This past Sunday, CAIR-Chicago’s Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, presented a lecture titled “Egypt at a Crossroads: The Making of the Second Republic” at the American Islamic College in Chicago.

Today in Cairo, frustrated activists plan to stage another mass protest to accelerate the pace of government reform. In a recent visit to Cairo, Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and frequent Worldview contributor, met with high-ranking officials and activists to discuss the way forward. He tells Jerome what he thinks the Egyptian people should demand now.

“The stereotype that the Arab world, or the Muslim world, is forever stuck between dictatorship on one end and Islamist extremist theocracy a la Iran on the other end has been defeated with the people saying there’s a third alternative. It’s called democracy and that’s what we want,” said Rehab.

Ahmed Rehab and fellow activist Laith Saud discuss their recent experiences in Egypt and the country’s transition to democracy.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab has returned from an unforgettable visit to Egypt. Rehab reached Cairo just a couple days before the historic revolution began. Read about Ahmed’s adventures on his blog!

Ahmed Rehab says the the biggest weapon the Egyptian people had against Mubarak was their numbers and perseverance. Rehab is excited that peaceful demonstrations were extremely effective in this revolution.

Ahmed Rehab had his hopes up when Mubarak began his speech, but along with the crowd was quickly disappointed. Rehab and the protesters in Egypt were very upset that Mubarak had not stepped down from office.

CAIR-Chicago representatives talk about the history making resignation of President Mubarak. Yaser Tabbara comments on the persistence of the Egyptian people for Mubarak to step down.

Ahmed Rehab is in Egypt right now currently joining the protests in Tahrir Square. He reports that the protests will not stop until Mubarak resigns from office. ABC News reports that Chicago Egyptians are extremely upset at the televised speech from Mubarak and continue to hope for change in Egypt.

Ahmed Rehab discusses possible reasons Mubarak stepped down today and what that means for the country. He says that Egypt is on its way to a new beginning and that the start of a new Egypt will not be easy.