[R-G] Egyptian Security Forces Prevent Strike

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Any protest from the trade unions of the empire in solidarity with
Egyptian workers against the Mubarak government?  Nada.

<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/06/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Strike-Canceled.php>
Egyptian security forces prevent strike

The Associated Press
Sunday, April 6, 2008

MAHALLA AL-KOBRA, Egypt: Egyptian security forces prevented workers
from carrying out a planned strike Sunday at Egypt's largest
state-owned textile factory following government warnings against the
protest.

But many citizens in the Egyptian capital Cairo responded to
activists' calls for nationwide action by skipping work or school to
protest deteriorating economic conditions.

The factory strike over low wages and rising prices was scheduled to
begin at 7:30 a.m. when the workers changed shifts, but hundreds of
security forces arrived hours earlier and took control of the Mahalla
al-Kobra textile plant, said Mustafa Foda, a 25-year veteran of the
company.

"From 3 a.m. they took control of the inside of the company with
plainclothes security," said Foda. "Anyone who tried to talk was
taken."

The 55-year-old worker said that security prevented him and many
others from entering the factory and arrested some 150 workers ahead
of the shift change.

A second worker, Mohammed Attar, who was against the strike, said the
protest had been canceled, but did not provide a reason as he went
about his daily work inside the factory.

Saad al-Fiqi, the head of the factory's government-controlled trade
union, had promised to work with management to prevent the strike.

"We will stand against any attempt to disrupt the work today, tomorrow
and in the future," al-Fiqi was quoted as saying Sunday in the
state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

The factory 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cairo was at least
partly operational Sunday, but stores nearby were closed and had notes
of worker solidarity in their windows.

Democracy activists have been using the planned strike as a rallying
call for workers throughout Egypt to protest deteriorating economic
conditions. Nearly 40 percent of Egyptians live near or below the
poverty line of US$2 (€1.30) a day.

Traffic was significantly lighter than usual in Cairo on Sunday and
schools were almost completely empty, indicating many of the city's
millions of residents were heeding the activists' call.

Egyptians are often characterized as being politically apathetic, and
many Cairo residents seemed surprised by the enthusiastic response.

"I did not expect people to respond to strike call, though my four
sons who are also taxi drivers have stayed at home," said a Cairo taxi
driver, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government
attention.

Except for a heavy security presence, Cairo University was almost
empty as most students stayed away from morning classes.

"I have not seen such calm around the university for a long time,"
said Gamal, a vendor near the university who would only give his first
name also for fear of government attention.

One of Cairo's largest middle schools, Al-Sadyeen, was also nearly
empty, and several of the teachers were seen sitting in the
school-yard.

"It seems that there is no work today," said Ibrahim Mustafa, the
owner of a food shop near another middle school, Omar Bin Ass, that
was also almost empty.

But he expressed doubt that the protest would force government action,
saying "whatever they do, nothing will change in this country."

Some 500 people protested outside the Lawyer's Syndicate in downtown
Cairo, waving banners and chanting slogans demanding economic reform.
The protesters congregated despite a warning by Egypt's Interior
Ministry on Saturday against civil disturbances.

"The strike is legitimate against poverty and starvation," chanted the
protesters, who were surrounded by hundreds of state security
personnel.

"We want a political regime that can feel our problems," they shouted.

Also in downtown Cairo, authorities arrested 10 people who were
handing out flyers calling people to strike, said a police officer,
speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
talk to the media.

The strike calls were the first major attempt by opposition groups to
turn the past year's labor unrest and rising anger over the economy
into a wider political protest against the government, only two days
before key elections for local councils on Tuesday.

The government had announced a ban on political rallies inside
mosques, hoping to blunt the protests. Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak also lifted import duties on some foodstuffs in an effort to
soften economic complaints brought on by a near doubling of prices of
food stuffs due to international and local influences.

"The regime is terrified and Sunday's strike is a test for the
upcoming popular uprising," said a headline in the Sunday edition of
the Sout Elomma opposition newspaper.

In recent days, anti-government groups have been sending mobile phone
messages and e-mails to people around the country to hold protests,
stay home from work, avoid shopping, wear black clothes and hang the
Egyptian flag from windows and balconies in a show of support for the
strikers.

The country's most powerful opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood,
has said it supports workers' right to strike but did not play a role
in organizing Sunday's protests.

Strikes and demonstrations are illegal in Egypt under the country's
emergency law, and protesters are often silenced by Egyptian security
forces.

___

Associated Press writer Maggie Michael contributed to this report from Cairo.

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8hAtGJS3jmBGqYfPIHqK_Vj2WYw>
Bloggers, politicians arrested over Egypt general strike

18 minutes ago

CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian authorities on Sunday arrested 40 people,
including politicians and bloggers, for inciting unrest by calling for
a nationwide general strike, a security official told AFP.

"Forty people have been arrested around the country, including in
Cairo and Alexandria, for inciting unrest," the official said, adding
that workers had failed to heed the call to strike.

Among those detained are opposition leaders including Islamist
journalist Mohammed Abdel Qudoos, and Magdi Hussein who heads the
Labour party, which has been suspended since 2000 after its mouthpiece
published articles critical of the government.

Bloggers and members of other opposition parties, including the
Nasserist and liberal Ghad parties, as well as from the protest
movement Kefaya, have also been detained.

