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Thank You, Egypt!

Posted February 11th, 2011 by Lesley Hazleton

Oh my God…

It’s hard to type through the tears.

Egypt, you did it! Egypt, I love you!

You are celebrating right now.  And so are all of us all over the world who’ve been glued to Al Jazeera‘s livestream and to protesters’ Twitter feeds for the past three weeks in stunned admiration, in anxiety and exhilaration, our hearts in our mouths, humbled by the sheer courage and determination of every single Egyptian who risked imprisonment, torture, and (for over 300 people) death.

Thank you, Egypt.  We needed to be reminded of this.  We needed to see that the desire for freedom and justice cannot be squelched.  That it can prevail against the most horrendous odds.  That it can stand up to guns and tanks, to thugs and torturers.  That the power of ideas is stronger than the power of weapons.  That democracy really is the will of the people.

I have no more idea than anyone else what happens from here on.  No idea if the ‘Supreme Military Council’ really does intend to hand over power to an interim civilian government.

But I do suspect that the generals may not have a choice.   Faced with such huge numbers of protesters —  even if accounts of 20 million Egyptians demonstrating in the streets today were exaggerated, even if it was “only” 10 million —  those numbers are doubling, even tripling, as people flood outside in jubilation.   In the face of such numbers, and such widespread support for genuine, total reform, I very much doubt that the military would even dare try to pull a double-cross.

All that is for the usual pundits, however.  For today, Egyptians celebrate.  And most of the world celebrates with them and for them.   Bravo Tunisia!  Bravo Egypt!  You have given notice to all dictatorial regimes — in the Middle East, and indeed worldwide.   You’ve renewed our faith in our own principles.  You have, literally, encouraged us — filled us with the courage so often lacking in our wavering liberal convictions.

Egyptians, there is only one word for what you have done:  magnificent!

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File under: Middle East | Tagged: Tags: celebration, Egypt, January 25, Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, revolution, Supreme Military Council, Tunisia | 22 Comments
  1. Elisa Sparks says:
    February 11, 2011 at 9:21 am

    One of my friends posted her facebook status today as “walking like an Egyptian.” I want to start a trend of posting status of the Egyptian equivalent of “I too am an Egyptian” Do you have the words?

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 11, 2011 at 9:41 am

      ‘Walking like an Egyptian’ does it for me, Elisa. Beautiful.

  2. Labrys says:
    February 11, 2011 at 9:24 am

    Yes, I kept getting up thru the night (as Egyptian morning began) to check news on the computer. I was too worried to sleep, and this morning here…the jubilation in Cairo’s streets is intoxicating.
    Oh, that it stays so uplifting!

  3. Lana says:
    February 11, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    You put it elequantly … I LOVE EGYPT 🙂

  4. Anita says:
    February 11, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    God Bless Egypt

  5. Sana says:
    February 11, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    Unity is a rarity in this day in age. Im so proud of them… They showed them, they showed the world. Thank you for giving us hope egypt! Definitely walk like an Egyptian! in more than one way…..

  6. Lynn Rosen says:
    February 12, 2011 at 12:18 am

    Today, we are all Egyptians.

  7. Meg says:
    February 12, 2011 at 10:29 am

    Shows the power of the internet, of the people, and of the ripple effects of the U.S. and other world superpowers taking a stand against malevolent heads of organizations, countries, etc. (aka, Iraq was poorly done, but it removed Saddam and was huge in leading to this, and in leading to this done so quickly and without huge outlays of armed intervention).

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 12, 2011 at 10:48 am

      Meg — The power of the Internet as an organizing tool, yes. The power of people finding their courage and their voice, most definitely. But the power of the US? I think not. If the US took a stand against dictatorship, this is news to me. Iraq is still a disaster thanks to the US, and the current Egyptian revolution took place entirely without US awareness. In other words, the US is not relevant here. This is about Egypt, not us.

      • Meg says:
        February 12, 2011 at 11:03 am

        Yes, it is about Egypt. But Egypt did not do this alone. As someone deeply involved in Islam, I can attest to the power that the people of the Middle East (and Iraq) now feel, due to the removal of Saddam and having the right to vote. Poorly handled events teach the world how to better handle things the next round. Egypt is the result of the ripple effects of such events (insha’allah, Egypt will be able to ‘right’ its government more quickly than other regions, as it does not have huge damage accompanying an overthrow). Right time, right place, power of the people and the internet … THIS is what “armed forces” and global leaders are, at their best, supposed to do – stand publicly in harm’s way to protect peaceful requests for freedom.

  8. Robert Corbett says:
    February 12, 2011 at 11:17 am

    Hallejuhah! Now for the hard part.

  9. Egyptian and proud says:
    February 12, 2011 at 9:38 pm

    @Elisa
    I too am an Egyptian=”Ana Kaman Masry” for guys
    “Ana Kaman Masrya” for ladies

    and again I’m deeply thankful to u all, wanna c u soon in Egypt 😉
    Today we were celebrating/cleaning & redecorating the square,it’s now spotless 😀

    http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1706788482899&set=a.1706779082664.88377.1633656741&pid=1526405&id=1633656741

  10. Sunny says:
    February 12, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    Lesley Hazleton,

    Would you have also been equally joyful and supportive of anti-government demonstrators in Iran?

