Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 29, 2011

The violent riots in Egypt over the past days against the nation’s longtime president Hosni Mubarak have left at least 62 people dead and thousands more injured. The government has shut off Internet access to the entire country, at least one museum has been looted, and the Pyramids have been closed to tourists.

Thousands upon thousands are demanding Mubarak step down or be removed from office — this is the biggest anti-government protest the nation has seen during this administration. At least one American left-wing media hack is blaming this on — wait for it — George W. Bush.

Mass Protests Clog Egypt, Pres. Names Deputy

Revolution: Deadly Protests Erupt in Egypt – 62 dead | January 28, 2011

Reported by Washington Post, Egyptian troops let protests proceed as Mubarak names vice president:

CAIRO – Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators swarmed central Cairo on Saturday in the largest demonstration yet against the rule of the country’s longtime autocratic leader, President Hosni Mubarak. The crowd went unchallenged by troops, who, in extraordinary scenes unfolding around the capital’s central Tahrir Square, smiled and shook hands with protesters and invited them up onto their tanks.

Meanwhile, Mubarak named a vice president for the first time since coming to power 30 years ago, a government spokesman said – an apparent step toward setting up a successor other than his son, Gamal, whom he had appeared to be grooming for the post, despite public opposition. Mubarak chose as his deputy his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, a close confidant who is well-known to U.S. officials.

Even as protesters celebrated, word of Suleiman’s appointment disappointed those who had expected wholesale change. “He is one of Hosni Mubarak’s people, and we reject those people. The people should get to pick their leaders,” said Mohammed Abdel Rahman, 25.

The following video showing the protests in Egypt was created by Tamer Shaaban.

From The Sun, Day of Wrath in Egypt As 62 Killed – Troops Battle Rioters in Egypt:

The riots in Egypt will spread fear among British tourists already shaken by unrest in travel hotspot Tunisia.

Britons were last night advised “against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez” by the Foreign Office.

More than a million of us visit Egypt every year – many heading to the Red Sea resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

The country has proved hugely popular with families looking for value for money.

But if the problems continue, many will vote with their feet and opt for safer holidays closer to home.

It remains to be seen if the violence will make its way to the Red Sea. Few Brits will be willing to take a risk booking a destination where things may go terribly wrong.

From Christian Science Monitor, Egyptian army storms museum to protect from looters:

The Egyptian army secured Cairo’s famed antiquities museum early Saturday, protecting thousands of priceless artifacts, including the gold mask of King Tutankhamun, from looters.

The greatest threat to the Egyptian Museum, which draws millions of tourists a year, first appeared to come from the fire engulfing the ruling party headquarters next door on Friday night, set ablaze by anti-government protesters.

Then dozens of would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum, climbing over the metal fence or jumping inside from trees lining the sidewalk outside.

One man pleaded with people outside the museum’s gates on Tahrir Square not to loot the building, shouting at the crowd: “We are not like Baghdad.” After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, thieves carted off thousands of artifacts from the National Museum in Baghdad — only a fraction of which have been recovered.

Suddenly other young men — some armed with truncheons taken from the police — formed a human chain outside the main entrance in an attempt to protect the collection inside.

“I’m standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure,” said one of the men, Farid Saad, a 40-year-old engineer.

Another man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it “has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we’ll never find it again.”

From Associated Press, Internet cutoff fails to silence Egypt protests:

NEW YORK (AP) — In its effort to silence protesters, Egypt took a step that’s rare even among authoritarian governments: It cut off the Internet across the entire country.

The nation’s four main Internet providers all went dark, and cell phone service was suspended in some areas. But the drastic move did not stop demonstrators Friday, and it could backfire by fueling anger and chaos in the streets of Cairo and beyond.

Until now, Egyptians have had nearly open access to the Web.

“This is night and day,” said Robert Faris, research director at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. “They have gone from open Internet to no Internet, and that has got to be a big shock.”

Protesters are angry about the government of President Hosni Mubarak, so severing Internet and cell phone access only adds fuel to the fire, Faris said.

“This just calls into further question the government’s legitimacy,” he said. The political cost of acting so aggressively will make it “difficult for them to recover. But those are the tradeoffs.”

