Dialogue of Civilizations

Christmas Eve in Cairo, and all is well (as well as can be expected). Egyptians did indeed take to Tahrir Square yesterday, as mentioned in my previous post. Upwards of 50,000 people (estimate by Dostor news site) demonstrated against SCAF ("the military"), in particular their tolerance toward those in the army and police who killed, beat, and otherwise abused protesters over the past week. The protest was dubbed "Friday of Reclaiming Honor", given that the police and army were especially abusive of women protesters, ripping their veils off, exposing their bodies, kicking and beating women - both protesters as well as passers-by, who sought to help their Egyptian sisters and save them from the boot of the army. See today's report in almasryalyoum (by clicking here) Also demonstrating on Friday were those who support SCAF. They appeared in the thousands in Abbasiya Square chanting pro-military slogans, and denouncing those in Tahrir as "thugs" and van...

Greetings from a subdued Cairo. Remember that "still waters run deep". Egypt is calm, which doesn't mean it's at ease or fully secure. Egyptians went to the polls yesterday (Wednesday) for the second round of Parliamentary elections, and Tahrir Square was quiet. However, a friend of a friend of mine was killed in Tahrir the night before, having been shot by live ammunition. He was shot in the stomach and by the time he got to hospital, they could do nothing for him. He bled to death. The young man was a student at Ain Shams University, an athlete, and a huge fan of Ahly, the national football (soccer) team. Today (Thursday), Egyptians of various walks of life tell me they will go to Tahrir tomorrow - first, to protest last week's brutal crackdown, which lasted at least 5 days and resulted in at least 13 demonstrators killed, and which targeted women in particular. Young men (teenagers and 20-somethings) and "older dudes" (50+) tell me they are go...