I thought we had lost momentum, until I - and I hope millions of others - watched an exhausted, beaten, Wael Ghonim's heart-wrenching interview a couple of hours ago.
Wael was the administrator of the "We are all Khaled Said" facebook group which has been widely credited for spreading, if not originating, the call for the January 25th protest-turned-revolution.
He cried, on live television, when he was shown the photos of the people who lost their lives during the revolution. He apologized to their parents, and said. "I swear it's not our fault.. it's the fault of the people desperately clinging to power..."
It's been an exhausting two weeks. Demonstrating is a lot of effort, especially if, like the vast majority of the people there, you have a life to care about, too.
Public opinion is very difficult to read. The population has, by and large, been extremely supportive of the demonstrators camped in Tahrir and other places, up until February 1st. On that evening the President gave a pathetic address about how he had served the country for godknowshowmany years, and wanted to end his presidential term. He played on people's emotional strings and it seemed to work.
More than anything though, he has also been playing quite a dirty media game - using all government and government-controlled channels and newspapers to paint the demonstrators in the worst possible light, tarnishing their great effort and essentially claiming that they are the root of all evil.
Economic slowdown? It's the demonstrators.
Police disappeared and thugs have taken control of the streets? Gotta be the demonstrators.
Countrywide curfew? Sure, their fault too.
Food and fuel shortages? Makes total sense that the demonstrators are guilty there too.
And people are buying it. People living in the vicinity of Tahrir square have been 'arresting' and robbing protestors or anyone they suspected of being one. Many of those, by the way, have gone to Tahrir square last Wednesday 2 Feb., to joined the government's hired thugs in beating up the peaceful (and pacifist) pro-change protestors.
More frighteningly, the army, which has been deployed in the streets of Cairo to maintain peace and security since the police decided to abandon the citizens to the mercy of street thugs, is also blaming the protestors for it.
When they were first deployed, people welcomed the army with open arms. They jumped on tanks and hugged soldiers. "The People and the Army, One hand united", they chanted.
They meant it at first.
In the past few days, the slogan has sounded increasingly forcible, insincere - almost an attempt to remind the army of their vow to protect them, or perhaps sway them to their cause.
But there have been a number of incidents where People-Army tensions have flared.
An unexpected visit by a couple of generals, one of them the chief of the armed forces in Cairo, who tried to persuade people to evacuate the square, first by going into a long monologue about regional balances, then by shouting at them, and ultimately by accusing the patients at the field hospital of faking illness and injuries to "make the country look bad" (vis-a-vis the rest of the world).
The ongoing gradual return to normal life will have an unpredictable effect on the revolution's momentum.
On one hand, it is likely to quiet popular criticism towards the demonstrators, as people's anger will dampen when they start going back to work, get paid, etc.
On the other, the price that demonstrators pay to remain in the square will largely increase in relative terms - they'll be foregoing their wage, which their colleagues will not be doing.
The political machinations in the making - opposition forces discussing between themselves, with the government, various 'councils of wisemen' and other groups who claim to represent the people in Tahrir square popping up like wild mushrooms - all will have an impact on a demonstration which, it seems to me, is living day-by-day.
Which brings me to Wael Ghonim's interview. The interview effectively swept, in one TV-minute, all the clutter that had been amassing atop the core issues: human, social and economic rights. Emergency law. The brutality of a police that opens fire on demonstrators. The blood shed and the lives lost.
I'll be going to Tahrir square tomorrow with a renewed faith. This revolution is just and fair.
And we're far, far from being done.
Tomorrow will be great. And so will the day after. And the day after.
['The pessoptimist' was the title of a novel by Emile Habibi - if you haven't guessed, it's the contraction of 'pessimist' and 'optimist'.]
Wael was the administrator of the "We are all Khaled Said" facebook group which has been widely credited for spreading, if not originating, the call for the January 25th protest-turned-revolution.
He cried, on live television, when he was shown the photos of the people who lost their lives during the revolution. He apologized to their parents, and said. "I swear it's not our fault.. it's the fault of the people desperately clinging to power..."
