Protest Blogs

Tuesday
January 25th, 2010
Police Force Day (Holiday)

10:00AM
A mass protest has been planned in Egypt for the last week to protest the Mubarak regime. It is a Tunisia-inspired protest to tell Mubarak to step down from his post as President of Egypt – a title he has held through many rigged elections for over 29 years. The movement has started among young people on Facebook. The Facebook event page dubbed the “Day of Rage against corruption, unemployment, XXXX, and XXXX has over 90,000 confirmations and growing and has over 20,000 maybes and another million yet to respond. We don’t know what to fully expect today. However they are calling for demonstrations in all cities around Egypt and specific areas of Cairo including Shoubra, Cairo University, the Street of the Islamic Universities and others with a planned march on Tahrir Square in the heart of downtown Cairo. The square translates to “Liberation Square” (Medan Tahrir) and was so named in commemoration of the emancipation from British colonial influence.

2:00PM
The protests have largely just started and I have American friends in attendance gathering in Dokki and Mohandasin and the news is reporting on large groups in Shoubra and other parts of Cairo as well as in other Egyptian cities such as Alexandria, Suez, and Ismailia. People are merely gathering and no “marches” per se have begun.

4:00PM
The marches are well on their way and police have been out in the cities and areas since the morning placing up road blocks. The protest marches are reaching road blocks now but things seem to be remaining peaceful and calm as protests shout, carry signs and chant. They have been stopping at regular prayer times (Muslims have 5 prayer times throughout the day and the protesters just stop, drop to their knees in the streets and pray.
8:00PM
The protesters have broken through nearly all roadblocks in Cairo and are assembling en masse in Tahrir Square. The protest organizers have a man on facebook at all times keeping everyone updated, Twitter has proven useful in gathering information in areas where camera and TV crews are not present and the protests have gained much momentum in other cities as well. A while back the police started gathering in Tahrir Square as well in what has been described as a tense but stable standoff. A few protesters have gotten into small altercations with police, but the reports are that mob mentality has not set in yet and that other protesters quickly shut down any protester tipping the scales of peace. It is a good day, a good showing and inspiring. However we have all been shocked that this has been allowed to continue by Mubarak hours and hours into the day because he is notorious for shutting down any dissent quickly.

1:00AM
My roommate Hassan is in Alexandria since Monday and has no access to the internet here. I have been keeping him updated constantly throughout the night and letting him know what has been going on with the internet reports as the TV reports are scarce and mostly just copy and past twitter reports as there are limited camera crews in parts of Tahrir. But all reports are that cameras are being confiscated quickly by police even as videos emerge steadily on YouTube and Facebook. Just hours ago the police have started releasing tear gas on protesters and firing rubber bullets into the crowd. The only death reported so far in Cairo is that of a policeman recently in Tahrir who was hit in the head with a rock thrown by a protester. We are receiving unconfirmed reports that two protesters have died in the port city of Suez in the north of Egypt. Many people have video streams appearing online from balconies overlooking Tahrir square and the sounds of semi-automatic and automatice gunfire ring into the night. Fires rage in Tahrir as police cars are being set on fire and police are grabbing and dragging away protesters to arrest them in droves. The people are dispersed momentarily by the hail of rubber bullets and tear gas but quickly push police back as they re-group the greatly outnumbered police force. The people say they will not give up Tahrir. Local restaurants are feeding the people and local residents are showering down blankets and warm clothing into the crowds. It is tense, dangerous and scary. Reports abound of police unleashing “thugs” on the crowds. Some say these are just street thugs paid by police, others claim these are released prisoners but all reports indicate their role is to infiltrate the protests, and create a violent atmosphere that can then be blamed on the protesters. The protesters are quickly identifying these men and violence between this is swift. This will not end soon. Police have set up heavy guard around the Mogaama – the monstrous government building in the square that houses the 20,000 employees of the Interior Ministry responsible among other things for running the police and security forces. The anger is pointed out this Ministry as the people are tired of violence against them by police and security and they are losing their fear to say so out loud. It has become apparent that the protests may continue and that they may be described as riots in the near future.





