European of the Week The cyber-revolutionary on Tahrir Square

[xchrom]

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1254651-cyber-revolutionary-tahrir-square

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Swede of the Year : Christopher Kullenberg.

Just after midnight on the night of January 27 to 28, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak ordered the country’s ISPs to shut down the Internet. Except for a single cable laid in the bottom of the Mediterranean that allowed the Cairo Stock Exchange to stay open, Egypt was totally cut off from the rest of the world.

Even the mobile phone network was shut down – all to isolate Egyptians and prevent them from organising the “Day of Rage,” when hundreds of thousands of people were to converge on Tahrir Square after Friday prayers to protest against the dictatorship.

By day, Christopher Kullenberg is a PhD student in the philosophy of science at the University of Gothenburg; by night, a ‘netizen’. That night, he and other members of a group of hackers and activists scattered across Europe that come together under the name of Telecomix were watching on their screens as Internet connections in Egypt were being taken down. In the middle of a chat with an Egyptian activist, Christopher Kullenberg’s ‘line’ went dead. What to do?

Fifty Egyptians at most were able to connect

The number of discussions on the Telecomix chat channels skyrocketed. In the hope of contacting amateur radio operators in Egypt, an antenna was set up in Belgium. All the hackers managed to overhear, though, was the Egyptian army’s radio.




*** i'm a big believer in internationalizing the occupy/99% per cent movement -- and here is a great example of why and what we can do for each other.

[tabatha]

1. The Arab Spring came before the 99%/OWS movement.

The regional unrest has not been limited to countries of the Arab world. The early success of uprisings in North Africa was inspired by the uprisings of disenchanted people in the Middle Eastern states of Iran<384><385> and Turkey<386> to take to the streets and agitate for reforms. These protests, especially those in Iran,<387> are considered by many commentators to be part of the same wave that began in Iran and later Tunisia and has gripped the broader Middle Eastern and North African regions.

In the countries of the neighboring South Caucasus—namely Armenia,<388> Azerbaijan,<389> and Georgia<390>—as well as some countries in Europe, including Albania,<391> Croatia,<392> and Spain;<393> countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso,<394> Djibouti,<395> and Uganda;<396><397> and countries in other parts of Asia, including the Maldives<398> and the People's Republic of China,<399> demonstrators and opposition figures claiming inspiration from the examples of Tunisia and Egypt have staged their own popular protests.

The bid for statehood by Palestine at the UN on 23 September 2011 is also regarded as drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring after years of failed peace negotiations with Israel. In the West Bank, schools and government offices were shut to allow demonstrations backing the UN membership bid in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and Hebron; echoing similar peaceful protests from other Arab countries.<400>

The 15 October 2011 global protests and the Occupy Wall Street movement, which started in the United States and has since spread to Asia and Europe, drew direct inspiration from the Arab Spring, with organizers asking U.S. citizens "Are you ready for a Tahrir moment?"<401> The protesters have committed to using the "revolutionary Arab Spring tactic" to achieve their goals of curbing corporate power and control in Western governments.<402>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

[xchrom]

2. Yes. Most of us are aware that. Nt

[tabatha]

3. Then this statement makes no sense

"i'm a big believer in internationalizing the occupy/99% per cent movement"

It was internationalized before occupy/99%.

[xchrom]

4. have it your way. nt