Yousif Roshdy Ibrahim, 15, is one of the skillful riders I met during my recent visit to Egypt's famous Giza Pyramids. He told me he participated in infamous Battle of the Camel on February 2, which attacked the peaceful demonstrators in Tahrir Square. Yousif said, "I participated in the Battle of the Camels not to attack the demonstrators but to defend our rights after the suspension of tourism, and consequently the suspension of our work because of the demonstration. So the leading personality in Nazlet al-Seman demanded us to demonstrate in Tahrir. He said Egypt's January 25 Revolution and the Battle of the Camels negatively affected him and those who work in tourism in unprecedented way. He said tourists now fear to ride camels at the pyramids. He said, “They say to us, ‘you are thugs.'” “We suffered during and after the revolution because of the bad impression the people have of us [now],” Ibrahim added. Basioni, who worked as a rider since he was ten years old, left school without learning to read or to take the responsibility of his parents and sisters.
