The People's Record

Egypt clashes continue for yet another day, despite Morsi declaring a state-of-emergency and preparing to arrest hundreds of citizens. Morsi continues to become more violent, more brutal and more repressive in his response to Egyptian citizens critical of his tyranny.
January 28, 2013

Police tear-gassed protesters in Cairo on Monday as clashes still gripped Egypt despite a declared state of emergency aimed at suppressing democracy in the region. The citizens on the street meanwhile reject president Morsi’s call for a dialogue as unrest enters its fifth day. They’ve done that before and know that Morsi is interested only in usurping more power from the people.

The violent unrest across Egypt rages on despite a 30-day state of emergency in Egypt starting Monday evening that President Morsi declared yesterday, as protesters pose a larger threat to Morsi’s power grab.

Morsi also set curfews from 9pm to 6am in the three most cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia where protesters are most loudly demanding democracy and transparency from the state. Further unrest is anticipated as many refuse to be repressed by the restrictions.

Many people believe a curfew will also be imposed on the capital, where police continue to brutally attack and fire teargas at protesters in Tahrir Square. A bystander was shot dead in clashes near the iconic venue, AFP reported Monday morning. Protesters are reporting that he was shot dead by government forces.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Port Said later on Monday to attend funerals of the most recent victims of police violence and repression. Reuters reported that mourners waved teargas canisters at television cameras to demonstrate that it is the brutal repressive police force who is to blame for the murder of Egyptian citizens.

Talks rejected

As the violence continues leaving now some 50 people dead, Egypt’s main opposition group, the National Salvation Front, has rejected President Mohamed Morsi’s calls for senior politicians and groups to join a national dialogue, saying it “could only lead to a dead end.” Recent interactions with Morsi have shown that he has no interest in fostering democracy in the region.

Speaking after the emergency meeting Monday afternoon, leading member of the coalition, Mohamed ElBaradei, said the proposal by the Islamist leader was “cosmetic and not substantive.”

The National Salvation Front will only attend talks, ElBaradei stressed, if a list of conditions laid by the opposition is met.

Earlier, smaller opposition groups also rejected president Morsi’s offer to negotiate because “the dialogue is a waste of time if the president doesn’t take responsibility for the bloody events.” They will not allow Morsi to get away with unapologetic, violent murder against citizens fighting for democracy.

Shortly after the state of emergency was declared, some 200 people marched in the streets of Ismailia, Reuters reported citing witnesses. “Down with Morsi, down with the state of emergency,” they chanted.

There have been reports of male mobs groping and assaulting isolated women in Tahrir Square amid the unrest. Twenty-five cases of sexual assaults by officers and others trying to suppress female protesters have been reported over the last few days. Some have been stripped naked and one was raped, local women’s rights campaigners told The Guardian.

Egypt’s cabinet later approved a draft law to give the army the power to arrest civilians. A cabinet source told Reuters that the army would “behave like a police force,” meaning detainees would go to a civilian, rather than a military court.

However, Cairo-based journalist Bel Trew told RT that there “have already been calls for protests to break this curfew starting at 8pm [Monday night], they say, in defiance of the president.”

“Security forces are now able to arrest citizens and detain them for up to 30 days without charges. So we’re likely to see a wave of arrests across those three cities as people violate the curfew and clash with police,” she said.

Rallies have been taking place in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and half a dozen other places as citizen outrage continues to spread like wildfire. Protesters have taken to the streets in greater numbers following Saturday’s death sentence verdicts over a stadium stampede last February.

On Sunday, thousands turned out for the funerals of 35 rioters who were killed in previous Port Said protests on Saturday. Teargas was fired and gunfire was shot into the funerals. In Cairo, there was so much teargas in the air that Cairo journalist Bel Trew was struggling to get her words out.

Source

Anti-Morsi protesters break through wired fences of presidential palace
December 7, 2012

Several guards have been injured after protesters broke through barbed wire around the presidential palace in Cairo. Tens of thousands have come to the palace to slam Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s bid for absolute power.

