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First They Ignore you, Then They Laugh at You, Then They Fight You, Then You Win

. Published on February 9, 2011

This wise saying is attributed to Mohandas Gandhi. It very much describes the various phases that a revolution goes through. We have witnessed this with the Tunisian revolution and we are still witnessing this with the Egyptian revolution.

Omar Suleiman appeared yesterday on state-owned TV promising some cosmetic reform arguing that “Egyptians are not ready for democracy yet”. Those who watched his speech clearly see an indirect threat (i.e they fight you). His speech and his threats were immediately rejected by protesters.

What the Egyptian people want is very simple as articulated by a middle-class Egyptian woman in this excellent video clip (after all it doesn’t seem that women are oppressed as they have always been portrayed by Western media!)

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2 Responses to First They Ignore you, Then They Laugh at You, Then They Fight You, Then You Win

  1. Yani Roumeliotis

    February 12, 2011 at 8:32 am

    A very eloquent interview with a 'common' Egyptian citizen. If she is a good cross section of the active citizen involved with the future of Egypt's governance, we in the West should rest assured that they can manage their own affaires. We have to stop looking at Egypt and the whole Middle-East through an Israeli prism.

    The West has to practice what it preaches. Support democracy everywhere. Islam is compatible with democratic values.

    Egypt is both secular and religious. Christian and Muslim. It is not a monolith.

    Let them speak. Let them be.

    They built the pyramids, for God's sake! They can't build a democratic system?

  2. Michael McCormick

    February 10, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    Incredibly well spoken lady who very clearly puts across a message all should hear.