these people change our world

watch and learn from worker strikes in egypt over the past months

Remarking January 25- A Series of Six

An event does not happen in a circle- more likely in a broken sphere. 

The wave of protest that lead to the January 25 Revolution did not start in Tahrir.
It occurred  in places, spaces, some of which were hidden, unspoken of, some darker than others. In every telling of histories there are silenced moments, yet every moment has its voice.
Detached and intertwined, these are six stories of the Egyptian "January 25 Revolution"- told by some of the silenced voices. Filmed violently. Collected and edited by Intifadat Intifadat. 



Cairo Intifada (6:00)

On January 28th 2011 hundreds of thousands of Egyptians went to the streets all across the country with one aim: to oust a political regime void of legitimacy. Cairo Intifada follows protestors in the Cairene neighborhood of Imbaba.



The Downfall of Mubarak (6:23)

On February 10th Hosni Mubarak makes one last TV appearance before the Egyptians successfully oust him from power the following day. Experience the transition.



These people are not leaving- Mahalla workers in the January 25 Revolution (6:47)

Since 2006 the 21,000 workers of the Mahalla Textile Company have been striking and protesting against the suppressive economic policies of the Egyptian regime. Without these actions the January 25 revolution may never have come about. On February 17th 2011 the workers are back on strike.



We were imprisoned in our clothes- The workers of Turah in the January 25 Revolution (6:54)

"My son, my niece, my cousin, my father - they're all in Midan Tahrir too. I am no different. The whole country is demanding their rights. I demand my rights too." said Abdalla one of the workers carrying out a weeks long sit-in in the neighborhood of Turah. The revolution in the factory space.



We Want Freedom- The Story of Mohamed Zaghloul (2:59)

On his way home from work Mohamed Zaghloul experiences a citizen's arrest. Members of a popular committee stop him, beat him and hand him over to the military police. There he is tortured and faced with up to a five year prison sentence.


We will not return to the era of slavery- Fighting the Anti-Strike Law (4:57)

On April 12, two months after the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces secretly pass a new decree outlawing all strikes, protests and sit-ins. The street and the workers react.

Egypt: What's Coming

Considering this jittery position of the powers that be,



(they provide their friends with these,)



and the jittery position of him,



i think our "allies" will put in place this guy



@bencnn
ElBaradei at airport says the point of no return has been reached must be peaceful change govt must stop using violence #Jan25 #Egypt
8:12pm January 27

whom "the people"



didn't elect.

This is maybe a tip toe better than what we have lived under for the past 30 years... but it is a continuation of Egypt's neo-liberal "reforms" a la mr. fayyad

... just a guess

and i dont like it.

Around here we need to start thinking about alternatives to the nation-state, because after all the "post-colonial moment is still colonial"

Live from Downtown January 25 Anti-government Protests

alexandria to duisburg: the convergance of mulitudes

and

Egyptian Security caught off guard, use excessive force against anti-torture march

مداهمة الأمن المصري ، واستخدام القوة المفرطة ضد المشاركين في مسيرة ضد التعذيب


Security agents were caught completely off guard when an anti-torture protest in downtown Cairo re-located from the completely police besieged Tahrir Square to a march that started at the nearby Bab el-Luq square. The march that started with approximately 50 protesters increased to 200-250 people. Security agents and plain clothes police started arriving at the scene and followed the march on either side of the road. Marchers were chanting "down with Husni Mubarak" and "look, here are the youth of Egypt."

فوجئ رجال الامن تماما عندما غيرت مظاهرة مناهضة للتعذيب موقعها من ميدان التحرير المحاصر تماما من قبل قوات الشرطة و تحولت إلى مسيرة بدأت من ميدان باب.اللوق. المسيرة التي بدأت بنحو 50 متظاهرا وصل عددهم إلى 200-250 شخص. بدأ ورجال الأمن وشرطة يرتدون ملابس مدنية الوصول الى مكان المظاهرة وتابعوا المسيرة من على جانبي الطريق. المتظاهرون كانوا يهتفون "فليسقط حسني مبارك" و "انظروا، ها هم شباب مصر"
توقفت السيارات للسماح للمشاركين في المسيرة بالمرور وهم يهتفون "حرية ، حرية".




Cars stopped to let marchers chanting "freedom, freedom" pass by... drivers often clapped and chanted along.

صفق السائقين في كثير من الأحيان ورددوا الهتافات.

