On January 30th it will have been exactly 13 months since Laura and I arrived in Cairo, Egypt. We were there with the intention of going to Gaza but were stopped by the Egyptian government. In response, we (along with a few hundred others) staged a protest in Tahrir Square - right in the heart of Cairo.
On that day, we had the support of many Egyptian citizens though they didn't join us in the protest - they couldn't. If any local people had joined us in our efforts they would have been severely beaten by the authorities. As an international I at least had the protection of my passport (for the most part).
If there is one thing I learned during my time in Egypt it's that the government will say whatever they want in their press releases. They implemented a media blackout during the entire week of protesting and when they finally sent a press release to the world it didn't speak a word of the truth.
My heart goes out to Egypt today. Their cries for international support have fallen silent after their government cut their internet access, texting and mobile phone networks. WE need to be their voice. We need to make it clear to their government that what they are doing is NOT okay. The leaders need to know that the world will not sit silently while this is going on behind their closed doors.
To see photos from my time in Egypt check out my Facebook album by clicking here.
To know what YOU can do to help the situation in Egypt, click here.
Protests are being held in Toronto, Ottawa, London and Montreal today.
I'll leave you with this: A message to Anonymous from inside Egypt (written Thursday)...
On that day, we had the support of many Egyptian citizens though they didn't join us in the protest - they couldn't. If any local people had joined us in our efforts they would have been severely beaten by the authorities. As an international I at least had the protection of my passport (for the most part).
If there is one thing I learned during my time in Egypt it's that the government will say whatever they want in their press releases. They implemented a media blackout during the entire week of protesting and when they finally sent a press release to the world it didn't speak a word of the truth.
My heart goes out to Egypt today. Their cries for international support have fallen silent after their government cut their internet access, texting and mobile phone networks. WE need to be their voice. We need to make it clear to their government that what they are doing is NOT okay. The leaders need to know that the world will not sit silently while this is going on behind their closed doors.
To see photos from my time in Egypt check out my Facebook album by clicking here.
To know what YOU can do to help the situation in Egypt, click here.
Protests are being held in Toronto, Ottawa, London and Montreal today.
I'll leave you with this: A message to Anonymous from inside Egypt (written Thursday)...
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