February 2011

Egypt in 2011 is not Iran in 1979

by News Sources 02.13.2011

Hamid Dabashi writes: The pro-Isreali neocons in the United States and their Zionist counterparts in Israel compare the Egyptian and Iranian revolutions because they are frightened out of their wits by a massive revolutionary uprising in a major Arab country that may no longer allow the abuse of the democratic will of a people for [...]

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When Israel, the US and the Salafists were on the same side

by News Sources 02.13.2011

Even though many Western and Israeli freedomphobes have warned about a looming threat from Islamic extremists in Egypt, they overlook the fact that Egypt’s ultra-conservative Salafi Muslims were in the “pro-stability” camp, unwilling to challenge the Mubarak regime. Hossam Tammam writes: Salafis unanimously boycotted the revolution, claiming it was sedition. They accepted decades of injustice, [...]

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The tyrant has gone. Now the real struggle begins for Egypt

by News Sources 02.13.2011

Pankaj Mishra warns that the roots of despotism run deep. I wonder if western leaders, shamed into moral bluster after being caught in flagrante with Mubarak, will, when we relax our vigils, tip the balance towards “stability” and against real change. I grow a bit apprehensive too, recalling the words of an extraordinarily perceptive observer [...]

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Egypt’s army dissolves parliament

by News Sources 02.13.2011

Al Jazeera reports: Egypt’s military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, the long-serving president, stepped down in the wake of a popular uprising. The country’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government [...]

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The fear of freedom

by Paul Woodward 02.13.2011

As the train of democracy gathers steam in Egypt, there are those nearby who seem eager to throw themselves under its wheels. No doubt an observer such as the Israeli historian, Benny Morris, is vain enough to imagine that he is not about to get run over but, on the contrary, hopes his grave warnings [...]

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America, welcome to the era of Arab democracy

by News Sources 02.13.2011

Amjad Atallah and Daniel Levy write: The stark realization slowly dawning on Washington is that the United States cannot be on the right side of Arab democracy if it is on the wrong side of Palestinian freedom. Israel’s security and peace treaties are certainly compatible with a recalibrated American policy in the region, but not [...]

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Egypt shows ‘clash of civilizations’ was a myth

by News Sources 02.12.2011

Arun Kundnani writes: Since the end of the Cold War, conservatives have argued that the world should be seen through the lens of a clash between civilizations. The world could be divided, they argued, on the basis of different cultures and their distance from Western values. Countries where the majority of the population is Muslim [...]

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How the war of words was won in Cairo

by News Sources 02.12.2011

Ben Zimmer writes: How do you tell a dictator to get lost? The answer, in Egypt, was with poetry, tech lingo, hieroglyphics and more. For weeks, in Tahrir Square and elsewhere, demonstrators were telling President Hosni Mubarak to leave, playfully using a variety of dialects and languages to get the idea across. And on Friday, [...]

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How to start a revolution

by Paul Woodward 02.12.2011

Even though the Egyptian revolution has frequently been described as leaderless and it clearly enjoyed support from all sections of Egyptian society and beyond being a demand for democratic rights was non-ideological, it was not unplanned. An article in the Wall Street Journal and a documentary by Al Jazeera reveal new details of some of [...]

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In Egypt the seeds of a new world order and the end of Western supremacy

by Paul Woodward 02.11.2011

Some think the Middle East isn’t ready for democracy — in truth it’s the West that isn’t ready. Nicholas Kristof duly notes: Egyptians triumphed over their police state without Western help or even moral support. During rigged parliamentary elections, the West barely raised an eyebrow. And when the protests began at Tahrir Square, Secretary of [...]

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A revolution the world can celebrate! #Egypt #Jan25 to Feb 11, 2011

by Paul Woodward 02.11.2011

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GAME OVER! — REVOLUTION VICTORY! — live updates

by Paul Woodward 02.11.2011

WATCH AL JAZEERA LIVE Live updates: FINALLY MUBARAK RESIGNS! Suleiman announces the armed forces are now in control of Egypt. Wall Street Journal — How young activists outwitted Egypt’s feared security forces to spur an uprising many here had long thought impossible. 7.20 — @avinunu: BBC Arabic: Switzerland has frozen Mubarak’s bank accounts. Al Jazeera [...]

