23 year old filmmaking student Nadim Fateh was born in Cairo,Egypt and moved to Toronto in his early life. After making it onto the Toronto Police's top 40 'wanted' list for his alleged role in the fiery G20 protests, he spent the last spring and summer in Cairo, Athens, and Madrid, participating and documenting the revolutionary movements there before becoming a part of Occupy Toronto.

When did you go back to Egypt?

I went back May of 2011 so everything had pretty much died down there but it wasn't really focused much on the actual revolution but the things that not many people were focusing on which is the post-revolution, that liquid state, that liquid area we don't usually talk about.

Was there much of an occupation when you went to Tahrir?

Actually by the time I was leaving they started occupying Tahrir again. They put up tents ... that entire green area was actually entirely occupied. You couldn't walk around anywhere in there. They had their own security around that area.

What was it like entering Tahrir, did they have security checkpoints, were they fairly tight?

That's the thing... most of the protests weren't really backed by the military or by the police, so what happened was various revolutionary groups would actually create their own perimeters during large protests – which would generally be every Friday – just to keep the momentum of the revolution going. We'd actually have a couple of different checkpoints throughout it all. So as you're walking into Tahrir there'd be a check[point] – just to, like, check your passport, or whatever ID you had. And at the next one you get patted down. And then once you get within the actual square and you want to get through to that “green” area – and if they were occupying at the time – then you'd also need your ID and most likely someone to say that you are okay... that you're not a cop or baltagiya. And that's the only way you could actually get through to the occupation site.

Did the groups have names?

Yeah... there was the Khalid Said group, which was the group that formed after Khalid Said's death. The April 6th movement was probably the most dominant one. The Muslim Brotherhood really didn't participate as much... although the youth were pretty active during the time I was there.

Did they all jointly run the occupation of Tahrir?

Yeah, I would say so... in a volunteer kind of way.

There were no serious divisions?

No – well politically ... but they all had the same intentions. We had to protect our people, we had to protect the square... and just make sure nothing happened violently.

So what were the committees? What sort of services did they have to run the occupation?

There weren't too many. The major difference was that at Occupy we went out to create these committees. What happened in Egypt was there was a more fluid kind of way these committees would break out. For example... the camels. When they came in during the Camel Battle, [the protesters] created... actually, throughout the revolution, they created a small hospital where volunteer doctors and nurses would be working – and it was just spur of the moment. They'd say "okay, we need a place away from the battle... we need to do it over here." The vendors all around, who would sell food and stuff like that... they just came in thinking there'd be money. Like “there's a ton of money right there”, which is smart... like two Egyptian pounds and you'd get this thing of kusheri. You'd feed these people and you'd be there and we'd have these revolutionary sentiments and stuff, it was just so sporadic – yet it seemed to work. And these marshals that would come up – they were just people that wanted to volunteer... to make sure they were on the front lines. And the people that would fight against the cops and the camels were also people that were just there ready to go... so it was a very fluid kind of thing.

When you were there was there much free stuff being distributed according to need? Or was it mainly vendors selling stuff?

Not so much when I was there. They almost took like a capitalist advantage of the revolution at the point when I was actually there... but the thing is, beforehand you'd see people coming in with a ton of food and just handing it out to people who hadn't eaten in hours – because they were fighting the cops and stuff. So during the height of the revolution – or the beginning of the revolution... because I don't want to say that the revolution ended – there was this... not really a food committee, but people just sharing what they had – whether they were rich or poor.

So what was the class background, were a lot of people poor or a mix?

From what I've heard, and this is the most beautiful aspect of it all... everyone had lost their dignity in Egypt – period. Whether you were rich or poor you always had to bribe your way into anything, like public schools, private schools... anything. So people were starting to lose that dignity and the police were taking advantage of absolutely everything... and people had just had enough. So at that point, what happened was generally the middle class youth started it off on January 25 – and that's what people say the beginning of the revolution was. But from January 25 to about January 28 it was just growing in numbers... until January 28, when people realized, "okay, whether you're poverty-stricken [and] wearing a potato sack for clothes or rich as fuck – it doesn't matter. We're all in the same boat. We're all collectively indignant."

Were there General Assemblies? Again to compare it to Occupy a little bit... did they hold meetings or was it kind of ad hoc?

