Category: Blog

Mahalla updates

Posted on By 3arabawy

I received a statement from the Workers’ Coordination Committee regarding the Ghazl el-Mahalla Strike.

The statement describes how the political forces are now united behind the Mahalla workers, and includes details about the solidarity movement with the strikers that is mushrooming. Not only was there a solidarity protest at the Grain Mills, and a strike looming in few hours at Kafr el-Dawar.. but there were statements issued by the Textile workers in Ghazl Shebeen workers, as well as a strong fundraising campaign for the strikers among the workers in Mahalla, Tanta, Helwan, Shobra, the Tenth of Ramadan City, Suez, Alexandria, Beheira, Mansoura, Ismailia and Port Said.

The statement also includes more details about the case against the Mahalla Five, and it turns out there are new charges leveled against two journalists from the opposition Al-Wafd newspaper for “inciting the strikers”!!!!! Basically it’s a move by the Mubarak’s regime to intimidate labor correspondents from covering the strike.

Down with Mubarak… Victory to the Mahalla Strikers…

MB students referred to disciplinary committee

Posted on By 3arabawy

From the Daily Star Egypt…

Twenty-six students at Assiut University, along with others in a number of other national universities including Cairo University, were referred to a disciplinary committee for their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood group, said Mahmoud Ezzat, a leading member of the group.
Ezzat told Daily News Egypt that the students had not displayed any violent or “even political” behavior.
“They [the students] were only participating in social activities that will benefit their communities and train them to be useful in society,” Ezzat added.
He regretted the fact that student activities have been hijacked by the government.
“Both the faculty and administration are hired by the president of the university who, in turn, is hired by the government and hence they are all expected to follow government policies,” Ezzat added.
These universities’ administrative systems are undemocratic, paying no respect to privacy laws, he lamented, alleging that students are always being watched.
Abdel-Aziz Mogahed, a lawyer representing some of the 28 students who were arrested at the Faculty of Commerce in Helwan University last year during the student union’s presidential elections, told Daily News Egypt that national universities had meted out very harsh punishments to MB-affiliated students, disregarding their legal and constitutional rights.
“The punishments of some of the Helwan students arrested last year ranged from suspension to jail sentences which, in some cases, reached up to three years,” Mogahed added.
When Mogahed filed a lawsuit against Helwan University asking for the re-admission of some of the dismissed students, the court ruled in their favor within two weeks. But the university did not implement the verdict immediately. Instead, it slowed down the admission process on purpose, which meant that they missed a whole semester.