Despite official claims that the strike action had failed, traffic
around the country was unusually light for a Sunday, the first day of
the Egyptian work week, AFP reporters said.

Some classes at the American University in Cairo have been cancelled
and attendance is low at schools and universities, a security source
said.

It is unclear who initiated the call, which snowballed after some
25,000 employees at the textile plant in Mahalla announced plans to
strike from Sunday over low salaries and price hikes.

On Saturday, the interior ministry threatened "immediate and firm
measures against any attempt to demonstrate, disrupt road traffic or
the running of public establishments and against all attempts to
incite such acts".

<http://arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=1015>
Arrests Begin in Advance of Strike in Egypt
April 06, 2008 09:28 AM

Arrests Begin in Advance of Strike in Egypt
By Courtney C. Radsch

CAIRO, EGYPT - April 6, 2008 (Arabisto.com): Egyptian police arrested
four activists who were distributing fliers about tomorrow's General
Strike. Malek-X, one of the more infamous bloggers in Egypt, and three
Islamic Labor Party activists were arrested
and taken to the Masr Al Qadima (Old Cairo) police station. Yet
already the cyber-activists have mobilized. Malek updated his blog,
Alaa has posted a message on Twitter and messages are starting to
spread through the blogosphere as announcements of the arrests are
being sent via SMS. Did you know it is illegal to distribute fliers in
Egypt?!

While there seems to be some confusion regarding what the purpose of
the strike. It began as a workers strike, was picked up by activists
who spread it online, and it seems to have morphed into a general
strike in terms of people staying home from work but not necessarily a
call for other professions to strike in solidarity. Rather, as the
Arabic Network for Human Rights puts it,  the April 6th strike is a
peaceful one aimed at protesting oppression and corruption, which are
of course all wrapped up with the economic problems and inflation that
provided the initial impetus for the strike. I, for one, plan on going
to Mahalla where a 20,000 person strike by the factory workers is
expected. Others are planning on going to Giza, where a demonstration
is planned. Tharir Square, the main thoroughfare in downtown Cairo, is
a bit more of a contentious issue since some activists feel it is not
worth demonstrating there since arrests are certain while others
figure that is the natural and historic place to demonstrate. We'll
see tomorrow.

This strike is an important example of cyber-activism but also
highlights the important synergies between new (FaceBook, blogs, SMS)
and old (fliers, newspapers) media. Only about 12-15% of the Egyptian
population is online, and trust me, those online are not all reading
blogs. There are far more Egyptians on FaceBook than blogs. And the
importance of good old paper and glue to communicate with the random
person on the street does not diminish in the digital age, but perhaps
becomes even more important as a method that helps bridge the "digital
divide" by at least making information and inspiration accessible to
all.

UPDATE: Police have started detaining people on the roads to Mahalla.
Newbies and those not known as activists to the police are urged to go
to Giza (by the bakery) or Tharir. Apparently some, like Kifaya, fear
there could be a lack of media coverage in the capital if everyone
goes to Mahalla. Which doesn't really make sense since everyone has
been told to stay home. Of course staying home doesn't make very good
TV footage! As one blogger explained it to me, people are scared of
going on the streets and being arrested. Remember, Egypt is ruled by
Emergency Law. So asking people to stay home as a form of protest is a
way to involved them in a political statement without risking arrest
or beatings. But as every modern-day political movement knows, things
are much harder without the support of Western media and public
opinion - think of Tibet without pictures. Some even argue that such
movements do not exist and cannot be effective without the support of
the media. So it seems Kifaya is of this mindset - the movement's
leaders have called for a demonstration in Tharir Square and are
hoping that not everyone goes to Mahalla or it will make for very bad
pictures and very good propaganda for the government.

<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/04/egypt-a-call-fo.html>
EGYPT: A call for a national strike

It's been the same question murmured throughout Egypt: "Is it true
everybody will go on strike on April 6?" Opposition groups have called
for a national sit-down on Sunday in a bold protest against President
Hosni Mubarak's regime.

"We ask you to heed this call in order to warn the unjust that we
cannot bear this humiliation anymore and that we raise the flag of
peaceful resistance until we retrieve our legitimate right to have a
dignified life and to get a minimum wage or pension that can help us
face the monster of inflation," reads one missive circulating through
Egyptian cyberspace.

Similar declarations have been carried by opposition newspapers and
spread through mobile phone text messaging. Bread lines and growing
inflation –- prices have doubled and tripled in recent months -- have
dealt a deep blow to Mubarak's government. The generally passive
Egyptian population, which is accustomed to economic hardship and
suppression of opposition voices, is growing more vocal.

"Nothing will change in this country if we keep playing the role of
onlookers. Nothing will change if only one, 10, a thousand or even a
million people protest and say no to injustice. Nothing will change
unless the 70 million Egyptians oppose the corrupt and unjust
government," reads an Internet message sent by opposition groups.

The planned strike of professionals, laborers and students comes two
days ahead of the local elections on April 8, which are expected to be
easily won by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party. The regime
prevented hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the nation's
largest and strongest opposition group, from fielding candidates.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Egyptian laborers walk toward a waiting truck, unseen, on their
way out of the Amal Misr Brick Factory's facility at the end of their
working week in a Cairo suburb. Credit: Jason Larkin / Associated
Press

-- 
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>