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Revolution
People, we became 300 in two minutes. We want to be 100,000. Wael
We must unite against our oppressor.
Ghonim
64 Likes 44 Comments

Revolution 2.0
In Egypt during the summer of 2010, a Facebook page managed by

2.0
Wael Ghonim became the unlikely gathering place for a nascent THE REVOLUTIONS that swept the Middle East in
protest movement. Just six months later, speaking with the voices 2011 surprised and captivated the world. Brutal
of its more than 350,000 members, that Facebook page would regimes that had been in power for decades were
broadcast the first call for a January 25 uprising — a revolution overturned by an irrepressible mass of freedom
against injustice, unemployment, corruption, and torture. seekers. Now, one of the figures who emerged
during the Egyptian uprising tells the riveting
inside story of what happened and shares the
Today is the 14th . . . January 25 is Police Day and itʼs a national
keys to unleashing the power of crowds.
holiday . . . If 100,000 take to the streets, no one can stop us . . .
Wael Ghonim was a little-known, thirty-year-
I wonder if we can??
old Google executive in the summer of 2010
when he anonymously launched a Facebook
3,022 Likes 1,748 Comments 176,013 Views
page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at
WAEL GHONIM was born in Cairo and grew t he p o w e r of t he p e op l e
the hands of security forces. The page’s follow-
up in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, earning a degree Revolution 2.0 tells the story of Ghonim’s journey from passive op- ing expanded quickly and moved from online
in computer engineering from Cairo Univer- position to the revolutionary vanguard. From his keyboard to his protests to a nonconfrontational movement.
jail cell, from his solitary Facebook posting to the emotional tele-
i s g r e at e r t h a n The youth of Egypt made history: they used
sity in 2004 and an MBA from the American
University in Cairo in 2007. He joined Google vision interview that would touch millions of Egyptians, Ghonim’s social media to schedule a revolution. The call
t he p e op l e in p o w e r
in 2008, rising to become head of marketing story is an essential document and a call to arms. went out to more than a million Egyptians
for Google Middle East and North Africa. He is online, and on January 25, 2011, Cairo’s Tahrir
currently on sabbatical from Google to launch
the poWeR
a memoir Square resounded with calls for change. Yet just
a nongovernmental organization supporting as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was
Forget the past • LIVe IN the MoMeNt of t he
captured and held for twelve days of brutal inter-
education and technology in Egypt.
people
Let the crowd Make Its owN decIsIoNs is GReateR
rogation. After he was released, he gave a tearful
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

speech on national television, and the protests

t h a n the
grew more intense. Four days later, the president

WELCOME TO REVOLUTION 2.0 people

in power
of Egypt was gone.

Wael Ghonim
The lessons Ghonim draws will inspire each
of us. He saw the road to Tahrir Square built not
Jacket design by Brian Moore
Jacket photograph © Khalil Hamra / AP
$26.00 Higher in Canada
a memoiR by any one person, but by the people. In Revolu-
Author portrait by Sam Christmas
ISBN 978-0-547-77398-8 tion 2.0, we can all be heroes.

hoUghtoN MIFFLIN harcoUrt

www.hmhbooks.com 1490839
0112

Ghonim_REVOLUTION_jkt_mech_F.indd 1 11/7/11 10:26 AM

4-color / GLOSS LAMINATE with EMBOSSING and MATTE ETCH

 Revolution
2.0
T H E P OW E R O F T H E P EO P L E

I S G R E AT E R T H A N

T H E P EO P L E I N P OW E R

A MEMOIR

WAE L
G HON IM

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

2 0 1 2   •   B O S T O N   •   N E W YO R K

Ghonim_REVOLUTION_F.indd iii 11/17/11 3:07 PM

 Copyright © 2012 by Wael Ghonim

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,

write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ghonim, Wael, date.
Revolution 2.0: the power of the people is greater than the people
in power : a memoir / Wael Ghonim.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-547-77398-8
1. Ghonim, Wael, date. 2. Political activists — Egypt.
3. Internet — Political aspects — Egypt. 4. Egypt — History — 1981–
I. Title. II. Title: Memoir and call to action.
DT107.828.G445A3 2012
962.05'5092 — dc23
[B] 2011042557

Book design by Brian Moore

Endpaper photograph © Khaled Desouki / Getty Images

Printed in the United States of America

doc 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Ghonim_REVOLUTION_F.indd iv 11/17/11 3:07 PM

