The Other Side of Me

Crawling Friday, February 11th, 2011, later turned into Resignation Friday (11.02.2011, yes that's how cool our revolution is). I don't know where to start, should I start from the moment Omar Soliman announced Mubarak's resignation? Should I start from how my day started today? Should I start from the day the January 25th event was created? Should I start from the moment that I believed we can do it? Should I start from the moment Tunisians were able to overthrow Ben Ali? Should I start from the moment I started writing my Egypt: Now and Then series (that I never got to finish), wondering if Egyptians will ever revolt? I have no idea where to start, or how to start. But since today's post is the most important, and since I witnessed a lot more than some have, I'll try to keep this organized as possible. I woke to find a protest by Maspero, another by the presidential palace, another in Tahrir, and another by the parliament. And this is only Cairo, there were huge...

Thursday, February 10th, 2011 Since the day I was born, Egyptians were always proud of their past. They were proud of Ancient Egypt, Coptic and Islamic civilizations. They were proud of our flourished culture, our many colonies, our well educated Egyptians during the time of Mohamed Ali Pasha. They were proud of Ahmed Oraby, Mostafa Kamel and Saad Zaghloul. They were proud of the 1952 revolution and the many achievements of Gamal Abd El Nasser (that Mubarak and his gang sold). They were proud of the October 6 th war with Israel. They were proud of many things in the past, but were they proud of anything in their present, except maybe for winning the African Football Cup.  But this has all changed since January 25 th when we changed history with our own hands, when we made the whole world look at us with respect, when we used our mighty power. When we made a very civilized revolution, 100% peaceful, very well organized, very pure, with no internal or external agendas, with a gre...

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011   This revolution has changed people, they have changed their lives. It has made them think differently, it has made them react with dignity to everything, it has made them think more positively, it has given them the power to say NO loudly. And so: Today, protests and strikes were all over the country. The revolution was always all over the country, but today everyone protested and striked at work. I couldn't even remember all the names of the cities and firms that had protests today. I don't even think that there was one city across Egypt that didn't have a protest today. The streets were closed everywhere because of the protests, so I was unable to go to Tahrir, but the numbers are huge there. The cabinet meeting even had to move because of the protests. Yesterday Omar Soliman has said that it's either a dialogue and people accept to wait, or a military coup. People shut him up by protesting everywhere. Today he came again saying tha...

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 There was no place to set foot in Tahrir today, at least 3 million in there. Not only this, they got into the streets around them too. Not only this, tens of thousands are surrounding the parliament and the cabinet office. Not only this, many many workers at firms and syndicates protested; Ahram, Rose El Youssef, Telephone company in Ramsis, Sigma Medical Company, syndicate of workers, syndicate of journalists, Staff of Cairo University, God I can’t even remember what else. It’s been AMAZING Cairo was all protesting.  Not only this, but the revolution was vibrating the streets across Egypt; a million in Alex, Suez, Sohag, Bany Swaif, Ismaeleya, Aswan, Areesh, Damietta, Kharga,  Mansoura, Luxor. Never was the number of protesters that huge. Let the Obama administration say whatever it wants, let the MB make any deals they wish. It’s US, yes us who’ll bring change. Today was simply the best day of Egypt’s long long life. Everyday this week, proves th...

Monday, February 7th, 2011 Things are starting to slow down from the government’s side. The revolutionaries can still bring two million to the square, and of course this is only Cairo. We by now have understood that it might take a while before Mubarak leaves, but that doesn’t matter, we will wait and we will get what we want. We’re winning every day; we win compromises from the government and win more people on our side and that’s good enough to keep us strong and resilient. Mubarak and his regime planned to keep everyone busy with going to work, but of course they were too stupid to do anything right. People started protesting and striking at work today. Tahrir today had almost no MB, but still the numbers were in hundreds of thousands. They've proved that the revolution has nothing to do with them, and will go on whether they're going to be part of it or not, so thanks to them. They've shown their real side, no more acting, so again they should be thanked for letti...

Sunday, February 6th, 2011 My Egyptologist cousin has always told us that all Egyptian temples had these words carved on their walls: "Egypt is filled with life and power".... Today Egypt was back to life, all works were open, most of the shops were open again. Streets were very busy again, people left their hiding places at home and went back to the streets. Tahrir and other squares today were filled with life and power. The fact that Egypt was back to life didn't stop anyone from revolting. Tahrir was filled with life, everyone was talking, chanting, laughing, singing, praying, everyone was full of life. It was filled with power, people knew how strong they are, people were serious, they were resilient, they were powerful. Today was the first million man march this week, and even though people had to go to work, there more than a million in the squares.  Chants were as loud as ever, the whole square chanted together, the sound vibrated the ground. There was a katb k...

Saturday, February 5th, 2011 (Resistance Week) Today has started with just a few hundreds in Tharir and other squares in Egypt. It was scary in the morning, the numbers have never been that low ever since the revolution started. But as the Day went on, the numbers have increased again.By midday, they were a few hundreds thousands again. I went at around 1:00; search points moved a little since the numbers weren't as many as they were yesterday. It started raining, everyone was very happy, didn't mind getting wet and started to pray. Today there were also many Solidarity protests all over the world. Meanwhile in Egypt, some army officer came and asked people to go back home, they answered by chanting that they will not leave unless Mubarak leaves. So the officer just left. The army is being too neutral! Tanks decided to move today, to decrease the revolutionaries' space. They reacted by lying in front of the tanks to stop them from moving. There was an explosion in the lin...

