February 2, 2011, Tahrir Square/ photo by alkoga teacher
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There was another demand in 2011, however. This was for dignity...in two senses: "the dignity of the individual, and the dignity of the collective, of the people, and of the nation."
Rashid Khalidi
Palestinian-American
Yale University History professor
“Almost overnight a civic space was created in Tahrir Square that was the ideal space, that one imagined, that everybody imagined, how the country should be ...
Adhaf Soueif, author
Map of Love
We are the masses in the sit-in Tahrir Square, who ignited the spark of the uprising against injustice and tyranny, where raised by the will of the people, the people who suffered 30 years of oppression, injustice and poverty under the rule of Mubarak, and his cronies in the National Party .
Unknown activist
Egyptians have proven today that they are capable of extricating their freedom and destroying tyranny. Zayad al-Allawi
Activist, blogger, software designer.
"We have brought down the regime."
Crowds in Tahrir Square
"This is the greatest day of my life."
Mohamed al-Baradei
Egyptian, Nobel Prize winner
"I don't have to hate my country anymore."
Mohammed, computer natural
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Egyptians have had plenty of cause to rebel for decades. But in the last several years, their lives had grown harder. At the same time, their political awareness grew stronger. Some decided to learn how to create and ignite a leaderless revolution. And then Tunisia showed the Egyptians that a revolution could be won.
Egyptian lives grows harder.
- Food inflation: prices shot upward for over two years.Static wages: Poor wages and broken promises by manufacturing businesses, some of them run by the government.
- Marriage delay: Wages were so bad and jobs so hard to find that men couldn't even think of marrying until into their thirties.
- Rich/poor gap grows: A middle-class grew, living in pretentious homes in walled communities; the poor became poorer.
- Election fraud: Parliamentary elections in November and December 2010 were so fraudulent that even the cynics were shocked.
- Corruption: Government corruption continued apace.
- Repression of public expression: an "emergency law", in force since 1981, was used by the government to prevent and/or destroy citizen activism
- Royal pretensions: President Mubarak’s son was to be inserted into the presidency after his father’s retirement, as if the family were royalty
- Police brutality: Famously, internet activist Khaled Said of Alexandria was picked up by the police for trying to video a police drug deal, then beaten to death. This outrage was merely the latest example of a strong and well-known pattern of political arrests and torture.
- Distorted news: Government run news media lied about inconvenient events.
Egyptians' skills grow stronger.
- Strikes: Poor wages and broken promises provoked a long series of strikes,most prominently by textile workers, but spreading to government employees, students, and human rights groups
- Leaders: Young people organized successful demonstrations. The famous ex-patriot Mohamed Al-Bardei, returned to Egypt and expressed his outrage at the government practices.
- Connection: Internet and mobile phone use grew geometrically. See The Facebook Factor
- Study: Young, internet-savvy professionals studied the revolutionary techniques used by others people’s uprising.
- Vision: Al-Jazeera showed what life was really like in Egypt and what it could be like.
- Inspiration: The successful revolt of Tunisians against their government showed Egyptians that change was possible.
It was a ticking bomb ready to explode.
...but when it was going to explode nobody knew.
Mohammed el-Baradei
Revolution in the Arab World:
From Cairo by Amal Sedky Winter,PhD
January 25, 2011: Today belongs to Egypt's youth
Twenty-thousand young people gathered in Tahrir Square, Central Cairo, as well as a dozen or so other cities in the country, demanding the resignation of President Mubarak, dismissal of his son Gamal as a potential presidential candidate, new parliamentary elections and a revised constitution. Police eventually attacked with batons, water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas. Phone and internet service were shut down. More
January 26, 2011: Protestors still demonstate
Protest contines in spite of government warnings and police cordons, vans, canons, arrests, etc. More...
January 28, 2011: "Friday of Rage"
About a half-million demonstrated in Tahrir Square with relatively large crowds in Suez, Damietta, Port Said, Mansoura and other cities. Police used live ammunition. The president did not speak. The regime's party headquarters were torched. More...
January 29, 2011: "Mubarak leave!"
Protestors attacked state security building. Mubarak lets jailed criminals lose, á la Saddam, and calls ambulances and fire trucks out of service. People, especial the Muslim Brotherhood set up emergency care stations. Young men across the city organize neighborhood watches. Important business and political leaders flee the country. Mubarak speaks after midnight, announcing replacement of cabinet including appointment of Omar Suleiman, former head of the secret police as new vice president. More...
January 30: Persistent and unviolent protest
100,000 in Tahrir Square in spite of shutdown of internet, phones and al Jazeera TV. An F-16 fighter planes buzzed Tahrir Square. Army tanks rolled in the same direction, were ordered to shoot and refused. More....
January 31: Persistent and unviolent protest
By evening, tens of thousands again in Tahrir Square. The Army polices neirghborhoods and the fringes of demonstrations.
February 1: Egyptian Protestors: "We'll just stay longer
Two million said to be protesting in Cairo. Army and citizens cooperate to create order and safety. Tahrir square's neighborhoods bring food and water to protesters. More...
February 2: Egyptian Empire Strikes Back
Thugs and out of uniform police attack the protestors. Horses and camels gallop through the crowd. More...
February 3: Grip of Mubarak's Fist
Reporters and protesters arrested. Ahmed Shafiq, the new prime minister, doesn't understand why the people don't go home when he tells them to. People are tiring. Rumors are rife. More...
February 4: "Committees of the Wise"
Groups of activists, intellectuals and politicians are gathering in Committees of the Wise to discuss specific demands. More...
February 5: Negotiations in Egypt
A Committee of the Wise tries to figure out how Mubarak can leave within bounds of the consitution. Protests continue. Xenophobia grows. More...
February 6: Community wide festival
People from all parts of society - young, old, able and challenged - celebrate in the square. Activists pronouce no negotations while Mubarak in office. Police attempt to cordon the square with barbed wire and fired shots in the air. People checked their barricades and resumed celebrating.
February 7: We are all Khaled Said
Human rights watch reported 297 Egyptians killed since the beginning of the uprising, including some journalists. Wael Ghonim, a Google executive, released after 12 days in jail, revealed that he had written "We are all Khaled Said," a blog which helped spark the protests. Huge crowds again filled the square; some sang protest songs. More.
February 8: Rejecting Mubarak's offer
Vice-President Omar Suleiman announced that President Mubarak had appointed a committee to discuss a "peaceful transition" to a new government. The people rejected the step as illegitimate. Inspired by Wael Ghonim's interview, high level businessmen began appearing in the square.
February 9: Who's got the power?
The standoff between the people and the regime allows time for a closer look at the who the major players are and the power they can wield. More...
February 10: Mubarak's lack of resignation
Three million people waited 7 hours in Tahrir Square on a rumor that Mubarak would announce his resignation. Instead he confirmed his intention to stay in the presidency. The people reached for their shoes and waved them at the sky. More...
February 11: The moment Mubarak resigned
A crowd of millions; not an inch of pavement to be seen. Flags everywhere. Children on their parents shoulders. Young women in pony-tails; many more in hijabs; a few in full face veils; a toothless old man from upper Egypt; a farmer in galabeya, skull cap and scarf ...; a group from an outlying oasis chanted Bedouin songs; a middle-aged lawyer ...; peaceful people stretching further than the eye could see. More.