CAIRO: Downtown Cairo has gone from being a bustling hive of commerce and tourism to a battlefield over the past few days, which many people have compared to the original popular protests that marked the beginning of the January revolution. There were many people before Friday that would have spoken of Egypt´s revolution as if it was something that had ended along with former President Hosni Mubarak. Once the dictator was removed from his position of power, with the help of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Egypt was well on its way to becoming a free and open democracy. Back to reality, the true social/political/economical situation in Egypt is extremely complex. So complex in fact that one cannot give an accurate analysis of the situation without it being at best an educated guess. The situation has been so unpredictable that even those who saw what was coming, don´t really know why. And so it was that protesters on late Friday evening were forcibly removed from Tahrir. Who knew the reaction would have been as it was from either side? And the battles began By Monday, the armed forces and civilians had been playing a game of reverse tug of war. The civilian front line was always on the retreat, followed by the offensive. One such front line was in Bab el-Louk, where every tear gas launched from the armed forces resulted in a widespread yet brief panic among the people, causing them to retreat a few meters, only to have some brave Egyptian grab the scolding hot tear gas canister and charge their enemies. As the battle raged and intensified, protesters became less and less concerned about the tear gas. Barricades were erected, made of wooden boards, rubbish bins, and random pieces of debris big enough to form makeshift barricades and shields. Between the hours of 9 PM and 2 AM the fight became increasingly heavy. From the roof of a 10 storey building just meters away from the fighting, the effects of the tear gas were devastating. Even from that height, eyes burned, noses ran and skin burnt. On the ground itself was hell on earth. The protesters in Bab el-Louk were unrelenting. They would gather in front of the alleyway where the shots were being fired from, maybe 300 people at most, and charge the dug-in forces. Armed with Molotov cocktails, stones and a fierce battle cry the protesters would charge full force towards what seemed to be a group of a dozen or so well armed and organized police officers. Every tear gas grenade they fired was thrown back. Every bullet they shot dispersed the crowd, only to have them turn around and try again in less than five seconds. And yet the tear gas kept on coming. Protesters could be identified in three different categories; the fighting force, support and reserves. Many protesters stood further back, watching the situation unfold. As some protesters pulled back, overwhelmed by tear gas and exhaustion, those that stood back would fill in. Other protesters would be there with the necessary supplies to nullify the burning sensation caused by tear gas. There were runners who maintained a steady supply of Molotov cocktails to the area, drivers who would pick up the wounded and the catchers who made sure the tear gas returned where they belonged. Slowly but surely the armed forces would gain an inch, and then lose two. Around 2 AM the armed forces sent a small barrage of tear gas towards the protesters. By this point the protesters had made it halfway up across the street. Out of nowhere, the fighting stops. “The most amazing thing was watching the realization slowly dawn on the protesters,” Tamera Melvin, a resident of Bab el-Louk told Bikyamasr.com “At first there was confusion and mistrust, then that gave way curiosity. As more and more Egyptians began scouting the alleyway curiosity gave way to certainty as they relayed the news of the retreat.” Walking down the side street where the fighting took place just moments before reveals the extent of the damage. The road is littered with broken glass from the Molotov Cocktails, an upturned burned out car used by the armed forces as a barricade rests in the middle of the alley and general debris such as rocks and tissues also litter the alley. And so ended the battle for Bab el-Louk. The protesters managed to push armed forces back and began marching towards the Ministry of Interior. It seem this may be the end of fighting in Cairo, yet the battles rage on in many other cities such as Alexandria, and it remains to be seen whether or not the SCAF or their scapegoats known as the Central Security Forces (CSF) will stage a counter offensive. At best an educated guess would point at their ability to have raised hundreds upon thousands of combat ready troops to quell the protesters. Such a move may lead to an exponential growth in the number of protesters. What is most likely is that deep internal divisions within the army could lead to a mass defection or strike, making it unfeasible to continue fighting, as any alternative which involves a physical display of force has proven to re ignite the passion these young revolutionaries have for freedom. BM
