THE REVOLUTION EXPANDS
& GROWS STRONGER
8 February 2011 Last updated at 15:29 ET
Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak's concessions rejected
The BBC's Jim Muir says Egyptians from all walks of life are present
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square for the latest protest calling for Hosni Mubarak's government to step down.
Correspondents say it is the biggest demonstration since the protests began on 25 January.
It comes despite the government's announcement of its plans for a peaceful transfer of power.
President Mubarak has said he will stay until elections in September.
In Tahrir Square, attempts by the army to check the identity cards of those joining the demonstration were abandoned because of the sheer weight of numbers.
Our correspondent says the message to the authorities is simple - there is huge support from all walks of Egyptian life for the protests, and the government's concessions are not enough.
Wael Ghonim, a Google executive was detained and blindfolded by state security forces for 12 days, was feted by the crowds as he entered Tahrir Square.
At the scene
The determination of people queuing to get into Tahrir Square in the late afternoon sun has not been dented by officials' announcements of a series of concessions.
"We don't care what they are promising. Our demand is the same: Mubarak must leave," says Mariam defiantly.
A man standing behind her says the authorities have ignored the views of young people for too long. "I am 55 years old, I have tolerated this president for 30 years. This young generation is braver than mine. They have motivated us," he insists.
Some demonstrators concede that plans to make constitutional changes - which the opposition has long called for - were a positive step. They say release of the Google executive and blogger, Wael Ghonim, was another boost. Now the hope is that more can be achieved by keeping up large numbers in the heart of Cairo.
He is credited with setting up the page on the Facebook social network that helped galvanise protesters.
"We will not abandon our demand and that is the departure of the regime," Mr Ghonim told protesters in the square, to cheers and applause.
Referring to the protesters who have died in clashes with the security forces, he said: "I'm not a hero but those who were martyred are the heroes."
This latest demonstration in Cairo, as the protests enter their third week, came as large crowds demonstrated in the second city, Alexandria, and other Egyptian towns and cities.
The protesters are continuing to call for Mr Mubarak to leave office immediately, and say they are sceptical about any transition managed by the government.
In his response to the protests, President Mubarak has set up a committee to propose constitutional changes, and another is being formed to carry the changes out.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editorThe real test of the revolution's success or failure is whether it changes Egypt permanently - that does not mean changing the face at the top to preserve the system, it means democracy”
Vice-President Omar Suleiman, who announced the formation of the new committees, said he had briefed Mr Mubarak on recent talks with the opposition, and the president had welcomed the process of "dialogue" and "national reconciliation".
"The president also underlined the importance of continuing [the process] and moving from guidelines to a clear map with a definite timetable" for a "peaceful and organised" transfer of power, he said.
Among the key expected changes are a relaxation of presidential eligibility rules, and the setting of a limit for presidential terms.
A third committee, expected to begin its work in the next few days, would investigate clashes between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups last week and refer its findings to the prosecutor-general, Mr Suleiman said.
He also said President Mubarak had issued directives to stop repressive measures against the opposition.
Meanwhile, US Vice-President Joe Biden urged Mr Suleiman to make an orderly transition of power in Egypt that is "prompt, meaningful, peaceful and legitimate", the White House said.
During a telephone call, Mr Biden also urged the immediate lifting of Egypt's emergency laws.
Fierce clashesThe BBC's Yolande Knell reports that some of the protesters in Tahrir Square concede that plans to make constitutional changes - which the opposition has long called for - are a positive step, but others are sceptical about Mr Suleiman's intentions.
Wael Ghonim (left) is credited with setting up a Facebook page that helped galvanise protesters
"We don't trust them any more," Ahmed, one young Egyptian queuing to get into the square, told the BBC. "How can Suleiman guarantee there'll be no more violence around the election after all the attacks we've seen on young people."
A middle-aged protester, Mustafa, said: "We are asking why there is no committee for young people. He has to ask the young people what they want - this is all about the young people."
The unrest over the last two weeks has seen fierce clashes with police, and pitched battles between protesters and Mubarak supporters.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers say they have confirmed the deaths of 297 people since 28 January, based on a count from seven hospitals in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. No comprehensive death toll has been given by the Egyptian government.
