Wûdsî al-Bûm
Mark Krikorian at NRO notes an important cultural moment about the Tahrir Square protests: they cleaned up after themselves.
An Egyptian professor I heard speak the other day related three observations from her sister who participated in the protests (how long, I don't know). First was the fact that, although everyone was packed into the place, she wasn't groped once, which surprised her, given the endemic problem Egypt has had in that regard. Second was the protestors' emphatic cross-religious solidarity. Muslims would surround Christians at prayer, and vice versa. (This was both symbolic and to give people a second or two more to get off their knees if the skull-cracking brigade showed up.)
Last was the fact that young men with their pants rolled up were periodically going by with buckets and bottles of water and cleaning the ground of the square. She tried to explain the import of this for non-Egyptians. She said that everyone (herself included) who goes go Egypt notes the squalor of the public spaces, despite the fact Egyptians generally keep their homes very clean. She blamed it on the lack of civic-mindedness that Krikorian cites, but rooted that in egyptians' alienation from public life, dominated as it was by unaccountable thugs like Mubarak. She said (I paraphrase) "You may not be able to understand what a big deal this is for Egyptians to reclaim public space like this—not only is it spontaneous civil order, but they're (consciously or not) saying 'This is our home.'"
Just hearing that story, a 70-something Egyptian professor concurred in its import, expressing his joyful surprise and saying, "I don't know if you could see it, but I was tearing up just hearing that. Egyptians know what this means."
So, while the plural of anecdote is not data, it's very hard to grasp the size and importance of this moment. False dawn or rosy-fingered birth of freedom, it is already a high-water mark on the Nilometer of modern Egyptian life. (Pardon the wantonly mixed metaphor.)
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Wûdsî al-Bûm
The Egyptian uprising was caused by... Tea Partiers?
Aug '10
Re: Wûdsî al-Bûm
Exactly the point I referred to on Twitter. @instapundit was commenting on the civility of the protestors and I thought of the cleanliness that Tea Partiers leave when they protest in DC. http://twitter.com/#!/instugator/status/36058651034652672
May '10
Re: Wûdsî al-Bûm
Just another data point in support of Choice A),
Nov '10
Re: Wûdsî al-Bûm
I wouldn't say it moves me to A, but it certainly makes my B a lot firmer.