Makeshift tents are burning after the police on Sunday evacuated the protesters. (Photo EPA)

Fresh waves of protests started throughout Egypt after clashes between police and protesters refusing to leave Tahrir Square on Saturday left two dead and 676 injured as police violence escalated a few days before parliamentary elections. The police’s decision to evacuate Tahrir Square early Saturday morning backfired, as their heavy-handed tactics against the small overnight protesters enraged activists and prompted tens of thousands to flock to the epicentre of January’s revolution to insist on their right to protest. Waves of the notorious Central Security Forces (CSF) were being rushed to the scene in ever greater numbers in attempts to disperse demonstrators.

The clashes were the beginning of news protests and heavy fighting in Cairo and in other places in Egypt that according to firgures released by the Egyptian ministry of Health late Sunday evening left 10 people dead and more than 1700 wounded.

Following the clashes in Tahrir Square on Saturday, 18 political forces announced an open-ended sit-in early Sunday and have urged all national forces and movements to stage sit-ins across the country. In a statement, the forces said they have decided to stage the sit-in because they believe remnants of the old regime are still running the country, and given the lack of a clear timetable for a transition of power to an elected civilian government.

The forces said that the political movements and forces of the revolution are the only source of authority in the country and have decided to revive the January 25 Revolution. They added that they will continue their sit-in until Essam Sharaf’s government is immediately dissolved, a national salvation government, which will oversee the transitional period along with parliamentary and presidential elections, is formed, and the ruling military junta is stripped of its political cout.

The groups are also demanding that parliamentary elections are held on their scheduled date, that presidential elections are held on 1 April 2012, and that the Interior Ministry be reformed.

Among the 18 forces that released the statement are the Revolution Youth Coalition, the 6 April Movement (Democratic Front), the Revolution’s Protectors Council, the Revolution Youth Alliance, the Free Movement for Peaceful Change, and the Egyptian Current.

The security forces on Sunday afternoon again tried to evacuate the protesters from Tahrir. But the protesters came back in the early hours of the evening and succeeded to expell the military police and soldiers – dressed in riot gear and wielding bludgeons and electroshock weapons – who stood before rows of Central Security Forces (CSF) firing barrage after barrage of tear gas, runbber bullets and also birdshot The streets of downtown Cairo looked like battle zones, filled with toxic gas, fleeing protesters and fires burning. Heavy fighting continued in side streets off the central plaza, particularly around the area of the interior ministry where a large contingent of riot troops has been stationed to ward off protesters. Elswhere in Egypt, in Alexandria, Port Said, Tanta, Mansoura and Sohag also fights took place. In Suez, a large urban centre on the Suez canal, protesters clashed with armed police who fired teargas in an attempt to disperse crowds.

Presidential candidate Amr Moussa said in an tv-interview: “We are in a very dangerous situation. We have to end the use of force, which was not justified. We should engage in dialogue.” Moussa said that dealing with peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations in such a violent way would only worsen the situation.”

Fellow presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei echoed Moussa’s sentiment, describing the excessive force used by the police as “barbaric.”“It’s yet another indication that Scaf and the current government are failing to govern and I fully sympathise with the increasing calls coming from different quarters, including Tahrir, for a new government of national salvation that represents all shades of Egyptian society, one with full power.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

The article below is a translation from the newspaper al-Masry al-Youm, of June 5th, 2011. Writer Alaa al-Aswani (photo) in it paints a dark picture of what the revolution in Egypt so far achieved and – more importantly – did not achieve. In doing so he makes a strong case for the need of the new, big demonstration which will be held on Friday 8 July at Tahrir in Cairo (and also demonstrations in other cities) in order to push a process that according to him is only halfway, on to the next stage.
(Translated by dr Noha Radwan, University of California Davis).