 Contents

Prologue xi

1. A R e gi m e of Fe a r 1

2. Se a rchi ng for a Sav ior 28

3. “K u l l e na K h a l ed Sa i d” 58

4. On l i n e a n d on t h e St r e ets 82

5. A Pr e a n nou nce d R evolu t ion 122

6. Ja n ua ry 25, 2 01 1 161

7. M y Na m e Is 4 1 188

8. T h e Du nge on 218

9. A Ph a r aoh Fa l l s 249

Epilogue 292

Acknowledgments 295

Index 297

Ghonim_REVOLUTION_F.indd vii 11/17/11 3:07 PM

 Prologue

T h e wor l d a rou n d m e was reduced to pitch black. I

could sense the deliberate use of side streets by the driver as
the car traveled through Cairo at midnight. We twisted and
turned many times, a technique my captors often used to disorient
their victims.
On my right and left were two guards from State Security. They
kept a tight grip on my handcuffed arms. I remained completely si-
lent so as not to provoke them. They had forced my shirt up to cover
my head so I could not see, and my belt was tied firmly over the shirt,
around my head. One of them had pushed my head down to hide me
from passing pedestrians. Everything I had been carrying had been
confiscated.
Those brief moments before the car reached its destination were
all too familiar. I had published the accounts of many captives of
State Security. Now it was my turn. I wondered what could happen to
me next, but I knew the answer: anything.
“Get out, you son of a b————,” said a loud and angry voice when
we arrived. I was being pushed out of the car. My reception inside the
building was harsh and mocking. I was slapped, kicked, and cursed,

Ghonim_REVOLUTION_F.indd xi 11/17/11 3:07 PM

 xii |  P R O L O G U E

all accompanied by derisive laughter. It seemed as if these men en-

joyed their work, or at least they did it purposefully. The laughter was
part of their strategy to instill fear prior to interrogating newcomers.
The most difficult thing about the slaps and kicks was their element
of surprise. I had no means of anticipating any strike because I was
blindfolded. When would I be hit next? From which side, on which
part of me? I had no clue.
I wondered what they knew. What had I done that had given me
away? Kick. Curse. My fear grew. I knew that this was what they
wanted — to break me down before the interrogation. I decided to
hasten things along by pretending to tremble. Yet real fear was start-
ing to take over.
In the midst of the beating I prayed to God that he would some-
how inspire my friend Najeeb, in Dubai, to change the password to
the Facebook page’s e-mail account. I prayed for Najeeb to do it be-
fore the interrogation got serious. They must not know what I had
done.
I wanted to see my children again.

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 1

A Regime of Fear

M y 2 01 1 a r r e st wa s not the first time I had encoun-

tered Egyptian State Security. One winter afternoon in
2007, I received a call from a man who presented himself
as Captain Raafat al-Gohary, from the bureau in Giza, Egypt’s third
largest city, which is part of greater Cairo. Needless to say, Rafaat al-
Gohary was not his real name. State Security officers feared the po-
tential wrath of citizens they interrogated and tortured, so they used
pseudonyms. I greeted him calmly, attempting to hide the anxiety
caused by the surprise. He said I needed to meet him for an impor-
tant matter and I was to head to State Security in Dokki, a neighbor-
hood in Giza, at eleven o’clock that night. My anxiety increased. I
asked what was the matter. His response: “There’s nothing to worry
about. We’ll just have a chat over coffee, that’s all.” This failed to com-
fort me. I asked if we could reschedule, saying that I was busy with
work. He refused. I wanted to play for time to try to figure out why I
was being summoned, but he insisted we meet at eleven. What is the
worst that can happen? I wondered. My days of activism were long
over. I had never before been summoned.
Immediately after hanging up, I contacted a close friend, and we

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 2 |  R E V O L U T I O N 2.0

agreed that I was to call him right after the meeting ended. If he never
got the call, he was to find out exactly what had happened to me,
since in the past, people in a situation like mine had suddenly disap-
peared for days or even months after their “visit.” I decided not to tell
my wife or my family anything, as I didn’t want them to panic.
I arrived at the main gate at 11 p.m. sharp. The neighborhood was
quite familiar to me; my high school was literally right around the
corner. At reception, after confirming that I was to meet Captain
Rafaat al-Gohary, I was told to sit down and wait. Around me were at
least six others. Although I didn’t speak to them, it was clear that we
all shared one emotion: apprehension.
Egyptian State Security reached deep into society, involving itself
in every detail of life. It thrived on the emergency law, enacted in 1958
but not enforced until after the Six-Day War in 1967, and still in effect
in mid-2011. That law gives executive authorities the right to arrest,
interrogate, and imprison any Egyptian for up to six months without
a warrant or any legal grounds or even the right to an attorney. It also
empowers the authorities to ban all types of protests as well as gather-
ings of any group of people without a security clearance.
The dossiers of State Security were objects of fear and ridicule.
Any activist of any sort, or even anyone with considerable finan-
cial or intellectual influence, had an exhaustive dossier in his or her
name at State Security, containing every detail the authorities had
collected that could possibly be useful in blackmailing him or her
into obedience when needed. Privacy was almost meaningless to this
quintessentially Machiavellian organization. Thus, phone tapping,
for instance, was a very common practice of State Security officers.
Word spread that tapes documenting the infidelities of famous busi-
nessmen and public figures were stored in a room at headquarters.
Ironically, officers used to advise each other not to spy on their own
wives’ phones, to avoid family conflicts.
Not only did the state monitor and terrorize political opposition
groups and religious activists, but its oppressive reach extended to
anyone engaged in public service, including charities whose field op-
erations were limited to empowering the poor and unfortunate. With

