They aren't targeting a specific politician or official, but Egyptians do this whenever they feel that somebody is trying to oppress them or deprive them of their freedom, something they have been struggling for since the January 25th Revolution. In the wake of last year's 18-day revolution, Egyptians often took to the streets of a Friday, calling for the revolution's demands or objecting to governmental decrees. But many Egyptians opposed these demonstrations, arguing that they impede the progress of the country, especially its tourism and investment sectors. Then, the demonstrations ceased with the election of President Mohamed Morsi, who immediately promised to solve five of the nation's biggest problems in his first 100 days in office. The protests stopped, because people wanted to give the new leader the chance to fulfil his promises. Morsi pledged to solve the problems of bread, fuel, traffic, security and rubbish. About three weeks ago, the 100 days were up, but none of the five problems had been completely solved, so a number of liberal revolutionaries took to the streets on October 12, which was dubbed ‘Accountability Friday'. "The street is our last hope when we see that none of the revolution's demands has been carried out; on the contrary we are moving backwards," said Khaled Mohamed, a 30-year-old banker. On Accountability Friday, clashes flared between liberals and Islamists who support Morsi and are against anyone who opposes his policies. The same revolutionary movements held another demonstration on the following Friday, dubbed ‘Egypt for all Egyptians', in order to condemn the violence that happened the previous Friday and also to underline the fact that the revolution continues. “I didn't participate in Accountability Friday, but what Morsi's supporters did that day pushed me to participate in the following Friday's demonstration, ‘Egypt for all Egyptians', to show the world that no-one can shut our mouths again," said Emad Kamel, 34-year-old engineer. “We didn't oust Mubarak's regime to replace it with religious fascism. The revolution must continue, otherwise Egypt will be lost forever," he added in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. These two demonstrations have reminded Egyptians of the days of last year's revolution and the previous demonstrations on Fridays, that had stopped four months ago. “I can't understand the purpose of such demonstrations. We finally have a democratically elected president and everyone must support him for the sake of the country," says Helmy Moustafa, a 42-year-old Arabic-language teacher and one of Morsi supporters. Mostafa, like many Egyptians, sees that people mustn't count the days the President has been in officer, as if he were in an exam, as he believes that Morsi needs to be given a full chance, with the co-operation of all the country's sectors. “Anybody who thought that such demonstrations would disappear with the advent of a new president was wrong," says professor of political sciences Amr Hamzawi, a former MP. “These demonstrations are a sign that Egypt is witnessing a real political movement and we can't forget that they empowered the revolution," he explains. Hamzawi sees that the ‘Egypt for all Egyptians' demonstration on October 19 was a normal reaction to the ruling power's efforts to subdue the opposition's political participation. “Every party and political movement has the full right to take to the streets to express their opinion freely, whether on political or other issues," he stresses.
