Alf Mabrouk Masr

Feb 11 2011

Beth and I got to the Square at 10 today. The square was already crowded when we arrived. We had taken the Metro to avoid the soldier that tried to keep us from entering yesterday. It was a good choice because there were no soldiers on the street we took from the metro station, just civilian-check points. Later today I would hear that they weren’t allowing anyone with Israeli or Jordanian visas to enter the square. The person who told me this believed that it was state TV spreading xenophobia to the people even in Tahrir. I’m not convinced though, because I would only have my visas checked once by the civilian check-points, and that was the only time I was asked if I had any of those two visa. Besides that, I was shown nothing but hospitality. Besides just being welcomed, no one would let us pay for ourselves while in the square.

As we waited to get some coffee, we started talking to two brothers who were both sleeping in the square with their wives. They said that they feared today would be a bloody day, but they were doing this for their children. They would end up buying us our coffee. As we drank with them, they talked about how Tahrir has brought back old spirits and customs, such as “breaking a piece of bread in half and sharing it with a complete stranger, who in turn does the same, and so on.”

I talked to another man, a software engineer, who came back from the UAE with his son to come to Tahrir. We joked about how we should have known that Mubarak wasn’t stepping down, when the CIA and Fox News confirmed it. He bought me a bottle of water, even though I showed him that I had one.

People were still going around with books to write statements about the protests. As I wrote in the book I talked to a doctor, he told me that the death toll is 500. He also said that they are over stocked with supplies due to donations.

Noon Prayer took over most of the square. After it was over, the square reached maximum capacity, so we went down a side street to get food and sit down. Outside the square it was a street festival. Popcorn, sweet potatoes, and roasted corn were being sold on the street. Children were walking around and selling flags. Large rallies marched through the Downtown area on their way to the square, while people blasted Nasr era music from balconies and threw pamphlets down to the crowd.

Beth and I left the square, with very little sense that anything was going to change today. Mubarak seemed determined to stick around until dragged into the street. We had heard rumors of that police were pushing people away from the presidential palace. I think that was a rumor because there are reports that they threw food and water to the protesters. The square was impossibly full, with people trying to move every which way through the crowd. Yet somehow, people got where they needed to go. Sitting down in a grassy area near the Qasr el-Nil entrance, after we finally made it through the crowds, we talked to a man who came from Zaga-Zig Governance. He talked about how he carried his large cane because the Army didn’t protect the protesters from the government thugs that attacked the square. Again, I was offered food. We could see protesters in the distance surrounding the state TV station.

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For a second night, we got home to news that there would be a statement. I almost missed it because literally Suleiman came on camera for a couple of seconds, said his lines, and left. It took me a moment to realized what had happened as people cheered on TV. I ran to the balcony and immediately heard the women two floors below us let out a loud twill of joy. Then I started seeing youths in the street running in the direction of Tahrir.

By the time we got to the Bridge it was packed. It was a spirit I had never seen before. People were on foot, motorbike, in busses and on top of them, all cheering. Shouts rang out of “The people finished collapsing the regime,” and sang the national anthem over and over again. People were standing on top of monuments and military vehicles.

The square was impossible full. We didn’t really walk we just flowed and oscillated with the current. Despite this, people still worked a security point or two for those entering the square. Fireworks were set off and the stoplights in the square were turned back on, adding more color to the night. People held up in triumph the posters of the martyrs.

Tahrir st. in Doqqi was backed up further than I could see. Everywhere people where hanging out of car windows and stood on roofs, waving flags. Some people told us about how they did this despite Obama’s hesitation to side with them, but more importantly everyone talked about how they are free.

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"Anxiety"

It took me a while to get to the square today. I had been hearing reports of attacks against journalists and anyone suspected of being one. I talked to my friend Josh who came here a few days ago to cover the situation. He told me that he had a crowed of pro-Mubarak supporters turn on him and his photographer buddy pretty quickly last night. I decided to walk to a bridge much further away from Downtown and looped back up, as to avoid suspicion for most of my walk to the square. Once on the other side of the river, I saw large group of people chatting with police. This made me suspicious of them. Normally, seeing the cops on the street talking and joking with people is ordinary, but at this point, nothing seems normal in this city.

