Topic: What's up with the Arabic countries?

[CMF]

Tunisian and Egyptian governments were overthrown. People went out on the streets protesting in Yemen and Jordan.

Who's next? I place my bets on Saudi Arabia. 

[hmed2390]

The Egyptian government has yet to be overthrow however as an Egyptian myself I strongly support their cause.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/26/egypt-protests

4.40pm:CloseLink to this update: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/26/egypt-protests?showallcomments=true#block-47#block-47 Here is an afternoon summary:

? There has been a second day of protests in Egypt against the government of Hosni Mubarak. The demonstrators want Mubarak to stand down as president and want the government to provide some solution to the country's economic problems, including serious poverty, rising prices and high unemployment.

? Police have rounded up 860 protesters since yesterday, the Associated Press is reporting. Again they used tear gas and beatings on the demonstrators. Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones have been sporadically blocked.

? European leaders have criticised Egypt, but Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, did not condemn the Cairo government, a key US ally in the Middle East.

? Anonymous, the group that conducted cyber-attacks in support of WikiLeaks, has threatened to do the same to the Egyptian government if it does not stop censoring the media.

4.31pm:CloseLink to this update: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/26/egypt-protests?showallcomments=true#block-47#block-46 The Associated Press is reporting that 860 protesters have been "rounded up" by police since yesterday. In a report on today's anti-government demonstrations, which took place in defiance of an official ban, police used tear gas and beat protesters to disperse them. The demonstrators are demanding that Hosni Mubarak stands down as president and the government provides some solution to Egypt's economic problems, including serious poverty, rising prices and high unemployment.

The news agency reports:

    After nightfall today, more than 2,000 demonstrators were marching on a major downtown boulevard along the Nile when dozens of riot police with helmets and shields charged the crowd. It was a scene repeated throughout the day wherever demonstrators tried to gather.

    The crackdown by authorities brought harsh words from European leaders, who expressed concern and said the events underline the need for democratisation and respect for human and civil rights. However, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton did not criticise Egypt's government ? a key US ally in the Middle East ? but only said the country was stable and Egyptians have the right to protest while urging all parties to avoid violence.

    Activists used social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations Wednesday. But Facebook, a key tool used to organize protests, appeared to be at least partially blocked in the afternoon. On Tuesday, Twitter and cell phones appeared to be sporadically blocked as well.

    The interior ministry warned today that police would not tolerate any gatherings, and thousands were out on the streets poised to crack down quickly on any new signs of unrest after clashes yesterday that killed three demonstrators and one police officer.

    Early today, thousands of policemen in riot gear and backed by armored vehicles took up posts in Cairo on bridges across the Nile, at major intersections and squares as well as outside key installations such as the state TV building and the headquarters of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.

    Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred activists on a main commercial thoroughfare in central Cairo, chasing them through side streets as both sides pelted each other with rocks with hundreds of onlookers watching anxiously.

    Earlier, dozens gathered outside the Journalists' Union in downtown Cairo and renewed the chants heard against Mubarak throughout Tuesday's much larger protests. "Mubarak is leaving, leaving. Oh Egyptian people, be brave and join us," they chanted. As police charged the crowd, beating them with sticks, they chanted "peaceful, peaceful."

    In the city of Suez east of Cairo, an angry crowd of about 1,000 people gathered outside the city's morgue demanding to take possession and bury the body of one of three protesters who died in clashes on Tuesday.

    In the southern city of Assiut, eyewitnesses said riot police set upon some 100 activists staging an anti-government protest Wednesday, beating them up with batons and arresting nearly half of them.

    "Down, down Hosni Mubarak," chanted the crowd. "Oh, people, join us or you will be next."

    Security officials said up to 200 protesters were detained early today. More were likely to be detained as authorities review police videotapes of the protests, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110126/wl_nm/us_egypt_protest

Not to mention that the first day the protests took place the stock market dipped 25Billion L.E.

I hope this goes in the peoples' favor for a better tomorrow, having lived there for several years I understand the anger and frustration that's finally broke out in the millions. I can only hope for the best and pray.

[smokester]

It's all very interesting at the moment and proves that Middle Eastern countries are no different to the rest of the world when it comes to opposing the State.

[laama]

Morocco,Libya,Syria,Jordan,etc.all are possible dominoes,problem is that hard line Islamists could be only real opposition in some countries.

[CMF]

Though I am in favor of a revolution in the Middle East, the only alternative is the extremist Muslims, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Things might very well turn out to be like in Iran: a revolution against a corrupted regime replaced by even more corrupted religious fanaticism.
Just for example, in Tunisia, women went on the streets requesting the right to wear burqas. Moreover, the exiled Rashid Al-Ghannushi is coming back to Tunisia.

