الليلة عيد...............؟ قول يا ريت

راحل مش راحل راحل مش راحل راحل مش راحل
راحل...........هي وحياة قلبي وافراحو
راحل راحل راحل الكابوس راح
الايادي على القلوب، هل سيكون هناك مزيدا من الدماء؟
ام اننا سنذهب الى بيوتنا وننام لاول مرة منذ 17 يوم؟
واذا رحل، هل سيقبل الشعب يده اليمنى عمر سليمان؟
دا كان مبارح، دلوقت خلاص راح القطار عليك يا عمر
لم يعد الشعب يقبل بعمر او برشيد او بالعز او بنظيف، او حتى عمرو موسى وحتما لن يقبل بالبرادعي، ولن يقبل باي شخص التقى مع الامريكان او بالانجليز.
انتصار شعب التحرير ، سيمد يد العدوى الى ما تبقى من الحكام العشرين هذا واحد ثاني سقط، انما بكرة الدور على مين ؟ على مين ياربي؟

الجزائر؟ قول الجزائر بدأت عدتها، لما لا المغرب ؟ او الاردن؟ هذه المرة..لما لا، تحركت العشائر المطيعة لاول مرة، وخاصة بعد فضيحة الملكة الجميلة، التي احتفلت بعيد ميلادها السعيد، وصرفت ما يفوق ما صرفه شاه ايران في احتفالاته الشهيرة، وبهذا اغضبت رانية الجميلةورقم 2 على الفيس بوك في العالم، شيوخ العشائر الذين لا يملكون شروى نقير.

Egypt's popular revolution will change the world: Peter Hallward

In one of his last published essays, written in 1798, the philosopherImmanuel Kant reflected on the impact of the continuing revolution in France. Kant himself was no Jacobin, and opposed extra-legal change as a matter of principle. He conceded that the future course of the revolution's pursuit of liberty and equality "may be so filled with misery and atrocities that no right-thinking person would ever decide to make the same experiment again, at such a price". Regardless of its immediate political consequences, however, Kant could at least see that the universal "sympathy bordering on enthusiasm" solicited by the spectacle of the revolution was itself a telling indication of its eventual significance. Whatever might happen next, the event was already "too intimately interwoven with the interests of humanity and too widespread in its influence upon all parts of the world for nations not to be reminded of it when favourable circumstances present themselves, and to rise up and make renewed attempts of the same kind".


Judging from the response in and around Tahrir Square, this seems very unlikely. In a sense, though, what happens in the immediate future may prove less important than what has already happened in the immediate past. Hosni Mubarak and Omar Suleiman already belong to a decidedlyancien régime. The fate of Egypt's revolution is already independent of the next twist in negotiations with the old dictatorship, or the next fumbled response from its American backers.


For whatever happens next, Egypt's mobilisation will remain a revolution of world-historical significance because its actors have repeatedly demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to defy the bounds of political possibility, and to do this on the basis of their own enthusiasm and commitment. They have arranged mass protests in the absence of any formal organisation, and have sustained them in the face of murderous intimidation. In a single, decisive afternoon they overcame Mubarak's riot police and have since held their ground against his informers and thugs. They have resisted all attempts to misrepresent or criminalise their mobilisation. They have expanded their ranks to include millions of people from almost every sector of society. They have invented unprecedented forms of mass association and assembly, in which they can debate far-reaching questions about popular sovereignty, class polarisation and social justice.


Every step of the way, the basic fact of the uprising has become more obvious and more explicit: with each new confrontation, the protestors have realised, and demonstrated, that they are more powerful than their oppressors. When they are prepared to act in sufficient numbers with sufficient determination, the people have proved that there's no stopping them.


Again and again, elated protestors have marvelled at the sudden discovery of their own power. "We look like people who've woken up from a spell, a nightmare," observed writer Ahdaf Soueif, and "we revel in the inclusiveness" of the struggle.

Such liberation and exhilaration seemed unimaginable just a few weeks ago, in ancien régime Egypt. It is now the people, not the régime, who will decide on the limits separating the possible from the impossible.


A future possibility is just that, a possibility. But in Egypt, the present fact remains: for the first time in decades, the decision to determine and then realise such possibilities depends first and foremost on the people themselves.

SAVE Richard Falk!: Saman Mohammadi

"The UN can play a vital role in promoting the administration of justice, democracy and the rule of law around the globe." Those are the words from Hillel Neuer's address at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on August 11, 2004. Neuer is the director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO based in Geneva.

