At the time
of this writing, the uprising against the Mubarak regime in Egypt was entering
its fourth day. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in
defiance of curfews and the country’s repressive state apparatus.
President Hosni
Mubarak gave a speech shortly after midnight Jan. 29. “I asked the government
to resign today and I will commission a new government to take over tomorrow,”
Mubarak said in a national address.
There was no indication that he would step down or leave the country.
The
Washington Post stated on Jan 28: “In some parts of the capital, the protests
appeared to grow more violent, and there were reports that demonstrators were
attacking government buildings and a police station. But in other parts, an
apparently festive atmosphere prevailed, as demonstrators warmly greeted newly
deployed army troops and urged them to join the protests. Unlike the police,
the military did not appear to be battling the demonstrators.”
On Jan. 28,
11 people were killed and over a thousand people were injured in protests, some
seriously with bullets, according to Al-Jazeera.
On Jan. 27,
demonstrators burned armored personnel carriers on Cairo streets at night, and
live video reports showed police security trucks driving wildly through crowds
of demonstrators. Gunshots and the firing of tear gas continued uninterrupted.
Protests
are also taking place in Suez, Alexandria and elsewhere. The Washington Post
reported that in Suez “thousands of protesters overwhelmed riot police after a
two-hour battle at a police station. The protesters hurled what appeared to be
gasoline bombs at armored personnel carriers, setting at least a half dozen of
the vehicles on fire with the occupants inside.” As the police fled, the
protester freed the prisoners held at the station and took weapons from the
station. (Jan. 28)
The actions
began with a day of protest planned for Jan. 25, a national holiday honoring
the police. The national day of protest was called by activists from across the
country inspired by the mass protests in Tunisia that led to the end of Ben Ali’s
23-year rule.
On that day,
about 50,000 Egyptians marched and rallied in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square
demanding an end to Mubarak’s regime. Similar protests took place in Alexandria
with 20,000 demonstrators and in Suez with another 20,000 protesters. The protests
continued with thousands sitting in Tahrir Square.
The
government reacted violently in an attempt to crush this expression of the will
of the Egyptian people. Riot police have used live ammunition, tear gas and
water cannons—but protesters have heroically fought back. Protesters chanted “Down,
Down with Mubarak!” as well as “May the dictator and the dictatorship fall,”
and “The people want to get rid of the system.”
The
Egyptian government declared a full-scale emergency law banning demonstrations
and deployed thousands of riot police and also blocked Twitter and other social
media in order to prevent activists from publishing the developments in Egypt
and communicating with each other. Interior minister Habib Al-Adli, stated late
Tuesday that riot police would be permitted to use lethal force against
demonstrators. Three protesters were killed Jan. 25; a figure that has
increased as the protests have continued and intensified.
The economy
is one of several factors that has led to popular outrage for its failure to ensure
reasonable living standards, including a decent minimum wage, health care and
education. Egypt suffers from an official unemployment rate of 9.4 percent; the
actual unemployment rate is much higher. The majority of college graduates are
unemployed or work in non-career related fields. Inflation was measured over 10
percent in December 2010. The cost of subsidized goods has increased, impacting
staples like bread, wheat and oil.
Repressive
measures such as police violence and lack of press freedom are legitimized by
the government through the emergency law passed under Mubarak after the
assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. Public gatherings and protests
are banned and outlawed; this was justified by the Egyptian government on the
grounds of protecting “national security.”
The
reaction of the United States to the uprising has been essentially supportive
of the Egyptian government, coupled with some lip service about “freedom of
expression” and “freedom of assembly” for Egyptians.
U.S. State
Department spokesman P.J Crowley said in an interview with al Jazeera that “Egypt
is an anchor of stability, friend, and an ally of the United States.” He
continued to state that the U.S. “wants to see a peaceful transitional into
democracy.” President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton urged
both the Egyptian government and protesters to “use restraint” and be “peaceful.”
The hypocrisy of these appeals has been illuminated by demonstrators in Cairo
holding up tear gas canisters marked “Made in the USA.”
Egypt has
been a very important client state of the United States since the so-called
Camp David Accord, signed between Egypt and Israel in 1979 under U.S. President
Jimmy Carter. Camp David created a U.S.-Israeli-Egyptian partnership and
removed the largest Arab country and the largest Arab army from the historic
Arab alliance.
The Sadat
regime and the Mubarak government that followed opened the door for the Israeli
invasion and occupation of Lebanon in 1982 and the intensification of Israeli
aggression against other Arab lands, especially the Palestinian people.
In recent
years, the Egyptian government cooperated with the Israeli regime, under the
watchful supervision of Washington, to maintain the murderous siege of the
people of Gaza. Egypt and Israel are the two primary recipients of U.S. foreign
aid.
It remains
to be seen where the present phase of the struggle of the Egyptian people will
lead. Washington, for its part, will seek to maintain a friendly regime in
Egypt—with or without Mubarak. The aspirations of the Egyptian people cannot be
fulfilled by any government acting on behalf of U.S. imperialism. Down with the
U.S.-backed Mubarak dictatorship! Long live the Egyptian struggle!
