The strike aims to stress the adamancy of the revolutionaries who want to see all officials involved in the killing of innocent civilians put on trial, said a statement posted by the April 6 Youth Movement on the social networking website Facebook. AL ARABIYA A group of Egyptian activists have launched an online campaign calling for a nationwide strike on February 11, 2012, the first anniversary of the toppling of former president Hosni Mubarak. Under the slogan “Stay at Home,” a campaign called “Egyptian People on Strike” asks all Egyptians to go on strike until the demands of the revolution are met and until the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces steps down. The strike aims to stress the adamancy of the revolutionaries who want to see all officials involved in the killing of innocent civilians put on trial, said a statement posted by the April 6 Youth Movement on the social networking website Facebook. In a statement issued Saturday, the 13 movements and coalitions that initiated the strike accused the military council of intentionally creating a security vacuum in the country as an excuse for extending the emergency law and held both the council and the Interior Ministry accountable for the carnage that took place Wednesday in Port Said stadium. The carnage was a retaliation on the Ultras football fans group for the role they played in the revolution, said the statement. For the initiators of the strike, this carnage and other previous acts of violence against peaceful protestors expose the current rulers of Egypt. “Masks keep falling as more martyrs fall and now it is clear who is threatening the stability of the country and dignity of Egyptians,” said the statement. 
The date of the strike, said the April 6 group’s statement, was chosen as a reminder to the Egyptian people that they made a mistake when they left Tahrir Square on the day the president stepped down and when they assumed that the revolution was over. “Unfortunately, we forgot that the regime is not only about Mubarak and now this regime is still the same under the leadership of the military council which was also appointed by Mubarak.” The statement added that throughout history several revolutions were aborted when only the head of state is toppled while his regime stays and it cited the example of Romania. “But other revolutions succeeded when the revolutionaries managed to deconstruct the entire administration and rebuild it from scratch.” The April 6 movement called upon Egyptians to take part in the strike in whatever manner they prefer whether by staying at home, waving Egypt’s flag, wearing black, or protesting on the streets. So far, a large number of political powers and movements as well as syndicates and students’ union from several universities have announced taking part in the strike. (Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)
