“The sky was filled with rocks. The
fighting around me was so terrible we could smell the blood.” With these
words Robert Fisk describes the dramatic events in Tahrir Square, where
the forces of the Revolution met the counterrevolution head-on. All day
and all through the night, a ferocious battle raged in the Square and
the surrounding streets.
The revolution in Egypt is reaching a
critical point. The old state power is collapsing under the hammer blows
of the masses but revolution is a struggle of living forces. The old
regime does not intend to surrender without a fight. The
counterrevolutionary forces are going onto the offensive. There is
ferocious fighting on the streets of Cairo between pro- and anti-Mubarak
elements.
The
whole of Egypt is now in a precarious balance. That same precariousness
applies to the role of the armed forces, the sole remaining fulcrum of
the regime. On paper it is a formidable force, as solid as the
aforementioned pyramid. But armies are composed of human beings, and are
subject to the same pressures as any other social stratum or
institution.
After a much criticized silence, Hosni Mubarak has finally made a
statement regarding the protests. The initial reaction to the speech was
one of anger. Mubarak’s speech was quite predictable, basically
praising the poor, promising reform and what not. Even though these
blatant lies that reek of condescension are enough reason to ignite the
streets of Egypt with fury, it was Mubarak’s last statement that angered
the people the most.
The popular uprising against the Hosni
Mubarak government continues. On Sunday morning the sun rose over
another tense day following a night of mass defiance and anti-government
protests that turned the curfew into a dead letter. This fact
strikingly exposes the real situation.
Day five of the revolution and the
movement continues to grow in size and intensity. Last night’s curfew
was ignored, and today there are more people on the streets than
yesterday. A new curfew was called for four o’clock Egyptian time, but
this is no more effective than the previous one. Even before the curfew
came into effect, larger numbers of protestors were gathering on the
streets.
Friday, 28 January 2011. The
flames of anger are spreading through all Egypt and nothing can stop
them. The fate of the Mubarak regime hangs in the balance. Today there
were violent clashes on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities
as the struggle for power has entered into a new stage. The call went
out for mass protests after Friday prayers. The regime warned that any
protests will be met with the full force of the state. The stage was set
for a dramatic confrontation.
Finally, after a long wait, prime
minister Gannouchi announced changes in the government of national unity
which was formed in Tunisia after the overthrow of Ben Ali. The masses
of workers and youth, for two weeks, have been demanding the overthrow
of this government, which they consider as a continuation of the old
regime. They have staged massive regional strikes and demonstrations and
a sit-in outside the government’s office. This new government of
Gannouchi must also be rejected and the people take power into their own
hands.
The mass demonstrations demanding the
resignation of President Hosni Mubarak have continued to rage since
Tuesday across several cities, including Cairo and Suez. Debkafile’s
sources report that the situation in Cairo Wednesday was extremely tense
after thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets and made for
the Tel Talat Harb Square on the way to Liberation Square city centre,
where 30,000 protesters demonstrated on Tuesday.
UK readers of this site should note that there is a demonstration outside the Eygptian embassy (26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW) in London planned for 12.00 midday on Saturday.
Wednesday, January 26 was marked by
yet more massive demonstrations throughout Tunisia against the “national
unity” government, whose key ministers come from the government of the
hated dictator Ben Ali. The same dictator that the masses forced to flee
two weeks ago.
A tense calm settled over Cairo after Tuesday’s street demonstrations. But if there is a truce it will not
last long. That night some 15,000 protesters decided to stage a
vigil in Liberation Square in protest against police violence. News
reports speak of three people killed yesterday, of which one was a
policeman. The real figure may be higher.
Dramatic events are unfolding in the
Middle East. Today (Tuesday) Egypt was rocked by a wave of nationwide
demonstrations demanding the end of the Mubarak regime, which has
oppressed the people of this proud nation for nearly 30 years. This was
the biggest protest movement Egypt has seen for decades. In Cairo and
other cities thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrated on the
streets and fought with police.