"It is the old guard who is trying to force trouble between Copts and Muslims like they have always tried to, but Copts have been smarter than that, and we have become more united with them" Ramy Essam
Activist says he is one of many beaten and tortured by police one month after Mubarak's ousting.
By Mark Levine
Al-Jazeera
"As Egypt prepared to vote on a constitutional referendum on Saturday, I caught up with two activists who were at the centre of the revolution for much of the time protests gripped Meidan Tahrir in Cairo.
Ramy Essam is a singer-songwriter, originally from Mansoura, whose song "Irhal", borrowing chants from the protests, became the unofficial anthem of the revolution, with over 500,000 Youtube views. Last Wednesday when troops and armed thugs cleared Tahrir Square, Ramy was seized, brought to the antiquities museum (which in an indication of the reality of Egypt's situation, is still being used by security forces as a detention facility one month after the removal of Mubarak) and severely beaten and tortured.
Amor Eletrebi is a medical student turned poet, who had just returned from Germany when the revolution began, heading from his hometown of Mansourara to Meidan Tahrir, becoming active in one of the facebook groups that became a symbol of the revolution after the New York Times did a profile about the group and the "facebook flat" in which they were based, directly above the roundabout.
ML: How do you both feel about the "revolution" one month later?
Ramy: My feelings are full of worries and fear that we might just lose all what we have achieved. People started to feel cosy at home once again, laying back and forgetting that they still have got a message to go on with, forgetting that the revolution is still not over, and that there are many corrupt old guard who are still out there and a potential for a massive counter revolution that we should watch out for and face.
Amor: Even with the constitutional referendum, there is no way for me not to be alarmed, concerned and watching the scene in great worry. I can see that we, Egyptians are having to confront the fact that democracy is not such a piece of cake, of how long and hard a process it is to obtain and possess. Frankly, things are moving so fast right now and it is very hard to keep our eye on the prize, so to speak, and yet keeping focused on our larger goals is perhaps the most important thing at this moment......"
By Mark Levine
Al-Jazeera
"As Egypt prepared to vote on a constitutional referendum on Saturday, I caught up with two activists who were at the centre of the revolution for much of the time protests gripped Meidan Tahrir in Cairo.
Ramy Essam is a singer-songwriter, originally from Mansoura, whose song "Irhal", borrowing chants from the protests, became the unofficial anthem of the revolution, with over 500,000 Youtube views. Last Wednesday when troops and armed thugs cleared Tahrir Square, Ramy was seized, brought to the antiquities museum (which in an indication of the reality of Egypt's situation, is still being used by security forces as a detention facility one month after the removal of Mubarak) and severely beaten and tortured.
Amor Eletrebi is a medical student turned poet, who had just returned from Germany when the revolution began, heading from his hometown of Mansourara to Meidan Tahrir, becoming active in one of the facebook groups that became a symbol of the revolution after the New York Times did a profile about the group and the "facebook flat" in which they were based, directly above the roundabout.
ML: How do you both feel about the "revolution" one month later?
Ramy: My feelings are full of worries and fear that we might just lose all what we have achieved. People started to feel cosy at home once again, laying back and forgetting that they still have got a message to go on with, forgetting that the revolution is still not over, and that there are many corrupt old guard who are still out there and a potential for a massive counter revolution that we should watch out for and face.
Amor: Even with the constitutional referendum, there is no way for me not to be alarmed, concerned and watching the scene in great worry. I can see that we, Egyptians are having to confront the fact that democracy is not such a piece of cake, of how long and hard a process it is to obtain and possess. Frankly, things are moving so fast right now and it is very hard to keep our eye on the prize, so to speak, and yet keeping focused on our larger goals is perhaps the most important thing at this moment......"
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