My next blog instalment was meant to be about an unplanned and invigorating four-night trip I made to Cairo last week, but it all seems a bit outdated already with the current political events going on in the centre of the city. Whilst for us the city was bright, beautiful and with a lovely winter crispness in the air, now unfortunately the area where we spent the most of our time has turned into a battlefield with the stinging odour of tear gas hanging in the air instead.
Last Thursday a friend and I drove through Tahrir Square, the only commotion the usual five/eight/ten lanes of traffic and our internal dialogues going crazy: That way! No, that way! Nooooo, it must be that way! WOW, where did HE come from? And so on. Nine hours later and we were in Dahab, immersed in the serenity, the fresh air and the almost soundless roads.
Talaat Harb Square, last week. Just a few metres from Tahrir Square.
Surprised we then were to read of the next day’s massive protest; in all honestly, during my stay there I’d quite hoped to see the gathering of several thousand demonstrators in Tahrir Square, peacefully getting their message across to those in power that they are still unhappy with the situation and the elections proffered up by an interim government. It seems that the protesters believe that the military who are currently in power in the form of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) are not going to move aside for a true democracy to slowly rebuild the country.
The army’s brutality in the face of Friday’s demonstration indicates that they might indeed be right. With the elections due to start a week today, the general feeling in the Square is one of distrust for SCAF who the demonstrators want to remove from power as they did Mubarak back on February 11 of this year. Some protesters want a reorganisation of the current body of power before it is entrusted to oversee the most important elections this country has ever seen; this will mean a delay in the elections. Is that what’s really needed to move this country forward?
As this isn’t a political blog (yet?!!) and it’s incredibly hard to pick out all the arguments here, I’ll just point you in the direction of some more helpful news articles:
The Atlantic says: “Don’t postpone Egypt’s Elections”
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/11/dont-postpone-egypts-elections/248848/
This interview unpicks some of the problem Egypt faces in more detail
http://www.cfr.org/egypt/egypts-military-rule-dilemma/p26565
There are some grave human rights concerns being raised however which should have attention drawn to, especially as we are seeing brutal breaches by police and military in all corners of the world right now. The tear gas being used in Tahrir Square at the moment is killing people, and if you are particularly concerned about this particular bit of news, please contact the Egyptian embassy in your country to voice your opinion. Read this article for more:
http://bikyamasr.com/49065/tear-gas-used-in-egypt-banned-causes-liver-heart-damage-miscarriages/
For a collection of relevant news, check out and subscribe to Sunrise Lodge’s new daily virtual “paper”:
http://paper.li/f-1321785398
In the meantime, I’m already getting questions coming in about the situation in Dahab. Well, a friend of mine lives 1km down the road from Tahrir Square on Kasr el Aini, and he’s entirely unaffected by the chaos. On the far side of the Sinai peninsula, where nobody even regularly knows (cares?) what day of the week it is, Dahab remains peaceful and tranquil, as normal. The events in Cairo have not affected us in any way, but everyone in Dahab and the Sinai is just hoping to hear that the situation in the capital has quietened rather than further escalated, and that the death toll stops its steady rise. The people of Egypt deserve their elections, they deserve their freedom and their democracy and those who join the battle for it deserve to see it come to fruition.