Photo Gallery #OccupyCabinet Clashes - 16 Dec 2011by @mosaaberizing

via flickr.com

Mosa'ab Elshamy was injured in the eye on Dec 16, but thankfully seems to be recovered enough to post updates and these remarkable images.

Posted via email from lissping

16 Dec 2011 Shocking events in Cairo

Clashes in Egyptian capital Cairo 16 December 2011 Last updated at 16:24

Clashes are taking place in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after troops moved in to try to remove demonstrators staging a sit-in protest outside the parliament building. Security forces have reportedly been throwing rocks from the top of buildings, angering the protesters below. The latest protests began three weeks ago, following the appointment of a new prime minister by the military government.

16Dec2011-Cairo.avi Watch on Posterous

via BBC News - Clashes in Egyptian capital Cairo

The air smells like natural gas and they started throwing molotov from inside the building, at least we can see this! via  Twitter / @salmasaid

#OccupyCabinet attacks is a cover up on #EgyArmy beating some of the judges who were overseeing the #EgyElections pollings Last night. via Twitter / @AElMassry

Activists, security forces clash in Egypt - CNN

by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy - @Repent11 December 16, 2011 -- Updated 1655 GMT

Pro-democracy activists clashed with soldiers after protests outside parliament

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Around 100 are injured, the Health Ministry says

Water cannons and warning shots are used to disperse the crowd

Glass, rocks and Molotov cocktails are being thrown

The beating of an activist sparks the violence, other activists say

Cairo (CNN) -- Dozens of people were injured on Friday, a government spokesman said, when violence between pro-democracy activists and Egyptian security forces escalated in central Cairo. People threw Molotov cocktails, rocks and glass at each other.

Bricks and cement blocks rained down on protesters as men wearing what appeared to be military uniforms tossed them off the top of a six-story building. Nearby, a Ministry of Transportation building burned and tents in an activist encampment in front of the parliament building also caught fire.

The military fired warning shots in the air and sprayed water cannons to disperse the crowd. Hisham Shiha, Health Ministry spokesman, said nearly 100 people were injured, including nine from live ammunition. Adel Saeed, the spokesman of the general prosecutor's office, said 12 people had been detained and charged with destroying public property.

A Ministry of Interior official denied any police involvement. "This situation has nothing to do with the police or the Ministry of Interior and we do not have forces at the site of the clashes," said Gen. Marwan Mustapha, a ministry spokesman. A doctor at a makeshift clinic said he has treated dozens of protesters for cuts and injuries caused by glass and rocks.

"It all started when the military arrested one man, and then an hour later he emerged from building barely able to walk from the beating," said activist and video blogger Walid Nada. "His face and body and clothes (were) blotched with blood as the protesters carried him to makeshift hospital."

Activist Mona Seif identified the beaten man as Aboudi Ibrahim. He "has no broken bones, but major bruises to the face, cuts, and harsh burns from electric shockers. We are filling a police report soon," she said.

via Activists, security forces clash in Egypt - CNN.com.

The last word on this post from @SherineT:

Protesters injured by soldiers go to military hospital? protesters killed get comp from martyrs ministry set up by #scaf? Bizarre.

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Touching letter from jailed blogger @alaa to wife @manal

Thu, 2011/12/15 - 03:16 — Manal

Om Khaled,

My partner, my friend, my half, my all, my love, the mother of my child, my support in life. I MISS YOU I LOVE YOU.

The only reason I can bear being separated from you is your support.

I just got the photos, I'm confused about my feelings now but I'm mostly happy. It's so unfair that I can't be with you to comfort you, it's so unfair that I wait for you to get well and get back to comforting me. It is beyond unfair that I can't hold Khaled for hours the way I've held countless other babies, I gave so much love and attention to sons and daughters of friends and family. Yet I can't do the same to my own child.

I wonder how old will Khaled be when I finally get out of here, I wonder what else I will miss? His Sobo3? The first time he grips your fingers? The moment you realize he is focusing his eyes on you? Or is going to be even worse and I'll miss his first smile?

What does it feel to hold him? How does he smell? How does he sound when cries?

My son, our son, our little Khaled.

I showed the photos to everyone in the cell, they're genuinely happy for me but like everything in this cell it is all subdued, made me feel more alone and lonely.

I've been thinking a lot about our life in South Africa the bliss of just being together having an easy comfortable life, yet still doing good work. We used to comment a lot on how Egyptian youth only aspire for a home and a family and a job to support them. Turns out as usual al sha3b got it right, the day we can enjoy just being a family in Egypt while secure in the future, content in our comforts and fulfilled in our jobs is the day that revolution is complete.

Until then we'll make do by sticking together facing whatever life throws at us, knowing that as long as we are all one all is fine.

I miss you so much it hurts, I guess you know the feeling, I'm overwhelmed by how unfair it is, how meaningless it has become at this stage, but I know we are both in good hands, Khaled is blessed with the unconditional love of not just his parents but large extended families and hundreds of aunts and aunties, I hope he grows to appreciate it all.

Alaa,
6-12-2011
cell 6/1 ward 4
Tora prison

via source

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Historian: "ArabSpring" & "Twitter revolutions" planned by US. Ironically funded by China

RT talks to author and historian William Engdahl on what - or who - is behind the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. My comments at the end of the report.

StateDept_Spring.mp4 Watch on Posterous

William Engdahl says the US does not want to admit its inevitable demise and current conflicts in the Middle East represent the existing plans “to keep this sole superpower not only intact and to spread its influence over the rest of the planet”. 

He states that the Arab Spring and the Twitter revolutions “have been planned years back … by the US State Department”. 

Also, Engdahl reveals that the Chinese, by buying the US Treasury bonds, ironically finance the wars “directed against Chinese national interest for energy security”. 

Would you say that these conflicts that we are seeing today in terms of euro and the dollar situation and what is happening in Northern Africa and Middle East, do these conflicts feed off each other? Are they somehow related? 

“Well what I see in all of these conflicts, the decision to bomb Libya, the crisis with the dollar, the crisis with the American economy and the conduct of American foreign policy in the last period is all part of a breakdown of entire superpower structure that was built up after the end of WWII and nobody in Washington wants to admit, just as nobody in Britain 100 years ago wanted to admit that the British empire was in terminal decline. So they push fast-forward with existing plans and they see that in one part of the world and another these agendas no longer have the effect they did 10 or 20 years ago. But very definitely, all of this is related to the attempt to keep this sole superpower not only intact, but to spread its influence over the rest of the planet and that, not surprising, much of the world is not too eager to see that.” 

