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US statement on events in Egypt
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release January 25, 2011
On the occasion of Police Day
Many readers will know that today is Police Day in Egypt, a commemoration of the resistance by Islamailiya police against the British in 1952 during which 41 police officers were killed. For decades it has also bee the annual occasion for pageantry by the Ministry of Interior, the highlight of which is a boat show on the Nile. It will also be, potentially, the revival of a large anti-government, anti-torture protests, with many hoping for a turnout on the streets not seen since 2005 or perhaps even the day of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. One of the main organizer appears to be the Facebook group for Khaled Said, the victim of police brutality who died last year and became a symbol of torture, which will be providing continuous updates throughout the day. You might also read Jack Shenker’s optimistic take in the Guardian, or this piece on the Ministry of Interior’s pledge to arrest anyone who takes part in al-Masri al-Youm. We’ll see how it turns out — in my book, if you get a tenth of the 80,000 people or so who support the initiative online, it will be a success.
Links 24 January 2011
Arabist.net has been run by freelance journalists for over seven years. If you can, please contribute to keep this site going and give us an incentive to post more often!
Links 20 January 2011
Many of the region’s countries look, on the surface, to be far more fragile than Tunisia, with equal volumes of anger and far deeper social woes. But different factors serve to bolster even unpopular governments. In Syria the ever-present danger of war with Israel mutes dissent. The Egyptian state, despite its appalling record in running other things, wields a large force of riot police that is well equipped, highly trained and very experienced, and so less likely to provoke outrage by excessive violence. Egypt also has a relatively free press. This not only gives healthy air to protest, but acts as the sort of early-warning system that Mr Ben Ali, due to his own repressive tactics, sorely lacked.
Fantastic photos from Tunisia
Arabist.net has been run by freelance journalists for over seven years. If you can, please contribute to keep this site going and give us an incentive to post more often!
Links 19 January 2011
Arabist.net has been run by freelance journalists for over seven years. If you can, please contribute to keep this site going and give us an incentive to post more often!
More on what Tunisia means for Egypt
Please allow for a slight detraction from the ongoing events in Tunisia, this still is very relevant but with an eye out to the future, near or far.
The year of spontaneous combustion
My new al-Masri al-Youm column is up. This week, I wanted to do something else than the obvious (write about Tunisia or its impact on Egypt), so I decided to be a little more adventurous. Like many people I was aghast at the wave of self-immolations over the last few days, and imagined what might happen if they continue (let’s hope they don’t). It’s written from the perspective of January 1, 2012.
Tunisia on Democracy Now
I was on Democracy Now earlier today, talking about Tunisia with Tunisian activist Fares Mabrouk, blogger/academic Juan Cole and NYT correspondent Anthony Shadid.