‘The youth are motivated to keep going, and the old political leaders have been left behind’ HAGGAG HAMD Agricultural supplies company employee and kung fu coach, 28 I was beaten yesterday by security; you can see where they broke my rib. But I don’t care – just look around you. The energy of the Egyptians is amazing. We’re saying no to unemployment, no to police brutality, no to poverty. We saw how scared Mubarak and his regime was; they’re being forced to listen to the people. Now the army is with us too, I’m sure of it. The job isn’t completed yet but we’re not losing any momentum. These protests will continue day after day until every bit of the regime falls. The psychological barrier between us and our president has been broken by teargas; the government created this uprising, and now they will face the consequences. MARIAM HAZEM HASSAN Student, 27 It’s the young who should be leading the nation; it’s our ideas that will shape the future. I go to an international school, and am part of a well-educated generation that was told that if we worked hard we would be able to influence things when we were older. But before today that never really seemed possible, all the doors were closed. Then we saw Tunisia, and now everything’s different: the youth have started this movement in Egypt, the youth are motivated to keep going, and the old political leaders have been left behind. I saw Mubarak’s speech; he’s trying to make us scared, fearful of the chaos. But actually they’re scared of us. People are still furious, and they want Mubarak to leave. I think that fury is going to culminate in something big in the next few days unless he does. AFAF MAMDOH Commerce student at Cairo University, 22 I watched [Mubarak's] speech and it was basically him saying screw you to the people. Well, guess what, we’re saying screw you to him too. We won’t stop sitting here until Mubarak gets on a plane. I’m going to have all of this week’s chants ringing in my ears for ever – down, down Hosni Mubarak – it’s not just enough for him to leave, we want him arrested by Interpol. It’s exhausting to sit through a whole night while gas and rubber bullets and live ammunition rain towards you. But it was also exhilarating, because this is a revolution without individual leaders; the Egyptian people are leading it. This is nothing to do with ElBaradei or the Muslim Brotherhood or any of the other political parties; they are absent. We are all just Egyptians, and we are standing together. MARWAN DJEDAOUNI Retired manager for Texas Instruments, 74 At my age I couldn’t go out but of course I support what is going on. I stayed inside and watched it on the BBC. Things have gone backwards in this country in the last 30 years. The current regime are thieves. You know it has just got much, much worse because there is so much more greed. We are all so sick of what is happening. Part of the problem is that people talk about opposition politicians but there are no opposition politicians in Egypt any more. I remember in the 1950s we had no political rights. Now we have rights but they are not worth anything. But if you ask me the question “Has something changed with the protests?”, then I have to answer, “No!” I cannot be an optimist in a country where out of 85 million only 8.5 million are doing well. MOHAMED EL-GAZZAR Works in marketing for a telecoms company, 37 I respect Hosni Mubarak; he’s our leader and he carries our nation’s history with him. But it’s clear there’s no future for him, and I only hope now that he leaves peacefully. We’ve had 30 years of emptiness and stagnation from one man, and now the demand for change is unstoppable. I didn’t come out on to the streets yesterday because it was a mess . But today feels different. The new regime will ensure our voices are heard. We mustn’t forget the role of the US and the UK in all of this. The hypocrisy of [President] Obama was amazing; your western capitals have supported this regime from the very beginning – now suddenly everybody is concerned for our rights and economic security. Where were they before? ATEF SEIF EL-DIN Electrical engineer, 47 I’ve never had any love for Mubarak or his system before, but my mind – like everyone else’s – has always been sealed from the possibility of change. And honestly, when I began chanting for my rights and the government security forces fired teargas at me, that seal was broken for ever. I’m here picking up the debris from Tahrir Square today because it is my duty. We’ve taken control of our streets from the police and whereas they threw bombs around, the people want to prove they can look after it better. This is our country; we’re not thieves, not looters, we’re just taking back what is ours from the forces of corruption. Trying to keep the square clean is a symbol of that. Interviews by Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker Egypt Middle East Protest Peter Beaumont Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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The outcome of the wave of protests that has shaken Egypt remains unclear and discernible political leadership is yet to emerge What’s happening in Egypt and how serious is it? Since Tuesday student and opposition groups have been