Thoughts on the Crisis in Egypt

“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.”
~ Henry Steele Commager

One of the post travel destinations that a couple of students in the Beyond Borders program, myself included had thought about was Egypt. Little did we know that on the 25th of January, Egypt would explode into a volatile environment where pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak protestors would attack reporters from around the world and scream their messages. Period. Question Mark. Exclamation mark. Why do I not know what punctuation mark to place after the word ‘messages’?

In the vast majority of news sources including CNN, CBS, The Globe and Mail and CBC, the reports have centered around the protestors and their violence as well as getting Mubarak out of Egyptian government. Although these are worthy stories to report and important stories for people to learn about they are very dismissive about the issues or triggering of these protests. For example: Why should Mubarak leave government? Why did the protest happen? What are people protesting? What issues are resonant in Egypt to ignite these strong feelings for Egyptians? Our news and media conglomerates have not necessarily answered these central questions behind the protests.

What I found out at a further scope of the news coverage and clawed my way through websites, new stories is a little bit of the history. Mubarak is running a one party government in Egypt (National Democratic Party) and has since been Egypt’s head of state since 1981 following an assassination attempt. The protests are in response to the failures of the Mubarak government to provide an effective response to police brutality, state of emergency laws, free elections and free speech, high unemployment levels, food price inflation and low minimum wages. Even looking symbolically at the dates explains more about the protests. January 25th, when protests initially erupted is known as the Day of Revolt to coincide with National Police Day. These protests were launched to give more information about police brutality in Egypt.

I have a couple of points about the crisis that has evolved in Egypt for the past two weeks. First, it is irresponsible of our media agents to focus so much on violence of the protests and the attacks that are being launched but using this footage rather than explaining why the people are protesting. The media in the west is taking a strong position on Mubarak leaving government and although I believe this is an opinion that can be clearly articulated; media needs to continue to provide the reasons Mubarak should leave government.

Second, we as consumers of this media should not be so passive. We should know better than to think that western reporters being attacked is not the story and demand more from our those reporters. This is not to dismiss how hard these reporters have been working but to remind ourselves that we cannot be passive in our media intake or consumerism. This passivity has been seen in many recent reports including when US Congresswoman Giffords was shot and no discussion took place on the second amendment as Bill Maher, political pundit reminded us:




I also believe that the world governments must take a tougher stance on the issues that are happening in Egypt. Mona Eltahawy, an analyst and commentator on Arab and Muslim affairs comments on what is needed for Mubarak to leave office and why its important on a human rights issue for him to leave office in an interview with Connect on CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Featured_Videos/1555003082/ID=1781428975. It is continuously surprising how the west responds to a lack of democracy and real issues. The youth movement that started the riots in the streets of Cairo were trying to send a message to the Mubarak government and it seems as though they have succeeded. I look forward to seeing history unfold.

Another story sparked from the Egyptian protests was that of the Chinese government banning any reports of what is happening in Egypt because of their Communist rule over the people in China. Devastating that some people live under a government where freedom of the press is not alive and where communication can be cut off so quickly. In many ways, the people of the developing world are censored everyday because they do not have adequate information about health, nutrition, and education yet they have the hope and yearning of possibility. I believe it is in these principals that their stories will continue to be told and real success can come just like it is happening in Egypt and how it will happen in other parts of the world.

It is in self-awareness that we grow the most. This reflection better educated me on the crisis in Egypt. I challenge you to learn about an issue you are close with this week and study it in some sort of depth that will make you reach new understanding.



Teaser for my next blog: I was told to read what current people in Kenya are writing about Kenya...I am going to be doing just that and learning Swahili, what a wild ride it is!

For More Information:

Digital Photography Shots. "19 Photos Showing Protests In Egypt." Last modified February 5, 2011. http://dpshots.com/travel-photography/19-photos-showing-protests-in-egypt.html. Accessed February 6, 2011.

Episode 199. Real Time with Bill Maher. Created by Bill Maher. Performed by Bill Maher. Home Box Office. HBO. January 21, 2011.

The CBC news website was vital to my understanding of the Egyptian protests:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/