Revolution

Who can actually say what has really happened in Egypt? One day I was listening live to Mubarak saying he will stay in power until Sept and not bow to foreign pressure. The next day he stepped down. And now he is missing, with various reports of strokes and mental illness. Where in the world is Hosni Mubarak??

One thing's for sure: the Egyptians got rid of their dictator, and they managed to stay, mostly, nonviolent. One for the history books kids.Yay! Now we all watch, to see if it actually turns into a democracy. Also, the rest of the region is going to hell (or a better place) with Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, Lybia, Palestine... all seeing protests of various sizes and efficacy. Who can say what will happen next?

Here is a video on possible Israeli-Egyptian relations Video

And while I am loathe to give credit to American's for the uprising (though some are trying so hard to take it), here is link to a wonderful set of ideas... non-violent revolutionary literature and it's author. Click on the link "From dictatorship to democracy". Guess what's next on my reading list?

Lessons from Egypt

Things are far from over in Egypt... protests continue; Mubarak is digging in, to try and stay in power until September (!!!!); "Western" leadership are speaking out of both sides of their mouths - supporting democratic aspiration while supporting Mubarak staying in power "for the time being"; Israel is freaking out about the potential fall out from a change in the Egyptian guard - who will keep Gaza's other border locked now? etc etc etc

But while all this is happening, students of political science and history can take notes... what are the potential and limitations of peaceful protests? Will it work in Egypt? Will it work in Palestine? Did it work in Tibet? in India?

Clearly the situation matters.

As a Jamaican, the stories of most of our national heroes instill me with the belief that sometimes, you have to raise your arm in violence, in particular, when violence is used against you. While many factors brought the end of slavery, I have the feeling that violent slave revolts were a necessary precondition. This is the only way to make oppression economically impractical.

Food for thought... interesting discussion below: