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The tyrant has fallen! As I write
these lines, Hosni Mubarak has resigned. This is a great victory, not
just for the people of Egypt, but for the workers of the entire world.
After 18 days of continuous revolutionary mobilizations, with 300 dead
and thousands injured, Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year tyranny is no more.
History is indeed being written with
the fall of Mubarak and as the whole of the Middle East and North Africa
erupts in one revolutionary upheaval after another. This is also now
having an impact in Iran as the lines are once again being drawn for a
new round of battles since the eruptions that started one and a half
years ago. The focus is now on the call for a demonstration on Monday,
February 14.
According to news sources, Mubarak may be on the point of being forced
out of office. The army have issued a statement about how they intend to
"support the legitimate demands of the people" which many are
interpreting as code for "Mubarak – time to go!" Sources predict that this may be
confimed later tonight (UK Time).UPDATE: he says he is not going yet – we have arrived at a critical point!
There are situations in which mass
demonstrations are sufficient to bring about the fall of a regime. But
Egypt is not one of them. All the efforts of the masses to bring about
the overthrow of Mubarak through demonstrations and street protests have
so far failed to achieve their principal objective.
On Saturday (5th February) around one
thousand people – Egyptians, Londoners and others ‑ gathered outside the
United States embassy and later marched through central London to the
Egyptian embassy. The protest was called to show solidarity with the
revolutionary struggle of the people of Egypt.
NEXT DEMO: RALLY AT TRAFALGAR SQ THIS SAT. 12.00 – 14.00
As the Irish General Election approaches, the Labour Party
leadership continues getting rid of the most radical aspects of its
election programme. And, Labour Party members only get to know about
these changes through the media. The Irish Times revealed the
last of such policy modifications on Monday, 31 Jan.
The confirmation today that 2,000 public sector jobs are to
go at Manchester City Council, as part of a planned budget reduction of £110
million, will come as grim reading for the people of that city.
Following the revolutionary upheavals
that have spread from Tunisia to Egypt, and which are inspiring
solidarity protests throughout the Middle East and the world as a whole,
the University of London Union Marxists decided to postpone their
discussion on Marxism and the State to discuss the revolution in the
Arab world. Egyptian socialist and SOAS student, Walaa Quisay, was
invited to introduce the discussion on a movement that the whole world
is watching.
The Egyptian revolution, following on
rapidly from the Tunisian uprising, has sent shockwaves across the whole
of the Arab world. All the serious strategists of capital are
discussing the “domino effect” of the events unfolding in Egypt. None of
them, however, had anticipated any of this.
There are just over three months to go before the elections for the
Scottish parliament, which take place on May 5th. Aside from the
contest itself the Scottish electorate is left with the knowledge that,
whoever wins the election, massive cuts are set to follow after the
Nationalist Scottish Government set a budget in December clearly aimed
at winning this election.
In light of the recent student
demonstrations, particularly the events at Milbank tower during the
first protest, the question of "direct action” tactics has once again
been raised.