US | KADAITCHA

February 4, 2011December 11, 2020

Is There An Historical Precedent?

The US wants Mubarak to stand down in favour of his chosen successor, Omar Sulieman – this seems to be an unprecedented move on the part of the US in the role of neocoloniser with any of its vassals. On Al Jazeera Catherine Ashton from the EU Council echoes the US line, assuring all that Suleiman will be in discussion ‘with opposition leaders yesterday today and tomorrow’. As Paul Barratt, ex-Australian Defence Secretary tweeted today:

@phbarratt: @Jinjirrie The paradigm remains “stability through repression”. #fail #

In the Guardian, Timothy Garton Ash describes the price for the neocolonial, racist Europeans should Egypt not achieve liberation.

Europe’s future is at stake this week on Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as it was on Prague’s Wenceslas Square in 1989. This time, the reasons are geography and demography. The Arab arc of crisis, from Morocco to Jordan, is Europe’s near abroad. As a result of decades of migration, the young Arabs whom you see chanting angrily on the streets of Cairo, Tunis and Amman already have cousins in Madrid, Paris and London.

If these uprisings succeed, and what emerges is not another Islamist dictatorship, these young, often unemployed, frustrated men and women will see life chances at home. The gulf between their life experience in Casablanca and Madrid, Tunis and Paris, will gradually diminish – and with it that cultural cognitive dissonance which can lead to the Moroccan suicide bomber on a Madrid commuter train. As their homelands modernise, young Arabs – and nearly one third of the population of the north African littoral is between the age of 15 and 30 – will circulate across the Mediterranean, contributing to European economies, and to paying the pensions of rapidly ageing European societies. The examples of modernisation and reform will also resonate across the Islamic world.

“There is a lot of uncertainty out there and I would just caution against doing anything until we really understand what’s going on”, says McMullen of withdrawing aid to the Egyptian military. Translation: we don’t want the military to back the people, we want them behind the regime, which should be a regime we want.

The logical outcome to circumvent the current neocolonials’ plan whilst avoiding bloodshed may be in train – the Egyptian army to submit to the forthcoming pro-democracy people’s council presently being built in Tahrir Square. Army head, Tantawy is apparently in the square with his generals. Exiled Egyptian Al Qaradawi in Qatar has suggested guidelines for action. (via @SultanAlQassemi)

Al Qaradawi who now holds Qatari citizenship was banished from Egypt decades ago & is known for his anti-Mubarak regime statements.

Al Qaradawi speaking now on Qatar TV “If a leader is hated he just leave. You can’t lead a people by force” http://yfrog.com/h4174sj

Al Qaradawi “O Pharaoh (Mubarak) the time of Pharaohs is over. You cannot force yourself. If you were their ‘father’ why did you kill them?”

Al Qaradawi “Millions of people don’t want you. As long as this man is there Egypt will not be stable”

Al Qaradawi “If he was really their ‘father’ he would have mercy on them. (Tunisia’s) Ben Ali had better logic, he left the people”

Al Qaradawi “Do you have a drop of mercy in you? Yesterday snipers killed ten protesters (in Meydan Tahrir), aren’t these your children?

Al Qaradawi “Mubarak is responsible for that happened. What happened yesterday & the day before is unacceptable, even the PM said so”

Al Qaradawi “The Youth were there, not one policeman was killed, the protesters didn’t shoot. Until the Baltagiya came, rented by the state”

Al Qaradawi “The same Baltagiya who stop voters from voting. How can a leader use criminals against his own people?”

Al Qaradawi “The Prime Minister says ‘I don’t know who did this?’ The gov did this”

Al Qaradawi “Like the poem goes, if you did know then it is a problem, and if you didn’t know then the problem is greater”

Al Qaradawi “Just because you want to stay seven months? You will kill your people for seven months? Leave now, go rest, you are 82”

Al Qaradawi “I call on Mubarak to leave. I call on his regime to leave. To the Egyptian army, protect your people, you fought for them”

Al Qaradawi “During King Farouk time the Egyptian army fought for Palestine, it can be the saviour of the Egyptian people”

Al Qaradawi “Sadly the army let the Baltagiya shoot the people over the last two day. Shots in the head, some are in critical condition too”

Al Qaradawi “This army that fought for Egypt I tell them stop this now, you must take responsibility. The VP is the President, the same”

Al Qaradawi “The regime will go but the state will stay. The army must protect, I’m not calling on them to rule, just protect your people”

Al Qaradawi “Take this power from the Vice President & give it to the people. The Parliament Speaker is a fraud, even Mubarak agreed”

Al Qaradawi “The Army must install an independent temporary supreme judge who will run the state, that is my wish now”

Al Qaradawi preaching in a Qatari mosque to Meydan Tahrir protesters. (extreme left) http://yfrog.com/h8twcxj

Al Qaradawi “Today we will pray for the souls of the martyred protesters of Egypt & of Tunisia”

Al Qaradawi said that the Qatari Embassy in Cairo has been closed because of the protests on Mustafa Mahmoud square.

Let the revolutionary spirit blossom for Egyptians, Tunisians, Jordanians, Sudanese, Yemenis and spread to all crevices of the world where dark tyranny stalks the people for the benefit of foreign satraps!

