Egypt

How Wealthy Elites Are Hijacking Democracy

June 2, 2014 Sonali Kolhatkar, www.truthdig.com Educate! Democracy, Egypt, oligarchy, Thailand, Ukraine

Mass street protests are usually seen as a hallmark of democratic aspirations. And elections are meant to be a culmination of such aspirations, affording people the opportunity to choose their own leaders and system of government. But in country after country these days, the hallmarks of democracy are being dangerously subverted and co-opted by powerful elites. The question is, are we recognizing what is happening under our noses? Three examples unfolding right now are indicators of this trend: Thailand, Ukraine and Egypt. Thailand has just witnessed its 19th coup in 82 years. Although coup leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-Ocha has promised “genuine democracy,” he has given no timetable for an end to martial law. The U.S. State Department initially refused to call the takeover a coup, insisting that martial law is consistent with Thailand’s constitution. It then changed its tune to issue a strongly worded condemnation. In Ukraine, voters elected a pro-Western leader after President Viktor Yanukovych fled following mass protests over his refusal to sign an accord with the European Union. Although the incoming president, Petro Poroshenko, has promised democratic development, the U.S. has openly sided with pro-Western forces inside Ukraine and raised the tensions of the conflict to near Cold War era levels, rendering any promises of true democracy ineffectual at best.

Court Sentences Activist Mahienour El-Masry, Others To Prison

May 21, 2014 Ahram Online, www.english.ahram.org.e Resist! Egypt, Political Prisoner, Protesters Arrested

A court in Alexandria has upheld Tuesday an earlier verdict sending a group of activists to two years in jail and fining them LE50,000 for organising an unauthorised protest during the Khaled Said murder retrial. Mahienour El-Masry, Loai Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, Omar Abdel-Aziz Hussein, Islam Mohamed Ahmed, Nasser Abul-Hamed Ibrahim, Hassan Mostafa, Moussa Hussein, and Hassan El-Siyad were convicted of organising an unauthorised protest, blocking the road, assaulting a police officer and destroying a police vehicle on 2 December. The initial verdict was issued in January, appealed in Feburary, where the court upheld the decision. However, some of the defendants were sentenced in abstentia, and they appealed the verdict for the second time. This is another prosecution of non-Islamist activists under the 2013 controversial protest law. On 22 December 2013, a Cairo criminal court sentenced April 6 Youth Movement founders Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, and independent activist Ahmed Douma to three years in jail and a LE50,000 fine for organising an unauthorised protest and attacking security forces outside the Abdeen court in November.

Jailed Journalist Given Press Freedom Prize As Trial Resumes

May 3, 2014 Patrick Kingsley, www.theguardian.com Educate! Egypt, Journalism

One of the four al-Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt, Mohamed Fahmy, has been given a press freedom award, before the seventh session of his trial on Saturday. The Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom said it had awarded the prize to Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian and the Cairo bureau chief for al-Jazeera English, in recognition of the battle he has fought for free speech since being detained with two colleagues in late December. Fahmy, an ex-CNN journalist; Peter Greste, an Australian former BBC reporter; and a local producer, Baher Mohamed, are accused of smearing Egypt's reputation, doctoring footage and aiding terrorists. A fourth colleague – Abdullah Elshamy, a reporter for al-Jazeera's Arabic channel – has been jailed without charge in a separate case since last August. Fahmy recently celebrated his birthday in prison and has applied for permission to marry his fiancee inside jail. In a handwritten letter smuggled from prison, Fahmy thanked the judges for the award and donated the prize money, worth C$2,000 (£1,100), to the family of an Egyptian journalist, Mayada Ashraf, who was shot dead in unexplained circumstances at a protest last month.

VIDEO: Rally To Free Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Soltan

April 29, 2014 Robert Brune, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Egypt, Media

This video features Omar Soltan, the brother of Mohamed Soltan, a journalist, translator and aid to groups such as al-Jazeera who was jailed after the Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Egypt this past Summer. On this day, protesters rallied at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C. because the US Sec. of State John Kerry and business leaders were to meet with the Egyptian Foreign Minister of Affairs. The protesters called for the release of Mohamed. As of this interview with Omar Soltan will have been on a hunger strike for 92 days. Despite Mohamed being the son of a well known Muslim Brotherhood figure, he remains in confinement. Friends and family maintain that Mohamed was not an advocate of violence. He is described as "a peaceful person and strongly committed to non-violence and social justice" on the Facebook support page.

