Egypt Follow

The tyrant has fallen. Mubarak has gone. Israel’s man, imperialism man, the US’s man, the World Bank’s man, has been deposed. Mubarak has been swept away by one of the greatest mass movements in history.

The Egyptian people have made a revolution that will change the course of history. Hosni Mubarak was one of the world’s most brutal dictators and was backed to the hilt by the US and all the western powers.

When Omer Suleiman, Egypt’s now ex vice president, spoke on Friday he said two things: Mubarak is going and the army is taking over. It is not yet clear what this means.

TUNISIA: Ben Ali ruled Tunisia from 1987 until brought down by a mass uprising on 14 JanuaryEGYPT: Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years. He was toppled on 11 February.JORDAN: King Abdullah has ruled since 1999. The regime is a staunch ally of the US. Protests swept Jordan after the Tunisian revolution, and as a result the King swore in a new government. But it is headed by former general Marouf Bakhit—a puppet of the regime.YEMEN: President Ali Abdullah Saleh has ruled since 1978.

The Egyptian revolution is entering a new phase today (Friday).

More than 300 people packed into a Socialist Workers Party meeting in solidarity with the Egyptian revolution in central London last night.

A strike wave involving thousands of workers is sweeping across Egypt today (Wednesday). An Egyptian activist in Cairo told Socialist Worker that their phone is ringing every ten minutes with new reports of walkouts.

Glory to the martyrs! Victory to the revolution! What is happening today is the largest popular revolution in the history of our country and of the entire Arab world. The sacrifice of our martyrs has built our revolution and we have broken through all the barriers of fear. We will not back down until the criminal ‘leaders’ and their criminal system is destroyed.

The battles that took place on the streets of Cairo last week may have looked like something from a bygone age. The barricades, people fighting street by street, people breaking stones and making catapults to beat back dictator’s thugs—this could have been the battle for the Paris Commune in 1871 or a European revolution of 1848.

What an extraordinary coincidence that the leaked Palestine Papers came out at the moment when Egyptians took to the streets against Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship.

Last week the "liberal" Israeli daily Haaretz carried a piece by one of its best-known columnists, Ari Shavit.

It is two weeks into Egypt’s revolution. The protests that have shaken the Mubarak regime since 25 January have awakened millions and drawn hundreds of thousands into a struggle for change.