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  • 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.…

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  • 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]

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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:

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  • 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…

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  • Government Compelling Private Universities to “Pledge of Allegiance” to Israel; Universities Disciplined Students for Rallies

    “What we are seeing now is only the latest manifestation of a longstanding campaign to try to redefine the term ‘anti-Semitism’ — to take it away from the dictionary meaning that worked very well for a long time, and to turn it into something else. Under the new definition, anti-Semitism includes criticism of Zionism and…

  • “Terrifying” “Make Everyone A Spy” Amendment Provokes Outrage

    “As we have said for months, the Make Everyone A Spy provision is recklessly broad and a threat to democracy itself. It is simply stunning that the administration and House Intelligence Committee do not have a single answer for how frighteningly broad this provision is. While the Department of Justice wants us to believe that…

  • NSA, Palantir “Feed Israel’s Killing Machine in Gaza”

    “Now, with Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, critical information from NSA continues to be used by Unit 8200, according to a number of sources, to target tens of thousands of Palestinians for death — often with U.S.-supplied 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons. And it is extremely powerful data-mining software, such as that from Palantir, that…

  • “Iran’s Attack and Prospects for Regional War”

    “Yesterday’s attack failed to inflict any serious damage on Israel. This was no accident. Iran expected this result. It warned the U.S. in advance of its plans. Unlike Israel, [the Iranian government] exercised calculated restraint.” The Iranian government told the U.S. government “through back-channels what it intended. It negotiated an understanding with the U.S. about what the…

  • Potential Medicaid Cuts in New York State Budget

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed major Medicaid cuts to this year’s state budget that would impact the state’s Health Homes program.

  • Hamas: A “Golem” that Emerged from Israel’s “Divide and Rule” Strategy

    The first Intifada, which began in 1987, avoided the use of firearms but was ultimately crushed. Hamas was formed shortly thereafter with its initial charter, which had a “scrambled mixture of the Brotherhood’s socially puritanical version of Islam, several concessions to the nationalism espoused by the PLO, and a superficial rehash of Euro-centric antisemitism.” (Hamas…

  • Is Air Force Hunger Striker Forced Back to Base After Confronting Top Brass About Illegal Policies?

    Hebert asked Gen. David W. Allvin on Capitol Hill about the U.S. government’s backing of Israel after Allvin testified before Congress: “I would just like to know why we’re committing a genocide and why we’re breaking U.S. and international law. Why are we allowed to do this?”  Hebert’s hunger strike has been covered by outlets…

  • Challenges to the U.S. and Germany for “Facilitating Genocide”

    The group notes: “A new Gallup poll March 27 shows 74 percent of Democrats disapprove of Israel’s handling of the war on Palestine, and 55 percent of all Americans disapprove. The Biden administration is shifting its public rhetoric against the Gaza genocide, but the Guardian reported on March 29 that the U.S. government is quietly…

  • Monday: Nicaragua v Germany at the World Court on Israel and Genocide Convention

    “Germany has provided political, financial and military support to Israel fully aware at the time of authorization that the military equipments would be used in the commission of great breaches of international law by this State and in disregard of its own obligations. In particular, the military equipment provided by Germany enabling Israel to perpetrate genocidal acts and other atrocities, included supplies to the front line and warehouses, and assurances of future supplies such as ammunition,…

  • What’s Getting Missed in Project 2025?

    Project 2025, a sweeping policy blueprint for the next Republican president, is a 920-page plan written by the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing groups. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism is putting out weekly updates on the plan. 

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