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Middle East/Africa Protests Mothership #19: Mubarak Digs In His Heels

by Tahrir

Community

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 at 5:28:11am PST

RULES OF THE ROAD:

Join the discussion about the protests in the current Child Diary HERE.

The purpose of this Mothership Diary is to hold a place on the rec list and provide a link to the current child diary where we discuss the revolution unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa. Please do NOT comment here about the protests. However, if you publish a diary related to the events in the Middle East and North Africa, do leave a link below and your diary will be added to the list in the motherships.

Please remove your rec from Middle East/Africa Protests Mothership #18, so only one Mothership remains on the rec list (as a courtesy to the greater dailykos community).

Transitioning the Liveblog to DK4

A major change is coming to Daily Kos this weekend with the conversion of the site to DK4. It will make some big changes in how things look and to a lesser extent in how they are done. The Egyptian Protest Liveblog operation is working to be prepared for the conversion so as to minimize the disruption to the flow of information and discussion.

On DK4 we will operate under the umbrella of one of the new groups that will be available. Here is a link to a good diary that explains how groups will work in DK4.

http://www.dailykos.com/...

The name of our group will be Eyes on Egypt and the Region.

We will set it up as soon as we are able to get online with the converted site. People who want to keep up with the activities of the group should go find it and select it as a group you want to follow. Right now you search for groups and users with the same search function.

If you want to read diaries and post comments to them you will be able to do that as a DK user once they are published just like you do now. Being a follower will mean that when new diaries are published they will appear in your stream and you won't have to go looking for them. There will still be mother ship diaries that we will try to get on the rec list to inform people who are not group followers.

The actual members of the group will only be a few people who have taken on the responsibility of administration and organization. You don't need to be a member to participate in the discussions. People who would like to help with organizational functions can contact the group to offer their assistance.

Daily Kos: Markos & Meteor Blades Welcome New Users to DK 4 Groups

In DK3 nomenclature, groups are our diary series, projects, sub-communities, blogathons and live blogs. DK4 provides us with groups functionality just like the FP of DK4, which is another group blog.

Current Child Diary: standingup - Egypt Liveblog: Sunrise Feb 11: Sub-Diary #94

Child Diary Archive: #1 - #79
EGYPT LIVEBLOG ARCHIVE - Egypt Liveblog Archive

Previous Mothership Diary by conchita:
Ghonim Interview Must See

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Labor Unions Throughout Egypt Join the Protesters

Inspired by the Tahrir Square protests, employees organized strikes throughout Egypt. On Tuesday, February 8th, an estimated 6000 service workers on Suez went on strike. They were joined by unions spread across many industries, both labor and professional. Their demands ranged from political issues to workers rights and wage increases. Although not all called specifically for Mubarak to step down, the fact that the protesters have been joined by labor is a significant development.

A quick rundown includes: 500 employees outside the headquarters of the state-owned Rose al-Youssef newspaper and magazine; 200 journalists at the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo, around 500 print-shop employees at Al-Ahram newspaper; an estimated 5000 employees of the state-owned telecommunications giant, Telecom Egypt; over 100 workers at the state-owned Kafr al-Dawwar Silk Company and over 500 at the state-owned Kafr al-Dawwar Textile Company; approximately 4000 workers from the Coke Coal and Basic Chemicals company in Helwan; around 2000 workers from Helwan Silk Factory; in the Nile Delta City of Mahalla, some 1500 workers at the private-sector Abul Sebae Textile Company; some 2000 workers and employees of the Sigma Pharmaceuticals company; in Mahalla, Gharbiya, hundreds of workers from the Mahalla spinning company; more than 1500 workers at Kafr al-Zayyat hospital, also in Gharbiya; in Suez, more than 400 workers from the Misr National Steel company. More details regarding their demands are available in an Al Masry Al Youhm article (H/T under the bodi tree).

Update: Railroad workers join the strikers on Wednesday!

