αναδημοσίευση από menasolidarity (η έμφαση σε κάποια σημεία δική μας)

Al-Sisi’s “Permission” is a Deadly Poison

My comrades, the workers of Egypt are struggling for their rights and for a better Egypt. Egypt’s workers dream of freedom and social justice, they dream of work at a time when thieves who are called businessmen close down factories to pocket billions. Egypt’s workers dream of fair wages under the rule of a governments that are only interested in promoting investment at the expense of workers and their rights, and even their lives. Egypt’s workers dream of a better life for their children. They dream of medicine when they are sick, but they do not find it. They dream of four walls in which they can take shelter.

Since before the 25th of January and you have been demanding your rights, and your strikes and demonstrations for the same unanswered demands continued after Mubarak’s overthrow. Both the Muslim Brotherhood and the military have negotiated left, right and centre, not once having in mind your demands and rights. All they have in mind is how to put out the sparks you have lit with your struggle in times of darkness, even these sparks all burned in isolation from each other.

Did not the military forcibly end your strikes in Suez, Cairo, Fayyoum, and all over Egypt ? Did not the military arrest many of you and subject you to military trials just for practising your right to organize, strike, and protest peacefully? Have they not adamantly worked to criminalize this right through legislation banning all Egyptians from organizing peaceful protests, strikes, and sit-ins?

Then came Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who followed in Mubarak’s footsteps with dismissals, arrests, and smashing strikes by force. It was Mursi who sent police dogs against workers at Titan Cement in Alexandria, acting through the Minister of the Interior and his men. The same police and army officers who are right now being carried shoulder-high are killers, the killers of honest, young Egyptians. They are the authorities’ weapon against us all – and always will remain so unless these institutions are cleansed.

The leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are planning crimes against Egyptian people on a daily basis, which have caused the killing of innocent people, while the army and the police are facing these with brutal violence and murder. But let each of us remember, when do the army and police intervene? They intervene long after clashes have begun and are almost coming to an end, after blood has been spilled. Ask yourselves, why don’t they prevent these crimes committed by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Egyptian people before they start? Ask yourselves, in whose interest is this continuation of fighting and blood-letting? It is in the interest of both the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood and the military together. Just as the poor are cannon-fodder for wars between states, Egypt’s poor, workers and peasants, are fuel for internal war and conflict. Has not the doorman’s innocent son been killed in Mokattam, and in Giza as well?

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9pPijKhnpE[/youtube]

από τον τύπο τους:

The activist filmmaker Aalam Wassef, who made subversive Web videos during the Mubarak era under the pseudonym Ahmad Sherif, released a bleakly comic music video that showed him sitting out Friday’s demonstrations at home, doing his laundry in front of a banner with a single word on it: “Resist.”

A small number of activists did take to the streets, however, displayingbanners in Sphinx Square with red lines through the faces of both General Sisi and Mr. Morsi.

As the Egyptian-British blogger Sarah Carr reported for Mada Masr, an English-language news site, the dozens of protesters in Sphinx Square “refer to their movement as ‘The Third Square.’ ”

In a leaflet distributed in the protest they describe themselves as “a group of Egyptians who protested on January 25 against the corruption of the Mubarak state … protested against [the former head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein] Tantawi’s men, who gave the army a bad name during the transitional period, and protested against Morsi and religious fascism in order to call for early elections.”

The leaflet says that they are protesting today against the army playing a role in politics and against “the defense minister calling for an authorization to kill Egyptians on the pretext of fighting terrorism when fighting terrorism does not require a mandate because that is the duty of the Armed Forces.”

 

[…]Nevertheless, EFITU has already announced that its members are ready to work day and night for Egypt and to support its new interim government. According to its statement, EFITU members fully support the road map and workers and peasants are at the service of the new government: “They are the heroes of the strikes against the two previous governments and now they will be the heroes of hard work and production for the nation. They only want in return to feel like human beings and not second class citizens.”[…]

Αναδημοσίευση από jadaliyya, η έμφαση σε ορισμένα σημεία δική μας. Ενδιαφέρον άρθρο για την πρόσφατη ιστορία του συνδικαλισμού στην Αίγυπτο, και το ρόλο των ανεξάρτητων συνδικάτων που φαίνεται στην παράγραφο που παραθέσαμε πιο πάνω.

