Evacuated from Egypt

Thanks everyone for your warm wishes, concern and care through these past days, some of which were a little bit intimidating to say the least, and all of which were shocking and heartbreaking. We have taken a lot of pictures and documented a lot of things (of course from a safe distance, mom). We have just arrived in Poland and are speaking to Polish Media now and spreading the news about widespread human rights abuses, state sponsored violence and terror from the Mubarak regime.

Please understand that the media portrayal of "factionalized" violence from pro and anti Mubarak supporters is mostly a myth. There are indeed people who want Mubarak in power, including those in my neighbourhood, my taxi drive this morning, etc who are quickly losing income on a daily basis, are scared for their families, and want the stability of his dictatorship in preference to the chaos now. Unfortunately the chaos and instability originates from this "stability." The "pro Mubarak" people downtown are all sorts of people paid by the regime to instigate trouble; some of them have been caught with police id's and others admitted they were paid. The past few days, including the "jailbreak" aka release of criminals from jails, the camels, horses, and pro Mubarak thugs and criminals throwing molotov cocktails, shooting guns, and hitting people with sticks and stones are all intimidation tactics used by the regime so that people can revert to the "safety and stability" of the Mubarak regime. In contrast the pro-change and pro-democracy supporters have been peaceful, except when they need to protect themselves, and have been utterly non-violent and respectful of all involved. I have seen them teargassed, shot at with real and rubber bullets, beaten with sticks, chased by riot police, run from glass bottles and stones thrown by police, stand up to police violence, and above all, persevere in pursuit of a better, open, just, fair, and free government that will support and protect their rights, dignity and humanity.

We've seen and heard many horrible things and the amount of bloodshed going on in Egypt right now is disgusting and distressing; especially since most of it goes unreported. Reporters are now under assault as are foreigners, who are being blamed by the regime for inciting violence and "infiltrating" society. Locals are scared for their families. In the peaceful protests I felt no threats except from the police, yesterday morning when I went to buy food and passed a pro-Mubarak protest around the corner the protesters were nasty, harassing women, and you could see the violence in their eyes. Make no mistake: this violence is instigated, supported, and funded by Mubarak. People are dying and seriously injured on the streets, refused medical care and routinely arrested from hospitals. The situation is bloody, dire and is only worsening. So, I implore you all to please contact media, local congress people and friends in your country to inform them more about the situation and to press for positive change. Foreigners are being evacuated from Egypt, the ban on internet and mobile phones stopped the flow of information, Western media coverage is still limited to Tahrir Square, but atrocities and violence are certainly not and will only increase if coverage is limited.

Lastly, refugees in Egypt, an already threatened group, due to their inferior legal status, inability to work, and discrimination, are suffering immensely due to this situation. They often have no local support networks and now, the regime is destroying crucial infrastructure, like the Al-Nadeem Psychosocial center, which offers counseling services to torture victims, and human rights lawyers are being detained and their centers shut down. These offices and centers are essential to the refugee community here. Soon, I will start a fundraising effort and hope that you all can contribute to a very worthy cause for people who have been stripped of any other options and hope.

In love and solidarity,
PTO