As a journalism major, I’d like to talk/rant a little bit about their situation in Egypt. Really, it is frightening. Mubarak got a few people on his side (they were reportedly offered 50 Egyptian pounds (LE), which is less than $10), to protest on his behalf.
Unfortunately, much of that violence was directed at journalists, and especially foreign journalists. Broadcaster Anderson Cooper was attacked, anyone with a camera was targeted, and Al-Jazeera was forced to shut down its offices. Sixty-five journalists have been attacked or arrested.
The government also took over the news report, with reports that glorify how much Mubarak’s camp is loved and supported. One well-known broadcaster even quit due to feeling uncomfortable with the direction the government-run station was going.
What most disturbs me is that all of this is on top of the Internet shutdown, the Twitter shutdown, the Facebook shutdown. Yes, they were all restored, but does not stop the fact that the Egyptians are being fed false information without being able to fix it or even to hear true reports, including news from the numerous international agencies that are condemning the acts.
I am especially concerned as the protests have become violent. One report put the death rate during the protests at 300, and the injury rate at 5,000. What are the Egyptians in the countryside thinking? Do they know anything? How scary must that be, to know a borderline revolution is happening, but have absolutely no way of knowing the truth?
Personally, I see this as the nail in Mubarak’s coffin. Sure, he’s holding on good and tenaciously, but no longer can the world deny that he is acting despotically. Before, he was the United States’ sweetie from the Camp David Accords; now, if the United States continues to support his regime following any conclusive proof that the he hired thugs to attack protesters (and this proof looks forthcoming: people on his side began fighting at exactly the same time, armed exactly the same way, chanting exactly the same thing...), then the United States is supporting suppressed speech, oppressing people, and a regime that instigates violence (the anti-Mubarak protesters were peaceful).
Suppressing speech also works against him because, realistically, he cannot keep the information from getting out. This is not 1775, and he can’t just detain a nouveau-Paul Revere. Egyptians used other methods to go through foreign countries to access free (meaning, uncensored) Internet, and hackers worked to take down government Web sites, while others resorted to faxes to communicate. Once the world gets word that he is behaving this way, his last, straggling supporters will fall. Already, people are joining the cause and launching virtual protests on Facebook, while agencies such as the Committee to Protect Journalists are speaking against him.
Yes, leaders can be tenacious. Ivory Coast’s Lauren Gbagbo is an example of one ruler who simply will not let go. He really is that petulant child that will go dead-weight rather than get on the bus. Mubarak is making concessions, but he is also that petulant child’s older brother. He still won’t take the bus, but he’s lying and saying he’s sick, then beating up his friends who tell the truth while making ridiculous promises that he will eventually get on the bus and that he’ll study really hard in the meantime. I expect the silent treatment will come next.
Once more, I support the Egyptians. I support my friends there, and I wish them both safety and success. I wish for their country to be the prosperous Nile kingdom of yore, once again. I wish them peace and justice. Numerous journalists have echoed this call, and the belief that journalists should not live in fear.
More than anything, I wish the Egyptians the ability to run, carefree, through the streets, shouting whatever they want, without worrying about an emergency law that could detain them and a “president” that will hire thugs to take them out. You are all in my thoughts and in my heart.
Don't they have editors at Fordham University? You talk and talk and talk, and this must mean that you are a woman. Blah, blah, blah.
ReplyDeleteGet to the point!!!
Hello. This is all meant in good, clean fun. If you are offended, I most sincerely apologize.
ReplyDelete