Although Egypt may be miles away, the events that occur there affect many people who live here in the U.S. Many students and teachers had a strong, passionate voice that expressed their own anger towards the situation.

Junior Bellal Hussain showed his support for the demonstrations in Egypt by attending the march in D.C. that took place on Feb 5. The march began at the Egyptian Embassy on Connecticut Avenue and continued to the White House. Although the protest did not target the Egyptian Embassy, it did help to raise awareness in the Northern Virginian area.

Even though Hussain is not of Egyptain decent, he explains “Egyptians are Muslim and I am Muslim, so I support them because we [Muslims] don’t think of each other as different people since we all believe in the same thing.” Although the protest did not have as many people as Hussain believed were going to attend, it was still got hectic and crazy with the crowd’s energy.

“I don’t think the United States could do anything about it, but Egypt is [on the] brink from becoming a third world country,” Hussain said.

With a powerful voice and strong opinions, Egyptian Arabic teacher Ola Layaly has shared her sadness and frustration about the riots in Egypt. Layaly’s entire family is living in Egypt; the only family she has here is her husband. She explains that in 2002, after getting all of her legal requirements to live in the U.S., she has been more than happy to be living in the U.S. because she believes that she has more rights here than she would in Egypt.

“He [Mubarak] doesn’t give any space, he’s interfering and abusing everyone and he’s a dictator that humiliates and tortures you. He’s very manipulative and intimidating only to assure himself that no negative comments are said about him,” Layaly said.

Layaly has increased so much pride towards her country that she has gone as far as wearing all black from head to toe to show her support for the families affected and plans to continue wearing all black until Mubarak steps down from power for good.

Layaly was deeply hurt and upset when she read an article about kids being shot and even brutally beaten to death. Layaly can not stand to see all these painful problems being raised by Mubarak and wishes for him to step down from power immediately.

Not only had Layaly made sure that she did her best to bring awareness to her students, she also went to the protest in D.C. “The action is increasing so the situation is a lot worse, but I was very happy to be at the protest and when the National Anthem played, everyone started crying so it was also such a sad thing, even talking about it now makes me want to cry” Layaly said.
Friday, Feb. 11th Cairo, Egypt ’s most affected area went over the top with excitement after being informed that Mubarak has decided to step down from power and surrender over to the Egyptian Military.

“We got rid of him! I feel like it is a dream come true. I screamed and cooked for my freinds. On saturday we went to the Egyptian Embassy and we sang and danced. I’m happy that the Egyptians have their freedom. It was hard for people to believe it” Layaly said.

The U.S. government is keeping a close eye on Egypt, since it is one of its most powerful and loyal allies. Protests are likely to continue to raise awareness to those who do not know of the current situation. AHS students will continue to support those whose families are affected by the situation.