The problem here is not only these ministers’ amazing ability to defend one thing and its opposite with equal enthusiasm in order to save their positions. The problem is that the revolution has ousted President Mubarak but not his regime. The Generals of the Egyptian Police, who helped Habib al-Adly humiliate the Egyptians and torture them, still hold their positions. The media officials, who misinformed the public and fraudulently praised the dictator and justified his crimes, still hold theirs. The judges, who oversaw the rigging of the elections, are still active. Even the State Security officers who committed atrocious crimes have not lost their jobs, and some were even appointed governors. What can we expect from all those officials? Certainly, they will fail to understand the logic of the revolution, and probably they will conspire against it. The conspiracy against the Egyptian revolution has become quite obvious and its main characteristics can be summed as follows:

First: Slow trials of some for the icons of the former regime in order to gradually absorb the anger of the Egyptians until they forget about the matter as they return to their daily concerns and affairs. Why has Mubarak not been tried yet? And what is the secret behind all the conflicting reports about his health. Why isn’t he treated like a normal prisoner? Where are Gamal and Alaa Mubarak and why do we not see photographs of them in prison? Why are formerly high officials receiving exceptional treatment in Tura prison? Who allowed Hussein Salem to escape (to Spain, TP). Why were Zakariyya Azmy, Fathy Sorour, and Safwat el-Sherif 1) only arrested two months after the revolution, a period long enough for them to sort their affairs, hide what might incriminate them and smuggle their embezzlements abroad? Why have those who were injured or killed in the revolution not received any attention from the government? How was the martyr Muhamad Qutb left in Nasser Hospital till his injuries worsened and insects ran in and out of his mouth while Sharm el-Shaykh hospital was evacuated for Suzanne Mubarak to receive dental care? Why does the Egyptian government put its best foot forward only to provide German specialists to check on Mubarak’s precious health? The questions are many and there is a single answer, known and upsetting.

Second: Causing a continuous state of insecurity and instability along with a failure of the police to carry out their duties, in order to terrorize the Egyptians and stall tourism and foreign investment so that the revolution appears to have ushered in our doom. This is going on along with a representation of the revolutionaries as thugs and the police officers as heroes who were defending their police stations. Additionally, the trails of the police officials until the defendants (who are still in the service) can pressure the victims to change their testimonies and allow them to remain unpunished.

Third: Polarizing the forces of the revolution and fueling the conflict between the Liberals and the Islamists, along with representing the country as if it has fallen into the hands of the fundamentalists. Don’t we still remember how al-Ahram newspaper carried on its front page a picture of a man with his ear chopped off with a headline about the Salafis having chopped off a Copt’s ear? Maybe we also still remember how the media celebrated Abud al-Zumur as if he were a national hero? Perhaps this would help us understand why churches and Copts are attacked almost on weekly basis without any police intervention. In effect it continuously discredits the Islamists and ruins the image of the Egyptian Revolution locally and abroad.

Fourth: Exaggerating the severity of the economic crises and continuously claiming that Egypt is close to bankruptcy because of the revolution. The misinformation in this account is doublefold . It is Mubarak who has left the country in despicable economic conditions.: 40% of Egyptians live below the poverty line, the rate of unemployment is unprecedented and one of every three residents of Cairo lives in vernacular housing slums. Mubarak’s regime, and not the revolution, is responsible for the misery of Egyptians. The revolution has not yet governed. If there are post-revolution crises, then they are the responsibility of the military council that has taken over the president’s responsibilities and the government that it has formed.

What happened in Tahrir Square last week has multiple implications. Thugs were given a free rein to create chaos and attack the ministry of interior in order to give the police a pretext for attacking the protesters. At that point it became clear how much rancor high-ranking police officers feel towards the revolution. For what else compels a police officer to carry a megaphone and ride around in his van swearing at the protestors and their mothers? What prompts the Intelligence officer in Abdin Police Station to insult the mother of Ahmad Zayn al-Abedin, who lost his life in the revolution, kick her in the stomach, assault her son and arrest him so that he faces a military tribunal. These shameful attacks by the police against the families of the revolution’s martyrs were accompanied by an old style defaming campaign by a number of journalists and media officials who still take their orders from the State Security, whose name has now changed into National Security. As for Mr. Mansour Eisawi, I believe that the conspirators against the revolution could not hope for a better minister of interior, for he believes that he should defend his officers no matter what they do. What happened in Tahrir last week was the dress rehearsal for a major conspiracy to completely abort the revolution.

