Reliving Revolution in Egypt: Day 10 – Holding the Square

For each day during this nearly three week long anniversary, an excerpt of the Book “Egypt Unshackled” will provide you with the historical and social media highlights from each day of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Thursday, 03 February 2011

Tweet of the Day: @KeithOlbermann‎ Look out window, Hoz, its chaos NOW RT @BreakingNews Mubarak tells ABC News: ‘If I resign today there will be chaos.’

The multiple battles for control ofTahrir Squarecontinued raging. As the long winter night wore on, the numbers of wounded and “martyred” kept climbing, becoming painfully real. More than 1,500 were injured during the afternoon and evening fighting with eight confirmed dead, scores missing and multiple reports of dead bodies lying in the Square. Emotions were raw from the lack of sleep and pure adrenaline of the ongoing fight.

The ferocity of the fighting scared many outside the Square and family members urged those still in the Square to give up and end the stand-off now (presumably before someone they loved was hurt).

Most ofEgyptspent the night taking stock and trying to connect with/find their friends and loved ones.

What was clear, was that members of the recently humiliated and disgraced secret police were heavily involved. When their thugs began killing people with live ammunition, the protests changed and the army began to awaken to the threat that even they were not safe.

@Sarahngb‎ World…This is our army. Standing AMONG people getting killed and watching. This is the army Egyptians have been thanking.
@ya7you7‎ @Salamander @safinaz_m @Sandmonkey Protestors stopped an army officer from shooting himself as he sobbed
@jarelkamar the people who have beat us up today are the same ones who will beat us up during the next elections. WAKE UP.
@bencnn‎ Witness in #tahrir says pro-democracy people being shot at from rooftops, several dead.#Egypt#Jan25

As a long night comes to a close, sporadic fighting continues to rage and the barricades took on a more French Revolution permanent look and feel. The protestors feel they must protect themselves and the Square. Meanwhile, familial pressure, after a sleepless night and well fed with worrying, continues to grow.

@alaa‎ At some stage found an elderly univ prof throwing rocks next to me had to drag him away by force #jan25
@Sarahngb‎ My own mother is blaming me for the downfall of the economy. For destroying Egypt. MY OWN MOTHER! who protested next to me on Friday! #jan25
@mubaraketganen we can’t b allowed to go home and disappear we will be put on lists, tracked, detained a la (wael) ghonim #jan25
@Sarahngb‎ Do you people have any idea how terrified we are!? #jan25
@mosaaberizing The martyr at Abd El Meneim Reyad was carried and passed in front of me about 15 minutes ago. #Tahrir
@Sarahngb‎ If we’re not dying from gunfire, we’re all dying a little on the inside.
@waelabbas‎ Hospital refuses to give the body to his family unless they sign a statement that he died in a car accident.
@mgbales‎ Nick Kristof’s ominous comparisons to Tiananmen Square don’t seem so far-fetched. Mubarak’s Allies and Foes Clash in Egypt – NYTimes.com

If you were a member of the media, the secret police pro-Mubarak thugs spent the entire day yesterday hunting you down and beating/stealing your equipment.

@Ssirgany‎ Journalists in Tahrir, hold your ground. The govt is aiming at a media blackout.
@shadihamid clearly the whole plan for nick kristof/ anderson cooper to be human shields for protestors didn’t exactly work #jan25
@onCrawford‎ Insane video of Anderson Cooper getting attacked inEgypt. Video – Breaking News Videos from CNN.com – Camera rolls as Cooper …
@UKProgressive “I’m sorry I’ve got to duck down, some shots have been fired, “says (CNN’sAnderson) Cooper, who seems not to have slept for days.
@andersoncooper‎ Thanks for tweets of concern.. I’m sore and head hurts but fine. Neil and Mary Anne are bruised but ok too. Thanks.
@TravellerW‎ Journos getting harrassed, detained, memory cards and cameras confiscated and broken. Animals. #Egypt #Jan25
RT @waelabbas Two Globe and Mail journos also missing: Patrick Martin and @soniaverma… Any info appreciated
@nolanjazeera‎ Sorry for the radio silence guys but situation has become much worse in past 24hrs esp for media even more so for aljazeera! #egypt #cairo

The Egyptian blogger Mahmoud Salem aka The SandMonkey was a primary source of news for journalists around the globe. After days of playing cat and mouse and infuriating police, he headed off to Tahrir Square early in the morning with his car filled with medical supplies for the wounded.

@MaliZomg‎ A fantastic article by @Sandmonkey onEgypt’s current state. If you haven’t read it yet, you should.
Rantings of a Sandmonkey » Egypt, right now!‎ - sandmonkey.org
@Sandmonkey‎ Either way, I am heading there with medical supplies. They better not block my entrance.#Jan25
@imsure‎ Cairo Exclusive: Roger L. Simon’s Pajamas Media » Cairo Exclusive: Roger L. Simon’s Interview with SandMonkey
@Sarahngb‎ I am officially worried about @sandmonkey. He is not picking up and his trunk was overloaded, they would def. Know where he’s heading.
@forsoothsayer‎ @Sandmonkey‘s dad just tried to call him, someone picked up and told him @Sandmonkey‘s been arrested and he was next. Help! #egypt #jan25
@RamyYaacoub‎ @waelabbas @SandMonkey just got arrested!!!!
@tomgara‎ This morning, @sandmonkey “he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one” #jan25
@RamyYaacoub‎ OnPhone W/ @SandMonkey “We were released, we did NOT run away . . . heading back to safety now”
@RamyYaacoub‎ OnPhone W/ @SandMonkey “We were just released after a 2 hour arrest, the beating came before the arrest”
@Sandmonkey‎ I am ok. I got out. I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated , my car ripped apart & supplies taken #jan25
@Sandmonkey‎ will tell the story later. Thank you all. I just need to rest now. #Jan25

The Egyptian Uprising is doing something not even Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber can do, leading world news and attention for an entire week. The level of violence yesterday captured and focused the globe’s attention on Tahrir Square and when, or if, Mubarak would leave.

The mood in the Square bounces or falls with the latest headline and/or rumour. They simply react in shock to State media interpretations of events as well as the seeming out-of-touch rantings of their own so-called media-appointed ‘opposition’ leaders. The protestors had no leader and wanted freedom first, then they would choose their own leaders in a democracy.

@SultanAlQassemi‎ Egypt govt funded mouthpiece Al Ahram front page headline “Millions protest in support of Mubarak” yfrog.com/h07b7ezj
@alaa‎ @SultanAlQassemi Al Jazeera: AP: VodafoneEgypt “The Egyptian authorities are forcing the company to send out pro-Mubarak text messages”~
@nadinetoukan‎ #Jan25 ”@waelabbas Shahira Amin: “I can’t be part of the propaganda machine, I am not going to feed the public lies” upon quitting NileTV

A sign of the truly alternate universe the Egyptian government occupied, was Omar Suleiman’s attempt to keep the appearance of government doing business as usual, despite the crowds in Tahrir Square and the previous day’s violence.

He was clearly warming to the task inside his bubble and relishing in the power of his new role. Since the then Vice President Mubarak achieved his presidency when Anwar Sadat was assassinated, most expected Suleiman to similarly replace Mubarak. That was even more unacceptable for a number of reasons; mostly due to his past ties to the CIA and tacit acceptance by Israel as a suitable alternative, not to mention ‘business-as-usual’ could continue with the devil they already knew.

