Cairo Update: Day 12

TV reports indicate things are peaceful in Tahrir Square today.  The hundreds of thousands that were there yesterday (see photos below), are not there today, but reporters say there is still a core group of thousands of protesters there today, many of who camp in the square all night.  As promised by the Vice President two nights ago, there was no violence against the protesters coming from the military or the police yesterday or today.  

Yesterday, everyone entering the square had to pass through several checkpoints, where military soldiers and civilian volunteers checked all bags coming in to insure there were no weapons.  The active presence of the military helped insure there was little, if any, violence inside Tahrir Square itself yesterday.  

However, I did hear reports of violent clashes outside of Tahrir Square where the military was not present.  Reporters said Pro-Mubarak forces were not allowed to enter the Square, but they came to the periphery and there was violence where they encountered anti-Mubarak protesters.  

A couple days ago, I saw a pro-Mubarak protest in our community of about 100 people.  It was peaceful with chanting and marching.  I took a video to post on this blog, but for the past couple days I haven't been able to upload anything from YouTube so I can't show it to you now.   Once I'm able to use YouTube again, I'll post that video.

For anyone interested in viewing the last video I posted on this blog, here's the link to that entry:

http://rotaryincairo.blogspot.com/2011/02/look-at-some-of-people-supporting.html

Overall, the sense was that yesterday's mass protest was fairly peaceful, particularly compared to that awful night of violence in the Square two days before.  

Many of the protesters entered the Square by way of the bridge over the Nile and had to wait in line for hours to pass through checkpoints to be searched.   

One of the TV networks showed a couple maps to give viewers a sense of where Tahrir Square is in relation to the Nile and the Egyptian Museum.  Below are the areal shots shown on TV.

From the bridge to Tahrir Square, it's about a 15 minute walk.  From Tahrir Square to the Egyptian Museum, it's about a 5-10 minute walk.  

I did not go to the Square and will not be going to the downtown area in general at this time.  Being a Western person used to be something that gave me added protection in some ways, but not now.  The treatment of journalists (see article at link below) has changed the dynamic for foreigners generally, so we will be staying in our own community, a good distance away from the downtown.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/world/middleeast/05journalists.html

I did want to say that I have always been treated well by Egyptians personally.  The everyday people here are some of the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met, even to strangers and perhaps especially to foreigners.  I was talking to one man who works at a bookstore and he was asking us if we felt safe.  We said we thought our community was safe.  He said, "You know, we would give our lives to protect you."  The 'you' he meant was referring to foreigners in general.  His comment may sound like an exaggeration, but it wasn't.  He really meant it.  My sense is that the Egyptian character includes a deep sense of honor and respect that includes protecting those who are strangers and visitors to their country.  It's like being the host of a home and making sure your guests are well-cared-for, but on a national level.  

Meanwhile, evacuations of foreigners has been in the news for the past week.  Below is one photo from CNN of some people at the airport about to leave Cairo.   Many U.S. companies, as well as non-essential U.S. Embassy employees have left, as have many people from other countries.  Of our foreign friends here, about half have left.

Meanwhile, the sun has just set here (6pm) and the curfew will begin in one hour.  Curfew hours have been extended to starting at 7pm and ending at 7am.  (Yesterday, the curfew was all day; other days the curfew has started at 3pm or 1pm or 4pm, depending on what is announced on TV.)  

The army in Tahrir Square has said that the curfew will be 'rigorously enforced' tonight.  But they have also said that they will not use force against protesters.  The protesters have been in Tahrir Square for one week now and have said they will not leave until their demands are met.  I wonder what will happen tonight after the curfew hour.   Maybe the army will just urge them to leave.  

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As a final note, I just got a call from an Egyptian man and his adult daughter who I met this past week.  They wanted to make sure my family and I feel safe and wanted us to be sure to call them if there is anything we need.  They also want us to come to dinner at their house when things settle down so they can serve us some Egyptian food.  

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Breaking news (Feb. 5, 6:30pm):  CNN just announced that the National Democratic Party leadership has resigned their roles in the ruling party.  This includes Gamal Mubarak, Hosni Mubarak's son, which means he would not be allowed to run for President in the next election under the terms of the current constitution.  

