As my
landlord does not care about most things that are broken in our apartment
(probably a universal truth J ), I spend a lot of time in places where there
is free WiFi. My favorite is Café Beladi, situated in 3 Tahrir Square. Its
current owners brag about the fact that Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz has
wrote many of his works in this place under previous ownership. Since the 2011
revolution, this event is another source of identity of the place, which is a
rather Western style café and not an old coffee house (unfortunately). Its WiFi
is relatively reliable, the prices are not too high (which is usually the case
in Western style cafés) and the waiters are friendly and know me by now.
Another great advantage of the place is its large window on the first
(Americans: second) floor. From here, one has an overview over a large chunk of
Tahrir Square. On normal days, one can visit the crazy traffic and some people
arguing or screaming their opinions in the middle of the roundabout.
Today,
however, more is going on. As usually, I come to do some internet job search
and emailing, while outside protesters are gathering. But I forgot that today is Friday and it has
become sort of a ritual to protest after services have finished. On last week’s
Friday, there were violent clashes between opposition and Muslim Brotherhood;
while it looks like peaceful protests today.
They
started on a relative medium scale, but half way through my emailing and some
cups of tea later, the whole square is covered with people. No more chance to
study Egyptian driving. Every now and then, one of the customers stands up and
looks out of the window, intriguing all the others to look as well whether
anything has happened. People carry banners and posters I do not understand.
And sometimes a group of people runs across the square. The TV on the wall
shows Aljazeera Egypt’s coverage of the gathering that seems to gain in size and
importance beyond the usual Friday protest. Their angle on the square is almost
exactly the same as the view from our window. They must be only few floors
above the café…
Activists
pour into the café to drink and eat something. A dozen people share a tiny
table and engage in heated conversations. One of them carries a bag with a
Tahrir Diaries sticker on it (http://tahrirdiaries.wordpress.com/). As fast as they appeared, they leave and
others follow.
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifts and a crowd in front of the
window starts throwing stones. Not at the window of the café, but apparently at
the cameramen from Aljazeera. But as correct aim is not everybody’s piece of
cake, some hit the window and the owners lower the shutter.
I think of
my friend from Berlin who stayed throughout the beginning of the revolution. It
is her policy to avoid such gatherings and protests. She had witnessed the
participation of many Western foreigners during the 2011 protests, who later
became a target of a advertisement campaign aiming foreign ‘spies’ to be the
organizers of the revolution (http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/10/219777.html). Particularly from Israel – to destabilize
the country. This conviction has prevailed in parts of the society and may delegitimize
foreign participation in the protests. At least it makes oneself suspicious and
potentially the target of outrage. Therefore, she circumvents anything that
could turn into a protest. Now, I have witnessed how quickly peaceful can turn
to violent.
I wait till
things calm down and then head for the metro entrance situated five meters in
front of the café without difficulties and without taking any pictures of the crowd.
No comments:
Post a Comment