Some economic activity has resumed, but authorities have delayed reopening the stock exchange until Sunday. On Friday it was estimated that the paralysis resulting from the unrest had been costing the economy an average of $310m (£193m) a day.
The number of those on Tahrir Square has been swelling each day and dropping back overnight.
Meanwhile, leaked US diplomatic cables carried on the Wikileaks website have revealed that Mr Suleiman was named as Israel's preferred candidate for the job after discussions with American officials in 2008.
As Egypt's intelligence chief, he is said to have spoken daily to the Israeli government on issues surrounding the Hamas-run Gaza Strip via a secret "hotline".
Ahdaf Soueif: Protesters reclaim the spirit of Egypt
Egyptians young and old are taking part in the anti-government protests
Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif reflects on humorous and poignant moments in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where she says the people are re-discovering what it means to be Egyptian.
What is happening on the streets and squares of Egypt is extraordinary; it's nothing less than millions of people re-finding their voice - and using it.
They're using it to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak and his regime - with everything that that regime entails: the corrupt cabinet, the fraudulent parliament, the mutilated constitution and the brutal emergency laws.
And this common, over-arching demand is being given increasingly creative and individual expression.
'Depart!'The atmosphere on Tahrir Square is like - well, imagine a fair, where the product under scrutiny is politics, economics, governance, history and the law.
The demonstrators have vowed to stay in Tahrir Square until Mr Mubarak steps down
Circles of people sit on what's left of the grass to talk, friends stroll arm-in-arm discussing, marchers go by chanting and singing, bands play old protest favourites and new-minted anthems.
People carry home-made placards with their own messages.
The most common, of course is "Irhal!" ("Depart!"). But with the days passing, I've seen more impatient ones like "Irhal, my arm's hurting", "Irhal, I really need a shower", "Irhal, I can't find another joke", "Irhal means leave", and others.
One man has outlined a huge airliner on the ground with used paper cups and keeps everyone out of its outlines because the plane's ready to whisk Mubarak away.
Start Quote
Ahdaf Soueif"One thing that Tahrir has already given us is a sense of who we are”
A huge sheet of plastic pockets has been hung up and the pockets are speedily filling with caricatures.
This revolution is so organic, so personal, so real, it has exploded reservoirs of creativity in everybody taking part.
Each person coming to the square brings something: medical supplies for the field clinics which are still treating the people damaged by Mr Mubarak's police and thug militias, blankets for the thousands spending the night, cartons of water, biscuits.
Teams of young volunteers collect litter. The resulting piles are labelled "National Democratic Party".
ConsensusThis is not to say that all is well with us.
The government has, for the moment, withdrawn its police and its thug militias and the army sits on the periphery of Tahrir Square - to protect us.
Protesters are sleeping on the tracks of the tanks to prevent the army from moving them
But the army has now put up barbed wire to narrow the entrances and exits and they're trying to move their tanks further into the square.
When the young people lay down in front of the tanks Sunday night, they fired volleys of shots into the air and dragged away three young men and beat them. The situation was diffused when a well-liked public figure intervened.
This is what we older revolutionaries are doing - putting everything we have at the service of the brave young people who have cleared a space from which we can all join the effort to reclaim our state.
Tahrir has become our civic space where leftists and liberals and Muslim Brotherhood discuss and sing and eat together.
The other cities and towns of Egypt have sent popular delegations.
The consensus is that the consensus will come out of Tahrir.
And one thing that Tahrir has already given us is a sense of who we are.
'Revolution'People are actually articulating: "They said we were divided, extreme, ignorant, fanatic - well here we are: diverse, inclusive, hospitable, generous, sophisticated, creative and witty."
Ahdaf Soueif addressed the crowd of demonstrators in Tahrir Square last Friday
In Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, the aim of the evil guys is to sever children from their spirits so releasing the energy needed by the government.
Well, that's a brilliant metaphor for what we feel has been happening to us in Egypt.
We were being deliberately severed from everything we hold dear, in the service of keeping the region subservient to American and Israeli interests.
