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Egypt anti-government protests grow

Long video of Hossam el-Hamalawy speaking at Marxism 2012. I've only watched the first 20 minutes so far, and the intro before he speaks lasts just over 8 minutes.

 
Nice one, very informative, certainly helped fill in a few gaps and put much of the media focus to shame (no surprise).
 
I think I will quote this bit seeing as the MB will continue to receive much attention and there is usually a pretty good chance of too much focus on the beard rather than what really lies behind it:

The Brotherhood’s deputy general guide, Khairat al-Shater (who was disquali- fied from running for president), and Hasan Malik, founder of the Islamic- oriented Egyptian Business Development Association—“Brothers of the 1 percent” as Bloomberg Businessweek termed them—will be the most influential figures shaping the economic and social policies of the Freedom and Justice Party.29 They may be less corrupt, preserve more elements of the public sector, and empower a different group of businessmen than the Mubarak regime. But their pro-business credentials are solid.
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The Brotherhood's one per cent


The new economic order, as proposed by the Brotherhood, does not challenge the arguments and assumptions of Mubarak’s socio-economic structure, in terms of the free market, trade, and giving priority to the private sector and foreign investment. It is based on empowering that structure to work for a new business elite, simply without the “corrupt practices."

[...]

As so many people voted against the old regime, Morsi’s victory was not mainly an outcome of support for his platform.

The platform is the most straightforward of those offered by the presidential candidates, in its commitment to the main arguments of neo-liberalism. It is the only one that embraces continued privatisation policies, both generally and in "strategic" sectors. It is also the only platform that is based on attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment for infrastructure projects, and on a pivotal principle of trade liberalisation.

In April, a few days before he was eliminated as a presidential candidate with the same platform, leading Brotherhood figure Khairat El-Shater told news agency Reuters in a video interview that social justice is a key and vital issue "but it is a comprehensive concept." Comprehensive, in the eyes of the man who is at the helm of the Brotherhood financial empire along with Malek, means that “it requires projects, but the state does not currently have resources for at least two more years. Thus, the private sector must be given an incentive.”

El-Shater is not referring to industry, agriculture and tourism alone, but also electricity and potable water projects. He gives us a glimpse of the new economic order that will invite businessmen to participate in projects and sectors that former prime minister Ahmed Nazif’s government failed to liberate for monopolies, before it was overthrown by a popular revolution.

Projects under what is called public private partnerships (PPPs) are the epitome of privatisation bias that benefits the one per cent. We are talking about privatising commodities that are essential, whereby the choice is either to pay the liberalised cost of electricity or sewage or drinking water, or to go without. This has been the case in a number of developing countries that have gone through this painful experience for the 99 per cent of the population.

Where this model has been implemented, it was less to alleviate the burden of funding on the state, than to allow the private sector to become dependent on state patronage at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. In experiments to liberalise or privatise railroads in the UK and Germany, the cost of consumption increased, the state continued to pay and the quality of the service deteriorated.
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This is not going to be done on the UK/Germany model though - it'll be a form of the chinese model with military involvement (as a financial component rather than a military one or now) which is why we will be seeing a lot more of this over the coming period: Egyptian textile workers in revolt - but in a different context of recent victories and real independent union influence.
 
Unlike Mubarak he appears to have remained dead.

The start of the telegraph obituary makes me think that the photos we found of him when he emerged into the spotlight were a reasonable guide to his persona.

Urbane, sophisticated, secular, wily and brutal by turns, the premium cigar-smoking, Hemingway-reading Suleiman lived in the shadows for decades, better known to his counterparts in the CIA and Mossad than to his compatriots at home. But, apart from Mubarak, no one in Egypt wielded greater power. Together the two men directed and implemented a political strategy founded on the maintenance of the status quo, often through the ruthless suppression of Islamic extremists, or those suspected of being so.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/9413065/Omar-Suleiman.html

Egyptian-intelligence-chi-004.jpg
 
Mobster tactics against labour strike leave one worker dead in Mahalla


An attack on striking workers at the Al-Samoly Company for Spinning and Weaving in Mahalla on Saturday left one dead and four injured, according to Haitham Mohamadeen, a member of the independent trade union association.
The dead man has been named as Ahmed Hosni and the injured are being treated in the Mahalla and Mansoura hospitals.