The question here is: Has the Egyptian revolution gone wrong?
Yes, the revolution went wrong on February 11, when Mubarak was forced to step down and the Egyptians celebrated in their millions then went home. The revolution should have continued in the square and selected spokespeople to negotiate with the military council until its demands were met in full. Instead of announcing the annulment of Mubarak’s constitution and calling for drafting a new constitution, the military council preferred to accept Mubarak’s proposition to amend a few articles in the old constitution. A referendum was held for people to vote on a few amendments and after the results of the referendum were announced, the military council completely bypassed it and announced the activation of a transitional constitution of 63 articles. This useless referendum only divided the revolutionaries into two groups, Liberals and Islamists. The two groups entered into a long debate with liberals calling for a new constitution before the next elections and Islamists calling for the elections first. The two groups dedicated themselves to attacking each other. The two groups forgot that the regime that the revolution aimed to topple has not yet fallen. What good would new elections be if they are overseen by a ministry of interior staffed by Habib al-Adly’s assistants and disciples and by the same judges who participated in rigging previous elections and still hold their positions? And what good would a constitution be if it were written by legal experts who have repeatedly put their expertise in the service of a corrupt dictatorship?

The Egyptian revolution is now going through a critical moment, a real fork in the road. It can either win and accomplish its goals or (heavens forbid), it can also lose, leaving the old regime to return in a slightly different form. What is to done now? We have to remember Husni Mubarak and the enormous support he enjoyed, from Israel and from most Western states and Arab states. No one could imagine that he could be ousted. Yet the Egyptian people did it. Only those who made the revolution can protect it. This is why the demonstrations that have been called for next Friday are important. They have to correct what went wrong with the revolution. We should forget about our ideological differences and return to how we were during the revolution: Copts, Salafis, and Muslim Brothers together, and veiled next to non-veiled women. We will call for neither the elections nor the constitution. We will ask for purging the current government of the remnants of the old regime. We will demand fair and speedy trials for the killers of our martyrs. We will demand that civilians not have to face military tribunals under any circumstances. We will go to the square on Friday ready to pay the price of freedom. We will be like we were during the revolution, ready to die at any moment. Our lives cannot be more precious than the lives of those who were killed, who gave their lives for a better future for Egypt and a life with dignity for the Egyptians.

1) Hussein Salem is a businessman with ties to the family Mubarak who has been accused of embezzlement and has been arrested in Spain; Zakariyya Azmi was chief of Mubarak’s office; Safwar el-Sherif was the chairman of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, and Fathi Sorour was the chaiman of the Maglis as Shaab (the lower house of parliament).

2) The events on Tahrir grew out of clashes between the families of the martyrs of the revolution and the security forces. The families had been camping for several days at the radio- and television building at Maspero demanding justice and compensation. On the evening of Tuesday 28 June there was a ceremony at the Balloon Theatre in Aguza in the honor of the martyrs, but the families appeared not to be welcome.That resulted in clashes which lasted for two days on Tahrir and in front of the ministry of the interrior. A semi official commission of inquiry established on Tuesday 5 July that the clashes most probably had been triggered by thugs and contra revolutionary forces.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

AUTHOR: Hossam el-Hamalawy
URL: http://www.arabawy.org
E-MAIL: hossam [at] arabawy.org

Franklin Lamb

Dr. Franklin Lamb is Director of the Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace, Beirut-Washington DC, Board Member of The Sabra Shatila Foundation, and a volunteer with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, Lebanon. He is the author of “The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon” and is doing research in Lebanon for his next book.