So would you say that what is happening in Middle East or Northern Africa is an attempt on behalf of the US to keep its game up? 

“Very much so, the plan was first announced by George W. Bush when he was President, just after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 at a G8 meeting and it was called the ‘Greater Middle East Project’ and that project, they published a map of what they had in mind, was the control and the democratization, as they called it, of the entire Islamic world from Afghanistan, Pakistan, down through Iran, Syria, the Persian Gulf area, the oil producing states there and across North Africa, all the way to Morocco. And the events, the so-called Arab Spring, have been planned years back and the instigators of those so-called spontaneous protests, those Twitter revolts, and Cairo, and Tunisia, and so forth over the last months have all been pre-organized assiduously. Some of the people, leaders of the protests, have been trained in Belgrade, in Serbia by activists financed by the US State Department. This thing has State Department and US intelligence all over it.” 

On the US agenda:

Militarily, the places such as Libya and South Sudan, the so-called Republic of South Sudan, to militarize those oil sources that are directly strategic to China’s future economic growth. So this is all about controlling Eurasia, some things Zbigniew Brzezinski talked about back in 1997 in his famous book the ‘Grand Chess Game’ [The Grand Chessboard] and controlling especially Russia and China and any potential cohesion of the Eurasian countries economically and politically.” 

Who would you say pays for wars waged by the US? 

“You have to go back to the role in the last 20 or 30 years, actually it began in the ‘80s, with the role of the dollar as world reserve currency. What that means, to strip away all the complicated economic jargon, is world trade, central banks and China or Japan or Russia and so, they have to have dollars because other nations only accept dollars as a universal currency. They shouldn’t anymore because US economy is on its knees, but they do. And China has an enormous trade surplus; Wall-Mart is essentially an outpost of Chinese manufacturing in America today. So the 300 billion plus of surplus dollars that the Central Bank of China amasses every year, what do you do with that? Well, there is few markets big enough to invest in. Supposedly they could buy gold for their central bank reserves, which they are doing by the way, but the place they could invest it, as they see it right now until very recently, is either in dollars or in the euro. They’ve got something like three trillion dollars of US dollar Treasury bonds or bills as their reserves today. So in effect, the US would not be able to finance the deficits that they are running to wage those wars in Afghanistan, or wage those wars in Iraq, or in Libya unless the Chinese were buying the US Treasury bonds. So ironically the Chinese [fund] wars directed against Chinese national interest for energy security.”

Comment:

After the protests in Iran in 2009, there was considerable commentary posted about them being the result of deliberate action and part of a strategy designed to create social unrest and gather widedspread support on social media sites, especially Twitter. Many of us were aware and yet we made the choice to continue to support the protesters. That is not the same as being a part of some conspiracy. The two things are easily confused, and the genuine supporters, like genuine news reports, videos, images etc, are often hard to identfy or verify. But I have found that very little of this matters if you remain focussed on the humanitarian issues, rather than the politics. If you stick to the issues, you are less at risk of being sidetracked by petty disagreements.

One important thing that I have not seen written about, is that these theories, accusations, etc are not unknown to actual dissidents. There are real dissidents in Iran, just as there are in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Mauritania, and so on across the Middle East, across the Arab world, across the world. They are there in South America, in Asia, in Europe, China, Australia. You get the picture? There are genuine dissidents all over the world. They might well be getting a gentle or even a brutal push from the US or any other global agency or state actor. But they are still genuine dissidents with genuine grievances, and very real desire for change of some sort. I've met a few of these people, I have personally communicated with hundreds of them. Some of them have told me they are aware of external meddling and interference, but they don't care. They have a cause, a reason to resist and they continue to resist, because they must: they see no alternative. Therefore, I continue to support them: I see no alternative.

Report via RT

 

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ACTION ALERT FOR ALAA via @AIDSPol

FACT: Prominent Egyptian revolutionary Alaa Abd El Fattah was detained yesterday

by the Egyptian Army. He visited the United States just last week to attend a human rights

conference in San Francisco, where many US activists met him in person. Alaa also actively

supports Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Oakland.

FACT: Alaa and other Egyptian activists are calling for an end to the detention and trials of

civilians by military courts. Alaa was detained after he refused to be interrogated by the Army.

FACT: The US spends $1.3 BILLION on SCAF, the Egyptian Army that has detained

thousands of Egyptian civilian activists who are in jail for exercising their human rights.

One was tortured to death by sodomy last week for hiding a cell phone.

FACT: Americans can pressure the people holding the purse strings of the Egyptian

Army, known as The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Phone calls (rather than email)

are the most powerful tool. Here are those people:

US Senator Bob Casey (Democrat-Pennsylvania), is the leader of the Senate Subcommittee

on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs 202-224-6324

US Senator John Kerry (Democrat-Massachusetts) is Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs

Committee Washington D.C. (202) 224-2742

Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) Chair, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign

Affairs: Tel: (202) 225-3931

Perry Cammack, Professional Staff Member, Committee on Foreign Relations, United

States Senate 202-224-4651 Perry_Cammack@foreign.senate.gov

Ask them (or leave a specific message asking them) to do the following:

1. Immediately issue a public statement calling for release of Alaa Abd El Fattah and all

other political prisoners being held by the Egyptian Army.

2. Contact senior Army officials and demand the release of the thousands of political

prisoners in Egypt. Their detention and the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by

SCAF (the Army) are destabilizing efforts to transform Egypt into a civilian-run, democratic

country. It is not acceptable to try civilians in military courts.

3. Issue a public statement on whether SCAF's actions violating human rights of its citizens are

also in violation of US laws regarding foreign aid.

After you have made these phone calls, spread the word on Twitter and Facebook. #FreeAlaa

By the AIDS Policy Project @AIDSPol ( v. 1.0 10-31-2011) in solidarity

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Tantawi testimony at MubarakTrial in Egypt

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Arab Spring Teetering?

Not all repressive regimes are created equal. In the Muslim world, the worst regimes, Syria, Iran, Libya, have been those most hostile to the U.S.

