Tahrir Square Sends Solidarity Message to Occupy Wall Street

By Jack Shenker, Guardian UK

25 October 11

Egyptian activists who helped topple Hosni Mubarak have lent their support to growing Occupy movement in US and Europe.

gyptian activists who helped topple former dictator Hosni Mubarak have lent their support to the growing Occupy movement in the United States and Europe, a further sign that links between global pro-change protests appear to be growing.

A message of solidarity issued by a collective of Cairo-based campaigners declared: "We are now in many ways involved in the same struggle," adding: "What most pundits call 'The Arab Spring' has its roots in the demonstrations, riots, strikes and occupations taking place all around the world."

Demonstrators in New York, London and hundreds of other cities have recently set up tent encampments to challenge what they say is a culture of corporate greed and democratic unaccountability. Much of the tactics, rhetoric and imagery deployed by protesters has clearly been inspired by this year's political upheavals in the Middle East, including the dramatic occupation of Cairo's Tahrir Square in January and February, which forced Mubarak to stand down.

Critics of the Occupy movement have dismissed suggestions that they share many similarities with protests in the Middle East, arguing that the latter have been about liberation from tyranny while the former are focused on economic reform. But the solidarity statement explicitly rejects that division, claiming that the Egyptian struggle is against "systems of repression, disenfranchisement and the unchecked ravages of global capitalism" and highlighting the social and economic damage caused by the implementation of neoliberal free market policies under the Mubarak regime.

"As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme," reads the statement. "An entire generation across the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things."

Ed Needham, an Occupy Wall Street media spokesman, said the reaction from people who had read the statement at the protest was "terrific".

"It gives a real strong, empathetic sense of solidarity," he said. "It's a beautifully written piece."

He added: "Obviously the facts on the ground in Egypt are not the facts on the ground here, but as they articulated, it's really about sensing and knowing that a system is no longer right or just or fair and no longer willing to be an exploited member of that system."

Alexander Penley, who has been involved in Occupy Wall Street since the protest began on 17 September, said it was "wonderful" to receive the message.

"It lets us know that those successful in struggle on the world stage know that Occupy Wall Street is now having, and will continue to have, a profound impact on the status quo."

"What affects Egypt affects New York," he added. "The rights of persons worldwide and all semblance of free government has been hijacked by corporate interests. Egyptian people who thirst for global compassion are like Americans. We know we are together with only one choice - victory."

Occupy Wall Street began after a call for action by Canadian activist group Adbusters, which said the idea was "inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising". The statement was released on Monday, the day Asmaa Mahfouz, co-founder of the influential April 6th movement and a prominent activist in Egypt, visited Occupy Wall Street.

Mahfouz and fellow Egyptian activist and April 6th co-founder Ahmed Maher visited Zuccotti Park, home to the Occupy Wall Street, on Monday evening, chatting with protesters before undertaking an impromptu march. The pair presented an Egyptian flag with the message: "From Tahrir Square to Wall Street."

Occupy Wall Street protesters have been occupying Zuccotti Park since 17 September. Demonstrators feared they would be effectively evicted on Friday 14 October, when Brookfield properties, which owns the park, said it would clean the space and police said tents and sleeping equipment would not be allowed back in the area. Protesters won a last minute reprieve and have said they intend to remain in occupation until the new year.

To the Occupy movement - Tahrir Square is with you.