"The collapse of the global marketplace would be a traumatic event with unimaginable consequences. Yet I find it easier to imagine than the continuation of the present regime."
- George Soros, (financial speculator and profiteer)
In light of recent events in Egypt yesterday April 6, 2008, the Center for Socialist Studies calls on supporters of freedom and justice everywhere in the world to show there support for victims of repression in Egypt. Mount pressure on the Egyptian dictatorship to release more than 800 detained yesterday including; more than 150 political activists (socialists, liberals, and Islamists), more than 600 protestors from Mahallah (mainly women and children) and Mahalah strike Committee leaders Kamal El-Faioumy and Tarek Amin- who are facing serious allegations of agitation which can lead to long prison sentences.
On the background of a call for strike on April 6th in Mahallah textile complex by the workers, political forces decided to support the strike through parallel symbolic work stoppage and peaceful protests. However, the Mubarak regime in retaliation decided to occupy El-Mahalla complex with security forces, abduct strike committee leaders Kamal El-Faioumy and Tarek Amin, arrest political activists of every political tendency in Cairo and other cities. Not able to suppress the protests, the Mubarak security forces used rubber-bullets, tear-gas, and live ammunition against Mahallah people who decided to protest on the streets of the city and in different villages, leaving at least two dead and hundreds injured.
As fighters in this struggle, the Center for Socialist Studies, calls on all activists and supporters of freedom and justice everywhere in the world to support us in our fight. The inspirational fight of the Egyptian working class over the past 18 months, which culminated in El-Mahllah events and the mass protests of yesterday –and the terrified reactions of the Mubarak regime- have proved our faith in the centrality of the working class to liberate Egypt from dictatorship and exploitation.
We call upon you circulate the news about the maximum repression and violence of the Mubarak regime, which left at least two killed in Mahallah, including a 9-year old boy. We call upon you to organize rallies and protests in front of the Egyptian embassy where you live and to send protest messages and letters against the Mubarak regime.
Long live the struggle of the working class!
April 7, 2008
Center for Socialist Studies-Cairo
Press Release
In light of the recent developments in Egypt yesterday April 6, 2007, the Center for Socialist Studies expresses its support for workers and activists who have been taking the lead in yesterday’s protests. Mahallah workers’ strike committee, which represents the 24,000 workers who organized two successful and inspirational strikes in December 2006 and September 2007, had decided to go on strike again on the 6th of April demanding better wages, an independent labor union (not run by state officials), and protesting the deteriorating living conditions and rising prices in Egypt. In support with Al-Mahallah strike, different political forces in Egypt and independent activists called for a general strike and the planned some peaceful protests in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. However, as usual Mubarak’s regime and its security forces could not tolerate the rising peaceful protest and the inspirational movement of Egyptian workers and decided to retaliate forcefully.
After failed negotiations and outright threats to the workers over the past week, Al-Mahallah textile complex was occupied yesterday with security forces in civilian clothes and workers were not allowed into there factory. Buses transporting workers to the complex were stopped and new steel gates with put up around the factory in addition to uniformed police and armored cars surrounding the complex. Strike leaders Kamal El_Faioumy and Tarek Amin were abducted by state security outside the factory. This was paralleled with extreme security measures in Cairo and other cities, where armored cars and thousands of riot police surrounded university campuses and major squares. More than 150 activists (Islamists, liberals and Leftists) were detained from their homes, workplaces and off the street.
Despite the repression, Socialist Students managed to mobilize huge on campus rallies, while opposition forces managed to organize another rally in front of the Lawyers’ Syndicate in downtown Cairo. Similarly, thousands gathered on the streets of Mahallah to protest the abortion of the strike. In response the police unprecedent violence against the protesters; beating, mass-arrests, and firing tear-gas and in some surrounding villages live ammunition. The police violence resulted in to deaths, more than 500 hundred arrested including children and women, and a number of serious injuries hospitalized.
Those arrested remain in custody with no charges. The two strike leaders Kamal El_Faioumy and Tarek Amin later on appeared in a state-security police office facing serious allegations of agitation and disruption of public order –which can lead to long prison terms.