staging protests across Egypt inspired by the uprising that toppled the former president of Tunisia, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, a fortnight ago. On Friday, such was the intensity of the protests that President Hosni Mubarak, in power for 30 years, sacked his cabinet and made vague promises of reform. But, as the fifth day of protests showed yesterday, the gesture did nothing to placate the crowds. Like all Arab countries, Egypt has a large youth population which has grown angry about unemployment, poverty, rising food prices and an autocratic leadership seen as corrupt and stagnated. Who are the opposition? Almost everyone. In an unprecedented display of unity among disparate wings of Egyptian society, middle-class students and internet-savvy young people are protesting alongside older, hardened activists and those from less privileged backgrounds. In terms of official political opposition, however, the picture is less clear. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest – and banned – opposition group, has kept a low profile and chosen not to fully endorse the protests. Former UN nuclear chief and Nobel peace prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei is viewed by many as the strongest opposition candidate for this year’s presidential elections. He returned to Egypt on Thursday and called for Mubarak to stand down – only to be placed under house arrest. Is there a danger of an Islamist takeover? At the moment, the Muslim Brotherhood is playing catch-up with a young, leaderless protest movement. But chaos always opens opportunities and years of oppression by the government has angered and frustrated ordinary people. The brotherhood has enormous support among the poor, encouraged by the network of charities it runs. Observers have been debating the sincerity of the brotherhood’s apparent moves towards real political reform, and point to its inability to directly challenge Mubarak’s government. What are the implications for the Middle East? Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and, as the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel, a major Middle Eastern player. A change in regime could have a big impact on the fragile peace process. But the biggest fear is of a domino effect, similar to what happened in eastern Europe in 1989, when a successful uprising encourages other “people power” movements, leaving Arab autocrats nervous and oil prices in flux. And for the west? As reflected in the mild comments from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Friday, western politicians need to achieve the right balance between backing the people’s legitimate demands and protecting their own interests. It is not good for western powers to lend their support to autocratic regimes. But it is in no one’s interest to have a political vacuum in countries where extremism and violence can flourish and where much of the world’s oil reserves are managed. Egypt Middle East Israel Middle East peace talks guardian.co.uk
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‘Mubarak must fall’ – all across Cairo the protesters’ message is the same
January 30, 2011 No CommentSacrificing government ministers is not enough: for the people to be satisfied, the president must be deposed As evening fell across central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, a black cloud of smoke welled in the distance from close to the interior ministry. The sound of shots rang out. First one. Then bursts. Then more shots: live rounds, rubber baton rounds, and gas. If it was intended to frighten the crowds who had milled around the square all day, it seemed by early evening to have failed. “I’ve just been hit. They’re shooting live ammunition at us. I can see blood on the floor,” said veteran Egyptian activist Ahmed Salah, who had been hit by pellets and spoke to the Observer on the phone. But he remained undaunted: “If we persist, then Hosni Mubarak will surely leave.” Yesterday, just as it has been for the past five days, Tahrir Square was the new centre of the surging revolution that has seized the Arab world. Far from being cowed or placated, the thousands of protesters were instead determined to hold their ground. Determined – as they have been for days – to insist on the removal of Mubarak, Egypt’s president for three decades. In Cairo it was scrawled across walls and written over statues: “Mubarak must fall.” As Egypt erupted in a fifth day of dissent and popular anger, the square nursed its wounds of revolution – as did the people, bandaged and bruised, who turned up to fill it again. Streets were littered with debris, glass, rocks and shotgun casings. Charred fire engines and two army scout cars, torched on Friday night, were towed away with the help of the crowd. And throughout the day, a vast pall of smoke hung in the sky over the capital: set alight the night before, the headquarters of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party were still blazing despite the efforts of firemen. For the protesters, Mubarak’s address to the nation in the early hours, in which he announced that he was firing his entire government but not himself, meant little. Indeed, for many, it merely rubbed salt into