It's been an exhausting two weeks. Demonstrating is a lot of effort, especially if, like the vast majority of the people there, you have a life to care about, too.
Public opinion is very difficult to read. The population has, by and large, been extremely supportive of the demonstrators camped in Tahrir and other places, up until February 1st. On that evening the President gave a pathetic address about how he had served the country for godknowshowmany years, and wanted to end his presidential term. He played on people's emotional strings and it seemed to work.
More than anything though, he has also been playing quite a dirty media game - using all government and government-controlled channels and newspapers to paint the demonstrators in the worst possible light, tarnishing their great effort and essentially claiming that they are the root of all evil.
Economic slowdown? It's the demonstrators.
Police disappeared and thugs have taken control of the streets? Gotta be the demonstrators.
Countrywide curfew? Sure, their fault too.
Food and fuel shortages? Makes total sense that the demonstrators are guilty there too.
And people are buying it. People living in the vicinity of Tahrir square have been 'arresting' and robbing protestors or anyone they suspected of being one. Many of those, by the way, have gone to Tahrir square last Wednesday 2 Feb., to joined the government's hired thugs in beating up the peaceful (and pacifist) pro-change protestors.
More frighteningly, the army, which has been deployed in the streets of Cairo to maintain peace and security since the police decided to abandon the citizens to the mercy of street thugs, is also blaming the protestors for it.
When they were first deployed, people welcomed the army with open arms. They jumped on tanks and hugged soldiers. "The People and the Army, One hand united", they chanted.
They meant it at first.
In the past few days, the slogan has sounded increasingly forcible, insincere - almost an attempt to remind the army of their vow to protect them, or perhaps sway them to their cause.
But there have been a number of incidents where People-Army tensions have flared.
An unexpected visit by a couple of generals, one of them the chief of the armed forces in Cairo, who tried to persuade people to evacuate the square, first by going into a long monologue about regional balances, then by shouting at them, and ultimately by accusing the patients at the field hospital of faking illness and injuries to "make the country look bad" (vis-a-vis the rest of the world).
The ongoing gradual return to normal life will have an unpredictable effect on the revolution's momentum.
On one hand, it is likely to quiet popular criticism towards the demonstrators, as people's anger will dampen when they start going back to work, get paid, etc.
On the other, the price that demonstrators pay to remain in the square will largely increase in relative terms - they'll be foregoing their wage, which their colleagues will not be doing.
The political machinations in the making - opposition forces discussing between themselves, with the government, various 'councils of wisemen' and other groups who claim to represent the people in Tahrir square popping up like wild mushrooms - all will have an impact on a demonstration which, it seems to me, is living day-by-day.
Which brings me to Wael Ghonim's interview. The interview effectively swept, in one TV-minute, all the clutter that had been amassing atop the core issues: human, social and economic rights. Emergency law. The brutality of a police that opens fire on demonstrators. The blood shed and the lives lost.
I'll be going to Tahrir square tomorrow with a renewed faith. This revolution is just and fair.
And we're far, far from being done.
Tomorrow will be great. And so will the day after. And the day after.
['The pessoptimist' was the title of a novel by Emile Habibi - if you haven't guessed, it's the contraction of 'pessimist' and 'optimist'.]
2 comments:
thanks for the insight bro..
Great post. Mubarak pulled a classic boss tactic in union-busting campaigns. Right before the day of the election (after months or in some cases *years* of fighting to have their voices heard), the boss will get in front of his workers and cry his brains out, asking for forgiveness. And by in large this tactic works. While clearly fear is a large part of oppressive regimes, at some point denial sets in. Not too different in America. We squabble over school funding and debate about whether Walmart should say "happy holidays" or "merry christmas", while Iraqis and Afghanis continue to suffer around our illegal military ventures. People would rather choose a blissful ignorance rather than face the reality that they hold the keys to their own destiny.
Keep the fire burning! You are inspiring youth all over the world, including in the United States. While the US hegemony is clearly aligned against free people, the actual every day Americans are no different than their Egyptian brethren. Success in Egypt is paramount to success in the United States!
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