Support the Egyptian Peoples Revolution

After the surprise ouster of the Tunisian President Ben Ali’s, the call for the ousting of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is a double surprise. The Mubarak regime was been in power for almost 30 years and it is a dictatorship, even if the government calls itself something else.  Because the government of Egypt is a dictatorship, there is no other way for the Egyptian people to change the government without a revolution. If you look at American history, we revolted because we were under the rule of a Monarch and did not want to live under the oppression of that ruler (This is a very simplistic explaining and I know there were a number of complex factors that caused the American revolution.).  Monarchies of the past (and some in the present) were essentially dictatorships. Democratic governments are by and for the people. Non-democratic governments are not for the people, they are for the perpetuation of the ruler’s or the ruling party’s power. The 30 year rule of Mubarak is evidence of that lack of democracy in Egypt. They hold elections and Mubarak’s party always wins a unnatural 80% majority. Egypt has been under martial law since 1981. Martial law allows the government to detain anyone deemed to be threatening state security without court orders. Many people have been detained and beaten in Egypt. Public demonstrations are banned. The existence of the ban against demonstrations makes the people of Egypt very brave and also illustrates their determination to be free from living under a dictatorship.

In 2006 I visited Egypt. I talked to all sorts of people there and they were all very nice, friendly and helpful. They loved America and were happy to talk to an American since not too many Americans come to Egypt. In my experience most people in the middle-east like Americans contrary to popular opinion. They do not hate us for our freedoms. They like our freedoms and wish they had them. What they don’t like is the US government's support for Middle Eastern dictators. Most countries in the Middle East are Monarchies or Dictatorships. Middle Eastern people are not free; they do not participate in democratic processes. The Middle East is mostly run by authoritarian governments which suppress their people. Egypt is a country that is suppressed; it is not something that was obvious to me when I was there. I had the feeling that a lot of the joie de vive was missing and that things just felt wrong. After my vacation, I decided that I did not really want to go back there again because of the weird atmosphere. Now I think I would like to return when the people are free.

Everyone around the world should support the self-liberation of the Egyptian people. They want freedom and self-determination. We need to support them in their peaceful struggle for liberation. Egyptian internet and mobile phones have been cut off by the government and when they have mobile phone service they cannot send text messages. This is just one more sign of repression. By the way, the US government want to the ability to shut off the internet, too.

You can help the people of Egypt by setting up an internet bridge for them. Information on how to do this can be found at https://www.accessnow.org/proxy-cloud/page/join-the-cloud

The latest news on Egypt can be seen on Democracy Now. They have had one of their staff reporters, Sharif Kouddous, on ground in Cairo, Egypt since Saturday. 

Or on Al Jazeera English at: http://english.aljazeera.net/

Power to the People,

Fobbsie