Egyptian forces attack praying protesters.
Cairo is burning. So is Egypt. Twitter is exploding. Everyone seems to have an opinion—many who do have never even been to Egypt but feel a strong sense of solidarity with the most remarkable revolution in a generation, perhaps. A revolution which importantly is not really caused by Twitter or by Facebook—as much as the self congratulatory social networking types in the West would like to believe.
Full disclosure: Sleepless but still sitting in relative comfort in my Manhattan apartment I am one of those relentless tweeters. However my obsession stems from a long love and association with Egypt and the presence of way too many friends who have jumped into the chaos not really knowing what consequences their actions might have for themselves or their friends and families.
I must also be clear. At this point, on this the longest Egyptian night in a generation, perhaps longer—most Western self professed Islam/Middle East and other assorted pundits have no clue about the harsh reality of Egyptian life. Many have probably never taken a walk down Mashriet Nasser, the largest slum in Cairo. This is why the do not realize that this “revolution” is not about social networking and its success. The majority of the 80 million people of Egypt live in abject poverty. They do not even have cell-phones let alone smartphones like the iPhone or the Droid. They go to kiosks to make calls. A pretty substantial number of them have NEVER used the internet and do not have email accounts: the complicated mechanisms of self-promotion and information gathering and sharing on social networks is not a part of their lives—they have never had the money or the resources to get access to this other world which often lives in the relatively more affluent neighborhoods like Zamalek or Garden City or Mohandaseen—all within some walking distance of where the dissent started in Tahrir Square.
The majority of the protesters in Cairo, in Suez, in Alexandria, in Luxor, in Mahla, in Manoura and all over this ancient land which is the very heart of what it means to be Arab—are not “twittering” or “facebooking” or “emailing” or even watching the landmark live coverage that Al-Jazeera is providing. They are out on the streets—and yes, without phone access—risking their lives and giving vent to three decades and perhaps more, of anger.
They are fighting for very basic human rights. They are fighting for affordable food. They are fighting for dignity. They are fighting for accountability. They are fighting to somehow improve the non-existent financial opportunities in their lives.
They are not interested in Mohamed AlBaradei’s Nobel prize or his rather recent and opportunist political ambitions. Most of them have not really seen him and have no idea of what he has been up to for the last three decades as they have suffered. They are angry that he decided to show up just last night and started posturing immediately as the potential savior and the best person to lead them into their uncertain future. Many here in the West would be surprised to know that a lot of these simple folk would actually prefer the “Muslim Brotherhood” taking over. Atleast they recognize the “Islam Light” the Brotherhood has honed to perfection after a pretty radical and conservative beginning with an idealogue like Banna.
My friend Fouad Hani though has had access to all of the above including a very nice smartphone. That has not deterred him from stepping out every night and after about six hours of trying I get him on the phone.
As always here are his primary bullet points unfiltered in his voice from a brief phone conversation (and yes, he has been dodging very real bullets today)
- My beloved city is on fire. My country is on fire. But each one of us on the streets is also on fire
- I am exhausted. Mobinil is down. So is Vodaphone. I have no idea what is happening beyond what I have seen myself. Facebook and Twitter seem like a joke right now
- I live in Mohandaseen and decided not to go the big Mostafa Mahmood mosque near my house, because I know that “they” would be there.I went to pray at a smaller mosque. It was beautiful to pray. I had tears
- But as soon as we stepped out they pelted us with tear gas and with tear gas canisters. We threw them back. But my hand got burnt
- They tried to separate all of us as we walked towards Tahrir square
- Police were throwing rocks at us
- There are bruises and bumps all over my body
- I saw two bodies on the ground in Tahrir. Like an animal I just kept on walking past them
- We threw Molotov cocktails at the police
- Is there a curfew Parvez? Really? I had no idea—it certainly did not look like a curfew when I was just walking home
- Has Obama said anything? I don’t expect much from him anyway, this Mubarak is his “puppy”
- Mubarak should go and share a room with that asshole Ben Ali in his Jiddah hotel! We were chanting that in Tahrir.
