Read the article below. What did you expect Egypt would be like one year after the Revolution? Given what you have learned from our presentations, what do you think each of the Presidents of Egypt have done to create the situation that Egypt is currently in and what do you think the Muslim Brotherhood will contribute (if anything) in terms of changes and solutions?
Farah
2/19/2012 12:41:52 am
The revolution was a huge surprise for all of the Egyptians. In the beginning, everyone thought it was just a strike or a demonstration like any other one. However, the Egyptians were at fault. This isn't just a demonstration. It is one of the biggest, most effective demonstrations in the Egyptian history. Mubarak was the first Egyptian president forced to step down. Everyone expected a different Egypt, but I for one didn't agree. The Egyptians will never change as long as the government keeps meeting their needs. The Egyptians, like every other group of human beings, are never satisfied. Whenever a desire/need is met, they think of tougher desires to ask for. I expected Egypt to stay as uncivilized and as unmodernized as it was on January 28th, 2011.
Adam Abou-Gad
2/19/2012 01:32:16 am
The way I expected Egypt to turn out after the Revolution was that the country would have been somewhere along the lines of already reforming its government and preparing for elections. It could have been of economic improvement, but as time passed, it seemed that such a perception was merely expectation (although I hope that changes). Each president played a distinctive part in the way Egypt turned out up till the Revolution. Gamal Abdel Nasser made way for Egypt to stand on its own, overthrowing the monarchy and eventually turning Egypt into an independent republic. By doing this, Egypt has established a presidential-based system that would play its part in time. Anwar El Sadat continued from where Nasser left off, and made a peace treaty with Israel, which was a country that was not well accepted by the Arab majority. The Egyptian population didn't approve, but this did give Egypt and Israel less trouble with each other. After his assassination, Mubarak came into the picture. Now, Mubarak is the biggest catalyst to the problem, as his predecessors seemed to be making more acceptable accomplishments. He did not remove emergency law, and in his 30 years of power this has impacted the population by having them all under fear of the police. Taxes prevented people from getting basic necessities, and politicians were getting the wealth in their pockets. The Brotherhood was repressed, perhaps for the better at the time, but otherwise the regime was corrupt and unacceptable. The death of Khaled Saeed and the worsening perceptions of the regime led to the ultimate rise of the Revolution.
Baheya
2/19/2012 02:10:10 am
I think that most interesting, successful and biggest thing that has happened in Egypt was the Revolution of January 25th, 2011. As good as it was, the country did not change as fast as people thought it would. I personally expected that Egypt would have changed faster, because after the revolution, the military kept giving the people promises and never showed actions, so the people weren’t happy with this. I expected that the presidency campaign would have started earlier, but it is good that they have set a date for it. But I think that the revolution is a very important thing that happened in Egypt and it will definitely result in a better country. I don’t agree with this article in all of the things that was said. In the article, they said that during Mubarak's reign, people became richer. This is not true at all, I think that the people that were already rich, profited from this reign, but the poor people who actually needed money, did not get richer. Anwar el Sadat was one of the best presidents that have ruled Egypt. He signed the peace treaty with Israel and Egypt won the 6th of October war and we got the Sinai Peninsula back. Mohammad Ali really loved Egypt, and he worked hard to make it a good country, he improved the economy, reformed Egypt and he weakened the relations between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, which was a very good thing at the time. Mubarak did his job, but not as good as should have. A lot of things happened behind people's backs, and he was unfair and many people suffered under his reign. I think that it is a very good thing he stepped down because it was time for a new president to take Egypt to another level. I personally do not think the Muslim Brotherhood is going to do a lot to make Egypt a better country because all they care about is the money. They buy people's votes, but they do not actually care about their demands. One of the good things that was done by past presidents was banning the Muslim Brotherhood from participating in politics. If they get to the presidency, they will impose Islamic laws on all Egyptians, on both Christians and Muslims, even though they do not have the right to do this. If they will do this, the country will turn into a complete mess and all the things that were accomplished by the revolution will be wiped out. I think that the Muslim Brotherhood should never rule the country.
