Egypt

Egyptian revolution reignites

It is six months since the fall of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, and in that time, although intense struggles have continued throughout the Arab world, especially in Libya and Syria (probably the two most repressive Arab states), as yet no other dictators have fallen. Egypt remains, however, central to the future of these revolutions: it is the most populous Arab country, with the most developed political culture. In the last six months, a whole range of new political parties have come into being; extremely sophisticated political and ideological debates have taken place; and the most important, if...

News from Egypt and Libya

In Egypt, exasperation with the military council which has ruled the country since the revolution pushed out former dictator Hosni Mubarak on 11 February has spilled out onto the streets. People have been camping out in Cairo's Tahrir Square since 8 July, and there have also been big protests in Suez. The military and the government have responded with some concessions: • Fired more than 600 senior police officers; • Postponed the scheduled parliamentary elections from September to November (this has been a demand of the left and liberals, worried that only the Muslim Brotherhood will be able...

Egypt: row over election date

“There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now,” Joshua Stacher of Kent State University told Time magazine. “If [middle-class] people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could[n’t] care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap. [They think] ‘You shouldn’t have a minimum wage right now, you’re being greedy.’” (“Has the Revolution left Egypt’s workers behind?” Time , 23 June). The biggest public debate in Egypt is whether parliamentary elections, scheduled for September, should be postponed. Much liberal and leftist...

"Enough you killers" - Egypt's independent unions confront state labour front

Press release from the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services 11 June 2011 A heated confrontation and an eloquent lesson given to the leaders of "the Egyptian Trade Union Federation" Kamal Abbas interrupts a speech by Ismail Fahmy saying: "Enough, you killers ... enough all these years" June 10, 2011: The participants in the sessions at the International Labour Conference on Thursday, June 9, witnessed a heated confrontation between the two Egyptians sides present - one side being the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), the official government trade union federation closely allied to...

Dreaming of a "left-Islamist party" in Egypt?

When we spoke to Egyptian workers' leader Kamal Abbas during his recent visit to Britain, he was quite clear that the struggle for secularism and against Islamism was an important task for the working-class left in Egypt (see our lengthy interview here ). Unfortunately not everyone on the left in Egypt sees things this way. The French New Anticapitalist Party recently interviewed Tamer Wageeh, a member of the Socialist Renewal current, which has friendly relations with the Counterfire group in the UK. The interview is not yet online, but in a particularly alarming extract in which the comrade...

Egyptian trade unionists tell their movement's story

Between 18 and 21 May, Kamal Abbas and Tamer Fathy of Egypt’s Centre for Trade Union and Workers’ Services visited Britain, on a tour hosted by the FBU, the TUC and the Egypt Workers’ Solidarity (EWS) campaign. Sacha Ismail reports on discussions which he, Paul Hampton and Elaine Jones had with Kamal and Tamer. Kamal Abbas has been active in Egyptian workers’ struggles since the mid-1970s. His thirty three year career as an activist encompasses a vast array of experiences, from producing rank-and-file bulletins to leading a workers’ uprising under a hail of rubber bullets. Kamal spent time in...

Enthusiastic response as Egyptian working-class revolutionary tours Britain

Between 18 and 21 May, Kamal Abbas, an Egyptian trade unionist and socialist activist since the late 70s, and one of the leaders of Egypt's new independent labour movement, toured Britain, hosted by the Egypt Workers Solidarity campaign . Kamal is the general coordinator of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services ; he was accompanied by the CTUWS international coordinator Tamer Fathy. Sacha Ismail reports on discussions which he, Paul Hampton and Elaine Jones had with Kamal and Tamer. Kamal Abbas has been active in Egyptian workers’ struggles since the mid-1970s. His thirty three year...

Egypt's new unions reach out

Egypt New political voices are emerging within the independent trade union movement which has exploded into existence since January. The unions themselves now have 250,000 members and have begun to organise groups of workers previously unorganised even by the old official unions — in fishing, street cleaning and farming. A doctors’ strike in May was successful — with an 80% turnout — despite opposition from the leadership of the Doctors’ Syndicate (the leader of the Syndicate broke the strike). The newly-formed Workers Democratic Party, which aims to be a political voice for the working class...

Your chance to hear leaders of Egypt's new workers' movement speak in Britain

On 19 and 20 May, leaders of Egypt's new, independent trade union movement will be speaking in Britain. The Egyptian Revolution was prepared by groups of workers struggling to build independent trade unions - and since the fall of Mubarak, union organisation, workers' protests and strikes have spread like wildfire. Between 18 and 21 May, Kamal Abbas and Tamer Fathy from Egypt's href="http://www.ctuws.com">Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services and Federation for Independent Unions will be visiting the UK, hosted by Egypt Workers' Solidarity . On 19 May Kamal will be speaking at the Fire...

Twitter: horses for courses

I doubt that the most ardent protagonist of “Twitter revolutions” would disgree with Eric Lee’s statement (“How Twitter is like a horse”, Solidarity 197) that social media such as Twitter and Facebook are tools. That does not get us very far. New tools can create new possibilities and render old tools obsolete. Paul Revere wouldn’t have needed a horse if he’d had a mobile phone. So the point is not to counterpose old tried and tested methods to “Twitter revolutions” (from whichever side of the argument) but rather to examine what social media can and can’t do to build revolutionary and labour...

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