@Ghafari‎ Omar Suleiman speaks to Egyptian TV in mints from now #Jan25
@jmcesteves‎ Hypothesis: Suleiman psyop? RT @NevineZaki More good news: Suleiman said they’ve banned all the ex-ministers from travelling #Egypt#Jan25
@euronews‎ Egypt’s new vice president Omar Suleiman said President Hosni Mubarak’s son would not run for the presidency #egypt#jan25#mubarak
@SultanAlQassemi‎ Omar Suleiman “So Mubarak asked the Army to intervene to stop the danger against the population”
@kevinbakhurst‎ Egyptian Vice Pres Suleiman: says Egypt should adhere to Sept timetable
@CBSNews‎ Suleiman: Protestors wanting Mubarak out not “part of the Egyptian culture”, Mubarak is “father and leader” #egypt

In other ‘alternative-reality’ news, ABC foreign correspondent pro Christiane Amanpour, hours after being chased off the 6th of October Bridge by pro-Mubarak thugs, managed to score the interview everybody in the press corps wanted, the first interview in the presidential palace with new VP Omar Suleiman. And knowing her way around the palace, on her way out managed a drop-in, without camera, with none other than Hosni Mubarak himself!

@Strawberry15 Christine Amanpour talked to Mubarak! For 30 minutes she’s on tv now #egypt
@NickKristof‎ Amazing to hear that #Mubarak is unhappy abt violence–when he launched it. And he’s still claiming that he prevents chaos? Gimme a break.
@KeithOlbermann‎ Look out window, Hoz, its chaos NOW RT @BreakingNewsMubarak tells ABC News: ‘If I resign today there will be chaos.’ Egypt: ABC News’ Christiane Amanpour Exclusive Interview with Suleiman
@nasry‎ why #Mubarak talks to Amanpour in ABC why not to an Egyptian independent channel? even in his last days he cares about US more than #egypt

Again, following afternoon prayers, the Square was packed with protestors licking their wounds and not in the same ebullient mood of past days. Yesterday shook everyone and now those there were hyper-vigilant and not going anywhere.

@vanCNN‎ Tahrir Square Opposition voice on loudspeaker: we asked for a peaceful protest but when we were attacked we had to fight back.
@RiverDryFilm‎ Tahrir was not a “clash.” It was a siege. And the besieged won. #Jan25
@NickKristof Small jail set up in #Tahrir for thugs. Best organization I’ve seen in egypt.” many pressumptions about Egyptians overturned.
@RiverDryFilm‎ Tahrir still feels great. This is now the safest place in Cairo. #Egypt#Jan25
@RiverDryFilm‎ A field hospital set up metres from the front. They say they have a doctor with every speciality. #jan25#egypt
@RiverDryFilm‎ Systems of security, medicine and delivery of goods have immediately been set up to secure the front. #Egypt#Jan25
@UKProgressive  Stunning picture of Cairo barricade. twitpic.com/3w5rhd

As Day 10 drew to a close, there were too many open microphones in too many national capitals. While everyone was feverishly working for a resolution, a decade earlier governments and opposition parties would speak with one unified voice, quietly respecting that their leader, regardless of political persuasion, was working for the best interest of the nation as a whole. But this was 2011, a year where every situation was an opportunity to strike for political gain.

And one did not have to be a career politician, just bold enough and brash enough to speak out.

@SultanAlQassemi Senator John McCain asks Mubarak to step down. (I wonder if any Arabs now wish he had won presidency instead of Obama)
@StateDept‎ #SecClinton urged that the government of #Egypt hold accountable those who were responsible for violent acts: Secretary Clinton Calls Egyptian Vice President Omar Soliman
@SultanAlQassemi‎ Al Jazeera: The leaders ofFrance, Britain, Germany, Spain &Italy ask for an immediate transfer of power inEgypt
@richardbranson‎ World business leaders should speak out & support people of Egypt& other countries where oppressive leaders hold sway.

The call was for 2 million Egyptians to march the next day and show Mubarak the door. After the last 48-hours, the country was significantly aggravated, yet frightened enough to know there was only safety in numbers.

Would the army stay overnight and protect the protestors?
Would the police regroup and strike yet again?
Would Suleiman live up to his promise and release all political prisoners?
Would Mubarak finally leave?
Whatever the answer was to these questions, this Revolution was headed for Day Number 11.

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Denis G Campbell is author of the book Egypt Unsh@ckled: Using social media to @#:) the System. He is also editor-in-chief of UK Progressive Magazine and contributes politics and business articles for several global newspapers and magazines. He also provides regular commentary for BBC, China Radio International and others.
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