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Metro Detroit Reacts as Egyptian President Mubarak Resigns
As reported by CBS News, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down following many days of street protests. Following Friday’s announcement, many Metro Detroiters with family in Eqypt were reacting to the news.
Speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950, civil rights lawyer Shereef Akeel, who has family in Egypt, said he hopes what happened there takes hold in other parts of the world.
“It’s a principle and an opportunity that every human being in this world should experience. We saw this play out in Egypt, and hopefully it will create a domino effect that will create a better place for all,” he said.
“The irony of seeing the pictures, where you see the tanks sitting idle. You see the military — they’re mute, they’re powerless… What we witnessed was just a momentous occasion of the power of the people who fought hard to be free… With what we saw, you’re speechless to see what has developed,” Akeel said.
Akeel said Mubarak’s ouster wasn’t politically motivated, but rather was a necessary step for Egyptians.
In Troy, WWJ’s Marie Osborne spoke with the arch-priest at St. Mark Coptic Christian Church who said he’s been watching in disbelief, and in hope, as his homeland makes a historic transition.
“We hope for all the country to come back into a peaceful resolution, where everybody will enjoy living in the same country. And, enjoy also worshipping in the way that they wanted,” said Father Mina Essak.
Father Essak said he hopes the transition in Egypt is both swift and peaceful.
University of Michigan Dearborn Political Science professor Ron Stockton says the only thing that surprised him about Mubarak’s resignation was that fact that he didn’t do it earlier.
“I can just imagine the loud voices that were off-camera, in closed doors last night. And, he pretty much got the word from the military that you are no longer viable and you are dragging the whole system down, so go away,” Stockton said.
Stockton predicts that elections will likely come next, rather than a military takeover.
“I think it’s almost impossible for the military to resist that. They could not simply impose a military dictatorship and replace Mubarek will someone else. I think there’s going to be very significant changes — whether they will be all the changes that the protestors are hoping for, that we can’t tell yet,” he said.
According to Stockton, it was the constant and increasingly vocal street protests, along with social media outlets spreading the word, which ultimately led to Mubarak’s political demise.
The professor said this is unprecedented in Arab history.
On January 25, an uprising of Egyptians erupted calling for Mubarak’s resignation as president. Protests continued to grow despite overdue concessions that he will not seek another term, dismissing his government, and appointing a vice president. Friday, the announcement came from his appointed vice president Omar Suleiman, saying Mubarak has transferred power to the military.
CBS Detroit