This is the sort of thing I love about Cairo: You're out for an afternoon walk. Feeling a little thirsty, you stop at the nearest kiosk to buy a bottle of water, only to be overcome with the most amazing and unmistakable aroma drifting towards you from inside. Your first thought is proven correct as you see the young guy sitting behind the counter opening the silver foil covering his hawawshi, the steam rushing out.
Hawawshi is just one of those things that is so good (unless you're a vegetarian, in which case take no heed) that it can't really be adequately described. It's made from baladi bread, Egypt's version of pita bread (but much better) stuffed with spicy minced meat, brushed with oil, wrapped in aluminium foil and baked for about half an hour.
Being a hawawshi enthusiast, I was compelled to comment how beautiful the smell was and ask him if it was from a good shop (fellow hawawshi people having instilled in me the importance of verifying the quality of hawawshi establishments, which are prone to using questionable meat), thinking we could stop by and pick some up on our way home. He immediately picked it up and held it out to me to take. I refused. He insisted, waving it towards me. I thanked him and refused again.
Then, from beside me, my son's voice chimed in. "Aah, is that hawawshi?" The young man behind the counter smiled down at him as he tore his lunch down the middle and thrust half of it into the hands of my son, who didn't hesitate in accepting it and the kindness with which it was given.
As we continued our walk, the aroma of the hawawshi and the ripple effects of this man's generosity followed us down the street.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Egypt. The same but different.
Flying into Cairo this time—the first since the Revolution—felt a little different than flying into Cairo typically does. To begin with, the airport was very hushed, with a notable absence of men approaching with oversized trolleys insisting we needed assistance with our luggage. Happily, I took possession of a trolley and attended to my own luggage without anyone saying anything or trying to muscle in.
While not venturing too far beyond my local neighbourhood this first week, initial impressions were quick to form. And in my world first impressions count for a lot.
It’s often the little touches that make the biggest impact. The things you don’t notice or brush over when they are there typically leave the most gaping holes when they’re gone. (Bearing in mind that not all gaping holes are bad things.)
While aware of the possibly scientifically illogical nature of it, what struck me immediately is that the air seems cleaner. And yet, there it is. Cleaner, fresher air. It feels easier to breathe in Cairo than before.
And so it is also with the traffic, which is the same but different somehow in a way my finger can’t quite place itself on. Not as intensely frustrating perhaps? A feeling that even if things are moving at a snail's pace they are, in fact, actually moving and the destination is both visible and reachable?
While it’s tempting to say that the heat is oppressive, that would be a little impertinent considering Cairo is now on the tail end of summer and actually a couple of weeks into autumn. Along with the fact that talking about the weather is dull and the general population is already aware that Egypt is a hot place for a large chunk of the year. Suffice to say that the heat is currently just a little prickly if one is walking out and about in the middle of the day.
Optimism hangs so much more lightly in the air than despair. And today, a cool breeze weaves its way intermittently through the hot sky.
While not venturing too far beyond my local neighbourhood this first week, initial impressions were quick to form. And in my world first impressions count for a lot.
It’s often the little touches that make the biggest impact. The things you don’t notice or brush over when they are there typically leave the most gaping holes when they’re gone. (Bearing in mind that not all gaping holes are bad things.)
While aware of the possibly scientifically illogical nature of it, what struck me immediately is that the air seems cleaner. And yet, there it is. Cleaner, fresher air. It feels easier to breathe in Cairo than before.
And so it is also with the traffic, which is the same but different somehow in a way my finger can’t quite place itself on. Not as intensely frustrating perhaps? A feeling that even if things are moving at a snail's pace they are, in fact, actually moving and the destination is both visible and reachable?
While it’s tempting to say that the heat is oppressive, that would be a little impertinent considering Cairo is now on the tail end of summer and actually a couple of weeks into autumn. Along with the fact that talking about the weather is dull and the general population is already aware that Egypt is a hot place for a large chunk of the year. Suffice to say that the heat is currently just a little prickly if one is walking out and about in the middle of the day.
Optimism hangs so much more lightly in the air than despair. And today, a cool breeze weaves its way intermittently through the hot sky.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Oh, how the rhetoric about Egypt has changed!