An Egyptian reported after witnessing 80 prisoners, some armed with machetes and guns, break out of a jail in Cairo that “the police are afraid.”

It was one of many such jailbreaks in the past three months. Of the 24,000 prisoners who escaped during the uprising against Mubarak, 8,400 are still at large, along with 6,600 weapons stolen from government armories. Crime, an unwelcome weed in the garden of the Arab Spring, has proliferated in the months since the Mubarak regime was driven from power. Egypt today is plagued by sectarian violence, kidnapping, and hooliganism.

The police, who kept order through brutality and intimidation during the Mubarak era, are now too cowed to act.

At a soccer match between the Egyptian and Tunisian teams, reports The New York Times, a referee’s call on behalf of the Tunisians led to a riot. Spectators rushed the field, attacking the referee and the visiting team. Two players were sent to the hospital.

Critics of American policy in the Middle East have often condemned our traditional support for “stability.” America’s sole concern, they said, was for the reliable flow of oil.

To secure the juice for our SUVs, we were willing to overlook atrocious human rights abuses, repression, and economic backwardness in the region.

This wasn’t just a leftist critique. Former President George W. Bush, announcing his departure from that approach, told a London audience in 2003 that “In the past, (we) have been willing to make a bargain to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability . . . Yet this bargain did not bring stability or make us safe. It merely bought time while problems festered and ideologies of violence took hold. . .”

In that spirit, many former Bush administration officials cheered the uprisings in the Arab world. They argued, not without some plausibility, that the freedom agenda advanced by President Bush was bearing fruit and that the U.S. must, at all costs, associate itself with the people’s thirst for freedom and dignity and not with the repressive, discredited regimes.

But to be a conservative is to resist romanticism. A key conservative insight, dating to Edmund Burke (“Good order is the foundation of all things”), cautions that chaos is the enemy of liberty, justice, and prosperity. The rule of law, property rights, respect for the rights of minorities, and an independent judiciary do not spring fully formed from popular uprisings.

Additionally, not all repressive regimes are created equal. In the Muslim world, the worst regimes, Syria, Iran, Libya, have been those most hostile to the U.S. It is precisely because the leaders of the Egypt and Tunisia (no Democrats admittedly) were unwilling to engage in the kind of savage crackdowns on their people undertaken by the barbarians (see above) that they were deposed.

Post-Mubarak Egypt is a reminder of the dangers of chaos. During the Tahrir Square demonstrations in February, religious differences were papered over. “We are all one: Muslims and Christians are one,” demonstrators chanted. That spirit hasn’t lasted even a season. In the course of the past few weeks, repeated clashes have erupted between Copts and Muslims in Egypt.

Two enormous Coptic churches have been torched, and dozens of people have been killed and wounded in street battles.

A Muslim crowd estimated at 15,000, armed with Molotov cocktails, clubs, and guns, attacked a much smaller group of Copts who were demonstrating outside a Cairo TV station. The police were absent as usual. The violence was belatedly halted by the army.

Intra-Muslim violence has erupted as well. Salafists have attacked Sufi mosques and shrines, as well as Coptic churches, and the small Shiite community has suffered violence and intimidation.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which had spoken soothingly of its willingness to let others lead during the Tahrir Square days, has now alarmed secularists and Copts by suggesting that Islamic law in the land of the pharaohs is the goal after all.

Relations between Egypt and Iran have improved.

The Egyptian economy was fragile before the revolution. It has gotten much worse. The Asia Times reports that tourism has collapsed. Remittances from guest workers abroad are estimated to be half what they were in 2009. As the Weekly Standard reported, “Egypt is running out of food, and, more gradually, running out of the money with which to buy it . . . Egypt imports half its wheat, and the collapse of its external credit means starvation.”

The most important nation in the Arab world is teetering. This is not an endorsement of the Mubarak regime, but simply a reminder of the centrality of that most uncharismatic yet indispensable of virtues, prudence.

Taken from an original article by Mona Charen, a syndicated columnist.

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Countering Apathy: Cause Looking for Rebels

By Prof Alemariam

I have been asked to comment on youth political apathy and how to transform apathy into constructive action. That is a very tall order, but I am glad to be able to share with you my views on a subject that has defied and puzzled political scientists and pundits for generations.

The general allegation is that young people are uninterested, unconcerned and indifferent about matters of politics and government. Political apathy (crudely defined as lack of interest and involvement in the political process and general passivity and indifference to political and social phenomena in one’s environment) among youth is said to be the product of many factors including lack of political awareness and knowledge, absence of civic institutions that cultivate youth political action and involvement and the prevailing cultural imperatives of consumerism and the media. Simply stated, young people are said to be self-absorbed, short attention-spanned and  preoccupied and distracted by popular culture, social networking, leisurely activities and the ordinary demands of daily life to pay serious attention to politics.

Longitudinal studies of youth political apathy in the U.S. suggest that many young people are politically disengaged because they believe politics is about “money and lying and they don’t want to involve themselves in it.” Many young Americans complain that politicians ignore young people and have little youth-oriented communication. They accuse politicians of being in the back pockets of big money and that their votes are inconsequential in determining the outcome of any significant issues in society. Feeling powerless, they retreat to cynicism and apathy.

In contrast, in the 1960s, young Americans led the “counter-culture revolution” and were the tips of the spear of the Civil Rights Movement. The Free Speech Movement which began at the University of California, Berkeley was transformed from student protests for expressive and academic freedom on campus to a powerful nationwide anti-war movement on American college campuses and in the streets. Young African Americans advanced the cause of the Civil Rights Movement by employing the powerful tools and techniques of civil disobedience staging sit-ins and boycotts to desegregate lunch counters and other public accommodations.  On May 4, 1961, fifty years to the month today, young inter-racial Freedom Riders set out to challenge local laws and customs that enforced segregation in public transportation in the American South, and succeeded in eliminating racial segregation in public transportation at considerable personal risk.  Young people in the Black Power Movement in the late 1960s demanded racial equality dignity, economic and political self-sufficiency and advocated black nationalism.

