[Gallery] Tantawi’s Speech Sparks Anger In Tahrir Square, Conflict Persists

Gallery by Shadi Rahimi on November 23, 2011

Photo: Shadi Rahimi/Turnstyle News

There was something different in the air last Friday, during a million person march attended predominantly by Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis. Tahrir was crowded. Liberal activists were sequestered in one corner while the political stages were dominated by Islamist speeches. Some camped out that night, and most expected the police would try to remove them the next day. When police entered the square Saturday, state television carried images of people removing camps while the police watched. But as my cab drove on a highway away from downtown, I caught a glimpse of smoke in the air. By the time I reached a friend’s home, Tahrir had erupted. It was not political groups leading this uprising being called the “second half of the Revolution,” but young men.

I returned to Tahrir that night, and have every day since. My photos and other images coming out of Tahrir tell stories of confrontation, rage, pain, confusion – all of which is present in any given moment in pockets around Tahrir. From the first night, I watched as young boys ran repeatedly up to rows of riot police, without fear. They would be forced to retreat with injuries from tear gas and their canisters; pellets, rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition. Those waiting to receive them would splash their faces with a mix of Mucogel and water, or escorted them to medical aid. By the next day, medical stations were manned by volunteer doctors. Protesters linked arms to create pathways for motorcycles carrying the injured and ambulances. The center of Tahrir became a lively space where vendors set up and people rallied, while along the streets near the square, riot police continue to shoot at protesters. Chants call for “freedom and social justice” and the ouster of interim ruler Muhamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council currently in power.

As photographs and videos circulated online displaying brutal crackdowns by riot police and their pile of dead bodies on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, thousands of Egyptians flocked to Tahrir, while clashes continued in other parts of the country. Some tweets from early in this week’s confrontations reveal something about the psyche here that is hard to describe, but easy to feel: 1) “Ahmed Abdulfatah who’s lost his eye yesterday just left the hospital and back to #Tahrir again.” 2) “Man pulls a girl out of harms way, says u look educated, let us poor die instead so u can rebuild when its all over.” 3) “The world has a choice as … stand w/us, w/ #tahrir, choose hope. choose a revolution.or watch it all die w/us.”

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It has been 10 months since the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, but those in Tahrir Square this week are experiencing an eerie repeat of the January uprisings: bloody and sometimes deadly clashes with riot police, clouds of tear gas, thousands of injuries, and speeches from a ruler who appears days, at minimum, behind the pulse of the street. As Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s interim military ruler, gave a highly anticipated address touching on the political turmoil, riot police continued to assault protesters, rapid fire style, with tear gas canisters. In response to demands that the military council (Security Council of Armed Forces) cease running the country, Tantawi suggested the matter be decided in a public referendum – which drew widespread criticism from politicians and activists. Soon after news of Tantawi’s speech spread through Tahrir, people chanted, “Leave, leave.”

One of protesters’ main demands is to allow a civilian council to step in until presidential elections. More than 12,000 civilians have been tried in military tribunals under the rule of the military council, a remnent of the Mubarak regime, and Egyptians fear the military regime will not relinquish its power. In his speech, Tantawi said he would order the formation of a new cabinet to replace the one that resigned Monday, which would continue to work in conjunction with SCAF. The speech which some in Tahrir described as threatening, seemed to further agitate those in the square. On one street, a crowd of young futbol fans called Ultras marched and lit fireworks. Soon after, a riot police truck moved toward the crowd, firing repeated rounds of tear gas. In the second largest city of Alexandria, police swept the crowds, making arrests. The chants of January echo, but this time with a different target.

People are now chanting, “ Tantawi, you coward, the people are waiting for you in the Square.”

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