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Thousands of opponents & supporters of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood clashed Friday near the group’s Cairo headquarters, where riot police guarded the building, and the corrupt politicians inside of it.
April 2, 2013
In another Cairo neighborhood, young protesters broke into the Brotherhood party’s office in Manial and stole some items, according to security officials. More than a dozen such attacks on the Islamists’ offices took place late last year across the country during violent protests over the drafting of the constitution and temporary power-grabbing decrees by the president.
The opposition charges that the Brotherhood’s leadership is influencing Morsi, and that they are trying to monopolize power through the presidency. The Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, denies that.
Friday’s protest is also symbolic because it followed a week of demonstrations outside Brotherhood’s doorstep en masse.
One sign held aloft by a protester outside the headquarters read: ‘‘Who is ruling Egypt?’’ The scene was reminiscent of clashes that took place late last year outside the presidential palace in Cairo between Morsi’s supporters and opponents. Ten people died in those clashes.
Protesters on Friday were demanding the Brotherhood apologize for an assault on journalists and activists last week outside the group’s headquarters. The Brotherhood says its guards were instigated by the protesters. The anti-Brotherhood protesters are also demanding the resignation of the attorney general and the interior minister, both appointed by Morsi. The interior minister authorized security forces to use excessive force against protesters. More than 70 people have been killed in protests with police since he was appointed in January.
Fatima Khalifa, 30, said she was demonstrating to send a message to the Brotherhood that they are the aggressors. ‘‘Morsi must be tried for killings of protesters just like Mubarak,’’ she said, referring to Morsi’s predecessor Hosni Mubarak who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011 after nearly 30 years in power.
Clashes also broke out Friday in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria, when several thousand anti-Brotherhood protesters came under attack by unknown assailants who threw rocks and fired birdshot at them outside a military area in Sidi Gaber where anti-government protests often take place.
In the sprawling Cairo neighborhood of Muqattam, where the Brotherhood’s headquarters is based, roads were littered with rocks. There was no traffic and shops had been closed beforehand in preparation for the violent clashes.
An Associated Press correspondent saw members of the anti-Brotherhood camp beating with their fists people in the crowd suspected of being members of the Islamist group. The Brotherhood’s website claimed the incident, saying that ‘‘thugs’’ were attacking anyone heading toward the Brotherhood office.
Several anti-Brotherhood protesters were seen bloodied and being rushed to ambulances.
Clashes erupted at a nearby square after a large pro-Brotherhood march approached the headquarters. The protesters moved a few blocks away to Fountain Square after being hit with rocks from rooftops of nearby buildings. The square lies at the entrance of Muqattam, which overlooks the city.
It was not immediately clear how the clashes broke out around Fountain Square, but drops of blood marked the area. Some of the protesters covered their faces with black masks as ambulances evacuated the wounded from the site.
Anti-Brotherhood protester Hussein el-Sayyid said he saw three people with their faces slashed, suggesting some blades or knives were being used in the fighting.
‘‘We are Egyptians eating one another when we should be one hand,’’ he said.
Elsewhere in Egypt, protesters took to the streets to demand the dissolution of the Brotherhood, which has emerged as the most powerful political group in the country since the 2011 revolt.
Women in Graffiti: A tribute to the women of Egypt
February 17, 2013
It’s a battle, being a woman in an Arab country, but perhaps the dire conditions makes us fighters. Since January 25, so many foreign reporters have waxed on about the awakening of Arab women in the Arab Spring; and how the revolutions liberated us/made us wake up and smell the coffee/made us throw off our headscarves and run happily through the meadows.
This, in my opinion, is crap. When you look at the videos and photos of the eighteen days of Tahrir, you’ll see Egyptian women side by side with men in the thick of battles, some even at the front lines, braving tear gas and live bullets. We participated as Egyptians first, not as women, in January 25. And it’s incredibly patronizing to assume we ‘became’ liberated; 1. as if it was a revolution led by men that awakened and inspired us women 2. as if women were living in caves and making mud paintings before the revolution.
