Cairo: "We want the downfall of the System!"

 

“We want the downfall of the System!”

That was the message from radicals on the streets of Cairo this week as the Morsi regime tottered towards today's collapse.

From Istanbul to Rio de Janeiro, from Santiago to Manama, the battle against neoliberalism is one and the same.

Nobody expects it to be easily won – there will always be yet another phoney saviour lined up in the political wings to ensure it’s “business as usual” in the corridors of power.

But the numbers and the anger on the streets all over the world in the last few weeks will have had the elite shaking in their boots in fear of what is to come. People power on this scale is something they can neither control nor ignore, as Morsi found out to his cost.

In an online statement this week, some “Comrades from Cairo” outlined how the neoliberal agenda is the common factor among the regimes currently facing popular uprisings.

They explained: “In Egypt, the Brotherhood only adds a religious veneer to the process, while the logic of a localized neo-liberalism crushes the people.

“In Turkey a strategy of aggressive private-sector growth, likewise translates into authoritarian rule, the same logic of police brutality as the primary weapon to oppress opposition and any attempts to envision alternatives.

“In Brazil a government rooted in a revolutionary legitimacy has proven that its past is only a mask it wears while it partners with the same capitalist order in exploiting people and nature alike.

“These recent struggles share in the fight of much older constant battles of the Kurds and the indigenous peoples of Latin America. For decades, the Turkish and Brazilian governments have tried but failed to wipe out these movements’ struggle for life.

“Their resistance to state repression was the precursor to the new wave of protests that have spread across Turkey and Brazil. We see an urgency in recognizing the depth in each other’s struggles and seek out forms of rebellion to spread into new spaces, neighborhoods and communities.

“Our struggles share a potential to oppose the global regime of nation states. In crisis as in prosperity, the state — in Egypt under the rule of Mubarak, the Military Junta or the Muslim Brotherhood — continues to dispossess and disenfranchise in order to preserve and expand the wealth and privilege of those in power.

“None of us are fighting in isolation. We face common enemies from Bahrain, Brazil and Bosnia, Chile, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Tunisia, Sudan, the Western Sahara and Egypt. And the list goes on.

“Everywhere they call us thugs, vandals, looters and terrorists. We are fighting more than economic exploitation, naked police violence or an illegitimate legal system. It is not rights or reformed citizenship that we fight for.

“We oppose the nation-state as a centralized tool of repression, that enables a local elite to suck the life out of us and global powers to retain their dominion over our everyday lives.

“The two work in unison with bullets and broadcasts and everything in between. We are not advocating to unify or equate our various battles, but it is the same structure of authority and power that we have to fight, dismantle, and bring down. Together, our struggle is stronger.

“We want the downfall of the System.”

Black Bloc take to the streets of Cairo

AN EGYPTIAN anarchist movement has emerged on the streets with a wave of firebombings and street fights.

The new wave of revolt is also sweeping through other Arab countries, with anarchist groups in Tunisia, Morocco, Syria and elsewhere.

Anarchists have been present in Egypt before, during, and after the revolution, but until today, they have yet to organize a mass grouping under the banner of anarchism, explains blogger Ryan Harvey.

The Ultras of Egypt’s football clubs have for years been associated with anarchist ideas and actions, and they are widely credited with having initiated the level militancy that brought down the Mubarak government in February of 2011.

This week anarchism left the graffitied walls, small conversations, and online forums of Egypt, and came to life in Cairo, declaring itself a new force in the ongoing social revolution sparked two years ago with multiple firebombings against Muslim Brotherhood offices. Later, the government shut down the “Black Blocairo” and “Egyptian Black Bloc” Facebook pages, but they were soon re-launched.

“Wait for our next attacks as we respond to the closing of our official page…” they posted in a statement posted online (translated below).

On Thursday the black bloc made its first mass-appearance in Tahrir Square, and, shortly after, firebombed the Shura Council (Egyptian Parliament), tore down a section of the protest-barrier walls leading from Tahrir Square, and, with others, engaged in fighting against security forces.

These statements and actions are in preparation for tomorrow’s second anniversary of the revolution, and for what some are calling “a whole new level” or protest in Egypt.

Anarchism and the black bloc concept has grown in recent months across Egypt, Stemming from various anarchist grouping/circles that coalesced during the revolutionary period. A massive distrust among the youth of all political parties, a sharp critique of the role of religion within governance, and the inspiration of anarchist resistance around the world (largely symbolized by the late-2008 revolt in Greece) have helped it catalyze.

