Centralised world in revolt thread

[irishspirit]

Hi Guy's,

with all that has been going on in the World these past view day, I thought that it would be a good idea to have a centralised thread to deal with these issues.

Given the fact that we like to keep a tidy board here at Avalon, may I ask that all post concerning this go to this thread?

Many Thanks


Irish

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Thousands of Yemenis are demonstrating in the capital Sanaa, calling on Ali Abdullah Saleh, president for more than 30 years, to step down.


This comes after mass protests in Egypt and a popular uprising in Tunisia that ousted its long-time leader.
Yemeni opposition members and youth activists gathered in four parts of the city, including Sanaa University, chanting anti-government slogans.


They also called for economic reforms and an end to corruption.
Yemenis complain of mounting poverty among a growing young population and frustration with a lack of political freedoms.


The country has also been plagued by a range of security issues, including a separatist movement in the south and an uprising of Shia Houthi rebels in the north.
There are fears that Yemen is becoming a leading al-Qaeda haven, with the high numbers of unemployed youths seen as potential recruits for Islamist militant groups

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12295864

[irishspirit]

Public Unrest Boils Over in Albania

BUCHAREST, Jan 27, 2011 (IPS) - The Albanian opposition is set to hold another mass rally on Friday, even though three people were killed during an anti-government demonstration last week, allegedly by armed forces of the Ministry of Interior.

On Jan. 21, over 20,000 people demonstrated in capital Tirana against the conservative government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha (opposition estimates go as high as 200,000). Three people were shot dead after hundreds of demonstrators attempted to escalate the police barricade protecting the prime minister’s office.

Following the broadcasting of footage showing a National Guard (army forces under the Ministry of Interior in charge of guarding institutions) officer shooting an automatic rifle at the unarmed demonstrators, the Albanian state prosecutor issued arrest warrants for six commanders of the National Guard.

The warrant has thus far not been carried out. The governing Democratic Party has declared that the arrest warrants are a part of an opposition "well- structured attempt of a coup d’etat".

Both government and opposition had scheduled rallies for this weekend.

"We will continue our protests, our demonstrations, without violence, with the solid power of people’s resistance," declared Socialist Edi Rama, leader of the opposition, calling for a rally this Friday to commemorate one week since the three deaths.

In spite of such insistence on peaceful action, Rama is thought to be playing a risky game: even among the opposition, some argue the leader could have avoided the three deaths as he should have anticipated the demonstrators would be met with violent repression by the government.

Meanwhile, Berisha called off the scheduled pro-government counter- demonstration, following an intervention of EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak this week. Lajcak asked for "an end of violence" and warned that "the European future of Albania depends very much on whether the political leaders choose to do what we’ve asked them to do and do that now."

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54252

[irishspirit]

An uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the country’s 23-year long dictatorship of President Ben Ali. A new ‘transitional’ government was formed, but the protests continued demanding a totally new government without the relics of the previous tyranny. Protests in Algeria have continued for weeks, as rage mounts against rising food prices, corruption and state oppression. Protests in Jordan forced the King to call on the military to surround cities with tanks and set up checkpoints. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Cairo demanding an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of activists, opposition leaders and students rallied in the capitol of Yemen against the corrupt dictatorship of President Saleh, in power since 1978. Saleh has been, with U.S. military assistance, attempting to crush a rebel movement in the north and a massive secessionist movement growing in the south, called the “Southern Movement.” Protests in Bolivia against rising food prices forced the populist government of Evo Morales to backtrack on plans to cut subsidies. Chile erupted in protests as demonstrators railed against rising fuel prices. Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Albania, resulting in the deaths of several protesters.

