Tunisia: First Thoughts + Photos

Ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām

Place du Governement... still a police state.

After the turmoil of Cairo, with ongoing mass protests and the general hubbub of one of the regi on's capitals, Tunis was both a relief and a shock. The more laid-back atmosphere of Tunis reminds me of Australia (I found myself saying "she'll be right" every five minutes) but arriving around a month before the Constituent Assembly elections meant that the interim government was pulling out all the stops in stopping public spaces from being used in unsanctioned ways. I have to admit that I did find myself despairing a little bit to be seeing such a blatant exercise of police state power in the nation where the Arab Spring began - but I quickly realised that Tunisia's revolutionary struggle, like Egypt's, has only just begun.

This is Avenue Habib Bourguiba, where the protests which toppled Zine el Abidine Ben Ali were centred.. in September & October it was under total lockdown, police & military trucks full of reinforcements & barbed wire emplacements at either end. Since Ben Ali's downfall, the Kasbah (a beautiful tiled square across the road from the Place du Government, above) has been the usual place for mass assemblies; every time I went there to lie in the sun and listen to my iPod, there was at least one truck full of police &or soldiers lounging about. Perhaps that's why nobody bothered me! Tunis is definitely nowhere near as overcrowded as Cairo, but it's a bustling cosmopolitan city - a great place to spend my birthday :)

Unemployed secondary teachers staging a sit-in outside of the Ministry of Education - when I spoke to them they had been there daily for over one month, although the police had turfed them from the footpath & fortified it after a few weeks. They represented Tunisia's situation in many ways - feeling like the political process of interim governments and Constituent Assembly had little ability to deliver the reforms they were asking for, which were just jobs. They had all completed their education but had nowhere to work; the interim Prime Minister had told them verbally but refused to give it in writnig that they would get jobs by January (by which time the new government appointed by the Consitutent Assembly will be in power).

Activists from Italy & Tunisia meet at La Goulette port to raise awareness for the Tunisian & Libyan refugees being detained on Lampedusa. Marine Le Pen, who appears to be a far more articulate French version of Pauline Hanson to Sarkozy's John Howard, travelled to the island after the revolutions to tell the Italian navy to "turn the boats around" and "take them back where they came from". Australia is 10 years ahead of the curve when it comes to racist rhetoric, woo! */sarcasm* Pictures is Azyz Amami, one of Tunisia's blogger crew who along with Slim Amamou was arrested and tortured during the uprising against Ben Ali.

Graffiti on Avenue de France - "How much better is Tunisia without Ben Ali Baabar & the 40 thieves"

Some things need no translation... Although for those not familiar with Tunisia, the Trabelsi family were one of those who profited from Ben Ali's rule; they fled the country when the Revolution started. The UJCT (Union of Communist Youth of Tunisia) is the youth wing of the Tunisian Worker's Communist Party (PCOT from the French, or "poct" in common language...). Poct were, along with the Tunisian bloggers, democracy activists & others, one of the forces which were most central to the success of the uprising against Ben Ali - especially due to their somewhat clandestine involvement in the trade unions, whose leaders were collaborators with Ben Ali but which still were relatively safe places for leftists at the branch levels.

Second Interview with Egyptian Socialist Party

In September, I also caught up with Basem Osman & Amr Bahaa in Cairo, two young members of the Egyptian Socialist Party, and discussed their experiences during the uprising against Mubarak and the nature of Egypt's revolution.

Ted: Why did you join the ESP?

Basem: For decades since 1924, all socialist & communist parties worked underground – even during the Nasser years. After the revolution of 25 January, we've had our first chance to work in public since 1924. Now there are four main leftist parties: The Popular Alliance, the Democratic Liberals, the Communist parties & the Socialist Party.

I chose the Socialist Party. Why? One reason is that we don't have factions who fight within the party on who can be the boss of the party. Of course we have different opinions, but we are one group. Another is that the Socialist Party has a lot of known leaders and activists from the Mubarak era, who are known as the activists who stood in front of Mubarak – including some who, in 2003, created the movement Kefaya (Enough!) which opposed the Mubarak regime.

The Socialist Party doesn't talk about revolution – we don't want to make a revolution by force. We are talking about democracy, building trade unions for labourers, for farmers, in industry, for students. Some other parties talk about armed revolution, but it wouldn't work here.

Ted: What was your experience of the January 25 uprising?