Never anything like that. That's the weirdest thing. Y'know we're almost, within Occupy, trying to re-create through organizations and through these [structures] what was created so fluidly in Egypt, in Tahrir, and I think that's what Spain did especially – was that they heard of these stories in Tahrir and they saw the stuff and they tried to re-create it. In Egypt there was no need for it. Once that first person got killed in Suez, that was it, "The people demand the fall of the regime", there was no other thing they wanted to add. Some people were saying "end the military control, blah blah blah" but in the end it all just came down to that same thing. Everyone was on the same track.

The demands were obvious?

Exactly.

In that respect, because obviously you have a dictatorship in Egypt and here you have some form of parliamentary democracy – even though half the voting population don't take part in it. How does that make things messy? How does that complicate things? Because if I'm understanding correctly, what they're calling for in Egypt essentially we have here... more or less?

That's exactly it.

So how do you bridge that divide?

I don't want to by any means belittle Egypt's revolution. It was an unbelievable feat and they risked their lives and they still risk their lives. They are going out there – you know how we put the legal number on us? They would put their name, their phone number, their address, their family name... in case they died and had to be recognized. That's a huge thing, that's unbelievable. That took courage. But at the same time their dictatorship was clear. Their oppressor... they could point their finger at a face and say "you are the problem" and they also had a solution for it: western style democracy. Over here what are we doing? We are pointing our finger at a system? At corporations? At the market? We can't blame just Harper, we can't blame just Ford – it's the entire system. So how do we bring that all together? What we're asking for has never been done before. We're asking for what... real democracy? When have we ever seen real democracy before? So while we're fighting for it, we're also creating it which is making this... I don't know... this 'cycle'... of where we're going. We really don't know until we continue moving and fighting for it, right?

So would you say it's more complicated here?

Much more complicated. Again though... we have the right to freedoms – we'll we should have (laughs)... let me rephrase that (laughing) ... but we're not going to get killed in the streets – most likely. The military isn't going to come in here and start shooting live ammunition at us. They're not going to let some people who are paid by the government [ride in] on camels throwing swords and shit like that at us – it's just not going to happen. But what we are facing is a completely different kind of oppression... where if you go to jail, you're going to pretty much – unless you're going in with some kind of arts [degree] where they pretty much put you on a pedestal if you go to jail for a political act – but if you're an accountant and you go to jail you're fucked! And that's a different kind of risking your life... it's like your future and the way we see our future is based on capitalist needs.

Were you there when there were any major battles? Any major confrontations with the cops?

There was this one moment where the police, who had been pretty much away the entire time, they had pulled a cab driver over, arrested him, beat him on the street, took him to the police station, tortured and killed him. I was around the corner at a conference, videotaping people talking about the Arab Spring... pretty much people from Spain and England – just making contacts – and I heard about this. So what to I do? I instantly go around the corner and this entire thing was up in flames and there's tear gas being thrown, rocks being thrown ...

Like... a building?

Yeah... it was the police station, they just destroyed it! How unbelievable is that? When you can have no more fear whatsoever... to be like, "fuck it, let's destroy this police station." I still remember this one moment, I was kind of nervous... this is my first like real battle y'know? I'm walking up and there's this one guy who just looked at me in awe, confused as hell, he's just like "why are you scared? We just went through a revolution. You should not be scared anymore." So he helped me with my tripod and took me over to the (laughing) ... it was unbelievable! The power that the people had in them. And you could see it in their eyes.

So was this like a stone fight?

It was a stone fight for a while. Then the police were shooting tear gas and rubber bullets and arresting people. Luckily I was kind of a little further back – just because I had a camera and usually they look for the people with the cameras... and actually a lot of my friends that were there with cameras got arrested and beaten and shit like that, so I'm glad that didn't happen... because speaking English I would have been fucked. So it was pretty intense. Then the military came in and they used the same tactic as usual: they put through the traffic and tried to split the police... and it ended up working – which was good. What would happen was that the police [would be] on one side of the street, and the people on the other... and then they'd clash in the middle. So what [the military] did ... they'd block off all the roads and send through as much traffic into the middle so that they'd be separated.

Regular traffic?

Yeah, that's it. The protesters knew that if they blocked the traffic, they'd be pissing off the very people that they wanted on their side.

There was a lot of internationals there... from Europe and stuff like that. Were they more or less same as you, like journalists and indie journalists?