All I can surely say is that it's getting hot in the Middle East. Really hot!

[hmed2390]

the only alternative is the extremist Muslims, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

I can't stress enough how much I (respectfully) disagree with this statement.

Contrary to what a lot of people have been assuming and/or reading, the Muslim Brotherhood isn't the primary group leading all of the protests in Egypt. Unless most of the Egyptian population is indeed a part of that group(which is clearly not the case) then the group only has a small influence over the current protests going on. I mean yesterday my cousins told me that every major city(so to speak) was going to protest in unison against the government. The fact that most everyone in Egypt has more to gain than lose by ridding Egypt of Mubarak's oppression is enough to help everyone realize that goal and work together towards it. Aside from all of this , Mohamed ElBaradei is making efforts in running for presidency and helping to implement a new system in which presidents are entitled to terms and elected through a proper electoral process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_ElBaradei

[hmed2390]

Just for example, in Tunisia, women went on the streets requesting the right to wear burqas.

Again, that is not in association with The Brotherhood of Islam, that's strictly religious practices. The Brotherhood of Islam doesn't speak for all of Islam. For example, the total population of Muslims in CHina is greater than the entire muslim population in the middleeast. Are they assoicated with the Brotherhood as well? Again, the majority is incorrectly represented by the corrupt minority. Also, regarding the women in Tunisia, the fact that they were "requesting" the right to wear burqas shouldn't prompt everyone to start popping ulcer pills. It never fails to amuse me how biased news sources can be, or how readily people will accept is as truth without further investigation or knowledge.

[CMF]

I guess you are right. All I am really worried is that those people who are currently fighting for justice do not fall back under another corrupted regime, a puppet of another country. Because after all, Egypt is placed on a very hot spot (between Asia and Africa: just next to Israel and Palestine). I am sure that the world powers are currently fighting over who is getting the spot. And what the Egyptians need to have (and any other nation) is a democratic government, one which looks after its own people and not simply obeying another major power.

[hmed2390]

It is a major concern overall, and speaking on behalf of my family that lives there and my roots there, I simply hope for the best outcome to all of this. I admire the organization of everyone there so far and the courageous stance taken in facing the oppression head-on to help bring it to an end. I am very optimistic about all of this though, and I'm sure that something good will come out of this. Maybe this is like the wake up call and the influence of the events in Tunisia helped cause a chain reaction in Egypt that will ultimately reform the government into a purer form of democracy. I sure hope so.

[laama]

hmed2390 Keep us updated what's going on there.

As you mentioned,western media and people are prejudiced against Arabs today.

[goldshirt*9]

Tunisian and Egyptian governments were overthrown. People went out on the streets protesting in Yemen and Jordan.

Who's next? I place my bets on Saudi Arabia. 

i doubt it .
too much at stake for the governing few

hmed hope all is well with your friends / family

[hmed2390]

Thanks Goldy, I appreciate it.

I also doubt anything ever happening in Saudi Arabia, Mekkah is the center of Islam where the ka'ba lays, non-other than Muslims are even allowed within proximity and fighting in the area is strictly prohibited from an Islamic point of view.

hmed2390 Keep us updated what's going on there.

As you mentioned,western media and people are prejudiced against Arabs today.

It's hard right now to judge how good or bad things are, with all communications barred, I've been relying on speculative news since Thursday and I've yet to hear from my family.

[Skadi]

hmed hope all is well with your friends / family

Same from me. The stories show people working together to do amazing things the past few days.

[CMF]

I actually heard about some people using some French network to connect with their families outside of Egypt. hmed, I hope there might be an occasion when you can contact them.

[hmed2390]

I actually heard about some people using some French network to connect with their families outside of Egypt. hmed, I hope there might be an occasion when you can contact them.

Thanks for the info CMF, I just spoke to my cousin in DC. He's also worried about Egypt but he was able to contact his family courtesy of smartVOIP to call their land line(which was still operational since they live in a smaller town just outside of Alexandria). It's a huge mess right now. People are using VPN's to contact one another and contribute to media feeds, some ISP's have been reported to begin working but nothing is stable just yet. I am glad that my family is doing alright though,  he's been talking to them since communications were allegedly cut without government interference coincidentally as the protests broke out. Initially for the government it was a smart move in the short-run to cut off communications but now the whole world is observing Mubarak's totalitarian rule in action. It is harder to get the more raw nasty details but overall everyone's watching in anticipation of either the good or the bad with the country's reputation at stake. It's really a big mess right now.

Thanks for the concern everybody.

I'm grateful to hear that my family is doing alright, and I wish the best for all of the other families there as well.