Wednesday
January 26th
2nd day of protests

1:00PM
I just woke up and have been checking the news. The protesters had dwindled overnight and had been pushed back in the morning. The protesters talk of wanting to re-take it. However the protests are much smaller today and in some cities are much much smaller. The only city with an increase in reported protests has been Suez. Suez are Egyptian working class and are tough people by all reports I have from Egyptians. There has been much violence In the city today and tear gas and rubber bullets have been reported all over the city since early hours. The crowds refuse to give in and it seems with every push from police – the people grow in number and push back harder. The police forces in all cities are outnumbered and battered with many reported injured.
Injured protesters showing up in hospitals for treatment have allegedly been arrested as suspected protesters. After all protests in Egypt are illegal in Egypt under the emergency law that was established when Mubarak came to power and has stretched for the entirety of his presidency. This is one of the many things the people are calling for. To be specific the protesters are calling for:
• Mubarak to end the emergency law in place that gives him and police nearly limitless power
• A complete sacking of the Parliament whose elections last year were fraught with fraud and illegitimacy
• Releasing of long-held political prisoners who have seen no charges and had no trial
• The sacking of the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister
• Mubarak to step down and for free and fair elections to take place in Egypt

5:00PM
Many less protesters on the streets but they have managed to re-take Tahrir Square. Facebook has been rumored to be shutting off soon and many people claim it already is – but I have had no problems with Facebook at this time. Facebook is the main organizing tool for protesters.
A new Facebook page was just recently posted calling for Friday to be the planned “follow-up” to Tuesday and termed once again he “Day of Rage”. Fridays are a significant day in Egypt and very smart day to hold a protest for many reasons. The main reason is that it is the first day of the weekend here so the vast majority of Egyptians including workers and students have the day off. The second reason is that Fridays are the day that Muslims go to pray at the mosques similar to a Sunday in a Christian country. The population is over 85% Muslim. Prayer times in all parts of the country happen at a set time for a set period of time so everyone will be leaving the many many mosques around Egypt simultaneously in groups. This should facilitate protests easily. There are doubts around campus as to whether or not Friday will happen or fizzle out. We expect that Mubarak would have shut these protests down with a heavy hand already. There has been no official word from the University and the University is operating as normal running trips around Egypt and Cairo for international students and new students against the avid protests of RAs (which I am now one of) who have implored the University to use restraint and better judgment to not take a bunch of white kids out into the middle of Cairo protests. We shall see.
9:30PM
Protests have remained all day as students stay glued to the TVs in the dorm common areas. No panic has yet set in – it is a testament to the frame of mind that most of us find ourselves in – surprised that protests have lasted and wondering when they will be shut down firmly and finally by the autocratic and power-hungry Mubarak regime. Tear gas and rubber bullets still continue to fly – however reports from Suez indicate live bullets may be being used and more people have died there today. Alexandria has seen its first deaths and Cairo has seen its first deaths of protesters today as well. However the protesters have failed to take Tahrir and have turned to Ramses station instead. I have just returned from Tahrir square and was utterly disappointed. I found a nice rooftop area of the AUC downtown campus to look into Tahrir –but as I mentioned the protesters never showed although I walked by rows of riot police. The police after all are just doing a job and following orders and I do not sense true animosity among them. I stopped into a small café and watched TV with about 7 police officers today and talked to them about the protests and what to expect. They seem optimistic about the smaller numbers and lack of protesters in Tahrir.
12:00 AM
Protests have mostly fizzled out under low numbers and heavy and brutal police tactics in all cities except Suez where the fighting and violence on both sides has been quickly increasing. The university had not trips planned for tonight – but trips are still planned for tomorrow night and against our continued protests – the University has announced that the trips will continue as normal as the administration fully expects the protests to fizzle out and die a natural death soon.






