HOUGHTON -- The unrest in Egypt has taken many by surprise this week, but Michigan Tech University Professor Ossama Abdelkhalik, an Egyptian native, says the reasons for conflict have been building for years.

As thousands of unhappy Egyptians staged their protests in the streets, Abdelkhalik has been watching from afar.  He followed posts on Facebook and Twitter prior to the protests, but he hasn't been in direct contact with anyone in Egypt since the unrest started.

"The issue was there for years, but what happened in Tunisia showed everybody is that it is possible to make a change through people," said Abdelkhalik.

Abdelkhalik sees the protests as a grassroots effort to secure basic human rights.

He doesn't believe it will end until the government addresses their demands.