Lamb has been a Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon. He earned his Law Degree at Boston University and his LLM, M.Phil, and PhD degrees at the London School of Economics. As a Middle East expert and commentator, Dr. Lamb has appeared on Press TV, Al-Manar and several other media outlets. His articles and analyses have been published by Counter Punch, Veterans Today, Intifada Palestine, Electronic Intifada, Opinion Maker, Dissident Voice, Daily Star and Al Ahram.

Dr. Lamb generously accepted my interview requested and joined me to discuss the recent developments in the Middle East including the Libya civil war, Bahrain massacre and Egypt’s revolution.

What follows is the complete text of my interview with Dr. Franklin Lamb, political commentator, university professor and Middle East expert.

Kourosh Ziabari: Frequent and unstoppable revolutions are taking place in the Middle East and North Africa. Popular movements of the Muslim nations of Tunisia and Egypt brought to an end the longstanding tyranny of Zine El Abedine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak. Sooner or later, the same destiny awaits the dictators of Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia who were all once the stalwart allies of the United States and its European cronies. What’s your estimation of the recent developments in the region and how do you forecast the future of chained revolutions of the Middle East?

Franklin Lamb: I believe the uprisings will continue during this historic Islamic and Arab Awakening and will not cease until those who are sacrificing their blood in these countries—and some you did not mention-achieve their common goals of dignity, human rights, and much more control over their lives and their country’s natural resources. This truly historic regional uprising will, in my view, also contribute critically to the liberation of Palestine and the end of the 19th Century Zionist colonial project. Resent reactions by Israeli leaders and some in Washington make plain that the Muslim and Arab world will not allow their regimes to continue to undermine the Palestinian cause by accepting Western aid and various American bribes to collaborate with the Zionist occupation in their midst. Eventually the current uprising will replace perhaps as many as ten regimes and to its great credit, will count the implementation of UN Resolution 194 and the full and long overdue return of the Palestinian Refugees to their homeland.

KZ: The Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is relentlessly massacring his own people and has remained defiant in the face of growing international pressure and anger at his atrocious and inhumane actions. The international community has so far failed to tackle the Gaddafi problem and Libya is already engulfed in a civil war. The NATO forces are opening fires on the unarmed civilians and nobody has made any decision to capture Gaddafi and hold him accountable for the crimes he has committed. What’s your analysis of the situation in Libya? Given the immense investment of the American and European companies in the oil sector of Libya, can we foresee a future in which Gaddafi is removed from power and tried for his criminal policies?

FL: I agree that what is going on in Libya is a civil war and that the so-called “Obama Doctrine” has become farcical with respect to Libya. NATO should stop its bombing which has killed many of those they were tasked to protect and the international community must insist on a ceasefire and sending humanitarian aid. Enforcing a ceasefire would be a legitimate international role but taking sides in a civil war has only very rarely led to the desired outcome and violates Art. 2 (7) of the UN Charter which prohibits unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of Member States.

Yes, the West will insist on a replacement for Gaddafi and one who is more reliable that he has been recently with respect to the three American hegemonistic requirements or pillars. These include the demand that the next leader must continue to supply the West with cheap oil, and unlike Gaddafi recently, the new regime must insure internal stability and not become an embarrassment for its partners. Also the US will demand that Libya’s new government must not confront Israel seriously and it must be friendly toward US military projects and bases.

KZ: What’s your viewpoint regarding the reaction of international community in general, and the United Nations in particular, to the developments in Libya? The UNSC authorized the use of a no-fly zone over Libya in its resolution 1973 and imposed some sanctions on the Gaddafi regime in the resolution 1970. Are these measures adequate to draw to an end the atrocities which are taking place in Libya? Overall, do you agree with a military option with regards to the Libyan question?

