Puzzled thoughts of a self-confessed ignoramus

Unlike most bloggers, I am by no means an Egypt specialist, never been and never will be.  In fact, let me begin this post by confessing to the fact that I am a self-confessed Egypt ignoramus.  Please keep that in mind and forgive me all the nonsense I am about to write below and let me begin by saying that I am very disturbed not only by the events in Syria, but by the bizarre reactions I am observing: progressives rejoicing at the sight of a violent military coup.

So I will ask simple, basic questions in the hope that somebody will help me find the answers (I would be most interested in hearing the answers of those who are happy that the military overthrew Morsi).

Question one: what options for the Ikhwan?

Morsi was got 25% of the vote in the first round, and 52% on the second round.  Judging by the demonstrations in Egypt and by the violent clashes between pro and anti Morsi demonstrators, I think that we can safely posit that there are still "a lot" for Morsi supporters in Egypt.  Following the military coup, what are these supporters of Morsi expected to do?  Does anybody seriously think that they will just "take it" and no resist?  Are these people not forced into violent resistance?

Question two: was Morsi ever given a chance?

Morsi was elected one year ago for a four year term.  Is this past year enough not only to judge his rule, but to declare (as many do today) that "he was elected democratically, but he did not rule democratically"?  Other than Morsi, has there ever been another political leader in history who was judged so terrible as to justify a military coup against him after only one year in power? Was he not elected for four years?

Question three: who is in power now?

Who is in power now?  The military.  We are talking about a military which twice already betrayed its commander in chief, first Mubarak, now Morsi.  We know that the top command is composed of CIA puppets.  Just two years ago everybody saw Mubarak as just the tip of a "military iceberg" of corrupt pro-Zionists policies.  Why in the world is anybody buying the curious notion that these are "patriots"?!

Question four: where are the Egyptian progressives?

A lot of observers are blaming Morsi for his lack of economic policy and for his subservience to the international capitalist order.  Fair enough - Morsi is clearly no Sayyid Qutb.  But Sayyid Qutb is not an alternative today.  Today the options are folks like ElBaradei or Adly Mansour or Abdul Fatah al-Sisi.  Does anybody believe that these guys are in any way more progressive than Morsi or less dependent on the international capitalist order?!

Question five: does the democratic principle matter?

When Mubarak was overthrown, everybody rejoiced at the victory for democracy precisely because at that time it appeared that democracy had prevailed only because of the willingness of the Egyptian people to pay a huge price to obtain it.  Now Morsi is out.  But is it not rather obvious that there was no way of violently toppling Morsi without at the same time destroying democracy itself?

Please do not interpret my questions as a sign of sympathy for Morsi.  Personally, I don't like Morsi and I don't like his Ikhwan.  In fact, I am deeply suspicious of any form of Sunni Islamism which nowadays seems exclusively composed of reactionary elements rather than followers of Sayyid Qutb.  On a personal level I would probably get along much better with Egyptian secularists or Copts than with Morsi supporters. I also personally believe that if Morsi had stayed in power for another three years to complete his term this would have been an economic disaster for Egypt.

But none of that prevents me from understanding the difference between "bad" and "worse".  Neither does my dislike for Morsi and his party allow me to overlook the fact that he was overthrown by a military which really did not change much since the Mubarak era.

At this point, my gut feeling is this: Morsi, who only got 25% of the vote in the first round, was allowed to rule only long enough to get the majority of Egyptians who did not vote for him angry and frustrated enough to welcome a coup by the "heroic" and "patriotic" military.  And now that democracy itself has been tossed out of the window along with the Ikhwan, popular opinion will again become largely irrelevant, if only because it will have no legitimate way to express itself.  So its all back to square one: a US controlled military in full control.  Either that, or a long dark period of violence.

Please tell me why I am wrong!

The Saker

CrossTalk on Revolts: Iran's Turn?

A song of Egypt's revolution with subtitles

US-Egypt: ‘Why?’

