الجمعة مطلب واحد

The Friday of One Demand, and the Events that Followed.

Friday, November 18, 2011

In response to constitutional amendments that allowed for ultimate military-say in decisions made in the future under the regime, protesters set up tents and stages in Tahrir, preparing for what would be known as “The Friday of One Demand”. Friday afternoon, Derrik, Greg, and I walked to Tahrir Square to observe what would become a weeklong, possibly longer, million-man-march, in which over 30 people would die, and over 1,000 would be injured. (These numbers are based on figures updated as of Friday, November 25, 2011.) Naturally, it wouldn’t be the authentic Egyptian experience without a creepy encounter of sorts.

Nearing in on the Square, we were intercepted by a local man that somehow managed to transition from “You should not go to the Square, it is dangerous” to “Come to my shop, just for a little bit” seamlessly, and of course, in typical confused foreigner fashion, we followed (you’d think we would learn not to do this by now – silly Americans). While we sat across from the owner, who kept referring to me as “sister”, his co-creeper entered and the bizarre sales pitch began. The second worker began pulling out every perfume while the other mantric-ly chanted: “let my sister smell it.” Okay, first off fool, we ARE NOT related. Secondly, telling me that this perfume “makes the boys very horny” is not going to make me wanna buy it two seconds before I walk into the Million Man March of the Horny Sausage Fest. And then they outdid themselves. With straight faces, they proceeded to tell my male friends that the “Secret of the Desert” scent is the equivalent of “American Viagra – you feel like horse after hour” – also a very useful buy for boys  walking into the largest crossing of swords in history just a few yards away. Clearly these guys are born salesmen.

After that joyful encounter, we headed to the Square. Mistakenly, we thought the hundreds of people walking away from the square meant there’d be extra space through which to walk – again, silly Americans. The moment we hit the square, hoards of people were in a constant movement throughout the square. We first encountered a large procession carrying a large flag. I felt like I did at the first protest on September 9^th that I ever attended. The resilience and fight in the Egyptian, and Arab, people is… awe-inspiring. The sheer strength of a people who constantly return to be beaten, literally and metaphorically, by their government and military, only to retaliate harder than before, is overwhelmingly inexplicable. As we walked through the crowd  – and after being unavoidably groped by a “protestor for freedom”, who just managed to escape me slapping him in his efforts to take power away from the military – I caught sight of a small, ten to twelve year old standing atop a light post, waving a flag as the sun set behind him and his silhouette stood high above the square. It was incredibly, empowering, a symbol of the fire lit underneath the Egyptian people, regardless of age, gender, condition, all personal interests put aside to fight for a better country for everyone. Even more astonishing, atop the Muslim Brotherhood stage was a small boy, no older than seven years old, yelling into the microphone, condemning the military and SCAF, leading the people in chants for freedom and change. Mesmerized, I walked away from Greg and Derrik, and stood in front of the stage, eyes trained on the young boy, only lifting to watch the other standing on the light post, amazed at the spirit in the crowd, the power in the boy’s voice, his anger with the wrongs done to his country.

Child Protestor

"Friday of One Demand- Only"

Child Atop the Post

Mosque Next to Tahrir Square

We spent the remainder of our time walking around, taking pictures, and waiting for the sun to set completely, at which time, an encompassing silence fell on the protestors, as the call to prayer began to resound throughout the square. Though not the scene I quite imagined, I watched as groups of men set out sheets of newspaper, and kneeled to pray, the ultimate scene of peace before what would become a week of violence and confusion in Tahrir, resulting in around 41 deaths, the use of an unknown type of tear gas, Tantawi’s reverse psychology speech (in his appeal to viewers from home to vote for the comfort of traditional security and rule), and the ultimate arrest of three friends.

As I write this, elections are less than 24 hours away, now to be spread over three, two-day phases, and the fear of evacuation has never been more real.

Based on tweets online, in the past week, an American was turned in to the authorities (though shortly released) by a cab driver, after SCAF gave all civilians the power of arrest. Though I’m certain that this has now become an availability heuristic to all of us foreigners, I still think of this incident every time I get in a cab, regardless of how unlikely it is.

This past past Monday night, Greg, Derrik, and Luke Gates went to Tahrir Square. I was going to go with them, and decided to back out. They were arrested, under the charges of allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at policemen. The State News showed a video of the three of them standing against a white wall, Luke and Derrik holding Molotov cocktails, and Greg’s chin being lifted by an unseen figure, presumably an Egyptian officer. Throughout the week, all of us attempted to piece together what happened that night, despite the evolving stories presented in the news, that became evermore sensational and crowded with ridiculous, unwarranted statements made from the Sweeney family. It’s safe to say all of us received a firsthand, confirming lesson in the unreliability of news today, and its disappointing to see how easily and naively people, specifically the American population, will take what is written at face value. To believe that the three students, none over the age of 21, were capable of not only making Molotov cocktails, but then using them against the Egyptian people in a battle that was not theirs. We also witnessed the lesson that our parents and other adults often preach, much to our disdain and rolling eyes: be careful what you post online. Derrik’s friends, much smarter than his family (not to be pointed and judgmental, but should I ever end up in a similar situation as Derrik, I would be furious with my family for presenting myself and our family in the media the way they did) took his facebook down, and the majority of Greg’s information was protected in his facebook privacy, but Luke’s damning statements made on a Twitter account, about wanting to die in Egypt, sounding little more than an attention-starved kid threatening misunderstood suicide, was proof enough that nothing you say on the internet is safe from being used against you. Another lesson learned, is that despite the seriousness of your situation, people around you will just as easily use your circumstances for their pathetic fifteen minutes of fame. Yes, I am referencing specifically to Abdallah Elsayed, Assil Dayri, and Drew Harper. The first posted a long note on facebook, which, meant to be somewhat redeeming for the three boys, ended up incriminating himself for being the reason the boys, or at least Luke, went in the square, after expressing no desire to do so. He also attempted to glorify his own importance in the entire situation, and in the end, came off looking like more of an ignorant fool than usual with his various facebook activities. Assil, as I am to understand, in giving an interview completely unnecessary in the ordeal, gave a false statement, and Drew, stating that which the rest of us were already speculating upon and saying nothing someone with any bit of intelligence wouldn't be able to deduce from the situation claimed to be the friend of all three boys, one of whom he probably couldn’t identify at a small gathering if you asked him to. Needless to say, this past week, I was fighting with a mixture of worry and frustration for the three students and with people, in general. Perhaps my judgment on them is harsh and unwarranted, but I will continue believing that the three of them should just keep their mouths shut in the future.

Upon hearing of the boys’ expected release during our Thanksgiving dinner, all of us were relieved and happy to hear the news. As of now, we’re just all curious an extremely eager to hear their stories, albeit the ridiculous news stories.

The following is a link to the story of their return home. Funnily enough, it illustrates well how the entire time period lapsed, in terms of reaction and media attention given by each family.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/11/26/world/middleeast/AP-US-Egypt-American-Students.html?_r=2&ref=world&fb_source=message

The following is a video of the child protester.