“We started the 2011 revolution and the rest of Egypt followed,” is a statement Egyptian workers make with great conviction when discussing the movement for change in their country. Accordingly, in order to continue what began in January 2011, the masses of workers were out yet again in the streets and squares of Egypt before and on 30 June, and in the ensuing days until former president Mohamed Morsi’s removal from office on 3 July. This might seem surprising, given that there were no signs or banners on 30 June indicating workers’ participation. In fact, this was based on a prior agreement among the organizers of the protest, the youth-led Tamarod Campaign. Protesters were to hold up only the Egyptian flag, in addition to homemade signs, but not organizational insignia. So you did not see workers marching under the banner of their union or profession on 30 June. Yet the workers were out in droves in every city and town in Egypt protesting as an integral part of the June 2013 people’s coup revolution. In certain industrial towns such as al-Mahalla al-Kubra, the Tenth of Ramadan and Sadat cities – they were the majority, and leading the marches.

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Αναδημοσίευση από Madamasr (από τον τρόπο παρουσίασης των γεγονότων φαίνεται ότι το αντι-ισλαμικό στρατόπεδο δεν μπορεί να χωνέψει ότι ο στρατός δολοφονεί συστηματικά ισλαμιστές διαδηλωτές).

Αναδημοσίευση από jadaliyya

Last September, sixteen-year-old Eman Mustafa was walking with a friend in the village of Arab Al Kablatin Assiut, when a man groped her breasts. She turned to face him and spat in his face. He shot her dead with an automatic rifle as a price for her bravery. Mustafa’s death was an eye-opener call to those who claim that sexual violence is an urban issue. Thanks to human rights organizations and activist groups, Eman’s killer was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2013.

Violence against women across historical, cultural, and national divides continues to be a socially accepted practice, if not a norm. In the realms of both policy and social awareness, we have collectively failed to tackle this issue with serious rigor. As a result, we seem to be witnessing an increase in sexual violence and brutality.

In Egypt, sexual harassment is widespread and touches the lives of the majority of women whether on the streets, in public transportation, or at the work place, the super market, or political protests. It is true that sexual harassment still lacks a unified definition, but it is not difficult to identify unwelcome verbal or physical sexual violation. Many Egyptians, women included, are unclear as to what constitutes sexual harassment. Others sadly, do not think it is a problem. One thing is clear though, and that is the actions of the various governments of the last thirty years have been limited to statements of regret and unmet promises.

The word taharrush (harassment) is a relatively new term in the daily lexicon. Until recently, sexual harassment was referred to as mu‘aksa (flirtation). That term alone reveals the multiple layers of denial, misogyny, and violence Egyptians must confront in tackling sexual harassment. In addition to rape and physical assault we must equally tackle name-calling, groping, and the barraging of women with sexual invitations. All of these acts normalize violence and hatred against women and they must become socially unacceptable.

Even though, for example, Eman Mustafa was a veiled villager, one key argument in the victim-blaming that is salient in our everyday narratives is the common and vulgar perception that sexual harassment occurs when women dress “provocatively.”  In fact, the only thing that Egyptians who face sexual harassment have in common is that over ninety-nine percent of them are females.

Over the last decade, Egyptians have been working intensively on spreading both social and legal awareness on sexual violence and harassment. In 2005, the Egyptian Center for Women’s rights launched its “Safe Streets for Everyone” initiative to combat sexual harassment. In 2008, more than sixteen human rights organizations and independent groups formed the “Task Force Against Sexual Violence.” In 2010, that Task Force released its own bill to amend Penal Code provisions on sexual violence. That year too, the volunteer-based initiative Harassmap established a free software method to receive anonymous SMS reporting that it would process into a mapping system. Harassmap’s mission was to render sexual harassment socially unacceptable.

Over the past two years, activists have formed many other independent movements and online groups that raise awareness, empower women to stand up against gender-based violence and speak out by sharing testimonies and ideas to combat sexual harassment, and in some cases, expose the perpetrators. After Eman Mustafa’s death last September, anti-sexual harassment protests were held at Assiut University to condemn the murder of a girl who fought for her bodily rights.