Egyptian security started arriving en mass @:22 (in final video), blocking the road ahead of the march with trucks and police. They started surrounding part of the group, then picking protesters out of the crowd one-by-one. The protesters replied with chants "we are not afraid, we are not afraid" @01:52


بدأت قوات الأمن المصرية بالوصول في مجموعات كبيرة @ : 22 (في الفيديو الاخير) ، و سدت الطريق أمام المسيرة بشاحنات كبيرة ورجال الشرطة. وبدأوا يطوقون اجزاء من المجموعة ، ثم بدأوا في التقاط المتظاهرين من الحشد واحد تلو الاخر و رد المتظاهرون بهتافات "لسنا خائفين ، ونحن لسنا خائفين" @ 01:52


Both police and plain clothes security agents started using excessive force. @04:25 you will see an unidentifiable protester or protesters getting crushed under severe blows of policemen. @02:42 security try to cordone off a large section of protesters. Security agents tried to get everyone to stop filming and taking pictures @4:00. @4:50 plain clothes security picked one person off the sidewalk next to me, @5:30 another is taken.


بدأت كل من رجال الشرطة ورجال الأمن بملابس مدنية باستخدام القوة المفرطة. @ 04:25 سترون متظاهر او بعض المتظاهرين غيرمغروف هويتهم يسحقون تحت ضربات شديدة من قبل رجال الشرطة. @ 02:42 يحاول رجال الأمن تطويق جزء كبير من المتظاهرين. و حاولوا منع التصويروالتقاط الصور @ 04:00. @ 4:50 التقط رجال الأمن بالملابس المدنية شخص واحد من الرصيف المجاور لي ، @ 05:30 قبض علي آخر.


Trying to film as much as possible without getting my phone or my self confiscated I was suddenly attacked by this massive policeman @6:35 who yelled "don't film boy" and hit me in the face, then kicked me as I picked up the phone and managed to escape.. the phone kept filming.


احاول التصويرلاطول فترة ممكنة دون مصادرة هاتفي أو يقبضوا علي و فجأة تعرضت لهجوم من قبل شرطي ضخم @ 6:35 و الذي صاح "لا تصوير يا ولد" وضربني في وجهي ، ثم ركلني وأنا احاول التقاط هاتفي وتمكنت من الفرار.. ظل الهاتف يصور.



This is the violence of the decaying police state apparatus that Egyptians get to witness on our streets. What you don't see behind the closed doors of the torture chambers of police stations and ministry of interior holding stations, is much worse still.

The latest resports (via Ramy Raoof) are that 55 protesters were disappeared, by 21:00 most of these were released. Abdelqader is reporting that security agents are leaving protesters stranded on the road in the faraway new Cairo suburbs.

At sundown protesters continue their chants calling for the release of all fellow marchers

By 21:00 security agents release all kidnapped protesters (though money, ids stolen), for today the protests come to an end.

Egyptian police state apparatus down 0:1

هذا هو عنف الدولة البوليسية المتدهورة الذي يشهده المصريين في شوارعنا.و ما لا تراه خلف ألابواب المغلقة من غرف التعذيب في مراكز الشرطة ومراكزالاحتجازفي وزارة الداخلية ، مازال أسوأ بكثير 

آخر التقارير (عن طريق رامي رؤوف) هي اختفتاء 55 المتظاهرين ، أفرج عن معظمهم في الساعة 21:00 .

قدم عبد القادر تقرير ان رجال الامن تركوا الماظاهرين على الطريق في ضواحي القاهرة الجديدة 

عند غروب شمس واصل المتظاهرون الهتافات للأفراج عن جميع المحتجزين من المشاركين في المسيرة

 و في الساعة 21:00 قام رجال الامن باطلاق سراح جميع المتظاهرين المختطفين (على الرغم من سرقة ما معهم من مال، وهوياتهم )

، لهذا اليوم وصلت المظاهرات نهايتها.

أجهزة شرطة الدولة المصرية 00:01

UPDATE: Violent Crackdown at Ministry of Interior Protest

it is 17:54 in cairo, protest started as planned at 17:00 in front of the ministry of interior to protest the brutal murder of Khaled Said at the hands of security force officers last week and ongoing usage of torture in Egypt

follow here and here for live video feed updates

Arabawy's last feed:

reports over twitter that many arrests have been made, the police force according to Arabawy is lead by officer Hisham el-Iraqi.

