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Local Egyptians Supports Protesters As Unrest Continues
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 29, 2011
Modified Jan 29, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 29, 2011
Modified Jan 29, 2011
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As protests continue in Egypt over President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign—police fired on protesters near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, killing at least five (at least 52 have died in clashes over the past week, with 2000 injured)—worried Egyptians in the area have been trying to reach their friends and family. A Queens resident told NY1, "So far, I'm not able to call my family. I'm not able to contact Egypt. There is no Internet. There is no YouTube. There is no Facebook. There is nothing. Egypt in a siege.”
The protests started on January 25, partly prompted by the recent toppling of the Tunisian government by protesters as well as years of unhappiness under Mubarak (Egypt has been under emergency law for decades, which allows police to "arrest people without charge, detain prisoners indefinitely, limit freedom of expression and assembly, and maintain a special security court"). Mubarak cut off cellphone service and Internet service yesterday, apparently to cripple anti-government protesters, but protests have continued in spite of the government-imposed curfews (see a series of videos from the week's protests here). Over night, Mubarak's cabinet resigned, and a new Vice President, the head of the Egyptian intelligence agency, was just sworn in.
Other local Egyptians in Queens held a rally in Astoria yesterday in support of the protesters. The Wall Street Juurnal reports, "The group chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Mubarak must go!” One person held a sign that read: “30 Years of Pain.” Another chant, in Arabic, declared: “Liberty, Democracy! We want a change in the regime!”" One man who left Egypt for the U.S. in 1999 said, "Everyone there [in Cairo] is outside protesting-he has no support... If [Mubarak] left, I’d go back right now. There’d be immediate change." And a woman who managed to speak with her family there said of protesters, "They’re not trying to destroy the country, they’re trying to bring peace to it." The rally's organizer, Ahmed Jamil, explained, "This wasn’t to say that we hate Mubarak. It was to say that we hate the condition he’s left our country in."
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egypt
hosni mubarak
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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