[Mb-civic] Keep Your Eyes On Egypt - Mona Eltahawy - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Keep Your Eyes On Egypt

By Mona Eltahawy
Saturday, August 13, 2005; Page A21

My summer vacations in Cairo usually have been mock exercises in public 
diplomacy, with yours truly playing a reluctant Karen Hughes. I am not a 
Republican or even a U.S. citizen, but I'd find myself dodging 
conspiracy theories or lending a sympathetic ear to a cousin who proudly 
remembers memorizing the names of every U.S. state but who hates America 
so much now that she never wants to see those states herself.

But not this summer.

There were no arguments over the United States, Israel, Palestine, Iraq 
or any of the other "hot spots" that used to dominate every meal and 
spill over into tea, coffee and dessert. This time, all conversations 
were about a small but active opposition movement in Egypt that since 
December has focused on ending the dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak.

I have never heard so many relatives and friends take such an interest 
in Egyptian politics or -- more important -- feel that they had a stake 
in them. This opposition movement holds almost weekly demonstrations. It 
draws Egyptians from across the political spectrum: leftists, liberals 
and Islamists. And, more worrisome for Mubarak, it has solid roots in 
the country's middle class: Journalists, lawyers, judges and university 
professors have all thrown their hats in.

It is brimming with Egyptian youths who have known no leader other than 
Mubarak but are all too familiar with the legacy of his 24-year 
dictatorship: corruption, unemployment and fear. There isn't much that 
Egyptians can do about corruption and unemployment; those who turn out 
for the demonstrations are fearless. Several times during my visit I 
heard "we have broken the barrier of fear" -- the sweetest words of my 
trip. The demonstrators risk beatings, arrest and intimidation of their 
families.

Protests are banned under emergency laws that have been in place since 
Mubarak took over in 1981 after Muslim militants assassinated Anwar 
Sadat. The Egyptian regime says the laws are essential to fight 
terrorism. The Sharm el-Sheikh bombings on July 23 showed the sad 
fallacy of thinking that laws alone can stop terrorism. And the vicious 
beatings of anti-Mubarak demonstrators on May 25 and July 30 showed how 
those emergency laws are too often used to quell anti-government activity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201387.html?nav=hcmodule

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