Egyptian revolution started in Montreal (my article in the Gazette)
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Ehab Lotayef
Feb 23, 2011, 11:14:30 AM2/23/11
to lot...@googlegroups.com
"... many of Mubarak’s regime
top men,
including the Prime Minister, have been banned from leaving
Egypt and are under investigation for financial
misconduct, abuse of power and other serious allegations. It
should not be expected, nor acceptable,
that he again become a resident of our beautiful city or our country."
Today the Montreal Gazette published my article:
The Egyptian revolution started in Montreal
Below is the article as submitted.
As published under the title:
McGill grad laid groundwork for 'Facebook Revolution'
you can find it here:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/McGill+grad+laid+groundwork+Facebook+Revolution/4330359/story.html
--------------------------
The Egyptian revolution started in Montreal
Ehab Lotayef*
In 1983 an Egyptian graduate student finished his Ph.D. at McGill University and returned home.
A few years later he was involved in introducing digital technologies to Egypt’s governmental institutions. Before the turn of the century he was appointed minister of Communications and Information Technology (a newly established position). During his tenor as minister he played a major role in making the Internet accessible to a large segment of Egyptian society. His success in this was probably a major reason that President Hosni Mubarak appointed him Prime Minister. The first engineer to become prime minister of Egypt maybe over its 7,000 year history.
The McGill alumnus was the 7th prime minister to serve under Mubarak, who had then been president for nearly 23 years. The four prime ministers who preceded him were economists, yet Egypt’s economy was only worsening year after year. It seems Mubarak wanted to have a new façade this time around. IT was the buzz word and so be it.
To understand the dynamics of the situation in Egypt it should be clear it is the President who dictates the vision and sets the policies of the state, while the Prime Minister is an executioner, at best. Mubarak was always one who chose to be cautious and safe rather than risk being sorry. Maybe it was the spilled blood of the assassinated Anwar Sadat, which Mubarak saw with his own eyes on October 6, 1981, that made him so cautious or maybe he was always like that; whatever the reason, passivity was the general theme of Mubarak’s thirty year presidency. People may differ in their evaluation of Nasser or Sadat, but no one denies that they were both visionaries who did not shy away from vigorously implementing their vision.
Mubarak's passivity brought some stability to Egypt over the first years of his rule, and this was somewhat appreciated after the fear of chaos following Sadat's assassination. The economy did slightly improve but it was fuelled by consumerism not productivity or industrialization. By the mid-nineties and despite the nearly two decades of peace with Israel, the drop in military expenditure and the billions of foreign aid Egypt was receiving, the Egyptian population was suffering economically.
And it wasn't only economic difficulties the people faced. Values, human rights and social harmony all took a downward dip. The economic hardships resulted in a “dog eat dog” society where noting had value other than how much money one makes.
Over the last ten years of Mubarak’s presidency another problematic factor was introduced: The infiltration of businessmen into the political scene through Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party. During this period Gamal Mubarak, the president's younger son, was also brought to centre political stage without ever running for office. Meanwhile Gamal’s older brother, Alaa focused on business and became one of Egypt’s business tycoons yet did not play any obvious political role. Gamal the politician, of course, also made many business deals on the side, to the extent that his fortune is now estimated to be larger than his brother’s.
Over the Mubarak years Egypt became a brutal police state where no one was safe from the long arm of the “law”. All ministers of Interior, one after the other, would have won the “most despised person in Egypt” prize, hands down.
As the years passed and the picture became crystal clear to the vast majority of Egyptians, they lost all hope that this regime could be reformed. The question on all minds, within Egypt and on the outside, like me, was, ‘But what can the people do?’
Other than very limited demonstrations over the last five years, the largest of which was on April 6, 2008, no dissent seemed possible.
It is now clear that most observers underestimated the determination of the Egyptian youth and the inspiration that came from the successful revolt in Tunisia. It also is clear now that most under estimated how the Internet could spark and sustain a true revolution. Well, it did.
Now many of Mubarak’s regime top men, including the Prime Minister, have been banned from leaving Egypt and are under investigation for financial misconduct, abuse of power and other serious allegations. It should not be expected, nor acceptable, that he again become a resident of our beautiful city or our country.
Looking back, if McGill alumnus, Ahmed Nazif wouldn't have lived and studied in Montreal, obtained his Ph.D. from McGill decades ago, where he had firsthand exposure to cutting edge digital technologies, he probably wouldn’t have expanded Internet access in Egypt the way he did and thus wouldn't have been chosen as Prime Minister, but neither would the "Facebook" revolution --which brought an end to the Mubarak regime and to his unfruitful prime minstership-- have happened.
* Ehab Lotayef is an Egyptian Montrealer. He is a poet, writer, activist and an IT engineer at McGill University. He is also a founding member of Canadian Egyptians for Democracy.
Today the Montreal Gazette published my article:
The Egyptian revolution started in Montreal
Below is the article as submitted.
As published under the title:
McGill grad laid groundwork for 'Facebook Revolution'
you can find it here:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/McGill+grad+laid+groundwork+Facebook+Revolution/4330359/story.html
--------------------------
The Egyptian revolution started in Montreal
Ehab Lotayef*
In 1983 an Egyptian graduate student finished his Ph.D. at McGill University and returned home.
A few years later he was involved in introducing digital technologies to Egypt’s governmental institutions. Before the turn of the century he was appointed minister of Communications and Information Technology (a newly established position). During his tenor as minister he played a major role in making the Internet accessible to a large segment of Egyptian society. His success in this was probably a major reason that President Hosni Mubarak appointed him Prime Minister. The first engineer to become prime minister of Egypt maybe over its 7,000 year history.
The McGill alumnus was the 7th prime minister to serve under Mubarak, who had then been president for nearly 23 years. The four prime ministers who preceded him were economists, yet Egypt’s economy was only worsening year after year. It seems Mubarak wanted to have a new façade this time around. IT was the buzz word and so be it.
To understand the dynamics of the situation in Egypt it should be clear it is the President who dictates the vision and sets the policies of the state, while the Prime Minister is an executioner, at best. Mubarak was always one who chose to be cautious and safe rather than risk being sorry. Maybe it was the spilled blood of the assassinated Anwar Sadat, which Mubarak saw with his own eyes on October 6, 1981, that made him so cautious or maybe he was always like that; whatever the reason, passivity was the general theme of Mubarak’s thirty year presidency. People may differ in their evaluation of Nasser or Sadat, but no one denies that they were both visionaries who did not shy away from vigorously implementing their vision.
Mubarak's passivity brought some stability to Egypt over the first years of his rule, and this was somewhat appreciated after the fear of chaos following Sadat's assassination. The economy did slightly improve but it was fuelled by consumerism not productivity or industrialization. By the mid-nineties and despite the nearly two decades of peace with Israel, the drop in military expenditure and the billions of foreign aid Egypt was receiving, the Egyptian population was suffering economically.
And it wasn't only economic difficulties the people faced. Values, human rights and social harmony all took a downward dip. The economic hardships resulted in a “dog eat dog” society where noting had value other than how much money one makes.
Over the last ten years of Mubarak’s presidency another problematic factor was introduced: The infiltration of businessmen into the political scene through Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party. During this period Gamal Mubarak, the president's younger son, was also brought to centre political stage without ever running for office. Meanwhile Gamal’s older brother, Alaa focused on business and became one of Egypt’s business tycoons yet did not play any obvious political role. Gamal the politician, of course, also made many business deals on the side, to the extent that his fortune is now estimated to be larger than his brother’s.
Over the Mubarak years Egypt became a brutal police state where no one was safe from the long arm of the “law”. All ministers of Interior, one after the other, would have won the “most despised person in Egypt” prize, hands down.
As the years passed and the picture became crystal clear to the vast majority of Egyptians, they lost all hope that this regime could be reformed. The question on all minds, within Egypt and on the outside, like me, was, ‘But what can the people do?’
Other than very limited demonstrations over the last five years, the largest of which was on April 6, 2008, no dissent seemed possible.
It is now clear that most observers underestimated the determination of the Egyptian youth and the inspiration that came from the successful revolt in Tunisia. It also is clear now that most under estimated how the Internet could spark and sustain a true revolution. Well, it did.
Now many of Mubarak’s regime top men, including the Prime Minister, have been banned from leaving Egypt and are under investigation for financial misconduct, abuse of power and other serious allegations. It should not be expected, nor acceptable, that he again become a resident of our beautiful city or our country.
Looking back, if McGill alumnus, Ahmed Nazif wouldn't have lived and studied in Montreal, obtained his Ph.D. from McGill decades ago, where he had firsthand exposure to cutting edge digital technologies, he probably wouldn’t have expanded Internet access in Egypt the way he did and thus wouldn't have been chosen as Prime Minister, but neither would the "Facebook" revolution --which brought an end to the Mubarak regime and to his unfruitful prime minstership-- have happened.
* Ehab Lotayef is an Egyptian Montrealer. He is a poet, writer, activist and an IT engineer at McGill University. He is also a founding member of Canadian Egyptians for Democracy.
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