FL: No the military option, while “legal” in the sense that it was passed by the UN Security Council was not legitimate nor are they effective in terms of achieving the claimed objective of UNSC Resolution 1973. Other measures such UN sponsored dialogue and enforcement of a ceasefire were available and should have been employed. Daily the military option is being shown to be ineffective and is in fact deepening the tragedy. It is not too late for the UN to revise its resolution and insist on a ceasefire and dialogue among the factions and making use of the good offices of the Arab League and African Union. On 4/18/11, one month after UNSCR 1973 was adopted, UN Secretary-General Key Ban Moon called for an immediate UN enforced ceasefire. This should be implemented without further delay.

KZ: As you may admit, Bahrain has one of the blackest human rights records in the Persian Gulf region and its longstanding tradition of suppressing the Shiite majority is almost known to everyone. The Bahraini officials have accused Iran of interfering in their internal affairs and turned a blind eye to the wave of protests which is encompassing the whole country. What’s your idea about the situation in Bahrain? Will the oppressed Shiite majority of Bahrain gain enough power to claim their rights and prosper in their uprising against the dictatorial regime?

FL: I think the people of Bahrain will absolutely succeed in their legitimate quest for dignity and freedom. It is apparent that the majority population in Bahrain is determined to succeed and the international community is, albeit too slowly, supporting their struggle. A recent University of Maryland poll shows that nearly 70% of the American public is supporting the Middle Eastern uprisings even if it means weakening Israel.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration hypocrisy toward the unarmed civilians being killed in Bahrain is flagrant and runs deeply counter to American values.

Speaking on 4/13/11 at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, a gathering sponsored by Qatar and the Brookings Institution, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured the World that “America’s core interests and values have not changed, including our commitment to promote human rights equally in every country.”

Clinton’s remarks prompted some groans from the audience, and one Georgetown University student impolitely blurted out “Tell that to the people of Bahrain and prove it lady!”

What the exasperated student, and others in the audience apparently found outrageous was Clinton’s comment that, “We know that a one-size-fits-all approach to American values doesn’t make sense in such a diverse region at such a fluid time” as she hailed Bahrain for what she called a “decades-long friendship which we expect to continue long into the future.” Referring to the government crackdown, she added that “violence is not and cannot be the answer.”

Clinton explained that the Obama administration will neither recall its ambassador to Manama nor threaten sanctions — a striking disparity that is fueling ­anti-U.S. sentiment among Bahraini opposition groups. The Obama Doctrine words are all about freedom and democracy and change, but in Bahrain, the reality is that the Obama Doctrine amounts to a protection for the dictatorship.

By contrast, Obama has repeatedly justified military attacks in Libya, saying: “Innocent people were targeted for killing. Hospitals and ambulances were attacked. Journalists were arrested. These acts are against core American values.” But while the same human rights abuses noted by Obama are happening in Bahrain, the Obama Doctrine is not on the Presidents teleprompter.

It appears that core American values aren’t so important when the regime being reformed houses the Fifth Fleet and has Saudi neighbors, themselves afraid of potential protests, according to the Wall Street Journal. What the rude Georgetown student at Clinton’s speech this week understood, is that as Joe Stork, Deputy Middle East Director at Human Rights Watch noted a couple of days ago concerning yet another brutal Khalifa government killing of unarmed civilians, “Four detainee deaths in nine days is a crime, not a coincidence. The government tells families of detainees nothing about their whereabouts or well-being while they are alive, or about the circumstances of their deaths. “Emergency laws should not be used as a cover for brutality,” Stork reminded the Obama administration that torture and killing of the peaceful protesters in Bahrain at the hands of both the Bahraini armed forces and the additional forces provided by Saudi Arabia are not supported by the American public.

Obama administration officials, like most of the US media, have been playing a game of criminal silence about the situation in Bahrain. Political institutions have been trying to stoke the fire of Shiite-Sunni sectarianism instead of trying to resolve the real issues – the barbaric actions and unfair political and economic policies of the ruling family in Bahrain, a state of forceful repression.

