In the course of my job as a journalist, I boarded a Cairo bus from Doqqi to Tahrir Square to cover the ‘million-person demonstration’ of Friday 25 December, famously branded as the “Friday of the last opportunity”.
WATANI International
25 November 2011
In the course of my job as a journalist, I boarded a Cairo bus from Doqqi to Tahrir Square to cover the ‘million-person demonstration’ of Friday 25 December, famously branded as the “Friday of the last opportunity”.
What I encountered on the bus was a microcosm of the situation in Egyptian, of the diversity of public opinion across the land.
As we approached crowds of people heading to Tahrir, a dark-skinned woman in her thirties sitting on the front row, with typical Egyptian features and wearing a hijab veil, was obviously not happy. “The country is steadily heading towards ruin because of those people in Tahrir,” she cried. “There’s no one but thugs or religious extremists all over the land. The next step is for us to be assaulted while in the safety of our homes! Should the Military Council leave, who’s there to protect us? The Police are hardly able to defend themselves.”
A young woman in her twenties sitting right behind retorted that nothing had changed since the Revolution erupted last January. “Those in Tahrir,” she said, “are risking their lives for our sake, in order that the Military Council’s harshness should come to an end.”
“Our people are not fit for democracy,” the first woman heatedly said. “This country needs a strong man. The freedom we gained has been used for nothing better than to destroy the country and burn public offices and utilities. There will be no-one to take over the country other than the Muslim Brothers or the Salafis, then look where you’d be! As the woman that you are, you won’t be able to go out of your home. Then tell me about democracy then!”
“Till when will you frighten us with the ghost of the Islamists?” the younger woman cried. “We will not allow them to dominate this land; people are now well aware of their danger and will not be deceived any more by their show of piety.”
Here, a man in his forties intervened. “The people do not grasp what is going on. The chaos that is engulfing Egypt now is bound to ruin it. Thugs today control our streets, we are being hit by Palestinian extremists in Sinai, the US seems happy with all this since it works in her favour, and Saudi Arabia is funding the Islamists in order to abort the Revolution.”
“If the Military Council decides to leave,” a young man who sat at the back of the bus said, “who will govern the country at this crucial stage? Who will pick a new Prime Minister and who’ll be taking him to account? Who’ll do anything to rescue Egypt from the anarchy that has taken hold of the land? Especially given that all the national movements are so fragmented and can agree upon nothing. The price of all the ruin will be paid in the main by the poor Egyptian who’ll find no work, no livelihood, and no protection. We’ll face civil war and starvation.”
As the young woman continued her heated defence of the Revolution and its second wave taking place now in Tahrir, I had reached my destination and had to disembark.