Anger, sadness, stress, fear, disgust, confusion, loneliness...everything i am feeling.
last night, on the way home from work, i witnessed the fighting that erupted during a peaceful coptic protest. the streets were completely chaotic. i was over in zamaleck working, and needed to take a cab home in order to get back downtown. i was refused by several drivers before finding someone who was willing to take what would be a ride that will forever be imbedded in my memory.
the route to arrive to my destination was the very bridge that violence was occurring on; 6 of October Bridge. I suggested to the cab driver to take an alternate bridge further down the road, but he insisted that everything was ok and he would get us home safe.
as we approached the bridge, cars were being turned away by civilians, insisting they not head up the ramp. my cabbie decided that it was best to head over to the off ramp, and head against traffic. many cars followed. together we drove head on towards trucks and cars, swerving in and out, until we reached a surprisingly smooth flowing stream of traffic.
the cab driver looked at me in his mirror and asked, "is that good? are you ok?" "yes," i said. "i have an egyptian father who has been driving like that my entire life. i used to think he was crazy, but now i realize that it is just the way egyptians drive." we both had a nice laugh.
as we rode along the bridge, people were stopped everywhere, standing and staring below. we pulled over and stared down at hundreds of people throwing rocks and bottles at one another. "do you smell that?" my cabbie held his hand over his nose. i inhaled. i felt a strong sting in my nose, and immediately realized it was tear gas. people around us began to run down to underneath the bridge, and it was at this point that my cabbie and i looked at each other and decided it was best to go.
we drove through more chaos, trying to turn down roads to reach my home that were blocked by civilians telling us to find an alternate route. it became obvious that he would be incapable of getting me to my doorstep, so i thanked him dearly for caring for me and asked me to drop me off in a square a few blocks from my home.
i exited the cab, and began walking down streets of absolute chaos. people were driving madly, reversing down roads against traffic, making uturns in the middle of streets, running, yelling. the tension in the air was indescribable. i decided to take alternate streets home to avoid the masses, and to my surprise, found absolute calmness right around the corner. my entire walk home felt like another world. there were people sitting in coffee shops, laughing, chatting, as if not to realize what was occurring blocks away.
so what led up to this...on September 30th, St. Georges Church in the village of Al Marinab of the province of Edfu, located in upper Egypt, (http://www.copticworld.org/articles/373/) was attacked and burned by a group of fanatic muslims. Following the attack, "Aswan Governor Mostafa al-Sayed appeared on television...and said that the custodians of the St. George Church were just as much at fault as their attackers because they had broken building regulations by constructing a dome more than four meters tall." (http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/501407)
And so, after these comments by Sayed, the Coptic Christian population was rightfully enraged, and believed that Sayed should resign immediately as Governor for condoning violence, and the people responsible for the burning of the church should be brought to justice. This led to the peaceful protest of Coptic Christians yesterday; October 9th, 2011. It is said that as the protesters marched toward the state television building, where they regularly protest, they were attacked by unknown assailants throwing rocks, bottles, and firing pellets (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-casbah/egypt-2-dead-after-violent-clashes-cairo).
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/10
http://aljazeera.com/news/midd
It is strongly believed that those behind the attack were hired by the military, SCAF members (supreme council of armed forces, a group of 17 military officials headed by the "acting president" Tantawi), and extremists.
And from these attacks, 24 people are confirmed dead and over a hundred injured. These numbers are rising...
last night, on the way home from work, i witnessed the fighting that erupted during a peaceful coptic protest. the streets were completely chaotic. i was over in zamaleck working, and needed to take a cab home in order to get back downtown. i was refused by several drivers before finding someone who was willing to take what would be a ride that will forever be imbedded in my memory.
the route to arrive to my destination was the very bridge that violence was occurring on; 6 of October Bridge. I suggested to the cab driver to take an alternate bridge further down the road, but he insisted that everything was ok and he would get us home safe.
as we approached the bridge, cars were being turned away by civilians, insisting they not head up the ramp. my cabbie decided that it was best to head over to the off ramp, and head against traffic. many cars followed. together we drove head on towards trucks and cars, swerving in and out, until we reached a surprisingly smooth flowing stream of traffic.
the cab driver looked at me in his mirror and asked, "is that good? are you ok?" "yes," i said. "i have an egyptian father who has been driving like that my entire life. i used to think he was crazy, but now i realize that it is just the way egyptians drive." we both had a nice laugh.
as we rode along the bridge, people were stopped everywhere, standing and staring below. we pulled over and stared down at hundreds of people throwing rocks and bottles at one another. "do you smell that?" my cabbie held his hand over his nose. i inhaled. i felt a strong sting in my nose, and immediately realized it was tear gas. people around us began to run down to underneath the bridge, and it was at this point that my cabbie and i looked at each other and decided it was best to go.
we drove through more chaos, trying to turn down roads to reach my home that were blocked by civilians telling us to find an alternate route. it became obvious that he would be incapable of getting me to my doorstep, so i thanked him dearly for caring for me and asked me to drop me off in a square a few blocks from my home.
i exited the cab, and began walking down streets of absolute chaos. people were driving madly, reversing down roads against traffic, making uturns in the middle of streets, running, yelling. the tension in the air was indescribable. i decided to take alternate streets home to avoid the masses, and to my surprise, found absolute calmness right around the corner. my entire walk home felt like another world. there were people sitting in coffee shops, laughing, chatting, as if not to realize what was occurring blocks away.
so what led up to this...on September 30th, St. Georges Church in the village of Al Marinab of the province of Edfu, located in upper Egypt, (http://www.copticworld.org/articles/373/) was attacked and burned by a group of fanatic muslims. Following the attack, "Aswan Governor Mostafa al-Sayed appeared on television...and said that the custodians of the St. George Church were just as much at fault as their attackers because they had broken building regulations by constructing a dome more than four meters tall." (http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/501407)
And so, after these comments by Sayed, the Coptic Christian population was rightfully enraged, and believed that Sayed should resign immediately as Governor for condoning violence, and the people responsible for the burning of the church should be brought to justice. This led to the peaceful protest of Coptic Christians yesterday; October 9th, 2011. It is said that as the protesters marched toward the state television building, where they regularly protest, they were attacked by unknown assailants throwing rocks, bottles, and firing pellets (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-casbah/egypt-2-dead-after-violent-clashes-cairo).
http://www.arabawy.org/2011/10
http://aljazeera.com/news/midd
It is strongly believed that those behind the attack were hired by the military, SCAF members (supreme council of armed forces, a group of 17 military officials headed by the "acting president" Tantawi), and extremists.
And from these attacks, 24 people are confirmed dead and over a hundred injured. These numbers are rising...
Witnessing this sounds stressful.I hope you are doing okay.
ReplyDeleteit is very sad and absolutely disgusting how people treat each other. i am fine. i feel awful for those who have lost their loved ones to senseless stupidity!
ReplyDelete