This post is due by Tuesday, February 11 @ midnight for full credit.
Email late posts to rwilliamsATchamplain.edu for partial credit.
Read the assigned chapters above, and then:
1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about the Arab Spring you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis.
2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of the Arab Spring after completing our reading.
Megan Spiezio-Davis
ReplyDeleteThe prologue and first chapter of this book deals with the amount of control the State Security has over the people of Egypt. As is illustrated by the violent interrogation described in the prologue, you immediately get a sense of how dangerous it was in Egypt to discuss your thoughts on the regime. Within the text of the first chapter I learned just how severe the Emergency Law can be. Since 1958 it had been a way for State Security to meddle in people’s lives. It gives executive authority to the State Security to arrest, interrogate and imprison all Egyptians. This law also bans large gatherings for groups without security clearance. This idea went as far as to make college professors get State Security clearance.
I did find this information interesting and yes I found the statement the author uses that this state of being was more like “weapons of mass oppression.” However, I did find his complaining about how oppressed he felt Egypt was to be pitiful. Especially after reading about the opportunities he was given, such as private schooling and technology advantages. He actually had better technology in his home then I did in that era. I also found his comparisons between the U.S. and Egypt to be a little tiresome.
By the second chapter I got over his whininess and tried to see the bigger picture he was painting. Such as the people of Egypt wanted governmental change. Socially and culturely he paints a confident picture of Egyptian heart and soul. It was a change in the regime that the younger people of this country desired most. I still empathize with their plight as most Americans want to see drastic change themselves; however we often know that with the most of eight years we can see change if we vote for it. Egyptians did not have that confidence within their government. Without a feeling of efficacy, one feels stifled and oppressed. With that idea and the lack of legitimate voting rights, I can understand the push for people to unite.
Farther in the reading I learned how important the internet played a role in the forming of the people for this ideal. The internet brought together 700,000 people to join forces on April 6th. This was the beginning of what the internet could do for this mission. He took the excitement and built on it as a catalyst for future communication about support for ElBaradei. Now he was an activist and now he was going to help in making real change. The idea that all these young people wanted change and that they now had a motto in “Kullena Khaled Said.” Translated to “We Are All Khaled Said”. This is an example of when a motto turns into a mission statement. A new mission had begun and a new image of oppression burned inside the authors mind. Through the third chapter we learn about the images he passed along, we learned about the impact these images had on the social networks and how they spawned fury. I am left with the never ending whispering question inside my head, what if Wael Ghonim was not into computers and technology; instead he was into medicine or followed the electrical engineer route. Would he and his technological influence have sparked a revolution?
Part 1
ReplyDeleteChapter 1: A Regime of Fear
- I found it astonishing that Egyptian authorities had this much power. Tensions seemed to always be high when the conversation turned to Egyptian authorities, mostly due to the fact that they can essentially do whatever they want without consquence. This gives me much more perspective on how ridiculous their government is and I'm surprised no one tried anything before this.
- These local proverbs are just as ridiculous. "Walk quietly by the wall (where you cannot be noticed)" "Mind your own business and focus on your livlihood" and "Whosoever is afraid stays unharmed". Outrageous, ruling with fear.
- Everything is seemingly controlled by fear (or was I should say) but even now it seems that there is still a lot of fear residing within Egypt. When does fear end and when would reasurance begin?
Chapter 2: Searching For A Savior
- "Sometimes it seemed to me that we feared the wrath of the secret police more than we feared death itself." But to what end do you keep fearing that which oppresses you? To what end/threshold does one step up against their authorities and go against the "status quo"?
- Oppression, fear, violence and propaganda. From what I understand these are the tools that the former Egyptian government utilized the most, but what did they gain from doing so? Their people acted against them and the government could only expect this opression to last only so long? Did they really expect fear to last forever? To be their tool of dominance against their people? I think one of thier biggest failures was a lack of appreciation for their people. A lack of confidence in their own.