Many people at the scene blamed the company owner for initiating the attack, said Mohamadeen.

The strikers caught one of the three attackers and handed him over to the police, he added.

Hundreds of striking workers had blocked the Mahalla-Mansoura road to demand the payment of late salaries, wage increases and better incentives.
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The well-known “We Are All Khaled Saeed” Facebook page, slammed the Freedom and Justice Party’s newspaper in a message Sunday, saying that its characterization of the Mahalla workers’ sit-in as treason is unacceptable after the revolution.
The newspaper claimed on Sunday that there were elements from the dissolved National Democratic Party and State Security behind the workers’ protests.
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http://www.egyptindependent.com/new...khaled-saeed-hits-fjp-paper-s-coverage-strike

I will try and find out more about the MB propaganda, seems as crude as the Mubarak & SCAF era stuff.
 
And now a former irrigation minister & bureaucrat, with no obvious & overt party affiliation is named PM. His post-grad from the US and African Development Bank experiences may help him.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012724103825498223.html

Analysis at this point rather unsurprisingly features useless speculation from the beard radar.

http://www.egyptindependent.com/new...ham-mohamed-qandil-egypt-s-new-prime-minister

The former irrigation minister’s beard has caused speculation of Islamist tendencies. He denied any affiliation with Islamist groups when he told Al Jazeera his beard was grown in keeping with religious obligations.
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Not read yet, will be doing so when my tea is drawn:

Three Myths About the Arab Uprisings

NEW HAVEN: The uprisings that began with pushing Tunisian autocrat Ben Ali from power in January 2011 have fostered dizzying levels of activism and a deluge of analyses. The changing times are exciting, though scary; the information intriguing, though often misleading.
Indeed, much of the current analysis revolves around three myths that fail to hold up under closer scrutiny. Revisiting these myths sheds light on recent changes in the Arab world and on where the region may be heading.
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First point on Youth + Technology = Uprisings certainly tallies with the Benin piece i linked to the other day about a decade of labour protest.
 
Yes, and I have some memory of that issue being debates in detail here quite early on in the arab spring as well. We know it played some role, but that it was hugely overstated by some and also ended up providing a lazy story our media could tell without having to mention pesky workers much at all.

I expect I gave the net stuff slightly too much credit in Egypt early on, not because I take videos from anonymous seriously but because I do have some hopes for the net and human organisation. And also because some of it provided a very interesting additional window into events from those of us eagerly watching developments overseas and speaking english. But even here we should not get carried away since especially in Egypt it was often traditional media such as Al Jazeera and some other Egyptian TV stations that provided us with our fix of live street battle footage.

Mind you I would say that mobile phone video distributed via youtube etc has demonstrated itself to be a real phenomenon that can alter the propaganda equations in a number of ways. More strike footage being shot and brought to our attention would be interesting, especially if people could organise more translation than currently tends to happen.
 
This is no on the sidelines group - these are the people we were told by many who had pull and influence on the MB and who could translate on-the-street pressure into tactical (even if temporary) defense of those wanting to push further:

Egyptian 'revolutionary group' warns Morsi is ignoring promises

The National Front for the Protection of the Revolution, formed to support President Morsi in office, says he is not involving the Front in the decision making process as promised on 22 June
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“Despite our differences with the [Muslim] Brotherhood, we agreed to forgive what has happened in the past in order to continue with the revolution," said prominent media figure Hamdi Qandeel.

"On 22 June, we announced together with Morsi six objectives in return for our support. However, so far, none of them have been met,

[...]

According to a statement released Saturday, the agreed-upon points included for Morsi to:

1. Abide by the principle of national cooperation and the uniting national project expressing the revolution’s demands and representing all of society, including women, Copts and youths.

2. Form a Cabinet and a presidential team that is representative of all the political factions and one that is headed by an independent national figure.

