Millions of Egyptian working people have just shaken the planet on its axis by defying tyranny & political chicanery & have re-entered the world stage on their own behalf. Their massive intervention into human history & social transformation will inspire suffering humanity all over this globe to stand up & resist oppression. That’s why media headlines in the BBC, LA Times & NY Times are all about the Arizona wildfires.
Estimates of the anti-Morsi protestors across Egypt range from 3 & 4 million to as high as 17 million & 22 to 33 million. There were a half million people in Tahrir Square alone. Whether it was 3 million or 33 million or even only one million they reportedly dwarfed the gatherings of pro-Morsi protestors (exposing supporters of theocracy & neoliberalism as a political minority) & were significantly larger than the 2011 protests that brought down the dictator Mubarak. One source called them the largest protests in the history of the world. Even if that is overstatement in terms of size, it is certainly not so in terms of political importance because the powerful force of rebellion is contagious.
That’s why media reports are using euphemisms for crowd estimates like “huge crowds,” “thousands,” “tens of thousands,” “hundreds of thousands.” As you would expect, many reports focused on the regrettable ransacking of Muslim Brotherhood offices to discredit opposition to Morsi. Such actions are most often led by misguided & fired-up youth egged on by undercover police agents & by no means represent the heart of these protests.
Though the 2012 election of Morsi was charged with fraud & all sorts of legal improprieties, media commentators are yammering legalistically about protestors usurping democratic elections. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports there is rising anger among Egyptians against the US for its collusive role with the Morsi regime--which WSJ sarcastically calls a conspiracy theory. Obama is calling for constructive dialogue to prevent violence from spilling out across the region but since when has he ever shied from mass carnage!? More liberal commentators are uttering such racist banalities as ‘the protests show Egyptians are ready for democracy.’
Neoliberal ideologues & think tanks, including the IMF & US State Department, must be working overtime to find arguments & schemes to counter this massive offensive by Egyptian working people. Stock markets whimper; oligarchs wet their pants like whipped puppies. Walking like an Egyptian does that to power.
The anti-Morsi opposition includes many disparate political forces. While the majority want social transformation, some were accomplices in the Mubarak regime, some support neoliberalism, others just opportunistically oppose the regime. Forging a leadership & creating the political structure & organization that can lead the movement forward to social transformation requires separating the wheat from the chaff & is a process of great conflict. But it includes reaching out to members of the Muslim Brotherhood who are working people & not benefitting an iota from the neoliberal predations of the Morsi regime.
Our fullest solidarity with Egyptian working people! Your victory is our victory!
(Photo of Tahrir Square yesterday by Amr Nabil/AP)
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