- There seems to have been a lot of upheaval over the years in Egypt, this dates back into the 1800's. My question is why is there so much corruption here? What drives it? Why does it seemingly fester so easily in those who rule?
Chapter 3: "Kullena Khaled Said"
- It is pretty astounding that something seemingly simple such as facebook can help spark a nation into action. I'm not saying that facebook was the main catalyst for revolution but rather than it was kindling for the start of something much bigger and I believe no one (even those involved) could anticipate how big this could truly become.
- At this point I must sound idiotic for still being astounded, mesmerized and dumb-founded to how brutal a countries police force can truly be. I'm referring to the gentle man named "Khaled Mohamed Said" and the picture seen that depicted how he was brutally beaten to death after a disagreement with two police officers.
- Actions such as these go unpunished and the people are finally doing something about it. It upsets me to great lengths to read, hear and see just a fraction (I'm sure) of the unjustice that happens on a daily basis.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteWhy did it take so long for revolutions to truly become aparrent? Why did it take so long for (Egypt in particular) to act against thier government? I'm not criticizing anyone because I honestly wouldn't have a clue as to how any of this really feels. How it feels to be constantly afraid for your own life if you talk the wrong way or if you talk about something you shouldn't in public. I just want to understand why, was it simply because of fear, or was there something more at stake here?
Chapter 1:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapter 1 what really stuck out to me and surprised me the most was in the beginnings of chapter 1 were it talked about the power that the Egyptian authorities have. For instance, the Egyptian State Securities could go as far as possible like deep into society, involving itself in every detail of life. The law gives authorities the full right to arrest, interrogate, and imprison any Egyptian for up to six months without a warrant or any legal grounds or even the right to attorney. This way it also gives the authorities the power to ban all types of protests that carried by the people. This is something I find very interesting and to see that the power the authorities the Egyptian authorities hold is really surprising to see.
Chapter 2:
It's funny to see that how Hosni Mubarak when he first came in to office he promised the people that he would only serve the two terms and after that he broke his promise by serving more than two terms. Which is not surprising at all, because power is something everyone likes to have and this was the same case with Hosni Mubarak as well. This is why he stayed in office for more than two terms and he just didn't want to leave this power that he has he either wanted to stay for a longer time or bring his family into power after himself. Power is like to have a drug but in a different form. Once you have it you don't want to let go of it. However, in the end it was nice that the "Kefya" movement was founded by intellectual group of students who not only expressed anger towards Mubarak but to his son as well who was in line behind him to become a president of Egypt. Sometimes a rough approach is do needed than a gentle approach to achieve something, which is what Kefya is basically about.
Chapter 3:
In chapter 3 after reading after reading it I didn't find it surprising to see that how severely Khaled Mohamed was beaten by two security officers in Alexandria. The reason, why I am not surprised to see this is because this has been the case with a lot of police officers in generally in many parts of the world and this is not anything new either. For instance, in 3rd of March in 1991 when four cops beaten Rodney King not because speeding but because of skin color and in fact this is still going in the US and other parts of the world. So for a cop to go to this limit it is not surprising. And also it wasn't right in Khaled's part to argue with two security officers seeing that they have the power to do anything he should've not argued in the first place. Because arguing with authority won't solve any issues but will erupt the issued even more which that is what exactly happen to Khaled Mohamed.
Question:
After reading chapters 1-3 my question would be, if internet did not exist how would Wael and other Egyptians would communicate with each other to start a revolution?
Chapter 1:
ReplyDeleteThis chapter shows how much power the Egyptian government had. One example was the emergency law that was enacted in 1958 but not enforced until 1967 allowed executive authorities the right to arrest, interrogate, and imprison any Egyptian without legal grounds. It also empowered authorities to ban all types of protests as well as gatherings of any group of people without a security clearance. Everything was controlled by fear in Egypt. Fear was what was keeping citizens from taking any action against the government.
Chapter 2:
Egyptians have always complained about political ideas such as education, health care, police brutality, etc..., but that is as far as it ever got. No action was ever taken. When Mubarak became president of Egypt he vowed to only serve for 2 terms but he broke that vow by serving 5 terms. It seems as though power corrupts everyone that comes into power.
