The Truth about Egypt…

At least an essential part of the Truth. Many of you know that we lived in Egypt and returned many times, including last year. So when the Embassy in Cairo was attacked two days ago, I contacted three of our closest friends there, two Muslims, one Coptic Christian. Their responses, sans names, are below.

E-mails from two Muslim friends:

Dear Linda and Morgan,

Thank you for asking. We are safe, thank God. The disturbances are around the American Embassy compound and part of Tahrir Square. The rest of Cairo is calm. While most Egyptians are angry about the incendiary film against Prophet Mohamed, they are against any violence to make their point. Wise Muslims are only too well aware that such wild reactions only serve to score points against Muslims. The killing of the American Ambassador and his colleagues in Libya is truly tragic and regrettable. If only EVERYONE exercised calm and sound judgment!

––––– (daughter) is not involved at all with the protests. She started a new job with the International Labor Organization and seems to enjoy it. Her work will involve traveling to Morocco. Not bad, heh? Thanks again for your concern. We look forward to hearing from you.

Love, ________

My dear Linda and Morgan,

Although events here are moving very fast and they are really hectic and difficult to follow and understand, we are all safe.

My children and grandchildren are ok. School has already started and life goes on. I just hope things settle down faster since people are really under a lot of stress here and prices are rocketing sky high making living decently very tough.

Best regards to you and Morgan hoping that you are both in good health,

E-mail from our Coptic Christian friend:

Dear Friends Linda &Morgan,

Yes, we are very safe, we only feel sorrow for the death of the American

diplomats in Libya.  Egypt is still Egypt– those ugly people here or there cannot change its peaceful laughing face.

Love to you, _________

When we lived in Egypt during the Gulf War, family members would call during broadcast demonstrations, assuming we were in imminent danger.  However, unemployment, high food prices, and a disappointing transition under the Muslim Brotherhood—all are stimulants for blame and anger. And the abhorrent film provided that trigger.  As we came to understand some time ago, when peoples have only lived under dictators, freedom, particularly the freedoms of religion, speech and the press, are difficult to understand.

Linda

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2012 at 6:44 pm and is filed under Family, Fiction, Leadership, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.