Friday again saw thousands marching towards the presidential palace in Cairo, while hundreds others rallied in the iconic Tahrir Square. The demonstrations were called by opposition forces, which include various leftist, liberal and democratic groups.

“We want to see the fall of the regime,” chanted the crowd venting their anger with President Morsi, the drafted constitution and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The palace has grown surrounded with barbed wire fences and concrete blocks. Police, national guard troops and military are guarding the place, including the tanks brought in Thursday.

The protesters rallied peacefully for several hours, but as night fell some began attempting to remove the barbed wire. 

RT’s reporter Bel Trew watched the crowd remove the barricades and flood the streets around the presidential palace. There, the demonstratots climbed onto army tanks waving flags and chanting slogans against President Mors. Others tried to get over the gate or remove the barbed wire.

Protesters told Trew that the Republican Guards “just stepped aside and let people pass.” The guards are currently standing next to their tanks and other posts, but not getting involved with the protest.

“At the moment the mood here is more jubilant than violent. People are dancing and singing, there’s a lot of drum beats and football chants,” Trew says, adding that the protesters are set to spend the night rallying right in front of the palace.

At the same time, Muslim Brotherhood supporters are gathering in an area near the palace, Trew reports via Twitter. If the two camps meet, it could bring a repeat of Wednesday’s violence, when at least six were killed and hundreds injured after Brotherhood supporters drove out opposition crowds camped outside the palace.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood Friday once again slammed the opposition’s attempts “to stall the democratic transition.” In its Twitter feed, Egypt’s most influential religious movement called on the nation to rule the country by ballot on the constitutional referendum which is set for December 15.

On Friday, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki said the constitutional referendum might get rescheduled. 

“The president is ready to talk with political figures without any preconditions. He is open to the idea of postponing the referendum to reach a consensus over the contentious articles. He is ready for that, even if it means the constitution will return to the assembly,” Mekki said.

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Arab Spring  News Update - Whose news? Our news!
December 6, 2012 

• Tunisia’s largest union called for continued protest & a general strike next week against the oppressive government, in an escalation of protests that have resulted in violent clashes in the capital this week.

• Hundreds of young Kuwaitis shouting & chanting protest slogans gathered outside the Gulf Arab state’s capital on Wednesday in the latest demonstration since a parliamentary election on Saturday.

• The Egyptian army sealed off the presidential palace with barbed wire and armored vehicles Thursday as protesters defied a deadline to vacate the area, pressing forward with demands that leader Mohammed Morsi rescind decrees giving himself near-absolute power and withdraw a disputed draft constitution.

• Diplomatic efforts to end Syria’s civil war continued today with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joining Russia’s foreign minister and the U.N. peace envoy to Syria for  three-way talks that suggested Washington and Moscow might finally unite behind a strategy as the Assad regime weakens.

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Arab uprising continues: Anti-Morsi protesters swarm presidential palace
December 4, 2012

Police have fired tear gas to stop protesters from approaching the presidential palace in Cairo as tens of thousands take to the streets to demonstrate against the assumption of nearly absolute powers by the nation’s Islamist leader.

The violence erupted when protesters pushed aside a barricade topped with barbed wire several hundred yards from President Mohammed Morsi’s palace walls. Police fired tear gas, and then retreated. There were no immediate reports on casualties.

In the coastal city of Alexandria, some 10,000 opponents of Morsi gathered in the center of the country’s second largest metropolis. They chanted slogans against the Egyptian leader and his Muslim Brotherhood.

The marches come amid rising anger over the draft charter and decrees issued by Morsi giving himself sweeping powers. Morsi called for a nationwide referendum on the draft constitution on Dec. 15.

It is Egypt’s worst political crisis since the ouster nearly two years ago of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak. The country has been divided into two camps: Morsi and his fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, as well as ultraconservative Salafi Islamists, versus youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public.

