Tim Marshall January 25, 2011 8:49 AM
Whenever I come to Egypt I always get the same feeling. That the country is a seething mass of bottled up resentment held in place by a cork at the top made out of gun metal.
But what would happen if you shook this bottle? It might go pop. If it did, the sound would be many times louder than that from Egypt’s North African neighbour, Tunisia.
Egyptians know this, which is one of several reasons why many are so far reluctant to get involved in the opposition movements.
Today’s anti government demonstrations in Cairo and Alexandria are a test of that reluctance.
More than 50,000 people joined a Facebook campaign saying they would turn up, but the click of a mouse is far easier than braving a policeman’s truncheon and shield.
Today is also a test of the theory that Tunisia’s ‘Jasmine Revolution’ (which I maintain was partially a military coup) might ignite similar uprising across the region.
So far we have seen a few hundred people demonstrating in Egypt, a few thousand in Algeria and Jordan, but nothing to make the rulers think their time has come.
Many countries have moved quickly to lower the prices of food staples in a bid to quell popular anger.
Walk the streets here and you can see thousands of pro Mubarak posters bearing the legend ‘’Mubarak Is Egypt’s Safety’. This is the state’s version of ‘Apres Moi - Le Deluge’.
People do fear what comes after Mubarak and this may keep the numbers down on the street today. But not forever.
Sniff the morning air along the Nile, and you don’t just smell the river and the traffic fumes. There’s just a faint whiff of jasmine.
No comments:
Post a Comment