Despite the huge crowd in Tahrir today, I strongly believe that when it comes to Tahrir, SCAF has won this battle, and has gained a lot of ground that retracting from it is an even bigger hill to climb. Only their stupidity would dig us out of their hole, and pure luck will save us from falling into a hole that might be even darker.
Today Tahrir was different. It was articulated well by a man who stopped me while walking around the square this afternoon with my SLR. Upon asking me if I am a journalist or a hobbyist, and I indicated I was the later, he pointed me to look and see how Tahrir was different and that I should photograph the different faces in the square. He was right. I was probably one of the very few who didn't entertain a beard, was wearing pants and had a backpack (other than the few foreigners in the crowd). I was the odd one out. Never have I had that strong feeling of being excluded from the square like today.
My first impression was underground, the tunnel to the exit of the metro in Tahrir was significantly different. I would have to say that I haven't used the Talaat Harb exit in a while, and picked it out under the impression I would be clear from the platforms all set in the square. That turned out to be wrong and I ended to be entering right behind one of the stages, nothing unique about them today like every time, they were all singing the same song, Salafy Salafy Salafy (The exception was one that was not active and it is there that I claim I felt the defeat, and I will come to it later).
The tunnel was filled with more litter than usual. Empty bottles of water, paper, newspapers were all over the tunnel. People with beards and in white Galabeys, women covered in black cloth were all over the place. The vendors that were usually there selling flags and pins were present, but so was vendors selling copies of the Quran, Siwak and scents were also present for the first time, ones like those in front of the mosques at prayer-time. I made my way through the masses to the exit from the metro to meet checkpoints outside the metro. Checking in was not as thorough as usual and I entered the square. As soon as I entered I noticed people chanting Takber, and "islamiya Islamiya", a few moments and a guy asked me for water (I bumped into a friend in the metro who told me that the water bottle I had would be immediately taken in the square), and before I replied he pulled it out. I objected of his action and he shoved it back to me without drinking objecting that I was not well behaved. He didn't drink from it.
I walked in the see of people with beards and galabeya and women covered from head to toe in black. I was just after Asr and somewhere still praying. I saw a guy holding up the Saudi flag, and as I was making the sarcastic comment questioning if we have suddenly become the same country a guy came to ask him to put it down and that we are here for Egypt and only Egypt. The ground was filled with more litter than usual, probably newspapers used for prayer and water bottles all over the place. I wouldn't claim that Tahrir was always spotless, but not a littered. I walked towards the Tahrir government building and saw the huge stage that the Muslim Brotherhood had, it was bigger than any stage erected in the square before. Nothing was happening on it, and it was probably because of the prayer time. As I pasted it Elbeltagy came out chanting "Change, freedom, social justice" only to be met with Takber.
I walked around and there were still the seas of the same kind of people, and most of the banners lifted talked about the Islamic identity of Egypt and opposed the right of others to take part in this nation, which to me was against all the agreements of the day. I saw banners asking for the release of Omar Abdel-rahman, why is this even here? Where have these people come from, why have they suddenly appeared today after being away from the Tahrir since day zero, and at times against the whole revolution. Where have the other Egyptians gone? I made it around and the stage at Omar Makram entertained posters of Hazem Salah AbouIsmal and people were doing the same chant. It was really surprising that they have conquered the square. I asked myself the question, Where has the consensus gone? Where have we are all united and calling for the same things gone? How on earth am I expected to trust that people will be able to work together against the common enemy, I was feeling the SCAF members watching over and happy with what is happening. They are the only ones who would end up winning from the day.
Then came the big disappointment of the day, one that put the nail in the coffin of the revolution. A few handful of members of the 6 April movement had their backs to at the stage that they had set up chanting madaneya madaneya. Opposite them were people chanting “Islamia Islamia mosh 3ayzenhah madaneya”, in a disgusting scene. One that was really heart breaking to see. They were pushing them against the wall of the stage trying hard to be heard and people were flocking in to “defeat” them.
I found myself debating with a few people, and more came in. One of them was a mosque clerk from Qina, telling me how much push they have done to bring all these people to Tahrir. Most of them never came since Jan 25th to the square and now they want to claim that they own this country. I tried to talk with them about liberalism, and that it is freedom within the boundaries of society and that this is actually what Islam is calling for. They insisted that liberalism is total freedom and these people want to bring gays and adultery into the country and that I don’t understand liberalism. I was trying to convince them that people need to open their minds to understand things. They kept on the notion that Islam is the right way. My argument that is actually a highway that allows for diversity and differences and that people need to broaden their mind to ideas and to 1400 years of human development in many fronts. The crowd grew and thinned around me until I was left with a young man from the Muslim brotherhood and an older gentleman. They were trying to convince me that I should say that my ideologies is Islam, while I insisted that I am a liberal socialist and that I believe in the development of humans to understand new concepts that don’t go against the broad boundaries of the religion.
I decided that it is time for me to leave, I had no place in this crowd and was disappointed I took time away from family to join in this event and this is what it turned out to be. I am starting to hate the revolution that allowed such people to come out of their caves, and be in public. Although my liberal ideologies make me resist this notion, but I am finding it very difficult to stand firm against these thoughts. I need to work hard to resist going to conclusion that I should call for SCAF to hold on power and use the old regime’s approach with these groups to put them back where they were. My other thoughts was that this is probably their full size, they got all their numbers out in Tahrir square and they are about that much in the community. How big is their influence? is something to see in later events, if this nation is given another chance which seems like a weak possibility in the sense that we will not be given a chance to go to democracy.
I walked into the area of those who have camped out for weeks in front of the Tahrir government office and found it again with a different distribution of people. Some of those limited number of people that I was used to see where resting in and around the tents, but the Islamist were again all over the place. Where did they come out from and why now, what is going in their minds to come and take what a nation has paid dearly for.
The only positive of the day was as I was leaving, I went down the metro gate in front of the Tahrir office building and saw a display of photographs of the revolution. It brought memories of days I cherish that I have lived through and saw firsthand.
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