Hundreds of black-clad riot police deployed around the Itihadiya palace in Cairo’s district of Heliopolis. Barbed wire was also placed outside the complex, and side roads leading to it were blocked to traffic.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, joining several hundred who have been camping out there for nearly two weeks. There were other protests around the city. These were separate from the demonstrations outside the palace.

“Freedom or we die,” chanted a crowd of several hundred outside a mosque in the Abbasiyah district. “Mohammed Morsi! Illegitimate! Brotherhood! Illegitimate!” they also yelled, alluding to Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

“This is the last warning before we lay siege on the presidential palace,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a 21-year-old student from the city of Suez on the Red Sea. “We want the presidential decrees cancelled.”

Several hundred protesters also gathered outside Morsi’s residence in an upscale suburb not far from the Itihadiya. “Down with the sons of dogs. We are the power and we are the people,” they chanted.

By nightfall, the crowd outside the palace was estimated at more than 10,000, with many chanting “erhal, erhal,” Arabic for “leave, leave” and “the people want to topple the regime” - two well-known chants from the 2010-2011 Arab Spring revolts.

Morsi, who narrowly won the presidency in a June election, appeared to be in no mood for compromise.

A statement by his office said the Egyptian leader met on Tuesday with his deputy, prime minister and several top Cabinet members to discuss preparations for the referendum. The statement appeared also to suggest that it is business as usual at the presidential palace, despite the rally.

A large turnout would signal sustained momentum for the opposition, which brought out at least 200,000 protesters to Cairo’s Tahrir Square a week ago and a comparable number on Friday, demanding that Morsi’s decrees be rescinded.

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Photos

Anti-Morsi protesters are being tear gassed, reportedly every five minutes, in Tahrir Square right now. About 100,000 people gathered in Cairo Tuesday night in Egypt’s largest protest since Morsi was elected president. 

Click here to watch a livestream.

This is Tahrir Square in Cairo right now: occupied, lively & packed with protesters. 

Anti-Morsi demonstrators filled the Square last night after a decree issued on Thursday expanded his powers and shielded his decisions from any sort of judicial review until the election of a new parliament expected in the first half of 2013.

“We don’t want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom,” 32-year-old Ahmed Husseini said in Cairo.

Click here to watch a livestream of Tahrir.

Al Jazeera’s Cairo bureau firebombed by Egyptian protesters
November 21, 2012

Al-Jazeera’s office overlooking historical Tahrir Square in Cairo was firebombed by protesters as the third day of violent anti-government demonstrations rages on in Egypt’s capital.

The building was left gutted by the fire hours after protesters fell on the building with a volley of Molotov cocktails and gasoline bombs.

Footage broadcast on Egyptian television showed scorched lighting equipment dangling from the charred walls. No injuries were reported in the attack.

“At about 11 o’clock (1100 GMT) a group of protesters gathered near the office,” said Abdulla Ebeid, the operations manager of Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr said.

“They started to throw rocks at us and after all the windows were broken they threw a Molotov (petrol bomb) inside the studio so that it caught on fire. And, as you can see, all the components got ruined – the cameras, lighting systems and all the equipment got burned.”

Earlier in the day,  a mob fell upon Cairo’s security chief El-Sagheer as police and hundreds of protesters violently clashed on the square.

Primarily young demonstrators have battled with police in the heart of the city since Monday. Protesters have regularly lobbed stones and firebombs at security forces, who have responded by firing birdshot and tear gas into the crowd.

An interior ministry official said 118 people had been arrested since Monday. Medics say at least 60 have been injured in the three days of violence, while one protester from the secular April 6 movement remains in critical condition, AFP reports.

Protesters have accused Al-Jazeera of being biased toward the Muslim Brotherhood.

Many secular and youth movements have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the country’s perceived shift towards theocracy.

Monday’s demonstrations erupted on the one-year anniversary of bloody street battles which left 42 people dead. Activists have called for a mass nationwide protest against the government of Mohamed Morsi on Friday.

Source

Egyptian protesters at a rally against Israel’s ongoing airstrikes in Gaza that have left 27 Palestinians dead and hundreds wounded. 

