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The fall of Mubarak...

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Holding the Mubarak regime accountable?

Alaa al-Aswany: 'Overthrowing Mubarak was too good to be true' - Robert Fisk - Commentators. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email So here's the real news. Alaa al-Aswany, dentist, revolutionary (he'd like that bit) and author of the astonishing The Yacoubian Building, is producing a new novel.

He writes in the morning when he's not fixing, cleaning or yanking out teeth. Aswany is actually a humble man, a professor in the art of staying on the sidelines of the revolution while acting as its commentator and, at times, its instigator. But he's a critic, too, and drills away at the decaying bits of last February's "successful" overthrow of Mubarak. Even now, Aswany says, there is a whole department for the security state in Egypt.

The Minister of Justice himself, Aswany goes on – his voice turns to loud thunder at this point – said that 450,000 paid thugs were working for the police in Egypt. "The Military Council are now, I think, trying to find another source of legitimacy. Marxism Festival 2012: The Egyptian Revolution. The history of Egypt's revolution. Jack Shenker has a fine piece in the Guardian on The struggle to document Egypt's revolution: On any given evening Cairo's Tahrir Square creaks under the weight of its own recent history: trinket-sellers flog martyrs' pendants, veterans of the uprising hold up spent police bullets recovered from the ground, and an ad hoc street cinema screens YouTube compilations of demonstrators and security forces clashing under clouds of teargas. This is collective memory by the people, for the people – with no state functionaries around to curate what is remembered or forgotten. "Egyptians are highly sensitive about official attempts to write history and create state-sponsored narratives about historical events," says Khaled Fahmy, one of the country's leading historians.

"When Hosni Mubarak was vice-president in the 1970s he was himself on a government committee tasked with writing – or rather rewriting – the history of the 1952 revolution to suit the political purposes of the elite at that time. Egypt's Revolution: One Year Later, the Revolution Continues (part 2) Egypt's crackdown now wears camouflage - Features. The Israeli embassy in Cairo – the first of its kind and one of only two in the Arab world – sits on the top floor of an unremarkable 15-storey office building near the Nile, a short drive south and across the river from the revolutionary epicentre of Tahrir Square.

From the roof, a pole protrudes and makes a right angle high above Ibn Malek Street. Fluttering from the pole is one of the most hated symbols in the Middle East: the Star of David. Thousands of Egyptians protested below that flag on Sunday afternoon, the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. They wanted their post-revolution government to hear demands that Egypt break ties with Israel. Instead, they ran into a harsh post-revolution reality: The unchecked power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The demonstration had proceeded peacefully for hours before a surge toward the building's entrance at around 11pm caused the street to dissolve into a battlefield of burning tires, hurled rocks and swirling tear gas. A giant awakes? - Egypt. The struggle to document Egypt's revolution | World news. On any given evening Cairo's Tahrir Square creaks under the weight of its own recent history: trinket-sellers flog martyrs' pendants, veterans of the uprising hold up spent police bullets recovered from the ground, and an ad hoc street cinema screens YouTube compilations of demonstrators and security forces clashing under clouds of teargas.

This is collective memory by the people, for the people – with no state functionaries around to curate what is remembered or forgotten. "Egyptians are highly sensitive about official attempts to write history and create state-sponsored narratives about historical events," says Khaled Fahmy, one of the country's leading historians. "When Hosni Mubarak was vice-president in the 1970s he was himself on a government committee tasked with writing – or rather rewriting – the history of the 1952 revolution to suit the political purposes of the elite at that time. That's exactly the kind of thing we want to avoid. " ‪Charlie Rose interviewing Naguib Sawiris.flv‬‏ TheTahrirForum. Tahrir: an Exercise in Nation Building. A couple of days ago, a friend of mine asked me what I was doing at the Tahrir sit-in.

When I asked him what he meant by that, he commented that I was acting differently this time, that instead of analyzing and taking a macro view of things, I was actually on the ground, not writing, and doing things all around the square instead. He simply found it out of character, is all. I explained that I was there because I believe in the demands, and that the “Tahrir dance” we have been doing – going to Tahrir to get the government to move its butt – has gotten tired, and that in order to ensure that they continue moving said butts, it’s better to simply stay in Tahrir.

But that was only part of the truth: that’s why I went there, but what intrigued me and got me moving around, doing things and staying there, was the fascinating social experiment that the sit-in was creating. It didn’t start off being this way: it started off being more of a camp. And then came the street kids. The Geopolitical Battle for the Arab Street. Q&ABrazil on the World’s StageCairo Review Antonio Patriota, the Brazilian ambassador to the United Nations, speaks on the Middle East crises, American spying, domestic protests, and the 2014 World Cup. Read More EssayBrazilian TriumphsJerry Dávila Some thirty years ago, dictators ruled and inflation soared. Today, Brazilians freely elect their presidents, while millions rise from poverty. Egypt's youth unites against the old guard. Egypt orders Suzanne Mubarak held - Egyptian Protests. Egyptian authorities on Friday ordered ex-first lady Suzanne Mubarak detained over allegations she took advantage of her husband’s position to enrich herself.

A doctor said she passed out on hearing the news, and state-run Egyptian television later reported that she had been put in the intensive care unit at the hospital in this Red Sea resort community. The detention order came after Mrs. Mubarak, 70, was questioned Thursday for the first time since corruption allegations against her surfaced following her husband Hosni Mubarak’s ouster from the presidency in February. A security official said Mrs. Mubarak will remain in the hospital for the time being but was expected to be moved to a women’s prison in Cairo. Once a low-key first lady known for her focus on women and children rights, Mrs. She was believed to be a strong backer of her son Gamal’s efforts to succeed his father as well as another son Alaa’s business activities. Mrs. Mrs. Mrs. Egyptian state TV said Mrs. One of Mrs. Egypt: Egypt opposition splinters after overthrowing Hosni Mubarak - latimes.com.

Khaled Elsayd, 27, is an activist who helped mobilize Egyptians in protest… (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles…) Reporting from Cairo — They brought down an autocrat and now hunch over position papers, microphones, BlackBerrys and meals from McDonald's. Revolution is messy but lasting power is won, young activists are learning, in meticulous battles of negotiations, egos and intrigue. The new breed of professionals who helped topple President Hosni Mubarak is watching its rebellion turn into a political struggle among the country's splintered opposition forces, remnants of the former ruling regime and the army, which has taken control of the nation until the constitution is amended and elections are held.

Not wanting to be left out of the future government, two competing groups of young activists are meeting with the military and distancing themselves from longtime opposition figures they regard as inept and weakened from years of oppression by Egyptian security forces. One hundred heady days - Money. Impatient Egyptians must keep sound policies - Egypt. Putting the genie back in the bottle - Egypt.