The Center for Socialist Studies call on all supporters of freedom and justice to show there support for the detained and to mount pressure on the repressive Mubarak regime to free them.
Solidarity with the people of Gaza picket in Auckland
"Gaza needs food not bombs!" echoed through the streets of Auckland as 30 people joined a lively picket in solidarity with the people of Gaza today in the city centre. Organised by Students for Justice in Palestine, GPJA and Socialist Worker, it attracted huge support from passers by.
John Minto from GPJA condemned the collective punishment policy that the Israeli government was inflicting on the people of Gaza comparing it with the Bantustans of Apartheid South Africa. Joe Carolan from SW celebrated the people power revolt that ripped down the Apartheid Wall, comparing it to the revolt in Berlin in 1989, and warned that if Egypt's dictator Mubarrak used troops and riot cops to reseal Gaza's border, the revolt would spread into Egypt. Egypt is the second highest recipient of US military aid after Israel. Sahar Ghulkor from SJP thanked people for demonstrating their solidarity with Gaza with very little notice, and extolled us to build for two forthcoming days of action on march 1st and march 15th. March 1st will see a radical theatre group build an Apartheid wall and Israeli military checkpoint outside of Auckland's US consulate, and March 15th promises to be one of the largest anti war mobilisations in the city in years, building support for (a) an end to the occupation of Iraq, (b) solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine and (c) the withdrawal of all NZ troops from Afghanistan.
"gaza, Gaza, GAZA, GAZA!- Victory to the Intifada!"
You can also watch/listen at: http://www.democrac ynow.org/ 2008/1/24/ where_do_ the_presidential _contenders_ stand
As the news out of Gaza makes international headlines, Democracy Now! took a look at where the Republican and Democratic presidential contenders stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Democracy Now! spoke with Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah on 24 January:
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Chicago to Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of the online publication The Electronic Intifada, author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Ali Abunimah. Your response to what's happening now in Gaza, from here in the United States?
ALI ABUNIMAH: Well, I'd like to say that the suffering in Gaza has been so unremitting and so horrible and will continue. But I think we have to recognize and celebrate the resistance and the power of the people in Gaza. And we have to recognize that there has been a deliberate siege on them by Israel, a decision taken by the leaders of Israel to starve and inflict suffering on a million-and- a-half people.
The government of Egypt has been complicit in this. They could have opened the borders months ago. Israel has been besieging Gaza for almost two years in this way. Egypt didn't have to wait until Palestinians took matters into their own hands to free themselves from this barbaric siege.
The United States is complicit. And, by the way, Amy, this is another setback for the Bush Doctrine. The people of Gaza have been the victims of an experiment by the Bush administration and Israel, where, first of all, they had a democratic election. The US and Israel didn't like that result, so they tried to overthrow Hamas using Contra-style militias and using a starvation siege. Hamas turned the tables on them and got rid of those militias. So they decided to tighten the siege on the people of Gaza, and the people of Gaza decided to break out of it themselves.
But the thing we have to absolutely focus on is the responsibility here. Israel, as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip, remains fully responsible for everything that happens there. Under Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, passed, by the way, after the horrors of World War II, Israel is legally required to provide as much food, water, medicine and fuel as the civilian population needs.
And the excuse that the Israelis are using, that they're doing this in response to rocket fire, we know for a fact that Israel has rejected ceasefire after ceasefire put forward by Hamas and other Palestinian factions. We know for a fact that there are no rockets coming out of the West Bank. And yet Israel continues to carry out extrajudicial executions in the West Bank and military attacks on Nablus, on Balata refugee camp and all the other places in the West Bank.
We have to be clear that what Israel is trying to do is a massive experiment in ethnic cleansing to get rid of a million-and- a-half people who do not fit its demographic desires and the desire to remain a state where one ethnic group has special and better rights by virtue of its religion. That's what's going on.