Wael Ghonim Inspires Largest Protest Yet on 2/8 After His Release

Ghonim, the Google executive who started the revolution when he founded the FaceBook page "We are all Khaled Said" was released on February 7th after a ten-day detention during which he was kept blindfolded. Immediately after being released he gave an intensely moving interview on Egyptian television which can be viewed in three parts below. You can also watch Ghonim's February 9th interview with CNN here. Most importantly, Ghonim reminds us that he is just one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of other political prisoners in Egypt who must be released.

The protests on February 8th, in response to Ghonim's release, were the largest yet. Scarce published a diary of phenomenal photos of the Tahrir Square February 8th protest. Spirits were high and protesters revealed the legendary Egyptian sense of humour. Unspeakable shares a few highlights of protesters mocking Suleiman's accusations that they are foreign agents.

On the 8th protesters expanded their encampment to the Parliament building, professors from Cairo University marched on Parliament Street, 6000 service workers went on strike in Suez, and state media workers are reportedly organizing a strike. They will march to the presidential palace on Friday.

The Egyptian protesters have formed a coalition and released a statement outlining their seven demands. Please share this with all who suggest that the protesters are not being clear about what it is they want to accomplish.

Egypt Statement: Coalition of youth of the revolution
Feb 6th, 2011

Fellow great Egyptian citizens ... We are your daughters, your brothers and sisters who are protesting in Tahrir square and other squares of Egypt, [and we] promise you not to go back to our homes until the demands of your great revolution are realized.

Millions have gone out to overthrow the regime, and so the matter goes beyond figures in particular to the whole administration of the Egyptian state, which was transformed from a servant of the people to a master of them.

We have heard the president’s disappointing speech. And really someone who has killed more than 300 youths, kidnapped and injured thousands more is not entitled to brag about past glories. Nor are his followers entitled to talk about the President’s dignity, because the dignity [of] life and security of the Egyptian people is far more valuable than any single person’s dignity no matter how high a position he holds.

Our people [have] live[d] though tragedy for a week now, since Mubarak’s regime practiced a siege against us, releasing criminals and outlaws to terrorize us, imposing a curfew, stopping public transportation, closing banks, cutting off communications and shutting down the Internet. But if it was not for the courage of Egyptian youths who stayed up nights in the People’s Committees it would have been a terrible tragedy.

We want this crisis to end as soon as possible and for our lives and our families’ lives to get back to normal, but we do not trust Hosni Mubarak in leading the transitional period. He is the same person, who refused over the past 30 years any real political and economic reforms, and he hired criminals to attack Tahrir square and the peaceful demonstrators there, killing dozens and injuring thousands – including women, elderly and children.

Also, we will not allow the corrupt to remain in charge of the state institutions; therefore, we will continue our sit-in until the following demands are realized:

1 – The resignation of the President, and by the way, this does not contradict the peaceful transition of power nor the current Constitution, which allows and organizes this process.

2 – The immediate lifting of the state of emergency and releasing all freedoms and putting an immediate stop to the humiliation and torture that takes place in police stations

3 – The immediate dissolving of both the Parliament and Shura Council.

4 – Forming a national unity government that political forces agree upon, which manages the processes of constitutional and political reform.

5 – Forming a judicial committee with the participation of some figures from local human rights organizations to investigate the perpetrators of the collapse of [the] state of security this past week and the murder and injury of thousands of our people.

6 – Military in charge of protecting peaceful protesters from thugs and criminals affiliated with the corrupt regime and ensuring the safety of medical and nutritional convoys to civilians.

7 – The immediate release of all political detainees and, in the forefront, our colleague Wael Ghoneim.

** This is a statement from the coalition of youth.

A Nile Lesson for the World
The rioters in Cairo's Tahrir Square and the Western commentators on those riots have both missed a vitally important component of Egypt's miseries: its excessive and rapidly rising population. With such population growth, even the wisest Egyptian ruler, the great Ptah-hotep, could not have achieved a rapid rise in the living standards of Egypt's people. We should not mock; if this problem is not attacked seriously and rapidly on a global scale, the world of the 22nd century may bear all too great a resemblance to today's downtown Cairo. - Martin Hutchinson, Asia Times (h/t kossack elliott)

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT THE EGYPTIAN PROTESTERS: Call the White House, the State Department, your Congressional representatives, and the Egyptian embassies. Tell them that the Egyptian government must immediately halt all violence against the protesters and tell Mubarak he must step down now. Updated list of phone numbers/emails below.