And the only Egyptians to gain anything by this were the members and cronies of the regime who amassed spectacular wealth at the material, moral and emotional expense of their fellow-citizens.
On Sunday in Tahrir, Christian masses were celebrated and Muslim prayers were said.
We all prayed together for the young people killed by the regime since 25 January and before.
Later, there was a wedding, and later still magicians and acrobats and small camp fires.
This enormous revolution that is happening in our streets and our homes is the Egyptian people reclaiming their state, their heritage, their voice, their personality.
Be with us.
>via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12393795
Egypt unrest: Bloggers take campaign to Tahrir Square
Social media sites helped to spark the protests on 25 January
Egypt's internet activists have played a key role in the pro-democracy protests from the outset, but they tell the BBC that the online campaigning is evolving to suit their real-life activism in Tahrir Square.
Amr Gharbeia
“Start Quote
I hope that when we have finished this sit-in, we will have won the right to organise ourselves outside the internet”
This revolution is the result of someone sending a Facebook invitation to many people. I got it like other people on our network. The buzz around it was then created on different social media websites and with videos. I was here on 25 January when riot police forced us out and by the 28th, we were back following the violence. I've been sleeping here most of the time since.
Our social network was established in 2005, when there was a democratic opening around the time of the presidential elections. People from different backgrounds all met through blogging and hoped to use technology for social change. It meant we have all gained good contacts, experience and strong networks.
I like to think the social network is the people itself. Things like Facebook, Twitter, SMS and phones are just social tools. When they blocked Facebook and shut down technology, our network still operated because it's about people. Internet activists are also people and a lot of our organising, social work and relationships are developed offline.
This is something that people dreamt of but didn't anticipate happening in reality. If anything, it shows that all the effort we put in over the past few years has not been wasted. It has climaxed into this critical mass of people you see in the square.
At the moment I'm not getting a lot of internet connection. I'm trying not to drain my phone battery. We're still using it to distribute footage people are bringing to us that we've sorted through.
I hope the internet will continue to play a complementary role in activism. At the moment we physically exist in downtown Cairo and I hope that when we have finished this sit-in, we will have won the right to organise ourselves outside the internet.
Twitter: Amr Gharbeia
Nawara Negm
“Start Quote
It [is] totally different to have real freedom rather than just hypothetical freedom or internet freedom”
I was involved in this revolution from the first day, 25 January, and I've now been spending my nights here for a while. For the past five years, I was very active online, blogging and tweeting. As we live under emergency laws in Egypt it has been very difficult to meet or communicate except on the internet. I'd never been part of a demonstration on the ground.
At first we were mocking the event on 25 January. We questioned whether it was really possible to have a "Facebook revolution". I came on the 25th because I felt it was my duty as a citizen and I couldn't believe how it turned into something so different from what we've seen before. I was walking among the people and weeping.
Now I sometimes just tweet to update people about what's going on or to call for a million-man demonstration or a day to remember our martyrs. I'm well-known among bloggers for my long articles and constant tweets, but once I was here I stopped communicating this way so much. I felt it was totally different to have real freedom rather than just hypothetical freedom or internet freedom.
Blogging and tweeting has been important as we were building our minds. This regime stopped us from doing that. We had have poor education and no national cultural programmes. I am so proud now, especially when I think of our young martyrs. In Egypt we have suffered a lot and it's about time that we start to live like real people.
Twitter: Nawara Negm
Malek Mustafa
“Start Quote
The internet gave us our backbone but it is not because of Facebook that this happened”
I'm not writing my blog right now. We're just using Twitter as it's easy and flexible to do from your mobile. If we have a lot of action here I might do as many as 20 or 30 tweets a day. We also use Bambuser for live-streaming from our mobiles here in Tahrir Square.
The internet gave us our backbone but it is not because of Facebook that this happened. It was the force used by the police that brought everybody together. If they had let us leave peacefully on 25 January, this would never have happened. It got worse with the violence on 28th: The shootings, the tear gas, the killings, the brutality. When they cut the internet and mobile phone lines this only increased people's anger.