KZ: What will be the impacts of Egyptian revolution on the future of Israel-Egypt relations? It’s quite evident that the Zionist regime is immensely afraid of the establishment of an Islamic government led by a democratically-elected president in Egypt. They have clearly voiced their concern over the developments taking place in Cairo and are desperately trying to preserve the heritage of the Camp David Accords which they achieved painstakingly in 1987. Will a new Egyptian government threaten the interests of the Israeli regime in the Middle East? Will the United State intervene to preclude the destruction of relations between Israel and Egypt?

FL: Yes, I think both processes will occur. During the Tahrir Square uprising we heard much about the need for dignity of the Egyptian people and dignity for Arabs and Muslims. What captured the world’s attention were the demands for jobs, democracy, freedom from fear of arbitrary arrest, torture and detention by the myriad security services and much more control of the economy by the Egyptian people.

Now were are hearing more about fundamental issues, such as the Camp David Accords, which have been festering among Egyptians and most Arabs for three decades. This treaty with Israel was nothing more than the Western bought Egyptian leadership accepting an American bribe in the amount of more than three billion USD per year to concede Palestine to the Zionists and abdicate Egypt’s historic role.

The intense humiliation, not just inflicted on Egyptians, Arabs and Muslims everywhere, but felt by fair minded people around the World who value human rights and support the liberation of Palestine, was endured by never accepted.

History is in the process of correction the injustice caused by the 19th Century Zionist colonial enterprise and I believe the Egyptian people will eventually abrogate Camp David which in its essence is a Western imposed Capitulation Treaty we used to see two centuries ago in Asia, and of course in China as well as in Africa. Camp David will not stand and nor will the giveaway of Egyptian natural gas, or the siege of Gaza from the Egyptian side.

The United States and her allies and certainty Israel will use all their resources to prevent the scrapping of Camp David. But the fact of the matter is that there is a new Middle East rising and they are her people not hegemonic foreign powers who will decide its future.

KZ: Can we foresee the formation of a new Middle East in which the intolerable presence of the Zionist regime is eliminated? Do the Arab world uprisings imply the isolation of Israel and increase the chances of its being dissolved? Reports associated with the CIA imply that Israel cannot survive for longer than 20 years. Do you agree with this prediction?

FL: Absolutely I do. The 19th Century Zionist colonial enterprise was grafted onto Palestine under a series of truly bizarre coincidences that could never be sustained. Of course the Zionist movement was well funded and well-armed and the colonial powers, particularly Britain was in no position to fulfill even their League of Nations mandate. Their occupation was co-opted by Zionist forces while at the same time the exhausted post-World War II international community was simply not interested in being an honest broker in the struggle between the indigenous Palestinian population and the arriving foreign European colonists.

Both the CIA and the politicians in Israel see the historical handwriting on the wall. Israel will not collapse peacefully but it will dissolve. Hopefully the colonists who came from Europe and America will return whence they came or will agree to live as equals with the native population of Palestinians in a democratic, secular state governed by one person one vote and without discrimination based on any religion.

Another process we are witnessing is the increasingly universal rejection of the illegitimate State in Palestine by the Western, including the American, public who are becoming more educated about what really happened during the 1948 Nakba and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Previously many blindly accepted the continuous recitation by the international Zionist Hasbara distributors that Palestine was “a land without a people for a people with a land.” Not many people believe this anymore as the growing BDS and other human rights campaigns aimed at delegitimizing Israel are illustrating.

Six decades of serial crimes by Israel has educated the World that establishing an apartheid State on stolen Arab land was an historic and moral mistake and in not sustainable. Sooner perhaps rather than later the CIA predictions will likely come to pass.

KZ: What’s your idea about the destiny of the revolutions in the Middle East? What are the implications of this wave of uprisings for the United States and its European allies? Iranian authorities say that the Middle East revolutions are modeled on Iran’s 1979 revolution. Do you agree with them?

