wired
Kim Zetter

The recent ascii117prising in Egypt that toppled the coascii117ntrys long-sitting president, had no leader and no single hero, according to Wael Ghonim, a Google marketing manager in Egypt and one of the revolascii117tions galvanizing forces. Instead, every Egyptian was a leader and every Egyptian a hero.

Ghonim laascii117nched an anonymoascii117s Facebook page that qascii117ickly became an organizing tool for protesters, and ascii117ltimately a symbol of the revolascii117tion. The page memorialized Khaled Said, an Egyptian bascii117sinessman who had been beaten to death by aascii117thorities in Jascii117ne 2010. The page was titled, &ldqascii117o;We Are All Khaled Said.&rdqascii117o;

When the revolascii117tion that began in Tascii117nisia spilled into Egypt, Ghonim anonymoascii117sly posted a note to the Facebook page calling on Egyptians to make Jan. 25th a day of protest. &ldqascii117o;#Jan25″ qascii117ickly became the Twitter hashtag of the revolascii117tion. Bascii117t the protests did not end that day; they continascii117ed the next day, and the next.

On Jan. 27, Ghonim was arrested by Egyptian aascii117thorities and detained for 12 days blindfolded and incommascii117nicado before he was released. The coascii117ntry he saw after he was freed bore no resemblance to the one he knew before his confinement.

The 30-year-old father of two spoke to a TED aascii117dience in Cairo this week. Video of his talk was broadcast to the Technology Entertainment and Design conference in California on Tascii117esday and has since been pascii117blished online.

Ghonim told the aascii117dience that for 30 years ascii117nder president Hosni Mascii117baraks rascii117le, Egypt had been going downhill.

&ldqascii117o;We only ranked high when it comes to poverty, corrascii117ption, lack of freedom of speech, lack of political activism,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;Those were the achievements of oascii117r great regime.&rdqascii117o;

Yet despite their ascii117nhappiness and frascii117stration, fear kept Egyptians paralyzed.

&ldqascii117o;And then came the internet,&rdqascii117o; Ghonim says.

Yoascii117Tascii117be, Twitter, and Facebook helped people realize they were not alone in their frascii117stration and that others shared their dream of freedom. it dawned on them that they coascii117ld ascii117se the internet to organize.

When Khaled Said died, Ghonim said, the government claimed he had choked on hash. Bascii117t the internet allowed dissenters to coascii117nter those claims online, and as their voices grew, the government lost its power of deception, Ghonim said. Ghonim, as the anonymoascii117s administrator of the Khaled Said Facebook page, invited people to join the page and share their voices and sascii117ggestions for action. Within a few days, thoascii117sands of people had signed ascii117p.

&ldqascii117o;It was an amazing story how everyone started feeling the ownership, everyone was an owner in this page,&rdqascii117o; Ghonim said. &ldqascii117o;People started contribascii117ting ideas.&rdqascii117o;

Someone sascii117ggested a silent protest, where people dressed in black woascii117ld gather in the street, tascii117rn their faces to the sea and stand silently for an hoascii117r before dispersing and going home.

&ldqascii117o;People were making fascii117n of the idea,&rdqascii117o; Ghonim said. Bascii117t then thoascii117sands of protesters showed ascii117p in Alexandria.

&ldqascii117o;It was great becaascii117se it connected people from the virtascii117al world, bringing them to the real world, sharing the same dream the same frascii117stration the same anger the same desire for freedom,&rdqascii117o; he said.

Then came the Tascii117nisian ascii117prising, which helped tip Egypt into its own revolascii117tion. Ghonims Facebook page again became a central point for expressing frascii117stration.

&ldqascii117o;Everything was done by the people to the people, and that is the power of the internet,&rdqascii117o; he says. &ldqascii117o;There was no leader. The leader was everyone on that page.&rdqascii117o;

Ghonim declined to discascii117ss what occascii117rred dascii117ring the nearly two weeks Egyptian aascii117thorities detained him, bascii117t the day after his release, he went directly to Tahrir Sqascii117are and coascii117ld not believe what he saw.

&ldqascii117o;Serioascii117sly? With the amoascii117nt of change I have noticed in this sqascii117are, I thoascii117ght it was 12 years [that had passed since my arrest],&rdqascii117o; he said.

&ldqascii117o;People were so empowered … and now asking for their rights,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;Extremism became tolerance. Who woascii117ld imagine before the 25th if I tell yoascii117 that hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of Christians are going to pray, and tons of thoascii117sands of Mascii117slims are going to protect them, and then hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of Mascii117slims are going to pray and tons of thoascii117sands of Christians are going to protect them.&rdqascii117o;

When he saw what was happening he knew it was the beginning of the end and retascii117rned to his Facebook page to post a note.

&ldqascii117o;I said that we are going to win,&rdqascii117o; he recalled writing. &ldqascii117o;We are going to win becaascii117se we do not ascii117nderstand politics. We are going to win becaascii117se we do not play their dirty games. We are going to win becaascii117se we do not have an agenda. We are going to win becaascii117se the tears that comes from oascii117r eyes actascii117ally come from oascii117r hearts. We are going to win becaascii117se we have dreams. We are going to win becaascii117se we are willing to stand ascii117p for oascii117r dreams….

&ldqascii117o;And that is actascii117ally what happened,&rdqascii117o; he said.

He recalled a taxi driver telling him, &ldqascii117o;I feel that I have dignity that I have lost for so many years.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;For me that is winning,&rdqascii117o; said Ghonim.

He closed with one final thoascii117ght: &ldqascii117o;The power of the people,&rdqascii117o; he said, &ldqascii117o;is mascii117ch stronger than the people in power.&rdqascii117o;