Eric Walberg reflects on the reasons for the very different reactions to Egypt’s revolution among North Americans

Western media always welcomes the overthrow of a dictator -- great headline news -- but this instance was greeted with less than euphoria by Western -- especially American -- leaders, who tried to soft-peddle it much as did official Egyptian media till the leader fled the palace. Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak was a generously paid ally for the US in its Middle East policy of protecting Israel, and the hesitancy of the Western -- especially US -- governments in supporting fully what should have been a poster-child of much-touted US ideals was both frustrating and highly instructive.

Canadian government support for Mubarak was even more staunch until vice-president Omar Suleiman’s 20 second resignation speech 11 February, clearly written with a metaphorical gun to one or both of their heads. This craven loyalty to an autocrat reviled by his people was the US-Israeli preferred solution. Much better to cool the passionate revolutionaries, allow the system, so beneficial to Israel, to adjust and survive.

But perhaps more important, much better to continue Egypt’s state-of-emergency laws that allow the regime to keep Israel critics and devout Muslims under raps, and just as important, allow the US to “render” undesirable Muslims there to be tortured. Imagine if the records of these renditions over the past decade by the US (and Canada) to Egypt were to come to light, falling into the hands of the revolutionaries, much like Britain’s secret treaties in WWI fell into the Bolsheviks’ hands?

“They’re not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube,” quipped Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper glumly. He could well be articulating -- in his own tasteless way -- the sentiments of the Egyptian military establishment, which had no use for a Mubarak dynasty and sided with the rebels, though at a considerable cost. Those now in power, nominally headed by Minister of Defence and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Mohammed Tantawi, must push determined demonstrators out of Tahrir Square, get people back to work, shut down further strikes, and keep their US military advisers (not to mention the US president himself) assured that the centrepiece of Egyptian foreign policy remains in place. Truly a messy task.

It is hard to believe now that just a few weeks ago, Mubarak was invincible, his visage gracing at least one page in every newspaper every day, meeting with some Western leader, posing with Israeli notables, confident that he was in control of his desert ship-of-state. After the initial euphoria, and as evidence of his misrule and the perilous state that he left Egypt in pours out of newly liberated media, people are overwhelmed, irritable and depressed. People have undergone a wrenching shift in their thinking in the past three weeks.

Iranian leaders note the eerie coincidence with their own revolution of 11 February 1979 overthrowing the shah (1941-79). A national holiday, more than half the population of Iran was out on the streets celebrating along with Egyptians when Mubarak finally resigned last Friday evening. US commentators prefer to compare the revolution to the overthrow of Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos (1965-87) and Indonesian president Suharto (1968-98). They even suggest it could lead to another Iranian revolution.

Despite the many differences, Iran and Indonesia are the closest parallels: an anti-colonial revolt against a repressive pseudo-Muslim autocrat whose corruption and nepotism undid him. Those revolts triumphed when the army and police gave up supporting the US-backed leader, much as Egypt’s security apparatus did. The long repressed Muslim Brotherhood is the Sunni equivalent of the Iranian clerics. Even if the US can steer Egypt into the secular Indonesian model, it will still have to come to terms with the fact that Indonesia does not recognise Israel, that any future Egyptian government will almost surely renegotiate the 1979 peace agreement with Israel.

It seems that Egypt’s suffering and oppression are something alien to Western experience. But this is far from the truth. As the fervour spread like wildfire during the first few weeks, I recalled how the leftist community in Toronto is just as self-righteous and eager for change, how neoliberalism has left Canadian society with yawning income disparities not much different than those of Egypt. The most obvious difference being that the general standard of living in Canada is higher and the middle class (still) more numerous. But the very idea of such a spectacular event as happened here to address issues of social justice is impossible to imagine there or in the US.

It struck me that the most stark and instructive parallel is not with Indonesia or Iran, but between pre-revolution Egypt and the current US, which, like Egypt, has reached the end of the same gruelling 30-year neoliberal road that Egypt did under Mubarak’s reign, jettisoning any pretense of a just society. The coincidences abound: both the US and Egypt began their ill-fated journeys in that very 1981, with the ascendancy of US president Ronald Reagan and the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat, though El-Sadat had actually pre-empted Reaganomics with his infitah, dismantling of much of Egypt’s socialism.

