The events occurring on the ground this weekend in Egypt have riveted Americans who pay attention to such events, and on Tampa Saturday afternoon approximately 100 people, many Egyptian-Americans, took to the streets corners of Dale Mabry and Kennedy to applaud the protests and call for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down — "yesterday" — as one protester said.
"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Mubarak's got to go," was the dominant chant from those who stood at the northwest and southeast corners of the main thoroughfare. Five Tampa police officers stood by silently in the parking lot of the CVS on one of those corners, as CVS personnel complained about protesters taking parking spaces reserved for patrons. Other signs read "WikiLeaks, Tunisia, Egypt," "Goodbye U.S. supported dictators," "Democracy in Egypt now" and "Oust Hosni."
Ahmed Bedier, the co-host of the WMNF talk show True Talk, which centers on issues affecting Muslims and the Middle East, helped organize the rally. An Egyptian-American, he expressed concerns in particular about the Egyptian military, which as of late Saturday had not acted against the tens of thousands of protesters in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities. Egypt's military is considered to be the nation's most popular and respected institution.
Others in the crowd said they didn't believe the military would kill their fellow Egyptians, and differentiated between them and the police, who are considered more loyal to Mubarak, who has ruled his county with an iron fist since succeeding Anwar el-Sadat for nearly 30 years.
Gigi Suliman said 30 years is more than enough for one man to rule, and says she has relatives in the Egyptian Army, who she claims are just as "fed up" as the rest of the nation. She said she expects there to be more bloodshed, though her frankness could be considered shocking to some. "Freedom has to come with blood, we know that. It's okay. We're 18 million. So even if 1 million go down, that's fine. There's more civilians who'll survive."
A Palestinian-American named Fawzi said of the report Saturday morning that at least 79 people had been killed, "It's a small percentage compared to how many people live in Egypt. People have to stand for their rights, and casualties are to be expected, and people are willing to give that sacrifice. They have learned from Tunisia and are going the same route."
A man who just gave the name Elkin hailed from Alexandria, Egypt and said he thinks a "new Egypt is being born." Saying he believes the population is fed up with the torture and abuse that have come from Mubarak's minions, people in his native country "just want to live, and have a job, and have a life. Even a little apartment. They have nothing but contaminated water, contaminated food, corruption and have had no hope of any improvement of the future in over 30 years."
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.