A thought ran like a loop through my mind for years as I watched Egypt’s immeasurable potential sink further and further into despondency with the passing of time: Egypt should be the best country in the world. And not because of its pivotal geographical location, the Pyramids, the Red Sea, the history, the Nile, the Suez Canal or the abundance of other fabulous things the country has to offer – although they certainly play a part – but because of the best thing about Egypt. The people. Egypt has always been about the people, who have a very particular, largely indefinable quality.
For a long time now, there have been echoes of the same tedious rhetoric: Egyptian people are too apathetic, too demoralized, too afraid, too lacking in hope to ever rise up against oppression. But on January 25, the people did rise up, the people broke through their fear, the people persisted, united and triumphed – and they did it peacefully. Because of this they have become an inspiration for people everywhere. This revolution has proven so many people wrong and has swept away decades, if not centuries, of stereotypes and bigoted perceptions about the Middle East and Arabs... at least for those who are willing to listen with open ears. At the same time it has set an incredible example for the world to follow. Cheesy as it may sound, because of 18 days in Egypt, there is renewed hope for all of humanity.
There are no pithy little phrases that could adequately describe what Egypt could now become, now that the sum of her unified voices has been unleashed.
Nobody is under the illusion that reconstructing Egypt will be a walk in the park. Obviously the post-revolution road ahead will be filled with many stones. But the thought running through my head has changed. Should has been replaced with will.
Egypt will be the best country in the world. Because of the people.
For a long time now, there have been echoes of the same tedious rhetoric: Egyptian people are too apathetic, too demoralized, too afraid, too lacking in hope to ever rise up against oppression. But on January 25, the people did rise up, the people broke through their fear, the people persisted, united and triumphed – and they did it peacefully. Because of this they have become an inspiration for people everywhere. This revolution has proven so many people wrong and has swept away decades, if not centuries, of stereotypes and bigoted perceptions about the Middle East and Arabs... at least for those who are willing to listen with open ears. At the same time it has set an incredible example for the world to follow. Cheesy as it may sound, because of 18 days in Egypt, there is renewed hope for all of humanity.
There are no pithy little phrases that could adequately describe what Egypt could now become, now that the sum of her unified voices has been unleashed.
Nobody is under the illusion that reconstructing Egypt will be a walk in the park. Obviously the post-revolution road ahead will be filled with many stones. But the thought running through my head has changed. Should has been replaced with will.
Egypt will be the best country in the world. Because of the people.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Egypt will not be silenced!
The silence is eerily deafening. Barely anyone from Egypt is online, with all ISPs having been shut down except one – Noor – apparently because that’s the one used by the stock exchange and some banks. Mobile phone services are erratic at best.
A whole country has been wiped off the Internet map as Hosni Mubarak and his regime try to silence a nation and isolate them from communication with the outside world. Clearly, it’s also to shield their ongoing crimes against humanity - and quite possibly intended massacre - from the eyes of the world.
Today is the fourth day Egyptians have protested across the country against the barbaric, corrupt regime that has been in power uncontested for almost 30 years. Further protests are coming in a couple of hours, after Friday prayers at 1:00pm Egypt time. Reports from eyewitnesses on twitter say plainclothes police/thugs are dowsing cars and public squares with petrol, presumably in order to set them on fire during the protests and blame protesters, thus giving them an excuse to attack them. Or, perhaps – God forbid – to set the public areas aflame once they’re filled with people.
It's also reported that the regime's thugs are also out in large numbers armed with knives and baseball bats.
Contrary to popular public opinion in the US and other countries, these protests are not being led by the Muslim Brotherhood (although some members of the MB are reported to be protesting as individuals) or, in fact, by any single group. They are being powered by the people, by individual Egyptians who have had enough.
Do whatever you can to support them and let the world know they’re being heard.
Only God knows what will happen in Egypt over the coming hours and days. But to all of Egypt and all Egyptians… your white heart is beating loudly and we can hear you.
A whole country has been wiped off the Internet map as Hosni Mubarak and his regime try to silence a nation and isolate them from communication with the outside world. Clearly, it’s also to shield their ongoing crimes against humanity - and quite possibly intended massacre - from the eyes of the world.
Today is the fourth day Egyptians have protested across the country against the barbaric, corrupt regime that has been in power uncontested for almost 30 years. Further protests are coming in a couple of hours, after Friday prayers at 1:00pm Egypt time. Reports from eyewitnesses on twitter say plainclothes police/thugs are dowsing cars and public squares with petrol, presumably in order to set them on fire during the protests and blame protesters, thus giving them an excuse to attack them. Or, perhaps – God forbid – to set the public areas aflame once they’re filled with people.
