The
Israeli siege of Gaza and imperialist pressure
to retaliate on the Gaza population in order to
isolate Hamas has provoked a major crisis that is shaking the Middle
East. Once again the direct intervention of the masses has changed
the whole scenario, putting into jeopardy the stability of the most important
point of support of US
imperialism in the Arab world: Egypt.
Despite an
international conspiracy of silence, as we have reported over the past year
Egypt has seen a major upturn in the class struggle. Workers have shown
fantastic bravery and made enormous sacrifices. The working
class, especially the massive Egyptian workers movement, is the key to the
future of the Middle East, not the so-called war on terror or the blind alley of
Islamism.
In previous articles we have looked at the
explosion of the class struggle in Egypt. The regime has been defeated
time and time again in the last period. Recently, the Mahalla workers launched
a magnificent struggle and were able to achieve a remarkable victory.
Egypt is entering a crisis. The
working class is standing up, as strike after strike shakes the country. The
government has decided to hit back, attempting to close the Centre for Trade
Union and Workers’ Services.
For the last three years Egypt has
experienced a wave of strikes, mainly in order to fight against a new wave of
privatisation of state owned companies promoted by the Mubarak government. The movement started amongst textile workers but has now
spread to other sectors, encouraged by the fact that most of the strikes have
ended up in victories