Uprising in Egypt: the revolution is spreading!

.

After the overthrow of Tunisia’s strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on
January 14th, observers wondered aloud if the dramatic events in the
North African nation could provoke insurrections in other apparently
entrenched Arab regimes. Now they have their answer! The revolutionary
flames that have swept through the Arab world from Tunisia have reached
Egypt.

The first indications of the impact of the Tunisia uprising on the
popular consciousness surfaced last week in Egypt when several people
set themselves on fire or attempted to do so outside parliament and the
prime minister’s office. Their actions sought to imitate the example of
the young Tunisian vegetable vendor whose self-immolation helped spark
the protests that forced Tunisia’s authoritarian president to flee the
country.

As in Tunisia, the demonstrations in Egypt came against a backdrop of
growing anger over widespread poverty and unemployment. Nearly half of
Egypt’s 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line set
by the United Nations at $2 a day. Poor quality education, health care
and high unemployment have left large numbers of Egyptians deprived of
basic needs.

But the economic discontent is only part of a wider political
discontent. There is a deep-seated anger at the injustices, inequalities
and corruption of the Mubarak regime. The question is raised of how
long the aged dictator will cling to power. Nobody knows whether Mubarak
will run again in presidential elections later this year or perhaps
position his son to run in his place. But the people of Egypt will
accept nothing less than a fundamental change.

The government tried to play down self-immolation attempts, with
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif telling reporters on Monday that those who
committed the act were driven by “personal issues”. But nobody believed
this. As in Tunisia, the calls for rallies went out on Facebook and
Twitter, with 90,000 saying they would attend. On all sides Tunisia was
on everyone’s lips. “We want to see change just like in Tunisia,” said
Lamia Rayan, 24, one of the protesters.

The call for protests was initiated by The Martyr Facebook page, set
up in the name of a young Egyptian man, Khaled Said, who was beaten to
death by policemen in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria last
year. His case has become a rallying point for the opposition. Two
policemen are currently on trial in connection with his death. Yet by
one of those strange ironies with which history is so rich, the protests
coincided with a national holiday honouring the country’s hated police.

There were remarkable scenes in Cairo today as thousands and
thousands poured onto the streets, marching with apparent freedom in
three major demonstrations in different parts of the Egyptian capital.
Things began peacefully, with police showing unusual restraint. The
noisy crowd was joined by cars driving alongside and honking their
horns. People cried: “Long Live a Free Tunisia” and waving Tunisian and
Egyptian flags while police initially stood on the crowd’s periphery.
Riot police at first seemed uncertain as to what to do, as each of the
marches broke through police cordons.

An eyewitness wrote the following lines:

“I’m downtown outside the offices of the government newspapers where
hundreds are chanting ‘Mubarak, your plane is waiting’ and appealing for
passers-by to join them, many of whom are taking up the offer.

“Ahmed Ashraf, a 26 year old bank analyst, told me this was his first
protest, and that he had been inspired by events in Tunisia. ‘We are
the ones controlling the streets today, not the regime,’ he said. ‘I
feel so free – things can’t stay the same after this.’"

If the police seemed to have no idea what to do, on the other side
there also seemed to be little coordination between protest leaders
about what to do next. It resembled the commencement of a wrestling
match, with each of the two contenders circling warily, eyeing his
opponent and trying to guess the next move. They did not have to wait
long.

In the past demonstrations were violently dispersed. Now, however,
the police had clearly received orders from the government to avoid
anything that could provoke a Tunisia-like mass revolt. But such things
have a life and a law of their own. As the numbers of demonstrators
continued to build up, filling Cairo’s main Tahrir square, the security
forces got nervous. They suddenly changed tactics and the protest
turned violent as police attacked demonstrators with water cannon,
batons and of tear gas.

Acrid clouds filled the streets of Cairo. In the past people would
have fled in panic from the feared police. But this time things were
different. The people stood their ground and fought back. Defiant
protesters clashed with riot police in the centre of Cairo. They threw
stones and some even climbed on top of an armoured police truck. The
Washington Post described the scene:

The regime is in a state of panic. Eyewitnesses report that the
internet, Twitter and phone calls were all blocked in Egypt, but they
are returning intermittently now. The latest reports show that the
insurrection is continuing and advancing to new levels. An eyewitness
report states:

“As darkness begins to fall, the thousands who have occupied Cairo’s
central square are pouring forward towards the parliament building,
prompting running battles with armed police. The air is filled with
teargas and some youths are hurling rocks at the police lines; many of
the rocks are being thrown back by security officers.

