CAIRO: It's early morning in Cairo. A few cars drive through one of the city's main thoroughfares, but on this Friday there are few people out and about. A group of men sit at a small table, their recent order to tea giving off the streams of smoke. As the country faces what could be one of the most important days in the country's recent history, like the tea, Egypt is hot, ready to burst, but there are some moderate voices who are attempting to calm the fears. And they are coming from the most unusual of places: average citizens. “What I want is this country and my Egyptian brothers and sisters to see that it is all our country,” said 38-year-old marketing assistant Hassan. He sips his tea calmly, adding that too many groups are attempting to take control of Egypt through their own “personal wantings.” What needs to happen, he argues, “is for the conservatives and the liberals to understand that the most Egyptians want peace and a future. We want to live in a country that democratic and free. We don't want fighting and we don't want anger.” On this Friday, one being dubbed as the “Friday of Unity,” Egypt ironically is bracing itself for a turbulent day. Journalists and activists online and in Cairo's Tahrir Square are fearful of the thousands of conservative Islamists that have converged on the square. With tens of thousands present by early Friday morning, and thousands more expected to arrive throughout the morning and afternoon, one Egyptian reporter questioned “do I concern myself with what I am to wear to the square?” That is the crux of the matter, in a small nutshell for many. Hassan and his friends believe that if dialogue were to be made available to the different groups in Tahrir, the situation could become calm, even festive. “Most Egyptians are not liberal or conservative, we are a mix of the two and are not in the game of politics. We struggle on a daily basis to get a good job and live good, so right now we hope that the majority of people like us will have our voices heard,” he added. On the eve of “Friday of Unity,” hundreds of people, mainly Islamists, began flocking to the central Cairo square in anticipation for the day to come. The result saw arguments and even small exchanges of anger. Small marches were witnessed, with Islamists chanting “Islamic state, Islamic state,” which has caused tension to grow between the liberals and the conservatives. By morning, Salafist groups and Muslim Brotherhood supporters had already been gathering at the square, setting up tents and holding up banners ahead of the million man march of unity called for Friday. The Salafist groups and the MB have joined the Tahrir protesters and other political groups from the far end of the political spectrum in demanding social justice and an end to the old regime's affiliates as well as calling for the demands of the families of the “martyrs” of the January 25 revolution to be met. However, scuffles started early in the evening when a group placed a banner up that read “people want the implementation of Sharia,” or Islamic law, which drew criticism and resistance from many protesters in the square. While the banner was taken down and the fight dissolved, the spirit in Tahrir leans towards cautiousness more than optimistic. Following the banner incident, Dr. Mohamed Yousri, a spokesperson of the al-Nour party, a Salafist political party, admitted that “a bit of scuffles and side fights had taken place but was contained,” he said via telephone to the ON TV news program “Akher Kalam,” or Last Word. He added that there are groups of young people currently going around the square trying to bring different points of view together and calm the situation. Some were anticipating that protesters could clash with the Islamists, who put together a massive effort and organization in mobilizing their followers and transporting them from different governorates and cities from around the country to Cairo. As Cairo and Egypt wakes to the expected heat that is likely to meet the day, Hassan and his friends tea begins to cool, the steam no longer apparent. Egyptians hope that the tension that has been growing over the past 24 hours will calm, but for now, the country appears on edge, veering toward a dangerous disunity that could dramatically affect the future of change and democratic reform. BM
