Sunrise at last
It was midnight, twenty four hours ago I was safely sound asleep. Figuring out a new way to get to work and what am I to do with the next salary was the only trouble I had. Right then, I would have laughed at a nice joke, I would have gotten excited just seeing some naked Hollywood hunk and would have stormed with my usual temper if pushed beyond the limit. Alas those luxuries are long gone with the soft cold wind infiltrating my whole existence as I stood with some of my neighbors in the empty street. Open eyed, silent and gloomy was the universal expression you could see in faces turning continuously to the right and the left to record any unusual movement.
Everyone felt goosebumps: thought they would now attribute it to different unimportant reasons; deep inside in the heart, it was the clear terrifying memory of the screaming voice that brought everyone down that stood for their condition. The voice everyone heard coming from the mosque's direction calling citizens for Jihad - not the kind you see in Iraq - announcing the end of safety as everyone understood it.
Gangs in two slum areas in proximity to our city were assembling, getting ready to attack us after police forces seemed to have disappeared from the scene making of Cairo, the previously ultra-safe place into the capital of wild west.
Introducing me to the rest of the neighbors that I have never met before, Mr. Mohsen couldn't have been more close to hissing than talking; it was a dangerous time and friendly chitchat wasn't in the agenda. As a result, no one really heard my name but some of them caught the title and started calling me the Doctor; that would be the only word they would use to call me for the next two nights.
In less than an hour, we heard it; the very first live fire shot in our city since its establishing. Apparently, those unfortunates in the front lines were being attacked and started defending themselves, or perhaps they were terrified by the news of an impending attack and their loads of fear were freed through some bullets in the air warning the bad guys that they aren't the only ones with guns.
Fortunately, it was the second possibility this time; former police officer Ashraf told us among other grateful words for our curiosity. Just yesterday, I would have spitted in the man's face had I gone to the police department and saw him do such a thing but tonight, I couldn't be more grateful to the mere fact of his existence!
Beliefs are overrated Ramy, I thought sitting back in my position. You foresaw this whole event coming, you even told a couple of friends about it a month ago; change will have to be born from chaos. Wasn't this what you kept repeating? Yes, it was! I have been saying this for the last couple of years, I have warned people from apparent pseudo-stability being the major advantage of highly restricted freedoms; of having to sacrifice so much for too little.
now, that the little taken-for-granted seemed miraculously more important than before; will I change my mind? Will I still go tomorrow for a next round in Tahrir Square? or maybe a warm bed and some rest will be a better alternative?
I needn't decide right away, I had the longest night of my life to decide. Then it was my turn to go on a patrol to check on the vicinity and make sure nothing is coming in our direction. Mohamed, my neighbor in the second floor was to accompany me.
1:00 am
On the first turn he asked, "What is it you think about it, Doctor?" of course he wasn't about to specify what was the it in his question nor was he looking forwards for my response. So, I walked in silence and gave him the chance to air his chest. He didn't say anything new that really grasped my attention, more or less throwing accusations on everyone; the new thing in Cairo... Mind you I can barely blame him, everything was chaotic, conspiratorial and every single fact had two sides both of which smelling really bad:
Police forces disappeared - that was a simple fact; hence the patrols, gun shots and panic - Habib el Adly ordered them out - that too is a pure fact - to leave defenseless civilians to the mercy of assassins, thieves and ex-convicts. Why? that was easy to explain as well: he either wanted to show Mubarak that loyalty exist only in the minds of four legged dogs and not those who walk on two so that his place in the next government would be reserved for him, he might have even looked forwards to having a better position; some more focus in the picture. or he was just being vindictive of already an avenging angry Mubarak on the context of his previous failure in Tahrir square, maybe an idea of playing cards had also crossed his hate-blinded mind when he bulled the plug and that would be the opinion I suggest since it includes all of its precedents.
That was a side of the truth and by god, it did smell so bad! But that was but one side:
Couldn't Mubarak have asked for it? why not!? he was having the nightmare of the worst opposition he ever witnessed in his reigning thirty years, showing those ungrateful Egyptian public how horrible life can be when their benefactor, protector and great dictator leaves them exposed to various dangers. Didn't he literally ask for a curfew moments before the undignified stampede of police forces in the same speech when he saw Nazif's government goodbye for the last time! Didn't he call the army to see to this curfew!?
Evidence?? Piece of cake! More than just one!
Open the light and see if water is still running in your apartment!