Chapter 3:
I found it very interesting that a single post on Facebook could have been the start of this entire worldwide issue. This just shows the power that social media has obtained. It is not sure to be the sole cause but it definitely played a huge role. I was completely shocked when I read the post that the prosecution issued a preliminary report that the cause of death was drug overdose. How could actions as brutal as the death of Khaled Mohamed go unpunished?
Question:
What is it that makes fear such a powerful weapon? What would have happened if social media did not exist for people to voice their opinions?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSomething I observed in the first chapter was that authority in Egypt after the enactment of the emergency law. With this law, Law enforcement banned the right to assembly and protest without clearance of security forces. Authorities also had the right to imprison, interrogate, and arrest citizens at any point with out legal representation. The government was basically been controlling the people through the threat of imprisonment. This was pretty shocking to understand that the government was commanding their people through the tactic of fear. Something I observed in the second chapter was the lack of action Mubarak took on dealing with Egypt's issues. Especially with regards to health care and education. Upon Mubaraks alleged 2 year term, which realistically turned into about 5 years. In that time he did nothing that he said he would do. Issues with police brutality were also among popular debate, yet still nothing came of it. It is evident that Egypts government was more or less corrupt at the time, and that this was not all on due to Mubarak. Something I observed in the third chapter, was the use of social media in the arab spring played such a huge role in expressing messages and information of what is going to the outside world. Obviously we know that the media does not give us all the information that is out there. They on give a certain perspective often very biased to one side. The social media revolution has exploited many crimes and issues that have arisen in areas like the arab spring. It is amazing how powerful social media has become as a tool for journalism and news.
ReplyDeleteWhat would the situation be if there was not social media? Would outsiders be aware of the situation as to what is actually going on? If not, Would the media only give us biased account of what is happening and not the full story?
Ch.1- In the first chapter, the first issue that stood out was how oppressive the Egyptian government really was. I like the term the author uses "weapons of mass oppression" to state just how big of an impact the government played in imposing fear into the people who lived in Egypt to scare them from opposing their regime. Secondly I was shocked to read about the public school system in Egypt. To hear that skipping was as easy as it was, smoking hash and beatings from teachers were not uncommon is quite different than the experience I had during my high school years. Lastly I was impressed and somewhat shocked by how persistent the author is. It was impressive to hear of the difficulties he overcame throughout school, the work he put in to achieving his goal of working at google and succeeding with such high grades. However it was kind of shocking to read about how marriage was such an important thing for him, especially at a young age. The fact that he had proposed to many people and searching for someone as much as he did is a very different for me, not that it is wrong, but just different.
ReplyDeleteCh. 2- One of the first questions I had while reading this chapter was why did Kefaya not succeed on a large scale. While the author recognizes that they broke barriers of a psychological scale, he does not explain why things didn't appeal to the masses.Secondly, while I knew social media played a large part in the uprisings I had never really heard of people being arrested for being involved in social media. However as the author points of, Israa Abdel Fattah was arrested for having the largest Facebook page promoting and a strike. Lastly, this chapter seems to basically be about illustrating how important the role of the internet was. The author does a good job of this but I think it is important to reiterate the how important social media can be in oppressive situations.
Ch.3- In this chapter it made me think of how unfortunate it is that often it takes a situation like Khaled Said's death to bring people together to rise up. It is encouraging to see people stand up, however it is often only after acts of violence instead of trying to change things before these acts happen. Next, it was shocking to read the eye witness accounts of Khaled's death. If his beating was not over the alleged video of the police with drugs and money, I don't understand why they attacked him like that and what was attempted to cover up. And lastly it was amazing to read all of the posts, suggestions and updates by the activists.
My question: Is this internet and social media the most powerful element in helping the uprisings? If not, what is?