A similar pattern of youth activism is evident for African youths. In many African countries, students and other young people have been in the vanguard of social forces demanding political changes. University students in Ethiopia agitated and mobilized for the revolution that overthrew the monarchy in 1974. It is ironic that the very individuals who hold the reins of power in Ethiopia today were among those university students who fought and died for democracy and human rights in the early 1970s. In 2005, these former university students ordered a massacre which resulted in the killing of at least 193 unarmed largely youth protesters and the wounding of 763 others. In 1976 in South Africa, 176 students and other young people protesting apartheid were killed in Soweto. In recent months we have seen young people leading nonviolent uprising in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other countries to remove decades-old dictatorships. In Uganda today, the young followers of Kizza Besigye, (Museveni’s challenger in the recent elections) are at the center of the Walk to Work civil disobedience campaign protesting economic hardships and a quarter century of Museveni’s dictatorship.

The African Youth Charter

Africa has been described as the “youngest region of the world”. The African youth population is estimated to be 70 percent of the total population (nearly 50 percent of them under age 15).   Virtually 100 percent of the top political leadership in Africa belongs to the “over-the-hill” gang. Robert Mugabe still clings to power in Zimbabwe at age 86. It is manifestly hard to demand higher levels of political participation and involvement among African youths when they come of age in societies controlled and stifled by dictators long in the tooth. But there is no question that youth apathy is the greatest threat to the institution and consolidation of democracy in Africa.

There may be a glimmer of hope for African youths in the African Union’s “Youth Charter”, which provides comprehensive protections for Africa’s young people. Article 11 (“Youth Participation”) is of special significance. It requires signatory states to ensure “every young person” has the “right to participate in all spheres of society.” This requires state parties to “guarantee the participation of youth in parliament and other decision-making bodies”, access to “decision-making at local, national, regional, and continental levels of governance” and requires “youth advocacy and volunteerism” and peer-to-peer programmes for marginalised youth”. States are required to “provide access to information such that young people become aware of their rights and of opportunities to participate in decision-making and civic life”.  Africa’s youths should hold their doddering dictators accountable under the Charter.

Transforming Youth Apathy Into Youth Action?

I have no ready prescriptions to convert youth apathy into youth action. My view of the issue is very simple. The word apathy has roots in a Greek word “apathea” denoting lack of emotion. Young people in America, Africa or elsewhere are apathetic because they are “not fired up and raring to go.” They lack that “fire in the belly”. They find themselves in a state of political paralysis unable to act. So, how can African youth escape the political doldrums of apathy on a sea of cynicism, pessimism, negativism and disillusionment? The short answer is that they need to find the issues in society they care about and pursue them passionately. The long answer revolves around a few basic principles:

Be idealistic. Robert Kennedy said, “There are those who look at things and ask why. I dream of things and ask why not.” Nelson Mandela said, “I dream of an Africa at peace with itself.” Bob Marley said, there will be no peace until “the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned”, “there no longer are first class and second class citizens of any nation” and “basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all.” Young Africas should dream of an Africa free from the bondage of ethnic politics, scourge of dictatorship, debilitating poverty and flagrant human rights violations. Why are these youthful dreams not possible? As Gandhi said, when you are idealistic, “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Examine your lives. When Socrates was put on trial for encouraging his young students to question authority and accepted beliefs, he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It is important for Africa’s young people to question their beliefs and actions. If they are indifferent to the suffering of their people, they should question themselves. Part of that self-examination is knowing if one is doing the right or wrong thing, and making corrections when mistakes are made. Unless we question our values and actions, we end up doing things mechanically, impulsively and blindly.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi said these simple but powerful words. The revolution we want to see in the world begins with us when we strive to relate to others on the basis of high moral and ethical standards. If we want to see a just, fair and compassionate world, we must begin by practicing those values ourselves. I want to congratulate the UCLA Habesha Student Association for bringing together young Ethiopians and Eritreans in one organizational setting to work cooperatively and harmoniously on issues of common interest and concern. Such collaboration sets an extraordinary example for all young people in the Horn of Africa to follow because the UCLA students have been able to relate with each other at the most fundamental human level instead of as members of opposing camps nursing historical enmities. It is a great mindset to be able to see beyond ethnicity and national boundaries; and most importantly not to be sucked into the vortex of historical grievances kept alive by the older generation.

Be independent thinkers and empower yourselves. Always ask questions and follow-up questions. One of the things those of us in the older generation do not do well is ask the right questions. Often we do not base our opinions on facts. Africa’s young people should think for themselves and creatively. The Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” It is easy and comfortable for others to do the thinking for us. The alternative is for the older generation to do the thinking for the youth. Do Africa’s youths want that? To think independently means to keep an open mind and tolerate opposing viewpoints. Africa’s dictators fear young independent thinkers because  the young trumpet the truth.

Stand for Something. Rosa Parks, the great icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, is credited for modifying the old adage by saying: “Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.” Young people of courage, character and determination today are the seeds of great leaders tomorrow. Africa’s young people need to take a stand for human rights, democracy, freedom and peace. They also need to take a stand against all forms of violence, ethnic politics and the politics of intolerance, hate and fear.

Network with other young people and learn techniques of grassroots organizing. The UCLA HSA is committed to self-help through networking. That is important and very useful. But networking can be used for political activism and advocacy as well. Using technology and social media, young people can create effective virtual and actual communities to enhance their political participation and be more actively engaged in the political process. Grassroots organizing is the most elementary and one of the most effective methods of youth political action. Youth grassroots organizing won the day during the Civil Rights Movement fifty years ago, and it won the day in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria.

Become a voice for the voiceless. There are hundreds of millions of Africans whose voices are stolen at the ballot box every year and remain forgotten as political prisoners in the jails of Africa’s dictators. Corruption, abuse of power, lack of accountability and transparency are the hallmarks of many contemporary  African states. Young Africans must raise their voices and be heard on these issues. The great international human rights organizations are today the voices of the voiceless in Africa. They investigate the criminality of African regimes and present their findings to the world. Africa’s youths must take over part of the heavy lifting from these organizations. It is not fair to expect international human rights organizations to be the voice boxes of Africa’s masses.

Never give up. It is important for young people to appreciate and practice the virtues of tenacity, courage, determination and perseverance. In 1941, Winston Churchill speaking to young people at a school inspired them with these timeless words: “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Churchill’s words ring true for every generation of young people everywhere. For Africa’s youth, the message is simple: “Never yield to force.”

