On Thursday, February 2, the John F. Kennedy Jr. School of Government at Harvard University hosted the forum “Egypt: From Tahrir Square to Today,” which discussed Egypt’s progress from the beginning of the January 25 revolution until today. The Forum was co-sponsored by the Open Hands Initiative, as well as HKS Middle East Initiative, and the Shorenstein Center on the Press.
From Left: Mona ElTahawy, Tarek Masoud, and Charlie Sennott.
“Egypt: From Tahrir to Today,” featured Ms. Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Newsweek and the Daily Beast, as the moderator. Brown posed questions to three panelists, all of whom have been writing about and/or speaking on Egypt’s path to democracy over the last year.
Mona Eltahawy, the first panelist, is a columnist for the Toronto Star, The Jerusalem Report, and Politiken. She is an authority on the Middle East and the role of women in Egypt today. The second panelist, Tarek Masoud, is the assistant professor of Public Policy at Harvard and a Middle East specialist. Finally, the third panelist, Charles Sennott is the Vice President, Executive Editor, and co-founder of the international news website Global Post.
Charles Sennott spoke about his experience watching the collaboration between the young American and Egyptian journalists that were a part of the Open Hands Initiative Reporting Fellowship. These fellows reported together on the revolution from Cairo, producing work that has been showcased in a 25-part Special Report on GlobalPost. Their work, viewed by more than 2 million visitors from across the globe, has kept readers informed about this ongoing and dramatic revolution.
The forum also covered various aspects of the Arab Spring, specifically Egypt’s revolution, including the Port Said riots, the role of social media in the revolution, the elections, and the optimism that all three panelists expressed about Egypt’s future. To quote Mona Eltahawy, who was very passionate in this panel discussion, the elections “were a mess, but they were our (the Egyptian people) mess and the next time around they will be a better mess.”
Thanks again to the Institute of Politics JFK Jr. Forum for hosting this incredible panel of journalists, professors, and editors for such an interesting discussion on Egypt’s path to democracy. If you would like to watch the forum, please go to: http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Multimedia-Center/All-Videos/Egypt-From-Tahrir-Square-to-Today/(format)/real