Egypt

Women And Egypt–Links
Egypt has become our ballad – a testimony before the world, crying out that we live
The Egyptian revolution threatens an American-imposed order of Arabophobia and false choices
What the Mubaraks are worth
Amnesty International staff member reports from a raid on a Cairo law centre
World Cannot Believe Mubarak Hasn’t Fucking Left Yet
Egypt Protesters Will Spark Global Mass Movements: Internet and Globalization’s Positives
The difference between a secular autocracy and medieval monarchy when it comes to revolution
Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign
Breaking: Amnesty International Staff Detained in Cairo
Blogger Describes Being Attacked in Cairo
Muslim Brotherhood seeks end to Israel treaty
Egypt: much too early to celebrate
White House, Egypt Discuss Plan for Mubarak’s Exit
In Egypt, as Mubarak Vows to Maintain Order, There Will Be Blood
Egypt set for Tunisia-style change: UN rights chief
Cabinet Approves Higher Taxes for Israel’s Gas Tycoons

The Israeli cabinet has approved the Sheshinski Committee’s recommendations to raise the royalties on Israel’s gas fields from 33 to 55-65 percent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that most of the extra billions of dollars collected by the government will be allocated to education.

U.S. defense contractors with the most at stake in Egypt
The UK is the largest foreign investor in Egypt. Oil and gas accounts for much of this but British investment is wide-ranging and includes financial services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, textiles and consumer goods. The cumulative total exceeds £10 billion sterling.
Israel Worries About Gas Pipeline
In August 2007, the Egyptian Minister of Investment announced that the UK was the largest investor in Egypt, based on cumulative FDI figures since 1970.
How Was Egypt’s Internet Access Shut Off?
Görmez warns against tragedy over developments in Egypt
Socialist International cancels Mubarak’s party membership
#Jan25 Diplomatic car runs over pro-democracy protesters (28 Jan)
Omar Soliman’s First interview in the media
Helping Mubarak sell his torture-techniques in the West
Muslim Brotherhood seeks end to Israel treaty
Network Anchors Leave Egypt Amid Crackdown
European leaders mount pressure on Egyptian ruler

The statement from French Pre-sident Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero urged a “quick and orderly transition to a broad-based government.” “That transition process must start now,” it said.

Egypt: When Pictures Speak Louder than Words
Muslim Brotherhood 2008 Municipal Election Platform
MB calls for changes to prevent another Tunisia
Analysis: Concern about Islamists masks wide differences
Video: Slaughter in Egypt
Egypt protesters make public appeal
Foreigners being attacked in Egypt
Google still searching for executive Wael Ghonim in Egypt
We All Helped Suppress the Egyptians — With Our Taxes. So How Do We Change?
The real Pyramid scheme
Just now from Tahrir square #Jan25
Israel: A tale of two demonstrations
Husni gone mad
Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign
Aljazeera: Arabic vs English Versions; Mubark is “Fed Up!”
Israeli Military Backs Egyptian Troops
Obama Treats Egypt like a Banana Republic
Who’s afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood?
How Large Is Egypt’s Religious “Right”?
We Are All Egyptians
How Big Business Ruled Egypt
Voices from Departure Day in Egypt
If this is young Arabs’ 1989, Europe must be ready with a bold response
Protesters holding up signs in Hebrew #tahrir #jan25
People are now forming to make the word “Leave” for the helicopters above to see
Interview: protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square push back Mubarak thugs
Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Big Day — And Not Just in Cairo
Egyptians doing it old school
“The Lion Hearted”
Gaza TV News: Gaza TV News – Yvonne Ridley, The Revolution in Egypt
Fox News smears democracy
How Big Business Ruled Egypt
The west must be wary of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (Benny Morris’s shameful racist trash)
Jewish Voice for Peace in the NYT – “He may be a barbarian, but he’s our barbarian,” Mr. Rothmann continued. “You need to have an alternative, and we have never been able to create one.”
Fidel Castro: Hosni Mubarak’s ‘Fate Is Sealed’

Palestine / Israel

Netanyahu to offer gestures to Palestinians in effort to deflect Quartet criticism
Sixty-five percent of Israelis said Mubarak’s fall would be bad for Israel, according to a poll published in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday. Only 11 percent thought the results would be positive for Israel. Likewise, a majority – 59 percent – said a Muslim regime was more likely to emerge in Egypt, compared with only 21 percent who said the government would remain secular.
Palestinian Popular Committees to Egyptian Protesters: Abandon the Treaty
Macy Gray crawls over Palestine to Israel
Goldstone’s Legacy for Israel by Naomi Klein
Hamas allows anti-Mubarak protest in Gaza
Jewish Groups Clash Over Response to Fox Host’s On-Air Holocaust Rhetoric – zionism is not a left-wing movement.
A new regional order – slanted Haaretz article slurring Erdogan’s efforts as neo-Ottoman
Israel refuses to let Barbra Streisand’s cousin make aliyah
Israeli “liberals” make light of sexual assault and assassinations by the IDF
Obama, don’t be a hypocrite : oh god … what obsequious slime
“Israeli Wikileaks:” Kamm could face 9 years in prison

Wikileaks Links

Gillard continues to get it wrong on Assange
Holocaust denier in charge of handling Moscow cables

Other Links

American propaganda watch
Being opposed to Australia dumping refugees in East Timor
Global net crackdown to shatter ‘utopian’ internet: experts
Appeal: Help Us Save Hala Al Rafee’s Life
OUR GENERATION – Land, Culture, Freedom
Police Open Fire on Yemen Protesters
Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan…
Light dawns on Aboriginal find

Extra Tweets

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Scene only seen in Mecca before. 100s of thousands of Meydan Tahrir protesters pray together. http://yfrog.com/h8dsscvj

RT @SultanAlQassemi: There are 2 prayers at Meydan Tahrir, Muslims & Christians praying simultaneous…ly. Gathering est at over one million.

