

Reporter's first person account in Egypt: "You will be lynched" - tsycho
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/-you-will-be-lynched-egyptian-policeman-tells-reporters-first-person.html

======
ck2
This constant cry of "they are attacking and threatening us" from reporters is
getting annoying.

Stop making this about you.

The thugs are attacking EVERYONE against keeping him in power. The cellphone
companies all gave in and allowed the government to send out mass text
messages to coordinate them. They are being bussed in from who knows where
(because it's not being reported!) Reporters are easy targets because your
cameraperson is lugging around that huge "look at me" camera. Why do you
expect thugs to be nice to you?

Do the reporters think they will get special treatment? What about all the
innocent people who aren't throwing stones and are getting far more seriously
hurt than any reporter?

Reporters are observers. Get the heck out of the way and simply report if you
want the job of being a reporter.

The attack on reporters is nothing special or unique to Egypt or non-
democracies, it happens every year at the Republican and Democratic National
Conventions right here in the USA. Sometimes even by the police.

~~~
corin_
The author wrote early on in the article "It happened not because I was a
reporter", so while I can see your point in general, it's not particularly
relevant to this article.

The fact that, in some cases, reporters _are_ being directly targeted is
however of real importance. Not because something is worse when it happens to
a reporter than when it happens to one of the protestors, but because of what
it signifies.

It signifies a mixture of two things, which are Mubarak supporters being
mislead by propaganda into blaming reporters for what is going on, and also
the fact that Mubarak is doing everything he can to prevent free press.

I don't know how much of each of them is in play, could be just one or the
other, though I suspect it's around 50/50. Mubarak has shown he has no problem
using violence to try and improve his situation, and he's shown in numerous
ways that he doesn't like the reporters who aren't state-controlled, so it's
not a huge leap of assumption to think that he is encouraging his supporters
to attack reporters.

"It happens every year ... in the USA"

Not promoted by the White House in order to try and prevent the country from
understanding what is going on. THAT is why this is relevant, not because we
have to care more about reporters.

~~~
ck2
Actually, every year congress votes itself huge security funds for the
conventions of the two parties. They bring about the harassing environments by
purposely isolating themselves and having a ridiculous police-to-protester
ratio.

Back to "freedom of the press" for a moment, there isn't a single arabic
nation that has that. Not saying it's right, but it certainly isn't a surprise
to walk around among thugs and be harassed and threatened. If they are trying
to prove the thugs are thugs, well we already knew that from all the video
from the previous few days.

To me it smacks of the idiot weatherpeople who have to go stand out in a
hurricane to prove it's windy. Every darn year, every darn storm, every
network throws someone into danger saying "ooh look at us, we are in danger,
but don't do what we are doing".

------
hackermom
And indeed, these seemingly racism-infused attacks seem to be just what has
happened to plenty of other members of international press covering this event
in the flesh. Just two days ago a Swedish reporter, Bert Sundström, was
abducted by a mob loyal to the Mubarak regime. Stabbed several times in the
abdomen and the back, and with blunt force injuries to the head, he survived
with the help of protesters who escorted him to one of the hospitals in Cairo
where his condition was stabilized. Before abandoning Bert to die, the
Mubarak-faithful captors responded to a telephone call made to his cellphone
by one of Sweden's national television broadcasters, "Your man is with the
Egyptian government, with the military. If you sons of whores want him then
come get him".

(pardon for commenting on this non-hackery news entry)

~~~
mahmud
What do you mean racism-infused attacks? Mubarak goons attacked al-Arabiya and
al-Jazeera reporters.

Was it Europeans that were run over with tanks, trucks and camels and being
shot and stabbed?

P.S. The author of this Bloomberg article is herself Egyptian: _"I held onto
my backpack, with my Egyptian ID card"_

~~~
nir
"Egyptian state television has actively tried to foment the unrest by
reporting that “Israeli spies” have infiltrated the city – which explains why
many of the gangs who attack reporters shout “yehudi!” (“Jew!”)."

[http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/latest-
updates-o...](http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/latest-updates-on-
day-10-of-egypt-protests/)

(To be taken with a grain of salt obviously. But interesting to note this
comes from the government)

~~~
mahmud
Accusations of treason and espionage is as old as revolution itself. It's
partly the regime spreading disinfo, partly the goons incapable of justifying
their amoral acts, and then partly the Saddat-Mubarak regime unable to
_imagine_ any sort of spine, much less disobedience, is left in this People
which it has so totally dominated.

So they point their fingers outward at the nearest boogymen.

<http://yfrog.com/h4fmiaj>

Translation:

""Foreign powers are planing to incite the you tomorrow in Tahreer Square,
amidst the huge gatherings, and wants to attack the Egyption military and
forcing it to retaliate, which will pave the way for foreign powers to come
here in the name of peace-keeping in Egypt. Because of that, it's the
responsibility of all the Eygptians not to go to Tahreer Square tomorrow, so
the Egyptian Military is able to find the traitors, and arrest these elements.
So, we ask you in the name of God not to gather tomorrow in Tahreer Square
after the Friday prayers"

It evokes all the favorite talking points of a lying scoundrel: God, home-land
and a benevolent military (all imaginary, imo.)