Thursday
January 27th
Day 3 of Protests

9:00AM
I have awoken early to man the Residence Life table to peddle more trips as Americans pour into the office to sign up for trips. Administration is firmly not budging on cancelling or postponing trips and events planned around Cairo. News is slow to come in this early as no protests have really started before the 2:00pm hour for the first two days.
3:00PM
The protests have restarted in all parts of Cairo including the hot spots of Alexandria and Suez as well as Cairo. Reports are that they have restarted in smaller numbers in Aswan, Ismailia, Asuit and Tanta as well. There is a trip leaving as 7:00pm tonight and I have made MANY angry calls to my bosses that the RA chaperones for this trip are boycotting the event and will NOT be leading students to them. We will see if these ploys fall on deaf ears or not.
7:00PM
The event was finally postponed at 6:00PM today and although Cairo is relatively quiet – Suez and Alexandria are becoming increasingly violent. Many more dead in Suez and Alexandria today and Suez is burning. They have set the police and fire stations on fire and tens dead on both sides. I know this number doesn’t sound inordinately large – but it is sad to see peaceful protests turning to bloodshed.
Due to my alleged trip I have been forced to stay put in the dorms – which honestly is probably the safest place for me.
1:00AM
Suez is still a central fighting and resistance point for protests today however Alexandria has increased its influence today seeing buildings set alight – multiple police vehicles torched and more dead. The prayers have continued as well. Protesters stop, kneel and pray. As a testament to the solidarity of the religion – when the protesters kneel to pray, Christians surround them to protect them and the police cease firing all weapons until the worshippers rise to their feet when all bets are off again and rocks, rubber bullets and tear gas begin to fly through the air again. I have been impressed at the unity these protests have promulgated and the respect for prayer that can be seen. Twitter went down this afternoon, Facebook followed around 7pm. The internet itself was completely turned off by midnight and text messages, BBM, phone messaging applications and mobile internet has gone down.

Friday
January 28th
Day of Rage 2 (fourth day of protests)

10:00AM
I just spoke with two of my friends on the phone and by 9:30 mobile phone service was completely turned off. The government is trying to make sure the protesters have ABSOLUTELY no way of communicating and organizing today. However prayer starts in the noon hour and as people gather in mosques- they will not need Facebook and mobile phones to organize. Suez will march towards downtown, Cairo towards Tahrir and Alexandria towards Saad Zaghloul Square. These have been the central rallying points all along- the people and government all know this and the desperate measures taken by the government will not suppress the voice of the people. The news is accurately reporting that this reinforces the hatred of Mubarak. What kind of tyrant turns off cell phones and the internet? This is the exact kind of autorcratic BS that send them to the streets already and will keep them in the streets until he steps down. This however doesn’t seem to be much of a likely prospect. One friend put it this way and I agree, “Mubarak will leave the presidency when all Egypt is flat and everyone in it is dead.”
2:00PM
Things have started to heat up…they have broken through all street barriers and are all over the place. News reports are that there are tens of thousands – perhaps as many as 200,000 people in downtown Egypt…numbers are hard to guess – but I see the videos and it is HUGE. They are all over Cairo. Alexandria and Suez are where the most violence has already started. Tahrir in Cairo is still relatively peaceful.
7:00PM
Things have gotten violent. They ave set the NDP headquarters on fire in multiple cities around Egypt. Police stations are on fire everywhere. They set the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on fire too. They have set police cars and security personnel carriers on fire – they have gone crazy.
12:30AM
Violent clases persist – averages are that the death toll in Egypt today is over 100 perhaps as high as 150. Fires rage, rocks fly, tear gas fills the air. The US and others are commenting but without much teeth. The Egyptian people are watchin the rest of the world too because they want the support of democratic and free people around the world in their struggle in Egypt. The protesters are calling out wondering why the tear gas canisters which are littering the streets are stamped with “Made in the USA” on the bottom. Why has the US propped up such an illegitimate and violent oppressive regime.
Saturday
January 29th
Day 5 of protests

12:00PM
The people are out earlier than normal today. It is still a holiday. Yesterday the mobilization of Christians and Muslims together to fight together has been inspiring. Poor and old protest next to rich and young. Mubarak has tried hard to keep the people divided by class and religion and age to keep people from mobilizing together. He has tried hard to maintain an atmosphere of fear of the regime to stay in power. All of these chains yoked on the Egyptian people have been broken. Mubarak is in trouble. He is scared…. No internet and phones and curfews starting earlier and earlier each day. The curfew today is 3pm…..this man is desperate and we have finally heard from him – but his announcement was ridiculous. He basically said last night that the Egyptian people already have all the freedoms they need – that’s why they’ve been allowed to protest and take to the streets. That’s why he fired his cabinet government last night and will announce their replacements today. The people are NOT satisfied in any way with this ridiculous and quite frankly offensive statement….. how dumb does he think his own people are.