The approx 200 protestors are now encircled and the police force is closing in on them

Security forces arrested lawyer Malek Adly from Hisham Mubarak, Emad Mubarak (then released again by 18:12 according to RamyRaoof), Mohamed Waked, Ashraf Omar, Shadi and Hani el-hosseiny

and

Islam Al-Zanaty, Mohamed Nowar (according to ielsakka)

latest kidnapped activists reported by Emad Mubarak at 18:40:

Ahmed Badawy, Hosam Al-Sayad, Amr Ali, Nour Ayman Nour, Ali Hassan, Mostafa el-hosseiny, Samir Girgis and confirming Islam AL-Zenaty

According to RamyRaoof by 18:00 security forces had arrested 20 activists this number raised to estimates between 25 (RamyRaoof) and 60 by 18:25 (according hossam_karama)

Activists urgently calling for water supplies

Those leaving the protest are promised to go free and then arrested once outside of the cricle (Arabawy)

Ayman Nour reported to be in hospital according to btnafas7oria

Despite police brutality and kidnapping, protesters standing strong

We say NO to torture

At 19:30 demonstrators negotiations with security fail. Demonstrators won't leave till detainees are released via SarahCarr

urgent update 19:55:

security forces kidnap blogger-activist hossam el-hamalawy, ahmed kheir

update via ramyraoof:

new names:

rasha azb-ahmed kheir-malek mostafa-yehia sami-hassan hamdan-mohamed ansari-fouad fawaz-mohamed hosny-maikel nabil- mamdoh safwt

latest via SarahCarr:

security releasing people one by one, kidnapping those wanted

latest image from the scene

at 21:05 security forces are releasing the protesters two by two, only a small group left surrounded

at 21:10 blogger hossam el-hamalawy picked up at hospital and TravellweW taking him home.

Protest taking place at High Court for those kidnapped

Joining the protest now

Amonsito & The Inner Workings of State Violence

On 28 April Ahmad Ezz, appearing on Christiane Amanpour’s CNN show, spoke with pride of the demonstrations staged daily in front of parliament by “good Egyptians.” He went on to remark that the image of Egypt “stifling dissent… with no freedom of expression, is far from the mark.”

Sunday 23 May, proved claims of the Egyptian regime’s stifling dissent to be right on the mark.

The morning started with escalations by the workers of the Amonsito factory. Their union representatives were due to meet with Minister of Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel Hady and General Union head Hussein Megawer at 10am that morning.

What was to be discussed once more was the government’s backing out from a deal singed on 21 March between Bank Misr, the government’s Ministry of Manpower and Immigration and the worker’s union. Following the signed agreement the government-owned bank backed reduced the agreed upon amount of LE106 million to be paid out to the 1700 workers, to LE50 million.

Over the past week the workers have been progressively escalating their acts of protests in an attempt to get the government and the passers-by attention.

Sunday morning the workers were using whistles, chanting and beating the barricades the police uses to cage them onto the sidewalk. The deafening noise could be heard multiple streets away, drawing the attention of anyone in the vicinity. On Friday, some of the workers ripped their clothes and wrote message of dissent on their bodies.

Their calls of protest have reached a new level of urgency.

On Sunday the messages on their bodies and torn clothes included, “the thieving government,” “I want my rights.”

Around 1pm the union representatives returned from the parliament building with bad news. The head of the General Union and Manpower Minister had stood their ground and would not return to negotiate the original 21 March agreement.

After the announcement of this news, the workers tried to enter the gates of the parliament upon which security forces encircled them. When some of the workers managed to break through the barricade, the forces attacked them with wooden sticks, beating them severely and then arrested seven of the workers.

Minutes later many of the workers had dispersed all over town, Ragab Khidr was taken to a nearby hospital having loosing consciousness after security forces beat him over the head. Khidr later received stitches to his head.

Security forces did not spare Amonsito union head Khaled al-Shishawy, who also received multiple blows to his body. While showing me his wounds, he explained, “security forces faced us, the officers beat us up with their batons, we kept trying to hold back their blows.”

The representative of the 1700 workers went on, “we’re not leaving even if they shoot us. May they detain us all and put us behind bars.”

Four hours later security had forced all the workers away having threatened them with further use of violence and without having released the initial seven kidnapped workers.

The government-aligned Radio Misr station announced later that day that the workers had gone home, after having come to an agreement with the government.