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Below is the statement of Black Blocairo in regards to the removal of their websites, their firebombing attacks against government offices, and their calls for revolt:

“Yesterday and after we finished our event, we met some of the revolutionary movements and we decided to unite together in our next attacks, hence we did our first two attacks, as we told you yesterday:

1- Setting fire to Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) online office.

2- Setting fire in the Ikhwan office in Al-Manial street in Cairo.

 And we announced our revolution since today in Al-Tahrir Square untill Egypt and it’s people get their rights back! Life, Freedom and social justice!

Black Blocairo, The Hooligans

Wait for our next attacks as we respond to the closing of our official page…”

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EGYPTIAN ANARCHIST LINKS:

Revolution Black Bloc (Egyptian anarchist page)

Black Blocairo (Black Blocairo’s new page)

Black Bloc Egypt

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OTHER ARAB ANARCHIST LINKS:

Anarchists of Arabs  (Arab anarchist page)

Moroccan Black Bloc

 Anarchists in Lebanon

Tunisian Anarchist Movement

Tunisian Anarchist Organization

Tunisian Anarchist

Syrian Anarcha Feminist Movement

Syrian Anarchists

Tahrir ICN (English European solidarity page)

Italian riot police attack Tunisians

 
TUNISIANS demanding freedom have been brutally attacked by Italian riot police on the southern island of Lampedusa.

RFI reports that around 300 Tunisian immigrants demonstrated on Wednesday September 21 against the conditions in which they are being kept.

They chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and some of them set fire to a local office dealing with immigrants on the island, which is not far from the Tunisian coast.

Later, riot police attacked others with batons and the protesters were forced to jump down three or four metres to escape, as this shocking video shows.

Filippo Miraglia of the "Archi" support group for the immigrants explained: "Some of the Tunisians have been there since August - for a month of a month and a half - and others for a week to ten days.

"They are being held on the island in very difficult conditions and the idea of being deported straight back from Lampedusa to Tunisia is making them revolt."

Arab drive for freedom cannot be stopped

CRACKDOWNS on protest merely postpone the day of reckoning – Arabs now have a shared, unstoppable drive for freedom.

That's the message from blogger and journalist Brian Whitaker in an article on the Guardian website.

He writes: "The fact that autocratic regimes in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen are fighting back with lethal force should surprise no one.

"The more surprising thing is that Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt – two leaders previously regarded as firmly entrenched – were toppled after such a short struggle.

"Nor does the fightback mean that the outlook for democracy is dimming across much of the Middle East. Looking at the region as a whole, the prospects have never been brighter.

"Even if Gaddafi does succeed in quelling the Libyan uprising, it will be no more than a temporary setback for the wider Arab revolution: battles are being fought in too many places and on too many different fronts for anyone to stop it now.

"An important factor in this is Arabs' sense of a common identity: they are aware of what is happening in neighbouring countries and draw inspiration from it with regard to their own situation.

"The sight of grandees from the old regimes in Tunisia and Egypt being arrested on sundry charges of corruption, money laundering and murder gives them hope and encouragement.

"Similarly, the opening up of free media in those countries is having an effect elsewhere: in Jordan last week, 600 journalists demonstrated against government interference and censorship.

"This kind of cross-fertilisation (or infection, as the regimes see it) is happening in many areas.

"Toppling two of the Middle East's tyrants in little more than two months is no mean achievement, and all the other regimes have been severely shaken – even those that claim to be secure.

"Initially, that raised hopes extraordinarily high and the regimes' fightback has injected a dose of realism. It does not mean the revolution is failing or fizzling out but it does show that many people were expecting too much too soon.

"The far-reaching changes that the Arab countries need are social as much as political – and that will take time. Even in Tunisia and Egypt there are protracted struggles ahead.

"But the old regimes cannot survive indefinitely. A few years from now most of them will be gone or transformed beyond recognition."

Arab revolts herald new world era

THE people's uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt herald the start of a new era for the whole world.

That's the view of Syria-based Arab anarchist Mazen Kamalmaz, interviewed on the Anarkismo website.

He says: One thing that is very important about these demonstrations and rebellions is that they were totally spontaneous and initiated by the masses.

