February 11, 2011
Cairo Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net
The Moment Mubarak Resigned
It happened in a minute.
Mohamed’s phone rang just as my grandson appeared at Cairo airport’s arrival gate. “Mubark’s resigned! He’s resigned!” my friend burst out. We swept the jet-legged Philip into the great whoop."He's resigned! Resigned!"
We left the airport high-fiving and thumbs-upping every which way and drove straight to Tahrir Square horn-honking the celebratory rhythm associated with winning soccer games--the only occasions Egyptians have had to celebrate for 30 years. We passed cars flying huge Egyptian flags and large eight-wheelers with blaring horns. The road filled with cars as we reached city center; people calling out, “Mabruk” -congratulations - and waving peace signs out the windows.
I’d planned on taking Philip to Tahrir to join the protestors.
Instead one minute brought that trial of endurance to an abrupt end. Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak was leaving. We rushed to celebrate!
A crowd of millions; not an inch of pavement to be seen. Flags everywhere. Children on their parents shoulders. Young women in pony-tails; many more in hijabs; a few in full face veils; A toothless old man from upper Egypt; a farmer in galabeya, skull cap and scarf who'd been demonstrating for a week; a group from an outlying oasis chanted Bedouin songs; a middle-aged layer had been there for 18 days; peaceful people stretching further than the eye could see.
The lawyer said, “This should have happened long ago. We let him do it. We made him who he is. Not anymore.” He was still coughing from the tear-gas he’d inhaled.
The young man next to him pulled out his cell phone with pictures 40 pellets in his back and head. But this was a night of celebration. “Everything was worth it, il hamdu liallah—Thanks to God.”
My friend Muhamed said, "I don't hate my country any more."
To those who worry about an Islamist take-over. Please don’t underestimate these people. And to those who worry about a military one. The chants were: “Civilian. Civilian. Not military rule!”
Amal Sedky Winter, PhD
www.myeyeonegypt.net
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