There are always cynical sides to situations or revolutions. On one side, I very much enjoy being around those revolutionaries, Egyptians and foreigners, who have the view of regime change is essential, and governments must serve citizens. Those are mostly concentrated in Tahrir square. Yet, the other side is the rest of the population and their reactions. I cannot say I was too surprised by not sensing the revolutionary sentiments of others, but lets say it worried me tremedously. I certainly wonder, in times of revolution, should everyone I meet be onboard?
Starting from the night before Jan 25, I was out to dinner having Indian food. The plans of an organized revolution was the lively discussion at our dinner table. The few that supported the idea expressed their anti government sentiments. Others seemed apathetic. We had one strong speaker against the idea of protesting. I was certainly surprised to hear their views. They were well trimmed and educated, andmocked the idea of "Che" and deemed it as a too archaic tactic. They said Egypt is already changing towards having a business friendly environment and that was good enough, protests are too dramatic and are not effective, plus Egypt is not Tunis. (Quick disclaimar, after the effective protests on Jan 25, this person actually joined the revolution for couple of days.)
We hear the view of Tunis is not Egypt mirrored by those cynical politicians from the new Egyptian government "stop applying the Tunisian catalogue on Egypt". Can they not see all those similarities? The facts are available; concentrated wealth by the very few, one ruling corrupt party, no freedom of press, strong military,and excessive glorification of the president or king.
Tuesday (Jan 25) has passed with impressive results; Egyptians were permitted to protest peacefully for about 12 hours. People around me where happy that the government did not strike at the protesters or did not succeed to desperse the crowds all day. We were all gathered around the TV anticipating that the police would beat or kill the protesters. Nothing was clear and everyone went to sleep. I could not exactly sleep especially that Bibo was at the protests. I could not call him to know the status as the government has lowered the cell signals in Tahrir square (not sure how that is done). After turning off the TV, I monitored the online R.N.N feeds on facebook. It was 2 AM that they started reporting shootings of all types of bullets and tear gas. I became really scared and worried about Bibo and others. I pateintly waited until Bibo finally made it back at 4:30 AM with blood on his jacket. Apparently the protester next to him got a rubber bullet in his eye which spilled blood on Bibo's jacket. I was not exactly sure what are the right words at this moment.
The next 2 days seemed quit and we were all monitoring the news and internet. We were all very worried, what will this government do after these protests? The older generation certainly expected the worst. On facebook, there was a call for another protest on Friday (Jan 28). Not surprisingly, the government shut off all means of communication - cellphones, sms, and internet. The one forgotten means of communication that was kept open were the landlines which became a bit effective in checking up on people.
I woke up on Friday really scared, Bibo was getting prepared to essentially die for the cause. I forced myself to sleep till 3PM and when I woke up I knew there will be the bad news. The worst idea for me was that they arrest him, since then we would be cut off and they can torture him as they please. I got a call from the hospital. My heart was beating fast and ran there as fast as I can. I found Bibo pale and almost proudly smiling. He had 30 little bullets in his chest and arm which were bleeding. I held his hand and felt proud. The doctors and everyone around gave him the hero treatment. The charity hospital also vowed to protect him since we were worried about police coming in to arrest injured protesters.
The days to come, the government delivered its worst and dirtiest of tactics. They have managed to make us live in fear. But the will was strong and everyone that cares went back to the streets to protest as soon it was possible.
Starting from the night before Jan 25, I was out to dinner having Indian food. The plans of an organized revolution was the lively discussion at our dinner table. The few that supported the idea expressed their anti government sentiments. Others seemed apathetic. We had one strong speaker against the idea of protesting. I was certainly surprised to hear their views. They were well trimmed and educated, andmocked the idea of "Che" and deemed it as a too archaic tactic. They said Egypt is already changing towards having a business friendly environment and that was good enough, protests are too dramatic and are not effective, plus Egypt is not Tunis. (Quick disclaimar, after the effective protests on Jan 25, this person actually joined the revolution for couple of days.)
We hear the view of Tunis is not Egypt mirrored by those cynical politicians from the new Egyptian government "stop applying the Tunisian catalogue on Egypt". Can they not see all those similarities? The facts are available; concentrated wealth by the very few, one ruling corrupt party, no freedom of press, strong military,and excessive glorification of the president or king.
Tuesday (Jan 25) has passed with impressive results; Egyptians were permitted to protest peacefully for about 12 hours. People around me where happy that the government did not strike at the protesters or did not succeed to desperse the crowds all day. We were all gathered around the TV anticipating that the police would beat or kill the protesters. Nothing was clear and everyone went to sleep. I could not exactly sleep especially that Bibo was at the protests. I could not call him to know the status as the government has lowered the cell signals in Tahrir square (not sure how that is done). After turning off the TV, I monitored the online R.N.N feeds on facebook. It was 2 AM that they started reporting shootings of all types of bullets and tear gas. I became really scared and worried about Bibo and others. I pateintly waited until Bibo finally made it back at 4:30 AM with blood on his jacket. Apparently the protester next to him got a rubber bullet in his eye which spilled blood on Bibo's jacket. I was not exactly sure what are the right words at this moment.
The next 2 days seemed quit and we were all monitoring the news and internet. We were all very worried, what will this government do after these protests? The older generation certainly expected the worst. On facebook, there was a call for another protest on Friday (Jan 28). Not surprisingly, the government shut off all means of communication - cellphones, sms, and internet. The one forgotten means of communication that was kept open were the landlines which became a bit effective in checking up on people.
I woke up on Friday really scared, Bibo was getting prepared to essentially die for the cause. I forced myself to sleep till 3PM and when I woke up I knew there will be the bad news. The worst idea for me was that they arrest him, since then we would be cut off and they can torture him as they please. I got a call from the hospital. My heart was beating fast and ran there as fast as I can. I found Bibo pale and almost proudly smiling. He had 30 little bullets in his chest and arm which were bleeding. I held his hand and felt proud. The doctors and everyone around gave him the hero treatment. The charity hospital also vowed to protect him since we were worried about police coming in to arrest injured protesters.
The days to come, the government delivered its worst and dirtiest of tactics. They have managed to make us live in fear. But the will was strong and everyone that cares went back to the streets to protest as soon it was possible.
Very impressive Katrin, I loved the narrating and style, salamat for Bibo.
ReplyDeleteSee I always admired Egypt, you know that, right, it was for a very good reason, I studied history and in the heart of it Egypt was a great inspiration and played an active role, until recently, this revolution is rolling and growing, I will look forward to what you're going to write next