Joining a revolutionary organization and taking part in street protests against a dictatorship is usually not a step that your parents welcome gladly. This is why Gigi Ibrahim's family was far from being enthusiastic when Gigi, a 24-year-old student at the American University of Cairo, decided to join the protests against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Coming from an upper-middle class background, Gigi´s family was initially more than reserved about the protests against Mubarak. They might have changed their mind after their daughter appeared on the cover of Time magazine, the PBS show frontline, BBC, Al Jazeera English and in the Daily Show. As a student from AUC, Gigi has had no direct links to the workers protests and opposition movements that had been shaking the political structures of the country since 2006. However, a class on ‘Social Mobilization under Authoritarian Regimes' offered her the first information about activism in Egypt. Having spoken to Hossam el-Hamalawy, a member of the Revolutionary Socialists, Gigi, decided to join the movement. Within weeks after overthrow of Mubarak, Ibrahim has become one of the main representatives of the Egyptian revolution in Western media. Although this is certainly due to the fact that she has a pretty face and her English is accent-free, Gigi does her best to bring the message across, even in the American mainstream media. Describing the police attacks on Tahrir square during an appearance on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, she does not forget to mention that the tear gas they used is made in the USA, and that the latter is completely ignorant about “the facts on the ground.” A remark about ‘Islamist threats' from the Muslim Brotherhood or Al Qaeda (one might wonder why the latter is should be affiliated with the protests) can be easily dismissed by a young, secular looking Egyptian woman. Speaking about US foreign policy in the Middle East, she stresses: “The Egyptian revolution and the Tunisian revolution and all the uprisings are showing the world how public opinion will matter. For the first time in foreign policy, they will look at them or they will have to suffer the consequences.” Yes one might be cynical about her pretty face but what matters in the end is that she seems to be brilliant in bringing the message of the revolution to the American people. Pointing her forefinger to the audience, she declares: “We're defending our revolution, no matter what, and nobody can hijack it- nobody!” BM
