CAIRO: “They are our brothers and sisters there. We have to save them,” was the reasoning Hassan and his friend gave for going to Tahrir Square. The two were using their motorbike to help evacuate injured protesters from Mohamed Mahmoud street, where clashes between protesters and security forces continued into their fourth day. Hassan, a young engineering student in his twenties, was just coming back from the “battle field,” as he called it, on Mohamed Mahmoud street. He and a friend were carrying another young protester choking on tear gas used by the Central Security Forces (CSF), when Youm7 spoke to him. As he stood to catch his breath and medics checked his health, Hassan's friend, a hairdresser, took the motorbike to prepare it for the next ride. Hassan's face was covered with a white substance, likely a mix of yeast or anti-acid that protestors use to counter the effects of the tear gas used by the CSF. Despite the remedy, he was having trouble breathing. Hassan's head was slightly bleeding. He had been hit by birdshot, and wanted to check with medics if the pellets were still lodged in his head. “Come on man, its fine, lets go,” his friend told him, urging him back to the site of the clashes. Hassan had ferried injured protesters to a makeshift hospital for two days, each day for about 12 hours. “They are doing a great favor for us, great efforts,” said Ahmed Harara, a protestor who lost his left eye to birdshot in Tahrir. Harara had lost his right eye during clashes on Jan. 28. During an interview with the television program “Akher Kalam” (The Last Word), Harara said that last Saturday a biker took him to three hospitals until one agreed to receive him. Motorbikes could be seen coming in and out of the entrance to Mohamed Mahmoud street, carrying unconscious and injured protesters non-stop. At least 100 motorbikes assisted in rescue operations. Typically, the driver is accompanied by a protester, or even a medic, who holds the injured between them so he doesn't fall down as the motorbike follows a route carved out of the crowd by protestors. Another biker, a tailor named Mohamed Ali, sat down a few meters away from Mohamed Mahmoud. He said he came Saturday after hearing of police brutality against protestors. “I'm wondering,” he said. “The authorities were complaining about the economic situation, and that there's no money to pay salaries, while suddenly they have no problem spending millions of pounds on tear gas and bullets used to attack demonstrators.” When asked if he was afraid, Ali said the most devastating moment since he started helping the victims, was when he picked up two protesters who were suffocating on tear gas fired by riot police. One of them died before reaching a makeshift clinic, and other died shortly after arrival. Ali was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while taking a young man to the clinic. Another motorbike with a microphone cleared the road in front of the other motorbikes, and announced the latest developments from Mohamed Mahmoud street. Clashes between the CSF and protesters began Nov. 20 after security forces attempted to evict a sit-in from Tahrir Square by force, attacking 200 protesters, injuring many. Most of the protestors are family members of injured demonstrators. The crackdown provoked many Egyptians into going to Tahrir to stop these attacks. After they were met with more violence, the situation escalated. Ali and Hassan work daily jobs and are paid on daily basis, but they closed their work places to come to Tahrir Square to help save protesters. A middle-aged woman told Hassan and his friend to say the Shahadah, the Muslim profession of faithm, in case they died while rescuing others. The woman asked them to retreat from Mohamed Mahmoud and stay in the middle of Tahrir Square. “We are not playing there,” Hassan answered. “We have to help the protesters who are dying there, they are defending the square for you and me.” Hassan's friend said closing his beauty salon is nothing compared to people losing their lives in Tahrir to defend their rights. Ali also said he will not go back to open his shop until the violence against protesters stops. “Some times things are worth sacrificing,” he said. “We will not advance or develop our country if we keep focusing on our material belongings. The lives of our youth are much more precious.” Before Hassan and his friend move back to the square, they were asked if felt afraid going into the middle of these clashes. Hassan's friend answered “I leave everything in the hands of God, he'll protect us.”