Basem: The 27^th and 28^th of January were the two most important days of the revolution, for one reason. On the 27^th, we had an invitation to take our demonstrations from Tahrir Square and downtown to all the neighbourhoods, to involve poorer communities as well as activists. We were around 6000 then, and we called for everyone to participate on the next day. Friday the 28^th of January was the day of anger – so we were calling on people to participate then, to come to the anger day and end the regime, to go out from Friday prayers at the mosques and go to demonstrations.

On Friday, I went to pray at the mosque and afterwards met with my friends from the neighbourhoods; from our street, we were twenty people, but after 15 minutes, there were 4000 people, all ready to do anything to end the dictatorship. We went through the main street to Giza square, where the brotherhood was praying; on that street we were 150,000. Here the police fired tear gas and tried to stop us, but after 1 or 2 hours we overcame them and the police fled.

We walked all the way to Tahrir Square – and for myself I didn't see the police anywhere between Giza Square and the headquarters of the National Democratic Party; we found them and attacked them there. I don't believe in armed revolution, but the NDP headquarters is a huge building, which is very conspicuous; I see it every day when I go to work and so do many people, it's very central, and when we see it we feel so bad – it's a symbol of the regime. So when we saw it on 28 January, everyone just wanted to burn it. At my home I have papers from the building signed by Safwat al Sharif, one of the highest members of the party.

After attacking the NDP headquarters, we continued on our way to Tahrir square and one of my friends was injured. We had to go to another party, one of the oldest leftist parties in Egypt; none of my friends belonged to them, but they had offered food and drink, and they had doctors there. After an hour, someone came and asked for help, as protesters were being shot with real bullets, not just rubber ones but live ammunition. We went back to Tahrir Square, but while we were on our way we came across police again on the street, I was injured, and that was the end of the day for me.

Ted: Commentators in the west have called these the Facebook and Twitter revolutions. Would you say that is true, as an activist from a poorer neighbourhood?

Basem: I've been a political activist for 3 years. We've spent too much time calling for political actions & revolution through Twitter and Facebook – we called people every time, but people never heard us & never came. We would only get 2-300 people attending demonstrations – the usual political activists. I think that the Tunisian Revolution inspired people everywhere, gave people hope, and after that they were ready to demonstrate. Even my family, who normally didn't know anything about politics in Egypt, were asking me, "Are you going to the demonstrations on the 25^th of January? We want to go."

But for myself, before January 25 I didn't think it would work – just like every other time, we would go, maybe 4-500 people, and the police will arrest a lot of us. But on this day, all of us were surprised – I thought I would go to Tahrir Square and just see my friends, but there were 3000 people in the square. It was the first time I'd seen a demonstration of that size! We didn't think it would continue, but at 1am the police attacked the demonstration, injured and arrested many of us, and the rest of us escaped. But when we fled, we didn't all go to our homes – most of us went to the poor neighbourhoods in Cairo like Abdeen, Shubra – very poor neighbourhoods – and when the police attacked again, many of my friends hid in the houses of ordinary people and told them about the demonstrations. I think this was as important as Facebook or Twitter in building the revolution.

Ted: Do you think most young people are supportive of changing society and building a new democratic socialist vision?

Basem: Of course. All of the young people have known no other president than Hosni Mubarak. Everyone in society – Islamists, leftists, those who have never been involved in politics – we can all see the problems in society – huge unemployment, we can't afford to get married, we can't do anything. So everyone can see the need for change, for real democratic change.

Amr: Young people can see other countries, other cultures – especially through the internet, we can see the opportunities that people have, the ways they are treated by their government. So young people ask "why can't we have a better life in our country?"

Ted: With the protests during the uprising against Mubarak's rule and ongoing demonstrations since, are Egypt's youth beginning to build up ideas about how to change society?

Basem: You can see in the regular Friday protests in the square, with thousands or hundreds of thousands of protesters, that a lot of young people are radicalising and building their knowledge about politics. When you're talking to people in the street, they want to know – what does socialism mean, what does communism mean, political islam, liberalism, democracy – they want to know. For the first time in our country's life, people want to know. This doesn't mean that most people support radical ideas yet – many are leaning towards the Muslim Brotherhood – but they want to know about everything.

Amr: The Muslim Brotherhood has been working since 1928, all other parties had no resources to participate and build their ideas amongst the people, which helps to explain why people are looking to the Brothers. However, after January 25, we have cracked that wall between us and the people. But we still have a lot of activity to do in building our party – especially in winning young people to help grow our party.

