My morning began early today when I went down to the Lawyers Syndicate and found the streets already lined with gangs of plain clothes police and row upon row of police in riot gear. Making my way through the rows of police into the syndicate was admittedly a daunting act and I admit I held my breath. Inside was packed already by 10 a.m., perhaps because it was one of the few places where people were allowed to make a demonstration (though it did not get going until later). I made my way to Tharir, passing by a few other syndicates on the way, all of which were hemmed in by police. There was hardly any traffic and the police presence (not to mention the huddles of thugs standing nearby) was enough to keep me in my taxi. Few people were in the streets near Tharir at that time. Back in Zamalek there was a noticeable lack of traffic. The neighborhood store where I often buy tamiyya from told me that there would be none today because of the strike - they hadn't gotten their shipment apparently, although they were open for business. Several shops were shuttered, though this may be because it is Sunday rather than because of the strike according to my bowab. At noon I went back to Tharir and found that thought there were more people on the streets and businesses were open the haunting weather brought on by the hamseen sandstorm seemed to reflect the surreal feeling of anticipation that hung over the area. The American University of Cairo (AUC) was open and had refused calls by some professors to cancel classes - nor did the authorities allow students to publicize the strike, not a flier was to be seen about the planned demonstrations - and had warned student to stay away from Tharir. This apparently did not deter some determined activists because around 12:30 reports of AUC students being arrested started to make their way through the blogosphere. Wael Abbas was mobile blogging and many others sent reports of what they saw and heard throughout the day, though many of them stayed home to avoid arrest, though I know it must have been difficult for some not to be able to be in the thick of things. Kifaya called off the demonstration planned for Tharir because of the insane police presence but people continued to get arrested throughout the day, mothers, students, workers, activists, you name it.
As I walked up Talaat al Harb I must have passed more than 100 policemen. On each corner 3 rows of 10 policemen stood facing out at the street with several more senior officers milling around, intimidating shop owners and passerbys. And of course plain clothes thugs were too. A tourist couple from the UK reported that their hotel had told them about the strike and did not seem too concerned about the police presence. Some shops were locked and shuttered but the restaurants, travel agencies and bookstores were open for business. By 5:30pm many of the police seemed to have left, confident in their knowledge that they had deterred the would-be protesters. Whereas usually my ride home would take forever at this time, the streets were definitely emptier than usual. I don't know how many people stayed home or how this can be known. And as April 6 officially draws to a close the battle to define success and failure, winner and loser begins.
Both sides realize that part of the battle must be fought on the airwaves. I'm sure this is why Egyptian state security reportedly arrested a BBC Arabic correspondent and prohibited Al Jazeera from filming. Supporters of the strike and government representatives have taken to the satellite channels and blogosphere (ok, the later is definitely dominated by the former!). Supporters created a blog and publicized some phone numbers where people could post their observations and experiences of the strike and to track arrests, abuses, etc. While I saw Al Masry Al Yaom on the stands today (with a prominent headline about the strike) there was no sign of Al Destor, at least in Tharir. Sandmonkey reports that "
"The cover of government mouthpieces AlAhram and Al Akhbar are filled with headlines that both deny the existance of any strike , following the line of "What strike? That's just a bunch of hype started by a number of illegal and shady movements and individuals who want to ruin the country!", and yet detail the amounts of legal punishment and trouble that anyone who participates in a strike would receive "Losing your job, Fines, 3 months to a year in prison, being on the government's shit list forever, etc..etc..". Uber government presswhore RoseAlYusef published a headline asking people to calm down, go to work and not worry because everything is working fine and there is no strike , and life is rosy. In Rosealyusef's world, reality is what you make it, which must work really well for them.I think it will be difficult to assign success or failure since there seemed to be so many different objectives by so many different political actors - some called for workers to strike, some called for people to stay home out of protest while others (like Kifaya) called for them to take to the streets. And the message went from one about the rising cost of bread, inflation and wages to one about political repression, political change and other amorphous and less specific demands that made if difficult for people to rally around and certainly provoked the government. What was clearly demonstrated today, however, is that indeed Egypt remains a police state and the government is very skilled at intimidation. And as one blogger pointed out to me today, the U.S. government helps to fund this by giving millions of dollars to the Egyptian military and enabling Mubarak's government (OK, well he said regime) to do what it likes with impunity. Today, like many days before, demonstrated the desire by people of all social classes and walks of life to do something to improve their lot in life and the system in which they live. Must people take to the streets and risk life, limb and livelihood to get this?
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