Note:  This doesn't include President Mubarak resigning his role in the National Party or his role as President.    

Tahrir Square Friday Morning (Feb. 4): So far, things are peaceful

Today, Friday, February 4,  is the "Day of Departure" Protest, meaning the day protesters hope President Mubarak will resign.

So far today,  the protests in Cairo are peaceful.   I heard there was one death in the Tahrir Square last night but don't know the details of how it happened.  But as I look at the coverage on CNN now (-- I will not be in the Square today), things are peaceful.   The army is out in large numbers and are on the periphery of Tahrir Square with the anti-Mubarak protesters on the inside of the square.  The military has set up a series of checkpoints on the periphery of the square.  The CNN reporter on the ground says there are no pro-Mubarak protesters around, though another reporter from Euronews thought there may also pro-Mubarak supporters in the Square as well, but there are no clashes right now.

Protesters had hoped there would be more than one million people demonstrating today.  There are already tens of thousands of protesters in the Square.  The announcement that the military is guarding the periphery of the Square where many of the violent clashes happened in the past two days will mean a much higher turnout of Egyptians than if there were no military presence.  Also, since there are already very big crowds, this will likely mean more people will continue to flow to the Square since, as a reporter is noting right now, there is a sense in the crowd that there is safety in numbers.

I just tuned into EuroNews which had these photos of the crow already at Tahrir Square.

It's still early in the day here (2pm) and morning prayers recently finished.  There are thousands of protesters still flowing toward Tahrir Square.

The EuroNews journalist reported he could not enter the Square because the military wouldn't let him in.  He said that government intelligence people wanted to take his camera, cell phone and passport, but that did not happen.  CNN's correspondent however was reporting from inside the square.  (Perhaps he was there overnight before the numerous military checkpoints on the periphery were set up.)

The New York Times reported that Obama is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal to have President Mubarak resign immediately.  Here's a link to that New York Times article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/world/middleeast/04diplomacy.html

President Mubarak said that if he were to resign, there would be chaos.

The new vice president said there will not be violence used against protesters, but he did urge them to go home.

Al Jazeera just reported that there are tens of thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters in the streets of Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt.  Here are photos Al Jazeera just showed from Alexandria:

Reporters in Alexandria report that those protests are peaceful too.  They report the complete absence of the pro-Mubarak forces that had, in the past day and a half, been attacking protesters with rocks leading to much fighting.

Today may be the biggest protests since this movement began a week and a half ago.  One difference is that there will be very few foreigners in the crowds and many of the images shown on TV of the crowds will be from a distance because of the backlash yesterday against journalists.  

As I continue to watch, the crowds continue to grow.  Some journalists are estimating there are already hundreds of thousands.   The reporter is talking about how the protesters have lost their sense of fear.  My impression though is that after the last couple days, fear is still very present but the courage and determination of these masses of Egyptians is greater.  

Tahrir Square on Wednesday night and Thursday (Feb. 3)

I didn't go to Tahrir Square yesterday or last night, but saw on the news that it was the site of intense violence last night, (Wednesday).   Anti-Mubarak protesters had been sleeping in Tahrir Square as a peaceful protest for the past four nights, but last night there was  violence and it was deadly.  I watched it all on three TV news stations (CNN, EuroNews and Al Jazeera's International English channel) until the wee hours of the morning.  


As you may know, the armed pro-Mubarak protesters had tried to charge into the Square on horses, camels and on foot Wednesday afternoon, which resulted in throwing of stones and hand to hand combat between the two groups.  The fighting went on for most of the night, varying in levels of intensity.   Molatov cocktails were thrown by pro-Mubarak forces, sometimes setting residential buildings on fire.


Here are a couple photos I took from the TV showing last night's and today's events at the Square:

I stayed up until the early hours of the morning watching all three news stations.  Around 2am, things looked quite ominous.  There were reports that the Pro-Mubarak forces had built barriers blocking off exits from Tahrir Square in a couple places.  At one point, there were reports that they had also shot out street nights in the area they occupied.    After the barrier was completed, around 4am, they began shooting at the protesters inside the Square.   Live coverage of this by television networks included a woman being interviewed about how two of the anti-Mubarak protesters were shot in the head.  At one point it sounded like there was machine gun fire.  There were no police officers on the scene and the military personnel present did not intervene.