I moved through a quiet neighborhood I know well and stopped at a small shop to think as I drank the drink I had just bought. As I stood there, I listened to the sounds of grates closing over store fronts on the main street ahead of me. As I was listening and trying to figure out what was going on, and what my next move would be, one of the young men outside the shop asked me if I was on my way to Tahrir. Which lead to another young man asking if I liked Mubarak? I told him “that’s a dangerous question these days. He told me not to worry, so I told him “no.” Both men were happy with this response, which was calmed me down. Given all the junk that state media is reporting here, you would think that every person not in the square thinks that “foreign forces have infiltrated the square and hurting Egypt.” There is no reasonable reason to believe that just 2 days after millions marched in the streets, they would decide the regime learnt its lesson. Never the less, this was still reassuring.

What these two men disagreed on, however, was if it was safe for me to go to the square. We watched the main street as, what I can only assume was, a small group of Mubarak supporters marched up the street. They had to be supporters because the main street leads to the only entrance that the military has complete control of, so no one would be entering the square from that way. As I departed, the man said “I am happy because he met you today, but be careful.” So while it has become nerve-racking here, we cannot forget that these clashes against journalist and westerners have all come from Mubarak supporters (hired thugs), to scare the press away and inflame the fear of foreign agents. Omar Soliman today has said in his state television interview that foreign allies are housing networks that aimed to hurt Egypt. I do not feel that opinions of Americans or westerners have change among the Egyptian populace. It is a dangerous time for everyone in this period of state brutality.

As I entered the square at the Qasr al-Aini entrance, it was calm. Multi-tier barricades had been erected over night, stretching out beyond the line of tanks. Protesters were in each tier to provide protection to the queue of people getting their initial search. This was just the first of at least four searches that continued behind the tanks. I would often get my bag checked twice at each point because the volunteers would just grab the next person they saw once they searched a person. The square seemed to have as many people as yesterday, but then I realized there must be more because the physical space had been extended way past the tanks. The focus areas of congregation was now at the barricades, not just the square. On some side street the front tier barricades were at Tala’at Harb Square and Tala’t Harb Street. The Protesters had barricades from the side of the Egyptian Museum all the way to just before the overpass. There were piles of rocks set up on the vehicles that had become part of the barricades. There was a clinic set up near the farthest entrance because of the trouble of getting to the Ambulances set up on Qasr Aini St. Behind every barricade there were groups of pro-Mubarak supporters.

The square is still being well maintained and sustainable. People are sweeping, bagging trash, and handing out food and drinks. I saw one man collect water bottles from people so that he could go and refill them. There are more tents in the square, with more going up as I walked around. People are determined to keep the square sustainable. Um Kalthoum was being played through speakers to keep moral high. At one point a man gave a concert with melodic versions of the anti-Mubarak chants. It was a nice moment of levity to watch people dancing around and singing. It seemed that those who had the energy and were not at the barricades took on the role of trying to keep morale up. Two youths simply stood for hours over a metro grate, holding flags that were flapping straight up from the air coming from the metro tunnels.

This same could not be said about the supporters of Mubarak. The entrance of the square, where they were the day before was covered in rubbish. It is clear that people don’t care about space when they can just leave it, which is what they do at the end of the day, besides those that show up for night time attacks. The type of sustainability in the square is nonexistent outside the barricades. This just adds to my suspicions that they are sustained by other means, namely the regime.

The people themselves were a diverse bunch. There were people who armed themselves with slingshots, bricks tied to rope, or just stones in their hands. In the center of the square, away from the areas of skirmishes, there were rallies. Even with the continued violence there were chants of “peaceful,” in the square. In the grass, there were more people sitting and sleeping than the last few days. They all looked exhausted from the last day of fighting and/or living under threats of violence. There were fewer families in the square today. It was impossible to count the injured walking around. People with bandages on their heads and faces were all over the square. I saw people with casts on multiple limbs and naked arms in makeshift slings. Most of the injured had head wounds.

I visited another clinic today and talked to Dr. Ashraf When I asked him about the situation he made it clear that there was a difference between yesterday and today, and looked over my notes as I wrote to make sure I wrote what he said. He stated that, “Yesterday was a disaster. There were between 1,000 and 1500 injured. At least 15 of them were gunshot wounds. Six people died. They were shot by police forces. The other Injuries were abrasions, contusions, lacerated wounds, and fractures. We dealt with them here and the critical cases were sent to Qasr el-Eini hospital.”

Today was a different story (at that point). He said the clinics were quiet “mostly due to army protection.” I then asked what their supply levels were and if they were in need of anything. He explained that they were well stocked in “bandages, cotton, stitches, anti-biotics, gauze, gibson for fractures, intervenes fluids, dressings, and volunteers.” Later in the day I witnessed cheering as doctors walked in with a group of people carrying medical supplies.

