CAIRO - Only a few days separate us from the New Year and the first anniversary of the Qedisine (The Two Saints) Church blast in Alexandria that took place in the first minutes of 2011. A car bomb caused an explosion that targeted worshippers leaving the church after the New Year mass, leaving 23 dead and over 90 injured. This horrible incident heralded future tragic events. 2011 saw many victims and martyrs, who died for different reasons and in different incidents, due to the harsh and brutal violence practiced by the old regime and later by its security forces. Around 2,286 revolutionaries became martyrs this year and 7,811 were injured, while around 324 lost their eyes and 685 suffered from very serious injuries. Some days after the horrible church massacre the Ministry of Interior, headed by ex-minister Habib el-Adly, declared that it was a suicide bombing. Sayed Belal, a 30-year-old Alexandrian Salafist, was accused of being behind the bombing. He was arrested and tortured to death by State Security officials, according to Human Rights groups. A video that has been widely circulated on social networking websites shows Belal's body with obvious signs of torture. Egyptians realised that Belal wasn't the culprit and added him to the victims of the church bombing. "We are all Sayed Belal" became the second Facebook page after "We are all Khalid Saeed" in a series of many pages raising sympathy and support throughout the year. Khalid Saeed was a young Egyptian who died under dubious circumstances on June 6, 2010, after being arrested by Egyptian police. Photos of his disfigured corpse went viral in online communities and led to outrage over allegations that he was beaten to death by Egyptian security forces. A prominent Facebook group, moderated by Wael Ghonim, made people aware of his death and contributed to the growing discontent in the weeks leading up to the Egyptian revolution in January 2011. In October 2011, two police officers were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years in prison for beating Saeed to death. Egyptians took to streets on January 25 and revolted against the Mubarak's regime and his corrupt government. The protesters called for bread, freedom, dignity and social justice. Millions from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Mubarak's regime. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 killed and 6,000 injured. During the 18 days of the revolution, Cairo was described as "a war zone", and the port city of Suez was the scene of frequent and extremely violent clashes. The first martyr of the revolution was from Suez. The Security Forces loyal to Mubarak were gradually replaced by military troops. Their general restraint led to the slogan "People and army are one hand". On February 11, the newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would step down as President and turn power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Many families are mourning for their loved ones following the revolt that swept through Egypt and led to Mubarak's resignation. One of these unsung heroes is Ahmed Bassiouny, who was killed on January 28, the Friday of Anger. Bassiouny was a visual artist, musician and teacher at the Faculty of Art Education, Painting and Drawing Department, Helwan University. As a true believer in the Egyptian uprising, the father of two bought a mask to protect himself and hit the street with his camera on January 27 to record the protests in Tahrir Square. When he left the house he was full of smiles. Little did he know that he would return with aches and pains. That very day at about 12:00pm he wrote on Facebook: “National security forces have beaten me severely, but this will not stop me from going again to protest tomorrow. They want to turn it into a war, we want to keep it peaceful, hoping to win back our dignity. I'm still insisting on expressing myself politely.” Indeed, Bassiouny returned to the street the next day. But it happened to be his last performance on the mortal plane. He disappeared. Five days later, the inert remains of the 32-year-old father were discovered in a remote hospital. His body was covered in rubber bullet wounds, his limbs fractured. Bassiouny was one of many hundreds killed by the police with rubber bullets and live ammunition. Some protesters died when they were run over by security force vehicles. Another martyr is Mina Daniel, 25, an activist and ardent participant in the revolution and an active member of the Youth for Justice and Freedom movement. Daniel was injured during the infamous Battle of the Camel on February 2, when pro-government thugs attacked unarmed protesters in Tahrir Square, killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Although Daniel survived the 18 days of the revolution, he was killed in the Maspero massacre on October 9, when Coptic protesters supported by Muslim friends were attacked by the military. The march to Maspero was the result of an incident in Upper Egypt; the peaceful protesters were angered by a statement made publicly by Aswan's governor, Mustafa Kamel el-Sayyed. When a church in Aswan got destroyed, he actually denied the existence of the church and later retracted his statement, claiming the church in question had been built without planning permission. Hundreds of Egyptians who never met Mina Daniel or had not even heard of him before his death attended the young man's funeral, chanting, "We are all Mina Daniel". When in an ambulance after having sustained fatal injuries, Daniel's last words to his friends were: “If I die, I want a Tahrir Square funeral." And so it came to be. Journalist and political activist Moustafa Mohi recalled that Daniel insisted on avoiding sectarian chants during the 18-day revolution; he promoted chants and slogans about national unity instead. A group of Daniel's friends have established a Facebook page dedicated to Daniel's memory. The group, dubbed "We are all Mina Daniel," currently boasts more than 6,000 members. Daniel's friends also published his autopsy report; it attributes the young activist's death to a bullet wound to the heart. Only two months after the Maspero massacre and deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in November, December has seen more martyrs and injured people in Tahrir Square and nearby streets. One of those injured in the November clashes is Ahmed Harara, 31, a dentist who lost one eye to a rubber bullet during the January revolution. He returned to Tahrir Square in November events that took place in Mohamed Mahmoud st., only to lose his other eye the same way in the Mohamed Mahmoud Street battle. Before this year says goodbye, more mothers and wives have to bury their sons and husbands, as clashes between the military and protesters have led to more deaths. Alaa Abdel Hady, a fifth-year medical student, was amongst those killed during a military attack on the Cabinet sit-in. He was killed while helping the wounded. Around 2,000 students marched from Ain Shams University to commemorate the death of their fellow student. Sheikh Emad Effat, a 52-year-old senior official at Dar El-Ifta, the Al-Azhar department that issues Islamic fatwas (religious edicts), died of a gunshot wound to the heart. Four children are mourning for him, the youngest is only one year old. Effat's funeral last week was more like a demonstration; hundreds of mourners chanted against military rule. Around 18 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the most recent clashes. In three days the world will celebrate the New Year, while Egypt is remembering its martyrs from all walks of life and religious backgrounds, whose love for Egypt led to the ultimate sacrifice.