Chapter 1:
ReplyDelete1. The Egyptian State Security and the emergency law caught me by surprise because it was such a clear violation of human rights (in my mind). The idea that “privacy was meaningless” and the regime tried to use fear and coercion to gain support seemed morally wrong to me (2-3). I guess it seemed wrong to Egyptians too, which is why they did something about it.
2. Another motive for the revolts was probably education. The author described his experience in Egyptian public schools as ineffective and sometimes unbearable, especially when private lessons and outside research were necessary to get a full understanding of a subject (12-13). He praised the quality of US education, which makes me think I’ve taken for granted how lucky I am to have quality schooling opportunities.
3. “It wasn’t easy being an Egyptian Muslim in America during the weeks immediately following the attack. It sometimes almost felt as if my fellow Muslims and I were personally accused of this atrocious crime” (18). When Wael described the backlash from the US after 9/11, it made me question if the US is really that much better than Egypt. It hard to think that he wanted to leave the US for Egypt when it is clear the Egypt is extremely oppressive.
Chapter 2:
1. I think it’s important to note that political “hopelessness” was a key motive for the uprisings - “Out of hopelessness came anger” (31). Egyptians had complete given up on their leaders and were striving for anything that was different. They wanted an alternative, no matter what it was.
2. “The private media are not as tightly controlled as the official state-owned media” (37). Private media allowed for the spread of ideas freely (for the most part). Previously, there was a lack of opposition because atrocities were covered up by state-run media.
3. “We were hungry for actual change on the ground” (53). The only issue with an internet revolution was that the internet is passive in nature. For the uprisings to be effective, the online community needs to summon up the courage to actively support the cause.
Chapter 3:
1. I liked the idea that the uprisings weren’t just about one individual… it was about change. Supporting ElBaradei’s campaign got people excited, but Khaled Said’s brutal killing created a movement against regime brutality and called for overall change. This created a much bigger following and a quicker response time because everyone could relate to the need for change (63).
2. “The virtual world seemed further from the oppressive reach of the regime, and therefore many were encouraged to speak up. The more difficult task remained, though, which was to transfer the struggle from the virtual world to the real one” (67). This point relates to an earlier point about the difficulty of changing from passive to active, which is a concern when the internet is the main source of an uprising.
3. When talking about the Silent Stand, Wael says, “Each participant stood silently next to someone he or she probably did not know. The only knew they were both members of a page on the Internet and that they believed in the same cause” (80). I think this says a lot about the importance of the Internet… it serves as a platform for communication and creates a virtual community. People feel like part of a virtual family, which can help them feel motivated to be active participants in something they may not have done on their own.
Question:
After reading about the blatant human rights violations, I’m curious as to why the UN didn’t have a role in Egypt prior to these uprising. Or other outside countries. The US was nearby in Iraq… could they have missed the horrible conditions in surrounding countries?
The thing that stuck out for me the most in the chapter is on page 5 when the author quotes how much he loves egypt. "I'm never able to verbally express my reasons for loving Egypt, yet love for it runs in my blood." I thought this is what a lot of people around their world can say about their countries. I really thought it was interesting considering that this book is about Egypt's uprising and how corrupt the country was. So I think its weird how he can say how much he loves his country but then be so unhappy with how Egypt is run. Then again you can take it as he loves his country so much that he is willing to fight for it to get it to where it should be, which is what I think he was going for.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 2 I came across a passage on page 37 where it talks about one of the April 6th youth moment figures Ahmed Maher, was chased, beaten, and tourtured by the police. This really struck out to me because to us this is very uncommon to see or hear about happening in America. To think that it happens all the time and that people, kids, can see it happen is heart breaking. I don't think I would ever be okay with someone getting beaten in front of me.
Not only did I find Chapter 3 interesting with social media, but it kind of related back to all of the chapters I have read so far. I never really understand the power media has until reading this book. News can be so swaded by who owns the corporation, but Facebook and twitter are by every day people and I think Its strange how common these media sites were, and how they effect the uprisings.
My question would be: Are the people who started these Facebook websites regretting anything?
