What the revolution do to us? After three years since the sudden January 25 Revolution, this is the most important question at this time. The people who are depressed over the unexpected changes do not recognize what really happened, and may be those who lived through the past three eras of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and former President Hosni Mubarak. They will realize that even the dream of a change is quite impossible.
The problem is that the change after the revolution did not meet what people aimed for. People are divided around conflicts, frustrations and blood, which may be because we didn’t target a certain change, and each class had its own dream of change.
What we all face now is a political naïveté, when all who had joined the January 25 Revolution expected that the ouster of Mubarak would provide the regime we dreamed of, and form a country of law.
And now, even though we do not have interests on the ground or relations with the people, in addition to a lack of political vision and experience, I see frustration spreading between the revolutionaries following the demanding of Minister of Defense Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to run for presidential elections. This conflicts with our vision of a civil state, leaving us frustrated between deciding whether to refuse his candidacy or boycott the elections and leave the political scene to others.
The worst thing that could happen to us now is to fall for frustration and self-pity or worse, which is to move against current in the street, while the people are living through threats, blasts and clashes from the Muslim Brotherhood. Whoever does not recognize the people’s current condition will lose the street’s support, which is needed if we are going to practice politics in the future. Politics are the only way to achieve the revolution’s goals, not by accusing and cursing others. The scene changes fast, while the ones who consider themselves revolutionaries are not changing even though the street demands and ideologies are. Condemning the people’s actions will only lead to more divide.
We were naïve and will remain naïve if we considered that toppling Mubarak in 18 days was the revolution and will lead to achieving our dreams, while also believing that the ones who do not share our dreams and demands will leave the scene for us to do whatever we want. This naivety is like a bride who imagined that after getting married she will not face any trouble and when she did, she lost all of her beliefs.
If we looked back at the history of revolutions, it shows us how naïve we are for seeking dreams with no real action. We are now responsible for working in the upcoming months and years for that dream in order to change the regime. If we recognize that the door for change has opened after decades of being shut, let us start working to achieve that dream without setting a time limit.
In the end, we are not some teenagers dreaming of Prince Charming and we are not children dreaming of something that if not received we sit in anger mourning our luck. I know the current scene is full of reasons to be frustrated. TV channels that are affiliated with the old regime and Sisi’s maniacs are distorting the revolution and revolutionaries, arresting activists and children and silencing all of the voices that call for something different. It is enough to leave us frustrated. This all remains a reality that cannot be denied but can be altered by working.