RT @MoatazMedhat: @Jinjirrie @SultanAlQassemi Actually it is estimated there are 2 Millions praying in Tahrir.#Egypt #jan25

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Al Jazeera estimates there are two million protesters. I don’t think they are wrong.

RT @avinunu: “No to Suleiman, Mossad agent, agent of America” – Amman protest speech #jan25

RT @avinunu: “No to Mubarak, son of Israel” Amman protestor #Jo #jan26 http://yfrog.com/h5twlsqlj

RT @SultanAlQassemi: Here’s the list of Committee of Wise-Leaders (disappointingly, they’re all men) http://bit.ly/hziimT Click English Version (Mousa is on it)

‘1610 GMT: Al Arabiya reports that the 10-man wise men committee has gotten positive feedback from President Mubarak about handing over power to VP Omar Suleiman. No one else has confirmed this’

February 3, 2011December 11, 2020

Egyptian Revolution 2011

Egypt Links

@PJCrowley: There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in #Cairo and interfere with their reporting. We condemn such actions. #
Vodafone confirms the Mubarak regime forced them to send messages to the people of Egypt
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/foreign-ministry-seeks-release-of-israeli-jailed-in-egypt-1.341010
Reporters Held, Beaten in Egypt
UNESCO Director-General launches heritage and press freedom alert for Egypt
Demanding Change In The Middle East And North Africa
Cairo Exclusive: Interview with ‘Sandmonkey’
Egyptian prime minister apologises for violence (Extra)
Egypt: Doctors say 35 killed in Thursday morning clash
Egypt: Mubarak Reveals a Brutal Plan to Hold Power
‘We are not leaving until Mubarak leaves’
Who Is Omar Suleiman?
A letter from the barricades in Cairo
‘The Arab World Is on Fire’ : Noam Chomsky
What Zionism has done to my people
From an arrested thug: an MP brought him & others in truck saying: “let’s beat Americans in Tahrir”
Egypt: Were the Army and the Cops in Cahoots All This Time? – ugh, same boss
#Jan25 Women protesting in Tahrir Square
The End
Here’s the New Police-Special Forces of #Egypt. #Tahrir #Jan25
Netanyahu: Due to turmoil, Israel must get stronger
Mubarak backers open fire on protesters
Rachel Maddow – Tienanmen Square 1989 anniversary
Update: 5 protests killed by pro-gov’t attackers
Egypt – U.S. intelligence collaboration with Omar Suleiman “most successful”
Game over: The chance for democracy in Egypt is lost
More detentions in Ramallah at rally for Egypt
Robert Fisk: Blood and fear in Cairo’s streets as Mubarak’s men crack down on protests
”..the protester went to the feet of the soldier and asked him to help protect them from Mubarak’s thugs and the soldier is crying because he said that he can’t because he was not given the orders to.”
Why hate the US? (warning, very graphic)
Egypt attacks journalists to censor news: watchdog
Live From Egypt: The True Face of the Mubarak Regime

It’s a massacre,” said Selma al-Tarzi as the attack was ongoing. “They have knives, they are throwing molotov bombs, they are burning the trees, they are throwing stones at us…this is not a demonstration anymore, this is war.”

Some of the attackers were caught. Their IDs showed them to be policemen dressed in civilians clothes. Others appeared to be state sponsored “baltagiya” (gangs) and government employees. “Instead of uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting. You’ve got non-uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting,” Naguib said.

Democracy vs Thuggery
Open and Urgent Letter to Obama
Noam Chomsky: “This is the Most Remarkable Regional Uprising that I Can Remember”
Mona Eltahawy Should Be Careful What She Wishes For
Graphic photos
Live from tahrir square. 2 February – Eyewitness account
Traveller Within’s photostream
Update: 5 protests killed by pro-gov’t attackers
Clinton Urges Investigation Into New Cairo Violence – unbelievable US admin coverup:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke today to Egypt’s new vice president, Omar Suleiman, and urged him to conduct an investigation into violence that rocked Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

“She emphasized our condemnation of the violence that occurred today and the responsibility of the government to hold fully accountable those who did it,” said Philip J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman.

Crowley said the U.S. doesn’t know who is behind attacks on protesters, which left more than 1,000 injured, according to the Al Jazeera television network. “Whoever they are, there needs to be accountability here,” Crowley said. “This was clearly an attempt at intimidating the demonstrators.

