Protests Continued

Wednesday night
2:15AM
Day 8 of the Protests

The University has announced that school will resume on the 13th. This is a bit premature in my opinion. This opinion is based on the fact that internet and mobile service has been restored and the "belief" that the streets will calm down enough to run bus service. I don't know how the University can believe anything that MIGHT happen in the next 10 days. This is based on their assumption that the people would be satisfied with Mubarak's address last night. This is the problem with an American administration of a University making predictions about the beliefs and desires of the Egyptian people.

Tonights riots have been bad - hundreds and hundreds are dead and even more are injured. The stones earlier today were flying so constantly and in such quantity back and forth that I could have sworn it was snowing in Tahrir Square. On the bus ride to the new dorms we saw more people than I have ever seen in one place at a time. I imagine the scene would be similar to the Exodus from Egypt in the Bible - except this was a march IN Egypt....

As day turned to night - the rocks turned to Molotov cocktails. More buildings on fire.... more injured. The TV images are scarring on the mind. Fire flying through the air in all directions - explosions, gunshots, chaos.

Chaos - i have a new understanding of the word. Protest will never ring the same in my ear again. Riot has a more contextual and tangible meaning to me now. I will never again take freedom for granted. I have seen hundreds die and thousands injured to gain a freedom that is within their reach - but each day seems just as far away as the one before. I'm not Egyptian - but as a Master's student in Human Rights Law - this touches me. It moves me. I'm proud of Egyptians.

Tonight after curfew was in place we decided to trek to the ATM. We passed so many of those home-made checkpoints I mentioned in an earlier blog. EVERY intersection had a version - some smaller than others and some more fully "Staffed" than others. Each involved mostly men with weapons but I saw my fair share of women and children armed to protect their streets and homes as well. We were only stopped at the biggest of them. We had to tell them who we were and why we were out and we had to show them our IDs before we could pass. They were perfectly nice to us - they were just not going to take any chances. We saw one fight (argument really) between a man on a motorcycle without ID and the neighborhood watch. They refused him passage and made it clear that they would use their weapons him if he did not comply. these weapons were 5 foot 2x2 boards with 6 inch knives taped to the ends. He argued, swore but finally complied and turned around.
Tonight we did a weapons count:
air rifles
single-barrel rifles
wooden sticks
PVC pipes
Metal pipes
Wooden sticks with knives taped and tied to the ends like spears
knives
machetes as long as my arm...i think they could more appropriately be called swords
leather whips (Indiana Jones style)
home made whips - ropes tied and nailed to sticks
pistols
nun-chuks
rocks
chair legs
broomstick handles

I have to ask myself and my fellow Americans. If they tried to take my freedom would I march into hails of rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas? Would I openly defy police and military to protest for my rights? If looters and thugs threatened my street and home - would I take any weapon I could find or make one if I couldn't find one and take to the streets at night ready to defend it? Would you?