Revolution of the Youth

Hosam Khalil & Hossam Refaei


“Did you hear what just happened in Tunisia?!  A guy just retaliated against his government by setting himself ablaze!”  That’s where all this began… A simple, yet very graphic message that rippled throughout the Arab world and sent its leaders into complete and utter disarray.  As for the public, a hopeful vibe was set alight and political silence was forever quenched from that point on.  Being an Egyptian born abroad but having often spent many months in Egypt gives me a small taste of what it is like to live there.  The people are friendly, welcoming, loving and always willing to lend a helping hand, whether they know what to do or not.  Usually loud and very outgoing, the Egyptian people were undeniably passive and quiet for many years about how the country was being run.  The 30-year rule of a power-hungry naval officer, Hosni Mubarak, superseded arguably the most ambitious and greatest president to ever rule Egypt; Anwar Sadat, often referred to by Egyptians nowadays as a “Man’s man”. As Mubarak took the presidential oath, a sense of fear and discomfort was felt amongst his people.
Viewed by many as a popular tourist attraction, Egypt never had trouble inviting people to enter the country… the issue was keeping people from leaving.  Along with many legal and political issues, unemployment was high, wages were low, corruption was uncontrollable, and the majority of families lived in poverty.  It is not hard to understand why I, and many others, only spent a few months at a time in Egypt, usually on vacation.  On January 25th 2011, it didn’t matter whether we were Egyptians living in Egypt, living abroad, or not Egyptian at all, we were glued to the news watching history unfold on the streets of Cairo.  My first question upon seeing the thousands upon thousands of demonstrators gathered at Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) was “Have these people gone mad?!”  Then I put myself in their shoes and thought, “If I lived all my life working so hard to provide for my family only to have the government unrightfully steal most of my assets from me, I would be out in the street protesting against them too!”
The cries in the city of Cairo, “MUBARAK AND HIS REGIME MUST FALL!” were emanating across the millions throughout the 18-day civil revolution.  Relatively peaceful protests primarily involving the youth of the Egyptian society were held across Tahrir Square and along the streets of Alexandria.  Despite a large military presence in the midst of the action, government-set curfews were readily defied and protests were allowed to commence and were unenforced.  The people were demanding change and were not going to rest until they got it. Some even went as far as sacrificing their lives in the names of justice and freedom.  On February 11th, 2011, Hosni Mubarak, the perpetrator that had been gaining the attention of media crews from around the globe finally stepped down as president of Egypt.  US President Obama compared the youthful 18-day protest movement to Germans who tore down the Berlin Wall and Gandhi leading India to independence.
I have never been more proud to be an Egyptian.  My father said it best, “your generation did something that our generation was too scared to do”.  The peaceful and successful fight for democracy in Egypt has sparked other protests in the region and the voices of people, which have been suppressed for so long, have begun to be heard.  The world has seen that in 18 days, a peaceful protest in Egypt, now referred to as the “Revolution of the Youth”, was able to conquer a corrupt 30-year authoritarian dictatorship.  Like many other Egyptians, I am inspired by this chain of events and by the Egyptian youth. We are the voice of the future.