The Arab women I’ve met are some of the fiercest women in the world with sincere dedication to their work, cause and sense of identity. We didn’t experience an ‘awakening’ since the revolution; but we’ve definitely had to fight harder.
The last two years’ stories of horrific sexual and physical violence against women in Tahrir and many other depressing news could very easily break your will, change your mind about a woman’s place in protests and in Egypt as a citizen with equal rights. But then I think of these remarkable women and I am reminded of their strength, creativity and perseverance.
There are many powerful, brilliant Arab women, including several in the graffiti scene. Graffiti is a dangerous cause as it is, and with perpetual violence against women in Egypt, you’d think female graffiti artists would be too intimidated to work on the city streets. But they’re not; they’re young, tough, talented and just as worthy of recognition as their male counterparts.
Photo 1: Pharaonic women in battle by Alaa Awad
Photo 2: Alexandrian painter and street artist Aya Tarek is considered by many of her peers to be one of the pioneers of graffiti in Egypt. She holds her ground against her male contemporaries, and has exhibited recently in Germany as well as Beirut. Aya appeared in Microphone, Ahmed Abdalla’s brilliant 2010 film about the underground art scene in Alexandria. She is the first graffiti artist in Egypt to appear in a feature film not only playing herself but also correctly representing the graffiti scene in Egypt.
Photo 3: “Don’t touch or castration awaits you” - Hend Kheera is the first Egyptian graffiti artist to be profiled by Rolling Stone. Her work has a tough, extreme and honest quality to it, and there’s nothing stereotypically feminine about her aesthetics. Hend made stencils in Mogamaa and around Tahrir during sit-ins in 2011. She participated in an anti-sexual harassment campaign by spraying the stencil ‘Warning! Don’t touch or castration awaits you!’. The stencil was shocking and provocative, compelling some bystanders to even berate Hend for making it, a surefire sign that her message was powerful and effective.
Photo 4: Hanaa El Degham’s mixed art mural on the Lycee wall is to this date one of the most astounding street artworks I have seen in Egypt. She worked several layers over many days, combining barely finished paintings with stencils and newspaper collages. If you looked closely at the newspaper clippings, you’d find them completely spot-on and appropriate for the beautiful social commentary she was making by portraying the poorest of Egyptians carrying gas cylinders on their heads. A women fully clad in black niqab carries a gas cylinder with ‘Change’ sprayed on it. That visual in itself has so much to say.
Hanaa also worked for days with Ammar Abo Bakr and other painters on the Mohamed Mahmoud martyrs’ mural, adding frames and lotus flowers to several of the martyrs’ portraits.
Photo 5: I’d seen Bahia Shehab’s stencils around Zamalek and Tahrir for months, but it was only until I watched her inspiring Tedx talk on YouTube when I made the connection. Bahia spoke beautifully and powerfully of fighting for social and political justice through art. Her stencil below is one of my favourite pieces, a stencil I spotted on the bleak concrete wall of Mansour Street. When you see such an inspiring and pretty quote on a grotesque concrete military construction, you regain hope; at least in the power and potential of art.
Photo 6: “No to sexual harrassment” by Mira Shihadeh - There’s also Laila Magued, who works tirelessly day and night alongside Mohamed El Moshir and Ammar Abo Bakr in completing murals like this fantastic one on Sheikh Rihan Street, and there’s Mira Shihadeh who paints messages against sexual harassment, and draws crying faces on the streets of Cairo, with the simple message ‘Why’. I’m sure there are many other women to follow suit soon.
I am privileged to have met most of these women and watch them work. It takes a certain fierceness to persevere in creating unique, inspiring street art under the volatile and unpredictable conditions of the Egyptian streets.
Graffiti has also paid tribute to the women of Egypt, whether by honoring them like Alaa Awad’s pharaonic mural or by paying tribute to their bravery in battle like Zeft’s poster, or defending their rights to equality.