3. Form a crisis management group composed of several National Front members to assist the president during the transition process until a complete handover of power is accomplished.

4. Complete refusal of the addendum to the Constitutional Declaration reducing the presidential authorities as well as the decision of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to dissolve parliament.

5. Seek a more balanced and representative Constitutional Declaration that would help guarantee the drafting of a permanent constitution for all Egyptians.

6. Abide by complete transparency with the people regarding any changes and developments.
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I guess they mean this sort of thing:

Choice of Salafist as ِEgypt's minister of religious endowment provokes criticism


A number of religious and political figures expressed their discontent with the appointment of Mohamed Yosri Ibrahim as minister of religious endowment – Awqaf – in the new cabinet, voicing fears that this heralds an imposition of Wahabbism, a Saudi-influenced conservative form of Islam.
According to a statement issued by a number of Sufis and moderate religious groups, the choice of Ibrahim, a member of the Salafist Call, to head the Ministry of Awqaf will negatively influence Egypt cultural and religious identity. The ministry regulates mosques and is responsible for the issuing of licenses to preachers.

[...]

In 2011, Ibrahim was one of many Salafist preachers who claimed that a woman Camilia Shehata was kidnapped by the church for converting to Islam, feeding sectarian tensions. Salafists led a number of protests demanding the release of Shehata who later gave a televised interview refuting any claims that she had converted.
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The suckers should have realised that keeping Shafiq out of power was all they were likely to achieve with that strategy.

Related things I missed from earlier in July:

Revolution Youth Council had their final press conference which included an audit of how they performed:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...-Youth-Coalitions-final-news-conference-.aspx

And now onto Sabbahi the Nasserist, all of these are also some weeks old now:

Reflecting on being smeared, corruption of the MB by businessmen, some silly denials of his own marriage of convenience with a telecoms mogul:

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/sabbahi-i-was-smeared-because-i-was-threat

On the controversial medicine repricing:

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/sabbahi-raising-medicine-prices-shows-morsy-s-social-bias

Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi has criticized the government's decision to link the prices of medication sold locally to those abroad, saying it marks the first indication of the new power’s social bias.
Sabbahi tweeted on Saturday, "The repricing of medication at a time when the poor do not find money to be treated, is the first indication of the social bias of the new power. Egypt's policies need to have more bias to the poor."
The Health Ministry's decision last week to tie medication pricing to international prices sparked a feud between the doctors and pharmacists syndicates.
Egypt has a system, set in a 1991 decree, in which medication prices are based on the cost of production, regardless of prices abroad.
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His version of 6 demands:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...bbahi-proposes--steps-out-of-Egypts-poli.aspx

1. President Morsi should declare his respect for the judiciary's decision on the parliamentary elections law and not involve the judiciary in political disputes.
2. The current constituent assembly should be reformed by Morsi so it represents a true national coalition without being monopolised by any particular trend.
3. Once the new constituent assembly is formed it should continue where the old one left off. In addition, the president should transfer legislative authorities to the assembly, which it will conduct until a new parliament is elected.
4. Parliamentary elections should take place sixty days after the referendum on the new constitution. Legislative powers should then be transferred to the newly elected parliament. Judicial independence should be at the top of its agenda.
5. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) should respect all the suggestions made above (1-4) once they are implemented. After legislative powers are transferred to the constituent assembly, the SCAF's constitutional addendum will be invalid.
6. President Morsi should release all political detainees, and those facing military trials should be tried by a civil court before the holy month of Ramadan.
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I will be trying to keep an eye on any progress that Sabbahi's 'Third Current' coalition makes, although its still much easier to spot divisions than unity between a variety of political forces. I dont go out of my way to trust Nasserists or Sabbahi, but at a minimum it seems I can rely on them to at least mention the poor & related issues.

Despite the following article bigging up how much this is an alliance between the left and liberals, I expect it has features which are not many liberals cup of tea despite pretending otherwise, and Sabbahi at least did not make the mistake of backing Morsi in the 2nd round.