It's also reported that the regime's thugs are also out in large numbers armed with knives and baseball bats.
Contrary to popular public opinion in the US and other countries, these protests are not being led by the Muslim Brotherhood (although some members of the MB are reported to be protesting as individuals) or, in fact, by any single group. They are being powered by the people, by individual Egyptians who have had enough.
Do whatever you can to support them and let the world know they’re being heard.
Only God knows what will happen in Egypt over the coming hours and days. But to all of Egypt and all Egyptians… your white heart is beating loudly and we can hear you.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A whole lot of hullabaloo about nothing
It’s been interesting watching the hullabaloo in the media surrounding Lauren Booth’s recent conversion to Islam.
She’s been criticized, disparaged, condemned and laughed at for her decision, her motives and sanity questioned ad nauseam. And yet, only she – and God, if you’re that way inclined – knows what her motives are. It’s really nobody else’s business. She has said she experienced spiritual enlightenment while in Iran… surely it’s a little repellant for people to believe they have the right to question this. And why is it so hard for people to swallow?
In contrast, her brother-in-law Tony Blair’s official conversion to Catholicism soon after leaving office was widely reported in the media in a rather matter-of-fact manner, with gentle, almost lilting references to his “spiritual journey”. And yet Lauren Booth’s spiritual journey, it seems, does not deserve the same respect from much of the world’s media, with derisive comments and “analysis” of her actions being bandied around more liberally than chicken salt on hot chips.
Some Lilliputian journalists and their readers have been at best sarcastic and at worst gratuitously vitriolic in their response to her announcement. It’s more than a little irritating and, quite frankly, insulting to any woman who has ever felt strongly about something that others may not agree with or understand.
One comment that summed it up was from a guy who asked: “Why is this front page headline news? I’ve just cooked lunch. Does that count as headline news?”
I don’t know much about Lauren Booth. Maybe she is as batty as some people are saying. Maybe she does crave media attention. Or maybe she’s just telling the truth as she sees it. But this is all beside the point. The danger lies not in her conversion to Islam, but in people’s reaction to it, because fear coupled with lack of knowledge and empathy is a perilous road on which to travel.
As a mother, I am tempted to say that I would be far more worried about leaving my children with a Catholic priest than with a swarthy bearded man or a headscarf-wearing woman who speaks Arabic. But that would just be stereotyping Catholic priests – and we all know it’s wrong to do that.
She’s been criticized, disparaged, condemned and laughed at for her decision, her motives and sanity questioned ad nauseam. And yet, only she – and God, if you’re that way inclined – knows what her motives are. It’s really nobody else’s business. She has said she experienced spiritual enlightenment while in Iran… surely it’s a little repellant for people to believe they have the right to question this. And why is it so hard for people to swallow?
In contrast, her brother-in-law Tony Blair’s official conversion to Catholicism soon after leaving office was widely reported in the media in a rather matter-of-fact manner, with gentle, almost lilting references to his “spiritual journey”. And yet Lauren Booth’s spiritual journey, it seems, does not deserve the same respect from much of the world’s media, with derisive comments and “analysis” of her actions being bandied around more liberally than chicken salt on hot chips.
Some Lilliputian journalists and their readers have been at best sarcastic and at worst gratuitously vitriolic in their response to her announcement. It’s more than a little irritating and, quite frankly, insulting to any woman who has ever felt strongly about something that others may not agree with or understand.
One comment that summed it up was from a guy who asked: “Why is this front page headline news? I’ve just cooked lunch. Does that count as headline news?”
I don’t know much about Lauren Booth. Maybe she is as batty as some people are saying. Maybe she does crave media attention. Or maybe she’s just telling the truth as she sees it. But this is all beside the point. The danger lies not in her conversion to Islam, but in people’s reaction to it, because fear coupled with lack of knowledge and empathy is a perilous road on which to travel.
As a mother, I am tempted to say that I would be far more worried about leaving my children with a Catholic priest than with a swarthy bearded man or a headscarf-wearing woman who speaks Arabic. But that would just be stereotyping Catholic priests – and we all know it’s wrong to do that.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Give our children the space to be who they are
"We are raised on comparison;
Our education is based on it;
So is our culture.
So we struggle to be someone other than who we are."
