First it took a combination of internal and external factors to produce these hateful despotic dictatorships.
Second, the long suffering people whom they exploited and suppressed on behalf of themselves, the elites cohering around them, and the imperialist states which propped them up, are now in revolting and showing a remarkable degree of determination and courage to drive them out, change those governments and grope towards a transformation of their lives.
And this is the factor in the unravelling situation that is of decisive importance at least in my estimation, and perhaps to those who are actually engaged in actively writing this history on the streets of Arab and middle east cities.
The third factor will be the strategic importance of what is happening, and of the fall of the Egyptian regime and current state apparatus to the middle east, to the peoples of the middle east.
This brings me to the issue of hoe we view what is going on and its implications.
This collapse of the regime in a chaotic manner, could have implications for middle east stability. But one may also ask, whose stabilty?
On the other hand the collapse of the regime involving the undermining of the cohesiveness of its armed forces could also have strategic implications for the cause of liberation of the peoples of the middle east and the transformation of that landscape with the emergence of regimes more accountable to the people and governing in the interests of their ordinary citizens and not the oligarchs.
This is why one of the lessons being taught by the unprecedented upheavals in the magreb, a lesson constantly taught through all history, is that the eventual role of the imperialist states, the US and say China will be determined by a combination of the resolve of the awakened peoples, and the outcome or trajectory of the display of popular power on the streets.
Obama's resolve will be firm or ambiguous depending on the balance of class forces on the streets of Egypt.
The next few days will be decisive for the Egyptian popular uprising and revolution, and because the events are unfolding in such a strategic middle east country, the outcome or trajectory will be decisive for the middle east, and very significantly for Palestine and Israel.
Regards,
Jaye Gaskia
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
-----Original Message-----
From: kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu>
Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:30:35
To: <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Egypt braces itself for biggest
day of protests yet
i agree with the overall sentiments of sabella, of course.
but i could ask, what is it about us that we want to single out the bad
qualities of african and middle eastern leaders, as if they were such
exceptions. for instance, all the badness of the leaders in question
have to be joined to the powerful government(s) that insured their
remaining in power. get it? someone paid all those billions to mubarak
every year to maintain his police and army; anyone who has been to egypt
in the past 20 years will have noticed all the external formal
attributes of a police state. and tunisia had govt spies working EVERYWHERE.
even in the audience of the auditorium where i have lectures at the
university, the middle aged man in the back with the cellphone going.
who paid to prop these people up? and what courage do we now see in the
people who are risking so much to oppose them.
the question should be, what is wrong with those western powers, and
china, that they continue to sustain police states, insuring the hatred
of the local populations.
lastly, who is mayor of ny, and why is he still mayor?
does anyone here remember when nixon started floating political messages
that he might be open to a change in the constitutional amendments
permitting him to stay on for more than 2 terms?
and if i were even more cynical, which isn't possible, i'd ask, what
made clinton and obama shift toward the center when they ran into
opposition?
ken
On 1/28/11 8:05 PM, Sabella wrote:
> What is it with leaders, especially African and Middle East leaders –
> that makes them stay or want to stay in power for 15, 20 or more
> years? If within 8 years, a leader could not positively transform the
> political, economic and social structure of his country and help with
> the overall wellbeing of his people, what makes him think that hanging
> on to power will bring joy and satisfaction to his people and his
> country?
>
> President Obama's speech did not go far enough. It was too safe, to
> calculating and too diplomatic. Yes, he does not want to be seen as
> meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt, or of being ungrateful to a
> long time ally. Still, in times like this the United States should be
> unequivocal in its support for democratic forces and in its
> condemnation of despots and brutes. It is clear that Mubarak is a man
> whose time has long gone, a man who should have relinquished power two
> decades ago.
>
> This may be wishful thinking. Even so, imagine what prestige President
> Goodluck Jonathan would garner if he spoke in favor of democratic
> elements in Egypt. But he dare not. African leaders are about the
> same: they generally do not have the moral right, the constitutional
> temerity and the character to condemn illegalities and immoralities in
> and around the continent. Zimbabwe, Guinea, Madagascar, Cote D'Ivoire
> and various other African countries are sores that continue to
> fester.
> Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
> Montgomery, Alabama
>
>
> On Jan 28, 4:22 am, Hetty ter Haar<oldave...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Egypt braces itself for biggest day of protests yet
>>
>> Pressure builds on the president, Hosni Mubarak, as banned Muslim
>> Brotherhood backs protests
>>
>> Peter Beaumont and Jack Shenker in Cairo
>> Friday January 28 2011
>> The Guardian
>>
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/27/egypt-protests-biggest-da...
>>
>> Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, will face escalating challenges on
>> all fronts tomorrow, with Cairo expecting the biggest day yet of
>> street protests and Mohamed ElBaradei, one of his fiercest critics,
>> calling explicitly for a "new regime" on his return to Cairo.
>>
>> Redoubling the sense of crisis for 82-year-old Mubarak, who has ruled
>> for the past three decades, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's
>> most potent opposition force, said it was backing the latest call for
>> demonstrations scheduled to follow Friday prayers.
>>
>> ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear inspector who plans to join
>> tomorrow's marches, arrived tonight at Cairo's airport to a media
>> scrum and a heavy presence from the country's state security. He said
>> he had come because "this is a critical time in the life of Egypt and
>> I have come to participate with the Egyptian people".
