Econintersect: While U.S. attention has been focused on the seemingly unwarranted use of pepper spray on eleven passive demonstrators at the University of California Davis campus, major rioting has taken hold in Egypt. The Guardian has been providing extensive coverage. The latest protests started in earnest six days ago (November 18), with the largest demonstrations since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. Protesters now want the military junta to step down and for elections scheduled for Monday to be rescheduled. (Pictured: Rioters fleeing gas on the streets of Cairo.)
The protests are again taking place in Tahrir Square and are a strange combination of rioting and Occupy Wall Street type of activities with a cross-section of religious groups, all ages of Egyptians, both men and women participating in street rallies, camp-ins, obvious social activity such as dancing and somber discussions. See the following video:
And just blocks away there is rioting while the interim Prime minister tries, as did Mubarak in January and February, to calm the situation:
While protests have continued in Egypt throughout the summer, they seem to be building to a new higher level now that may bring a new critical mass to the situation just as the January-February events brought Mubarak’s resignation. Protesters now number in the hundreds of thousands and activists are calling for a million.
The pepper spray of Davis has a counterpart in Egypt, although on a much larger scale, as the military is accused of using neurologically active tear gas, as discussed in the next video.
Sources: All videos from The Guardian.
