Interviews with Mahmoud Afifi

On the 26th and 27th [of January 2011], we had a clear goal, which was not to make huge gatherings in one place, but instead, make many small gatherings in different streets and places so that we exhaust the security forces and don’t give them any break. We were preparing for the 28th [of January 2011] which will be a Friday of rage and we were calling all people to come down in the streets.

During those two days, our goal and plan was to make small gatherings in streets, groups of 50 or 60 to start a demonstration in a specific place and another one in another place so that we exhaust the security forces and don’t give them any room for rest.

While this was going on, incidents in Suez [a city and governorate in Egypt] started and killing happened. Events started to swell and everyone was getting ready to go down the streets on the 28th [of January 2011] and to make that day the decisive day to overthrow the regime. We planned that we will sit in millions and not leave until we overthrow the regime.

This day made a difference in my life and the life of every Egyptian. This particular day, we cried while we were in the street.

I personally was extremely happy, me and my friends cried when we saw all this number of people in the streets. We started to hug each other.

We didn’t believe that this is happening. Finally, people changed! It was a distinctive day. I remember that when we were passing on Qasr al-Nil Bridge [a bridge in Cairo, Egypt] seeing the building of the National [Democratic] Party on fire, we kneeled in the street from our happiness [the National Democratic Party was the political party of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak]. It was a very different day, not like any other day. It can’t be repeated.

Mahmoud Afifi is an Egyptian democracy activist with the April 6th Youth Movement, a group formed in 2008 to support striking workers; afterwards, it transformed into a nationwide opposition network against Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Today, Afifi serves as the Director of the April 6th Youth Movement’s Information Office. He is a lawyer by profession and graduated from Banha University in 2006.

Afifi joined the April 6th Youth Movement in 2009 and founded the group’s chapter in Egypt’s Qalyubia governorate. There he rallied youth to take part in various awareness campaigns and street protests against the government. As part of this strategy, he engaged the poorest segments of the population and strengthened their voice in the political arena. Following his success in Qalyubia, Afifi worked to organize April 6th Youth Movement campaigns at the national level. As the government cracked down on these demonstrations, Afifi was arrested several times and even abandoned in the desert.

Prior to the Egyptian Revolution that unseated President Hosni Mubarak, Afifi coordinated with other organizations encouraging citizens to participate in a January 25, 2011 demonstration in Cairo. On that day, Afifi marched to Tahrir Square with thousands of others demanding Mubarak’s resignation and a free Egypt. The protests intensified and expanded nationwide. Almost three weeks later, on February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power ending his 30 year reign.