Sulieman is BFF torturer for US rendered prisoners.
Revolution in Egypt – and the Hypocrisy of the US and the West
Egypt, Right Now! @sandmonkey – RT @RamyYaacoub: Breaking news: @Sandmonkey arrested by state security. They called his father & claimed he has revolution leaflets #Egypt

Palestine / Israel Links

‘Economic peace’ betrays the hand of a grasping Israeli right
UN Criticizes Destruction of Palestinian Water Resources
Israeli soldiers shot and killed 15 Palestinians, including three children, and kidnapped more than 200 others during the month of January.
Palestine: Israeli army kidnaps three children in Bil’in
Why isn’t the PA supporting the Egypt uprising?
Birthright puts the kibosh on J Street-led trip
Could US abandon Israel too?
Netanyahu: Due to turmoil, Israel must get stronger – Israel has its paw out for more already on the strength of the Egyptian people’s struggle for democracy
Palestine and the uprisings in the Arab World
New Zealand PM says foreign policy dictated by keeping Israel happy
Justin Bieber to play Israel in April – Spoof
Israel, Thy Name is Arrogance
Robert Fisk: Blood and fear in Cairo’s streets as Mubarak’s men crack down on protests

Wikileaks Links

At least somebody appreciates the vital importance of Wikileaks
Documents in Julian Assange Rape Investigation Leak Onto Web

Other Links

Public servant sacked for googling ‘knockers’ at home

February 3, 2011December 11, 2020

Wisner! the US has to be kidding

Was this bloodbath in Tahrir Square Frank Wisner’s Plan B, @PJCrowley ? or didn’t he have a Plan B? #

Operation Sarkozy : how the CIA placed one of its agents at the presidency of the French Republic

The forces unleashed in Egypt can’t be turned back

The manoeuvres at the top of the regime have transparently been choreographed in Washington. Mubarak’s declaration on Tuesday night followed hard on the heels of a visit from the Obama administration’s envoy, Frank Wisner, a paid lobbyist of the Egyptian government, who was reported to have “urged” the Egyptian president not to stand again.

CIA: Frank G. Wisner arrived in Cairo

Frank G. Wisner Jr. is not known to the U.S. public either as a diplomat or as a master spy, but as an unscrupulous financier. He was part of the Enron power elite involved in the fraudulent bankrupcy of the corporation that ruined countless small investors and, later, as Vice Chairman of American International Group whose share prices plummeted by 95% during the 2008 financial crisis before its bailout with taxpayers’ money.

From the Guardian:
11.31pm GMT: Frank Wisner, the US special envoy sent by Obama to talk to Egypt’s government, is on his way back to the US, empty-handed it would appear. AP reports:

The White House had attempted to nudge Mubarak to the exits, dispatching former US Ambassador Frank Wisner as a special envoy to deliver the message to him. But by Wednesday, Wisner was on his way back to the United States.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter, suggested Wisner had been seeking specific pledges from Mubarak beyond just a promise not to stand for re-election. The official would not elaborate, but the administration has made no secret of the fact that it wants the state of emergency lifted and would prefer to see Mubarak’s son, Gamal, not try to succeed his father. Mubarak mentioned neither in his address Tuesday night.

Who is US Special Representative to Kosovo Frank G. Wisner?

Frank Wisner at Sourcewatch

The Power Elite: Enron and Frank Wisner

Wisner is a veteran of “economic espionage” and is believed to have used his diplomatic cover to advance US governmental and corporate economic interests while he served as a diplomat to Asia. A member of Wisner’s staff told InterPress Services in 1997 that “if anybody asked the CIA to help promote US business in India, it was probably Frank”.

Egypt - revolution
Egypt Links

Israeli leaders’ brotherly allegiance to fascism RT @db_s_turbosnail: Voice of Israel urging Mubarak to crack heads: http://bit.ly/fNjWRM #
#Jan25 Live ammunition confiscated from the police by protesters
Into Egypt’s Uncharted Territory
NDP Mubarak thugs who confessed that they were paid to go out and hurt anti-Mubarak protesters
ADC Finally Jumps on Egypt Bandwagon
Leading Egyptian Facebook Activist Arrested, Friends Say
Revolution in Egypt – and the Hypocrisy of the US and the West
Hillary Clinton gets tough with “military dictatorships”

I understand if they expect a domestic audience to swoon for this sort of rhetoric, but do they actually expect that there is anyone in the Middle East, anywhere, who will take seriously the righteous objections of Hilary Clinton — the American Secretary of State and close Mubarak family friend — to the rise of an oppressive military dictatorship in the Middle East? Is anyone there really going to believe that it’s that government’s lack of respect for human rights — rather than its refusal to serve American interests and heed its various dictates — that is motivating the hostility and threats?

All of a sudden, we each began receiving text messages from Vodafone and calls for protests to end before things got out of control.
The Neocons Split with Israel Over Egypt
Amid protests at home, Egypt mobilizes strong lobbying force in Washington

Egypt protests – live updates
What lay behind Obama’s friendship with Mubarak?
Erdogan is Brilliant
Egypt: much too early to celebrate
Google, Facebook, Twitter sound off on Egypt
RT @ArabRevolution: @VodafoneEgypt actively supporting Mubarak regime. SMS sent to Egyptians http://yfrog.com/gzhf7fvj BOYCOTT @VodafoneUK #
RT @jeremyscahill URGENT Cairo #journalists reporters GET OUT of your HOTEL ROOMS NOW http://bit.ly/gFRvZg #Jan25 RT NOW @chrislhayes #
@PJCrowley The perpetrators of today’s violence in #Egypt must be held accountable, and the government should tell its supporters to eschew violence. #
. @PJCrowley Take careful note ‘Pro-Mubarak supporters are recognizably police, says Peter Beaumont. ‘ http://tinyurl.com/4a8urur #
. @PJCrowley Some of the attackers caught. Their IDs showed them to be policemen dressed in civilians clothes.’ http://tinyurl.com/4nuvurn #
. @PJCrowley RT @alaa: Further proof there is police among the thugs, they’re now shooting tear gas #Jan25 #
Protestor consoles Egyptian army officer