Journalists, activists – a lot of people went there to learn about the revolution and to kind of create what we have now – this international conversation about what people are doing in one country. How they're fighting there and then trying to really come together... rather than just like "oh, okay... they did the revolution, now it's time to do ours." So that was actually the main thing. There were a lot of film-makers and journalists and stuff like that. They were all pretty interesting.

Any political groups... like leftist groups or anything like that?

Yeah, the communist group was huge.

The Egyptian communist group?

Well I don't know if they're a group per se. What happened was... after the elections were coming through, they pretty much split up the entire left. So you'd have like the 'super' communists and the regular... like Marxists or whatever. It would really split up the factions. But in general, communists and socialists all over the world were coming over to show their solidarity, to exchange stories – stuff like that.

So when did you get back?

Mid-August.

And how did you get involved in Occupy?

When I got back I was depressed, because there was all this political activity happening... not only in Egypt, but in Europe – where I travelled as well. And then I come back and there's nothing happening, right? So I was keeping up with takethesquare.net – my friends from Spain had told me about it and they were keeping me up to date. And then I heard about 'September 17th' and I was really excited, because I knew that as soon as New York happened it would just spread... like it's the 'hub', you know? So 'September 17th' happened and I was actually looking for an 'Occupy'... because takethesquare had said that there was an 'Occupy Toronto' happening September 17th. What seemed like a facebook page had been dropped... whether it was by the person who created it, or by the government – I'm not 100% sure.

For Toronto?

Yeah, for Toronto. And then the second General Assembly was in Berczy Park... that was the first time I went there. I just felt at home – right there and then.

We had a lot of key union support. Did the other places have that?

Yes, Spain... and I believe Syntagma [Greece] also had a lot of union support. In Egypt the syndicats over there were 'corrupt' [laughs] for lack of a better word.

The existing unions?

Yeah. At that point. In universities they have like a student council and stuff; the student council presidents of most of the universities had kind of bought their way in and there was a false democratic process... and then from what I hear the syndicats had been kind of going awry. But the people have now kind of brought it all back... so rather than having official syndicat support, they kind of took it all in and stuff like that.

What did the unions do in Spain and Greece? Like... toilets were the big contribution here but they were not occupying space when you were there ...

I think they were mainly there for protesting... solidarity. I'd actually never seen so much monetary support from the unions until Toronto... which is surprising, really.

So when we actually started the camp, were you there the first day? What was that like in comparison?

Exciting. The problem is that I went through all these warm countries, right? (laughs). I knew the cold was going to come and I think that was pretty much the only thing in my head at that point. But just seeing the massive amount of people... y'know? Actually one of my friends – because I was in the front row during the GA, the big GA – apparently saw me on TV. They were just like "you looked like an idiot. You had your crossed legs... this big goofy smile on your face." I just loved it, right? Like this was the start of something – and to know that we were finally getting [involved] with the world revolt was so inspiring.

So what did you get involved with?

Marshaling mainly... just because school fucked me. I was directing a thesis project, so I was going back and forth... going crazy and shit. So marshaling was the big thing. I helped out with food... I tried to help out with media when I could. That was pretty much it.

What were the challenges you saw as a marshal?

Staying up... that was probably the hardest thing. As the semester went on and we were getting closer to production I had to stop everything. School was number one – especially because forty people kind of depend on me to get this done... so I wasn't there for the ridiculous 'crackhead' stories or anything like that. I was there for the 'glory days' of marshaling.

So back to the General Assemblies, how do you think they went compared to the start... that Berczy Park one? Did you see them changing or evolving... getting better?

See this is the thing. I think at the beginning everyone expected everything to just work – which isn't participatory democracy. It doesn't happen. Then I saw this slow and steady progression to the point where we weren't just talking about hand signals... we were actually getting shit done. We were getting voices out there and trying to really encourage people to stand up. And then all of a sudden we hit this blockade and this is – in my opinion – where it just started [to fall apart]. We were on the rise and then all of sudden people started to notice that the speakers were mainly males – and white males – rather than the females that were around... and stuff like that. I think that's what kind of stopped us. Rather than focusing on making things as equal as possible ... it's like ... 'affirmative action'. It just fucked people over. I hate to be so blunt about it, but it just doesn't work... like 'choosing' not to be racist is still being racist at heart. In my opinion the whole point of it was to encourage people to – maybe if they weren't speaking for a while... (pause) I have this idea and since no one's said it to this point, I'm gonna stand up and say it. Rather than being like "You! Do you have something to say?"... or secluding people from saying something based on the fact that we need to keep the numbers even... it kind of messes things up. And from there we kind of went around this whole "is this right?" "is this wrong?" kind of thing. Yet again, I didn't really get to see the whole progression of things... but every single time I was able to go to a GA there was something wrong. There wasn't the same spark... the same motion forward we had going until we hit that blockade. I don't know what happened to be honest.

