While the 11th day of the Egyptian Revolution, the day which was supposed to be a "Day of Departure" (for the Dictator) is ended, the situation (although peaceful, and almost festive today) is far from the solution.
Who would be the real candidate to lead this proud nation to the democratic future? We know about Mohamed ElBaradei who is a very respected figure, who opposed the current regime for years, but stayed away from the political stage in Egypt - he lived most of his life abroad, he was a Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. During the last few years he was demonized by the official Egyptian media in a retaliation for his personal stand against the regime. Although the most of the population understands the lack of truth in the media attacks against him, some fall victim of such lies and believe in them.
There is also the Muslim Brotherhood, who are very well organized and right now probably almost Main Stream, not the radical organization we remember from 2 decades ago. They are accused to be linked to the AL-QAEDA, however by now (as stated in The New york Times 02.04.2011) “The Brotherhood hates Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda hates the Brotherhood,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. They were banned as an organization for quite some time but their members (who in majority are lawyers, professionals, etc) found their way to the Egyptian parliamentary system and kept many position within it until the last parliamentary elections which they boycotted in an act of defiance of the government policy. They joined the uprising when it was already in motion being afraid that if singled out by the governmental forces they might have been the reason for crushing the protest under the banner of 'not letting the extreme forces taking over the country'. They would like to take part in the coalition government.
There is a third power who is almost unnoticed in the most of the Western estimates and predictions: Amir Mousa - the current head of the Arab League. He was so popular as a Foreign Minister of Egypt, that the people came out with the glorifying him song, which says: "Mousa, Mousa we love you...". No one, even 'in the field' considered him as a player in this post-Mubarak reality, but he showed up on Tahrir Sq. today, talked to people, without making any official stand, and suddenly his Facebook page in which he introduced himself as a Man Backed Up By The Egyptian Youth - within a day gathered 300,000 hits. Again, the power of the Social Networking. Maybe Mr. Mousa is going to be THAT person, at least to lead the Interim government. in the beginning of the new, democratic future ahead.
It's all but speculation, for now...
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The violence against the members of the media proliferated during the last couple days of the uprising to the point that almost no one media center can operate using the cameras and the reporters in the field. Several TV teams were targeted purposely, some others happen to be 'in the wrong place in the wrong time' (or they were, where they were supposed to be being reporters). AlJazeera office was invaded and totally vandalized, while personnel interrogated on the spot and detained. Polish TV team was arrested on their way to the Tahrir Sq. Part of the team released after some time, the rest detained in the undisclosed location. Other affected by this hunt were a Guardian's reporter (beaten and arrested), The BBC, New York Times, Associated Press, CNN and Washington Post all reported that foreign journalists' equipment was taken or that journalists were being arrested and detained. The Washington Post reported their Cairo bureau chief Leila Fadel had been arrested, along with at least one dozen other journalists. An Egyptian photo-reporter was shot and killed by the security forces, while photographing the protests.
This is a mass and well organized action by the the elements of the Mubarak's administration. It was condemned by the the American and most of the European governments. At the same time all the promises of the current regime (even as they come out in the interviews as understanding, penitent, and reformed) are good for nothing.
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A few days ago, when the police suddenly disappeared from the streets the Tourist Police (as reported) also disappeared leaving many extremely important archaeological places completely unprotected. What happened to a few expositions in the Egyptian Museum at the beginning of the protest happened outside of Cairo as well. But not everywhere. In many places like West Bank in Luxor - the general director of the West Bank, Mr. Mustafa Waziri, was himself present at all times (organizing guards during the nights on the sites), taking control of the crossroad leading to the KV and checking every vehicle to secure the valley (reported by Prof. Dr. Laurent Bavay, Director of the Belgian mission in Qurna).. It wasn't an isolated incident.
It was, however, another indication that the government cares more about it's own survival, than about 5 thousand years of human heritage.
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The next day has already began in Cairo. Thousands of protesters camped on the Tahrir Sq, trying to stick 'to their turf' in anticipation of a long and tedious battle ahead. They do not trust any government's reaction - other than President Mubarak leaving for good his post. They have heard and have seen not once that the government's promises (sometimes sounding very attractive) never materialized in anything even close to what they were demanding. Why should this time be different...
In the interviews both President and Vice-President called this protest - "a strike", emphasizing the tremendous monetary losses to the tourist industry, to the small business owners, to the shops... It's so easy to play this tune and to portray the protesters in a very negative and un-patriotic light. It's so easy to turn the loss of income of many in a protest disturbed city against the protesters, not the cause which brought the protesters to the streets. Like all the totalitarian regimes in the world, the Egyptian government skillfully plays this sentiments to it's advantage, trying to outlast the protesters. Now it's up to the people to show that they can see through this so predictable policy.
Hopefully some kind of Interim Government will be created to lead the nation through the process of forging a completely different future for Egypt.
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