their wounds. “All he said was empty promises and lies. He appointed a new government of thieves, one thief goes and one thief comes to loot the country,” said Mahmoud Mohammed Imam, a 26-year-old taxi driver. “This is the revolution of the people who are hungry, this is the revolution of the people who have no money against those with a lot of money.” Mubarak’s broadcast was almost surreal in its lack of awareness of the crisis that is engulfing Egypt’s creaking 30-year leadership: a crisis that, while it has many points of tension, is held together by a single issue – the desire of so many to depose him. It was an address filled with vague promises of social reform, an attempt to cling to power by disposing of everyone below him. And, for many of the people who have suffered under his regime, it only confirmed the nature of the man: a self-interested and ruthless authoritarian concerned only with his survival. Bizarrely, perhaps, given what the moment called for, he defended his hated security forces and accused demonstrators – who come from every walk of Egyptian life – of plotting to destabilise the country and undermine the legitimacy of his regime. “Mubarak’s announcement did not reflect the will of the Egyptian people,” said an incredulous Hossam Hareedy, an activist. “We want to get rid of a tyrant. Firing the cabinet was not what we had in mind. What we want is for Mubarak to be cut down. But not just him. We want the corrupt members of his government to go, as well as members of parliament who we did not vote for,” he added, referring to last November’s elections which were widely viewed as rigged. In the state of flux that has suddenly seized Egypt, however, no one knows what the final outcome will be. People are unsure about where the police and army stand. And while protesters such as Kamal Maurice, a recent graduate of the American University in Cairo, believe that Mubarak must go, they are not sure how it will happen. “I think the military will push him out, otherwise the people will just keep going – every day until he goes,” he said. “Because the Egyptian people have proved themselves to be brave.” Mubarak, incidentally, was not the only world leader to be the focus of rage. “We want to send a message to Obama,” Maurice said, venting his fury after the US president’s restrained comments on Friday. “We’ve seen CNN and the BBC. Our message is that he has to stop kissing Mubarak’s arse. America has to understand that Egypt is against him. America should be so too.” In this violent limbo strange scenes were being played out. One army captain, holding a single daffodil given to him by the crowd, joined the demonstrators, who hoisted him on their shoulders while chanting slogans against Mubarak. The officer had ripped up a picture of the president. “We don’t want him! We will go after him!” demonstrators shouted. They decried looting and vandalism, saying: “Those who love Egypt should not sabotage Egypt!” Near Ramses Street another army officer stood atop a tank with a loudspeaker to tell the crowd that they had to secure the city and stop the looters – not fight with them. And, as volunteers picked up rubbish, handed out water or sat in small groups, the protesters vowed not to leave until the regime does the same. “Do you know what this means to us,” shouted Karim Kamal, who teaches political science at university. “Do you have any understanding of what this means for us? I’m not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, I’m an ordinary Egyptian and if we have the will to keep up the pressure Mubarak will go, but it will depend on our defiance and the numbers who come out.” For many, the role of the army was seen as a crucial indicator of the way things are going. “The army has traditionally been a neutral force here in Egypt,” said Kamal. “It is the police and the central security forces that the people hate. They are the ones who have oppressed us. We are trying to bring the army on to our side against Mubarak.” How successful that exercise has been remained open to question yesterday as police fired on demonstrators and the army stood back. Another pressing question is one alluded to by Ahmed Salah: quite who is leading this revolution and what direction it is going in? “The greatest thing about our uprising is that it is truly an uprising of the people,” explained Salah. “The formal opposition parties and Muslim Brotherhood are nowhere to be seen. We have proved there is another way that is not Mubarak or Islamists. There is another option.” Caught out by the pace of events, opposition figures such as Mohamed ElBaradei and the Muslim Brotherhood have so far been sidelined – a fact that even Egypt’s biggest, and banned, opposition party seems keenly aware of. Anaf Alqaffaf, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member in Cairo, tried to define the organisation’s position. “We are participating with our people. We are calling all Egyptians to join us. To join us in Cairo. But we are participating as citizens of Egypt – in political activity, in assisting neighbourhoods that have been afflicted by violence – but not formally as members of the Brotherhood,” he said. He added that senior leaders within the movement were still