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Forces Behind the Egyptian Revolution
(Washington, DC) Two critical forces behind the Egyptian Revolution are missing from the front pages, or any pages, of the corporate media. They are the critical role of Egypt's union movement and the universal desire of all people to live in peace, freedom and dignity. Rarely mentioned are the grievances of Egypt's workers and their struggle to unionize. As a result, we've missed the connection between the struggle to unionize and the right to assemble.
The Egyptian people were poised for a mass celebration following what was supposed to be a farewell speech by former President Hosni Mubarak. For seventeen days, Egyptians massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square. There were protests in Alexandria, Port Suez, and other cities. The G-20 sates have been tentative in their support for the full set of demands by protesters and the broader Egyptian public. For example, President Barack Obama said Mubarak needed a, "credible, concrete and unequivocal path to democracy." What does a "path to democracy" look like? How long does it take to walk the path? Egypt's military leaders may have acted already.
Mubarak's contact with reality was extremely weak. He didn't get the message from the Egypt's Supreme Council of military leaders. Aljazeera reported that the council promised, "measures and arrangements … to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people." The news service concluded that a military coup had likely taken place already based on the announcement that the council will be in session indefinitely.
What role did the union movement play and how was that connected to the right to assemble and other fundamental human rights?
America is No Example of Democracy
By Timothy V. Gatto
It’s very telling that the United States will not give any indication that actually makes any kind of statement on the Egyptian revolution and where America stands on the subject. It’s apparent that the U.S. doesn’t want to show it’s hand until all of the variables have been taken into account and the people of Egypt have finally accepted an alternative to the rule of Mubarak’s regime…at least not in public anyway. We have no real idea of what is happening in the background. It’s quite possible that elements in the U.S. government have clear goals as to what they want to wash out of the current stalemate in Cairo.
The fact that the U.S. isn’t taking sides publically is really very disappointing but not unexpected. If this administration openly sided with the protestors and the uprising was crushed and the regime survived (with or without Mubarak) it would be very difficult to explain why we sided with the opposition when Egypt and its current regime is supposedly our ally. Yet it places Obama in a precarious position if the popular uprising succeeds and we now have to negotiate with a new regime that we failed to support. This is what the British call “a bit of a sticky wicket”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is Kosher
Gilad Atzmon
Ynet reported today that US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday that Egypt’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement was "a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam."
Clapper, who heads the organization commanding 16 American intelligence and investigation agencies, told the committee that the Muslim Brotherhood "have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt, et cetera….. There is no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally.”
Aristide Gets Diplomatic Passport to Go Home
by Stephen Lendman
Several previous articles discussed his right to return, accessed through the following links:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/let-aristide-return.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/02/haiti-update-electoral-runoff-and.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/02/grassroots-support-for-aristides-return.html
Since forcibly exiled on February 29, 2004, Washington and Haiti denied his right to return, though affirmed in Haiti's Constitution and international law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
Article 9: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."
Israeli and PA Forces Suppress Solidarity with Egyptians
by Stephen Lendman
Despite Palestinian Authority (PA) officials banning anti-Mubarak demonstrations, hundreds rallied in support. On February 5, Jerusalem Post writer Khaled Abu Toameh headlined, "100s demonstrate in Ramallah in support of Egyptians," saying:
Marching in Ramallah with Egyptian flags, they publicly supported them "(f)or the first time since the beginning of the(ir( uprising...." Another Ramallah demonstration followed as well as a Bethlehem one.
Toameh's February 2 article was in stark contrast headlined, "PA launches pro-Mubarak demonstration in Ramallah," denouncing Mohamed ElBaradei as a "CIA agent."
THE FASCINATION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD
By Gaither Stewart- A Personal Testimony
(Rome) When as a young man I moved to Italy it was an act of love for this Mediterranean land where lemon trees bloom. The original attraction for me however was not only the Bel Paese, as Italians like to call this truly beautiful peninsula jutting out southwards into the Mediterranean Sea and nearly reaching Tunisia. I also wanted the whole Mar Nostrum, the sea around which our Western civilization developed; I set for myself the secret goal of knowing all the lands surrounding the great sea. The attraction I felt was perhaps the same allure for the succession of peoples and civilizations, which have sought to both control and unite this beautiful and unique world. Though my original love for Italy has faded and waned in the vulgarity of contemporary Italy, not so the magical lure of the Mediterranean World as such.
The USA puts its Arab "alliances" on sale
Salim Nazzal
As with all bankrupt companies their owners resort to selling off their contents at cheap prices in order to alleviate the losses and damage. The USA is doing this now with it’s so called Arab Allies. The USA stated recently that it wants a peaceful transition of power; this is a clear message to Mubarak to go.
This time America has acted more” wisely” than it did under the Tunisian uprising when it supported Ben Ali against the Tunisian revolution .And definitely much wiser than it did during the Iranian revolution, when it stood against the nation of Iran. But in the end it abandoned the Shah who didn’t beg them restoring his power, nor even for a Palace, but for a grave to rest in.
The False Narrative of the Corporate Media: Obama 'Becoming' Business Friendly
By Kevin Zeese
The unrelenting narrative from the corporate media – that Obama must mend fences with American business – is disconnected from the reality of Obama’s policies and appointments. It is inconsistent with the rise in the stock market, the record profits and the hordes of cash big business are sitting on.
There is no question that small businesses are still being choked by the unavailability of credit and that the lack of job creation is preventing a real economic recovery, but the businesses Obama spoke to when he visited the Chamber of Commerce are not in that category. In recent years, the national Chamber has evolved into a spokesperson for transnational corporations, not Main Street America’s businesses. They have pushed U.S. job killing policies that send jobs overseas so transnational corporations can reap the biggest profits from the cheapest labor.
US-Egypt: Cookie-cutter cuisine
Eric Walberg
The US has baked itself into a corner. It should learn to enjoy the fruits of its labour.
Quiet tourist backwater Tunisia under its only rulers since independence -- Habib Bourghiba (1956-1987) and then Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali (1987-2011) -- was a much appreciated ally of the United States. However, as bin Ali fled to Saudi Arabia last month, US leaders suddenly were hailing those who defied his US-trained police with their US-made tear gas and guns, including the 100 they killed.
Two weeks later, after almost identical developments in Egypt, the US found itself poised to repeat itself, praising the now millions of protesters, including at least 300 who so far have died, though stopping short of pushing Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011) to follow his colleague’s steps into exile, fearing the collapse of its Middle East order.
Left and Islam
Gilad Atzmon
The following is an updated edition of a paper I published eighteen months ago. The current edition includes new references to the unfolding events in Egypt.
In front of our eyes, a gigantic regional Arab uprising is taking place. It is evident that until the last few days Western Left had very little to say about it all. It seems as if the Left has reached a rock bottom state of detachment. It has lost contact with the people, social reality, and humanity in general.
Thinking Outside the Secular Box
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." — Karl Marx 1843
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