Ranna
2/19/2012 02:17:07 am
The Egyptian revolution of January 25, 2011 was a major turning point in Egypt as President Hosny Mubarak was the first president in Egypt to be forced out of his position. At that time millions of people went out in the streets and in Tahrir Square to fight for their freedoms. They wanted President Hosny Mubarak to step down and resign. Without a doubt at first, I expected that many changes can result from this revolution and by now, there would be elections for presidency or maybe even a president. But later on, as I saw more people protesting on pointless matters, my thoughts started to change. Every time the people would go out and protest on a matter they thought would need to change. Once their issue is solved, they would think of other problems and go out again and protest. Each of the previous rulers in Egypt contributed in their own way to the situation in Egypt today. Muhammad Ali pasha was an Albanian who became a ruler in Egypt. His goal was to make Egypt like a powerful European country. He encouraged education which later on allowed people to work so the economy would flourish. Muhammad Naguib was the first president in Egypt. He began the revolution with Gamal Abdel Nasser, in Egypt and so Egypt was free from a monarchy. This allowed for there to be a presidency system in the future of Egypt, so it could be a successful country. Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president in Egypt. He nationalized the Suez Canal which brought a lot of money to Egypt. This also contributed to improve the economy. Anwar El Sadat was the third president in Egypt and he led the army to fight in Israel in the War of October 6th. Egypt won this war and this resulted in the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. We also got Sinai back. Hosny Mubarak became president after Anwar El Sadat was assassinated. Hosny Mubarak is the one who led Egypt to its current situation. He was a corrupt leader and a dictator. He allowed for the emergency law and so the police were greatly feared by many Egyptians. Mubarak was the president of Egypt for almost three decades. Before his rule, Egypt was the most important country in the Arab world. Because of his corrupt policies, Egypt dropped off from this position and went to a lower level. Also, unemployment increased during his rule, which made the economy drop to a low level. The Muslim Brotherhood is a group of Islamists who wants the Egyptian government to follow the Shariah. Like the article said, the Muslim Brotherhood sounds like a “bright” alternative to many Egyptians since their reputation is “clean” from corruption. I think the Muslim Brotherhood will make changes in Egypt because they really care about the country and they want it to be free. But, I don’t think it is fair for them to force all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians to follow the Shariah. There are Christians who shouldn’t be forced to follow the Islamic way of rule.
Youssef
2/19/2012 03:16:02 am
The 25th of January revolution will always be commemorated in the minds of the Egyptian people. If we go back in time to the date February 11, 2011, many of us would have thought that Egypt would be a complete different country a year later. I thought that we will have been a democratic nation, a stabilized one, and a new regime would rule us. But, the complete opposite has happened. The SCAF took decisions slowly and weren’t firm in taking actions. The members of the old regime are not punished till now too. The presidential elections are yet to take place in April, and protests against the military to leave authority continue. In the past century, many rulers have ruled Egypt with each using different systems of rule. Mohamed Ali Pasha ruled Egypt from 1805-1848. His goal was to reform Egypt as a powerful, European-style state. He organized the Egyptian society, improved economy, and strengthened military. King Farouk, originally from Turkey, wanted to improve the country’s situation. Farouk kept it developed, powerful, and highly economic. But, the government that surrounded him led him to take wrong decisions causing the people to revolt. Then, Mohamed Naguib ruled as first president of Egypt. Naguib was a member of the officers who revolted, but his weak character and indecisive decisions caused him to get removed from authority. After, Gamal Abdel Nasser got appointed as president in 1956. Nasser was considered a hero and national figure to the Egyptians. His patriotic character gained him the support and love of the millions. One of his actions was to take over the high class’ land holds and give the money to the poor in order to keep balance between the classes. Next, Anwar El Sadat took over rule in 1970. Sadat’s main aim was to create peace with other countries. He was symbolized by his strong character and strict actions. The Camp David Peace treaty with Israel caused many people to disagree with him, but the treaty helped Egypt politically. Finally, in 1981 Hosni Mubarak was appointed as Egypt’s fourth president. Mubarak started off well by satisfying the people’s needs, but then his eagerness for wealth and power caused the regime to be corrupt. Therefore, the level of poverty increased and the Egyptian people blew up. The 25 January revolution led Mubarak to step down on February 11, 2011. Today, a year after the revolution, Egyptians got the right to vote for the first time. We elected our National Assembly that is mostly consisted of Islamists especially the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood has a well-planned system for our future. But, if we demand our rights and keep our strong voice as the people of Egypt, then the Islamists won’t slack off and work hardly. Their eagerness for authority could be a boost that makes them do what is best for the country. Although the Muslim Brotherhood won the majority of seats in the National Assembly, people fear that they rule using the system of Islamic Shari’aa.
Sarah!
