptian street.

The "Morality Police", which models itself on a similar group in Saudi Arabia that monitors citizens social behaviour, added in its announcement that these electric shocks batons will help in self-defence against any possible attacks on volunteers, adding that volunteers would be instructed to use the tazers only in "extremely necessary" situations.

The Facebook page announced that the first field training session for volunteers will be on Thursday evening in El-Mandara neighbourhood in Alexandria.

Meanwhile, Suez Port authorities announced last week that they foiled an attempt to smuggle in 1,000 tazers while it was not clear who the shipment was intended to reach.

Islamist and organised Salafist forces such as the Nour Party have distanced themselves from the "Morality Police" group, which has so far only operated in cyberspace.

Capitalism, unemployment & mass incarceration

2012-01-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Liberation
Capitalism, unemployment and mass incarceration

January 11, 2012

PSL Editorial

As we go to print, the Occupy arrests counter has reached 5,861. Nearly every Occupy site in cities across the country has been evicted and blockaded—mostly under the direction of Democratic Party mayors in coordination with federal authorities.

If arrests on this scale had taken place in Syria or Iran—countries whose governments the U.S. government wants to subvert and overthrow—the leading corporate newspapers would be running front-page sympathetic articles and crafting the most sensational headlines based on nameless sources and unverified speculation.

But on a social movement just a phone call or short drive away, they have either fallen silent, distorted the movement’s message, or called for a more rapid crackdown.

The nationwide assault on civil rights and civil liberties carried out by U.S. police and other security forces receives no such critical evaluation. This was made clear in the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for the indefinite detention without due process of any person (including U.S. citizens) deemed terrorist suspects. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Democratic Party White House. What was missing from the bourgeois coverage, which discussed the “potential” for civil rights abuses, was the extent to which the national security state is already a dominant feature of our society.

Look at the staggering incarceration rate which has made the United States the world’s largest jailer. Look at the 700,000 people who were stopped and frisked by NYC police officers last year—85 percent of whom were Black or Latino. Look at the over 1 million people deported under the Obama administration.

The individual cases of cops gone wild, which the capitalist media runs as oddity, just give a face to these trends. There’s the African American teenager deported to Colombia on a case of “mistaken identity”—putting a spotlight on the deportation-crazy immigration system. There’s the 5-year-old in small Charlton, Mass., who was visited by police because of overdue library books. There’s the 13-year-old in Albuquerque handcuffed and arrested for “burping audibly” in gym class, a reflection of the militarization of public schools. There’s the practice of the Atlanta police, now facing scrutiny, of conducting full cavity searches on public streets.

We could list incidents like this all day. Excessive force has become the norm. Far too often, once the heavily-policed students turn into adults, such encounters with the state end with them injured, tasered or killed. Black and Latino men are the prime targets, but hardly the only ones.

These stories reflect not just a security culture run amok, but the tendency of modern capitalism to address its economic contradictions through force and mass incarceration. Under the three heavy blows of neoliberal policies, automation and a depressed economy, tens of millions have been cast out of the productive operations of the economy altogether. They have become in the eyes of Wall Street “surplus workers.”

The phenomenon of surplus workers confronted capitalism in Europe. The solution then was to ship these surplus populations to North America and Australia to colonize new lands in the first phase of capitalist globalization. Today, the prisons are the dumping grounds for millions of working class people who the capitalists don't need in the process of normal production. Once incarcerated and having lost all rights to unionize or protest, however, these same "surplus workers" are employed by the Prison-Industrial Complex as virtual slaves.

A massive police-industrial-complex has developed to manage this “surplus” population, which has been historically concentrated in Black urban communities, but increasingly includes wider sections of the population. The Occupy movement, and the response of the state, demonstrates these trends.

On Jan. 14, there will be an important “Jobs, Not Jails” march and rally in Washington, D.C. It comes as new groups of students have started to organize against mass incarceration. This is an opportunity for the Occupy movement to link its own struggle against repression with the mass incarceration and police harassment of oppressed communities.

It also is an opportunity to raise what kind of system we want. Capitalism’s trend is towards “jails, not jobs”—to reverse that means raising a vision of a different type of society.

Solidarity protest for Anarchists & Revolutionary Socialists

2012-01-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

Ahram Online
Solidarity protests held for Revolutionary Socialists and Egyptian Anarchists

Tuesday Jan 3, 2012

Randa Ali

The Journalists’ Syndicate witnessed a protest in solidarity with both the Revolutionary Socialists (RS) and Egyptian Anarchists on Monday, as a reaction to a media smear campaign lead by Islamist forces targeting both groups.

Around 100 people gathered at 4pm chanting "social equality comes through socialism." Revolutionary Socialists activist Mostafa El-Fouly says "the campaign against us is supported by the media and political parties who have cooperated with the SCAF in an attempt to defame the movement.”

On 24 December a complaint was filed with Egypt’s prosecutor-general against revolutionary socialists Yasser Abd El-Qawy, Sameh Naguib and Hesham Yousri by Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Gamal Tag El-Din, accusing the movement of inciting violence and aiming for "state demolition."

Tag El-Din later withdrew his complaint, satisfied by assurances from the RS that they were not involved in any acts of violence.

“Defamation campaigns aren't just targeting RS, they are targeting all revolutionaries,” says Revolutionary Socialists activist Gihan Ibrahim, “RS have always been transparent on their political stance, even before the revolution; we won’t stop fighting.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has denied being involved in filing the complaint against the Revolutionary Socialists, saying that it was a personal move on Tag El-Din's part and called on him to withdraw the complaint.

The Revolutionary Socialists, however, did not consider Tag El-Din's move as an individual act as the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party also published on its newspaper’s front page an article stating the same charges. The paper continued its attack on both the Revolutionary Socialists and Anarchists days after the complaint was withdrawn.

On 27 December prominent Islamic scholar Yousif El-Badry, along with eight other lawyers, filed another lawsuit against Sameh Naguib, in what was considered by different political groups as an extension to the attack on the leftist organisation

Egyptian women cane 'morality police'

2012-01-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

United Press International
Egyptian women cane 'morality police'

BENHA, Egypt, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Self-proclaimed "morality police" in Egypt found themselves on the receiving end of a beating themselves when they threatened women at a beauty salon.

Witnesses said the ultra-conservative vigilante gang, members of the strict Salafi sect who consider themselves "morality police" inspired by Saudi Arabia's "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," entered the beauty salon in Benha recently and ordered the women to cease their beauty treatments or face punishment, bikyamasr.com reported Monday.

However, the men, who claimed they were enforcing Islamic law, were shocked when the women attacked them with their own canes and shoved them out onto the street, where the women found support from bystanders, witnesses said.

BIKYA MASR
Egyptian women cane morality police

January 9, 2012

Vigilante gangs of ultra-conservative Salafi men have been harassing shop owners and female customers in rural towns around Egypt for “indecent behavior,” according to reports in the Egyptian news media. But when they burst into a beauty salon in the Nile delta town of Benha this week and ordered the women inside to stop what they were doing or face physical punishment, the women struck back, whipping them with their own canes before kicking them out to the street in front of an astonished crowd of onlookers.

Modeling themselves after Saudi Arabia’s morality police as a “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” the young men raided clothing and other retail shops around the Qalubiya province over New Year’s weekend declaring they were there to enforce Islamic law, according to the Tahrir News.

Shop owners were told they could no longer sell “indecent” clothing, barbers could no longer shave men’s beards, and that all retail businesses should expect regular and surprise inspections to check for compliance. Frightened customers were ordered to cover up and threatened with severe punishment if they did not abide by “God’s law on earth.”

But when the women in a Benha beauty salon stood up to the young Salafi enforcers, they found support on the streets as well as online, with one amused reader suggesting that women should be deputized to protect the revolution’s democratic values.

Last month thousands of women marched in Tahrir Square in outrage over the clubbing and sexual humiliation of female demonstrators, like the notorious beating and stripping of “the blue bra girl” in December, whose videoed assault made headlines around the world.

In one of the first pubic apologies ever issued by the military, generals from the ruling council acknowledged the incident and apologized even before the Dec. 17 march had ended. The military faced a second rebuke a week later when a civilian court banned the military’s use of “virginity tests” to shame and humiliate female demonstrators.

In addition to invading shops, the “morality police” also smashed Christmas trees and decorations in front of stores and malls, declaring the celebration of Christmas “haram” or forbidden. Salafi sheiks have also banned the sending of Christmas greetings, prompting the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood to broadcast messages of Christmas cheer to their Christian brethren.

The conservative Salafi sect promotes the strict segregation of the sexes, with many Salafi women wearing the all-enveloping black nikkab gown with eye slits. The group has worried the tourist industry with their pledge to ban alcohol and mixed-gender beaches. Coptic Christians who saw two of their churches torched by Salafis last spring fear further persecution.

Sunni sheiks from Cairo’s respected Al Azhar mosque and university called an emergency meeting January 4 to discuss the problem, and declared that the Salafi morality police had no legitimate or legal authority on the street, according to Ahramonline.

Two days later, Egyptian former mufti Nasr Farid who was once responsible for issuing religious edicts or fatwas based on Sharia law agreed, stating that the young vigilantes were usurping state authority and did not have the jurisdiction to impose their concept of religious law.

In response, the group pointed to the al Nour party’s recent election triumph in which they won nearly 30 percent of parliament seats, as giving them a mandate to enforce Sharia law. They claimed they not only had the backing of members of Al Nour’s leadership council, but that al Nour leadership had in fact provided the funding to mobilize young volunteers.

The Al Nour party’s Facebook page however denied financing the group.

In a desperate effort to gain control of their public message, Al Nour party officials have tried to control the actions of their followers and silence individual Salafi sheiks, like Abdel Moneim el Shahat in conservative Alexandria, who has suggested covering the “obscene” figures on Egypt’s ancient monuments with wax.

The young members of the morality police held their first meeting this week, according to a report in the Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, “to determine the tasks and geographical jurisdictions of the first volunteers, who would monitor people’s behavior in the street and assess whether they contradicted God’s laws. Volunteers would wear white cloaks and hold bamboo canes to beat violators and later would be provided with electric tasers.”

Israeli students to get $2,000 to spread propaganda

2012-01-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

Electronic Intifada
Israeli students to get $2,000 to spread state propaganda on Facebook

Wed, 01/04/2012

Ali Abunimah

The National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) has become a full-time partner in the Israeli government’s efforts to spread its propaganda online and on college campuses around the world.

NUIS has launched a program to pay Israeli university students $2,000 to spread pro-Israel propaganda online for 5 hours per week from the “comfort of home.”

The union is also partnering with Israel’s Jewish Agency to send Israeli students as missionaries to spread propaganda in other countries, for which they will also receive a stipend.

This active recruitment of Israeli students is part of Israel’s orchestrated effort to suppress the Palestinian solidarity movement under the guise of combating “delegitimization” of Israel and anti-Semitism.

The involvement of the official Israeli student union as well as Haifa University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and Sapir College in these state propaganda programs will likely bolster Palestinian calls for the international boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

PAYING STUDENTS TO SPREAD ISRAELI PROPAGANDA ONLINE

This is our opportunity, as Israeli students, to provide hasbara [state propaganda] that is correct and balanced, to help in the struggle against the delegitimization of the State of Israel and against hatred of Jews in the world.

That is one of the exhortations in a Hebrew document issued by NUIS, and translated by The Electronic Intifada, inviting Israeli students to apply for a program to help spread Israel’s message.

The project seeks to take advantage of the fact that “Many students in Israel master the Internet and are proficient at using the Internet and social networking and various sites and are required to write and express themselves in English.”

The paid scholarship will allow them to get training and then work from home for five hours per week for a year to “refute” what it calls “misinformation” about Israel on social networking sites.

Among the stated goals of the scholarships is “to deepen and expand hasbara activities of students in the State of Israel.” The document explains:

The Internet allows uncontrolled access to content from marginal groups and therefore can influence many audiences who are exposed to such information, particularly young people who are more easily influenced.

The Internet, then, is used as a major tool for the dissemination of anti-Semitism, hatred of Israel and of Jews and thus the Internet is also the place to battle against such sites, pull the ground from under them and to provide reliable and balanced information.

WORK FROM THE "COMFORT OF HOME"

The NUIS program document explains:

After training, the student will begin his activities. The student will do the activities in the comfort of his home, where every week he will be obligated to about 5 hours of activities for a period of one calendar year (not academic year). Students will be paid a total of NIS 7,500 [$2,000] to perform the tasks of the project, at least 5 hours weekly for a total of 240 hours of activities under the project umbrella.

What is completely missing from the program is any indication that criticism of Israel could be valid. Rather the National Union of Israeli Students apparently seeks to indoctrinate Israeli students that every criticism of Israel is “hate” and “anti-Semitism” and that the Internet should be seen as a battlefield on which they are foot soldiers.

USING E-LEARNING TOOLS FOR GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA

An interesting aspect of the NUIS program is that it uses the common open source virtual learning environment Moodle as its interface with program participants. This interface can be found at students.digitalchange.co.il.

Whereas Moodle was designed for education – to spread mind-opening learning beyond the constraints of geography – the Israeli innovation here is to use it for mind-narrowing propaganda: getting students to be uncritical, to not think for themselves, but rather to spread Israel’s state-sponsored propaganda.

SEE THE WORLD, SPREAD MORE PROPAGANDA

NUIS has also partnered with the Jewish Agency, the Israeli state body that encourages Jews from around the world to settle on stolen Palestinian land, to spread propaganda on college campuses around the world.

The Jewish Agency website announces, as translated from Hebrew by Dena Shunra for The Electronic Intifada:

For the first time in Israel – a unique, world-encompassing scholarship, in cooperation between the Student Union and the Jewish Agency.

Every year the Jewish Agency of Israel sends approximately 150 emissaries to various places around the world - North America, England, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Italy and South America, who engage in Jewish education and hasbara in three main streams - Hillel emissaries (to campuses around North America), community emissaries and youth movement emissaries.

Training for these overseas missions for successful applicants will take place at Haifa University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and Sapir College, after which the would-be missionaries “will set off for a one-year mission in the various Jewish communities around the world, and will also receive a scholarship of up to NIS 5,000 [$1300].”

Applications are open to Israeli citizens who have lived in the country for three years, those who have completed service in the Israeli army, and those who speak foreign languages, among other criteria.

A STUDENT UNION IN THE SERVICE OF THE STATE

In most countries student unions often find themselves at odds with state authorities, fighting for the rights of students. But it would appear that Israel’s “student union” does not so much represent students and fight for their rights, but represents the state in the state’s efforts to recruit students to do its political bidding.

In this sense, the NUIS functions in a very similar way to Israel’s “trade union” the Histadrut.

Interior Minister Must Immediately Retract his ‘Shoot-to-Kill Bonus’ Decree

2012-01-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

EIPR - Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
Interior Minister Must Immediately Retract the ‘Shoot to Kill Bonuses’ Decision

Wednesday 4 January 2012

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemned the new policy of the Interior Minister that gives police officers a shoot to kill license, and offers bonuses to police officers who shoot and kill 'thugs'.

The EIPR declared that the new minister’s policies violate all laws and regulations, both Egyptian and international, and has demanded that the Minister immediately retract his faulty policy and replace it with reasonable and legal policies for regulating police work.

General Mohamed Ibrahim, who was appointed a few weeks ago in Dr. Kamal El Ganzoury’s cabinet, has declared - through statements to the press while visiting the Fayoum police station on Sunday 1 January – that he will reward any officer who shoots and kills a thug, if the thug initiates gunfire.

“We would have never imagined that the first action of the new Minister would be to give police officers a license to kill with financial bonuses, especially after the murdering sprees committed by police officers during the revolution.

Instead of drafting policies that encourage self-restraint and discipline on the part of the security forces, the Minister is effectively telling his officers : kill and you will not be held accountable, kill and you will be rewarded.” said Magda Boutros, Criminal Justice Director at the EIPR.

She added : “This policy turns the police from an institution responsible for preserving citizens' safety, arresting suspects and bringing them to justice, to one that immediately punishes suspects, without resorting to the judiciary or the law, and in the worst possible way : intentional murder."

The EIPR emphasized that the law does not allow intentional killings for the sole reason that ‘thugs started shooting’ – as the Minister says – although the law does allow the use of firearms under specific conditions. Article 102 of the Police Law allows policemen to use firearms only when arresting a suspect caught red-handed for a felony in which an arrest is permitted, if this is the only way to achieve the arrest.

According to the law, the policeman must first give warning that he will use firearms, and must use it in accordance to regulations. Firearms can only be used to secure an arrest and prevent an escape; the police law in no way permits the targeting of individuals with the intention of killing them.

There are also legal conditions in cases of defense of self or others against an imminent life-threatening danger, including that the person defending himself must be facing a imminent and severe danger which they cannot prevent by any other means, according to Article 61 of the penal code.

The EIPR added that police officers have powers that allow them to defend themselves and others without resorting to firearms, such as arrests, searches, and interrogations. In all cases, any case of death requires a full judicial investigation, and the burden of proof lies on the officer to prove he was in a situation of self-defense.

The EIPR also called on the Interior Minister to enact practical and sustainable policies to bring solutions to security problems, while avoiding any escalation in the use of force and firearms, such as intensifying security patrols in remote areas, guaranteeing timely and preventative interventions before security problems escalate, and training police officers on how to take the most appropriate decision to keep the peace and preserve life, and how to solve security problems with the minimal force required to achieve their goals.

“Escalation in the use of force, even when legitimate, can lead to negative consequences; it can result in a rise in unintended casualties and increases the risk of injuring uninvolved persons,” said Magda Boutros. She added : “Facilitating the use of firearms creates a vicious circle of violence and counter-violence between policemen and outlaws.

The experiences of other countries has proven that escalations of violence from the police do not result in decreased crime rates; rather it causes more deaths and injuries on both sides. In Brazil, for example, studies have shown that when the police increased the use of lethal force in the period between 1999 and 2004, it was not met with a decreased crime rate but with an increased risk to the lives of policemen."

Further, the EIPR emphasized that in all cases, any actions pertaining to the lives of civilians must be subject to clear and strict legislation that is accessible to all, and must be implemented under judicial oversight.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

It should be noted that the EIPR produced a code of conduct last December in which it outlined the basic rules for policing demonstrations and public disorder situations, and the levels of legitimate force that can be use in those situations.

*In Arabic:

لمبادرة المصرية للحقوق الشخصية: على وزير الداخلية أن يسحب فوراً قرار "مكافآت
القتل"... سياسة الوزير الجديد تخالف قانون هيئة الشرطة وتفتح أبواب جهنم

A year in review: Egypt's labor battles continue

2011-12-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
A year in review: The labor battle continues

DEC 31, 2011

Jano Charbel

The success of the 25 January uprising in toppling Hosni Mubarak was made possible by industrial actions in key sectors of the Egyptian economy, not exclusively by the popular occupations of Tahrir and other city squares. Starting on 7 February, a public transport strike across Greater Cairo, coupled with labor protests along the Suez Canal — along with other industrial actions across the country — helped bring down Mubarak on 11 February.

The revolution has given birth to the first independent trade union federation in Egypt's history. It has also spurred authorities into dissolving the board of the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF,) which had monopolized the union movement — by law — since 1957.

The revolution has also led to the drafting — but not issuing — of a new trade union law guaranteeing union freedoms and organizational plurality. Moreover, Egypt has moved towards the re-nationalization of companies privatized during Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Yet 2011 was also marred by numerous violations of workers' rights. According to Karam Saber, Director of the Land Center for Human Rights, "The greatest setbacks to Egypt's labor and union movements this year" include: the issuing of a new law criminalizing strikes, the forceful dispersal of strikes by hired thugs and security forces, and the referral of striking workers to military tribunals.

Saber added, "Other setbacks include: the ruling authorities' failure to issue the new trade union legislation, and as a result, the non-recognition of independent unions. There are also neglected labor rights, unpaid bonuses, mass lay-offs, factory closures, and lockouts."

In Saber's opinion, "The crowning achievements of the 25 January revolution have been the establishment of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU,) along with the formation of farmers' federations and unions." Working-class organizations on this level did not exist prior to the revolution.

Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions established

Established on the fifth day of the revolution, the EFITU now has an estimated membership of more than 1.6 million workers, employees, and pensioners. Well over 100 independent unions, syndicates and professional associations have emerged since the revolution.

Previously non-unionized workers, including fishermen, commercial divers, supermarket employees, seasonally employed-laborers, nurses and hospital staff, electronic journalists, pottery craftsmen, and quarry workers, have established their own independent unions.

Furthermore, thousands of unionized workers have quit the state-controlled ETUF and have established independent unions. They include Cairo's public bus drivers, fare collectors, engineers and employees, who established the Independent Union of Public Transport Authority Workers in March.

The EFITU and other independent unions have played a significant role in leading this year's strikes and industrial actions.

THE 2011 STRIKE WAVE

Egypt witnessed the largest number of industrial actions in its history with the strike wave of 2011, or at least the largest since the massive 2007-2008 strike wave.