Palestine / Israel Links

UN joins PA slamming Israeli water infrastructure destruction
More detentions in Ramallah at rally for Egypt
When Israel’s protective net of tyranny tears
Journalists forced to pledge abstention from Gaza rallies
Tunisian PM: Gaza source of inspiration

Wikileaks Links

Other Links

Sudanese Start Protest Movement
Passenger: Feds Orchestrated “Underwear Bomber” Plot to Advance TSA

January 31, 2011December 11, 2020

Decoding US Imperialism

By those they choose to silence, one knows the leaders’ pathology and measure of their cowardice. Stand down, Mubarak, stand down! This is revolution:

This is the story that got Al Jazeera banned by Mubarak – live ammunition used on protestors, 2 children, aged 7 and 4 amongst those murdered by the regime.

Egypt Links

‘We do not want you Hosni!’
HRW Live Updates
Can Israel survive only in a dictatorial Middle East?
Protesters in Tahrir Square 30/1/2011
Why is the Egyptian Army in Sinai?
Made in the USA: Tear Gas, Tanks, Helicopters, Rifles, and Fighter Planes in Egypt Funded and Built Largely by US Defense Department and American Corporations
Mike Huckabee speaks “very Zionistically” in Israeli Knesset, condemns Egyptian uprising
State and DOD Need to Assess How the Foreign Military Financing Program for Egypt Achieves U.S. Foreign Policy and Security Goals
Latest Updates on Day 7 of Protests in Egypt
Rights NGO claims that Israeli planes carrying crowd dispersal weapons have arrived in Egypt

AliDahmash
Omar Afifi is on @AJArabic saying that the Egyptian govt received advanced weapons from Israel to target the protesters #Jan25

…Beirutiyat
Verified: @AJArabic: 3 Israeli war cargo planes has replenished #Egypt police with illegal ammo/TearGas. #Tahrir, #Jan25

jan25live
RNN:Aljazeera: Israeli minestry of defense refuses to confirm or deny sending weapons to Egyptian forces. #jan25 #egypt

Victory to the Egyptian people!
Mubarak’s Last Breath
Obama Presses for Change but Not a New Face at the Top

Mr. Hadley said that given the choice, Egyptians might well settle on a hybrid government that might include the Muslim Brotherhood and a secular majority willing to continue to live by the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

Some officials have clearly begun to think about the many possibilities that could emerge should Mr. Mubarak depart from the presidential palace, including a government led by his newly installed vice president, Omar Suleiman, the country’s intelligence chief. American officials say that Mr. Suleiman has been described as more opposed to wide-ranging reforms than Mr. Mubarak. “Shifting the chairs for longtime supporters of Mubarak is not the kind of ‘concrete reform’ that the president is talking about,” one senior official said.

Another possibility, American officials say, would be a transitional government led by an outsider, perhaps Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who flew back to Cairo several days ago.

Mr. ElBaradei, who has not lived in Egypt for years, has little connection to the protesters. A frequent critic of United States policy, he could form a caretaker government in preparation for an election. As one American official said, “He’s shown an independence from us that will squelch any argument that he’s doing our bidding.”

At Davos, experts say Egypt must decide own future
This revolution ‘undoubtedly means the end of Israel as a Jewish state’

My father, who knew several of the neocon standard bearers at Harvard, always insisted to me that, with such obvious exceptions as Marty Peretz and Ruth Wisse, the neocons were ultimately not so deeply committed to Israel but rather simply saw it as a means to an end. I understood his argument academically, but never quite bought into it until the last couple of years. The first time I realized he was right was when I attended the J Street Conference in October 2009, where I had the most emotionally draining experience of actually encountering people who were deeply committed to the point of emotional investment in saving Israel as a Jewish state, only to behold the untrammeled fury set against them by the neocons.

