Voices from a revolution

Moustafa Megawer, an Egyptian living in Malta, is still trying to come to terms with the revolution which has swept his country.

“The news on Friday made me feel as if I was born again and proud to be Egyptian... After 30 years, Egypt has woken up to a new dawn,” the 45-year-old told The Sunday Times.

Mr Megawer, a member of Mohamed El Baradei’s National Movement for Change, was visiting relatives on a business trip in Sixth October City, Cairo, during the revolution.

Like many others, Mr Megawer feared the resilience of Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, would lead to clashes between protesters and civilians, leading to a civil war. “Young people have spoken and their voices were heard. Egypt will never be the same,” Mr Megawer said.

As the mother of the Arab world, Egypt is stability for the Middle East, Israel and Western interests in the region, he said.

The West must not be afraid of change in Egypt because the north African country has very capable leaders, including Mohamed El Baradei, Ayman Nour of El Ghad, and Ossam El Aryan from the Muslim Brotherhood, he added.

Mr Megawer said protesters would not leave the streets until Egyptians saw the dissolution of Parliament and the Upper House, a change in the Egyptian Constitution, and the removal of the State of Emergency law.

Mr Megawer’s enthusiasm was echoed by other Egyptians who spoke to The Sunday Times.

“It’s over!” Egyptian journalist Randa el Tahawy, 23, from Cairo cried over the phone on Friday evening, as cheers and blaring horns blared in the background.

Lost for words, she said: “(Mr) Mubarak is out of our lives, and although it’s not a coup d’état and we’re not sure who will now be in power, we made it. Egypt was so desperate for change that people risked their lives to make the country proud.”

Palestinian journalist Diala Ghassan was in Jordan when she heard the news. She said a power transition would hopefully breed fair elections in the Arab world.

“We have made it,” she said. “This revolution instilled hope because if change happened in Mubarak’s Egypt, it can happen in the rest of the Arab world. We’re now convinced people are powerful in undemocratic countries. (Mr) Mubarak’s resignation was a positive step forward because he was the biggest problem.

“Palestinians are optimistic that (Mr) Mubarak’s successor might be less attached to Israel. The only way for people to get out of the Gaza Strip is through Egypt, and even during the Egyptian revolution, most Palestinians were banned from crossing the border. “I’m witnessing history in the making, and the first chapter has been written by Egyptians,” she added.