CAIRO: It was dubbed the “Friday of Unity,” with numerous Egyptian groups from all political walks of life planning to come together in a show of togetherness. Instead, Friday's protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square quickly tumbled into a Salafist show of force. Hundreds of thousands of conservative Egyptians, mostly Salafists – those who adhere to a literal interpretation of Islam – converged on Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Friday in what has many in the country frustrated and worried about the political discourse in the country. Activists on Friday accused the Salafists of breaking the unity of the square by chanting religious chants and ignoring the social justice demands that the different groups has supposedly agreed upon earlier in the week. Then, all groups who pledged to participate in Friday's demonstration agreed that religious slogans would not be present, but those agreements came crashing down late on Thursday night, when Salafists erected a banner that read “the people want Sharia law,” or Islamic law. A number of demonstrators were carrying and waving the Saudi Arabian flag, a sign of the conservative Gulf kingdom's influence among certain sections of Egyptian society. However, when one activist asked a man why he was holding the flag, the man answered, “they gave it to me.” Throughout the day, more and more banners appeared highlighting what many had feared, with the Salafists pushing a specific agenda. Signs and banners said “Egypt is Islamic,” “We refuse the above the Constitution bands,” and “”Shut up secularists, Egypt is Muslim.” Among the chants were “there is no God but God,” and “Islamic state, Islamic state.” Other signs were in support of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF): “General Tantawy, we are your sons in Tahrir.” On the Salafi News Network, an image of a Salafi man dressed in a white galabeya sitting on a pole waving an Egyptian flag appeared, but with the caveat caption: “to all those who accuse us of waving the Saudi flag, besides it is the flag of Islam, not Saudi.” Even women were reportedly booted from the square after having conversations with Salafist men. According to one activist on twitter, two girls were kicked out of Tahrir. The girls claimed on Twitter that they have been pushed out while the group of men were chanting “No God but God, the Secular is God's enemy.” The Salafi News Network denies this occurred. Bikyamasr.com was unable to confirm the girls' story. But with literature being disseminated calling on women to wear the higab, or veil, and avoid wearing “pants” activists have become concerned. A number of pictures appeared on social media networks of the fliers. One document states the “right higab” and another tells why women should not wear pants, calling it “haram,” or forbidden. Last Friday, the spokesperson of Gama'a Islamiya, Assem Abdul Maged, called the Tahrir protesters “traitors” and called on Muslims to “march unto Tahrir to cleanse it.” He called on people to join in the “Friday of Identity,” as the group initially coined the march, to reclaim their country's Islamic identity “from the hands of thugs, Marxists and Liberals who are trying to seize power in the country and claim the revolution.” Abdul Maged's speech at Cairo's al-Fatah mosque alarmed many who feared the call to march would turn into violent confrontations with the protesters, who have been conducting a sit-in in the square since July 8. As evening begins to fall on Tahrir, however, the protesters who have been ardent in their battle to keep pushing for reform, have said they plan to maintain their positions when the Salafists leave the square on Friday night. For now, Egypt looks like a divided country, with opposing views on its future battling out in signs, slogans and manpower. The question for many is where it goes from here. ** Manar Ammar contributed to this report. BM
