Subjects Archives: Movements

Much like Mubarak, the former democratic reformer turned long-serving US dictator for the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, demonstrates what can happen to even stalwart defenders of capitalism when they are opposed by their citizens en masse.  Like Mubarak, Marcos previously provided a ray of hope for Western elites intent on quelling popular resistance within their own […]

I said several days ago that the die was cast for Mubarak and that not even Obama could save him. The world knows what is taking place in the Middle East. The news is circulating at incredible speed. Politicians barely have time to read the cables coming in by the hour. Everyone is aware of […]

The events of the last weeks are one of those historical moments where the lessons of many decades can be telescoped into a few brief moments and seemingly minor occurrences can take on immense significance.  The entry of millions of Egyptians onto the political stage has graphically illuminated the real processes that underlie the politics […]

Millions of people in Egypt and all over the Middle East erupted in joy as Omar Suleiman announced on Friday that Hosni Mubarak had resigned. The Egyptian military decided to oust a widely-resented dictator as it witnessed the growing threat of a potential revolution being born in Egyptian streets.  Had it been allowed to continue […]

  “The epicenter of the struggle for the public university in Latin America is Puerto Rico.” — José Carlos Luque Brazán, professor and researcher of political science and urban planning at the Autonomous University, Mexico City1 The social conflict taking place at the University of Puerto Rico is polarizing this island to such an extent […]

  Gaza, 11 February 2011 Ramallah, 11 February 2011 The Gaza video was shot by Ken O’Keefe and the Ramallah videos by Nick Marouf.   var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print  

Victory النصر Democracy الديمقراطية Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  | Print

The US has not supported democratization in Egypt, or really anywhere else in the Middle East, because US policymakers would not like the outcome of democratic processes.  Policies made by governments that are freely elected by the people would not reflect, would not support, let alone enforce, the US polices that are unpopular, whether that’s […]

Since yesterday, and actually earlier, middle-class activists have been urging Egyptians to suspend the protests and return to work, in the name of patriotism, singing some of the most ridiculous lullabies about “let’s build new Egypt,” “let’s work harder than even before,” etc.  In case you didn’t know, actually Egyptians are among the hardest working […]

7 February 2011 . . . Today we declare our solidarity.  One of the forms of our solidarity is to defend this revolution, this intifada, this great historic popular movement.  One of the responsibilities of defending this revolution is to reveal its true image as all data indicate. . . .  We contact those on […]

  The Association of Puerto Rican University Professors (APPU) on Wednesday called a 24-hour strike at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), vowing that there will be no classes on Thursday. The decision to strike was made as students held a protest on campus, after a fierce confrontation with riot police in front of the […]

Inspired by the actions of young Egyptian women whose voices are weapons! Laila Shereen Sakr is a media artist known as VJ Um Amel.  Her work critically examines cyber ecologies in a post-9/11 world. var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

  You are watching other people’s revolutions, in Tunisia, Egypt, etc., on TV, thinking, “Wow, that’s wild”; meanwhile, your pocket is being picked and your brain is being taken from you, too. . . . Juan Ramón Mora is a cartoonist in Barcelona.  This cartoon was first published in his blog on 29 January 2011 […]

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  | Print

  Excerpt: In 2010, there were 11 major strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 or more workers and lasting at least one shift, the second lowest annual total since the major work stoppages series began in 1947, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  The series low for major work stoppages beginning in a calendar […]

  Ramy Essam is a singer and composer from Mansoura, Egypt.  For more information about Essam, visit <www.facebook.com/RamyEssamOfficial>.  This song, composed of slogans of the Egyptian Revolution, was performed at Tahrir Square in Egypt on the “Day of Departure” (4 February 2011). | Print  

In a speech attacking ‘multiculturalism’ Prime Minister David Cameron argued for a “muscular liberalism” that would actively confront “extremist” ideologies — principally radical Islamism — that fail to conform to “Western values”.  The problem is not with Islam per se, he argued, but with those “distortion[s]” of Islam that reject “democracy, the rule of law, […]

  Hossam el-Hamalawy is a member of the organization Revolutionary Socialists as well as of the Center for Socialist Studies in Cairo.  A journalist and blogger, he is one of the “cyberguerrilla” youth at the heart of the revolutions underway in the Arab world.  While constantly occupying Tahrir Square, he seeks to regularly disseminate alternative […]

  Saturday, February 5th, 8 pm (Egyptian time) What are some of the hurdles the protest movement is facing?  Are there divisions emerging while trying to find common ground? Yesterday the square was completely packed with more than one million protestors and Alexandria witnessed similar protests as well as the other provinces.  But there are […]

  Moncef Marzouki: We got rid of the dictator, but the dictatorship is still there.  I mean the secret police is still there, the party of the dictatorship is still there. Nazanine Moshiri: . . . Rachid Ghannouchi was also exiled under Ben Ali.  With many members of his Islamic al-Nahda movement imprisoned or tortured, […]