- This is a joke. Btw can Obama find a working fucking phone in this country? I guess Mubarak’s phone is working rt?
- Pray for us.
As has happened with every one of my phone conversations with my friends in Cairo, I get disconnected. Silence again.
One more friend, for me to pray for.
Mubarak meanwhile stays in hiding somewhere possibly in his presidential palace in Heliopolis. The army is rolling through Egypt’s battered and smoky streets. Al Jazeera continues to televise this “revolution” like no other network has ever done before. Perhaps the pro-Israel lobbies in the US will start to respect this amazing network and allow it to broadcast freely in this nation?
Last night I said—Will it be the scent of Jasmine or the smell of blood in Egypt today?
I now have my answer. We all do.
Parvez Sharma is an internationally renowned New York based Indian writer and filmmaker. He is best known for the multiple award winning and acclaimed film A Jihad for Love, on gay and lesbian Muslims. The UTNE Reader named him one of "50 Visionaries changing your world" in 2009. This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post.
Thanks Sharma. Share those same sentiments!!
So many reports, hard to know what to believe. Sources say the army is with the protesters. Some say that even some of the police are now with the protesters.
The coverage in Europe is much better. Brian Whitaker in the guardian today was excellent, for example.
link to guardian.co.uk
The US media is run by the lobby on Middle East matters.
Was Tunis propellant for Egyptian revolt? After all, street revolution was successful there. Isn’t the idea a popular uprising can accomplish its goal – to topple a hated regime – incentive to take to the streets in Cairo?
I’m going to leave this place for a while and start reading over at (yukkk) Daily Kos.
With the moderation slowing everything down here, it’s not a good place to keep up with what’s happening on the scene. Mondo is failing its readers who expect to find timely updates here.
So true.
I went to pray at a smaller mosque. It was beautiful to pray. I had tears
…opiate of masses
economic growth, opiate of masses
I have a feeling that Mubarak will leave Egypt today (Jan. 29th in Egypt already). Just a hunch. A matter of hours now …
No he won’t. He is on Al jaz now talking about law and order.
These politicians are all the same. Hosni could be in the Tea Party. But it won’t be enough.
Law and order, free and democratic society. Taking side of poor people.
*Economy too important to be left to economists*.
Secure stable homeland of civilized people . Troublemakers. Stand up for country. Exhausted my life for this country. Hard times, war, one people one nation the right direction and course so long as we set goals right. The rule of law. More democracy, more freedom. New steps. Reduce unemployment, raise standard of living. Embrace consciousness and struggle. Fearing for Egypt and future. Further chaos mayhem destruction so trust me . Requested govt to step down today. New govt tomorrow. Shoulder new priorities. Safety and security of all Egyptians. God save Egypt.
White House: ‘Violence is not the response’
It was in Gaza. It is in Pakistan, in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Would it be more acceptable with drones ?
I know seafoid.
To have the leader of a country who spends more on the death industries than every other country in the world combined chastise people fighting to overthrow their tyrant about violence is just beyond belief. For the millionth time, this is why America (not Americans) is despised in the rest of the world.
Nah Mubarak should flee to israel.
Yeah, new job but the same boss.
Mubarek is now speaking on Fox and MSNBC, and being translated simultatneously. He’s promising economic reforms to fight unemloyment and raise the standard of living. Says he will fight for Egypt’s security and the Egyptian peopple.
Obviously he ain’t running; he says he will stop this plot to undermine Egypt.
How will he changed things any time soon, with what? Appears he will break heads by tomorrow. Questions is whether those who benefit from his regime can muster enough bodies–along with the Army? Last time the regime did anything for the masses was in 1977, when he increased subsidies for the poor, which happens to be most of the Egyptian population. Maybe he could sell the 4o or so trailer trucks that carried his personal luggage to the airport when he left here most recently?