Many Egyptians, especially young people, have grown accustomed to using the Internet to discuss local issues, economic conditions and politics. The government has been able to censor traditional media, such as major newspapers, but small local publications and independent groups have enjoyed a vibrant presence online.

The shutoff is an “enormous regression for a country that has always had a very strong and very engaged civil society,” said Cynthia Wong, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Project on Global Internet Freedom. The Egyptian government “just can’t cut off the entire nation forever, even if it does serve short-term goals.”

Egypt is not the first country to shut off Internet service to quell dissidence and prevent the spread of embarrassing images.

From NY Daily News, Tear gas used in Egypt riots by police against protesters was made in the USA:

Tear gas being used by the country’s police on protesters in Cairo was made in the U.S., according to multiple reports.

Several canisters were recovered from a downtown square in the country’s capital with labels reading “Made in U.S.A.” It also warned those who come near the gas to “seek assistance as soon as possible,” ABC News reported.

Some of the tear gas expired in 2008, according to Egypt newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The tear gas was made by Combined Systems International, which is in Jamestown, Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for CSI told CNN that the company was doing nothing illegal by selling tear gas to countries like Egypt. He wouldn’t say how much tear gas the company sold to countries in northern Africa.

Egyptian security officials said at least 62 people have been killed in the country over the last two days of anti-government protests calling for President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

An additional 2,000 people have been injured in the protests, which have included violent clashes with tear gas. According to reports, at least one protestor with respiratory problems died Tuesday in Suez after inhaling tear gas.

Written by K. McCaffrey, posted at Legal Insurrection, Egypt on the Vanguard:

In Egypt, the internet has effectively been shut off. One of my favorite websites, www.accessnow.org/, which looks to preserve freedom by upholding internet access, is working hard on cracking this. (They also continually try to liberate freedom of information for Iranian citizens.) I really love the work they do and hope they have success so that we may learn more about what is happening in Egypt.

Whenever I see these types of censorship issues, I feel incredibly thankful to have been born in the US and incredibly sorry for those campaigning for freedom across the world. After all, opposition groups in oppressive regimes find their greatest success through sharing information. In many cases, totalitarian regimes operate through an intricate network of lies and coercement. (See also: The Stasi, KGB, North Korea…) This is not usually possible if there is contrasting evidence that is found to be more legitimate or credible. (For instance, the democratic Western way of living is probably more appealing when it’s portrayal is not perverted and monopolized by a megalomaniac religious zealot.) Our country isn’t perfect, but at least we don’t have to worry about being cut off from the web of information and communication that the internet provides. At least we can have arguments and conversations about our political persuasions. (Well, most of the time.)

From CNN International, Egypt protests draw mixed reaction in region:

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Saudi Arabia slammed protesters in Egypt on Saturday as “infiltrators” who seek to destabilize their country, while a a top Palestinian official affirmed “solidarity” with Egypt.

An official in Iran called on Egypt to “abide by the rightful demands of the nation” and avoid violent reactions.

And in Israel, a member of the Knesset, or parliament, described a recent conversation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that suggested that Mubarak had been expecting — and preparing for — the wave of unrest that has engulfed Egypt, the most populous Arab nation.

Leaders across the Middle East were following events in Egypt with rapt attention Saturday, aided in that endeavor by saturation coverage on Arabic television networks such as Al Jazeera. Many are on edge after protests in Algeria, Jordan and Yemen following unrest in Tunisia that forced that country’s president from office after two decades in power.

[...]

Some staff members at the Israel Embassy in Cairo plan to stay in Egypt, but some of their relatives and other Israeli citizens have flown back to Israel, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Real time updates… Al Jazeera Blog, Live blog 29/1 – Egypt protests:

9:35pm Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that seven Egyptians died while trying to break into a police station in Beni Suef, 120km south of Cairo.

9:28pm According to Vodafone, cellular phone networks have started to resume functioning across Egypt’s capital.

8:49pm Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center tells Al Jazeera English that the protest movement is still leader-less but says that Mohamed ElBaradei is likely prepared to assume leadership of populist demonstrations.

8:16pm Ayman Mohyeldin reports how the new Mubarak appointees Shafiq and Suleiman have strong military credentials – suggesting slight departure from the previous economic-oriented cabinet to one that is more security-oriented.

