#Tahrir Birds of Paradise

On January 27, 2012, on the memory of Rage Friday we were in a demonstration and stood to pray for our martyrs who died while praying on Qasr El Nile bridge. Swallows (what we call Birds of Paradise) started flying above us, only above us, not above the Nile, only where we stood. This was no coincidence, this species is only found in Egypt and was here since the time of our ancestors, the Ancient Egyptians. They have been called Birds of Paradise since then and until now because our ancestors used to say that these birds are a symbol of visitors of souls from the other world. That day it felt like the souls of our martyrs were actually with us, it felt like God is sending us a message of hope, telling us never to give up, never to forget them.

This happened today again in Tahrir. Just when I was about to give up, to lose hope, God sent us the souls of martyrs to remind us to keep going. Today I felt that this message was sent especially to us on the day of the meaningless verdict so God can tell us to fight for the righteous, to never give up until we reach justice. It's like their souls were asking us if we're going to give up now, if we're going to forget about them again. As the birds flew above, chants got louder and the energy got stronger. As people all chanted together one chant, something that has not happened since January 2011, the voices felt so different as if coming from deep inside. The enthusiasm increased, chants got even louder, people started jumping and dancing to the chants, hands clapped harder, drums beat stronger. As shoes were taken off for Shafiq, just like February 10, 2011 when they were taken off for Mubarak, our power could be seen, our willingness could be heard. Chants got louder and louder and the crowd got bigger and as hot as it was, we were fine with it, because we had fountains. Men climbed trees and showered us with water. God sent us a little breeze every now and then. Today after I have almost given up, I'm now full of hope that if we ever have a plan and put it to action then maybe we can really win.

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