Standing Firm to Defend Egypt’s Revolution
Can humans survive without food and drink? Of course not. These are fundamental needs and humans die when they are denied. Can humans survive without dignity? Unfortunately the answer is yes. For thirty years, millions of Egyptians lived without dignity under the rule of Hosni Mubarak. They put up with humiliations and flattered the person in power to win his favor. They grew accustomed to having their dignity ignored, because they feared punishment or coveted material gains. They put up with arrogant police officers and called them “pasha.” They put up with detention camps, torture, and sexual abuse, turning a blind eye as long as the abuses happened to someone else. They told their children to walk close to the wall and to neither demonstrate nor object to the ruler, however much he abused, plundered, and humiliated them.
Millions of Egyptians thought that cowardice was wisdom and that failing to speak the truth was common sense and safe. In return, the Mubarak regime held Egyptians in contempt; they thought Egyptians were an ignorant and lazy people, accustomed to anarchy and unfit for democracy. It was this contempt for the Egyptian people that made the Mubarak regime so confident that it was in full control—until it woke up to the revolution.
The Egyptian revolution was a miracle by any standard. A generation of Egyptians emerged that was untouched by all the diseases of despotism; a generation that was fearless and would not take injustice in silence. These young Egyptians, who make up half the population, have a courage and commitment to noble values that is difficult to explain. These young people grew up with misleading media and a poor education system. Nonetheless, the youth of the revolution appeared suddenly, as if in one great leap. It was as if Egypt were a giant, bountiful tree that, despite its many diseases, continued producing fresh green leaves.
For Mubarak and his men, revolution was a shock: Egyptians had submitted to humiliation for years. What had made them so determined to recover their dignity?
Twenty million Egyptians took part in the revolution, to which we can add twice as many who were sympathetic toward the revolution although they did not participate. On the other hand, there were several million “feloul” (or remnants) who had benefited from the Mubarak regime, who naturally hated the revolution.
These estimates suggest that there remain close to twenty million Egyptians who did not benefit from the Mubarak regime but neither took part in the revolution nor were sympathetic toward it. The attitude of these submissive people has been fickle: they would be happy to see the revolution achieve its aims but are unprepared to make any sacrifices for it. This silent group of submissive Egyptians suffered under the Mubarak regime but went along with it. They watched young people the age of their own children face bullets with bare chests, fearless and without retreat; for these youth, death was better than an ignominious life.
When the military council took power amid overwhelming popular support, Egyptians trusted it to fulfill the aims of the revolution. Egyptians have been surprised to find the behavior of the military council strange and confused. When we look back at everything that happened, the picture is clear