7:42pm Key opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei says in speech: “We are seeking a change of regime. President Mubarak should step down. We should head towards a democratic state through a new government and free democratic elections…The whole world should realize that the Egyptians are not going home until their demands are realized…We are talking about taking down the Pharaonic dictatorship.”

7:38pm Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said “party thugs” associated with the Egyptian regime’s Central Security Services – in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons – have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number.

7:31pm The Egyptian military is now reportedly driving through suburbs trying to protect affluent homes from looters.

7:18pm Nick Spicer reports from Washington DC that protesters in front of the Egyptian embassy are calling for Mubarak to resign and an end to US support for the Mubark government.

7:14pm The Egyptian army urges protesters to abide by nighttime curfew and a spokesman says, “The Egyptian military is always obliged to protect Egypt and its people”.

[...]

5:29am Associated Press news agency is reporting that China has blocked the word “Egypt” from the country’s wildly popular Twitter-like service, while coverage of the political turmoil has been tightly restricted in state media.

5:13am The Egyptian army secured Cairo’s famed antiquities museum early on Saturday, protecting thousands of priceless artifacts, including the gold mask of King Tutankhamun, from looters.

4:17am Al Jazeera’s Amyman Mohyeldin says the streets of Cairo are “still abuzz” but peaceful. The curfew, which thousands have defied since it came into effect at 6pm yesterday, is in place until 7am.

3:25am PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, wrote this on Twitter a short while ago: As President #Obama said, ideas in #Egypt cannot be suppressed. The people want change and the government must respond to that aspiration.

3:06am A senior Muslim Brotherhood official tells Al Jazeera that Mubarak must resign immediately and that it’s time for the army to intervene and “save the country”.

3:00am Mubarak’s decision to sack the government does not seem to be enough to appease protesters. “The problem is he is a corrupt president and had a corrupt government and if he brings a new government is will also be corrupt since the system is all corrupt”, a man in Cairo tells Reuters. “It was never the government, by God, it is you that has to go, it is enough what you have done to the people,” says another protester.

2:17am Reuters reports that protesters stream back into Cairo’s central Tahrir square in their hundreds, despite a heavy military presence. The news agency says a small fire has been set at the Mogama building, housing several government offices in the square.

2:07am US President Barack Obama says: “I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters … The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association. The right to free speech and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights.”

1:38am Obama just spoke briefly and took no questions. He said that the first priority in Egypt was preventing violence and called for restraint on both sides. He said that Mubarak pledged greater democracy for Egyptians, but that he needed to “give meaning” to those words. He also said he spoke to Mubarak by phone and told him this directly.

1:13am A senior Mim Brotherhood leader speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic, our sister station, has said that Mubarak has to step down and the military should intervene.

From Atlas Shrugs, Egypt, Israel, Iran …..And if I might add:

FOX is reporting that Mubarak’s sons have left the country; Atlas told readers that last Wednesday. Read Atlas and get it right and get it first.

If the people of Iran took to the streets today, would Obama ignore it, and would the media report on it? Tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets again in Egypt, millions took to the streets in Iran. Brutal Islamic dictators. Obama say, “Respect it!”

I cannot understate the importance of Egypt to American interests and Israeli security. Egypt is arguably the second most important country to the US in the region.

Egypt is a secular government. The objective for all freedom-loving peoples in the world should be a transition to a new secular government. Will those elements in the protest movement be able to stave off Islamic supremacists? Iranian imperialism? I think not.

Iran has its hooves all over this.

ElBaradei is in league with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. His ruse must be exposed. Why was he allowed into Egypt?

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak named a vice president for the first time in his presidency. Mubarak named Omar Suleiman, his intelligence chief, who has led major foreign policy initiatives in Egypt, such as the Israeli/Gazastan peace process. Will this appointment take?

Thousands are protesting as we speak. Shots heard in Cairo. Police killed.

Categories: Government, International Relations, Social and Political Climate, Videos, Audio Files
Tags: anarchy, anti-government, Barack Obama, Cairo, Egypt, Egypt protest, Egyptian, Hosni Mubarak, Internet, Iran, Israel, Obama, Omar Suleiman, Pres. Obama, President Hosni Mubarak, protest, revolution, riot, riots, Tahrir square, video, YouTube