waiting to see how things played out. Reflecting a widespread view, he added: “Egypt is moving very fast, from variable to variable. All the political movements have complex decision to make. The speed of events overrides quick decisions. But when Mubarak leaves, of course, we have a key role to play in Egyptian politics.” Last night, as dark fell on Tahrir Square, Egypt was an unanswered question. A place of violent uncertainty where the only sure thing was that the discontent was not going away soon. Meanwhile, spurred on by protests in the Arab world’s most populous country – and by the revolution seen in Tunisia a fortnight ago – protesters in the Yemeni capital clashed with security forces during demonstrations calling for the resignation of long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Witnesses reported that at least nine protesters were set upon by police with batons as they attempted to march to the Egyptian embassy. “We will stand next to our Egyptian brothers. Your problem is our problem as well,” the protesters chanted. They urged Saleh: “Leave while there is still a chance.” Egypt Middle East Protest Peter Beaumont Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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President appoints intelligence chief to vice-president post as streets ring out to cry of ‘Mubarak, your plane is ready’ Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak was desperately trying to cling to power last night as troops opened fire in an attempt to keep tens of thousands of protesters from storming the interior ministry and state-run television and radio stations. The president’s attempt to mollify the demonstrators by sacking his government 24 hours earlier had failed and the leader of the largest Arab nation was facing an ignoble and violent end to his 30 years in power. The streets rang out with anti-government slogans and the cry “Mubarak, your plane is ready”. The president, 82, who has not picked a vice-president since he took office in 1981, appointed his intelligence chief and confidant, Omar Suleiman, to the post. The step indicates for the first time a possible succession plan and also suggests that Mubarak’s son, Gamal, long seen as the leader-in-waiting, has been pushed out of the picture. Suleiman, 74, has taken a close role in key policy areas, including the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, an issue seen as vital to Egypt’s relationship with the US, its key ally and aid donor. Last night, even as the death toll from confrontations between the security forces and the protesters reached 100 and hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties, there were even more people on the streets of the country’s major cities after dark, defying an army-backed curfew. Small-arms fire was heard throughout the night. The chief of staff of Egypt’s armed forces, Lieutenant General Sami Hafez Enan, cut short a visit to meet the American joint chiefs of staffs as news spread that some troops were refusing to open fire on unarmed protesters. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about where the army stands right now,” said Karim Ennarah, who was taking part in protests in Cairo. “They are telling people that the tanks have moved in to protect them, and people are showing great warmth in return, dancing on tanks and hugging and kissing soldiers. It looks as if the soldiers are unwilling to launch attacks on the crowds, although senior officers are pleading with protesters to respect the curfew and go home.” There was speculation that the generals would persuade Mubarak to step down to avoid a total breakdown. Looters have broken into the Egyptian Museum, which hold the treasures of Tutankhamun, destroying a number of mummies. Attempts were also made to break into the national bank. Reports emerged of gunfire in the affluent Cairo neighbourhood of Mahdi. Local men were in the street with clubs and chains to prevent any looting. Mubarak was rocked by the resignation of a senior member of his ruling party, Ahmed Ezz, a close friend of his son. Further pressure was heaped on him by the Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who said Mubarak should step down and set a framework for transition of power as the only way to end unrest. The former head of the UN nuclear watchdog told al-Jazeera that Mubarak’s speech, in which he said he would form a new government, was “disappointing” for Egyptians. David Cameron spoke to Mubarak last night to express his “grave concern” about violence against anti-government protesters in Egypt. The prime minister urged the embattled leader to “take bold steps to accelerate political reform and build democratic legitimacy” rather than attempt to repress dissent, according to Downing Street. In a joint statement with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Cameron added: “The Egyptian people have legitimate grievances and a longing for a just and better future. We urge President Mubarak to embark on a process of transformation which should be reflected in a broad-based government and in free and fair elections.” ElBaradei, a possible candidate in Egypt’s presidential election this year, flew back to Cairo from Vienna on