There is a video of the continued violence today found at this link from CNN.com:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/03/egypt.activists.detained/index.html?hpt=T1

The army did intervene numerous times during the day on Wed., separating the groups.

EuroNews reported that the casualty count from events in Tahrir Square yesterday and today include several dead and at least 800 injured.   (The total count for those killed in the protests of the past 10 days is more than 150.)   Violence in the Square continued today off and on.   A clinic was set up near the Square to deal with the hundreds of injuries which included many bullet wounds.  
  

This morning, there was a somber and tense feel walking around our neighborhood. 

The anti-Mubarak protesters are still there in and around Tahrir Square, though at one point I heard they were pushed out of the Square by pro-Mubarak forces.  Pro-Mubarak forces are also in the area of the square.

The new turn of events today was that pro-Mubarak forces targeted journalists.  The New York Times reported at least 10 foreign journalists were detained in Cairo today and are said to be in “protective custody”.   Some journalists were injured.  Following these events, the army evacuated all journalists from the hotels surrounding Tahrir Square.  Tonight there is very little live coverage of the events in the Square tonight as compared to last night which had almost constant coverage.  




Another event that happened last night was that Egypt's newly appointed Vice President, Omar Suleiman, addressed the public on TV.  He said that all legitimate demands of the protesters had been met; then he asked the protesters to go home.  He said elections would be held no later than September and possibly in August, which he noted was less than 200 days away.  He announced the suspension of Parliament while the attacks against protesters were going on.  He also objected to foreign countries' interfering with Egypt's affairs.  Here's a photo of him from the TV giving his speech.

Meanwhile, in terms of everyday living issues, our neighborhood is getting better in terms of services.  About 40-50% of the stores on the main street are still closed, but I was pleased to see the bank was open today so I was able to withdraw more cash, just in case we need a surplus in the future.  I was able to get a new phone card so I have plenty of cell phone minutes.  The bakery that had bread lines lasting a half hour just a few days ago was now full of bread without any bread lines.   The fruit store was well-stocked and said they have no trouble getting their produce every day.  The owner and I talked about how things may be hard for some Egyptians considering issues with banks and getting weekly salaries.  He said that he would extend credit to anyone who needed it.  We're all set and don't need it, but it's good to know he is trying to help provide for others.  My sense is that many Egyptians are pulling together to help provide for each other during these challenging times.

I have heard though that some communities, such as those inhabited by refugees, are really struggling.    

Million Person March, Day 8 of Egypt's protests

Yesterday, Tuesday, February 1, was the Million Person March for protesters in Egypt.  I went to Tahrir Square to take photos.  Tahrir Square, which translates to "Liberation Square", is the hub of protests so even with no Internet access, Egyptians knew this was the place to go to protest.  

In order to enter the Square, all protesters were channeled through narrow checkpoints where there were Egyptian citizens stopping each protester, checking all bags for weapons and checking their identification (presumably to determine whether people had ID’s that showed they were police officers-- an important issue considering the violent clashes with police and protesters last Friday.)  My bag was checked as well, which I welcomed considering they were trying to protect everyone in the Square. 

There were hundreds of thousands of people in the Square when I got there, perhaps as many as a million.  I got there around 1pm.  Protests tend to start after morning prayer ends, around noon, though there are protesters in Tahrir around the clock since last Friday night.

A military captain had announced the night before that the army, which was present in the Square, would use no violence against the protesters.  This was a welcome announcement for many.  The police were reported to be resuming their duties doing security in neighborhoods around Cairo but it was said that they would have no role with regard to the protests and would not interfere with the protests.  Tahrir Square protests for the past three days had been completely peaceful, so it was expected that yesterday's protests would also be peaceful, and they were.

Here's a photo of one of the army's tanks yesterday, seen in the background.  If you click on the photo, it enlarges and you can see it has flowers displayed on top.

The army was either reserved or sometimes encouraging of the protesters.  Once when we were headed toward the Square, a soldier on one of the tanks was waving us on toward the Square.  

