Identity Magazine: Marwa Rakha's Special #Jan25 Revolution Coverage
March/April 2011
Mohamed Ragab
Journalist and networks specialist
I want to highlight the most humorous moments I have lived during those past 18 days in my hometown of Ismailia.
1) Expired tear gas canisters that were made in China; corruption and businessmen lobbying reached that extent? Can’t we even have our own tear gas canisters and torture weapons made in Egypt?
2) After we were attacked and dispersed on January 25, we got into the metro trying to go home; suddenly the doors opened and the police threw tear gas bombs inside the metro cars! We were ambushed like a clan of mice in a dark dungeon!
3) When the riot police were backing off, one of the front line officers asked me – seriously – what was going on! The guy was clueless! He did not know why we were protesting and why he had orders to fire rubber bullets at us!
4) After the police evacuated the streets in a pathetic attempt to create chaos, Micho – a friend of mine – volunteered to manage traffic in one of the busiest and most crucial squares in Ismailia. From the sound of his name, it is quite obvious that he is just another facebook dude! To our surprise, Micho did a great job as a traffic officer! He enjoyed it, did it with a smile, and traffic was never smoother! He was even in one of Al Arabeya Channel footage of Ismailia!
5) When we, protesters, raided the hideous state security building in Ismailia we found huge quantities of kitchen mixers, kitchen machines, hair dryers, laptops, fans, and imported cigarettes along with “to be arrested” lists. My question is: where did all those things come from?
6) When we raided the NDP building in the heart of the governorate, we thought it was mandatory to tear down Mubarak’s picture from the wall. We were surprised that every time we tore off a picture there was another one underneath it!
7) The women who were with us were as brave and as patriotic as the men; I do not want to hear any more debates about how fit or qualified women are! Actually, their hair pins came in handy when we wanted to hang the “no vandalism” signs!
8) I was going home after the curfew started when an army officer stopped me and asked me if I had a phone charger; hence, I figured out the all army tanks are not equipped with lighters and car chargers!
9) I am indebted to our Tunisian brothers; they were the ones who told us to wash off tear gas with cola!
10) It was great seeing how army officers welcomed masses of Egyptian civilians onto their trucks; we took pictures with them, next to them, on top of them, and women brought their kids to take pictures with the tanks and the army officers! It was better than Halloween!
Identity Magazine: Marwa Rakha's Special #Jan25 Revolution Coverage
March/April 2011
Mohamed Maree – Mahalla
Veterinarian, Blogger and Activist
Mohamed Maree believes that a picture speaks louder than 1000 words. When I interviewed him, he highlighted the facts that he was an Egyptian whose mission in life is to reveal human rights abuses, torture cases, lack of freedom of expression and democracy, and the injustice of Mubarak’s regime. Over the past years, he unfolded many stories of torture in police stations and state security headquarters and he played an active role in covering the labor movements and strikes since 2008.
All the pain and death that he has seen during the 18 days of the Egyptian uprising were a cheap price to pay for our freedom! Nothing tops the moment when President Mubarak was ousted!
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