Monday, February 21, 2011

Arab revolts are they "revolutions 2.0"?

LeCaire special envoy - They are changing Tech News Buzz. Internet users and bloggers, fans of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, have triggered a mass mobilization that extends to almost all Arab countries. The icon of this generation is called Wael Ghonim, and he is Egyptian. Aged 30 years, Chief Marketing Officer of Google for the Middle East, living in Dubai with his American wife and their two children, he acknowledged, after coming to Cairo to participate in the demonstration on January 25 and have been detained twelve days by the security forces, being the creator of the Facebook page "We are all Khaled Said." Named after a young man tortured and beaten to death by police in Alexandria, 6 June 2010, Page was at the heart of the awareness of young Egyptians and police abuse of power, and was the key, with other pages controlled by other youth movements, the mobilization of 25 January.

A TOOL FOR MOBILIZATION "The Internet is the area of freedom of the people, the space where everyone can learn and communicate," We are all Khaled Said 'has played a crucial role, "reflects the lawyer Gamal Eid, the Arabic Network for information on human rights. "Ghonim has no ideology.

That is its strength, says the activist Mona Seif. He was able to mobilize people like him, never saw that engage in politics. He talked to everyone. "Wael Ghonim, which galvanized the Egyptian people as he left prison, in an interview with Dream TV, then a speech Tahrir Square, refers to a" Revolution 2.0.

A point view that is not unanimous. Raoof blogger Ramy tweets "2.0 revolution, the revolution Facebook, Twitter Revolution expressions are meaningless." Meanwhile, the newspaper Al-Ahram reveals a certain Jamal Ibrahim Ibrahimya the region, seeking to pay homage to the revolutionaries, called his daughter was born this week "Facebook".

"Revolution would perhaps not have happened without these tools because it would have been difficult to mobilize people believed Mona Seif. However, from the demonstration of 25 January, Facebook and Twitter have played a marginal role. It was not a revolution 2.0, it was a revolution in the streets.

People would anyway Tahrir Square remained until the fall of Mubarak. "The Egyptian revolution, it was also fiery speeches, prayers, battles, bloodshed." It is possible to trigger a revolution in a few clicks but then, the people who made the revolution, "said activist Ibrahim Gigi. FACTOR AMONG OTHER journalist Issandr El Amrani, who runs the blog" The Arabist ", discusses the genesis of the revolt ".

The Egyptians were disillusioned by the unshared wealth through corruption, by torture, by the election scandals. The "We are all Khaled Said 'has played an important role, along with other activists on Facebook and Twitter, but there was also the force of the revolution in Tunisia, the killing of Coptic, the first event on January 25 The bloody crackdown on 28 January.

That, for all these reasons, the movement became so strong. And there was intelligence of movement leaders, who have passed a message loud and clear, and there was support from the media. "All these ingredients have resulted, according to Mr. El-Amrani, a rare combination of different factors leading to an unexpected result.

The cut of Internet and mobile phones for a few days has not had the desired effect by the power, mobilization is already strong. "Once the Egyptians had decided to go down the street was good, evidenced by the blogger Wael Abbas. In contrast, Internet enabled us to bring them into the street, to disseminate political information and logistical details.

I do not think any of us, activists, not expecting to see so many people together. "Initiators calls for revolution have been overwhelmed by the power of their tools, before being surprised by the determination and the courage of the Egyptians. COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS The country of 80 million account, according to Gamal Eid, 24 million people connected to the Internet, nearly 5.45 million Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts and 300 000 250 000 blogs .

That's enough to relay information effectively. "Every family has at least one member connected via a computer or a smartphone," says Abbas. Also acknowledge all the power of television, and the important role played by the Qatari Al-Jazeera by his open support to the protesters. The digital community activists from Egypt, of which there are now hundreds or thousands, as a political intelligence Wael Ghonim or strength of the testimony of Ibrahim Gigi won over their compatriots, is determined to help the country towards democracy.

"Whether Wael Ghonim, for example, wants to do politics. The leaders of the revolution on Facebook may not be the leaders of Egypt tomorrow, think Issandr El Amrani. But they have an important role to play in the mobilization of youth for the elections. " Abbas realizes that "now, while Tech News Buzz stays connected.

So the best way to put pressure on the army to remain vigilant." The traditional opposition parties, who have played almost no role in the revolution, will try to attract them to these amazing activists. In a country where 65% of the population is under 30, these could be the key to the political future of Egypt.

Article published in the edition of 22.02.11

No comments:

Post a Comment