Protesters in Egypt have torched a government building in port city of Suez, witnesses say, as protests continue against the government of President Hosni Mubarak.
Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the building on Wednesday, setting parts of it on fire and also lobbed firebombs at the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party, AFP reported.
Thousands of Egyptians poured to streets across the country to continue the unprecedented demonstrations, defying a government ban announced earlier by the Interior Ministry.
The following statement is posted for the information of our readers. It is not posted as an endorsement of any particular program wthin the Tunisian movement, which still deserves much more study.
As an affirmation to our involvement in the revolution of our people who are struggling for their right to dignity and freedom, whom their sacrifices resulted in dozens of martyrs and thousands of injured and detainees, and in order to complete the victory against the internal and external enemies, and in response to the ongoing attempts for plundering the people’s sacrifices, 14th January Front is formed as a political frame working on advancing our people’s revolution towards achieving its goals and to confront the anti-revolution forces. It includes the founding forces of political parties and progressive and democratic organizations.
The Front’s urgent tasks are:
Bringing down Ghannouchi current government or any government that includes symbols of the former regime.
Dissolving the RCD, the confiscation of its headquarters and property and Bank accounts as they belong to the people, and dismissing its members.
Formation of temporary force that enjoys the confidence of the people and the progressive forces of the civil society political, associations, unions and youth organizations.
The dissolving of the House of Representatives and the advisers council and all current false bodies, and the Higher Council of the Judiciary, and the dismantling of the political structure of the former regime, and to prepare for elections of a constituent assembly within a period that does not exceed one year, for the formulation of a new democratic constitution and a new legal system that will govern public life ensuring political and economic and cultural rights of people .
Dissolution of the political security and enact new security policy based at respect for human rights and the law.
Trial of all those who has been proven to loot the people's money and/or commit crimes such as repression, imprisonment, torture and killings, whether by decision making, ordering or/and execution. Trial also of all of those proven to have taken bribes and misconduct of public property.
Confiscating the property of the former ruling family and those close to them and their associates and all officials who took advantage of their position to gain wealth at the expense of the people.
Providing jobs to the unemployed and taking urgent measures for their benefit such as issuing unemployment benefit system and social and medical security and improving the purchasing power of the daily-wage workers.
Building a national economy which services the people by putting the vital and strategic sectors under state control and nationalising the companies that were privatised and drafting an economic and social policy that breaks-up with liberal capitalist approach.
Guaranteeing public and individual liberties and primarily the freedom of demonstration and organisation, the freedom of expression and the press and the freedom of belief and the release of all those under arrest and declaring a general amnesty.
The Front salutes the support of the masses and the progressive forces in the Arab world and the world for the revolution in Tunisia and calls upon them to continue their support with whatever means possible.
Opposing normalisation with the Zionist state and criminalising it and supporting all the national liberation movements in the Arab world and worldwide.
The Front calls upon the masses and the progressive and democratic forces to continue their mobilisation and their struggle using all legitimate forms especially street protest until their objectives are achieved.
The Front salutes all the committees, the organisations and the forms of self-organisation of the masses and calls for the broadening of their actions in public life and the running of all aspects of the daily life.
Glory to all the martyrs of the uprising and victory the masses in revolt.
Hot on the heels of similarly politically-motivated attacks against websites belonging to the governments of Tunisia and Zimbabwe, hackers are bombarding official websites in Egypt with a DDoS attack.
The hackers' current target is believed to be the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, although at the time of writing it was still accessible.
A press release shared via Facebook by the loosely-knit "Anonymous" group uses stark language to make their demands of the Egyption government:
"Anonymous wants you to offer free access to uncensored media in your entire country. When you ignore this message, not only will we attack your government websites, Anonymous will also make sure that the international media sees the horrid reality you impose upon your people."
The internet attacks are against a backdrop of anti-government protests in Egypt, with police using tear gas and rubber bullets to break up demonstrations.
"Anonymous" has used the internet to rally volunteers to participate in the attacks - dubbed "Operation Egypt" - seemingly in response to the country's attempts to crack down on public protests and block access to websites such as Twitter.
Yesterday Twitter confirmed that their site was being blocked by the Egyption authorities and commented that they believed that "the open exchange of info & views benefits societies & helps govts better connect with their people".
Of course, blocking Twitter and other internet resources can be an effective way of making communications between protestors much more difficult - but it does often raise the ire of politically-minded internet users in other countries.
Of course, use of tools like Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) may make it easy to use your PC for a denial-of-service attack, but can also do a poor job at hiding your participation rom the authorities.
Anyone considering signing-up to join in the DDoS attacks would be wise to remember that they could be breaking the law.
Democracy and Class Struggle welcomes the Rising Arab Revolution which wants democracy for the masses and not just for the Neo-Liberal elites.
The current upsurge in the Arab World reminds me of comrade George Habash - Al Hakim and his vision of the unfolding Arab Revolution against the comprador elites which will free all Arabs including the Palestinians.
Today Ireland is the first European Country to upgrade the Palestinian office in Ireland to a full Embassy and a secret CIA Report sees the collapse of the US client state Israel through its internal contradictions within 20 years.
We are entering the 21st Century where the Arab street will determine the future of the Arab world and what we are seeing before our eyes is the first stage of a new revolutionary process of national and social liberation - salute to Arab revolutionary democracy.
Sue Marsh campaigns to raise awareness of hidden disabilities and long term illness; she set up the blog Diary of a Benefit Scrounger to raise awareness of life with a chronic illness
Today sees the second National Protest Day against the significant cuts sick and disabled people face to their support. The protests are focussed on ATOS Origin offices, the company responsible for assessing a claimant’s ability to work. Assessments are carried out by “medical professionals” who are not required to be nurses or doctors and a recent Compass report showed that the assessment process was “unfit for purpose” with 35 per cent of cases going to appeal and up to 70% of those appeals being upheld.
ATOS are paid according to how many people they assess as fit, and just 9% of those previously considered unable to work are now being found incapable of any work at all.
Around 60% are projected to be taken of Employment Support Allowance (ESA, previously Incapacity Benefit) within one year. Claimants placed in the “Work Capability Group” with working partners will now need to find work within one year or all of their benefits will be withdrawn - a loss of nearly £5,000.
The other main disability benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is now to be targeted by the government with ATOS also being asked to assess their capability to work. The government hope that 20% of those currently needing to claim DLA will have their benefit stopped.
What’s more, proposals include stopping mobility support for adults in residential care, leaving some unable to leave their homes. Mobility would become based on “ability to mobilise” rather than to walk, hypothetically meaning that paralympians could be defined as fully mobile.
DLA is not an out of work benefit. It acknowledges the extra difficulties sick and disabled people face to compete on a level playing field with the able-bodied, yet according to this report, compiled for the DWP, the government do not even keep records on how many DLA recipients work.
“DLA recipients, who get DLA but no other benefits, appear to have the highest rates of employment, regardless of the severity of disability.”
The DLA forms state that DLA will usually only be paid in the following circumstances:
*You need help with dialysis at home… at least twice a week;
*You are 100% blind and 80% deaf and you need someone with you while you are outdoors;
*You have had both legs amputated at or above the ankle or were born without legs or feet;
*You are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and need help with personal care day and night.
It concludes by saying that you are not likely to qualify for DLA if these criteria do not apply, but may still fill out the claim form.
Given how difficult DLA is to claim - the form is 39 pages long with 62 questions, and must be accompanied by reports from medical professionals - and the low fraud rates of less than 1% quoted in the DWP’s own figures, it seems impossible to conclude how the government will legitimately cut numbers by up to a fifth without causing extreme hardship.