Though I've never heard of these protests being organized by any particular group, many Egyptians were taking it upon themselves to play various helpful roles to have things function well.  As I was walking past the Egyptian Museum, which houses priceless ancient treasures including many from King Tut's tomb, I saw a human chain of volunteers holding hands to keep protesters a good distance from the Museum.  Here are a couple photos of these volunteers in front of the Egyptian Museum.

Here's a short video I took speaking with one of the volunteers guarding the Egyptian Museum.

Here's the link to the above video if you can't view it from the blog:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItfHlyTZljE

I saw one man holding a cardboard box with an Arabic sign on it.  He was was there providing a trash receptacle for protesters.  I saw several people handing out bread to protesters.  Here’s a photo of them.

Here's a short video of them:

Here's a link to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fx8WPsFIN4

One man handed out his bag of dates to anyone passing by and offered them to me. 

I was well-received in the crowd and most people were fine with having their photo taken.  Many people asked me to take their picture.   The tone of the protests was energized and enthusiastic.   Here's a video showing some of the crowd.

Here is the link to the above video if you would rather view it there:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwU4pdDDh7w

The crowd was extremely diverse.  Here are photos of protesters:

The girl in this photo is 13 years old, attending the protest with her mother.  I have a video of her that I'll post in a later blog entry.  (It is taking a very long time to download photos... literally hours, I guess because the Internet system is so overloaded here right now.)

At each protest I've been to, there is a time when protesters stop and pray.  Here is a photo of some protesters praying.

I saw two people at the protest holding photos of their friend or family member who was killed in the past week as part of the protests.  Here's one of the photos.

I have heard on the news tonight that three have died in Tahrir Square in yesterday's horrible violence that began when pro-Mubarak forces arrived at the Square and continued well into the night with no intervention by any form of law enforcement.  One report, I think on CNN, estimated that more than 600 people were injured yesterday afternoon.

A look at some supporting Egypt's protesters

On Tuesday, Feb. 1 (the day before yesterday), when I was on the metro on my way to the Million Person March in Cairo's Tahrir Square, I met three women who were on their way to the protest.  They spoke English and told me they were political activists on their way to an office that provides support for the protesters and social justice activists in general.  They invited me to go to the office with them, so I did.

This office is walking distance to Tahrir Square.  It has existed for quite some time providing support of all kinds for Egyptians working for social change (e.g., protesters, bloggers, and those needing legal assistance because of their political activities).   The women on the metro had large backpacks with food to bring to the office.  The office also provides blankets, a place to wash up, medical care for people injured during the protests, and legal assistance to those who are detained.

I took several videos in the office and will be posting them over the next couple days.

Here's a video of my interview with a gentleman from this office.

If you have trouble viewing the video above, you can also find it at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjoZSUASz4

Violence in Tahrir Square in Cairo

I was at Tahrir Square in Cairo yesterday, February 1.  Tahrir Square is the site of the 'Million Person March'.  I saw hundreds of thousands of people there, maybe a million, seeking the resignation of President Mubarak.  

This was the third and by far the largest of the anti-Mubarak protests I have witnessed in person.  The protest was completely peaceful with every effort to insure that things stay peaceful.  There were checkpoints to enter Tahrir Square, where the protest was held, with civilians checking ID's and searching bags to insure no weapons were brought into the square.   

Unfortunately, as I write this blog, there is horrible violence happening in Tahrir Square that I am watching live on Al Jazeera's English station, CNN, and Euronews.  The thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters still in the square (many of whom had stayed there all night) were met by groups of "pro-Mubarak" protesters coming from different points to the square at the same time, some of whom news reports said came armed with rocks and steel bars.  

CNN showed a video of pro-Mubarak forces charging into the square on horses and camels.  The CNN video showed a couple of the riders were pulled off and beaten by the anti-Mubarak protesters.  Euronews reported that pro-Mubarak forces on the tops of buildings were throwing cinder blocks off the tops of buildings down on protesters below.  Al Jazeera said furniture was being thrown off the rooftops.  

The reporter just said she saw a couple men from the pro-Mubarak forces grab one of protesters in Tahrir Square and drag him to a place next to a military tank where they beat him severely.  The reporter said that though the tank was right there, the military did not intervene.   