Last month, Neuer used his organization's influence to demonize Richard Falk, a retired professor from Princeton University and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, for raising doubts about the official 9/11 story. He pressed the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "condemn Richard Falk, the U.N. Human Rights Council's permanent investigator on "Israel's violations of the principles of international law," for his latest remarks suggesting that the U.S. government -- and not Al Qaeda terrorists -- destroyed the World Trade Center." Five days later, on January 25, the ever-compliant figurehead of the UN issued a statement, saying: "Recently, there was a Special Rapporteur who suggested there was an 'apparent cover-up' in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. I want to tell you, clearly and directly. I condemn this sort of inflammatory rhetoric. It is preposterous -- an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack."

Ban Ki-moon's remarks were echoed by Susan Rice, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, who called for the removal of Falk from his position at the UN. Here is the full statement from Rice, also released on January 25, 2011:

I am appalled by the recent personal blog written by Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967."

In this blog post, dated January 11, 2011, Mr. Falk endorses the slurs of conspiracy theorists who allege that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were perpetrated and then covered up by the U.S. government and media.

Mr. Falk's comments are despicable and deeply offensive, and I condemn them in the strongest terms. I have registered a strong protest with the UN on behalf of the United States. The United States has in the past been critical of Mr. Falk's one-sided and politicized approach to his work for the UN, including his failure to condemn deliberate human rights abuses by Hamas, but these blog comments are in another category altogether.

In my view, Mr. Falk's latest commentary is so noxious that it should finally be plain to all that he should no longer continue in his position on behalf of the UN. I would note that U.S. and many other diplomats walked out in protest in September 2010 when Iranian President Ahmadinejad made similarly slanderous remarks before the UN General Assembly.

The United States is deeply committed to the cause of human rights and believes that cause will be better advanced without Mr. Falk and the distasteful sideshow he has chosen to create.
Rice's demonization of Falk came as no surprise. Falk's courage and boldness is obviously rattling the power elite in the United States who are profiting from the country's illegal terrorist regime which saw its big opening on September 11, 2001, after being secretly built-up behind the scenes for many decades.

It also not surprising that Rice is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group , a who's who of U.S. war criminals and corrupt leaders of government, academia, and media, including, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Robert Gates, Robert Zoellick , Condoleezza Rice, Al Gore, Brent Scowcroft, Joseph Nye , Judith Miller, and Philip D. Zelikow.

The director of the 9/11 Commission, which blocked all avenues of justice for 9/11 victims and reaffirmed the official lie, was none other than Zelikow, who took over for Henry Kissinger after he resigned. And most of us remember Judith Miller's lies and misinformation in her New York Times columns about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which helped make the case for war. If this is the company that Rice keeps, then it is apparent why she was so quick in condemning Falk for his comments about 9/11.

If you have not read Falk's 9/11 comments, which were posted on his blog on January 11, here is a sample:

The arguments swirling around the 9/11 attacks are emblematic of these issues. What fuels suspicions of conspiracy is the reluctance to address the sort of awkward gaps and contradictions in the official explanations that David Ray Griffin (and other devoted scholars of high integrity) have been documenting in book after book ever since 2001. What may be more distressing than the apparent cover up is the eerie silence of the mainstream media, unwilling to acknowledge the well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events: an al Qaeda operation with no foreknowledge by government officials. Is this silence a manifestation of fear or cooption, or part of an equally disturbing filter of self-censorship? Whatever it is, the result is the withering away of a participatory citizenry and the erosion of legitimate constitutional government. ( Richard Falk , January 11, 2001).
There are many reasons why the mainstream media and the alternative/progressive media is silent on the need for a new 9/11 investigation. As I wrote in a previous article , I think the silence is partly because journalists and reporters feel guilty and ashamed for not fulfilling their roles as informers of the public and investigators of corruption. We should all try to help each other, especially those in the media, to overcome these feelings, or at least use them for positive outcomes. There is no reason to be ashamed. What matters is that journalists lend their support behind a new investigation into the 9/11 attacks. A new investigation, if given full authority and subpoena powers, would expose the previous investigation as a cover-up, and identify the real plotters, planners and coordinators behind the 9/11 attacks. As Falk writes :

Let us remember that what seems most disturbing about the 9/11 controversy is the widespread aversion by government and media to the evidence that suggests, at the very least, the need for an independent investigation that proceeds with no holds barred.


Such an investigation would contrast with the official '9/11 Commission' that proceeded with most holds barred.


