Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world • 18 days
relentlessly about how the protesters pulled off the uprising (they “had
no idea,” he said). But later, when the host showed photographs of young
Egyptians who have lost their lives over the last few weeks, Ghonim wept
openly and then walked away, saying they died “because of those who cling
to power.”
Many people here speculated that Ghonim was the administrator of the
“We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page, set up to commemorate a 28-yearold
youth who was brutally beaten to death on June 6, 2010, by police at an
Internet cafe in Alexandria. It was the page’s call for nationwide demonstrations
across Egypt—along with the spark provided by nearby Tunisia—that
lit the flame of revolution, activists say. What was so effective about the Jan.
25 protest was that “it was a clear call to action,” said Nasser Weddady, civil
rights outreach director for the American Islamic Congress in Boston. “Everybody
wants to stop torture.”
In the interview, Ghonim admitted for the first time that he was indeed
one of the voices behind the page—though he said repeatedly that
it was others “on the ground” who made it all happen. “I have been away
for 12 days.”
Ironically, by kidnapping, detaining, and then releasing Ghonim—instantly
turning him into a nationwide celebrity—the regime may have
just created an undisputed leader for a movement that in recent days has
struggled to find its footing, seemingly outfoxed by a government skilled
in the dark arts of quashing and marginalizing dissent. Within minutes of
his interview, his personal Facebook page had surged in popularity, and the
tweets were coming so fast that #Ghonim briefly became a trending topic
on Twitter.
Ghonim’s reappearance comes at a critical time for the protesters. Now
that the galvanizing moment has passed, it’s not clear where their movement
goes from here. It’s one thing to build a coalition against police brutality,
something Egyptians of all classes have suffered from for decades;
it’s quite another to rally people around more complex demands, such as
constitutional reform or media oversight. And after a week of nonstop
propaganda on state television against the protesters—painted simultaneously
as dangerous Islamists and Israeli agents—it’s not even clear that an
overwhelming majority of Egyptians want Mubarak out immediately, as the
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