Internet, SMS & Twitter all down in Egypt!

freeDimensional has heard from artists and art space administrators in Egypt. Here is what they ask for:

A Call to the People and Governments of the Free World

We call upon all of you to support the Egyptian people's demands for a
good life, liberty and an end of despotism. We call upon you to urge
this dictatorial regime to stop its bloodshed of the Egyptian people,
exercised throughout the Egyptian cities, on top of which comes the
city of Suez. We believe that the material and moral support offered
to the Egyptian regime, by the American government and European
governments, has helped to suppress the Egyptian people.

We hereby call upon the people of the free world to support the
Egyptian people's non-violent revolution against corruption and
tyranny. We also call upon civil society organisations in America,
Europe and the whole world to express their solidarity with Egypt,
through holding public demonstrations, particularly on People's Anger
Day (28/01/2011), and by denouncing the use of violence against the
people.

We hope that you will all support our demands for freedom, justice and
peaceful change.

==

Egypt receives a lot of financial aid from western countries; if you have an opinion on how that money is used and insist that it not be used to suppress the Egyptian people, then now is the time to voice your opinion on facebook, twitter and in your networks.

See freeDimensional editorial.

Read about Egyptian filmmakers imprisoned and organized peaceful protest by Egyptian writers and artists.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Ann DeVlieg on January 28, 2011 at 4:47am

Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Critical European-Asian fiber-optic routes through Egypt appear to be unaffected for now. But every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air.

http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml

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Permalink Reply by Mary Ann DeVlieg on January 28, 2011 at 6:15am

(Friday 28 Feb 2011 12:14)

To all the people of world
The people in Egypt are under governmental siege. Mubarak regime is banning Facebook, Twitter, and all other popular internet sites Now, the internet are completely blocked in Egypt. Tomorrow the government will block the 3 mobile phone network will be completely blocked. And there is news that even the phone landlines will be cut tomorrow, to prevent any news agency from following what will happen.
Suez city is already under siege now. The government cut the water supply and electricity, people, including, children and elderly are suffering there now. The patients in hospitals cannot get urgent medical care. The injured protesters are lying in the streets and the riot police are preventing people from helping them. The families of the killed protesters cannot get the bodies of their sons to bury them. This picture is the same in north Saini (El-Sheikh zoyad city) and in western Egypt (Al-salom). The riot police is cracking down on protesters in Ismailia, Alexandria, Fayoum, Shbin Elkoum, and Cairo, the capital, in many neighborhoods across the city.
The government is preparing to crackdown on the protesters in all Egyptian cities. They are using tear gas bombs, rubber and plastic pullets, chemicals like dilutes mustard gas against protesters. Several protesters today have been killed when the armored vehicles of the riot police hit them. Officials in plain clothes carrying blades and knives used to intimidate protesters. Thugs deployed by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior are roaming the streets of Cairo, setting fire on car-wheels as means of black propaganda to demonize protesters and justify police beatings and state torture

All this has been taken place over the past three days during the peaceful demonstrations in Cairo and other cities. Now, with the suspicious silence of the local media and the lack of coverage from the international media, Mubarak and his gang are blocking all the channels that can tell the world about what is happening.
People who call for their freedom need your support and help. Will you give them a hand?
The activists are flooding the net (youtube and other sites) with thousands of pictures and videos showing the riot police firing on armless people. The police started to use ammunition against protesters. 15-year old girl has been injured and another 25 year old man has been shot in the mouth. While nothing of these has appeared in the media, there is more to happen tomorrow. Will you keep silent? Will you keep your mouth shut while seeing all these cruelty and inhumane actions?
We don’t ask for much, just broadcast what is happening

For Reuters through this page
http://reuters.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new <http://reuters.zendesk.com/anonymous_requests/new>

the guardian
media.enquiries@guardian.co.uk <mailto:media.enquiries@guardian.co.uk>

new York times
letters@nytimes.com <mailto:letters@nytimes.com>
and
http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/feedback.html <http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/feedback.html>

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Permalink Reply by Sara-Duana Meyer on January 28, 2011 at 6:40am

According to rumours cellphone service will be entirely shut down in the course of the day, too, an attempt to prevent the demonstrators from communicating and choreographing the protests and also a means of intimidation.

The protests have started. Within seconds after the friday prayers finished police forces started to attack the protesters with tear gas and water cannons. Cairo and many other cities in egypt are a war zone while the egyptians have barely any means now to communicate with the outside world.