Chapter One
ReplyDelete-The first point that struck me while reading the first chapter, where Ghonim describes some local proverbs concerning the oppressive Egyptian regime. "Mind your own business and focus on your livelihood." Also, I couldn't help but pay attention to the Egyptian regime's emphasis on religious activism. I was amazed by the purported lengths that State Security would go to; even performing surveillance on average college students attending mosque, in order to trim dissidence.
Chapter Two
-In this section of Ghonim's memoir, I was struck by the contrast Ghonim drew between party members in the USSR and NDP loyals in Egypt, with regards to special privileges. I was unaware to the extent that this form of cronyism had pervaded Egyptian politics. Furthermore, I had never heard of the Kefaya movement, that Ghonim described as a sort of predecessor of the more globally observed revolution. Ghonim later described parliamentary elections and how voting locations were closed in the face of thousands of Egyptians. If such a thing happened in the US, the outrage would be so intense it could inspire riots.
Chapter Three
-My only point of interest in chapter three revolved around how quickly internet mobility took the opinions of the Egyptian people and changed them to actionable motivation. I was fascinated, from a psychological perspective, in how Ghonim described individuals sharing their opinions on this facebook page and he noted the escalation in solidarity that contributing members of the page as they responded. Their messages were cathartic and reinforced the opinions that opposed the oppressive regime. I was impressed because this cycle of reinforcement and support online allowed young Egyptians to develop a community that revolved around progress in Egypt, while being part of a secondary community that did not exist in a realm that the regime could easily touch. Such is not a feat that occurs often, even offline.
Question: If the Egyptian regime had been more discreet in its attempts to quell dissidence, could it have kept the population complacent for longer? Or was it already a powder keg primed to blow?
Revolution 2.0 is a very good read. During the first chapter one of the things that caught my attention was the security clearance teaching assistants must undergo to get jobs regardless of their ability. This got me thinking about the control that must have been going on in Egypt. Another idea was how Wael described the government as a fake democracy and saying that Egypt puts up a façade that it is a democracy. This got me thinking about the things happening in Egypt currently. How genuine are the changes happening in government?
ReplyDeleteIn chapter two the title “Searching for a Savior” seemed interesting since the chapter dealt with who would be the leader of Egypt especially with all the controversy and the unhappiness with how the government was being ran. The fact that change was then somewhat brought by choosing a completely different party than what was already in place seem to bring change. When thinking of this it just seemed that no matter the choice and who was in control new problems would still arise. The last point Wael made in his second chapter really struck me. “we did not need a savior; we had to do it ourselves” this quote was very powerful and made me think of how most of the people who did take it into their own hands was the stand-around generation. They were no longer okay with just standing around.
In chapter three it was so easy to see how people came together. The name of the Facebook page “We are all Khaled Said” made it so that all those who felt oppressed came together. And the idea that numbers raised to 3 thousand in two hours was remarkable. It amazed me when I saw that Wael was posting all kinds of videos and even went to the extent to post the video about the division of drugs that was then questioned by those who were following his cause. This made me think that people were looking for real change and not just any excuse to follow the revolution. From previous knowledge reading about the Tahir square protest was nice to hear from Wael’s perspective. His plead to get people to come and then knowing that groups of people were getting broken up. Knowing that it wasn't just in one location made me really understand the power of social media.
Was the idea of revolution already in the thoughts of the people or did social media push them in a certain direction?
In chapter one I was suprised by the lack of motivation that his father had given him torwards what the government was doing wrong. The advice he gave his son "igonore, live, enjoy" really irritated me. It upset me that these people allowed the government to treat them like dogs. I was also suprised by how the government treat its citizens. I had known it they were treated poorly but I did not realize that the restrictions were that brutal.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 2 I was suprised by the lack of people who had the courage to stand up to the government. They all want this revolution to happen although no one wants their names on the voting ballet due to risk. No one had the courage to stand up, hide, and take action towards the government. The Egyptian people had been taught by the grandfathers to fear the government. These fears made them more likely to fail. Everytime someone began to get support, began to make a difference they wouldn't want to put the neck on the line. What they need was some one with money and protection. Everyone in Egypt that had money and protection worked for the government.