As I continued walking around, a man named Mohammed started walking with me. He told me that he came from Alexandria yesterday, but couldn’t get to the square because of lack of knowledge of what entrances were viable at the time. He had come by microbus because the trains are still not running. I asked him about the Mubarak supporters, and he replied that these are all police and poor. If he is correct, they are not Central Security like I asserted yesterday, (it is still possible they will return) but the street cops. The more IDs I see posted seem to confirm this. As for the poor people he said he met some of them that they stated that they are not in support of Mubarak or the demonstrators, but are doing it for food and money. He followed up on that before I could ask about rival claims. “Everyone says we burned everything for 50 pounds and KFC.” We both began to laugh at this because the KFC on the square is closed and covered in graffiti. He did not come to fight fellow Egyptians, but as he said, “freedom is tough.” Before we parted I asked, “What if Mubarak does not step down?” to which he replied, “We will not step down.” I would later meet a person who came all the way from Luxor four days earlier.

At 2:20 today there were shots fired by what people were saying was the “secret police.” This lead to warning shots by army personnel carriers. Things soon quieted down, but there had been no retreat from the front line during the commotion. If anything, people started moving towards the front. As I sat on a the edge of the island in the middle of the square, in a spot that had the top layer of brick removed the night before, I watched the flow of people back and forth between the barricades and the square. In both directions went supplies and people. There seemed to be no pattern of what came and went. Everyone just seems to following a few ideals, and besides that they are free to do what they liked.

After sitting in the sun for awhile, the weather has been fairly warm and sunny during the day, I decided to walk to the furthest barricade. It felt like a surreal world. I had walked by the shops to my right so many times before, but I was in a completely new place. Going through layers of checkpoints, trucks turned into watch towers, and layers of barricades made from a sheet metal wall surrounding a construction site, underscored how this has turned into a siege. Earlier an army lorry was moved up as an extra wall and shield for the protesters inside. Looking through a crack in the furthest wall, I noticed an army tank with its engine running, oscillating its turret, but never having the gun leave the direction of the square. This was taking place as Mubarak supporters were moving around outside. It dawned on me that the Egyptian military was now stuck in a position where it was pointing their guns at each other. As I walked back through the checkpoints I saw a man have a switch blade, which he quite reasonably had for self defense, confiscated from him by those organizing the checkpoints.

After some more walking around and talking to people I decided to leave. At the last checkpoint, he soldier who checked my passport saw that it was issued in Philadelphia and said he went to Elementary School in Carlisle, PA. We both gave each other—both of us complete strangers—a smile of familiarity. It was a one of those few short moments of the day that filled me with relief from what has been an overwhelming sense of anxiety and waiting. It was the same joy I felt when meeting many friends for the first time during these last ten days.

This feeling went back to anxiety as I tried to leave. As I reached the cornice, I received a call from Josh who told me to go back into the square. He had just had the taxi he was in surrounded by men wielding machetes and clubs. He said the only reason they got away was two soldiers getting in the taxi and going with them to the next checkpoint. Not wanting to go through the Mubarak people to get back in at the Qasr el-Neel entrance, I made the long walk home, refusing to get in a taxi or microbus. For some reason I felt safer being on foot, where I could set my pace. Any other day, this would have been a beautiful and quiet day on the cornice. The cause for this quiet was what filled me with fear the whole way home.

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February 2, 2011 Part 2 (300,000 Central Security Forces Don’t Disappear over Night)

Around 1:30 today, the tragedy began when pro-Mubarak supporters appeared, marching towards the square. The people in the square rushed to the barricades to set up a human wall, as a group of women yelled, “peaceful,” as a reminder of the strong show of peaceful demonstration the last two days. Soon, however, the Mubarak supporters broke through the human barricades. After about 20 minutes they were pushed back. This lead to stones being thrown between protesters and Mubarak supporters, who were clashing with each other at the army checkpoint (the army began to hide in their tanks, not doing anything) on the road from the square to the 6^th of October overpass, next to the Egyptian Museum. The overpass was lined with supporters and these supporters were well stocked with pictures of Mubarak and flags (suspiciously so).

I talked to a young man named Mahmoud, who had seen me taking a picture of a fight between a few supporters and protesters . I asked what he thought of these clashes. He told me that he thinks the elections are too far away and might not be a solution to all the damage that has been done by the past couple of days. He continued by saying that “It will really hurt Egypt to have Egyptians fight each other. He also said he was not sure if these were genuine supporters of Mubarak or real thugs, when I asked him.