"It is true that different political parties joined later, but the whole struggle was to a great extent a manifestation of the autonomous action of the masses.

"That is true also for the Islamist political groups. Maybe these groups think now that any election could bring them to power, but with revolting masses in the streets this is difficult, I think that the masses will actively refuse to submit again to any repressive power, but even if this could happen, people will not accept this time to be just subjects, most of all with fresh euphoric memories of the peak of freedom they won by their own struggle.

"No power could that easily force them to submit again to any kind of repressive regime.

"Egypt is the biggest country in the Middle East and its strategic role is very important.

"It is one of the main pillars of the US Middle East policy. Even if the old regime could survive for some time or even if the new regime would be pro-American, the pressure of the masses will be always there from now on.

"In a word, the US, the main supporter of the current regime, will suffer badly due to the revolt of the Egyptian masses.

"This is the start of a new era, the masses are rising, and their freedom is at stake, the tyrannies are shaken, it is for sure the start of a new world."

Egyptian activists plan 'Revolution Day'

REVOLUTIONARIES in Egypt are hoping that they can emulate Tunisia and topple the authoritarian pro-US Mubarak regime this week.

Tuesday January 25 has been named "Revolution Day on torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment" by organisers using a Facebook events page to bring thousands out onto the streets.

The Guardian reports that tens of thousands of supporters have posted comments suggesting Ben Ali's departure in Tunisia could be the precursor for Mubarak's downfall.

"If Tunisia can do it, why can't we?" read one. "We will either start living or start dying on 25 January."

Adds Reuters Africa: "Three more Egyptians set themselves alight on Friday, apparently inspired by an act of self-immolation in Tunisia that prompted protests that led to the ousting of the president.

"An unemployed 35-year-old Egyptian set himself alight and was seriously wounded, security and medical sources said.

"Two workers from firms in Egypt's textile sector, an industry from which many factory workers have led the most violent demonstrations against the government in recent years, also poured fuel over themselves and set themselves ablaze.

"Analysts say several self-immolation cases or attempted acts in Egypt, now numbering more than a dozen, seem to be driven by broadly similar complaints to those that drove Tunisians to the streets and toppled their president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali."

Tunisian police join protests

HUNDREDS of Tunisian police officers have joined public protests against the interim government in the capital Tunis days after a historic revolution ousted the country's president, reports Press TV.

"The police protesters were holding banners demanding the trial of officials linked to the regime of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

"The police are a people's party," some officers chanted.

"We no longer want to be a tool for the repression of the people by the authorities," media quoted one policeman as saying.

Reports say the security forces have so far shown restraint towards protesters.

On Friday, thousands of protesters rallied outside government buildings calling for the dismissal of members of the old regime still in office.

This comes as the country is observing a second day of national mourning for the victims of its revolution. Flags across the country flew at half-mast.

The General Tunisian Workers' Union (UGTT), which played a key role in the protests, has rejected the interim government, over the presence of ministers linked to Ben Ali.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannoushi has promised to step down after the general elections due in six months.

Ghannoushi also says that all undemocratic laws will be scrapped during the transition.

Ben Ali's 23-year dictatorship, which was marred by repeated human rights violations and torture, ended earlier this month after weeks of street protests.

Tunisian crowds attack party HQ

TUNISIANS are pushing for their revolution to completely sweep away the hated former regime.

While the new interim government tries to calm the situation, people have been out in the streets calling for a clear-out of everyone associated with deposed dictator Ben Ali's party.

Reports The Daily Telegraph: "Thousands mobbed the headquarters of the RCD, Tunisia's ruling party for several decades, yesterday chanting slogans and defying the security forces. Police fired shots in the air but the crowd continued to grow.

"The protesters on Mohamed V Avenue near the centre of Tunis, chanted: 'After Ben Ali and his wife, we want to bring down his thieves!' They also burned the logo of the party and carried banners saying: 'Government out!'

Adds Aljazeera: "Using a large steel cable, a government employee tore off the Arabic letters of the party's name from the facade.

"Amid shouts protesting against the transitional government, the crowd brandished signs reading: 'We are no longer afraid of you, traitors,' and 'RCD out!'.

"Soldiers fired shots in the air to keep the crowd away, while the police, blamed for shooting down demonstrators during a month of popular revolt against Ben Ali's regime, remained on the sidelines. 'I am with you. We are not going to shoot you. What matters is that the rally is peaceful," an army captain promised the crowd, who reacted with applause'."