Thursday. He said: “The system of Hosni Mubarak has failed to achieve the political, economic and social demands of the Egyptian people and we want to build a new Egypt founded on freedom, democracy and social justice. The main demand is that President Mubarak announces clearly that he will resign, or that he will not run again.” Dominic Asquith, Britain’s ambassador to Egypt, said of the demonstrations: “I’m struck by the variety of age, of class, of gender. It’s across the board, you can see it – you can see the variety of people there. It’s not, from my perception, religiously driven. This is not the Muslim Brotherhood. The important thing that we have to focus on is to try to maintain a state of order where what President Mubarak talks of, a national dialogue, can take place.” King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said: “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people and government declares it stands with all its resources with the government of Egypt and its people.” The Saudi stock market, the Arab world’s largest, dropped 6.43% amid the rising tensions. Traders fear that other Gulf markets could experience similar falls. President Obama spoke to Mubarak on the phone, issuing a stern warning that promises of reform had to be followed by meaningful action. It was still a far way from abandoning a man who has been a trusted and loyal ally of successive US administrations. But it was a rapid shift of gears from just 24 hours previously and it was essentially driven entirely by the protesters on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. The situation is even more complex for Washington’s other allies in the region, such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In all those countries ordinary people have watched agog at the protests and then taken to the streets in varying degrees to try to kickstart their own protests. Leaders may have to walk the same tightrope Mubarak is trying to walk: balancing promises of reform with keeping control. Egypt Middle East Protest Peter Beaumont Jack Shenker Paul Harris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Would-be looters broke into Cairo’s famed Egyptian Museum, ripping the heads off two mummies and damaging about 10 small artifacts before being caught and detained by soldiers, Egypt’s antiquities chief said today. Zahi Hawass said the vandals did not manage to steal any of the museum’s antiquities, and that the…
Continue reading …You won’t see George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail in 2012; he’s sworn off politics for good, he tells C-SPAN in an interview airing tomorrow night. “I don’t want to go out and campaign for candidates, I don’t want to be used as a perpetual money-raiser, I don’t want…
Continue reading …Afghanistan will sign a formal agreement at the UN tomorrow promising to stop using young boys as police or military sex slaves, the New York Times reports. Hamid Karzai ordered the deal after Afghanistan was placed on a UN blacklist for “grave violations against children in armed combat.” Officials admit…
Continue reading …Taco Bell has been really , really , really adamant in denying accusations that its taco meat is only 36% beef , insisting that it’s actually 88% beef. But they don’t have to defend themselves, as far as Sandra Fish is concerned. “I’d be OK with even less than 88% beef in my…
Continue reading …We’ve waited for this revolution for years. Other despots should quail | Mona Eltahawy
January 29, 2011 No CommentChange is sweeping though the Middle East and it’s the Facebook generation that has kickstarted it My birth at the end of July 1967 makes me a child of the naksa, or setback, as the Arab defeat during the June 1967 war with Israel is euphemistically known in Arabic. My parents’ generation grew up high on the Arab nationalism that Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser brandished in the 1950s. But we “Children of the Naksa”, hemmed in by humiliation, have spent so much of our lives uncomfortably stepping into pride’s large, empty shoes. But here now finally are our children – Generation Facebook – kicking aside the burden of history, determined to show us just how easy it is to tell the dictator it’s time to go. To understand the importance of what’s going in Egypt, take the barricades of 1968 (for a good youthful zing), throw them into a mixer with 1989 and blend to produce the potent brew that the popular uprising in Egypt is preparing to offer the entire region. It’s the most exciting time of my life. How did they do it? Why now? What took so long? These are the questions I face on news shows scrambling to understand. I struggle with the magnitude of my feelings of watching as my country revolts and I give into tears when I hear my father’s Arabic-inflected accent in the English of Egyptian men screaming at television cameras through tear gas: “I’m doing this for my children. What life is this?” And Arabs from the Mashreq to the Maghreb are watching, egging on those protesters to topple Hosni Mubarak who has ruled Egypt for 30 years, because they know if he goes, all the other old men will follow, those who have smothered their countries with one hand and robbed them blind with the other. Mubarak