The revolt continues¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter, written by Alan Woods on 27 January 2011, provides a Marxist analysis of the first days of the Egyptian uprising that began on 25 January. The core argument is that a genuine, mass-based revolutionary movement had erupted, one that was rapidly outgrowing the capacity of the Mubarak regime to contain it through either concessions or repression. The text insists that the dynamic on the streets, not the manoeuvres of elites, would decide the outcome.
Woods details the geographic spread of the revolt, from Cairo to Suez, Ismailia, and Alexandria, noting the key role of workers, particularly in Helwan, who had already been organising strikes. The regime’s desperation is evidenced by the deployment of armoured divisions, the cancellation of leave, the arrest of 2,500 activists, and the locking of 500 journalists in the press association building. The most significant evidence of the regime’s fragility is the report from Suez that soldiers were refusing to fire on protesters and that police had been forced to withdraw, leaving the city “in hands of the protesters.”
The chapter situates the revolt within the context of imperialist strategy. The United States, which considers Egypt a “close and important ally,” is caught in a dilemma. Woods recounts the secret mission of Defence Minister Tantawi to Washington, where he pleaded for riot control equipment and warned that the Muslim Brotherhood was waiting to take over. The author argues that Washington will back Mubarak only as long as he can suppress the revolt; if he fails, they will organise a palace coup, exiling him to Saudi Arabia.
The polemic is directed squarely at Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned from abroad to position himself as a democratic alternative. Woods dismisses him as a “deus ex machina” and a “rainbow politician” whose vague liberal rhetoric about human rights and markets is designed to pacify the masses and preserve the bourgeois order. ElBaradei’s real audience, Woods contends, is the White House, Wall Street, and the Pentagon. The chapter concludes by predicting that the decisive moment would come with the mass protests after Friday prayers, and that the outcome would be determined not by palace intrigues but by the collective strength of the demonstrators who had already learned their power.