Wael Ghonim

Wael Ghonim is een jonge Egyptenaar die voor Google werkt. Hij blijkt de beheerder te zijn van de Facebookgroep ‘We are all Khaled Said’ (hier is hun Engelstalige zusterpagina). Deze Faceboekgroep eert de nagedachtenis van Khaled Said, die in juli 2010 twee politie-agenten filmde terwijl ze de drugs verdeelden die ze zojuist in beslag hadden genomen. Khaled werd daarna op straat doodgeslagen door twee agenten. De Facebookgroep is een belangrijke motor voor het Egyptische verzet geworden. (Meer over Khaled Said kun je hier vinden – maar pas op, daar zitten erg akelige beelden bij. )

Op 27 januari, een dag nadat het protest in Egypte losbarstte, werd Wael vastgepakt door vier mannen en in een auto gestopt: een kidnapping op klaarlichte dag. Al die tijd heeft hij in detentie gezeten, geblinddoekt, en is hij verhoord. Pas gisteren (maandag 7 februari) werd hij vrijgelaten. Diezelfde avond werd hij geïnterviewd op de Egyptische zender Dream TV. ZIjn interviewer: een vrouw die tijdens de protesten ontslag heeft genomen bij de StaatsTV, omdat ze niets over de opstand mocht rapporteren.

Waed vertelt in dat interview over zijn dromen, zijn angsten en zijn redenen voor protest. Als de interviewster hem beelden laat zien van de mensen die deafgelopen dagen zijn doodgeschoten, stapt Wael huilend uit beeld.

Het is een buitengewoon aangrijped interview. De originele versie – uiteraard in het Arabisch – staat hier (deel 1, 15 minuten; deel 2, bijna 3 minuten). Vooral het tweede deel is hartverscheurend. The Guardian en Al Jazeera live blog hebben vertalingen gepubliceerd. Daaruit citeer ik:

Update: inmidels zijn er vertaalde versies van het interview: deel 1, deel 2 en deel 3.

I am not a hero. I was only used the keyboard, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can’t name. This is the season where people use the word traitor against each other. I wasn’t abused, I was jailed, kidnapped. I met some really intellectual people in jail, they actually thought that we were traitors, working for others. “If I was a traitor I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE.

‘What are called the ‘Facebook youth’ went out in their tens of thousands on January 25th, talk to them. This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors. [..]

I am proud of what I did. This is not the time to settle scores. Although I have people I want to settle scores with myself. This is not the time to split the pie and enforce ideologies. The secret to the success of the facebook page was use of surveys.

I met with the Minister of Interior today. He was sat like any other citizen. He spoke to me like an equal. I respected that. The youth on the streets made Dr Hossam Badrawi [General Secretary of NDP] drive me to my house today. They transfered me to state security, it’s a kidnapping. On Thursday night, at 1am I was with a friend, a colleague from work. I was taking a taxi, suddenly four people surrounded the car, I yelled “Help me, Help me” I was blindfolded then taken away. I will say this as it is: nothing justifies kidnapping, you can arrest me by the law, I am not a drug dealer or terrorist.

Inside I met people who loved Egypt [State Security people] but their methods & mine are not the same. I pay these guys salaries from my taxes, I have the right to ask the ministers where my money is going, this is our country. I believe that if things get better those (good state security people he met) will serve Egypt well. Don’t stand in our way, we are going to serve Egypt. I saw a film director get slapped, they told him ‘You will die here.’ Why? [..]

I was the admin of the page but others paid for it. We are dreamers [says it in English]. There was no Muslim Brotherhood presence in organising these protests, it was all spontaneous, voluntary. Even when the Muslim Brotherhood decided to take part it was their choice to do so. This belongs to Egyptian youth.

Please everyone, enough rumours. Enough.

I told the Interior Minister – I was upset – I told him I will go in the car with Hossam Badrawi but without an NDP logo. I told them we don’t want any NDP logo on the streets. I cried when I heard that there are people who died, officers and protesters, this is my country. [..]

I can’t claim I know what happened when I was inside. I didn’t know anything until one day before I left. The interrogators wanted to know if outsiders were involved. I convinced them this was a purely Egyptian movement. The treatment was very good, they knew I was a good Egyptian. I was blindfolded for 12 days, I didn’t see their faces. They wanted details, information. ‘Are the people who planned this outsiders?’ We didn’t do anything wrong, this was an appeal.