I'm Sick of Analogies
Whatever happens tomorrow in Egypt, however it comes about, I hope people all over the world remember that what happened there was Egyptian. It is not about the United States, it is not about whether we support Mubarak or not, it is not about the Europeans, it is not about the Arab governments, about Israel, about Islam, about al-Qaeda or the War on Terror, or the War on Drugs, or the New York Times Review of Books, or who is voting for whom in the Iowa State Farm Pageant. It's not about what happened to the Iranians, to the Americans, to the Indians, or to the Parisians. It's not about what happened in Iraq in 2003, what happened in Iran in 1979, or what happened to Europe in 1848.
It's about what's happening in Egypt, to Egyptians, in 2011.
The US contributed in many ways to what happened there. The EU contributed, the Arab world contributed, the entire world contributed. Everyone, everywhere is somehow connected to what is happening there. But it is simply a contribution, a root, not the trunk, not the main. What is happening in Egypt has always been an Egyptian story; they have paid in blood and sweat and tears to unroll the canvas and write the letters on it. It is their story, and no matter how the climax is written, no matter how the story ends, theirs it remains. We can at least give them that.
It's about what's happening in Egypt, to Egyptians, in 2011.
The US contributed in many ways to what happened there. The EU contributed, the Arab world contributed, the entire world contributed. Everyone, everywhere is somehow connected to what is happening there. But it is simply a contribution, a root, not the trunk, not the main. What is happening in Egypt has always been an Egyptian story; they have paid in blood and sweat and tears to unroll the canvas and write the letters on it. It is their story, and no matter how the climax is written, no matter how the story ends, theirs it remains. We can at least give them that.