Falk's continued call for a new 9/11 investigation is a great source for hope. He is one of the few moral and intellectual champions of our day, joined by some others like David Ray Griffin, and Noam Chomsky. Falk's leadership, and overall American leadership on issues of truth, justice, peace, and freedom is proof that there is a wellspring of goodness and righteousness in America, and in the hearts of the American people. Susan Rice, Barack Obama, George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and others who speak for the U.S. terrorist regime don't speak for America. They are usurpers, and villainous tricksters who are thwarting democracy and the rule of law in America, and other countries around the world.

Moreover, for people who naively believe that any version of 9/11 but the official version is a "conspiracy theory," Falk has this to say:


Don't connect dots without evidence. Don't turn away as soon as the words "conspiracy theory' are uttered, especially if the evidence does point away from what the power-wielders want us to believe.
The fact that critics of Falk and others who advocate anti-establishment views about 9/11 resort to labels like "conspiracy theorist" and "9/11 truther" reveals their immaturity and lack of understanding. But, in some cases, like Susan Rice's condemnation of Falk, a more sinister reason is at play. The real ticking time bomb that worries the state terrorists in the United States is the truth bomb. It is only a matter of time before the peaceful 9/11 truth movement reaches critical mass. And we can thank brave individuals with impeccable reputations like Richard Falk when we witness the day of judgment.

Falk's support for a new 9/11 investigation, along with his valuable work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, may well pave the road to Nuremberg II, and a new era of international law and global relations.

Go here to read Falk's response to the attacks on his character by Ban Ki-moon and Susan Rice, and give him a thank you because he is a great man.

Saman "Truth Excavator" Mohammadi is a blogger and a full-time university student, currently living in Toronto, Canada. His blog is The Excavator - http://disquietreservations.blogspot.com.

Peace with the Palestinians is no longer a luxury. It is an absolute necessity:

Uri Avnery

A Villa in the Jungle?
But what is happening now in Egypt will change our lives.

AS USUAL, nobody foresaw it. The much-feted Mossad was taken by surprise, as was the CIA and all the other celebrated services of this kind.
Yet there should have been no surprise at all - except about the incredible force of the eruption. In the last few years, we have mentioned many times in this column that all over the Arab world, multitudes of young people are growing up with a profound contempt for their leaders, and that sooner or later this will lead to an uprising. These were not prophesies, but rather a sober analysis of probabilities.


The turmoil in Egypt was caused by economic factors: the rising cost of living, the poverty, the unemployment, the hopelessness of the educated young. But let there be no mistake: the underlying causes are far more profound. They can be summed up in one word: Palestine.

In Arab culture, nothing is more important than honor. People can suffer deprivation, but they will not stand humiliation.

Yet what every young Arab from Morocco to Oman saw daily was his leaders humiliating themselves, forsaking their Palestinian brothers in order to gain favor and money from America, collaborating with the Israeli occupation, cringing before the new colonizers. This was deeply humiliating for young people brought up on the achievements of Arab culture in times gone by and the glories of the early Caliphs.


Nowhere was this loss of honor more obvious than in Egypt, which openly collaborated with the Israeli leadership in imposing the shameful blockade on the Gaza Strip, condemning 1.5 million Arabs to malnutrition and worse. It was never just an Israeli blockade, but an Israeli-Egyptian one, lubricated by 1.5 billion US dollars every year.


I have reflected many times – out loud – how I would feel if I were a 15 year-old boy in Alexandria, Amman or Aleppo, seeing my leaders behave like abject slaves of the Americans and the Israelis, while oppressing and despoiling their own subjects. At that age, I myself joined a terrorist organization. Why would an Arab boy be different?


A dictator may be tolerated when he reflects national dignity. But a dictator who expresses national shame is a tree without roots – any strong wind can blow him over.


For me, the only question was where in the Arab world it would start. Egypt – like Tunisia – was low on my list. Yet here it is – the great Arab revolution taking place in Egypt.

THIS IS a wonder in itself. If Tunisia was a small wonder, this is a huge one.

I love the Egyptian people. True, one cannot really like 88 million individuals, but one can certainly like one people more than another. In this respect, one is allowed generalize.
The Egyptians you meet in the streets, in the homes of the intellectual elite and in the alleys of the poorest of the poor, are an incredibly patient lot. They are endowed with an irrepressible sense of humor. They are also immensely proud of the country and its 8000 years of history.

For an Israeli, used to his aggressive compatriots, the almost complete lack of aggressiveness of the Egyptians is astonishing. I vividly remember one particular scene: I was in a taxi in Cairo when it collided with another. Both drivers leapt out and started to curse each other in blood-curling terms. And then quite suddenly, both of them stopped shouting and burst into laughter.


