Protesters in Tahrir Square, on Friday, denouncing deputy PM Yehya el-Gamal, the remnants of the National Democratic Party and the governors, calling for the dissolution of the regime’s Local Municipalities, Mubarak’s regime’s main artery of corruption.
Tag: ndp
Egypt marks May Day
Tomorrow, we celebrate May Day in Tahrir Square. It’ll be probably the first real celebration of that event since 1951.
The July 1952 coup which brought Nasser to power had inaugurated its rule with the execution of two communist workers in Kafr el-Dawar textile mill, Khamis and el-Baqri. May Days under Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak were nothing but hallow celebrations, where the president was expected to make a “surprise gift” to the workers, decreeing some bonus or raise, in a closed conference room with the stooges of the state backed Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU).
I remember every May Day, when I used to watch with endless boredom Mubarak’s speeches, interrupted by the cheers of the EFTU hypocrite officials praising him. I’d flip the channels and watch with envy workers and activists in other countries marching freely in the streets, while all our attempts, as activists over the past years to hold any celebrations in the streets were always met with the iron fist of the security forces. As labor organizers, we would be content if we could pull together a conference in some closed hall inside one of the offices of the NGOs or political parties.
This year is different.
Some are hoping tomorrow there will be a one million worker protest in Tahrir. I do not think our mobilization at this point will bring out those numbers. I’m hoping for at least “thousands” to show up. But to be honest, the numbers are not the main issue here, despite their importance. Tomorrow is a historical day, where independent trade unionists, after years of fighting, will get the chance in Tahrir to declare their new federation, where left wing groups can state publicly and freely their different views on the current situation and which step to take next, where young Egyptians who were not necessarily connected to the labor movement will get the opportunity to meet labor organizers and campaigners and see how they could help.
And while we celebrate in Tahrir tomorrow, the state-backed EFTU is also throwing a party, “under the sponsorship of the army” somewhere else (either at the Military Production training center or the EFTU main headquarters). The EFTU had initially announced it was canceling its celebrations of May Day this year, following the imprisonment of their boss, Hussein Megawer, pending investigation into his role in the 2 February thugs’ attacks on Tahrir protesters. But then the EFTU changed its mind and announced they were holding the celebrations, sending invitations to Field Marshall Tantawi, our “revolutionary” PM Essam Sharaf–whose “revolutionary” cabinet has already criminalized strikes and prosecuting independent trade unionists–and Ahmad el-Borei, the labor minister.
Will Essam Sharaf accept the EFTU invitation, or will he come to Tahrir to celebrate with us? Who brought him to power, Megawer’s thugs or the Tahrir revolutionaries? And why hasn’t the EFTU been dissolved by now? The dissolution of this corrupt institution, whose head is officially a thug, has been one of the central demands of the labor movement for years, not just during the revolution. And even after overthrowing Mubarak, the EFTU continues to play its role in controlling and sabotaging the labor movement, with their agitation against independent unions.
Dr. Sharaf, do NOT honor those thugs with your presence tomorrow. Those thugs should be in jail and this institution should be immediately dissolved.
Long live Egypt’s working class… The revolution continues… See you tomorrow in Tahrir…
#Jan25 The myth of ‘non-violence’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9zYSgK97Cc
Suez was dubbed as Egypt’s Sidi Bouzid during the 18 day uprising. The city witnessed some of the bloodiest crackdowns by the police, and also some of the fiercest resistance by the protesters. In the video above, shot on the Friday of Anger, January 28, the revolutionaries in Suez after storming the police stations and confiscating the rifles, are using them to fight back the police.
One of the biggest myths invented by the media, tied to this whole Gene Sharp business: the Egyptian revolution was “peaceful.” I’m afraid it wasn’t. The revolution (like any other revolution) witnessed violence by the security forces that led to the killing of at least 846 protesters.
But the people did not sit silent and take this violence with smiles and flowers. We fought back. We fought back the police and Mubarak’s thugs with rocks, Molotov cocktails, sticks, swords and knives. The police stations which were stormed almost in every single neighborhood on the Friday of Anger–that was not the work of “criminals” as the regime and some middle class activists are trying to propagate. Protesters, ordinary citizens, did that.
Egyptians understand well what a police station is for. Every family has a member who got abused, tortured or humiliated by the local police force in his/her neighborhood. And I’m not even talking here about the State Security Police torture factories. I’m talking about the “ordinary police.”
Other symbols of power and corruption were attacked by the protesters and torched down during the uprising. Revolutionary violence is never random. Those buildings torched down or looted largely belonged to Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.
In a number of provinces like in N Sinai and Suez, arms were seized by protesters who used them back against the police to defend themselves. State Security Police office in Rafah and Arish, for example, were blown up using RPGs, hand grenades and automatic rifles, while gas pipelines heading to Jordan and Israel were attacked.
Am I condemning this violence? Totally not. Every single revolution in history witnessed its share of violence. The violence always starts on the hands of the state, not the people. The people are forced to pick up arms or whatever they can put their hands on to protect themselves.
May all our martyrs rest in peace. Their blood will not go in vain. Revolution continues.
UPDATE: Minutes after I published this posting, the gas pipelines in N Sinai that exports to Israel have been reportedly come under new attack. I’m still looking up info.
UPDATE: Here is a report from the BBC, while Shorouk has posted a video of the explosion: