| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Egyptians celebrate end of Mubarak era |
| 2011-02-12 |
| [Arab News] The country has erupted in joy. The traffic has stopped. People are out of their cars, kissing and embracing, screaming, laughing and crying. Egypt is jubilant. The people can't believe what has happened. Egypt has been born anew and on the streets of Cairo it feels like a nation's World Cup victory a million times over. A common sentiment expressed by young Cairenes after receiving news of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak's exit: tears for the over 300 Egyptians who died for the cause before witnessing the victory. Despite the absence of police there was no chaos. Army tanks that have been deployed were still parked, their crews smiling. Seemingly every window in buildings, buses and cars displayed the Egyptian flag. It was party time on Friday evening, a national carnival. The lights on Kasr Al-Nile bridge were still out, but nearby a woman was screaming "Egypt is free today!" Tahrir Square has become the birthplace of freedom, filled and surrounded by the sounds of jubilation, revelry and drum-beating. Wael Ghuneim, who is Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, was asked whether he felt like crying. "No," he replied. "Today is the day of happiness." A passerby told Arab News that the fall of the Mubarak regime has removed "the specter of agony." "It's a victory of the Egyptian people's will," said a young girl on Kasr Al-Nile bridge. A couple in their forties also expressed happiness, but they were also a bit concerned about what the coming days will bring. "This is the happiest day in my generation," said Ali Al-Tayab, a 24-year-old demonstrator who paid tribute to those who died in festivities with police and Mubarak supporters. "To the martyrs, this is your day." At a presidential palace in Cairo, where demonstrators had gathered in the thousands, people flashed the V-for-victory sign and shouted, "Be happy, Egyptians, today is a feast" and "He stepped down." Many prayed and declared: "God is great." Crowds began to move toward Tahrir Square, the scene of massive protests against Mubarak that began on Jan. 25. "Now every part of Egypt is Tahrir Square, " shouted a young woman, her face totally covered in red, white and black. "We are free! We are free! We are free!, chanted a group of young men and women jumping up and down, their arms around each others' shoulders. "God bless you children," sobbed a middle-aged woman, while hugging and kissing the young men and women on the street. "You waited it out and you won it for us, for your kids and your kids' kids!" She hid her face sobbing in her headscarf. "No tears tonight aunt," a young boy comforted her. "Tonight endurance won. Tonight determination won. Tonight the truth won. Tonight is truth's night!" he shouted, his veins bulging in his neck. "Finally, we are free," said 60-year-old Safwan Abou Stat. "From now on, anyone who is going to rule will know that these people are great." In some neighborhoods, women on balconies ululated with the joyous tongue-trilling used to mark weddings and births. Some sang the national anthem. Mohammed el-Masry, who marched to the presidential palace, said he had spent the past two weeks living in the protest encampment at Tahrir Square. "We are going to Tahrir to celebrate," he said, weeping with joy. "We made it." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Here, Secret Asian Man. Scroll down to see the change over time. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-02-12 23:55 |
| #7 #6Â Look at the women in the graduation photos from Cairo University to see the problem. Link please. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2011-02-12 23:11 |
| #6 Look at the women in the graduation photos from Cairo University to see the problem. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-02-12 16:15 |
| #5 Egypt has had systemic problems for many decades. We bought some peace for almost 40 years with $2 billion a year, but the systemic problems were never addressed. You have youth with nothing to do that are ripe for the pickin's for jihadists. Look at your Egyptian infrastructure: water, sewer, electricity, building codes, etc. Then take a look at other countries in the area: Algeria, Libya, Syria, Jordan, etc. They have not progressed. There is a lot of work that revolution will not address without fundamental systemic changes in society. And Islamists will not do a thing to address these fundamental issues. The first thing that we must do is to achieve energy independence from the ME, then we are not beholden to them. The same goes for Japan, and other allies. Islamism and oil money are more toxic than anything. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-02-12 16:11 |
| #4 Insh'Allah. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-02-12 11:23 |
| #3 How many of these revolutions really turn out well in the end? Iran, Leb, Algeria, Russia, France, etc. Let's wait for the other shoe to drop. |
| Posted by: Alan Cramer 2011-02-12 11:20 |
| #2 Utterly corrupt ruling caste, economic chaos, hundreds of thousands marching in the street and the Beltway Mob is OK with the military coup. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-02-12 09:06 |
| #1 Mubarak is gone, and now you have an Egyptian military Junta. Big improvement. Paint a doorknob on a rock....and tell yourself its the gate to Paradise. Victory? Egypt is free today? Sucker. |
| Posted by: Dribble2716 2011-02-12 02:45 |