By 2:25 the protesters had pushed the Mubarak supporters back to the 6^th of October overpass. It was hard to see where the line between the two groups was, but i had a general ideal based by where the rocks in the air were. People started shouting “Where is the Egyptian Military,” upset that they were not separating the two groups, and just sitting on the side lines, or in their tanks as battles often raged on top of them.

By 2: 36 I looked through a zoom lens of a photographer I met and saw the supporters were back at the former check points, which at this point could only be described as tanks in the street. A young woman told us to go towards the clashes. She wanted to the magnitude of the clashes and injuries to be documented. As I walked forward, there was a dash past me by protesters to the front lines, as I witnessed men with head injuries being carried back. I say one man walking back holding broken arms and another holding his stomach, both wincing in agony. Up towards the front line I watched supporters trying to get in from one side streets and then getting chased back. Then, suddenly, men on horses and camels from the Mubarak side broke through the line next to the Egyptian Museum, leading to a stampede. They attacked with whips and sticks, but were soon knocked off and the Animals and were taken out of the clashes by the pro-democracy protesters.

By 3:00 the supporters were pushed back to the tanks once again. I watched as the injured were being carried back. Men grabbed me and told me to take pictures of the ID, of who they were calling, a police officer who had just killed one of the protesters.

I had men running up to me telling me, “This is Hosni’s path” pointing at the protesters. Another came up to me and said that these were the” Secret Police of Mubarak.” Another said, “Hosni killed citizens. Go away!” while another pointed at the overpass and said, “All of these men are prisoners” referring to the prisoners who were released from prison. It is clear that no one believes that these are genuine pro-Mubarak supporters, but rather the police or hired thugs.

As the clashes went back and forth, there was a human barricade made up of rows of people with their arms linked together. They were set up back, towards the square were remaining there in case that the Mubarak supporters broke through again. Within it I noticed one of the Sheikhs from al-Azhar, arms linked with the other men forming the wall. It seemed clear that control of the square was the goal at the moment for both sides.

During one lull of the Supporters being pushed back there were shouts of “Ya Rab” (Oh, Lord) and “They must leave! We won’t leave!” During this lull, I saw some people move stones to the grass, away from the street. I also heard people say, “no bricks,” to people trying to break brick into a toss-able size,

This, however, broke down and people started ripping slaps of tiles from the square and breaking them with unbelievable speed and efficiency, and then throwing them into bags, crates, and even the flatbeds, which were then pushed to the front. This tendered to be become free ammunition for whichever side controlled that ground at the moment.

Even with these back and forth clashes, people where still holding rallies in the square, trash was being picked up, and food being passed out. The democracy movement is determined to keep this rally sustainable. It is a tragedy this event has now overshadowed the hope the people are trying so hard to maintain in the square, with rage, terror, death, and sorrow.

As I left, clashes were still occurring, but at the Qasr al-Nil entrance, order was still being maintained and people were stopped from breaking up bricks. As I left I noticed that the supporters at that bridge were quite small. Given the situation on the news of fire bombs and satellite dishes being thrown by pro-Mubarak supporters from roofs I can’t even begin to guess if that check point is still peaceful. [Later news would report clashes on the Qasr el-Nil Bridge].

Now that I am sitting at home watching the news, I must assert that these were not just ordinary people coming to protest in support of Mubarak. As Beth said to me, “300,000 Central Security officers don’t just disappear overnight.” As I saw, there are police IDs being taken from pro-Mubarak supporters. News reports just confirm this to me. I sincerely believe that the violence was sparked due to pro-Mubarak supporters. This is the beginning of Mubarak’s hunt for those who “targeted the nation's security and stability through acts of provocation theft and looting and setting fires and blocking roads and attacking vital installations and public and private properties and storming some diplomatic missions.” Just as his view was completely skewed in his speech, is he going to start claiming that those who were peaceful--until thugs broke the checkpoints--attacked normal citizens who just came to show support to their beloved leader.

It is absolutely absurd to believe that these protests, which had been and still are so peaceful, when not forced to violence, would give a pretext for a crackdown, especially when so much effort has in focusing their peaceful message of “Mubarak must go,”. The pamphlets being distributed the past few nights, which called for peaceful assembly without exception, just adds to this faith that they did not willfully take up violence, but were rather pushed to it. Instead, those who climbed buildings with petrol bombs, those that came in on horses and camels, attacking people with whips, they are the ones who wanted this. If they wanted to peacefully assemble, they would have picked a different square. Even Haaretz is reporting that plain clothed officers are prevented anti-government protesters from entering buildings to prevent thugs from throwing petrol bombs and bricks down on the protesters. I guess that is Mubarak’s version of protecting freedom of expression.