Photo 7: ”Don’t label me” - Nooneswa (Noon El Neswa) is a collective of activists that uses graffiti to raise awareness about women’s rights and to lobby for gender equality. Noon El Neswa organised street campaigns where stencils featured Laila Mourad, Soaad Hosny and other iconic women of the Egyptian cinema, and slogans included film quotes or simple demands for equality. Nooneswa is the first collective of its kind to focus solely on women’s issues and use graffiti to raise awareness on the streets of Cairo. Their ‘Don’t Label Me’ design has since appeared in Tunisia, replicated by feminist activists there.
Photo 8: This graffiti on Mohamed Mahmoud Street paid tribute to the Uprising of Women in the Arab World, an online platform with over 80k followers that promotes Arab women’s rights using provocative and personal messages/photos of women.
Source (Click for more Egyptian graffiti art created by women)
Egyptian protesters tear down barbed wire surrounding the presidential palace on night of February 11 as Cairo police get ready to deploy water cannons.
About 200 protesters also blocked a central subway station and main bridges near the presidential palace on Monday.
Demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi have marked the second anniversary of the ongoing Egyptian revolution.
(Source: rightnow.io)
Egypt’s culture minister, Mohammed Saber Arab, has resigned in protest of police abuse of protesters.
February 5, 2013
In one notorious incident, police were filmed dragging and beating a naked activist during a rally against President Mohamed Morsi.
The recent upsurge in unrest in Egypt comes on the second anniversary of the January 25 revolution that ousted Mubarak.
Dozens have been killed and hundreds injured in eight days of violence.
A man who was beaten and dragged across the ground naked by Egyptian riot police during a demonstration on Friday was shown on state television blaming the incident on demonstrators.
A video of Hamada Saber, 48, being beaten with truncheons by helmeted police has infuriated the opposition, which accuses President Mohamed Morsi of ordering a harsh crackdown on protests two years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Morsi’s government has announced an investigation into the incident, which came at the end of eight days of violent protests that saw nearly 60 people killed, the deadliest unrest of his seven months in office.
State television aired overnight a recording of Saber, lying on bed in a police hospital, giving his account of the incident, in which he blamed protesters for stripping and robbing him.
It was not clear how his account could be reconciled with the widely seen footage, which clearly showed police beating him with truncheons and dragging him naked across a road.
Saber said he had seen a crowd running and then felt himself shot in the leg.
“I fell over, I failed to stand up again, then they surrounded me in a circle and attacked me,” he said. The interviewer asked if he was referring to the demonstrators, and he answered: “Yes I am. They took my clothes off, maybe they were looking for money in my pockets. Then someone among them shouted: ‘He is not a soldier. He is not a soldier, he is an old man and you are going to kill him.’
“The soldiers ran towards me. I was afraid of them, but they were saying, ‘We will not beat you’. I swear to God this is what happened. I kept on running. They said again: ‘Do not be afraid.’ I kept running away and they said, ‘We are exhausted because of you’.”
Egypt’s prosecutors’ office has released a statement saying Saber denied that police had hit him. That statement was received angrily by the opposition which suspects the authorities of intimidating him to exonerate the police.
“That a citizen be dragged in a public space is a crime against humanity. That he be forced to amend his testimony before the Public Prosecution is tyranny. It has dire consequences for justice,” Nasser Amin, a prominent lawyer and campaigner for judicial independence said on Twitter.
Cairo: police use tear gas to disperse crowds opposite President’s Palace
Police on Saturday night used tear gas against hundreds of protesters attempting to attack the presidential palace in Cairo.
They had approached flush up to the walls of the residence, pelting stones and Molotov cocktails. The crowd chanted slogans against the head of state, demanding dissolution of the Islamic movement “Muslim Brotherhood” and the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Earlier, several thousand people rioted near the palace; there was a fire inside caused by several firecrackers thrown onto the compound.
Armored vehicles were introduced into neighboring streets.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Health, one person died and dozens were injured in yesterday’s clashes.
Egyptian opposition getting radical
Egypt’s main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, has ruled out a dialogue with the authorities and urged its followers to topple the regime of President Morsi and bring him and his Islamist allies to justice for killing anti-regime demonstrators.
On Friday night, opponents of President Morsi clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo. The clashes left one protester dead and some 100 injured.
