Egyptian family following turmoil from Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - Miriam Amer and her son Wissam sat in their Cedar Rapids living room last night and watched footage of Egyptian protests on an Al-Jazeera webcast.

Nearby at the dining room table, Miriam's husband Ayman scrolled through Facebook pages of his friends and family in Egypt.

Even though Egyptian authorities have done their best to block dissident's lines of communication following widespread protests this week, the Amer family said its contacts abroad are finding ways to broadcast what's going on.

“Young people have their ways of doing things,” Miriam said. “And I can tell you for sure they are utilizing every resource available to them.”

Opposition to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak intensified this week. Protests throughout the country have largely been organized via social media, leading the Egyptian government to shut down Internet access and mobile phone service.

“A complete shutdown of the Internet and mobile phones is unprecedented, but such a move is not surprising given how the Mubarak regime has reacted to and dealt with political opposition, particularly in times of crisis,” said Mohamad Elmasry, an instructor at Qatar University who studied Egyptian media while pursuing his doctorate at the University of Iowa. “Historically, the Mubarak regime has used the Emergency Law, press laws, the Constitution, and gag orders, among other things, to punish journalists and press outlets and stifle oppositional discourses.”

The protests haven't come as a surprise to the members of the Amer family, who are sympathetic to the protesters. Ayman grew up in Egypt before coming to the United States in 1985. He took a job teaching at Mount Mercy University in 2000. Miriam grew up in the United States, but has always maintained connections with her Lebanese-Egyptian heritage.

They make trips to Egypt to visit family and they keep up with news reports from the region, largely relying on Facebook and Twitter to find out what's going on in real time.

“I learn about things long before it appears in the media,” Miriam said. “By the time it comes out, that's old.”

Miriam and Ayman said there has long been discontent during Mubarak's 30-year reign and this week's protests have been brewing for years. Even though Wissam, a 20-year-old University of Iowa sophomore, is a generation apart from his parents, his take on the turmoil doesn't stray too far.

“The older people have passion, but they don't act on it,” Wissam said. “Youth just have a lot of energy and they want to be heard, which results in violent protests.”

The U.S. response to the Egyptian protests has been tame so far. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have urged the Mubarak regime to stir reform, but no top authorities have sided with the protesters in calling for the president - who Miriam calls “an arrogant dictator'' - to resign.

“I've been disappointed by their wording,” said Miriam, adding she's generally a fan of Obama. “Human rights comes first and foremost and I want the president to say that ... I'd like for them to stand a little stronger.”

The unrest in Africa has received some mainstream media attention recently and the Amer family says Americans have reason to tune into what's going on. And just like the protesters in Egypt, the Amers will take to the Web to help voice the message.

“I think the best I can do is inform the public,” Ayman said, pointing to recent Facebook posts on his laptop, “so that the general public knows the reality of this dictatorship and where they should stand because it is critical to the U.S. interest.”