The Fox news talking head said if The Brotherhood came to power the first thing it would do would be to cancel the agreement to kiss Israel all time. But this protest wasn’t started by the Brotherhood; they’ve come late to the demonstrating party in the streets.
The people are chanting now that they want Mubarek to go, and they set fire to his polticial party’s HQ. Syria and Yemen have similar governments–are they next?
Chris Matthews asks if this is troublesome to Israel? His guy on the ground in Egypt says, yes. He’s spent the last four years in poor section of Egypt; Brotherhood guys were his Cairo neighbors. If Egypt becomes more hostile to Israel it will spread across the region. Egyptians don’t go into the street and protest at the drop of a hat; it does not come easily to them. What you see now in Egypt is a real explosion in the visible income gap in Egypt–those in total poverty living next door to mansions. This disparity had become very visible in the last five years; it’s overcoming the old sense of fatalism with one’s crappy lot in life.
Neoliberal reforms and QE food inflation were just too much for the sha’ab. the last straws.
in 2000 the exchange rate was something like $1= 3.4 LE/ Egyptian pounds three and a half years later you could get over 6LE (and more) to the dollar on the street. It’s been stable at $1= 5.62 LE I think.
link to facebook.com
He says he is sacking the government. LOL
For those who haven’t tuned in yet, Al Jazeera English.
just finished listening to Mubarak. Ist thought: whoa! the man just doesn’t get it, he’s totally clueless about what’s going down in the streets around him.
He hasn’t heard their screams of Mubarak: OUT, Down down Mubarak, It’s him First of all they want gone. The man is utterly tone-deaf, typical of those convinced of their eternal power.
That sadly means a lot more ugliness, lot more bloodshed, a lot more dead on the streets all over Misr.
Taxi, ( “Nah Mubarak should flee to israel.”)…I thought of that first :)-
He was talking to his people in the Delta. He hit all the regular buttons. A civilised people. *Balad al hadanah*. Law and order. I gave my life to this country. He mentioned national security several times as well as borders. I had a bawaab in Cairo who talked about Hosni in the same language.
maybe your bawaab was paid off/ given baksheesh by the mukhabaraat? one of my professors in Egypt told me many of the bawaabs meet in the police stations nightly and report the goings on in their areas.
No. I sent him a postcard of the Haram from East Jerusalem once and he asked me not to send him anything from Israel in case the Mukhabarat would get him. I gave him some money to start his own business. He is flying now.
When I lived in Egypt I often heard people talking about the watan , the wars, how Egypt was a strong country, balad al hadanah- or is it hadarah- I can’t remember . I remember one driver in the Sinai who told me about going to Jordan to work and telling the locals he was from the land of civilisation and the Jordanians just laughed at him.
I am not surprised Mubarak tried that line. He also spoke several times about Fawda. But I think it is beyond him to rescue the situation. The people are hungry.
it’s hadarah. hadanah means nursery/ as in day care/preschool.
Thanks.
The Egyptian Army has just taken the streets; it’s nearly 6PM EST in USA.
The Army will take orders from Mubarek as retention of their material welfare depends on it.
Egypt is a military dictatorship with a veneer because the administration wears civilian clothing.
Chris Matthews asks, since Egypt was a real country long before Islam and before colonial powers cut up the map over there, how do they view themselves now? Is there any hope of another “moderate government we like” to replace it?
Sadat was killed by infiltration of the Egyptian Army of Islamists. How shaky is the Army?
The Muslim Brotherhood has just called on the army to oust Mubarak, according to AJ.
“The Army will take orders from Mubarek as retention of their material welfare depends on it. ”
In 1952 bunch of Egyptian Army officers tossed out the King and set about freeing Egypt from British influence.
This professor is really good talking about Egypt
link to rte.ie
starts at 29.10
Kidney disease, 9 million unmarried women, 40% poor
Huffo highlighted this tweet:
MelissaTweets RT @gpollowitz: Dear Israel: unleash the sharks, while Egypt is in chaos.
