Thousands of people took to the streets in a coordinated protest across Egypt today—against the regime of Mubarak—and now, thousands are spending the night in Tahrir Square.
The government has blocked Twitter and is expected to block Facebook soon, as a friend in Cairo tells me, but there is a Twitter feed—#jan25—for following the revolution in the night.
Tear gas is exploding into the crowds; pictures are on Twitter. There, people are also calling for media outlets to cover the situation to help protect the crowds from even worse attacks by the military government.
Here’s what my friend had to say:
I’m fine, was soo close de the demos, I’m in Cairo
They cut twitter
Ppl are still in Downtown there demonstrating
Media coverage is soo lame
We are confused
But we are ok and safe in our homes
Pray that this won’t end just a demonstration but to end to mubarak departure and real reform…
We think that they will block facebook also on 11pm [Egypt is 10 hours ahead of Seattle], then they will be free to use violence,
Please follow #jan25 on twitter to be updated and plz spread it…
Many ladies protested
I didn’t
Simply coz I never did and I was overwhelmed seeing all this n# of protesters and huge n# of security!!
But my sister and I thinking to bring blankets and food to protesters in Downtown
And we search for the safest way to reach them
UPDATE: The Revolution Will Be Facebooked.
UPDATE: Photo.
UPDATE:
@WorldPeace2Day This video needs to go viral! Egyptian man stands up for armored police car http://youtu.be/YtTUsqra-MU #Egypt #Jan25
burjalsaheb
As Obama preps to give his State of the Union address I am sure he is wishing things were handled differently with his Cairo speech. #jan25
UPDATE: A journalist’s account up to when he was arrested two hours ago.
UPDATE: Al Jazeera English’s account of the protests, focusing on Hillary Clinton’s insistence today that Egypt’s government is “stable.”
UPDATE: What will Obama say about Egypt during tonight’s speech?
UPDATE: My friend’s response to some commenters’ observation that Mubarak’s ouster will lead to a theocracy:
This is the main pbl
He made sure that there are no replacement, no figure no leader
Parties are lame and have no members, no strong agendas
Egyptians are withdrew from the political scene
We see no one else, even there are ppl believe that may be it’s better to keep mubarak (at least we know him and his corruption)
And others believe his son is a good choice (at least he was raised in the presidential home!!! )
Yes we are that desperate!
And don’t know even if this revolution works what can be the results
UPDATE: New York Times gathering of YouTube videos and reports from the protests. No mention of Clinton’s announcement or Mubarak’s departure to London.
UPDATE: Livestream in Cairo. Sound of gunshots, a tweet asks?
UPDATE: Reports that crowd has been dispersed.
by raghdabutros
RT @salmaeldaly: Whole of Tahrir square is one massive cloud now with more than 50 tear gas cannons fired. #Jan25 #Egypt
14 minutes ago
UPDATE: Insanely timely piece in The Atlantic: “After Tunisia: Obama’s Impossible Dilemma in Egypt”
UPDATE: Tear gas blanketing the square. Tear gas canister photo: Made in U.S.A.
UPDATE: Two eyewitness accounts from the day, on the BBC.
Plus:
by phijazin
the relative restraint shown by police earlier in the day is well and truly over. vigorously putting down protests in central cairo. #Jan25
2 minutes ago
Thank you, Mr. Assange. Tunisia (good) > Algeria (good?) > Yemen (scary as fuck) > Egypt (good I think).
im revolting against hunger by eating a giant tuna fish sandwich here in my cozy warm office.
Turkey is trying to stave it off by banning smoking in cafes, but the Muslim tyrannies are all in danger, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
will, do you know EVERYTHING?
@1 I’m sorry, but what does Assange have to do with this?
In a power vaccum, the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be the likely group that will fill in that void.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brot…
Yeah don’t get too excited, look at what became of Iran when that dictator was overthrown.
@6, @7, exactly my points on the other thread. I wouldn’t count Mubarak out just yet. If he controls Egypt’s hugely oversupplied military, these protesters will be quashed like bugs.
Epic riot police fail. And check out the little girl in yellow @ :51-shes adorable!
@5 it was said (but denied by the US forcefully) that the Tunisia uprising came in the wake of Wikileaks cable disclosures. All the rest are pretty much inspired by them standing up to their own dictator, is how I read it (and saw it reported)
Obama, quick, send in the CIA! If Mubarak is ousted the new government may not show proper reverence to the USA!
Whoa, this is the first I’ve heard of this. I have two friends in Alexandria who are teachers there. Hope this doesn’t affect them…
@4 a lot of the pre-Davos coverage is about this, actually.
Everything is interconnected, kind of like how the Tunnel will kill people.
re: theocracy replacing dictatorship, see my latest update. i posed the question to my friend in cairo.
@8
And if the Muslim Brotherhood does take power, Israel isnt going to like this. If the blockade of Gaza is ignored, the IDF might resort to extreme methods to counter the gaping hole on the border.
The majority of citizens in Egypt do not approve of the blockade and should they gather anywhere near the border, they could be targets to the Israel’s fleet of American made F-35s. Israel may decide (during the confusion) to create a new border, but one that will probably cut 2-5 miles into Egypt to create a buffer between Gaza and Egypt.
@8 if everyone took to the streets and didn’t back down, it wouldn’t matter how much military or police there were.
A lot of Egypt’s population is under 18.
Pics of blown up kids don’t play well at Davos.
@16 if Israel did that the war in the 1960s would probably look like a summer lawn party compared to the hell they would be unleashing now.
@17, like Iran, right? Here’s a free clue: the thugs don’t give a shit what pays at Davos. Actually, nobody gives a shit what plays at Davos anymore; it’s a schmoozefest with no substance. Unless you’re keen on meeting Bono.
In other words, Will, you’re watching the wrong channel again.
@14, I picture you waving your hands about in wide circles when you say stuff like “everything is interconnected”. Watch out for your beer there.
@19 no, they targeted that specific airport in Russia specifically because of Davos.
Which you’d know if you watched some non-US news. It’s the one the Russian head was supposed to leave out of on his way there.
@20 see above, dickweed.
@11,
It was said? By whom?
@22 Start here. There are so many news articles that I can’t find it now, but I’m 99% sure it was stated by Al Jazeera first.
@22 this is a decent one — http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/th…
@21, they did not target the Moscow airport because of Davos. You’re an idiot, and whatever “foreign news” you’re watching on your Speak’n’Spell, you’re not hearing it correctly. They might well have been targeting Medvedev, who will be going to Davos, and they’re likely to be talking about security at Davos, partly as a result, but that’s not the same thing. AT ALL.
Just because you heard about Davos for the first time today doesn’t mean that it’s the key that unlocks the universe, fool.
Wave harder, dipnit.
@25 seriously, that’s what the financial reporters in Russia and Germany and the UK were saying. They even documented when certain officials were supposed to be there.
Nice try. The guy reporting on it missed getting blown to pieces by less than 30 minutes.
more coverage on slashdot by the way – but Bloomberg and CNBC overseas and BBC have better pics and interviews
I’m glad I went there in mid 2008. Of course I wouldn’t mind seeing the protests first hand.