Appeal in solidarity with the communists, the progressive forces and the working class in Egypt
The city of Almahalla Alkobra was the location of today's largest demonstrations.
Nearly 200 activists have already been arrested at different times across different provinces. A number of workers are on strike in solidarity with the demands of striking workers of the Ghazl Almahalla spinning and weaving company. Their central demand is that wages must be linked to the rate of inflation - which affects not only Ghazl Almahalla workers, but all of the Egyptian working class.
Ghazl Almahalla workers' strike turned into a huge demonstration covering the whole city of Almahalla Alkobra. The poor people, peasants and workers all joined the demonstrations. Nearly 30,000 citizens chanted slogans against rising price, against monopolies, neo-liberalism and market forces.
The Egyptian central security forces attacked the demonstrators using huge tear-gas grenades, plastic bullets, electric-shock batons (tasers) and live bullets, resulting in hundreds of injuries amongst the demonstrators. The security forces arrested and detained both injured and not-injured demonstrators.
The news from Almahalla Alkobra onfirmis the death of at least 2 citizens - one is a nine years old female, and the other is a 20 years old male.
The “black forces” – a branch of the security forces – burned some shops, public buildings, trains and vehicles, in order to be able to fabricate charges against detained demonstrators and workers. Their aim is to tighten the grip of the police and the state on the working class and to contain the rising social awareness in Egypt, which has greatly increased in the last five years.
Our appeal to you is to support the just and fair demands of the Ghazl Almahalla workers and their right to choose the means to express their demands, whether demonstrations, strikes or any other method.
We, the communists and all the democratic and social forces, urgently alert you to the fact that the police, acting on instructions from the state, will start a huge campaign of repression against the working class in general and the Ghazl Almahalla workers in particular. These concerns arise from the thuggery of the security forces' reaction in Almahalla Alkobra city today. The warning also arises from the intentions of the security forces to deliberately fabricate charges against workers' leaders
Fraternally,
Communist Party of Egypt
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The parties
- Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism
- Communist Party of Bangladesh
- Workers’ Party of Belgium
- Communist Party of Brazil
- Communist Party of Britain
- New Communist Party of Britain
- Party of Bulgarian communists
- Communist Party of Canada
- Communist Party of Denmark
- Communist Party in Denmark
- Communist Party of Egypt
- Communist Party of Finland
- German Communist Party
- Communist Party of Greece
- Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party
- Tudeh Party of Iran
- Communist Party of Ireland
- Workers’ Party of Ireland
- Communist Party of Israel
- Party of the Italian Communists
- Jordanian Communist Party
- Socialist Party of Latvia
- Lebanese Communist Party
- Socialist Party of Lithuania
- Communist Party of Luxembourg
- Communist Party of Malta
- Party of the Communists, Mexico
- Popular Socialist Party of Mexico
- New Communist Party of the Netherlands
- Peruvian Communist Party
- Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
- Portuguese Communist Party
- Communist Party of Romania
- New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ)
- Communist Party of the Russian Federation
- South African Communist Party
- Communist Party of Peoples of Spain
- Communist Party of Sweden
- Syrian Communist Party
- Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey
- Communist Party of Uruguay
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr