A million Egyptians take to the streets

Christians, Women, Men, Muslims... all protesting in one accord in Cairo

To people in Tahrir Square: We are all Egyptians today! — Paulo Coelho

Our weapon is not AlJazeera or Facebook or all that—our main weapon is the change we want, our focus, our peacefulness and the shoes on our feet. — Omar in Cairo

In Alice through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll there is a conversation between Alice and the Queen where the Queen tells Alice she imagines several impossible things every day.

Only fools imagine impossible things. Only fools and Tunisians and Egyptians.

Who a week ago, let alone a year ago, would have imagined a million Egyptians take to the streets to tell Hosni Mubarak, the hated Eyptian president, to go? But that is what we saw on Tuesday. A million Egyptians took to the street demanding freedom, liberty, dignity. But above all that Hosni Mubrak must go.

Young and old, rich and poor, Christian and Muslim, men, women and children, all united in their call for Hosni Mubarak to go. Last Friday we saw Christians guarding their Muslim brothers at prayer.

Unarmed protesters faced down the forces of the repressive regime and won. They faced down the forces of repression and the forces of repression fled with their tails between their legs.

Tear gas was fired. Tear gas with Made in USA on the side of the cannisters. A repressive regime paid for with US dollars.

Our hearts go out to the brave Egyptian people. Once they lost their fear, anything was possible, even the impossible.

Enduring images are of a girl on her father’s shoulders, calling for Mubarak to go, of a former policeman beating his uniform with the soles of his shoe, of an eight-year-old girl giving wise advice to Mubarak to go.

Tuesday even an Egyptian cat joined the million Egyptians on the street calling for Mubarak to go!

A butterfly flapped its wings …

A young unemployed man set fire to himself in protest at not being allowed to set up a fruit and vegetable stall, his only way of earning a living. The Jasmine Revolution was born, the most enduring image was that of a Tunisian woman singing in the street of the martyrs. Ben Ali fled Tunisia like a rat up a drainpipe.

The revolution will spread across the Arab World and the Middle East. One by one the dominoes will fall.

Who next? The corrupt House of Saud? The evil Mullahs and Ayatollahs in Iran?

There is not a crisis in the Middle East. The people are getting off their knees and overthrowing repressive regimes. Repressive regimes which the US-UK have kept in power. The same US-UK that waged an illegal war in Iraq. Think what a difference in Iraq if regime change had been brought about peacefully, not an illegal war waged by war criminals.

Real change comes from below, not imposed from above or from outside.

My heart goes out to the brave Egyptians who shed their fear, got off their knees and faced down a repressive regime.

Unarmed protesters in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King faced down the forces of repression. The forces of repression fled with their tales between their legs.

The people of Egypt have displayed amazing community spirit. They are all working together and helping each other. They have shared food and water. They have manned checkpoints, directed the traffic. They have swept the streets and picked up the rubbish. The sense of community pride, that the whole world is watching is palpable. They are an inspiration to us all.

Tonight we are all Egyptians!

– Protesters flood Egypt streets
– Tears, chants and hope as crowds fill Cairo square
– It’s time for Obama to say Kefaya!
– Millions Against Mubarak: Democracy Now!’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous Reports Live from Tahrir Amid Massive Protest
– “Mubarak is Our Berlin Wall”
– Media Blackout in Egypt and the U.S.
– Digital Darkness: U.S., U.K. Companies Help Egyptian Regime Shut Down Telecommunications and Identify Dissident Voices
– Juju’s message to Mubarak
– When Isis Wept for Egypt
– We lost our fear
– US urges reform in Egypt?
– Egypt: One by one the dominoes fall

Tags: democracy, dignity, Egypt, freedom, Hosni Mubarak, Middle East