CAIRO - Millions of Egyptians of both sexes and of every age who participated in the recent revolt were seen carrying placards made of cardboard, fabric or wood. Some of them had slogans painted on their foreheads; sometimes they sprayed them on tanks. They were expressing their anger with the former regime, which collapsed when Mubarak resigned on February 11. A recent Arabic-language study has taken a close look at the slogans of the revolt. Entitled ‘Slogans of January 25 - Reading the Meaning and Connotations', it is one of a series of studies in 25 January revolution: Preliminary Reading and Vision for the Future, a new book published by the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. These slogans will go down in history, adding to understanding of the 18-day revolution. “These slogans called for people's rights and positive participation. They reflected Egypt's culture and showed how Egyptians react to injustice and tyranny,” says Adel Abdel-Sadeq, the author of the Arabic study. “They also show how religious the Egyptians are, while some of these slogans date back to ancient times,” he adds. According to him, these slogans also reflect the aspirations and wishes of the ordinary Egyptian citizen, who suffered so much under the former regime. The author compiled the slogans written on placards and banners, as well as the graffiti, which appeared during the revolt, especially in its epicentre, Al Tahrir Square in central Cairo. He then sorted them into different categories, before analysing them and making conclusions. The study addresses the psychology of these slogans and also preserves them for posterity. “Their diverse content reflects the Egyptians' creativity and ability to express their feelings,” says Abdel-Sadeq. “The most common slogan nationwide was ‘People want the regime to step down'.” Another popular slogan, ‘Go go like Farouq', was a reference to King Farouq, Egypt's last monarch, who was widely condemned for his corrupt and ineffectual governance, the continued British occupation, and the Egyptian Army's failure to prevent the loss of 78 per cent of Palestine to the newly formed state of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Public discontent against Farouq rose to new levels, peaking on July 23, 1952, when the Free Officers under Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel-Nasser staged a military coup that launched the White Revolution. Farouq was forced to abdicate, and went into exile in Monaco and Italy, where he lived for the rest of his life. Immediately following his abdication, his baby son, Ahmed Fouad was proclaimed King Fouad II, but for all intents and purposes Egypt was now governed by Naguib, Nasser and the Free Officers. On June 18, 1953, the revolutionary Government formally abolished the monarchy, ending 150 years of the Mohamed Ali's dynasty, and Egypt was declared a republic. Other slogans were more lighthearted, like: ‘Egyptian joiners want to know what glue Mubarak uses'. In other words, how was he able to stay glued to his ‘throne' for so long? Another one read: ‘If you don't go, I'll tell my mother-in-law'. In Egypt, the mother-in-law traditionally bothers her daughter's husband. (Of course, this isn't just true of Egypt!) Some other slogans were more defiant, like, ‘We will not go, you will go', meaning that the Al Tahrir demonstrators would not leave the square until Mubarak stepped down – and that is indeed what happened. “Many of the slogans reflected the commitment and seriousness of the demonstrators,” says Youssef el-Qaeed, a noted Egyptian writer, in commenting on the study. “This unique has inspired many scientific studies, as well as artistic and literary works.”
