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Community Corner

Local Egyptian-American Reacts to Mubarak Resignation

Dale City resident Samia Harris, vice president of the Alliance of Egyptian Americans and the president of Prince William Academy, hopes for healing in Egypt following President Hosni Mubarak's resignation.

After the news that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down Feb. 11, ending more than two weeks of protests, Samia Harris dared to breathe again. 

Since Jan. 25, Harris, of Dale City, has barely eaten and has not slept more than two to four hours a night. Before she received the news that Mubarak had resigned, she feared a massacre. 

“I have a very, very huge extended family, and they all are in Egypt,” Harris said. Harris, the Vice President of the Alliance of Egyptian Americans, has lived in the United States for 35 years. “Today, we were so depressed in the morning, it was like a funeral. We were wondering what was going to happen to our families.” 

Since the Republican Guard’s first loyalty is to the president, Harris was worried that they would fire upon the Egyptian people. 

“I am happy that Mubarak has been deposed,” Harris said. “I think it’s wonderful that the people have won. The people of Egypt are to be admired for doing it peacefully. Thank goodness it ended now before more blood was shed.” 

Harris said Mubarak could not even call his rule a regime. 

“It was a masked occupation, because they spoke the same language and pretended to pray the same prayers,” she said. “In the coming days, we will find out just how many they killed. The bodies just disappeared. [Those killed] are all martyrs and they sacrificed their lives for the people of Egypt.” 

Mubarak’s decision to give control of the country to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is a necessary evil, Harris said. 

“Nobody in Egypt wants a military regime, but this would be just a guardian until the changes occur,” she said. 

The healing process will be painful, she said. 

“This is just the beginning of a long journey for the Egyptian people to take back their country, to take back their freedom, to reestablish a good constitution, to rebuild the education systems that have been horrible for the past 30 years,” Harris said. “Everything is falling. Now it is time to rebuild, and, truly, we need the help of the world.” 

The United States should never have supported Mubarak, she said. Supporting the people should have been their first reaction over 30 years ago, and not a decision made during the recent protests. 

“We can’t allow [our leaders] to preach democracy and then support someone like Mubarak,” Harris said. “The United States have always lost every time they supported a corrupt regime. We should always stand by the right side of history. We should always stand by the people.” 

Harris hopes that the reverberations from the events in Egypt will cause other corrupt leaders to sit up and pay attention.

“China should take notice,” she said. “Saudi Arabia should take notice. Human rights are international rights. It’s a new day in Egypt. We have a lot of work to do.” 

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