Sunday, February 20, 2011

Why didn’t I find the Tahrir I knew?



Last Friday the 18th of Feb was what was called Victory Friday. I was really eager to go back to the land of liberation. The place I consider was the nursery of our baby freedom. I was eager to see the faces I used to see around there everyday of the protests. I was eager to get involved again in this amazing culture that was present in Tahrir.

I can say that unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed. This was NOT the Tahrir I knew.

The Tahrir I knew was full of positive energy. The eagerness to do something for the wellbeing of the country. The endless determination that I have never ever witnessed in Egypt. But what I saw was a lot different.

One of the most important things I liked in Tahrir was the feeling of safety I felt inside the square due to various reasons; the large amount of security checkpoints, the feeling that everyone around me is here for the same reason I am so we were one.  But on Friday that wasn’t the case, the security was minimum at least so it was really easy for anyone to get in, and of course there was a whole new segment of people that didn’t exist in the square before.

What happened on Friday was what I like to call “هفلطة”. Or what a friend of mine called “مولد سيدي التحرير”. In my opinion the decision of doing a party inside the square was not the wisest decision.

I was actually happy about only two things of what happened on Friday. I was happy to hear such an amazing Goma’a preach by Dr. Yusuf Al-Karadawy and the second thing was that if we really called for any kind of protests no one would hesitate what so ever. People are now more encouraged and more willing to push that extra mile to get what they want.

One of the things I didn’t like was the absence of the decency in human interactions. Before, If you wanted to get out of Tahrir just walk behind a girl and you’ll be out of there in a second because everyone made space for girls to walk through, it was like a human torpedoes. Last Friday, I was there with my two sisters and it was disastrous, I had to push and push and push just to get out of the square. It took us about 30 minutes and a lot of punched people to get out of there.

I am with reassembling the people every Friday to keep asking for demands and regenerate the positive energy that was exquisitely expressed in the 18 days of the revolution. And THE REVOLUTION IS NOT OVER. MANY PARTS OF THE REGIME STILL STAND. WE SHOULD NOT GIVE UP EASILY.

I ask anyone who is responsible for organizing things in Tahrir or knows someone who does. Please deliver the message that it was a great initiative to celebrate a part of the victory in the place where it took place and I appreciate it. But please let’s not do it again..

I am sorry if my thoughts were not well organized that post. 


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