Movements today are truly global: The Tahrir Square – #OccupyWallStreet connection

Excerpted from Asmaa Mahfouz:

Movements today are truly global. They work in symbiosis, learning from and imitating each others’ strategies. Occupy Wall Street reflects this: the call for Occupy protests came from Canada, the General Assembly structure came from Spain, and the outcry of “We are the 99%” came from Italy. Many occupiers took inspiration from our Tahrir Square; now, the Occupy movement across the United States is inspiring us in Egypt.

When I and other young people took over Tahrir Square to protest decades of corrupt, undemocratic rule, we were focused on bringing change to our beloved country, Egypt. We knew about activists working against other repressive Arab regimes, but we never imagined that we were starting a worldwide movement. But when I visited Occupy Wall Street, I could see that the world has changed. I instantly recognised the same spirit of spontaneous revolt against governments that neglect the needs of the large mass of their people in favor of small elites.

Seeing these strong and determined activists fills me with optimism that we can build a global movement for freedom. We hope that others around the world will take inspiration from the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement to peacefully rise up and demand their rights. Because of these movements, the dream of a freer, fairer and more democratic world now seems much more within reach.

In Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is becoming increasingly aggressive in the fight to preserve the privileges of elites against our 99%. Since they took power – after we forced former President Mubarak from office on 11 February – the military has tried and sentenced over 10,000 civilians in military courts merely for engaging in peaceful dissent. We have seen concerted efforts to divide the people who came together to demand their rights: some of the same divide-and-conquer tactics employed against the Occupy movement over the past few weeks.

Attacks on Coptic Christians have increased, with the police offering little protection and with state media fanning the flames. When Copts peacefully protested outside of the Maspera state television building, security forces opened fire with live ammunition and ran demonstrators down with armored personnel carriers. They killed 27 and injured hundreds more. When Muslim activists came to the Copts’ defense, the regime reacted harshly. The military recently extended the imprisonment of blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah due to his outspoken criticism of the military for the Maspera massacre. We are grateful for activists around the world that have stood in solidarity with us and demanded Alaa’s immediate release.

We are excited that worldwide representatives from the Occupy movement hope to visit Tahrir Square in late November to show solidarity. This is a critical moment for us, and it is vital for the global Occupy movement to literally stand in solidarity with Egypt in the global grassroots movement towards more democratic societies.

Not only can these groups help to draw both practical and symbolic attention to current struggles, but they can also start a mutual dialogue on the ways that the Arab Spring and Occupy movements can work together in the coming months. It is a long road towards freedom, but our transnational activist coalitions have the potential to change local as well as foreign policies, if we work together.

We always knew that wealthy and corrupt elites would fight hard to preserve their privileges, and our country has a long history of undemocratic institutions. With encouragement and inspiration from freedom-loving people around the world, however, we are confident that we can prevail.”