Month: January 2011

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Live from Egypt: Rebellion Grows Stronger

Democracy Now! January 31, 2011 Democracy Now!

Source: Democracy Now

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AMY GOODMAN: The massive protests in Egypt have entered their seventh day as tens of thousands pack into Tahrir Square in Cairo. Protesters are vowing to stay in the streets until President Hosni Mubarak resigns. A general strike was called for today, and a “million man march” is being organized for Tuesday.

The Egyptian government continues to crack down on protesters and the media. Earlier today, six Al Jazeera journalists were arrested, their equipment seized. On Sunday, Egyptian authorities closed Al Jazeera’s offices in Egypt and removed the news station from the main TV satellite provider. read more

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Egypt: History is Being Made—Without the U.S.

Amitabh Pal January 31, 2011 Amitabh Pal

Source: The Progressive

This year may very well prove to be the most memorable in modern Arab history. Too bad that the United States is on the wrong side.

I have written a soon-to-be-published book on Islam and nonviolence that deals with mass protest in the Middle East, but Tunisian and Egyptian youth have already made the book a bit dated by deciding that this year was the year they had enough.

Tunisia itself was momentous. It was the first time in the recent past that an Arab dictator had been toppled by people power. But as significant as this was, Tunisia is a relatively small country and on the margins of the Arab world, geographically and culturally. read more

Egypt: People’s Revolution on the March

Rene Wadlow January 31, 2011 Rene Wadlow

Throughout the Arab world, governments have been unable or unwilling to open serious discussions on socio-economic policies and alternatives. It is in Egypt that, following the Tunisian example, people have taken to the streets demanding that President Hosni Moubarak must go. The cries of the Tunisian revolutionary  movement “Liberty-Work-Dignity” have been taken up by other peoples.

Cracking the Donor Discourse on Haiti

Kanya D'Almeida January 28, 2011 Kanya D'Almeida

Source: IPS News

(IPS) – In her remarks last week to the president of the U.N. Security Council on the first anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice called for a free and fair election that reflected the views of Haitian voters, applauded the work of the U.N. Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and declared that the “prospects for rebuilding Haiti depend upon maintaining a secure environment and creating jobs for Haitians”.

Rice made no mention of historic patterns of Western coercion, occupation, interference and destruction in Haiti, which has rendered the grassroots movement in the country virtually powerless. read more