It seems as if the world is entering the beginnings of a new revolutionary era: the era of the ‘Global Political Awakening.’ While this ‘awakening’ is materializing in different regions, different nations and under different circumstances, it is being largely influenced by global conditions. The global domination by the major Western powers, principally the United States, over the past 65 years, and more broadly, centuries, is reaching a turning point. The people of the world are restless, resentful, and enraged. Change, it seems, is in the air. As the above quotes from Brzezinski indicate, this development on the world scene is the most radical and potentially dangerous threat to global power structures and empire. It is not a threat simply to the nations in which the protests arise or seek change, but perhaps to a greater degree, it is a threat to the imperial Western powers, international institutions, multinational corporations and banks that prop up, arm, support and profit from these oppressive regimes around the world. Thus, America and the West are faced with a monumental strategic challenge: what can be done to stem the Global Political Awakening? Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the chief architects of American foreign policy, and arguably one of the intellectual pioneers of the system of globalization. Thus, his warnings about the 'Global Political Awakening' are directly in reference to its nature as a threat to the prevailing global hierarchy. As such, we must view the 'Awakening' as the greatest hope for humanity. Certainly, there will be mainy failures, problems, and regressions; but the 'Awakening' has begun, it is underway, and it cannot be so easily co-opted or controlled as many might assume.

The reflex action of the imperial powers is to further arm and support the oppressive regimes, as well as the potential to organize a destabilization through covert operations or open warfare (as is being done in Yemen). The alterantive is to undertake a strategy of "democratization" in which Western NGOs, aid agencies and civil society organizations establish strong contacts and relationships with the domestic civil society in these regions and nations. The objective of this strategy is to organize, fund and help direct the domestic civil society to produce a democratic system made in the image of the West, and thus maintain continuity in the international hierarchy. Essentially, the project of "democratization" implies creating the outward visible constructs of a democratic state (multi-party elections, active civil society, "independent" media, etc) and yet maintain continuity in subservience to the World Bank, IMF, multinational corporations and Western powers.


It appears that both of these strategies are being simultaneously imposed in the Arab world: enforcing and supporting state oppression and building ties with civil society organizations. The problem for the West, however, is that they have not had the ability to yet establish strong and dependent ties with civil society groups in much of the region, as ironically, the oppressive regimes they propped up were and are unsurprisingly resistant to such measures. In this sense, we must not cast aside these protests and uprisings as being instigated by the West, but rather that they emerged organically, and the West is subsequently attempting to co-opt and control the emerging movements.

Part 1 of this essay focuses on the emergence of these protest movements and uprisings, placing it in the context of the Global Political Awakening. Part 2 will examine the West's strategy of "democratic imperialism" as a method of co-opting the 'Awakening' and installing "friendly" governments.

The Tunisian Spark

A July 2009 diplomatic cable from America’s Embassy in Tunisia reported that, “many Tunisians are frustrated by the lack of political freedom and angered by First Family corruption, high unemployment and regional inequities. Extremism poses a continuing threat,” and that, “the risks to the regime’s long-term stability are increasing.”[2]

On Friday, 14 January 2011, the U.S.-supported 23-year long dictatorship of Tunisian president Ben Ali ended. For several weeks prior to this, the Tunisian people had risen in protest against rising food prices, stoked on by an immense and growing dissatisfaction with the political repression, and prodded by the WikiLeaks cables confirming the popular Tunisian perception of gross corruption on the part of the ruling family. The spark, it seems, was when a 26-year old unemployed youth set himself on fire in protest on December 17.

With the wave of protests sparked by the death of the 26-year old who set himself on fire on December 17, the government of Tunisia responded by cracking down on the protesters. Estimates vary, but roughly 100 people were killed in the clashes. Half of Tunisia’s 10 million people are under the age of 25, meaning that they have never known a life in Tunisia outside of living under this one dictator. Since Independence from the French empire in 1956, Tunisia has had only two leaders: Habib Bourguiba and Ben Ali.[3] The Tunisian people were rising up against a great many things: an oppressive dictatorship which has employed extensive information and internet censorship, rising food prices and inflation, a corrupt ruling family, lack of jobs for the educated youth, and a general sense and experience of exploitation, subjugation and disrespect for human dignity.

Following the ouster of Ben Ali, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi assumed presidential power and declared a “transitional government.” Yet, this just spurred more protests demanding his resignation and the resignation of the entire government. Significantly, the trade union movement had a large mobilizing role in the protests, with a lawyers union being particularly active during the initial protests.[4]



Protests in Tunisia

Social media and the Internet did play a large part in mobilizing people within Tunisia for the uprising, but it was ultimately the result of direct protests and action which led to the resignation of Ben Ali. Thus, referring to Tunisia as a “Twitter Revolution” is disingenuous.