    And why is that Islamic countries – whether a dictatorship or a democracy, cannot have a non-muslim as a head of state? For instance, what will it take for a country like Pakistan to have a situation where a Pakistani Hindu can openly compete for the post of the country’s President? Or is it that an “Islamic democracy” does not allow this situation?

    • dh says:
      February 13, 2011 at 3:02 am

      Dear Sunny,

      There’s never been a Muslim president of India. For starters.

      Please… um… read newspapers and “suchlike”.

  11. Sunny says:
    February 13, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    dh,

    Unless both of us live in different Universes, your statement “for starters” is plain wrong.

    India has had more than one Muslim president. However, for a Pakistani Hindu to even run for the country’s Presidency, we all have to move to a different Universe. Please read my previous comment for reference.

  12. Lavrans says:
    February 16, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Why can’t the US have a Muslim President? Heck, the idea of allowing a Catholic was pretty radical not that long ago.

    Which points to my hope- that the US doesn’t do what it did when Iran had their revolution (that, from my understanding, was hijacked by the fundamentalists; it wasn’t created or supported by them until after it was in swing).

    I hope the current administration supports the demonstrators and their wishes and doesn’t cow to our generals and politicians who will call for the support of some oligarch or “strong man” who only supports US interests.

    Let Egypt be Egypt, and let the Egyptians have what they want and need- not what we desire.

  13. Sunny says:
    February 16, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Lavrans,

    “Why cant the US have a muslim president?”. The answer is that there is no constitutional obstacle if an American muslim citizen choose to run for the presidency. However, in most “muslim countries”, a non-muslim cannot run for the president’s office. Pakistan is one example, Iran is another. Malaysia is yet another. A Pakistani Sikh or a Pakistani Christian or a Pakistani Hindu cannot certainly run for the top job, as per the constitution. I wonder if this is a characteristic of an “Islamic democracy” or is it a misinterpretation of Islam?

    There was another word used in the South African context – “Apartheid”. Isnt this the apt term to be used when a country’s constitution uses religion as a basis to disqualify certain people from certain jobs?

  14. Fatima says:
    February 17, 2011 at 8:59 am

    A Muslim country is, by definition, governed under Islam. Having a requirement that the leader be Muslim not only makes perfect sense but is necessary for governing the country according to Islamic practices (you cannot know and value Islam on the level necessary if you are not a practicing Muslim).

    In order to be President of the United States, you have to be born in the U.S. This is for similar reason. People are tied to where they are from, it forms a base for who they are.

    Democracy and Islam are not at odds with one another. While I am not sure of this, it does seem unlikely that there would be a good practicing Muslim as President of the U.S., because he or she would probably have to violate Islam in order to hold the position (given how many laws protect the rights of people to drink, consume non-halal food, etc.).

    If someone does not want to live in a Muslim country, or in a non-Muslim country, then they should move to where they are comfortable. There is no perfect government, only imperfect people trying to establish systems by which to best govern and help other imperfect people.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 17, 2011 at 10:50 am

      Fatima — or maybe it would be better if we simply abandoned the very idea of “a Christian country” or “a Jewish country” or “a Muslim country,” none of which really make sense since “a country” is a national entity, not a religious one. When the US identifies as “a Christian country”, as it did under George W. with his Crusader flag-waving, it loses its founding principles. So too with Israel as “a Jewish country.” And so too with any “Muslim country” where religious law takes precedence over civil rights. It seems to me that the whole issue of whether Islam and democracy are “compatible” is an Islamophobic red herring, since Islam is no more or less “compatible” with democracy than Christianity or Judaism.

      • Fatima says:
        February 17, 2011 at 1:52 pm

        Big Brother need not determine the governmental structure of every country on the planet, need he?! Surely America, the Melting Pot, can value that other governmental systems bring strengths that democracy alone does not.

        America is very new country. When the U.S. system has been tried and true for a few thousand years, then perhaps there will be some well earned confidence in the superiority of this system over all others.

        Democracy (as in the right of people to vote; civil rights; free will; etc.) and Islam do not conflict (nor do Judaism or Christianity conflict with democracy).

        Muhammad gave women the right to vote thousands of years ago. The U.S. only gave that right in 1920.

        I value that there are Muslim countries. I would love to live in one that actually practices my religion, Islam, well. None at this time do. I also value voting, which, as you know, is very in keeping with Islam. The malevolent ruling powers of Islamic countries got there usually with the aid of other countries, for varying reasons of financial gain. These men call themselves Muslim but are not practicing the religion as Allah instructs.

  15. Adel says:
    February 26, 2011 at 8:24 am

    I am, for the first time in my life, happy to be Egyptian, proud, jubilant and hopeful. The road is long and hard, climbing always is. I thank you so much for supporting our cause, and for writing such a wonderful article, through your tears.

    Adel

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      February 26, 2011 at 9:10 am

      Adel — your comments make my heart feel huge. Thank you.

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