2/19/2012 03:32:00 am
One year after the revolution, I, being an optimist, expected Egypt to already have a new constitution and president or stable person in power by now. Little did I know that even politicians run on “Egyptian time.” The government has been taking its sweet time imposing new reforms to fix Egypt. Little has been done in a year and people continue to revolt and express their anger towards this growing issue. Thinking realistically now, I believe that it will take a very long time for Egypt to create a democracy and it will be a long, slow, and arduous process for the Egyptian people to bear.
Raya
2/19/2012 03:40:15 am
The pace at which the changes occurred during the Revolution of January, 2011 (Hosni Mubarak’s resignation on the 18th day of revolution and his arrest) I thought that if all this could happen I in only about a month then in a year Egypt would become a totally democratic country with people’s freedom to show their thoughts about the government. Also, in a year I thought there would be a new President for 5 years period, a new and strong constitutional government, and new laws. However, it is not yet fully democratic, the power is with the elite group and there is not a President elected. The economic conditions are not good now.
Hussein
2/19/2012 04:08:56 am
The eighteen day, Egyptian Revolution was viewed in many different ways by many different people. At first, the local deli owner thought it was going to be a successful uprising. “Thank God, Mubarak is gone,” is what many people said. These people, mostly living in the lower class of society, believed that they would now get their presumed “rights” and will be showered with equality. Little did they know that before a rainbow, comes a thunderstorm. They didn’t know that they would have to live in terror for a year, they didn’t know that they will not know when they will be safe, they didn’t know that one of their daily goals is to not get mugged and get home safely. If anyone, in their sane mind, had a mere vision of the interim situation of the while it transfers power from group to group, no one would have stood out on January 25, or 28, or any other day for that matter. On the other hand comes in the wealthy business man, the upperclassmen. Ask any of them now and ask them what they thought on the first day of the revolting, they will have the same answer: “Mubarak kept us safe.” This is definitely selfishness, but life is all about competition, if you didn’t make it as a hotshot, you must try to make it in any other league. People weren’t upset from the rule, people just felt like they needed a new name, a name other than Mubarak. That name has been on their streets for too long. Come over a year later and ask the same deli owner how he feels about the revolution, he will tell you that it wasn’t worth his son’s death. Mubarak wasn’t the only president that Egyptians did not favor at the end of his time. Sadat and Abdel Nasser were also disliked by the end of their terms. The thing about Egyptian government that has been hard to change is the incessant feeling of monarchy. Egyptian rulers still believe that they are the “king” of Egypt, that in order for them to step down, is if the successor is from the same bloodline. Although this has never happened, the main reason would be is that there wasn’t enough time. Plans were in line for this situation. The Muslim Brotherhood has been an existent party since the late 50’s but never really had much say. The MB is a well-organized, well-rounded party, that if acquires the presidency, will develop Egypt into a democratic and economically superior country.
Nehal
2/19/2012 04:26:59 am
Nadim
2/19/2012 04:50:58 am
The Egyptian Revolution had us all at shock, because no one expected that the Egyptians would stand up for their rights, after living under the corrupt regime for 30 years, but as they say “its better late, then never.” The Revolution is exactly what Egypt needed. A couple of days after Mubarak resigned, I started to think that Egypt’s future would be very bright, and that the revolution would be a success, but as time passed, I started to realize how slow improvement was being made. I expected that a new president would be elected, and that the Egyptian economy would recover from the downfall. I thought that all the people’s demands would be me, but that isn’t happening, since we still have protests going on right now. I although thought that the Emergency law would me removed, and that military and police violence against harmful protestors would stop. The improvement in the country is moving at a very slow pace, and should speed up, due to the critical state Egypt is in. I also think that people should be a little bit more patient, since change does not occur over night, the Egyptian people waited for 30 years, and I think they can wait a little bit longer. Each of Egypt’s former rulers played a different role in contributing to the country, some of them benefited while others harmed it. For example, Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the monarchy and focused on modernizing Egypt, he also made a huge contribution to the Egyptian economy, by nationalizing the Suez Canal. Anwar el Sadat for example created a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, which is still maintained till now. Former president Naguib was forced to resign by the national council, just like president Mubarak, but Mubarak was forced by the people. If you were to look at Mubarak, he abused his power and enforced a corrupt regime, which people were forced to follow. He kept the emergency law, which was also abused to support the corruption that was going on. Mubarak also deprived Egyptians from their freedom of speech, which is probably why people were afraid to speak up individually.
