A friend of mine is in Egypt (mini-blog)

[silverpig]

I went to high school with this guy and have known him for many years. He's Egyptian by descent, but a Canadian citizen and has spent practically his entire life here. He went to Egypt a little over a week ago (left Vancouver on Friday the 18th) to spend 2 weeks there. I met up with him for coffee before he left and asked him to post a bit of a blog on what he has seen. I'll try to keep it updated as he updates me.

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 at 09:18

I know some of you are wondering what is it like in Egypt after the revolution.

On the Surface things haven't really changed and there is a lot of fear and propaganda going around. Right now the people are starting to get weary of the army and there true intentions. Some wonder if the army is still taking orders from Mubarak. Some on the other hand still believe the army just needs time to get things in order. I can understand both sides.

The people in general seem to be happier and more hopeful. Kids are cleaning and restoring the streets (painting the traffic signs and curbs). Young men and women in coffee shops all over the city are developing charters on how to fix the country. I even saw a group of young men and women start political party and had a stand for memberships. To add to the spectrum Old men are forming brainstorming groups one will talk and everyone will listen on whats going on in the country. Before the revolution on my visits everyone was afraid to speak and discuss in public now no will stop talking about politics and the situation.

Today was interesting I went back to Tahrir, The army and military equipment are everywhere. There are Abrams tanks in the middle of Downtown. People are taking pictures with the soldiers, even parents are giving their babies to the Soldiers so that they can take pictures with them.

I also saw the burning of the minister of interior, supposedly there were police protesting earlier in the day and they burned the police office, some say that it was done on purpose by the old regime. The funny thing is my grandfathers office was on the 3rd floor of that building in 1974. I have pictures of the building which I will upload. Me and my Father were at the scene and a journalist from the washington post asked us to be his transalator, so we did it was kinda fun. The second protest was in front of the agriculture bank, the employees want to fire a manager who is allegedly corrupt.

The commercialization of the Revolution is everywhere, you can buy egyptians flags, posters, stickers and pins that all say Jan 25, its hilarious anything to make a buck.

Tomorrow the Constitutional changes should come out. Lets see if they do.

 

[silverpig]

Another one from today:

Egypt Day 4-7
Saturday, 26 February 2011 at 12:53

Hmm where to start, the last few days I have been feeling uneasy on what is going around me.

Yesterday afternoon I went to protests in Tahrir (its the only way I can get to my aunts house). The protests were about ousting the current PM Ahmed Shafiq who MUbarak appointed before he step down . The mood there was a like carnivals kids getting there faces painted, music is playing, people are chanting and waving flags food is everywhere. That was around 3-5pm. After I left the army came in at 2am and started to use tasers and batons to clear the square. This is a new for the army to use force against the people and maybe a precursor to what will happen in the future. The army did apologize but its a bit of too little too late.

Secondly there was the policeman in Maadi that was beat up by the microbus driver (those who don't know what a microbus it's a minivan taxi). The officer shot the driver in the shoulder and the people on the street beat up the policeman to near death. The funny thing is I can not find a policeman myself except in a few high traffic areas and I mean few, or guarding churches. No where do you find officers, or policeman. on a side not police hierarchy follow the French system not like British system like Canada. With regard to having no policeman on the street for the most part its ok crime isn't really too much of a concern.

I actually had a conversation with two police officers that were in the Tahrir square during the revolution and they told me how they took off there uniforms and ran away to there homes, on the day that the policeman all disappeared and they had no orders to go home. they all just left and that the command infrastructure of the police was gone at the time. They are waiting to go back to work but they aren't sure they will have a job.

The army officers that I talked to in my family have been working non stop and they seemed pretty tired. They pretty much confirmed to me that a few officers (col. and stuff) were going to turn on the regime/generals if they didn't leave.

As for the Government, they are working as if business is as usual, which is troubling sign they should not be developing new policies their job at the moment should be just help facilitate day to day operations until a democraticly elected government is formed (personal opnion). The good news is that The ammendants to the constitution should come out tomorrow or the next day. I saw glimpse of the changes and they mostly about elections, political parties and a bit on emergency laws. The big ones to me are as follows:

-Political parties will not be given by license any more it will only require registerd
-Emergency law can only last up 6 months and it has to be an actual emergency (natural disater, war etc)
-The president can only last two terms for a total of 8 years like the states.

The one I don't like is this one
Two articles dealt specifically with the presidential poll. With nationalist motives, article 75 was modified to guarantee that Egypt’s next president is born to two Egyptians parents and cannot marry a non-Egyptian. The old version did not include any conditions pertaining to the president’s wife. There goes my chances of becoming president thanks Sara (I kid I kid).

If you want more detail on the ammendements google it. Actually here is a link of an ok article

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/commission-announces-proposed-changes-egyptian-constitution-0

I could go on for hours on this stuff, my family is divided on how to move forward everyone has an opnion.

 

[Infohawk]

No offence but anecdotes from a Canadian aren't that useful. Do you think they are?

 

[Steeplerot]

Young men and women in coffee shops all over the city are developing charters on how to fix the country. I even saw a group of young men and women start political party and had a stand for memberships. To add to the spectrum Old men are forming brainstorming groups one will talk and everyone will listen on whats going on in the country.

That sounds like any political buffs dream! Wonder what type of government they will take up? A clean slate is not something that actual people have a chance to take part in very often in history.

Go Egypt! We could use some of that here. Thats for sure.

 

[yllus]

A lot of problems in the Middle East (the third world overall, really) stem from citizens not feeling like they have any stake in their community - why would they, with human and property rights as weak as they tend to be. If this spurs more involvement and caring it's a big step forward.

 

[Perknose]

No offence but anecdotes from a Canadian aren't that useful. Do you think they are?

Thanks, OP! Don't mind the immature troll's opinion. His ignorance is ironically highlighted by the fact that he spelled "offense" like a Canadian while trying to denigrate one person's birds-eye view of this revolution. He's a putz.

 

[Infohawk]

Thanks, OP! Don't mind the immature troll's opinion. His ignorance is ironically highlighted by the fact that he spelled "offense" like a Canadian while trying to denigrate one person's birds-eye view of this revolution. He's a putz.

Still angry huh? LOL. Nice to see try to come in and turn an honest question into a pissing match. You really do lead by example!

 

[silverpig]

No offence but anecdotes from a Canadian aren't that useful. Do you think they are?

He's Egyptian too. His dad has a place there and lives there. I'm not entirely sure but he may have been born there as well. He's been back many times and spent summers there during school. *shrug*

 

[tonygeor]

Hopefully they can get their country on the right track

 

[TareX]

Thanks OP, it only confirms the exact sentiments I read everyday on facebook. I am supposed to return back in 1 month.

Does this mini-blog have a address, btw?

 

[silverpig]

Thanks OP, it only confirms the exact sentiments I read everyday on facebook. I am supposed to return back in 1 month.

Does this mini-blog have a address, btw?

He just has it on his facebook page and I'm not sure if it's publicly viewable by people who aren't his friends. I asked if I could repost it and he said sure.