Another article regarding PSU students in Egypt who I interviewed via Facebook (such a social media driven revolution).
Even though Egyptians have been victorious in overthrowing Mubarak, there is much work to be done to restructure the political motif of Egypt and allow people more say... that is what the people called for.
الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام pronounced (or rather shouted) "Ashaab yurid esqaatt an-nitham" The people want to overthrow the regime...
Students on the Ground in Egypt
February 5th, 2011 in All Stories / Features
One student is free to travel again, one is stuck in Cairo and another sets the scene in the Egyptian streets
Erica Charves
In the Streets
Former Portland State student Wessam El-Baz is still on the ground in Egypt. During a brief return of Internet service, the Spectator contacted El-Baz for comment on Feb. 2 at 10 p.m. Cairo time. When asked about the status of citizens in Cairo he said, “The Cairenes and the Egyptians are so worried. Yesterday’s presidential speech divided people into two parts. Those who are pro-Mubarak, believe his words and they believe that he is going to leave after September 2011. The anti-Mubarak group believes that he could be lying and he might be working on setting things up for his son Gamal as a successor. They believe that he is going get revenge on people who set up the protest.”
Wessam El-Baz is an Egyptian citizen who studied mechanical engineering at PSU winter and spring terms in 2009.
He stated the last few days were very dangerous with thieves and killers roaming the streets.
On Feb. 3, Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Gamal Mubarak would not be taking over his father’s presidency.
“In my area, Nasr City, some cars were passing fast in the streets, firing guns in the air to terrorize people so that they wouldn’t go to the protest.”
El-Baz related a disturbing story of police beating protesters. On Jan. 29 in Aswan, Egypt (south along the Nile River) he said, “I found almost 500 policemen preparing themselves for the protesters, then 50 meters after them, a street fighter with sticks and knives, then more police after him, waiting for protesters [sic].”
Yet he remained positive when asked how long it could take Cairo and Egypt to recover.
Thus far, the military has held an important moderating role, unlike police who have long-standing distrust from residents.
“The city could come back in two weeks only,” El-Baz said. “Egyptians are hard workers and can do it easily. Nobody is sure of anything but we are sure that we don’t want this dictator and the longer he stays the harder we work to kick him out.”
Stuck in Cairo
A second former Portland State student, also an Egyptian citizen, fears retaliation and declines to allow her name to be used.
She is trapped in Cairo, due to highway closures meant to stop more protesters from entering the city, and the student is unable to contact her family because of interruptions in cell phone and Internet service. She related that criminals had stopped train service across the region by removing some of the rails.
When asked about her safety she stated, “Egyptian streets are secured by the local people—each neighborhood delegates its men to stand in the streets from about 5 p.m. to the next morning to stop any stranger, ask for his ID and make sure he does not have any kind of a weapon. We call these ‘local inspection points’ and they were very effective,” she added. “They caught many of the thieves and criminals and delivered them to the army.”
She studied engineering at Portland State. The student is an Egyptian citizen living there full time.
Regarding claims in U.S. media that the Muslim Brotherhood may have a hand in this revolution she replied, “For the Muslim Brotherhood, they are absolutely nothing. The government likes to say that they are the ones calling for protests in order to justify the attacks against protesters.”
She reiterated the use of social media by Egyptian youth in the beginning of this movement.
“The main call for the protests were made through a very famous Facebook group, which was made in the memorial of one of the young youth in Egypt who was tortured to death by the Egyptian police last summer.”
She concluded, “Many Egyptians are very tired of the current situation, as prices are going up, and all banks are closed, and no one goes to work. Life is nearly frozen for over a week now. So they say that what Mubarak offered in his speech is very good so far, and we need to stop demonstrations, in order to live, and rescue our economy before it fails permanently.”
Safely Away
Aaron Viengkhou, a current Portland State student, was studying at the American University of Cairo when violence erupted between pro-democracy protesters and Egyptian police.
Viengkhou is studying Arabic at Portland State and has been in Egypt since the beginning of winter term.
In an exclusive Spectator interview, he spoke of the U.S. government evacuation from the area.
“I know a lot of the other American students got on these enormous buses to take them to the airport so they could take a U.S. Embassy flight for elected repatriation, which dropped them off in either Istanbul, Athens or Cyprus.”
Although the airports are overcrowded with people exiting the city, Viengkhou was able to pay for a flight instead of using the U.S. emergency flights.
“As luck would have it, when I got [to the Cairo airport] I went to the airline desk and they asked me if I wanted a spot on a plane leaving for the same destination [as other evacuees] in two hours. I got on the plane and had a comfortable flight to Turkey. Now I’m enjoying this beautiful city that I’d always wanted to visit.”
When asked what his next step will be he stated, “I’m not exactly sure what my plans are for the immediate future, but it looks like I might apply to do the semester in Jerusalem.”
Editor’s note: Interviews have been edited for clarity. Due to inconsistent Internet connection and the dangerous situation, interviews were rushed.
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