Revolution interview
Alia Badawi
Salma El Guindy Interview
1/7
15 March 2011
Persons present: Alia Badawi – I
Salma El-Guindy - Interviewee
Badawi:
My name is Alia Badawi and I’m interviewing Salma El Guindy. First off do
you
consent to recording this interview?
Guindy:
Yes of course.
Badawi:
Uh would you like to introduce yourself?
Guindy:
Uh yes. My name is Salma El Guindy, I’m an AUC uh Alumni and I now
work for HSBC. Umm.
Badawi:
What is your relationship to me?
Guindy:
I’m your friend.
Badawi:
And where do you live?
Guindy:
I live in Mohandessin, in Ahmed Orabi Street.
Badawi:
And how old are you?
Guindy:
I’m twenty-three.
Badawi:
Ok. Uh where were you during the Egyptian revolution that occurred on
January 25th?
Guindy:
I was actually engaged in the revolution that happened on January the 25th.
Badawi:
How so?
Guindy:
Umm I used to go to Tahrir square every single day uhh and protest umm
sometimes I would have like umm a piece of paper where I have my opinion
written on or sometimes I would just like stand in the crowd and keep on
repeating quotes umm and some other times I would be actually umm writing
umm pieces of of how we should go on with the the revolution and how we
should stand for it and what we should be doing next and what we should be
standing against or standing for.
Badawi:
Okay. Are you Pro Mubarak or Anti Mubarak?
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Guindy:
I’m definitely anti-Mubarak. I’m anti-Mubarak and I’m anti the regime the
the reason why I actually engaged in this was because umm Mubarak as a
person is umm completely a dictator that always wanted the the people to do
whatever he wanted. However he did it in a very umm twisted way he didn’t
want to to actually make the people know that they were doing what he
wanted them to do but he instead opiumated them with the views of the
national democratic party. About the regime, the regime is a total failure. It
has been a total failure for the past thirty years and it had created a huge
number of people that have no idea about anything whatsoever that is
happening or has been happening in the country. It had created…
Badawi:
Yeah there was much ignorance before this revolution began.
Guindy:
Yes definitely. It had created a chaotic and illiterate population that has took
the country and other fellow citizens for granted. And uh, they would do
whatever it takes to get to their interest regardless of it being legitimate or not.
Badawi:
Ok. Do you feel we reached our goal as a country so far?
Guindy:
No, I believe we still didn’t. I believe that the 25th of January was just a start,
it was a sparkle that led to end of the very unfair ruling era on 11th of
February. I believe that all of this is just a start and we still haven’t reached
any goals we still need to educate the people actually we’re dealing with a
population most of which are complete ignorant and illiterates and they have
no idea about what’s happening in the world and they’re easily convinced and
by like sweet talk and they don’t actually know where they have to be or how
to get to what they want or anything they just think that.
Badawi:
You feel they’re being brainwashed?
Guindy:
They are being brainwashed definitely they are being brainwashed completely
because usually when you’re dealing with like umm knowledgeable people,
they actually think and they actually read and they’re aware of what’s
happening in Egypt and outside of Egypt and in the other countries and in the
world in general but when you’re dealing with more than sixty percent of
ignorant people in the population, this actually is a catastrophe because you
cannot communicate your ideas. These people were paid for the past thirty
years during every single election to actually vote and they didn’t mind
because why would and ignorant person mind getting some money for just
saying yes or no. they didn’t think they needed to know their rights they don’t
actually know their rights most of the Egyptians haven’t even read the
constitution or know what the amendments are instead..
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Badawi:
Yea
Guindy:
umm
Badawi:
Umm well, do you is there is there a specific moment when you were going
down the Tahrir square that you feel affected you personally like is there
something that stands out to you maybe?
Guindy:
Umm actually yea actually let me tell you something. The whole experience I
mean like I could be sitting at home watching the news and being very
depressed and not knowing what to do but the instant you go to tahrir you get
the chills I’m serious. I used to get the chills like the first time I went to tahrir
I even cried.
Badawi:
Yeah the..
