Category Archives: Civil Rights

Movements Without Leaders

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At times, the February 20 Movement in Morocco has been criticized for not having a coherent leadership or a clear set of demands. This gentleman, though he claims to support the movement’s goals, goes so far as to warn that the “pandemonium nature” of the movement could lead to “political and social chaos.”

A few observations from Syria, a far harsher crucible, may provide some encouragement.

    Not having a formal, organised, political opposition that can give voice to the protests was initially frustrating and extremely frightening for many Syrians, yet it was also quite liberating. For one thing it has shown that young and old Syrians are capable of taking control of their own destinies without the stale political opportunists and parties of the past….
    Young popular committees, deep underground in Syria, are liaising and organising among themselves. They are getting their voice to the outside world…and they have learned and adapted remarkably quickly….
    Syrian activists are beginning to find their own voice outside of the anachronistic players that have defined Syrian politics for a generation. As that voice gets stronger, the chance of a fresh new vision for Syria becomes ever more likely.

A movement without a clear leadership may be disconcerting to the authorities in both places, because they aren’t sure who to deal with to contain the dissent. It may also be a sign of broadening popular support. If the demands of either movement could be channeled through a few leaders, it wouldn’t be a popular movement. Conversely, if the demands are coming from the people themselves, there is no way to contain it except to engage the people as a whole.

Western “Reforms” in Egypt

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Apparently you can never be too cynical. The reality is worse!

Here’s Robert Springborg, Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School:

    “The military will engineer a succession. The West — the U.S. and EU — are working to that end. We are working closely with the military…to ensure a continuation of a dominant role of the military in the society, the polity and the economy. […]
    “So what are the people who did all this left with? The feeling that they got rid of Mubarak. Some will congratulate themselves. Some will feel they got outplayed in the endgame. But they will be fragmented for some considerable period of time.”

Meanwhile, according to the New York Times:

    “Human rights groups said that security officials under [intelligence chief and Vice President Omar] Suleiman, even as he talks about leading a transition, are continuing to abduct and detain without charges people it considers a political threat. […]
    “At least seven…online activists associated with the April 6th movement [which initiated the protests] remain missing after being abducted a few days ago at a cafe after leaving a meeting at the home of [opposition leader Mohammed] ElBaradei.”

Complicity

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Steve Clemons:

    “Lurking in Egypt’s police and intelligence files are mountains of materials on significant human rights abuses — disappearances, political detentions, torture, and summary executions. In some of these cases, the United States government knew what was going on or had agents in the room. This will come out, and America’s historical complicity in Egypt’s nightmares will become clear.”

That is, if post-Mubarak Egypt is sincerely committed to this form of transparency, and if Omar Suleiman, long-time head of Egyptian intelligence and current transitional figure, doesn’t destroy everything first. How much do you want to bet those two conditions will be met? Still, I’d love to know what’s in those files….

Darkest Before Dawn

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The Angry Arab has a point:

    “Do you notice that the blatant anti-Semitism of the Mubarak regime has not been getting any attention in the Western Zionist media because they have been so pleased with Mubarak’s role in Gaza?”

Today, foreign journalists are being attacked by pro-Mubarak thugs in Cairo, because Egyptian state TV has spread rumors that they are Israeli agents. As Harriet Sherwood reports for The Guardian:

    “Egyptian national TV has been broadcasting that there are Israeli spies disguised as western journalists, and people on the street are very suspicious.
    “People who are prepared to speak to us are being denounced by fellow protesters. We have been surrounded several times this morning by angry crowds and have had to retreat.”

It’s ironic that Israel’s defenders in the U.S. stand up for the Mubarak regime by claiming that without a brutal dictatorship, Egypt will fall into the hands of anti-Israeli extremists — while at the same time, the Mubarak regime itself blames its troubles on Israeli spies! Would you guys get your disinformation campaigns on the same page?

Meanwhile, just to show they are equal-opportunity haters, Mubarak’s security forces have arrested a group of human rights activists from their Cairo offices, while telling the crowds in the street they are agents of Hamas.

    “Just saw 8 to 12 people being dragged out of No 1 Souq el-Tawfikiyyah St and bundled into a civilian micro-bus while a military police vehicle waited nearby. The people were being beaten and the street had been told they were ‘Iranian and Hamas agents come to destabilise Egypt’ so the street was chanting against them. No 1 Souq el-Tawfikiyyah St is the home of the offices of The Hisham Mubarak Legal Aid Centre, The Centre for Social and Economic Rights and The 6th April Youth.”

It’s ugly out there today, with the dogs of Mubarak seeing this as their last chance to brutalize and terrorize their opponents before their grip is finally broken. The battle is being waged on two fronts, in the streets and on rooftops using rocks and metal shields, and in the halls of diplomacy and the international media.