AMY GOODMAN: Ali Abunimah, I wanted to ask you about the candidates in the United States. You're speaking to us from Chicago, so let's start with Barack Obama. The stances of the presidential Democratic and Republican candidates on the Israel-Palestine conflict -- I can't remember when in a debate they were asked about the mounting crisis there.
ALI ABUNIMAH: I don't know if they've been asked in a debate, but whenever they have been asked, they have all gone out of their way to express full support for what Israel is doing. Barack Obama is not distinguished from the rest of the pack, except by for how far he has moved to try to appease AIPAC and pro-Israel movements.
I remember, Amy -- I knew Barack Obama for many years as my state senator -- when he used to attend events in the Palestinian community in Chicago all the time. I remember personally introducing him onstage in 1999, when we had a major community fundraiser for the community center in Deheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. And that's just one example of how Barack Obama used to be very comfortable speaking up for and being associated with Palestinian rights and opposing the Israeli occupation. And just yesterday, he apparently sent a letter to Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador at the UN, to urge the US not to allow any resolution to pass criticizing Israel and saying how Israel was forced to impose this barbaric medieval siege on [Gaza].
None of the other candidates in the mainstream have spoken out for Palestinian rights. The only ones who have taken forceful positions opposing the current US strategy are Dennis Kucinich on the Democratic side and Ron Paul on the Republican side. The mainstream are all perfectly comfortable with the war crimes that Israel is committing, no matter how much they talk about human rights elsewhere.
AMY GOODMAN: Hillary Clinton, her view on the Israel-Palestine conflict, specifically also what's happening now in Gaza?
ALI ABUNIMAH: Again, we saw Hillary Clinton, the moment her political ambitions became pronounced, shift. You'll remember, when she spoke in the 1990s in favor of a Palestinian state, since then she has become one of the most anti-Palestinian hawks. For example, a couple of years ago, she went and staged a photo opportunity in an Israeli settlement by the apartheid wall and talked about how the wall was necessary. This wall, of course, which has been condemned as illegal by the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Israel to tear it down, Hillary Clinton went and stood in front of it and endorsed it.
And we've seen that time and again. John Edwards, the same, staunchly pro-Israel. On the Republican side, you have John McCain, who talks like a maverick on other issues, but on this one he has gone out of his way to offer full support for Israel. You have Huckabee, who is on the Christian evangelical right, that is historically not very friendly towards Jewish people, but is very strongly pro-Israel for reasons of biblical prophecy. And Huckabee, who is -- according to a report in The Jerusalem Post, talked about a Palestinian state in Egypt or Saudi Arabia, so really talking about the forced transfer or ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians as a solution. That, unfortunately, is the level of discourse.
And maybe it's because there's such a consensus in the mainstream on unconditional support for Israel, no matter how illegal its actions or how harmful they are to the United States, perhaps because there's such a consensus, that's why there's no debate.
AMY GOODMAN: Governor Romney?
ALI ABUNIMAH: Governor Romney, I haven't heard his specific words, except that he has been particularly outspoken in claiming that Islamic militancy, of which he claims Palestinians are a part, is the greatest threat to the United States. And what we've seen is this debate happening, this discussion happening in a broader context, Amy, where many of the candidates, not just on the Republican side, whereas they claim to be running against Bush or at least away from Bush, have actually absorbed some of the basic tenets of Bush's world view, which sees the United States and the West engaged in this massive civilizational struggle against Islam. It's a very dangerous and false idea.
And many Muslims feel that they are now the targets of a hysteria, which is similar or has even become worse than the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s, where Islamic militancy is under every bed and where any form of resistance, any form of resistance to US imperialism, to Israeli colonization and occupation, is defined as extremism. And there's nobody who's -- you're not even allowed to go and get food for your family from Egypt if you're starving without being called an extremist, without being accused of militancy or terrorism. That's level we've reached.
No resistance is permitted, Amy. But what we've seen from Gaza and what we've seen time and again in Lebanon is that resistance will continue, that people will not quietly accept the fate that has been designed for them in the boardrooms of the Pentagon and the White House and the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. People will resist.
