Cairo - Being in a good mood one sunny morning, Omnia got up earlier than usual and went to work in busy downtown Cairo. Walking down the street she witnessed a fierce fight between two young people; one got a knife out and stabbed the other. She was surprised that nobody intervened. Omnia's peaceful mood turned immediately into fear and anxiety. "What is happening?" Omnia asked herself and burst into tears. She calmed down eventually and decided to go home, afraid that something might happen to her, too. When Omnia paid a visit to some protesters camping in Tahrir Square in the last ten days of the January 25 revolution, their resilience and determination in the face of police brutalities amazed her. She was not afraid, but full of enthusiasm and hope that everything in Egypt would change for the better. Many Egyptians experienced this euphoria when die-hard president Mubarak was toppled on February 11 last year. But this feeling was replaced by insecurity and apprehension. The security vacuum led to political instability that engulfed the country in the wake of the revolution and generated a negative outlook. " I firmly believe that the situation in Egypt will not improve in the next months, and I cannot help feeling worried. I'm getting more and more annoyed by the absence of order and the mixed political messages," said pharmacist Islam Osama, 27. "The revolution liberated us from the harsh grip of the police, but I'm afraid that the thugs, who roam freely, will one day hurt my wife and my daughter," said 40-year-old lawyer Ibrahim Moussa. Sociologists point out that the political fluctuations witnessed in Egypt's transition to democracy are the reason why most people have mixed feelings about the future. "The thugs are the main beneficiaries of the political unrest and lack of security. They use all kinds of violence to get what they want, at the expense of people's peace and security. The result is that people become increasingly tense and apprehensive," Mohamed Hashim, a professor of Sociology at Al-Azhar University, told the Egyptian Gazette. " In their struggle for power, the political parties and forces are making matters worse by treating post-revolution Egypt like a cake, and each group wants a piece. This creates even more political uncertainty and violence," he added. Dr Azza Korayem, a professor of Sociology at the National Centre for Sociological and Criminal Research, said that after the revolution Egyptian people got divided into two types. The first persisted in maintaining the revolution until genuine change would occur. However, the passivity of the second type, commonly referred to as the silent majority, augmented the feeling of apprehension and uncertainty. She added that people read every day about violent incidents in newspapers or watched such events on television. As a result they would think negatively about the future. Dr Korayem asserted that the media should concentrate on the positive side of the revolution to avoid having a bad psychological impact on the viewers.
