Egyptians show solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, including Oakland
"Obama & Tantawi R 1"
I hear a lot of people wondering what the protesters are so angry about in the Occupy Wall Street movements throughout America and worldwide. In a recent NY Times editorial, Thomas Friedman gives an example of something outrageous that Citibank did that eventually caused it to pay a $285 million settlement:
"[W]ith one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust... It doesn’t get any more immoral than this."
"From #tahrir to #occupyoakland and #USA"
Eventually, Citi settled the case for $285 million, without admitting that it did anything wrong. The bankers were never individually punished at all - if anything, they were rewarded. And this was the situation that took place over and over again at many banks and other financial institutions that make up the metaphorical "Wall Street" of modern America.
No wonder people are furious.
The Occupy protests have spread not only across the country but throughout the globe. In Cairo, protesters were showing solidarity with Americans, particularly after the incident in Oakland when an Iraq war veteran was struck in the head by police, fracturing his skull. These were not isolated protesters expressing unity; many different signs were on display. One read "Obama & Tantawi R 1 Hand in beating the protesters in #tahrir #occupyoakland." Tantawi is the nominal head of the military government, or junta, currently ruling Egypt with all the tyranny of Mubarak.
"from Egypt to Wall Street"
Another sign reads "From #tahrir to #occupyoakland and #USA one case, one goal #socialjusticeforall, fuck police." The hashtags, of course, are borrowed from Twitter, which has proven to be an invaluable tool in helping protesters organize across the Middle East during the "Arab Spring."
"From Egypt to Wall Street," another sign proclaims in broken English, "don't afraid. Go ahead #occupyoakland #OWS."
Workers are increasingly aware of their ties across national borders; the international working class is struggling against the capitalist system with growing ferocity. This is setting the stage for revolution, something that the ruling class in all nations will attempt to brutally repress.
100,000 gather in Cairo to protest military junta in “Save the Revolution Day”
Save the Revolution Day protests in Egypt
jun·ta [hoon-tuh]
–noun
1. a small group ruling a country, especially immediately after a coup d'état and before a legally constituted government has been instituted.
On Friday, an estimated 100,000 people gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest the military junta that has assumed power since Hosni Mubarak stepped down. Tens of thousands gathered in other cities across Egypt, as well; more than 10,000 marched in Alexandria, for example.
On March 23, the military banned all strikes and protests that interfere with the economy or public life (so essentially, they banned all strikes and protests). Anyone who defies this edict is severely punished. This is no empty threat: since the military junta assumed power, it has arrested hundreds and brought them before military courts, sentencing them to prison.
The huge protests on Friday were dubbed "Save the Revolution Day," expressing anger at the reactionary policies of the junta. The people of Egypt are not passively accepting new tyrants in place of an old one - they are demanding that the revolution continue.
As for the supposed democratic vote on a new constitution that took place recently, only 9 out of a total 62 articles of the constitution were submitted to the people for a vote. Article 2 of the old constitution declares Egypt an Islamic state and requires Sharia law as the basis for all legislation. This article was simply re-established unchanged.
How can you have democracy when the military is calling all the shots - and, moreover, demanding that your country be declared Islamic and that all laws must derive from Islam? Where is the individual freedom?
It is obviously impossible for a military junta to take control and establish anything but a reactionary, anti-democratic government. The people of Egypt cannot turn to the military leaders as their saviors from Mubarak; it is merely a superficial change in who wields power. They are continuing the revolution with active participation such as protests and strikes, defying the military's repressive laws. The only path to democracy in Egypt lies in the workers overthrowing the newly established military dictatorship and taking power themselves.
Wisconsin & Egypt: Two sides of the same coin
You frequently hear cliché phrases about how the world is getting smaller and more interconnected due to technology like the Internet, cell phones, etc. Even so, it continues to surprise me from time to time. It's no coincidence that workers have been protesting in huge numbers in Wisconsin lately, right around the same time that the Middle East has erupted in protests of its own, culminating in some revolutionary upheavals.
This weekend, around 100,000 people gathered in Madison to protest Gov. Scott Walker's anti-union bill. Events in Wisconsin as well as in the Middle East ultimately stem from the same global crisis of capitalism - a huge, worldwide recession that is hitting workers everywhere with a loss of jobs or a ruthless attack on wages and benefits. American workers are in the same boat as the workers of Egypt or Tunisia, and that boat is sinking. The young Tunisian man who is credited as one of the sparks for this international rebellion originally set himself on fire in desperation due to unemployment.
But what's amazing is not merely that, in the abstract, the protests and outrage in both the West and the Near East are symptoms of the same underlying disease. This is to be expected. The really interesting part is that workers in both regions consciously recognize that they are in solidarity with each other; they support each other. Workers in Wisconsin have referred to the governor as Hosni Walker, comparing him to the Egyptian despot, and they have been inspired by the Middle Eastern uprisings. Equally impressive, a man was seen holding a sign in Cairo that reads: "Egypt supports Wisconsin" and "one world one pain."
This turn of events demonstrates more than ever that the working class worldwide shares a common interest and has common goals. National borders are a divisive illusion; the power of the working class lies in its sheer numbers and its unity worldwide.
Middle East revolutions
I've been following the news with great interest over the past month, watching the continuing coverage out of the Middle East and North Africa. Beginning in Tunisia and then Egypt, the protests have become uprisings, armed rebellions, and outright revolution, spreading like a conflagration throughout the region.
This is only my first of many posts, and I'll have much more to say in the coming weeks and months about the situation, but something that strikes me as fascinating is the broader historical context of revolutions worldwide. The current situation in the Middle East may be volatile, but it's by no means unprecedented.
The British, in 1649, actually put King Charles I on trial for high treason against his own country. He was found guilty of being a "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy," and promptly executed. The French Revolution is well-known for beheading its own king, Louis XVI. The Russian Revolution, in 1917, forced out Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian royal family. Whole books could be (and have been) written on each of these events and many others (such as the American Revolution), but what they have in common is a rejection of the status quo and a revolutionary uprising against the ruling class.
The truly stunning part about many of these historical events is not the rebellion as much as what came after. Demonstrating that they can sit down and rationally discuss, debate, and plan a truly better, new and improved society and government, Enlightenment-era thinkers attempted something unprecedented. The United States' "founding fathers," for example, decided not to break away from tyrannical England and simply copy its government with an American king and Parliament; instead, they decided to start from scratch. The Russians in 1917 took a revolutionary leap further, creating a socialist state (at first, anyway). These people were not satisfied merely to see the old rulers deposed and replaced with new tyrants. Rather, they started with a blank slate and forged newer, better worlds.
It is for this reason that I am captivated by events in the Middle East right now. Who will replace Mubarak in Egypt, or Ben Ali in Tunisia, in the long run? What will become of Gaddafi in Libya, or Saleh in Yemen? Will this spread to in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and beyond? But the really critical question is whether the people of each country will remain vigilant and work together to create a new, totally unprecedented form of government. They may succeed; they may fail. But one thing is guaranteed - keeping the old social order firmly in place and substituting one despot for another is a mere cosmetic change. The entire structure must be torn asunder and begin anew.
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