Flirting with Revolution: Day 18
I joke, but in a way it’s kind of true: This is my first revolution. I’ve “seen” others on television, read about them in newspapers and magazines: Iran in 2009, Ukraine’s “orange” revolution in 2004, and others going back to the Berlin Wall in 1989. But this is the first time I’ve followed events from day one, and followed them so closely. At home, I split the computer screen between Al Jazeera English and Twitter.
I can’t look away, partly for the fear I’ll miss something. The second-by-second speed at which the news comes in, the stunning images of hundreds of thousands of people packed in Tahrir Square, the tears and drama surrounding the release of Wael Ghonim following twelve days in detention, all of it is riveting. But it’s also that these events are so incredibly inspiring.
So many people, in so many ways, actively, consciously fighting not only against a corrupt regime but also for freedoms and rights we often take for granted here in the West. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I hasten to say that it’s unlikely I ever will—or at least as long as I live out my days in North America. Color me jealous, then. I suppose I am.
