From Cambridge to Cairo

There was a massive, energetic, and largely spontaneous march from Cambridge to Boston today calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, and the cutting of US support for his authoritarian regime. People began to gather at The Pit in Harvard Square, Cambridge, a space that could only hold about fifty people, given the high foot traffic and giant mounds of snow. Most people held home-made signs. A few came with Egyptian flags. There were dozens of homemade placards passed out with the Egyptian flag's colors (Red, White, Black) and the printed words "Yes We Can". Hand written with what looked like white-out was also "support democracy" and "end corruption." The rally moved to Mt Auburn Street about a block away. We remained there for about thirty minutes chanting, before we were allowed to march. We marched down Massachusetts Avenue, through Central Square, past MIT, over the bridge into Boston, took a left onto Boylston St, marched all the way down to the Boston Common, marched around the Common, up to the State House, then continued to City Hall Plaza, then finally (mercifully) finished at Faneuil Hall around 4pm. Some people thought we would be in Harvard Square until 4pm and caught up with us later. Some people spontaneously joined us from the busy streets. At our peak I think we were about 600 people. The police had a disciplined presence and redirected traffic efficiently for us. The only time they interfered what when they made us march through the Boston Common rather than the streets along the perimeter.

I just heard reports on NPR which mentioned solidarity demonstrations in Washington DC and Boston. Why is the movement in Boston able to respond so effectively? The most important reason is because of the history of organizing that we have done here. Boston organizers led powerful protests when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, and again against Israel's invasion of Gaza in 2007/2008. Boston has also held some of the largest regional antiwar demonstrations for a city of its size. Furthermore, every New Year's Eve we host a "First Night Against the Wars" which includes a muslim led vigil for Palestine. Civil rights activists have done good work with the muslim community and built campaigns around local political prisoners. Despite not having a strong coalition, all of this activity has built the personal experiences and social connections necessary for a rapid mobilization around solidarity with people in the Middle East. The crowd today was young and diverse. Some chants were in Arabic. I helped carry a large hand made banner that said "Down with Mubarak." Popular chants were:

Freedom!
Down, down Hosni Mubarak, Down down with the old regime!
Hey Mubarak you will see, join your friend Ben Ali
Not another Penny, Not another Dime, no more money for Mubarak's crimes
Free free Egypt, free free Egypt, people, power, people, power
Hey Obama don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!
Hey Clinton don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!

Folks who have been to antiwar and Palestine solidarity demonstrations will recognize many of these chants, just with new names plugged in. I don't think there were more than two bull horns on the entire march. Many voices were giving out. I nearly completely lost my voice about half way through and only recovered it toward the end.

Today's demonstration greatly surpassed my expectations. I hope news of our relatively modest action will reach the Egyptian people and inspire their strength.

We need to keep hammering at the demand of cutting US military aid for propping up dictatorships like Tunisia and Egypt as well as Isreal. NPR described our march as calling for "massive reform of US policy", which I can only describe as a deliberate muddling of our demands on their behalf. Obama and Clinton sound ridiculous calling for stability. They cannot be allowed to pose as supporting the protests while at the same time advocating against their main demand: the resignation of Mubarak. To be clear, the US needs a dictatorship in Egypt that it can bribe with military aid in order to insulate Israel from international pressure and maintain the blockade against Gaza.

A democratic Egypt would upend US policy in the middle east. For this reason in particular, I think we need to keep building the solidarity movement here in the US. The people of Egypt and Tunisia are leading the way, not just protesting against Israeli aggression or US hegemony, but putting real positive demands forward. This is an opportunity that we haven't seen in a very long time.

See photos from today's action on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179718358733818#!/photo.php?fbid=1590198040496&set=o.179718358733818

And flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotteisenphotography/5399491950/in/set-72157625933821502/