“The light and hope in Tahrir”

When I saw what is happening to my friends in Tahrir (at the hands of thugs) it was a nightmare, so I decided to go out there and see the truth.

We were three and could not walk together. Inside the square the security is tight, but there were very few cases when one of the thugs were able to sneak in but he is usually spotted right away and turned in to the army. We entered the square at 1 pm. After the inspections, there was a great sense of enthusiasm, as we walked in, the people greeted us saying “welcome back, walk in men,”  You walk in after being fed rumors by the lying media, you do not know if you are going to be attacked, or what’s going on.

For the first 15 minutes you're just trying to figure it out. Then gradually serenity enters your body, like a solution.  We almost didn’t sleep because there was not enough space, people would circulate food and water. Even plain bread. But in this case, the people become one person. You feel so safe, and this feeling increases by the second until you discover that you are in the safest place in Egypt. Thugs are outside, inside I saw protection, courage, solidarity, all authentic and pure good ethics are in abundance. There were families, women, the elderly. I cannot believe that I am in Tahrir Square. I sang off and on stage. People would ask me to sing, I sang with no oud, until somebody lent me his oud for an hour or so. At Tahrir Square, I’ve seen nothing but courage, strength, justice, love and patriotism. I felt that I am in the womb bringing a new innocent, honest, true, and determined child to the world. This is what I saw and it is my duty to tell so that nobody does injustice to the light and hope in Tahrir.

Hazem Shahine

“Tahrir Square will never be the same”

I was told by a friend that going to Tahrir via El-Falaki street is better. We were advised to each walk alone, but try to walk alone and do not carry lots of stuff because it will arouse the suspicion of the thugs. We took a cab to Ramsis Square and walked from there. The thugs are quite noticeable. You can see three thugs, but if any clashes were held, they become 30 in a second. They would hang out on street corners, watching people on the street.  There was a thug holding a big sword in the middle of the street, threatening people. The people’s committee would inspect anybody before entering the square.  We were sitting with ordinary people all the time, however they are very aware of the intruders, informers or those who are there to spread rumors.

They do not prevent people from coming out of Tahrir, people would refrain from going out because of the thugs that await them on the exits.  It’s the transition between inside and outside of Tahrir. Outside is very tense and thugs are all over and anything can happen and you do not know what to do. Thugs had orders to petrify people to begin with. But yes of course they hurt the protesters the other day and my brother, who is a doctor, saw so many civilians wounded by swords and knives. There were also rubber bullets.

The Muslim Brotherhood is highly represented, but so are all political parties. The protesters managed to counteract and capture them all but the camel. At the beginning people aimed to capture the horses, but gradually they discovered that it was much easier to aim at those riding them. Gergis was one of those people who jumped and caught the hooligans on horses. He succeeded but broke his leg in the process. 

Yesterday, there were no journalists allowed to cover, but today we could see the cameras and journalists. We almost didn’t sleep. It's about those people’s ability to organize themselves. Demonstrators would go out to buy us food. Tahrir Square will never be the same to us. Now directions inside the square are marked by where the broadcasting is, where the big screens are and the location of the square’s hospital.

And we even discovered streets that we never existed. Hazem Shahine sang a lot. There is more than enough medical supplies there.

Amr Alim

eyewitness4