The Egyptian people are being called upon to make one last sacrifice, one last push for liberty in an atmosphere of chaos and confusion fed by the dying regime. As Mubarak goes down, I just want to remind everyone that the real gangsters, extremists and nihilists are the “forces of order” who have kept Mubarak in power for 30 years.

Egypt After Mubarak

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This article by Paul Amar in Jadaliyya is the best “big picture” analysis I’ve seen of what’s happening now in Egypt, looking at power blocs, social strata, and their competing and overlapping interests.

    “President Hosni Mubarak lost his political power on Friday, 28 January. […] When the evening call to prayer rang out and no one heeded Mubarak’s curfew order, it was clear that the old president been reduced to a phantom authority. In order to understand where Egypt is going, and what shape democracy might take there, we need to set the extraordinarily successful popular mobilizations into their military, economic and social context. What other forces were behind this sudden fall of Mubarak from power? And how will this transitional military-centered government get along with this millions-strong protest movement? […]
    “The new cabinet is composed of chiefs of Intelligence, Air Force and the prison authority…. This group embodies a hard-core ‘stability coalition’ that will work to bring together the interests of new military, national capital and labor, all the while reassuring the United States. […] But none of it will count as a democratic transition until the vast new coalition of local social movements and internationalist Egyptians break into this circle and insist on setting the terms and agenda for transition.”

The “breaking in” of the “vast new coalition” is what the current standoff is about. Once negotiations begin in earnest between the “security coalition” of Vice President Omar Suleiman, and representatives of the popular uprising such as Mohammed ElBaradei, the structures of a new democratic Egypt can begin to take shape.

If you prefer a blow-by-blow account of what’s happening in the streets, I recommend The Guardian’s News Blog (look for the latest “Egypt protests – live updates”) or the coverage by Al Jazeera English (look for the latest “Live blog – Egypt protests”).

In Tunisia, It’s Far from Over

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While the eyes of the world have been focused on Egypt (myself included), in Tunisia the security forces of the old regime have staged a violent counter-attack against democracy protesters.

    Under the umbrella of legitimate defense, the tigres noirs attacked the protesters with truncheons, dogs, and teargas canisters, tore their tents and chased them away from the Qasbah; they clubbed and injured dozens of them and, according to the Facebook page al-haqaaiq al-qafiyya (Hidden Facts), they killed seven….

The protesters, who were camped outside the offices of the Prime Minister, had come from the region of Sidi Bouzid where the uprising began to demand a complete change in government from the Ben Ali regime. Tunisians seem divided at this point, with some feeling that protests have gone far enough for now, and the new government composed mostly of technocrats should be given time to work; while others believe that justice will not be served until the structures that remain in place from the Ben Ali era are thorougly dismantled.

Here are two excellent articles about the youth uprising in Sidi Bouzid that led to the fall of Ben Ali, from its first days when few outside Tunisia were aware of what was happening, to the state of mind of those same young people today.

The End of the Beginning

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I feel that this article by Fatma Benmosbah expresses in eloquent terms many of the same themes I explored in my recent post, Three Revolutions. It is a translation from French, idiomatic in places, of an original I found on nawaat.org, an excellent source for testimonials by Tunisians about their revolution-in-progress.

— • —

On the ground today, a face-off is occurring between yuppies and proles: two revolutions, two forces on the scene.

On one side, the urban middle class. These are the young and the less young who very quickly sided with the rebels. Fed up with censorship, lack of freedom and repression, sickened by the material gluttony of the Ben Ali and Trabelsi clans, they immediately seized the opportunity to express their thirst for independence and their hatred for the regime. They didn’t always go out into the street, but through their manipulation of the internet, particularly social networks, they played the role of citizen media perfectly, relaying information, posting live videos of the situation on the ground. It is often thanks to them that the big media networks like Al Jazeera, France 24 or Al Arabia completed their coverage of the events of early January. By swelling the ranks of the large demonstration of January 14, they provided the necessary contribution to win the last round, the fatal blow that finished off the Ben Ali presidency. Their mission accomplished, they returned to their garrisons to try to resume a more or less peaceful life, leaving to the new team the responsibility for getting things back on track. […] It is clear that this sector of the population serves as the base of the Prime Minister and his team. Nothing can tell us yet how strong their support will be.

On the other side is the population of the nation’s interior. Left behind since the era of Bourghiba, they are the ones who provided the spark that set off the powder keg. It is these people who, although unarmed, went out into the street. They are also the ones who, prepared to receive real bullets in the stomach and head, confronted the bloody police machine. Like the young city dwellers, the young and the less young of the interior were just as fed up and sickened, but for different reasons. Democracy and liberty were among their demands, but they added to these insecurity and unemployment. As well-educated and well-trained as their fellow citizens from the city, they found themselves forced to accept marginal jobs in order to get something to eat.

