I had to write about Egypt sooner or later.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King was a wise man, even though he didn’t discover anything new by saying that. This is still true and we who had been long oppressed know it very well. I am of the first generation of Poles born into free country. (Even though, technically, I was born in communist era, on April 23rd. We say the communism in Poland ended on June 4th. I missed it by a little over six weeks.) And before the communism, there was World War II. And before that – World War I. And before that – 123 years of partitions of Poland executed by Germany, Russia and Austria. And before that – constant wars, constant threat from our neighbors.
We’re still here.
What I’m trying to say is, freedom is possible, even if it seems unlikely. Believe me, we know. Freedom is also hard to both achieve and perpetuate. We fought for it for centuries. We never gave up, even though everyone said our attempts were useless. Well, maybe they were. But we’re still freaking here. And we are free. And safer than at any given moment in our history.
Nie możemy się dzielić na ludzi, którzy o wolność walczą i którzy na wywalczoną wolność z założonymi rękami oczekują.
(We cannot be divided into people who fight for freedom and who wait for it doing nothing.)
Jerzy Popiełuszko
This is why we’re so proactive about Belarus. We believe in freedom above all. Freedom of oppression, freedom of mind, freedom of speech. Belarus is near, it’s our neighbor. There is a large Polish ethnic minority there. No one should be surprised that we support the opposition’s efforts of overthrowing Lukashenko, often dubbed the last dictator in Europe.
The thing is, there are many other dictators in the world.
And of course we care. We support every democratic attempt. But with distance, grows also our powerlessness. We can’t really do much about Cuba or China. No one can.
The newly unleashed strikes for the democracy and freedom in Arab countries please me and stuns me at the same time. It is something I certainly hoped for, but never expected it to happen so soon. But I guess it was bound to happen. These aren’t, after all, the pro-western rallies. Nor anti-western. People in those countries simply demand what they have a right to have: a truly democratic government that would reform the old and rigid law, so that they wouldn’t be so poor. And man, they are poor.
I haven’t realized the extent of the poverty of an average Arab man until I’ve been to Egypt. This was only few months ago and I could see the people’s frustration about all of that.
View from one of the roofs in the Nubian Village near Aswan.
True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The thing that you immediately grasp when you enter Egypt are the contrasts, the eternal social paradox: rich vs poor. Sadly, the latter makes the largest social class. Everywhere you turn, you see people in jellabiyas smoking sheeshas, sittings on the doorsteps and following you with their eyes, because you’re well-clothed, blonde girl, obviously a tourist, a potential baksheesh donor. Everywhere you hear hoots, you see little cars that almost fall apart, the carts and carriages pulled by skinny, tired horses; the garbage is lying all around, people are always trying to sell you something, there is noise, there is life. But what kind of life is it? I found out that a policeman in Luxor makes 300 egyptian pounds a month, which is equivalent of about $60. A month. And he has a wife and children to provide for. On the other hand, when you’re in Egypt, you might see something like I saw: a poor Bedouin drive-in raided with at least twelve shiny new Harley Davidsons with their owners all in black leather and mirror sun-glasses. The contrast is so obvious that it’s almost terrifying, as if you just stepped into the other world.
A villa on the Nile's riverside, near Aswan.
This is different reality, different culture; but people are people everywhere in the world and I can’t blame them for their desire of a change, of a better, more fulfilled life. In fact, I appraise them for what they’re doing. It might destabilise the region. So what? It’s not like the Middle East wasn’t a barrel of gunpowder before. And maybe, maybe, maybe with a stable, truly democratic government, our international relations will change as well? Will improve? Maybe this is the first step to something bigger, a transformation we all are waiting for. Maybe it’s the little pebble that will move the avalanche.
Mother with her child, Bedouin tourist village near Hurghada.
Or maybe not. Maybe this won’t change a thing in a big scheme. But if the life of an ordinary Egyptian improves only a little bit, it’s worth it. Mubarak was in power for too long. Did you know that in Egypt there is martial law, imposed in 1981 and never lifted? This means that military can take anyone out from the streets, court-martial them and throw them in jail or even kill without so much of a fair trial.
It’s not surprising that a little spark like the riots in Tunisia started the fire like the one we see on Tahrir Square tonight. After Tunisia, Egypt believed that it’s possible for a muslim, for an arab country to be free of oppression. And now, maybe, just maybe, since this already worked on Egypt and Yemen, maybe others will se it too. I see hope there. For the sake of those people – our brothers and sisters, after all. Not every muslim is a terrorist. In fact, most of them are very peaceful people who mind their own business, just like we do. And if they can reach out for democracy, if they can start on the social change, maybe the civil rights for everyone aren’t the impossible dream… even in our times. Maybe I will see peace in the Middle East before I die.
So yes, I support Egypt (and Tunisia and Yemen and any other willing country) in the battle for freedom. It’s a noble cause. And the hell with dictatorship!
I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Photos included in the article are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. You are required to credit Amelia E. Adler as their author upon use.
