Smashing Through Fear in Egypt

NEW YORK CITY -- As the people of my homeland, Egypt, stage a popular uprising against the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, the White Stripes keep singing in my head: "I'm gonna fight 'em off /A seven-nation army couldn't hold me back!"
I don't know if Jack and Meg of the White Stripes are watching the breathtaking developments taking place in my country. However, their thumping, pumping "Seven Nation Army" is a perfect anthem for the defiance and adrenaline-fueled determination that must be propelling the tens of thousands of courageous, protesting Egyptians.
And against what odds!
On Thursday, an increasingly rattled regime did everything it could to stifle that courage by imposing an information lockdown. It actually shutdown the Internet? Who does that? I'll tell you who: the Burmese junta during the Monk's Uprising in 2007.
It was young people, who so nimbly move between the "real" and "virtual" worlds, who called for the protests, which began on Jan. 25. But their rallying cry brought together Egyptians of all ages and backgrounds.
It was, of course, Tunisia that unleashed their imagination and inspired them to think "No More!" After all, Tunisians managed in 29 days to end the rule of Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali, their dictator of 23 years. Why not, Egyptians asked.
While protests in both Tunisia and Egypt have focused on the corruption of their respective dictators and the ensuing unemployment and poverty, there are two demands that fuel the mass protests: freedom and dignity.
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