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The Sound of Freedom — Moustafa Fahmy, Mohamed Khalifa, and Mohamed Shaker

by Paul Woodward 02.11.2011

Lyrics: “I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back. “All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still [...]

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Why the Mubarak regime is hated, feared and loathed by the mass of ordinary Egyptians

by News Sources 02.11.2011

Robert Tait describes 28 hours in the dark heart of Egypt’s torture machine: The sickening, rapid click-click-clicking of the electric shock device sounded like an angry rattlesnake as it passed within inches of my face. Then came a scream of agony, followed by a pitiful whimpering from the handcuffed, blindfolded victim as the force of [...]

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Chase Madar: The trials of Bradley Manning, a defense

by TomDispatch 02.11.2011

Reprinted with permission of TomDispatch.com The Obama administration came into office proclaiming “sunshine” policies. When some of the U.S. government’s dirty laundry was laid out in the bright light of day by WikiLeaks, however, its officials responded in a knee-jerk, punitive manner in the case of Bradley Manning, now in extreme isolation in a Marine [...]

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Iran bans unauthorized support for Egyptian revolution

by News Sources 02.11.2011

BBC News reports: Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has been put under house arrest, his official website says. Security officials at the premises say the measures will last until next week, it adds. No one is being allowed to enter the house except his wife. Mr Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, had called [...]

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How the Egypt revolution could help Israel

by News Sources 02.11.2011

The historian, Kai Bird, writes: [T]he cold peace Israel has forged with Arab dictators is unraveling. This may, in the short term, empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud ideologues who will argue that Arab democrats are out to “delegitimize” Israel. But in the long run, the emergence of an Arab democratic polity should convince [...]

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At CIA, deadly mistakes, then promotions

by News Sources 02.11.2011

Associated Press report reveals the lack of accountability in the CIA where officers responsible for botched operations end up getting promotions. In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers [...]

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Egypt’s useless friend in Washington

by Paul Woodward 02.10.2011

In President Obama’s latest statement on events in Egypt, he does not swerve from the position he has maintained from day one: that of a concerned but impotent spectator. “In these difficult times, I know that the Egyptian people will persevere, and they must know that they will continue to have a friend in the [...]

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Mubarak refuses to step down — insults the Egyptian people — updated

by Paul Woodward 02.10.2011

New York Times: Remarkably it appears that state television made a crude attempt to convince its viewers that Wael Ghonim, the protest organizer who was just released after nearly two weeks in detention, had encouraged protesters to return home following President Hosni Mubarak’s speech. According to Egyptian bloggers, state television reported on Thursday night that [...]

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What now in Egypt?

by Paul Woodward 02.10.2011

Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, says: “The president is watching the same thing you are. I don’t know what the outcome will be.” WATCH AL JAZEERA LIVE Whatever Mubarak has to say, the people in Tahrir Square will deliver the verdict. The more certain Mubarak’s departure seems, the bigger the question mark hanging over Omar [...]

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CIA watching Al Jazeera, learns Mubarak about to go

by Paul Woodward 02.10.2011

WATCH AL JAZEERA LIVE “There’s a strong likelihood that Mubarak may step down in Eqypt tonight,” CIA Director Leon Panetta told a House Intelligence panel today. The CIA later clarified that Panetta’s statement was not based on intelligence but on news reports. And there you have it. This is how the US government and legislators [...]

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Egypt’s army ‘involved in detentions and torture’ of hundreds of anti-government protesters

by News Sources 02.10.2011

The Guardian reports: The Egyptian military has secretly detained hundreds and possibly thousands of suspected government opponents since mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak began, and at least some of these detainees have been tortured, according to testimony gathered by the Guardian. The military has claimed to be neutral, merely keeping anti-Mubarak protesters and loyalists [...]

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