WASHINGTON—As protests in one country have followed the next—Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and now Jordan—correspondents have had the best seats to view history unfold in what’s become known as Arab Spring.
Arab-American correspondent for Al-Jazeera, Ayman Mohyeldin, was there at the end of January when the Egyptian regime sent thugs to shut down his media’s operations in Cairo and detain journalists—including eventually himself. Speaking at the New America Foundation Mar. 29, Ayman Mohyeldin switched hats from journalist to providing his own perspective about the meaning of the dramatic events he has been witnessing.
Mohyeldin, 31, was born in Cairo, and carries dual citizenship. He is based in Cairo, and covered the 2011 protest in Tahrir Square for Al Jazeera in English that led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
The regime’s Ministry of Information revoked Al Jazeera’s license to broadcast, stopped their major satellite service, confiscated their equipment, arrested their reporters, and sent thugs to trash the newsroom of Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel on the fifth floor of a downtown Cairo office building. Colleague Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud was shot and killed by a police sniper as he filmed the crackdown on protesters on January 29.
Later, Mohyeldin himself was blindfolded and handcuffed by the Egyptian military as he tried to enter Tahrir Square. He was released after nine hours, but his colleagues were held longer.
Mohyeldin has worked for NBC in Washington and CNN. From D.C. he covered President George Bush’s inauguration and 9-11. He has covered Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf, and was inside Gaza during the Israel airstrikes in 2008 and 2009, as one of the only foreign journalist reporting. He admits his career has taken off rather quickly because of his fluency in Arabic and the importance of the Middle East in the news now. Also, Mohyeldin’s profile has risen as Al Jazeera has arguably provided the most comprehensive coverage of the tumultuous events in the Middle East in recent months.
What was it like to be in Tahrir Square during those weeks leading up to Mubarak’s departure? Mohyeldin says it was often “exhilarating.”
Mohyeldin said it was like a city-state in Tahrir Square with make-shift clinic, make-shift restaurants, and make-shift entertainment.
“It had everything Egyptians hoped their country could be, and for the first time in a long time, Egyptians were optimistic about themselves as a people,” he said. He added, “All of this came to the surface and reinvigorated ordinary Egyptians into believing in themselves in what they were trying to do.”
It was very much a youth driven enterprise. Even the Muslim Brotherhood shows cleavages between the youth and older members.
Mohyeldin said that the upheaval in Egypt did not happen suddenly, but had been building up for years. The Egyptian opposition to the Mubarak regime was very institutionalized and had a long history operating in the country. He mentioned the April 6 movement, labor unions and private universities, as well as traditional opposition parties.
He praised the thousands of Egyptian bloggers, saying their accounts of torture and abuse, “chipped away systematically for years” at the regime and “empowered ordinary people with information that contributed to the downfall of the regime.” Facebook, Twitter, cell phones and satellite channels were primed. “It didn’t start on Jan. 25, but had been in the making for years,” he said.
By contrast, in Libya, the opposition was very suppressed. There were no political parties and unions that “could help erode the regime from within, so to speak,” he said. “There has always been opposition, but only now has it become vocal and taken on the regime head-on.”
He said that many now forming the opposition are former members of the regime, such as the U.S. Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali. On March 31, Libyan foreign minister and former intelligence chief Moussa Koussa defected to the U.K.
“Syria is a hybrid between [Egypt and Libya], not the full blown opposition we see in Egyptian institutions, but not a country where the power is diffused as in Libya.”
Regarding the nature of the oppositions, Mohyeldin said that sometimes these ’revolutions’ are happening in the absence of official opposition. “These are organic people’s movements coming to the surface,” and in many cases, leaderless.
“If there is a commonality among all these countries is that the fear factor has been generally broken. People are starting to feel that they are empowered and that they should not be afraid of their regime.”
Regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohyeldin said that the U.S. should not be dogmatic regarding it because “it would alienate a huge part of Egyptian society,” even those who are not members. He said the Muslim Brotherhood is a key part of the political, social and cultural fabric and is not an extremist organization. He noted that the party is not fielding a presidential candidate and will only contest 30 percent of the seats in parliament this September. Even if they won all of those seats, the Muslim Brotherhood would not have a majority.
Mohyeldin said it best to treat the Muslim Brotherhood as another political party, no different than other legitimate orthodox religious political parties, like the AKP Party in Turkey, the Shas Party in Israel, or the Christian Democratic Union in Germany.
Mohyeldin stressed that the right question that ought to be asked is what will the Western powers commit to doing and not doing.
While the U.K., France and the U.S. have acted in concert with the Arab League in Libya, Mohyeldin said, “let’s not kid ourselves, this is very much a Western operation, which in itself is not a bad thing.”
“This is one of the first unique opportunities where there is a convergence between Western military intervention and the vast majority of Arab, or Arab vanguard want, the ousting of Gadhafi,” he said. It was an opportunity to repair some of the damage to the U.S. reputation with Arab peoples in the Middle East.
