Egypt's military joins the Sinai and Easter festivities, but in Syria the army is shooting at its own people. Doaa El-Bey and Rasha Saad present countries in contrast The spirit of festivities overwhelmed Tahrir Square when the people and the army celebrated Sinai Day and Easter or Sham Al-Nessim together. Al-Akhbar 's front page headline had, 'Presents from the army to the people on Sham Al-Nessim'. Al-Gomhuriya ran, 'Army joins the people in celebrating Sinai Day and Sham Al-Nessim', and Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote that the army celebrated spring and Sinai Day on the streets of Cairo. Columnist Galal Aref described Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's decision to celebrate Sinai Day -- when Israel returned the territory to Egypt in April 1982 after its capture in 1967 -- in Sinai with its people who defended their country and rejected the Israeli occupation as a good gesture. Residents of Sinai had suffered from marginalisation under an ignorant regime whose police slapped them trumped up charges to justify alleged violations. Sharaf, he wrote, apologised for the practices of the previous regime and promised to start a new phase in the development of Sinai. "Opening a new page with our people in Sinai is an urgent national mission, exactly like opening a new page in Egypt as a whole," Aref wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. The previous regime, Aref explained, succeeded in dividing Egypt into two groups: the first enjoyed huge wealth and lived in Sharm El-Sheikh and the elegant resorts on the north coast. The second group which included the majority of Egyptians, suffered from poverty and the absence of decent education and medical treatment. The best thing about the 25 January Revolution is that it healed all wounds and returned the real face of Egypt as a country for its entire people, Aref concluded. While Sharaf's decision to freeze the activities of the governor of Qena for three months in response to a popular rejection to his selection seemed to quiet the protests down, it did not end them completely. Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote, 'PM freezes activities of governor of Qena; people move their protests from the railways to governorate council to call for the resignation of the governor'. Al-Shorouk wrote, 'Breakthrough in Qena crisis', and Al-Ahram had, 'End of Qena protest after freeze decision'. Emadeddin Hussein compared what happened in Qena and other places in Upper Egypt to group protests that spread everywhere after 25 January Revolution. Though they were justified they came at the wrong time and only managed to serve the old regime. Hussein did not dispute the right of people to protest or their right to be heard by the government, but if the demonstrations harm the revolution, then it becomes a different story. "Those who protested on the railways in Qena or in any other place should realise that their protests only benefited Mubarak's regime. Eyewitnesses confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that the NDP and former security leaders were behind the Qena protests," Hussein wrote in the independent daily Al-Shorouk. While he underlined that the government was mistaken in its selection of the new governor in Qena, Hussein called on the wiser people in Upper Egypt to think of the gains and losses of their protests. He also called on Sharaf to remember that the previous regime did not completely fall; it is waiting to pounce on the achievements of the revolution. Ammar Ali Hassan criticised the policy of choosing new officials after the revolution. He wrote that although Mubarak and his regime have fallen, the state is still run their way: ministers and governors are still selected according to the old bureaucratic way, from a group of trustworthy persons or old colleagues. "Sharaf is actively contributing to uprooting the old regime, but rebuilding a new regime seems to have been impeded. If the situation remains as such, the old regime would be reproduced using new faces and with some improvement. That is not suitable to the momentum of the 25 January Revolution," Hassan wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Writers looked back at the last three months and called on the people to work more to start the arduous task of rebuilding Egypt. Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz wrote that we should look for a national project to gather around. Abdel-Aziz wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram that we are currently discussing issues like the parliamentary and presidential elections and the new political parties. However, he added these are all means to reach the most important end: social and economic development that aim to raise the living standards of the people. The policies of the previous regime put the economic situation in Egypt in a very difficult phase. The only way out is finding a national project that would use all the natural and human resources in the country. Experts pointed to a few projects, Abdel-Aziz added, like Sinai Lake which is likely to cultivate the middle valley of Sinai, and the Egyptian-Singapore plan that would make use of the land around the Suez Canal in making assembly projects in cooperation with Asian states and exporting the products to EU countries. "We have to look at Egypt as a strong state because of its history, geography and demography. Stability in Egypt can only be achieved via a strong economic base. That is why we have to reconsider our priorities," Abdel-Aziz wrote. Wagdi Zeineddin questioned whether Egyptians are really thinking about rebuilding Egypt or building a better future for their children and grandchildren. What is stopping us from building our country that has suffered for decades from injustice and despotism? Zeineddin wondered. He reckoned that the people were possibly engaged in putting all the symbols of corruption behind bars, then relaxed, a situation we do not need at all right now. We are in dire need, he added, of putting our house in order. We are in need of another revolution, a revolution for the sake of building, increasing production and perfecting our work. We have the right to dream of a better Egypt, a stronger and more democratic Egypt. "Thus, it is high time to start the battle of rebuilding Egypt. Everybody is required to participate: the official and the average citizen, the rulers and the ruled, the government and the people. We are all required to think about Egypt. Thinking about people is not by words or dialogue, but by working seriously for the country's sake on all levels," Zeineddin wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party.