A Westerner coming to Egypt either loves it or hates it. The moment you set your foot on Egyptian soil, time loses its tyranny. Everything becomes less urgent, everything is muddled, yet in a miraculous way things sort themselves out. Patience seems boundless. This may mislead a dictator. Because patience can end suddenly.


It’s like a faulty dam on a river. The water rises behind the dam, imperceptibly slowly and silently – but if it reaches a critical level, the dam will burst, sweeping everything before it.



MY OWN first meeting with Egypt was intoxicating. After Anwar Sadat’s unprecedented visit to Jerusalem, I rushed to Cairo. I had no visa. I shall never forget the moment I presented my Israeli passport to the stout official at the airport. He leafed through it, becoming more and more bewildered – and then he raised his head with a wide smile and said “marhaba”, welcome. At the time we were the only three Israelis in the huge city, and we were feted like kings, almost expecting at any moment to be lifted onto people’s shoulders. Peace was in the air, and the masses of Egypt loved it.


It took no more than a few months for this to change profoundly. Sadat hoped – sincerely, I believe – that he was also bringing deliverance to the Palestinians. Under intense pressure from Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter, he agreed to a vague wording. Soon enough he learned that Begin did not dream of fulfilling this obligation. For Begin, the peace agreement with Egypt was a separate peace to enable him to intensify the war against the Palestinians.


The Egyptians – starting with the cultural elite and filtering down to the masses – never forgave this. They felt deceived. There may not be much love for the Palestinians – but betraying a poor relative is shameful in Arab tradition. Seeing Hosni Mubarak collaborating with this betrayal led many Egyptians to despise him. This contempt lies beneath everything that happened this week. Consciously or unconsciously, the millions who are shouting “Mubarak Go Away” echo this contempt.



IN EVERY revolution there is the “Yeltsin Moment”. The columns of tanks are sent into the capital to reinstate the dictatorship. At the critical moment, the masses confront the soldiers. If the soldiers refuse to shoot, the game is over. Yeltsin climbed on the tank, ElBaradei addressed the masses in al Tahrir Square. That is the moment a prudent dictator flees abroad, as did the Shah and now the Tunisian boss.


Then there is the “Berlin Moment”, when a regime crumbles and nobody in power knows what to do, and only the anonymous masses seem to know exactly what they want: they wanted the Wall to fall.


And there is the “Ceausescu moment”. The dictator stands on the balcony addressing the crowd, when suddenly from below a chorus of “Down With The Tyrant!” swells up. For a moment, the dictator is speechless, moving his lips noiselessly, then he disappears. This, in a way, happened to Mubarak, making a ridiculous speech and trying in vain to stem the tide.



IF MUBARAK is cut off from reality, Binyamin Netanyahu is no less. He and his colleagues seem unable to grasp the fateful meaning of these events for Israel.


When Egypt moves, the Arab world follows. Whatever transpires in the immediate future in Egypt – democracy or an army dictatorship - It is only a matter of (a short) time before the dictators fall all over the Arab world, and the masses will shape a new reality, without the generals.


Everything the Israeli leadership has done in the last 44 years of occupation or 63 years of its existence is becoming obsolete. We are facing a new reality. We can ignore it – insisting that we are “a villa in the jungle”, as Ehud Barak famously put it – or find our proper place in the new reality.



Peace with the Palestinians is no longer a luxury. It is an absolute necessity. Peace now, peace quickly. Peace with the Palestinians, and then peace with the democratic masses all over the Arab world, peace with the reasonable Islamic forces (like Hamas and the Muslim Brothers, who are quite different from al Qaeda), peace with the leaders who are about to emerge in Egypt and everywhere.

In an interview from her native Syria, Atassi shares her views on the need for political reform in her country:Aljazeera

Suhair Atassi is an outspoken Syrian activist living in Damascus. She runs the Jamal Atassi Forum group on Facebook, an extension of the banned Jamal Atassi Forum. The forum calls for political reforms in Syria and the reinstatement of civil rights and the cancellation of the emergency law that has suspended constitutional rights since 1963.

In an email interview with Al Jazeera, she shares her views on the need for political reform in her country.

She also describes how she and other activists were attacked during a vigil held in Damascus in solidarity with the pro-democracy protests in Egypt. Human Rights Watch has condemned this incident, which came as activists on Facebook and Twitter called on Syrians to take to the streets to protest against the government on February 4 and 5.

Were you involved in the campaign calling for demonstrations to be held in Syria February 4 and 5?

No. I called for a peaceful sit-in on February 3 in protest against the systematic looting and the continuing monopoly of Syria's two mobile phone operators, MTN and Syriatel.

Was there any intimidation of activists ahead of February 4? Did you receive any warnings not to participate?