Twitter, WikiLeaks, Facebook, Youtube, forums and blogs did have a part to play. They reflect the ability “to collectively transform the Arab information environment and shatter the ability of authoritarian regimes to control the flow of information, images, ideas and opinions.”[5]

We must also keep in mind that social media has not only become an important source of mobilization of activism and information at the grassroots level, but it has also become an effective means for governments and various power structures to seek to manipulate the flow of information. This was evident in the 2009 protests in Iran, where social media became an important avenue through which the Western nations were able to advance their strategy of supporting the so-called 'Green Revolution' in destabilizing the Iranian government. Thus, social media has presented a new form of power, neither black nor white, in which it can be used to either advance the process of the 'Awakening' or control its direction.

Whereas America was publicly denouncing Iran for blocking (or attempting to block) social media in the summer of 2009, during the first several weeks of Tunisian protests (which were largely being ignored by Western media), America and the West were silent about censorship.[6] It should be noted in this regard, that the US based foundation Freedom House was involved in promoting and training the Middle East North Africa Facebook and Twitter bloggers (See also Freedom House)

Steven Cook, writing for the elite U.S. think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, commented on the lack of attention being paid to the Tunisian protests in the early weeks of resistance prior to the resignation of Ben Ali. He explained that while many assume that the Arab “strongmen” regimes will simply maintain power as they always have, this could be mistaken. He stated that, “it may not be the last days of Ben Ali or Mubarak or any other Middle Eastern strongman, but there is clearly something going on in the region.” However, it was the end of Ben Ali, and indeed, “there is clearly something going on in the region.”[7]

France’s President Sarkozy has even had to admit that, “he had underestimated the anger of the Tunisian people and the protest movement that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.” During the first few weeks of protests in Tunisia, several French government officials were publicly supporting the dictatorship, with the French Foreign Minister saying that France would lend its police “knowhow” to help Ben Ali in maintaining order.[8]

Days before the ouster of Ben Ali, Hillary Clinton gave an interview in which she explained how America was worried “about the unrest and the instability,” and that, “we are not taking sides, but we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution. And I hope that the Tunisian Government can bring that about.” Clinton further lamented, “One of my biggest concerns in this entire region are the many young people without economic opportunities in their home countries.”[9] He concern, of course, does not spur from any humanitarian considerations, but rather from inherent imperial considerations: it is simply harder to control a region of the world erupting in activism, uprisings and revolution.

The Spark Lights a Flame

Tunisia has raised the bar for the people across the Arab world to demand justice, democracy, accountability, economic stability, and freedom. Just as Tunisia’s protests were in full-swing, Algeria was experiencing mass protests, rising up largely as a result of the increasing international food prices, but also in reaction to many of the concerns of the Tunisian protesters, such as democratic accountability, corruption and freedom. A former Algerian diplomat told Al-Jazeera in early January that, “It is a revolt, and probably a revolution, of an oppressed people who have, for 50 years, been waiting for housing, employment, and a proper and decent life in a very rich country.”[10]

In mid-January, similar protests erupted in Jordan, as thousands took to the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment, chanting anti-government slogans. Jordan’s King Abdullah II had “set up a special task force in his palace that included military and intelligence officials to try to prevent the unrest from escalating further,” which had tanks surrounding major cities, with barriers and checkpoints established.[11]

In Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arab world, engulfed in a U.S. sponsored war against its own people, ruled by a dictator who has been in power since 1978, thousands of people protested against the government, demanding the dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. In the capitol city of Sanaa, thousands of students, activists and opposition groups chanted slogans such as, “Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali.”[12] Yemen has been experiencing much turmoil in recent years, with a rebel movement in the North fighting against the government, formed in 2004; as well as a massive secessionist movement in the south, called the “Southern Movement,” fighting for liberation since 2007. As the Financial Times explained:

Many Yemen observers consider the anger and secessionist sentiment now erupting in the south to be a greater threat to the country’s stability than its better publicised struggle with al-Qaeda, and the deteriorating economy is making the tension worse.