So do you find like the progressive stack idea, which is like if a person of colour or a woman puts up their hand, they'd bump them up – especially ahead of people who have already spoken – did you find that helped?

If you have already spoken, for sure, having your voice heard so many times.... like A) no one wants to hear the same voice all the time... right? And B) if there is a huge lineup, but you haven't spoken in like a week and you've been there the entire time without putting your hand up... we want to hear your voice. We want to hear what's going on. I think that would probably be the best [practice].

So as opposed to identifying minorities, or people of colour who have not spoken... you think it would be better to just bump them up on the speaker's list?

Yeah. I think the whole point of this – the whole point of leading – is to encourage others to lead. We really need to kind of push that main motivation. I always saw the same people speaking and speaking, and speaking and they'd be on the list... and I'd just be like, "wait a second" [laughs].

I guess this ties in, the sort of class, and maybe gender and racial makeup at Occupy Toronto, did you find that it was like really lower class... middle class? Was it a spread as you saw it... or what was it?

It was the usual... the youth of the lower middle class, generally. People who felt the most, I guess 'hurt' by the system – which is generally the youth. We're always forgotten. Our future is in jeopardy: there are no jobs out there... there's nothing. Like... most people [who] have just graduated from university or college and have this huge, ridiculous debt with this interest rate just growing as soon as they graduate... they just had to be there. They had to be... there's no question about it. So it was the usual crowd... but within every major protest there was growth and eventually I saw older people occupying... which was unbelievable. I was so proud of that. It's how it starts, it's always how it starts.

Did you find that as marshals, we had to deal with people who are on the street... who might have been struggling with certain issues that then became issues for us? How much cohesion was there between the lower middle class kids and those people who were living on the street... but who were also living with us?

I think the idealism may have been ... I don't know if it was a good factor or not... you know? While people would come in who were in desperate situations I guess, either living on the streets or dealing with an addiction or what have you, they would kind of 'speak their mind' – I don't know what would be the best way of saying it. But you know, the marshals especially... they would have this, like, idealism... where “ok, everyone is equal, he has as much a need to speak his mind as I do... where can we find this common ground?” And while it did help... it also created this frustration inside of them that might have grown throughout the time [of the occupation] and may have created some serious inner conflict. I heard the cops were sending in... like... 'crackheads' [who] they'd find on the streets... and instead of arresting them they'd send them to us and stuff. It definitely created some internal problems – especially near the end. The marshals were just exhausted and had to deal with all this bullshit... like more aggression. And rather than holding it back and then saying "ok, what is the best way to deal with this?" — they would maybe let it happen for a second, then take a breather and go [back] into it. But it's a tough fucking job.

So do you see – this issue of cops sending people in off the street, knowing that they're gonna disrupt things – do you see any parallel there with the 'thugs' in Egypt? Is it the same tactic as far as you can tell?

Exact same tactics. They will always use the same tactics. They're not very creative (laughs)... not very creative at all. The thing is they always go for the desperate people and then they either give them something that they desperately need or, like, let them off for something they would desperately get fucked over [by]. So, like, the 'crackheads': you can go to jail, or you can go sleep in a park for a few weeks. Or like the 'thugs': you're poverty-stricken, you have no money for bread for your family of six... here's some money – do our bidding. So there was really no real difference. We're going to see the same tactics being used – like the kettling that happened... whether at the G20 or in New York... or it happens in Egypt, Spain, Greece... everywhere they use the same tactic. So it's almost up to us to kind of be like "ok, we're expecting this, what do we do against it?" We have to be that extra bit more intelligent and creative in how we go about fighting.

Were there any ideas in Egypt or elsewhere on how to deal with these tactics? Like in Egypt they had in Tahrir security lines... which we didn't have and maybe couldn't have in Toronto. I mean Tahrir was bigger... but at the same time, people here didn't want to do that sort of thing. There was like the free-wheeling sort of thing at Occupy Toronto... which maybe was idealistic. Do you think that could have been re-adjusted?

