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“Tahrir Square” participants in the recent events in Egypt expressed annoyance when some news organizations referred to them as ‘protests’ (or unrest, riots/rioting, revolt, uprising, intifadah …) rather than as a ‘revolution’. Some news organizations used ‘Lotus’ to refer to the Egyptian events. The following list of references to the events is from various Arabic sources:
Ahram
(Facebook Revolution) ثورة الفيس بووك
(January 25 Revolution)ثورة ٢٥ يناير
(Youth Revolution)ثورة الشباب
(January 25 Youth Revolution)ثورة شباب ٢٥ يناير
(Facebook”ean” Revolution)ثورة فيس بوكية
(Egypt’s Revolution)ثورة مصر
Masri Alyom
(Youth Revolution)ثورة الشباب
(Anger Revolution)ثورة الغضب
(25 January Martyrs’ Revolution)ثورة الشهداء ٢٥ يناير
al-Shruruq
(Dignity Revolution)ثورة الكرامة
(Egyptian Citizens’ Revolution)ثورة المواطنين المصريين
al-Jazeera
(Egypt’s Revolution)ثورة مصر
(Egyptian’s Revolution)ثورة المصريين
(Youth’s Revolution)ثورة الشباب
(Egyptian People’s Revolution)ثورة الشعب المصري
al-Sharq Al-Awsat
(Youth’s Revolution)ثورة الشباب
(Revolution of the Young)ثورة شبابية
(Egypt’s Revolution)ثورة مصر
(Lotus Revolution)ثورة اللوتس
al-Nahar
(Egypt’s Revolution)ثورة مصر
BBC Arabic
(Revolution with a laugh) الثورة الضاحكة
A short documentary: حس الفكاهة في الثورة المصرية
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*Saad Eddin Ibrahim: Mubarak’s Interests Are Not America’s – Wall Street Journal Online (Feb 8, 2011) … But the children of the Lotus Revolution, with the help of Twitter and Facebook, have revealed the pharaoh’s nakedness to the world … [Mr. Ibrahim, an Egyptian democracy advocate and sociologist, is currently a visiting professor at Drew University. From 2000-2003 he was Egypt’s best-known political prisoner.]
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Complete Coverage: Anger in the Arab World
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FOREIGN POLICY BLOG, December 5, 2011
According to Twitter, the top hashtag on the microblogging site was not #justinbieber or even Charlie Sheen’s bizarre, mid-meltdown reference to #tigerblood (second place) but #egypt, which users used to categorize tweets related to Egypt’s revolution. #jan25 — a reference to the start of the Egyptian uprising — was the eighth-most-popular hashtag, while Cairo and Egypt were the two most-referenced cities and countries and Hosni Mubarak’s resignation was the most-discussed world news event (besting the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, mind you).
In 2011, #egypt, #jan25, and #japan (used during the country’s earthquake and tsunami in March) all appeared among the top eight hashtags. Last year, by contrast, no news event appeared in the top eight.
The year-end results may also speak to the outsized role Twitter played in Egypt relative to other Arab Spring countries (and, perhaps, the outsized international interest in the Egyptian revolution relative to other uprisings). The Guardian‘s Peter Beaumont writes that Egypt had “a far more mature and extensive social media environment” before its uprising than Tunisia did before its revolution, and the Egyptian protests went on to forge microblogging celebrities like @Ghonim and @Sandmonkey. A survey by the Dubai School of Government in March estimated that Egypt had the largest number of active Twitter users in absolute terms of any Arab Spring country, though over half were concentrated in Cairo. While Mubarak blocked the Internet for a spell as his government wobbled (Google worked with Twitter to enable Egyptians to tweet with the #egypt hashtag via voicemail).
A study by the Project on Information Technology and Political Islam in September found that in the week before Mubarak stepped down, the number of tweets in Egypt and around the world about the political developments in the country jumped from 2,300 a day to a staggering 230,000 a day.
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BLOG & MORE by Sawt al-Niswa
The Niswa (women) are feminist writers, artists and activists working towards changing their realities by taking the initiative to build a space representing and reflecting on the social, political and intellectual experiences of women living in the Arab region.
