by AlicetheKurious » Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:00 pm
I went to Tahrir yesterday, to join the demonstrations affirming the goals of the revolution that have yet to be met. Even though the demonstration was supposed to start at Friday prayer time, around noon, I left very early in the morning just in case there would be delays on the way there. I parked my car at a friend's apartment building in Giza and together she and I walked to Tahrir Square.
As we got closer, we found more and more people heading the same way, many carrying flags. The mood was upbeat and celebratory, and people were smiling and calling to each other. On Kasr al-Nil Bridge, over the Nile, some entrepreneurial types were selling t-shirts with I heart Egypt from their cars. Others were selling everything from food to flags to cigarettes to cups of hot tea, all at very cheap prices. Still more were holding up signs with various slogans; the most prominent ones rejected the government of Ahmed Shafiq and other remnants of the Mubarak regime who were still in place. Volunteers had painted the bridge's ironwork and it gleamed in the sun.
I couldn't believe how big the crowd was, and it was still so early. Where the bridge leads to Tahrir Square, there were tanks and everybody was searched. My friend and I went into the line for women, where a smiling young woman searched us briskly -- the men were searched more thoroughly, by soldiers. Once in the Square, even more than two hours before the prayers, the crowd was already so big that it was almost impossible to move. The sun was very bright and before long I started to panic: in every direction, there was a sea of people as far as the eye could see. Most people around me were seated on the ground in preparation for the prayer. I said that I wanted to find some shade, and people immediately made way for me to turn back -- it took ages, but we finally made it to one of the streets leading to the square. There were big crowds there, as well, but it was cooler.
A very poor-looking old lady, smiling shyly, said to me that she wished she had a flag, so I gave her mine. My friend and I had some very lively discussions with a number of people, all of whom agreed that there must be no let-up in the pressure until all the revolution's minimal demands were met, especially: replacing the government with ministers untainted by the Mubarak regime; the immediate release of all political prisoners; an immediate end to the State of Emergency; replacing the current constitution (which, according to constitutional experts gives "god-like powers" to the president), with a totally new one that provides checks and balances and makes the government accountable to the people rather than the opposite.
Imagine feeling a sense of being among family and friends with millions of people, all looking out for each other, all talking freely to each other, laughing, joking, earnestly discussing and happily sharing with each other. Incredible.
There were people from all over Egypt, not just Cairo. Some were handing out papers, some with information and political analysis, others recruiting volunteers to visit the more than 5,000 wounded to offer help. One very brave young man was standing atop a towering lamppost (at least 4 meters high) right in front of the podium, carrying a huge sign that said: "Appointment With Palestine". Another was perched on top of a lamppost with a sign that said: "The people want the government to fall."
Every few steps we'd stop and engage in conversations of varying lengths with people -- I was incredibly impressed with those I spoke to, and learned a great deal. I recognized some veteran activists and even spoke to one, a very articulate and brave woman who viewed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces with deep suspicion and insisted that the struggle is far from over, a sentiment that was echoed constantly throughout the day.
There was a Muslim Imam and a Coptic priest standing and speaking together to one group of people. In another area, an Egyptian Protestant priest was conducting a mass. Later, I happened to be in a street behind the main podium when I noticed around 40-50 very energetic, smiling young men gathering, right in front of me. They wore red baseball caps and black t-shirts with the words "Free Egyptian" and "January 25, 2011" written in white (for those who don't yet know, the colors of the Egyptian flag are red, white and black). They were really excited and happy. A car drove slowly towards them, surrounded by other, similarly dressed young men. I couldn't see inside the car because there were so many, but it was obvious that Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy had arrived. They immediately swarmed around the car in a human shield several people deep, which moved with the car until it was swallowed up by the base of the podium. Sure enough, within seconds there was a huge sound of applause and the unmistakable voice of al-Qaradawy boomed out through the loudspeakers. Al-Qaradawy had been banished from Egypt during the past 30 years by Mubarak and had just come back for the first time.
Following the Friday prayers, in which he asked God to preserve Egypt from the unjust and the oppressors and to remove their influence, he made a sermon which began with prayers for the Muslim and Christian martyrs of the revolution, and in which he demanded that the border crossing with Gaza be opened and the siege broken once and for all.
All this time, the already overwhelming crowd was getting bigger, and had spread throughout downtown. Kids were clambering all over the military tanks at the entrances to the square and in the streets beyond. There were marches, some carrying huge Egyptian flags horizontally over the marchers' heads, calling for the removal of the government and of the vestiges of the old regime. Many of the signs and chants were funny, but the underlying message was dead serious.
At around 3:30, I decided it was time to start heading home; I didn't want to drive back in the dark and I still had a long way to go. The bridges leading towards Tahrir Square were rivers filled with people steadily flowing towards the sea of humanity spreading across the city center. The walk back took ages -- I had forgotten that I was still wearing a sign around my neck with the pictures of the martyrs and even after we'd left Tahrir far behind, people kept stopping me and starting conversations. In some streets, there were volunteers sweeping the streets and others painting and beautifying them. There was an amazing feeling of solidarity in the air, all the way back to Giza. There was also a rock-solid sense of determination. With every step I took, I became more confident than ever that this revolution is only just starting.
"If you're not careful the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
