Egypt Special: Building A Nation in Tahrir Square (Salem)
Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 7:12
A scene as night falls in Tahrir Square (Photo: Isabel Esterman)
If Tahrir is a microcosm of modern-day Egypt with all of its issues --- and it managed to get there in a week --- then being there for the next few days is crucial to understand what might happen in the next few years and how to prevent it. The lessons that we will learn from being there now, about our problems and the proposed solutions to solve them, are invaluable for a nation that is seeking a new beginning like ours, not one that we created from scratch like Tahrir [has been]. All of those people with ready-made solutions should go and try them out there before proposing it nation-wide. All of those people from outside who know how to best solve our problems should come and help us solve them, because as a nation we will also need this help from Egyptians from abroad, whether we like it or not. Basically if you are interested in figuring out what the problems facing our society and the best way to solve them, Tahrir is where you should be heading to right now.
And you must stay with us, and help us in every way you can if you choose that responsibility. We no longer want tourists who want to have fun and give advice from afar, we want people who love this country so much that they are willing to get their hands dirty, even if it means standing at a security checkpoint for two hours a day, and spending the rest with your friends there. Let’s go, and try, and fail and learn with us there, because that’s better done in Tahrir than in Egypt. It’s really simple: If everything is hazy, and you want to know what’s going to happen next in the country, Tahrir, right now, even if this sit-in lasts for one more day, is the place to be.