When student Peter Gadalla, S.J., was in the fifth grade in Cairo, he was instructed to write an essay about why he liked Hosni Mubarak, the fourth President of the Arab Republic of Egypt whose administration had been ruling the country for the past 30 years, until Egyptian Vice President Suleiman announced Feb. 11 that Mubarak would be stepping down and handing his power to the Egyptian military. Gadalla, then too young to understand politics, said he sensed that there was a general detest for Mubarak’s policies, but wrote the essay anyway.
“I wrote so I could pass,” Gadalla said. Afterward, he and a friend sneaked into each classroom and took down all the portraits of Mubarak hanging in the school.
“The only reason I did that, when I reflect, is because the people around me disliked him,” Gadalla said.
Until two weeks ago, Mubarak, criticized for a corrupt authoritarian regime, was only met with forms of protest like this from mischievous grade school children and smaller demonstrations from high school and college students. The children, now older, have lived under the rule of Mubarak for nearly all their lives, and have decided to radically speak out against him by forming a revolution in Tahrir Square, the activist hub on the streets of Cairo, Egypt’s most populated city.
Gadalla, who moved to the United States when he was 18, said that the revolution was organized through social networking, and that he received an invitation to take part in the first protest, held Jan. 25, through Facebook. More than 100,000 people responded to the Facebook invitation and thousands attended the peaceful protest, which eventually became violent when police reportedly used tear gas and water hoses to disperse the crowd, the majority of which are of a young, educated generation.
“This is a revolution first of its kind to be lead by a social class that is not really established yet,” said professor Hayrettin Yucesoy, who researches Middle Eastern history and culture. “These are young individuals who are, by and large, educated and have grievances about their own country.”
Yucesoy said that through social networking, the younger generation could address the social issues that had been plaguing their society. However, according to Amany Regab Hacking, assistant professor at the School of Law who spoke to the University community at a panel discussion held by the Al-Ghazali Society, the protests did begin through efforts of educated youth, but people of all ages and of all backgrounds, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have joined in the protests in Tahrir.
“The spark was these young people. The internet was a big part of it, but there are people on the streets now that haven’t even used a computer and can’t write their name,” Hacking said. “They see it with their eyes and they are saying ‘Stop. Enough.’”
According to Hacking, 90 percent of the population ages 18 to 30 are unemployed. Gadalla said that some of his friends have moved to the United States in order to receive a better education and a chance at finding a job. Just last week, Gadalla’s friend from childhood, Ahmed Ahab, was shot and killed in the protests in Cairo by police. Ahab, 29, had visited the United States to find a job in an effort to save money so that he could return to Egypt and marry.
Upon his return, Ahab was immediately drafted to the military and spent three years away from his home. He returned last summer to Cairo and married in November. Gadalla said that he is praying for Aheb’s wife, a newlywed and now a widow.
The safety of the protesters, as well as the all Egyptian people, is a concern for many. Student Karen Girgis said her parents moved to the United States from Cairo in 1990, but she still has family there. Girgis’s family, however, stays primarily indoors and does not go out to the streets in Egypt unless absolutely necessary. Girgis said that when the Egyptian government permitted communication, she and her parents would call their family in Egypt every 10 minutes to check on their safety, especially when they heard that there were thieves, gangs and escaped prisoners roaming the streets.
“My uncle, along with other neighbors, joined together and stayed up all night in order to protect their homes and families,” Girgis said. “Whenever they saw strangers coming towards them, my uncle would shoot his gun into the air in order to scare them away.”
Girgis said she is excited and nervous about the success of the revolution, which she hopes is the first step in transforming her family’s country.
“I hope that the army will offer a safe transition because I really want to see peace, to have a return to normalcy for my family,” Girgis said. “Right now, I pray that the future will be put in the hands of wise rulers that will respect, appreciate, and cultivate everything beautiful about the Egyptian people, their undying love, patience and kindness to restore this amazing country.
Professor and Chairwoman Ellen Carnaghan of the Political Science Department is an expert on revolutions, and said that the uprising in Egypt sparked following a revolution in Tunisia that met success within 28 days last month when President Ben Ali agreed to resign and fled to Saudi Arabia.
The connection between the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, Carnaghan said, is referred to as the diffusion of revolution, a concept comparable to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. “After [a revolt] happens in one country, then it happens in another country where people conceive of their situation as very similar,” Carnaghan said, explaining that the protesters in Egypt may have seen similar characteristics between their government and Tunisia, allowing for a domino effect of uprisings.
Although Mubarak has ruled the country for 30 years through elections, Yucesoy said the elections have been fixed to allow him to rule. While he and Gadalla agree that this has been general knowledge for decades, Gadalla argues that only people of the younger generation could have spoken against it due to fear of the Mubarak regime.
Gadalla said that older adults were met with a type of Stockholm Syndrome, in which they put their trust in Mubarak although he continued to abuse them. “When I lived in Egypt, I did not know what freedom was,” Gadalla said. “I remember that in my first week in the United States, I said it feels different to not be treated like an animal, but like a human being.”
Through social networking and inspiration from recent successful uprisings, the Egyptian people have finally been cured of Stockholm Syndrome as the younger generation leads the revolt in order to introduce democracy to an authoritarian society, Gadalla said.
Carnaghan said that while she thinks it is always a good thing for uprisings to be lead by educated people, the ultimate goal and solution of the protesters has not been identified.
“My hope is that Egypt will become secular,” Gadalla said. “I think Egypt is on its way to democracy. I can’t tell what is going to happen, but I have hope. God knows.”
Hacking said she believes the resignation of Mubarak calls for celebration and elation of those who opposed his 30 year rule.
“Their resilience and persistence is inspiring,” Hacking said. “Finally the will of the Egyptian people was heard. I think this is only the beginning of real change and prosperity for Egypt.”
It is unclear whether or not the military rule will bring democracy to Egypt rapidly, but Yucesoy said the government will be transitioning to form a national unity in Egypt that will be responsible for carrying the country to democratic elections and new constitutions.
However, not everyone had the same hope that the revolt will be successful, as the Obama administration did not support the uprising. “It’s easy to watch the revolution in Egypt and feel sorry for what people there have suffered, but we can’t forget that it is U.S. military aid that has allowed the Egyptian dictatorship to reign,” said Anna Baltzer, author and human rights activist who organizes protests through the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition.
Yucesoy said it is his belief that eventually democracy will come.
“The Egyptian revolution has finally achieved a magnificent milestone with the resignation of Mubarak,” Yucesoy said. “I am very optimistic that the transition and its aftermath will be peaceful and very successful.”