AMY GOODMAN: Ali Abunimah, I want to thank you very much for joining us from Chicago, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada. His book is called One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
A staggering disparity in images has emanated from the Middle East over the past two weeks. While US President George W. Bush received a warm welcome during his tour of the Persian Gulf, Israel pounded Gaza killing over 40 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians. Bush participated in sword dancing ceremonies, watched the prowess of hunting falcons, and in the United Arab Emirates he was finally greeted with the flowers that he once believed American troops would receive in Iraq. The obscene displays of wealth and extravagant gifts by the Gulf states, whose coffers are flush with cash from near-record oil prices, contrasted sharply with the images of death and destruction unleashed on impoverished Gaza. This was compounded by Israel's total closure of the tiny strip late last week, leaving the 1.5 million Palestinian inhabitants with dwindling food and fuel supplies. As the only power plant in Gaza shut down Sunday night, Palestinian children in a candle-light march covered by Al Jazeera asked, "Where are the Arabs?" Yet, the Arabs weren't the only ones absent from the scene. Indeed, Gaza appears to have been abandoned by the entire world, further revealing the state of fragmentation and isolation of the Palestinian national movement.
Responding to the crisis, the Arab states again demonstrated their impotence and callous disregard for Palestinian suffering. In the diplomatic equivalent of a sword dance, an emergency meeting of the Arab League was held in Cairo on Monday. The result was a request by the League that the UN investigate Israel's actions. [1] However, it is unlikely that any such investigative body will be created. Even if impaneled, it is unlikely to have any impact, as was demonstrated with the UN investigative committee into Israel's 2002 invasion of the Jenin refugee camp.
Displaying the height of cynicism, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak deployed 300 riot control troops to the Rafah border crossing rather than send food or fuel. Egypt, which has come under pressure from Israel and the US Congress for its inability to stop black-market tunnel traffic into Gaza, clearly wanted to demonstrate that while it publicly denounced the closure and privately mediated with the Israeli government, it was not about to unilaterally lift the siege. Instead, Hamas demonstrated on Wednesday that it could, as its militia destroyed 200 meters of the metal barrier separating Egyptian and Palestinian Rafah, allowing Palestinians to stream through and get needed supplies. Mubarak later claimed he ordered his troops not to interfere and that Palestinians could "come in and buy food" and return to Gaza as long as they were unarmed. [2]
Not to be left out, the UN held its own diplomatic sword dance in New York on Tuesday. Ambassador Riyad Mansour of the Palestinian Observer Mission to the UN, who five months ago blocked an effort by Qatar and Indonesia for a Security Council Resolution on the pending humanitarian crisis in Gaza, finally found the "specific need" absent in August. [3] Mansour called the situation "absolutely untenable" and argued that Israel was "creating a humanitarian catastrophe. " [4] However, the resolution faltered in the Security Council, like many before it due to American pressure. Instead, the Security Council expressed "deep concern" in a non-binding and ultimately meaningless Presidential Statement. [5] While world leaders converged on Paris last month to shower money on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to bolster the "peace process," their silence on Gaza is deafening.
Back in Washington from its trip to the region, the Bush administration appears content to give Israel free reign and diplomatic cover in Gaza. Indeed, the escalation of Israeli military incursions and attacks began with Bush's arrival in Tel Aviv and climaxed last week as the trip was winding down. In his joint press conference appearance with Abbas, Bush called Gaza a "tough situation" that was unlikely to be "solved in a year." [6] The time table for that solution appears to have accelerated.
Rocket fire from Gaza has provided Israel with a convenient excuse to pursue punishing attacks and tighten its siege of the territory. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert justified Israel's actions by stating that "a war is going on in the south, every day, every night." [7] Meanwhile, Israel's supporters in the US, echoing Israeli government spokesmen, argue that Israel cannot be expected to sit still while its cities are targeted by Palestinian rockets. Yet, no rockets have emanated from the West Bank and the occupation not only continues there, it is further entrenched through settlement expansion, continued construction of the Apartheid Wall, and near daily military incursions, arrests and assassinations. All of this occurring under the watchful eye of American mediators designated to judge Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the terms agreed at November's Annapolis conference. After Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel claimed that Hamas had an "interest in exaggerating, " Israel relented slightly by allowing enough fuel to restart Gaza's power plant on Tuesday. [8] However, implicit in the shipment was the threat of continued cuts and closures.
