Clashes between the army and protesters in front of the Defence Ministry in Abbasiya made the headlines last week, pushing the district and its residents into the limelight. But this is a district that has been equally shaped by history, culture and fine architecture, as Al-Ahram Weekly discovers Run for your life Ahmed Morsy recounts how he escaped from the recent clashes in Abbasiya "You deserved it, as you went beyond all limits," an army officer, a friend of mine who had been among the armed forces that broke up the sit-in in the Cairo district of Abbasiya, told me on Friday night. He was referring to the demonstrators who had been staging a protest in front of the defence ministry. It was his response to my concerns at how the sit-in had been treated. I had been in Abbasiya to support, or cover, Friday's demonstration following the six-day sit-in to protest against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The demonstration took place 500 metres away from the defence ministry. Though I had attended the clashes between the protestors and armed assailants that had erupted almost on a daily basis during the sit-in in Abbasiya Square, Friday's events were much worse than on earlier days. One hour following Friday prayers, I reached the sit-in to find Al-Khalifa Al-Maamoun Street, in which the defence ministry is located, full of thousands of demonstrators from various political affiliations protesting against Egypt's ruling military council. I also noticed strange acts on the part of a number of protestors standing in front of the cordon of barbed wire separating the sit-in from the soldiers securing the defence ministry. Some of the protestors appeared to be trying to provoke the soldiers behind the barbed wire 300 metres away from the ministry, though the general attitude of the protestors was peaceful. Such incidents had also taken place from time to time during the previous days of the sit-in, though these had always been peacefully controlled. The numbers on Friday were larger, and there was no way to prevent actions from those who insisted on trying to humiliate the armed forces. "It was our fault, since we didn't have precautionary measures in place to prevent such things from happening. We should have set up a cordon to prevent people from insulting or throwing stones at the soldiers," one protestor friend said. My friend the officer replied that "during the six-day sit-in, when I was ordered to join the forces in front of the defence ministry, I had prepared myself for insults. In spite of our being in favour of the 25 January Revolution, some of the protestors have been treating us as their enemies." After an hour, the atmosphere became more tense as a result of the excesses on the front line. Suddenly, one of the protestors managed to get beyond the barbed wire, and this led to the escalation of events. The armed forces caught him, and the protestors began to chant, urging them to let him go. The usual troublemakers then began to throw stones at the soldiers, who reciprocated. Under the hail of stones from both sides, the peaceful protestors could do nothing to stop the escalation of the situation. The armed forces then started to use water cannon on the protestors to try to make them disperse, but to no avail. Half an hour later, we began to hear gunshots, and some of us screamed "rubber bullets!" The soldiers began to move towards the protestors, some of them throwing stones while others fired tear gas deep inside the sit-in. Panic hit because of the sound of the bullets and the smoke from the bombs, the latter even reaching the impromptu field hospitals at the sit-in. Thousands began to retreat to avoid the gas. Not having masks or scarves, many lost consciousness, while others fell to the ground and still others did their best to scramble away from the crowds running away from the army. Women and doctors from the field hospital were also targeted, in addition to the few who had caused the clashes. No difference was made between the peaceful and the violent protestors. At the same time, we saw an army helicopter above us. Anyone who did not run away and tried to stay calm instead was arrested after being harshly beaten even if they were journalists. We were driven out to Abbasiya Square, where we divided into three areas as the soldiers were still chasing us. Some people decided to run towards Tahrir Square through Ghamra Square, while other tried to hide in smaller streets in Abbasiya, where they were targeted by local residents supporting the military council. I chose to run towards Salah Salem Street, while being pursued by soldiers firing shots and gas towards us. We suddenly saw dozens of armoured vehicles and soldiers closing the street in the direction of our escape. We realised we had been trapped. However, we still continued to walk ahead, chanting "Peaceful, Peaceful," hoping that they would let us pass to escape the other forces coming from behind. Fortunately, they let us pass. That evening, I met my officer friend and condemned the violence used by the army in dispersing the sit-in. However, he believes that the methods used were suitable, since the demonstrators had attacked the army, killing one soldier and injuring hundreds. "It wasn't us who did all that," I said in reply. The army should have only arrested the troublemakers.