Interview with the Egyptian Socialist Party

In September, I spoke to Mamdouh Habashi & Dr Muhammad Hesham, members of the Egyptian Socialist Party (ESP), about developments in Egypt since the January 25 uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak.

What effect have the ongoing protests in Tahrir square since Mubarak's downfall on February 11 had?

Mamdouh: Many of the young people, they don't have any experience in political activities. So many of them think that all kinds of political means of generating pressure would match for everything everytime. So they think "with a sit-in strike we could drop Mubarak!" – and therefore a sit-in strike would be the magic means for everything - disregarding the surroundings & conditions! This was the context of the sit-in before Ramadan.

Just to convince young people who are enthusiastic that everytime has its own means, and that you should be flexible enough to think about the boundaries & conditions first, and how to choose your proper means in this time, in this place and for these people – this is not easy!

Even among the young people in our own party; some are convinced that we have to continue with the sit-in, no matter the cost - we should pay with our lives! Others asked, "how could we leave our comrades who are sitting-in?" But in the end, the strike had only some hundreds. To convince the youth that these kinds of means can have the opposite effect of what we are aiming to achieve, and that for every kind of political activity, you need the support of the masses behind you – this is not easy.

When the counter-revolutionary forces have succeeded in making a gap between the revolutionary peak and the masses, we have to confess that & face that – we cannot be misled by our wishful thinking. It's not good for achieving revolutionary advances that you play the hero without looking to the results.

What is the role of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF, in power since Mubarak's ousting)?

Mamdouh: After getting rid of Mubarak, this uprising, this intifada was without a head. So we have to accept this new leadership of the military government – there was no other possibility. The revolutionary forces were not able or capable to form a leadership, so we had to accept the army regime – although we know that the army leadership is a major part of the old regime. We have no illusions about that.

Thanks to America's $1.3 billion annual aid to the military, we have quite a big part of the economy now ruled by the army leadership – so their task now is not defending the country but working in the construction industry, in agriculture, in the tourism industry; they are involved in every sector. So they have become a part of the ruling class. Now, they make policy with the goal of keeping as much as possible of the old structures.

But masses must learn this by their own experience, and not in the abstract. And positive perceptions of the military have begun to shift a little bit, because of the attitudes of the SCAF in many situations since February 11. The demands of the revolution have been formulated very clearly, but the military council just plays with them – everything that has been achieved since then was only achieved under pressure.

Muhammad: The general feeling amongst the people is that the SCAF is failing all their dreams, all their demands and ambitions. The SCAF has given promises to improve situations, to be better than the previous regime – but sofar the people have yet to see any kind of radical change. You have to press the SCAF all the time [to win any demands] – they don't want to recognise that the country has changed, that people will no longer accept what was accepted just one year ago.

What do you think of the recent incident in the Sinai in which Israel killed 6 soldiers, and the the storming of the Israeli Embassy on September 9?

Mamdouh: I am not very comfortable with that – with the killing of Egyptian soldiers, but also with the storming of the embassy. I think the only outcome of that would be empowering the SCAF to raise the margin of oppression, to justify its position against democracy. The achievement for the revolutionary camp is zero. What do we have when we enter the embassy? It's nothing, like burning the flag – not more than a symbol. Fighting the symbol cannot replace the real battle. I think many of the collaborators of the old regime have misused the hatred of the people!

Muhammad: The ESP is not in favour of any violent action. But at the same time, if people cannot see some sort of change, you cannot blame them for their reactions. It's not about a conflict of religion between Muslims & Jews but about Israel as a state based on discrimination; some Islamists think in terms of a religious war, but people in general do not. They witness the oppression that is happening in Palestine without any good reason. And when the incident in the Sinai occured, the people expected the government to take action – to condemn Israel, to withdraw the Egyptian ambassador, to complain to the UN, anything – but the government did nothing. So people's anger is quite justified.

How has the ESP attempted to take on a leading role in the revolutionary process?

Mamdouh: Since January 25 have issued a number of declarations on every situation – even with the storming of the embassy. But we have set ourselves a special target now. We consider this uprising of January 25 not the revolution, but just the start of a new, long revolutionary tide. We see Egyptian history as long waves of tide and ebb; the last tide was started with the revolution of 1919, after world war one, and the Nasser era was just the end of this wave – ended by the 1967 war. Then started an ebb in revolution, which ended on January 25. Now we have a new wave which could take many years or decades.

