Another inside report from Cairo

Friends, this is from an Egyptian Copt, a friend of Gail Lambert.

Dear Friends,

Thank you to all of you who have expressed concern about what is going on in Egypt and asked about my family. I have been able to talk to some members of my family almost every day, and they are all fine. All of them are staying at home and hoping that things will calm down soon. When we were in Egypt last January, the country felt very different, and I sensed that something like this was going to happen. Others that I spoke to from family members to taxi drivers felt the same way, but of course, none of us could have predicted that it would go this far. What I felt last January was an enormous sense of frustration and hopelessness. People were working two or more jobs and still having difficulty supporting their families. Young people were graduating from the university and unable to find jobs. The best educated often ended up driving taxis or selling cigarettes and candy in a kiosk. They were unable to make enough money to get an apartment and get married. The cost of living has been continuously rising, making it hard for most everyone to meet their basic needs. Egypt does have a solid upper class who has continued to do well, but there is a strong middle class that has especially felt their lives becoming more restricted. A kilo of cheese now costs fifty pounds. That’s a great deal of money from most Egyptians. While fifty pounds is equivalent to ten dollars, most Egyptians make only a few hundred pounds a month. This uprising did not emerge from anger but rather from a sense of despair and a deep desire to live in a country where people can build a good life and meet their basic needs. As my aunt told me on the phone this morning, “Egyptians are not a greedy people. They just want what is enough to meet their needs.”

No one really knows what is going to happen or how the situation will get resolved. Here are a few things I can share with you based on what I know and from my conversations with family.

–The looting and burning that took place over the weekend were the worst. There was a period of about four hours between when the police were pulled off the streets and before the military was brought out. It was during this time that people went into banks and robbed them; they looted jewelry stores, restaurants and other shops. All the police stations were destroyed. A recreation club in the suburb of Maadi was burned. The bank on the corner of my aunt’s street was robbed and destroyed; the duty free shop behind my uncle’s house was looted and then completely burned down.

–The banks have closed and people are unable to get money. People in Egypt get paid at the beginning of the month so the fact that this uprising began at the end of the month makes it particularly difficult. There is an enormous sense of cooperation happening where those who have money are helping those who don’t.

–Many of the stores, especially in the center of the city, have closed. But on Sunday, my aunt told me the bakeries were open and people were able to buy bread. Today, she was able to buy some cheese. She said, “I have plenty of bread, some cheese, lots of tea, and sugar. I am fine.” My aunt is eighty years old and lives alone.

–Old Cairo, where some of my father’s family lives, is a poorer neighborhood that has not been as affected by the protests or the looting. My other aunt who lives here told me things are still open, but the line to get bread is too long and people are charging more for everything. The subway is still running and her son continues to visit her every day to make sure she has what she needs.

–Since the weekend, young men in all the apartment buildings have gone into the streets every night taking whatever weapons they have—knives, guns, sticks—and kept watch in the streets to make sure that the tenants in each building are safe. They check people’s IDs and if anyone tries to harm someone, they turn them over to the military.

–While Egyptians want Mubarak to step down, many are also fearful of who will replace him. There is a strong fear that the Muslim Brotherhood will take over. About fifteen percent of Egypt’s population is Christian (mostly Coptic Orthodox like my family but there are also Protestants and Catholics). The Christians as well as many Muslims do not want to see an Islamic government in Egypt. The Muslim brotherhood has been especially effective in gaining the support of the poor in Egypt, which is a large number of the population. (Egypt has a fifty percent literacy rate.) They provide food and basic services to them so they are more likely to vote for them.

–There does not appear to be much support for Mohamed ElBaradei. He has lived most of his life outside of Egypt and people feel that he does not really know the country and is out of touch with the needs of the people. The fact that he gave his last interview in the garden of his house made a number of people angry. Omar Suleiman, who was appointed as vice president by Mubarak, appears to have more support and is perceived as a good person. He is meeting today with opposition members and leaders of the protest movement. It might be possible that people will accept him at least as an interim leader.

–The people who are participating in these protests are mostly middle class. They are educated and skilled at using the internet. They are also not used to a lot of hardship, as my aunt told me, and the fact that they are out there in the streets and sleeping outside is impressive. People are truly working together to make sure that everyone is safe, that food is provided, and that the protests remain peaceful. As you may have seen, ordinary citizens have surrounded the Egyptian museum in order to protect it from looters.

–There are serious problems that will be difficult for any leader to resolve in Egypt. The country has over eighty million people, eighteen million of whom live in Cairo. And the population continues to increase by over one million every year. Obviously, it is difficult to provide enough resources for that many people.

Egyptians are very hard headed and stubborn. They also have an enormous amount of stamina. It is difficult to know how long this will last but it could be a while.

My cousin, who grew up in the United States and has degrees in Middle Eastern Studies, is currently living in Egypt and working as a photographer in Cairo. He has been interviewed on Al Jazeera and NPR. You can see his pictures of the protests on http://www.kaldasianarts.com/blog/

If you’re interested in seeing more of the news about what is happening in Egypt, I would recommend going to Al Jazeera in English online: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Again, thank you all for your concern. I hope that all of this will lead to positive change in Egypt.

Pauline