Some of the pro-Mubarak forces broke windows on a few of the army vehicles and climbed in to try to drive into the square.  

EuroNews and Al Jazeera news reported it was suspected that security forces were involved with the pro-Mubarak forces.  Reporters commented that the violent events in Tahrir Square this afternoon seemed well-orchestrated with pro-Mubarak forces all coming toward the square at once from different directions and people already positioned on rooftops.    One CNN reporter just said that some of the pro-Mubarak protesters were carrying police ID's.

There have been small pro-Mubarak demonstrations happening periodically both in Cairo and elsewhere (-- I saw one in Alexandria on the news last night after President Mubarak's speech).   Jeff, Cameron and I saw a pro-Mubarak demonstration in Maadi earlier today composed of about 100 people marching through the street chanting.  It was peaceful.  It was nothing like the violence unleashed in Tahrir Square today. 

It was reported that a clinic was set up near Tahrir Square for the many people injured this afternoon.  It was described by one CNN reporter as a melee.

It's all very sad.  The death toll even before today was up to 150 since protests began last Tuesday.   CNN just reported there were more than 400 people injured this afternoon in the square.

Another mass anti-Mubarak demonstration was planned for this Friday.  The CNN reporter just said that the anti-Mubarak protesters still in Tahrir Square are saying they will stay there until they die if needed, waiting for  President Mubarak to resign.

Demonstrations in Egypt

Yesterday was a national holiday in Egypt, Police Day.  Since Cameron had the day off from school, we took the opportunity to visit Alexandria, a 2 and 1/2 hour train ride from Cairo.  We heard there were likely to be demonstrations in Alexandria, which has been a hub for protests in recent weeks, so I was not that surprised to get a call from Jeff that a large chanting protest had just passed by on the street headed toward the Alexandria Library, where Cameron and I were.   Cameron wanted to see what was going on.  Here he is asking Jeff for all the details:

We followed the demonstration for a little while.  It looked to me like there were 5,000-10,000 people.  The protesters were yelling chants, but I saw no aggressive conduct from them.  The crowd was diverse:  many young people but also well-dressed middle-aged people, some chanting loudly, others just walking.  Here are some photos I took.

I had to leave the demonstration for an appointment but Cameron and Jeff kept watching.  They said at one point they saw about 300 police with riot gear run toward the protesters.  They didn't see what happened after that.  As far as I know, there wasn't tear gas or rubber bullets used by the police at the Alexandria demonstration, though newspapers reported this did happen in Cairo. 

I found this video online of police and protesters in Alexandria yesterday and I think this must be part of what Jeff and Cameron saw since they said this was in the area of the Cornish (which means the street and walkways next to the water-- in Alexandria, the body of water is the Mediteranean Sea).  I see this video is taken at the Cornish:

I found several videos online of the protests in Cairo yesterday.  One video shows a large police vehicle coming down the road with a water hose and the reaction of the protesters.  The video is the last one in the CNN article at the following link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/26/egypt.protests/index.html

Here is a link to an article that tells more about the protests:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/world/middleeast/27egypt.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Here are links to two YouTube video from Al Jazerra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2VsGQpNnqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIMu2sl7q24

Here's a link to a video that shows the number of people at the Cairo protests.  It's called Demonstrations in Egypt Protests in Egypt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dt8L0A913g&NR=1

The article from the above link notes that more than 800 people were arrested in protests in Cairo.  Here is an audio tape of a reporter from the UK Guardian who was arrested along with dozens of others and reported from his cell phone:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2011/jan/26/egypt-violence-jack-shenker-arrest-audio

Yesterday newspapers reported that two protesters died in the Egyptian city of Suez.  Newspaper accounts said one died of respiratory problems after exposure to tear gas and the other died from being hit by a rock.  One police officer died in Cairo from being hit by a rock.  I don't know anything about the police officer who died, but many of the police officers are very young men who are doing their mandatory military service.

Here's a link to a New York Times article that discusses how 6 Egyptians have set themselves on fire in recent weeks as a form of protest.  
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html
I heard one was last night in Cairo.  At least a couple of these people have died.

On a personal note, for those of you who may be concerned about our family, I don't think you need to worry.  Cairo is a very big city and we live far away from the downtown area where all these videos were taken.