Fix Perspective

Mubarak’s Thugs Turn On Protesters

By Jessica Elsayed
Senior Reporter
Youth Journalism International
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, [February 3, 2011] – Yesterday was a black day in the history of Egypt.
After the million man march on Tuesday, everyone was so happy. Then on Wednesday, Mubarak’s thugs took to the streets, attacking peaceful protesters.
Tahrir Square in Cairo turned into a battlefield.
It’s the 10th day of the revolution now and it’s getting really tiring. Everyone’s lives are paralyzed.
I feel helpless. It’s really depressing. We all feel like it’s just in the hands of God.
Yet we are not giving up.
Last night, everyone prayed. The mosques are trying to keep peoples’ spirits up.
After the violence, everyone opposes the man who turned Egyptians against Egyptians.
Now Mubarak needs to be questioned for every drop of blood and every head that was cracked and every mother who cries for her son.
Someone is responsible for this – and it’s Mubarak.
We all want to feel we made some kind of step forward. So Mubarak must go and he must be put on trial.
He literally paid people to go and hurt protesters. They paid police and workers at some companies to rally for Mubarak, to fight for him. Yet the protesters are still standing.
It was really difficult to watch what’s happening on television. The violence in Tahrir Square looked like a scene from a movie.
Everyone felt terrible. My mother was crying. My dad was upset. My younger brothers and sisters were sad, too.
The most painful thing was seeing Egyptians fighting other Egyptians. We saw the thugs come in on camels and horses, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks, and we felt confused and then angry.
Government officials are speaking down to the people. They refuse even to say the word revolution and will only refer to “events.”
Even with the eyes of the world upon them, they still have enough nerve to hurt and kill.
Mubarak is a war criminal. He is the worst dictator in the world because he is stirring Egyptians to kill and injure each other.
Mubarak presents the situation as either chaos or stability, but this is his last resort. This is desperation in its ugliest form.
Even my cell phone is putting out propaganda messages to keep Egypt safe, that Egypt is our home.
Mubarak and his officials are so stubborn. They won’t yield.
What are we going to do? This is as far as the youth can do and old people and women and children can do.
Honestly, I don’t know what else is left.
But Mubarak must go. He cannot stay until September to finish his term.
It would mean day after day of revenge if that happens. With his sadistic dictator mentality, things will only get worse the longer he’s in power.
When this all started, we thought we would put our lives on hold for a little while. We thought that would be enough.
Clearly, it’s not enough.
Now you have a whole nation that’s paralyzed and can’t leave their houses. People are dying.
Watching the fighting in Cairo on television, no one could hold in tears anymore.