That is why Mubarak pitched his speech as strong on national security.
The question Seafoid, is whether the people will be back in the street, tomorrow? Hosni may have pressed all the right buttons for those in the Delta but is anyone listening? It isn’t them who were driving the momentum behind the movement in the first place.
The fact is that the Arab Street has had it upto here with humiliation, racism and paternalism from the west. An ancient proud people like those in Iraq Afghanistan, Egyptians with an even prouder history are, as we know, fed-up, they’ve tasted their courage and their power; Hosni is barking up the wrong tree.
Hey look, finally Obama speaks!
Is anyone listening? Not enough.
The people can’t afford bread. It is over for Hosni.
He might have gotten away with it 5 years ago. But not now. The NDP
HQ aflame. That has to be it.
It is also linked to this :
link to youtube.com
Dick Cheney 5.15 talking about chaos. You ain’t seen nothing yet. What a gobshite. And Dick and co ultimately ruined it for Hosni.
So the old dictator reached out to the people, but didn’t turn the internet and the phones back on?
Watch what he does, not what he says.
Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets today demanding the resignation of the prime minister. They do not dare, yet, to call on the king to step down.
The current king walks a fine line. To be fair, he has been better than his predecessors (certainly not the best he could be, but definitely better). Some genuine reforms have taken place at his hand, and considering the refugee crisis Jordan labors under from both directions (Palestine and Iraq) Jordan has been fairly impressive at sustaining a situation that would have devolved into crisis and bloodshed under other countries (notably, the other “close regional allies” of the US).
I don’t endorse monarchy as a rule of government, but after watching American democracy give us three helpings of Bush (between the Greater and the Lesser), two wars at the same time, and one of them a land war in Asia, and government sanctioned torture and assassination (now done by robots from the comfort of our telecom centers!), I find myself less than enthusiastic about proselytizing the American form of government.
I still think democracy is ideal — I just don’t think American government really actually represents democracy in any genuine capacity anymore. It’s no longer about who has the best or even the most popular idea… it just boils down to who can get enough money thrown at them, and that’s the deciding factor as to whose idea is implemented.
So it’s hard for me to criticize how other people run their lives, considering the American state of affairs. And before eee screeches again — I couldn’t care less about how Israelis treat Israeli lives, really, what bothers me is what you people do to run Palestinian lives (especially when it involves depriving them of such).
Exactly with whom are you lumping me?
Parvez I do not understand your hostility to Baradei. Just because he failed to see the moment and is joining in a few days late? Egad man your movement needs leadership. Look what happened in Alexandria. The people drove the police from the streets and there was no effective government rule left. It sounds like people just sat there dumbfounded. Then the army arrived to re-assert control and the crowds cheered them. This is a movement in need of leaders. So tell us what is wrong with Baradei. It sounds like your preference is the Muslim Brotherhood but for those of us who witnessed Tehran ,1979. that sounds like a pretty dumb idea.
Well, I don’t know enough about Baradei to comment on his skills at either leadership or moral integrity. But, would having a bad leader really be better than having no leadership at all?
Chaos you sound like a true anarchist. Though I do admire what many anarchists have done over the last 150 years, I still think organized leadership is important.
Think of the possibilities that were presented in Alexandria this morning. What if a group of demonstrators along with even some of the police that had just given up (and even some Moslem Brotherhood activists) had just gone down to city hall (or whatever the Egyptian equivalent is) and declared the city free from the central government. They could have held a press conference and made the announcement. They would have held the stage for only a few hours before the army arrived, but just think of the impact such a demonstration would have made. This would have captured headlines around the world. Mubarak would have stood exposed as the naked emperor.
In any case, I do not know that Baradei would necessarily be a “bad” leader.
syvanen, from what tighe is saying (jim just linked to a recording of him in cairo on the ‘Following the news from Egypt’ thread) the police are more hardline/aligned w/mubarak than the army. the people trust the army more.
