Myrtus

Did Martin Luther King really have any influence on the Egyptian revolution?

Sounds like a beautiful dream and I would love to believe it, but a claim like that is too far fetched in my opinion.  Making that connection is sweet and a lovely tribute to Dr King though, regardless of the motive.

I think it's safe to say that we've all witnessed a revolution sparked by the young's relentless desire and drive to be free from the shackles of tyranny and determined to control their own destiny. A revolution that spontaneously materialized before our eyes, with live images coming to usstraight from Tahrir Square and other parts of Egypt.  We've all seen how the Egyptian people struggled in their fight for freedom with blood sweat and tears and sadly many of them paid the ultimate price. 

Comic Illustrates MLK's Role in Egyptian Revolution - Towleroad

Pundits and press have noted the peaceful atmosphere surrounding Egypt's revolution and the subsequent resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. While the events of the past two weeks will be debated for years to come, the American Islamic Congress, a non-profit group founded after September 11th, are citing a recently translated comic book about Martin Luther King Jr.'s non-violent philosophy as a potential factor in Egypt's civil disobedience.

 

 

Is this the way forward for political Islam?

Dalia Ziada is Egypt Director of the American Islamic Congress, a non-profit group founded in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to confront intolerance against Muslims, and later to promote peace and civil rights throughout the Arabic world. The AIC's HAMSA initiative - designed to link civil rights groups throughout the Middle East -- undertook in 2008 a project to translate The Montgomery Storyinto Arabic (and later Farsi). With the endorsement of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Ziada distributed 2,000 copies of the comic throughout the Middle East, and her efforts were consequently reported on by news sources including Time Magazine and History News Network:

Spreading the message of non-violent resistance throughout the Middle East is ultimately a means to an end for Ziada and the rest of the AIC; that is, to inspire action. "The main message I hope that Arabic readers will take from the MLK comic book is that: change is not impossible. It is time to stop using our muscles blindly. Let's try using our intellect in innovative, creative ways to pressure decision makers and end dictatorship, tyranny and the suppression practiced against us."

Is political Islam becoming more sensible all of a sudden?  Even the Muslim Brotherhood claims to be secular now and secular Muslims are allowed a microphone.  What's going on?

 

Was there something wrong with the media approach to the Muslim world?

So far, the picture has not been pretty: the George W. Bush administration demonized the Muslim news media; Muslim journalists returned the favor. But research shows that the Obama administration has the opportunity to take a more sophisticated approach to those who drive public opinion throughout the Islamic world.

Yes he does and President Obama did appear to do exacly that in his dreamy speech following Mubarak's resignation, but that doesn't mean a thing if his words don't translate into action:

"And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can't help but hear the echoes of history, echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path justice. As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, there's something in the soul that cries out for freedom."

Anyway, it's a brand new day, yet some things will still remain the same. 

Alarmists will still be alarmists.

Naysayers will still be naysayers.

Opportunists will still be opportunists.

Pessimists will still be pessimists.

Believers will still be believers.

At the end of the day, Egyptians did what no one thought possible only a few weeks ago....they've unleashed thehuman spirit in a way that will be contagious for years to come and no one can stop them now. 

One could argue, would the revolution have been peaceful if Egyptians had the right to bear arms?

Maybe not.  All they had was rocks to defend themselves against the evil regime, but they remained peaceful till the very end and the fact still remains, who cleaned up the mess after it was all over?

The people did.

 

 

مبرووووووووووووووووووووووووك يا مصريين

You did it!!!!!!!!!!!

Blood sucker is gone!

Alf mabrouk! :)

 

Egypt Popular Uprising Inspires Hip Hop

 

"Produced by Sami Matar, a Palestinian-American composer from Southern California, and featuring the likes of Freeway, The Narcicyst, Omar Offendum, HBO Def Poet Amir Sulaiman, and Canadian R&B vocalist Ayah - this track serves as a testament to the revolution's effect on the hearts and minds of today's youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide."

 

 

Ramy Donjewan - ضد الحكومة - Against the Government

Anti-Mubarak demo in Israel ~ #Jan25 #Egypt

Pro-democracy demonstrations supporting the people of Egypt are going on around the world and have been widely reported by the media, but it looks like there was at least one demonstration in Israel they failed to cover.

 

According to this Flemish blog, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians held a demonstration last Tuesday in front of the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv, in solidarity with the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

 

Arabieren in Israël en bij de buren: Breng ons Nasser weer! | Vlaamse Vrienden van Israël

Tel Aviv (Israël), 1 februari 2011. En wat denken de Israëlische Arabieren en Palestijnen over de huidige ontwikkelingen in Egypte? Op het plaatje organiseerden een groep Israëlische Arabieren en Palestijnen afgelopen dinsdag een demonstratie voor de Egyptische ambassade in Tel Aviv. Het evenement werd gehouden in solidariteit met de opstanden in Tunesië en Egypte.