Statistics are still being compiled, yet they indicate that several hundred strikes — well over 200 — have been reported throughout the country, along with thousands of labor protests, marches, hunger-strikes, occupations, sit-ins and sleep-ins.

According to Barakat, the common demands behind most of this labor unrest are: improved wages, payment of overdue bonuses, safer working conditions, full-time contracts for full-time work, along with a fixed monthly minimum wage of LE1,200 (around $US215) and afixed maximum wage for management.

Rather than the minimum wage of LE1,200 that workers have been demanding, the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Finance agreed to set the monthly minimum wage at LE700 (around $US125). This minimum wage is due to come into effect as of the beginning of 2012, yet may not be enforced.A maximum wage for management has not been determined.

"Throughout the revolution, Egyptian and foreign media coverage has focused on Tahrir Square, political parties, and parliamentary elections, rather than issues pertaining to working-class struggles," said Barakat. "Such being the case, numerous strikes and labor protests were either not covered, or did not receive the coverage they deserve."

Industrial actions were reported in numerous industries throughout the public, private and informal sectors of the economy. Amongst the largest and most significant strikes were: the Public Transport Authority workers' strikes of February and September/October, the strike at Mahalla's Misr Textile Company in February, the doctors' general strikes in May, and the teachers' mass strike in September.

Even police forces, for whom strike action is strictly prohibited, went on strike in Cairo and other cities in February, and again in October. The Interior Ministry was partially burned during the October strike, and policemen's salaries were reportedly raised by 200 percent.

In an unprecedented move, the interim cabinet in April issued a law criminalizing strikes and protests that "harm the national economy." The law was officially enacted in June, but has scarcely been enforced.

The law stipulates that protesters and strikers disrupting work may be punished by penalties of fines and/or imprisoned, with fines ranging from LE30,000 to LE500,000 (about US$5,000 to US$83,000), and prison sentences of one year or more. The law is meant to be enforced only during the course of the national transitional phase.

According to Barakat, "Security forces have cracked down on numerous protests, strikes and marches; hundreds of workers have been temporarily arrested or detained. However, few have actually been prosecuted or sentenced."

Following one such crackdown, on 29 June, a military court sentenced five workers to one year in prison for protesting at the Ministry of Petroleum. However, the court suspended these sentences. An unknown number of other workers have been detained pending prosecutors' investigations.

THE 2011 LABOR-RELATED LEGAL VICTORIES

Numerous legal cases have been brought before the judiciary prior to and since the revolution — for an adequate monthly minimum wage, for the dissolution of the state-controlled ETUF, for the re-nationalization of Egyptian companies, and for the repeal of the law criminalizing strikes.

According to Wael Habib, a member of the ETUF care-taker council, "Egypt's workers are struggling to reclaim their rights and freedoms through the courts and through strikes and protests." Habib, a textile worker and labor activist, added, "We have won many gains, including the dissolution of the federation (ETUF's) executive council, and 12 of its general unions" out of 23 such unions.

ETUF elections were scheduled for November 2011, but have been postponed until May 2012, so as not to overlap with parliamentary elections.

Habib added, Trade Union "Law 35/1976 has been scrapped, and a new law has been drafted, but there has been a lot of foot-dragging on the part of the authorities." He went on to say: "Workers are using all legitimate channels available to them" in order to reclaim their companies and unions from Mubarak's men, who remain entrenched in the public and private sector companies."

The labor activist pointed out that "the combating of union corruption and administrative corruption, along with the setting of a new minimum wage and maximum wage, will be determined based on unions' ability to engage in collective bargaining with employers and the state."

Another legal victory for workers is manifested in the fact that five companies privatized over the course of the past decade are in the process of being re-nationalized via court verdicts. On 21 September, the Administrative Court nullified the privatization contracts for three companies upon finding that they were illegally privatized, having been sold to investors for less than their real market value.

The court ruled that the Indorama Shebin Textile Company, the Tanta Flax and Oils Company, and the Nasr Company for Steam Boilers are to be returned to the public sector. The privatization contracts of two other companies — the Omar Effendi department stores, and the Nile Cotton Ginning Company — were similarly annulled by administrative court rulings in May and December, respectively.

According to Gamal Othman, a worker-activist at the Tanta Flax and Oils Company, "Our company, and our rights as workers, have been raped by the Saudi investor who bought this company." Othman pointed out that upon its privatization in 2005, the company employed some 2,300 workers on ten production lines, but that "now we're only 300 workers operating only two production lines."

Although the Administrative Court ruled for the annulment of this company's privatization contract, the verdict is being appealed on 4 January. According to Othman, "The Ministry of Investment and other governmental authorities are appealing against this verdict because they claim that they want to protect investors' rights, and that they don't want to scare investors away from Egypt. We also want to protect investors' rights — but not if this means that the investor is allowed to violate the rights of workers and the rights of Egyptian state."

Othman concluded: "The corrupt practices of the old regime must not tolerated in the new Egypt."

LABOR UNREST IN THE MEDIA

According to media reports, state-owned and private enterprises have incurred hundreds of millions of pounds worth of lossesdue to strike actions. Transport strikes and blocked roads have inconvenienced commuters, while such industrial actions have reportedly caused the Cairo Stock Exchange to lose billions in stock values,

New terms have even been introduced to the Egyptian media's lingo in the coverage of labor unrest, terms that did not exist prior to 2011. These include ta'ateel 'agalet al-intag (halting the wheel of production) and fe'awiya (sectoral/industry-based) to describe labor protests and their demands — as distinct from revolutionary demands.

Mustafa Bassiouny, labor journalist for the independent Al-Tahrir Newspaper, said, "Strikes have scared away tourists. Strikes have harmed the stock market and the national economy. They are selfish and detrimental acts, and strikers' demands are not revolutionary demands. This is all that the mainstream media would have us think."

Bassiouny added, "The reality of the situation is that workers' strikes and protests are, and will always be, an integral part of the 25 January revolution. It was the strikes and protests that, in the last week of the uprising, actually toppled Mubarak. The chief slogan of this revolution is 'bread, freedom and social justice', and this is precisely what workers seek to achieve through their struggles."

Egypt security forces storm NGO offices

2011-12-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

ALJAZEERA ENGLISH
Egypt security forces storm NGO offices

DEC 29, 2011

Egypt court frees 5 police over protester deaths

2011-12-31T20:35:00.000-08:00

REUTERS
Egypt court frees five police over protester deaths

DEC 29, 2011

CAIRO: An Egyptian court cleared five police officers on Thursday of criminal charges over the killing of five protesters during the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Families of the dead who attended the trial screamed in anger when the sentence was announced by Judge Essam Abdel Hamid. Police officers crowded outside the judge's office after the verdict to protect him.

"We demand that they (the police officers) are all sent to their deaths," shouted relatives of the slain protesters who had crowded into the courtroom to hear the sentences.

The police officers were ordered months ago to face trial over the killings, which took place in front of a police station on Jan. 28 and 29 as the uprising spread.

A statement explaining the judge's verdict was expected in coming days.

Around 850 Egyptians were killed in the revolt, when police fired live ammunition, rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas at protesters. Police eventually abandoned the streets and the army moved in.

In May, a Cairo court sentenced a police officer in absentia to death on similar charges, opening the door for other cases to be brought.

Egyptians closely watch police trials for clues to whether the killings were isolated events or carried out under orders from senior officials. Many say Egypt will struggle to face the future until Mubarak's often brutal security forces are held to account.

Mubarak himself is on trial over protester deaths, as is the Interior Minister at the time of the uprising, Habib al-Adli, and other top security officers. Adli has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption.

'Virginity tests' on Egypt protesters are illegal, says judge

2011-12-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

The Guardian
'Virginity tests' on Egypt protesters are illegal, says judge

December 27, 2011

Riazat Butt and Abdel-Rahman Hussein
Decision may open door to financial compensation for women subjected to tests during anti-government protests

Forced "virginity tests" on female detainees were ruled illegal in Egypt on Tuesday, after a court ordered an end to the practice.

Hundreds of activists were in the Cairo courtroom to hear the judge, Aly Fekry, say the army could not use the test on women held in military prisons in a case filed by Samira Ibrahim, one of seven women subjected to the test after being arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March.

Fekry, head of the Cairo administrative court, decreed that what happened to Ibrahim and six other detainees was illegal and any similar occurrence in the future would also be considered illegal.

The court is expected to issue a further injunction against such tests and decree that the test was completely illegal, opening the door for financial compensation.

After the verdict Ibrahim, 25, posted on Twitter: "Thank you to the people, thank you to Tahrir Square that taught me to challenge, thank you to the revolution that taught me perseverance."

The 25-year-old marketing manager, who said she faced death threats for bringing the case, told CNN: "Justice has been served today.

"These tests are a crime and also do not comply with the constitution, which states equality between men and women. I will not give up my rights as a woman or a human being."

Ibrahim said her treatment showed the tests were intended to "degrade the protesters.

"The military tortured me, labelled me a prostitute and humiliated me by forcing on me a virginity test conducted by a male doctor where my body was fully exposed while military soldiers watched."

After the verdict she and others, including the presidential candidate and former broadcaster Bothaina Kamel, marched to Tahrir Square. Ibrahim was later photographed at Kaser el Nil bridge flashing the victory sign.

Egyptian academic and columnist Amira Nowaira gave a cautious welcome to the ruling. Speaking from Alexandria she said: "Nobody had heard of the virginity tests before so it is good a court has said they cannot be used. People should be prosecuted but it's going to be hard, even assigning blame will be difficult. Who is ultimately responsible?"

"The military had been denying they were doing the tests, then they said it was a standard procedure and came up with lots of excuses about why they were doing it."

The head of the judicial military authority, General Adel Morsy, was cited in state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper as saying that the administrative court ruling could not be implemented because there was nothing in the statutes that govern military prisons about permitting the carrying out of virginity tests. Ibrahim will return to court in February, to appeal against the one-year suspended sentence she received for insulting authorities and participating in an unauthorised assembly in March.

The case brings to the fore protester complaints against military actions during the transitional period.

There is a long list of violations attributed to the military, with some 12,000 civilians being charged and sentenced in military courts, and numerous incidents that have led to deaths of protesters.

Almost in conjunction with the administrative court ruling, it was announced that the military doctor who undertook the tests would be referred to a military court on 3 January.

He is being charged with public indecency and disobeying military orders, but not sexual assault.

Hossam Bahgat, the head of Egyptian initiative for personal rights (EIPR), said: "To call it a medical checkup is disingenuous. It was torture and sexual assault.

"It wasn't conducted in a medical clinic, but in full view of the soldiers, hence why the charge is one of public indecency, which is incorrect?

"The military doctor being charged is a scapegoat, because these soldiers follow orders and what happened to the detainees is the responsibility of those running the prison."

Ibrahim, in recounting her ordeal to Human Rights Watch, said two officers had entered the prison cell, where the women were detained, and asked which of them were married.

The officers informed them they would be subjected to virginity tests to confirm they were not lying.

"They took us out one by one … they took me to a bed in a passageway in front of the cell. There were lots of soldiers around and they could see me.

"I asked if the soldiers could move away and the officer escorting me teased me.

"A woman prison guard in plainclothes stood at my head and then a man in military uniform examined me with his hand for several minutes. It was painful. He took his time."

The case was heard in the first circuit of the administrative court, known as the rights and freedoms circuit, and was filed by three Egyptian rights advocacy groups – EIPR, the Hisham Mubarak law centre and the Nadeem centre for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.

However, the court ruling is an administrative one only, and because of the provisions of the military penal code the chances of pursuing criminal liability against the transgressors lies only within the jurisdiction of military courts.Campaign groups have been documenting the escalation in sexual violence towards female demonstrators and claim brutal tactics are used are to deter, intimidate and humiliate those taking part in political activities.

Last week Nadya Khalife, from Human Rights Watch, said: "Images of military and police who strip, grope, and beat protesters have horrified the world and brought into sharp focus the sexual brutality Egyptian women face in public life.

At this crucial stage in Egypt's history, women need to be able to take part in demonstrations and elections without fear. "Security forces' disgraceful attacks and the government's broader failure to address sexual violence and harassment do not bode well for Egypt's women."

The New Woman Foundation, in Egypt, said at least nine women were arrested during a protest in November, with some accusing security forces of physical and verbal assault.

HUMILIATION AND VIOLATION CLAIMS

Samira Ibrahim was one of seven female protesters subjected to the "virginity test" after being arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March. The demonstrators were among almost 200 detained that day, 20 of whom were women.

The following day the female detainees were separated into two groups, the married and unmarried. The seven unmarried women were given a medical checkup during which the "virginity test" was done.

The incident occurred a month into the handling of the country's affairs by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, their authority granted by the deposed Hosni Mubarak before his ousting on 11 February.

The military was by then losing patience with Tahrir protesters, already having forcibly dispersed protests against the government of the then Egyptian prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's final cabinet appointment.

The case of Ibrahim and the other six female detainees is one of a litany of abuses that occurred that night on the night of 9 March, with many protesters who were held being tortured and beaten on the site of the Egyptian museum that lies off the square. Other protesters were subjected to whipping and electric shocks throughout the night.

Ibrahim was one of those transferred to the military prison known locally as the Haykestep, referring to its location off the Cairo-Ismailia road.

The virginity tests were carried out in full view of soldiers and other detainees present at the prison, according to the human rights lawyer Ahmed Hossam, who was representing Ibrahim in the case and is attached to the Egyptian initiative for personal rights.

Egypt's women must be allowed to protest in peace

2011-12-31T20:16:00.000-08:00

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Egypt's women must be allowed to protest in peace

23 December 2011

Amnesty International called on Egypt’s military rulers to uphold the right to peaceful demonstration as women human rights activists staged more protests today.

Activists took to the streets to denounce violence used by the military against female and opposition protesters in demonstrations over the past week that have left 17 people dead, most of them reportedly from gunfire.

"The shockingly violent scenes of recent days must not be repeated," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s interim Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Egypt’s military authorities must ensure protesters are allowed to exercise their right to freedom of expression peacefully, without fear of attack. The authorities are responsible for the safety of those protesting.”

Several women activists have spoken out in recent days about their brutal treatment by security forces, including beatings and threats of sexual abuse.

Women's rights groups staged fresh protests on in Cairo on Friday, sparking fears of renewed violence.

Egypt's military rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), issued a statement saying armed forces and police would not interfere in Friday's protest.

However, other recent SCAF statements have attempted to depict activists as irresponsible and violent or trying to “plot to abolish the state”.

One high-ranking military official even said that military forces were entitled to use live fire against protesters.

"Such statements represent instigation against protesters. Women human rights defenders and activists must be allowed to stand up against violations of human rights by the SCAF," said Philip Luther.

"The authorities must not use force against peaceful protesters and not target women with gender-based violence."

Violence first flared last Friday when military forces attacked a sit-in protest demanding the end of military rule.

On Tuesday, women marched through Cairo carrying shocking images of soldiers beating and stripping female demonstrators during previous protests.

Egypt's armed forces and riot police have a track record this year of violence against women, including forced virginity tests against female protesters and sexual assault against female journalists.

On 16 December, soldiers were seen kicking and beating women protesters around Tahrir Square.

An online video clip showed two female protesters being dragged along the ground.

One of them had her clothes pulled off before a soldier stamped on her torso. The other, Azza Hilal, was beaten severely in the head and face. Other female protesters were dragged by their hair.

Armed forces took at least eight female protesters to a parliament building in central Cairo. They reportedly beat them with sticks and some were molested by soldiers or threatened with sexual assault. At least two was hospitalized.

________________________________________________

EGYPT'S WOMEN ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT

Several women human rights defenders and activists have spoken out about their experiences during detention on 16 December (all video clips in Arabic):

Dr Farida al Hossy
Farida al Hossy was attacked as she was running from the field hospital in Tahrir Square. First a group of soldiers beat her with batons, then one of the soldiers continued beating and slapping her. She was detained along with other protesters, all injured and bleeding, in a parliament building before being released by an apologetic higher-ranking officer.

Dr Ghada Kamal - 28, pharmacist, member of the “6 April Youth” pro-democracy movement
Ghada Kamal says she was targeted for beatings because of an earlier encounter with masked army officers in Tahrir Square who threatened her with sexual assault. When she tried to help a girl who had been severely beaten in the square, she was hit on the head. She was recognized by a soldier who had seen her protesting earlier in the day - as a result she was taken inside the building for further punishment. She was also threatened with sexual assault during detention.

Mona Seif – member of the “No to Military Trial to Civilians” human rights group
Mona Seif was arrested while leaving the field hospital in Tahrir Square, where she had been hiding with a small boy. The soldiers took the boy from her and beat her. She was taken to a room where there was another child, several older women, a younger woman and a journalist. She says an officer identified the young woman as an activist, dragged her out and beat her. Officers and soldiers also removed the niqab from another woman and insulted her, while an older woman was slapped by several officers.

Interior Ministry publishes defamatory photos of women’s march

2011-12-31T20:07:00.000-08:00

Ahram Online
Egypt Ministry of Interior apologises for defamatory photos of women’s march

Thursday 22 Dec 2011

Police regrets photo-shopped images it published on the ministry's official website to alter message of women protesting against military violence and rule

The Ministry of Interior has issued an apology for publishing defamatory photos of the Egyptian women’s march on its official Facebook page.

The photoshopped images showed the female protesters holding posters of blue and pink bras, even though in the original images, the posters were holding posters with the slogan “down with military rule,” written on them.

The march, which included 10,000 women, took place on 20 December and was staged against military rule and in response to military brutality against women.

One incident which sparked particular outrage was the case of the beating and stripping of an unidentified protester during the clashes. The protester, who was wearing a black veil, was stripped down to her bra and jeans and dragged through the street as she was kicked and beaten by a group of soldiers.

Military official claims army entitled to fire on protesters

2011-12-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent
SCAF adviser claims military entitled to fire on protesters

Thu, 22/12/2011

Major General Abdel Moneim Kato, an adviser to the Egyptian military's Morale Affairs Department, continues to make controversial comments on the clashes that broke out last Friday between army forces and protesters near the cabinet building in downtown Cairo.

Kato has said that international law entitles army forces under attack to respond with live fire, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat reported Thursday.

Kato told the newspaper that the Egyptian army pelted attackers with stones, the least deadly weapons available to defend public facilities, though he alleges the Geneva Conventions and international law give them the right to use firearms.

However, the globally recognized agreement was designed to address military forces fighting on battlefields, and does not apply to protesters, Safwat al-Zayat, a retired army general, told Egypt Independent. He criticized military statements, including Kato's, on the recent fighting.

Some 15 people have been killed by security forces and the military since last Friday, some of them shot with bullets.

Kato also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt's armed forces have endured attacks from minors paid to assault the army.

Commenting on a video clip that shows army personnel beating and dragging a female protester in the street ― which has sparked an outcry both in Egypt and abroad ― Kato justified the officers' conduct, saying that the girl had been insulting the army through a megaphone.

Kato also warned that there is an ongoing campaign to target the army, accusing unidentified parties of implementing “foreign agendas” inside the country.

On Monday, Kato had remarked that protesters clashing with soldiers and police near the cabinet should be “thrown into Hitler's ovens.”

On Thursday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement that appeared to be an attempt to distance it from Kato's remarks. Referring to "some commentators and strategic analysts", the statement said: "These comments provoked negative reactions from Egypt and abroad," apparently referring to Kato's more inflammatory remarks.

The statement said that such commentators express their own point of view, not the offical views of the SCAF, which are usually given through official statements or its page on Facebook.

Public outrage over army official's 'Hitler' statements

2011-12-31T19:51:00.000-08:00

Egypt Independent
Politicians criticize 'Hitler' statements made by army official

December 19, 2011

Activists and politicians on Monday decried statements by an Egyptian army official who suggested that protesters in front of the cabinet of ministers should be burned in "Hitler's ovens."

The private newspaper Al-Shorouk reported on Monday that General Abdel Moneim Kato, an adviser to the military's Morale Affairs Department, suggested that instead of worrying about the country's welfare, people were concerned about "some street bully who deserves to be thrown into Hitler's ovens," referring to protesters.

Kato was attempting to justify the military's use of excessive force against protesters during clashes that broke out around the cabinet building on Saturday. The clashes led to the deaths of 11 people, according to the Health Ministry.

Kato criticized the media's coverage of the incidents, saying, "Media always avoid the crux of a problem."

"When did those soldiers use violence?” he asked. "When [the protesters] attempted to burn Parliament and the Scientific Institute."

Abdallah al-Sennawy, chief editor of Al-Arabi Al-Nassery Magazine, told ONTV satellite channel that Kato's statements are grounds for referral to the International Criminal Court.

On Twitter, presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei wrote, "The likes of Kato should be in prison, not in power."

