CAIRO - Has the title of this article piqued your interest? Good. What do you think about living in a parallel world where you can express your thoughts, feelings, anger and laughter and much more? In this parallel world you can also see what's on your friends' minds. You can share with them your experiences and notes. In fact, most of us have a parallel world. It's not magical, but just the Internet. While tens of thousands of protesters have been congregating in Al Tahrir Square since January 25, demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, an even bigger number of Egyptians (pro- or anti-Mubarak) is sharing the news in their parallel world and surfing the Internet to find the latest updates on the situation in Egypt. Facebook was the first site that enabled you to get in touch with your friends and know their opinions from their status or shared articles. Facebook became a window to view life. Let us open the Facebook site and see what's new. "I knew from the very beginning that people who don't speak about their rights can't take them. I knew that a man should make some noise and take what he wants." These words were on Nawara Negm's Facebook page. Nawara is an activist and journalist; the daughter of Egypt's famous poet Ahmed Foad Negm, known for his satirical poems that criticise the Egyptian regime. Nawara is one of the protesters who are still fighting for their rights on Al Tahrir Square. The young Egyptian writer Bilal Fadl asks President Mubarak: "Why are you killing your people?" as the title of his latest article says. This article is widely shared on Facebook. Bilal writes in one paragraph: "We are not goats, Mr President, to be killed under police's cars or hit by rubber bullets and teargas". Bilal wrote his article after the ‘Day of Wrath' (Friday, January 28). After the very sad Wednesday (February 2) violent clashes between pro- and anti-regime factions in Al Tahrir Square, which left at least eight dead and more than 1,000 injured, triggering anger and fear among Egyptians, Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq, a noted writer known for his satirical articles, wrote his latest article, ‘Ash Wednesday'. The article was published in Al-Dustor newspaper and widely shared on Facebook too. He concludes in his article: "The result is that they have pushed the country to the brink of civil war. We hoped this nightmare was far away, but now it's very close, just because they don't want to follow people's demands, as if they were the demands of a foreign country that was about to occupy Egypt. It's the same old policy: We will rule Egypt or burn it." Tawfiq also said that he didn't participate in any demonstrations because he suffered from bronchial asthma and could not bear inhaling teargas. In fact, every day in Egypt's contemporary history brings something new. When watching satellite TV channels or browsing websites, you'll find that there are constant updates, from one second to the next. At the end of that tragic Wednesday, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik held a press conference at which he apologised for the violence, and promised it would never happen again. In response, Hesham el-Gakh, a well-known Egyptian poet, wrote in his status on Facebook: "When I watched Ahmed Shafik's press conference, I felt deeply shaken, as I could not forget the people whom I saw getting killed by the gangsters. At the same time, there is no evidence that this won't happen again". El-Gakh is keen to participate in the demonstrations. People also share the status on the page of Egypt's poet Farouq Gouida. The line, which was taken from his latest article, reads: "I wrote thousands of articles and hundreds of poems, but now I feel a strange smallness and helplessness in the face of the great history written by young Egyptians on ‘Liberation Square'. I feel that everything I dreamt about in my whole life was achieved in a legendary night, written with the blood of these young Egyptians onto the lofty face of Egypt. I feel that I have regained my own youth, spent with fighting corruption and ignorance. Thanks to these honest people." On the satirical Egyptian writer Galal Amer's page, there were some lines taken from his latest article, entitled “Symptoms of the protests”. He says: "It is the first time that we all cheer 'With soul and blood we will redeem you homeland'. The time for leaders has gone, and now it's the time for people." On Friday (February 4), known as ‘The Day of Departure', Egyptian presenter and writer Ahmed el-Esseily invited people to give up fear, watch history in the making and enjoy being part of it. He wrote in that morning's note: "People's will is stronger than those who oppressed them, stole from them, insulted and scorned them, and shut them up for so many years". El-Esseily decided to go to Al Tahrir Square to share peoples' pride. At the end of ‘The Day of Departure' that saw a huge number of protesters in Al Tahrir Square, el-Esseily wrote in his status: "If you didn't see Al Tahrir Square from the beginning of the revolution, then you don't know anything about it. If you didn't see the Square today, you also didn't see the loveliest place in Egypt". Hossam Nassar, an adviser to the Minister of Culture and chairman of the Foreign Cultural Relations' Sector, also praises the young Egyptians who hold the revolution. He wrote on his page: "Although I disagree with their demand of ousting President Mubarak for the sake of keeping the legendary gains they have achieved, I bow before their courage, resistance and civilised behaviour. I always believe in Egyptians." Nassar asked their families and others 'not to betray them', as they are the hope for freedom and dignity. He also urged the protesters not to let anybody else claim their gains.
