As I sit here and type this, Egyptians are out voting for their first president. I so badly want to be right beside them: watching the election booths, hearing the discussions over voting choices, and share in the experience of people feeling political freedom for the first time. I’m glued to my computer screen in Jordan, watching Al-Jazeera’s live blog as it documents citizens’ feelings at some of the voting booths.
Here is a particularly good post:
Mounira Fawaz, quoted on this blog earlier, was shaking with excitement after casting her vote. With the pinky finger on her right hand dyed with purple ink she told Al Jazeera, "I feel freedom and for the first time my voice and opinion really counts".
The country has recently been filled with candidates’ posters and flyers. The main ones are also visiting cities, meeting citizens and promising to address their grievances. There are even televised debates, both among the candidates and regular citizens. The open discussion and rampant disagreement in the country is a sign that a form of democracy, albeit shaky one, has finally resulted. To hear citizens demanding budgets for healthcare, education, employment, human rights; you can hear that the silence has been broken. I am not an idealist and I am not suggesting that all is well. However, moving aside the reservations regarding their decision, I think it’s important to step back and recognize that they have taken a huge first step.
The whole Arab world is holding its breath. As I am conducting interviews with women in the region, they are all weary, eagerly awaiting a decision that will have a tangible impact on their fate. The Islamist movement is sweeping the region. As the decision comes out the day after tomorrow, people’s fears will be confirmed or dismissed. Egypt is repeatedly hailed as a leader in the region. Therefore, its decisions will have resounding repercussions for its neighbors and followers. The women in Jordan hope they choose a Muslim moderate, or even the secular candidate, even if he was a part of the previous regime. He has the experience, one says, to focus on the real issues within the country.
It is probably one of the first times in my life that I feel close to a place where history is about to be written.
The whole Arab world is holding its breath. As I am conducting interviews with women in the region, they are all weary, eagerly awaiting a decision that will have a tangible impact on their fate. The Islamist movement is sweeping the region. As the decision comes out the day after tomorrow, people’s fears will be confirmed or dismissed. Egypt is repeatedly hailed as a leader in the region. Therefore, its decisions will have resounding repercussions for its neighbors and followers. The women in Jordan hope they choose a Muslim moderate, or even the secular candidate, even if he was a part of the previous regime. He has the experience, one says, to focus on the real issues within the country.
It is probably one of the first times in my life that I feel close to a place where history is about to be written.
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