is the Berlin Wall. “Down, down with Hosni Mubarak,” resonates through the whole region. In Yemen, tens and thousands have demanded the ousting of Ali Abdullah Saleh who has ruled them for 33 years. Algeria, Libya and Jordan have had their protests. “I’m in Damascus, but my heart is in Cairo,” a Syrian dissident wrote to me. My Twitter feed explodes with messages of support and congratulations from Saudis, Palestinians, Moroccans and Sudanese. The real Arab League; not those men who have ruled and claimed to speak in our names and who now claim to feel our pain but only because they know the rage that emerged in Tunisia will soon be felt across the region. Brave little Tunisia, resuscitator of the Arab imagination. Tunisia, homeland of the father of Arab revolution: Mohammed Bouazizi , a 26-year-old who set himself on fire to protest at a desperation at unemployment and repression that covers the region. He set on fire the Arab world’s body politic and snapped us all to attention. His self-immolation set into motion Tunisian protests that in just 29 days toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ‘s 23-year dictatorship. We watched, we said wow and we thought: that’s it? Ben Ali ran away that quickly? It’s that easy? Ben Ali called his armed forces for help 27 days into the popular uprising. It took Mubarak just four days into Egypt’s revolt to call the army. He had unleashed the brutality of his security forces and their riot police, but they couldn’t stem the determination of the thousands who continued to demand his ousting. He put Egypt under information lock-down by shutting down the internet, Burmese-junta style, but still they came. Ben Ali’s fall killed the fear in Egypt. So imagine what Mubarak’s fall could do to liberate the region. Too many have rushed in to explain the Arab world to itself. “You like your strongman leader,” we’re told. “You’re passive, and apathetic.” But a group of young online dissidents dissolved those myths. For at least five years now, they’ve been nimbly moving from the “real” to the “virtual” world where their blogs and Facebook updates and notes and, more recently, tweets offered a self-expression that may have at times been narcissistic but for many Arab youths signalled the triumph of “I”. I count, they said again and again. Most of the people in the Arab world are aged 25 or are younger. They have known no other leaders than those dictators who grew older and richer as the young saw their opportunities – political and economic – dwindle. The internet didn’t invent courage; activists in Egypt have exposed Mubarak’s police state of torture and jailings for years. And we’ve seen that even when the dictator shuts the internet down protesters can still organise. Along with making “I” count, social media allowed activists to connect with ordinary people and form the kind of alliances that we’re seeing on the streets of Egypt where protesters come from every age and background. Youth kickstarted the revolt, but they’ve been joined by old and young. Call me biased, but I know that each Arab watching the Egyptian protesters take on Mubarak’s regime does so with the hope that Egypt will mean something again. Thirty years of Mubarak rule have shrivelled the country that once led the Arab world. But those youthful protesters, leapfrogging our dead-in-the-water opposition figures to confront the dictator, are liberating all Egyptians from the burden of history. Or reclaiming the good bits. Think back to Suez to appreciate the historic amnesia of a regime that cares only for its survival. In cracking down on protesters, Mubarak immediately inspired resistance reminiscent of the Arab collective response to the tripartite aggression of the 1956 Suez crisis. Suez, this time, was resisting the aggression of the dictator; not the former colonial powers but this time Mubarak, the dictator, as occupier. Meanwhile, the uprisings are curing the Arab world of an opiate, the obsession with Israel. For years, successive Arab dictators have tried to keep discontent at bay by distracting people with the Israeli-Arab conflict. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2009 increased global sympathy for Palestinians. Mubarak faced the issue of both guarding the border of Gaza, helping Israel enforce its siege, and continuing to use the conflict as a distraction. Enough with dictators hijacking sympathy for Palestinians and enough with putting our lives on hold for that conflict. Arabs are watching as tens of thousands of Egyptians turn Tahrir Square into the symbol of their revolt. Every revolution has its square and Tahrir (liberation in Arabic) is earning its name. This is the square Egypt uses to remember the ending of the monarchy in 1952, as well as of British occupation. The group of young army officers who staged that coup in 1952 claimed it as a revolution, heralding an era of rule by military men who turned Egypt into a police state. Today, the army is out in Tahrir Square again, this time facing down a mass of youthful protesters determined to pull of Egypt’s first real post-colonial revolution. Egypt Tunisia Yemen Palestinian territories Mona Eltahawy guardian.co.uk
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