Twitter users harshly criticized Kato, with one user saying, "One strong example of why the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces should not remain in power is that they are stupid enough to appoint someone like Kato as an adviser to the Morale Affairs Department."

In statements on Sunday, Kato said that people influenced by foreign agendas are inciting clashes between the armed forces and the protesters.

He added that some members of the political elite, satellite channels and pseudo-intellectuals are trying to damage the reputation of the military.

Photos: Walls & battles on Sheikh Rihan Street

2011-12-31T01:06:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 18 - Clashes on Sheikh Rihan Street

On Dec. 18, clashes continued between protesters and security forces/thugs, for the third consecutive day.

After having used lethal force to dispersed the 'Occupy Cabinet' sit-in, the armed forces (on Dec. 17) constructed a massive concrete wall on Qasr el-Aini St. to keep protesters away from parliament and cabinet. Riot-police and military police attacked protesters with live ammunition, rubber bullets/pellets, tear gas, rocks, petrol bombs, and water canons using 'dirty-water.'

DECEMBER 19 - Third wall built, clashes continue on Sheikh Rihan

On the fourth day of street fighting, the armed forces constructed another wall and barriers on Sheikh Rihan St.

While groups of protesters fought-off security forces, other protesters managed to bring down parts of the wall - by dislodging massive blocks of concrete from the barrier.

Riot-police shelter behind iron shields. In five days, security forces killed at least 18 protesters, injured at least 2,000 others, and arrested over 200.

Muslim and Christian activists in a display of unity; expressing unity in their common struggle against the military junta and its crimes.

Women march in Cairo, protest against violence

2011-12-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

CNN
Women march in Cairo to protest violence

December 21, 2011

Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Mohammed Jamjoom

Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt's ruling military council Tuesday expressed "great regret" to Egyptian women over recent attacks on female demonstrators by military police and vowed to hold accountable those responsible.

Days of clashes around Cairo's Tahrir Square were stoked by the weekend beating of a woman by military police officers, prompting a "Million Women" march on Tuesday. In a statement issued on its Facebook page, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces called for calm and said it is willing to discuss any proposal "that might help in achieving stability and safety for Egypt."

"The Supreme Council express its great regret to the great women of Egypt for the violations that took place during the recent events, in the demonstrations that took place at the parliament and the ministers' council, and reassure its respect and appreciation for Egyptian women and their right in protesting and their active positive participation in the political life," it said.

The statement added, "All legal measures have been taken to hold accountable all those responsible for these violations."

Egypt's capital remained engulfed in tension Tuesday as security forces and protesters clashed and demonstrators at the "Million Women" march railed against the regime and assaults on citizens.

Meanwhile, Egypt's capital remained engulfed in tension as security forces wielding batons, firearms and tear gas attacked defiant protesters Tuesday on the fifth consecutive day of clashes the square, witnesses told CNN.

Sherif Barakat, a businessman, heard machine gun fire early in the morning and saw the unrest from the balcony of his home above Tahrir Square. He saw security forces charge, firing tear gas and beating people with batons.

"Both sides exchanged rock-pelting until the military withdrew," he said. "They kept the protesters at bay far from the epicenter of the clashes at Sheikh Rihan Street close to the Ministry of Interior for two hours until they reinforced the cement wall erected two days back with more blocks, then they withdrew."

Nazly Hussein, an activist, said the forces stormed the square before dawn with a "startling" amount of firepower.

"I noticed protesters are not too scared of the firepower," Hussein said. But at the same time, "they are terrified from getting caught and tortured."

Ahmed Hamdi, a field medic, claimed that two people -- a doctor and a student -- were shot and killed. But Adel Al Dawi, a Health Ministry spokesman, could not confirm the casualties.

"It usually takes several hours before we get the official casualty report from the morgues or the hospitals. I know of five people who suffered gunshot wounds during the attack and were transferred to hospitals," Al Dawi said.

Demonstrators and security forces have been battling since Friday in Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising that brought down Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. At least 14 deaths in the latest spate of violence were confirmed as of Monday.

Several hundred women kicked off the "Million Woman" march, billed to highlight regime violence against female demonstrators.

It started in Tahrir Square, moved through nearby streets and grew to as many as 1,500 to 2,000 people, both men and women outraged over the treatment of all protesters.

Many held up pictures of abused people, and called for regime change. Men vigilant about assaults formed a protective ring around the female marchers.

"I am here to violently condemn the attacks on Egyptian men and women by the Egyptian Army," said Ragia Omran, a human rights activist at the march. "We will not be quiet. We will not let this happen again and we will continue to voice out our anger against this military junta that is killing this country."

The march occurred as shocking images of brutality that went viral across the Internet intensified the crisis in Egypt, the world's most populous Arab nation. One video that sparked outrage showed a military police officer stomping on a woman's exposed stomach over the weekend. Protesters on Tuesday held placards with images of that woman.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, released a statement Monday condemning what she called "vicious" and "brutal" assaults recorded over the weekend.

"The ruthless violence being used against unarmed women protesters is especially shocking and cannot be left unpunished," Pillay said.

Another video showed Islam Abdel Hafiz, a boy allegedly shot by the military. Field medics attempted to remove the bullet from his motionless bleeding body before transferring him to the hospital.

Al Dawi said he visited the boy in the operating room and met his parents.

"I hope he survives, as the bullet seems to have caused some serious internal damage," Al Dawi told CNN.

Protesters are now demanding that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces swiftly hand authority over to an elected civilian government. Egypt has been conducting parliamentary elections and the military has said it plans to transfer power after elections are completed next year.

There have already been two rounds of voting for the lower house of Parliament, and voting for the upper house will begin at the end of January and go into early March. There are plans for the election of a president in June.

Newly elected Parliament members, intellectuals and academics weighed in on the violence Monday. The 40 demonstrators held a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court. They demanded that officials involved in the killing of protesters be tried, and they called for the military to hand over authority to civilians on January 25, the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Revolutionary Alliance, an opposition bloc of secular and religious parties, held a news conference to display images and testimonials about the violence, an event that served as a refutation of a Monday news briefing by the military. The alliance has not taken part in the election.

"Our press conference challenges the press conference announced by the military yesterday which was an utter joke, with all the blatant lies and fabrications it contained. That presser displayed their arrogance and continued mismanagement of the interim period that has led us to the crisis of witnessing dead people everyday," said alliance member Rami Shath.

The military displayed videos of young boys who confessed that they received money from men who asked them to throw Molotov cocktails and rocks at security forces and burn government buildings such as the Cabinet. Many journalists attending the news conference applauded Gen. Adel Amar after his speech.

"The military fabricated these videos and forced the young boys to give these testimonials. They also invited local military correspondents loyal to the establishment that were seen clapping away after the press conference, which was broadcast live on state TV. It is a propaganda move to bury the revolution and portray us as paid thugs with no political horizon," Shath added.

Activists have filed complaints about senior government officials to the Egyptian prosecutor's office. Adel Saeed, the official spokesman of the general prosecutor, told CNN that two judges from the appeals court have been appointed to investigate the "intricate details" of the clashes and file a report to the prosecutor and the Justice Ministry.

"There are protesters and activists dying every day," Noor Noor, the son of presidential candidate Ayman Nour, told CNN Tuesday. The son filed a report under his own name against Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

"Someone has to be accountable. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has failed to govern the interim period on both the military and political level," Noor said.

Monday was the fourth day that pro-democracy demonstrators battled Egyptian security forces.

The United Nations' Pillay said she believes the individuals involved in the assaults must be arrested and prosecuted.

"These are life-threatening and inhuman acts that cannot possibly be justified under the guise of restoration of security or crowd control," Pillay said. She called for an impartial and independent investigation into "all instances of abuse and violent repression against protesters."

Video: Egyptian army brutally assaults Tahrir protesters

2011-12-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

انتهاكات المجلس العسكرى - 17/12/2011

December 17 - Army troops and military police use lethal force in cracking down on protesters outside the Cabinet HQs and in Tahrir Sq.

These troops also assaulted journalists and female protesters; the crimes of a group of soldiers are caught on video as they sexually assault a young woman - ripping her clothes off and stomping on her body.

Photos: Protests & street battles outside parliament - Dec. 16

2011-12-17T00:10:00.000-08:00

Egypt army clashes with protesters killing seven

2011-12-16T23:38:00.000-08:00

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Egypt military clashes with protesters killing 7 a day after parliamentary elections

Saturday, December 17 2011

Heavy-handed assault was apparently an attempt to clear out protesters who have been camped out in front of the building for 3 weeks demanding the ruling military leave power

CAIRO -- Soldiers stormed an anti-military protest camp outside Egypt's Cabinet building Friday, beating women with sticks and hurling chunks of concrete and glass onto protesters from the roof of the parliament in a resurgence of turmoil only a day after millions voted in parliamentary elections.

At least seven protesters were shot to death in the clashes, including a prominent Muslim cleric, activists said. The heavy-handed assault was apparently an attempt to clear out protesters who have been camped out in front of the building for three weeks demanding the ruling military leave power.

But the mayhem - which came despite promises from the army-appointed prime minister that the protesters would not be cleared by force - threatened to spark a new round of violence after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.

Several women protesters cowered on the pavement as military police beat them with truncheons and long sticks. Another woman was seen bring dragged away by her hair by soldiers.

Plainclothes and uniformed security officers threw slabs of concrete and stones on protesters from atop the parliament building, according to state TV footage and videos and photos posted by protesters on social networking sites. Protesters threw fire bombs and rocks at the security officers, lighting a part of parliament on fire and chanting "Down with the military."

"It's pretty ironic that the military is throwing rocks at protesters from the parliament building, where a sign is hanging that says democracy is the power of the people," protester Mostafa Sheshtawy said.

A human rights activist said gunshot wounds killed at least seven protesters in the clashes.

Ramy Raoof of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said bodies arrived overnight at a nearby hospital. Raoof said it was difficult to tell what kind of bullets killed the protesters and that full autopsies were expected.

Hours after sunset, the crowds of protesters had grown to hundreds and clashes continued, with youths hiding behind a makeshift barrier of metal sheets and an overturned car, throwing volleys of stones at military police lined up in the broad avenue in front of the parliament and Cabinet headquarters.

There were reports of live gunfire from the rooftops. One protester, Islam Mohammed, said a fellow protester pushed him aside and was hit by a bullet in the stomach. "He took a bullet instead of me and fell to the ground. I have his blood on my shirt and hands," Mohammed said. The condition of the wounded man was not known.

Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a youth activist, said she saw the bodies of two slain protesters brought to a Cairo hospital, both with gunshot wounds. "The blood is still dripping from the head of one of them," a 22-year-old man, she told The Associated Press. The other was shot in the chest, she said. A Health Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of he was not authorized to talk to the press, confirmed the two deaths.

Also killed was Sheik Emad Effat, a cleric from Al-Azhar, Egypt's most eminent religious institution, said Ibrahim el-Houdaiby, a prominent activist. He said Effat - who has taken a pro-revolutionary position, criticizing the military and issuing a religious decree forbidding voting for former members of the regime in elections - was shot in the heart after joining the protesters outside the Cabinet.

A member of the prominent April 6th movement, Ahmed Mansour, was also killed, Raoof said.

The Health Ministry said at least 222 people were injured, including broken bones and gunshot wounds.

The assault was likely to re-ignite the tensions between revolutionaries and the military, which took power after the Feb. 11 resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The youth activists who led the protests that ousted Mubarak accuse the military of acting in the same authoritarian way as the former president.

Ziad el-Oleimi, an activist who won a parliament seat in the first round of elections on Nov. 28-29, told AP that military police beat him with sticks on his torso and arms and told him, "Don't imagine the parliament will protect you.

"So long as Egyptians are being humiliated and beaten on the streets, that means the revolution has not reached its goals. Taking to the streets will continue," el-Oleimi said.

The clashes took place as election officials counted ballots from the second round of parliament elections, considered to be the freest and fairest vote in Egypt's modern history. A third of Egypt's provinces voted Wednesday and Thursday. Election results from the first round of voting placed Islamist parties ahead of more liberal parties.

The armed forces retain support among many Egyptians who see it as the only entity able to run the country until presidential elections scheduled for next year.

But the new violence exacerbates the political tensions.

Members of a civilian advisory panel created by the military this month as a gesture to protesters suspended their work, demanding an immediate end to violence against protesters and a formal apology from the ruling military council. The panel is also seeking an independent investigation into the clashes. Two of its members resigned in protest.

A number of newly elected lawmakers condemned the military for the violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in parliamentary elections so far, said in a statement that it rejects the assault on protesters and the use of the parliament building to attack people.

In a Tweet, leading reform figure and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote, "If the sit-in broke the law, isn't the cruelty and brutality used to break it up a greater violation of all human rights laws? This is not how nations are managed."

The protesters have been peacefully camped out in front the Cabinet building for three weeks, preventing the newly appointed prime minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, from entering his office.

In a statement read on state TV Friday night, the ruling military said its forces did not intent to break up the protest and said officers showed self-restraint, denying the used any gunfire. It said the clashes began when a military officer was attacked while on duty and protesters tried to break into the parliament compound.

But witnesses said the clashes erupted late Thursday after troops snatched a protester, taking him into the parliament building and beating him severely. The troops later moved in, burning protesters' tents.

Hundreds of people rushed to join the protest after online video and photos showed people carrying the wounded man, his face bruised and swollen, his head wrapped in gauze and blood dripping from his nose.

Protester threw rocks and firebombs at military police, who fired back with water cannons and stones from inside parliament. Several cars were set on fire.

An American producer for Al Jazeera English, Evan Hill, was beaten by military police and his equipment and passport confiscated, the network reported.

The military's assault is also a potential embarrassment to el-Ganzouri, who vowed last month that he would not use force to break up the sit-in. El-Ganzouri had been touted as being more independent of the military than his predecessor, whose government stepped down amid the November protests amid criticism that it was simply a facade for the ruling generals.

"Who has power and who is responsible?" asked ElBaradei on his Twitter account.

'Occupy Cabinet' camp struck by mass food-poisoning

2011-12-16T23:27:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Cabinet sit-in hit by mass food poisoning, dozens hospitalized

Wed, 14/12/2011

Jano Charbel and Abdel Rahman Hussein

Some 40 activists involved in the “Occupy Cabinet” sit-in have been transferred to hospital after suffering from food poisoning, apparently caused by free food handed out to protesters on Wednesday afternoon.

According to eye-witness reports, a woman wearing a niqab (face-veil) distributed grilled meat sandwiches — known as “hawawshi” — to protesters camped outside the cabinet building in central Cairo.

Dr. Ahmed Farouq, a volunteer physician serving at a field hospital, confirmed that "the hawawshi was delivered to the protesters at their camp, wrapped in the wrappers of a fish and seafood restaurant." The doctor added that this restaurant does not make hawawshi.

Farouq added that the protesters started falling ill nearly five hours after having consumed the food. "This may very well be a plot hatched against the protesters. It may have been prepared and distributed by remnants of the old regime who want to see this sit-in dispersed,” he said.

“It could perhaps be bad meat that was unintentionally distributed amongst the protesters,” the doctor continued. “However, I do smell the work of provocateurs and trouble makers in this incident."

Dr. Bahaa Awad, a physician present at the scene, said: "They're falling down without symptoms of food poisoning or throwing up. The large number collapsing at the same time is very strange."

Nearly 40 protesters were transferred to the Toxins Center at the nearby Qasr al-Aini Street.

Farid Abdel Hamid Allam, a protester from Kafr al-Sheikh who also ate the food, said, "I ate the inside of the sandwich, but not the bread. I threw up and fainted a bit two hours later. I felt nauseous, but I won't go into the ambulance, otherwise they’ll arrest me. They put me in the ambulance, but I left."

According to volunteer nurse Nesma Mohamed, "The hawawshi was distributed by a woman who was not recognized by any of the protesters." The nurse added, "She came with a large supply of this food, distributed it and left immediately."

According to Mohamed, more than 35 protesters had been admitted to the toxins center by early Wednesday evening, displaying a number of symptoms, such as vomiting, intense sweating, and fainting.

"I saw the meat, and it didn't look like normal meat,” said the nurse. “In any case, we have samples of this meat and it is being analyzed at the moment. The results will tell us if it was bad meat or poisoned meat."

*note - more than 70 protesters are reported to have suffered from this food-poisoning

Egyptian blogger sentenced to 2 years in prison

2011-12-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Maikel Nabil sentenced to 2 years in jail

Wed, 14/12/2011

A military court on Wednesday sentenced Maikel Nabil, a blogger charged with insulting the military, to two years in prison and a fine of LE200, said activist Noor Ayman Nour from the advocacy group No to Military Trials for Civilians.

The ruling, made by the Supreme Military Court of Appeals, follows an appeal to an earlier verdict that sentenced Nabil to three years in prison. Since this is a military trial, the verdict cannot be appealed again.

Nabil's charges include insulting the armed forces, publishing false news and disturbing public security.

Nabil has been on hunger strike for 113 days to protest his detention and trial and has been surviving on water and milk.

The 26-year-old blogger has also refused to apologize to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

In a Facebook statement, Nabil wrote that some military officers asked him to write an apology in exchange for his release — an offer he turned down.

Last week, the International Federation of Liberal Youth granted Nabil its "Freedom Award" in recognition of his "firm commitment to freedom."

Nabil wrote a blog post in March titled "The army and the people weren't ever one hand," questioning the role of the military in the revolution and condemning its takeover while citing incidents in which the military was involved in arresting and torturing activists during the 18-day uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

Military trials of civilians — particularly bloggers — have been increasingly criticized by activists and human rights watchdogs.

A censorship debacle reflects Egypt's future

2011-12-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

Huffington Post
The Springborg Affair: A Censorship Debacle Reflects Egypt's Future

12/13/2011

Maurice Chammah

It began on Monday, December 5th, when English newspaper readers in Cairo learned that a new paper, the Egypt Independent, had disappeared from newsstands. They learned about the disappearance from the British press, in an article by Alistair Beach of The Independent. "A censorship row has broken out at the country's newest newspaper after staff were ordered to shelve an entire print run of 20,000 copies," Beach wrote, "over an article that suggested the leader of the governing Military Council could go to prison."

In the censored article, political science professor Robert Springborg had suggested that "resentment" might be growing in the ranks of the military against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and Egypt's current de-facto leader Field Marshal Muhammad Tantawi. An edited version of the article can be read on Egypt Independent's website. Instead of the word "resentment" it used the somehow less toxic "concern," and excised the offending paragraph:

The present discontent among junior officers, Chief of Staff General Sami Anan's greater popularity than the Field Marshal in the military and among Egyptians as a whole, and intensified pressure from the U.S. could all result in the Field Marshal sharing President Mubarak's fate, The military institution could remove him to save itself. If matters became truly desperate, discontented officers not in the SCAF might decide that a coup within a coup would be the best way to save the honor of the country and their institution.

Springborg published an angry rebuttal to the censorship in Foreign Policy. Calling Egypt Independent "rather paradoxically named," he admitted, "I do not know whether [Magdy El Galad, the editor who ordered the censorship,] did so on direct orders from the SCAF or because he anticipated General Tantawi's negative reaction."

Ironically, the censorship led Springborg to more fully explain his coup theory, and speculate on how the censorship itself plays into it. "One lesson of the Arab Spring," he wrote, "is that news now travels very fast indeed. Within hours of the 20,000 copies of the second issue of Egypt Independent being pulped, the story had spread not only in Egypt, but globally, as the article in London's The Independent attests."

El Galad explained himself in Arabic. Egypt Independent editor Max Strasser published the translation on his blog. Far more remarkable than the content, which defends pulling the article on national security concerns, is the style. El Galed writes in the flowery, unsystematic fashion that is difficult to translate, and wholly foreign to English readers, which undoubtedly makes him look worse to those already unenthused with his actions. "I thank God for his several blessings, one of which is that I am thick-skinned: I only contemplate objective criticism," he began.

Waving away Egyptian journalists who are "bedazzled by the lights of the West," he grandly pronounced, "I could not care less for the broken record about freedom of speech, employed by the West to achieve its nefarious ends against us, when it suppresses those freedoms to protect its interests and national security."

"For me," he continued, "one black strand of hair from an Egyptian child in the heart of Upper Egypt is of greater value than his country or the entire West." Where Springborg "derives his arrogant power from the American arsenal," El Galed himself finds "protection in satisfying a poor man in some impoverished Egyptian neighborhood."

"This ultra-nationalist discourse is a by-product of the toppled regime, and by extension the 1952 military regime," suggested an editorial published by Egypt Independent's editors. Indeed, this kind of over-the-top prose developed in the political party press of the turn of the last century, crystallizing in the weekly editorials of Mohammad Heikal, close friend of Gamel Abdel Nasser and editor of the newly-nationalized Al Ahram in the 1960s. "He writes as he talks," American journalist Edward Sheehan once wrote of Heikal, an obvious predecessor of El Galed. "His favorite subject is himself, and he is so fond of elaborate digressions that he can consume thousands of words before he comes to his point."