Well, it's tough to say. I think we did what we had to do in order of means. In the end they didn't kettle us... they didn't force us to do anything. Yes they sent in 'crackheads' or whatever... but we expected something like that. We dealt with them and whenever it got too violent or whenever we weren't able to handle the situation, we'd give it off to the cops. So we did what we could, given the situation. We had to open up our hearts to people less fortunate. We had to give food to the homeless... we had to allow them this peaceful area to live in because if the government won't do that, who else will? And we showed that we are more accepting, more tolerant, and it could be the way of the future, you know? We exemplified a system that we all wanted, within that small area at St. James, and within Liberty Plaza.

Was there the same emphasis on tolerance in Tahrir? Or was it tighter because of the situation?

It was pretty much open but the thing is there wasn't... in Tahrir, like I said, it was very fluid. There wasn't a conscious decision to accept everyone. It was just like... you're in this park, you're both bloody, beaten, and bruised, you've seen deaths, you've seen arrests, you've seen some bullshit, and then you're sharing this loaf of bread. And you know whether you are a Salafeen – which is a person who is a hardcore Islamist – or Muslim Brotherhood, or Atheist or Communist... man, woman, hijab'd, niqab'd.... whatever – you were all there for the same reason. So there was no need to enforce this idea of... I guess... equality – because it just happened. There was an oppressor and there were the people – you had to just choose your side and that was it. Here, again, we're trying to recreate Tahrir. I think that... while it's a good idea, we need to start off with this building block, this base. Using our combined effort and using fluidity and using all that we have to use, we can kind of grow from there. But like, trying to create a non-racist state, you're going to end up with racists. You know, saying "stop hating blacks" well what are you going to do? You can't just force it on people, you kind of have to show them the way I guess. That's what really the main differences are I think.

The experience that women had in St. James park... there was a serious problem with assault, harassment and generally with sexist comments. Egypt would have been a different culture... obviously Islam would have been a stronger force than religion or Christianity is here. Would you say there was a big turnaround in how society viewed women in Tahrir?

Huge. I'm going to tell you a story of the story I heard in Tahrir actually, and this is – since you know the background – Islam... it's just very harsh against women; there's almost like no respect... but there is a certain type of respect, so it's like this catch-22 I guess. But basically there was this Muslim Brotherhood member who was on the front lines and he'd gotten fucked up – you know... bleeding, hungry... he needed water--like done, right? And this unveiled, Communist, Atheist [woman] went over to him... tended to his wounds, gave him water, and gave him food, and he said "I never thought I'd ever see the day. Years ago – or even like months ago – it would have never been like this. I wouldn't have expected anyone to come to my rescue... because I've always put you down.” And you know, there were women on the front lines. And there were women who were... in Tahrir there'd be – like, during the camel strike – there'd be a battle going on over here on one side... and then there'd be women checking out which other places needed [reinforcements]. And then they'd yell all in unison to get the people after that battle to come over here... so they were like the eyes. The nurses... the doctors, they were up on the front lines... they were chanting just as strongly as the men. For those eighteen days there was no man or woman. There was no divide... it was pure.

It's a tougher contrast here in Toronto because it's a relatively progressive city. What did you see as far as gender in Toronto?

When I was here I didn't see much difference. There was obviously a lot more men than women, but at the same time those women... like, I had to respect them even more, right? Like how many women nowadays would go out and live in a fucking camp, right? Pretty epic. So, like there was almost that sign of... or line of respect. I think that without being in a devastated circumstance, or without having either economic problems – like the U.S. is huge for that... they have serious problems [now] but it will [eventually] hit Canada. I think once that economic depression comes, we are going to see a lot more unification of everything... and a lot more people not giving a fuck. You know, like some racist bigot will hug a black man or some black guy who's always hated white guys is gonna hug a white guy, it's just going to happen and it's just because we need to have that enemy... the common enemy, you know?

You were away unfortunately because of school, were you able to get back for the eviction?

I was there the night before the eviction and there were like twenty people there because of the freezing rain. I assumed right after midnight... that's it, it's done. So I'm like "screw that". I had some prevailing charges from G20 that were like... still going through a little bit. They're done now, thankfully.

What did you get?

They had mischief on me of $70,000... because they tried to put the burning cop car on me.

So those are all dropped?

