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.…

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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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  • Social Security Panel

    Today, President Bush named members of a new White House panel aimed at overhauling Social Security. Among those on the commission are individuals associated with AOL Time Warner, Reliant Equity Investors, Fidelity Investments, the World Bank and the American Enterprise Institute. The following analysts are available for interviews: DIANA ZUCKERMAN President of the National Center…

  • Major Military Issues: Bombing Vieques, National Missile Defense, Terrorism Report

    ROBERTO RABIN Director of Vieques Historic Archives and a spokesperson for the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, Rabin said today: “The people of Vieques, with the wide support of the Puerto Rican community, have mounted an intense campaign to end 60 years of U.S. Navy presence, exercises and destruction of the island…

  • Interviews Available: What Kind of Globalization?

    The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are holding their spring meetings in Washington. The following critics of those institutions are available for interviews: NJOKI NJOROGE NJEHU Director of the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a coalition of over 200 U.S. grassroots groups dedicated to transforming the World Bank and the IMF, Njehu testified before…

  • On Bob Kerrey and Vietnam

    Former Sen. Bob Kerrey’s public statements during the last day — prompted by revelations about to be reported by the New York Times and “60 Minutes II” about a raid he led that killed unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War — have raised important issues. This afternoon, the following statement comes from Brian Willson, a…

  • Peru Plane Downing: Broader Issues

    A front-page article in today’s Washington Post reports that the CIA was late in warning the Peruvian military not to fire on the civilian airplane carrying missionaries. The following analysts are available for interviews on broader U.S. policy questions: CECILIA ZARATE-LAUN Co-founder and director of the Colombia Support Network, Zarate-Laun said today: “The downing of…

  • FTAA: Liberty or Oppression?

    As he left the U.S. for the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit in Quebec today, President Bush said that the goal was to create a “hemisphere of liberty” and fight against “poverty, disease and ignorance.” Interviews are available with the following analysts who have a different assessment of the FTAA: CAROL PHILLIPS Director…

  • Converging on Quebec: ‘Free Trade’ Issues

    Government ministers and heads of state from throughout the hemisphere are gathering in Quebec for the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit. For activist perspectives, see: www.indymedia.org. For in-depth analysis, see: www.zmag.org/a20quebec.htm. The following critics of the proposed FTAA pact are available for interviews: MARIA LUISA MENDONCA Director of the Global Justice Center in…

  • A Week That Will Shake the Hemisphere?

    This Friday (April 20), leaders from 34 countries will gather in Quebec to chart the course of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Protests by a range of human rights, environmental, labor and pro-democracy activists are planned. The following analysts are available for interviews: More Information LORI WALLACH Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade…

  • Police Brutality: Cincinnati Aftermath

    With Cincinnati in crisis amid protests against police shootings, the following analysts are available for interviews: DE LACY DAVIS The founder and president of Black Cops Against Police Brutality and a 15-year veteran of the East Orange, N.J., police department, Davis is a sergeant in the community services unit. He said today: “Often the victims…

  • U.S. Crew Release: Analysts Available

    JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of law at Ohio State University specializing in international law, Quigley said today: “From what we know, China basically complied with international law.” L. LING-CHI WANG Director of Asian American Studies at the University of California at Berkeley and editor of the two-volume anthology The Chinese Diaspora, Wang said: “China could have…

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