Egypt Update

OK, so thousands of protesters have turned out right across Egypt and the latest reports point to a severe police crackdown now taking place, with police using batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters. A media clampdown is also taking shape with reports that Twitter is down. BY all accounts, it's getting ugly in Cairo right now. All eyes on Obama then and his Sate of the Union Address tonight ...

Middle East 'Day of Rage'

It's all happening in the Middle East today as protesters take to the streets in Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

Perhaps the most interesting event will be the protests taking place in Egypt where the opposition aims to test the resolve of the government with what it is terming the 'Egyptian Intifada day'. So, the real question here is: If thousands of protesters do turn out and decide to take control of the streets, what will the Egyptian regime do?

Given the recent events in Tunisia it would be a safe bet to guess that Mubarak would want to would try to crush the protests as quickly as possible in a bid to stop them building any kind of momentum. However, this in itself may only escalate the situation, particularly if there are fatalities. The Mubarak regime therefore finds itself in a tricky situation and one that it is not used to: how to deal with possible mass civil disobedience.

The protests will also cause a huge dilemma for the Obama administration. The US is the primary benefactor the Mubarak regime with $1.3 billion annually in military aid. As, Shadi Hamid points in a piece in the Atlantic, 'if the army ever decides to shoot into a crowd of unarmed protesters, it will be shooting with hardware provided by the United States'. Given that unlike Tunisia, the US is a major player here, remaining silent will also cause problems.

The day of protests also marks Police Day, in celebration of an event 59 years ago when 41 police officers were killed by British forces in Ismailia after refusing to surrender to British forces. The protesters may well be hoping that Police Day may well rekindle some flames of patriotism among Egypt's police - now integral to Mubarak's oppressive regime - and that they may even join in the protests against the regime. I can't see that happening just yet but who knows, nobody predicted events in Tunisia.

Palestine papers: the fallout begins...

Just a quick one here as the fallout continues surrounding the leaking of official documents pertaining to the Peace Process.

At present all sides appear (including the Israelis) to be digging in with the PA accusing AL-Jazeera of deliberately attempting to divide the Palestinian people and, in effect, aiding the Zionist cause. This is not the first time AL-Jazeera has been accused of being a mouthpiece for Zionism.

This conspiracy theory has been doing the rounds in the Middle East for many years, and usually resurfaces every time the channel crosses the numerous 'red lines' and makes life uncomfortable for America's allies in the region. I have even heard this line spouted by high level diplomats in the region who have assured me that Qatar's ruler, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 'takes regular weekend holidays at his villas in Israel' and is beyond doubt 'in league with the Israelis'. Personally, I have no way of verifying whether the Emir does own property in Israel or holidays there but the level of paranoia directed towards AL-Jazeera by America's allies in the region is palpable and growing.

The latest revelations come directly on the back of the channel's rolling coverage of the Tunisian protests and may well have been released to maximise effect. Does AL-Jazeera have a tendency to hype-up news stories? I would say yes it does, but what news provider doesn't? Does AL-Jazeera have a particular axe to grind? I would also say yes to this also, but then again what news organisation doesn't? Is it professional? Not always, particularly the Arabic version. Is it objective? Again, not always, and despite the conspiracy theories more often than not has a pro-Palestinian bias with presenters often weighing in on the side of commentators supporting the Palestinian perspective. But let's not forget, AJE is the only English global satellite channel reporting extensively from the Middle East and in doing so countering the main Western media coverage (CNN, BBC) of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is weak to say the least and more often than not lacks context and reflects Israeli perspectives.

Strangely, the channel finds itself being vilified as a propaganda machine for Islamist terrorism, a mouthpiece for Osama bin Laden and now an agent of Zionism. However, in reality AL-Jazeera is as despised in the palaces of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan as it is in the White House and Tel Aviv (unlike the Arabs, the Israelis have never shut down its operations). The truth is, of course, that AL-Jazeera promotes a level of free speech unheard of in the Arab world and backed by the wealth of Qatar's abundant energy resources is not beholden to any other state.

Back to the Palestine papers. Amjad Attallah has in interesting take on events here. Also, in a rare moment of good news for the Palestinian people, Peru yesterday became the 7th South American country to recognise a Palestinian state, and did so in the face of considerable US pressure.

P.S. the top quote so far from the Palestine papers goes to former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni: 'I am a lawyer ... but I am against law'. classic!