Two days ago, stories filled the pages of every newspaper in the country of the riots in Egypt; We saw scenes of vehement civilians running through the streets showing their defiance against their political leader. One man steadfastly held his position in front of a huge tank which looked as though it would have had no problem swiftly crushing him. Another climbed up and tore into a colossal canvas poster of the Eqyptian Prime Minister Hosni Mubarak and plumetted to the ground in a positively cringe-worthy fall.
Most Westerners have been conditioned into believing that when Muslim communities come out in their droves to protest about something it is usually to oppose American or British interference. We picture hysterical radicals chanting in Arabic and shrieking and hollering wildly, cars being set on fire and naive young children following their parents into the dangerous crowd. It may be stereotypical but this is all we have seen from the news coverage of Muslim countries. We fear Eastern nations as we know them to have different values and very different rules about what is right and wrong.
Yet, I could not help but feel wholly proud after seeing this coverage, and also astounded at my own level of ignorance and small-mindedness. Here were well educated, well informed individuals speaking rationally about their struggle for democracy and why they were revolting against Mubarak's three decade regime. No shrieking or hysterical behaviour whatsoever; just young and old alike coming together for democracy - something we Westerners hold so dearly in our own countries.
Furthermore, women and men were involved. It's so easy to think that Muslim cultures treat women as second class citizens because they are 'forced' to wear burkhas and seemingly not encouraged into education. However these women i saw were speaking with the utmost intelligence and the burkhas only served to show that they themselves were preserving their decorum and dignity so as not to be objectified as mere female bodies (which is unlike most of us British women can say for ourselves).
I was impressed with a wise and richly cultured people and i felt truly ashamed that i, like many others, had held unjustified preconceptions about predominantly Muslim cultures. I think what is needed more than anything in these uncertain times between the east and west is education. Education about how others live their lives, about the people behind the dictators and about the similarities we share. Otherwise, i fear it could be too late for us to reconcile our behaviour - and i feel strongly that half of the world is too many people to alienate ourselves from.
