Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Rodney King Video of the Egyptian Revolution

This is a description of the first 60 seconds of the video.

White letters in arabic on a black screen.  No idea what it says. A woman's voice singing.  No idea what she's saying.

Video starts.

People running.  They have helmets and transparent shields. They are brandishing sticks.  Other people are running away.

Lower screen right:  Several people try to help a fallen comrad.

The camera focuses on this group, bringing it's members into the center of the screen.  The helmets are almost upon them.  There are three of them:  Two helpers and a fallen one. The helpers struggle to get the fallen on his/her feet.

As  helmets draw near they raise their sticks to strike.  We see that the helpers separate from the fallen one, although one of them holds on to his/her hand until the last moment.

As the helmets surround the three, one of the helpers escapes, but the other is thrown to the ground.  A group of 15 helmets start beating the two people on the ground.

The camera zooms in closer.  The helmets are not only beating the two people on the ground, they are kicking them.  The fallen one is lying on his/her back without making any defensive efforts.  The helper is doubled over in a fetal position.

Most of the helmets concentrate on the fallen one.  Kicks to the head and body.  One helmet beats the helper mercilessly.  The helper raises his legs in self defense to ward of the blows, but is otherwise not resisting.

Eleven helmets surround the fallen one who is still unresponsive.  One helmet bends over and starts to drag the body.  As the body is dragged, a black robe separates from the body.  A helmet follows the body and kicks it as it is being dragged.

The black robe falls off completely and we see a blue bra.  The fallen one is clearly a woman.  The helmet who has been following her and kicking her gives her one final vicious kick in the breasts.  The others move away giving clear view of the body.  One helmet bends over and covers the breasts with the robe.

The video goes on for another two minutes and 48 seconds.  It's all brutal, but nothing is as bad as seeing the unconscious woman beaten and kicked.

The video is on youtube.  As of this writing it has more than three million views.  Yesterday it had two million. You may or may not care to watch it, the choice is yours.  I am linking it to this blog, but just in case google blocks it, you can find it on youtube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iboFV-yeTE&skipcontrinter=1

(Note as of December 22, 2011:  This link will take you to a page saying that this video has been flagged and giving you the option to not proceed.  That is, they don't want you to watch it.  The number of views are about the same as yesterday which shows that this tactic does work.  That's OK.  That's why I wrote the detailed description.  There's a way around almost everything they do to prevent information from getting out.)




I compared this video to the Rodney King video because I think it's going to have the same effect in Egypt and around the world.  There was already a call for a rally in front of the Egyptian consulate today.  I wasn't really planning to go.  I can't go to every rally--Egypt is very far away--and it's Christmas for goodness sake.

Now I'm going to the rally.  For the fallen one.

http://www.defendegyptianrevolution.org/