Arrests Begin in Advance of Tomorow's Strike

Egyptian police arrested four activists who were distributing fliers about tomorrow's General Strike. Malek-X, one of the more infamous bloggers in Egypt, and three Islamic Labor Party activists were arrested and taken to the Masr Al Qadima (Old Cairo) police station. Yet already the cyber-activists have mobilized. Malek updated his blog, Alaa has posted a message on Twitter and messages are starting to spread through the blogosphere as announcements of the arrests are being sent via SMS. Did you know it is illegal to distribute fliers in Egypt ?!

While there seems to be some confusion regarding what the purpose of the strike. It began as a workers strike, was picked up by activists who spread it online, and it seems to have morphed into a general strike in terms of people staying home from work but not necessarily a call for other professions to strike in solidarity. Rather, as the Arabic Network for Human Rights puts it, the April 6th strike is a peaceful one aimed at protesting oppression and corruption, which are of course all wrapped up with the economic problems and inflation that provided the initial impetus for the strike. I, for one, plan on going to Mahalla where a 20,000 person strike by the factory workers is expected. Others are planning on going to Giza, where a demonstration is planned. Tharir Square, the main thoroughfare in downtown Cairo, is a bit more of a contentious issue since some activists feel it is not worth demonstrating there since arrests are certain while others figure that is the natural and historic place to demonstrate. We'll see tomorrow.

This strike is an important example of cyber-activism but also highlights the important synergies between new (FaceBook, blogs, SMS) and old (fliers, newspapers) media. Only about 12-15% of the Egyptian population is online, and trust me, those online are not all reading blogs. There are far more Egyptians on FaceBook than blogs. And the importance of good old paper and glue to communicate with the random person on the street does not diminish in the digital age, but perhaps becomes even more important as a method that helps bridge the "digital divide" by at least making information and inspiration accessible to all.

UPDATE: Police have started detaining people on the roads to Mahalla. Newbies and those not known as activists to the police are urged to go to Giza (by the bakery) or Tharir. Apparently some, like Kifaya, fear there could be a lack of media coverage in the capital if everyone goes to Mahalla. Which doesn't really make sense since everyone has been told to stay home. Of course staying home doesn't make very good TV footage! As one blogger explained it to me, people are scared of going on the streets and being arrested. Remember, Egypt is ruled by Emergency Law. So asking people to stay home as a form of protest is a way to involved them in a political statement without risking arrest or beatings. But as every modern-day political movement knows, things are much harder without the support of Western media and public opinion - think of Tibet without pictures. Some even argue that such movements do not exist and cannot be effective without the support of the media. So it seems Kifaya is of this mindset - the movement's leaders have called for a demonstration in Tharir Square and are hoping that not everyone goes to Mahalla or it will make for very bad pictures and very good propaganda for the government.