In the square we have organised our lives well. We have a co-ordinating committee telling us where there have been attacks and a group doing cleaning. We have some people singing and some praying. We have Christians, Muslims, agnostics, leftists and rightists and we all live together well. In our community we're trying to set an example of how we can all live together. It's like a city inside the city here. We are the kernel of the revolution.
Blog: MaLek X (in Arabic)
Nazly Hussein
“Start Quote
Older people come up to us [and] say: 'We're really proud of you... You did what we didn't manage to do for 60 years'”
The revolution was publicised on the internet. The spark was Facebook. People were really sceptical about it because they didn't think you could have a revolution where you named the date, but now I look around me and I am really proud of the Egyptian people and the initiative. I'm sure that those who named the date didn't think things would go this far.
To begin with on 25 January, we had mostly young people of all classes who somehow use the internet. You have internet cafes even in the poorest areas of Egypt so even less well-educated people have access, especially to Facebook. A lot was also achieved through word of mouth - people telling their friends and neighbours. The independent media took a middle-ground to begin with as everyone was watching their backs but now they have got onboard.
After our huge turnout on the first Tuesday, demonstrations continued for the next two days and we publicised further action for Friday on the internet. That day they cut our communications and took our cameras so we had an information blackout and the violence was unbelievable. A lot of people died.
Still the threshold of fear and pain had been broken and we have kept up momentum since. Now older people especially come up to us when we're collecting trash or whatever in the square and they say: "We're really proud of you... You did what we didn't manage to do for 60 years."
People have called this the "Facebook Revolution" because it gave us a form of expression even when people were too scared to talk in big groups about political issues. We had already set up Facebook pages for people who were tortured to death. We found it was a way to talk without being tracked.
In the square we have bridged a lot of gaps. I've been living here since 29 January with tens of thousands of other people. I put my head down to sleep and I don't know the people sleeping around me. I have wonderful conversations with people from all over Egypt who normally I would never have talked to.
We're finally getting to know each other. It's wonderful.
__________________________
FEBRUARY 8, 2011
Alan Chin & David Degner in Cairo: Traffic and Camping
The Egyptian government is anxious to let the world know that life is returning to normal, that they have made enough concessions, the system works, everybody should go home. Google Middle-East executive Wael Ghonim was released from twelve days of detention. Certainly, it’s a relief for fundamental services to be restored, as this traffic jam in the Zamalek neighborhood of Cairo demonstrates.
However, the protest in Tahrir Square is not going away anywhere fast. In fact, it is taking on more permanent aspects of a long-term sit-in, as tents and plastic sheeting are erected for shelter. A group of protesters slept right next to and around the army’s tanks and armored vehicles to prevent them from moving — either out of the square, which might open the field to the pro-Mubarek mob — or further into the square, potentially evicting the encampment.
The vibe at times gravitated between echoes of Woodstock with carnival as an intrinsic part of revolution, and Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 1989, with an initially sympathetic army and foreboding, hidden power struggles. Both the regime and the protesters have proven more resilient than might have been imagined at various moments during the last two weeks.
So normal life resumed? Sure, if sleeping in the square and having the army on the streets is the new normal.
–Alan Chin
PHOTOGRAPHS by ALAN CHIN and DAVID DEGNER
'You have a voice in this country,' emerging protest figure says
- Freed Google executive tells crowd, "This country is our country"
- Wael Ghonim emerges as the face of the uprising
- Crowds swell in Tahrir Square in day 15 of protests
- The vice president announces a committee will oversee constitutional reforms
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Galvanized by the emotional words of a freed Google executive, thousands of Egyptians jammed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday, some for the first time, dismissing the embattled regime's pledges of constitutional reforms.
The crowd swelled as the 15th day of protests progressed. A second front sprouted as several hundred protesters filled the city block where Egypt's parliament building stands.
Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who was seized January 28 and released Monday, may be emerging as a face for Egypt's uprising. After a television interview that inspired protesters, Ghonim spoke from a makeshift stage Tuesday in Tahrir Square.
"This country, I have said for a long time, this country is our country, and everyone has a right to this country," he said. "You have a voice in this country. This is not the time for conflicting ideas, or factions, or ideologies. This is the time for us to say one thing only, 'Egypt is above all else.'"