Cause looking for Rebels

If I have any words of wisdom, it is that young Africans must rebel against apathy itself through a process of self-examination. I believe a successful rebellion against one’s own apathy will be the defining moment in the pursuit of the greatest cause of this generation, the struggle for human rights. The cause of human rights in Africa and elsewhere needs armies of young rebels to stand up in defense of human dignity, the rule of law and liberty and  against tyranny and despotism. To stand up for free and fair elections is to stand up for human rights. To fight for women’s rights is to fight for human rights. To defend children’s rights is to defend human rights. To uphold human rights is to uphold ethnic rights, religious rights, linguistic rights, free press rights, individual rights….

Ralph Nader, the implacable American consumer advocate warned: “To the youth of America, I say, beware of being trivialized by the commercial culture that tempts you daily. I hear you saying often that you’re not turned on to politics. If you do not turn on to politics, politics will turn on you.” That can be said equally of African youths. I say defend human rights, speak truth to power!

Think global, act local. Think local, act global.

via abbaymedia.com

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Rise Up!

RiseUp.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Video montage using great new track from FORZA - "My City"

Dedicated to oppressed people all over the world who are demanding their basic rights.

Grateful thanks to all those journalists and photographers who face danger to bring these stories and pictures to the world.

In remembrance of those who have lost their lives in the struggle for truth and freedom.

FORZA is an indie music band with a special history. Several of the band-members arrived in Norway as asylum seeker kids; the band started at a refugee centre. They organized themselves, fought the Norwegian government to obtain rights, and formed a band. More information on their website. By creating music they have become a voice for their brothers and sisters engaged in the struggle for rights across the region and around the world.

Lyrics:
It's my city, my concrete
since the day I was born it's been under my feet
under my skin, inside of my head
put my picture on the sidewalk
the day that I'm dead
Pour out some liquor, now break some bread
for the streets, people have bled
Pour out some liquor, now break some bread
for the streets, people have bled
Rise up my People, rise up, rise up my people x 3
It's your city, your concrete
so shape the world that is under your feet
all messed up, yet tidy and neat
filled with love and controversy
stories of life, they're carved in stone
you might not see us but you're never alone
stories of life, they're carved in stone
you might not see us but you're never alone
Rise up my People, rise up, rise up my people x 3
Cause it's our city, our concrete
silky soft, yet rugged and beaten
Urban jungle, sweet and sour
within the people you find the power
you find the light,
in the jungle you will learn to fight
you might fall, but not tonight
It's all about the balance, left and right
If you agitate the snake, the snake will bite
So rise up my people. Rise up, rise up my people x 3

Be One in a Million! Sign the Petition at One Million Voices for Iran

Freedom goes viral

More than 2 billion people across the globe have Internet access and there are some 5 billion mobile-phone subscriptions, according to the 2010 Human Rights Report released this month by the U.S. Department of State.

As we saw in Tunisia and Egypt, connective technologies have revolutionized revolution. Millions of angry and motivated people – many of them very young – are using the virtual public square to exercise their right to follow their conscience, speak freely, publish their opinions, assemble peacefully and petition for redress of grievances.

These five freedoms (protected in our country by the First Amendment) are the human rights most needed to advance democracy and justice – and therefore the most feared and denied by authoritarian regimes.

Of course, tweets and mobile videos alone won’t trump tanks and guns in the struggle for freedom. But new technologies make it increasingly difficult for dictatorships to keep a lid on the demand for change.

That’s why more than 40 governments are “using a combination of regulatory restrictions, technical controls on access to the Internet, and technologies designed to repress speech and infringe on the personal privacy of those who use these technologies,” the State Department said.

Among the worst examples cited in the report is Saudi Arabia, where over the past year the government has monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms and blocked disfavored websites.

China is identified as another major offender, controlling content and access to the Internet – and detaining those who dare to dissent from government policies. Re-tweeting a post or operating a website where others post comments can lead to arrest for “subverting state power.”

In Vietnam, the government arrested 25 dissidents in 2010 and forcibly entered homes to remove personal computers and cell phones. According to the report, the Vietnamese government also organized attacks against critical websites and spied on dissident bloggers.

Not surprisingly, the report finds that freedom is most often denied to the most vulnerable members of society, especially racial, religious and ethnic minorities. In 2010, for example, Christians in Pakistan and Uighur Muslims in China were two of the many religious minorities who suffered severe repression.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were especially at risk in many places, including Honduras (an upsurge in killings) and Uganda (increased intimidation and harassment).

Despite the bleak outlook for human rights in many countries, the current upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa are stunning reminders that tyrants, no matter how entrenched, are vulnerable to the organizing power of the Internet.

The report describes the recent growth of human-rights organizations throughout the world as “dramatic,” despite the harsh measures taken by many governments to control debate and stifle dissent. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, ordinary citizens are able to mobilize for freedom in greater numbers than at any time in history.

Repressive regimes keep pushing back. In Belarus, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators, including seven presidential candidates, were arrested after highly suspect elections in December. “In the weeks that followed,” states the report, “the offices and homes of civil society representatives, independent journalists, and political activists were raided as part of an effort to stifle independent political activity and free expression.”

Beyond the Middle East and North Africa (where the outlook for free expression is still in doubt), the report cites several countries – Colombia, Indonesia, and Guinea – where conditions for freedom have actually improved in the past year. The presidents of both Colombia and Indonesia (the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation) took steps to improve protections for human rights in their fragile democracies.

And in Guinea, the first democratically elected president since independence from France in 1958 was inaugurated in December, raising hopes that basic freedoms would finally be won in that conflict-torn nation.

The Internet, of course, can be used for good or ill. The character of people using or abusing the Internet determines the outcome of revolutions – not the technology itself.

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it in a recent speech, people in Egypt, Iran and elsewhere “stood and marched and chanted, and the authorities tracked and blocked and detained them. The Internet did not do any of these things. People did.”

Nevertheless, Clinton added, the Internet is the town square of the 21st century. Keeping it open and free gives advocates for liberty and justice a chance to change the world.

via firstamendmentcenter.org

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"Liberate"

Not "Muslim, not "Arab", just PEOPLE who want to be FREE!