In Chapter 3 I was suprised by the out come of social media use in the attempt to start the revolution. I was suprised by how quickly the page grew and how quickly the Egyptian government was able to shut it down by feeding them lies. I was glad to see him have the courage to continure posting and fight the government back. This is the first time I saw someone making a change that seem legitament.
My question is how many people who like the facebook pages actually will take part in the revolution?
In chapter 1, something I found interesting was on page 12, when the author describes his experiences during his first two years at Orman High School. It wasn’t the classes or environment that was out of the ordinary, but the way in which the teachers and students interacted with each other. “The teachers tried to maintain order by means of violence and beatings. In return, the students enjoyed intimidating and harassing the teachers”. Something else that stuck out to me was on p. 19, when the author makes a eye opening statement about Egypt and it’s culture. “The Egyptian people are among the best-hearted and most humorous in the world. They laugh during the darkest of times and find humor in the midst of suffering. Not even sixty years of regime of fear could change that.”
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 2, something that stuck out to me was the events surrounding the strike on April 6th, and the influence that the internet had on shaping the actions and repercussions of the strike. “One of the strike’s Facebook pages attracted over 70,000 members--- this at a time when most opposition demonstrations attracted barely a few hundred protesters.” In addition, on p. 38 it states the magnanimity of the internet and the growing power that it has become. “ … the number of internet users in Egypt increased rapidly, from a mere 1.5 million in 2004 to more than 13.6 million by 2008.”
In chapter 3, what interested me was how his popular the authors page was and the impressive rate at which it spread. “On it’s first day, 36,000 people joined the page”….”By the end of the first day there were more than 1,800 comments on the page”.
Question- What are other examples of the internet fueling the revolution fire? What other countries involved in the Arab spring have experienced information proliferating at an alarming rate due to the overwhelming presence of technology in their culture?
Shukran for your reflections here, Arab Spring'ers!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to our discussions of REV 2.0.
Dr. W
Revolution 2.0 Prologue, and chapters 1-3
ReplyDeletePrologue:
Observation1: The narrator has good observational senses about his surroundings even though he is blindfolded.
Observation2: The narrator has common sense and knows not to provoke his kidnappers.
Observation3: The narrator is calculating, and even though he is afraid of getting hit, he is hoping that his kidnappers don’t get to his facebook page, so that he would have a chance to see his children again.
Chapter1:
Observation1: “State Security officers feared the potential wrath of citizens they interrogated and tortured, so they used pseudonyms” (Ghonim 1). The narrator points out that the government officials are aware of the impact they have on the citizens and that they continue their job anyway, with precautions, even though they know they create unrest among the population.
Observation2: I found it interesting that Egyptian State Security keeps old laws and haven’t really updated any of them. I think they did this more for their own convenience than for the community’s convenience. “It thrived on the emergency law, enacted in 1958 but not enforced until after the Six-Day War in 1967, and still in effect in mid-2011. That law gives executive authorities the right to arrest, interrogate, and imprison any Egyptian for up to six months without a warrant or any legal grounds or even the right to an attorney. It also empowers the authorities to ban all types of protests as well as gatherings of any group of people without a security clearance” Ghonim 2).
Observation3: Google cares about its employees as much as their users, by using feedback to improve their company. “Its success is all based on strategy and philosophy…The company listens to its users, asks their opinions, analyzes their usage behavior, and uses this input to develop its products (Ghonim 26).”
Chapter2:
Observation1: Technology played a big part in exposing the injustice caused by the government. The TV channels that showed this became the most viewed, and internet users increased as people tried to learn more about what was going on.
Observation2: The narrator, despite warnings from his friends and family made political jokes. I think this shows that he is bold and when he asks what the alternative to the regime was, he realized that the absence of alternatives was a key part of the oppressor’s master plan.
Observation3: “We did not need a savior; we had to do this ourselves” (Ghonim 57). The narrator recognizes that as a group the people could not wait for change, they had to initiate it themselves.
