Middle East Revolutions: Current Bahrain protests getting violent

[Cantih]

Couldn't get Braveheart and the Irish scene out of my mind.

This just popped up in the most recent fark thread, with focus on the :45 mark.

[fussel]

It is truly amazing how often Al Qaeda's name is thrown around.

It is? Your reality filter is different than mine.

[ZarakiKujata]

This whole setting-yourself-on-fire craze is a hell of a way to start a revolution.

Hope it catches on over here, I'd love to see self-immolation at the next Glenn Beck rally.

Spoiler: show

Preferably by him

[Caiyuo]

Catching some interesting stuff from Stowastiq's twitter in re: to the looting going on, some citizens reporting that the looters are actually police.

Saw this recently as well:

Egypt riots escalate; political prisoners shot

Riots break out at Egypt jail holding political prisoners, including Muslim Brothers members; eight detainees reportedly killed. Meanwhile, protests in Cairo, Alexandria rage on, demonstrators try to break into Interior Ministry headquarters Roee Nahmias Latest Update: 01.29.11, 20:00 / Israel News

Egypt riots escalate: The riots raging on in Egypt have spread into several prisons in the country Saturday, as at last eight detainees were reportedly killed in a jail holding political prisoners.

Prison guards reportedly fired live ammunition and tear gas in the northern Egypt prison as detainees attempted to stage a mutiny at the site, which also holds Muslim Brotherhood prisoners. Security forces were reinforcing their presence at jails throughout the country as result of the violence there.

http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/2...N088279_wa.jpg
Masses hit streets in Egypt (Photo: AFP)

Hamas sources have reported that a few Palestinian detainees have escaped Egyptian prisons during the unrest, and are making their way to the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, medical sources in Egypt confirmed that the overall number of fatalities in the riots raging in Egypt since Tuesday has reached at least 82 people. Some 2,000 others were hurt in protests against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Full-fledged chaos had been reported at several regions of Egypt, as the masses crowd public squares, and banks, government buildings, and businesses are being looted. In Cairo, some 1,000 protestors attempted to break into the Interior Ministry headquarters. Al-Jazeera reported that police forces were attempting to disperse the demonstrators using live fire. At least three people were shot and killed in the clashes, the network said.

Looting an lynching

Overall, tens of thousands of Egyptians are demonstrating in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, and according to some reports there is no security forces' presence on the streets. Elsewhere, reports are coming in about the torching of government buildings, police stations, and security headquarters nationwide.

Some people have exploited the ongoing riots to settle the score with Egyptian business figures. The al-Arabiya network reported a mass looting of businesses in the Suez area belonging to a prominent businessman, including a lynching at one of the sites. Just like in Tunisia, reports are coming in of "popular committees" set up to prevent attacks on businesses and homes. Overnight, attempts were made to loot the Egypt National Museum.

http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/2...4085692_wa.jpg
Cairo in flames (Photo: Reuters)

Authorities in Egypt have declared that a curfew will be imposed in the country from 4 pm today to 8 am Sunday morning, yet enforcing it in the current atmosphere of total chaos seems a largely impossible task.

Egypt's business sector is attempting to minimize the damage, with trading in Cairo's stock exchange suspended following the massive 10.5% drop Thursday. Local banks will not be operating Sunday for fear of looting, yet the country's Central Bank says that bank accounts are safe and that liquidity is not an issue.

According to a report by the Arab-language BBC Saturday afternoon, Egyptian army units were attempting to prevent protestors from breaking into the Central Bank in Cairo and looting it.

[Caiyuo]

Updates from twitter are being posted and translated here: http://www.curated.by/meedan/egypt-jan-25-protests

Photos referenced below: http://cassel.photoshelter.com/galle...00NxTVSKl2mxw/, more from OP's twitter feed:

justimage matthew cassel

Those pics from Imbaba are the ones the mukhabarat tried to kidnap me for. It was an amazing story of how they got out. #jan25 #egypt

justimage matthew cassel

Men downstairs are ready for looters, one is carrying a samurai sword. #Egypt #Jan25

[Caiyuo]

some citizens reporting that the looters are actually police.

more on this, http://twitter.com/#!/fustat/status/31422944940924929

@fustat fustat
R @alaa ♻ @rkaram: A looter killed in Heliopolis. Was from police according to ID , Source: Brother in law's parents #Jan25

[Caiyuo]

holy fuck, I wonder if this is at all legitimate

Ben wedeman @bencnn reported on air just now #Mubarak is preparing to step down,quoting sources inside regime (via @iRevolt) #Jan25

[Caiyuo]

So if this reaches the point where it did in Tunisia, where the President has to flee the country and a new government has to be instated, how much of a tipping point do you think that's going to be for other nations living under oppressive regimes?

I really don't even know enough to guess, but from a glance it seems like this showing of power would move a lot of people to act when they see it work. If that were the case it seems like it'd get much more violent to stem the tide before spreading further and further.

[Caiyuo]

Interesting video, seems military are moving to protect from police fire. A friend that did security for the WHO said the procedures looked similar and believes they're protecting the protesters as well:

[Korietsu]

[Tymon]

http://www.tubedubber.com/#ThvBJMzmS...:100:0:30:true

[Ksandra]

I love anon to death if they're actually doing this.

[Ksandra]

oh man:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1721846/a...ypt-with-faxes

Anonymous is a loose organization of hacktivists best known for attacking its enemies--both corporate and governmental--via the Internet, by defacing websites or shutting them down altogether. But with most of the Internet down in Egypt, the folks at Anonymous are apparently resorting to a positively prehistoric technology: fax machines.

Members of the group are organizing to fax copies of the Egypt-related cables that WikiLeaks released today to schools in Egypt. The hope apparently is that if they can get the faxes into the hands of students, students will distribute them to other protesters. A source told Forbes the goal was to warn them that the police could not be trusted. The WikiLeaks cables, which describe human rights abuses and political arrests, "are just more proof of that," the source said.

In a chat room used for coordinating activities, the group also discussed how to get information into Egypt about a French ISP setting up free dial-up Internet access for people in Egypt.

Earlier this week, as protesters in Egypt took to the streets and the government appeared to start blocking social networks, websites belonging to the Egyptian cabinet, the Interior Ministry, and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology were taken offline--presumably due to denial of service attacks launched by hactivists. But the group is apparently backing off from that tactic, in order not to tie up the few Internet pipes that are still open in the country.

Earlier today, a press release was posted to the group’s website, calling on "governments of the world to take action and show the world that you are on the side of the people and their fight for freedom and democracy." Two days ago, an Anonymous press release said the group would attack government websites. Today’s press release simply said, "We will take sides. We will support people who strive for freedom of speech, assembly and communication."

[Priran]

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9133/1287989454720.png

I just don't even know where to start

[Yabby]

I love anon to death if they're actually doing this.

How do they post on the homepage and twitter when they have no internet/phone/anything?

Edit: Nvm

[Ksandra]

How do they post on the homepage and twitter when they have no internet/phone/anything?

Edit: Nvm

ya they never shut down landlines afaik, otherwise my dad wouldn't be able to talk to my family everyday. Think he's been calling the house phones.

[edit] one of anon's press release vids:

[Salodin]

That video reminded me of ghost in the shell and i don't know why...

[Cantih]

That video reminded me of ghost in the shell and i don't know why...

The spinning ring of text maybe?
And GitS/Laughing Man was pretty damn popular on 4chan back in 04-05. V for Vendetta didn't release until 06.

[Salodin]

That's probably it lol, with the computer voice lending anonymity, it does remind me a lot of it.

[Cantih]

Apparently SNL tonight has a sketch making fun of Mubarak.