Wednesday April 21, 2010

I've Been Thinking:

A movement for democracy is gaining ground in Egypt.
Every member of that movement lives in constant fear.

They fear arrest, or worse, they fear being murdered by the regime. Despite the warm relationship Egypt has with the United States and with the West, we must always remember that Egypt is a dictatorship. That is something the pro-democracy movement knows well.

Yesterday, a small group of some 30-40 protestors gathered in front of the Parliament in central Cairo. They had been warned in advance not to assemble, but they came anyway. They held up signs reading "Shoot Us" and "Shoot US with Bullets." The protest ended peacefully.

Egypt is the midst of serious crisis for its future.
Hosni Mubarak, a traditional dictator nearing the end of his life, has not yet appointed a successor.
The West is demanding that Egypt change and liberalize.
The country is torn between a very strong Islamic movement that wants to create a theocratic state and a handful of democratic-thinking liberals.

At this point, there is no way to know what will happen, but Egypt warrants careful watching.

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