Each US presidency since then has either embraced or been pressured by the exigencies of capitalism and electoral democracy to enact greater and great tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, meanwhile cutting social services and increasing spending on so-called defence. Each "new" government has regularly flouted the consensus of the electorate on all major issues, from the environment, social services, jobs, to weapons production, invasions, drug laws and the Cubas and Irans which in defiance dare to flout the empire.

Income disparity is arguably the strongest impulse to revolt. As measured by the Gini coefficient (0 is perfect equality) Egypt stands in a far better light at .34 than the US .45 (Canada is .32).

So why did Egyptians succeed spectacularly where Americans -- in even greater need of a revolution -- fail spectacularly?

Egyptians seem to be much more politically astute than their American counterparts, more willing to admit that their leaders take bribes, lie, follow policies dictated by business or lobbies and which counter public opinion.

But the key to understanding why a revolution like Egypt's is impossible in the US is the fact that, unlike Egypt's army (composed mostly of conscripts), the US has a mercenary (excuse me, professional) army, which would have little compunction to fire on any group threatening the sanctity of the political establishment. Conscription is a vital brick in building a democratic society, an safeguard allowing the society to be dismantled if it turns into a jail or a brothel, a brick which has been lost to the US and its satellites. A brick that Egyptian protesters used to telling effect.

Senator John Kerry said that the Egyptian people “have made clear they will settle for nothing less than greater democracy and more economic opportunities”. So what are Egypt's prospects of creating a thriving democracy? They would be wise to listen to Kerry and to observe the US system, though not to copy it but on the contrary to learn from its sorry state.

Why would Americans expect a president to be fair and hear them when he must raise a billion dollars from corporations to outspend his equally compromised rival in elections? New York Times analyst Bob Herbert looked enviously at Egyptians’ longing for democracy, comparing the US political system to a “perversion of democracy”, bemoaning that at the very moment Egyptians are discovering it, “Americans are in the mind-bogglingly self-destructive process of letting a real democracy slip away.”

And yet Americans blissfully pledge their allegiance, weep on 4 July and during presidential inaugurations, despite the unassailable evidence of the injustices both domestically and abroad of the system they live under. Egyptians, though just as nationalistic, were able to see through the facade of their pseudo-democracy and rise up to overthrow the guilty parties. They are the heroes of all true democrats in the world. The few people particularly in North America who see through their own quite transparent political facade can only look on wistfully.

What became the anthem of the revolution — “Why?” by Mohamed Munir — was written, presciently, a month before the 25 January spark that burned away (let’s hope) much of the chaff accumulated during 30 years of neoliberal “reforms”. He cries out to his homeland like a spurned lover who vows to take his country back from the usurpers:

If love of you was my choice

My heart would long ago have changed you for another

But I vow I will continue to change your life for the better

Till you are content with me.

How different from the equivalent American song — Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” — self-pitying and hopeless in this, the world’s sole superpower:

You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much

‘Till you spend half your life just covering up.

***

Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/

The Egyptian Blockade of Gaza – February 26, 2011 March to Gaza

by Ken O'Keefe

To join the March to Gaza click here

There is much talk about who and what is behind the popular revolts in the Arab world and I find such talk as interesting as anyone. But more than talk I am interested in action. Indeed that is why tears of joy streamed down my face as I watched the Egyptian people cleansing themselves of the shame brought upon them by Mubarak and his fellow thieves and traitors. Clearly however, the job is far from complete.

The Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions are not actually Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions as much as they are part of a Global Revolution. For no matter how much effort is exerted by the powers that be to divide the masses, we are all connected. And within the Western nations lie the very same justifications for revolution. The truth is we are hard pressed to find a government that honours its people; the real question is to what degree does a government disrespect and violate it’s people? And does it confine it’s crimes to it’s own population? Or does it export these crimes as well? I am obliged to mention that in this latter category the world champion of global oppression is of course, my birth nation, the United States of America.