Meet Asmaa Mahfouz - The girl who started Egypt's revolution

God bless her!

 

Equal Rights Takes to the Barricades - NYTimes.com

CAIRO — People here are not afraid anymore — and it just may be that a woman helped break that barrier of fear.

Asmaa Mahfouz was celebrating her 26th birthday on Tuesday among tens of thousands of Egyptians as they took to the streets, parting with old fears in a bid to end President Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of authoritarian, single-party rule.

“As long as you say there is no hope, then there will be no hope, but if you go down and take a stance, then there will be hope.”

That was what Ms. Mahfouz had to say in a video she posted online more than two weeks ago. She spoke straight to the camera and held a sign saying she would go out and protest to try to bring down Mr. Mubarak’s regime.

This was certainly not the first time a young activist used the Internet — later virtually shut down by the government — as a tool to organize and mobilize, but it departed from the convenient, familiar anonymity of online activism.

More than that, it was a woman who dared put a face to the message, unfazed by the possibility of arrest for her defiance. “Do not be afraid,” she said.

When Ms. Mahfouz posted this bold video, she said she worried about the reaction that it might generate in a society that expected women to behave in a more subdued and reserved manner.

“I felt that doing this video may be too big a step for me, but then I thought: For how much longer will I continue to be afraid and hesitant? I had to do something,” Ms. Mahfouz said.

To her surprise, dozens of other people picked up on the spirit of her message and started to post their own pictures, holding similar signs to their chests that declared their intent to take to the streets on Jan. 25 — last Friday — in what turned out to be a momentous national day of rage.

Don't believe the hype, Egypt uprising is not about Islamists or Israel

Live reports and images that are floating around the Internet from Egypt, passed on by Al Jazeera and various citizen media sources, leave no doubt that the Egyptian uprising is about everyday people fighting for their basic human freedoms and ousting Mubarak's brutal regime. 

Only pessimists, haters, fearmongers and special interest groups are going around claiming otherwise.

 

Don't believe the hype!

To connect to ongoing instant up-to-date information coming from Egypt, follow Egyptian columnist Mona Eltahawy - @monaeltahawy on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Mona says: "For years, successive Arab dictators have tried to keep discontent at bay by distracting people with the Israeli-Arab conflict."

We've waited for this revolution for years. Other despots should quail | Mona Eltahawy | The Observer

Meanwhile, the uprisings are curing the Arab world of an opiate, the obsession with Israel. For years, successive Arab dictators have tried to keep discontent at bay by distracting people with the Israeli-Arab conflict. Israel's bombardment of Gaza in 2009 increased global sympathy for Palestinians. Mubarak faced the issue of both guarding the border of Gaza, helping Israel enforce its siege, and continuing to use the conflict as a distraction. Enough with dictators hijacking sympathy for Palestinians and enough with putting our lives on hold for that conflict.

And yes, Israel does have a legitimate reason to fear an Islamist takeover in Egypt, but so does the majority of the people in the International community.  Bottom line, the truth cannot be denied or swept under a rug.

Democracy now!

Power to the people!

Mubarak be gone!

Recent unrest in Arab world is not about us | Commentary - Jerusalem Post

One of the axioms repeated ad nauseum over the years by pundits around the world is that Arab despair breeds the radicalism that breeds the terrorism, and that the source of that despair is the Palestinian issue. Take that issue away and there will be far less despair, and thus far less terrorism. Hogwash.

True, there is hopelessness in the Arab world – but the source is not the Arab masses concern about the Palestinians; the source is the Arab masses concern about their own lives, their own unemployment and their own lack of freedoms. Fix that and you get stability; ignore that, and you get revolution.

 

Craig Ferguson's hilarious MONOLOGUE on Egypt Uprising 1/27/11

The King of Late Night Comedy @CraigyFerg speaks:

"The Egyptian protests, that's huge!  It's a big change for the Middle East.

For once, the people on the streets are not beardy old fundamentalists hell-bent on overthrowing America's only ally in the region. 

They are pro-western, pro-iPod, they are cool young people hell-bent on overthrowing one of America's only allies in the region."

"Perhaps Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can calm them with her tweets:

Mubarak totally sucks OMG ttyl pat zoot out!"

Watch the video...he starts on Egypt at 2.47 min.

 

Live video coverage from Egypt by Aljazeera: http://mar.gy/9bzm

Rooting for the people of Egypt

Down with the zombie dictator!

