Travel Extravaganza 2011: For the Love of Egypt

Although I have to finish writing about my travels in Turkey I couldn’t wait to write about the demonstration I attended this past Friday in Cairo...

It is Friday Aug 12^th and I am walking to Tahrir Square with my friend Gaser, his sister and her son. They are all wearing Egyptian paraphernalia and I am carrying Sahar’s huge Egyptian flag. As we are walking a foreigner spots me and asks where I am from. She tells me she is from Saskatoon and for a brief moment we share a common bond. But then she says, ``are you going to the riot?`` I tell her it’s not a riot, it’s a demonstration. Yet she proceeds to tell me to be careful and says she hopes she doesn`t see me on the news. I hold back the eye roll thinking “Wow, you are in the heart of Egypt and you still can’t see past misconceptions from the West.”

This demonstration named “For the love of Egypt” is in response to a rally held 2 weeks prior which was made up of religious groups including Salafist extremists (see link below). My Egyptian friends and I are in attendance to support the secular movement, the “liberalists”, and to keep religion and government separate. The demonstration was made up of tens of thousands of people- even though most are fasting for Ramadan- who peacefully expressed their hopes for the New Egypt. The rally included music, dancing, food (after sunset), face painting, families and foreigners. But the highlight of the evening was when the Sufis came out- essentially opposing the Salafists.

As I stand in the crowd I am inspired by what the Egyptians have accomplished and I am proud to be considered an honorary Egyptian J I cannot say enough about the people of Egypt who I consider to be the friendliest, kindest, most generous, tolerant and openhearted people I have ever met. I feel safer in downtown Cairo than anywhere in the world I have visited. I firmly believe it is the character of Egyptians which makes them unstoppable and I have high hopes for their future. Their legacy includes ousting their president, cleaning house within the government, imprisoning the former president and numerous government officials, and now holding televised trails of these officials. It is jaw dropping for sure, but the next steps are arguably the most important yet.

As “revolutions” sweep across the globe it seems the Egyptians are poised to be a rare success story. I sincerely hope the Americans who plan on attending “Occupy Wall Street Day” (Sept 17) take note and can make positive, peaceful steps forward. No one wants to see the likes of what happened in Britain copied.

Finally, I can`t close this post without expressing yet again my disgust with Assad and those who carry out his directives. It is absolutely heartbreaking. How much further will this go? When is it going to end?

Here is a short clip of the festivities at Tahrir on Aug 12th:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKgj_TJDNU&feature=email

Here is an interesting article on the Salafist Movement:

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/resurgent-salafist-movement-troubles-secular-egyptians-1.795632

Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

The Army protects the circle to prevent people from a sit in there...