Travel
Words on the Egyptian Revolution (Part 1)
My visit to Egypt during a historical time (2011):
Where does it stand today? Is the Revolution over?
And when did it begin? Was it really when CNN finally renamed their daily live
transmission on Tahrir Square from Uprisings to Revolution on February 11th?
Or was it more on February 10th when Mubarak said he was not leaving and people were so upset and decided to storm the television building and government palace? That day I had the feeling the Egyptians were doing what the French did in 1789 during the French Revolution.
I remember vividly the day Mubarak resigned via his Vice President. What a relief!
Or could we talk about Revolution before that? When did it really start from January 25th-February 11th?
Tahrir square at night on the day of the referendum, March 19th, 2011
What really happened?
Here is a timeline of the most movemented 18 days in recent Egyptian history:
- January 25th (Tuesday): called “Day of Rage”or “Day of Revolt”. About 80,000 people demonstrate on Tahrir Square. It is the first day of demonstrations. People go to the N.D.P. building and the TV headquarters.Day chosen is the National Police Day. Three people are killed when police forces start usinge tear gas. Muslim Brotherhood is blamed.
- January 26th (Wednesday): police and demonstrators use rocks, sticks, fire bombs and live ammunition.
- January 27th (Thursday) – February 2d (Wednesday): internet, phone lines and Facebook are shut down. In just 4 days more than 1000 people are already injured.Mohamed El Baradi, a prostester against Mubarak’s regime, takes part in the demonstrations of January 27th.
- January 29th (Saturday): President Hosni Mubarak finally speaks: He will dismantle the old government. Omar Suleiman is now the Vice President. The N.D.P. building near Tahrir Square burns. A curfew begins.
- February 1st (Tuesday): “One Million March” on Tahir Square. The goal of the organizers is met. Even more people come to demonstrate. Second speech of Mubarak. He won’t step down but promises reforms and not to be candidate at the September elections.
- February 2d (Wednesday): violent day on Tahrir when pro-Mubarak’s people are let on the square with camels and swords. Army tanks come to the rescue.
- February 3d (Thursday): bloody revolts with gun shots.
- February 4th (Friday): called “Friday of departure”. Everyone hopes Hosni Mubarak will resign today.
- February 7th (Monday): 15 % raise on employee salaries
- February 8th (Tuesday): Tahrir Square resembles a war camp.
- February 9th (Wednesday): at least 300 deads since the beginning
- February 10th (Thursday): Mubarak third’s speech. He refuses to step down. Angry protesters marched toward the TV headquarters and Mubarak’s palace to try to find him.
- February 11th (Friday): President Mubarak resigned via his Vice President at 4:00 p.m.
One thing is sure is that the 18 days of the Egyptian Revolution were really suspenseful with each day fears for the demonstrators, uncertainty the way the army would react toward them and hope with each day going by that Mubarak would finally resign.
Tank with army men downtown Cairo end of March 2011
What was I doing in Egypt?
When I got to Egypt on March 19th I realized that for some the unrest had started well before January 2011 and for others the Revolution had just began.
So what was I doing at a time of “Revolution” in the Middle East? Yes Tunisia’s revolution was just over and calm seemed to have returned in Bahrain. But what about some of the other Arab countries? With Libya’s civil war just next door to Egypt, protests in Jordain and Yemen, demonstrations in Syria and Iran and a bombing in Jerusalem, had I lost my mind? Why going somewhere when every country was calling all of their expats back?
We had reserved our two weeks stay in Egypt already in November, so well before the unrest started. This trip had been planned for a year and with all of the effort we put into it, lots would have to happen to make us cancel it. We had found nowhere else more exciting to celebrate our special wedding anniversary than in Egypt!
Are you really going to Egypt? Are you sure it is safe to go? Should you not reschedule?
Two days before CNN called it a revolution, I decided to find out where our hotel was located in Cairo. I was stunned when I read we were staying at the Intercontinental just next to Tahrir Square. We would probably be staying where many reporters were based.
Did it still feel like a Revolution during my visit?
No.
Apparently people went back to work on February 13th and Tahrir Square has never been cleaner, according to people who live there.
Our first stop in Egypt was Cairo. Even if we had promised to our loved ones to stay away from Tahrir, downtown Cairo and the famous Kahili bazaar, when we arrived, we had to go there.
When our Egyptian friend told us we would stop in Tahrir, we could not refuse. It felt at night quite normal, busy street, beautiful with all its lights. We could not stay long due to no parking availability.
We drove downtown toward the bazaar where we had a mint tea at an outside café. We must have been the only tourists in the streets but we never felt out of place.
Empty El-Khalili bazaar in Cairo
We never saw any police. Every where we went tour guides, taxi drivers and other Egyptian we talked to all were proud to tell us that the police was gone. “But anyway, what do they do for us?”, said our tour guide in Cairo. Our taxi driver there, pointed out while in the traffic jam “Did you see there is no police?!” Our guide said that the police had been non existent for weeks and there had been no crime. “People are happy now, they know they will be heard.” Our friend also confirmed that the police were gone, showing a low profile these days.
Just want to mention one thing that made me think that not everything was back to normal when I went. There was still a curfew in Cairo end of March. It forced people to be back home by midnight. No airplane could fly before 6:00 a.m.; so our flight to Luxor had to be reschedule at the last minute from 4:50 a.m. to later in the afternoon.
Tahrir Square during daytime
Was I scared while in Egypt?
No, I never felt so safe even in the narrow streets near the market. Everywhere I went I felt welcomed.
I felt fine knowing the police forces were gone and seeing tanks here and there in the streets around Tahrir.
We had arrived at a historical time in Egypt. That day on March 19th, 2011, the
Egyptians were voting for their first amendment of their new constitution.
We observed the long queues in the streets even late at night, experienced the high traffic jam and the people hunking downtown Cairo. Everyone wanted to vote because they knew that now their voice would count.
Almost everyone voted and the referendum was accepted at 77,27%.
A mosque in Cairo near the El Khalili bazaar
But how did it feel to be in a country where fighting had started in the neighbouring land of Libya? In Egypt, on television there were more soccer matches as news on Libya. No one seemed to be worried. So we enjoy our trip. I thought I may see fighter jets or war boats while laying down on a chair on the Red Sea, but never did.
More next week on the Egyptian Revolution…..
