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Egypt anti-government protests grow

^^^Have heard that on the the World Service, I would offhand suspect that the Egyptian military/ruling class are stirring things up. Whatever's up, I would suspect some stirring up at the moment :(
 
Sounds more like the Salafists being dicks again with the encouragement of the worst elements in the MB leadership. Reading the better Cairo bloggers they're praising local Muslims who came out to help put out the fires. And they're also asking why the army and police were stood around watching these guys firing churches.
 
There's a lot of witnesses on the ground saying it wasn't Salafists but "thugs" causing the problems

Anyway, thousands came out yesterday - both Muslims and Christians - to show solidarity
 
Yeah it's not clear who exactly is behind the attacks and of course the pro Muabarak scum will be sniffing around. But the lefty twitters on the the spot in Maspero this morning have been saying all weekend that it's too simplistic to blame it on 'dark forces'. They're also calling on more muslims to turn up today/tonight. One typical guy: "The #copts at #maspero r feeling alone and need a lot of meaningful solidarity more than anything.. United we stand against hatred." Does sound like there was a fair degree of spontaneous solidarity from local muslims which is great.
 
Just what the doctor ordered.
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Bad few days for the regime remnants and for religious conservatives. First the revulsion against the Salafi/thug church burning. And most people seeing the SCAF and Tantawi as the main problem behind these tensions.

And then the hugely successful doctors strike today against the former regime Ministers and for an increase in health spending, a strike that was opposed by the MB dominated leadership of the union but supported by most MB cadre on the ground happy to stand on pickets with their secular activist colleagues. Keep it going lads and lasses!
 
Even the official report blames battagi/thugs. The Salafis looking for the woman who had been 'kidnapped' may have been the excuse but the battagi who had molotovs already prepared and marched 2K to attack a 2nd church, totally unmolested by police or army are the real story here.
 
National Unity marches planned for tomorrow. MB falling over themselves to say they're attending which is hopefully an indication of how big they will be.

Socialist Days Conference in Cairo tonight, days after the main forces of the left form a coalition. The conference is being covered by Nile News which judging by the tweets from those attending is something they're finding hard to comprehend!

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Ahmed Shawki, one of the better speakers of the IS tradition speaking on how the Egyptian revolution has made Arabs in the West feel proud for a change.
 
They're more successful because they have more important things to worry about than arguing the toss about the precisely correct ideological approach to a revolution they'll never get.

They're better looking because they got their revolution, and happy people are always drop dead gorgeous.
 
Well you could argue their relative success has more to do with Egypt being a weaker link in global capitalism but I like your happy people comment!

But don't fool yourself that the Egyptian left is any less fractious than ours. It's a coalition they've formed, not a single new party, precisely because they argue about lots. Not least what attitude to take to the MB. Arguably the IS lot have been more influential than other parts of the left because they were prepared to work 'with the Islamists sometimes, with the state never' as their leader Kalil says in direct quote from the deceased Chris Harman. Unlike the rest of the coalition who have tended to treat the MB as at best as big a problem as the regime and at worst as a bigger problem.

Anymore here's hoping the marches today are huge.
 
The Prof is in Cairo

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Prof: " at the airport I got a brochure from Vodafone showing that Vodafone is in favour of the revolution!"
 
Kicking off in Maspero district of Cairo again. 200 or so battagi allowed through police lines to attack Christians and Muslims protecting the area.

One tweet: "Protesters in #Maspero preparing for attacks by holding sticks and building barricades ..reminding me of #Tahrir".

I like this one: ☾ + ✝ =1✔
 
This is significant. The Muslim brotherhood are now openly opposing Friday demonstrations in Egypt and are threatening to organise counter demonstrations. In addition the military are now refusing to offer security to demonstrations.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced on Thursday that its forces would not be taking part in securing Friday’s protests, dubbed "The Second Revolution of Anger".

Activists and political movements called for the Friday protest to demand a speedy trial for ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the involvement of civilians in the country’s political decision-making process during the transitional period.

The Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi groups, however, announced they would be boycotting the protests, saying they were not in the interests of the people and were aimed at driving a wedge between the armed forces and the people.

In a statement on its page on global social networking site Facebook, the SCAF warned Egyptians of "the possibility that suspicious elements will try to carry out acts designed to drive a wedge between the Egyptian people and its armed forces."

Since March, several Tahrir Square protests have been marred by clashes. The revolutionaries blamed these clashes on elements of the counter-revolution, saying they were thugs loyal to the remnants of the defunct National Democratic Party, which ruled the country during the Mubarak era.

In the statement, the SCAF also noted that the armed forces would not to be present in the area of the protests in order to avoid the risk of any attempts to drive a wedge between the armed forces and the people. It said the role of the armed forces would be limited to securing major locations against security threats.

The Muslim Brotherhood announced on Wednesday that it would organize a number of demonstrations against the Friday protest in Alexandria. Meanwhile, a number of Salafi groups said they considered the people organizing the protest to be "infidels and atheists".

http://uruknet.info/?p=m78104&fb=1
 
Here's hoping the non-Islamic rebels are able to keep coherant in the face of military and MB resistance. A fair few of the pro-capitalist IT 'rebels' will surely be thinking the same way as the MB - that things have gone far enough and they'd rather not rock the boat now?
 
Here's hoping the non-Islamic rebels are able to keep coherant in the face of military and MB resistance. A fair few of the pro-capitalist IT 'rebels' will surely be thinking the same way as the MB - that things have gone far enough and they'd rather not rock the boat now?