The censorship incident over Springborg's op-ed, and the ensuing "Streisand Effect" (in which censorship backfires) was indicative of the intellectual battles throughout the Egyptian press these days. Among Egyptian journalists I've encountered a firm divide between Western-oriented independents, many but not all educated in English and closely linked to the protest movement, and the older generation of editors and writers like El Galed, who though independent are connected to a different era of media that involves self-censorship for the purpose of stability. After all, in the 1950s the press had legitimate reasons for downplaying Nasser's mistakes and offering a counter-narrative to British papers.

Sarah Carr, who writes for Egypt Independent, is one of the younger school who El Galed might call "bedazzled." She ripped into both El Galed and his style, in a mock translation of his article. "I have learnt that being proud of my country means using it as a basis for ad hominem attacks on colleagues and others I disagree with, as well as a device for constructing fascistic, paranoid delusions," she wrote, feigning El Galed's tone. She tried her hand at the flowery, old-school writing style, in all capital letters:

"I CANNOT BE THREATENED. I AM THE FRESH WATER IN THE MOUTH OF THE THIRSTY MAN. I AM THE GENTLE MELODY OF A STREAM RUNNING PAST A HOSPITAL INSIDE OF WHICH A MAN RECOVERING FROM HERNIA SURGERY FINDS SOLACE. I AM YOUR DAD'S FAVOURITE JUMPER..."

It goes on and on, and is very funny for those familiar with the old style. Carr's sarcastic humor shows the way post-revolution Egypt is confronting a generational divide evident elsewhere, but on display most clearly in the arena that is obviously most public: the press. Springborg is absolutely correct when he says that the censorship incident reaffirms the precariousness of Tantawi's rule. But it also reflects something deeper about the "Arab Spring" as it plays out in Egypt. It shows how generational and cultural divides that pervade Egyptian journalism continue to reflect the political situation, and on occasion, affect it as well.

Egypt's labor union movement struggles for independence

2011-12-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

Ahram Online
Egypt's labour movement takes a tumble

December 10, 2011

Yassin Gaber

After a wave of strikes and workers' action fueled and empowered Egypt’s 18-day uprising, the burgeoning labour movement, subsequently empowered, began asserting itself: unilaterally declaring an independent trade union federation to rival its state-run counterpart and undertaking steps to dismantle the power dynamics and structure of the state's union. Recently, however, Egypt’s workers and unionists have found themselves fighting to maintain their gains.

In March, Egypt’s manpower minister, Ahmed Hassan El-Borai announced the right of Egyptian workers to establish their own labour unions and federations, an action hailed by the International Labour Organisation. But a new trade union law is yet to be passed by Egypt’s military rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

Following the August enforcement of a 2006 judgement, the state-run Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) board was dissolved. However, these steps have been stymied by the government’s continued reliance on members of the old-guard whenever it comes to implementation. This adds up, in the words of Hisham Fouad, a founding member of the Democratic Workers Party, to a government outlook that is “counter-revolutionary and opposed to workers’ progress.” Added to this, their refusal to consult directly with independent unionists is, for him, proof of a deeper intransigence and indicative of the ruling military council's desire to quell the movement.

The decision by former prime minister Essam Sharaf to dissolve the ETUF board and freeze the general union's assets was a high point for independent unionists. But a sobering reality set in in its immediate aftermath. A steering committee consisting of independent, state-affiliated and Muslim Brotherhood unionists was tasked with examining the general union’s financial affairs. This de-facto board began reviewing reports by the Central Auditing Organisation: reports that contain hundreds of infractions and financial remarks linked to the ETUF as well as other organisations under its umbrella.

Unionists found to have illicit financial dealings were supposed to be turned over to the prosecutor-general's office, but interests got in the way. The committee was paralysed by its multi-factional composition.

A coalition of four general unions – the Union of Petrol Workers, the Union of Flour Mill Workers, the Maritime Transport Workers Union and the Transport Workers Union – went on strike in mid-November, calling for the dissolution of the Cabinet-appointed steering committee. Members of the de-facto board also tried, unsuccessfully, to remove its head, Ahmed Abdel Zahir, a carry-over from the dissolved board and an associate of its former head, Hussein Megawer. The notorious businessman was charged earlier this year for playing a role in the 2 February “Battle of the Camel.”

When El-Borai was unable to put an end to the strike, he dissolved the steering committee and replaced it with another one consisting of figures from the old board – associates of Megawer. “We've regressed. The situation now is just like when Hussein Megawer was around,” states Wael Habib, member of the steering committee.

Fouad believes that this move is a response by the ruling SCAF to the wave of strikes that swept Egypt in September. “The SCAF felt more in control and needed to clampdown on the empowered labour movement,” Fouad states.

Following the imposition of a new ETUF committee, El-Borai announced on 28 November that the newly-formed Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU) had agreed to join the state-run ETUF, creating much alarm and sending signals that the government no longer valued union pluralism or freedoms. Though confusion and speculation is still rife, it would seem that such a consensus between independent unionists and their state-affiliated counterparts never truly existed.

“We will not get involved with them in any respect. We reject the notion of a state-run trade union,” Fatma Ramadan, a board member of the EFITU and labour activist, stresses.

Ramadan had to withdraw her candidacy in the People's Assembly (Parliament's lower house) elections, after administrative courts in the governorates of Giza and Menoufiya (both in the upcoming second round of elections) refused to accept candidates who received their workers' status from the independent general union. According to Ramadan, the EITUF authorised the candidacy of between 300 and 400 workers for Egypt's three stage People's Assembly elections. Of those, around ten unionists, including Ramadan, were denied the right to stand for elections as workers.

In a 20 July decree, the ruling SCAF maintained a 47-year-old quota for representatives of workers and peasants in both the upper and lower houses of Egypt’s Parliament. Unionists are divided on whether this quota should be consigned to the fate of the old-regime or refashioned. “The 50 per cent quota for workers and fellahin is meant to protect these sectors: give them a voice, but when the quota is used to fill parliament with businessmen and technicians who do you think they will defend: themselves or the workers?” asks Ramadan.

Saud Omar, a member of the Suez Canal Authority's workers union and workers candidate in Suez, believes that the 50 per cent quota should remain but that a new law must be put in place to ensure that elected representatives come from the workers and truly stand for them, preventing misuse of the system. “Parliament does not truly speak for the people. The millions of people heading to the streets proves this and negates the supposed role of parliament, but we still must work through these political avenues.”

While the country’s first post-Mubarak elections promise to bring to power what some observers predict will be the most legitimate parliament since the 1930s, the make-up of the forthcoming parliament will to a varying degree determine the course of the workers’ movement.

First round results reveal strong electoral gains by the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), and the Salafist Nour Party. Even with two rounds left in the People's Assembly elections, many observers believe an Islamist takeover is now inevitable. Should Islamists come to power, the labour movement can expect to come up against certain obstacles. The FJP has previously condoned the ruling SCAF's opposition to strikes, going a step further by attempting to force an end to teacher's strikes in some governorates last September. The Nour Party has also taken an anti-strike line, calling such labour actions, at this point in time, “undesirable.” The only liberal list to make any substantial gains in the first round was the Egyptian Bloc. The Free Egyptians, the Bloc's leading partner, also has an unfavourable labour stance which it made clear when it quickly declared its support of the ruling military council's anti-strike law in July.

Nevertheless, some labour activists are resolute: “We are undeterred by parliamentary elections; the battle for parliament is only part of the struggle. The street is where our main fight lies. We demand the right to freely unionise, an end to the law criminalising strikes, a minimum and maximum wage, the restart of stalled factories and the rehiring of their workers, an increase in pensions and adequate health care,” Ramadan states.

According to labour lawyer and Revolutionary Socialists member Haitham Mohamedein, “The true issue lies in the law.” Specifically Law No 35 (1976), which outlined the structural and electoral regulations of the state-run ETUF among other central organisations. The ruling military junta’s decision to shelve the draft legislation, approved by the Manpower Ministry and then by Sharaf's Cabinet, is the crux of the matter, Mohamedein believes. The legislation would allow, for the first time since the 1950s, trade union pluralism and freedoms for workers and businessmen to form their own unions and syndicates respectively, but strong unions and syndicates would challenge a system that breeds corruption, oligarchy and social inequality.

The Brotherhood has always fought for control of syndicates and unions, states the labour lawyer, and they will approach the ETUF in a similar fashion. “The FJP wants the general union to be under their thumb and they will control the federation through elections: elections framed by Law No 35. It is not in their interest to radically change this law. The workers movement is a source of anxiety for businessmen and the Brotherhood. They could possibly seek to amend the law but would not allow the same freedoms as the shelved legislation.”

USA - Stop sending arms, tear gas to Egyptian security forces

2011-12-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Amnesty International
USA repeatedly shipped arms supplies to Egyptian security forces

6 December 2011

Data obtained by Amnesty International shows that the US has repeatedly transferred ammunition to Egypt despite security forces' violent crackdown on protesters.

A shipment for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior arrived from the US on 26 November carrying at least seven tons of "ammunition smoke" - which includes chemical irritants and riot control agents such as tear gas.

It was one of at least three arms deliveries to Egypt by the US company Combined Systems, Inc. since the brutal crackdown on the "25 January Revolution" protesters.

“US arms shipments to Egypt’s security forces must be stopped until there is certainty that tear gas and other munitions, weaponry or other equipment aren’t linked to bloodshed on Egyptian streets,” said Brian Wood of Amnesty International.

On 8 April, Combined Systems, Inc. shipped 21 tons of ammunition (42,035 pounds) from the US port of Wilmington to the Egyptian port of Suez.

On 8 August, another shipment of 17.9 tons of ammunition (35,793 pounds) was loaded from New York and transferred to Port Said in Egypt.

According to the commercial trade database, PIERS, both these shipments were listed under the product code of bullets, cartridges and shells, but the latter was also described as "ammunition smoke".

A third shipment, aboard Danish ship the Marianne Danica, which is owned by the Danish company H.Folmer & Co, arrived at the port of Adabiya near Suez on 26 November.

This shipment was organized by the defence logistics company, Nico Shipping. The munitions were loaded at the US Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, North Carolina and left on 13 October, according to shipping information tracked by Transarms for Amnesty International.

Combined Systems, Inc., which is based in Jamestown in the USA, manufactures a range of munitions for military forces and law enforcement agencies, including impact munitions such as rubber batons and irritant munitions such as CS tear gas.

On 1 December, a US State Department spokesperson confirmed that “export licences were approved to two US companies for the export of tear gas and other non-lethal riot control agents to the Egyptian Government. And the most recent export licence approval occurred in July”.

"These licences were authorized during a period where the Egyptian government responded to protests by using excessive and often lethal force. It is inconceivable that the US authorities did not know of evidence of widely documented abuses by the Egyptian security forces. These licences should not have been granted," said Brian Wood.

A US State Department spokesperson said on 29 November, “we haven’t seen any real concrete proof that the Egyptian authorities were misusing tear gas.”

As recently as November, protests against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in which at least two dozen people were killed and hundreds more injured, were violently dispersed with tear gas.

Many of the cartridges and grenades picked up by protestors in Tahrir Square were US-made tear gas, including those marked Combined Systems Inc. or Combined Tactical Systems, which is the company’s law enforcement division.

“Even in situations where protesters clash with riot police, it is no licence to use excessive force and tear gas recklessly,” said Brian Wood.

“Egypt’s security forces, including the riot police, must be reformed and trained to respect UN standards on use of force and firearms. Without fundamental change in the behaviour and accountability of the security forces, it is irresponsible for foreign countries to provide arms and other equipment to forces that are most likely to misuse them.”

The Egyptian security forces’ use of foreign-made tear gas and other ammunition is a clear example of the urgent need for the establishment and implementation of an effective global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

Amnesty International is calling for munitions used for law enforcement operations like tear gas to be included among the conventional arms to be regulated by the treaty.

“An effective Arms Trade Treaty, which includes a comprehensive scope and robust national licensing controls, would help ensure that arms exports of the USA and other major arms-transferring countries do not fuel serious human rights abuses,” said Brian Wood.

Egypt Embassy in UK occupied in solidarity with Tahrir

2011-12-16T21:34:00.000-08:00

Demotix
Egyptian Embassy in London Occupied in Solidarity with Tahrir Protests

12/05/2011

Four female activists entered and occupied the Egyptian Embassy in solidarity with the Tahrir Square movement. The activists were subsequently arrested and taken to West End Central Police Station. London, UK. 5th December 2011 Egyptian Embassy in London Occupied in Solidarity with Tahrir Protests

At 9.00am this morning a number of women activists entered the Egyptian Embassy in London with a banner reading "Solidarity with Tahrir" in English and Arabic. Tahrir is both the square which has been the focal point of protests in Cairo, and Arabic for "Liberation". They are currently occupying part of the embassy.

Over the past month, protesters in Tahrir Square have been violently attacked by the army whilst protesting continuing military rule of Egypt, despite January's popular uprising which ousted Dictator Hosni Mubarak on February 11th.

The army has been firing on protesters with live ammunition and three types of tear gas, two of which are said to have caused fatalities. At least 42 people have been killed and over 3000 injured since protesters re-occupied Tahrir square on Nov 19th. Thousands of people remain in prison without charge since the beginning of the uprising and reports of torture are widespread.

Since the Military took over street patrols from the Police on January 28th 2011, 12,000 civilians have been arrested and tried under military courts - more than the total number tried by the military in 30 years of Mubarak's rule.

A state of emergency remains in place since 1981, outlawing strikes and protests. Despite this, Egyptians continue to protest, organise and take industrial action.

The protesters in London say they are responding to a call from protesters in Cairo to occupy Egyptian Embassies worldwide.

One protester, 31 year old medic Janet Cole, said:

"The peoples' uprising in January overthrew Mubarak, but the army have retained control - the people say there will never be real democracy while the army rules the country. We're protesting in solidarity with everyone defending their revolution in Egypt".

A second activist from the group added:

"The SCAF - the Supreme Council of Armed Forces - must stop attacking protesters and end military trials for civilians. The British government must also end its' tacit approval of the Junta, through its support for arms deals and silence on the ongoing repression".

Egyptian border guards kill African migrant

2011-12-16T19:54:00.000-08:00

Associated Press
Egyptian border guards kill African migrant

Dec. 05, 2011

Ashraf Sweilam

EL-ARISH, Egypt — A security official says Egyptian police have shot dead an African migrant and wounded three others near the border with Israel.

The security official says the four men, all in their 20s, were trying to illegally enter Israel from Egypt's Taba border region in the Sinai Peninsula on Monday.

He says three wounded men are Eritreans. The fourth, who was shot dead, did not have identification on him.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

Thousands of Africans try to reach Israel from Egypt every year, risking a dangerous desert crossing in hopes of getting work or asylum.

Egyptian border guards trying to stem the flow of illegal migration into Israel have killed dozens of migrants in recent years.

Egypt: Censorship of Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper

2011-12-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

The Independent
Censorship row fuels public's fears over Egyptian election

December 05, 2011

Alastair Beach

As Egyptians await the final results of their first free elections in decades, which they hope will herald a new era of freedom and openness, a censorship row has broken out at the country's newest newspaper after staff were ordered to shelve an entire print run of 20,000 copies over an article that suggested the leader of the governing Military Council could go to prison.

Employees at the Egypt Independent, an English-language weekly, were told the latest edition could not be distributed because of the final two paragraphs of an opinion piece about Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who became de facto president after the demise of Hosni Mubarak in February.

It is another blow for those who have raised concerns about the direction of Egypt's revolution, with critics alleging that the country's top brass appear intent on undermining the popular uprising to preserve their decades-old networks of power.

The offending article, headlined, "Is Tantawi reading the public pulse correctly?", had suggested that many in the military believed their reputation was being abused. "The military institution could remove him to save itself," argued the opinion piece, by American historian Dr Robert Springborg. It concluded that a group of "discontented officers" might decide that a "coup within the coup" was the best way to deal with Tantawi, and mentioned a possible contender for the Field Marshal's post.

"The present rumblings of discontent among junior officers, Chief of Staff General Sami Anan's greater popularity than the Field Marshal in the military and among Egyptians as a whole, and intensified pressure from the US could all result in the Field Marshal sharing President Mubarak's fate," Dr Springborg wrote. Editorial staff had cleared the article for printing last Wednesday. But, as the presses were rolling, the paper received a phone call from Magdi el-Galad, editor of Al-Masry Al-Youm, the Arabic-language sister publication of the Egypt Independent.

Mr el-Galad, who has overall editorial control of both publications, ordered staff not to distribute the paper. "Nobody's happy about this," said one source with detailed knowledge of what transpired. "They feel that to be censored politically is not acceptable."

The intervention by Mr el-Galad, which left the publication in crisis after only its second week of circulation, is especially significant as he was recently offered the post of Information Minister in Egypt's new cabinet. Mr el-Galad refused, citing work commitments, but his attempt to muzzle mention of army discord raises questions. One source close to Mr el-Galad said he had developed close ties to the military and security services over the years. The Independent approached Mr el-Galad for a response, but he declined to comment.

The censorship row came as official results from the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections showed that Islamist parties had captured nearly two-thirds of the vote.

The Muslim Brotherhood took 36.6 per cent of the 9.7 million votes cast, but it was the success of the ultra-conservative Al-Nour Party that startled many Egyptians. Candidates for the party, which draws support from hardline Salafi Muslims and advocates strict curbs on art and personal freedoms, polled nearly 25 per cent.

*Photo courtesy of EPA

Robert Fisk: Back to Tahrir Square

2011-12-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Independent
Robert Fisk: Back to Tahrir Square

December 2, 2011

When they massed to call for the fall of Mubarak, Egypt's protesters were filled with hope. Now they are disillusioned with the army they trusted – but just as angry as ever

Robert Fisk

You can get almost anything you want in Tahrir Square these days. Corn-on-the-cob, tea, coffee, suitcases, a cheap holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh, feta cheese, firecrackers, garbage, eggs, empty tear-gas cartridges and lots and lots of arguments and heaps of banners extolling the courage of martyrs and the evils of policemen. There are still a few thousand there every day – today, the revolutionaries are calling for another million – but the many more millions who queued to vote on Monday and Tuesday have put Tahrir Square's integrity in doubt. Who represents Egypt now?

The young and secular revolutionaries in Tahrir or the growing list of successful Islamist candidates – Muslim Brotherhood and, surprisingly, an increasing number of Salafists – with their millions of votes? Certainly not Field-Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler. He glowers down critically from many a Tahrir poster. He really must get rid of his silly American baseball-style military cap and wear a proper soldier's beret like the rest of his men. And every morning, I hope he gets out of bed and says three times: "I was not elected. I was not elected. I was not elected." For that's the point, isn't it? Tahrir wasn't elected. Nor was Tantawi.

You can canvass a thousand views on Tahrir. There will be a big uprising here, I'm told at a medical tent, there will be a titanic struggle between a newly elected parliament and the Military Council, unless, of course, the Brotherhood have done a secret deal with the army (I suspect, I suspect) so that Tantawi can rule as a closet Mubarak, the Great Father Figure who will escape all civilian control by allowing the Islamists to flounder away in government in return for lèse-majesty privileges, an Algeria-like "pouvoir" above the "pouvoir", In Tahrir, it's easy to be cynical. The revolutionaries – the young, the secular, the brothers and sisters of the January-February martyrs – want an end to the Military Council, the rejuvenated brutality of the state security police, the lawlessness of the Interior Ministry.

They've even collected another clutch of martyrs: 42 in all, blasted away by snipers and cops last month with an unusual, more suffocating tear-gas, and birdshot into the eyes of demonstrators. Forty-nine young people lost eyes and the Tahrir men and women have already renamed the boulevard which leads to the Interior Ministry "Eyes of Freedom Street".

It used to be Mohamed Mahmoud Street. And here's an interesting thing. Mahmoud was one of the nastiest of Egyptian interior ministers eight decades ago, a Wafd party acolyte who served King Farouq, earlier imprisoned by the British in Malta along with that fine lawyer Saad Zaghloul. Zaghloul is the father of all Egyptian revolutions – against the British – and a hero for today's revolutionaries. His colleague Mahmoud was a pre-Mubarak Mubarak. He even became prime minister in 1928, ruling without a parliament for 18 months, a "law and order" man. Sounds, as they say, familiar?

But the old Tahrir of January and February is now more a memory than an inspiration. It's recognisably the same place; the great old apartment blocks and the wicked concrete Soviet-era Mugamma Building – a grey despair-all-ye-who-enter-here tombstone of bureaucracy that the Egyptian revolution shut down – and the rose-pink Egyptian museum and the hulk of the old Hilton and Farouq's ancient foreign ministry.

But the flowering of young courage, the defeat of the cops and their drug-addled "baltagai" thugs in February, the everyone-suddenly-burst-out-singing joy of Mubarak's overthrow, has ended up in the pit of all revolutions. Hopes betrayed, parties hijacked, cops back on the streets. I remember a woman telling me back then that, "All we want is the departure of Mubarak", and I said surely she means the system as well, but somehow Tahrir – back then – aimed only at Mubarak and the army were their heroes and all would be well in the best of all possible worlds.

