Tahreer Square

"Time: 1409
Location: Tahreer Square, Cairo, Egypt


In a brutal show of force, the Egyptian police has shoved roughly 500 people onto the sidewalk of the infamous square. 


The three of us arrived at 10:02 this morning. We picked up a couple falafel sandwhiches before heading towards the big red Egyptian museum. In the distance, as we crossed the busy through-way, white flags popped out of nowhere. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of people flanked into the streets. I want to compare the following procession to something like a Time's Square flash-mob dancing to a Beyonce song, but it is most definitely not appropriate. We blocked circulation on all sides. To help you with the imagery, imagine protesters taking control of the Rond-Point at l'Arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs-Elysee. It didn't take long for the Egyptian police to react. They tried to block our movement and eventually contain us near a sidewalk. The group collectively reacted by sitting down. Dozens of old women with foreign passports sat down on probably the busiest street in Cairo. What an image that was. 


Again, the police reacted very quickly. Within a matter of seconds, the police were violently and forcefully funelling people from the street to the sidewalk. Women were being dragged by their hair and men were being punched in the face with walkie-talkies. Abdu had a nice experience with the roundhouse kick of an officer, while Salah's finger was almost twisted off. I saw a veiled 55 year old women, Djamila from France, get kneed in the stomach by a very high-ranking officer. It was far beyond upsetting. I just tried to get as much on tape and in photos. 


Within 15 minutes, the crowd was bloodied, some required stitches and others had broken noses, and completely barricaded. The protest continued. Our voices in solidarity with Gaza and all Palestinians were being heard louder now than ever before. The Egyptian police shut down the Sadat metro station. The Egyptian police even closed the Egyptian Museum. Inside the barricades, activists made inspiring speeches and created what was now known as "Gaza's Freedom Square".


One point to emphasize, we love Egypt. Egyptians, for the most part, have embraced our presence (honked, waved, cheered, hugged, and cried for us). And besides the fact that they have also fed and housed us, some Egyptians were protesting with us today; marching and risking much more than a few kicks to this shins. We have not forgotten that it was the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the President's Office that has fenced us from Gaza. As a fellow delegate (of Algerian origin, I might add) said today: Filasteen Ma3na, Gaza Ma3na, Masri Ma3na...

I wrote this post sitting beside Salah, in the middle of an outdoor jail cell, surrounded by hundreds of teenager policemen dressed in two layers of black clothing standing for hours under the hot sun. Since I started writing, I have used a makeshift toilet that looks more like a tent with bottles and buckets, I listened to the exuberant and raucous chanting and yelling of the French delegation, and I recalled stories from that violent morning. The sun is setting and we have made the collective decision to disperse. We will cheer one last time, wave our flags and pack up our mess. Tahir Square will forever remember what happened on December 31st 2009. 1400 foreigners arrived and forced the world to embrace the dignity and humanity of a people under siege. 


Inshallah today, we helped Gaza be free.