January 25th marked the birth of a movement in Egypt. February 2nd marked a day of violence in Egypt. The people demonstrating at Cairo’s Tahrir Square were confronted by pro-Mubarak supporters intent on shedding blood. The nightmarish scene resulted in numerous injuries. Al Jazeera and CNN broadcasted it to the world live. On Twitter, the user Beleidy remarked they were reverting back to prehistoric war. People ripped up the streets to create more rocks to throw as others rained down debris from the roofs of buildings across from the museum.
Demonstrators advised that men they caught inciting the mayhem had police IDs on them pointing to direct government involvement in the day’s chaos. Tweeters claimed these men were paid directly by the Government, arriving in buses with machetes and straight razors to attack the peaceful demonstrators. Women and children remained in the center of Tahrir Square as the men protected the perimeter. People cite today’s brutality as evidence of the criminal nature of this regime. The Government denies any involvement with the violence but for observers this seems far fetched.
Friday is scheduled to be the day Mubarak leaves according to the timeline of the demonstrators. The opposition leader El Baradei asked people to maintain the pressure by remaining in the streets in the push to remove Mubarak. Meanwhile Mubarak plays the stubborn old man seemingly unmoved by the destruction unleashing in front of him. If Mubarak remains as stubborn as he has been so far then we are sure to be in for more blood on the streets of Cairo and Egypt. His stance irks his Western allies to be certain and the aftershocks continue to be felt all over the Arab world (the Jordanian King fires members of his cabinet, and in Yemen their leader advises he will not remain in power nor hand it over to his son.)
The question on everybody’s lips today questioned the military’s role in this whole thing? They went from exercising restraint to now standing by watching bedlam.
Additional Links
CNN International asks who are these pro-Mubarak demonstrators?
Al Jazeera English blog looks at Tahrir Square.
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