It seems that the internet was turned on today so that the outside world would see the violence and call for the protesters to settle for what fake reforms and judicial threats Mubarak has thrown at them. After the horror I witnessed today I hope the world leaders will give up on their irrational fear of an Islamic take over and will tell Mubarak to step down, and that the opposition leaders, who are only there because of the voice and brave actions of the youth, will step up with a unifying proposal for an interim government, which will show the world, what Egypt already knows: there is an alternative to the dichotomies of ‘dictatorship or anarchy’ and ‘dictatorship or Islamic republic.’ Ultimately though, it has been the people who have fought this fight and they will make the decision for their nation.

Yasqut! Yasqut! Hosni Mubarak!

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February 2, 2011 part 1

Today is the most disturbing day I have ever witnessed. The following is my day on Tahrir Square before and during the ensuing violence.

As I walked to Tahrir square this morning, a man named Hamdy stopped me, and told me, “I am Egyptian. These people in Tahrir Square are people who will say anything for 50 pounds and a box of lunch, but we are a nation of 80, 81, 84 million people, and today at 11, 50 million people will come in support of Mubarak. We will not find a president as wise as Mubarak.”

I entered the square around 11 and there was a small group of Mubarak supporters shouting “The people want the president”, but there was no problem entering and it was very peaceful at the checkpoints. As I entered, a soldier took me aside and asked if I was a reporter. I told him I was a teacher, and he said, “Leave soon for your own safety.”

The square had changed quite a bit overnight. There were flat beds that were being used to clean the square of rubbish that had been swept into piles out of the main part of the square. Also, the military was using a crane to lift scorched security vehicles out of the square.

The crowed was the smallest I had seen in days, but by no means small, and within an hour it started to swell again. While I could still move around in the open space of the square, I noticed more graffiti than the day before and saw a man painting on the pavement. It appeared that this extra opened space gave opportunity for street art and ease for marches around the square. A man in the crowd came up holding two pieces of bread and said, “There is no bread in Egypt.” When asked because of the protests or because of Mubarak? He replied, “Because of Mubarak.” Soon after this, I had an unexpected conversation as I continued to walk around. A man walked up to me and said:

“Listen to me. I am Egyptian. In a few days this will all be over.”
Me: The regime?
“The regime is a powerful force. I am Egyptian. These people [the protesters] know nothing. This is bullshit”

He then walked away from me, much quicker than most people who want to give a message. I could tell he didn’t want to be noticed. Right after this, I saw Mubarak supporters who had been yelling pro-regime chants being removed peacefully. Every time this would happen, they would be taken to an army checkpoint and sent out, as the opposition yelled, “Out! Out!” and “Fall, fall, Hosni Mubarak.” Everyone who was removed was done so by pro-democracy protesters, who put their arms over the pro-Mubarak supporters’ shoulders, as you would when walking with a friend. I clear sign that the protesters were trying to maintain peace in this space they claimed as theirs.

As I walked around, I was pulled into a crowed circling an army officer in uniform, who was sitting on the ground protesting the government. Also, I was taken by another person to one of the camps. He wanted to make sure I understood that people have been sleeping here every night night. In this encampment I talked to a man sitting in the grass next to a makeshift tent and he showed me a bullet and said that he was shot in his buttocks during the Friday protests. As I talked to more people they told me things such as:

“I want the regime to leave. The protesters will remain. This is the last card with the president”

“The speech was trick. He gives some things, but these will not change anything. He has all the media in his hand. He is brainwashing people like my wife. He is paying people to come out in support of him. My wife hasn’t changed her mind, but says, ‘let’s be reasonable, we will never win.’”

I also talked to a doctor who was walking around the square. He said that he is working with the clinics that have been set up and are running 24/7 around the square. When asked about any endemic problems in the square he said that in the first few days it was very bad. They had to take care of people with wounds from fighting with security forces. He specifically mentioned those from shotguns. At that time (before the events of the afternoon) they were monitoring headaches and heat stroke. He mentioned that many of the doctors have not slept for four days. He went on to say that there have been no major health problems forming in the square itself (contrary to the official government media reports). As we were talking, a man came up for an examination and the interview ended.

As I walked around observing, I was happy to see that the square was filling with people. I was hoping to see a soccer tournament, which was going to happen in the square, according to an activist al-Jazeera last night. This would not be the case after the events that would start soon after my interview with the doctor.