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تعمل على “صوت النسوة” مجموعة من الكاتبات والفنانات والناشطات النسويات اللواتي يرغبن في المساهمة في عملية تحويل افكارهن النسوية الى واقع. النسوة وراء الموقع مبادرات في خلق مساحة تعبر وتعكس التجارب الفكرية والاجتماعية التي تختبرها نساء العالم العربي
Bon Jovi dedicating song to Egyptian Revolutionaries – No Apologies –
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A Facebook for the Egyptian revolution:
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On Jan. 26, the day after protests erupted that eventually forced Mr. Mubarak from office, Egypt’s government-run newspaper Al Ahram, one of the Arab world’s oldest newspapers, had a banner headline about a protest — in Lebanon. The headline reads: “Wide Protests and Disturbances in Lebanon.” !!!
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HyperCities’ project for mapping tweets sent by protesters in Cairo during the Egyptian revolution. “HyperCities Egypt: Voices from Cairo through Social Media,” tracks tweets since January 30, and continues to collect tweets sent from within Cairo that mention hashtags relevant to the protests, such as #jan25 or #egypt.
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Cairo resident, Safa H. Ashoub provides an illuminating account of the days leading up to the ousting of President Mubarak.
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Novelist and best-selling writer Alaa Aswany has a great deal to say about one of the most pressing questions on everybody’s mind and is not afraid to speak out and to use his international fame to back calls for political change: Who will be the next president of Egypt, and how will he be elected? In a new collection of his weekly newspaper columns previously published in Arabic, “On the State of Egypt,” he explores Western fears of Islam and Arabs and broach subjects like the hijab full-face covering, false religiosity and preachers who hypocritically buttress tyrannical regimes. He discusses the moral ambiguity of appointed politicians, the suitability of democratic reforms in a Muslim society, and the inherent contradiction in the actions of the religiously observant policeman who tortures or the man who harasses women. He was out with protestors from the first day of the revolution and witnessed first-hand the state’s brutal response. On Jan. 28, he saw two young men killed by snipers near Tahrir Square. After Egypt’s 18-day revolution, Mr. Aswany’s weekly columns have become regular features in the top-selling daily al-Masri al-Youm. And, in a March 2 guest appearance on a late night talk show on the ONTV private satellite television channel, he faced Ahmed Shafik, the prime minister appointed by Mr. Mubarak on Jan. 29, and told him to resign. “When you were a minister in Hosni Mubarak’s cabinet, haven’t you heard that state security practiced torture?” Mr. Aswany asked him pointedly. “The prime minister should be concerned with trying the people who killed the martyrs, more than presenting candy and chocolates” — a reference to a moment when Mr. Shafik, trying to show good will, had offered to pass out candy to protesters outside Parliament.
When Mr. Aswany woke up the next morning, Mr. Shafik had submitted his resignation.
Mr. Aswany has always been dismissive of the idea that democracy would usher Islamists into power.
The strongest party in Egypt “is the party of Facebook,” he told another literary and political salon on Jan. 27.
“That is a real party, which has allowed a group of youth to get 400,000 people on the streets. No other party, including the Muslim Brotherhood, has succeeded in doing that.”
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THE BASICSWhat’s Going On In Egypt?: Protests started on Tuesday, January 25, when — inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia — thousands began taking to the streets to protest poverty, rampant unemployment, government corruption and autocratic governance of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country for 30 years. These were the first protests on such a large scale in Egypt since the 1970s. Read more here. Why Egypt Matters: Why is the story gaining traction? There are a number of factors that make Egypt’s unrest important, in both that country, the Middle East, and the world. Click here to see the top reasons why Egypt should matter to you. What It’s Being Called: The Egyptian revolution is also referred to as the Egyptian Protests, Days of Rage, the Papyrus Revolution and the Lotus Revolution. Quick Facts About Egypt: Established in 3100 B.C., Egypt today has a population of approximately 79 million. Its people speak Arabic and 99% are Egyptian. The country staged its first modern revolution in 1919 and established independence in 1922. Continued instability due to remaining British influence led to a second revolution in 1952 and the creation of the Egyptian Republic in 1953. {MORE} —–>Egypt Revolution 2011: A Complete Guide
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