FL: To comment of the last part of your question first, I would not go as far as to say that the 1979 Iranian Revolution provided an exact template for what is occurring now, 32 years later. But I strongly believe that the Iranian revolution is a fundamental cause of the 2011 uprisings. Firstly, we often hear some argue that the current rebellions are all about bread and butter issues and are not motivated by religion. I don’t agree. While the issues expressed on the streets have been largely those we discussed above, I think a fundamental factor that initiated what we are witnessing is Islam. Islam is all about justice and sacrifice for the commonweal of the community, the Ummah. Islam is about the dignity of the individual. I believe that Islam provided the inspiration and the strength of the populations involved in each of these historic uprisings to preserve in the fact of brutal repression and to develop a resistance culture to preserve until victory.

Consider how each Friday the prayers in the Mosques and Husaynieh’s [religious buildings constructed for the congregation of worshippers] in the region provided the opportunity to gather, to mutually inspire, to rededicate, to plan and to support the rebellions. Every Friday became a day of renewed resistance to oppression. From my point of view this is what Islam is all about; dignity of the individual, the quest for justice in the face of oppression, individual freedom and resistance to injustice and oppression until victory. Without the power of Islam I do not think these rebellions would have ignited as we have witnessed them, nor would they be succeeding as they are.

I think it is very difficult to exaggerate the positive consequences for scores of million of freedom seeking people in the region resulting from the great Islamic and Arab Awakening of 2011.

While those who are freeing themselves from dictators correctly realize that counter-revolutions have begun to hijack their rebellions ad turn back their achievements, so much work and perseverance in required, the region will never return to the hegemonic repression of the past 100 years.

The United States, in large measure due to its installment of dictators, now finally being toppled by their repressed peoples, its theft and exploitation of natural resources in the region, and its wars against the civilian populations in the region, is being expelled along with its allies.

It remains to be seen if in the future in the United States can reengage with Iran and the new order in the Middle East. If it does it will have to be on the basis of mutual respect and fair dealing with each of t`he countries in the region.

AUTHOR: Kourosh Ziabari
URL: http://www.intifada-palestine.com
E-MAIL: kziabari [at] gmail.com

The Army’s Special Forces, Paratroopers, with the help of Central Security Forces (yes, they are back and the US-made tear gas canisters are back too!) and plainclothes policemen cracked down on Tahrir protesters starting from 3:20am, with tasers, live ammunition. There are reports of injuries. We still don’t know if anyone died yet. (Two did, according to Reuters. And at least 15 were wouded, TP).

Earlier the Military Police tried to enter Tahrir to detain the officers who joined the revolt, but the protesters drove them back and chased away General Hamdi Badeen, the head of the Military Police.

Ahram on line reports: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has released a statement claiming the attack was targeted against thugs and members of the former-ruling National Democratic Party who they accused of ‘conducting sabotage’ in the square. Among those blamed for sabotage was Ibrahim Kamel, already accused of plotting the infamous ‘camel attack’ of 2 February, one of the bloodiest days of Egypt’s 18-day revolt. The Council has since issued an order for Kamel’s arrest.

But Al Ahram also seems to hint that internal differences of opinion within the army might have been a reason for what happened: ‘Youtube videos were circulating days before Egypt’s “Cleansing Friday”, showing army officers calling on their counterparts to join Tahrir Square protests and condemning the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,’ it writes.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

Tahrir Square 8 April 2011

Apart from that students from Cairo University are expected to come, with demands for the replacement of the managemnet of the university, as well as textile workers from Shebin El-Kom and El-Mahalla. Trade unionists and workers have decided to meet in Tahrir Square on Friday to demand the removal of the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU), the return of privatised companies to the public sector, a minimum monthly wage of LE1,200 and the trial of the corrupt Mubarak gang, by which they, apart from Mubarak and his inner circle have also have in mind the former minister of investment Mahmoud Mohieldin, the former minister of manpower and emigration Aisha Abdel Hady and Said El-Gohary, general-secretary of the textile and yarn union – a branch of the corrupt, state-controlled EFTU.

