With the heat just beginning, it seems like the Arab Spring has finally turned into a long-awaited Arab Summer.
Over the weekend, political protests in both Egypt and Lebanon took both countries by storm, with an estimated 200 people gathering for the former, and millions stampeding for the latter. With similar causes—Lebanon rallying to denounce its parliament’s mandate extension and Egypt hoping to impeach President Morsi—it seemed that Arabs everywhere were expressing their political frustrations in arguably the best way how—the age old art of protesting.
Population wise, Egypt dwarfs Lebanon’s 4.3 million with a whopping 83 million of their own, so its quite unfair to judge protest numbers based off of attendance.
Yet one stark difference between the two countries is clear; Lebanese protests were only going on in downtown Beirut, whereas Egyptian ones were everywhere—all over Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, and even in the U.S.
Millions upon millions of Egyptians took to social media to express their solidarity, branding the now famous slogan “Ta7ya Masr!” on statuses, tweets, posters, and faces. And unlike Lebanon, police brutality did not make headlines—in fact, at one point, the Egyptian army reportedly flew in and dropped Egyptian flags on Tahrir Square, to the many cheers of protesters.
Regardless of their religion, political party, or social class, nationalism is the redeeming quality of all Egyptians. Ask any Egyptian person (and as an Egyptian, I can vouch for this), who they are and the first thing you will hear is a resounding “Ana Masri.” Ask the very same question to a Lebanese and you’ll most likely hear “I’m from Bekaa. I’m Druze. I’m a Hezbollah supporter. I’m Orthodox. I’m from Ain Saadeh.”
Though we’ve yet to see any tangible outcomes from either protest, it is clear that Egypt is currently the protest champion. Ta7ya Masr!