Be One in a Million! Sign the Petition at One Million Voices for Iran

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Desiderata - Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

via en.wikipedia.org

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Wael Ghonim Interview 1-3 with English transcript

Wael Ghonim’s Dream Interview February 07, 2011

Video I:

Mona El Shazly:
0:03 – Greetings
Let me tell you a little story
0:06 – A story that happened on Thursday 27 before bloody Friday
0:13 – Let me start from Wednesday
0:15 – Wednesday, in an episode of this program, we thought it will be the last episode of this program
0:20 It was the intention, or the feeling, that this will be the last episode of this program
0:24 – Considering many circumstances that some may know, or feel or they may not know
0:30 – We were speaking of the conditions in the country, and the protests of Januay 25th
And the blockage of the internet and facebook, and the anger sweeping through the youth
0:40 – We had a phone call with a brilliant young man, very savvy with the internet, and facebook
0:47 – And what are the kids, or the youth, and their disgruntled feelings …or their engrossed feelings of a disgust for what happened to them on Tuesday
0:58 – And the severing of their “life line”, which is facebook, which connects them to the world and to each other
1:04 – This young man’s name is Wael Ghonim
1:08 – He made a phone call to us and discussed the technical issues, and clearly was wound-up because he is one of many youth using this tool and was a frequenter of protests
1:20 – And this is something we cannot criticize, and does not stop us from talking to him live on the air
1:28 – After being live with us, the day after, he sent me a text message on my private cellphone
And said, I am sorry that I was, ummm, too excited that I needed to be during my interview
1:40 – So I replied to his message, “Never mind”, don’t worry about it Wael, “Good luck”
1:47 – On Thursday, the 27th, we talked on the phone, because it was known that on Friday there will be massive protests
I was checking on him, we talked, and he told me the internet has been shut down, and he was in a very disturbed state.
We ended the phone call with mutual well wishes, and I told him, ‘take care of yourself Wael’
2:05 – All this is happened under a very casual/normal context, that takes place between … everyone.
2:12 – Friday came along, and they cut communications in Egypt. Hence no one was talking to anyone.
2:16 – there were many people that you don’t know where they are and. It is natural and logical to assume that the communication blockade is the reason why you cannot connect with them.
2:27 – Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday passed, then I was shocked with phone call from an unknown number, not a local number, an international one
2:37 – The man who was speaking, “Miss Mona, my name is Najib, I am Wael’s colleague at Google. Wael has disappeared. Disappeared since Friday.”
2:47 – I asked him “how did you get my number?”
2:51 – He responded “I am his best friend, and I know he made a phone call to your show on Thursday, sometime around 1-2 am . . . So I imagined that you wouldn’t just know where he is, but also could help in reaching him/finding him”
3:02 – I told him Najib . . .
3:05 – Obviously I was suspicious, because I don’t know who is Najib, and I have no idea where Wael is. I was shocked with the news that he is missing.
3:12 – He said “I managed to access his personal accounts (internet), because I am a very close friend and I have his password(s), and I got your phone number, lest you help us”
3:21 – I took the number … I took Wael’s quad name … I must admit, that friend gained my trust, the noble/honorable Mr. Najib, and he is Syrian.
3:30 – He said “Please do not say this to the media, because we do not know where Wael is, we are afraid to speak to the media, in fear that this would hurt Wael or put him in harm’s way”
3:37 – I responded “Don’t worry Najib”
3:40 – Since that day, we have been making phone calls, and trying to connect with any and everyone we can get a hold of regarding this young man who disappeared.
3:48 -The answers were always, “we have not arrested anyone in the first place” or “This name is not in our records”
3:55 – We would ask “could you please look for it/him”, or “maybe you have forgotten some” or “maybe due to Friday’s disruption, some are in your custody and you are unaware”
In truth, we exhausted all efforts, and I know I was not alone in this effort. Many people, not just friend’s of Wael, but people on facebook, and his respectable, honorable colleagues at Google. Untill officially, it was announced that Wael has disappeared.
Since then we started talking frankly/openly about this, and we started asking for the release of Wael, not just Wael, but him and all the people with him. All the people who did not have any wants ambitions and purposes but to participate in peaceful protests calling for a dignified nation.
Yesterday, we found out that there is a promise that Wael and the people with him will be released
I honestly, did not believe that promise, because until this morning I was calling certain individuals who should be in “the know”, and I would ask them about Wael, and they would say “that name is not in our custody”
But I couldn’t entice this negative feeling in others or to refute these promises in last night’s episode or tonight’s.
Tonight, until 7pm, my phone rang, and the name I have saved on my phone as “Wael Google” appeared.
Wael called me haistly, and I asked him “Are you Wael, or someone has/using your phone”
He responded “No its me, I am Wael”
I asked “What is going on? What happened? What did they do to you?”
I don’t know anything, all I know is that Wael will be with us in minutes to tell us what happened since Friday till today, since he has been arrested, until he was released from State security today.
Wael Ghonim, or “Wael Google” as I have his contact saved on my cellphone will be with us shortly, will be with us shortly and I have no idea what he will say
What is most important, is that he was released and we will listen to him, regardless of whatever he has to say.
Note: When he called, he was sitting in car next to Dr. Hossam Badrawi, who seem to be the reason he was released, after his release was delayed than the time announced.
Stay with us, for an interview that for me combines the personal and the professional sides of my life.

Video II:

00:00
Wael Saeed Abbas Ghonim…I have come to know his full name my heart because of how often we asked about him and searched for him. We just wanted to know if he was dead or alive, in custody or missing.. I had known that his family had a very
00:16
difficult time searching for him in hospitals and asking high and low. And suddenly, today, Wael Ghonim was released from state security after having been arrested on friday 28th.
00:32
Welcome back Wael
00:33
Wael Ghonim: Thank you. First of all, I want to tell everyone, everyone, all the mothers and fathers who have lost a child..
00:45
I am sorry for your loss and may God accept them as martyrs, whether they were regular citizens, or officers or policemen; anyone who has died is a martyr.
00:56
I don’t want to say I’m sorry because the people who thought of this demonstration never thought of breaking a thing, let alone kill a human being.
1:08
We’re the youth that loves Egypt and we did this because we love Egypt and our first call was that we have rights, and rights can never be claimed by destroying property, whether private or public property. Our hope was for people to go out and say I want my right and I’ll take it! That is all!
1:32
and so I must pay my respects to these people, because they are the ones who sacrificed their blood.
1:36
I want to tell you something..we’ll talk but first..here in Egypt we like to claim heroism. I am no hero. I was asleep for 12 days. The heros are the ones who were in the streets, the heros are those who got beaten up, the heros are those who got arrested and put their lives in danger. I was not a hero.