Several hundreds (maybe some thousands) marched from Tahrir to the Israeli embassy at the other side of the Nile to protest the attacks on Gaza and to demand the closure of the embassy.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/northern-africa/egyptian-protesters-return-to-tahrir-in-the-old-numbers-video/feed/ 0 http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/northern-africa/several-thousand-egyptians-demonstrate-against-new-anti-protest-law/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/northern-africa/several-thousand-egyptians-demonstrate-against-new-anti-protest-law/#comments Sat, 26 Mar 2011 20:37:19 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=2841
Protest at the TV Building in Maspero

In Tahrir Square around 1,000 protesters were voicing their anger on Friday over the anti-protests law approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, which proposed to punishable anyone inciting, urging, promoting or participating in a protest or strike with with jail sentences or an LE 500,000 fine. The law has nbot gone into effect yet, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has yet to approve it.

The protesters were also voicing dissatisfaction with the trials of the former ministers and businessmen during the Mubarak regime.Over in Maspero, near the Radio and TV-Building, another 2,000 protesters were also protesting against the new law and moreover calling for the removal of all media personalities associated with the old regime, all editors of national papers included. The protesters chanted, “The people want to free the media.”

The 25 January Revolution Youth Coalition had called on Egyptians to take part in the protest. It dubbed the planned protest “The Friday of Cleansing”, during which the protesters will demand the resignation of all officials loyal to the former regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, including those working for state TV and state-run newspapers.Wael Abbas, activist and blogger said on Friday that more people would have come out but were frightened of the anti-protest law.

In a statement on Thursday, the coalition said protesters would also demonstrate their solidarity with the “assaulted university students and to support workers against intimidation attempts through the use of repressive laws, which should have been used to bring those truly corrupt to justice.” Late Wednesday, the armed forces broke up a sit-in by Cairo University communications students who were calling for the resignation of Dean Sami Abdel Aziz.

In another development the State Commissioner’s Authority on Thursday called for the dissolution of the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the liquidation and return of all of its assets to the state. In a report on Thursday, the Authority said that the NDP was behind the corruption of political life, the deterioration of democracy, and the poor state of the economy. The report was issued two days prior to the Supreme Administrative Court’s consideration of a lawsuit filed by a number of activists demanding the party’s dissolution.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans [at] planet.nl

The military have started to remove some of the tents at Tahrir (Al-Masry Al-Youm).

The Egyptian army has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, stepped down. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government is formed. The military council announced the move in a statement on state television. It added that it will form a panel to amend the constitution before submitting the changes to a popular referendum.

The announcement came shortly after Egypt’s prime minister announced that the cabinet appointed by Mubarak shortly before he stepped down, would stay in place. Ahmed Shafiq, speaking after his first cabinet meeting since Mubarak left on Friday, said Egypt’s caretaker government will remain for the country’s transition towards democracy. He said that security would remain a priority and pledged to fight corruption and restore peace in the country.

‘The first priority for this government is to restore security and to facilitate daily life for its citizens,” he said. “I guarantee that this will return rights to the people and fight corruption. On the future of vice-president Suleiman, appointed by Mubarak last month, Shafiq said: “The role of Omar Suleiman will be defined by the Higher Military Council.’

Earlier, troops took control of Tahrir Square to let traffic through central Cairo as the army struggled to return life to normal. Part of the tents were removed and a path for traffic created. Some of the protesters have vowed to remain in the square till all of their demands, incuding the lifting of the stse of emergency and the freeing of all preoliticale prisoners haven been met.

Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy has said Egypt needs ‘the speedy return of the police to duty’ saying 13,000 inmates who escape from prison early in the uprising were still on the run.

The military on Sunday prohibited all labor unrest, strikes or meetings of labor unions or professional associations and appealed on all Egyptians to go back to work.

AUTHOR: Martin Hijmans
URL: http://the-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
E-MAIL: m.hijmans@planet.nl