The report also says there were protests in other towns across Tunisia.

Yemeni students call for Arab uprising

YEMENI students have demonstrated in the streets of Sanaa to mark the ousting of Tunisian President Ben Ali and call for Arabs to rise up against their "scared and deceitful leaders", reports Ahram Online.

About 1,000 students marched through the streets of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Sunday urging Arabs to rise up against their leaders in the wake of Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ousting.

The students headed from Sanaa University's campus to the Tunisian embassy flanked by human rights activists.

They chanted: "Liberty's Tunisia, Sanaa salutes you a thousand times."

"Leave before you are toppled," read one banner, without naming Yemen's own President Ali Abdullah Saleh. "Peaceful and democratic change is our aim in building a new Yemen."

In power for the past 32 years, Saleh was re-elected in September 2006 to a seven-year mandate.

A draft amendment of the constitution, under discussion in parliament despite opposition protests, could further stretch the president's tenure by allowing a life-long mandate.

Protests spread to Libya and Jordan

RIOTING has broken out in Libya, as ripples from the Tunisia Revolution spread out across the Arab world.

The confrontation, posted on YouTube, was sparked by anger over lack of housing under the authoritarian Gaddafy regime.

Gaddafy showed his fear of revolt spreading, when he declared in a speech: "I am very pained by what is happening in Tunisia.

"Tunisia now lives in fear ... Families could be raided and slaughtered in their bedrooms and the citizens in the street killed as if it was the Bolshevik or the American revolution."

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 people staged protests across Jordan in "a day of rage" to protest against escalating food prices and unemployment, reports The Guardian.

And Ahram Online adds: "Jordanians will protest Sunday, at 4:00pm in front of the House of Representatives against high prices, the secretary of the Jordanian News Agency, Hala Al-Hadidi, told Ahram Online.

"The protest is organised by the High Coordinating Committee for the parties of the national opposition and call for the resignation of the Prime minister, Samir Al-Refai, according to an opposition website, JFRA news."

Tunisian Revolution can inspire the world

THE INITIAL phase of the remarkable Tunisian Revolution of 2011 is now complete.

Former dictator Ben Ali and his short-lived successor Mohamed Ghannouchi have now both been removed from the presidency and elections will be held within 60 days.

Remnants of the old regime's brutal police have yet to be completely cleared from the streets but it is now just a matter of time.

An excellent account of how the uprising panned out has been compiled by blogger Brian Whitaker at www.al-bab.com.

One of the most important aspects of the revolution is that it has genuinely emerged from below, without foreign backing or formal organisation.

Tunisia under Ben Ali was a police state, with total control of the media and censorship of the internet.

Police roadblocks, patrols and spies were everywhere and dissent was not allowed - and yet people still managed to pull off a successful uprising, partly thanks to the use of online social media.

It is also important to stress that although Tunisia is a Muslim country, this is not an Islamicist revolution.

It is a pro-democracy, pro-freedom, anti-corruption movement - more left libertarian than anything, inspired by trade unions, rap music, Che Guevara and "V for Vendetta".

It is also a very youthful movement - young men and women of the same generation as the students who have taken to the streets in Britain, France and Italy.

The greatest strength shown by the Tunisian rebels has been their amazing courage in the face of a despotic and ruthless regime.

Crowds in Tunis on Friday were shouting "We are not afraid!" even though the police were still shooting people. Sheer numbers and determination won the day.

Once again, the implications of what is happening are enormous and not just for other Arab states.

The sight of an uprising succeeding in the face of such odds is inspiring to all would-be revolutionaries across the globe.

If the Tunisians can do it, then so can we all!

Dictator flees Tunisian people power!

TUNISIAN dictator Ben Ali seems to have been toppled in an historic day for the North African nation - and the world.

The friend of Sarkozy, and the neoliberal powers in general, is reported to have fled as people power prevailed, though there were still warnings on Friday night that his party was clinging to power.

Dramatic events unfolded on Friday January 14, which were watched online around the world via the #sidibouzid hashtag on Twitter.

Ben Ali and his allies had hoped that his speech on Thursday promising reforms and civil liberties would defuse the situation.

Corporate media here were happy to swallow that line, with the UK's pseudo-radical Guardian shamefully reporting "a mood of general celebration in the streets of Tunis" with people apparently chanting "Viva Ben Ali!" and "Thank you Ben Ali!".

