February 11 – Historic Day in Egypt

A historic revolution led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak from his position as Egypt’s President.

The demonstration had begun early morning on Friday, February 11 and reached its peak after the noon prayer. Masses of people marched in Cairo toward Tahrir Square, the TV Station and the presidential palace. Labor unions, teachers, professors unions, reporters, and writers joined the demonstration.

Actually, Mubarak’s speech on Thursday, February 10 had infuriated the public. He did not seem to have gotten it. Egyptians who campaigned for 18 days were joined by all aspects of Egyptian society in the protest and request for the president to GO.

We were anxiously watching different TV channels expecting the worst to happen. Would the army begin shooting the masses walking toward different government buildings? Would Mubarak appear again trying to play on the people’s emotions and tell more lies?

Finally, early evening on that memorable Friday “The Day of Defiance”, Vice President Omar Suleiman somberly announced in a very brief statement the resignation of  “President Hosni Mubarak.” Furthermore, that the government is now in the hands of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The Council would assume the responsibility to run the country during this transitional period.

We would like to interject here a linguistic remark. The term used by the Vice President in his statement was RESIGNED rather than OUTSTED!  A general on Egyptian TV pointed this out. The army wanted Mubarak to leave with dignity due to his services during the October war of 1973. However, regardless of the terminology used, Mubarak is not the president of Egypt anymore.

After Mubarak’s statement there were jubilant scenes that played out across Egypt. Flags were folded; Egyptian national songs were blasted all over the streets. The people were shouting, “we are the people,” and “God is great.” Children were carried on their parent’s shoulders weaving flags and blowing horns.

We decided to brave the crowd and join the people. It was impossible to reach Tahrir Square. We decided to participate with the jubilant crowd in the suburb of Meadi. Enthusiasm there was as tense as it was in Tahrir. The beauty of it all is that we felt safe in the midst of the crowd. This is the real feature of Egyptians. However, being peaceful has its limit when rights and freedom were been denied for such a long time.

We were lucky to witness this historic time. It is a memorable time for Egypt and the whole Arab world.

This post is a collaboration between Hani Fakhouri and Aleya Rouchdy


Remember the Martyrs of this Revolution