Memoires of Jan25: On the day of rage, Mardinix wrote..

On the night of January 27th the internet was cut off from Cairo and several other governorates. On January 28th at around 10:00 a.m. all mobile phones were cutoff. 

Mardinix is one of my best friends who has always been politically active. He attended protests when only a few dozens were participating. He moved to Europe last year and when the
revolution started I knew he would have done anything to be here. Nevertheless, his contributions to this revolution are far more than anyone can imagine, maybe one day he will tell the world about them. 

On January 28th at 9:00 a.m. I called him because I couldn't imagine walking the protests without talking to Mardinix. He didn't answer so I left him a voice message. An hour later the phones were cut off. On the night of the 28th, he wrote an email to his closest friends not knowing when or if it will ever reach us. Here it goes:

On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 1:58 AM, Mardinix wrote:

My dear friends and countrymen,

I don't know whether you'll read this tomorrow or after or in a week. I just wanted to say أبوس  الأرض تحت نعالكم. 

You have no idea how, despite the complete blackout you're under, you dominated the internet. The whole world, including mainstream websites and media, is talking about the bravery of Egyptian citizens. The whole world is talking about the lack of "Islamists" in the demonstrations. How it started by educated middle and upper-middle class. How it was peaceful until the police responded with disproportionate force. 

BBC and CNN explicitly stated: "It is obvious that the Islamists were no where to be found in those protests. It was educated and uneducated. Rich and poor. All demanding one thing: The end of a corrupt dictatorship. The choice we were made to believe that we have one of two options: Authoritarian or Islamist. But what we saw today was something different". 

Mubarak's speech stunned everyone as it showed how out of touch he is with reality. What will unravel in the next few days or weeks is still to be seen but I think that no matter what the outcome is, this has been a historic moment for Egypt and the foundations have been shaken. I hope you and all your loved ones are safe. I hope the best for Egypt because we don't deserve to be treated like rats. Pulling the plug on a country of 80 million people was something unprecedented and it showed the level of panic this regime is in.

Shafei: By the time I got your voicemail this morning, the country was off the grid. I am sorry.

May justice prevail. 

Now, who would accept to be a minister in a new cabinet under Mubarak is what I'm waiting to see.

Love you.

Mardinix