I don't know about February 4. I have received threats for having participated in "A candlelight vigil for Egyptian demonstrators" and for calling for a peaceful sit-in against MTN and Syriatel. Threats began on January 27.

Were there any demonstrations anywhere in Syria that weekend?

Personally I did not hear about any sit-ins that took place in Damascus (where I live) on February 4 and 5. Streets were only filled with security forces.

Why do you think there were no big demonstrations?

Syria has for many years been a 'kingdom of silence'. It has witnessed an uprising known as 'Damascus Spring' which was soon suppressed by the authorities. The so-called 'Spring' lasted only for a few months and was quashed by a mouth-muzzling policy, with arrests and martial law, pre-decided trials dominated by security services, as well as discharges from work and travel bans. The state of emergency is still hanging as a sword above the necks of citizens. Fear is dominating people’s lives, despite poverty, starvation and humiliation. We do not expect that people can easily break the barrier of fear and silence."

]The Damascus Spring was a period of intense political and social debate in Syria which started after the death of President Hafez al-Assad in June 2000 and continued to some degree until autumn 2001, when most of the activities associated with it were suppressed by the government[

Do you think Syrians want change?

"The state of emergency is still hanging as a sword above the necks of citizens. Fear is dominating people’s lives"

I think Syrians are not satisfied with the reality of their lives. The Syrian regime has established in the minds of people such terrible dualism: 'to keep the regime or descend into chaos' as if it is the guarantor of stability in the country. It is merely cosmetic stability strongly imposed by using repression and fear. People are afraid of repeating Iraq’s scenario. Despite the intense resentment they have reached, they are afraid of change for the worse. Is there anything worse? That is the question. Is Iraq’s model the only model of change?

I think what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt has changed the equation and restored faith in people to bring change by their own hands and for their interests. When I was on my way to attend a sit-in against Syria's only mobile phone operators, the MTN and Syriatel, I explained to the taxi driver where I was going and why. He told me: 'Please organise a demonstration against the high cost of diesel prices. The cold is killing us'. I asked him: 'Are you ready to demonstrate with us against the high diesel price?' He replied 'I’m afraid of being arrested because I’m the only breadwinner for my family!'"

Egypt's Military-Industrial Complex: Why the Generals Wield Such Power :Ken Stier

As a result, says Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University, "I don't think we are going to have neoliberal, Western-style economic reform in Egypt. I think there is going to be a return to some aspect of state-led development so the part of the economy that is controlled by the military may well be reinforced for some time."
All eyes turned to Egypt's military as protests shook the regime and President Hosni Mubarak's grip on power. Described again and again as the most trusted and stable of the country's institutions, it is, at the same time, one of the most mysterious and veiled. It is also one of the most powerful and untouchable. While the Cabinet and ruling party were revamped, the military portfolio remained the same. Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi remains both Defense Minister and Minister of Military Production, which makes him, in effect, CEO of a vast military-run commercial enterprise that seeps into every corner of Egyptian society.

It's hard to overstate how entrenched the military is. It is universally hailed for its heroism fighting against the colonial British, and later against the Israelis. Virtually all Egyptian families have contributed officers or conscripts to its ranks, which number nearly half a million soldiers in uniform and about the same number in reserves. The military also fields and sponsors several of the country's most popular sports organizations. And, during recent bread riots, it helped mollify angry crowds by ramping up production from its own bakeries.

But despite the military's predominant role, the Egyptian public knows remarkably little about how the military actually operates. That's because writing about the military has long been off-limits to the press. The secrecy begins with the military budget, which Jane's estimates to be about $5 billion. However, one independent researcher has calculated that actual military expenditures could be four or five times larger. Part of the budget is made up of U.S. military assistance of $1.3 billion annually that provides financing for Egypt's major weapons systems. (The funding must be spent on U.S. goods and services and is therefore effectively a subsidy for U.S. defense contractors.) As for the parliamentary committee responsible for overseeing those expenses, it is stuffed with police and military officers; the prospects for meaningful civilian oversight anytime soon are dim.

Then there is the military's role in the economy. Military factories first sprang up in the 1820s to produce uniforms and small arms. Their role expanded with the state-led economy from the early 1950s and was consolidated when the military needed to place hundreds of thousands soldiers downsized after the peace agreement with Israel. (At that point, the active military had numbered about 900,000.) Now, military-run firms hold strong positions in a wide range of key industries, including food (olive oil, milk, bread and water); cement and gasoline; vehicle production (joint ventures with Jeep to produce Cherokees and Wranglers); and construction, in which it benefits being able to deploy conscripts during their last six months of service. Another source of the military's untold wealth is its hold on one of this densely populated country's most precious commodities: public land, which is increasingly being converted into gated communities and resorts. The military has other advantages: it does not pay taxes and does not have to deal with the bureaucratic red tape that strangles the private sector. (The military's corporate reputation is mixed: one of efficient management but with a Soviet-style focus on meeting production quotas vs. generating profits.)

