The Balkan Chronicle

"Poor people gonna rise up

And get their share

Poor people gonna rise up

And take what's theirs

And finally the tables are starting to turn

Talkin' bout a revolution"

– Tracy Chapman's Talkin' Bout A Revolution, 1988

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The sleeping Egyptian giant has finally awoken.

The Arab world's most populous nation—85 million strong—has been in political hibernation for 30 long years.

The deep slumber is now over. The reign of Hosni Mubarak will end, sooner or later, as a rejuvenated population sheds apathy's blanket.

An amateur video showing the arrest in Egypt of an alleged spy belonging to the Israeli General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, the Sayeret Matkal, indicates how worried Tel Aviv is by the turmoil engulfing the Mubarak regime and suggests that attempts are underway by outside forces to destabilise the popular revolution.