Yikes (Israelis freaking out)
A universalism to the pleas from Cairo’s streets
State Dept organised according to Al Arabiya – Al Jazeera correspondents have been released but equipment has been seized. Update live: http://aje.me/ajelive #egypt #aljazeera #tahrir
Now what happened in Iran in 1979?
Military detain 50 at Egypt’s national museum
Egyptians have reservations about ElBaradei
Live blog 31/1 – Egypt protests
Al Jazeera English Blacked Out Across Most Of U.S.
Missing Persons List
Political cartoons on Egypt, Mubarak and Imperialism
Time to end the Arab exception
The Egyptian masses won’t play ally to Israel
Noticing my distress, the other detainee whispered: ‘I’m sorry. This is not Egypt. This is Mubarak’
‘Mega protest’ planned in Egypt : Egyptian protesters have called for a massive demonstration on Tuesday in a bid to force out president Hosni Mubarak from power. The so-called April 6 Movement said it plans to have more than a million people on the streets of the capital Cairo, as anti-government sentiment reaches a fever pitch.’
Al-Jazeera appeals for social media help in Egypt
Egypt – Al Jazeera reporters still tweeting
Al Jazeera undeterred by Egypt curb
Egypt’s Mubarak opens door to talks with rival political parties – Mubarak propaganda, blaming MB
Regime throws information blackout over Egypt
U.S. role in Egypt crisis “shameful”-Chavez
‘Israel provides weapons for Egypt’
Egypt: America’s Loud Rejection of Mubarak and Silent Delightful Approval of Omar Suleiman
Revolutionary Middle East Change
An Arab revolution fueled by methods of the West
All eyes on Egypt’s military as Hosni Mubarak fortifies position
Supporters of freedom, right? – ‘So as Mubarak attempts to foist his torturer-in-chief upon the Egyptian populace, the very least Australia can do – given its past connections with the barbarisms of the regime – is make an unambiguous statement of support for the people against the dictatorship.’
Clinton calls for ‘real democracy’
Who will protect Israel on the Egyptian front? – ‘With a different Egypt, one that could react harshly, and with oil prices threatening to climb precipitously, the slim chance of an American assent to an Israeli strike in Iran – thought by some to be the main reason for Barak’s support of Yoav Galant as chief of staff – fades to zero. The decision of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, pending a hearing, could remove Yisrael Beiteinu from the coalition and bring elections forward, to this summer.’
Mubarak orders state subsidies (bribes)
Thousands defy curfew in Egypt
The Socialist Roots Of The Egyptian Protests
ElBaradei, Muslim Brotherhood Offer Political Path Out of Egyptian Confrontation
Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak in frantic bid to cling on to power
Egypt and Israel: What’s next? – ‘Eli Shaked, former Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, talks about the future relationship of Israel with Egypt’ US taking developments in Egypt in a unqieu way – they have expressed opinions which may be right for US needs. There will be no democracy in Egypt before or after elections.’
Mubarak tells new PM to cut prices, blames rioting on Islamists
Groton Guard detachment is heading to Egypt (this is dated the 24th, so ordinary deployment?)
Who Is Omar Suleiman?
Former officials, scholars warned of coming instability in Egypt
The revolution shall not be starved
Egypt Lies I Read on Twitter: Debunking Rumors and Misinformation on the #Jan25 Uprising

Tunisia Links

Tracking down the Ben Ali and Trabelsi fortune
Tunisian women demand equality and secularism

Palestine / Israel Links

African Union declares support for Palestine
Huckabee: Jews should be able to live ‘anywhere in Israel’

Chile pushes for boycott of products of Israeli colonies
Israel’s human rights abuses in the name of security
Israel officials lay cornerstone for new Jewish East Jerusalem neighborhood
Gov’t approves proposal declaring pirate radio ‘aerial terror’
PA Prevents Demonstrations in front of Egyptian Embassy in Ramallah
Gaza-Egypt border sealed indefinitely
MK Dov Khenin: Video of cops beating Dahmash family, shouting “Go to Gaza,” exists and must prompt investigation
Is the Palestinian Authority cracking down on Egypt solidarity demonstrations? (Updated, and yes they are)
Religious group aims for yet another Jewish settlement, in Jaffa – Israel’s repellent ethnosupremacism
From Jaffa to Cairo all people power is revolutionary
Egypt’s uprising and its implications for Palestine
Cyprus recognizes Palestinian states within 1967 borders
As Egypt drama unfolds, Gaza Hamas backers hope for change, easing of blockade
Egypt on the mind as Merkel brings ministers to Israel
Hamas closes Gaza’s southern border
Israel boycott sparks furor, death threats
Right wing group hijacks BDS protest – new tactic?
A new investigation into the death of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has revealed that he had been poisoned by a lethal dose of thallium in his food or drinking water.

Wikileaks Links
WikiLeaks founder warns of huge leak as last resort
2011-01-31: The Guardian and The Telegraph Falsely Incriminate Bradley Manning:

‘The primary source for the Lamo-Manning chatlog is the ex-hacker Adrian Lamo, who claims that it is a record of a sequence of instant message discussions he had with Bradley Manning. In recent months, a concerted investigation was carried out into the trustworthiness of Adrian Lamo, in the light of serious discrepancies in the narrative he had given to various media about the content of the chatlogs. The results of this investigation are to be found on FDL.

The investigation recommends the conclusion that Adrian Lamo is not a trustworthy source, and casts doubt on the provenance of the Lamo-Manning chatlog.

Worryingly, the Guardian editorial position appears, according to the Telegraph, to be that the Lamo-Manning chatlog can be treated as the testimony of Bradley Manning himself.

Last night Alan Rusbridger, the editor of the Guardian, defended the decision to name Mr Manning as the source of the material, saying it was a matter of record that the soldier had openly admitted to being the source of the data.

If The Guardian has no new information, it is exceptionally irresponsible to treat the Lamo-Manning chatlog as sufficient evidence to speak of Bradley Manning as Wikileaks’ source. It appears, from the Telegraph’s quotation, that Leigh and Harding have used the chatlog as a source to present a reconstructed narrative – a move which is likely to present a seductive version of events for the general public wherein Manning was in fact the source.

WikiLeaks’ Assange ‘dressed as old woman’ to evade CIA: book

60 Minutes Video – WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, Pt. 1

Other Links

Twitter co-founder: Freedom of expression is a human right
The Ayn Rand Problem
Australian Internet Could Be Switched Off In Minutes
EFF Uncovers Widespread FBI Intelligence Violations

January 28, 2011December 11, 2020

Freedom Dominoes Falling

From Tunisia, to Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Jordan and Yemen, people are rising up against the waning US empire’s puppet dictators while the US pays begrudging lip service to their struggle or like Biden, sacrifices the democratic aspirations of Egyptians to Israel and US geopolitical scheming (he means resources and militarisation). The price, once again for empire, is worth it? After all, these are only brown people who happen to be living where the resources which the US covets are situated. Several patronising US blogocrats of various shades of white supremacy have expressed less than admirable support for the courageous Egyptian people – surely these annoying foreign brown people should wait until the empire tells them it is convenient for them to pursue regime change, the government leaders they acquire after the revolution may be even more unappealing than their current torturous US allied villains. For neocon Laurent Murawiec afficionados, the dream of Egypt being the ‘prize’ for empire is surely now a nightmare.