And they have junior partners in the global tyranny business, and Egypt has been, and remains at this moment, one of them. Ever since the so-called peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, Egypt has become a key partner in America’s greatest export, terror. For more than 30 years Mubarak was little more than a pimp and a prostitute, ordering the people of Egypt to bend over while the American imperialist machine penetrated the Egyptian people as a rapist does his victim.

Meanwhile Mubarak mocked the people of Egypt, his henchmen (Omar Suleiman) tortured and terrorized them while he and his family plundered the nation and swallowed American bribe money by the billions; all the while the comatose American taxpayer paid this pimp and his family those billions.

For a little comic relief, listen to what you, the American taxpayer are being told about how you’re hard earned tax dollars go to work in Egypt;

“For over three decades, the United States has worked to improve the quality of life of all Egyptians through programs supporting economic development and regional stability. USAID assistance has totaled $28.6 billion since 1975. Current programs focus on economic growth; education; healthier, planned families; and democracy and governance.” – USAID website

And so, for the bargain basement price of $28.6 billion the American people managed to buy Egyptians a lifestyle of deep poverty in which 40% of the 80 million plus of them live on less than $2 a day. Way to go America!

I am curious to know how many reading this are like me; tell me, when you see Obama or Hillary Clinton dare to talk of Egyptian “democracy” and solidarity with “the people”, do you wish as well that someone would walk up, stare them square in their eyes and slap them with a thundering clap right in the face? I sure do. And I damn sure wish that famous and heroic Iraqi shoe thrower hit George Bush right in his mouth. One can dream.

Ah but we can do better than wish for things that will likely never happen, we can act, we can create our own reality; just as the Egyptians and Tunisians and many others are showing us right now. We can do anything we set our minds to, ANYTHING!

And that leads me to the people of Palestine. As I sit here in Gaza I can tell you that these people are as deserving of real support as any people on Earth. For decades our actions (or lack thereof) have translated to a brutal existence with perpetual trauma and violence. Despite this the people of Palestine have not become the monsters that imprison and slaughter them. They remain Palestinian; among the most generous and hospitable people you will ever meet. And so I say to the world, now is the time to begin acting as brothers and sisters and commence to the liberation of the people of Palestine.

To everybody who knows injustice, everybody who knows tyranny, we are all brothers and sisters with the people of Palestine. Let us act like it and let us march on Gaza on February 26th, 2011. Let us amass in the greatest numbers possible, and let us march week after week if necessary, to make Rafah Crossing and open border. To achieve this would be to render the Israeli/American lead blockade useless. That would signal another mortal blow to American Imperialism and Israeli Zionism. If that isn’t worth fighting for then I have no idea what is.

I realize this was not the primary objective of the peoples revolt in Egypt, but it can become a primary result of it. Why not? Is it not possible? Of course it is. Egyptians have just shed their puppet dictator; they rendered his weapons and henchmen impotent. We can now remove one of the most shameful policies of this dictator; I say again, we can do whatever we desire, if we are serious that is.

I am serious, and I know many more who are serious as well.

Let us take note, lower ranking Egyptian commanders disobeyed direct orders by Mubarak and his generals to murder the people in Tahrir Square. So the Army did not slaughter the people as ordered, so clearly there is honour within the Egyptian military. But it cannot be ignored, there are still higher-ranking officials who followed Mubarak’s orders and themselves ordered the lower ranks to commit mass-murder.

Let us remember that it is such people that were punished by death as a result of the Nuremberg Trials. And let us realize that for the moment such people still hold positions of power and influence in Egypt. And let us not be fools, they remain of course the servile minions of their Zionist and American imperialist masters. Let us not ignore the fact that the American bribe money is still flowing.

To rest, to allow them to corrupt the will of the people into a new dictatorship is to abandon our role in the Global Revolution.

As I have said, this is not an Egyptian/Tunisian Revolution, their battle is ours and vice versa, and it intertwines with Palestine directly.

I know this for sure; there is not one Egyptian in their right mind that would endorse a continuation of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza. To the contrary, it has shamed the people of Egypt for far too long. Why not end it now?