Unemployment, particularly among the young, is soaring. Even the government statistics office in Aden puts it at nearly 40 per cent among men aged 20 to 24.[13]



Protest of the Southern Movement in Yemen

On January 21, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania, mobilized by the socialist opposition, ending with violent clashes between the police and protesters, leading to the deaths of three demonstrators. The protests have been sporadic in Albania since the widely contested 2009 elections, but took on new levels inspired by Tunisia.[14]

Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom stressed concern over the revolutionary sentiments within the Arab world, saying that, “I fear that we now stand before a new and very critical phase in the Arab world.” He fears Tunisia would “set a precedent that could be repeated in other countries, possibly affecting directly the stability of our system.”[15] Israel’s leadership fears democracy in the Arab world, as they have a security alliance with the major Arab nations, who, along with Israel itself, are American proxy states in the region. Israel maintains civil – if not quiet – relationships with the Arab monarchs and dictators. While the Arab states publicly criticize Israel, behind closed doors they are forced to quietly accept Israel’s militarism and war-mongering, lest they stand up against the superpower, America. Yet, public opinion in the Arab world is extremely anti-Israel, anti-American and pro-Iran.

In July of 2010, the results of a major international poll were released regarding public opinion in the Arab world, polling from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Among some of the notable findings: while Obama was well received upon entering the Presidency, with 51% expressing optimism about U.S. policy in the region in the Spring of 2009, by Summer 2010, 16% were expressing optimism. In 2009, 29% of those polled said a nuclear-armed Iran would be positive for the region; in 2010, that spiked to 57%, reflecting a very different stance from that of their governments.[16]

While America, Israel and the leaders of the Arab nations claim that Iran is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, the Arab people do not agree. In an open question asking which two countries pose the greatest threat to the region, 88% responded with Israel, 77% with America, and 10% with Iran.[17]

At the Arab economic summit shortly following the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia, who was for the first time absent from the meetings, the Tunisian uprising hung heavy in the air. Arab League leader Amr Moussa said in his opening remarks at the summit, “The Tunisian revolution is not far from us,” and that, “the Arab citizen entered an unprecedented state of anger and frustration,” noting that "the Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession.” The significance of this ‘threat’ to the Arab leaders cannot be understated. Out of roughly 352 million Arabs, 190 million are under the age of 24, with nearly three-quarters of them unemployed. Often, “the education these young people receive doesn't do them any good because there are no jobs in the fields they trained for.”[18]

There was even an article in the Israeli intellectual newspaper, Ha’aretz, which posited that, “Israel may be on the eve of revolution.” Explaining, the author wrote that:

Israeli civil society organizations have amassed considerable power over the years; not only the so-called leftist organizations, but ones dealing with issues like poverty, workers' rights and violence against women and children. All of them were created in order to fill the gaps left by the state, which for its part was all too happy to continue walking away from problems that someone else was there to take on. The neglect is so great that Israel's third sector - NGOs, charities and volunteer organizations - is among the biggest in the world. As such, it has quite a bit of power.[19]

Now the Israeli Knesset and cabinet want that power back; yet, posits the author, they “have chosen to ignore the reasons these groups became powerful,” namely:

The source of their power is the vacuum, the criminal policies of Israel's governments over the last 40 years. The source of their power is a government that is evading its duties to care for all of its citizens and to end the occupation, and a Knesset that supports the government instead of putting it in its place.[20]

The Israeli Knesset opened investigations into the funding of Israeli human rights organizations in a political maneuver against them. However, as one article in Ha’aretz by an Israeli professor explained, these groups actually – inadvertently – play a role in “entrenching the occupation.” As the author explained:

Even if the leftist groups' intention is to ensure upholding Palestinian rights, though, the unintentional result of their activity is preserving the occupation. Moderating and restraining the army's activity gives it a more human and legal facade. Reducing the pressure of international organizations, alongside moderating the Palestinian population's resistance potential, enable the army to continue to maintain this control model over a prolonged period of time.[21]

