Community Corner

Egyptian Residents in Bed-Stuy Share Differing Opinions on Mubarak

President Hosni Mubarak: Should he stay, or should he go?

“The people, they are tired,” said the store owner behind the counter.

He looked around to see who was present and spoke in quiet clips while punching numbers into the Lotto machine for a waiting customer.  

He, with a brother and a cousin, owns one of the many corner store delis peppered throughout Bed-Stuy. In Brooklyn, he is one of about 8,560 Egyptian residents – about one-fourth of the total population of Arab residents in Brooklyn – according to the U.S. Census (2000).

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He didn’t want to be named, and he was slow to speak freely about the recent popular uprisings in his native country Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world.

But his body language and eyes told all. It was clear that he was passionate about the violent turmoil that erupted six days ago and has worsened each day.

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“Mubarak needs to go; it is time,” he said, of Egypt's president. “So many Arab countries, they can’t take it no more. They are ruled by governments that stay too long. But they are supported by the American government who gives them weapons.”

Beginning last Tuesday, January 25, tens of thousands of protesters– men, women and young students – in Egypt's capital, Cairo, suddenly took to the streets in riots. So far, the official death toll from the crisis is 97, with thousands injured, according to the Associated Press.

The rioters are calling for the resignation of their country’s president, Hosni Mubarak, 82 and ailing, whose 30-year autocratic rule is blamed for the country’s failing economy, rampant joblessness and political corruption.

“They are suffering. But it is hard when you have America and Israel that are friends with Mubarak,” said the store owner.

According to the U.N., nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line, at $2 a day. The widespread poverty, high unemployment and rising food prices have left many of the country’s population bitter and beleaguered. For them, the blame lays squarely on Mubarak.

Mubarak has ordered his government to resign, but has not offered to step down himself. Nor has he said whether he plans to run for another six-year term in office. But he has not appointed a deputy since he became president in 1981 and is believed to be grooming his son Gamal as his successor.

But not all of Brooklyn’s Egyptian residents feel Mubarak should be ousted – at least, not right away.

“The best bet is that Mubarak stay for a while and establish security in the area,” said Frankie, owner of Greene Food Deli on Classon and Greene Avenues. “You cannot push him out before securing the airports, banks – do some freedom for the people, do something with the economy, create some jobs. Then, call for an election and let someone else come in. But he can’t leave like that.”

Frankie said he goes home to Egypt every few years to visit his family in Cairo. He is familiar with the situation there. But, as owner of his deli for almost 30 years, he is very much a part of the American fabric he has established for himself in Bed-Stuy. He joked with customers between talking about Mubarak and Egypt’s future.

“Egypt has been a good ally for America, all the way from Reagan to Clinton through the Gulf Wars. But who should decide to be president? The Egyptians themselves. America should not be involved,” Frankie said. “Obama is doing the right thing. People say, ‘Why you don’t go to Egypt?’ That’s not his job. It’s up to the Egyptian people to decide.”


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