Wael Ghonim blogs about 'mistakes' of revolutionary times

Wael Ghonim blogs about 'mistakes' of revolutionary times
One of the leading activists behind Egypt's 2011 revolution says he will resume writing to document mistakes made and lessons learnt from the momentous events four years ago.
2 min read
07 October, 2015
Ghonim's activism led to an 11-day spell in police custody during the revolution [Getty]
Internet activist Wael Ghonim announced on Tuesday he will make a return to online political blogging after a ten month hiatus.

Ghonim first rose to prominence during demonstrations, which led to the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011, he was the founder of a popular Facebook group, which criticised Egyptian police brutality.

"To those who are interested, I will soon begin writing again on my personal page. I will write future messages for my children Israa and Adam," the computer engineer wrote.

    

I will recount all the events I have seen, the mistakes that have been made and the lessons that have been learned

- Wael Ghonim

"They will be detailed narratives of everything I have witnessed over the past five years. I will recount all the events I have seen, the mistakes that have been made and the lessons that have been learned," Ghonim said.

The symbol revolution has recently been posting on a separate Facebook page, mainly promoting his new intellectual discussion social network Parlio.

Since the 2011 revolution, Ghonim also set up the website Tahrir Academy, which offers high quality educational videos in Arabic for students.

The 34-year-old announced in January he would stop posting on his original Facebook page and was staying away from the Egypt because "it no longer welcomes those who are like me".

He had recently been targeted alongside other activists by a pro-government television stations. In a bid to discredit him and the 2011 revolution.

During the uprising Ghonim used his considerable following to promote the protests on the "We are all Khalid Saeed" Facebook page, which was named after a young man died under police custody in Alexandria in 2010.

Ghonim shut down the iconic page after the military overthrew Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, in July 2013 and launched a harsh crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

His activism led to an 11-day spell in police custody during the uprising, and despite his protestations, Ghonim subsequently became a poster boy for the revolution, both in and outside Egypt. Among many other plaudits he was one of Time magazine's 100 people of the year.