Yes Annie, that is also my understanding. But the fact remains, Mubarak rules the army (or, at least did this morning). It is understandable that people identify with them.
And let all hope if they receive the order to shoot people on the street they do refuse.
All I know about El Baradei is that he has stood up to the US/Israel axis over Iranian “nuclear arms”, and previously over Iraqi WMD when the easy option would have been to go along with their fabrications. This makes him a person of integrity in my mind.
As to being opportunistic, isn’t that just the nature of a (successful) politician.
However, it’s up the Egyptian people to decide – I don’t have a vote – and I’m sure they know more about El Baradei than I do.
the complaint is he hasn’t lived in egypt for decades. they want someone younger and from the inside. that’s my impression.
Obama and Mubarak just spoke a buncha separate crap and basically told the Egyptian people that if they went home to their beds now, they’d get a cookie and a glass of milk.
So like, which part of ‘NOBODY IN EGYPT wants nothing to do with Mubarak AND Obama’s ideas and egocentric solutions’, don’t these two fools get?!
Which part of ‘this is a popular native revolt against covert imperialists and their quislings, do they not get?!
link to guardian.co.uk
“in the final analysis, the US needs a friendly government in Cairo more than it needs a democratic one. Whether the issue is Israel-Palestine, Hamas and Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, security for Gulf oil supplies, Sudan, or the spread of Islamist fundamentalist ideas, Washington wants Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous and influential country, in its corner. That’s the political and geostrategic bottom line. In this sense, Egypt’s demonstrators are not just fighting the regime. They are fighting Washington, too.”
Obama has nothing to offer Egyptians.
Capital flight will be the next thing.
link to ftalphaville.ft.com
Go short on Israel. I wonder what is going to happen to Israeli government bonds.
link to ft.com
Israelis fear unwinding of political stability
By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem
Published: January 28 2011 22:15 | Last updated: January 28 2011 22:15
The recent wave of political protest that has swept Arab countries such as Tunisia and Egypt is also stirring concern in the one regional power that looks completely immune to popular unrest: Israel.
For Israeli leaders, the threat posed by rioting youngsters in Tunis and Cairo is less direct, but it is menacing all the same. Their fear is that popular unrest in the Arab world will ultimately endanger the single most important regional commodity from Israel’s point of view: political stability.
“This is a reason for concern, primarily because of the potential for an epidemic,” says Oded Eran, the director of Israel’s Institute for National Security ¬Studies.
Regime change in Tunisia itself, he says, is of only marginal concern. But Mr Eran adds: “We cannot afford dramatic change in Egypt or Jordan.”
For Israel, the importance of relations with Amman and Cairo cannot be overstated.
The two countries share a direct border with Israel, and are the only Arab states to have signed peace deals with the Jewish state. Israel co-operates closely with the Jordanian and Egyptian security forces to bolster its control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. And while many Israelis remain reluctant to travel across the border, the ability to visit the Sinai and Jordan’s Red Sea resorts helps alleviate a deeply felt sense of isolation.
For the time being, Israeli experts say it is far from clear that the toppling of Tunisia’s autocratic ruler, Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali, this month will not trigger a domino effect.
“A lot depends on the loyalty of the security forces, and in both Egypt and Jordan the regime’s grip on the security forces is much stronger,” says Mr Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to Amman.
Israeli officials admit that it appears peculiar for them not to welcome the chance of a democratic opening in the Arab world.
However, as one official with extensive knowledge of the region puts it: “When tsarist Russia went through a revolution, there was a democratic moment, and we all know how that ended.
“In Tehran in 1979, there was a democratic moment, and we all know how that ended.”
The official added: “A democratic opening is great – but will it last? And will it ultimately not unleash non-democratic and violent forces? That is our concern.”
Eyal Zisser, senior research fellow at Tel Aviv’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, points to a another historical analogy. “This is not like eastern Europe in the late 1980s,” he says. “This is not a region where stable dictatorships can be replaced with stable democracies. Here the alternative means chaos, anarchy and ¬radicalism.”