(J. Krishnamurti)
I worry about sending my kids to school. I worry for many reasons. The other night at dinner I asked them, “What did you learn today?” My pre-schooler told me that he learnt that the moon was made of rocks, which he picked up from God knows where, but he picked it up, which suitably impressed me. My school-aged son, who is in year 2, told me, “You know, I don’t really learn anything new at school.” Which kind of got me thinking, What is he getting from school? Is school a vehicle for knowledge or is it just dumbing kids down?
I’ve always been of the mindset that the main purpose of the modern education system is to produce a workforce; cogs in the wheel of society to keep it functioning; mice on a treadmill to maintain the status quo.
Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” How that quote tears at a parent’s heartstrings! And I have to ask myself, What role does formal education play in this loss of artistic expression and imagination?
It often feels as though I have to counter what my 7-year-old picks up at school with the truth, particularly when it comes to the question of peer pressure and the desire to appear ‘cool’. Why do second graders feel the need to be ‘cool’? And what is ‘cool’ anyway? We all went through it. Everyone wants to fit in at school, and so beliefs and self-perceptions are moulded around this insidious principle without realization, to the detriment of individuality and self-awareness.
“Mama,” he recently asked me, “what are girls’ germs?” Where does one start with such a question? And so I told him that I’m a girl and he likes me. His cousins are girls and he likes them. His grandma and his teta are girls and he likes them. Girls are people just like boys – what’s not to like? He pondered this for a minute before concluding that he would inform his friends of this fact. Which he did, and now most of them agree that ‘girls’ germs’ don’t actually exist. Just in the same way he suddenly mysteriously didn’t want to hold my hand when approaching school. “You know,” I told him, “most of the boys here love holding their mum’s hand. They just think that it’s not cool. But you should do what you want to do.” And now he holds my hand again.
He also doodles around the edges of his homework. But this is not considered ‘appropriate’. But why not? I like the doodling. I don't like the fact that I'm expected to tell him it's not 'appropriate'.
In grade 1 he got put in the remedial reading group. He’s always been an excellent reader, and when I prodded the teacher for an explanation, she confessed that he was put in this group to make up the numbers for government funding. Hmm. I guess because he has an ethnic-sounding name.
In grade 1, my nephew was chastised by his teacher for humming tunes at his desk because “It might disrupt the other children.” Very sad.
Let’s give our children the space to be who they are. Even in school.
Our education is based on it;
So is our culture.
So we struggle to be someone other than who we are."
(J. Krishnamurti)
I worry about sending my kids to school. I worry for many reasons. The other night at dinner I asked them, “What did you learn today?” My pre-schooler told me that he learnt that the moon was made of rocks, which he picked up from God knows where, but he picked it up, which suitably impressed me. My school-aged son, who is in year 2, told me, “You know, I don’t really learn anything new at school.” Which kind of got me thinking, What is he getting from school? Is school a vehicle for knowledge or is it just dumbing kids down?
I’ve always been of the mindset that the main purpose of the modern education system is to produce a workforce; cogs in the wheel of society to keep it functioning; mice on a treadmill to maintain the status quo.
Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” How that quote tears at a parent’s heartstrings! And I have to ask myself, What role does formal education play in this loss of artistic expression and imagination?
It often feels as though I have to counter what my 7-year-old picks up at school with the truth, particularly when it comes to the question of peer pressure and the desire to appear ‘cool’. Why do second graders feel the need to be ‘cool’? And what is ‘cool’ anyway? We all went through it. Everyone wants to fit in at school, and so beliefs and self-perceptions are moulded around this insidious principle without realization, to the detriment of individuality and self-awareness.
“Mama,” he recently asked me, “what are girls’ germs?” Where does one start with such a question? And so I told him that I’m a girl and he likes me. His cousins are girls and he likes them. His grandma and his teta are girls and he likes them. Girls are people just like boys – what’s not to like? He pondered this for a minute before concluding that he would inform his friends of this fact. Which he did, and now most of them agree that ‘girls’ germs’ don’t actually exist. Just in the same way he suddenly mysteriously didn’t want to hold my hand when approaching school. “You know,” I told him, “most of the boys here love holding their mum’s hand. They just think that it’s not cool. But you should do what you want to do.” And now he holds my hand again.
He also doodles around the edges of his homework. But this is not considered ‘appropriate’. But why not? I like the doodling. I don't like the fact that I'm expected to tell him it's not 'appropriate'.
