On March 9, eleven people died in Cairo, Egypt in some of the deadliest disorder between Christians and Muslims since President Mubarak has stepped down. The reason for the fighting: the clashes broke during a protest by several hundred Christians over the burning of a church that occurred a week earlier. Funerals have been taking place for those who lost their lives during this battle.

High unemployment, injustice, and rampant corruption are what caused Egyptians and Tunisians to revolt. Egyptian protesters were mobilized largely on the internet which was emphasized by the events that were occurring in Tunisia.

As of March 10, Seif-al Islam, the son of the Libyan leader, promised that the government would not surrender; in an interview he stated, “we will never give up. We will never surrender.” In Saudi Arabia security forces opened fire on small protests in the eastern part of the country.  “Reuters reported sporadic gun fire mixed with the noise of percussion bombs at a demonstration; it gave no word on any casualties or whether security forces had fired live rounds or rubber bullets.”

Saudi Arabian authorities have also banned all protests and have strengthened forces to deal with demonstrators. Tens of thousands of people signed onto Facebook calling for protests for a “day of rage.”

A Saudi Arabian, also a Twitter user, posted a link on his account to a video translating protesters’ chant as: “this homeland is not for sale.”

Philip Luther, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program stated, “Instead of banning peaceful protests, the Saudi Arabian authorities should address the need for major human rights reform in the country.” I completely agree.

Ahmed Al Omran, a Saudi Arabian frequents a blog, didn’t have such high hopes for government reform. He blogged, “I have become very pessimistic about the prospects of reform for our country. The huge age gap between the young population and the ruling elite makes it nearly impossible for the ruled and the rulers to communicate and understand each other. We practically speak two different languages, and I don’t see how the government can keep up with our aspirations.”

A staff photographer for The Times, who has covered many different conflicts in places such as Kosovo, Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and more said that the fighting he witnessed outside a Libyan oil town may have been the most intense he has ever seen firsthand. The photographer stated, “That fighting includes bombing from jets, shooting from helicopters and incoming mortar and heavy machine gun fire. This is all happening over relatively flat terrain, with very little cover. So when you commit yourself to working out there, there’s not a whole lot you can do to protect yourself. I’m always looking for some kind of cover. But the bombs they’re dropping are huge. You can’t run from them, because you don’t know where they’re going to land. Even if you are wearing a flak jacket and a helmet, if you were hit by one of these bombs from a jet, the clothes wouldn’t do you very much good.”

I know we all hope this ends soon. Make love not war. A

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