Chapter3:
Observation1: The narrator’s posts on facebook had a powerful impact on the community and resulted in huge following that united.
Observation2: I think it is interesting how the narrator shows specific facebook posts to get his message across and to help tell his story.
Observation3: “The most important objective was to inspire hope in the hearts of all page members and everyone who participated. ‘We can’ was the critical weapon to fight ‘There’s no hope’ and ‘Nothing will ever change.’” (Ghonim 81). This makes it seem that the narrator wanted to gain trust in his followers by creating hope.
A question I would ask is: If the police know the negative impact they have on the masses why do they continue their work?
DeleteChapter 1- Reading through this chapter, one thing that stood out was during Wael's interview with Captain Rafaat, one the Captain found out Wael's father wasnt involved in any political or religious groups he wasn't interested in him anymore. Only people who had special interests in certain political groups were worth finding more information about. I also found the teaching at Orman interesting, where teachers were paid bare minimum so often maintained order by means of violence and beatings, and students would harass the teachers right back. In my Istanbul class my most recent research paper was on education so I was familiar with private tutors giving lessons as a way of a more "formal" education. Also, reading the emotions of Wael and his friends after the 9/11 attacks and how he felt singled out and his friends had suffered acts of discrimination and harassment at airports reminded me of Reel Bad Arabs and how every muslim was treated as a criminal after the attacks.
ReplyDeleteChapter 2- In the first paragraph, Egyptians stray from politics as a result of a deeply rooter culture of fear. Egyptians would only passively express their opinions due to the risk it would put them at if expressed aggressively. Its crazy to hear that because I live in a society where everyday thousands of people are aggressively expressing their political opinions at no risk at all.
"It seemed that we (Egyptians) fears the wrath of the secret police more than we feared death itself." Reading this makes me thankful to live in a place where I dont have to live in constant fear.
Although I've already watched the interviews with Wael, I still get shocked everytime I see the number of internet activists who joined social media in midst of the protests. Over 70,000 members, when in the past the protests had barely a couple hundred. Such a crazy difference social media plays.
Chapter 3- Its so crazy how all these vicious beatings by the secret police, like the one of Khaled Said, are posted on the internet and is a normal thing. Relates back to the quote from chapter 2 about Egyptians living in constant fear. The facebook posts the author used, you could really tell he knew a thing or two about marketing. The short, but blunt, posts had so much meaning to them. The power of social media was shown in chapter 3 when the author wrote how in under two minutes, three hundred members had joined the page. And within one hour the members increased to 3,000, but by the end of the day 36,000 people had joined the page! Wael wanted the facebook page to break free from all barriers of fear, and he did just that.
My question would be - All the members who joined the Facebook page, were they all active participants or did the just join the page thinking their 'likes' were enough.
I also would like to hear what the secret police have to say, and what their opinions and comments are.
Chapter 1-
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that really stood out to me that I thought was important to fully understand Egypt was its school system and the consequences they give the students. I know that it is the same in other areas of the world and even in the past in the U.S., however it really bothered me how the teachers use violence to get the students to understand what they have done wrong. To me it just shows where violence and exposure to violence can start on early.
Chapter 2-
Personally it was impossible for me to be moved by the recollection of the young man Ahmed Maher who was treated inhumanely, worse than a dog. If anyone in America were treated like that, especially Vermont, there would be a huge uprising and no one would ever be able to trust the police ever again. We always hear things on the TV or radio about incidents like this in other countries but never put forth the brain power to try to imagine if it happened to us Americans or worse, someone close.
Chatper 3-
For me the overall most interesting fact that I pulled out was just how fast this uprising grew, not because of Facebook, but with the help of Facebook. It seems like here in America, people come across human rights issues on Facebook and maybe emit some type of emotion and like it, however will forget about it within 15 mintues. I can't imagine coming across something like the Khalid Said on Facebook and see how many passionate people were consistently participating.
Question: How are there not checks and balances in place that keep the police from doing inhumane things and abusing their power?