Not for a single day did electricity or water go out! not even one of these coincidental events taking place all the time in Egypt. both electrical and water supplies were maintained perfectly before any army unit got to their places to secure them. Shouldn't such a site be exposed to stealing, especially that cables were stolen more than once in Cairo due to their high values in times of stability? Then shouldn't those thieves have gone to stealing those precious cables if not for the value, then at least to make their mission of stealing the public.
Two: if the aim is to steal as much money as possible during the unstable period and with the least loss possible, why would a thief risk his life going up to some apartments and fighting with its residents just to steal a worthless TV set or PC whose value doesn't exceed just 1000LE and are for sure not so easy to get rid of!
Three: We all knew about the escaping prisoners - regardless of how they escaped and who planned this dirty process cause it's easy to figure those out - isn't the main aim of any escaping prisoner is to find a place to hide and dodge prison! or in such time of instability to get a piece of the cake then hide as soon as possible?
Then how come all those escaping prisoners targeted suburbs attacking citizens and turning their nights into days. It isn't just enough to explain such a phenomenon by a stupid reason such as this was the only place on their way; prisoners from Fayyom had more than just one destination, how come they all chose the same suburb to attack!!?
And so, the plot goes on with hundreds of points of dispute each of which big enough to be discussed in a book. Every action easily justified through two prospects both of them being absolutely flawless: If you're with Mubarak, finding excuses to accuse his surrounding staff is easy as second nature. if you're with the opposition, blaming it all on the president's evil mind plotting a conspiracy is very easy. The result is that we're in two parallel sides of an equation fighting each other to the point of extinction each examining the weak points in the other, measure how much he can take on the expense of the state; the pie every one is fighting for and the same street where thousands of youth are marching.
Suddenly,close to the tick on my clock marking 2:00 am, the flow of my thoughts was interrupted by a big fuzz in the next square, the first attack of the night has arrived. Two scouts made it to our neighborhood, apparently searching for a nice place to start making some money. Although unarmed and outnumbered, these two posed the main danger; if one wasp finds out the perfect beehive, goes back to its people and report the site, all bees are as good as dead.
They had to be attacked and brought down as perfectly and as swiftly as possible, I thought. Next instant I was testing my fastest speed in running, cold air stabbing my lungs to the point of commotion. I had nothing much to do for the two guys were already brought down and one of the guys in the square was starting to tie them down. ten minutes later, they were on their way to the army units in the fifth compound.
cooling back my nerves enough to start thinking clear took around half an hour. It was 3:00 am and we were obviously passing through the worst period of the night. Hundreds of panicking citizens called national television reporting horrifying situations enough to make ours in new Cairo seem like a nice vacation; of which I shall never forget a call made by one of the two last officers standing in the bad-famed maximum security prison in Wadi el Natroun reporting massive attacks from Bedouins trying to get the prisoners out of one of the two buildings. those who only had their imprisoned relatives in mind couldn't care less about the remainders of prisoners sentenced to death by hanging and were more than ready to set free the whole 4000 prisoners with relieved conscience!
His friend who was close to center of the attack couldn't risk being exposed trying to escape and hence, stayed in a pit in the prison's garden few meters away from the attackers and the prisoners - who managed to get to the weaponry room in the prison after its guardian's escape - both trying to overcome the door standing in between. Without the key, which was kept safe in the pit with the officer, they were having major difficulty.
To the calling officer: his life and his colleague's mattered the least. All his fear was letting such large number of awfully dangerous prisoners escape attacking his fellow citizens in the close Capital. His only request was for the army to send enforcements as fast as possible.
That was the limit, that was actually more than the limit. "how can you handle being so useless", I thought. Is there nothing a state as grand as Egypt can't do to control some scum! how did we go so wrong in so fast if there were no conspiracy ahead! It had to be blamed on someone and by god this someone must hang by the neck in Tahrir square itself.
Almost two decades have passed since Habib el Adly got his chance to power in Luxor where a massacre against Japanese tourists happened. Right then Mubarak wanted to show the whole world that he's not gonna stand up and watch his government losing control for a second in a remote area. Twenty years of humiliation and prosecution organized by the tycoon who seemed to master nothing other than torturing innocent Egyptians. Twenty years of maximum utilization of emergency laws, of innocents' disappearances and deaths all in all accompanied by major failures such as in Alexandria's church attack.
