Blog

  • Mubarak, Army, U.S., Israel vs Egyptian People

    [As government forces have attacked peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square, Emad Mekay from Cairo reports] Mubarak is clearly backed by the Americans. He took some moves after speaking with Obama and a visit by a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner. Mubarak, the army, the Americans and the Israelis are clearly on one side.…

    Read more »


  • Unrest Spreads to Sinai

    A Bedouin youth casually spreads out a piece of cloth before a police headquarters in Sheikh Zwayyed town in Sinai, the vast desert area to the east of Cairo across the Suez. “I will leave when Mubarak leaves,” he says. [Full piece from Inter Press Service]

    Read more »


  • Chomsky: Strategic and Economic Objectives, Not Anti-Islamization, Drives U.S. Policy

    [While many are claiming that a central goal of U.S. policy is to minimize influence of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Noam Chomsky contributed this to our blog] It is well-established, including the major scholarly literature, that the U.S. supports democracy if and only if that accords with strategic and economic objectives.  Following…

    Read more »


  • An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

    ————————————————————————————————————————— [To sign; for recent news releases on Egypt from the Institute for Public Accuracy] Dear President Obama: As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping…

    Read more »


  • Report from Cairo

    From Alex Ortiz in Cairo: “The army is beginning to come into Cairo … tens of thousands converged in midan al-gala’ coming from three different protest marches. Total communication blackout. Reports of senior police officers ordering their men to stand down and not beat or fire tear gas at protesters in Midan al-gala an hour…

    Read more »


  • Report on Latest from Cairo

    CAIRO, Egypt [11 p.m. local time] — 1-Some government media figures appear to be joining ranks with the protesters. Mahmoud Saad, a talk show host in the Egyptian state-run TV, has announced that he will no longer appear on TV starting tonight after he came under pressure from top government officials to report “untruths” about…

    Read more »


  • Police in Cairo Beating up Jounalists

    [From 9:28 a.m. ET]: Police started beating up journalists protesting outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo. They beat up women journalists too who were screaming and crying for help. “Do not club women. Do not club women,” some of the men rushed to the police asking them not to target women. “You’ll make things…

    Read more »


  • From Alex Ortiz in Cairo

    [The Egyptian government has apparently block Twitter, Facebook (as of Wed. morn U.S. ET) and other internet tools, though apparently some people are able to get around such restrictions. Email from 8:45 a.m. ET:] Downtown Cairo today remains in a state of high alert. There are many security forces and plainsclothed policemen visible on every…

    Read more »


  • Video from Cairo

    Phone lines are intermittent and Twitter has reportedly been blocked in Egypt. Here is a live video feed: ustream.tv/channel/cairodowntown [update: ustream has been blocked, streaming now intermittently at livestream.com/cairowitness — further update, now at: www.justin.tv/cairowitness] Here is a YouTube video from earlier today:

    Read more »


  • Ukraine’s Assault on a Free Press

    In Ukraine, where media diversity is often defined by which powerful oligarch controls which TV station, one network, TVi — known for its independent investigative style — is under intense legal pressure, with its owner not part of Ukraine’s power circles. TVi faces a court hearing on Tuesday over a legal claim that the station’s…

    Read more »


  • Pakistan’s Imran Khan “Terrorism” Charge Called “Grotesque”

    The New York Times reports that the crackdown against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan “appears to have heightened Mr. Khan’s popularity, analysts say, bolstering his claims that the military establishment conspired to topple his government in April.”

  • As Afghans Face Starvation, Biden Is Withholding $7 Billion of Their Money

    70 economists sent President Biden a letter advocating for the release of 7 billion dollars worth of foreign reserves owned by Afghanistan, as the majority of the population continues to suffer from acute poverty and starvation.

  • CIA Sued over WikiLeaks Spying, Roger Waters to Speak at Rally at DoJ

    Stefana Maurizi said today, “What happened in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London is a complete scandal. It is a very sinister fact that a media organisation was targeted by espionage activities that you would expect in an authoritarian country.”

  • Espionage Act Misreporting and the Prosecution of Assange

    Chip Gibbons, policy director for Defending Rights & Dissent, said: “many media commentators are now misrepresenting what the Espionage Act, a law with a troubled history of abuse, is and what is required for conviction. Some have gone so far as to equate criticisms of the law with disloyalty to the nation. Neither an assertion…

  • Monkeypox Crisis: Activists Tell White House to Take Urgent Steps for Equity

    After activists sent an open letter to the White House national monkeypox response coordinator Robert Fenton and deputy coordinator Demetre Daskalakis earlier this week, a meeting between the letter’s co-authors and the two officials was scheduled for Thursday.

  • Is the FBI Targeting Legitimate First Amendment Activity?

    Patrick Eddington of the Cato Institute says the FBI targeting “marginal groups with little to no impact on the broader political process” could be a warning sign for similar groups with foreign ties despite “First Amendment” activity.

  • The Policing of Roger Waters

    Kevin Gosztola, the managing editor of Shadowproof, recently critiqued CNN’s negative portrayal of Pink Floyd’s Roger Walters for his condemnation of US wars and Biden

  • “Monkeypox”: What’s In a Name?

    As monkeypox is declared a public health emergency worldwide, health justice advocates are urging experts not to exacerbate stigma among those most at risk of the virus. Dr. Stella Safo, an HIV primary care physician and the founder of Just Equity for Health, told the Institute for Public Accuracy that renaming the virus is an…

  • Analysis of White House Decision to Declare Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency

    The White House announcement Thursday declaring the monkeypox outbreak a state of emergency was made by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who has come under fire in recent weeks for what activists see as his “lack of urgency” with regard to the virus.

  • Long Covid: Activists Disappointed in Two New Reports from Biden Administration

    The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services released two new reports about long Covid on Wednesday, sparking a critical response from activist organizations. 

Mastodon