Feb 9, 2011

And They Fall Into Place...

Entry 37:

February 9, 2010 11:30 pm

In the last 48 hours a vital piece of the puzzle fell into place for 99.9% of the Egyptian population who weren’t sure which specs of ice had started the snow ball. There were millions in the square. But no one could tell you who told them to go there.

 Some had actually received a “Facebook” invitation with a logo of an angry protestor on it and the announcement that there will be a “Day of Anger” on Tuesday the 25th  of January. I was one of those who had an active facebook account and received it.

However, most people came because someone informed them that there was a protest forming. Still, up until the events I will mention below, the majority of Egyptians had no clue how they ended up in one of the biggest revolutions in history. A revolution that appeared to have started with the wealthy and not with those who had nothing to lose and the most to gain as has been the majority of revolutions in history.

We all knew that protestors had been killed, beaten and some of them, together with numerous reporters, had been arrested or declared “missing”.

Among those missing, was a young man called Wael Ghoneim. We kept hearing of him here and there, mainly because he was an esteemed employee in the renowned “Google” Middle East Division. We heard his mother and father, his wife and his company were looking for him. We prayed for them.

Then, in what is the equivalent of America’s “60 Minutes” program to Egyptians, “The Ten O’Clock Show” (10:00 pm that is) announced that Wael Ghoneim was found. He had been held by Egyptian intelligence for 11 days for allegedly instigating the events that took place on the 25th of January, namely the very first protest.

In an interview with this popular Egyptian TV show, he appeared on national television looking haggard and exhausted and broke into tears several times during the show. He explained how he was kidnapped in the street, blindfolded for the entirety of his captivity and repeatedly questioned about the events that lead to the protests. Ghoneim insisted, that apart from them keeping him without informing his family, he was never mistreated by those who held him there.

Then he told the simple story about a group of young Egyptians who started a facebook page for “Khaled Saeed” a 28 year old Egyptian beaten to death and dragged through the streets of Alexandria on June 6, 2010. He was trying to leak a tape of a group of Egyptian officers splitting up drugs after a drug bust.

“We Are All Khaled Saeed” was the name of the facebook page and it called for demonstrations.  Small demonstrations did take place shortly after, on occasions marking different stages of the investigation into his death that always exonerated the police.

The police blatantly faked a coroner’s report and a trial claiming that Khaled had committed suicide meaning that he basically beat himself into a pulp. In fact, they did everything to show Egyptian people that they killed him, the pictures proved it and there was nothing the Egyptian people could do about it.

Saeed was definitely not the first Egyptian to die in Egypt in this manner. The numbers are probably in the scary thousands. But somehow God chose him to be the “tipping point”.

Wael Ghoneim and his group, were constantly fueled by this trauma to their sheltered lifestyle. These were wealthy individuals, touched by a story that summarized the cruelty of the Egyptian ruling system. They did not know what “hardship” was. However, this story gave a pretty close account of it.

They definitely knew that the country was not theirs. They had no more rights in it than the poor or even destitute did. They had a feeling that maybe this was the time for them to change it.

Shortly after their failure to create a major impact over Khaled’s tragedy, inspired by Tunisia, they started a page to invite people to protest on the 25th of January which is “Police Day” in Egypt. The main people on the mailing list were those that had joined the “We Are All Khaled Saeed” page, the rest were contacts of contacts. So the news spread in a “butterfly effect” in the true spirit of Facebook

That is how it started. Now the square is a living entity of its own. Inhabited by a variety of Egyptian personifications of injustice in human form. Every face has a story and a reason to be there, that prevents it from ever going home.

There is a culture and order to the square. There is a check point system, a food and water system and makeshift accommodations.  There is artwork on display and podiums for poetry and “positive energy” in abundance. A sober equivalent to “Woodstock”, it is a site as worthy in its touristic value as the pyramids themselves.

Now that there are no police nor “thugs” on horses and camelback attacking, regular Egyptians come in droves to pay homage to the resident protestors.

The doubts and fears of the last entry have temporarily been quelled by the moving unifying speech of the young Wael Ghoneim. For he did what the president failed to feel let alone realize the wisdom of faking. Ghoneim broke into uncontrollable sobs at the mere sight of the pictures of those who lost their lives participating in something he and his friends had put together with a few strokes of a computer keyboard.

He even apologized for the lives of police and any Egyptians who lost their lives since the protests began. He apologized for the deaths, but pointed the finger of responsibility towards the president for not allowing the protestors to ask for their most basic rights in peace.

I visited the square yesterday. For the first time, as a mother of two young children, I felt it safe to be present where all the phone calls I received originated. I felt like a cheater for only setting foot there when the bullets had stopped. I felt like a tourist watching a wedding when I was never family or friend to the bride or groom.

I thanked God that my husband had participated in the days of violence and said a silent prayer hoping that that gave me some right to smile at these brave people and claim that I am one of them.

I have never been prouder to be an Egyptian. I have never been so thankful to be present at such a time in humanity’s timeline. I pray that the very lack of leadership that made this revolution so unique, does not lead to its demise.

I pray for a unifying leader and voice. I pray for the tools to facilitate this nation’s evolvement. And I pray that the outside world’s personal interests do not interfere. I pray that Khaled Saeed rests in peace and knows that his death was not in vain. I pray that his parents find some comfort in this. I pray that his image reminds us of what is at risk if we give up this fight.

In honor of him and all those tortured to death on Egyptian soil that remain un-avenged, I will post the first pictures ever on this blog. I am posting his image in health and after his death. Despite the gore and tragedy of this image, it is as important as anything I have reported so far about these historic events. God bless and rest his soul.

I will keep writing this blog as long as there are people in
Tahrir Square
.

God Bless.




PLEASE READ ENTRY 10 or THE FIRST ENTRY OF THIS BLOG FOR BACKGROUND


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