Some Disappointment and Some Hope

The highlight for me today is going to Tahrir square where there is a type of "sit in". Tonight when I went and in light of president Mubarak's speech, it was more crowded than it usually is (about a 2 million). You walk into the square and you find big army tanks and soldiers standing there as though they are guarding you. The people walking in praise the military and thank them for the protection. Then there are ordinary people regulating the traffic, checking ID's, and searching people. We then get greated with music and people praising and thanking us for coming, they chant "welcome revolutionaries!". You walk into a really large space, where there are different types of crowds doing different things. Some are reading poetry, others are dancing and singing, shouting slogans, writing signs, face painting the flag of Egypt, and people praying. It is a beautiful site and a joy to be there, all these people are gathered under couple of main slogans; "Down with Mubarak" and "the People require regime change". Then came the disappointing speech of Mubark.
It was absolutely horrible especially from the perspective of any revolutionary that is demanding real regime change. Mubarak did not offer much. He used cheap political tactics like "am a war hero", "am speaking to you from the heart", and "am going to fullfil all your needs". He promised to change the constitution and framed it as the people should be thankful for changing 6 articles. He also basically adopted the revolutions requests for change with ignoring one main point which is HE NEEDS TO LEAVE. The definate reaction in Tahrir square and the majority did not buy into it and started marching to the palace.
The picture is completely different when you sit at home infront of the TV. The talk shows on the Egyptian TV almost praised the speech and asked Tahrir square people to leave. I made one comment that it is naive to even ask them from people that have been camping for 17 days. The reaction I got from an older woman sitting with me was " we do not want blood, we are not Iraq, and I suggest you dont say revolutionary statements since you are a foreigner". I was a bit confused. Again, people of Egypt do not seem to see how big this revolution is and how important it is for others outside of Egypt. What Egypt is trying to accomplish is a key to other nations speaking out to say no to corruption and request freedom. Egypt also is not Iraq since it does not have a civil war or foreign occupation.
We then watch the foreign media (Aljazeera, Alarabiya, CNN, or BBC) are pro-revolution. Nothing can be trusted since I am not really sure about this excessive coverage and analysis by the western media. What is their agenda? Everyone has an agenda. Mine I have been expressing but certainly pressuring the regime to listen to the people is key. There is hope and there is also enough awareness for all of it to be peaceful. In couple of hours it will be more events to monitor.