Therefore we don't look to the next elections as the end of the revolution, as the SCAF and many other political forces try to convince the people – to give the elections legitimacy. But the government created by the next elections will not have the only legitimacy, and not even the best. Our task is to create a new legitimacy, a parallel and revolutionary legitimacy

The new parliament will be comprised of those who have money – for sure, that is not the left, and especially not the left forces which have formed after the uprising! They are the Mubarakists without Mubarak, who are still in power and adapting themselves to the new situation; they are the liberal conservatives, the Egyptian bourgeoisie, with or against the Mubarakists, and they are the Islamists, with all of their shadow parties.

They all have something in common – they are not with the revolution, they do not want a radical change in policy. They reduce the demands of the revolution to this ridiculous word, "corruption", pretending that, if we eliminate corruption everythign will be just fine. This is a deception, because corruption is an element in capitalism, which cannot function without it. The main issue is not corruption but the policies which have led to it, and have led to the crisis that we are living in.

It would be great if the revolutionary youth of Tahrir understood this to be the case, but they do not. This is the process which we are going through.

Mudhammad: We have started working on building the party immediately after the revolution; now we have more than 1000 members. We expect this number to increase in the coming months; we are organising activities – conferences, seminars, etc – in different governorates, and we have branches now in places like Mansoura, Aswan, Luxor and Alexandria. The main task now is to build the party. This is the priority for us. Our aim is to grow to at least 3000 members by the end of the year.

Who supports these counter-revolutionary forces?

Mamdouh: The counter-revolutionary forces are quite organised and quite powerful, with very strong financial backing. They are supported by three main powers abroad – the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US wants to keep Egypt inside the imperialist enclosure of the neoliberal policies and the dependancy on the global north, as it was; Israel & Saudi Arabia are just the hands of the US in the region – although they have their own agendas also, as, if Egypt stands up, they will not have any room to move.

For some years now there has been a lot of independant union activity outside of the formal state-controlled unions. How has the ESP related to this?

Muhammad: We have members involved in union activity in Mahalla, in Cairo and other places – there are different left groups working to organise independant trade unions, and now more than 150 have been established. A considerable number of our new members not previously involved in politics are working in independant unions. But still we have a lot of work to do – many factories still have no unions, in many places workers are still deprived of this right. The ESP & other parties are working hard on this.

We do face lots of legal problems, and lots of practical problems; some have to do with the attitude of the authorities to these independant organisations, and others to do with the position of the Muslim Brotherhood, who seek to divert these unions from their main objectives and end strikes. We have been struggling to have a new law issued recognising the freedom of unions – and of society in general.

Some of the new independant unions unions have got formal registration and are working legally, but others are working in a de facto manner and haven't yet gained legal status. This is another problem, because the situation of these unions is fragile – we can face sanctions or legal problems for working in these unions, and we can also face harassment.

What other issues has the ESP been campaigning around?

Muhammad: One of the main areas of interest to the party is campaigning for economic rights, especially for people in informal settlements. Cairo is surrounded at least 26 regions of these which are defined by the authorities as very dangerous areas to live; one of them comprises more than one million people, and this problem affects between 12 and 15 million people across Egypt. So it's very serious. In 2008 there was a landslide in the settlement of Al-Duwayqa, which left more than 100 people dead, in addition to hundreds injured and thousands made homeless. Many of these people are still homeless today, they have not been offered any housing or any sort of compensation.

A group of young people are working in this area, raising awareness among inhabitants of their rights – rights to housing, to health and other human rights. The main success in this area is to have contacts with the people of these places, to make it known that we are defending their rights to a better life and we are with them. We are also encouraging these people to form their own organisations to defend their rights; there were a series of demonstrations and the strikes by the people of these settlements in August, in which the ESP also participated.

We are also working on the question of women's rights: the ESP is in favour of complete equality between men and women in all areas of life; we cannot think of a socialist society without the elimination of all forms of discrimination. The Muslim Brotherhood & other islamists say they support women's rights, but they have their own understanding of what that means – they are against women owning posessions, for example, and think of women as inferior and subordinate to men. The Law of Nationality and the Law of Personal Issues (sometimes referred to as Family Law) both discriminate against women, and we want to see radical changes to these – but again, the Muslim Brotherhood are against any kind of change to these. One of the good sides of the revolution has been the important and active participation of women – young people, housewives, all different ages and backgrounds - and this was one of the decisive factors in Tahrir square.