AbdelRahman
2/19/2012 05:06:48 am
I have not thought Egypt would be what it is today, after a full year of the revolution, i imagined that after the resignationg of the former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, that the conditions in this country would increase drastically, but alas they did not. I imagined that the economy would improve, that the percentage of people under the poverty line would decrease,that Egypt would be a fast growing country and one that is feared and reckoned as a superior power, that Egypt would finally cease to be a third world country, an underdog; but that is not the case. The military council, headed by Marshal Tantawi, has not been making swift and decisive decisions towards bettering this country, their slow decision making and action taking will eventually lead to perhaphs another uprising, this time again the military, which would being about total, and perhaphs even permenant, demise to our beloved country. Over the corse of many decades, we have see 3 major presidents, first, Nasser, whom is held in high esteem in the hearts of many egyptian to this day, he was the one who basically put Egypt on the track to its best days, during his reign the economy improved greatly, the people were jubliant and proud to be egyptian, and the country's relations with others was outstanding. Next, Sadat, he took over after Gamal Abdel Nasser, he improved relations with arab countries, continued improving the economy and kept the people fairly content about their situation, finally Mubarak, during his first years he was a great president, one who continued on the path of former president Sadat and was concerned about the people and the country, after a few years he began to focus solely on himself and his intrests, he began embezzling money from national funds, and worked on increasing his own wealth rather than the country's, untill the people of Egypt were going to stay silent no more, his selfish actions and autocratic ways were what brought the end of his unfortunate reign. In my opinion, Power corrups many of those who posses it; the muslim brotherhood, are a religious group, not a political one, in other words they should not be in politics, nor should they enforce their ways or ideas on others. They will probably contribute nothing of importance or advantage to Egypt, which is why they should not even persue a position of power, in danger of ruining their "clean" or not corrupt reputation.
Hania
2/19/2012 05:24:33 am
On January 25th. 2011 Egypt's history changed drastically a revolution occurred and in the entire history of Egypt a president was asked to step down. At the beginning I think all Egyptian were proud of the revolution and they were proud to say that they were Egyptians. I truly had hope that Egypt was going to change for the better and I was excited, but bad decisions were made and little thing after another made it worse and worse. Now I feel that the country is stuck in a deadlock, when any decision is taken someone will show up and protest about it, we are losing financial aid, and the economy is getting worse. I believe that the main problem is with the people,, they are uneducated and uncivilized and that is an impact of the government. what Egypt now is a strong leader that will shape Egypt's future, someone that can take control and have strict rules. Last year I expected all of this to occur much sooner, I that the presidential elections will start right away. Thank God they have set a date for April, and what this country needs is a president like Anwar El Sadat, he was the best president Egypt encountered. He signed a peace treaty with Israel, he won the 6th of October war, and he got the Sinai peninsula back all in 11 years. The first president to Egypt was Muhammed Ali Pasha the great thing about him is that he loved and cared for the country and that is a very important aspect, he tried and did the best he can to improve the country and the country's people. I personally don't feel that Gamal And el Nasser was not a great president because during the time that he ruled he lost 2 major wars that affected Egypt terribly and for many other reasons. As for Mubarak, it was time for him to go, he had been ruling this nation for 30 years and was time for him to step down. I will not say that Mubarak didn't do anything during his reign he managed to keep peace between other countries. The last ten years of Mubarak's reign were the worst years there was a lot of arbitrary decisions and there was a lot of poverty and the economy suffered. As for the Muslim brotherhood, I don't agree with the fact that they take complete control over the politics because region and politics should never mix, the country can't be ruled by only Islamic laws because many of Egypt's population is Christian and that would be completely unfair to any of those people. It will be a disaster if they took control.
Faisal
2/19/2012 01:10:32 pm
The military association, headed Mushier Tantawi hadn’t been making any good decisions until now, their slow decisions is making Egypt go back not forward, and we are talking about the Military not taking proper decisions so what else do you think would be possible?Over 3 major presidents that took over Egype were first, Gamal Abdel Nasser, whom is held in highest rankings in the eyes and hearts of mostly all the egyptians, he was the one who basically put Egypt on the track to its best days, during his reign the economy improved greatly, the people were glad and proud to be Egyptians during the time he ruled Egypt,Later on Sadat took over after Gamal Abdel Nasser, he improved affairs with Arab countries, he continued to improve the economy but the people weresnt that happy to see him rule they thought he would have been a great successor to Nasser but turns out the people didn’t like him. Finally Hosny Mubarak, he was a great president at the beginning of his time, continued on the tracks of former president Anwar Sadat and was anxious about the people like any other president. Years later he began to focus on himself and his interests not the people anymore. He began stealing money, and worked on increasing his own wealth rather than the country's, his bad actions were what brought the end of his rule.