The people won. The dictator fell. Long live free Egypt. And then it turned out that Mubarak had not turned his rule over to the president of the constitutional court – which the 1971 Egyptian constitution says he should have done – but to his old chum Tantawi and the 19 other generals of whom he, Mubarak, had once been an air force comrade. And Tantawi kept appointing or approving more Mubarak chums, not least the very latest Prime Minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri who had been a Mubarak prime minister; a government of the unelected, some of them very elderly indeed, would now "guide" Egypt's revolution, the old ruling the young.

It seems incredible, now, that the Military Council should have arrested so many thousands of demonstrators since the revolution, that so many should have been tortured by cops, that the army would institute virginity tests for arrested women. And yes, what are Egyptian soldiers doing, carrying out virginity tests on young Egyptian women? Is this really the same army of the brave which crossed the Suez Canal in 1973 and won back Egypt's military glory?

Off the record – of course – an army officer would explain that the tests were to prevent the women claiming later that they had been raped by soldiers. Then, he sniggered, they discovered that the women weren't virgins anyway. Ye Gods! And not far away from Tahrir was the outrageous sectarian battle which saw an army armoured vehicle driving down Christian Copts, the driver having apparently – I somehow enjoyed this weird explanation – suffered a "nervous" collapse. But no, it's not the army the people are against. The soldiers are their brothers and uncles and sons. It's the Military Council.

They've even managed to find a few thousand Egyptians to demonstrate for them, a familiar we-love-the-regime fest which we saw in Cairo under Mubarak and in Tunis under Ben Ali and in Tripoli under Gaddafi and in Damascus under Assad and in Sanaa under Saleh and in Bahrain under the King. It's as if Blair could trump up a pro-faith demo when two million marched against the Iraq war in London. But not all the Tahrir spirit has evaporated.

Wissam Mohamed, a 26-year old translator completing a masters in political science, a scarf over her hair, bright brown eyes, says she's still a revolutionary and believes that the Military Council will not hand over power without further demonstrations by "the people". She mourns the fact that so many of the dead and wounded last month were young and from such poor families. She senses that Mubarak – the farmer Mr Smith of Orwell's 1984 – has not really gone. "Mr Smith never left," she says. "His men are still here. They might well put him back in the palace."

*Photo courtesy of REUTERS

The Gandhis & the Guevaras of Tahrir

2011-12-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
The Gandhis and the Guevaras
Street fighters hold down the frontline against police

December 1, 2011

Jano Charbel

During ongoing anti-military protests that erupted last week, a clear divide has emerged between the Gandhis and the Guevaras, in other words, the thousands who chant and march peaceably in Tahrir Square and the hundreds who throw rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails in downtown Cairo’s side streets.

“We’re fighting the police because they are thugs,” 17-year-old Mohamed Karam said at the time, as he prepared to launch a Molotov cocktail at the “thugs” down the street. “The thuggery of the Central Security Forces (CSF) is the same as it was during the days of Mubarak. In fact, they might have grown more repressive since the revolution," he added. In the background, dozens of Karam’s comrades chanted, “The police are thugs!”

This sentiment was common among frontline fighters.

“The authorities are calling us thugs on state-owned radio and TV, but in reality it is the police who are thugs," Ahmed Atwa, a 29-year-old street vendor, said. He pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal a large scar on his left shoulder. "This is from the police officer and his soldiers who tortured me in the Helwan police station in 2001."

Most — though certainly not all — of the Guevaras are like Karam and Atwa, working class or unemployed men in their teens or twenties from some of Cairo’s poorest neighborhoods who say they haven’t yet finished their educations.

Karam, a high-school dropout, participated in the 18-day uprising against then-President Hosni Mubarak. He said he returned to the streets on 19 November "because I saw how the Central Security Forces brutally assaulted the peaceful protesters camped in Tahrir Square on Saturday. It's my duty to protect these people — and to teach the police a lesson."

Another street fighter, who called himself “Hamdy Molotov,” clenched a petrol bomb in his hand. Like Karam, “Molotov” is unemployed.

"The police and army, acting on the orders of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, instigated these clashes by attacking peaceful protesters in the square," he screamed over the din of the battle.

Referring to 19 November, when the most recent clashes began, “Molotov” said, "On Saturday the police attacked the families of those martyred in the revolution, along with wounded and disabled revolutionaries camping in the square. Have the police not done enough harm already?"

“Yesterday the Central Security Forces and the military police dragged the corpses of protesters they had killed and piled them up in a garbage heap,” the 23-year-old revolutionary said. “This is against the basic tenets of Islam and Christianity. Not even the Zionists commit such barbaric crimes."

"We cannot accept such crimes from the police or the army. Our revolution was meant to put an end Mubarak's corruption and to end police brutality," the street fighter added. “Our revolution started on 25 January, which was Egyptian Police Day, and this is why we must make sure that the police do not resort to their old ways. This is why we are fighting."

“Molotov” had barely finished this sentence when the CSF resumed firing volleys of teargas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Other black-clad CSF troops hurled rocks and bottles at the street fighters. The fighters briefly took cover behind makeshift barricades and burnt-out cars, then resumed hurling rocks. The battle raged on.

Minutes later, a handful of older Gandhis held their hands in the air and chanted, "Peaceful, peaceful" as they positioned themselves between the younger Guevaras and the CSF troops. A five-minute lull ensued.

But “peaceful” isn’t the aim of many of the youth who seek out and hold down the front lines. They want some kind of revenge against the police “thugs” who have harassed them for years. Atwa, the street vendor-turned-rock-thrower with a torture scar, has a score to settle.

"The police have repeatedly confiscated and stolen the clothes I sell on the sidewalks. I've also been locked up for several months just because I sell these goods on the street. I need to make a living to pay my rent,” he said.

"I'm not a criminal. It is the police who are criminals and thugs for abusing me. They must pay for the crimes they committed against me, and against others."

*Originally published in Egypt Independent, on November 24

USA Questioned on Egypt Tear Gas Shipments

2011-12-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now
U.S. Questioned on Egypt Tear Gas Shipments

November 30, 2011

The Obama administration is facing scrutiny over the recent shipments of tear gas from a U.S. firm to the military government in Egypt. Workers at Egypt’s Suez seaport revealed an initial seven ton shipment from the company Combined Systems recently arrived. Egyptian forces have used U.S-made tear gas in an attempt to break up the mass protests against military rule in Tahrir Square. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner was questioned about the shipments.

Reporter: "What does that say then, when you’ve got tear gas shipments arriving in the Port of Suez with “Made in the USA” on the side of them?

Mark Toner: "Well, it’s – again, as I said, these are — this tear gas is approved for export to many countries around the world. It’s used by police forces in many countries around the world including our own..."

Reporter: "But you’ve seen instances, haven’t you, in the past week or so, where it’s been misused?"

Mark Toner: "Right. And let me just finish what — my last point, which was saying that we certainly condemn the misuse of tear gas that would result in death or injury. And any kind of misuse to that extent would certainly cause us to — give us pause, I think, and has the potential to jeopardize future exports."

Occupy Wall Street's anarchist roots

2011-11-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

AL JAZEERA
Occupy Wall Street's anarchist roots

November 30, 2011

David Graeber

New York, NY - Almost every time I'm interviewed by a mainstream journalist about Occupy Wall Street I get some variation of the same lecture:

"How are you going to get anywhere if you refuse to create a leadership structure or make a practical list of demands? And what's with all this anarchist nonsense - the consensus, the sparkly fingers? Don't you realise all this radical language is going to alienate people? You're never going to be able to reach regular, mainstream Americans with this sort of thing!"

If one were compiling a scrapbook of worst advice ever given, this sort of thing might well merit an honourable place. After all, since the financial crash of 2007, there have been dozens of attempts to kick-off a national movement against the depredations of the United States' financial elites taking the approach such journalists recommended. All failed.

It was only on August 2, when a small group of anarchists and other anti-authoritarians showed up at a meeting called by one such group and effectively wooed everyone away from the planned march and rally to create a genuine democratic assembly, on basically anarchist principles, that the stage was set for a movement that Americans from Portland to Tuscaloosa were willing to embrace.

I should be clear here what I mean by "anarchist principles". The easiest way to explain anarchism is to say that it is a political movement that aims to bring about a genuinely free society - that is, one where humans only enter those kinds of relations with one another that would not have to be enforced by the constant threat of violence.

History has shown that vast inequalities of wealth, institutions like slavery, debt peonage or wage labour, can only exist if backed up by armies, prisons, and police. Anarchists wish to see human relations that would not have to be backed up by armies, prisons and police. Anarchism envisions a society based on equality and solidarity, which could exist solely on the free consent of participants.

ANARCHISM VERSUS MARXISM

Traditional Marxism, of course, aspired to the same ultimate goal but there was a key difference. Most Marxists insisted that it was necessary first to seize state power, and all the mechanisms of bureaucratic violence that come with it, and use them to transform society - to the point where, they argued such mechanisms would, ultimately, become redundant and fade away.

Even back in the 19th century, anarchists argued that this was a pipe dream. One cannot, they argued, create peace by training for war, equality by creating top-down chains of command, or, for that matter, human happiness by becoming grim joyless revolutionaries who sacrifice all personal self-realisation or self-fulfillment to the cause.

It's not just that the ends do not justify the means (though they don't), you will never achieve the ends at all unless the means are themselves a model for the world you wish to create. Hence the famous anarchist call to begin "building the new society in the shell of the old" with egalitarian experiments ranging from free schools to radical labour unions to rural communes.

Anarchism was also a revolutionary ideology, and its emphasis on individual conscience and individual initiative meant that during the first heyday of revolutionary anarchism between roughly 1875 and 1914, many took the fight directly to heads of state and capitalists, with bombings and assassinations. Hence the popular image of the anarchist bomb-thrower.

It's worthy of note that anarchists were perhaps the first political movement to realise that terrorism, even if not directed at innocents, doesn't work. For nearly a century now, in fact, anarchism has been one of the very few political philosophies whose exponents never blow anyone up (indeed, the 20th-century political leader who drew most from the anarchist tradition was Mohandas K Gandhi.)

Yet for the period of roughly 1914 to 1989, a period during which the world was continually either fighting or preparing for world wars, anarchism went into something of an eclipse for precisely that reason: To seem "realistic", in such violent times, a political movement had to be capable of organising armies, navies and ballistic missile systems, and that was one thing at which Marxists could often excel. But everyone recognised that anarchists - rather to their credit - would never be able to pull it off. It was only after 1989, when the age of great war mobilisations seemed to have ended, that a global revolutionary movement based on anarchist principles - the global justice movement - promptly reappeared.

How, then, did OWS embody anarchist principles? It might be helpful to go over this point by point:

1) The refusal to recognise the legitimacy of existing political institutions.

One reason for the much-discussed refusal to issue demands is because issuing demands means recognising the legitimacy - or at least, the power - of those of whom the demands are made. Anarchists often note that this is the difference between protest and direct action: Protest, however militant, is an appeal to the authorities to behave differently; direct action, whether it's a matter of a community building a well or making salt in defiance of the law (Gandhi's example again), trying to shut down a meeting or occupy a factory, is a matter of acting as if the existing structure of power does not even exist. Direct action is, ultimately, the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free.

2) The refusal to accept the legitimacy of the existing legal order.

The second principle, obviously, follows from the first. From the very beginning, when we first started holding planning meetings in Tompkins Square Park in New York, organisers knowingly ignored local ordinances that insisted that any gathering of more than 12 people in a public park is illegal without police permission - simply on the grounds that such laws should not exist.

On the same grounds, of course, we chose to occupy a park, inspired by examples from the Middle East and southern Europe, on the grounds that, as the public, we should not need permission to occupy public space. This might have been a very minor form of civil disobedience but it was crucial that we began with a commitment to answer only to a moral order, not a legal one.

3) The refusal to create an internal hierarchy, but instead to create a form of consensus-based direct democracy.

From the very beginning, too, organisers made the audacious decision to operate not only by direct democracy, without leaders, but by consensus. The first decision ensured that there would be no formal leadership structure that could be co-opted or coerced; the second, that no majority could bend a minority to its will, but that all crucial decisions had to be made by general consent.

American anarchists have long considered consensus process (a tradition that has emerged from a confluence of feminism, anarchism and spiritual traditions like the Quakers) crucial for the reason that it is the only form of decision-making that could operate without coercive enforcement - since if a majority does not have the means to compel a minority to obey its dictates, all decisions will, of necessity, have to be made by general consent.

4) The embrace of prefigurative politics.

As a result, Zuccotti Park, and all subsequent encampments, became spaces of experiment with creating the institutions of a new society - not only democratic General Assemblies but kitchens, libraries, clinics, media centres and a host of other institutions, all operating on anarchist principles of mutual aid and self-organisation - a genuine attempt to create the institutions of a new society in the shell of the old.

Why did it work? Why did it catch on? One reason is, clearly, because most Americans are far more willing to embrace radical ideas than anyone in the established media is willing to admit. The basic message - that the American political order is absolutely and irredeemably corrupt, that both parties have been bought and sold by the wealthiest 1 per cent of the population, and that if we are to live in any sort of genuinely democratic society, we're going to have to start from scratch - clearly struck a profound chord in the American psyche.

Perhaps this is not surprising: We are facing conditions that rival those of the 1930s, the main difference being that the media seems stubbornly willing to acknowledge it. It raises intriguing questions about the role of the media itself in American society. Radical critics usually assume the "corporate media", as they call it, mainly exists to convince the public that existing institutions are healthy, legitimate and just.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that they do not really see this is possible; rather, their role is simply to convince members of an increasingly angry public that no one else has come to the same conclusions they have. The result is an ideology that no one really believes, but most people at least suspect that everybody else does.

Nowhere is this disjunction between what ordinary Americans really think, and what the media and political establishment tells them they think, more clear than when we talk about democracy.

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

According to the official version, of course, "democracy" is a system created by the Founding Fathers, based on checks and balances between president, congress and judiciary. In fact, nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or Constitution does it say anything about the US being a "democracy". The authors of those documents, almost to a man, defined "democracy" as a matter of collective self-governance by popular assemblies, and as such they were dead-set against it.

Democracy meant the madness of crowds: bloody, tumultuous and untenable. "There was never a democracy that didn't commit suicide," wrote Adams; Hamilton justified the system of checks and balances by insisting that it was necessary to create a permanent body of the "rich and well-born" to check the "imprudence" of democracy, or even that limited form that would be allowed in the lower house of representatives.

The result was a republic - modelled not on Athens, but on Rome. It only came to be redefined as a "democracy" in the early 19th century because ordinary Americans had very different views, and persistently tended to vote - those who were allowed to vote - for candidates who called themselves "democrats". But what did - and what do - ordinary Americans mean by the word?
Did they really just mean a system where they get to weigh in on which politicians will run the government?

It seems implausible. After all, most Americans loathe politicians, and tend to be skeptical about the very idea of government. If they universally hold out "democracy" as their political ideal, it can only be because they still see it, however vaguely, as self-governance - as what the Founding Fathers tended to denounce as either "democracy" or, as they sometimes also put it, "anarchy".

If nothing else, this would help explain the enthusiasm with which they have embraced a movement based on directly democratic principles, despite the uniformly contemptuous dismissal of the United States' media and political class.

In fact, this is not the first time a movement based on fundamentally anarchist principles - direct action, direct democracy, a rejection of existing political institutions and attempt to create alternative ones - has cropped up in the US. The civil rights movement (at least its more radical branches), the anti-nuclear movement, and the global justice movement all took similar directions.

Never, however, has one grown so startlingly quickly. But in part, this is because this time around, the organisers went straight for the central contradiction. They directly challenged the pretenses of the ruling elite that they are presiding over a democracy.

When it comes to their most basic political sensibilities, most Americans are deeply conflicted. Most combine a deep reverence for individual freedom with a near-worshipful identification with institutions like the army and police. Most combine an enthusiasm for markets with a hatred of capitalists. Most are simultaneously profoundly egalitarian, and deeply racist.

Few are actual anarchists; few even know what "anarchism" means; it's not clear how many, if they did learn, would ultimately wish to discard the state and capitalism entirely. Anarchism is much more than simply grassroots democracy: It ultimately aims to eliminate all social relations, from wage labour to patriarchy, that can only be maintained by the systematic threat of force.

But one thing overwhelming numbers of Americans do feel is that something is terribly wrong with their country, that its key institutions are controlled by an arrogant elite, that radical change of some kind is long since overdue.

They're right. It's hard to imagine a political system so systematically corrupt - one where bribery, on every level, has not only been made legal, but soliciting and dispensing bribes has become the full-time occupation of every American politician.

The outrage is appropriate. The problem is that up until September 17, the only side of the spectrum willing to propose radical solutions of any sort was the Right.

As the history of the past movements all make clear, nothing terrifies those running the US more than the danger of democracy breaking out. The immediate response to even a modest spark of democratically organised civil disobedience is a panicked combination of concessions and brutality. How else can one explain the recent national mobilisation of thousands of riot cops, the beatings, chemical attacks, and mass arrests, of citizens engaged in precisely the kind of democratic assemblies the Bill of Rights was designed to protect, and whose only crime - if any - was the violation of local camping regulations?

Our media pundits might insist that if average Americans ever realised the anarchist role in Occupy Wall Street, they would turn away in shock and horror; but our rulers seem, rather, to labour under a lingering fear that if any significant number of Americans do find out what anarchism really is, they might well decide that rulers of any sort are unnecessary.

Suez port workers uncover 21-ton US tear gas order for interior ministry

2011-11-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ahram Online
Suez port employees reveal 21-ton US tear gas order for interior ministry

November 29, 2011

Port workers in Suez refuse to receive initial seven ton shipment as the interior ministry looks to restock after firing tear gas at protesters in Egypt for six days last week

A group of customs employees at the Suez seaport have revealed that the Egyptian Ministry of Interior is in the process of receiving 21 tons of tear gas from the US.

The claim was supported by Medhat Eissa, an activist in the coastal city of Suez, who provided documents he says he obtained from a group of employees at the Suez Canal customs. The employees have been subjected to questioning for their refusal to allow an initial seven ton shipment of the US-made tear gas canisters enter the port.

A group of employees at the Adabiya Seaport in Suez have confirmed, with the documents to prove it, that a three-stage shipment of in total 21 tons of tear gas canisters is on course for the port from the American port of Wilmington.

Employees say the container ship Danica, carrying seven tons of tear-gas canisters made by the American company Combined Systems, has already arrived at the port, with two similar shipments from the same company expected to arrive within the week.

Vote For The Revolution - Street Art - إنتخبوا الثورة

2011-11-29T17:36:00.000-08:00

"Vote For The Revolution!" - "Down with the Field Marshall!"

Spray-painted by revolutionary youth artists on wall outside the Council of Ministers.

On the same wall outside the Council of Ministers, at the #OccupyCabinet encampment.

"One solution.
Revolution."

50% Quota for Workers & Farmers in Parliament

2011-11-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Eye on elections: Does the workers and farmers quota help workers and farmers?

Sun, 27/11/2011

Jano Charbel

In 1964, during the height of “Arab Socialist” President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s popularity, a new constitution was drafted that included a 50 percent quota for “workers and farmers” serving in the parliament. Forty-seven years and three rounds of constitutional amendments later, the quota remains in place as Egypt prepares for the first open parliamentary elections in recent history.

Nasser said that the law was intended to empower the working class in a country where 70 percent of the population was made up of workers and farmers. However, the definition of a “worker” or “farmer” under this law is a point of contention, and many advocates of the working class have doubts that this quota makes a difference in the communities it is meant to empower.

“The authorities should have canceled the 50 percent workers' and farmers' quota rather than women's quota,” says Walaa Ezzat, a farmer candidate from the Tagammu Party in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, referring to a short-lived quota intended to boost the number of female members of parliament. "Reserving 50 percent of seats for workers and farmers only serves to protect the interests of those who are backed by the ruling forces."

Shahinda Miqlad, a left-wing activist focusing on farmers’ rights, expresses similar skepticism about the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Large landowners running as farmer representatives will sweep these elections because they have resources and campaign money to do so successfully," she says.

According to Miqlad, landless peasants have nominated themselves for the current elections, as they have done for decades, but have little to no chance of winning. "These elections will not bring into power those workers, farmers and youth activists who took part in the revolution."

Kamal Abbas, a labor activist and the director of the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Rights, agrees. “This constitutional article doesn't guarantee the actual representation of workers and farmers. In this parliament, as in all previous ones, the authorities and ruling forces will fill these seats with their own representatives. “

WORKER CANDIDATES

The law defines a worker simply as someone who is a dues-paying member of a labor union and receives his or her income solely from “manual or intellectual labor.” Determining who falls into this category has become another battleground for the control of organized labor in Egypt.