Women who have suffered from sexual harassment are usually reluctant to tell their stories, fearing reprisals and the dreaded label of the agitators. Nevertheless, if there is any noticeable progress in fighting sexual harassment in Egypt, it would be the rise in the number of women who are speaking up about their experiences and filing reports against their offenders. Another important development has been the formation of independent volunteer-based groups who fight sexual violence on the ground across the nation. In 2010, Harassmap received requests to expand their campaign to Alexandria, Daqahliya, and Minya. This year, Harassmap has expanded to sixteen governorates other than Cairo. With the help of more than 700 volunteers nationwide, Harassmap is reaching out to rural communities to end social acceptability of sexual harassment.

In June 2008, Noha al-Ostaz experienced a form of sexual violence on a Cairo street. She was confident that ignoring the behavior of the offender was ineffective. With the help of a friend and a bystander, Al-Ostaz managed to take the offender to a police station and file charges against him. Three months later, and for the first time in Egypt, the offender was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of sexual assault. Al-Ostaz paved the way for other women to stand up for their rights. Her action has encouraged several to pursue harassment charges against assailants.

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Ανάλυση σχετικά με τη σύνθεση των διαφόρων συνδικάτων και τη θέση που παίρνουν σχετικά με τις πολιτικές εξελίξεις, αναδημοσίευση από Mada Masr

EFITU President Kamal Abu Attiya wrote that “workers who were champions of the strike under the previous regime should now become champions of production.”

Syndicates, unions divided over Morsi’s ouster

Since the events of June 30, divisive fault lines have emerged within the country’s trade unions and professional syndicates, with leading members of these associations taking sides with the new ruling elites or former President Mohamed Morsi’s ousted regime.

Unions and syndicates have been brought to the forefront of this ongoing conflict, as their leadership, loyalties and politics all come under question.

On July 2, a call for a general strike against the Morsi regime issued by the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU) failed to materialize. EFITU’s presidency has since expressed support for the new ruling elites, endorsed by the military council.

On the other hand, prior to and since Morsi’s ouster on July 3, a number of syndicates have moved to show their support for the Islamist president.

Before Morsi’s ascent to power, the Muslim Brotherhood had a negligible presence within Egypt’s blue-collar labor unions, but was tremendously influential within the white-collar professional syndicates. The Brotherhood has historically maintained a strong presence in the Doctors, Dentists, Pharmacists, Veterinarians, Lawyers, Engineers and Teachers Syndicates, winning elections in many of these associations and controlling their boards.

Now, having lost control of the executive and legislative branches of the state, the Brotherhood is resorting to its historic base of power, and, perhaps, their last remaining political refuge — the professional syndicates.

According to Amr al-Shoura of the independent Doctors Without Rights group, the Federation of Professional Syndicates — consisting of some 18 associations — “and especially the Doctors and Pharmacists Syndicates have been and still are actively mobilizing their forces against the June 30 movement, and in support of Morsi.”

Shoura pointed to the bloody events of July 8, where more than 50 pro-Morsi protesters were shot dead by military forces and hundreds of others were injured outside the Republican Guard headquarters, where the ousted president was reportedly being detained.

The following day, a press conference was held at the Doctors Syndicate, where members of the Brotherhood-controlled Doctors for Egypt group announced the formation of a fact finding committee to investigate what it called a “massacre.”

According to Brotherhood sources, at least 85 protesters were shot dead in the incident and more than 1,000 were injured — nearly all of whom were Morsi supporters. According to the Republican Guards and Ministry of Health, though, only 52 were killed and over 200 injured in the incident, including both security forces and protesters.

Independent investigations conducted by the Doctors Without Rights group suggest that “the actual number of casualties may be somewhere between the figures issued by both the Brotherhood and the Ministry of Health. The number of fatalities could be subject to increase,” Shoura says.

He adds that both sides of the conflict were involved in deliberate misinformation campaigns.

“Brotherhood members screened photos and videos during their press conference at the syndicate in which they claimed that women and minors were killed in these clashes. This has proven to be misleading and untrue,” asserts Shoura. Images of dead women and children from the Syrian civil war were allegedly used as Brotherhood propaganda claiming that they were killed by Egyptian security forces.

On the other hand, a media blackout appears to have been imposed on many hospitals who received casualties from these clashes.

“While we strongly denounce the violence and bloodshed, we are wary of the politicized news and statistics coming from both the Brotherhood side and the army’s side,” Shoura adds.

The Doctors Syndicate has announced that it would provide LE5,000 to the families of each of those “martyred” by the Republican Guards.

According to Brotherhood member Abdallah al-Keryoni, the Republican Guards clashes necessitated an intervention by the syndicate.