Perhaps most disturbing of all has been the actions of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA). While Abbas has publicly uttered words of sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza and condemnation of Israeli actions, privately his officials have continued their ongoing whispering campaign against Hamas. An anonymous PA official explained to The Jerusalem Post that "'We hope the residents of the Gaza Strip will now realize that Hamas has only brought disaster upon them'" and added, "'the only way to resolve the crisis is by getting rid of Hamas.'" [9] More telling has been Abbas' unwillingness to suspend negotiations with Israel until the blockade is lifted. If Gaza's children ponder Arab inaction, the same can surely be said for the PA in Ramallah.
Nor is Hamas blameless in this crisis. It has been almost two years since its stunning election victory, and the movement has yet to decide whether it wants to be a resistance movement or a government -- it cannot be both. If it is solely a resistance movement then it must begin to elucidate a clear political and military strategic vision for its followers, other political factions and the Palestinian people as a whole that demonstrates how it will achieve its goals. If it is an elected representative government, then it must begin to compromise and accommodate alternate points of view, even those it disagrees with. In addition, the movement cannot continue to behave like the opposition party when it has assumed the role of governing authority in Gaza. Although Israel bears ultimate responsibility as the occupying power in the West Bank and Gaza, Hamas wanted and took control of Gaza, and is at least partially responsible for the actions that occur within the territory and the consequences for the population. While this does not excuse Israel's brutality or the criminality of its actions, the Palestinian people are owed an explanation from Fatah, Hamas and the other factions for the political and military strategies they pursue and their implications. The failure of these groups to reconcile and their continued adoption of tactics that have proven to be detrimental to the national movement demonstrate their selfish myopia and expose their negligence and incompetence.
As the region is gripped by the coldest winter in memory, the sword dancing will continue. Gaza will remain under siege with Israel allowing the minimal amount of food and fuel supplies into the territory, attempting to slowly punish the Palestinians living there. The US, the EU, the UN, the Arab League, and even other Palestinians will sit back and allow it to happen in a conspiracy of silence and complicity. One can only hope that the people of Gaza will forgive the world's silence and inaction. But they have no reason to, nor should they.
Osamah Khalil is a Palestinian- American doctoral candidate in US and Middle East History at the University of California at Berkeley, focusing on US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Over 2,000 Egyptian activists were arrested today as they attempted to assemble a peaceful demonstration in front of the Arab League in downtown Cairo.
The demonstration was to protest at the latest atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It had been called by the Socialist Alliance – a coalition of leftist organisations and individuals – and was supported by Muslim Brotherhood members.
From Tuesday evening the government rounded up Islamist activists at their homes and workplaces in different governorates across Egypt, in an effort to abort the demonstration.
Among those seized was Dr Magdi Abdo from Cairo, who is still receiving treatment after a recent stroke – his whereabouts are not yet known. Also taken was Ali Abdel Fattah from Alexandria, who is a leading member of the International Campaign Against Zionist and American Occupation.
The arrests and violence climaxed on Wednesday morning when, according to eyewitnesses, subway stations were closed down and security forces randomly rounded up people around the neighbourhood.
State security forces still did not manage to stop the demonstration on Wednesday morning, despite using tear gas and mass arrests. More than 300 hundred activists were arrested on sight, including veteran left-wing activists, Shahenda Maqlad, Adel El-Mashad, Abdel-Ghaffar Shurk and Salah Adly.
As we write there is still a heavy security presence and arrests are continuing in downtown Cairo.
The exact number arrested should be known tonight or tomorrow morning, when the detainees arrive at the General Prosecutor’s office, and more statements are collected from demonstrators. Some of those arrested are in a security camp in Darasah, Cairo, but the whereabouts of others is still unknown.
Statement from the Centre of Socialist Studies, Cairo Wednesday 23 January, 4pm