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 A REGIME OF F E A R  |  3 

over 40 percent of Egyptians living below the poverty line, the au-
thorities were consistently trying to curb anyone who might mobilize
the masses for a future political cause.
State Security approval was obviously a prerequisite for any senior
appointment in the government. Even university teaching assistants,
who are supposedly selected from among the top students of the
year’s graduating class, could not be hired by the university without
a security clearance proving that they were innocent of any dissident
activism, political or religious.
The Egyptian regime lived in fear of opposition. It sought to pro-
ject a façade of democracy, giving the impression that Egypt was ad-
vancing toward political rights and civil liberties while it vanquished
any dissidents who threatened to mobilize enough support to force
real change.
The Ministry of Interior was one key force of coercion. Another
was the state media: terrestrial and satellite television as well as news-
papers and magazines, the most famous of which were Al-Ahram,
Al-Akhbar, and Al-Gomhouriya. The regime sought to plant fear in
the hearts of Egyptians from an early age. Fear was embodied in local
proverbs, such as “Walk quietly by the wall (where you cannot be no-
ticed),” “Mind your own business and focus on your livelihood,” and
“Whosoever is afraid stays unharmed.” The regime’s uncompromis-
ing control also covered workers’ unions and the nation’s legislative
bodies.
This all amounted to what I came to call “weapons of mass oppres-
sion.” No matter how far down we spiraled, no matter how much cor-
ruption spread, only a few people dared to swim against the current.
Those who did ended up in a prison cell after an unfriendly encoun-
ter with State Security, or were subjected to character assassination
in the media, or were targeted on fraudulent charges or long-ignored
violations.

“Hello, Wael. Why are you giving us a hard time? Why the trouble-
making?”
This, together with a faint smile, was how Captain Raafat greeted

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 4 |  R E V O L U T I O N 2.0

me. His air-conditioned office contained three other investigators.

The room was modestly decorated with a number of books, many
of which were very obviously about religion. State Security wanted
everyone to believe that it had nothing against faith.
I looked at him and smiled as I responded calmly, “I don’t make
trouble at all. It is you guys who give me trouble, and I have no idea
why. I’m glad you called me in, so I can figure out what the problem
is. Every time I travel back to Egypt my name appears on the arri-
vals watch list and the airport officers transfer my passport to State
Security, who pulls me aside for an inspection, including a full search
of my bags.”
This problem dated back to December 2001, when I returned from
the United States, three months after 9/11. As I was collecting my lug-
gage, I heard my name over the loudspeakers. I was urgently asked
to return to passport control. There was also someone calling my
name in person, so I showed myself to him. He took my passport and
asked me to wait in front of a lounge by State Security’s airport office.
After a very nerve-racking forty minutes, a detective emerged with
my passport and asked me to bring my luggage in for inspection.
That day I thanked God that everything turned out well. It appeared
to be nothing more than a typical post-9/11 glitch. Yet every time I
entered Egypt between that day and the time the revolution began, I
was pulled aside. Until this day, I had never found out the reason for
that.
Captain Raafat was deliberately friendly, as if we really were just
having a chat. However, he was armed with pen and paper, and he
carefully documented the conversation. He took time to finish re-
cording my responses before he resumed his questions. Almost
everyone from the upper or middle class who was called in for in-
terrogation by State Security was met with this same friendly, off-the-
record manner. (Poorer people were treated far more harshly.) It was
transparently illegitimate.
The captain asked for my personal information: name, age, ad-
dress, marital status. I answered all his questions. He asked about my
wife’s full name.

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 A REGIME OF F E A R  |  5 

“Oh, she is not Egyptian. Where is she from?”

