My Trip To Tahrir

I had been dreaming of being in Tahrir since January 25th 2011. Well, two weeks ago, on "Self-Determination Friday" April 20th my dream became a reality and I was in Tahrir!. This is not an analytical essay, it's a simple photo essay of what I saw and felt on that day.

This is a graffiti on the wall of the American University of Cairo (AUC - my university) which overlooks Tahrir square and is on both Falki st and Mohammad Mahmoud st. It reads on the top "The Revolution

Continues".

This graffiti is on the same wall on Mohamed Mahmoud st. and it reads "Glory to the Martyrs".

This is the famous KFC truck, which happened to be in Tahrir the night before, loading more meals for the big day...

 The different banners in Tahrir in this photo were reading " the constitution is for all Egyptians" and "in loyalty to the martyrs, all against the "flool" i.e remnants of the old regime".

Tahrir was a good venue for doing business, from selling sunglasses, to ice-cream, soft drinks, seeds, pop corn and snacks to keep you entertained.

A man was holding a sign in Arabic against any person in the military or police

 holding a civil position. I didn't quite get why should we "beware of the year 2018" though...

Both signs read "Our revolution is a peaceful one against the remnants of the regime theives", "No to the remnants of the old regime, no to military rule"

 "No to the production of the old regime, No to Sahfiq and Moussa"

 There were aslo women marches, not big in size yet they made their presence felt.

 Amongst them was prominent feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawy whom I had the honor of meeting. (I'm not in the photos)

People came from different parts of Egypt, these were the ones who came form Suez.

 Tahrir was a melting pot for all walks of life and all political and religious factions, from the Liberals, Communists,  Socialists to the

Muslim Brotherhood ... and the Salafis.
The tension was felt between the factions but was not spoken.

 They all gathered in Tahrir, under different banners and flags, yet they were all there to demonstrate against the regime remnants, the continuation of the military rule and article No. 28.

We stopped at one of Cairo's oldest cafes, the Rich cafe, founded in 1908 near Talaat Harb square and the meeting place of Cairo's intellectuals. 

We saw some of the marches pass by, the liberals, the ultras, the socialists, the communists. 

I felt the MB were dominating Tahrir square and evidently all of Egypt.

 My husband got into a debate with some of the young members of the MB to try and understand why were they campaigning for Morsy. That didn't go so well.

 This was the burnt building of the head quarter of Mubarak's National Democratic Party.

Tahrir was crowded and hot on that day and it was difficult to move and stay together with my "protective" party let alone snap photos. It kind of reminded me of Hajj in Mecca. Yet it was an amazing and euphoric feeling to finally be there and be part of the marches and the chants and not just see them across the screen.  

Egypt is the throbbing heart of the Arabs and Tahrir has certainly become Egypt's heart. 

The revolutions continue!