The worries underline the degree to which Israeli policymakers have become attached to the regional status quo. Israelis are under no illusion that they are treated with, at best, grudging acceptance by their ¬neighbours.
However, they also know that the current crop of Arab leader is deeply reluctant to upset the regional balance of power. Most importantly, none of Israel’s neighbours has dared to challenge it on the battlefield since the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
But the lack of Israeli enthusiasm for democratic change in the Arab world also reflects a specific experience: the 2006 elections in the Palestinian territories, which ended in a triumph for the Islamist Hamas movement at the expense of the pro-western Fatah party.
Indeed, one of the worst nightmares for Israeli strategists is a replay of that outcome in Egypt.
“Try to imagine the results of an election in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood allowed to run freely. The consequences for Israel would be very negative,” says Mr Eran, adding that he doubts the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty would survive such a scenario.
As the riots and unrest intensify, Israelis look to their neighbours guided
I find this quote from the Israeli “expert” intriguing.
In what? In the toppling of a corrupt autocrat who was installed by the US, Great Britain and Israel? In the drafting of a constitution with a parliamentary system of representation? That includes at least one seat that is guaranteed to the Iranian Jewish community regardless of their minority status? In a nation who signed and, by all credible accounts, has adhered to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty?
I’d like to have a serious discussion with this Israeli “expert.”
The idea that the Iran revolution’s results were democratic are seriously mistaken. To run for president or for parliament there you have to be approved by the ayatollahs. Thugs rule the streets and tell people what they can wear. There are certainly serious questions about the last presidential election there and even if it was on the up and up, the candidates had to be approved by the ayatollahs. Who are the experts who call Iran a democracy?
Yes, yes, yes WJ we all know how horrible it is to live in Iran. Now if Israel is such a great democracy why is it that Arabs are not allowed to live in Tel Aviv ( or in most of its suburbs) or why their elected representatives to the Knesset are not invited into the government.
I think the Iranian government is really bad. But please, WJ, do not try to hold up Israel as a counter example.
syvanen- I did not hold Israel up as a counter example. There was someone here who was extolling the democracy of the Iranian democracy and I am glad to see that you agree with me that there is no Iranian democracy.
It would be nice if we could discuss one issue at a time. Iran was the topic here and I should not be forbidden to discuss it just because I support Israel despite its terrible faults. If we can discuss one thing at a time, we can come to some conclusions. If we cannot discuss one thing at a time, we will have chaos.
That sounds exactly like the Jewish parts of Jerusalem where self-appointed thugs patrol the streets making sure Jewish women stay proper, avoid Arab men and dress according to the dictates of the religious radicals.
And speaking of minority persecution, exclusion from government coalitions, institutionalized and systemic discrimination in courts, in housing, education and employment, who are the experts who call Israel a democracy?
Okay Avi- If I concede that Israel is not a democracy will you concede that Iran is not one? Unable to discuss one topic at a time?
Dear WJ
As much as I appreciate your contributions here at Mondoweiss I still see you as a defender of Israel. That is fine. But it does color my reaction to your criticisms of other ME nations. You happen to support one ME nation that oppresses millions of Palestinians both inside Israel and in the WB and feel your primary responsibility is to attack Moslem nations that do not give their own citizens full rights. Nope. Not from you will I accept those criticisms.
The people of Iran still seem to prefer their current government, with flaws that they recognize, to the Shah’s. And it is more democratic than the Shah’s was.
syvanen- sorry that you must relate to the arguer rather than the argument.
Zionsim is an ideological framework in which what is happening now in Egypt cannot be explained. I look forward to WJ adding Egypt to his Iran category. And then Jordan.
WJ I am addressing the arguer. I have my issues with the Iranian theocracy and perhaps at an appropriate place I will lay them out. But now the issue happens to be what is happening in Egypt and if you wish to deflect the discussion away from the main issue, I must remind you that you are first and foremost an Israeli apologist. You do, I believe, engage in dissembling, deflection and obfuscation when issues painful to Israel arise. I am responding to a pattern of your responses over a period of many months.
