11 February, 2011
Countercurrents.org
‘Unprecedented’ no doubt is the right word to describe the events. On January 25th, a small band of perhaps two hundred protesters gathered on Tahreer square in the centre of Cairo, Egypt’s capital. They shouted slogans calling on Egyptians to emulated their Tunesian brothers and sisters, who had just shrugged off the joke of their own dictator Ben Ali. As the protesters moved forward and crossed the bridge across the Nile river, breaking the police barricades, the number of demonstrators rapidly multiplied into tens of thousands. Many of them had responded to the call which before the start of the Tahreer action had been launched on the social medium facebook. And ever since then Egypt has been in upheaval. Whereas for several decades, the country’s despotic ruler Hosni Mubarak had succeeded largely in keeping the lid on public protests, – suddenly people threw off all their fears. Tahreer square has repeatedly been the scene of million-strong rallies, demanding that Mubarak step down. And although there was a tense moment, when paramilitary groups, thugs on camels and armed civilians mobilized by the regime swept down on opponents in Cairo centre, – Egypt’s protestors have refused to budge. Instead they set up a permanent camp on the square, which is spontaneously being supplied with food. Doctors have formed a mobile hospital for the treatment of wounded activists. And whereas Mubarak’s regime has feverishly tried to disrupt news reporting by Al Jazeera and other international media, – foreign journalists have enthusiastically carried the news of the people’s revolt all over the world.
Further, while the Egyptian people are evoking solidarity everywhere, – the West’s policymakers and even the country’s own opposition parties have completely been taken by surprise. For years, the West has tolerated and patronized Mubarak’s dictatorship, arguing that his regime is a bulwark against the threat posed by Muslim fundamentalists. However, the Egyptian people’s revolt was neither prepared, nor is it being led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s main Islamist organization. Its leaders have as much been taken by surprise as policymakers in Brussels and Washington, and its support base to all accounts is limited, to less than a fifth of the Egyptian population. In fact, although opposition political parties have been invited to negotiate a transition by Mubarak’s regime, none of them is in charge of the revolt. As the example of the internet action mentioned above already indicates, it is a new generation, of young Egyptians, who have taken centre stage. This was well symbolized, when the google manager who launched the face book action towards January 25 was given a heroic welcome by hundreds of thousands on Tahreer square, after his release from jail a few days back. As of today, February the 11th, protestors not just in Cairo, but in other Egyptian cities too continue to hold the streets. When Mubarak failed to announce his departure during his televised address to the nation yesterday, thousands waved with their shoes in utter contempt!
The revolt is unprecedented indeed, but it would be wrong to expect easy victories. In a move that pleased his Western allies, Mubarak about two weeks ago gave up his post as president of the ruling party. Yet the entire state apparatus of repression is still intact, including the powerful army, notorious intelligence services and the groups of hired musclemen. No single fact illustrates this better than Mubarak’s appointment of Suleiman as vice-president. The moment Suleiman was put in charge, stories started circulating on internet regarding the man’s exceptional reputation. In the one published by Jadalliya (8/2), Suleiman is described as the CIA’s man in Cairo. Ever since 1993 and right until January the 29th last, he has headed the Egypt’s General Intelligence Services. And while showing great loyalty to Mubarak and to the West, he personally tortured detainees, including people arrested under the US’s infamous ‘rendition program’. Under the given scheme, the US for years has kidnapped people suspected of being terrorists, and secretly detained them in third countries without bars on inhuman tortures. In fact, Suleiman is identified as the man who personally devised the rendition program! Moreover, he is reported to have maintained a hotline towards the Israeli government, at the expense of the Palestinian people. The survival of the Palestinians living in the neighboring territory, the Gaza strip, is largely dependent on a tunnel system, through which supplies reach Palestinians from Egypt. Yet Suleiman has assured the Israeli government that a cross border action into Egypt by Israeli army units aimed at destroying the Palestinian tunnels is possible.
Again, it would be wrong to be over-enthusiastic about the role of the Egyptian army. True, the army generals have refused to openly interfere on the side of the Mubarak regime, and have stayed ‘neutral’ so far. And yes, this has helped ensure that the number of protestors who have been killed by bullets of the regime is relatively limited. Yet will the Egyptian officers continue to stand by, if fundamental American and Western interests are threatened by the revolt? Historically, the Egyptian army can proud itself on having espoused Arab nationalism. Yet throughout the last thirty years, ever since Mubarak rose to power, Egypt’s armed forces have heavily benefited from US support. The accumulated figure for supplies of fighter planes, missiles, tanks and other American military hardware is a thick 60 Billion US Dollars. All the five giant monopoly corporations which dominate the US military sector have received orders from, or are engaged in co-production scheme with, Egypt. Lockheed Martin has built 240 F-16 fighters, and is building another 20 right now. General Dynamics is prime contractor for 1200 Abrams battle tanks. And whereas other Middle Eastern dictatorships, such as Saudi Arabia, need to buy all the weaponry they order from the US, – Egypt’s regime has annually been receiving an average of 1.3 Billion Dollars as military aid. Nor is US sympathy restricted to arms’ supplies alone. In Egypt’s desert, the US and the Egyptian armies bi-annually hold joint exercises, in which a reported 25 thousand American soldiers take part. Hence, it would be a bit naive to presume the Egyptian army has overnight become a pro-people’s force.
Nevertheless, the significance of the Egyptian revolt extends well beyond the borders of Egypt, towards the whole of the Middle East. Surely, though Egypt has become the epicenter, events did not start in Cairo, but in Tunesia, when the people of Tunis in January last forced dictator Ben Ali to flee. Nor is resistance limited to these two countries alone. Mass protests by people disgruntled about state repression, unemployment and high food prices have also taken place elsewhere, notably in Algeria, Yemen and Jordania. And although the outcome is uncertain, US and European interests may yet be affected by ongoing events. For decades discontent has been simmering throughout the Middle East, over the US’s unreserved support for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, and over its intimate connections with repressive Arab regimes. When the oil exporting countries of the region in 1973 for once stood up against the West, and OPEC took control over the international price of oil, US functionaries devised a new trading scheme. Under this system, oil rich countries were encouraged to buy US armaments in exchange for their increased oil wealth. The trading system created havoc in the region, as millions of Arabs were slaughtered in international and fratricidal wars. The Egyptian people and people in other Middle Eastern states know they are not just up against Mubarak, or against domestic dictatorships. Hence, it is quite well possible that today’s revolt in the Arab world will mark an important chapter in the demise of US hegemony.