APPEAL OF SOLIDARITY
Since early morning today both downtown Cairo, and the main squares in the city, have been occupied by special security forces, anti-riot forces, and security personnel wearing civilian uniforms. In other cities, such as Alexandria and Algharbia, inhabitants have witnessed a heavy security force presence in the main squares and streets.
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
1. Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism
2. Communist Party of Bangladesh
3. Workers’ Party of Belgium
4. Communist Party of Brazil
5. Communist Party of Britain
6. New Communist Party of Britain
7. Party of Bulgarian Communists
8. Communist Party of Canada
9. Communist Party of Denmark
10. Communist Party in Denmark
11. Communist Party of Egypt
12. Communist Party of Finland
13. German Communist Party
14. Communist Party of Greece
15. Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party
16. Tudeh Party of Iran
17. Communist Party of Ireland
18. Workers’ Party of Ireland
19. Communist Party of Israel
20. Party of the Italian Communists
21. Jordanian Communist Party
22. Socialist Party of Latvia
23. Lebanese Communist Party
24. Socialist Party of Lithuania
25. Communist Party of Luxembourg
26. Communist Party of Malta
27. Party of the Communists, Mexico
28. Popular Socialist Party of Mexico
29. New Communist Party of the Netherlands
30. Peruvian Communist Party
31. Philippine Communist Party (PKP-1930)
32. Portuguese Communist Party
33. Communist Party of Romania
34. Communist Party of the Russian Federation
35. New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ)
36. South African Communist Party
37. Communist Party of Peoples of Spain
38. Communist Party of Sweden
39. Syrian Communist Party
40. Communist Party of Turkey
41. Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey
42. Communist Party of Uruguay
