Egypt Intifada

Since early Sunday morning, the day that a planned general strike across the country was suppressed by the state, things have been hot in Egypt. I've been trying to keep up with a major factory strike, clashes with police, arrests of hundreds of protesters, including children and bloggers. Much of the protests across Egypt have to do with very low wages for factory workers, the less than $2 a day that almost half the country lives off of, and looming food crises. At the center is Mahalla al-Kobra, a factory town north of Cairo whose 20,000 workers have striked before. Protests turned violent on Sunday and have persisted. Observers drew immediate connections to Palestine, with citizens throwing stones and soldiers firing bullets and tear gas.

Hossam el Hamalawy, whose blogging is tireless, chronicles the Mahalla Intifada.

I wrote a quick piece for The Huffington Post about the "failed" strike. While the myriad opposition movements -- Muslim Brothers, factory workers, urban professionals, intellectuals -- seem disorganized, to say a planned nationwide general strike failed seems unfair. How would we protest in a country where police raid your home and arrest you for blogging and sending text messages about attending public demonstrations?

Photo is from Reuters photographer Nasser Nouri.

- freddy