And now, when we finally needed them to do the one thing they were constitutionally entitled to do, they disappeared and left us on our own to fight with criminals, stay up all night guarding our possessions, hold as hard as possible to that which we owned and stay away from state affairs, Tahrir square, democracy and whatever the next big shinny bright noble word might be.
It is four Am, and I still haven't decided what am I to do. It should have been more bright had we been in summer. Alas it is cold, dark wintry night with amazing clear sky showing gallantly its burning diamonds of stars challenging my wishes and everyone else with its vivid strength and defiance of the already an hour late burning orb I was more than longing to see. Another turn in patrol came.
This time the question was more difficult to answer but not because I didn't know the truth. The question was why did things turn so bad? how could we end up like this?
I didn't respond and left my second accompanier to air his chest as well. I couldn't respond because I was just too speechless to explain that I have already predicted this outcome one month before anything ever happened. I even joked about it here with my friends on facebook. I warned everyone from the coming catastrophe; from the dear price we will eventually have to pay for freedom and democracy, from the external forces we will still have to keep an eye on even when things are grow messy and we feel in loss of directions and for the unity we will have to find some moment or the other or risk ending up in history's worst page!
It is so painful to predict such a calamity, know for sure it's gonna happen and still have no means at all to prevent it. Suddenly, I just felt like Kassandra whose cries were never taken in consideration, plagued by an unlimited ability and very unappreciative audience.
Returning to my spot at four forty five, I was on the verge of crying except that I had no tears. I don't know what happened in the course of my last walk, but I have ran out of pity of a sudden; pity on myself, on Egyptians or Egypt. I could have grown numb by that moment.
Al fajr prayer was finally announced at five am approximately; the space ship we live upon has finally turned its face to the shining sun. soon it will be morning again, we would make it through the worst night with only one attack, not counting the hundreds of shootings from both sides of our neighborhood. We would be so lucky!
The night still prevailed, even when it crossed half past five. and as if saluting the next dawning day, tank missiles exploded with deafening sound against the last wave of attacks aimed at the rich neighborhoods after which, our neighborhood went silent and started breathing in the fresh air of day as the first ray of hope invaded the dark curtain of the longest night of our lives.
It was sunrise at last, we really made it through the night safe and sound. I had to make up my mind about the cost and the prize. If I am ready to go for what I believed in or if my beliefs have always been illusions of a perfectionist and will be blown away forever with a single tough hardship
Back to the bed doctor! Mr mohsen said with a smile... Sleep well, for we have another long one tonight.
You sleep well and get ready for tonight, I replied.... I have something else to do beforehand!
I am going to Tahrir square
to be continued
Everyone felt goosebumps: thought they would now attribute it to different unimportant reasons; deep inside in the heart, it was the clear terrifying memory of the screaming voice that brought everyone down that stood for their condition. The voice everyone heard coming from the mosque's direction calling citizens for Jihad - not the kind you see in Iraq - announcing the end of safety as everyone understood it.
Gangs in two slum areas in proximity to our city were assembling, getting ready to attack us after police forces seemed to have disappeared from the scene making of Cairo, the previously ultra-safe place into the capital of wild west.
Introducing me to the rest of the neighbors that I have never met before, Mr. Mohsen couldn't have been more close to hissing than talking; it was a dangerous time and friendly chitchat wasn't in the agenda. As a result, no one really heard my name but some of them caught the title and started calling me the Doctor; that would be the only word they would use to call me for the next two nights.
In less than an hour, we heard it; the very first live fire shot in our city since its establishing. Apparently, those unfortunates in the front lines were being attacked and started defending themselves, or perhaps they were terrified by the news of an impending attack and their loads of fear were freed through some bullets in the air warning the bad guys that they aren't the only ones with guns.
Fortunately, it was the second possibility this time; former police officer Ashraf told us among other grateful words for our curiosity. Just yesterday, I would have spitted in the man's face had I gone to the police department and saw him do such a thing but tonight, I couldn't be more grateful to the mere fact of his existence!
Beliefs are overrated Ramy, I thought sitting back in my position. You foresaw this whole event coming, you even told a couple of friends about it a month ago; change will have to be born from chaos. Wasn't this what you kept repeating? Yes, it was! I have been saying this for the last couple of years, I have warned people from apparent pseudo-stability being the major advantage of highly restricted freedoms; of having to sacrifice so much for too little.
now, that the little taken-for-granted seemed miraculously more important than before; will I change my mind? Will I still go tomorrow for a next round in Tahrir Square? or maybe a warm bed and some rest will be a better alternative?