His words prompted the protesters to begin chanting "Egypt above all else."
"I apologize to you, I am so tired," Ghonim said. "Today we are emphasizing our voice." As he walked off the stage, Ghonim told a reporter in English, "We don't care. We are going to do what we've got to do."
Ghonim, a Dubai-based marketing executive, is the administrator of a Facebook page called "We are all Khaled Said," named after an Alexandria activist who was allegedly beaten to death by police. The page is widely credited with calling the first protest January 25.
Another Facebook page created to authorize Ghonim to speak on behalf of the protesters has 150,000 fans.
"I came today for the first time (Tuesday)," said Dalia, a protester in Tahrir Square. She did not give her last name. "Nothing will make this regime go unless we keep on coming and keep on coming."
Earlier, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television that a committee has been authorized to amend Egypt's constitution to allow for free, fair and competitive elections. The amendments, Suleiman said, would be drafted by an independent judicial commission.
He said he had discussed a number of reforms in recent talks with opposition representatives. Among them were greater freedom for the media, the release of detainees and the lifting of the continuous state of emergency.
He also assured Egyptians that they should not fear arrest for speaking their minds.
But with the credibility of the regime in serious question, the statements from President Hosni Mubarak's deputy fell short. Real change, say Mubarak's foes, can only come with Mubarak's immediate departure and an overhaul of the constitution, not amendments here and there.
"That's not good enough," said Mohammed Habib, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a key opposition party in Egypt that is outlawed by the constitution on grounds that it is based on religion.
"The first thing that the regime should do is for the president to leave," he said. "The government is dividing the opposition through these announcements."
Asem Abedine, head of the pan-Arab Nassiri party, said Mubarak is merely angling for time.
"The government is only making these announcements to avoid making real changes demanded by the people," he said. "The emergency laws should be lifted."
Mubarak has ruled Egypt with an iron hand since 1981, aided by an emergency decree that gave him sweeping powers.
--Fouad Ajami, professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Since the protests began January 25, he has appointed a vice president for the first time, reshuffled his Cabinet and announced that he won't seek a new term in September.
However, the constitution remains, reshaped in 2005 and again in 2007 to help retain power for the ruling National Democratic Party.
It has been at the heart of the dialogue between the government and some opposition representatives, who want several articles amended to make way for greater political participation.
The demonstrations, powered by the stamina of those who have put everything at risk for change, got an extra shot of energy Tuesday from Ghonim's emotional interview on Egypt's Dream TV.
He said four people surrounded him at 1 a.m. on January 28.
"I yelled, 'Help me,' but of course I knew these were security forces.
"The thing that tortured me the most when I was in detention was that people would find out that I was the admin (of the Facebook page)," he said. "Because I am not the hero -- I was writing with the keyboard on the internet and my life was not exposed to any danger."
He walked out of the Dream TV interview in tears after being shown photos of those killed in the uprising.
"I want to say to every mother and every father that lost his child, I am sorry, but this is not our fault," he said before leaving. "I swear to God this is not our fault. It is the fault of everyone who was holding onto power greedily and would not let it go."
But while the crowds remained large and boisterous, opposition voices have started to splinter.
Some, including members of the self-declared Council of the Wise, have said they don't agree that Mubarak's immediate departure would be the best thing for Egypt.
Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa, who was among protesters last week, told CNN that Mubarak should be allowed a "dignified exit" in September.
"I believe that the president should stay until the end of his mandate. The consensus is growing on this point because of certain constitutional considerations," Moussa said.
State television in Egypt is suggesting that the United States is helping fund the protests, which -- it says -- have been infiltrated by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others.
The divisions within the opposition raised fears that they could work to the regime's advantage.
"The danger at the moment is that this opposition, which a few days ago seemed to unite, is now being divided," said Cairo-based analyst Issandr El Amrani. "The regime is using its tried and true tactic of divide and conquer."
CNN's Ben Wedeman, Salma Abdelaziz, Amir Ahmed, Frederik Pleitgen, Saad Abedine, Caroline Faraj and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.
>via: