As demonstrations against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak escalated Friday in Cairo, Mohammad Cenit was thousands of miles away, handing out fliers for a demonstration Sunday in Colorado’s capital.
“Let freedom ring in Cairo and Gaza. Let freedom ring everywhere,” the flier reads. It invites participants to a “show of solidarity and support for the search for democracy” in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere.
Cenit, who has lived in Denver for 35 years, is originally from a Algeria, a North African neighbor of Egypt. He said he has no illusions that the world, or American politicians, are on the edge of their chairs awaiting direction from a group of activists in Denver.
“It’s not that Mubarak is going to call us and say, ‘What do you want me to do?’ ” Cenit joked. “But it is important to show that there is interest here in what happens.”
Among Colorado’s Arabs and Muslims, the open revolt by tens of thousands of Egyptians against the 30-year Mubarak regime provokes anxiety over the violence and nervous excitement about potential economic and political reforms.
“I’m not happy about the violence. I’ve been trying to call people I know, but can’t reach them,” said University of Colorado assistant professor Haytham Bahoora in Boulder.
His calls aren’t going through. The Egyptian government shut down cellphone service and the Internet, the primary vehicles of information about the social unrest.
“This has caught a lot of people by surprise,” said Bahoora, assistant professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations. “It’s been building for many years against a deeply unpopular government rife with corruption and repressive of its citizenry. But, unlike Tunisia, where the regime was overthrown, this one is very entrenched, very powerful and it’s had a lot of military aid from the U.S.”
Bahoora, 34, spent more than four years living and studying in Cairo.
“People have been living in desperate conditions in Egypt for a long time. Dissidents have been jailed. Torture is rampant,” Bahoora said. “But there has never been this kind of mass uprising because fear of government reprisal has been very strong.”
Bahoora said he believes the Tunisians’ success in overthrowing Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was an impetus for Egyptian protesters. “But there are so many governments and groups invested in maintaining the status quo in Egypt,” Bahoora said, “I find it difficult to imagine that the Mubarak regime will fall as easily as the Tunisian.”
Most surprising, Bahoora said, is that the so-called experts have always assumed that the only viable alternative to Mubarak was the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist government.
“But protests have been organized online by savvy and educated young Egyptians who want better treatment of workers,” Bahoora said. “And it has become a broad-based popular revolt of the poor, middle and upper classes. I’m not hearing religious slogans.”
Bahoora said the protests could turn anti-American because of longtime U.S. support for Mubarak’s regime, even though it is a sham democracy.
On TV Bahoora has heard chants in Arab accusing Mubarak and his son Gamal of being traitors who serve Americans rather than their own people.
Bahoora said he worries about the ultimate outcome of revolt.
“Revolutions don’t always come out the way you want,” Bahoora said. “The result could be further repression or something worse. I’m hoping the Egyptian people will have a government worthy of them.”
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
Show of support
The demonstration to show support for democracy in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere is planned for 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday on the west steps of the state Capitol in downtown Denver.