In grade 1 he got put in the remedial reading group. He’s always been an excellent reader, and when I prodded the teacher for an explanation, she confessed that he was put in this group to make up the numbers for government funding. Hmm. I guess because he has an ethnic-sounding name.
In grade 1, my nephew was chastised by his teacher for humming tunes at his desk because “It might disrupt the other children.” Very sad.
Let’s give our children the space to be who they are. Even in school.
Monday, June 21, 2010
When silence is deafening
Friends in Australia and the US have been asking me what has been going on in Egypt the last couple of weeks. Who is Khaled Said? What is this situation about? What happened to him? What’s going on?
Khaled Said is a 28-year-old Egyptian man who was brutally beaten to death by two plain clothes policemen in broad daylight in Alexandria on June 6, for no explicable reason. There have since been huge demonstrations – the most effective, powerful and heart-wrenching being the silent protest in Alexandria last Friday – and Khaled has become a martyr and an icon for change in Egypt, particularly for the movement against regime-sanctioned police brutality, which is routine. Of course there are countless others who have met the same fate, but this case has outraged the public and received widespread attention because it was in broad daylight and not behind the walls of a police station. There have been extremely graphic before-and-after photos of Khaled circulated that are impossible to ignore.
An Egyptian friend Shady explains the situation in more detail:
“The facts are that Khaled was brutally killed in the middle of the street by two plain clothes police informants (death/torture squads). They literally executed him by smashing his head into pieces (broken skull) in the middle of the street. They banged his head into the floor numerous times until his face became totally deformed. To make things worse, instead of bringing the killers to justice, the police have fabricated all sorts of absurd, illogical lies about Khaled (such as claiming that his smashed skull was a result of him falling off the bed while being transported to the ambulance!), which no one believes as the pictures and witnesses blatantly refute this. Furthermore, the corrupt system has utilized all state-controlled media to unleash a smear campaign against the poor victim, claiming he was a drug dealer. And finally, it's brutally cracking down on all demonstrations to try to silence any resistance.
“There are two stories about why he was killed: (1) He asked to be treated with respect; (2) He was about to expose cops who were dealing in drugs (there’s a video on the net showing this) and it’s claimed that the killers are in the video. The one sure thing is that there's a massive cover-up story.
“You might wonder why the police are doing this. The reason is to maintain their brutal image so as to terrorize people against showing any resistance to the regime. And they can never let any one of the police go to trial at any cost, even if they murder people.
“The regime is stealing taxes from people to fund the police, whose job is to protect the regime at any cost. Hence, those who are supposed to protect us are actually killing us, with support that reaches all the way to the Head of State. Hence, the police have ended up being the biggest mafia gang in the whole country.”
Last Friday 18 June – in a stroke of brilliantly conceived and implemented activism – Egyptian men, women, teenagers and children dressed in black and stood in silence for one hour along the corniche in Alexandria and Cairo demonstrating their fury at the government for the brutal killing of Khaled and countless others like him. They stood in silence, some praying with outstretched hands, some reading the Qur’an, some reading the Bible… and they stood a few feet apart so as to circumvent the law against public demonstrations and avoid the identification of any ringleaders or organisers.
As Shady said:
“This was a truly innovative technique as the previous demonstrations were brutally knocked down by the police mafia. The police have the 'dirty jobs' squad... plain clothes squads who kidnap and beat the demonstration leaders. This time the demonstration was spread out across kilometres, which made it very difficult for the police to stop them. This is a Ghandi-style type of demonstration!”
And another Egyptian friend Ramy said:
“I always thought this is the way to demonstrate, not with violence or hate slogans. This is the way it must be done, and this is the way you grab the world’s attention... not with violence and not by screaming and creating hate slogans. I’m sure the next one will be even more successful. The nation has started to have a PULSE after thirty long years of sleep.”
When my Australian friend Mandy read about and saw photos of the silent demonstration in Alexandria, she said:
“This is awesome – it's a pity more people in Australia and around the world aren't more aware of it and showing their support for such a huge moment in history! I had a dinner party last night and told them all.”
I hope everyone outside of Egypt is talking about this at dinner by the end of the week.
There is another silent demonstration planned for this Friday 25 June, apparently to be led by Mohammed ElBaradei. Let’s hope the international media gets behind it and the countries that finance the government stop looking the other way.
