This is a diary for quick translation of various Arabic sources with up-to date confirmed as well as unconfirmed information about the ongoing demonstrations in the Arab world. You can find previous Arab sources diaries here.
These sources include phone conversations with Egyptian friends, the facebook Rassd News Network which seems to be coordinating some of the demonstrations in central Cairo. Other sources include forums associated with various Muslim Brotherhood affiliated political parties.
Omar Sulaiman is an unmitigated military fascist and if he is successful in undermining the revolution, then it is likely we will end up with at worst the Chilean experience under Pinochet, involving concentration camps assassinations and torture, and at best the Algerian experience with democracy where we saw the fall of the president and the emergence of a military dictatorship that precipitated a genocidal civil war.
No individual with a hint of humanity can support the ascendancy of Omar Sulaiman. Only the Obama administration can save Egypt from Omar Sulaiman and the military wing of the regime. The protesters and the democracy revolution cannot do this by themselves.
In my view, it is incumbent on the administration to make clear to the regime that its days have ended.
Tell the regime:
The regime has ended in all its forms and all its components: political, security, and oligarchy.
The regime must be compelled to negotiate, not reform and not constitutional amendments, but its own demise. A starting point could be for the administration to without delay clearly call for: the immediate release of all political prisoners, including those recently detained, before constitutional change.
As for us, progressive people of goodwill must speak loudly:
- We will not tolerate another Augusto Pinochet or Omar Sulaiman.
- We are not willing to see the ascendancy of the regime's military junta as we saw in Algeria.
- We will not put up with torture and the rounding up of protesters.
We with all our energy protect the democratic revolutionaries in Egypt.
I will now quickly translate an interview in al-jazeera with the Arab world's most prominent political pundit: Dr Azmi Bishara. al-jazeera has been interviewing him extensively at least once a night. And I am aware that the political leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood has been listening carefully and taking notes. I note that Dr Bishara in his book three years ago predicted the fall of Tunis to democracy and has been both accurate and influential in motivating protest leaders to adopt clear political programs. He has emerged as the Arab worlds champion of democracy and was one of the few people who payed careful attention to Obama's Cairo speech to the Muslim world.
Azmi Bishara: don't stop the revolution half way, we don't want the Algerian outcome. Don't negotiate but demand. Spread the revolution to the unions and all aspects of life. Convince the regime that its time has ended.
If the military wing of the regime takes over, then we will ses the start of assassinations, concentration camps...
Is it possible to negotiate the fall of a regime with the regime itself? It is impossible to convince a regime through negotiations that it should fall?
One negotiates with a regime once the regime has reconciled itself that it has already fallen. At that point one negotiates with the regime about the possibility of transition. But reiterating, you cannot go into negotiations attempting to convince an unconvinced regime that it should fall.
This regime in its actions and statements clearly is not convinced that it has fallen. On the contrary, the regime is attempting to strengthen itself and is attempting to reestablish its institutions. The regime is arresting protesters, arresting journalists, and reinforcing its presence around protesters. The regime is spreading misinformation and at the same time presenting scape goats from the regime's own party with the aim of obtaining some sort of credibility.
Essentially, what is happening now is that the security wing of the regime is sacrificing the political wing of the regime. Sacrificing even Mubarak's family. But the regime is not yet convinced that it has fallen.
Negotiations with the regime therefore has transformed into providing legitimacy for this regime.
Announcer: perhaps the regime does not want to fall but accepts that its leader (Mubarak) must fall
Azmi Bishara: That is not enough. Looking at the history of the various revolutions in the region and in particular the Algerian experience with democracy where Muslim political parties where operated within the law. What happened was that the regime did not fall, the military wing of the regime ascended and won. It has taken us a long time to get over this in Algeria.
But we now have the Tunisian experience to contrast with the Algerian revolution, which was more successful, though in my opinion stopped too early. Do we want the Tunisian outcome or the Algerian outcome in Egypt?
In the Algerian experience the president resigned but the military took over. And we experienced bloody conflict that has only recently ended.
In Egypt the masses of protesters are powerful and want regime change. And we may need to find a way for an honorable exit for the regime. But it is only on this issue that we should be negotiating. We need negotiations regarding ending the regime so that things don't get out of hand.
This cannot happen if the whole thing turns to multiplicity of minor demands and negotiations over who represents the protesters. We as Palestinians know this well and are experienced with this. This game of "who represents you?" and "who does not!" essentially is a game aimed at weakening the revolution. It is used by the regime strategically against the revolution: who does it invite? who does the regime bestow legitimacy to?
This quickly becomes competition among potential representative of the revolution whereby each offers the regime things so that the regime can in turn bless them as representatives of the revolution. This could happen within weeks.
Therefore, it is essential that this representation game be stopped now.
We must now enter in negotiations only about how the regime will end, which of course is not only about the resignation of the president (an important symbolic move only).
The people want regime change. What is the regime? It is its leadership symbols; Mubarak and his cohorts. There is the political party of the regime. And there is the security apparatus of the regime.
