Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and support ever since the January 25 uprising in Egypt. Mubarak is out, and we have regained our country. I woke up today with an urge to explain to you what happened, and how and why we ended up with 30 years of dictatorship, from my point of view. I was a child when the 1952 revolution occurred, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and his fellow officers-also a group of young people in their thirties- that time it was a revolution led by the army and supported by the people. This time it is a revolution led by the people and supported by the army. The whole country was in a state of euphoria then also, we got rid of the British occupation, as well as the monarchy, and we will be ruled by Egyptians for the first time in decades. The peasants and workers will be represented in the government, with equality and justice for all. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. We ended up with a police state, all the industries were nationalized, cronyism and corruption started, and we lived in fear of the police knocking on our doors in the middle of the night and dragging our fathers away. I remember the fear my family lived through, and the anguish my grandfather felt when the family business got nationalized-in fact he died shortly thereafter. Tales of torture abounded, the walls had ears and the adults could not express an opinion for fear of retaliation. As for the press-there was only the government led media with its huge propaganda machine. I got married in 1968. My husband and I felt we had no future in Egypt ; our goal was to leave the country by any means. The late sixties and early seventies saw a mass exodus of young people to many countries of the world, but the US had the lion's share, and to us personally it was the only country we wanted to go to. I received a scholarship to graduate school in Denver University, and that is where we headed, with the blessings of our families and the heartbreak of knowing that it will be a long goodbye from Egypt. We were allowed a handful of dollars to take with us, but that did not deter us- we had youth and hope, and that was enough. We ended up in Palo Alto, California, where our two sons were born and raised. We worked hard and lived the American dream, like all our compatriots from Egypt . Nasser died in 1970, after exposing the country to war with Israel and a humiliating defeat in 1967. Anwar Sadat took the helm and became President in 1970. He was one of the young officers who took part in the 1952 revolution. He salvaged Egypt's pride and regained the land we lost, winning the 1973 war with Israel, and he brought hope that Egypt will once again regain its stature. His legacy is that he made peace with Israel,and that he started to open up the economy again, from a tightly controlled state machine to an open door policy that encouraged the private sector to start working and rebuilding. My father was one of the early pioneers, and I am proud to say that he was among the first Egyptians to reestablish an industrial base in Egypt , even though his family business was nationalized and he lived through very tough times under Nasser's regime. Sadat's regime was a period of hope , although cronyism and corruption were still evident. On a personal level, we decided to return to Egypt during that time ( 1979) to work in the family business , and to immerse our sons in the Egyptian culture. However, Sadat's regime was relatively short lived- he was assassinated in October 6, 1981, and from that day onward Hosni Mubarak, an army officer who was Sadat's vice president, took power and became the third President of Egypt. We returned to the US in 1985, and resumed life in Palo Alto. Truth be said that during Mubarak's regime we had no wars, and it was a period of “ stability”. But to guarantee stability, a heavy handed police presence was further encouraged and expanded, and the police state returned with a vengeance. Cronyism and corruption became rampant, to an extent that was beyond control, at all levels of society. The last ten years saw an explosion in wealth to a few within the inner circle of Mubarak, and extreme poverty at the other end of the scale. Scores of unplanned communities sprung up all around Cairo and the main cities, and people in those areas were living in sub-human conditions, with no basic services such as clean water and electricity. Education, health and the infrastructure of the country were collapsing-unemployment was outrageous, unless you had the right connections … doctors were working as taxi drivers and waiters...the only institution that was flourishing was the Ministry of Interior with its police force, its main focus guarding the President and his family, and keeping the Moslem Brotherhood at bay. In the last few years the media started gaining some freedoms, and there were half hearted attempts to criticize certain officials and certain policies, but there was a red line that nobody could cross. Those who did ended up being jailed and tortured, and every so often we were reminded that we are in a police state, and to keep our mouths shut. It seemed that the whole country was in a coma, the very idea of change seemed impossible to achieve, and therefore we just accepted the status quo. We became alienated and felt we could not make a difference, so why bother? However the conversations among friends was always bemoaning the state of Egypt, and despair that nothing will change. The January 25 revolution, led by our youth, took us totally by surprise-I personally never thought I would live to see this day ! Even though I was a “friend “ of the Khaled Said Facebook group, the main group that started the revolution, I still did not believe that anything would actually happen. I am so proud of our young people, they accomplished in 18 days what our generation has been unable to do for the last 60 years, because the 1952 revolution let us down and put Egypt back into the dark ages. I have been back in Egypt now since 1993, and for the first time ever I am so excited about being in Egypt ! I went to Tahrir Square on the 9th of February, saw first hand the energy and dedication of Egyptians from all walks of life and all ages and religions, and I went again last night, the 11th, to be part of the joyful celebrations that went on all night and into today. Now the hard work of rebuilding Egypt from the bare roots is starting, and we are ready and willing to meet all the challenges! If we can topple Mubarak, we can do anything! With my thanks again to all of you for your support and words of comfort in our time of need Mona Al Tawil
