Tag: alexandria

Tahrir march on defense ministry stopped by the army

Posted on By 3arabawy

Two hours ago, a 2000-strong march took off from Tahrir heading to the Ministry of Defense, but has been stopped as of time of writing by the army by Nour Mosque in Abbassiya. Soldiers are firing into the air. According to Al-Jazeera Mubashir Misr, one protester has been lightly injured. The stand off continues.

A march was being planned for tomorrow 23 July, but the patience of protesters had already run out and the march took off tonight. I’m not there at the moment, but following the situation via Twitter, Al-Jazeera and some friends who are there.

UPDATE: Here is a report from Al-Masry Al-Youm. Abbassiya square is totally closed off now.

UPDATE: Here is a video:

[TwitVid removed]

UPDATE: Three Central Security Forces trucks appeared in the Square, but were stoned by protesters. The police escaped, heading to Wayli district. The army is still blocking the march, as protesters continue chanting against SCAF. The plans for tomorrow’s march are still in effect.

UPDATE: SCAF issued a statement denying that the military police cracked down on protests anywhere and accused 6th of April Youth Movement of inciting the public against the army. Of course it’s a load of horseshit and this is the kind stupid moves by the army that also inflates the size and influence of some opposition groups like the 6th of April. The army needs some “enemy” to lay the blame on for the protests. I watched Al-Jazeera Misr Mubasher, and the official spokesperson of 6th of April, Muhammad Adel, denied the involvement of the group in the current march and more vehemently denied that the movement ever chanted against SCAF since the start of the July 8 sit-in. Shame on SCAF and shame on the 6th of April all together.

UPDATE: Here is a video of the army in Alexandria firing in the air to disperse protesters tonight. Similar anti-SCAF protests are taking place in several other provinces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aROn8N0mMXg

UPDATE: The coward politicians and most of activist groups are trying their best to distance themselves from the march on SCAF. A disgrace by all means. They are all showing up on TV accusing the protesters of being part of the “remnants of the old regime, with foreign agendas” bla bla bla.. Anyways, fuck them. Here is a statement from the Revolutionary Socialists in support of the march, calling for the overthrowing of SCAF.

UPDATE: More videos of the Cairo march:

[Video removed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZe2gKYtSm8]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05crani4ZSw

UPDATE: Here is another video from Alexandria, where the army cracked down on anti-SCAF protesters:

Alexandria protesters denounce the army

Posted on By 3arabawy

Military armored vehicles showed up on Monday night for the first time near Saad Zaghloul Square in Alexandria, where a sit in is ongoing since 8 July. Protesters started heckling the troops, chanting: “The people want the downfall of the Field Marshal (Tantawi)”, “Out! Out!” and “We are not cowards. We will die in the square!”

The troops withdrew.

CSF conscripts mutiny in Alexandria

Posted on By 3arabawy

[Video removed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D8302B0737]

Central Security Forces conscripts in Dekheila, west of Alexandria, went on mutiny yesterday, staging protests, firing into the air, then tried storming Dekheila’s police station, setting fire to two police cars, after an officer assaulted a conscript in the camp.

Residents in the area according to eyewitnesses joined the conscripts, who were chanting “We are soldiers. We are oppressed” إحنا عساكر مظلومين which lasted for hours before senior officers convinced the soldiers to return to their barracks, as the interior minister announced the suspension of the officer and opened an investigation into the incident.

This is not the first time the CSF conscripts go on strike since the outbreak of the revolution. I recall on the 29 of January, during our failed attempt to storm the interior ministry, that the man next to me was a CSF conscript who told me he had escaped from his camp on the first day of the uprising and decided to join the protests. I also met in Tahrir two days ago a CSF conscript from Minya, who told me he refused to shoot protesters on the Friday of Anger and allowed some of the detained activists he had in custody to escape, only to be punished by his officer with electric shocks and imprisonment for ten days.

The above mentioned two cases are my own personal experiences. Other activists I know, almost all of them, encountered at some point during the uprising similar cases of CSF soldiers on mutiny joining in.

Moreover, local media reported on a number of occasions in the recent months cases where CSF conscripts went on strike in their camps over ill-treatment by the officers or over their work conditions. In those strikes, conscripts usually assaulted their officers and destroyed their offices.

The CSF are the interior ministry’s slave army. We have to confront them when they attack, but we should always do our best to win them over at the same time. It’s not an easy job, but they, not the officers, are our allies.