This was far from the truth, however, as the world can now plainly see.

Today hundreds of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets to demand that the corrupt dictator Ben Ali stand down.

Still desperate to cling to power and buy himself time, he sacked his whole government and promised parliamentary elections - but it was his blood the people were after.

As tensions mounted outside the Interior Ministry in Tunis, where young protesters climbed on the roof, reports came through that police were firing at the crowds.

It also became clear that the army were to play a key role, with a number of reports of soldiers fraternising with the protesters and declaring themselves on the side of the people.

Ultimately it was their seizure of power from a completely discredited dictator that sealed the success of the revolution.

As a result, it is possible that neoliberal propaganda organs will try to brand the uprising a "coup d'etat" and attack its legitimacy.

But, as things stand, this line of criticism does not appear to be in the least justified.

Historically, revolutions have often been won when the armed forces turn against a hated regime and refuse to impose a tyrant's rule.

A hundred people are thought to have been killed by Ben Ali's state during the last few days as it is - any attempt to enforce his control would have led to bloodshed on an unimaginable scale.

Make no mistake, the Tunisian Revolution of January 14 2011 - if confirmed - will be seen as a major historic event that will shake the very foundations of global corporate rule.

This is just the start!

Tunisia on the brink of revolution

TUNISIA is on the brink of revolution, as the people rise up against poverty, corruption and repression.

Internet rumours abound that president/dictator Ben Ali, a friend of France's hated President Sarkozy, will be forced to cede power and flee the country - it is said his family have already fled.

His Thursday night TV speech to the nation - offering major reforms and a lifting of internet censorship in a bid to cling on to power - was dismissed by many as a "dead man talking" and the words of an habitual liar.

He was clearly trying to buy time and wait for the momentum of the revolt to die down, in a trick used by tyrants throughout history.

And there is no sign that an angry population will take him at his word, with more protests planned for Friday in the wake of much bloodshed on the streets.

Social media online have provided the fuel for the uprising, as the tame Tunisian media and the corporate western media have failed to provide the coverage events undoubtedly deserve.

A constant stream of postings on the situation can be seen at the Blogs of War site.

Among the news reported there:

Scores of people have been killed by security forces - 60 or more in total.

President's brother Sofien Ben Ali's new house in Hammamet (built on stolen land) has been looted & burned.

Giant posters of Ben Ali, to be seen throughout Tunisia, have been ripped down and burned.

Full-scale rebellion sweeps Tunisia

A FULL-SCALE uprising is breaking out in Tunisia, with huge numbers of people out on the streets all over the North African country.

Dictator Ben-Ali is clearly panicking - first he announced a massive jobs creation scheme, the sacking of the interior minister and the release of riot prisoners and then he sent the army out onto the streets and declared a curfew in Tunis.

Events are moving at a furious pace and western media are not providing the coverage the situation merits.

One good source of information is via Twitter under #sidibouzid.

Tweets report protesters being shot - with real bullets - in a growing number of towns as dissent turns into potential revolution.

Says one comment: "Remember that nobody is mobilising the masses in Tunisia. This is a spontaneous movement by people who are so FED UP with it all."

There is news of the army deploying in Msaken, two protesters being killed in Hammamet, bullets fired in Douar Hicher, a clash between police and protesters in Nabeul, a French citizen being killed.

A Freedom for Tunisia website features more than 100 videos of the uprising, including footage of a police station set on fire.

This video also shows scenes of chaos in the capital.

There are further reports that the states of Morocco, Libya and Jordan fear the Tunisian and Algerian rebellion will spread there.

A regularly updated blog can be found here.

Up to 24 dead in Tunisian uprising

UP TO 24 people have reportedly been killed by police in Tunisia during an ongoing uprising over unemployment and a lack of political freedom.

Reports the LA Times: "Tunisia's worst political violence in decades erupted after a 26-year-old street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi attempted to commit suicide by publicly setting himself on fire because he could not find a job.

"Bouazizi was angered after he was barred from delivering a complaint to the officials of the region after the confiscation of his goods by police for not having a proper vendor license.

"Critics of the government say it is corrupt and uses the threat of Islamists and the need for foreign investment as pretexts for repressive domestic policies that violate basic civil rights. The harsh reaction of the security forces against protesters has further angered the public."