One of the contributions of the ESP has been its position on environmental issues; we have a special section of our platform dedicated to this serious problem. This is a global issue that requires co-ordinated action to stop dangers to the environment, but we also face specific problems here in Egypt. In a city like Cairo, it's not confined to air pollution, but one that impacts on every citizen's wellbeing – through issues such as garbage collection, access to clean water, etc. Such problems are felt most in the informal settlements. The ESP also includes members working on specific issues such as clean, safe energy.

Right now students and staff are on strike at the American University of Cairo – what can you tell me about political activism on campuses in Egypt?

Muhamamd: Since 2005, there is a very strong movement growing for independannce from both governments and the security forces. Since January 25, three or four main groups have been co-operating in different universities. Last Sunday the 11th, there was a protest called by these groups - 5000 staff marched to cabinet headquarters and met with the Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, and the SCAF, to raise our demands – to get rid of all leaders appointed under Mubarak – all directors, all deans, etc, as well as to improve the situations of academics and of general staff. But their position is to refuse to make any radical change – in the universities or in any other field.

The rule now is that SCAF do not respond unless they are under pressure – this is the case in all sectors of society that want to remove leaders which are part of the old regime – so we are set to have a general strike in all universities on October 1^st, the start of the academic year. At the same time there is also a call for a general strike in schools; such activities will affect almost every Egyptian family, as each family has a student, or a teacher – so this is affecting 40 million, or something like that. And we expect other sectors of society to join too; there have been recent strikes by doctors in some hospitals, for example, and they are prepared for more activities to take place in the near future.

The SCAF is unwilling to make any reforms or solve any problems – but these are real problems, not just about salaries but demands for structural reforms. The SCAF wants to limit these reforms to the minimum, which, in return, leads to much anger. So we expect more confrontations in the future, and I think these upcoming activities will be decisive in this; they are well organise, affect large groups of people, and they threaten to stop all functioning of society.

The ESP and other left forces recently formed a socialist front, the Coalition of Socialist Forces – is this just for the elections, or for broader joint work?

Mamdouh: Election coalitions are, by definition, opportunistic – we must differentiate these, then, from social fronts. These are long-acting, deeper in the society and have very clear demands & legitimacy. The elections are a battle, but not even the most decisive one. Even the next parliament, the next government – they will not be able to solve any of the country's problems.

There are some theoretical differences between the left forces, but these are not the main issue. You cannot expect after 60 years of dictatorship, that the left will just at once unite! But unification will also be a process which comes from working together. The ideological differences do show up in the means of approaching political questions – for example, in how to face the elections.

Just as creating the leadership of the revolution will be a process, so too shall there be a process of creating the parallel legitimacy besides that of the parliament, and it will take years.

Muhammad: When it comes to real battles, such as the parliament elections, or opposing the islamists, we have tried to find common grounds for work. We have issued many joint statements on certain events with other leftist groups, in Alexandria especially. And we are now looking to joint work around the issue of the reimposing of the emergency law, which was lifted for a very short time, but for more than 60 years has been in effect, and now the military council is seeking to impose it more broadly. There is another law, too, which was introduced in the months after February 11 – the anti-demonstration & anti-strikes law, which we are struggling to change.

Any single force cannot face all these challenges alone.

On the other hand we have also helped each other through joint work – for instance we have a problem in finding offices; all of the leftists groups are very poor, and struggle with resources, so we solve this problem by finding offices for several groups – which is happening in Alexandria, in Mansoura and many other places.

It is the dream to find one unified party, but sometimes quick unity can be more dangerous than working seperately if there is no base for it to continue sustainably.

Egypt: Fresh protests to demand real change

Tens of thousands of Egyptians reclaimed Tahrir square from police on September 9, demanding an end to military trials of civilians and for judicial freedom.

Security forces withdrew from the square on the day before. It had been under guard since a sit-in was broken up on August 1.

Groups of youth immediately started organising the September 9 rally. They marched through the streets of downtown Cairo demanding an end to the rule of the military council and calling for Cairo's residents to join the protest.

Hundreds of youth were still in the square in the early morning of September 9, debating Egyptian politics. Marches from across Cairo began flooding into Tahrir Square hours before the publicised start time.

As Friday prayers came to an end, thousands more filled the square, including fans of the Ahly and Zamalek football clubs.