Thus, if the Israeli Knesset succeeds in getting rid of these powerful NGOs, they sow the seeds for the pressure valve in the occupied territories to be removed. The potential for massive internal protests within Israel from the left, as well as the possibility of another Intifada – uprising – in the occupied territories themselves would seem dramatically increased. Israel and the West have expressed how much distaste they hold for democracy in the region. When Gaza held a democratic election in 2006 and elected Hamas, which was viewed as the ‘wrong’ choice by Israel and America, Israel imposed a ruthless blockade of Gaza. Richard Falk, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories, wrote an article for Al Jazeera in which he explained that the blockade:

unlawfully restricted to subsistence levels, or below, the flow of food, medicine, and fuel. This blockade continues to this day, leaving the entire Gazan population locked within the world's largest open-air prison, and victimized by one of the cruelest forms of belligerent occupation in the history of warfare.[22]

The situation in the occupied territories is made increasingly tense with the recent leaking of the “Palestinian Papers,” which consist of two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords, revealing the weak negotiating position of the Palestinian Authority. The documents consist largely of major concessions the Palestinian Authority was willing to make “on the issues of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, territorial concessions, and the recognition of Israel.” Among the leaks, Palestinian negotiators secretly agreed to concede nearly all of East Jerusalem to Israel. Further, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (favoured by Israel and America over Hamas), was personally informed by a senior Israeli official the night before Operation Cast Lead, the December 2008 and January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Palestinians: “Israeli and Palestinian officials reportedly discussed targeted assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza.”[23]

Hamas has subsequently called on Palestinian refugees to protest over the concessions regarding the ‘right of return’ for refugees, of which the negotiators conceded to allowing only 100,000 of 5 million to return to Israel.[24] A former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt lamented that, “The concern will be that this might cause further problems in moving forward.”[25] However, while being blamed for possibly preventing the “peace process” from moving forward, what the papers reveal is that the “peace process” itself is a joke. The Palestinian Authority’s power is derivative of the power Israel allows it to have, and was propped up as a method of dealing with an internal Palestinian elite, thus doing what all colonial powers have done. The papers, then, reveal how the so-called Palestinian ‘Authority’ does not truly speak or work for the interests of the Palestinian people. And while this certainly will divide the PA from Hamas, they were already deeply divided as it was. Certainly, this will pose problems for the “peace process,” but that’s assuming it is a ‘peaceful’ process in the first part.



http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t=va&aid=22963

[irishspirit]

Mubarak has sent his defense minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi to Washington with an urgent request for US backing for his embattled regime against the street protest movement which gained in violence on its second day, Wednesday, Jan. 26. debkafile's Washington sources report that in secret meetings, the Egyptian defense minister put the situation before President Barack Obama and a row of top US political, military and intelligence officials. He warned them that by advocating a soft hand with the demonstrators and responsiveness to their demands, American officials were doing more harm than good. Without a crackdown, he said, the regime was doomed.


Tantawi also warned that the radical Muslim Brotherhood, which has stood aside from the opposition protests, was merely biding its time for the right moment to step in and take over. He asked the Obama administration for an urgent airlift of advanced riot control equipment.


The American response to the case presented by Tantawi is not known. Disclosure of his trip to Washington might well add fuel to the fires of disaffection burning in cities across Egypt. The protests are spearheaded by a youth opposition coalition whose members are proud of their Arab and Egyptian identity. Evidence of the regime's collaboration with a foreign power may well heighten their resolve to battle the regime and the million security services agents which Mubarak put on the streets Wednesday.


http://www.debka.com/article/20590/

[DawgBone]

I do feel that there is a change of consciousness happening worldwide.

This will pressure the Elite to move more swiftly toward one-world government. Time to consolidate their power, making change almost impossible. Time to roll out economic collapse, or food shortages, or devastating pandemic. All designed to convince people that centralized government by the Elite is the only rational solution.

I would like to see people in the US and Great Britain and France, etc. take to the streets peacefully. Perhaps national strikes will get their attention.

I feel a change of tide. I think the Elite are worried. Time to be strong.

[Fredkc]

I must be getting old.

Dissatisfaction is probably the easiest of "miseries" to manipulate.
Right after greed, of course.

What rarely works is a flood, following the banner "Something must be done!"

Whats needed is a long groundswell, brought into the fold under the banner of "Here is what's to be done."

Revolutions have a long tradition of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

You're friendly neighborhood Old Fart,
Fred

[irishspirit]

Fred;

I could not agree more.