“America,” I responded.
He wrote her full name in Arabic as I pronounced it again and
asked me to verify the spelling.
“So you married an American for the citizenship, right?”
He was surprised to discover that despite my marriage in 2001, I
had never applied for a green card or U.S. citizenship. “I’m a proud
Egyptian and I find no reason why I should apply for any other citi-
zenship,” I explained.
Very cynically, he replied, “And what is it exactly that you like
about Egypt?”
“I’m never able to verbally express my reasons for loving Egypt,
yet love for it runs in my blood,” I replied honestly. “Even my wife
asks why I love my country despite all its shortcomings. I always an-
swer that I don’t know why. You know, Captain, when I lived in Saudi
Arabia, during the first thirteen years of my life, I literally used to
count the days left, on a paper on my desk, before I could return
home to Egypt to spend the annual vacation. And when only a few
days remained, I was too excited to fall asleep at night.” I returned his
cynical smile and joked, “I love it here because life lacks routine. You
wake up in the morning and have no idea what the day will be like.
One morning you could receive a phone call like the one I received
today, asking you to report to State Security.”
He smiled while saying, “You are certainly a troublemaker.”
I saw a copy of the Holy Qur’an lying on the captain’s desk. I as-
sumed it was there to assure anyone who sat opposite him that the
captain regularly read scripture and had nothing against faith. The
ruling regime was extremely apprehensive about organized reli-
gious forces in Egypt, particularly ones that concerned themselves
with public affairs. Their fears were intensified when thousands of
Egyptians traveled to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet invaders. Many
of those fighters, or self-proclaimed mujahideen, returned with ide-
ologies that rejected the Arab regimes, denouncing them as heretical
and treacherous tools of the West. The new ideology, and the new
militants, posed a threat to the Egyptian authorities. Although the

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 6 |  R E V O L U T I O N 2.0

emergency law had been suspended by President Anwar al-Sadat in

1980, it was reinstated eighteen months later, following Sadat’s 1981
assassination at the hands of radical Islamists. Sadat’s assassins were
apparently motivated by his crackdown on more than 1,500 political
and religious activists, and also by the fact that he signed a peace
treaty with Israel and emphasized it with a visit to Tel Aviv.
The influence of religious groups in Egypt increased as time went
on, and their variety expanded. These groups were never homoge-
neous, nor did they all necessarily share the same philosophies or
even objectives. They did share one thing, however: enmity toward
the regime. In turn, Hosni Mubarak’s government feared them.
Mubarak knew these groups could influence the Egyptian masses
more than anyone else, since Egyptians tend to be religious by nature;
in a Gallup poll conducted in June 2011, 96 percent of the one thou-
sand Egyptian respondents agreed that religion played “an impor-
tant role in their daily life.” Ordinary Egyptians take religious figures
as role models, symbols of nobility and sincerity, values which were
thoroughly lacking in many of the the public representatives of the
regime. Most of the time when the regime attacked a religious group,
that group’s popularity received a boost. The fact that economic con-
ditions were stagnant or declining only magnified the effect.
State Security kept an eye on all religious speakers and scholars
and even on university students who frequented mosques, not just
those who were active in Islamic movements. They were careful to
summon such people to their offices to ask them about their activi-
ties and even to intervene and attempt to redirect them. Occasionally,
hundreds would be arrested and thrown into jail for years without
explicit accusations. Behind bars, they were brutally treated and hu-
miliated. Once released, they either became fanatics, motivated by
their bad experience, or attempted to reintegrate into society and for-
get the past.
This, I realized, was the real reason for my interrogation. State
Security wanted to know if I had any links to religious or political ac-
tivism, especially now that I regularly traveled abroad and, as a result,
was becoming more exposed to real democracy. It was time to create

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 A REGIME OF F E A R  |  7 

a dossier in my name that contained the details of my life for future

reference.
The story of my faith dates back to high school days. I did not pray
regularly before then, although I adhered to the general ethics of re-
ligion, thanks to my parents’ encouragement and because I grew up
in Saudi Arabia. That country is conservative by nature, especially in
Abha, a small southern city where society and culture are assumed to
be less advanced than in urban centers.
One of my closest cousins, Dalia, died in a car accident in 1997
at the age of twenty-five. Her death had an impact on me, and I was
moved to explore my faith, as I didn’t want to die unprepared. I lis-
tened to sermons, attended religious lessons, and read books. I felt
that life was a brief test that ended at death. I started praying five
times a day, on time, and often at the mosque.
At the university, I mixed with people from many religious groups
and ideologies, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and I joined
many of their activities at the school. But I always made my own
sense out of things. A famous sheikh whom I met with several times
once said to me, “Your problem, Wael, is that you only follow your
own logic and you don’t want to have a role model to follow.” It was
hard for me to accept conventional wisdom. It was my nature to dis-
cuss any matter thoroughly before I could accept a conclusion with
both heart and mind. This attitude in an eighteen-year-old is not al-
ways endearing. It was not just my age, however. Thanks to frequent
exposure to global media and modern communication tools, many
young Egyptians were slowly becoming empowered to make their
own educated choices.

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