(1)

Students, experts gather at TCNJ for discussion of current events in Egypt


Thursday, February 03, 2011 Rich Bockmann
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

EWING -- As the political uprising unfolds in Egypt, experts and students gathered at The College of New Jersey's campus yesterday to discuss issues surrounding the current events there.
The day after Egypt's "Million Man March" and President Hosni Mubarak's announcement that he will not seek re-election in September, Miriam Lowi, a professor of political science and international studies, said that "terrible clashes have been reported throughout the news today" and accused Mubarak of sending plain-clothed "thugs" into the crowds of protestors in order to incite violence.
She added that U.S. media and news outlets had sensationalized the violence, and that the involvement of Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political opposition group, was misunderstood. "It's not a Jihadi movement; it's not worldwide. Its focus is on the practice of Islam in its own country," she said.
Manar Darwish, an expert on the Middle East, said the first thing she noticed when she moved to the United States from Egypt in 1986 was how narrowly focused the media in this country was. She painted a picture of modern-day Egypt where, despite its portrayal as a dictatorship, many Egyptians feel a sense of freedom.

"The media shows Mubarak as a dictator, but that's not what my family sees," said Teresa Askandar, a student who has family living in Egypt.
Darwish said that when Egyptian President Muhammad Anwar El Sadat was assassinated in 1981, Mubarak stepped in as a unifying force and created a sense of hopefulness. It is her belief that, 30 years later, the protests have been spurred on by rumors that Mubarak's son will replace him.
One student said he felt the best thing for the country's long-term stability would be for Mubarak to wait until the end of his term in September to step down.
Lowi responded that Egyptians fear he would use the remaining seven months of his term to arrange for either his son or his supporters to replace him. Of leading dissident Mohamed ElBaradei, she said that due to his international stature he looks good as an interim leader, but that it's hard to tell what his chances are in the long-term future.
She did, though, opine on Egypt's short-term future: "I don't think the next couple of days are going to look good at all."