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Walking like an Egyptian !
an article by Hassan Mosa-Majida Al Balushi
It was like a dream. Everyone wants freedom but no one plans to
have it. Everyone complains but no one cares. Anyone who talks in
politics keeps looking around waiting for police to come and detain him.
Political corruption was expanding day by day and Egyptians don’t take
action. There was something abnormal in those people, why don’t they
change their reality?? Even though there were books written on this
issue “Why Egyptians don’t revolt”. Some people called this case the
“Stockholm syndrome “where the oppressed gets used to the oppressor and
the oppression process.
click on photo to enlarge
The situation in Egypt was like a room filled with gas; it just needed
the spark to incinerate and demolish all the corruption in the whole
country. People had been suffering from suppression for decades. This
suppression was carried out by the Egyptian police mainly, anyone who
criticized the regime was taken to nowhere and no one could know
anything about him. This nowhere was the namely “the state security
premises”. Thanks to the Tunisian revolution, Egyptians were inspired to
start changing their reality, their country, to a better one.
A campaign was started by activists on Facebook in December of 2011 to
protest on January 25th against poverty, human rights violations and
inequality. The regime didn’t seem to care about this protest; they
thought that it would be like other small protests held before and they
would dismiss those people by the police forces.
The 25th of January 2011 was a special day in Egyptian history. Young
people did not start a protest, they initiated a revolution to change
Egypt; they wanted to change the whole regime that ruled Egypt for
decades of injustice, discrimination and suppression.
More than 300 martyrs were killed by police forces. Those brave martyrs
revolted and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the freedom of the
entire nation. Tahrir Square in Cairo’s downtown is the witness of this
revolution, from the killing of the brave young people of this country
until the victory of their revolution.
Tahrir Square was the central point of the Egyptian revolution. The
revolution lasted for eighteen days and finally Mubarak stepped down.
Here began the real change. Egyptian youth celebrates their victory and
they started the change by cleaning the left outs and rubbish in the
streets.
Egypt was born on the 25th of January 2011; it was a loud scream by the
brave Egyptian young people who gave an example for the whole region
that change happens if you have the will.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
The Arab spring of 2011
Can it inspire democratic movements around the world?
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - DÉVELOPPEMENT DE LA COMMUNAUTE
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The following is reprinted from Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 30 August 2011, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
Cultures of peace, lasting change in Egypt?
Joseph Mayton
Cairo
- Instead of falling victim to Egypt’s eye-for-an-eye past, a concerted
effort to create a culture of peace in what has quickly become a
starkly fractured political scene – between religious groups, the
military and activists, and activists and the people – may well be the
best opportunity to bring about a new Egypt with social justice,
transparency and tolerance.
Egyptians are striving daily to show
the world that societies can change. Cairo is not the same city it was
six months ago. As voices now begin to breech the political and social
stalemate in the country, Egyptian society can, through a culture of
peace, set a precedent not only for their own country but for the whole
region.
UNESCO defines the culture of peace as “a set of values,
attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that reject violence and
prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems
through dialogue”. In Egypt, for example, this could help develop an
overall sense that the "other", who participated in violent acts in the
past, can become part of society, instead of remaining on the outskirts
as they are currently. Building such a culture in Egypt would follow the
South African model of reconciliation, which allowed the country to
look forward instead of focusing on the frustrating and sad past of
apartheid.
Instilling a culture of peace in the younger
generation could be a great antidote to the older generations’ mistrust
and antagonism toward one another – Christian versus Muslim; Worker
versus Owner; Military versus the People; and so on.
In Egypt,
one of the root causes of a lack of a culture of peace is the
educational system. Young Egyptian students are taught that they are
different from one another, that their respective faiths are cause for
separation.. . ...more.
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This report was posted on May 1, 2011.
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