“We’re here today to say to Israel: Go to Hell,” Cairo protester Mustafa Kamel told USA Today. “Muslims are strong. In Egypt, we refuse Israel and the politics of America.”

The People’s Record Daily News Update - Whose news? Our news!

November 1, 2012 

Here are some stories you may not otherwise hear about today: 

• Pakistani political figure Imran Khan was stopped in an airport this week by immigration and was interrogated about his criticism of the U.S. led drone strike campaign in Pakistan. 

• Doctors are striking & held a march today in Cairo, Egypt in order to demand better health care. The April 6 Movement is among the many organizations who have expressed solidarity with the striking health care professionals. 

• The Mayor and other officials in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts have officially agreed to stop referring to human beings as “illegal” and instead will begin using the correct term, ‘undocumented’ after a group of young activists came before the Board of Alderman and told their stories. 

• A woman in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has filed a formal complaint after a police officer held her to the ground and senselessly beat her face. She now has a broken nose and a black eye but was charged with “resisting arrest” for not being docile enough while the police officer repeatedly punched her. 

• A new law that passed yesterday (Halloween) in Canada dictates that anyone wearing a mask during a protest could face up to 10 years in prison. 

• Both the Obama and Romney campaigns have been found to have leaked identifying data about users & campaign supporters to tracking firms. 

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Cairo’s superficial clean-up brings graffiti artists out in force
October 9, 2012

Last month the authorities in Cairo whitewashed a mural that had become an international shrine to anti-establishment street art, raising the question of whether graffiti should be protected on the grounds of free speech.

The wall in Muhammad Mahmoud Street paid tribute to the martyrs of the revolution, a memorial to hatred of the army and police, and to the rebellious spirit unleashed during and after the uprising. The day after the clean-up, graffiti artists of all persuasions gathered to restore the memorial. They wondered why the authorities were in such a hurry to efface images which for months had attracted tourists and analysts from all over the world. Some suspected that overzealous officials, encouraged by the new Islamist regime, might be tempted to censor pictures supposedly banned by Islam.

But it seems that the motives of the newly appointed authorities are much more prosaic. In the past few weeks the new governors appointed by President Mohamed Morsi have been busily cleaning up the streets of Cairo and Alexandria with an enthusiasm only equalled by the widespread disrespect for the authorities that developed under formerPresident Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak kept social unrest under control by allowing whole swaths of the population to work and find housing with total disregard for the rules. At best such policies fostered indifference to the law, but in many case they fuelled outright hatred of the authorities. How is Egypt’s new-found democracy to put down roots with such a legacy?

In the absence of any far-reaching reforms the public space has become, since Morsi’s election, the focus of a wild drive to patch up appearances. Apparently inspired by some unrealistic desire to turn over a completely new leaf, the Muslim Brotherhood is determined to clean up the streets of Egypt, before even beginning to purge the rotten apparatus of state.

Around Tahrir Square, stripped of its tents, gardeners are planting flowers and palm trees. Meanwhile squads of police track down any errant graffiti and harass the thousands of roaming vendors who clog the city streets. Surely this is an unfortunate initiative in an overpopulated megacity where the informal economy represents more than a third of gross domestic product.

On 7 September the police in Alexandria raided the historic used-book market on Nabi Daniel Street, kicking over stalls, tearing up books and smashing shelves. This operation caused such an outcry that the culture minister in person expressed his disapproval.

As part of their cleaning frenzy the Brothers have also instructed several groups of well-meaning youths to deal with the heaps of rubbish which block the streets of towns all over Egypt. This cosmetic initiative drew sarcastic comments from the rag trade, which has been struggling to cope with the problem for decades.

The victims of the police clampdown are not fooled by the authorities’ dreams of flowerbeds and superficial tidying. Skulking in the entrances to buildings, street vendors are quick to voice their resentment. “To restore confidence the government should start by making gifts to people, rather than depriving them of the little they have,” said one trader struggling to keep hold of his goods. “Apart from the rubbish,” he added, stumbling over a heap of junk.