Arab-American correspondent for Al-Jazeera, Ayman Mohyeldin, was there at the end of January when the Egyptian regime sent thugs to shut down his media’s operations in Cairo and detain journalists—including eventually himself. Speaking at the New America Foundation Mar. 29, Ayman Mohyeldin switched hats from journalist to providing his own perspective about the meaning of the dramatic events he has been witnessing.
Mohyeldin, 31, was born in Cairo, and carries dual citizenship. He is based in Cairo, and covered the 2011 protest in Tahrir Square for Al Jazeera in English that led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
The regime’s Ministry of Information revoked Al Jazeera’s license to broadcast, stopped their major satellite service, confiscated their equipment, arrested their reporters, and sent thugs to trash the newsroom of Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel on the fifth floor of a downtown Cairo office building. Colleague Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud was shot and killed by a police sniper as he filmed the crackdown on protesters on January 29.
Later, Mohyeldin himself was blindfolded and handcuffed by the Egyptian military as he tried to enter Tahrir Square. He was released after nine hours, but his colleagues were held longer.
Mohyeldin has worked for NBC in Washington and CNN. From D.C. he covered President George Bush’s inauguration and 9-11. He has covered Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf, and was inside Gaza during the Israel airstrikes in 2008 and 2009, as one of the only foreign journalist reporting. He admits his career has taken off rather quickly because of his fluency in Arabic and the importance of the Middle East in the news now. Also, Mohyeldin’s profile has risen as Al Jazeera has arguably provided the most comprehensive coverage of the tumultuous events in the Middle East in recent months.
What was it like to be in Tahrir Square during those weeks leading up to Mubarak’s departure? Mohyeldin says it was often “exhilarating.”
Mohyeldin said it was like a city-state in Tahrir Square with make-shift clinic, make-shift restaurants, and make-shift entertainment.
“It had everything Egyptians hoped their country could be, and for the first time in a long time, Egyptians were optimistic about themselves as a people,” he said. He added, “All of this came to the surface and reinvigorated ordinary Egyptians into believing in themselves in what they were trying to do.”
It was very much a youth driven enterprise. Even the Muslim Brotherhood shows cleavages between the youth and older members.
Opposition Lying in Wait
Mohyeldin said that the upheaval in Egypt did not happen suddenly, but had been building up for years. The Egyptian opposition to the Mubarak regime was very institutionalized and had a long history operating in the country. He mentioned the April 6 movement, labor unions and private universities, as well as traditional opposition parties.
He praised the thousands of Egyptian bloggers, saying their accounts of torture and abuse, “chipped away systematically for years” at the regime and “empowered ordinary people with information that contributed to the downfall of the regime.” Facebook, Twitter, cell phones and satellite channels were primed. “It didn’t start on Jan. 25, but had been in the making for years,” he said.
By contrast, in Libya, the opposition was very suppressed. There were no political parties and unions that “could help erode the regime from within, so to speak,” he said. “There has always been opposition, but only now has it become vocal and taken on the regime head-on.”
He said that many now forming the opposition are former members of the regime, such as the U.S. Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali. On March 31, Libyan foreign minister and former intelligence chief Moussa Koussa defected to the U.K.
“Syria is a hybrid between [Egypt and Libya], not the full blown opposition we see in Egyptian institutions, but not a country where the power is diffused as in Libya.”
Regarding the nature of the oppositions, Mohyeldin said that sometimes these ’revolutions’ are happening in the absence of official opposition. “These are organic people’s movements coming to the surface,” and in many cases, leaderless.
“If there is a commonality among all these countries is that the fear factor has been generally broken. People are starting to feel that they are empowered and that they should not be afraid of their regime.”
Regarding the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohyeldin said that the U.S. should not be dogmatic regarding it because “it would alienate a huge part of Egyptian society,” even those who are not members. He said the Muslim Brotherhood is a key part of the political, social and cultural fabric and is not an extremist organization. He noted that the party is not fielding a presidential candidate and will only contest 30 percent of the seats in parliament this September. Even if they won all of those seats, the Muslim Brotherhood would not have a majority.
Mohyeldin said it best to treat the Muslim Brotherhood as another political party, no different than other legitimate orthodox religious political parties, like the AKP Party in Turkey, the Shas Party in Israel, or the Christian Democratic Union in Germany.
Opportunity for the West
Mohyeldin stressed that the right question that ought to be asked is what will the Western powers commit to doing and not doing.
While the U.K., France and the U.S. have acted in concert with the Arab League in Libya, Mohyeldin said, “let’s not kid ourselves, this is very much a Western operation, which in itself is not a bad thing.”
“This is one of the first unique opportunities where there is a convergence between Western military intervention and the vast majority of Arab, or Arab vanguard want, the ousting of Gadhafi,” he said. It was an opportunity to repair some of the damage to the U.S. reputation with Arab peoples in the Middle East.
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