Egyptians in NYC hail 'organic' revolution

At the corner of East 44th Street and Second Avenue, behind the United Nations and a block away from the Egyptian Mission, six Egyptians met by chance, each holding a flag of their country and joining together in the singing of their national anthem.

Nevine Guirgis, 56, of Cairo, called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation "pure joy." She has been in New York since Jan. 22, working as an economic consultant at the United Nations, she said.

"I wish I was in Cairo now," she said.

Guirgis was at first worried about her family back in Egypt, but at the same time she was proud that the demonstrations were mostly peaceful. She said that she believed the world did not see Egypt as a country under the thumb of a military leader.

"The world did not see Egypt as a repressed country," she said. "But now, people have looked deeper to see that we had no voice, and we did not prosper."

For the last 30 years under Mubarak, she said, there has been a growing difference between the rich and poor in Egypt.

Guirgis said she will fly back to Cairo Friday night and expects to find that people have "lost their fear and can now speak freely."

Ehab Azmy, 48, who lives in New Jersey and works at the UN as a consultant for Arab economic interests, said he heard of Mubarak's resignation as he listened to a radio broadcast, around 11:30 a.m.

"I was jumping up and down, shouting at work, 'Freedom!' in Egyptian," he said.

He said his American friends kept congratulating him. "They were extremely happy for me," he said.

"I never thought that this would happen in my life," he said. "We have lived in oppression for 45 years. We never had this before, and I am confident that it will not be taken away from us."

Azmy called the revolution "organic," meaning it came from people in all walks of life, he said.

"The people who created this revolution understand democracy and the freedom of choice and speech," Azmy said.