Any hopes of graffiti being legalised seem extremely unlikely, even if on the day after the destruction of the Muhammad Mahmoud mural the prime minister, Hisham Qandil, expressed reservations, condemning the whitewash and encouraging street artists to produce new graffiti on Tahrir Square “true to the spirit of the revolution”.

The response was almost immediate. “If you change your trousers without having a wash you get a rash”, read the message on a wall in Talaat Harb Street. And in Muhammad Mahmoud Street itself there was a face poking out its tongue in defiance and saying: “Erase it again, you cowardly regime”.

Source

June 19, 2012 - This is Tahrir Square right now, hundreds of thousands of people demanding an end to military rule in Egypt.

Egyptians gather to protest ongoing military rule in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt on Friday, June 15, 2012. On Thursday, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved the Parliament, an act perceived to consolidate power among the military generals who assumed power after the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. Tomorrow, Egypt will commence two days of presidential run off elections.

International Uprising Pushes Onward - May Global Round-up
June 2, 2012 

The global working class is continuing to feed off of one another’s momentum to strengthen the wave of international protest. Momentous protests have propelled international social movements to continue the plight for human rights, educational opportunities and for an end to all wars.

The historical significance of the surge of political protests throughout the world is immense. In times of upheaval, we have seen great social and political changes in the aftermath. This progress is not because of any given political party in office at that time, but because of the people in the streets demanding a better life. From toppling oppressive regimes to reclaiming basic human rights, massive demonstrations generate a Domino effect that triggers other uprisings to carry on the flood of global resistance.

The international working class is no longer putting up with corrupt capitalist agendas, environmental degradation, crashing economies or skyrocketing poverty. But as the mainstream media remains nearly silent on these waves of protest, these activist communities must not be ignored, and their causes must be recognized as one world struggle.

The May Day protests on May 1 breathed a revolutionary life into the spring offensive across the world. These are the events that marked the international surge of resistance in the month of May:

May 1

• More than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners participated in a mass hunger strike in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza to oppose the wrongful imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, horrific prison conditions and inhumane treatment during their incarceration without formal charges. Ten hunger-strikers were hospitalized by the end of the strike. Israeli officials compromised a deal to allow solitary confinement prisoners to be returned to the other areas of the prison as well as to allow family visits.
• Cities all over the world, from Paris, Oslo, Madrid, New York City, Montreal and Palestine, celebrated May Day in solidarity with all working class groups everywhere.

May 2

• South Koreans held a candlelit rally to demand the government stop food imports from the United States because of high rates of food poisoning and mad cow disease.

May 3

• Syrian security forces kill four in a student protest at Aleppo University when administrators announced it would suspend classes. Protesters also marched opposing President Bashar al-Assad.

May 4

• Thousands occupied Tahrir Square in Egypt to oppose the country’s brutal military rule as police violence left at least nine dead in the streets of Cairo.

May 5

• 106 activists were arrested outside of Quebec’s liberal party headquarters demanding an end to tuition hikes. Three were hospitalized, and one protester lost the use of an eye as police shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas at protesters.

May 6

• A dozen California State University students announced they would go on a hunger strike to call for a five-year moratorium on tuition fee increases and a cut on executive pay.

May 8

• About 20 protesters were arrested in Nepal after the government forcefully evicted residents in Katmandu. Dozens were injured as riot police demolished homes and forced families to relocate.

May 9

• Hundreds marched outside of the Bank of America shareholders meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina to protest foreclosures across the country. Four people were arrested.

May 10

• Unions in the public sector of London go on strike to demonstrate against government decreases to their pensions.

May 11

• Yemeni protesters sat in the streets in protest calling for a trial of former president Ali Abdullah Seleh and for the removal of his relatives from military positions.

May 12

• Los Indignados of Spain celebrated their one-year anniversary with tens of thousands filling the streets to stand up against poverty and unemployment rates throughout the country in the anti-austerity movement.

