The View From Liberation Square

[struggle4progress]

... We have grown used to repressive tactics of the security forces: the hundreds of riot police circling demonstrations, the arrests and incommunicado detention of protest leaders at unknown locations, the general use of police brutality to intimidate, disperse and punish protesters.

But on Tuesday, the protesters vastly outnumbered the state security forces. I spoke with dozens of citizens who described the pure joy of being able to walk in groups of several hundred through the streets in different neighborhoods of Cairo. When a group of around 400 people came across a bridge over the Nile they were greeted jubilantly by thousands of demonstrators chanting “Down with Mubarak,” “Your plane to Saudi Arabia is waiting for you, Mubarak,” and singing the national anthem. There were isolated skirmishes and arrests but overall the demonstration was peaceful ...

How sustainable is the momentum? The weight of Egypt’s military and security apparatus, the country’s stability, its strategic importance and the consequent Western support of Mubarak’s government have made change a slow and elusive process.

But this new political mobilization won’t be easily dispersed. The moment on Tuesday when protesters stood in Liberation Square and sang “the street is ours” cannot be swept away by water cannons or tear gas. Even as the authorities block mobile-phone networks, twitter feeds, videos and blog posts of the violent crackdown are spreading across the Internet. Ordinary Egyptians — who have been glued to their television screens for days watching the seismic demonstrations in Tunisia — have high hopes of a wave of activism bringing change to a country where stability has long meant a status quo of repression ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/opinion/29iht-edmorayef29.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1296220408-4+S/tzdBs8ChnAQ55ZMI1w