There are widely divergent estimates of the size — and quality — of the military's business empire. Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies says it is proportionately smaller than that played by the People's Liberation Army in China. He also says it has shrunk in recent years. But Paul Sullivan, a National Defense University professor who has spent years in Egypt, says it is huge, probably accounting for 10% to 15% of Egypt's $210 billion economy.

The revenue streams from its various holdings help the military maintain the lifestyle its officers have grown accustomed to, including an extensive network of luxurious social clubs as well as comfortable retirements — all of which helps ensure officer loyalty.

This structure of economic power and patronage came under threat from the attempts of Gamal Mubarak, the President's son and heir presumptive, to reform Egypt along lines that skirted the generals. The military was particularly incensed that a key ally of Gamal's, Ahmed Ezz, was able to snap up state-owned steel assets, strengthening his commanding position in the industry. Not only was the military interested in the same firms, but as a major buyer of steel it would be vulnerable to Ezz's ability to impose near monopoly pricing.

Samer Shehata, an Egyptian academic at Georgetown University, notes that the military had started putting the brakes on Gamal's reforms in 2008. The generals pointed to the hundreds of labor strikes the economic changes had unleashed. "They said this was becoming an issue of national security," says Shehata. In fact, a key protest group organizing on Facebook took its name — the April 6 Movement — from an April 6, 2008, strike by textile workers in a key industrial city in the delta that was brutally suppressed by the regime.

Now, the bureaucratic upheaval that has come with the uprising appears to benefit further the old-guard military figures who opposed Gamal and his business associates. Many of the allies of the President's son had risen to high ranks in the ruling National Democratic Party, including Ezz, who was a member of parliament. Now, Ezz and several of the high-ranking party officials — alleged cronies of Gamal — are under investigation and barred from traveling overseas, their bank accounts frozen. Many are believed to be supporters — and major beneficiaries — of the privatizations that were part of Gamal's aggressive economic liberalization policies.

As a result, says Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia University, "I don't think we are going to have neoliberal, Western-style economic reform in Egypt. I think there is going to be a return to some aspect of state-led development so the part of the economy that is controlled by the military may well be reinforced for some time."

Indeed, the military may evade any of the reforming that is being promised as part of the government's concession to the protesters. If a public-security institution is in for reform, it is most likely going to be the Interior Ministry, which has, according to Khalidi, a "mind-boggling" number of secret units that can turn out tens of thousands of men on the streets in any city overnight. The Interior Ministry is controlled by the General Intelligence Service, which is run by General Omar Suleiman, the military man recently appointed Vice President and entrusted with overseeing some sort of promised transition. "This way, the military has its cake and eats it too, basking in popularity and general support while other elements of the regime that are, in fact, subordinate to the military, absorb popular anger," says Robert Springborg, an expert on the Egyptian military now at the Naval Postgraduate School. Says Khalidi: "I would be very surprised if anyone — even the Muslim Brotherhood — is going to mess with the military for the foreseeable future even if there is really a democratic transition."

But the military does need reforming. In recent years there has been more and more grumbling from midlevel ranks that professionalization is taking a backseat to maintaining the military's hold on influence in the regime. That's what is behind the observation, cited in a U.S. embassy in Cairo cable revealed by WikiLeaks, that Field Marshal Tantawi is perceived to reward loyalty over competence. According to WikiLeaks, the Defense Minister is sometimes disdainfully referred to by midlevel officers as "Mubarak's poodle."

Ils lui ont pissé dessus et il a été condamné à huit mois de prison: Machsom Watch

L’humiliation est quelque chose de subjectif ; cela dépend de nos représentations personnelles. Pour moi par exemple, ce qui me semble le plus humiliant ce n’est pas qu’ils aient pissé sur lui mais qu’ils l’aient mis tout nu. Au début le père de Mohammad avait honte de nous dire qu’ils lui avaient pissé dessus.


Maltraiter et martyriser des enfants a toujours été le point fort des soudards et flics israéliens dont le sadisme n’a d’égal que leur couardise...Il ne pouvait pas prononcer ces mots là tout haut, je crois que pour lui c’était la chose la plus humiliante qu’ils aient faite à son fils.