Latuff Later, @PJCrowley tweeted “We are concerned that communication services, including the Internet, social media and even this #tweet, are being blocked in #Egypt.” #

The people’s demonstrations express heartfelt grassroots impatience to be rid of oppression – an impetus echoed also by Iranians attempting to dislodge their current repressive nexus. In Egypt,

At least four persons have died so far, 600 have been arrested and many more injured. Protests are flaring up in Cairo, 6th of October City, Suez, Mahalla al-Kubra and Alexandria.

“Young people are standing in the way of heavily armed armored vehicles and stopping them. People are genuinely frustrated,” Khaled al-Balashy, editor-in-chief of al-Badil newspaper told IPS.

“That was the first time I see people literally sacrificing their lives in face of police brutality,” al-Balashy said. “They think nothing worse could happen to them. This is unprecedented. And the changes will be equally unprecedented. It is a matter of time.”

Diaa Rashwan, an analyst with the semi-official al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies noted that the protests are now calling for regime change, not for the usual government benefits or reduction in food prices.

In contrast the people of Palestine continue to struggle against a despicable tripartite adversary which includes the leaders of the Palestine Authority collaborator, imposed upon them by the US for its own and its zionist crony’s benefit.

… the administration at least twice threatened to cut funding to the Palestinian Authority if elections were called and anyone other than Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad remained in power.

And it actively works with Israeli and Palestinian security services to deny the democratic will of Palestinians.

What is clear, then, is that Obama not only prefers the status quo, but the United States will actively subvert democracy in order to ensure that governments that will follow its policies remain in power.

If the administration has taken such an anti-democratic line with Palestinians, imagine how it must feel about the protests that have just exploded in Egypt, where substantive democratic change and a truly representative government would no doubt be far less amenable to US policies and strategic objectives regarding Israel and the war on terror than is Mubarak’s.

Faced with the overwhelming calumny and injustice of its oppressors evidenced in the Palestine Papers, dispossessed Palestinians are steadfast, continuing to insist on their rights.

For Amar al-Masaid, 28, history was something he lived with every day. “Our country was taken by force,” he said, amid jumbo boxes of cornflakes, tins of spam and chocolate Santa Clauses in his family’s shop. “They invaded us. They are a colonial power. We will never make any compromise. We will never sell our land. It would be better to stay with the Jews under occupation that give up our rights.”

His family had fled from Deir Aban in 1948; his father still has the deeds to the land they lost. “If you ask a little baby in these camps where their home is, they will answer you,” he said.

On cue, seven-year-old Dahoud and his sister Ranim, five, arrived to buy dried coconut, sent by their mother. Where did they come from? “Palestine,” said the boy; his sister whispered “Al-Maliha,” an Arab village south of Jerusalem until 1948, now home to a huge Israeli shopping mall and sports stadium.

According al-Masaid, the refugees live in a prison. Look around you, he said gesturing at the wall looming a couple of hundred yards away.

Nearby, 63-year-old Mousa al-Masaid, wearing a red-and-white keffiyeh, was passionately dismissive about the recent disclosures of negotiations. “I don’t care what they say on al-Jazeera,” he said. “All I care about is going back to my homeland. You want me to give up my land for peace? To hell with peace! I would rather live under the rule of monkeys than give up my land for peace.”

The Palestinian negotiators did not represent him, he said, and had no right to bargain away his homeland on his behalf.

Free Palestine!

At this moment

The offices of the Palestinian ambassador to the UK have been occupied by a group of students who are demanding new Palestinian national council elections.

At 1pm today, around a dozen Palestinian students from a number of British universities arrived at the Palestinian general delegation to the UK in Hammersmith, west London.

Although they had made an appointment to see the ambassador, Professor Manuel Hassassian, they arrived in large numbers and with computers and banners.

A spokesman for the students said they had been moved to stage a peaceful sit-in by the release of leaked Palestinian papers over the last few days.

“The documents confirmed what we had known all along — that they are out of touch with the people,” the spokesman said.

As well as calling for new elections, the students — from Oxford, SOAS, LSE, City and Westminster universities — are demanding a more inclusive political process that reflects and engages all Palestinians.

“We are ready to stay as long as necessary until our message has been received and understood,” he said.

The ambassador, whose office has been occupied, has asked the students to leave the room but has told them they are welcome to remain in the building.

“They told me they wanted to hold a sit-in in my office. I told them: ‘You’re welcome. This is your embassy. This is your home’,” he said.

Hassassian also said he had agreed to pass their demands on to the Palestinian government, but needed his office back if he was to relay them.

“We are being very hospitable and we hope that they respect our hospitality,” he said.

Two Metropolitan police officers entered the embassy a little after 4pm, and chatted to the ambassador and protesters.

The Palestinian students have issued a demand for the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to be restored “as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people”.

