Please Britain, don't let Mubarak inspire your response to unrest

from the Guardian UK:



Please Britain, don't let Mubarak inspire your response to unrest
It's not the riots that remind me of the Egyptian uprising – it's the disdain for civil liberties that leaders in both countries show

Mona Eltahawy
guardian.co.uk, Friday 12 August 2011


Water cannon? Calling in the army? Shutting down or disrupting mobile phone messaging services and social networks in times of civil disorder? Oh the irony of ironies. Six months after my country's dictator, Hosni Mubarak, stepped down after 18 days of a popular uprising, British prime minister David Cameron, members of parliament and the security services were seriously discussing those draconian measures in response to days of riots.

Forget nonsensical comparisons between the rioting and the Egyptian revolution. Compare instead the leaders' uncannily similar reactions to what they perceive as crises. That's what has my jaw to the ground here. Remember that Cameron and a whole host of other Mubarak allies roundly and rightfully condemned him for shutting down the internet, using water cannon against demonstrators, etc. It's enough to make you wonder if Mubarak is moonlighting as a consultant on the most effective ways to chip away at civil liberties around the world as he awaits the next session of his trial for murder and corruption.

At a time when Egyptians are already boasting of how peaceful our protests were compared with those in the UK, to hear ordinary Brits join calls for their army to be deployed is a perfect moment to share some Egyptian revolutionary humour to combat the adulation of uniforms and "stability."

.....(snip).....

After years of being stereotyped by violence and passivity in the face of brutal regimes, excuse us as we break free from that demonisation to offer you some friendly advice: in times of crises, leaders – democratically elected or not – too easily invoke "stability" to run roughshod over civil liberties. I now live in New York City where we're about to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Remember Bush, the Patriot act, Guantánamo, etc? ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/12/riots-egyptian-mubarak-civil-liberties