Before the 25 January revolution, the only entity authorized to grant the classification of worker candidate was the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF). But in October, interim Manpower and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hassan al-Borai authorized the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), which was officially established on 30 January, to grant its dues-paying members the worker classification.

Mohamed Zakariya, the president of the Independent Teachers Syndicate in Port Said, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he received the classification of worker candidate from the EFITU, not the ETUF.

"I expect more genuine workers' representation in this future parliament," says Zakariya, a first-time candidate who supports the quota system. "I expect that worker representatives will fight for labor rights in parliament, along with activists in the field of independent trade unionism."

However, Zakariya acknowledges that dozens of independent trade unionists have been prevented from running as worker candidates in the upcoming elections.

The classification problems are caused by Trade Union Law 35/1976, which is in the process of being redrafted. The law only recognizes the authority of the ETUF, and accordingly, it is the only entity authorized to grant the worker classification to parliamentary candidates. Because no new trade union law has yet been issued, Law 35 remains in effect, despite the decree issued by Borai allowing the EFITU to also grant this classification to applicable candidates.

Dozens of independent unionists from Giza and the Nile Delta governorates of Daqahlia, Monufiya and Qalyubiya have not been recognized by the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections (SJCE) as worker candidates on the basis that they received this classification from the EFITU, not the ETUF. A number of these independent unionists have filed urgent appeals before the administrative courts. However, verdicts due to be issued have been repeatedly postponed.

"The failure of the SJCE to recognize our candidacies is a blatant electoral violation," says Fatma Ramadan, an independent unionist and employee at the Manpower Department in Giza. Ramadan adds that in light of the decree issued by Borai, "This refusal represents an unwarranted act of intervention by the election authorities.”

“Withholding recognition also represents an act of vote-rigging because it keeps independent unionists from being able to run in the elections and gives the state-controlled ETUF a monopoly on the issuing of the worker classifications," she adds.

The Qalyubiya Administrative Court issued a verdict on 16 November allowing worker candidates to receive the classification from their independent unions, not only the ETUF. However, in other governorates, such as Giza, where Ramadan is running, the matter has not been resolved, and candidates have been asked to resubmit their papers for consideration.

This is only a start to fixing problems with the quota system. In previous parliaments all a candidate needed to run as a worker or farmer was connections to the ruling party or the leadership of the ETUF.

“The quota is meant to protect the interests of the most thoroughly exploited and underprivileged sectors of society," says Zakariya. “We should work on guaranteeing that this classification is granted only to genuine unionists, workers and farmers — not retired officers, corporate managers and businessmen,” she adds.

FARMER CANDIDATES

The discussion surrounding farmer candidates is similar, but the category is more easily exploited. According to the Parliamentary Elections Law, anyone whose source of income comes from farming, resides in the countryside and owns no more than 10 feddans of land can run as a farmer. Local agricultural cooperatives, under the administration of the Agriculture Ministry, are the only entities authorized to grant candidates the classification.

But like the businesspeople who have run as workers, “the majority of people who have been classified as farmer candidates are exploiting this classification for their own ends,” says Ezzat. “Most of the so-called farmers who served as MPs in previous parliaments were in fact retired officers, businessmen, large landowners and even feudalists.”

"It is difficult to forecast the results of this election, and how representative the new parliament’s farmer MPs will be. However, one may easily predict that those candidates who have money will be the most likely to end up with seats," she says.

Mosaad Lotfy, a farmer MP from Mansoura who served several terms in parliament, could not be reached for comment. Lotfy was a member of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). He is running again as a farmer.

The coming parliament “will be very much like those that preceded it, with no real farmers' representation,” says Miqlad, the farmers’ rights activist. “It has not, and it will not, represent the will of those millions who toil on the land to scrape together a meager living."

The farmers' and workers' quota is a “Nasser-era article that is perceived as outdated,” according to Abbas. He claims that authors of the new constitution may eliminate it, particularly if the future parliament is dominated by liberal, free-market politicians and parties.

Farmers' and workers’ advocates, however, hope that this will not be the case. "I disagree with those who want to revoke the quota for workers and farmers,” says Miqlad. “We should coordinate our efforts to guarantee the genuine representation of farmers and workers in parliament, not their exclusion from these legislative bodies."

Tahrir Square protesters learn from 'mistakes'

2011-11-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

The National
Letter from Cairo: Tahrir Square protesters learn from 'mistakes'

November 28, 2011

Youssef Hamza

The protests that overshadowed yesterday’s election reveal a new breed of demonstrator who is less willing to be led by the loudest voices.

There are no podiums or stage microphones in Cairo's Tahrir Square this time around. There are no chants of "peaceful, peaceful" either and the atmosphere is both uncompromising and gritty.

In many ways, Egypt's second wave of protests is distinctly different from the one that swept the country for 18 days and led to the departure of Hosni Mubarak in February.

The protesters say they have learnt from the mistakes they made during the January-February uprising - no podiums, so no one gets a chance to "hijack the revolution", no microphones, so no one presumes to tell the square what to do and no chants of "peaceful, peaceful" because the police and their army backers are not likely to heed calls for calm or accept offers of olive branches.

The new-look Tahrir has thousands of protesters who fought police and soldiers with zeal and commitment for five days last week, using firebombs and slings.

At least 41 protesters were killed in demonstrations last week in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez and more than 2,000 others wounded.

Tahrir is more leaderless now than it was back in January and February, with a free-for-all atmosphere, though activists hope they would eventually produce a leader to unify their ranks.

The situation in today's square has overshadowed the once eagerly awaited parliamentary elections scheduled to start today, deepened the country's economic and security woes and threatens to divide the nation further.

The current protests began just over a week before the elections, the first since Mr Mubarak's departure, and aim to force the generals who took over to immediately step down. In their place, the protesters want a civilian presidential council and a "national salvation" government that would jointly run the country until a president is elected.

The protest leaders insist that they, not the military, select the country's interim leaders. They are conducting an informal election among the tens of thousands in Tahrir and elsewhere in the country to pick a leader for the proposed council and his deputies. Mohamed ElBaradei, the nation's top pro-reform leader, is the most likely winner of the informal election.

How the square plans to formally install him in power is not clear, but the selection process is clearly an attempt not to repeat what the protesters say was the biggest mistake of the January-February uprising - handing the reins of power to the military because they did not have a leader of their own.

The square's protesters have rejected the appointment by the military of a Mubarak-era prime minister to head an interim government. Kamal El Ganzouri, 78, served under Mr Mubarak between 1996 and 1999. The US-educated technocrat has not been tainted by the corruption allegations that touched most Mubarak regime stalwarts, but his choice amounted to a slap in the face of protesters already seething over the military's perceived reluctance to dismantle the ousted leader's 29-year legacy.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organised political group, has boycotted the protests in Cairo and a string of major cities across the nation. Its decision has revived suspicions that the group was secretly coordinating policy with the military, something that the generals have repeatedly denied. The Brotherhood maintains the protests pose a threat to national unity, but its boycott has been widely linked to the elections.

The group, empowered by Mr Mubarak's departure after nearly six decades as an illegal organisation, is expected to dominate the elections along with its Islamist allies. The group, say the activists, does not want to be engaged in any action that could threaten its best shot at translating its popular appeal to formal political muscle.

The military has offered to immediately return to the barracks if Egyptians vote in favour of it surrendering power in a nationwide referendum. The military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi made the offer in a televised address last week but he did not say when such a vote would be held.

It is not clear at all if Field Marshall Tantawi's offer was serious or whether he was bluffing or was throwing the gauntlet to the protesters in Tahrir demanding that he and his fellow generals step down.

But the military, the nation's most powerful institution, is not likely to risk an embarrassing defeat and will most likely strike a deal with political groups that could be persuaded to deliver enough votes to defeat those in favour of its immediate return to the barracks.

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies will be the obvious choice of allies for the generals. Such a deal could move the Brotherhood and other Islamists closer to their dream of an Islamic Egypt under their tutelage. The Brotherhood and their Salafi allies have shown remarkable campaign skills in a referendum held in March on constitutional amendments proposed by the military. Taking advantage of the piety of most of Egypt's Muslims, they portrayed a "yes" vote as one cast for Islam and a "no" vote to be for the "immoral" liberals and the minority Christians.

It worked.

The amendments were adopted by a vast majority, and there is no reason to believe it would not happen again if a second referendum is held on whether the military should immediately go. Significantly, the military has in recent days cited the endorsement of the amendments in the March vote as proof of the legitimacy of its rule to counter Tahrir's calls for it to surrender.

Much has been said by analysts, activists and columnists about the military and the Brotherhood having a meeting of minds that pits them against the liberal youth groups behind Mubarak's departure and the continuing wave of protests. The military has repeatedly denied the two were in cohorts, but that did not silence those who say they have forged a secret alliance similar to that between the army officers who toppled the monarchy in a 1952 coup and the Brotherhood then. Like it was then, many believe today's suspected Brotherhood-military alliance is built entirely on common short-term interests, but not ideology.

Others believe the two sides came together because the military on coming to power in February could not find anyone with genuine popular base to speak to except the Brotherhood.

The generals, who have been passionately arguing the legitimacy of their rule, have also resorted to divide-and-rule tactics to counter the growing appeal of the Tahrir crowds. On Friday, a rival though much smaller crowd gathered in a square not far from the defence ministry to voice support for the military.

The state television's coverage of the protests has been clearly pro-military, with hosts hauling one guest after another to the studios to speak of the disastrous effect on the economy of the protests and the inexperience and naivety of the Tahrir protesters.

Photos: Cairo protests, November 23 - 26

2011-11-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Protest at Tahrir Square, Mohamed Mahmoud Street, and Parliament [Photos from November 23 - 26]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Volunteers, field hospitals tend to Tahrir wounded

2011-11-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Omar Makram field hospital tends to Tahrir wounded

Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011

Jano Charbel

The field hospitals, clinics and makeshift pharmacies that began to reappear downtown following Saturday’s violent police crackdown on protester encampments are once again mushrooming in and around Tahrir Square.

The demand for easily accessible medical services grew with the confrontations between protesters and riot police on Tahrir's side streets. Reports of the number of fatalities and injuries have varied, with the Health Ministry saying more than 31 have been killed nationwide.

Hundreds of physicians, nurses, medical students, and interns have volunteered to tend to the injured and, reminiscent of the uprising early this year, are staffing at least seven field hospitals and clinics in the area.

"Sunday was by far the bloodiest day,” said Dr. Ahmed Samy, a recent medical school graduate. “We tend to those injuries and conditions which do not require surgery-room operations."

The young physician added, "serious injuries, such as gunshot wounds and embedded (lead) bullets are rushed off in ambulances to hospitals and operating rooms."

Samy is stationed at the Omar Makram Mosque's field hospital, outside of which dozens of orange ambulances deployed by the Ministry of Health are stationed. At times, injured protesters are brought to the field hospital nearly every minute. The volunteers tend to limping, bleeding, bruised, panting and unconscious activists.

"The most common injuries we receive are fainting due to tear gas inhalation, bruises, broken bones, fractures, and cuts from the rocks and bottles being thrown back and forth," he said.

The field hospital has also treated injuries from rubber shotgun pellets, and some burns caused by tear gas canisters and Molotov cocktails. Samy says one man was also rushed to Qasr al-Aini hospital after sustaining a spinal injury when he was trampled.

Omar Makram and other makeshift treatment areas are roped off to keep throngs of protesters from encroaching on them. Activists also link arms, forming human chains to clear the roads for ambulances and the motorcycles used to ferry the wounded through the congested square.

On Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where most of the fighting has occurred, activists are on standby with spray bottles and squeeze tubes of chemical solutions (such as Maalox or other antacids) to douse protesters who have been hit with tear gas. They spray and squirt these solutions onto the faces of tearful protesters to counter the burning sensation. Others carry vinegar or soda, which allegedly have a soothing effect.

"We are all volunteers here. There is no professional association, political party or group which is organizing this effort,” said Qassem Ismail, a medical student at Qasr al-Aini University who is also working at the Omar Makram field hospital.

“All our medicines, equipment, ointments, and bandages have been donated to us by sympathizers and activists," he said. “We have a significant stock of these medicines, and we usually don't run out of these supplies because we tell the donors exactly what we need."

Located just one block away is the Qasr al-Dobara Church field hospital.

"I'm not a doctor or nurse, I'm here just to make sure that security forces or thugs do not attack this field hospital,” said Tareq Aziz as he stood guard outside the church. “On Sunday, Central Security Forces and military police destroyed the field hospital in the middle of Tahrir Square, they burnt down the hospital tent and medical supplies."

Military junta & protesters dig in for long standoff

2011-11-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

New York Times
Egypt Military and Protesters Dig In for a Long Standoff

November 24, 2011

David Kirkpatrick

Egypt's interim military rulers and the masses of protesters demanding their exit dug in Thursday for a prolonged standoff as the generals vowed to forge ahead with parliamentary elections despite a week of violence that is certain to tarnish the vote.

State news organizations reported that at least one political party — the Social Democrats, perhaps the best established of the liberal parties founded in the burst of hope after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak nine months ago — would boycott the elections as a sham intended to prop up military rule.

By day’s end on Thursday, the Muslim Brotherhood also appeared to distance itself from the military council. The powerful Islamist group stands to gain the most from early elections and for the moment had stepped to the sidelines of the protests.

As clashes with the security police stopped for the first time this week, the crowd in Tahrir Square grew larger on Thursday than the day before, reaching tens of thousands. A broad spectrum of civilian leaders — excluding the Brotherhood — joined calls for a “million man march” on Friday.

The generals were unmoved. “Egypt is not Tahrir Square,” Maj. Gen. Mukhtar el-Mallah, a member of the military council, declared early Thursday at a news conference. The generals claimed an open-ended mandate to hold power long after Monday’s parliamentary vote. “We will not relinquish power because of a slogan-chanting crowd.

The declaration, after six days of violent confrontation in the capital and around the country, shifted the political struggle to a new and murkier phase.

Fulfilling a promise made in negotiations with political parties earlier in the week, the military pulled back the security forces who had battled protesters and constructed a concrete wall bisecting the street where most of the clashes had taken place.

The generals, meanwhile, issued an unusual apology for the deaths of at least 38 people during the week of unrest and the injuries of more than 2,000. But even as they hailed the dead as “martyrs,” the generals also appeared to justify killing them as criminals who had attacked the Interior Ministry. And they denied — despite the statements of many witnesses, doctors and even the health ministry — that security forces had fired live ammunition or birdshot in their clashes with protesters, further inflaming anger.

“The police are very committed to self-control, but I can’t give orders to anyone not to defend themselves,” General Mallah said.

Then, late in the day, the generals announced over the state news media that they would name a 77-year-old former Mubarak lieutenant, Kamel el-Ganzoury, as their new prime minister, though many Egyptians mocked him as “a dinosaur.”

The appointment of Mr. Ganzoury follows the resignation this week of the previous prime minister, in capitulation to street protesters’ demands. The last prime minister was a functionary serving the military council, and the demonstrators, as well as most civilian parties, are now calling for the council to hand over real authority to a successor.

But the council made clear in its news conference on Thursday that it was not ready to surrender any power, and the choice of Mr. Ganzoury appeared to show the generals’ preference for a prime minister who would serve in a subordinate role, as Mr. Ganzoury did under Mr. Mubarak. Several others also reportedly turned the post down.

The selection of Mr. Ganzoury may also have provoked the Muslim Brotherhood, the one major political force that had agreed to a deal with the military council for it to retain full power until early elections. As prime minister in the late 1990s, Mr. Ganzoury presided over the incarceration or torture of scores of Islamists who now lead the movement.

In a statement released shortly after Mr. Ganzoury’s name was floated, the Brotherhood’s new Freedom and Justice Party pointedly declared that the next prime minister “must enjoy general national consensus and popular acceptance and have to stand at one distance from all political forces.” The group said that its leaders had not met with the council on Thursday, meaning they had not been consulted.

The Brotherhood had already issued a statement appearing to back away from its previous embrace of an agreement with the military council for it to hold power until after an accelerated constitutional ratification and presidential vote by the end of June.

A Brotherhood spokesman had previously said it would not join the street protests demanding the immediate transfer of power because it had agreed with the council on a timetable that all should accept.

But the group was pilloried for appearing to trade its support to the council in exchange for holding elections on a favorable timetable, and it faced internal divisions on the issue as well.

The group responded Thursday in an extraordinarily defensive statement that it had declined to join the protests only because it feared its presence could provoke more violence, not because of a political calculus.

“Our decision has been misunderstood and misinterpreted by some,” the group said. “They harshly criticized and slandered the Muslim Brotherhood.”

It added, “Had we been out to secure our own interests and reap popularity on the political street, going down to Tahrir Square would have been just the way to do that. But we refrained from rash action,” calling the demonstrators “purely patriotic youths and sincere citizens.”

In the square, many argued Thursday that the military’s ability to end the violence at its discretion — a provision of its agreement with the Brotherhood — suggested that the generals might have deliberately tolerated it for days. “If they had done this the first day, there would not have been any martyrs or injuries,” said Mohamed Salem, 25, watching a crane erect the wall of cement blocks across the side street that had become the central battleground between protesters and the security police.

Although the military said that the security police were merely defending the Interior Ministry from attack, the fighting had always centered on that one block leading to the square, while other more direct routes to the ministry remained open, supporting the assertions of many protesters that the security forces were deliberately provoking the violence to destabilize the elections.

A flawed or disputed election, the argument runs, would undercut liberal hopes that the new Parliament could become an effective counterweight to the power of the ruling officers’ council during the rest of the transition.

But the protesters, emboldened by the end of the fighting, said they were as determined as ever to stay in the square until the military council and its chief, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, left power. “Oh, Field Marshal, Oh, Field Marshal, legitimacy comes from Tahrir,” they chanted.

With the flames of garbage fires lighted during the fighting the night before still smoldering in the morning, some said competition among candidates now seemed irrelevant to the more pressing struggle against the military. “Elections don’t matter for me anymore, because now there is blood,” said Samer Saad Ali, 37, an accountant who vowed to stay until Mr. Tantawi left power.

Then, at around 4:30 p.m., the same debate about the election suddenly broke out in clusters around the square. In each, a lone voice tried to convince those around him that it was time to go home, to focus on the vote, as others passed out fliers with a similar message nearby.

Though it appeared to be an organized campaign to empty the square, its true sponsor — some suggested the military council, others pointed at the Brotherhood or another conservative religious group — was not clear.

But in any case, the crowd only grew. “You can’t trust the Field Marshal with the square; how can you trust him with elections?” argued Adel Fawzy Tawfiq, 47, a butcher. Mr. Tantawi “is betting on the ‘silent majority,’ ” he added. “He never learned the lesson of Mubarak.”

Others, though, said they intended to stay to protest and turn out to vote, no matter how flawed the tally. “The Egyptian people, through their representatives, will be able to stand up to anyone,” said Reda Bassiouni, a 48-year-old lawyer As he walked the square, he held hands with his small son, whom he had brought along “to see the history,” he said.

*May el Sheik and Dina Salah Amer contributed reporting from Cairo and Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris.
*Photo courtesy of Khalil Hamra/Associated Press

Tahrir protesters killed by live ammunition

2011-11-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

The Guardian
Tahrir Square protesters killed by live ammunition, say doctors

Thursday, November 24

Jack Shenker

Egypt's ruling generals accused by human rights group after morgue workers in Cairo contradict official claims

Egypt's ruling generals have been accused by a human rights organisation of having blood on their hands after medical workers confirmed that live ammunition had been used against anti-junta demonstrators in Tahrir Square.

According to morgue officials, at least 22 Egyptians have been killed by live bullets since street battles began on Saturday, directly contradicting government statements that security forces have never opened fire on protesters.

One hospital doctor told the Guardian he had personally seen 10 patients struck by live ammunition during the protests that have swept Egypt in the past six days, six of whom did not survive.

"Many of the fatalities were as a result of a single shot to the head," said Hesham Ashraf, of Qasr el-Aini hospital, one of central Cairo's largest medical facilities. Autopsies on 12 other bodies confirm live ammunition as the cause of death, including some cases where the bullet was clearly shot from a height, suggesting the possible involvement of army or police snipers.

This week the health minister, Amr Helmy, became the first government figure to acknowledge that deaths had been caused by live ammunition, but insisted that the security forces were not behind the shootings.

"Time and time again the military has insisted that it has not used live ammunition against protesters, as if it is somehow not responsible for the riot police operating under military command and control," said Sarah Leah Witson of Human Rights Watch, which has investigated the killings. "It is irrelevant whether the live ammunition came from the riot police or the military police. What is relevant is who gave the orders to shoot live bullets on protesters, and when they will be prosecuted for it."

One victim, a 16-year-old boy, was allegedly killed on Wednesday morning by a live bullet to the chest after leaving school to join the protests in Tahrir Square. His death came just hours after Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi – the target of those rallying for change – appeared on television to address the nation and declared: "We never killed a single Egyptian, man or woman."

The victim's family say the shooting happened on a main road leading to Tahrir that has been the site of Cairo's most intense fighting in recent days. Abdul Rahman Eman Ali, who attended school in the populous Shubra neighbourhood of northern Cairo, reportedly left with a group of friends in the late morning and travelled to Tahrir. His relatives, who spoke to the Guardian outside Zeinhum morgue, claim that as he moved into Mohamed Mahmoud street he was shot from a distance by a single bullet, which penetrated his sternum.

"His friends called his parents to say he had been shot; before that the family had no idea Abdul was even in Tahrir," said the victim's cousin Hisham Mahrous. "They drove to different hospitals to find someone to operate on him, but at every one the staff just said 'he's already dead, you have to take him to the morgue'."

The official autopsy report on the boy's death will not be available for two weeks, but medical experts say it would not be possible for a rubber-coated bullet or tear gas canister – two other types of ammunition that have caused deaths in recent days – to have had the impact on the chest reported in his case.

"It is very easy to distinguish between live rounds and rubber bullets or cartouche because the impact and penetration is very different," said Dr Ashraf. "I have myself observed a 9mm live bullet being extricated from a protester's back. This is a level of violence we have not seen before, not even during the [anti-Mubarak] uprising in January and February."

According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo-based human rights organisation that has been investigating the use of live ammunition by security forces, some protesters have been shot dead while trying to come to the aid of others.

Its inquiries suggest that on Sunday two young men were gunned down while trying to help people who had fainted from exposure to teargas following a brief army-led assault on Tahrir. Essam El Sayed Saber, 27, was reportedly hit by a live round in the back of his head. Fellow protester Mohamed Said Iman, 25, is believed to have been hit by a live bullet to the waist.

Outside Zeinhum morgue, the main mortuary for the Egyptian capital, dozens of family members of those killed in Tahrir gathered in search of both bodies and answers. Punctuated by the sporadic arrival of ambulances and hearses, relatives stood crying and arguing with officials about gaining access to doctors, who are for the most part closed off from the public by a set of large metal doors. Empty wooden coffins lay stacked up by the entrance.

"Please tell the governments of the west to stop sending bombs, gas and bullets to our leaders, because our leaders are using them to destroy us," urged one bystander. The sporadic arrival or departure of a corpse was accompanied by screams from the crowd, and several people fainted.

There were fears that the official death toll fell well short of the actual number of fatalities as reports emerged that some doctors were coming under pressure to falsify autopsy reports and give the cause of death as something other than live ammunition.

Legal experts say that the use of live rounds could be in contravention of both Egyptian and international law. "Egypt is a member of the international covenant on civil and political rights, and article six of the covenant prohibits any arbitrary deprivation of life," said Ruth Wedgwood, an international law professor at Johns Hopkins University and a former member of the UN human rights committee.

"The use of deadly force is restricted to imminent threat. If there was an attempt to use firearms to intimidate, make a political point or discourage protesting in general, then that would certainly be pressing the boundaries of legality under international law," she explained, adding that more senior commanders could be held responsible.

"If security forces are issued loaded weapons and there was an order to fire at will at demonstrators then this would implicate state responsibility. If there was a commander who authorised the use of live ammunition with the intention of being intimidating or punitive, that implicates national responsibility, though to make a case you'd have to unravel where the orders came from and what the facts on the ground are, and that's extremely difficult."

Writer details horrific sexual assault by police

2011-11-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

Bikya Masr
Writer Mona el-Tahawy details horrific sexual assault by Egypt police

24 November 2011

Joseph Mayton

Award-winning Egyptian columnist Mona el-Tahawy has recounted on her personal Twitter account the sexual assault at the hands of the Egyptian police after she was detained for nearly 12 hours on Thursday morning in Cairo.

The writer said she was blindfolded for at least two hours and questioned repeatedly.

She said that it was the “worst” sexual assault she had ever experienced.

“Besides beating me, the dogs of CSF subjected me to the worst sexual assault ever,” she said on Twitter.

“5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers,” she wrote, detailing her experience shortly after being released on Thursday early afternoon.

Tahawy was en route to a hospital, where she was going to have her arm x-rayed to determine the extent of the injuries she received.

She said that the police continued to grab and grope at her for hours during her detention.

At around 1 AM, el-Tahawy wrote on her personal Twitter account, “Pitch black, only flashing ambulance lights and air thick with gas Mohamed Mahmoud #Tahrir.”

She is one of dozens of journalists and observers who has been arrested in the past week of fighting, which has left many international rights groups concerned.

The violence, according to Bikyamasr.com medical sources, has left over 90 people dead and thousands of Egyptians injured in the violence, mainly on Mohamed Mahmoud street leading to the main Tahrir Square.

The 44 year-old was born in Port Said, but has since lived in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Israel, before settling in the US in 2000.

“I can barely imagine what my family and loved ones were going through those 12 hours-I know they were worried about me to begin with. Sorry,” she added.

Egypt: Protests grow for sixth day

2011-11-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Times
Egypt protests grow for sixth day

November 23, 2011

Jeffrey Fleishman, Amro Hassan and Matt Pearce

Crowds seethe with rage over the ruling generals, despite an announcement the day before of a plan to speed up transfer of power to a democratic government. The U.N. urges an end to the crackdown.

Protests swelled in Cairo for a sixth day Wednesday as international pressure mounted on Egypt's military rulers to stop a deadly crackdown on demonstrators who have reinvigorated the defiant spirit that last winter overthrew Hosni Mubarak.

The crowds surging into Tahrir Square were a clear sign that military concessions announced Tuesday to speed up the transfer of power to democratic government did little to stem the rage against the ruling generals. Tear gas mixed with epithets as protesters and police clashed on streets littered with bullet casings, metal pipes and stones.

The unrest intensified the drama before parliamentary elections planned for Monday. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said voting would not be postponed. But the nation was layered in conflicting emotions over taking a step closer to democracy amid the bloodshed carried out by a military state criticized for spoiling a revolution that helped inspire the "Arab Spring."

The United Nations condemned the violence and called for an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 32 people and the injuring of 2,000 more since the latest clashes started in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities.

"I urge the Egyptian authorities to end the clearly excessive use of force against protesters in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country, including the apparent improper use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition," said Navi Pillay, the U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights. "We are seeing another outbreak of violence by the state against its increasingly and legitimately angry citizens."

Men wearing scarves soaked in vinegar to blot tear gas and carrying rocks and Molotov cocktails surged through the streets beyond Tahrir in attempts to storm the Interior Ministry. Police held them back as clerics negotiated a truce, which quickly collapsed. Barricades rattled and security forces edged closer to the square amid the wail of ambulances and the roar of armored vehicles.

A young man carried back from the clashes on a motorcycle was declared dead in an alley next to a street fire and a pile of garbage as other protesters shouted over his body. He suffocated from tear gas, said a doctor, as wounded teenage boys headed for a makeshift hospital in a mosque.

"I love this country," said Mourad Helmy, an architect, visibly upset at the latest violence as other Egyptians in a cafe huddled around the TV trying to figure out what was happening. "If we lose Tahrir Square, then it's all over."

Days of fleeting truces and intense clashes mark the intertwined narratives of protests emanating from Tahrir: One is reminiscent of the revolution that overthrew Mubarak in February, with families roaming the square with painted faces while eating cotton candy; the other represents a front line of young men with a lot of anger, no political affiliations and warrior-like zeal aimed at reaching the Interior Ministry, the symbol of state repression.

Some of them are groups of soccer hooligans known as ultras, who appear like sudden storms from side streets and alleys. Raafat Bakaar, a civil engineer, said he and fellow demonstrators needed such protection. "The protesters tried to remain in the square but military police came and attacked us, so we can't trust them anymore," he said.

The problem with "us now is they [police] don't want us here," said Ahmed Shalpy, who had both fought on the front lines and volunteered at the field hospital set up at the Omar Makram mosque. He added: "We now are the red line. It doesn't matter how many lives we pay, but we won't leave."

But Ibrahim Kamel, who works at the Ministry of Agriculture, worried that the violence was hurting the country. Some men in the square suggested that protesters go home; that was unlikely, but the size of the crowd Wednesday night was slightly smaller than the night before.

"I don't think that protesters should confront police or get anywhere near the Interior Ministry," he said. "We all should avoid such fighting by securing the square from inside and not take our fight to anyone."

But there was no diminishment to the vitriol aimed at Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council. In a speech to the nation Tuesday, he promised to appoint a new interim Cabinet in coming days and hand power to a democratic government by July.

"Yesterday's speech was nothing," Kamel said. "It brought us back to the time when Mubarak used to address people with arrogance. Tantawi didn't mention anything about the murderers who killed protesters. There should have been a formal apology."

He added: "Changing the Cabinet will be no more than changing faces.… The army should get back to the barracks."

But deeper into the night, fires and tear gas canisters flashed in the side streets and alleys as more clerics arrived to talk peace.

*Photo courtesy of Ahmed Jadallah, Reuters

Egypt protests continue despite military concessions

2011-11-26T16:20:00.000-08:00

BBC News
Egypt unrest: Army concessions fail to end Cairo unrest

23 November 2011

Thousands of Egyptians have continued to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square despite an offer from the military for a speedier handover to civilian rule.

After four days of violent clashes, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said presidential elections would be held by July 2012.

But many protesters in the square said the concession was not enough and have demanded the field marshal step down.

Clashes continued between police and protesters in Cairo early on Wednesday.

Television pictures from Tahrir Square showed ambulances arriving to pick up the injured.

At least 30 people have been killed since Saturday and hundreds injured, officials say.

Police have been using tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot against protesters who have been throwing stones.

Some protesters said live bullets had been fired.

There have also been clashes in several Egyptian cities including Alexandria, Suez, Port Said and Aswan.

FRUSTRATION

Egypt's ruling military council had previously said presidential elections might not happen until late 2012 or 2013.

That move, coupled with a draft constitution produced earlier in the month that would exempt the military and its budget from civilian oversight, prompted a mass demonstration in Tahrir Square on Friday.

Events turned violent when security forces attempted to remove the protesters from the square at the weekend.

Many Egyptians have become frustrated with the slow pace of political reforms since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown as president in February after a wave of mass demonstrations.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (or SCAF) then took charge and promised to implement the transition to civilian rule.

Speaking on national TV on Tuesday, SCAF leader Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said parliamentary elections scheduled to begin on 28 November would be held as planned.

Those polls, scheduled to take place over three months, are due to set in train the transition to democracy.

Field Marshal Tantawi said soldiers did not aspire to govern: "They are fully prepared to immediately hand over power and to return to their original duty in protecting the homeland."

He also said he had accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Essam Sharif's cabinet - appointed by the military.

A referendum would then approve the document before a presidential election was held. That would mean the military remaining in power until late 2012 or early 2013.

Protesters, however, had demanded the presidential vote take place after the parliamentary elections.

'MUBARAK COPY-PASTED'

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says that when the army first took over earlier in the year, they had the trust of the overwhelming majority of ordinary Egyptians - but now the protesters want them to hand over power immediately.

In some ways it is more of a revolution, as the demonstrators are ranged against the traditional opposition - notably the Muslim Brotherhood - as well as the military, our correspondent adds.

After Field Marshal Tantawi spoke, protesters in Tahrir Square chanted: "We are not leaving, he (Tantawi) leaves."

"We are not happy with this speech," a protester named Tamer Lokman told the BBC's Yolande Knell in Tahrir Square.

"It reminded us of those made by the former president, Hosni Mubarak when he didn't answer our demands," he said.

Another protester told AFP news agency: "Tantawi is Mubarak, copy pasted. He's Mubarak in a military uniform."

Egypt's Military Rulers Erode Human Rights

2011-11-21T19:49:00.001-08:00

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Egypt: Military rulers have 'crushed' hopes of 25 January protesters

November 21, 2011

Egypt's military rulers have completely failed to live up to their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights and have instead been responsible for a catalogue of abuses which in some cases exceeds the record of Hosni Mubarak, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

In Broken Promises: Egypt's Military Rulers Erode Human Rights, the organization documents a woeful performance on human rights by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) which assumed power after the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The report's release follows a bloody few days in Egypt that has left many dead and hundreds injured after army and security forces violently attempted to disperse anti-SCAF protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir square.

"By using military courts to try thousands of civilians, cracking down on peaceful protest and expanding the remit of Mubarak's Emergency Law, the SCAF has continued the tradition of repressive rule which the January 25 demonstrators fought so hard to get rid of," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Acting Director.

"Those who have challenged or criticized the military council - like demonstrators. journalists, bloggers, striking workers - have been ruthlessly suppressed, in an attempt at silencing their voices.

"The human rights balance sheet for SCAF shows that after nine months in charge of Egypt, the aims and aspirations of the January 25 revolution have been crushed. The brutal and heavy-handed response to protests in the last few days bears all the hallmarks of the Mubarak era."

Amnesty International found in its review of human rights under the SCAF that the military council had met few of the commitments it made in its many public statements and had worsened the situation in some areas.

By August, the SCAF admitted that some 12,000 civilians across the country had been tried by military courts following grossly unfair trials. At least 13 have been sentenced to death.

Charges against defendants have included “thuggery”, “breaking the curfew”, “damaging property” and “insulting the army”.

The case of prisoner of conscience Maikel Nabil Sanad, a blogger sentenced to three years in prison in April for criticizing the military and objecting to military service, has become symbolic. After going on hunger strike in August, prison authorities have denied him the medication he needs to treat a heart condition. He continues to be held in prison as his case is being reviewed by another court following an appeal in October.

In a clear attempt to suppress negative media reporting about the SCAF, scores of journalists and broadcasters have been summoned to the military prosecutor. Pressure from the military has led to a number of major current affairs shows being cancelled.

The SCAF promised in early statements to “carry out their leading role in protecting protesters regardless of their views” but security forces, including the army, have violently suppressed several protests, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Twenty-eight people are believed to have been killed on 9 October after security forces dispersed a protest by Coptic Christians. Medics told Amnesty International that casualties included bullet wounds and crushed body parts, after people were run over by speeding armoured vehicles. Instead of ordering an independent investigation, the army announced that it would carry out the investigation itself and moved quickly to suppress criticism.

Prominent blogger Alaa Abd El Fatta, who witnessed the violence and criticized the fact that the army was leading on the investigation into the crackdown, continues to be detained following his questioning by military prosecutors on 30 October, in what seems to be an attempt by the SCAF to stem criticism of their bloody handling of the Maspero protests.

Amnesty International said it had seen consistent reports that the security forces were employing armed “baltagiya” or “thugs” – to attack protesters. This was a well-known tactic employed under the rule of Hosni Mubarak.

Torture in detention has continued under the SCAF and Amnesty International has interviewed detainees who said they were tortured in army custody. In September a video circulated showing army and police officers beating and giving shocks to two detainees. After apparently carrying out an investigation, the military prosecution dismissed the video as “fake”, without giving any further details.

Amnesty International said that the SCAF has used promises of investigations to deflect criticism of serious human rights violations, but has failed to deliver. No perpetrators of such abuses are known to have been brought to justice.

In a notable example, the military council announced on 28 March it would investigate the use of forced “virginity tests” by the army to intimidate 17 female protesters on 9 March, but no information about this investigation has been made public. Instead, the only woman who filed a complaint against the SCAF was said to have been subjected to harassment and intimidation.

Amnesty International also said that forced evictions of Egypt’s slum residents had been carried out by military forces after they assumed law enforcement duties in early 2011, and called for an end to the practice of forced evictions.

The organization called on the Egyptian authorities – including the SCAF – to restore confidence in public institutions by properly and transparently investigating human rights violations and lifting the Emergency Law.

When Amnesty International's Secretary General Salil Shetty met SCAF representatives in June, he had urged them to scrap the 1981 Emergency Law which unfairly restricted a number of fundamental rights.

But in September the Emergency Law was expanded to cover offences such as disturbing traffic, blocking roads, broadcasting rumours, possessing and trading in weapons, and “assault on freedom to work”. Those arrested under the emergency law are tried before special courts known as (Emergency) Supreme State Security Courts.

“The Egyptian military cannot keep using security as an excuse to keep to the same old practices that we saw under President Mubarak,” said Philip Luther.

“If there is to be an effective transition to the new Egypt that protesters have been demanding, the SCAF must release their grip on freedom of expression, association and assembly, lift the state of emergency and stop trying civilians in military courts.”

Photos: Nov. 21 protests & clashes around Tahrir Square

2011-11-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Youth protesters fought back riot-police forces on Mohamed Mahmoud Street for a third consecutive day on Monday.

Central Security Forces fired relentless volleys of teargas, and rubber bullets/pellets at protesters. The troops also hurled rocks and bottles at the protesters.

Protesters hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails. Youth activists also threw back teargas canisters in the direction of the police forces.

Football ultras lit their flares, petrol bombs, and shot firecrackers while fighting the riot-police on Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

Older activist holds a sign mocking Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, along with his Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF.) Sign reads "SCAF - Sinking of the Tantawic"

"Down with Tantawi and his stooges! Down with military rule!"

Estimates suggest that well over 100,000 protesters converged on Tahrir by nighttime. Protesters shook the square's foundations with the chant "the people demand the removal/execution of Tantawi," along with "down with military rule" and other anti-SCAF chants.

Egypt’s Cabinet Offers to Resign as Protests Rage

2011-11-21T17:10:00.000-08:00

New York Times
Egypt’s Cabinet Offers to Resign as Protests Rage

Nov. 21, 2011

David Kirkpatrick

CAIRO — The cabinet offered its resignation on Monday to Egypt’s transitional military rulers as security forces carried out an increasingly lethal crackdown on three days of street protests, reviving the uncertainty about Egypt’s future that marked the earliest days of the Arab Spring.

Egypt’s military had been seen as the linchpin of the political transition after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

It was the institution Egypt’s Islamists hoped would steer the country to early elections they were poised to dominate. At the same time, liberals regarded it as a hedge against Islamist power. And it was considered a partner the Obama administration hoped would secure American interests.

But the cabinet’s offer to resign, in a bow to the protesters’ demands, was the latest blow to the tenuous legitimacy of the ruling military council was slipping away, just a week before Egypt is scheduled to hold its first parliamentary elections since Mr. Mubarak’s ouster nine months ago.

Reeling from the swift collapse of the military’s authority, the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamist group, urged protesters to show restraint or risk delaying the elections. But other Islamists, more conservative and more moderate, joined Egypt’s secular parties in calling for a protest Tuesday — expected to be the largest yet — demanding that the military council hand power to a civilian authority.

The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces did not respond to the cabinet’s offer to resign, but state television reported that the council was seeking a new prime minister. The culture minister, Emad Abu Ghazi, has already resigned in protest over the demonstrators’ brutal treatment at the hands of security forces.

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the United States State Department, called the violence “deplorable” and urged that elections take place on schedule.

The escalating uncertainty came after a bloody third day of battles between the protesters who have reoccupied Tahrir Square at the center of the capital and the security forces massed around the headquarters of the Interior Ministry. The Health Ministry said at least 23 people had died, and several doctors treating patients at a field clinic and nearby hospital said several had been killed by live ammunition, contrary to denials by the Interior Ministry. More than 1,500 people have been seriously injured in the clashes, the Health Ministry said.

But the crowd in Tahrir Square — the iconic heart of the Arab Spring — continued to grow to tens of thousands Monday. Alarmed at the crackdown on unarmed civilians, a broad cross section of the political elite, from liberal groups to ultraconservative Islamists, pledged for the first time to join the demonstrators in the streets on Tuesday in a so-called million man march.

After a meeting on Monday of about two dozen political groups, several delivered a collective apology to the protesters for not joining them sooner and “for not providing them with a political cover for the past 72 hours,” as the liberal political leader Amr Hamzawy put it in a message on Twitter.

But though all the political leaders called for elections to begin on schedule next week, a growing number conceded privately that the violence was likely to force their delay — potentially adding the unrest. And even as the political leaders unified around the demands, new divisions emerged among them over how the military might begin to hand over power.

The Muslim Brotherhood was the only major political party that announced it would hold back from Tuesday’s demonstrations. It said in a statement that it did not want to be involved in a protest that might delay the elections and thus the transition to democracy.

In a statement on the Web site of the group’s Freedom and Justice Party, one of its leaders, Mohamed Beltagy, told protesters that “in sprite of my complete appreciation of the reasons for their rage,” they should “not be involved in an escalation that could lead to a case of chaos and damage” or “give a chance to those who seek to justify delaying a complete transition of power to an elected civilian power with full authority (parliament, government and president) so that we can continue on the path of our glorious revolution.”

Others argued that the group did not want to jeopardize its commanding lead in outreach and organizing, and at one point Monday angry protesters chased Mr. Beltagy out of the square.