>>
>> Dozens of barriers manned by plainclothes state security officers had
>> been erected in the airport to stop the public from mobbing ElBaradei,
>> but they proved no match for the media scrum as the 68-year-old
>> emerged with his wife. "Will you be on the streets tomorrow?" screamed
>> one journalist. "Doctor ElBaradei, the people of Egypt need you
>> tomorrow," shouted a bystander in Arabic.
>>
>> Speaking to reporters earlier as he set off from Vienna, ElBaradei
>> said he was seeking regime change and was ready to lead the opposition
>> movement.
>>
>> "The regime has not been listening," he said. "If people, in
>> particular young people ? if they want me to lead the transition, I
>> will not let them down. My priority ? is to see a new regime and to
>> see a new Egypt through peaceful transition.
>>
>> "I advise the government to listen to the people and not to use
>> violence. There's no going back. I hope the regime stops violence,
>> stops detaining people, stops torturing people. This will be
>> completely counterproductive."
>>
>> Aside from the journalists, only a few well-wishers turned out to
>> greet the Nobel peace-prize winner ? a far cry from the scenes of last
>> February when ElBaradei was met by more than 1,000 supporters on his
>> triumphant return.
>>
>> Ahmed el-Sherif, a 24-year-old dentist, said: "We are all Egyptians,
>> and it's our duty to receive ElBaradei in Egypt. We need him to lead
>> us in the change we want, for the regime to fall and Mubarak to leave
>> and for a new, free Egypt to be born."
>>
>> Sherif rejected criticisms that ElBaradei had been too timid in the
>> runup to this week's protests. "It's not his job to be protesting on
>> the streets, it's our job. The people of Egypt will make the change
>> from below, not ElBaradei. His role is to be a leader, a figurehead
>> for what comes after, because that's what we're lacking at the moment.
>> We do our job first, then he will do his. I completely agree with what
>> he says about the state of our country and what we need to do to
>> change it, and many people my age feel the same."
>>
>> ElBaradei arrived as violent protests continued in many parts of the
>> country, including the port of Suez, where a cloud of black smoke was
>> seen over the city.
>>
>> In an interview with CNN before his return, ElBaradei poured scorn on
>> comments by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who had
>> described the Egyptian government as stable and "looking for ways to
>> respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people".
>>
>> "I was stunned to hear secretary Clinton saying the Egyptian
>> government is stable. And I ask myself at what price is stability? Is
>> it on the basis of 29 years of martial law? Is it on the basis of 30
>> years of [an] ossified regime? Is it on the basis of rigged elections?
>> That's not stability, that's living on borrowed time," said ElBaradei.
>>
>> "When you see today almost over 100,000 young people getting
>> desperate, going to the streets, asking for their basic freedom, I
>> expected to hear from secretary Clinton stuff like 'democracy, human
>> rights, basic freedom' ? all the stuff the US is standing for," he
>> said.
>>
>> The Muslim Brotherhood is throwing its weight behind protests after
>> four days in which six have died and almost 1,000 have been rounded up
>> by police. Mohammed Mursi, a leader of the group, said: "We are not
>> pushing this movement, but we are moving with it. We don't wish to
>> lead it but we want to be part of it."
>>
>> Organisers of tomorrow's marches ? dubbed "the Friday of anger and
>> freedom" ? are defying a government ban on protests issued on
>> Wednesday. They have been using social media to co-ordinate, and hope
>> to rally even more than the tens of thousands who turned out on
>> Tuesday in the biggest protests since 1977.
>>
>> In a sign of its anxiety, the regime issued a warning to all mosques
>> advising against "spreading confusion or the circulation of unfounded
>> rumours".
>>
>> In a clumsy attempt to head off the rebellion, Egypt's ruling party
>> said today it was "ready for a dialogue" but offered no concessions to
>> address demands for a solution to rampant poverty and political
>> change.Officials from Mubarak's National Democratic party denied
>> rumours that have been swirling for several days that Mubarak's son
>> Gamal, who some believe is being groomed to take over from his father,
>> had fled the country.
>>
>> In a sign that the regime will be confronted by a huge turnout, the
>> prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, urged citizens to exercise self control.
>> There will also be a massive turnout by police, who have viciously
>> tried to stamp out the rebellion.
>>
>> The growing political uncertainty saw Cairo's stock market crash by
>> 10% today, with trading suspended for a while, following a fall of 6%
>> the day before.
>>
>> Mubarak's position has been further undermined by the implicit
>> criticism by senior Arab political figures attending the Davos
>> Economic Forum, including his former foreign minister Amr Moussa, who
>> is now head of the Arab League.
>>
>> Moussa told the forum yesterday that a wave of unrest across the Arab
>> world since the Tunisian uprising highlighted the need for democratic
>> reforms. "The Arab citizen is angry, is frustrated," Moussa said. "So,
>> the name of the game is reform."
>>
>> Former Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal told
>> the Davos gathering the same day that "even Egyptian officials" are
>> now admitting that their society is in a moment of flux.
>>
>> In a further indication of the seismic shocks in the region, tens of
>> thousands of people called for the removal of Yemen's president, Ali
>> Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years, in protests across
>> the country.
>>
>> guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011
--
kenneth w. harrow
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
east lansing, mi 48824-1036
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu
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