When pundits fail: “We are all khalid said” and the challenge of democratizing Egypt

Abstract

The Facebook page named “We Are All Khalid Said” (WaaKS) was an important driver of the Egyptian uprising that in 2011 toppled Hosni Mubarak, the nation’s president of 30 years. When the revolution happened, US media elevated the founder of this page to the status of Egyptian national hero. At the same time, they ascribed to the revolution that the page had helped spawn the desire to for freedom and democracy. This chapter analyzes just how the page worked and managed to politicize previously apathetic youth, drawing on a memoir written by its administrator, as well as a detailed reading of the Facebook page itself. It then explains in what ways the ascriptions that American pundits imposed on the uprising were deeply flawed, making revolutionary success appear much likelier than it actually was.