Egyptian slogans
What the herd is saying in Egypt
Egypt Unemployment Rate 2010 – 9.4%
African National Congress manual
Egypt: An Internet Black Hole
Palestinian students claim right “to participate in shaping of our destiny”
Guardian Journalist Arrested and Beaten Alongside Protesters in Egypt Secretly Records Ordeal ‘In Egypt, running battles between police and anti-government protesters continued into the early hours of Thursday morning. Police have arrested up to 1,200 people, including a number of journalists. Among them was Guardian reporter, Jack Shenker. He was arrested and beaten by plainclothes police on Tuesday night and shoved into a truck with dozens of other people. He managed to keep his dictaphone with him and recorded what was happening as the truck carried them outside of Cairo.’
Police alone can’t keep rulers in power. Egypt’s battle is on
The Palestine Papers and the “Gaza coup”
Egypt braces itself for biggest day of protests yet
Mohamed ElBaradei lands in Cairo: ‘There’s no going back’
State Dep’t says democracy is OK for Tunisia but not Egypt because of Israel
Emergency Response Plan: EGYPT
Egypt shuts down the internet on eve of protest as the world community gathers
Joe Biden says Egypt’s Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn’t step down…
Once again: new Khaled Said in Alexandria. Elsayed Belal was tortured to death by Egyptian police.
Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Country Program: Egypt
What if this was Iran?
http://twitpic.com/3u0d48
Translated Excerpts from Egyptian Activists’ Action Plan
The Birth of the New Middle East
OPERATION EGYPT – ANONYMOUS PRESS RELEASE – 26/01/2011
The US role as Israel’s enabler : George Mitchell’s message means the United States is out of touch with Palestinian realities. by Mark Perry and Ali Abunimah
Streisand me! is a service by the proud people of the internet. This is a meeting place and resource page for everyone who want to participate in the creation of a censorship resistant internet.
Egypt: Internet down, police counterterror unit up
How to open blocked Facebook, Twitter and any website.
The Internet goes dark in Egypt
U.S. cables: Mubarak still a vital ally
Biden: see no good, hear no good, speak no good
Biden to Israelis: Mideast status quo unsustainable – ‘”The demographic realities make it difficult for Israel to be a Jewish homeland and a democratic country,” said Biden in his speech to foreign dignitaries, Israeli officials and students at Tel Aviv University. “The status quo is not sustainable.” ‘
Police alone can’t keep rulers in power. Egypt’s battle is on
Egyptian Activists’ Action Plan: Translated
The Internet goes dark in Egypt
Internet traffic graph
URGENT-Internet down all over Egypt | Urgent Call to Protest
Emergency Response Plan: EGYPT
Be careful what you wish for in Arab world – Cordesman drivel
Egypt: We are with you
SUBJECT: SENATOR KERRY’S MEETING WITH QATAR’S PRIME MINISTER
Israeli Minister: Mubarak regime will prevail in Egypt, despite protests
When Egypt turned off the internet
http://yfrog.com/h4fogp
Egypt, Internet cut off. A massacre will follow. Please help.
Egypt’s ElBaradei under house arrest
20 Egypt opposition members detained
http://yfrog.com/h2p5jdxj
Israel Fears Regime Change in Egypt
Interview with Hossam el-Hamalawy : Professor Mark LeVine interviews journalist and blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy on the situation in Egypt.
The devil they knew is a bogy no more – Paul McGeough quotes Ibish – why???
Muslim Brotherhood demands of Mubarak

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa on Al Jazeera Arabic “The only replies from the govt were on the security front, no political concessions were offered” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa “What we want is for President Mubarak to announce he will not run again for presidency or appoint his son as president” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi Hassan Nafaa “We want the parliament to be reformed. We want to hear Mubarak say ‘I understand your demands & we will comply'” #Jan25 #

@SultanAlQassemi FYI: Hassan Nafaa is Professor & Chairman of the Political Science department at Cairo University & anti-inheritance of power campaigner #

@SultanAlQassemi Poetry #Jan25 “O Security Officers, who will you protect when the Pashas flee Egypt like others have done? Carry two sheilds instead of one” #

@SultanAlQassemi Poetry of #Jan25 “And he wants to appoint his genius son for us as well? After 30 years!” Tamim Al Bargouthi poetry on Al Jazeera Mubasher. #

RT @ummhajarforpal: All known ways 2 stay online in #Egypt + HOWTO make gasmask http://wp.me/p16sn9-2QP #jan25 #bloggers Please RB & RT!!!

Internet working in most 5 star hotels??

Palestine / Israel Links

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (20-26 January 2011)
Breaking: Settlers Kill Palestinian Near Iraq Burin
The rabbis of the devil
Obama must call Israeli settlements illegal
The Goldstone Report: more important than you think
THE PALESTINE PAPERS: MAKDISI – The Palestinian people betrayed 27Jan11
The EU and Israel committed themselves to establishing a partnership which provides for close political and mutually beneficial trade and investment relations together with economic, social, financial, civil scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.
The Palestine Papers: our red lines have been crossed
One doesn’t boycott the only free society in the Mideast -BHL rant

Wikileaks Links

WikiLeaks may put India in big trouble
Police arrest five over Anonymous WikiLeaks attacks
Pirate Party slams police over Anonymous arrests
WikiLeaks rival goes live as editors turn on Assange
09CAIRO1468, NDP INSIDER: MILITARY WILL ENSURE TRANSFER OF POWER
iewing cable 09CAIRO874, SCENESETTER: PRESIDENT MUBARAK’S VISIT TO

Other Links