Egypt’s gifts to Palestine
Lifting the siege, pride and joy, and an Election platform that could kill off the Palestine Authority
In Gaza, Palestinians joined the party on the night of Fri 11 with almost as much wild joy as Egyptians themselves. (* See Notes below) It might have been the first moment of collective happiness after all the violence, hardship and sorrow they have gone through.
And it wasn’t just about getting the siege lifted — which, as long as the Egyptians don’t get double-crossed, should be beyond question. The Treaty with Israel, even if it’s renewed, says nothing about starving Gaza. See Ali Abunimah in Notes, below**. And to speed it up, on Saturday 26 Feb an international march from Egypt will go there to open it. (more…)
Egypt: In Other Words
Some comments from the blogs
Arabs do “get it”
♦♦ Egyptians are so proud. And we are proud for them. They gave us the answer to the racist prejudices that “Arabs have their specific culture, they don’t get it”. Well, they got it. This is universalism and it’s the best argument against all that trash about clash of civilisations. (more…)
Egypt 1
Week 3 — The Workers
In the classic, time-honoured revolution there would be a storming of the radio station. In Cairo, the staff simply locked out the pro-regime bosses and editors of their papers. Now the Cabinet has relocated: Tahrir Square was too close for comfort, and the nearby parliament building is blockaded. With the Square filling up, there is now a list of other places to go: the Parliament building, the state TV, and now maybe a choice of workers’ sit-ins. (more…)
Egypt 2
The Muslim Brotherhood
Barely a news report or panel of pundits passes without the Big Question coming up: will the “largest opposition party” the Muslim Brotherhood “take over”? (more…)
Egypt 3
The world turned upside down
“WE ARE in the middle of a geological event. An earthquake of epoch-making dimensions is changing the landscape of our region. Mountains turn into valleys, islands emerge from the sea, volcanoes cover the land with lava. … what is happening now in Egypt will change our lives. “ — Yuri Avneri
This is not just about dominoes, nor just about Israel and Palestine (as Avneri goes on to say). If Egypt comes out of this as a vibrant democracy, (more…)
Egypt: the heroes of Tahrir 
Square… and actions called in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jerusalem
Yesterday, 2nd Feb, it looked like a classic counter-revolution: on the night of Day 8, Mubarak said he would only stay until September, a statement calculated to divide the rebels’ support (“why go on with the chaos for the sake of just six months?” the gullible were asking); the “soft-cop” army said: you’ve made your point, now go home. And the hard-cop government-hired thugs and plain-clothes police, (more…)