“Two doctors were shot dead by Republican Guards, another nine were injured after having been shot with live ammunition, and several other doctors were arrested during these events,” he alleges.

“The function of the Doctors Syndicate is to support physicians and to stand up for their human rights. The syndicate is supposed to engage itself in political issues pertaining to health care and doctors’ rights nationwide,” Keryoni says.

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrmhe5JuuNc[/youtube]

Ντοκυμανταίρ της αριστερής ομάδας mosireen για τα γεγονότα στην Αίγυπτο. Η βασική ιδέα είναι ότι ο στρατός και η οργάνωση των αδελφών μουσουλμάνων αποτελούν δύο όψεις της καπιταλιστικής εξουσίας στην Αίγυπτο.

Αναδημοσίευση από skya πολύ ενδιαφέρουσας συνέντευξης (που δόθηκε το 2011) του Jano Charbel

Είναι δυνατόν να πήρε δύο μέρες στο κίνημα να αποφασίσει να “καταδικάσει” την εν ψυχρώ δολοφονία δεκάδων ισλαμιστών διαδηλωτών; Είναι δυνατόν να συζητιέται ακόμη αν είναι χούντα ένα στρατιωτικό καθεστώς, το οποίο δολοφονεί μαζικά, κλείνει κανάλια, απελαύνει Σύριους πρόσφυγες πίσω στη Συρία, απαγορεύει σε Παλαιστίνιους να μπουν στην Αίγυπτο; Και όμως είναι…

Ενδιαφέρον άρθρο (επιτέλους!) από το Madamasr για τη δολοφονία των ισλαμιστών και την αυτολογοκρισία παρόντων στα γεγονότα “ανεξάρτητων δημοσιογράφων”:

H WSJ (aka ένα από τα βασικά έντυπα της Διεθνούς του κεφαλαίου) είναι απόλυτα σαφής σε πρόσφατο editorial της που αφιέρωσε στην Αίγυπτο. Στο φόντο όλων αυτών που συμβαίνουν “ακούγεται” το μονότονο τέμπο της Διεθνούς του χρηματοπιστωτικού κεφαλαίου (σχηματικά του ΔΝΤ), όλα τα άλλα είναι η επιφάνεια, ο τρόπος που “ντύνεται” η βασική μελωδία και παράγει διαφορετικές συγκρούσεις και γεγονότα στα διάφορα κράτη, αλλά η συγκυρία συγκροτείται ακριβώς ως επιφάνεια, ως τρόποι ύπαρξης αυτού του βασικού τέμπο, που είναι το ίδιο παντού, αλλά μόνο ως νόμος κίνησης και όχι βέβαια ως απτή πραγματικότητα. Το θέμα είναι τί ακριβώς κινείται σε κάθε περίπτωση, ποιες συναντήσεις παράγονται, ποιες ειδικές συγκρούσεις συμβαίνουν, δηλαδή, το θέμα είναι η αναγνώριση της δομής της κάθε συγκυρίας και των υποκειμένων που αναδύονται κατά την εξέλιξη της. Για την Αίγυπτο, η ταξική πάλη, που διέκοψε με βίαιο τρόπο τη διαδικασία υπογραφής δανειακής σύμβασης με το ΔΝΤ που ήταν σε εξέλιξη, προς το παρόν θέτει το ζήτημα: Αφού ούτε ο Μόρσι μπόρεσε να υλοποιήσει την επιβολή της “ειδικής αναδιάρθρωσης που απαιτεί η Αίγυπτος”, ποιος μπορεί; Η  WSJ μας δίνει την απάντηση στα παρακάτω αποσπάσματα:

A more hopeful sign is that General Sisi gathered prominent opposition and Coptic Christian and Muslim leaders to announce a new “roadmap” for Egypt’s future. The roadmap proposes, among other steps, a broadly representative committee to rewrite the constitution and to form a technocratic government.

Any transition government will no doubt seek money and oil from the Gulf states as well as an early deal with the International Monetary Fund to make up for Egypt’s rapidly declining currency reserves.

 Egyptians would be lucky if their new ruling generals turn out to be in the mold of Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, who took power amid chaos but hired free-market reformers and midwifed a transition to democracy. If General Sisi merely tries to restore the old Mubarak order, he will eventually suffer Mr. Morsi’s fate.