Departure Friday, February 4th, 2011 (only a name)  I started my day filled with optimism, although the first piece of news I heard was that state TV spread rumors that Revolutionaries are leaving the squares today. I was filled with optimism because minutes later, I got to know that yesterday's sit-ins were bigger than any other day's. That even though it was still early, the numbers were increasing very quickly. Mubarak didn't leave today, but I'm still filled with optimism and positivity, I know he'll be leaving very soon. I know we're stronger than him, I'm sure that belief is stronger than any weapon. And I'm so proud to say "we", I'm so proud to be part of all this. Muslim Brotherhood said that they have no intentions for running for presidency, that they want a secular government and that they aren't trying to ride any waves. I'm starting to respect them. They're also the ones who organize all the searching at the entr...

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011 And the massacre is still going in Tahrir. Shafiq came out today and apologized for what happened, and is still happening, in Tahrir. He said he had no idea about this and that whoever is responsible for it will be punished. Meanwhile, people were still being killed. Thugs took all food and medicine at the entrances and threw them in the Nile. Then he said he's ready for a dialogue with the opposition. Baradei and Muslim Brotherhood said that they will not have a dialogue with any government representative. Shafiq has made a press conference after his speech and talked as if the only thing that happened was that Mubarak's supporters went to demonstrate, and those against him were already there. The only wrong thing that happened was that both protests were left to meet. He talked as if the numbers are equal, and that there were no thugs, no violence, no weapons, just two equally peaceful protests. I wonder if he really thinks anyone believes him! ...

Black Wednesday, The Camel Battle February 2nd, 2011 Today was a black day, full of blood, full of loss. Today was one bad bad day for the revolutionaries Today, Egypt went back to the time when people fought on the backs of horses, using swords and arrows. Today was a disgrace. It all started because of Mubarak's speech. The speech that made many people "forgive" him. I went to Tahrir today, after I spent a night full of regret for falling for rumors and not going yesterday. I'll start from the very beginning so I don't forget anything. The day has started with thousands still protesting in the squares of Egypt. Of course the numbers looked very few after yesterday's millions. There were news about pro-Mubarak demonstrations (very few numbers) all over the country and are getting close to the pro-democracy sit-ins. Of course, state TV showed these demonstrators and said that these are the real Egyptians who love their president. I was really hopin...

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011: the million man march day A new month and a new hope; if anyone hasn't considered this to be a revolution yet, then they did today. Because simply, today was the day of the million revolutionaries. Not just one million; Tahrir had at least two millions, Alexandria had more than a million, and all other cities had huge protests. Very huge ones. Egypt was full of hope, full of life, full of power today. Egypt had a festival for freedom today. More than a million, from all walks of life, were together in one place today, and no one was pick-pocketed , no one was sexually harassed, no fights were started. It was totally peaceful, filled with resilience, optimism, smiles, and even jokes. This isn't ending in any way before the regime and its head falls, today made everybody sure of this. Our revolution will go on until it wins. CNN described our revolution as unprecedented and epic, and in Tahrir, they put up a stage today, singers sang songs about Egy...

Monday, January  31st, 2011 And the protests continue, and are bigger than any other day, in Tahrir square and all squares across Egypt that will liberate us soon. They’re not only protesting, but also cleaning the streets, how civilized, the scene makes me feel so proud to be an Egyptian. It doesn’t feel right to stay at home, especially after I went to the Rage Friday protest. But since I live in Heliopolis, and near Mubarak’s residence, I’m not sure if I can go anywhere. Protesters are planning million man marches in Cairo, Alexandria and all other cities that have enough population to bring one million to the streets. I plan to go tomorrow, hope it’s possible. And again, no internet, no SMSs, but the armed forces keep sending us SMSs. They ask people not to defy the curfew, tell them not to worry, that they’ll never turn brutal. I really hope so; I have to say these SMSs are giving me a lot of hope. Mubarak told Shafiq to start a dialogue with the opposition. I don’t know wh...

Sunday, 30th, January, 2011 I’ve spent the safest night of my life yesterday; our neighbors did an amazing job, a lot better than the police. We heard gunfire three times in our street; looters came three times and were shooed by shooting into the air. It was scary to hear gunfire every thirty minutes in the neighboring streets, and of course to hear it right below our window, but you get used to it. The military has finally brought more soldiers to the streets last night and they helped the people’s committees to protect their neighborhoods.  All the thugs that were arrested yesterday will be prosecuted in military courts and of course most of them were police without uniforms. There were many protests in solidarity with us today all around the world. Here in Egypt, demonstrations continued in Tahrir square, where many spent the night, in front of Qa’ed Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria, (Qa’ed Ibrahim is Ibrahim Pasha , son of Mohamed Ali Pasha). There were other demonstrations in ...

Saturday, 29th of January, 2011 What I have seen. I was on the streets of Cairo at 7:30 am today trying to make my way from Mohandeseen to Heliopolis through the ring road! I passed by Habib El Adly’s residence in Mohandeseen, there is always at least two police cars there, but today there was not even one policeman by his house. Neither were they guarding the banks, or any other thing.  I have only seen five policemen on my way, they were all guarding Police buildings. The police has completely disappeared from the streets of Cairo! The ring road had burned tires, burned cars, a burned bus, even part of the fence was burned.  Carrefour was broken into, looters are stealing everything they could find there as we passed by it. A bus had stopped there to let looters go in and steal whatever they can.  It was later vandalized and burned. Military cars and tanks were waiting by el Nasb El Teskary in Nasr City. The Nasr City police department is CLOSED, yes closed. Policemen ...