Since the president of Tunisia left Egyptians have been calling for their own revolution, or at least protests. Tunisia showed the Arab world that a government has only as much power as the people allow it to have, and Egyptians have allowed their government to oppress them for far too long.
The January 25th protests, organized on facebook with around 87,000 followers, landed on a national holiday, something like police appreciation day. During the ceremony to commemorate the Egyptian police force (despite the fact that the Egyptian police force is accused of murdering and torturing innocent civilians), a man stripped down and poured gasoline all over himself attempting to set himself on fire in protest of the government and probably hoping to spark a Tunisian style revolution. There have been about 8 self immolation attempts in Egypt since the Tunisian Revolution. The fact that these attempts have occurred over and over again in the past week show the desperation of the situation in Egypt.
January 25th came and here were unprecedented protests all over Egypt. Egyptians swarmed liberation square in the middle of Cairo and stayed until the early hours of the morning only to return again the next day and everyday up to now. At the beginning of these protests people did not think they were going to start a revolution, I think for the most part they wanted to express their anger with the state of things in Egypt. However once the police allowed the protests to occur this broke a fear factor which had prevented many Egyptians from participating the the protests from start. However once Egyptians saw that people were actually able to go out and protest and not immediately be put in jail they decided to go out and join the crowds. Thus the protests grew and grew. Also due to the harsh response from the government - severing communication, cutting off the internet, imposing a curfew, shooting rubber bullets and beating people with batons, etc- people probably only got more enraged. That fact that the protests were able to continue showed Egyptians how much power they actually have. Yes the government is trying to stop the protests but at the same time the government is being pressured not only by its people but by the US government to make changes that suit the Egyptian people. Unfortunately for Mubarak the only change that seem suitable for the Egyptian people is for him to leave office so they can reorganize a government for themselves. So far the people were able to get Mubarak to fire his entire cabinet...hmm this sounds very similar to Tunisia.
Despite the instability, the looters, and the dangers of walking out in the streets Egyptians are happy that they have an opportunity to get rid of their dictator and take control of their lives once again. The day of anger has turned into a week of rage and will surely continue until Mubarak and his party are out of power.
January 25th came and here were unprecedented protests all over Egypt. Egyptians swarmed liberation square in the middle of Cairo and stayed until the early hours of the morning only to return again the next day and everyday up to now. At the beginning of these protests people did not think they were going to start a revolution, I think for the most part they wanted to express their anger with the state of things in Egypt. However once the police allowed the protests to occur this broke a fear factor which had prevented many Egyptians from participating the the protests from start. However once Egyptians saw that people were actually able to go out and protest and not immediately be put in jail they decided to go out and join the crowds. Thus the protests grew and grew. Also due to the harsh response from the government - severing communication, cutting off the internet, imposing a curfew, shooting rubber bullets and beating people with batons, etc- people probably only got more enraged. That fact that the protests were able to continue showed Egyptians how much power they actually have. Yes the government is trying to stop the protests but at the same time the government is being pressured not only by its people but by the US government to make changes that suit the Egyptian people. Unfortunately for Mubarak the only change that seem suitable for the Egyptian people is for him to leave office so they can reorganize a government for themselves. So far the people were able to get Mubarak to fire his entire cabinet...hmm this sounds very similar to Tunisia.
Despite the instability, the looters, and the dangers of walking out in the streets Egyptians are happy that they have an opportunity to get rid of their dictator and take control of their lives once again. The day of anger has turned into a week of rage and will surely continue until Mubarak and his party are out of power.
Hi Mae! This is Katie Peters, your cousin. :-) I just found this, and I wanted to thank you for it! I've been having a hard time figuring out exactly what's going on over there (and you never know who/what to trust on the news)...so I really, REALLY appreciated this clear explanation! I'll be following along here, now. :-)
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