3:00PM
Things are calmer than yesterday – violence is not present – protesters are defying curfew once again like normal – nothing has changed except the mood is that of peace. Numbers are smaller than yesterday but they are still out in force and number and protesting not for a new cabinet but for Mubarak to go. Rumors persist that Gamal (his son) and Suzanne (his wife) have fled to the UK. These are as of yet unconfirmed and no one knows…..There are rumors that Egyptian business men have fled the country and transferred their money to overseas banks…. Who knows….things are NOT slowing down. Will peace return? I don’t know and its anyone’s guess right now.
7:00PM
The people are protesting – violence is not happening….Suez is quiet for one day with nearly all protesters gone. Alexandria has been quiet. The military showed up last night to loud and raucous applause of the people. I have never seen an image of tanks rolling down streets and the people in sheer admiration of them. The people had been calling on them to come save them from police. It became apparent today that they are here to restore calm –(According to staements) but they have done NOTHING. They are bystanders only in this clash – but the police are gone. They have fled, they are absent – no one knows where they are….. Rumors persist they have been fired - the police force is dissolved……
11:00PM
Protests have turned to looting and rioting. Buildings are being broken into and looted – banks, stores, homes and apartment buildings. Protesters have mostly gone home to protect their streets. My friend Khalid has taken to his street with men from his street and reports all over Egypt of the same thing happening. Home made neighborhood patrols and road blocks. They are armed with guns and knives and sticks and are stopping EVERY one that goes by in car or walking and check their IDs and want to know where they are going and who they are. If the military and police wont protect Egypt and its people – the people will protect themselves. I know I have said this before but I respect and admire the Egyptian people. They inspire me. I am proud. I am inspired.



















Sunday
January 30th
Day 6 of the protests

2:30PM
Things are back flaring up again.. the police are still missing – the people are still protesting and the military is still watching. The military has now become the most elusive actor in this whole mess. If they are pro-Mubarak then why are they not stopping the people? If they are pro-people then why are they out there anyways….
8:00PM
The looting has mostly stopped because those caught by the military and by the neighborhood watches had government and internal security ID badges. This proves what we all thought. The Egyptian people have NOT turned on each other. They have not started looting – it’s the police and Mubarak’s boys and they are tryin to turn people against people and let blame fall on the protesters and let the world think that the Egyptian people are crazy and violent…. It HAS NOT WORKED. We all know the truth. Mubarak will stop at NOTHING to conquer and divide Egypt. I don’t say this often – I want this man DEAD. A special, extra-hot area of hell awaits this man. Egypt may be burning this week – but you sir will burn soon.
11:30PM
Things are calm again. Talked to Khalid again and they are on the streets again. They have caught looters and caught a policeman with an AK47 and took it. I also realized that I have not kept you up to date on my day to day life. The students are dropping like flies – the study abroad students’ universities are pulling them home and other Americans are going too. It’s a slow trickle of people out. We go out during the morning when there is not curfew and buy phone credit and food and cigarettes. We are staying sane. We watch TV all day long. Take small breaks to eat, talk maybe play UNO. No internet is driving us all crazy. I don’t know if said this earlier. Cell phones were only off for about 36 hours. But the internet is still off, and any other mode of communication that is NOT one-to-one. So messenger services on phones like BBM and even text messaging is shut down. I have talked to mom and dad a few times – once a day basically to keep them up-to-date and let them know I’m alive.
We are wondering why the AUC administration has been silent and missing. We need answers, we need their face in front of us. We are bored, scared, confused and need answers….. Of course school has been cancelled for the first week. It was supposed to start today. But who knows how long this will last. No one has answers. News is that the US has gotten tougher with Egypt and has refused weapons reinforcements but Israel has heeded their calls and sent more weapons. Shame on you Israel. Stay out of Egyptian politics. Stay out of the way of the people having their say.
Monday
January 31st
Day 7 of the protests

