I would like to devote my blog this week to the Revolution in Egypt and their extremely well organized, militant, and creative efforts with which the Egyptians have successfully ousted their leader, Hosni Mubarak, and sparked a pro-democracy revolution in bordering countries with oppressive regimes. Their movement fascinates me for the three reasons: onions, King, and soccer fans.
We've all created Facebook events for our graduation parties or used it as a tool of procrastination. The Egyptians utilized this medium in a different way; they invited people to join a revolution. A government overthrow was organized from a Facebook group. As Wael Ghonim said in the New York Times, "I have never seen a revolution that was preannounced before". Over 100,000 citizens signed up for the event. The timing and placement of this revolution was a collaborative plan between college age students in Egypt and Tunisia that had been being developed for over two years.
We've all created Facebook events for our graduation parties or used it as a tool of procrastination. The Egyptians utilized this medium in a different way; they invited people to join a revolution. A government overthrow was organized from a Facebook group. As Wael Ghonim said in the New York Times, "I have never seen a revolution that was preannounced before". Over 100,000 citizens signed up for the event. The timing and placement of this revolution was a collaborative plan between college age students in Egypt and Tunisia that had been being developed for over two years.
A group of college students who were well off and intelligent formed the core of the protest movement in Egypt. Many of their parents were supporters of Mubarak, and the tech-savvy students knew death was the price of failure. They carefully organized and collaborated with their victorious counterparts in Tunisia, rebels that had succeeded in revolting against their government. The Tunisians provided tips on how to survive protests. They told the Egyptians to bring "lemons, onions and vinegar to sniff for relief from tear gas, and soda or milk to pour into their eyes" (New York Times). The tips were transferred between protesters through a Facebook group. The rapid ability to share causal information about the use of onions to neutralize tear gas proved invaluable to the Egyptians’ success.
Police violence and riot control tried to stamp out the protesters. The rebels’ cycled protesters into the streets to allow the injured to recover but as the violence increased, they needed help. Two unlikely groups came to their aid, the Muslim Brotherhood, …and the soccer fans. The Muslim Brotherhood is a secret, illegal organization that operates with a very disciplined hierarchy. They were able to organize the protesters into disciplined groups to fend off the riot police and Mubarak supporters. The soccer fans of the two Egyptian teams, normally bitter rivals, united and joined the effort to protect the protesters. They were used to confronting the police at the stadiums and their offensive skills practiced at soccer games became useful when fighting for their peoples’ freedom.
Police violence and riot control tried to stamp out the protesters. The rebels’ cycled protesters into the streets to allow the injured to recover but as the violence increased, they needed help. Two unlikely groups came to their aid, the Muslim Brotherhood, …and the soccer fans. The Muslim Brotherhood is a secret, illegal organization that operates with a very disciplined hierarchy. They were able to organize the protesters into disciplined groups to fend off the riot police and Mubarak supporters. The soccer fans of the two Egyptian teams, normally bitter rivals, united and joined the effort to protect the protesters. They were used to confronting the police at the stadiums and their offensive skills practiced at soccer games became useful when fighting for their peoples’ freedom.
The protesters in Egypt and Tunisia are a great example of the force and power behind unified non-violence. They modeled their protest on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and attained world respect because of their approach. The New York Times cited a group of men who "stood silent as rocks rained down on them. An older man told a younger one to put down his stick". The college student that organized this large scale-nonviolent protest can be seen as examples of the Gandhi’s and King’s of our generation.
The revolution in Egypt is classic revolution with a new twist. Just as in the “classic” revolution, young forward thinking people started it. The common people rose up to rebel for their country, and it was a unified effort against the current government. However, in Egypt’s revolution, young rebels shared information between countries instantaneously through Facebook groups. The “common people” were angry soccer fans well versed in resistance, and an illegal brotherhood. Finally, the resistance was nonviolent and inspired by Gandhi and King. Egypt’s protest was a 21st century revolt and it sparked the sense of freedom in other oppressed countries in the region such as Bahrain to enter a new age of revolt.
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