To Our Egyptian Friends...

[justTripn]

Wise advice! I will second that.

[enterprikayak]

Here's an article from huffington post on different way egyptians are communicating:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/2 ... =Anonymous

[Silverbullet]

Paper today says that German tourists in Egypt are being taergeted. they are being robbed of Cameras, money, etc. It is only a matter of time when one Tourists objects and will get hurt or possibly killed.

I hope like the devil that Kotik does NOT go to Alexandria. NOt sure if he could get there as flight in to Egypt may be on hold. Hope so.

SB

[Kotik]

I hope like the devil that Kotik does NOT go to Alexandria. NOt sure if he could get there as flight in to Egypt may be on hold. Hope so.
SB

I just returned from Alexandria, so your hope was somewhat in vain. But contrary to what can be read in the media, the people didn't rob us - in fact we got a very warm welcome there - well as warm as it can get with being surrounded by army tanks and molotov cocktail throwing Mubarak thugs. The egyptians go through a very difficult time, but they are determined to see the end of it. I wasn't by far the only foreigner there to join in the peaceful protests. Most of the non-egyptians i met were people from countries, who went through peaceful revolutions themselves (Romania, Czech Republic, Poland etc.) with a smattering of americans thrown in as well.
The army is a bit of an unknown variable. On one hand they refused to use violence against us, but on the other hand they tried to get the people off the street and the demonstrations to end. I think it might have to do with what happened 3 days ago. Civilians ploughed into the crowd on horses and camels with no care for the lives of demonstrators or their animals. Dozens were injured and several horses and camels had to be shot as they broke their limbs when they ran head-on into the crowds. I was with a group of young men, who dragged one of the attackers from his horse and - lets say - their interrogation methods left something to be desired.
As it turned out, the attacker was a season-worker from Jordan, who had been paid by Mubarak's ruling NPD party to assault the protesters. Others were NPD member or otherwise hired or misguided Mubarak supporters. If a regime goes to such measures, the people deserve our support and I really hope that the lads will continue to flood the streets. There's no place on this planets for people like Mubarak.

In contrast to what's currently going on in Egypt, our east german revolution of 1989 looks positively tame

[Silverbullet]

Kotik, glad you are back safe and sound. Must have been an adventure.

I have been through a couple things like that. They can turn ugly in an instant. Doesn't take much. So, far each side seems to be holding its temper.

Newspaper here had the story of German tourists being targeted. NOt sure hwre it was, perhaps Cairo.

Anyway, welcome back.

SB

[Kotik]

There are most likely not many tourists in Cairo as all roads towards it are currently blocked. Most likely that happened at Sharm-el-Sheikh or Hurghada, where some local criminals used the chaos for some petty crime.

[Elessar]

Congratulations, Egypt!!!

[justTripn]

"This is our revolution! This is our facebook!" Quoting an Egyption on the news at this moment. Wow!!!!

[enterprikayak]

Yay!

The world is changing. I know doom-and-gloomers are always going to say we're headed for self-annihilation as a race....but people are less willing to be oppressed than ever before. And that is a good sign for the human race, I think.

[Silverbullet]

Great sign EK. Paper here this morning headlined that Mumbarak ws NOT going to step down. I was sure things would get ugly and then the news that he has stepped down. Not sure if it was humanitarian on his part or if he had been holding on in order to get a couple bags of money packed before leaving.

SB

[Kotik]

Most likely, the deciding factor was the Pentagon. The Egyptian army is highly dependant on american support, so Obama had a bit of pull. When he finally decided to to turn coat and drop Mubarak, the dictator was done in.

I hope that the Egyptian people will find peace soon. A lot of unbelievably horrible things have happened - like mothers with their childs being trampled down by horses (although I doubt that the attacker survived our answer to his antics).

Now that Mubarak is gone, let's hope that the Egyptian people can rebuild their society in peace and democracy.