“A few moments ago a huge charge from demonstrators sent the riot
police running, but they have now regrouped and are launching fresh
assaults on the front wave of protesters, who are currently picking up
the metal barricades installed by police and using them to set up
barricades themselves. Large explosions are shaking the square, though
it’s not clear where they’re coming from.”

Reports are spreading of protesters attacking the council of
ministers building downtown, while several thousands are said to be
marching towards Mubarak’s presidential palace in Heliopolis. In Dar El
Salaam, a densely-populated neighbourhood in southern Cairo,
demonstrators claim they have taken over the police station.

“There’s a feeling of intense excitement on the streets here in
Shubra, northern Cairo, as the police continue to stand back and allow
protesters to pass – but some of the security forces are wearing bullet
proof vests, and some fear this is the calm before the storm.

“One former television news presenter told me she hadn’t seen
anything like this since 1977, when an uprising over bread prices almost
brought down the government of President Sadat. But demonstrations
remain cut off from each other and it’s still too early to say how this
will play out.”

It is true that nobody knows how this will end. But one thing is
certain. Egypt will never be the same again. The genie is out of the
bottle and it cannot be pushed back inside. The masses have had a taste
of freedom and they have felt their collective power on the streets. If
they possessed an organisation and a leadership that was adequate to the
task, they could move to take power. But in the absence of leadership
and a clear plan and perspective, the situation can go in different
ways.

As
I write these lines, the fate of the uprising is in the balance. The
regime is now on very shaky ground. The hesitation shown by the police
at the start of the protest shows that they are not confident of using
the apparatus of repression to put down the movement. There will be
splits in the regime between those who want to crack down and those who
want to make compromises to gain time.

Can the regime drown the uprising in blood? Such an outcome is not
impossible, but it would be a victory purchased at a very high price.
The hatred and resentment towards the regime would be long-lasting. It
would poison the political life of the country and rule out any kind of
compromise solution. Mubarak is an old man and cannot last long. His
son, who he hopes will replace him, will be completely delegitimised.
The economy will decline still further, aggravating the problem of
unemployment and poverty. New explosions would follow.

However, that does not seem the most likely variant. The mass
movement is gathering strength by the hour. In Alexandria there are
reports of old ladies throwing pots and pans on the police from the
balconies of their houses. The key to the situation is the powerful
Egyptian proletariat, which has organised strike after strike in recent
years. Now the workers are on the streets. In Mahala, the scene of the
big textile workers’ strikes, there is news of 20,000 on the streets.
The police station has been overwhelmed.

The revolutionary people are occupying the central squares and
refusing to leave. Every inch has been conquered by the masses and they
do not intend to surrender what they have conquered to anyone. Faced
with a mass movement on such a scale, the forces of state repression,
which before seemed so formidable, have suddenly become vulnerable. In
many places the police have been simply swamped by sheer numbers. Their
cordons have been broken by the protesters. The faces of the ordinary
policemen betray nervousness, and their officers even more so.

There have been many cases of fraternisation. A French TV news
channel showed pictures of a police officer (I think in Alexandria)
being carried shoulder high by demonstrators. They are shouting
anti-government slogans, and the police officer is shouting them as
well. This little incident says it all. All history shows that once the
masses have lost their fear, once an entire people stands up and says
“no”, there is no force on earth that can stop them.

Whatever we will read in tomorrow’s newspapers, we may be sure of one
thing: the Arab revolution has begun. It will be greeted with every
enthusiasm by the workers and youth of the whole world. Let us mobilise
in support of our Arab brother and sisters! Demand an immediate end to
repression! Break off all relations with the criminal Mubarak regime!
Demand full rights for the people of Egypt!

• Victory to the workers and youth of Egypt!
• Down with Mubarak!
• Long live the Arab socialist revolution!