This text was voluntarily translated by Rafaella Danon Schivartche. Thanks!
- So, this is the Suez Canal?
-Yes... What do you know about the Suez?
-Well, what everyone knows…
- Haven’t you heard about the revolution?
This was how I started talking to Mina, a young Egyptian man of 22. During the next 3 hours we would talk about the recent Egyptian revolution, which began on January 25th, 2011, of the recent demonstrations for justice in Israel, about Brazil, and about life. During the 9 or more of our bus trip between Dahab, in the Sinai, and Cairo, in Egypt, I had both the pleasure and the opportunity to listen to the opinions of a young Egyptian amidst a revolution in his own country.
Before I let Dahab, I talked to the manager of my Inn in the effort of trying to understand what kind of impact the revolution – Arab Spring - had in a region like the Sinai. With a smile on his face, he answered my questions euphorically, as if the issue was a motive of pleasure to him. He could easily be included in the crowd on the streets, even though he had not been there, saying that the end of the Mubarak regime brought opportunities for the country’s reconstruction.
Tourism in the region, according to him, had not altered much since the Egyptian struggle, but the regime’s downfall would ensure more control and development of the Sinai region, which nowadays suffers from the occupation of different groups such as terrorists and hosts a series of illegal activities inside it’s mountains and vast territories, mostly at the north and at the border with the Gaza Strip. He talked and I could feel that not only he included himself in that movement, but he expressed feelings of freedom in his speech and in the head gestures of the driver, also in his twenties.
Outside our bus, I listen carefully to what Mina tells me. He too was there, in the Tahrir Square (Midan Tahrir) when the Egyptian youth decided to put an end to the 30-year-old regime. “No one could foresee, even a day before, what was about to happen”, he says. “Who lead the movement? The common feeling stored somewhere deep in every Egyptian”, he adds.
He looked into my eyes and with pleasure repeated the expression “Game Over”. “The people decided to look in the eyes of those in charge and say: Game Over!”. The bus runs smoothly, the road is excellent and the conversation was being held under a beautiful sunset, privilege of the over 300 kilometers of the west cost of the Sinai desert. In the landscape, on one side the blue ocean water, that no camera can ever capture, and on the other, a desert scenario exactly as I pictured it would be. Mina’s voice won over the Stooges of the Orient movie that was being shown on the bus’ small screen.
And now? How will the post-revolution movement come about, especially if Mubarak is tried, I ask defiantly? “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter exactly who will come to govern the country. The Egyptian people has shown itself united against an oppressive regime and has publically demonstrated a dissatisfaction that had been kept away from public eye over the years. The time now is to strengthen the Egyptian people”. I confess to have been a bit unsatisfied with this reply, but I can also understand the moment of euphoria and decided not to ruin the glow in his eyes with more profound questions.
As to the calmness noted in the last few days, he tells me that demonstrations have diminished not only because of Ramadan (actually, Mina is catholic), but also because of some of the demands of the people are being met by the military coalition that is guaranteeing the country’s safety. But he warns me: the military Friday is not a day for Tourism in the Tahrir Square, periodic public demonstrations continue and many of them end up in stray bullets.
I arrived in Cairo at night and after a long search for a hotel (being so luck as to find one of the dirtiest and poorly managed of the region) I was impressed with the intense movement of people on the street and followed them to the Tahrir Square. There, I stood observing together with the crowd (minuscule if compared to the number of people that had been at the Square lately) the moving around of the police troupes occupying the center of the Square and the many military trucks that surrounded the place.
I was approached by a young man wearing a T-shirt with broken shackles and the flag of Egypt. He wanted to know my opinion. Soon we were joined by a few young others and talked briefly about all that was happening. He showed me a photo of his brother, who was killed in the demonstrations, and also said he had been shot in the right leg. Nothing happened that time in the Square, but apparently visiting the region became a routine for many young people of the country.
I asked for one last comment from Mina. I want to know how he sees the Israeli demonstrations calling for social justice. With enthusiasm similar to that expressed by his own history, he blesses the demonstrations and welcomes the neighbors’ initiatives. I share my photos of the protests, the tents and banners displayed during the demonstrations and see his eyes light up when reading one of them in Arabic: "This means: move, get out. It was used in the statements of Tahrir Square and we all saw this tribute here through Israeli newspapers. "
From Sinai to Cairo, across the country, young people seem to not only celebrate the revolution that I followed in the papers, but also a new opportunity to express themselves. Throughout all trade in the region, flags and clothing shouting out to love and appreciation to the new freedom in the country. My shirt said: "The power of people is stronger than people in power"
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