On Tuesday Egyptian police arrested the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the tally of deaths from clashes in Egypt neared 900. Closer to home, in Cambridge, one student reflects on the outcome of the Arab Spring revolution for democracy.
The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 was an uprising of historic proportions. After 30 years under the rule of Hosni Mubarak, millions of protestors filled the streets and forced his overthrow.
Ahmed Mahmoud, a post doc at Harvard Medical School, was part of the protests. He said people were overjoyed by the result.
"People were celebrating that he stepped down and left Tahir Square and everything because they thought okay its done, but because back then we had this political naivete we thought it was that simple, but clearly its not," he said.
Now, what had seemed like the end to a decades-long struggle, has proven to be the beginning of a new struggle: first with President Mohamed Morsi, now with Egyptian military rule
"It all boils down to a conflict between the old brutal totalitarian state against the Muslim Brotherhood which is another problematic fascist state," Mahmoud explained.
Mahmoud said morals are morals, and the military killings were wrong, but he does not support the Muslim Brotherhood, either.
"I believe in the change and in making a new democratic Egpyt. The current problem is that both sides are moving away from true democracy," he said. "It’s either fascism or totalitarianism."
And now there is a third element to add to the chaos: a court has ordered the release of former president Hosni Mubarak. If and when that happens, it will become even harder to end Egypt’s unrest.