Is there any sane, right-minded person who supports the blatant and brutal collective punishment of the people of Gaza? So why would it carry on? There is only one reason, because we allow it. I say we carry on with what the people of Egypt started, they got rid of the dictator, let us, people of conscience, once and for all smash to pieces the abominable Egyptian blockade of Gaza.

Why not?

Let us commence to exposing anyone intent on subjecting the 800,000 plus children of Gaza to this cruel and inhuman blockade.

I say shame on us all if we do not march on Gaza with significant numbers and soon. I see no reason why sufficient numbers cannot be mobilized for February 26th. If our lives or the lives of our loved ones depended on it, we would mobilize by the thousands.

As I write this there are people in Gaza who will likely die soon if they cannot access medical treatment outside of Gaza. Among them is a 14 year-old boy who needs a kidney transplant, which his father is ready to provide. Shall this boy be left to die?

There are students being denied access to education abroad. There are building materials needed yet denied, and thus the rebuilding of Gaza remains impossible. All of this preventable suffering and death continues, day-by-day, a human caused catastrophe, due to the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza. But there is no Mubarak, so there is no excuse.

Having met children all over Gaza I can tell you that virtually every one of them has been and continues to be traumatized by the ongoing blockade and terrorism of Israel. All of this is compounded massively by the blockade. If this were your child you would not rest until there was justice. But if you see them as I do, you would see them as your children, and with that comes a duty. Let us not fail. We cannot do too much for the children of Gaza; to do less then everything within our power is the continuation of collectively dishonouring ourselves and degrading our humanity.

Enough.

It seems at this stage in human development the only way to make sure that governments serve the people, is to ensure that they fear the people. If indeed that be the case, let them fear us. Let them feel the wrath of our will and let them know that the Egyptian blockade of Gaza is in its dying days. If this inevitability requires bloodshed then it will be because those entrusted to serve the people have instead chosen to serve the Israeli/American tyranny under which Mubarak ruled. If that be the case then there shall be an absolute need for Nuremberg Trials of today.

But I think none of that is necessary. I think the Egyptian Military can honour the people rather than the paymaster. We shall see.

Here is what I propose: People of conscience, supporters of Palestine and Egypt, wherever you come from, come to Egypt in the days leading up to February 26th. Travel to the port city of Al Arish and prepare to march on “The Day of Liberation” for the people of Palestine in Gaza. From the Egyptian side we shall march from Al Arish to Rafah Crossing (about 35 km/22 miles). On the Gazan side we shall demonstrate in support of this peoples liberation and we shall greet the marchers when they arrive.

Transportation via taxis can easily be arranged for those unable to walk such a distance. The goal will be to enter Gaza with the full cooperation of the Egyptian Military/officials. We seek no confrontation, but we demand the end of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza.

If the marchers are blocked, attacked or arrested, we will do as the people of Egypt have done, a Tahrir style camp will be created as close to Rafah Crossing as possible. We will maximize exposure of the march via social media such as Twitter and Facebook and the world will surely be watching if we do what we are clearly capable of doing. People will camp out and more marchers will come, if we do as we are capable of doing our numbers will swell and our power increase. Each and every day will bring us closer to the end of the Egypt under Mubarak blockade of Gaza.

Power to the people – Global Revolution 2011 – TJP

To join the March to Gaza click here

The plan which the Egyptian people defeated

Israel and Egypt - some headlines

Admiral Mike Mullen is due to meet President Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and outgoing IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday.

Israel needs to help the U.S. to stabilize the region

Egypt unrest could improve Israel ties

Israel fears loss of a crucial ally with Mubarak's fall

US to ensure Israel security amid Egypt unrest

Israel holds drill amid Egypt protests

Egypt rapidly repairing pipeline to Israel, Jordan. Egypt plans to renew natural gas supplies to Israel and Jordan by mid-February

A very interesing analysis from a Zionist point of view

Ynetnews reports:

Israel's former ambassador to Egypt was particularly pessimistic Friday after hearing of President Hosni Mubarak's dramatic resignation.