And, finally, a quote from Shady:
“A minuscule feat of resistance can trigger a ripple effect of epic proportions. The initial spark that unleashed the whole civil rights movement in the USA in the 1960s started when a black lady refused to give her seat to a white lady. In the end, this led to the freedom of the black people. Never underestimate your action, no matter how small... a single word can be as sharp as a sword.”
The domino effect, which starts with one gentle little push, is unstoppable.
God bless Egypt.
Khaled Said is a 28-year-old Egyptian man who was brutally beaten to death by two plain clothes policemen in broad daylight in Alexandria on June 6, for no explicable reason. There have since been huge demonstrations – the most effective, powerful and heart-wrenching being the silent protest in Alexandria last Friday – and Khaled has become a martyr and an icon for change in Egypt, particularly for the movement against regime-sanctioned police brutality, which is routine. Of course there are countless others who have met the same fate, but this case has outraged the public and received widespread attention because it was in broad daylight and not behind the walls of a police station. There have been extremely graphic before-and-after photos of Khaled circulated that are impossible to ignore.
An Egyptian friend Shady explains the situation in more detail:
“The facts are that Khaled was brutally killed in the middle of the street by two plain clothes police informants (death/torture squads). They literally executed him by smashing his head into pieces (broken skull) in the middle of the street. They banged his head into the floor numerous times until his face became totally deformed. To make things worse, instead of bringing the killers to justice, the police have fabricated all sorts of absurd, illogical lies about Khaled (such as claiming that his smashed skull was a result of him falling off the bed while being transported to the ambulance!), which no one believes as the pictures and witnesses blatantly refute this. Furthermore, the corrupt system has utilized all state-controlled media to unleash a smear campaign against the poor victim, claiming he was a drug dealer. And finally, it's brutally cracking down on all demonstrations to try to silence any resistance.
“There are two stories about why he was killed: (1) He asked to be treated with respect; (2) He was about to expose cops who were dealing in drugs (there’s a video on the net showing this) and it’s claimed that the killers are in the video. The one sure thing is that there's a massive cover-up story.
“You might wonder why the police are doing this. The reason is to maintain their brutal image so as to terrorize people against showing any resistance to the regime. And they can never let any one of the police go to trial at any cost, even if they murder people.
“The regime is stealing taxes from people to fund the police, whose job is to protect the regime at any cost. Hence, those who are supposed to protect us are actually killing us, with support that reaches all the way to the Head of State. Hence, the police have ended up being the biggest mafia gang in the whole country.”
Last Friday 18 June – in a stroke of brilliantly conceived and implemented activism – Egyptian men, women, teenagers and children dressed in black and stood in silence for one hour along the corniche in Alexandria and Cairo demonstrating their fury at the government for the brutal killing of Khaled and countless others like him. They stood in silence, some praying with outstretched hands, some reading the Qur’an, some reading the Bible… and they stood a few feet apart so as to circumvent the law against public demonstrations and avoid the identification of any ringleaders or organisers.
As Shady said:
“This was a truly innovative technique as the previous demonstrations were brutally knocked down by the police mafia. The police have the 'dirty jobs' squad... plain clothes squads who kidnap and beat the demonstration leaders. This time the demonstration was spread out across kilometres, which made it very difficult for the police to stop them. This is a Ghandi-style type of demonstration!”
And another Egyptian friend Ramy said:
“I always thought this is the way to demonstrate, not with violence or hate slogans. This is the way it must be done, and this is the way you grab the world’s attention... not with violence and not by screaming and creating hate slogans. I’m sure the next one will be even more successful. The nation has started to have a PULSE after thirty long years of sleep.”
When my Australian friend Mandy read about and saw photos of the silent demonstration in Alexandria, she said:
“This is awesome – it's a pity more people in Australia and around the world aren't more aware of it and showing their support for such a huge moment in history! I had a dinner party last night and told them all.”
I hope everyone outside of Egypt is talking about this at dinner by the end of the week.
There is another silent demonstration planned for this Friday 25 June, apparently to be led by Mohammed ElBaradei. Let’s hope the international media gets behind it and the countries that finance the government stop looking the other way.
And, finally, a quote from Shady:
“A minuscule feat of resistance can trigger a ripple effect of epic proportions. The initial spark that unleashed the whole civil rights movement in the USA in the 1960s started when a black lady refused to give her seat to a white lady. In the end, this led to the freedom of the black people. Never underestimate your action, no matter how small... a single word can be as sharp as a sword.”
The domino effect, which starts with one gentle little push, is unstoppable.
God bless Egypt.
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