Having known the brutal and often deadly repression of the government as a result of having occasionally risen up and proclaimed their despair, these people place no confidence in anything that reminds them, either more or less, of the dark years of the Ben Ali regime. They want, require and demand the departure of Ghannouchi and his entire team without delay. They haven’t forgotten the unkept promises [of the past]. Cut off from material comforts which in any case they don’t possess, they are ready to go all the way for what they call “their revolution.” Armed with convictions deeply rooted in the hearts of all their members, supported by a very strong labor union, they are camped in the streets around the Prime Minister’s office with the purpose of evicting its tenants. How much longer will they hold back?

The revolution of January 14 hasn’t said its last word. It is certain that Tunisia can expect further events whose impact will be even more profound than the departure of Ben Ali. It seems that as Winston Churchill said so well, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

One Down….

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December 29, 2010: The former president pays a visit to Tunisia’s accidental hero.

Congratulations to the people of Tunisia! The dictator has taken flight.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in power for 23 years, whose wife’s family was dedicated full time to stealing the wealth of the nation, who made Tunisia infamous for censorship and oppression, got on a plane and fled the country this afternoon.

Just yesterday, he was trying to cling to power a little bit longer. He thought he was making a concession by promising not to run for re-election in 2014, and by ordering his forces to stop firing live ammunition on his fellow citizens. That didn’t work.

This all began when Mohamed Bouazizi, an unemployed college graduate, was stopped by police for selling vegetables on the street. When the police confiscated his produce, he set himself on fire in an act of desperation, and later died from his injuries.

It was the spark that lit the flames of popular discontent. Since then, the protests have only grown from day to day, as the people lost their fear, in the first-ever successful popular uprising against an autocratic Arab regime.

At least 66 Tunisians gave their lives so this would happen. They did it on their own, without leaders, and with barely a hint of support from Western governments so committed in rhetoric to Arab democracy.

Today, the prime minister has taken power as “provisional” president. Although an economist and technocrat, he is part of the old power structure, so it isn’t over. What matters now is the transition, the building of new institutions able to represent the popular will.

The provisional government should end censorship immediately. They should call elections for a very near date, and invite all political factions to participate. They should form a citizens’ committee including respected members of the opposition, to ensure the transition is free and fair. And the people should keep the pressure on until the game is won.

Best wishes to Tunisia, which is showing the world how it’s done.

Israel Does the Unthinkable

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Israel has fired on a naval relief convoy attempting to reach Gaza with supplies such as concrete, medicines and food, leaving nine civilian activists dead and around thirty injured. The attack took place in international waters. A report from the scene:

Already the justifications have begun. According to Ha’aretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “said the Israeli troops who opened fire were justified for defending themselves.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak “called the flotilla a political provocation and said the sponsors of the flotilla were violent supporters of a terror organization.” Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said “that the organizers of the Gaza aid flotilla have connections to international terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Al-Qaida.”

But in the words of Al Jazeera reporter Ayman Mohyeldin:

    “All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the international community to learn what could have possibly led to this type of confrontation.”

Turkey called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the incident, and summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest. Spain, Greece, Denmark and Sweden also summoned their Israeli ambassadors. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan called the raid “state terrorism,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniya labeled it “barbaric,” and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was “inhuman.” The response of Western leaders has been more tepid, with talk of “disproportionate” use of force. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “shocked” and added, “I condemn this violence.”

Turkish foreign affairs specialist Murat Mercan had the best commentary I’ve seen so far on the repurcussions of the event:

    “We are going to see in the following days whether Israel has done it as a display of decisiveness or to commit political suicide.”

Lesson of History

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Morocco’s largest daily newspaper, Al Massae, has been running excerpts from Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan’s memoir A Country of Words. Here is an excerpt from his latest editorial, “Kyrgyz Lesson to Arab Peoples,” in which he draws lessons from the recent popular revolt against strongman President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

    President Bakiyev’s downfall was that his regime was characterized by corruption, cronyism, supression of the populace by the security forces and looting public funds, in a manner not that far removed from that of his counterparts in some Arab and Islamic countries.
    Bakiyev… held deeply flawed elections and appointed members of his family — including his eldest son — to key positions, just as certain Arab leaders are wont to do. …
    Some may argue that people in these repressive Arab states are too frightened of the security forces to rebel and this is why they are so passive and submissive. Yet the security forces in Kyrgyzstan are proving to be exceptionally brutal and violent — they opened fire on protesters, killing well over a hundred to date, and yet they continue to demonstrate, even storming the presidential palace and setting it on fire.
    People who are oppressed must start to defend their interests and their basic human rights; they need to be prepared to make sacrifices for this lofty goal. Since they do not, it seems that the problem is no longer Arab rulers alone, but Arab people as well. …
    No amount of foreign bases in Kyrgyzstan can ultimately protect an unpopular leader from the anger of the people and their demands for political reform and true democracy. If the Arab people would only learn this simple lesson of history our current state of opression would be ended.

Via Palestinian Pundit.