Quel genre de personnes, je me demandais, appréhendent un enfant de 13 ans et le torturent de la sorte. Et puis je me suis répondu : à peu près n’importe quel soldat israélien. N’importe quel soldat de l’armée israélienne se conduit ainsi avec les Palestiniens. N’importe qui, en fait, si les règles locales le permettent.

La première fois que je l’ai vu, c’était dans le hall numéro deux de la Cour militaire de "Ofer". C’est là qu’on juge les enfants : 20, 22, 23 enfants par jour. Les enfants et les adolescents arrivent par groupe de deux, trois et parfois quatre, en tenues de prisonnier marron, leurs pieds entravés, menottés à l’enfant suivant.

Je l’ai tout de suite remarqué parce qu’il avait les cheveux joliment bouclés, l’air très jeune et parce qu’il pleurait. Je ne veux pas dire que les autres enfants ne pleurent pas, du moins les plus jeunes. Mais, d’après ce que j’ai vu, ils pleurent rarement ouvertement ; lui, n’essayait même pas de retenir ses larmes ni de les cacher.

Le plus souvent ils sont conduits devant la Cour militaire pour qu’elle statue sur la prolongation de la garde. C’est la procédure, même pour les enfants. Peu importe ce dont ils sont accusés et la nature des preuves qui ont conduit à leur arrestation. De fait, quelque soit le rôle de cette Cour militaire, ce n’est certainement pas de trouver la vérité ni de décider de la punition adéquate. Surtout quand on sait que les arrestations sont effectuées au milieu de la nuit, généralement sur simple dénonciation de quelqu’un qui n’est souvent qu’un enfant lui-m. Ils sont accusés le plus souvent d’avoir lancé des pierres ou des cocktails Molotev improvisés. Et cela suffit pour les arrêter sans leur donner même la faculté d’être libérés sous caution, jusqu’à la fin de la procédure. Qui dure plusieurs mois. Au moins trois. Puis un jour on les juge et on les déclare presque toujours coupables. C’est le chef d’accusation qui tient lieu de preuve.

They pissed on him and he got eight months: HR

Humiliation is a subjective matter, depending on people’s personal symbols. For me, for example, what feels most humiliating is not the fact that they urinated on him, but that they stripped him naked. At first Mohammad’s father was ashamed to tell about the pissing. To even say these words out loud. I think that for him, that was the most humiliating thing they did to his son, more than all the other things.
What kind of person, I wonder, takes a 13-year old boy no matter why, and tortures him like this. And then I answer myself, almost any Israeli. Any soldier in the army when it comes to Palestinians. Any person, in fact, if only the local codes designate that it’s permissible.

The day I first saw him was one of those Mondays at the ‘Ofer’ military court, in hall number 2. That’s where the children are tried. 20, 22, 23 children a day. Children and youths arrive in groups of two, three, sometimes four, wearing brown prisoners’ garb, their feet chained, one hand shackled to the next boy’s hand.
I noticed him in particular because he had soft, round curls, and because he looked very young, and because he wept. Not that others don’t weep from time to time, of the younger ones, I mean. But at least as far as I’ve seen, not weeping openly like this, without attempting to hold back the tears or hide them.

The military court is about prolonging custody, most of the time. This is the system, even when it comes to children. Regardless of what the detainee is accused of, or what kind of evidence has brought to his arrest. In this sense, be the role of the military court as it may, it certainly has nothing to do with seeking the truth and respective punishment. Not when children are picked up in their homes in the dark of night, usually as a result of someone else having incriminated them, someone who often is but a child, like them. Usually for throwing stones, or hurling improvised Molotov cocktails. And for this they are arrested, without an option of release with bail, until the end of the proceedings.

Egypt's army 'involved in detentions and torture'Military accused by human rights campaigners: Chris McGreal

Army officers escort a prisoner away from Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. The military – accused of involvement in torture – has always claimed to be a neutral force in the conflict. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

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 apart. But human rights campaigners say this is clearly no longer the case, accusing the army of involvement in both disappearances and torture – abuses Egyptians have for years associated with the notorious state security intelligence (SSI) but not the army.

The Guardian has spoken to detainees who say they have suffered extensive beatings and other abuses at the hands of the military in what appears to be an organised campaign of intimidation. Human rights groups have documented the use of electric shocks on some of those held by the army.

يا فرحة اسرائيل بيك يا سليمان يا بن تفيدة هانم ... روح منك لميدان التحرير

كشف موقع ويكيليكس الالكتروني للتسريبات عن برقية دبلوماسية أمريكية تشير إلى أن اسرائيل تنظر منذ وقت طويل إلى عمر سليمان نائب الرئيس المصري على أنه المفضل لديها لخلافة مبارك في الحكم.