1:00PM
The police have announced they are returning to the streets with new weapons from Israel. It’s not a rumor anymore – they have admitted it out loud. Military showed up in Sinai peninsula last night. This is a violation of the peace treaty with Israel – but Israel has allowed it…. They are meddling…. But that is for another blog another time. This is about Egypt. Americans are still leaving but it’s crazy. They go to the airport and wait in lines for about a day and a half. They are then put on a plane to Niccocea Cyprus, Istanbul Turkey or Athens Greece. Then once they’ve dropped you off – you’re on your own. The worst thing is that the government makes you sign a form saying that they can bill you for the flight. And since its an “emergency flight” even though it’s at most 3 hours – the bill is for $3000. The other countries that have been evacuating – Jordan, Turkey, Bahrain, Kuwait, etc are flying their people HOME for FREE. What is America’s problem. I’m angry. What Senator do I write? Wait…. I don’t have mail or internet…..
7:00PM
Nothing much to report. The university president came today to talk to us. She did a pretty good job at calming people down. School is now cancelled for two weeks. They are telling us that if things continue we will probably have to look at completing a six-week summer-style semester. They wlll let us know of course as things continue- but this is most likely the contingency plan if this stuff continues long term. I don’t want to bore you with details you probably are watching. And besides not much has changed. People protesting in Alex, Suez and Cairo, no one cares about the curfew. I don’t know what to do. A part of me wants to go, part of me wants to stay. I am running out of money. With no school – there is no student loans so there is no mmoney from a refund that I can live off of.








Tuesday
February 1st
Day 8 of the protests

2:00PM
The dorms has calmed down because we are feeding them and organizing game nights and opening the gym so people are not bored out of their minds anymore. The protests are happening today. They were calling for a million people. By all accounts – BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera in Tahrir and the surrounding side streets right now there are over 2 million. They are planning to march towards the Presidential Palace in Masry Gadeeda. It’s about an hour walk. They are gathering but not marching yet. We will see….

8:00PM
We have been informed that all Americans are being forcibly evacuated out of Cairo. We need to tell the students in the dorms that the Americans will be placed on a bus tomorrow and pulled out without scaring both the Americans and non-American students alike…this will be difficult and needs to be handled correctly. This is the tough part of being an RA in a crisis….
10:00PM
We made the announcement and some people freaked. They wondered if Americans are being pulled out – something must be going down soon so they will need to leave too. However we found out with a phone call from the University President that the messages and instructions we had been given by the AUC New York Office were wrong. They really screwed the pooch on this one. We had to re-gather the students and inform them to ignore everything we said…how embarrassing… this was a mess of a night.
12:00AM
Mubarak just spoke. He announced that he restructured his cabinet for the people. He stopped any violence against the people. However he was staunch that he WILL NOT step down from power and he will not run for president in the new election planned for this fall. The Constitution requires that the NDP (his party) is the only party allowed to nominate the President. He asked Parliament to amend these articles to allow more people to run. The mood in the dorms is that this will passify the protesters – but I’m not sure…. Time and tomorrow will tell.



Wednesday
February 2, 2011
Day 9 of the Protests

11:00AM
I have been awoken with a message that we are being evacuated from the dorms and moved to the Zamalek dorms today at 1:00PM. The University president showed up and basically said that we are in the middle of the desert but in Zamalek we have pharmacies and restaurants and cafes and stores we can go to and its easier to communicate in one place. This sucks. I have packed my bags and am ready for the bus…… who knows what is going on.
5:30PM
We just got back to the dorms and internet has been restored. The people are in the streets protesting again – but things have gotten violent between the protesters. There are two huge groups and they are battling each other. They are called the pro and anti-Mubarak groups and it is violent and both the police and military have pulled out of Tahrir. Many are injured but ambulances can’t get in. We are watching it live on TV and it is depressing. It has become apparent over time though that the anti-government protesters are catching the pro-Mubarak proteters and finding government IDs on them. And the pro-Mubarak people are being arrested by the other side. It is police and security forces disguised as protesters fighting and killing Egyptians. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. This man wants Egypt to be destroyed…..