here is a translation of a manifesto written in the name of "the egyptian protestors" that outlines a set of demands...at bottom, what these folk want is an end to the mubarak government and the martial law that has enabled it to remain in power since 1981...
Quote:
Manifesto of the Egyptian Protesters
- translated from the "We are all Khalid Said" Facebook group by Alexander Brock
Why are we demonstrating?
Egypt is passing through the worst stage that it has seen throughout its history, in all aspects. Despite reports, which the government mentions, that the situation is improving, the reality is unfortunately quite to the contrary.
Our going out on the 25th of January signifies the beginning of the end: the end of silence, of complacency, and of betrayal happening in our country and the beginning of a new chapter of rising up and demanding our rights. The 25th of January is not a revolution in the sense of a 'coup'; rather, it is a revolution against the government so that we can say that we have started, all of us, paying attention to our situation and we will take every single one of our rights, and we will not be silent after today.
There are 30 million Egyptians sick with depression, a million and a half of whom are physically depressed, and more than 100,000 suicide attempts throughout the year 2009, which resulted 5,000 deaths.
We have 48 million poor citizens, 2.5 million of whom live in extreme poverty. We have 12 million Egyptians without lodging, 1.5 million of whom live in the graveyard.
There is systematic corruption which has led to the existence of nothing but more corruption, a business valued at 39 billion EGP in only one year. Egypt ranks 115th out of 139 nations in a scholarly report on governmental corruption.
There are more than 3 million unemployed youth, and the unemployment rate among its youth exceeds 30%. Egypt ranks dead last out of 139 nations in its rate of transparency for employment.
We have the world's highest infantile mortality rate, 50 out of 1000 born. Approximately half of Egypt's children are anemic, and 8 million people are infected with HIV. We have an annual number of 100,000 diagnosed with cancer because of pollution and water quality alone. We have one ambulance for every 35,000 people.
In Egypt, the State of Emergency law has caused the deaths of dozens of Egyptians from torture, and has resulted in the unlawful arrest of thousands of people without any legal justification.
And because of the use of the security forces to censor politicians, and abort their activities, the result has been fraudulent parliamentary elections, leaving the current ruling party with more than 90% of parliamentary seats
What are our demands?
1. Confronting the problem of poverty
2. Cancellation of the State of Emergency Law, which has been in place since 1981.
3. The removal of Interior Minister Habib al-Adly
4. A limitation on presidential terms to 2 successive terms
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this link takes you to a live blog at the guardian which summarizes events and coverage(s) of them:
Protests in Egypt - live updates | World news | guardian.co.uk
which gives you an idea of what's going on if you are not following.
notice that the united states is watching to see which way the wind blows, but appears to be reluctant to throw mubarak under the bus because mubarak has been willing to play ball with american policies toward israel. one more reason for mubarak to go.
this is an on-the-fly analysis of yesterday's protests in cairo:
Egypt protests are breaking new ground | Simon Tisdall | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
as part of the wikileaks state department offering, this information about mubarak:
Wikileaks: Egypt's Mubarak Likely to Remain in Office for Life | Middle East | English
which parallels in many ways the information contained in the same offering about the corruption amongst the (now former president) ben ali's family.
if you haven't been following, this wikipedia link is a useful overview of what happened in tunisia:
2010?2011 Tunisian uprising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
the transition there is not over yet, btw. things are still pretty fluid.
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both these events (and the turmoil that's been caused by the documents that surfaced over the past days about the obama administration selling out the palestinian peace process, caving in---again----to the israeli right) seem to me positive outcomes of the wikileaks phenomenon.
in both cases, old and corrupt authoritarian regimes have been shaken fundamentally by a population that has, in the main, found many of its more cynical/accurate perceptions of the governments confirmed.
the tunisian people rid themselves of ben ali. this is a good thing.
what's happening in egypt is not at this point as clear-cut, primarily because, while there are reports that mubarak and his family have already left the country, it's clear at this point that the government imagines that it can contain what's happening.
there's been some fatalities and about 900 arrests at this point.
what do you make of what's happening?
what kind of coverage are you seeing in the american press of it?
why do you think that coverage is as it is?
how do you see things playing out in egypt?
feel free to post information that you find which seems interesting.
i'm not sure about putting up background information on mubarak and the situations in egypt more broadly--i'll hold off for now...