Egyptian Publishers Stand up for Freedom

As the Board of the International Publishers Association (IPA) commences its meeting on 10 February 2010 in Paris, IPA and its Egyptian member, the Egyptian Publishers Association (EPA), have issued a joint declaration calling on Egyptian authorities to respect freedom to publish, to investigate the murder of journalist and publisher Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud, and to allow the establishment of an independent Cairo book fair, free of interference. EPA has also announced the immediate creation of an independent freedom to publish committee to address freedom to publish issues in the country. IPA hopes that this action taken by EPA will serve as a model for other publishers associations in the region to follow.

Bjorn Smith-Simonsen, Chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, declared: “All publishers call on Egyptian authorities to protect Egyptian and foreign journalists, writers and publishers and publishing houses in the exercise of their work, to formally end any form of restrictions on book importation and circulation in Egypt, and to launch an immediate and independent investigation of the attacks on journalists, photographers and publishing houses in January and February, specifically to identify and prosecute those responsible for the death of Publisher Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud of Dar Al-Lataef for Publishing and Distribution”.



YoungSuk “Y.S.” Chi, IPA’s President, added: “The current situation in Egypt, the world’s largest Arab nation, presents a unique opportunity to transform restrictions on publishing and expression. As this transformation occurs, the publishers of the world hope that we will see the emergence of an independent and free publishing system. IPA would also like to congratulate its Egyptian member, the Egyptian Publishers Association, on its establishment of a national freedom to publish committee to promote freedom to publish and address issues related to it. It is the sincere hope of the IPA that publishers associations throughout the rest of the region will soon follow suit”.



Finally, Ibrahim El Moallem, IPA’s Vice President, whose personal safety has been compromised for the role that he and his newspaper have played in demonstrations against the Egyptian government over the past two weeks, commented: “For many years, Egyptians have endured grotesque violations of essential human rights, like freedom to publish and freedom of expression. The current revolution has been initiated by the youth of Egypt who are reclaiming the integrity of the country and are ready, and I believe, able to take control of their own destiny. The current situation in Egypt presents an incredible opportunity for me and my fellow Egyptians to establish the rights we deserve. I am thankful for the support of the world’s publishers and hopeful that publishers throughout the region will take similarly bold actions”.

Lessons from IMF’s Egypt blunder : John Dizard

I love it, open hunting season on the IMF!


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e32e292-3092-11e0-9de3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1DYr8spgZ


Lessons from IMF’s Egypt blunder
By John Dizard
Published: February 6 2011 09:41 | Last updated: February 6 2011 09:41
Some people in Frankfurt and Brussels have greater faith than I in the value of multilateral oversight of stressed euro area countries. Let’s consider how well the International Monetary Fund did on predicting the current toxic mess in Egypt.

By now we have heard enough street interviews with articulate Egyptian rebels to know they are driven to desperation by economic and social stagnation. The last straws were, apparently, the recent rise in food prices, and the example of their Tunisian neighbours.

The risk of a social explosion would have been obvious to educated observers with inside knowledge of the local economy, right?

Not to the IMF. Take a look at its last Country Report on Egypt, published in April of last year. Strictly speaking, it is a “staff report” on the Article IV annual consultations with the Egyptian authorities that had ended on February 16, rather than an opinion of the IMF’s executive board. So it is both authoritative-sounding, yet deniable at any convenient point in the future, the ideal for an international bureaucratic statement.

The first point the report makes is that “Sustained and wide-ranging reforms since 2004 had reduced fiscal, monetary and external vulnerabilities, and improved the investment climate. These bolstered the economy’s durability, and provided breathing space for appropriate policy responses”.

In the previous year, the staff collectively goes on, “economic performance was better than expected, although headline inflation remains elevated . . . as the recovery gains strength, the focus of policies can shift back toward fiscal consolidation and other growth-oriented reforms”.

Not that the all-seeing Fund didn’t anticipate some possible future problems. As the report cautions: “Capital inflows, if continued, will complicate monetary policymaking.” This “real appreciation driven by short-term capital flows could weaken medium-term growth prospects”. Somehow, I think, Egypt is going to avoid the problem of excessive capital inflows in the short term. But thanks for the thought.

These aren’t quibbles about minor inaccuracies, or arguable ideological differences. There were imminent, overwhelming problems that either evaded the IMF’s attention, or that it chose not to report. So European leaders might want to reconsider whether they can depend on the IMF to act as a monitor, let alone arbiter, of good macroeconomic policy for member states.