I needn't decide right away, I had the longest night of my life to decide. Then it was my turn to go on a patrol to check on the vicinity and make sure nothing is coming in our direction. Mohamed, my neighbor in the second floor was to accompany me.
1:00 am
On the first turn he asked, "What is it you think about it, Doctor?" of course he wasn't about to specify what was the it in his question nor was he looking forwards for my response. So, I walked in silence and gave him the chance to air his chest. He didn't say anything new that really grasped my attention, more or less throwing accusations on everyone; the new thing in Cairo... Mind you I can barely blame him, everything was chaotic, conspiratorial and every single fact had two sides both of which smelling really bad:
Police forces disappeared - that was a simple fact; hence the patrols, gun shots and panic - Habib el Adly ordered them out - that too is a pure fact - to leave defenseless civilians to the mercy of assassins, thieves and ex-convicts. Why? that was easy to explain as well: he either wanted to show Mubarak that loyalty exist only in the minds of four legged dogs and not those who walk on two so that his place in the next government would be reserved for him, he might have even looked forwards to having a better position; some more focus in the picture. or he was just being vindictive of already an avenging angry Mubarak on the context of his previous failure in Tahrir square, maybe an idea of playing cards had also crossed his hate-blinded mind when he bulled the plug and that would be the opinion I suggest since it includes all of its precedents.
That was a side of the truth and by god, it did smell so bad! But that was but one side:
Couldn't Mubarak have asked for it? why not!? he was having the nightmare of the worst opposition he ever witnessed in his reigning thirty years, showing those ungrateful Egyptian public how horrible life can be when their benefactor, protector and great dictator leaves them exposed to various dangers. Didn't he literally ask for a curfew moments before the undignified stampede of police forces in the same speech when he saw Nazif's government goodbye for the last time! Didn't he call the army to see to this curfew!?
Evidence?? Piece of cake! More than just one!
Open the light and see if water is still running in your apartment!
Not for a single day did electricity or water go out! not even one of these coincidental events taking place all the time in Egypt. both electrical and water supplies were maintained perfectly before any army unit got to their places to secure them. Shouldn't such a site be exposed to stealing, especially that cables were stolen more than once in Cairo due to their high values in times of stability? Then shouldn't those thieves have gone to stealing those precious cables if not for the value, then at least to make their mission of stealing the public.
Two: if the aim is to steal as much money as possible during the unstable period and with the least loss possible, why would a thief risk his life going up to some apartments and fighting with its residents just to steal a worthless TV set or PC whose value doesn't exceed just 1000LE and are for sure not so easy to get rid of!
Three: We all knew about the escaping prisoners - regardless of how they escaped and who planned this dirty process cause it's easy to figure those out - isn't the main aim of any escaping prisoner is to find a place to hide and dodge prison! or in such time of instability to get a piece of the cake then hide as soon as possible?
Then how come all those escaping prisoners targeted suburbs attacking citizens and turning their nights into days. It isn't just enough to explain such a phenomenon by a stupid reason such as this was the only place on their way; prisoners from Fayyom had more than just one destination, how come they all chose the same suburb to attack!!?
And so, the plot goes on with hundreds of points of dispute each of which big enough to be discussed in a book. Every action easily justified through two prospects both of them being absolutely flawless: If you're with Mubarak, finding excuses to accuse his surrounding staff is easy as second nature. if you're with the opposition, blaming it all on the president's evil mind plotting a conspiracy is very easy. The result is that we're in two parallel sides of an equation fighting each other to the point of extinction each examining the weak points in the other, measure how much he can take on the expense of the state; the pie every one is fighting for and the same street where thousands of youth are marching.
Suddenly,close to the tick on my clock marking 2:00 am, the flow of my thoughts was interrupted by a big fuzz in the next square, the first attack of the night has arrived. Two scouts made it to our neighborhood, apparently searching for a nice place to start making some money. Although unarmed and outnumbered, these two posed the main danger; if one wasp finds out the perfect beehive, goes back to its people and report the site, all bees are as good as dead.