The two groups of supporters, ordinarily rivals, led many of the protest's chants together.

About 100 members of the Independent Farmers’ Union also took part. They demanded an end to corruption within the Ministry of Agriculture, the secretary general of the union’s Giza branch, Misbah Asaker, was reported as saying by Al Masry Al Youm.

At about 4pm, protesters began marching out of the square to other sites in the thousands.

Groups marched on the interior ministry and the Supreme Court. They demanded an end to police repression and that those guilty of killing protesters be brought to justice.

Thousands of protesters also marched on the Israeli embassy, using ropes and hammers to tear down a concrete wall assembled the week before to prevent demonstrations.

During the night, protesters broke into the embassy and threw documents into the street, triggering clashes with the notorious Central Security Forces riot police that left three people dead.

The Israeli ambassador and embassy staff had fled Egypt by early morning.

The protests have been named the demonstrations, "Friday of correcting the course of the revolution". Most of the demands centred around fulfilling key goals of the January uprising which overthrew Hosni Mubarak, including democratic and economic freedoms.

However, the Israeli attack on Sinai in August that killed five Egyptian soldiers, as well as Israel's ongoing bombardment and repression of Gaza, has brought Egypt's role in the broader middle-east to the forefront.

The gap between the Egyptian government's attitude towards Israel — one of maintaining the allegiance held by Mubarak's regime — and that of the Egyptian people, was clearly expressed by the government's refusal to expel Israel's ambassador in response to the Sinai bombings.

Now, however, the Egyptian people have taken their relationship with Israel into their own hands.

The Cairo protests were just one aspect of the ongoing revolutionary struggle in Egypt. Another coming to a head in recent weeks is radical trade union organisation, independent of the bureaucratic structures formerly controlled by Mubarak's regime.

Textile workers in one factory of the industrial city of Mahalla — an epicentre of workers' struggle in the last four years — called off a strike planned for September 10 after the government agreed to their demands. They won increased pay and organising new elections for factory management, Daily News Egypt said.

However, workers in three other factories in Mahalla, and others around the country, have threatened to join the strike until they win the same demands.

Medical workers also staged protests on September 10. Teachers, for their part, assembled in downtown Cairo to call for an open ended strike, which threatens to disrupt the new school year on September 17.

Teacher Khaled Assawy told Ahram Online: "We are not afraid of the threats that we have been hearing from the government this whole week. We know what we want and we will fight for it."

The teachers’ demands include salary raises and improvements in benefits, decent training and permanent employment for thousands of teachers on short-term contracts. They also call for the resignation of education minister Ahmed Moussa.

From GLW issue 895

View original post here: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48818

Sitting in Pizza Hut, Tahrir Square, watching Mubarak's trial...

I arrive in Cairo just in time for the #Sept9 protests in Tahrir, which brought tens of thousands to the street and ended the night with major protests at the Ministry of the Interior (where the gold eagle was liberated from the gate) and the storming of the Israeli Embassy. Three protesters were killed in the police crackdown that followed. Certainly off the deep end!

Pictured here is a smaller march which set off from the square around 10:30am, calling workers & residents of the downtown area to come down & join in the protests. After some of the groups of young men guarding the various entrances (with limited success at that early hour, the odd car still broke through the crowds), I thought it might be best if I tagged along. A student told me to put my camera away until the march passed me by; my obviously touristy clothes & lack of journalist ID or local contacts made me inclined to agree. He then invited me to take shai with him, and as we sat & drank he invited me to a wedding that night or to visit his farm on the outskirts of Cairo. I declined, somewhat regretfully.

The view from my balcony the following day, September 10, is striking teachers march through downtown Cairo. Factory workers on strike, postal workers on strike, medical technicians on strike... Proverbially speaking, definitely not in Kansas anymore :)

Maiden Post

So this is me then.

By way of an introduction: I'm an Australian revolutionary activist with a particular interest in imperialism, neoliberalism & environmental issues. For the last month I've been travelling the Middle East, and I've had the privilege of meeting with some of the individuals who are part of the revolutionary movements in Egypt & Tunisia.

I've had several articles published sofar in Australia's leading independant grassroots newspaper, Green Left Weekly, and as I (hopefully) get published more broadly I'll be linking articles here.

Right now I'm in Palestine, but I'll be uploading what I've had published & my reflections starting with my arrival in Egypt on the 7th of September.

I hope you find this useful!