SUNDAY Latest on Egyptian Uprising: MERIP Report; US Reaction

January 29th, 2011 - by: danny

Sandra Fogler writes on Facebook: On this day, the anniversary of Ghandi’s assassination, may we remember to “Be the change you want to see in the world”….in honor of his life and teachings, feel free to share a favorite quote. Blessings and peace to all ~

Dissector In The Media:

1. Listen to yesterday’s NewDissector Radio hour on the ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com, linked to this page for the discussion we had about Egypt with AimÃƒÂ©e Kligman, and war with Kathleen Barry, PH.D.

2. Corporations Bring Us The News We See — I am interviewed in this report by Anastasia Churkina:

Just Some of the News From Egypt

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Telegraph (UK) Bloodshed in the Streets

Washington’s Blog Via NakedCapitalism.com: Goverment THUGS doing the looting

[Al Jazeera reporter] Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said “party thugs” associated with the Egyptian regime’s Central Security Services — in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons — have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number.

The Telegraph reports:

“Thugs” going around on motorcycles looting shops and houses, according to Al Jazeera. They say they are getting more and more reports of looting. More worryingly, one group of looters who were captured by citizens in the upmarket Cairo district of Heliopolis turned out to have ID cards identifying them as members of the regime security forces.
Similarly, Egyptian newspaper Al MasryAlyoum provides several eyewitness accounts of agents provacateur:

Thugs looting residential neighborhoods and intimidating civilians are government-hires, say eyewitnesses.

NY Times: Military Does Little to Quash Protests

As troops and protesters fraternized, Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s military intelligence chief, was sworn in as vice president.

NY Times: Calling for Restraint, Pentagon Faces Test of Influence With Ally

The United States military is trying to navigate a peaceful outcome and remain close to an important ally.

World Media Reaction: Check Out This Picture

Egypt Shuts Down Al Jazeera Bureau

Sunday: Mazin Qumsiyeh writes from Palestin on some of the latest news. Watch Al Jazeera for more on live stream or at AlJazeera.net.

-Large demonstrations by Egyptians and human rights defenders at Egyptian
embassies around the world all demanding democracy
-Israeli embassy in Cairo essentially emptied (an apartheid state embassy in
the largest Arab country is an abomination)
-Israeli pundits very worried about how Egypt might look after Mubarak.
-There are many signs that the Egyptian military (like the Tunisian
military) may be critical in this struggle. Already there are instances
where the demonstrators were protected from the Egyptian police by the
Egyptian military. See footage (4)
-A number of human rights groups and Egyptian community representatives
abroad all called for ending the Egyptian police brutality. By contrast EU
and US government officials are making feeble statements to hedge their bets
and at best call for “peaceful” actions from “all sides”. Slowly they were
forced to modify their retorhic to talk about “change” but must finally call
on their puppet Mubarak to leave power and insist that he and his sons and
family return the billions stolen from the Egyptian people.
-A number of religious and civil organizations in Egypt broke their silence
to support the ouster of the “last Pharaoh”
-The dictatorship cutting of web and mobile phone services and banning
reporting by groups like Al-Jazeera did little to stem the tide of protest
because people are living it daily in their homes and on the streets and
they are not being incited from outside.
-Protests spread to Jordan and Yemen (two other Western supported
governments). There are now plans for large protests in Syria and other
countries.
-On the Palestinian Authority TV news, they noted that Mahmoud Abbas called
Mubarak and stated his support for stability of Egypt. Other news outlets
stated that he fully supports the Mubarak regime. Hamas then came in to say
that they support the Egyptian people. Sadly, I think all rational human
beings know which horse to bet on in this struggle between people and a
western-supported dictator who accomplished nothing for his people and
instead enriched his family (his sons are billionaires in a country in which
tens of millions of people live on less than $1 a day).

Debbie Menon passes this along:

Al Jazeera reports Mubarak’s planning exile to Tel Aviv. According to sources in the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel is making preparations to welcome Hosni Mubarak into exile after Saudi Arabia rejected overtures. Al Jazeera also reports Israeli diplomats have fled Egypt amid the unrest. CNN reports widespread rumors that Mubarak’s wife and other family members have already fled Egypt.

Arab Executives Predict Regime Change in Egypt, as U.S. State Dept says reshuffling of government won’t do. Demonstrations across the U.S. rally in solidarity with protesters. See also Robert Fisk’s latest dispatch: Death throes of a dictatorship.

Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, Who Is Mubarek’s New Vice-President?

Jane Kramer of the New Yorker on the New VP’s links to Renditions

Independent on Sunday; The Impact on the Region

Conspiracy Theory of The Day: Is Mohammed El Baradei the “Globalist Pied Piper” of the Egyptian Revolt?

Conspircy Theory Runner-UP: U.S. Energy Dependency Responsible for Egyptian Unrest.

Egypt On Fire

The Middle East Research and Information Project offers a comprehensive look at events in Egypt. Worth Reading. (Thanks to the Campaign for Peace And Democracy for hipping me to this excellent perspective.).

Dead-Enders on the Potomac:

Every US administration has its mouthpiece in Washington’s think tank world, its courtier that will slavishly praise its every utterance. For the blessedly bygone Bush administration, that echo chamber was the American Enterprise Institute and the neo-conservative broadsheets in its orbit. For the Obama administration, it is the National Security Network, an operation founded in 2006 to bring “strategic focus to the progressive national security community.”

With one US-backed Arab despot dislodged and dodging Interpol, and another facing an intifada of historic proportions, many eyes looked to Washington, hopeful that President Barack Obama might reprise his ballyhooed Cairo speech of June 2009, showing the restive Arab masses that he felt and, perhaps, really understood their pain. Instead, Arab populations have heard a variation on Washington’s long-standing theme: “The Obama administration seeks to encourage political reforms without destabilizing the region.” That sentence, taken from the National Security Network’s January 27 press release, says it all: Democracy is great in theory, but if it will cause any disruption to business as usual, Washington prefers dictatorship. [More here Ã¢â€ â€™]

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