After civil unrest in Tunisia toppled the autocratic Ben Ali regime last week, the natural reaction was to wonder whether the effects would cascade across the region and encourage democratic movements elsewhere. It appears that Tunisia sparked at least one movement, after all -- and in the Middle East’s most populous country.
Protesters took to the streets all across Egypt on Tuesday -- spurred by social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and energized by the developments in Tunisia -- demanding the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign. The demonstrations turned violent in several cities including Cairo as police officers clad in riot gear (and armed with tear gas and rubber bullets) clashed with thousands of angry Egyptians.
We've compiled some photos, videos and links to serve as a launch pad into understanding just what happened in Egypt today:
- Al Jazeera describes the mayhem across Egypt. (Al Jazeera)
- The Christian Sciene Monitor rounds up the events of the day. (CSMonitor.com)
- Mother Jones explains the historical underpinnings of today’s protests. (MJ)
- The Atlantic ponders the significance of the protests and their long-term impact on the Egyptian polity. (theatlantic.com)
- TechCrunch says that the Egyptian government has worked to censor Twitter and other websites since riots began. (techcrunch)
- Ahram Online reports that the protests took place on Egyptian holiday Police Day and speculates whether the timing was deliberate or a coincidence. (Ahram)
- Boing Boing has more photos and videos chronicling the day’s unrest. (BoingBoing)
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