Madina Newspaper Why do Egyptians celebrate the anniversary of their revolution on January 25 and not on February 11, the day President Hosni Mubarak stepped down? Why do Tunisians celebrate the first anniversary of their revolution on January 14, the day Ben Ali fled the country, and not on December 17, the day the first spark of the revolution was ignited in 2010? Some might feel that these questions are not important, but I believe they are. And they compel us to ask another question: Is there a relationship between the way the revolutions are celebrated in the two countries and the ramifications of these revolutions? Or is there a relationship between them and the way the transition of power is being managed in the two countries? Let's look back at the time when the two revolutions started. Did the Egyptians and Tunisians stage their revolution to topple the regime ruling their countries or were there different goals for the two uprisings? To answer this question, we should first review the circumstances at the time the revolutions were staged. Before it was toppled, the Tunisian regime had been in power for about 55 years, starting from the time when Habib Bourguiba returned to Tunisia from exile in the mid-1950s and ending on January 14, 2011 when Ben Ali fled the country. In Egypt, the roots of culture of the governing authority date back to the time of Pharaoh Menes 5,000 years ago. What has been going on in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries are attempts to build a modern state based on respect for citizens and human rights and for the institutions that guarantee the continuity of such respect when regimes change and are replaced by new ones. Based on the short history of the governing authority in Tunisia and the long one in Egypt, Tunisians celebrated the day the dictator fled while Egyptians celebrated the day they disobeyed the president and rebelled against him. Egyptians are celebrating the day they broke the barrier of fear and found the courage to confront the president. Pharaoh's rule has not changed in Egypt. All the rulers of Egypt during the Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid and Ottoman Caliphates, became pharaohs and tyrants and held exceptional powers compared to the rulers of other Islamic states at the time. That is why the January 25 revolution is being celebrated by Egyptians as an event which broke away from the political powers of the pharaohs. That is why these celebrations will continue for a long time. Most Egyptians at this moment insist on making those who killed the revolutionary martyrs stand trial and receive severe punishment because it symbolizes that Egyptians have broken the barriers of fear of the political power of the pharaoh. An international magazine published a picture of Hosni Mubarak, his two sons and his minister of interior inside a cage while on trial and wrote this caption: “The pharaoh is inside the cage”. For Egyptians, one of the important goals of this revolution is to demolish the political powers of pharaoh and punish the old regime. While some Egyptians call for forgiveness because the idea of revenge will taint the image of the revolution, the majority of Egyptians insist on bringing the killers of revolutionaries to trial because they feel that this is the only way to end the pharaoh's rule over thousands of years. Many Egyptians believe that a modern state cannot be established if the symbol of the pharaoh's power is not broken. Those who took to the streets on January 25, 2011 know that change can take years. However, they want to draw a red line now to put an end to the pharaoh's rule so that future rulers will realize that they will be held accountable for their deeds and will be punished if they oppress the people. Arabs in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria have one common goal which is the building of modern civil states. Egyptians celebrated the day they said no to the dictator while Tunisians celebrated the day the dictator fled their country. Egyptians have overcome their fears and are ready to begin a new era, but they need time to adjust before they can lay down the rules of this new age. __
