The memoir of Wael Ghonim who triggered the Egypt spring

Wael Ghonim was the young Egyptian Google whizz kid who used the social media to turn Tahrir Square into a worldwide symbol of freedom…and turn everything else upside down. 

This a-political nerd launched a Facebook page to protest the brutal death of a young man, Khaled Mohamed Said, in Alexandria, at the hands of security forces. And suddenly everything unraveled, millions of people clicked on the “We Are All Khaled Said’ page, and then marched and protested. The Mubarak regime crumbled and on the new and clear horizon many looked at the sun of freedom.

Yes we can

Now of course more than a year later the euphoria has faded away. Some even disparage the role of Egypt’s Facebook and Twitter protesters, others accuse them of just having been “useful idiots” on behalf either of the West or of the Islamist forces that have won the first post-Mubarak elections.

In this context of uncertainty, doubts and even fear the memoirs of Wael Ghonim are a useful reminder that “a bunch of determined people” can bring about change where it was not at all expected. It is also a reminder that the beneficiaries of a revolution are often those that have taken the least risks or been able to jump at the wheel at the right time to car-jack the movement and guide it to other directions.

Wael Ghonim’s book is not a political essay, it is a testimony, at times very personal, at times emotional, about his commitment, his campaign, his family, his exhaustion, his Muslim faith, his love for his country. But the a-political turned political nature of the testimony tells a lot about the mood and the atmosphere in Egypt, especially among the modern, high tech-savvy and Westernized youth. It describes so well their hopes for another future, free from arbitrariness, violence, corruption and opacity. 

We are the media

This book exposes the impact of the new media sphere in once closed societies and highlights the role of Al Jazeera and of Internet in undermining the oppressive culture of the state and in getting around the official media walls.

It also shows the limitations of these “new technologies of liberation”: if these new media actors could be the spark of change they could not channel their idealistic energy into the promised land of a more liberal and open society. Wael Ghonim, although convinced of the potential of social media and Internet also admits that “the people” made the difference by confronting the repressive forces of the regime in the streets, taking hits and suffering many casualties.

For media activists his book is a great lesson on the philosophy and tricks behind the rise of a Revolution 2.0. It demonstrates that it was not just one “genius” that triggered it all but a convergence of many citizens that had slowly switched off from the regime and turned on the lights in a parallel society of bloggers, independent journalists, resourceful engineers, etc.

For those who have kept the dream of building a decent society of respectful citizens Wael Ghonim’s book will be welcome. His memoirs has an “under-title” that says it all:  “the power of the people is greater than the people in power”.

The hope is alive

“We are still away from a fully established democracry”, Wael Ghonim writes in an epilogue. “But I do believe that Egyptians will never again put up with another pharaoh. Thanks for modern technology”, he adds, “democracy is becoming a reality. Governments are finding it harder and harder to keep people isolated from one another”.
And he concludes: “I utterly refuse to be labeled a hero. I was no more than a guy with some marketing experience who started a Facebook page that snowballed into something greater than any of its thousands of contributors”.

A thousand contributors that tell us that Egypt has a small but resourceful crowd of truly decent people that dream of a future of reason, tolerance and freedom.

Wael Ghonim, Revolution 2.0. A Memoir, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, New York, 308 pages.