• Hundreds mobilized in Addison, Texas to fight against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which some say is a revised version of the NATO treaty.

May 13

• A dozen Russian writers led a protest of more than 10,000 people to oppose the Putin regime. The march stopped traffic for miles, and no arrests were made.

May 14

• Eight anti-NATO protesters were arrested outside of the Barack Obama headquarters after rallying for an end to all wars across the world.

May 15

• Thousands of Palestinians commemorated Nakba Day, which marks the day in 1948 when the state of Israel was established and began the displacement, murder and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinian families.

May 16

• Hundreds of protesters took the streets of Chile as a part of the Chilean Student Movement to demand free education.
• More than 30 activists were arrested after police evicted Occupy Moscow. About 10,000 people joined in the march as a part of the anti-austerity movement throughout Europe.

May 17

• Houston activists gathered at the county court house to demand justice for black 15-year-old teenager Chad Holley, who was beaten to death by a white former police officer who was acquitted of all charges.
• Countless protests erupted as NATO negotiations took place in Chicago. Thousands of activists descended upon the city to protest against global wars.

May 18

• The Nurses rally invades Chicago over the NATO Summit weekend to march for a Robin Hood tax that would impose higher taxes on the rich.

May 19

• Frankfurt hosted massive demonstrations continuing to fuel the opposition to harsh austerity measures throughout Germany. More than 30,000 protesters demonstrated at the largest rally.

May 20

• Protests at the NATO Summit in Chicago turn violent when police officers club demonstrators and journalists  bloody and arrest 60.

May 21

• United States veterans throw back their medals of honor in defiance of the NATO war machine.

May 22

• Canada saw its largest act of civil disobedience when nearly 250,000 marched in defiance of Bill 78, which limits protesters’ rights to demonstrate.

May 24

• A Mexican student movement, “Yo Soy 132,” begins with thousands marching in Mexico City fighting for fair media coverage of upcoming presidential elections, an end to political corruption and more access to education.
• Protesters gather outside of the Amazon Shareholders meeting to demand the company drop its membership to the American Legislative Exchange Council. Amazon later on announced it would drop its ALEC membership.

May 26

• Striking workers shut down the Golden Gate ferry to demand fair compensation as workers, especially during holiday weekends.
• Thousands of activists rally across the world after the Houla massacre in Syria on May 25.

May 27

• About 1,000 people protested in North Carolina against Pastor Charles Worley, who told his congregation the Bible opposed homosexuality and that the LGBTQ community should be kept within an electric fence.

May 28

• Anti-government protests have sparked in Georgia with up to 100,000 demonstrators demanding an end to corruption and military rule.
• 50,000 people descended upon Casablanca to protest a growing unemployment rate and human rights violations by the Moroccan government.
• Two Tibetan monks self-immolated in protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet.
• A protester burst into a courtroom where ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair was speaking and yelled that Blair was a “war criminal” for his role in the Iraq War.
• 500 lawyers and legal professionals march through Montreal to protest Bill 78, which requires all protests be approved by authorities beforehand.

May 29

• Egyptian protesters set the home of presidential candidate and ex-Gadafi official Amhad Shafik ablaze to protest the first round of the country’s presidential election. Thousands gathered in Tahrir Square later that night.

May 30

• Spanish miners blocked a highway in opposition to budget cuts for the mining sector, threatening jobs, healthcare and pensions for workers.
• International marches of support for Wikileaks founder and journalist Julian Assange sprung up the day the whistleblower’s extradition to Sweden was ordered.
• Nepalese protesters take the streets of Kathmandu demanding Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s resignation.

May 31

• Fourteen Occupiers were arrested while trying to protect a family’s home from foreclosure in Minneapolis.
• Six Occupy Albany protesters were arrested during a rally to demand a minimum wage increase outside of the office of Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
• About 40 students and administrators occupied the Office of Admissions at the University of California at Los Angeles to protest the university’s admissions procedures, which they say discriminate against minorities.

- G. Razo

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