by Aimee Kligman
I needed to write about this on the 25th of January, but having returned to full time work, it was impossible.
The year started with some promise by the rapidly developing rage and unexpected rebellion by the people against their tyrannical governments. Even as the camera was rolling in Tunisia, there was no way in hell anyone believed this would spill over to other countries in North Africa and the Middle East, much less Egypt.
Then the Egyptian people gave me the best birthday gift I could have ever hoped for, since the day Mubarak finally fell off his throne is only 3 days short of my birthday. It was a bittersweet victory, since several hundred young people were murdered by government thugs for their courage and bravery. But, the celebrations were tarnished by attacks on Western women reporters (who can forget Lana Logan's ordeal, as she still suffers from PTSD?), and one of their own, Mona elTahawy (who lives in the US, but was ebullient at the onset of the revolution) was roughed up and taken for interrogation, Egyptian style.
Very early on, I was seeing signs of distress that I was hoping were just in my own suspicious imagination, and that would eventually result in the crush of the liberal forces in Egypt:
I needed to write about this on the 25th of January, but having returned to full time work, it was impossible.
The year started with some promise by the rapidly developing rage and unexpected rebellion by the people against their tyrannical governments. Even as the camera was rolling in Tunisia, there was no way in hell anyone believed this would spill over to other countries in North Africa and the Middle East, much less Egypt.
Then the Egyptian people gave me the best birthday gift I could have ever hoped for, since the day Mubarak finally fell off his throne is only 3 days short of my birthday. It was a bittersweet victory, since several hundred young people were murdered by government thugs for their courage and bravery. But, the celebrations were tarnished by attacks on Western women reporters (who can forget Lana Logan's ordeal, as she still suffers from PTSD?), and one of their own, Mona elTahawy (who lives in the US, but was ebullient at the onset of the revolution) was roughed up and taken for interrogation, Egyptian style.
Very early on, I was seeing signs of distress that I was hoping were just in my own suspicious imagination, and that would eventually result in the crush of the liberal forces in Egypt:
- the youth movement, at least the educated youth who managed to be 'wired' were a minority, and most importantly did not have a de facto leader.
- the Muslim Brotherhood, though somewhat fractured, was the best organized body of any existing or yet to be formed party.
- the military, and its commander, Tantawi, were enjoying international notoriety. Sure, they were on the side of the people,- at first-, but old habits die hard. No one ever said that the army, or the police for that matter, are educated people in Egypt. That is a central point.
- we learned very quickly that it doesn't matter who is prime minister as the position is entirely cosmetic and they come and go. The real deal still lies with Tantawi, and he is apparently fully endorsed by the international community.
- women continued to be the target of horrific violence. Machismo? or simply men who don't want their women to have a say in anything but what's for dinner, and how can they please their men whenever the need arises.
- the ugly head of the Salafist movement is supported by the Saudis; money is a huge factor.
- death to the Jews! freedom for Palestine! death to America! - whether or not one agrees with these slogans, I can't help but think that because of the extreme illiteracy of Egyptians, that these slogans are coming out of the mouths of the folks least able to read, form an opinion, understand world affairs. While they chant 'death to America', Egypt's coffers still receive billions from the US. And while they chant 'freedom for Palestine', which of the 27 or so Arab leaders in the region has ever lifted his gold laden finger to help the Palestinians? As for 'death to the Jews', how many people in today's Egypt know that Jews are an inextricable part of their own history? Again, ignorance.
So is it all gloom and doom? I've got to believe that right now, any light coming at the end of any tunnel is a speeding train. Just ask elBaradei; he was my hope. He was world wise; he had seen democracy at work and he witnessed first hand the impossibly rife corruption in Egypt's upper ranks.
The Egypt Project, is to a very great extent, tied to political progress in Egypt. My dream was to revisit a free democratic Egypt for my 60th birthday. As I celebrate my 61st birthday today, I am sad, somewhat discouraged, but refuse to give up hope. My own country is witnessing how ignorance can be deadly at the moment, with the Republican debates looking more like a circus of trained seals than real politics. Thankfully, the Republicans are not insisting on virginity tests.
The average person in the West reads an average of 200 hours annually; in the Arab world, that statistic is 7 minutes. Do the math.



