"It's over, Egypt is no longer a superpower," former Israeli Ambassador to Cairo Zvi Mazel told Ynet. "Egypt has completely lost its status in the area, while Turkey and Iran are on the way up. It's a different world." "As long as we had Mubarak, there was no void in our relations with the region. Now we're in big trouble," he said.

Israel, Mazel said, had many reasons for concern. "From a strategic point of view, Israel is now facing a hostile situation. It's over, there is no one left to lead the pragmatic, moderate state."

Mazel said it could take time before a new government was established in Egypt.

"The familiar governmental framework of the past 30 years has dissolved, and it will take a year or two or three before a new regime rises to power. "The next stage is disbanding parliament, as the people won't accept a parliament based on fraud, and holding new elections. Naturally, the opposition will also want to run in these elections and will ask for a longer period of time to gain recognition. The Muslim Brotherhood will take action as well, of course."

Mazel also spoke about the meaning of military rule, which he believes Egypt is expected to experience in the coming years. "It's a whole new world, an unknown world. The army is responsible for the jurisdiction systems, and the military constitutional regime is completely different than civilian rule.

"General Tantawi has been appointed chairman of the Higher Military Council, making him the 'de facto' temporary president. He is a well known person who never even thought about running for president. In any event, there is no longer a familiar legitimate governmental framework in Egypt."

According to the former envoy, the fate of Israel's relations with Egypt in the coming years is hard to predict. "(Tantawi) is okay, but the strategic situation comprises forces we are unfamiliar with. The army will likely maintain the peace agreement, but there will be developments we cannot foresee at this time."

He did say, however, that the Muslim Brotherhood movement has no foothold in the new reality. "At this stage the army is anti-Muslim Brotherhood. They did some screening to let in as few (Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers) as possible, and they won't let them rise."

Mazel believes Egypt is only part of a domino effect.

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Commentary: it is interesting and worrisome to see that while the Zionists are clearly concerned, they still have high hopes to keep the Egyptian people down under the rule of the military.  This revolution is truly a beautiful and wonderful event and Mubarak's departure is a powerful symbol.  But it is, at least for the time being, only a symbolic event.  "Regime change" is still a long way from actually having happened.

Obama - the worst hypocrit on the planet?

Obama just made a phenomenally hypocritical statement about Egypt.  It was aired on al-Jazeera.  As soon as I find it on the net, I will post it here.

El Baradei shows his true intentions (again!)

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei on Friday said that he did not believe that newly resigned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should be tried for crimes he committed against the Egyptian people during his 30 year dictatorship.

"We don't need to worry about retribution at this stage. Mubarak needs to go with dignity. Let's focus on the future. We need a country at peace with itself," ElBaradei said in an interview with CNN.

-------

Comment: well, El Baradei shows his true colors, again.  God willing, the Egyptian people will see him for what he is.

Radical Islam will be result of U.S. push for democracy, Mubarak told Israel's Ben-Eliezer during a phone call on Thursday

Haaretz reports:

Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt's president.  The legislator, former cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said on TV Friday that he came away from the 20-minute conversation on Thursday with the feeling the 82-year-old leader realized "it was the end of the Mubarak era".  "He had very tough things to say about the United States," said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party who has held talks with Mubarak on numerous occasions while serving in various Israeli coalition governments.

"He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: 'We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that's the fate of the Middle East,'" Ben-Eliezer said.

"'They may be talking about democracy but they don't know what they're talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,'" he quoted Mubarak as saying.

(...)

"He contended the snowball (of civil unrest) won't stop in Egypt and it wouldn't skip any Arab country in the Middle East and in the Gulf. "He said 'I won't be surprised if in the future you see more extremism and radical Islam and more disturbances -- dramatic changes and upheavals," Ben-Eliezer added.

-------

Insha'Allah, Hosni, Insha'Allah!! :-)

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen - who is next?

Dear friends,

Does anybody know what the national TV stations in Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Yemen are showing?

I can only imagine the utter panic in Riyadh, Amman and Sana‘a!

