Surprise?

If you get your news from CNN, then the Egyptian uprising is a total surprise.

However, if you've used the link on the left to go to the Socialist Worker website, you'd have found this story six months ago.

Beginning of the end? by Mostafa Omar. Published on Socialistworker.org, June 6, 2010. Part 3 of a series.

THE COMBINATION of rising strike levels, increased workers' militancy and popular enthusiasm generated by Mohamed ElBaradei's campaign for democracy has begun to change the political equation in Egypt. This is also altering a class balance that has been intact more or less for at least 35 years--since the defeat of the last round of workers' struggles in the mid 1970s.

and ...

A number of international factors are also adding to the state of instability in the country and helping to fuel additional fronts for struggle against the regime.

The most important factor in this regard is Israel's continued attacks on the Palestinian people. Egyptian society in general has swung in support of the Palestinians in the last 10 years since the beginning of the second Intifada. The years 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2009 witnessed mass demonstrations to support Palestinians.

In recent months, thousands of college students and workers have protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlements in East Jerusalem and also denounced Egypt's complicity in the three-year-old siege of Gaza. Muslim Brotherhood students have called on the government to open the border for jihadists to go fight in Gaza.

Plus, millions continue to feel bitterness and humiliation over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its continued occupation there and in Afghanistan.

Mubarak, who is an ally of both Israel and the U.S., is increasingly viewed by many as, at best, a helpless buffoon in the face of the forces of empire, and, at worst, a conniving and willing collaborator.

The key is to realize that you are better informed if you use parental blocking features to block CNN, MSNBC, FAUX and all the other corporate 'news' channels from your tv. Keep this out of your house. It may seem contrary, but you'll find you are better informed.