Egyptian resistance surpasses Hugo

Excepting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

“When dictatorship is a fact

Revolution becomes a right.”

Victor-Marie Hugo

Friday February 11th was a momentous day for the people of Egypt. 


Friday was “the day when the 30-year reign of U.S.-backed President Hosni Mubarak [Muḥammad Hosnī Said Mubārak (Husni), b. May 4, 1928, in the Nile Valley, a militarist and dictator, Egypt’s president since October 1981] stepped down after a weeks-long popular uprising,” Uprising Radio announced with breaking news from Al Jazeera altering the start of yesterday’s broadcast.

“His resignation was announced by his Vice President [U.S.-backed intelligence officer, torturer] Omar Suleiman after a confusing day of events on Thursday when instead of resigning Mubarak gave a 17 minute long speech reasserting his rule.

“Friday’s announcement of Mubarak’s resignation by Suleiman was only 45 seconds long.

“Power has been effectively handed over to the Egyptian military. The streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities have been flooded with jubilant protesters, elated at their success.…

The Victor Hugo quote was Sonali Kolhatkar’s “Subversive Thought for the Day” — 

“‘When dictatorship is a fact, 
revolution becomes a right.’”

With the Revolution of 1848, Victor Hugo gained election in the Constituent Assembly, later in the Legislative Assembly as deputy for Paris. He supported the successful candidacy of Prince Louis-Napoléon for the presidency that year.

As the president moved toward an authoritarianism of the right, Hugo moved toward the assembly’s left. The December 1851 coup d'état took place, resulting in the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Hugo attempted to resist then fled to Brussels.

His exile later became a voluntary gesture and, after the 1859 amnesty, an act of pride. Hugo remained in Brussels for a year. Then, foreseeing expulsion from there, he took refuge on the island of Jersey (1852 to 1855) in the English Channel. Expelled from there, Hugo moved to the neighboring island of Guernsey. His exile lasted until the return of liberty and the reconstitution of the republic in 1870. In nearly 20 years’ exile, Hugo “produced the most extensive part of all his writings and the most original.”

Victor-Marie Hugo (b. Besançon, France, February 26, 1802- d. Paris, May 22, 1885) was France’s most important Romantic writer, a poet, novelist and dramatist. He is best known outside France for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

Sources and notes

Victor Hugo. BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/victorhugo117987.html

Britannica biographical note

Hugo, Victor.  (2011). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica

This week on Uprising: “A momentous day in Egypt as the revolution wins and President Mubarak steps down,” February 11, 2011, http://uprisingradio.org/home/

“The news of Mubarak’s resignation came minutes into Uprising’s daily program on Friday February 11th just as [the program was] about to discuss the events of the previous day.”

Uprising is a digest of independent news analysis, investigation, education, artistic expression, activism in the public interest. Sonali Kolhatkar hosts the program.

 “Who is Omar Suleiman? Professor Lisa Hajjar on His Connections to the United States and Torture,” January 24, 2011,

http://vodpod.com/watch/5554796-who-is-omar-suleiman-professor-lisa-hajjar-on-his-connections-to-the-united-states-and-torture

February 11, 2011 Democracy Now, “Who is Omar Suleiman? Professor Lisa Hajjar on His Connections to ...Jan 25, 2011 ... DemocracyNow.org -Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resigned, leaving many speculating the role of Vice President Omar Suleiman, vodpod.com/.../5554796-who-is-omar-suleiman-professor-lisa-hajjar-on-his-connections-to-the-united-states-and-torture

“Omar Suleiman, the CIA’s Man in Cairo and Egypt’s Torturer-in-Chief,” February 11, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/11/omar_suleiman_the_cias_man_in

Lisa Hajjar is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and co-editor of the online journal Jadaliyya

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