Protesters opposing Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi march despite a nighttime curfew in the city of Suez on Jan. 28.
Egyptian protesters defied a nighttime curfew in restive towns along the Suez Canal, attacking police stations and ignoring emergency rule imposed by Islamist President Morsi to end days of clashes that have killed at least 52 people. Egypt’s army chief said political strife was pushing the state to the brink of collapse - a stark warning from the institution that ran the country until last year as Cairo’s first freely elected leader struggles to contain bloody street violence.
(Source: photoblog.nbcnews.com)
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.
One man has been shot dead and over 400 people injured in fresh clashes in the Egyptian city of Port Said. The death toll has risen to 48 as violence on the streets of Egypt continues for the fourth day in a row.
January 27, 2013
18-year-old Abdel Rahman Farag was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest, the city’s head of hospitals told Reuters. More than 416 people suffered from teargas inhalation, while 17 sustained gunshot wounds, he said.
Thousands of people turned out for the funerals of 35 rioters who were killed in Port Said on Saturday. The mourners shouted,”There is no God but Allah, and Morsi is God’s enemy” after praying for the dead at the city’s Mariam Mosque. Teargas was fired in the vicinity and gunfire was heard nearby. Emergency vehicle sirens were also heard, a witness told Reuters.
Thousands of demonstrators also gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Sunday. Protesters threw petrol bombs at riot police who were firing teargas.
Rallies have been taking place in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and half a dozen other places, many of which have become violent. Protesters have taken to the streets in greater numbers following Saturday’s death sentence verdicts over a stadium stampede last February.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy has urged Egyptian authorities to “step in with full strength!”
Protests reach back to Friday when nine people were killed in a separate demonstration against of the Islamist Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
The outbreak of violence is a consequence of Saturday’s sentencing of 21 people to death for their role in the deaths of 74 people at a soccer stadium riot and stampede last year.
Spectators were trampled and eyewitnesses saw some thrown off balconies following a match between Al Ahly and local team al-Masri. But many eye witnesses reported police of playing a role in the deaths. The sentencing was reportedly followed by the immediate deaths of two policemen.
About 18 prisoners in Suez police stations managed to escape during the violence, a security source reported. Approximately 30 police weapons were stolen. Soldiers have taken up positions at important state facilities, including the local power and water stations, administration buildings, banks and courts.
Protests have been spreading throughout Egyptian cities since Thursday, prior to the sentencing. Opponents of Morsi have been gathering to mark the second anniversary on Friday of the beginning of the revolution that led to Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.
Infuriated protesters report that Morsi has betrayed the economic and representative goals of the previous revolt.
“None of the revolution’s goals have been realized,” protester Mohamed Sami told Reuters.
Bel Trew, who is on the ground in Cairo, said, “There’s a lot of anger toward the president – this started just at the end of last year when he pushed through what was seen as an unpopular constitution drafted by an Islamist dominated constituent assembly. People also say that he has not made any of the changes that were called for during the January 25 revolution two years ago, so he’s really lost quite a lot of legitimacy on the streets.”
“Right now here in the capital there are clashes raging between protesters and security forces on the…lots of tear gas in the air here in down-town Cairo. Rocks have also been exchanged.”
“Security have increased their presence around government buildings, as the focus of the anger here for protesters is very much against Morsi’s administration… the situation in Egypt really descends into a bit of a crisis”
The revolution continues: Sharif Abdel Kouddous on Egyptian revolution’s 2nd anniversary, protesters’ demands mostly the same
January 25, 2013
Two years ago, thousands of Egyptians filled Tahrir Square sparking the revolution that brought down dictator Hosni Mubarak. Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous joins Democracy Now! live from a protest march back to Tahrir.
“You hear many of the same chants that we heard two years ago — ‘Bread, freedom and social justice’ — and for the downfall of the regime, that they see has continued two years after Mubarak’s ouster,” Kouddous says. “The difference between what’s happening now and what’s happened two years ago is that there’s a lot less unity, and we’re seeing a much more polarized country.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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