Thursday, February 3, 2011

past 24 hours, tahrir square

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via maia medicine on 2/3/11

today i went down to tahrir sq.  we live a km from tahrir, so it is a nice walk.  beautiful sunshine day.  there are multiple checkpoints to get into tahrir.  my id was checked 5 times and i was padded down twice. once i got into tahrir that atmosphere was still joyous, but also more tense than the carnival-like vibe of tuesday. 

to the north of tahrir there were clashes, live fire, stone throwing off the bridge.  the air was grey and heavy.  smoke hung low over the bridge.  the area below the bridge was empty except for fighters.  the place felt hungry and desolate. 

last night some of my egyptian friends were down in tahrir during the clashes.  i watched al jazeera with folks as we held our breath hoping that our friends survived. intact. 

they did. and at least one of them, (we'll call him o) was still down in tahrir this evening.   o has been in this from the beginning.  he got arrested on tue jan 25.  and he has been fighting ever since. 

i read an article today by an expat living in cairo in which she went down to tahrir because she felt guilty for what the cairenes have been going through.  honestly, thats not why i go.  i go because i love freedom.  and i know that in order to be free, i have to support the freedom of others.  i am free, because you are.  and you are free, because i am. 

we are free. 


 
 

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