If you can, please let us know!

Thanks,

The Saker

Asmaa Mahfouz - The video that fueled the Egyptian Revolution

(Thanks to Guthman for this absolutely amazing and beautiful video!)

Gaza explodes in celebrations

If you can, check out the live stream from al-Jazeera here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Lots of good reporting from them, and also images from Gaza.

I can't help laughing at the monumental incompetence of the USraelian Empire.  First they announce that "Mubarak must stay" clearing proving that the bloated US 'intelligence' community (16 agencies!) go it 100% wrong (again!), and now they looking at Mubarak's departure.  LOL!

Frankly, I don't see ANY signs that the events there are staged.  I think that the Imperial rulers are absolutely clueless, totally overwhelmed by the spontaneous events.

Yes, clearly there is a very real risk of having this popular revolution hijacked by the military, el-Baradei, or any other faithful servant of the US Empire.  But the reality of this risk does not entail that the events so far where somehow controlled, much less so triggered, by the "Imperial High Command".

Keep an eye on the Gaza-Egyptian border.  My guess it that we will be able to tell the reality of what happened by what happens on this border.

"Ye shall know them by their fruits" (Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, 7:16)

Question: what EXACTLY happened in Egypt?

What did Suleiman EXACTLY say?

Has Mubarak resigned and left the country in the hands of the military's Supreme Council (as al-Jazeera translated it) or is the real power still in Vice-President Suleiman's hands?

Is Suleiman gone too?

Thanks!

MUBARAK STEPS DOWN!

Finally!  Al-Jazeera has announced that Mubarak stepped down.

This is a ABSOLUTELY HUGE moral victory for the Egyptian people and a major joy for all those worldwide who oppose the USraelian Empire.

Now, on a note of caution, Mubarak gone does not mean regime change yet.  Hopefully, the people of Egypt will now press their advantage and give the boot to Suleiman and the rest of them!

New streaming in from Egypt

(All times are local in Egypt, GMT+2)

4:58pm Protesters in the north Sinai town of El-Arish exchanged gunfire with police and hurled Molotov cocktails at a police station, witnesses said. About 1,000 protesters broke off from a larger group and headed towards a police station, lobbing firebombs and burning police cars, witnesses said.

4:53pm Military helicopters arrive at Cairo's Presidential Palace ahead of expected statement - more details soon.

4:39pm The Egyptian presidency is to make an "urgent and important" statement shortly, state television says

Good joke from Egypt

The Interior Minister asks Hosni Mubarak to write a "Farewell Letter" to the Egyptian people. Mubarak replies: "Why? Where are they going?"

Amazing Egyptians!

Press TV is broadcasting live images of huge Egyptian crowds dancing and singing "Suleiman go home to Israel!"

Amazing sight!

My sincere apologies and heartfelt homage to the Egyptian people

I have to honestly confess here that my opinion of the Egyptian people was not very high until recently.  Frankly, it offended me that they would accept to help the Israelis to strangle the Palestinians, it also offended me that they would accept having their country sold out to US imperial interests.  I guess, its their silence which offended me most.  I now realize that my feeling was unfair.  Yes, the Egyptians were silent, but they were also waiting for a time to speak up.  And when the time came, they really spoke up very loudly and clearly.

What the Egyptians are doing today is AMAZING!  Maintaining the mass demonstrations for two weeks while having several hundred comrades being murdered by the regime's thugs is absolutely without precedent (at least, I cannot think of one).  The economic plight of the people of Egypt is worsening day by day, and yet the crowds are becoming bigger and bigger.

Most amazing of all - these demonstrators actually appear to be SPONTANEOUS.  Also something without precedent (at least as far as I can recall).

I am now really full of admiration for these people and I wish them well in this most dangerous situation.

I just heard this murderous buffoon Suleiman seriously telling the Egyptian people to, I am not kidding you, just "go home" and "stop watching satellite TV".

He is apparently as crazy as his boss Mubarak.

May God help the Egyptian people tomorrow.  It would take a miracle for the situation not to explode into mass violence now.