1:54
Sadly what happened to me made me regret not being with these people. I came back from Emirates to participate in this demonstration. I tricked my employer so I can attend the protests in Egypt. I said I had an urgent personal matter I had to attend to, and that I needed 6 days off. I had plenty of vacation days saved up. All ok they asked? I said it’s personal and I came to Egypt for the demo. I came here because we had to be with the people.
2:28
I would like, before we discuss things, to clarify some things you might have gotten wrong.
2:33
Mona El Shazly: Go ahead Wael.
2:35
Wael Ghonim: First of all..Najeeb is my friend from the Emirates and secondly he’s not syrian
2:40
Mona El Shazly: Oh i’m sorry his dialect led me to assume he was syrian
2:44
Wael Ghonim: He’s jordanian. do you know why I’m making this point clear? Because we’re not traitors. We’re not traitors Mona we love Egypt!
2:54
Mona El Shazly: Wael..
2:57
Wael Ghonim: We are not working with anyone with a set agenda! Some of us are very rich..we live in great homes and drive great cars. I don’t need anything from anyone! and I never wanted anything from anyone,
3:11
everything that was done always endangered all of our lives, danger which we knew no end to. We don’t know. We’re just working. We said we’ll fight for our rights and for our country! This is our country!
3:25
Every single one of us who was at risk wasn’t doing this for a personal agenda, the people who moved and the people who planned they don’t want anything! I don’t want anything! Do you know? My biggest torment when I was in prison was knowing that people will find out I am the Admin. I had hoped no one would find out I am the Admin.
3:43
Because I am not a hero. I was only using the keyboard Mona, on the internet, I never put my life in danger, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can’t name. But many of the people you met, like Mustafa El Naggar, these people put their lives in serious danger while I typed away on my keyboard.
4:03
So please, everyone, there are no heroes! The heroes are the ones on the streets. The hero is everyone of us. There isn’t one of us here that is on some high horse leading the masses. Let no one fool you into thinking that! This revolution belonged to the internet youth, then the revolution belonged to the Egyptian youth, then the revolution belonged to all of Egypt. It has no Hero, no one should steal it’s thunder, we were all heros. That’s the first thing.
4:33
Mona El Shazly: Wael, first of all, I know you just came back, I want you to know when you need a break, when you need to catch your breath go ahead, when you need a moment to think..
4:46
Wael Ghonim: I haven’t slept in about 48 hours but that’s just me I couldn’t sleep
4:53
Mona El Shazly: Why was your first response ‘we are not traitors’? Were they accusing you of that?
5:02
Wael Ghonim: Look Ma’am, because we no longer listen to one another, I want to say something first.. This is the season where people use the word traitor against each other. Remember when I called you and I asked you to say the truth, you told me the protestors are pressuring you and the officials are pressuring you. This is the season for accusing everyone of being a traitor! But I want to say something, If I told you now, If I told every one of you now, that I was tortured and beaten up and electrocuted, despite taking off my clothes and showing you no marks of such, you will all believe me. Correct? You’ll believe Because right now I have credibility. But Honestly, this didn’t happen to me.Nothing happened to me since..I was in shock! Since..
5:45
Mona El Shazly: You went to the demonstration..

5:48
Wael Ghonim: I went to the one on the 25th
Mona El Shazly: what time did we talk was it 1am or 2?
Wael Ghonim: Yes yes
5:51
Mona El Shazly: It was round that time
Wael Ghonim: I was kidnapped … Inside State Security prison, I was treated really well. It was so strange! They treated me with so much respect. I met some really intellectual people in jail, they were all 100% certain that we were traitors, working for others, either brainwashed, or funded by some entity directing us. Telling us where to go, what to do, what to post online.
6:18
You know, nothing hurt me, my mom and dad were given a hard time, but that didn’t hurt me, what hurt me was when an officer suspected I was a traitor.
6:29
He later changed his mind. But we’re not traitors! We love Egypt! If I was a traitor I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE, and enjoy my life, get paid, get raises, what’s the problem? Should I say what others are saying? Let it burn! Is it our country? It’s theirs! That’s what I’d say if I was a traitor! We’re not traitors! One of the things I’m proud of is that I went home knowing that I convinced these people that we’re not traitors. I know what I’m saying and I know they are now convinced that the only motive we had was our love for our country.
7:05
At first they had a hard time believing what it means for a bunch of youth activists, like I used to call them, facebook kids, that’s what they used to call us at the beginning during the Khaled Said protests. ‘Those noisy kids on facebook’
7:20
They didn’t believe that these “facebook youth” are the ones who went out in their tens of thousands on January 25th. We believed it! The people who worked…Again..I was just a signal.. a cue telling people to move. Some people worked so hard, they are the ones who have to talk to you and tell you how they planned and how they decided to initiate the demonstrations and how they’ll manage to coerce everyone to keep it peaceful and how they’ll protect everyone! How people will walk the streets and clean them! All of this was considered! But what I wanted to say is this…

7:59
Mona EL Shazly: Wael, catch your breath… Wael this is not an interrogation you don’t have to swear or to repeat that you love this country or that you’re not a traitor.
8:11
Wael Ghonim: Unfortunately, unfortunately, wait a sec.
Mona El Shazly: Hold on, let me.
Wael Ghonim: No No I’m sorry wait. let me tell you something!
Mona El SHazly: go ahead
8:16
Wael Ghonim: This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors. Do you know why? because people now believe that there’s bad at the core of everything! and that isn’t true! On the 25th, I personally saw…I was proud to be an Egyptian on the 25th! There were thousands of girls and not a single case of sexual harassment! There was a simple man who just decided to pick up the garbage! there were stoplights that no one touched or destroyed! People would shout at anyone with a baton and ask him to drop it!
8:48
Mona a brick fell at my feet because someone just thought of throwing it! Those people they accused of destroying, yes they were there! the uneducated..do you know when they started acting out? When they were shot with rubber bullets and beaten up and pushed around. I jst want to say again, we’re now in an era… people were wondering what am I doing on that facebook page! My social life was destroyed My wife was going to divorce me because I didn’t spend time with her, and now some guy comes along and calls me a traitor, certainly he’s getting paid. There were many helping on that page and now they’re being called traitors too..
9:28
What I want to say is this. We love our country, and we refuse any other accusations. Just like we refuse to accuse others of such things.
9:34
Mona EL Shazly: Wael I want to remind you of something you might have forgotten. We must be logical, security service aren’t the only ones who know everything..the young man who called me at the end of 2010 to tell me “we’re starting an initiative to clean egypt, to create a map to mark where unmanaged garbage is…” do you remember Wael? “for officials to realize it and send someone to clean the areas toppled with garbage” I told you I support you but also mark the clean areas as motivation….a person who thinks this way for his country can never, ever want to harm it.