Anyway check out how dubious some of the analysis may be towards the end of the article. Or perhaps not, Sabbahi did have to tip his hat to markets during the election in order to appear somewhat moderate and modern, but that stuff is quite at odds with his stated aims regarding poverty etc, and I cant properly judge whether he would do a 'new labour' if he ever got into power. If he is lucky then his chance will come after global neo-liberalism soils and discredits itself further, but that still wouldn't give me much confidence that workers would really win under him:

http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/07/can-egypts-third-current-provide-a-third-way/

Oh well, at least we've run out of opportunities for a while for people to blather on about ElBaradei being given some prominent post. Is he back in Vienna again?
 
Oh I forgot, political eyes turn towards the next parliamentary elections, and ElBaradei has a new party (a unity one, surprise surprise). Seems they had a press conference the other day but it is rather unclear exactly who will unite with them:

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/2012/0...nite-opposition-with-his-new-political-party/

For now I will assume that his Dostour party (not really a party competing with other parties, honest guv) and Sabbahi's Third Current do not come to an arrangement over these elections, and the 'revolutionary vote' will end up split again. I've no idea who the old Mubarak forces will get behind after the Shafiq 'disappointment' and obviously despite being tested by having some actual power, the MB will still be a force to be reckoned with.

Anyway the timetable for these elections probably isnt set in stone yet due to the constitutional issues, and further political crises cannot be ruled out in the meantime, so Im being somewhat premature here.
 
elbows said:
And what is going on with attacks on hospitals?

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/2012/07/29/hospitals-under-attack/
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They seems to be a focus point for a whole range of things coming together right now - shows how volatile the situation remains. Here's a useful round up/general view of strikes/capital balance of forces etc:

Wave of strikes: Egypt Labour fights back, Capital draws a line

While workers’ struggles have won concessions in latest wave of strikes, both capital and government, with political advantages over labour, remain intransigent in the face of demands that challenge the neo-liberal status quo
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teqniq said:
On an entirely surreal note I feel reasonably certain that in the midst of all the election stuff, some of you must have come across @TawfikOkasha_en on Twitter. If not you should have a look. Since Morsi's win was announced he has sort of imploded (he seemed to think he had a cabinet job all lined up under Shafiq). Now he's not just tweeting semi gibberish English but is enquiring about furnished flats in Germany in semi gibberish
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It seems he is now being implicated in some way for an attack on the MB headquarters, although of course there are other theories:

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/heightened-security-brotherhood-headquarters-after-shooting
 
butchersapron said:
Copt trouble again last night.
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Because someones shirt was burnt in an ironing error from what I heard. Not good when tensions can spill over with such feeble triggers.

A lot of the news right now seems dominated by the troop deaths in Sinai. It was only very recently that there was a new easing of Rafah border restrictions, and to say that will be undone by these attacks is probably an understatement. Theories abound.
 
You wont have any trouble finding stories about the deaths & response to the Rafah incident, but here is an article from July 25th that mentions the eased restrictions which I referred to. I was going to post about it at the time but I think I got distracted:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/egypt-eases-border-restrictions-at-rafah-crossing-1.453407


The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday that the Egyptian authorities have approved significant easing of restrictions on Palestinians wishing to enter or leave the strip via the Rafah crossing, or to fly via Cairo International Airport.
Maher Abu Sabha, director of borders within Gaza's Hamas-run government, announced that the steps include shortening the list of Palestinians banned from entering Egypt for security reasons. Egypt will also allow Palestinians who do not have an identity card to cross the border at Rafah without prior coordination, if they are accompanied by a relative who has an identity card.
Abu Sabha expressed hope that the border crossing will be opened permanently in the near future, which would allow Palestinians to move freely out of Gaza. According to employees at the Rafah crossing, in the past two weeks Egyptian authorities have allowed 1,000 Palestinians to cross into Egypt daily, instead of the 500 previously allowed.
The decision to ease passage restrictions came only a few days after a large demonstration organized by Hamas called for the blockade of the Strip to be lifted, as President Mohammed Morsi promised in his election campaign.
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Well thats one election promise he probably doesnt need to worry about keeping anymore.
 
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