The Muslim Brotherhood “are still behaving like elections are on. They still haven’t decided to side with the people and come to Tahrir,” said Israa Abdalla, 20, a pharmacist, explaining why she believed Mr. Beltagy had been justifiably ejected. “They just want a slice of the cake.” (More centrist Islamist parties and political leaders as well as the ultraconservative Salafis all pledged to join Tuesday’s demonstrations.)

Some liberal groups, led by the former diplomat and presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, called for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to give up power immediately to a civilian “government of national rescue.” Other liberals said they sought only the replacement of the current cabinet with a new civilian team with more power to make decisions independent of the council.

Mr. Hamzawy, the founder of a new liberal party and a parliamentary candidate well positioned for a seat from an upscale district of Cairo, said in a Twitter message that he still favored holding elections before picking a new national unity government that would continue to govern under the military council but replace the current prime minister, Essam Sharaf.

“I’m still convinced that elections are the way to transfer power and I changed my position along with others to demand Sharaf’s dismissal after yesterday’s statement,” he said.

In a statement late Monday night the council called for a meeting without political leaders as well as an investigation into the violence by its interim justice minister.

In a bid to mollify the protesters without conceding any power — a favorite tactic of the council — the ruling generals also promulgated a new law that could restrict the ability of members of Mr. Mubarak’s former ruling party to run for office. Such a law could play havoc with political parties, lists and coalitions in districts around the country, but the council said nothing further about its intentions.

Gen. Said Abbas, a member of the council, visited Tahrir Square on Monday for a brief news conference, saying the council respected the protesters’ right to peaceful demonstrations. He declared that the security forces had not initiated any violence but had only defended themselves, and he insisted — despite a sweep of the square Sunday evening by hundreds of soldiers and police officers in riot gear — that the security forces had not entered the square.

Asked about the reports of protesters injured by gunfire from security forces, he said the victims were “thugs,” not peaceful demonstrators. “There is an invisible hand in the square causing a rift between the army and the people,” he said.

As clashes continued along the avenue to the interior ministry, protesters spread word that security forces appeared to be using more live ammunition in addition to the usual tear gas, rubber bullets and bird shot. At a hospital near the square, three doctors said they had seen as many as ten patients with wounds from live bullet sustained at the protests, all of whom died.

All three doctors, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said administrators had told them to deny any evidence of bullet wounds.

Some marveled that the Egyptian public had once lionized the same generals commanding thee attacks for refusing to shoot unarmed civilians during the revolts that brought down Mr. Mubarak. “Thanking the army for not shooting us is like thanking your wife for not cheating on you,” said Mohamed Hamed, a 23 year old medical student.

Others worried about who might succeed the military council and its leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, even as they chanted for his ouster.

“People don’t want military rule, and they won’t leave here until the field marshal goes too,” said Omar Tareq, 18, a university student from the province of Qalyoubeya. “But I don’t really know what happens if he does. Who will take hold of the country?”

*Liam Stack, Mayy el Sheikh and Dina Amer contributed reporting.

Photos: Nov. 20 protests & clashes around Tahrir

2011-11-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

Youth activists rain rocks upon Central Security Forces on Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

Riot police relentlessly fired rubber pellets, and teargas canisters. The teargas created huge white smoke-clouds which lingered throughout Tahrir and its environs.

Hundreds of protesters and activists fainted, or fell ill, as a result of exposure to the teargas. Nearly all the teargas canisters fired at protesters were made in the USA - gifts to the Egyptian State from the 'peace-loving' Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Makeshift barricades.

Youth activists called for a truce with the riot police. However, the police - as usual - did not hold true to their word. The Central Security Forces resumed firing upon the youth. Naturally, these youths responded by fighting back so as to protect themselves and to hold their ground.

Well prepared photojournalist, Khaled el-Fiqqi, takes his photos near the billowing teargas.

Youth protester hurls a lit Molotov cocktail at the Central Security Forces.

Protesters hurl rocks from behind a burning car - used as a barricade - while a CSF soldier hurls bricks and bottles from a governmental building.

Young activist prays the evening prayer on an Egyptian flag, while his fellow activists rest upon the barricades.

Youth activists celebrated their success in driving back the riot police, military police, and reclaiming Tahrir Square - along with the streets leading to it.

Tahrir Square reoccupied by defiant protesters

2011-11-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

Associated Press
Police, protesters clash for 2nd day in Egypt

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Firing tear gas and rubber bullets, Egyptian riot police on Sunday clashed for a second day with thousands of rock-throwing protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government.

The police battled an estimated 5,000 protesters in and around central Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February. Tear gas filled the air as protesters, many chanting "freedom, freedom," pelted the police with rocks.

Sunday's clashes, which come a day after two people were killed and hundreds wounded in similar violence in the capital and other cities, are stoking tensions eight days before the start of the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections. Public anger has risen over the slow pace of reforms and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.

"We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council," said protester Ahmed Hani, referring Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler and Mubarak's longtime defense minister.

"The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarak is still in power," said Hani, who was wounded in the forehead by a rubber bullet. He spoke over chants of "freedom, freedom" by hundreds of protesters around him.

Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered most of the ground in and around Tahrir early Sunday, while a cloud of white smoke caused by the use of dozens of tear gas shells hung in the air. Several hundred protesters were camping out on the lawn of the square's traffic island, and protesters manning barricades into the square checked the IDs of anyone entering the plaza.

The windows of the main campus of the American University in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and stores were shuttered. "The marshal is Mubarak's dog," said one of a fresh crop of graffiti in the square.

Yahya el-Sawi, a 21-year-old university student, said he was enraged by the sight of riot police beating up protesters already hurt in an earlier attack by the security forces. "I did not support the sit-in at the beginning, but when I saw this brutality I had to come back to be with my brothers," he said.

Many of the protesters had red eyes and coughed incessantly. Some wore surgical masks to fend off against the tear gas. A few fainted, overwhelmed by the gas.

Sunday's clashes, which were mostly on a road leading from Tahrir to the Interior Ministry, appeared likely to grow.

Protesters were using social networking sites on the Internet to call on Egyptians to join them, and there were reports of several demonstrations headed to the square, including one from Cairo University.

The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to hand over power to an elected government but it has yet to set a specific date. According to one timetable floated by the military, the handover will take place after presidential elections are held late next year or early in 2013. The protesters say this is too late and accuse the military of dragging its feet. They want a handover to take place immediately after the end of parliamentary elections in March.

On Saturday, police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and beat protesters with batons, clearing the square at one point and pushing the fighting into surrounding side streets of downtown Cairo.

A 23-year-old protester died from a gunshot, said Health Ministry official Mohammed el-Sherbeni. At least 676 people were injured, he said. Another protester was killed in Alexandria, where clashes also took place, said a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

After nightfall, protesters swarmed back into Tahrir in the thousands, and running battles with the police in the streets took place throughout the night. Acrid smoke of tires set ablaze mixed with the stinging white smoke of tear gas.

The government urged protesters to clear the square.

A member of the military council, Maj. Gen. Mohsen el-Fangari, said protesters' calls for change ahead of the election were a threat to the state.

"What is the point of being in Tahrir?" he asked, speaking by phone to a private TV channel. "What is the point of this strike, of the million marches? Aren't there legal channels to pursue demands in a way that won't impact Egypt ... internationally?"

"The aim of what is going on is to shake the backbone of the state, which is the armed forces."

In a warning, he said, "If security is not applied, we will implement the rule of law. Anyone who does wrong will pay for it."

Saturday's confrontation was one of the few since the uprising to involve the police, which have largely stayed in the background while the military took charge of security. There was no military presence in and around the square on Saturday or on Sunday. The black-clad police were a hated symbol of Mubarak's regime.

Some of the wounded had blood streaming down their faces and many had to be carried out of the square by fellow protesters to waiting ambulances. Human rights activists accused police of using excessive force.

Police arrested 18 people, state TV reported, describing the protesters as rioters.

***

BBC News
Cairo's Tahrir Square reoccupied by defiant protesters

20 November 2011

Thousands of Egyptian protesters have re-occupied Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo, after a violent attempt by troops and police to evict them.

They returned less than an hour after the assault, chanting against Egypt's ruling military council.

Demonstrators earlier fled as security forces fired tear gas and beat them with truncheons. At least four people have died since Saturday, reports say.

There were also clashes in other cities including Alexandria, Suez and Aswan.

The demonstrators, some wearing gas masks, say they fear Egypt's military rulers are trying to retain their grip on power.

The violence comes a week before the country's first parliamentary elections since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February.

Health officials say as many as 900 people have been injured, including at least 40 security personnel.

ARMOURED VEHICLES

A second day of violence began when stone-throwing protesters advanced from the square - focal point of February's uprising - towards the interior ministry.

Officers fired volleys of tear gas and drove the protesters back, before blocking the street leading to the ministry.

Armoured personnel carriers brought in reinforcements as the security forces tried to gain the upper hand.

Scores of soldiers and police poured into the square, beating protesters and dismantling a protest camp there.

But within an hour, protesters swarmed back into the square, usually one of Cairo's busiest traffic thoroughfares.

The BBC's Helena Merriman at the scene says there is tense atmosphere, with moments of calm punctuated by moments of panic and running.

The edges of the square are thinning out but the road to the ministry of interior is full of protesters, she says.

In recent weeks protesters - mostly Islamists and young activists - have been holding demonstrations against a draft constitution that they say would allow the military to retain too much power after a new civilian government is elected.

They have repeatedly tried to gain a foothold in Tahrir Square again, but until this weekend they had always been removed quickly by the police.

"The violence [on Saturday] showed us that Mubarak is still in power," one protester, Ahmed Hani, told the Associated Press news agency.

He said the leader of Egypt's military government, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, should resign.

"We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council," he said.

The latest violence is some of the worst in months between the Egyptian authorities and demonstrators.

Parliamentary elections are due to begin on 28 November and take three months.

Earlier in November, Egypt's military rulers produced a draft document setting out principles for a new constitution.

Under those guidelines, the military would be exempted from civilian oversight, as would its budget.

This has angered protesters who fear the gains they have made during the uprising could yet slip away as the military tries to retain some grip on power.

Photos: November 18 Protests in Tahrir Square

2011-11-19T22:17:00.000-08:00

Thousands in Tahrir for 'Friday of Protecting Democracy'

2011-11-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

Daily News Egypt
Thousands rally in Tahrir on Friday of 'Protecting Democracy'

November 18, 2011

Heba Fahmy

CAIRO: Thousands of protesters flocked to Tahrir Square on Friday, dubbed "Protecting Democracy," to call for the withdrawal of the controversial constitutional principles proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Ali El-Selmy.

They also called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to hand over power to civilian rule no later than April 2012.

Following Friday prayers, protesters chanted "God is great" and "we want a civil state not a military one.”

Presidential hopeful Selim El-Awa took the main stage and addressed the masses, stressing the two demands.

"The people don't demand, they decide," he said.

"God will protect those who believe in Him," he added, chanting "God is great."

There were around six stages set up across the square.

The scene was dominated by Islamist and Salafi groups and parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and its political party the Building and Development Party, in addition to Salafi parties including Al-Nour Party and Al-Asala Party, formerly known as Al-Fadila.

Hussein Shehata, member of the FJP went to the square with his wife and three children to denounce El-Selmy's charter.

"We will not surrender to a small group of officials who want to take over our revolution and write a constitution based on their own interests," Shehata told Daily News Egypt while carrying his four-year-old daughter on his shoulders.

Iman Bakir, member of the Brotherhood, was distributing flyers with morning supplications in the square alongside her two daughters.

"El-Selmy's charter gives more jurisdiction to SCAF than the People's Assembly (PA)," Bakir told DNE.

"The PA elected by the people is the only authority that has jurisdiction to elect those responsible for drafting the new constitution," she added.

The document proposed by El-Selmy gives SCAF jurisdiction over the constituent assembly which will be responsible for drafting the constitution and puts guidelines for electing it.

The document also guarantees the secret nature of the military budget, barring the PA from scrutinizing it.

Sayed Al-Wakil, member of the Salafi Al-Nour Party, said that the Cabinet should not impose its guardianship on the people.

However, there were a few calls by Salafi and Islamist groups demanding an Islamic state, saying that that was the main reason they rejected El-Selmy's document of constitutional principles.

Alaa Qutb, the spokesman of the Committee for Unifying the Islamic Front, said that Egypt was an Islamic country not a civil state.

Mohamed El-Sharqawy, a Salafi who doesn't belong to any specific party, said that democracy was the worst system to be implemented in the world.

"Islamic jurisprudence should be the only source used to rule this country," he said.

A few tents were set up in the middle of the square, members of the Brotherhood, Al-Nour and Al-Asala parties said the original plan was to stay in the square until 8 pm.

"However we might decide to hold a sit-in if the MB approves," MB member Yasser Borhamy said.

Other independent protesters said they would hold an open sit-in in the square until SCAF steps down.

Dozens of Azhar students also held a march in Tahrir making the same two basic demands of withdrawing the constitutional principles and handing over power to civilian rule.

"We are done with military rule," said Ahmed Nady, an Azhar student.

The April 6 Youth Movement entered the square at around 1:45 pm after marching from El-Sayyeda Zeinab to garner support for the protest.

The movement said its protest had nothing to do with El-Selmy document and their main demands were handing over power to a civilian rule and ending the military trials of civilians.

Mahmoud Afify, spokesman for the movement, said that several mass protests would be held in the coming period until SCAF announces that it will hand over power.

Other protesters who weren't affiliated with any political group had the same demands.

"El-Selmy was a pawn in SCAF's hands," Ramadan Aboul Wafa, 54, from Minya, said.

"It's against the law for SCAF to be ruling us in the first place," he added.

Egyptian flags fluttered across the square as national songs were being played, a few flags including the slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood and others saying "theirs is no God but Allah and Mohamed is his prophet” were also seen across the square.

*Photo by Hassan Ibrahim

March commemorating Maspero victims attacked, 29 injured

2011-11-19T21:48:00.001-08:00

Ahram Online
Coptic march to commemorate Maspero victims attacked, 29 injured

November 17, 2011

Yasmine Fathi

A march to commemorate the 40-day anniversary of the Maspero clashes has been attacked.

It is still unclear who attacked the protesters, who were marching through the Shubra district of Cairo, with various reports saying it was thugs, Salafists or local residents.

The Ministry of Health has reported twenty nine injured protesters. MENA quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Health as saying the injuries varied between bruises, minor cuts and fainting. Of the injured, 24 were released after receiving medical care.

Mina Sabet, a member of the Maspero Youth Union, told Ahram Online the assailants were holding a Saudi Arabian flag and calling for an Islamic state. Police tried to peacefully separate the two sides but resorted to tear gas when this failed.

Magda Naguib, who is standing for the Shubra single seat in upcoming parliamentary elections, was told that groups of Salafists had attacked the march.

The march had been organised by the Free Copts Movement and the Blood of Martyrs Movement.

The march, which began in Shubra Square and was on its way to Maspero for a prayer service, was attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails.

A fight ensued and gunshots were heard, but it is unclear who fired the shots. Several cars were also reportedly damaged during the fighting.

Security forces were unable to contain the violence and side roads were blocked by local residents to stop protesters from entering.

According to Father Filopater Gameel, a leader of the Maspero Youth Union, Copts had received permits from the authorities to hold the march. The union did not participate in the march but fully supported it, added Gameel.

The protesters were commemorating the deaths of Copts killed during last month’s Maspero clashes with the army that left at least 26 dead and more than 300 injured.

It is common in Egyptian culture to commemorate the 40th day after a death.

The Maspero Youth Union has cancelled a service to commemorate the Maspero martyrs on a Nile cruise boat today as a result of the violence in Shubra. The boat’s owner refused them permission to rent the boat due security concerns, stating it would be vulnerable when travelling beneath bridges.

Some protesters arrived at Maspero unaware of the violent events that had taken place and organisers urged them to go home.

Yemen experiencing 2 revolutions, says female activist

2011-11-19T21:42:00.001-08:00

CNN
Yemen is experiencing two revolutions, says female activist

November 17, 2011

Afrah Nasser

(CNN) -- It's hard not to become distressed, when I'm carefully following the situation in Yemen since violence got worse. It's even more troublesome not to become distressed thinking that there is a bleak future waiting for Yemen.

The fight by the security forces against unarmed protesters is indeed inhuman. More than 2,000 protesters have been murdered and more than 8,000 wounded by security forces across Yemen.

Admittedly, the uprising has a long way to go but one of its great merits so far is the exceptional participation of women.

I have been astonished by the growing numbers of female protesters as the uprising has proceeded. It started with just a few women; then day after day the number multiplied.

Thousands of female protesters have been actively participating in demonstrations across the country since February 2011. Female doctors have been playing an important role treating wounded protesters and female activists have been running seminars on political issues.

Mr Saleh's (Yemen's current president) security forces arrested four female doctors on 19 April 2011, while the doctors were marching along with a peaceful demonstration to provide medical help if needed. The female doctors were released after a huge condemnation and pressure from protesters.

Even female protesters were not immune from the savage killing by pro-government thugs. On the 16 October 2011, I was saddened to see a female protester being shot dead by a thug's bullets.

Aziza Othman was murdered in Taiz during an attack at a peaceful and unarmed protest by women. A very important recognition of women's participation in Yemen's uprising is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Tawakkol Karman, one of the leading pro-democracy figures in Yemen.

I believe that there are several motives behind this amazing participation by women -- I myself joined the protests and rallies because I want to build and improve my country.

I wanted it to be a double revolution; a political one to topple President Saleh and a feminist one to ensure that women have equal rights in what Yemenis hope will be a new Yemen. It was a double political statement: First, that women have as much right to call for democracy as men, and an indirect message to lift gender apartheid.

Indeed, it's been hard to be a woman in Yemen. A woman's gender, by default, deprives her of rights enjoyed by men. Women in Yemen have been always marginalized in law. As in many developing countries, women in Yemen suffer from limited access to healthcare, economic opportunities and education.

I remember vividly attending a seminar in Sana'a by Amal al-Basha, one of the leading feminist and human rights activists in Yemen and founder of The Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights in in March this year. I asked her, "Do you think that the uprising will serve women's rights?"

"We have been dealing with a state system that marginalised women for over three decades; unfairly snatching their rights," she said. "Women in Yemen have only a restrained degree of legal protection in regard to family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance.

"Many women in Yemen are forced to get married when they are still children. This corrupt system means women in Yemen have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Seven women are raped every month in Yemen, with no concrete punishment from the state for rapists.

"Women in Yemen also suffer from illiteracy. The current system provides a relatively low degree of protection for women's physical integrity.

"There are no laws against domestic violence and the law does not recognize the concept of spousal rape. There is zero observation and accountability by the government to ban the practice of female genital mutilation. How can women not call for change! Of course the uprising will serve women's rights," she told me.

In a nutshell, the participation of women in the uprising has huge merit. What women have done so far embodies their civil and political liberty.

Bearing in mind that freedom for women in Yemen is usually subject to numerous limitations; their participation in the uprising is extraordinary. What they are doing is really a protest against socio-political norms that have always limited their freedoms.

Situation of free expression worsens in Egypt

2011-11-19T21:38:00.001-08:00

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS/RSF
International community urged to react as situation of free expression worsens in Egypt

Thursday 17 November 2011

Reporters Without Borders condemns the accelerating deterioration in the media freedom situation in Egypt in the run-up to the 28 November elections. In the latest development, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ordered a 15-day extension to blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah’s pre-trial detention on 13 November.

The Supreme Council has constantly restricted freedom of information ever since President Hosni Mubarak’s removal on 11 February. It has summoned journalists and bloggers before military courts and has convicted and jailed netizens.

Now that the country is about to embark on a series of elections that will continue until March, the Supreme Council is showing less and less ability to tolerate fundamental freedoms. The democratic transition that Egyptians desire will not be possible without media freedom, which is now in grave danger.

Reporters Without Borders would like to remind everyone that a free press and the free flow of information are essential for democratic elections.

The Supreme Council has not only perpetuated Mubarak’s methods of controlling news and information but has reinforced them. The trials of civilians before military courts are now the norm. Arrests and convictions on charges of disturbing public order, defamation or spreading false information are being used to censor articles on sensitive subjects such as poverty, women’s rights and, especially, the armed forces. Several media were attacked and prevented from broadcasting footage of the violence on 9 and 10 October in the Cairo district of Maspero.

Reporters Without Borders urges the international community to react and to do whatever is necessary to protect freedom of expression in Egypt. To this end, it sent a letter and the attached summary of freedom of information violations in Egypt since Mubarak’s ouster to prominent international political figures and representatives of international bodies on 7 November.

The recipients included Navanethem Pillay (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), Frank La Rue (United Nations Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression), Catherine Ashton (European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security), Hillary Clinton (US secretary of state) and Sylvie Coudray (UNESCO director for freedom of expression, democracy and peace).

The letter and summary were also sent to the French foreign minister, the Arab League, the Human Rights Committee of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Egyptian embassy in Washington and the French embassy in Cairo.