Potsherd- “flaws that they recognize” makes it sound like all is happy and smiley in Iran, which is definitely untrue.
wj, wrt iran’s elections i recommend you read Did Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Steal the 2009 Iran Election?
it answers many of the question. egypt’s revolution is an inside affair from the get go. there are not wikileaks from dagan 07 recommending regime change thru influencing and supporting student youth groups. it was highly influence by outside factors and US/IS ‘democracy building’ measures. completely different kettle of fish.
Muslim Brotherhood … Muslim Brotherhood …
It’s all you hear from the neocons, which means most of the US media.
non-democratic and violent forces would be the IDF and the settlers
There are few places I think more ecstatic at the developments in Egypt than Gaza.
Whatever begins to take shape tomorrow in Cairo, there’s a promising new dawn on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Jordan may yet escape with its monarchy; only wishful thinking on the part of neocons is expecting Syria to be drawn into the vortex, but grand old Misr will never be the same. As indeed the Palestinians of Gaza.
Two repressive military regimes. Two protest movements. Two peoples yearning for freedom. The same violent reaction from both regimes.
Two different responses. To Egypt: people deserve freedom. Don’t use violence against peaceful protesters. We’ll pull your foreign aid if you don’t toe the line.
To Israel: This is our most valuable ally. The only democracy. How dare you even speak of cutting aid!
About the violent repression of protest: ………………………………………
tonight is dawn in cairo
dawn of a new egypt
dawn of a uniquely egyptian form of government
everyone a leader
everyone having a say
everyone equally important both in the day to day and in the total scheme of things
the permanent mobilization of the masses
power to the people
tonight, tomorrow and forever more
To run for president or for parliament there you have to be approved by the ayatollahs
and in the US you need to be approved by billionaires
In the US you need to be approved by AIPAC
Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews , Diane Rehm, Neil Conan, etc all approved by Aipac, Jinsa, I lobby. Ever hear any of these talking heads cover the Palestinian protest? Hell they were silent about the Goldstone Report.
Hear any of these talking heads or the Obama administration scream about Israel shutting down all communications systems on the Gaza Flotilla or stealing all of the electtronic equipment documenting what took place. Ever hear Rachel Maddow report about the UN report about the massacre on the Mavi Marmara?
Just a bit selective. Just a bit of an agenda
I never looked at it that way, but oh so true, painfully true in fact.
“A revolution which importantly is not really caused by Twitter or by Facebook—as much as the self congratulatory social networking types in the West would like to believe. ”
Sharma thanks for your report
Glad that our MSM is covering these protesters. BUT
Just read Emptywheel’s (Marcy Wheeler at Firedoglake) piece about Robert Gibbs/Whitehouse demanding Mubarak open up access to Internet and other communication networks. Too bad we did not hear this out of them when the Israeli government shut down all communication outlets to those on the Mavi Marmara and the other boats involved with the Palestinian humanitarian effort. Israel has shut down the communication outlets numerous times to Palestinian protest.
Amazing how much coverage the so called progressive media and other media outlets are giving these protest. For decades and until this day they will not give any coverage to Palestinian protest. Zip Zero Nada. Barely gave any coverage to the anti invasion protest before or after the invasion. Rachel Maddow will not even get close Palestinian protesters or any other issue having to do with the middle east. Real progressive. But of course she will hammer on Iran and cover the protesters there. Fair and balanced (choke)
This morning on Washington Journal callers were bringing up Israel and the host was really shutting them down. Something is up at CSpan
Amazing that Rep Ros Lehtinen is calling for free speech, protesting etc in Egypt. She has done everything in her power to shut down any effort by the Palestinians to access freedom of speech, Democracy etc. via protest. Hell Israel has jailed peaceful Palestinian protesters for decades.
Ever hear any U.S. MSM outlet touch that story? Hell no
WHAT HYPOCRISY