The White House

Please call the White House and urge President Obama to demand that Mubarak step down now and the attacks on the Egyptian protesters, journalists, and the museum stop immediately.

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
Webform for email: www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Congress

Contact your elected representatives and ask them to publicly demand that Egypt immediately halt all violence against the protesters and respect the freedoms of all Egpytians.

Senators: You can find contact information for your senators here

Representatives: You can look up your representatives here

Or simply call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Majority Phone: (202) 224-4651
Majority Fax: (202) 228-3612
Minority Phone: (202) 224-6797

Democratic Members of Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which must approve appropriations to Mubarak government:

* Senator Patrick Leahy (Chairman) (VT)
* Senator Daniel Inouye (HI)
* Senator Tom Harkin (IA)
* Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)
* Senator Richard Durbin (IL)
* Senator Tim Johnson (SD)
* Senator Mary Landrieu (LA)
* Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ)

UPDATE: Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the panel that controls foreign aid, said he’s prepared to stop all U.S. financial assistance to Egypt -- which topped $1.5 billion last year -- unless Mubarak steps aside immediately and allows a transitional government to take over.

"If he doesn’t leave, there will not be foreign aid; I mean, it’s as simple as that," Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, told Bloomberg Television in an interview yesterday. U.S. money "will not go to the Mubarak administration," Leahy said, adding, "that’s a pipeline that can easily be turned off."

Call Senator Leahy and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, with whom he is working, and thank them for taking a strong stand.

US State Department

Contact the State Department and urge that Hillary Clinton publicly demand that Mubarak step down now and the attacks on the Egyptian protesters, journalists, and the museum stop immediately. I have included all of the listings I thought might be helpful. Staffers have been surprised to hear from me, but they have also been responsive. Please be polite but firm in letting them know that we are watching and expect the U.S. to take a stronger stand.

UPDATE 1:
You can contact the US State Department at (202) 647-4000 or TTY:1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay Service), but you can only leave a message at this number. Additional offices culled from a phone directory on the State Department's web page are listed below.

Secretary Hillary Clinton 202-647-5291
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg 202-647-8636
Special Assistant to the Secretary and the Executive Secretary of the Department Stephen D. Mull 202-647-5301

UPDATE 2:
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA)
Assistant Secretary Jeffrey D. Feltman 202-647-7209 (I was told that my message would be given by Feltman to Hillary Clinton. Continue to call this office.)
Office of Egypt and Levant Affairs (NEA/ELA) Director Nicole Shampaine 5250 202-647-2670
Email: EgyptEmergencyUSC@state.gov (I called and was given this email by a representative at the task force office who assured me that my email would be sent up the chain of command.)

Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance
Deputy Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance Robert H. Goldberg 202-647-2608
Chief Operating Officer Wade Warren, Acting 202-647-2676

Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues
Ambassador-At-Large Clint Williamson 202-647-5072

Office of the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs and Coordinator
Under Secretary Maria Otero 202-647-1189

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Assistant Secretary Michael H. Posner 202-647-2126

Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Under Secretary Judith McHale 202-647-9199
Could not find a listing for PJ Crowley. If you have his contact info please post it below the tipjar.

Egyptian Embassies

UPDATE 3:
Contact the Egyptian embassies in the U.S. and tell the Egyptian government that the American people know what is happening in Tahrir Square. We can see it on television and in tweets. We condemn the violence and demand a stop to the attacks on and the killing of Egyptians and the harassment of journalists. The Egyptian embassy in New York is open from 9a-2p Monday through Thursday and 9a-3:15p on Friday with a break from 1-2:15p.

Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Press Office
Tel: 202 667-3402 - Call this number first
Tel: (202) 895-5400
Fax: (202) 224-4319/5131

Egyptian Consulate -- New York
1110 2nd Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Tel: (212) 759-7120/1/2

Egyptian Consulate -- Chicago
30 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Tel: (312) 828-9162

Egyptian Consulate -- Houston
2000 West Loop South
Houston, Texas 77027
Tel: (713) 961-4915/6, 961-4407

Egyptian Consulate -- San Francisco
3001 Pacific Avenue
San Francisco, California 94115
Tel: (415) 346-9700/2

Direct Actions/Petitions:
Sign the Avaaz petition "to stand with the people of Egypt in their demand for freedom and basic rights, an end to the crackdown and internet blackout, and immediate democratic reform. We call on our governments to join us in our solidarity with the Egyptian people."
CREDO Action (h/t cotterperson; description)
URGENT They're running out of medicine in Cairo; maxomai

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NEWS SOURCES:

Recommended Video Feed
Live Video Feed from Al Jazeera here

For those of you with a Roku set-top box, you can now apparently access Al-Jazeera English on your TV.

Recommended Twitter Feeds
#suez #egypt #jan25 #ioerror

Recommended News Streams:

The Guardian - Protests in Egypt Live Updates

The New York Times Lede blog

BBC - Egypt Live Coverage

New York Times Lede blog

opendna has posted a powerful twitter streaming tool which allows you to stream #jan25 and 'egypt' twitter feeds. Highly recommended.

simone daud has a new regularly-updated news feed Arab Sources (3rd February) from Arabic sources (mostly RNN and MB forums). Additionally, there are several other Arabic speaking Kossacks: soysauce, unspeakable, sortalikenathan, and fire bad tree pretty, that can help in translations or give context not necessarily being presented in English-language media. If anyone else can help with translations please let people know in comments.

weasel has a great diary up tracking uprisings and news from across the Middle East and North Africa

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In-Depth Blog Posts or News Articles: if you leave a link in a comment below, we'll add them here.

Claiming consensus: Omar Suleiman promises to hold protesters accountable via cotterperson

Google Goes Rebel, Supports Egyptian Protests via cotterperson

Richard Lyon has written The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt providing historical and political context.

Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet, Wired's guide to reconnecting.

Juan Cole's background analysis of the causes of Egypt’s Class Conflict, posted on 01/30/2011, is one of the most important articles for Americans to read right now, per NBBooks.

Mondoweiss has a series of posts on Egypt.

Boing Boing's own posts and their Egypt news roundup

The Angry Arab News Service (As'ad Abu Khalil) has ongoing insights/commentary and a broad network of contacts in the Arab world (h/t sofia).

links to multimedia (videos and stuff) of Egypt protests

Salon article on the Mubarak regime's lobbyists

I applaud this Washington Post editorial.

Don't Fear the Muslim Brotherhood by the Brookings Institution (h/t bicycle Hussein paladin).

Teacher's Lounge: Teaching Cairo by annetteboardman (if enough teachers want to suggest lessons or teaching methods on this, I'll add a new section for teaching resources/suggestions)

The Arabist; Egyptian journalist, Iskandr El Amrani's blog (h/t soysauce)

alMasr Al-Youm:; Independent Egyptian media considered the most important outlet in Egypt; Arabic with English co-site. (h/t soysauce]

Latest Egyptian Antiquities News Kossack Thutmose V is tracking the story around the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

Sharif Kouddous of DemocracyNow is in Egypt.

Global Guerillas USAF Intel, John Robb's blog who is covering the situation. h/t G2geek

NYTimes blog The Lede h/t fladem

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Many Kossaks have been covering this developing story. Here's a listing of the diaries posted since the events in Egypt started to unfold (Tuesday, January 25, 2011). Please check them out.

2/10
Egypt Revolution 2.0 scarce
Adalah: Israel in a changing Middle East weasel
Egypt Protesters' Victory? Watch Four Demands Robert Naiman
Mom, Apple Pie, and the Egyptian Revolution Ralph Lopez
It's About the EGYPTIAN PEOPLE, Not Obama or Pie Fights betson08
Finally...Prez Obama's Clear Statement on Egypt betson08