Tens of thousands protest in Egypt

By artappraiser on Fri, 11/18/2011 - 8:38am |

Al Jazeera English, Nov. 18, 2011

Tens of thousands of Islamist and secular protesters have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in Alexandria for a mass rally to press the ruling military to hand power to a civilian government.

Friday's demonstration, dubbed as "Friday of One Demand" was called over a document floated by the government which declares the military the guardian of "constitutional legitimacy", suggesting the armed forces could have the final word on major policies.

The Muslim Brotherhood says the document reinforces "dictatorship" and has promised an escalation if it is not shelved. While Friday's protest will draw different political stripes under different banners, the unifying call is for the military to hand power to a civilian government as soon as possible. The powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party led the call for the protest....

Also see:

Egypt and Syria protests - live updates
guardian.co.uk, Nov. 18, 2011

• Tens of thousands of people have returned to Tahrir Square for the "Friday of one demand". Protesters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, but also including secular and liberal groups, are opposed to a draft constitution granting unfettered powers to the military. There has been some criticism by activists, who say the demonstration is being dominated by Islamists. A similar demonstration is taking part in Egypt's second biggest city, Alexandria.

URL:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/11/2011111881959573228.html

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Tahrir: what next?
By Issandr El Amrani, Arabist.net, Nov. 22, 2011

Excerpt:

....I went down to the area where the fighting is taking place today and I have an uncomfortable take on it: it's that the fighting is being sustained by the protestors, not by the police, who right now appear satisfied with holding the line to prevent the protests from reaching the Interior Ministry at Lazoughly Street. They may be violent, but they are not on the offensive, even if many protestors think they are preventing them from returning to the square. They are paying for the excessive force they used over the weekend.

More than that, there is this ambience of martyrdom. Everyone is excited and wants to participate, to get their chance to be a hero. People are angry — and they have a right to be. But right now it's an open-ended process, and the crowds want the satisfaction of achieving what did they in January: to see the man in their sights fall....

by artappraiser on Tue, 11/22/2011 - 8:38pm

Egyptian military using 'more dangerous' teargas on Tahrir Square protesters
By Peter Beaumont and John Domokos, Guardian.co.uk, Nov. 23, 2011

Doctors report seizures and convulsions as witnesses claim different crowd control teargas being used

Egyptian security forces are believed to be using a powerful incapacitating gas against civilian protesters in Tahrir Square following multiple cases of unconsciousness and epileptic-like convulsions among those exposed.

The Guardian has collected video footage as well as witness accounts from doctors and victims who have offered strong evidence that at least two other crowd control gases have been used on demonstrators in addition to CS gas.

Suspicion has fallen on two other agents: CN gas, which was the crowd control gas used by the US before CS was brought into use; and CR gas. [....]

by artappraiser on Wed, 11/23/2011 - 3:37pm

Tens of thousands protest in Egypt

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