Announcer: Many consider the regime, symbolically, has fallen already including Dr Haikal [an important thinker]
Azmi Bishara: I agree that symbolically the regime has fallen. But the danger is that it is only symbolic and the security wing of the regime will overrun the revolution. We see great efforts on the part of the security apparatus of the regime to do this.
The tables, however, have to be turned. The revolution must tell the regime:
If you stay in power, it will cost the nation a billion dollars a day. Not that the protests continuing but you staying in power. You staying in power is costing the ordinary citizen. The revolution must go into attack mode. Every day that you stay in power costs the citizens.
This must become a revolution and not simply disobedience. For instance, the union of journalists must reject its leadership [see below]. Unions must meet and elect new leadership. Journalists must reject leadership imposed on them by the regime and Omar Sulayman himself. Workers in factories must take over those factories. Students in universities must take their rights that have been afforded to them by the courts.
The legitimacy of the mass protests must be imposed not only in the city square (midan at-tahrir) but in every aspect of life [in Egypt]. This is what can convince the regime that this is not simply protests with a few demands for reform. But it is a regime changing revolution.
There have been mistakes of trying to get legitimacy from the regime. Even our brothers in the Muslim Brotherhood have asked the regime to recognize the legitimacy of the protests.
Why do they need this? Do we need the regime to give the protests legitimacy? A certificate from the regime? Do we take the regime's charges that there is foreign influence in the protests seriously?
On the contrary we must accuse the regime of deriving its legitimacy from foreign influence. It is the regime that is foreign influenced and that has sold its legitimacy to foreigners. It allowed the United States to enter, lost sovereignty in the Saini and sold gas to Israel for a third of its market price.
There has been a great transformation that no one expected. The young protesters transformed the protests into a revolution but the old opposition parties are still playing the favoritism and demands game with the regime
I mean I suspect that some in the opposition, not the Muslim brothers, actually feel honoured to be meeting the regime.
The regime should now be in the position of asking for legitimacy from the people and not what is happening now. The representatives must be imposing conditions on the regime and not asking for favours
Conditions must be imposed on the regime. There must be demands for it to end.
Announcer: Has Omar Sulayman been successful in leading the political parties (negotiators) into negotiations over details? And the representation game? who comes? who goes? who negotiates? and who demands?
Azmi Bishara: That's right. This is a game that we know. We know how it ends [badly] Now before negotiations there should be a demand for instance:
- How can you negotiate with him before the political prisoners are released? Your comrades are in prison. Does it make sense to negotiate with the regime? One should demand that before we begin negotiations the regime should release all political prisoners. In particular, those who were arrested in the recent events. Some of whom are the leaders of April 6.
- You are negotiating constitutional change with the regime. The Emergency Laws are unconstitutional. Demand that the Emergency Laws be repealed before negotiating with the regime. The regime wants to get into negotiations over small constitutional details now. Negotiations about the president. Small constitutional adjustments. That is not a revolution! This is a constitutional debate that must be discussed in parliament. The regime should not be entrusted with changing the constitution. The regime is facing a revolution. This is not coherent. [Sarcastically] the regime says for instance "constitutionally because of this and that part of the constitution the president cannot be changed." Give me a break, this guy is unelected [what constitutional rights does he have?] This is not coherent and must be rejected.
The response should: be take your constitution with your regime. We need a new regime and a new constitution. Or a new parliament to change the constitution.
Therefore, we need to move to a new program in which the head of the constitutional court becomes transitional leader or any other independent person to oversee the transformation and to oversee parliamentary elections and the parliament will craft a new constitution or amend the constitution.
What are they doing negotiating constitutional changes with the regime? These guys used to change the constitution in one night. This regime used to call parliament and demand that they change the
constitution in whatever way they want. How can you negotiate with these people on constitutional issues?
I am disappointed that intelligent loyal people have been sucked in like this. This is a revolution and not a protest movement.
The revolution must not be stopped half way.
I know that this is difficult. But the leadership of the protesters have a responsibility to finish the job of this revolution.
Announcer: we have hear that young protesters do not not want to form representation and representatives so as not to become victims of minor details [in negotiations]
Look there is no doubt that a leadership will emerge. We have seen this leadership emerge. Look at the experience of the French revolution and of the Iranian revolution, which were taken to [fruition]
The revolutions that were stopped half way, like the Algerian democratic revolution [which saw the resignation of the president only and the emergence of military rule] were unsuccessful and very costly.
If the military wing of the regime takes over, then we will se the start of assassinations, concentration camps...
This ends my quick translation of the interview. It seems that the union of journalists has rejected its appointed president as suggested by Azmi in the interview. I will try and find the video of that wonderful event.
update: They are chanting in English in midan tahrir. I hope Obama is listening.
update: Protestors head towards parliamentary building. live video here
http://bambuser.com/...
update: workers unions join protests and cement factories (monopolies) steal factories (monopolies) as well as airforce factories taken over by workers. MB forum
update: unlike Cairo, in alexandria rhetoric is militant calling for exclusion of Mubarak and Sulaiman