Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Following are excerpts from statements by Egyptian TV hosts Hanaa Al-Samari and Sayyed Ali, which aired on Al-Mihwar TV on January 21, 2011:
Hanaa Al-Samari: Good evening. Anyone who has been following the news from Egypt since this morning cannot deny that nothing good is going on. This is so far. We hope good things will happen from now on. Since morning, the Egyptian public has been seething with anger. We are not talking about Cairo only, but about many governorates.
On the other hand, the officials, the ministers, seem to be in a coma. There is nobody around. I don't know what will happen. We haven't seen any official appear publicly to give people assurances, especially because all communications are down – the Internet, the cell phones, everything... Nobody has come out to speak.
We were surprised by the military governor, President Hosni Mubarak, who imposed a curfew from 18:00 until morning. The curfew began in some governorates, and then spread to the entire country. He also ordered the army to deploy in the streets, in order to help the police force. Of course, when the public is seething with anger, the police force cannot enforce security all by itself.
This is what has happened so far. There is still one thing that we really hope will happen: that President Mubarak himself will come out to speak to the Egyptians. Millions of Egyptians do not know what is happening or will happen. Since all the state officials have disappeared, President Mubarak is all that people have
[...]
All the people, out on the street or sitting in their homes, need to hear from the Egyptian president. Their only option is to hear what will happen from the president himself. We are used to the president talking to the Egyptians on every occasion, and we demand that he tell them what will happen in the coming days.
Good evening, Sayyed.
Sayyed Ali: Good evening, Hanaa. The truth is that we almost didn't make this show today, because the government, which is so "great" when it comes to communications, and which talks so much about communications, cut off our water and electricity supply. This is the transparency and decency about which they gave us such a headache. There is no Internet, no cell phones...
On behalf of all the show's crew, and on behalf of my family, we will sue the cell phone companies to which we subscribe, because we pay them money, and they cannot cut off services from us. We did not subscribe with the security services, and they cannot cut off our phone and Internet services. We pay money for our cell phones and for our Internet. No self-respecting company in any self-respecting country would cut off communications from the people.
The same government that told us that it was focusing on communications and that brought us the good tidings of future technology, is taking us years backwards. This is inconceivable. I'm very angry about what I see.
I apologize for saying yesterday that I was not worried. I am extremely worried. I am not worried for myself. My future is behind me. I'm worried for my children and for the young people out on the streets. As I said yesterday, our only resort is President Mubarak, whom we hold in great esteem.
Mr. President, as a citizen who gave you his vote – as one who considers himself your son, Mr. President – we expect you to show up and talk. You carry all the officials who surround you on your shoulders, instead of vice versa. They have harmed you, Egypt, the government, the regime, and the NDP.
[...]
We were told that there were three million NDP members. Where are they? Where are the NDP leaders? Why are they hiding? Where are these people, whose bellies have grown and whose pockets have swelled? They watch this country, which has given them everything, go up in flames, yet they are hiding like mice. Mice are more honorable than them. They watch the young people get beaten. Where are they? What kind of a political party is this? They have no presence whatsoever. This party won 91% of the vote... How could it possibly win 91% when people are telling you to get lost?!
All the people who have caused this had better submit their resignation. Those responsible for these elections, which have sent the people out to the streets, must resign. What are you staying for? We are telling you that we don't want you, we don't love you, we don't respect you. You have robbed the country enough. The country is going up in flames, while you sit in your ivory towers and resorts.
[...]
We exported our civilization to the entire world. The people who burn and destroy are not Egyptians. They are the enemies of Egypt. They are worse than Egypt's enemies. Rejoice, Israel, Rejoice, Israel.
Hanaa Al-Samari: Right.
Sayyed Ali: Rejoice when you see the Egyptians destroying their own country.
[...]