Just a few minutes walk away from the Amonsito protest site, security forces forced similar sit-ins of the Nubariya and the Helwan Telephone Company from their sites of protest.

Al-Shishawy ended his statement saying, “I hope the world knows what democracy is like in Egypt, we are only asking for our rights.”

NDP parliamentarian Ahmad Ezz will have to drive to work tomorrow on streets cleared of protesters.

For the workers, the government spokesman’s words have never rung so hollow.

Live Video-Feed: 2 May Protest

Follow today's protest calling for a minimum wage live here

the times have changed/ 2 may protest: cairo streets

I am writing you today because of an emergency.

Like in so many places, the dispersion of a neo-liberal economic agenda is threatening to drown many Egyptians alive.

Since 2004, the Egyptian government has applied economic policies that have translated into reduced support- of any kind- for workers and farmers and increased benefits for agro-business owners and entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the Egyptian economic agenda has entailed fast-track (if selective) economic liberalization, partly to blame for steady inflation in Egypt. Again, this is good for businesses, not workers.

With an unsatiable desire for high FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) quotas, Egyptian authorities are making it easier for foreign businesses to invest in Egypt, including by means of subsidies on gas and electricity and minimal labor regulations. Essentially, this is enabling a double exploitation of Egyptian resources, natural and human, for the benefit of the local business elite and foreign investors.

I want to visit just one of the very particular effects of these kinds of economic regulations: the effect on a minimum living wage.

In Egypt we have an official minimum wage of 35EGP ($6)/ month that has remained unchanged since 1984. A vast number of Egyptian wage earners are making between $50-$100 a month. With severe inflation over the past four years I have no idea how families survive even when breadwinners are working multiple jobs at such rates.

One month ago, on 1 April, Egyptian workers won a court ruling forcing the Egyptian government to set a living wage for both private and public sector workers.The decision requires the Prime Minister to implement a miniumum living wage in accordance with Egyptian market prices by 1 May 2010 or be sent to prison for failing to conform with the court ruling.

A delegation of workers calls on all working Egyptians to join them in their protest in front of the Cabinet of Ministers in downtown Cairo at 13:00GMT on 2 May 2010 to demand that the government enforce the court ruling.

The 2 May protest does not concern merely a single segment of Egyptian society or a specific government policy. It is an action to obtain a living wage to guarantee dignity for all Egyptians; an action to curb the exploitation and oppression Egyptians experience as working people. Furthermore, I don't think such an event concerns only Egyptians, it concerns people at the bottom the world over, who are being trampled for the excess of comfort and luxury of those at the top.

Watch a video about the court case and history of the coming protest on Egypt's streets

Watch videos of Egyptian workers, celebrities and politicians calling for wide participation of the protest on 2 May (in Arabic)

Pass on the information for the press to cover.

Get unions and syndicates you are connected with, to send letters or videos (similar to those linked to earlier) of solidarity and support. These can be filmed on a webcam and uploaded to youtube or other video hosting sites and the links forwarded to me.

Follow us via live video feed directly from the sit-in on the May 2010 at 13:00 GMT

Help spread the word on this uprising of a multitude.

Beirut-Cairo: Protesting Egypt's Wall of Shame

A protest organized in Cairo in coordination with activists in Beirut, called for an end to the construction of the Wall of Shame. The steel barrier being built between northern Sinai and the Gaza Strip will aid the Zionist strategy of increasing the siege on the population of the Gaza Strip. The wall is also trying to force Hamas into concessions with the Israeli policies that are not in the interest of the Palestinian public.

Over a hundred protesters from various parties and movements gathered at the Journalist Syndicate in downtown Cairo under the usual state security clampdown.

Ashraf from Arish, the bordering town to the Gaza Strip, explained the dangerous effects of the wall on regional politics. Never before has an Egyptian regime coordinated so closely with Zionist state policies. Never before have Egyptian politics reached so low a level that the Egyptian government allows for natural gas to be exported to Israel at subsidized prices while a crisis rages on Egyptian streets due to gas shortages.

Also briefly attending the protest was Gamal, a worker from the Tanta Flax Company. On their 36th day of strike and their 6th day (day and night) protest in front of the Prime Minister's Office the workers are demanding their rights. The representative stated his support for the protest against the Wall of Shame. A group of participants from the Gaza protest joined the Tanta Flax workers the same night.

The protest started a full week of actions protesting the Wall of Shame.