Yes, yes, so they're all good now. But... I didn't want to get arrested there and I knew that we're going to have a fucking hell of a year in 2012. So like I wasn't going to burn myself at that point... left it that night, and then had class the next morning. During class I'd periodically be on livestream, checking it out.

Where can we take lessons from? From Spain... or from Tahrir with what they're doing now?

I think at this point we can't take any more lessons. Each country has kind of made their own way. They started off with the occupation, then went on... and I think that's what we need to see with the evolution of Occupy Toronto, or Occupy Canada. It was necessary, absolutely necessary. Like... I never would have met you beforehand, and a lot of people wouldn't have met each other. They were all either in different groups, or fighting different battles... but once we got there we realized that the system is the problem. Or people might have known that beforehand, but finally got to meet people who feel the same way. So... not only did that happen in Toronto, but it happened all over the world, and we're now connected with all these people. So we have just created a united front against a failing system – some people would say [a system that is] destined to fail. But since the eviction occurred I think we really need to figure out what Canada's movement will be. Now... in my opinion, I'm watching the European crisis very closely, because I know as soon as that first domino falls, that's it – we're waiting six months until depression. So once we see that happening, I think we really need to ensure that we're organized enough to focus the anger of the people... rather than rioting in the streets like we saw in the 30's with the Great Depression – to focus it in a productive way. I think that's what happened in London. Those riots, although very socially and politically inclined... there was no focusing of that energy. And if they had been able to focus it, there would have been a full-blown revolution. I fully believe it. The cops couldn't stop it for what... like three days? That's unheard of. So I think the main thing is to ensure that our organization is out there, that people know about us... that we're still working. We're still going, but I think occupying again might be going backwards. We need to really push it further – and I think it can only happen fluidly.

So do you see space as really important? Like having a congregating space to have our assemblies and have these sort of things where people do their own thing? Because the problem is... we don't have a big foreclosure crisis like in the US, where there's all these buildings... but we do have some and so we're looking at squats. Do you see us squatting buildings?

It could work but how long can you squat there for? If you're going to go for an area, it needs to symbolically represent everything, like 'Tahrir' – 'liberation'... that's pretty huge. I think squatting would be a good idea... but if it was a person getting evicted – and you squatted their house. I think that would be like "we're with the people getting fucked." But at the same time, with the Internet nowadays you can pretty much plan meetings everywhere. It's a really tough question and it's a really tough decision that I guess we all have to make together... or someone could just randomly do something and have this great idea and then all of a sudden thousands of people show up. While space is important in order to be seen... in my opinion, probably the best thing to do is work on ourselves right now. I've been saying this for a few weeks: I want to start talking about the next system – because it's one thing to say capitalism is flawed. It's another thing to say capitalism is flawed – here's a better system... and here's a transition between the two. If we can do that, it doesn't matter what anyone believes, because once that depression hits, they're going to be like... "hey wait a second, these people have a fucking answer." And not only that but you know how the Soviet Union fell... they tried to go to capitalism right away – it was destruction. You can't do that, you have to transition. If we have both of those we're gravy. The only way to do that is to continue on working together... like it's this cycle.

What advice to you have for Occupy?

If we could somehow facilitate breakout groups to speak about the next conversation... to philosophize about these certain things in different neighbourhoods – whether it's Dufferin neighbourhood, or St. Clair West, or Mississauga or Oakville, or wherever – we can have these small groups, but we're actually communicating with each other through the Internet and thus making this huge group. I think the means have to justify the ends. We need to make sure that the people make this system... otherwise it's not the people's system. So we have to somehow facilitate this. We have a very huge battle: we're not only battling the banks, the government, the multi-national corporations, and the international pressure from different countries, but we're also fighting the lethargic nature of our own humanity. We're also fighting this thought of "what else is next? Communism fucked up, capitalism fucked up, what can we do?" So we're fighting on so many different fronts and we need to keep it all pushing out pretty fucking evenly. It's going to be a tough few years.

Is there anything we can do here in Occupy Toronto to help Tahrir and that revolution?

Show solidarity. I think everyone's been in that situation where you've been working so hard or fighting for so long that you just get exhausted and all you really need is that person to go pat you on the back like, "you're doing good, we believe in you." ... I feel like even if I wasn't Egyptian... the revolution is ours. If they don't succeed, we won't succeed. Like what's the quote? 'I'm not free unless everyone is free' – same thing.