10:20
Wael Ghonim: I want to say I so optimistic before the 25th. And today, I am overwhelmed with optimism and I can’t believe what the people have managed to do! Today, people have proven that theyre…I was telling the officers in my interrogation..I want just one person to argue..I said it to D r.Hossam..you said I was with Dr.Hossam right?
10:48
I am thankful to everyone who tried to help get me released. I am not ungrateful it’s just…It is just not right…not right..that my dad..who has lost an eye..and could lose the other any day…spent 12 days without knowing where his son is!
11:16
Why?! why? You want to arrest me? there is law! arrest me. Tell me what I’m accused of, interrogate me. It’s your right! call my family, tell them..but what I want to say is that at least those who interrogated me had the country’s best interests at heart. Those who interrogated me, and I can’t tell what their intentions are but I was blindfolded for 12 days, I heard nothing nor saw anything.I was just telling Hamza Nemra,I was so desperate I used to sit and sing to myself..I had no clue what’s happening in the streets. I didn’t know if they demonstrated again. I wondered if they retreated..I wondered if they forgot me, if anyone would ask for my release. I didn’t know, no one told me anything. I didn’t know a single piece of news!
12:16
They have security precautions I don’t know, this isn’t my point..what killed me the most was that my wife in UAE didn’t know where I am, my mother in Egypt didn’t know what happened to me, my disabled father in Saudi Arabia didn’t know where I was. They knew where I was! This was the simplest thing they could have done, it wouldn’t have compromised anything, even if you suspect me, bring out all the evidence you have! I said the entire truth! Thank God. I didn’t know if they had proof but I said everything because I was proud of what I did and I was prepared to pay the price. What I want to say now is…
13: 00
Wael Ghonim: this is not the time to settle scores. There are a lot of people I’D like to settle scores with, even personally, I wish I could get my rights from a lot of people. But this is not the time to settle scores, it’s not the time to divide up the cake, allright.

13:20

There are a lot of politicians who will understand what I’m talking about – it’s not the time to divide up the cake. For those people dividing up the cake right now – this is not the time to divide up the cake.

13:31

Thirdly, this is not the time to impose ideologies. I’m saying this personally, I still haven’t spoken to the people on the page. By the way, I’m not Faris, nor…the secret behind the success of the page is that before any decision was taken, we’d take a survey and everyone would give their opinions, and the opinion of the majority would prevail. I’m speaking now as Wael who just got out of prison, who was blindfolded and couldn’t see a thing, didn’t know anything. I just got out at 7 or 8 today, I got out and stayed with the Minister of the Interior, people! I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, of everyone who went to a protest, because the Minister of the Interior was sitting in front of me as an individual, the same as me. He spoke to me as though he was strong and I was strong, not like I was a silly kid or a wild young man, or paternalistically. That is something he as a person deserves respect for. I still don’t know anything, but to be objective, I respect it anyway. But I’m proud of the young people, because they did this.

14:40

They are the ones that caused Dr. Hossam Badrawi to take me home so he could talk to me.
I just wanted to tell you about my conversation with Dr. Hossam Badrawi…

14:49

Mona El Shazly: Let’s pause to catch our breath, and we’ll get back to you. And drink something because you haven’t eaten anything since you get back from…from…State Security.

Video III:

0:00 – Mona El Shazly: Did you know anyone died?
0:02 – Wael Ghonim: Yes, they told me in the…
Mona El Shazly: I mean…when you got out?
0:06 – Wael Ghonim: No, not as soon as I got out…before I got out, they told me during the last investigation. They told me about the events, they told me everything that happened.
0:13 – Mona El Shazly: (To camera) The truth is, that’s the first thing Wael asked me about. He asked, what are we going to do? There are honourable and famous people in this country, and maybe they think it’s not the right time to talk about this; as soon as they heard of the the idea of this mania, or that it was possible to contribute in some way, not to calm the situation or to flatter one party at the expense of another – they felt it to be their duty. Those people who died were our children and brothers, and they had no personal ambitions, and the photographs we showed earlier (shows photographs) say so…did you see these photographs, Wael?
0:49 – Wael Ghonim: No, I haven’t seen a single one.
0:51 – Mona El Shazly: They’re on the screen now. Youth like blossoms, blossoms in gardens. They are the ones who went down, they wanted nothing…don’t cry, Wael.
Wael Ghonim: (Cries)
1:16 – Mona El Shazly: These people didn’t want to head political parties, or people crushed by poverty and the world seemed bleak to them. They went out for the sake of Egypt, for the sake of the country and said what the generations before us couldn’t do, we can. We are not activists, or funded by anyone, we just want to say we love this country. If it wasn’t for my not being at liberty to state that names, or a specific name, have said directly that financial compensation, or in some other way, is present and ready. I can’t say anything more because I’m not at liberty to.
2:08 – Wael Ghonim: I want to tell every mother and father that lost a son, I’m sorry but it’s not our fault (cries). I swear to God it’s not our fault! It’s the fault of everyone who held on to power and clung to it! (cries). I want to leave. (Gets up and goes off screen)
//End

via lissnup.wordpress.com

Posted via email from lissping

Statement by business people & intellectuals on political crisis v @Jan25Voices

Unofficial translation produced for @Jan25Voices for information purposes only. @Jan25Voices cannot be responsible for content or errors in translation

Download now or preview on posterous

buisnessmen_statement.pdf (54 KB)

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