Faisal
2/19/2012 01:12:56 pm
in my opinion, whats a good president with no will to love his country and to make it the best, no president attempts to take the economies funds to himself and change rules for his family just so that he could stay wealthy, a president is acknowlged to help the people and with their ideas and support.
Hasnae
2/19/2012 04:29:04 pm
a year ago i had high hopes about the country's future. i thought that it would change in a great way, that the economy would change and the percentage of poverty was going to decrease, that the country would get cleaner because people organized groups to clean the streets, also because they have united with each other against a common foe and for one cause, that the Christians and the Muslims would treat each other in a brotherly way and that the problems between them would stop. if it weren't for the first two president, Egypt's economy would be much worse that it is now, Egypt wouldn't have the Aswan high dam, the Suez canal wouldn't be there and its income would not benefit Egypt which is a great part of the country's finances. Mubarak also had a few good moments, he improved the relations of Egypt with other Arabic and non-Arabic countries and led Egypt to play a huge leadership role in the Arab league. The Muslim brotherhood would bring peace and security to the country for the time being, but in my opinion, after a period of time the Muslim brotherhood will begin to enforce their rules and beliefs on the Egyptian people, which will drive the people to be unhappy and perhaps revolt again.
Autumn
2/19/2012 05:25:32 pm
I don’t think anyone really exceptected autuomatic change. For any change to happen, time must run its course and we must be patient. You cannot expect a whole government to change to your likings in such a short amount of time. Going from a regime that has been in the makings for longer than thirty years, to a democratic system is indeed, a huge change. Not to mention, not all of the citizens will be in agreement either. Since the majority of the population are indeed the young folk, the outcomes that are wanted are not exactly wanted by the older generations who have grown accustomed to Mubaraks’ way of ruling. I actually don’t expect any change until a good ten years have gone by, that way the country has enough time to fulfill enough plans that will make a evident impact on the countries current state. A lot of damage has been done to Egypt, a hole that is very difficult to fill. But when talking about leaders that have ruled the countries, every leader has brought something different to the table. Muhamed Ali Pasha would have been an extremely inspirational leader who would have brought the country out of crisis with just a speech. Mohamed Naguib never had a strong enough chaacter to do anything except further increase the countries instability. Anwar El Safat would have no doubt helped the people withn the revolution and listen to akl of theoir complaints without a doubt. Anwar El Sadat was by far one of the most inspirational leaders. Gamal abdel Nasar was more violent than anything so the revolution woud have tumbled into something that may have been responsible for more casualties then we have already experienced. Finally, we have Husni Mubarak, well, as we have already seen, tried to squash the uprising with every way he found possible, then ultimately stepping down given no choices left.
Mounzer
2/19/2012 05:25:46 pm
The situation hasn't improved at all since the revolution that took place on January 25th. I expected a lot of things to change in Egypt, but unfortunately, this hasn't happened much. The positive things have changed into negative things and the negative things havent changed at all. A better Egypt is what everyone wishes for.
Ashley
2/19/2012 05:42:42 pm
To be honest, I really didnt even excpect such a revolution to take
Alaa
2/19/2012 05:45:03 pm
i thought that Egypt after year from the revolution would be in better situation than it was before. But so far nothing new happens it's still the same. In fact what I think is a lot of things is getting worse, fore example, the streets, every one is driving as he want since the police has been absent for a while. I think the most prisedent who ruined the country is Mubark he corrupted the government, Anwar alsadat made a peace treaty with Israel , Gamal turned Egypt into independent republic. Muhammad Ali weakened the relations between Egypt and ottoman empire , and if Any thing change I think that the Muslims brotherhood will commend the sharea law
Priyanka
3/28/2012 03:25:25 pm
January 25th is a big day in Egypt. This was the day where Egypt first protested to get their President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Millions of Egyptians all around Egypt came out and protested to end the rule of Mubarak. I think that Egypt will change gradually in one year. It might be a good change but after the revolution started Egypt has been facing many problems. Now the Muslim Brotherhood is rising. They are a religious and political group in Egypt. They have dominated Egypt once Mubarak stepped down. They took 60% seats in the Parliament and now they are planning to run for the presidential elections. The rise of Muslim Brotherhood might be a good change for Egypt and its government. But everything is very unpredictable in Egypt now. Leave a Reply. | AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesMay 2012 Categories |
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