Yes this is how the counter revolution is playing out. Attempting to take the movement off the streets and to focus everything on elections. Elections already set up for the Muslim Brotherhood to win. And of course when that happens we can expect a chorus of comments along the lines of "you see, this was an Islamist uprising all along" oblivious to the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is being groomed for victory by the military regime as a method of demobilizing the mass movement and stopping the revolution
 
the Muslim Brotherhood is being groomed for victory by the military regime as a method of demobilizing the mass movement and stopping the revolution
And then the military can sell themselves to the EU and USA as the only brake on the MB.
 
And then the military can sell themselves to the EU and USA as the only brake on the MB.

Also the MB are a pro free market anti working class organisation who will pose not threat to regime attempts to crush the organised labour movement
 
Also the MB are a pro free market anti working class organisation who will pose not threat to regime attempts to crush the organised labour movement

Even so - opportunities for organising under a MB-dominated parliament will surely be higher than they were under Mubarak?
 
Even so - opportunities for organising under a MB-dominated parliament will surely be higher than they were under Mubarak?

Well yes as the opportunities are higher right now. The revolution is a process of shifting power. There are gains even now, one of which is the ability of people to organise for the first time, this is particularly true of the independant trade unions. These are real gains, turning those gains back is the intention of the counter revolution, extending them is the task of the revolution. We are seeing a battle and the outcome of that battle is still to be seen. That said, a Muslim Brotherhood victory will be a victory for the military regime not for the revolution. It will be a setback
 
That said, a Muslim Brotherhood victory will be a victory for the military regime not for the revolution. It will be a setback
A setback that is almost inevitable, given that they're the only mass movement already organised along electoral lines. What else could have happened, given that the military's hold on power has not been shaken by the revolt?
 
A setback that is almost inevitable, given that they're the only mass movement already organised along electoral lines. What else could have happened, given that the military's hold on power has not been shaken by the revolt?

I think it is inevitable yes. As soon as the constitutional amendments were approved and the decision to call early elections was made this became inevitable. However, the game is not over. There is a free and independant trade union movement for the first time in modern Egyptian history and the demands of the working class have not been met. If I was a revolutionary in Egypt I would be organising around the demand for a national minimum wage. In a country where half the population live on $2.00 a day or less this has the potential to become the next wave of the revolution. It needs to move away from purely political demands and raise economic demands.

If the military met the demand for a national minimum wage then great, it would raise the income of millions and it would show that the secular democratic forces care about workers. If they are not met it would show the military and the MB for the anti worker organisations that they are.
 
Very true - and this would also be the MB's achillies heel, if all they're offering is piety and pay cuts.
 
We can look at it like this. The revolution have lost the battle for parliament. Given, as you say, the entrenched power of the military that was probably inevitable. The Muslim Brotherhood as the most organised political force in the country was always going to be the beneficiary of early elections especially with the disorganised leaderless nature of the anti Mubarak forces. The revolution retains the ability to organise on the streets and in the workplace and it is within these arenas that the next battles will be fought. If the street movement can build lasting organised relationship with the organised labour movement then the revolution will have powerful weapons in its hands. The military know this too which is why they are so determined to end the street mobilisations and strikes and move towards early elections. Their ability to do this and the ability of the revolution to prevent this will determine the next wave of the revolution especially if a Muslim Brotherhood dominated post election government moves against strikes and demonstrations. Then, as you say, they will reveal themselves for what they are
 
So yesterdays protest went ahead without the Muslim Brotherhood for the first time since the January 26th uprising (which the Brotherhood also did not join until the friday) pulling in over 100.000 people. The fact that the Brotherhood opposed it made the event very significant and turned it into a crucial test of the ability of the democracy movement to mobilise without the brotherhood. It is also a test of the determination of people to continue demonstrating in the face of ominous claims by the military that they will not protect protestors and warning of possible confrontion.

What is also significant about yesterdays demonstration is that it may also indicate tensions and divisions within the MB as many of the youth members of the brotherhood defied the MB order to stay away and attended.

From yesterday

Increasing numbers of protestors are still heading to Tahrir Square hours after Friday prayers. The protest which began with several thousand increased, reaching at least a hundred thousand by midday despite the extremely hot and sandy weather.

Street vendors could be seen on every corner selling water and head caps to demonstrators who were struggling at first with the hot sun until the weather began to ease up after a cloud drifted over Tahrir Square, sprinkling drops of rain.

Four stages were erected around the square, each with a different focus. The stage constructed by the Youth Coalition, near Talaat Harb Street, became the square's focal point after Friday prayer when the Imam sermonised from the stage, stressing that “the demonstration is not planned to challenge a certain body but to put forward demands.”

The socialist Popular Alliance Party stage closer to Abdel-Moneim Riad Square, however, was more expressive of its anti-military council sentiment. It also focused mainly on social demands including the application of a minimum and maximum wage.

The stage closer to Kasr El-Nil Bridge, raised by the liberal Democratic Front Party, focused on demands to establish a presidential council and postpone elections. These two demands were held by many others in the square and although refused by many of the participants, such opposition was not expressed.

All the stages pointedly focused on ending military trials of civilians and speeding up the trial of ex-regime figures, including the ousted president, while also opening up the proceedings to the public.

An obvious anti-Muslim Brotherhood sentiment prevailed in the square coupled with heated criticism of the Brotherhood’s decision to boycott the demonstration as well as its alleged role in recent media attacks. The demonstrators chanted “Where are the Brotherhood, here is Tahrir”.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...olitics-/Tahrir-protest-swells-by-midday.aspx
 
Good news, I think - as good as we could hope for. Interesting that there are still liberals and imams involved in this 'second stage' of the revolt. Are those stages really representative of the four main forces involved? Who's in the Popular Alliance Party?
 
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