 

Google, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook now all reported blocked in Egypt

Al-Masry Al-Youm: Today's News from Egypt

Arab World: New Media and the Egyptian Demonstrations · Global Voices

 

 

 

Egypt's Facebook Showdown

It seems pretty clear that the internet is paving the way to social change and the development of democratic institutions in the Middle East. I am posting the entire opinion piece here, written by Sherif Mansour of Freedom House, because the L.A. Times sometimes requires registration to read its articles.

Right now, the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is considering blocking Facebook, the social networking website that has become a popular hangout for twentysomethings worldwide and a favorite venue for Egypt's disaffected youth. The reason: In April, one group of young citizens mobilized 80,000 supporters to protest rising food prices. Facebook networking played a crucial role in broadening support and turnout for an April 6 textile workers' strike and protest.

The Egyptian government, which has governed for 25 years under emergency law and doesn't allow more than five people to gather unregistered, hit back hard, jailing young dissidents and torturing Ahmed Maher, a young activist who tried, unsuccessfully, to organize a second demonstration in early May.

Despite these setbacks, the "Facebook movement" in Egypt is significant for several reasons. First, it challenges the perception that there is no prospect for independent, secular opposition in the country. The majority of Egyptians are under 30 and have known no other ruler than Mubarak. They have not seen real political parties because the government has long restricted opposition parties and free media. The Facebook movement engaged large numbers of youth for the first time.

Second, the Web offers a safe political space -- a role the mosque has traditionally played in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has for decades been the only viable opposition. With Facebook, young secular people can communicate, build relationships and express their opinions freely. (Significantly, the Muslim Brotherhood opposed the successful April demonstration but supported the unsuccessful May event.) Every member in the 100,000-strong online community could be, at any given moment, a leader of a movement.

Third, engaging Egypt's youth is an important item on the agenda of Mubarak's son, Gamal, as he works to gain support for his succession to power. As a young politician, Gamal established the Future Generation Foundation in 2000, which incubated many of the current leaders of the ruling National Democratic Party and the new Cabinet. Facebook activists and their supporters should be able to turn to this group for support. A few weeks ago, Belal Diab, a 20-year-old college student, interrupted one of the Egyptian prime minister's speeches to protest the arrests of Facebook activists, shouting: "Look who are you fighting; it is us, the younger generation who stood with you and supported you!"

Nevertheless, Facebook activists are being targeted by government-based media campaigns defaming the website and the youth activists who use it. The government also warns media not to talk about the phenomenon. I saw the heavy-handed efforts of the government while recording a TV show with Maher. During the taping, Egyptian police broke into the studio, threatened the station manager and forced the guest outside the room.

What can be done to help this movement? The international community and the U.S. government should pressure the Egyptian government to support Internet freedom and keep Facebook accessible to Egyptians. One young activist, Ahmad Samih, is campaigning to gain local and international support to prevent the Egyptian government from blocking Facebook. So far, nearly 20 Egyptian human rights organizations are supporting this cause. International human rights organizations should publicly join in that show of support.

Egyptian democrats are "Facebooking" their advocacy in order to escape heavy recriminations. It would be shameful for the international community not to stand up on their behalf against a government that seeks to deny them even that small space to express themselves. Otherwise, Mubarak's self-fulfilling prophesy as the only alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood will continue to hold Egypt back from the democracy its people deserve.

Sherif Mansour works at Freedom House, a human rights organization that has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Egypt since 1972. He can be reached at smansour@freedomhouse.org.

Mrs Sadat spreads hope and love to change the world

Jehan Sadat spreads message of peace at UCF

After her husband was killed, Sadat wasn't sure where her life would lead.

"I was suffering, and I didn't know what was coming next. I knew I needed a purpose," she said.

She headed to the United States to be a professor at the University of South Carolina. There she also bought a house and finished her doctorate in comparative literature.

"As Helen Hayes said, 'If you rest, you'll rust.' And I didn't want that," Sadat said.

She also founded the Wafa Wa Amal Rehabilitation Center, which serves as a community for disabled war veterans.

She proposed the idea for the SOS Children's Villages in Egypt, which are designed to help orphans lead normal, healthy lives.

She has also spent her life advocating for women's rights, supporting legal reform for families and promoting national and international dialogue.

Sadat lives six months in the United States and six months in Egypt to balance being a professor and staying in contact with her family.

In both regions of the world, her message remains the same: "In this troubled world where peace is dimmed by darkness, use hope and love to change the world," Sadat said.

Mrs Sadat and her fellow Muslim/Arab first ladies are always out there tirelessly working to fight ignorance, while spreading the message of peace and understanding at home and abroad.  Too bad international media doesn't pay much attention to them.