Guindy:
A whole number of people that are there for one cause and all the bad attitudes
of people just disappear like during that revolution during the tahrir period
where we used to go and stay like ten twelve hours just standing there to
actually make a point. People stopped sexually harassing you and these were
the same people that you would like encounter on the streets of Egypt on your
everyday life.
Badawi:
Yea just a week before..
Guindy:
Yea, exactly.
Badawi:
..It was completely different.
Guindy:
..And uh, it was very powerful like you seeing the people there standing one,
standing in like one big circle and like circling the square just to make a point
and honestly when I saw the pictures of the martyrs the like, I felt like yes ok
every single revolution deserves some sacrifices and deserves like uhh a whole
bunch of things and yes ok a little blood would would not make a a huge issue
yaani it would save like the whole revolution eventually if if this is what it
costs yaani fa..
Badawi:
The idea that one person sacrificing for the good of so many others
Guindy:
Yea definitely yea definitely this and and I feel that these people were one of
the reasons why we still stand there and you know and still fight even though
we’re not in tahrir anymore but we’re still there and fighting through our
blogs, through twitter, through whatever it is even thought these are pretty
much closed circles like you you cant imagine my mother was in the
university of Banha a couple of days ago and she attended a lecture where a
bunch of the ikhwan were giving to their students and they were actually
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convincing them in a very unobvious way that they should vote yes for the
amendments and you actually feel like most of the people they don’t really
know anything and the the couple of millions that were in tahrir or the couple
of other millions that watched this at home aren’t the rest of the population
because the rest of the population doesn’t actually like they they hear stuff but
they don’t know actually know what they should do or they don’t actually
understand. like Ive been talking to cabdrivers a lot and if if you asked a
cabdriver whether they’re going to vote yes or no for the constitutional
amendments. They’d say of course yes and then when you tell them yes why
and then they would tell you yes because they amended ten we wouldn’t have
ever dreamt of something like this, ten ummm..
Badawi:
Amendments..
Guindy:
…amendments aren’t are like more than enough and we wouldn’t have ever
dreamt to come to this point and then you’d be like if you said no to the
amendments you’ll have like a whole new constitution.
Badawi:
Hmm..
Guindy:
So why not have a new constitution?
Badawi:
They’re not fully informed..
Guindy:
They’re not fully.
Badawi:
… there is not enough awareness going around..
Guindy:
Definitely
Badawi:
for everyone to understand exactly what’s going on
Guindy:
.. they don’t know all the amendments and the points of the constitution and
they don’t like I told you before they haven’t even read the constitution a lot
of the constitution points are controversial and you’d probably find like one
point that is saying something like the the , amended point, that says
something like the presidential should be uh uh four years..
Badawi:
Ok
Guindy:
..which is number 77 and you’d find another one 189 that would say that it
cannot last more than six years.
Badawi:
Ok
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Guindy:
And the people don’t even know this because they haven’t read the
constitution so they can’t decide and they are being brainwashed into saying
yes just for the sake of saying yes because they should thank God for the for
that at least.
Badawi:
Ok, I’m assuming of course you’re going to be voting next Saturday?
Guindy:
I am definitely going to be voting next Saturday and I encourage everyone to
go vote next Saturday and please I want everyone to actually read the
constitution whether they vote yes or no..
Badawi:
Do the research and create awareness..
Guindy:
Yes exactly do the research, read the constitution, create awareness and then
decide for yourself whether you want to vote yes for the amendments or no
and the new constitutions is not going to be written in decades it’s just going
to take like a week, a month or two months and I think that sacrificing two
other months of of chaos for a better Egypt is much much better than not
sacrificing them and being stuck with the old constitution that enables the
president to have all the powers that there is to have and uhh would probably
build another dictatorship in Egypt for the coming who knows how many
years.
Badawi:
Ok. Are you proud of yourself for being an Egyptian and being a part of the
Egyptian revolution?
Guindy:
I am definitely proud of myself and proud of everyone else that even shared by
like uhh, tweeting something about it or writing something on facebook about
it even thought this is a very closed circle but I mean at least they are aware
and at least they’re trying to do something and umm, yes im proud of being
one of the people that have been..
Badawi:
You’ve been a part of social media..
