I gårsdagens dækning af begivenhederne i Ægypten undrede det mig noget, at stort set alle medier – herunder både Jyllands-Posten og Politiken – ukritisk viderebragte forlydender om, at “Mubarak-tro demonstranter” havde angrebet den store demonstration for demokrati på Tahrir-pladsen.
Hvor tror man egentlig, at disse regimetro demonstranter kommer fra? De er (jeg havde nær sagt selvfølgelig) regimets betalte bøller, som mange gange før er blevet sat ind mod fredelige forsøg på at sætte en ny dagsorden i landet.
Ahdaf Soueif forklarer i The Guardian:
Who are these people? In support of the president, they throw Molotov bottles and plant pots from the tops of buildings onto the heads of women and children. To establish stability and order, they break heads with rocks and legs with bicycle chains. To have their say in the debate they slash faces with knives. Who are they? Well, every time one of them is captured his ID says he’s a member of the security forces. And his young captors simply hand him to the military who are standing by.
So, the regime once again displays its banality; unable to come up with any move that is decent or innovative, it resorts to its usual mix of brutality and lies. On Tuesday night President Mubarak came on TV and patronised the rest of the country by claiming that Egyptians were in the grip of fear, and pretended that his regime which has been de-developing the country and stealing the bread from people’s mouths is now suddenly equipped to “respond to the demands of our young people”. He reminded the people of his (now ancient) history as an air force pilot and added a tearjerker about being an old man who wanted die in his country.
And the next morning, not 12 hours after the president’s emotional appeal, the regime turned loose its thugs on the street. The same tactics that have been used against protesters over the last five years, the same tactics in force at the last elections to scare voters off the streets, appeared and with redoubled viciousness. This is the regime that is going to listen to the people and use the coming months to put in reforms. Sure.
Mine fremhævelser. Læs det hele.