Revolt does not work, however, it will show that finally alot of the sheep are waking up!

I agree that there needs to be a master plan put in place, which should avoid violence at all costs. Violence only feeds the beast, allows the beast to make more rules to control people.

What needs to happen, in my view, is for people to suck the breath out of the beast.

Violence does not do this, however, it is the only way that Humans know how!

Again Fred, excellent point!

P.S, DO NOT CLOSE THIS ONE!

[Carmody]

This is due to the lack of understanding, in most cases in history, that the forces that manipulate you.... will manipulate the revolution as well. And in that moment, the revolution is their vehicle, not yours. One should consider the issue of the natural tendency of the underlying animal we are built on ---to desire to centralize power and direction into individuals. This is the unconscious doorway that unwanted influences will seek to manipulate you through.

Avoid long marches/wars that end up centralizing power in a few people. for the manipulators then only need to go after those few people, or, dare I say, propose those people to you in the first place. set them up--knock them down. That's the history in these matters.

Just my experience from looking into it. Your mileage may differ.

[irishspirit]

Disturbing reports of a massacre at the coastal town of Suez, in Egypt, are coming through Raw Story and the Egyptian Association for Change USA. From what we can ascertain, the whole city is on lock-down with a complete media blackout. Journalists from Al Jazeera and other reputable media outlets have been prevented from getting any where near Suez.


A statement on the Egyptian Association for Change USA Facebook wall reads:


...The situation in Suez copied and translated word for word from an Egyptian living in Suez: Now everything is fully destroyed, it is as if we are in emergency curfew, armored vehicles/tanks are everywhere in the area of 'Irbieen' and in the governerate - and we hear the sound of bombs/grenades every few minutes and there is still live ammunition and the protesters are brave men and women and none of them are afraid nor did anyone run or escape, even though they know that alot of protesters are detained in towers since 9 o'clock and there are no networks to confirm that parents are okay and security forces and fully in charge and we have yet to see the mayor, he hasn't even made a statement about what has happened and to comfort the parents of those who were jailed and the parents are enraged. One of the parents hasn't even received the body of her daughter until now and chaos is filling the place and we do not know what fate will being to us tomorrow with this government...

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/01/...medium=twitter

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Carmody;

I agree. Coming from Northern Ireland, I have seen this operation be played out in front of my very eyes. People where divided to hate each other, hate each section and kill each other. BY THE SAME FORCE!

It is amazing what people will do when lead!

[Norsec]

Here is a link for the "live" events going on in Egypt. For those who are interested in.

Ikhwanweb

[irishspirit]

President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party says it is ready to open a dialogue with the youths who have staged three days of anti-government protests.

Safwat El-Sherif, the secretary general of the National Democratic Party, also called Thursday for restraint by the security forces and protesters during a rally planned for after Friday prayers. (AP)


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...020174,00.html

[irishspirit]

Cairo - A protester was shot in an exchange of fire between protesters and riot police Thursday at a protest in Sheikh Zuwayid, in Egypt's North Sinai, witnesses told the German Press Agency dpa.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/n...-protest.html#

[irishspirit]

SUEZ, Egypt - Orderly blocks of factory workers' apartments rose along wide, well-maintained roads over the last decade as Egypt's rising economy boosted the fortunes of this flourishing port city.
People migrated to Suez from poor, rural areas to participate in the type of growth cited by the country's longtime ruling party as evidence of its success in improving conditions in Egypt.
But even in a city cited for the success of its growing middle class, people say the improvements have benefited only a small and well-connected elite, leaving the majority struggling to find the money for food and housing. Anger over that imbalance has erupted on the streets more violently in Suez than virtually anywhere else in Egypt, leaving at least three people dead and dozens injured.


http://www.amherstdaily.com/News/Can...-and-poverty/1

[irishspirit]

Egypt unrest: ElBaradei 'ready' to lead transition


Nobel peace laureate and Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei says Egypt must change and he is ready to lead the transition if asked.
Mr ElBaradei, former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, spoke at Vienna airport as he prepared to return to Cairo to join street protests there.
At least four people have died in unrest which is now in its third day.
The government says the protests are illegal and has launched a crackdown, arresting up to 1,000, reports say.
"If [people] want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down," Mr ElBaradei told journalists at Vienna airport.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12300164

[irishspirit]

http://www.therealnews.com/t2/index....4&jumival=6164

[irishspirit]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=zza3uOszvKA

[irishspirit]

Iran cleric: Mideast unrest replay of our 1979 Islamic revolution


Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said protests in Egypt, Tunisia show the era of 'Western-backed dictators' in the Arab world is over.