Guindy:
..a part of social media and a part of this revolution. And uhh…
Badawi:
I definitely think social media gives you another outlet for people to give their
opinions and everything it might be a little uhh, limited but it does get the
message out there. So do you feel it has been helping out a little bit?
Guindy:
Yes, definitely. It has been, I’ll tell you something, it has been helping out
within the uhh, literate community of Egypt. Everyone who has a facebook
account or everyone who can actually read. It has been helping to these
people. But it hasn’t been helping to the other people who haven’t heard of
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computers before or that haven’t heard of, uhh, the social media or anything.
Or that they are completely illiterate that they can’t even spell their names
right, you know what I mean? And even if they hear it because uhh..
Badawi:
What do you think should be done to create awareness for those people?
Guindy:
I think that we, we the people, that are actually aware, should make like our
own conferences and umm, go to these people in like small countries and
small towns and talk to them and tell them did you uhh, did you ever feel you
wanted to do something for Egypt but you didn’t know what, yaani how to do
it or what to do? Did you hear of the revolution that took place in Egypt?
What are your opinions on this, do you actually know what is happening, uh,
do you care to know what is happening, do you need more information? We
should like keep the circles getting bigger and bigger and bigger and expand
them around all over Egypt. And we, we need to um, to actually not only make
them aware with the conferences and stuff but also teach them something, like
teach them how to read for instance, so that whenever there is something
coming up like, the coming up is the constitutional amendment voting and the
coming up is the presidential elections and there are a lot of elections coming
up very soon. And the people need to know that these elections actually exist
for them to be able to give their votes. When uh, when they were, like for you
to actually vote for presidential elections before you needed an election card..
Badawi:
Yea
Guindy:
..and for you to get an election card you need to go with your ID to fill in a in
the police office next to you and and then they woul tell you to come and pick
up your ID your election ID two or three months later. Uhh this, uhh wasn’t
widespread in Egypt and a lot of people didn’t know about it and the deadline
passed and still I talked I was talking to people yesterday and they were still
saying let’s go have an election card and I I wanted to say like the election
card (giggles) due date was on the seventh or the fifth im assuming of this
month so you cant actually go get it..
Badawi:
Yea
Guindy:
.. so that’s a no for you. you cant vote.
Badawi:
And it’s sad to see that there is so many people that aren’t aware of such
things like this.
Guindy:
Yes there is actually another big problem that the people outside of the
Egyptian country cannot and are not able to vote on any uhh on anything on
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any coming elections or uhh or voting because uhh this is something that that
is by the hand of the hand of the very dictatorship system uhh that you cannot
vote unless you’re in the country and unless you have an election card ah I
was tweeting with a friend of mine umm and she she ahh was saying that she’s
crying because she lives in Dubai and she cannot vote and she went to the like
embassy and she wanted to know what to do and they told her that they’re not
allowed to vote so the only ah actual possibility for her to vote is to come back
to Egypt.
Badawi:
Oh wow.
Guindy:
So this needs to end because we need to make people aware or we need to like
the the new government or the people themselves they need to like develop a
new like program or website where you can vote online with your id. And
there is no one Egyptian in this country that has the same id number as anoher
Egyptian so this would basically be a very clean way for the election.
However, the sixty percent illiterate people in Egypt wouldn’t be able to do so
and they need to to be aware of that too and they need to get taught how to do
it and uh I’m assuming..
Badawi:
Ok.
Guindy:
Uhmm..
Badawi:
Do you have any last remarks you would like to say?
Guindy:
Yea umm I hope things come out and turn out better for Egypt and I really
hope that like umm we could make all the people aware of what is happening
and we could help each other because at the end of the day uhh we are the
Egyptian society and no one else will help us get back on our feet and we need
to help each other we need to help one another and make one another aware
of what is happening what is going to take place and how to to be for or
against it in a very democratic way.
Badawi:
Thank you very much this was very educational and I feel..
Guindy:
Thank you..
Badawi:
.. that we are hopeful for a brighter future for Cairo.
Guindy:
Yes definitely.
Badawi:
Thank you
Guindy:
Thank you