Anderson@Large

Day of Departure

In an interview with ABC News correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Hosni Mubarak said he would like to resign but he cannot. After Mubarak, “there will be chaos.”

As the whole world knows, Egypt already is engulfed in chaos, violence and mayhem.

Since Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour, despots have cried there is no alternative. “Après moi, le déluge.” But much to their dismay, the people are willing to take their chances.

Indeed, the people of Egypt have declared today “Friday of Departure.”

Anti-regime protesters will march on the presidential palace and demand that Mubarak leave now.

The Obama administration reportedly is pushing Mubarak towards the exit. The New York Times reports:

The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately, turning over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.

Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which, Mr. Suleiman, backed by Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Defense Minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform.

[…]

The officials cautioned that the outcome depended on several factors, not least of all the mood of the protesters on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities and the dynamics within the Egyptian government. Some officials said there was not yet any indication that either Mr. Suleiman or the military were willing to abandon Mr. Mubarak.

Hey Hosni, don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

By Any Means Necessary

The popular uprising in Egypt has turned violent. Hosni Mubarak's supporters, some riding camels and horses, ran riot in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

So far, five people have been killed and more than 800 injured. The violence and fires are erupting right outside the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

CNN reported:

A tree outside Cairo's Egyptian Museum appears to be on fire, and Molotov cocktails still occasionally are being thrown between groups of protesters.

People protesting against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier pushed back pro-Mubarak crowds from the street in front of the museum, near Tahrir Square. Though Molotov cocktails still are being thrown, the two sides don't appear to be in physical contact.

Anderson Cooper reported the museum is “Ground Zero” for Mubarak supporters.

While the Egyptian Museum is safe for now, other museums and UNESCO World Heritage Sites may be at risk. The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, called on all parties to “protect Egyptian cultural heritage”:

Egyptian cultural heritage, both its monuments and its artifacts, are part of the ancestral heritage of humanity, handed down to us through the ages. The value of the 120,000 pieces in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is inestimable, not only in scientific or financial terms, but because they represent the Egyptian people’s cultural identity. The proof, hundreds of citizens spontaneously formed a chain around the museum to protect it. I solemnly request that all necessary measures be taken to safeguard Egypt’s treasures, in Cairo, Luxor and in all the other cultural and historical sites around the country.

Egypt's national treasures and heritage sites must be protected BAMN (by any means necessary).

Power to the People of Egypt

In the wake of a popular uprising, strongman Hosni Mubarak announced he will not run for reelection. In a televised speech, Mubarak said:

I say in all honesty and regardless of the current situation that I did not intend to nominate myself for a new presidential term. I have spent enough years of my life in the service of Egypt and its people.

I am now absolutely determined to finish my work for the nation in a way that ensures handing over its safe-keeping and banner ... preserving its legitimacy and respecting the constitution.

Whatever. Just leave.

In December 2008, I attended the first annual summit of the Alliance for Youth Movements. The summit brought together grassroots leaders from around the world, including Egypt. I have no doubt the young Egyptians I met at Columbia University are protesting in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

Whether Mubarak steps down now or stays in office until September, the Egyptian people have demonstrated there's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

'March of Millions' in Cairo

It is Day 7 of the popular uprising in Egypt. As many as 100,000 two million demonstrators have gathered n Tahrir – or Liberation – Square.

CNN reports

Protesters packed Cairo's Tahrir Square at mid-day Tuesday, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as large groups still streamed in for the planned “march of millions.”

[…]

Inside the square, the atmosphere was peaceful.

People brought food and beverages to share. Families stood together, with parents saying they came for their children. One group chanted “Down with Mubarak,” while others listened to patriotic music. A large sign held by multiple people read, “People demand removal of the regime.”

Fifteen years ago, I was among the small number of women who attended the Million Man March in DC.

If I could, I would join the protesters in Liberation Square. But unlike in 1995 when I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, I would be yelling at the top of my lungs. I would tell the last pharaoh, Hosni Mubarak: Let the Egyptian people go.

A Change is Gonna Come to Egypt

I am following the uprising in #Egypt on Twitter and other social networks.

<

When I was a USAID contractor in Cairo, I used to walk across the Qasr al-Nil Bridge to Tahrir -- or Liberation -- Square on my way to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. There was some looting early on; fortunately, the museum is now guarded by the military and concerned civilians.

Hosni Mubarak, the last pharaoh, has enjoyed a 30-year run but the jig is up. The people say they will not move from Liberation Square until Mubarak steps down.

Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei has joined the chorus of voices saying it's time for Mubarak to leave:

Our essential demand is the departure of the regime and the beginning of a new Egypt in which each Egyptian lives in virtue, freedom and dignity. You can call this a revolution, you can call this uprising, you can call it anything.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the rounds of Sunday talk shows. Although Clinton called for an an orderly transition to a democratic government, she stopped short of calling for Mubarak to get to stepping.

Clinton told ABC News' Christiane Amanpour:

And we have been consistent across those three decades in arguing that real stability only comes from the kind of democratic participation that gives people a chance to feel that they are being heard. And by that I mean real democracy, not a democracy for six months or a year and then evolving into essentially a military dictatorship or a so-called democracy that then leads to what we saw in Iran.

[…]

We believe that democracy, human rights, economic reform are in the best interests of the Egyptian people. Any government that does not try to move in that direction cannot meet the legitimate needs of the people. And in the 21st century, it is highly vulnerable to what we have seen in the region and beyond. People are not going to stand by any longer and not be given the opportunity to fulfill their own God-given potential.

Mubarak pulled the kill switch on the Internet. Show your support for the Egyptian people by signing the petition calling on ISPs to break the blackout of 21st century communications tools.

A change is gonna come.

UPDATE: Google has teamed up with Twitter to provide the people of Egypt with a speak2tweet service.

The Revolution Will Be Digitized

A new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists found that today more bloggers are imprisoned than journalists from the mainstream media.

During an interview on Democracy Now!, Antony Loewenstein, author of “The Blogging Revolution,” said:

The bottom line is that many, many people in these countries, of course, can’t rely on state-run media, which is propaganda. Bloggers and blogging is a way of trying to express different views. So in every country I went to, except for Cuba, where the Internet is very underdeveloped, you have situations, people blogging about sex, about drugs, about gender issues, about politics. The majority of people in these countries don’t blog politically. They blog about their personal lives, about their boyfriends, their girlfriends. But there is increasingly, as that report states, many, many regimes who are fearful of the fact that you have independent voices, simply put.

Last week I attended the Alliance for Youth Movements Summit, which brought together independent voices and grassroots leaders from around the world. The program included a panel discussion on how to stay safe in repressive regimes like Egypt and Iran.

The presenters talked about various communications tools they use to stay secure such as using multiple SIM cards. Some also use avatars, which gives new meaning to the adage that on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.

Activists send text messages, and join Facebook and Twitter. They use the microblogging platform to plan demonstrations and tell their story. Bloggers in Mumbai, for instance, provided eyewitness accounts to the terrorist attacks and sent tweets to organize relief efforts.

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, the 2008 Nobel Laureate in Literature, recently observed:

Who knows, if the Internet had existed at the time, perhaps Hitler's criminal plot would not have succeeded - ridicule might have prevented it from ever seeing the light of day.

Back in the day, Gil Scott-Heron told us, “The revolution will not be televised.” In the YouTube era, the revolution will be online, where digital activists are posting the “first rough draft of history.”