Egypt Rebel Leaders Explain Military Co-option

April 20, 2014 Sheera Frenkel and Maged Atef, www.informationclearinghouse.info Strategize! Egypt

When, on the night of July 3, the military ousted the Brotherhood from government, arresting Morsi and whisking him to a secret location, they did so in the name of the tens of millions of people who had taken to the streets after Tamarod circulated a petition across Egypt that drew up a number of complaints against the Muslim Brotherhood-held government. “How did we go from such a small thing, five guys trying to change Egypt, to the movement which brought tens of millions to the street to get rid of the Brotherhood? The answer is we didn’t. I understand now it wasn’t us, we were being used as the face of what something bigger than us wanted,” said Doss, who now has nothing to do with the Tamarod movement, or political life in Egypt. “We were naïve, and we were not responsible.”

CODE PINK Mocks Egyptian Dictator Sisi Outside Of US Chamber Of Commerce

April 16, 2014 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance Resist! CODE PINK, Egypt, Video

The Egyptian military government is one that US corporations should not do business with: “No more business as usual.” That was the message of a CODE PINK protest inside and outside of the US Chamber of Commerce when the Egyptian Finance Minister, Hany Kadry Dimian, was speaking. CODE PINK described the Egyptian government as the “Egyptian Junta” and expressed their solidarity with Egyptian people who want real democracy not a military dictatorship. Since the military took over in July 2013 over 2,000 people have been killed who have protested the government; and 16,000 protesters have been imprisoned. Outside the Chamber of Commerce CODE PINK mocked General Sisi, the dictator of Egypt, who recently resigned his position in the military to run for president in an election that very few will be legitimate. CODE PINK has started a twitter handle for the election of Sisi: #VoteForThePimp

Egypt Tightens Vice On Dissent, Upholds Convictions Of Activists

April 8, 2014 Hassan Mohamed, www.amnesty.org Resist! Egypt

A Cairo appeals court today upheld the conviction of three government critics for taking part in an “unauthorized” protest, a further sign that the Egyptian authorities are tightening the vice on freedom of expression and assembly, Amnesty International said. The defendants, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, both activists with the 6 April Youth Movement, and well-known blogger Ahmed Douma, are to serve three years in prison with labour and a 50,000 Egyptian pound (US$7,185) fine. The court also ruled they should serve three years’ probation following their release. “This appeals court ruling tightens the vice on freedom of expression and assembly and is yet another sign of Egypt’s growing climate of intolerance towards any legitimate criticism of the authorities,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

Managing Disorder: Towards A Global State Of Control?

March 31, 2014 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Resist! Brazil, Egypt, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Human Rights, NSA, Police abuse, Spain, Türkiye

It’s not just right-wing or military regimes that are leading the assault on hard-fought popular freedoms. In Brazil, the ruling Workers’ Party announced this week that it would send the army into Rio’s favelas to pacify the slums ahead of the World Cup. Ostensibly targeted at violent drug gangs, this pacification scheme has led to a situation in which hundreds of slum dwellers are killed by state troops every year. Under President Rousseff — a former Marxist guerrilla who was tortured and imprisoned by the military dictatorship — state brutality against the “unruly” poor and excluded remains the order of the day. Just last week, Brazilian military police were caught on camera after shooting and killing a 38-year-old mother of four and dragging her lifeless body 200 meters down the street in their police van. It is no coincidence that the intensification of long-standing patterns of state repression appears to be particularly acute in the countries that experienced large-scale street protest in the past three years.

Protests Against Mass Death Sentences At Egyptian Embassy In DC

March 28, 2014 DC Media Group, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! Egypt, Human Rights, Protest

An Egyptian court sentenced 529 supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi to death on March 24 for killing a police officer. Today protestors from CODEPINK took their objections to the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC: “The trial was clearly a sham and your government, which has jailed over 16,000 people since coming to power, is clearly targeting people based on political affiliation.” The alleged supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi were convicted on charges of killing a single police officer, the attempted murder of two other officers, and attacking a police station in the Nile Valley city of Minya in August. Sixteen people were acquitted. The mass sentencing underscored the severity of an ongoing campaign by Egypt’s military-backed leaders to silence opposition, eight months after a military coup ousted Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected leader.

