Members of the April 6 Movement in Egypt Recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have revealed new and surprising forms of political activism and reinforced long standing ones. The mass uprising in Egypt has sparked a wave of protest across the region as populations held down for decades under oppressive regimes […]
20 Feb
Comments Off on Have the Australian Greens become Julia Gillard’s ‘useful idiots’?
Since the dust from the August election settled, something strange has been going on in the Australian Greens camp. I think it’s probably a conscious “strategy,” but I’m not privy to the discussions in the party room, so I can’t be sure. But here is my stab at it, and why it worries me deeply. […]
16 Feb
Comments Off on So you think you want a revolution?
Photo by Counterfire My latest piece on ABC’s The Drum Unleashed — “What Australia can learn from Egypt’s uprising” — dispelling the mythology around revolutions peddled by Western leaders and mainstream media: The word “revolution” comes loaded with many preconceptions, but the 18 days that brought down the Mubarak regime in Egypt have deeply challenged views […]
14 Feb
Comments Off on The Egyptian Revolution: only the beginning — where to next?
The most indubitable feature of a revolution is the direct interference of the masses in historical events. — Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution How good was that? Here we’ll let some Egyptian voices speak: First, a statement on Friday from the Revolutionary Socialists of Egypt: Glory to the martyrs! Victory to the revolution! What is happening today […]
09 Feb
Comments Off on Beyond an impasse — Egypt’s masses surge forth again
Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy From Al-Jazeera’s English-language website: The square has become a mini-utopia in central Cairo. Political opinions aired, gender and sectarian divisions nowhere to be found. People feed and clothe each other here. Medical areas have been set up by doctors joining in with the protesters. The crime and sexual harassment so prevalent […]
07 Feb
Comments Off on The Egyptian revolution and the working class
Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy It’s worth reading in full an interview on Saturday night, Cairo time, with Egyptian blogger and journalist Hossam el-Hamalawy, on the excellent Occupied Cairo blog. But on the question of class polarisation and independent workers’ action he has this to say: The uprising up until now contained elements from all Egyptian society, whether […]
04 Feb
Comments Off on Who’s afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood?
They are: The tyrant’s strategy seems clear. After 30 years of brutality, repression and feathering the nest of his globetrotting fellow elites, at the moment his regime is in peril he will act as the reasonable one. He will act to reverse the “chaos” and “anarchy” in the streets as gangs of violent thugs attack […]
03 Feb
Comments Off on The Egyptian revolution: Liberal democracy as the enemy of freedom
In February 2003 I was part of the 400,000-strong rally in Sydney opposing the impending US-British-Australian invasion of Iraq. It seemed for a moment that we were going to disrupt the plans of the self-styled Coalition Of The Willing by sheer force of numbers, part of probably the largest coordinated protest in Australian and world […]
02 Feb
Comments Off on Not good enough. Try again
From the New York Times: CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not run for another term in elections scheduled for the fall, appearing on state television to promise an orderly transition but he would serve out his term. In comments translated by CNN, he swore that he would die in Egypt. Television cameras showed the vast […]
01 Feb
Comments Off on Egypt: Revolution, counter-revolution and Islamism
UPDATE: Now cross-posted at Overland Journal blog. Great to wake up this morning to see that the Egyptian army is publicly stating it won’t use force against the protesters. Of course this could just be part of buying time for the regime, but it goes to the scale of the crisis facing Mubarak and his allies: The presence of the […]
22 Feb
Comments Off on The changing face of activism (or not)