They had to be attacked and brought down as perfectly and as swiftly as possible, I thought. Next instant I was testing my fastest speed in running, cold air stabbing my lungs to the point of commotion. I had nothing much to do for the two guys were already brought down and one of the guys in the square was starting to tie them down. ten minutes later, they were on their way to the army units in the fifth compound.
cooling back my nerves enough to start thinking clear took around half an hour. It was 3:00 am and we were obviously passing through the worst period of the night. Hundreds of panicking citizens called national television reporting horrifying situations enough to make ours in new Cairo seem like a nice vacation; of which I shall never forget a call made by one of the two last officers standing in the bad-famed maximum security prison in Wadi el Natroun reporting massive attacks from Bedouins trying to get the prisoners out of one of the two buildings. those who only had their imprisoned relatives in mind couldn't care less about the remainders of prisoners sentenced to death by hanging and were more than ready to set free the whole 4000 prisoners with relieved conscience!
His friend who was close to center of the attack couldn't risk being exposed trying to escape and hence, stayed in a pit in the prison's garden few meters away from the attackers and the prisoners - who managed to get to the weaponry room in the prison after its guardian's escape - both trying to overcome the door standing in between. Without the key, which was kept safe in the pit with the officer, they were having major difficulty.
To the calling officer: his life and his colleague's mattered the least. All his fear was letting such large number of awfully dangerous prisoners escape attacking his fellow citizens in the close Capital. His only request was for the army to send enforcements as fast as possible.
That was the limit, that was actually more than the limit. "how can you handle being so useless", I thought. Is there nothing a state as grand as Egypt can't do to control some scum! how did we go so wrong in so fast if there were no conspiracy ahead! It had to be blamed on someone and by god this someone must hang by the neck in Tahrir square itself.
Almost two decades have passed since Habib el Adly got his chance to power in Luxor where a massacre against Japanese tourists happened. Right then Mubarak wanted to show the whole world that he's not gonna stand up and watch his government losing control for a second in a remote area. Twenty years of humiliation and prosecution organized by the tycoon who seemed to master nothing other than torturing innocent Egyptians. Twenty years of maximum utilization of emergency laws, of innocents' disappearances and deaths all in all accompanied by major failures such as in Alexandria's church attack.
And now, when we finally needed them to do the one thing they were constitutionally entitled to do, they disappeared and left us on our own to fight with criminals, stay up all night guarding our possessions, hold as hard as possible to that which we owned and stay away from state affairs, Tahrir square, democracy and whatever the next big shinny bright noble word might be.
It is four Am, and I still haven't decided what am I to do. It should have been more bright had we been in summer. Alas it is cold, dark wintry night with amazing clear sky showing gallantly its burning diamonds of stars challenging my wishes and everyone else with its vivid strength and defiance of the already an hour late burning orb I was more than longing to see. Another turn in patrol came.
This time the question was more difficult to answer but not because I didn't know the truth. The question was why did things turn so bad? how could we end up like this?
I didn't respond and left my second accompanier to air his chest as well. I couldn't respond because I was just too speechless to explain that I have already predicted this outcome one month before anything ever happened. I even joked about it here with my friends on facebook. I warned everyone from the coming catastrophe; from the dear price we will eventually have to pay for freedom and democracy, from the external forces we will still have to keep an eye on even when things are grow messy and we feel in loss of directions and for the unity we will have to find some moment or the other or risk ending up in history's worst page!
It is so painful to predict such a calamity, know for sure it's gonna happen and still have no means at all to prevent it. Suddenly, I just felt like Kassandra whose cries were never taken in consideration, plagued by an unlimited ability and very unappreciative audience.
Returning to my spot at four forty five, I was on the verge of crying except that I had no tears. I don't know what happened in the course of my last walk, but I have ran out of pity of a sudden; pity on myself, on Egyptians or Egypt. I could have grown numb by that moment.
Al fajr prayer was finally announced at five am approximately; the space ship we live upon has finally turned its face to the shining sun. soon it will be morning again, we would make it through the worst night with only one attack, not counting the hundreds of shootings from both sides of our neighborhood. We would be so lucky!
The night still prevailed, even when it crossed half past five. and as if saluting the next dawning day, tank missiles exploded with deafening sound against the last wave of attacks aimed at the rich neighborhoods after which, our neighborhood went silent and started breathing in the fresh air of day as the first ray of hope invaded the dark curtain of the longest night of our lives.
It was sunrise at last, we really made it through the night safe and sound. I had to make up my mind about the cost and the prize. If I am ready to go for what I believed in or if my beliefs have always been illusions of a perfectionist and will be blown away forever with a single tough hardship
Back to the bed doctor! Mr mohsen said with a smile... Sleep well, for we have another long one tonight.
You sleep well and get ready for tonight, I replied.... I have something else to do beforehand!
I am going to Tahrir square
to be continued