Egypt Kangaroo Court Sentences 529 Morsi Supporters To Death

March 25, 2014 Medea Benjamin, www.codepink.org Educate! CODE PINK, Egypt

The Egyptian court has just handed down one of the most grotesque sentences in Egyptian history, condemning 529 people to death in one fell swoop. The US State Department said it was “shocked” and that the verdict defies logic. “While appeals are possible, it simply does not seem possible that a fair review of evidence and testimony consistent with international standards could be accomplished with over 529 defendants after a two-day trial,” a State Department official said. Amnesty International issued a condemnation, and CODEPINK has launched a campaign to pressure the Egyptian government to overturn the verdict and respect political dissent.

Did the State Department Fail Medea Benjamin?

March 11, 2014 Kevin Gosztola, www.firedoglake.com Educate! CODE PINK, Egypt, Palestine

An American peace activist and co-founder of the group CODEPINK was planning to go to Gaza as part of a delegation on women. However, she flew to Cairo. She was detained in the airport, held for hours and then, before Egyptian security officers tried to deport her, she was roughed up and had her arm broken. The United States State Department had a duty to this person, Medea Benjamin. Perhaps, their most important job is to protect the safety and security of American citizens in other countries. What did the State Department do for her and did they fail her?

Six Things Tahrir Protesters Taught About Starting a Movement

March 4, 2014 Samiezade’-Yazd, www.occupywallst.org Strategize! Egypt, Occupy, Revolution

The Square digs deeper, showing viewers the anatomy of mass movements and the DIY ethos that drives those within to action. It shows you first-hand that decentralized movements aren’t about the headlines and the talking heads that define them, or, for that matter, the establishments that oppose them. They’re about the people and objectives within that propel them. The Square is an important film-- not just about Egypt, but about freedom movements and social change for an entire generation. The Square is a snapshot of a greater uprising, a social shift that is interconnected with Occupy and others like it all over the world. And while some have turned their backs on protesters within both movements, The Square is a vital reminder of the lessons that Tahrir’s revolutionaries taught Occupy and the world, inspiring the disenfranchised to to turn to the streets to amplify their voices.

Medea Benjamin Detained, Brutally Attacked & Deported In Egypt

March 4, 2014 Staff, www.codepink.org Resist! CODE PINK, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Police abuse

On the night of March 3, 2014, co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK Medea Benjamin was on her way to Egypt to join an international delegation of women going to Gaza when she was detained by border police in the Cairo airport, held overnight in a cell, and then brutally tackled (her arm badly injured), handcuffed, and deported to Turkey. During her time in the detention cell she had access to a cell phone, from which she contacted colleagues at CODEPINK about the poor conditions of the cell and chronicled her ordeal via Twitter. When the Egyptian police removed her from the detention center, they used such excessive force she sustained a fracture and torn ligament in her shoulder.

Egyptian Cabinet Steps Down To Clear Way For Sisi Presidential Bid

February 24, 2014 Michael Georgy in.reuters.com Educate! Egypt

Egypt's government has resigned, the prime minister said on Monday, paving the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president of a strategic U.S. ally gripped by political strife. "(The government) made every effort to get Egypt out of the narrow tunnel in terms of security, economic pressures and political confusion," Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in a live nationwide speech. Beblawi, who was tasked by interim President Adly Mansour with running the government's affairs until the election, did not give a clear reason for the decision. For Sisi to run for president he would first need to leave his post as defence minister. "This (government resignation) was done as a step that was needed ahead of Sisi's announcement that he will run for president," an Egyptian official said.

Did Nonviolence Fail In Egypt?

February 23, 2014 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Egypt, Nonviolence, Revolution

Three years ago this month, the 82-year-old president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down amid historic protests against his dictatorial rule. News of his resignation on Feb. 11, 2011 marked the climax of an uprising that was quickly recognized as one of the most sudden and significant upheavals of the 21st century. As the New York Times reported, “The announcement, which comes after an 18-day revolt led by the young people of Egypt, shatters three decades of political stasis and overturns the established order of the Arab world.” Activists in Egypt, along with sympathizers throughout the world, rejoiced. “We had tried before. But nothing was like this,” said Ahmed Salah, a veteran youth organizer who had worked for years to drum up resistance to the regime. For months, he had been promoting the audacious and improbable idea of a revolution without arms. “I had hopes, but I never really thought that I’d see it,” he explained. “Tahrir brought tears to my eyes.”

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