Mubarak’s pigs are cracking down on the pro-palestinian protesters in downtown Cairo. 240 are reportedly detained in front of the Arab League: around 140 MBs, while the rest are leftists and independents, including Adel el-Mashad, Shahenda Meqled and Salah Adly.
UPDATE: The Center for Socialist Studies has issued a statement:
Hundreds of Egyptian activists have been arrested today (Wednesday 23 January 2008), during their attempts to convene a peaceful demonstration in front of the Arab League in downtown Cairo. The demonstration called for by the Socialist Alliance –a coalition of Leftist organizations and individuals- and joined by Muslim Brotherhood members, was to protest the latest atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Starting Tuesday evening, Islamist activists were rounded up from their homes and workplaces in different governorates across Egypt, in an effort by the government to abort the demonstration. The arrests included Dr. Magdi Abdo from Cairo –who is under treatment from a recent stroke and his whereabouts are not known yet- Ali Abdel Fattah from Alexandria who is a leading member of the International Campaign Against Zionist and American Occupation.
The arrests and violence reached its climax Wednesday morning when, according to eye-witnesses, subway stations were closed-down and security forces summoned people randomly around the neighborhood. Using tear-gas and mass arrests the state security still did not manage to stop the demonstration scheduled for 11:00 A.M today. However, more than 300 hundred activists were arrested on sight, including veteran Leftist activists, Shahenda Maqlad, Adel El-Mashad, Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr, and Salah Adly.
Heavy security presence and arrests are still doing on in Downtown Cairo, with the number of detainees reaching more than 1000 according to some statements. The exact number is expected to be known tonight or tomorrow morning once the detainees are turned to the General Prosecutor’s office, and more statements are collected from demonstrators. While some of those arrested are in a security camp in Darasah, Cairo, the whereabouts of some are still unknown.
Downtown Cairo
23-1-2008
4:00 PM.
Joel Beinin is in Cairo and sent out a letter via JVP about the current situation in Gaza and Egypt, with context about the MB and Hamas. I have not been following events closely so his description of the context has helped me see the bigger picture. Egypt and Mubarak’s behavior is looking worse and worse. Sorry I have been so out of it but this context was news to me.
The letter is here on my blog:
Why I’ve been so uninformed: I have metastatic cancer to the liver diagnosed 4 months ago; in Summer 2006 I lost my Lebanese father to lung cancer; the suffering of Gaza was the backdrop to that horrible time, preceding the bombing of our home and people in South Lebanon. The situation in Gaza has reminded me of our physical pain and I have not been able to bear reading all the details since that terrible summer which began with the suffering of Gaza and ended with Lebanon’s agony and my father’s own horrible demise. Now with this latest crisis I find I am learning much that I did not know by just skimming the headlines.