The "aftershock" of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution was now rocking Egypt and other Arab states, a senior ayatollah said in the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran.

"I herewith proclaim to those (Western leaders) who still do not want to see the realities that the political axis of the new Middle East will soon be Islamic rulership and a democracy based on religion," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said.

"All these protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen are inspired by Iran's Islamic revolution and these countries are de facto rocked by the aftershock of the Iranian revolution," the ultra-conservative cleric added.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/internat...ution-1.339796

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Thousands in Jordan protest, demand PM step down


In 3rd day of protests, opposition supporters take to streets in Amman to express anger at rising prices, inflation, unemployment.

Talkbacks (9) AMMAN, Jordan — Thousands of Jordanian opposition supporters took to the streets Friday in the country's capital demanding the prime minister step down and venting their anger at rising prices, inflation and unemployment.

It was the third consecutive Friday of protests following Muslim prayers in Jordan, inspired by the unrest in Tunisia and rallies in Egypt demanding the downfall of the country's longtime president.

RELATED:
Arab world unrest has Jordan's king under pressure
Human rights in retreat again in Middle East in 2010
Protesters demand Jordan's government step down

About 3,500 opposition activists from Jordan's main Islamist opposition group, trade unions and leftist organizations gathered in Amman's downtown, waving colorful banners reading: "Send the corrupt guys to court."

The crowd denounced Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai's unpopular policies. Many shouted: "Rifai go away, prices are on fire and so are the Jordanians."

Another 2,500 people also took to the streets in six other cities across the country after the noon prayers. Those protests also called for Rifai's ouster.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=205641

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Mubarak Sacks Cabinet As Unrest Spreads


Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has refused to quit after four days of protests against his rule - instead he sacked his cabinet and said he would appoint a new one.




Mubarak Sacks Cabinet As Unrest Spreads


2:51am UK, Saturday January 29, 2011
Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak has refused to quit after four days of protests against his rule - instead he sacked his cabinet and said he would appoint a new one.


The 82-year-old president addressed the nation in a live TV appearance, saying its problems should not be dealt with through violence or chaos.
He claimed the anti-government demonstrations were part of plot to destabilise Egypt and destroy the legitimacy of his regime.

The president defended the actions of police, who have fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons at protesters across the country, and promised reforms.
Mr Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for three decades, then asked his cabinet to resign and said a new government would be appointed today.
"I assure you that I am working for the people and giving freedom of opinion, as long as you are respecting the law," he said.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...ines_Disrupted

[irishspirit]

Prince warns S. Arabia of apocalypse (they knew it was coming, look at the date of the article)

Saudi Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has warned the country's royal family to step down and flee before a military coup or a popular uprising overthrows the kingdom.


In a letter published by Wagze news agency on Tuesday, the Cairo-based prince warned Saudi Arabia's ruling family of a fate similar to that of Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein and the ousted Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, calling on them to escape before people "cut off our heads in streets."

He warned that the Saudi royal family is no longer able to "impose" itself on people, arguing that deviations in carrying out the religious concepts that make up the basis of the Saudi government "have gotten out of our hands," so that the opposition views our acts as "interfering in people's private life and restricting their liberties."

"If we are wise, we must leave this country to its people, whose dislike for us is increasing," said Prince Turki, advising Saudi officials to escape with their families.

http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/129692.html

[irishspirit]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ThvBJMzmSZI

[irishspirit]

Reports: Syria Internet Down As Egypt Blackout Catches On In Middle East

On the same day that Egypt has suspended online activity, Syria has also blocked internet service. Syria is known for a tight control of the internet, which was tightened further after the unrest in TUnisia, reports Reuters. Now, Al Arabiya is reporting that internet services have gone down completely in the country.


http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/...ddle-East.html

A block on Information perhaps?