April 6 Youth Movement

On Friday, October 21^st, the SIS Founder’s Room played host to two inspirational men: Ahmed Maher and Waleed Rashed, co-founders of Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement. Ahmed Maher is one of Egypt’s best known youth activists, and juggles political activism with a career as a civil engineer. Rashed is the spokesperson for the Movement, and was responsible for organizing the April 6, 2008 protest in Alexandria. He has traveled to many countries, and speaks globally on behalf of the Movement. He is also a member of the Kafaya, the Egyptian Movement for Change. The April 6 Youth Movement began in March 2008 as a Facebook group that urged workers to stay home on April 6, 2008 in protest of low wages and rising food prices. The group grew to more than 70,000 members, evolving into the April 6 Youth Movement through which further demonstrations were organized.

The forum began with opening remarks from both Maher and Rashed. Rashed stressed that the movement that occurred in Egypt was not due to himself or Maher; it was a result of the efforts of all of the Egyptians involved. He and Maher were simply tools in the process; in reality, it was thanks to Mubarak and his “stupid actions” that the movement occurred. Rashed actually thanked Mubarak, for giving the Egyptians reason and anger enough to move for change. Had the regime not attacked the people, had it agreed to compromise, there would have been no anger and no uprising. In his opening remarks, Ahmed stressed that it is possible for any country to build a new society, to transition.

The floor was then opened up for questions; many of them had to do with the status of the revolution, and where Egypt stands in the process of change as of now. Ahmed and Rashed cautioned that we shouldn’t think that just because the president has left, the revolution is over; Mubarak is just a person, but he represents a deeper problem: corruption. The purpose of a revolution is to change the mentality in the regime and among the people, and it’s still an ongoing battle, especially against the army. Changing the head of the regime does not end the revolution; the people must keep working. However, they are very optimistic, because the people want change.

When asked when the revolution will be over, Ahmed and Rashed replied that it will be over once Egypt has a new president with a new vision elected via free elections, a new regime, a new way of life, a fresh mentality, and better education. It will take a long time; everything cannot change in a day after fifty years of corruption. According to them, it’s hard in Arab countries due to the social environment. There is poor education, and the presence of a security state makes enacting change difficult. However, they both think change is possible.

Ahmed and Rashed also explained the process of beginning a movement like the April 6 Youth Movement. They said that the revolution went through many stages. In the beginning, when it was just a Facebook group, there was no mention of Mubarak; the focus was on wages and prices – and forming links between “social, economic, and political demons.” The group began to attract more people, and security knew who Maher was; he was arrested. After that, he began the movement again with clearer speech against Mubarak, corruption, and torture. Maher also pointed out that, when trying to sell a movement such as this, the type of speech one uses has to be different depending upon whom one is talking to and trying to gain the support of. As for the medium they used to start the movement – Facebook – it is just a tool, and ultimately will not get anything accomplished on its own. The medium used and its effectiveness depends upon the mentality and the culture of a society. For example, in Egypt, they used taxi drivers to spread the word about the April 6 protests because, as they joked, taxi drivers cannot keep silent. Whenever they would take a taxi – which they frequently did – each would call the other and allude to the coming protests as if they were a secret – thus ensuring that the taxi drivers would listen in and spread the word to their other passengers.

As for why the movement succeeded as it did in Egypt where similar movements have been less successful elsewhere, Maher and Rashed stressed that the experience cannot be copied; mentalities, objectives, experiences, and history are not the same across cultures, regimes, or countries, and therefore what works in one case won’t necessarily work in another. They took inspiration from the movements of Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Polish workers, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Serbia; however, they realized that they could not simply employ the strategies used in those movements in order to replicate them. Rather, they had to adapt the movements to the culture of their own country; one must take inspiration, build on the experience of others, and then pass along knowledge of what works.

Furthermore, the movement in Egypt has been developing for a long time – since December of 2005. The movements in other countries, like Syria and Tunisia, are not as far along; they are still new, and need time and planning. However, Maher and Rashed are optimistic and believe that both movements can succeed.

Another question posed had to do with the sectarian violence now occurring in Egypt. The only real answer, according to Maher and Rashed, is for there to be equality, a change of mentality, and solutions to the problems between Muslims and Christians. According to them, the SCAF (Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) causes trouble in order to make it seem as though democracy will lead to chaos between Muslims and Christians. Maher and Rashed pointed out that people were killed because of the regime, not religion. Regimes must divide the people they oversee in order to maintain power and lead; Muslims and Christians must now work together if change is to come about.

Maher and Rashed also made it a point to express that democracy and equality are not the same thing; the issue of freedom and equality is a problematic one, and they are still awaiting a solution. Rashed said that he recently visited Greece, where the people are suffering under a democratic government. He said that he was asked by people, “What should we do?” and the only answer he could give is that they must wait until the next election. People assume that democracy is correct in and of itself, but this is not the case; democracy does not equate to a guaranteed good situation for the people. He cited groups like the Taliban and Hamas, which came into power democratically; people must be careful about the choices they make when voting in elections, and they should be aware of the ramifications of their choices.

As for what they anticipate in the coming parliamentary election, Maher and Rashed took a rather grim view. They believe that the election will end badly, and result in a bad parliament, which will then lead to a second stage in the revolution. It’s still vague, what went on behind the scenes of Mubarak’s regime, between him and the SCAF. As more is learned, the anger of the people will increase. However, they both believe that eventually Egypt will get the change that the people desire; it will just take time.

Finally, they addressed the rumors that have been circulated in an attempt to discredit the April 6 Movement. Among them is the rumor that the revolution was the work of foreign agents in an attempt to disrupt the system. Maher and Rashed stated that such rumors are false; as they put it, any revolution must have reasons, and corrupt regimes therefore must spread rumors in order to attempt to discredit the revolution.

Overall, the forum was both fascinating and inspirational, and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to attend. Both Maher and Rashed were very open with their answers, and I could tell that they were passionate about the Movement and Egypt’s future. It will be interesting to see what happens in the parliamentary elections, and to see whether or not Maher and Rashed’s grim predictions will hold true.