Million Egyptians Unite and Ayman Mohyeldin

This is going to be another short post I’m afraid. Work is going very slowly and I’m exhausted (I’ve been up for over 24 hours). I’m also feeling quite sad. But that’s not what I’m going to write this post about. Just like I’ve been doing for the past ten days or so, I’m writing about Egypt. Many important developments came out of Egypt today. Some lovely and inspiring and others deeply disturbing. So I’ll just run through them quickly and then go to sleep, or maybe work depending on my energy.

So let’s start with the nice stuff. Today was a day that the regime wanted to be the return to normal life. Their new strategy seems to be to isolate the protesters and try to turn the population against them. The protesters had called for a million people to make their way to Tahrir square today in a day of remembrance and prayer for the martyrs of the revolution. The people of Egypt have shown their mantel again. Over a million people made their way there today and honoured the dead. It is thought that over 300 people have died since January 25th.

There were Muslim prayers protected by the non-Muslims, as has become customary. This sight is beautiful every time, even though it has become common place in Tahrir square and all over Egypt. However, the new development today, were Coptic masses in the middle of the square protected by non-Christians. That is beautiful as well. Remember that there was a very high level of sectarian strife a few week ago. There was even talk of a possible sectarian civil war erupting in Egypt. However, the revolution has brought a new sense of national unity. There was a priest and a sheikh on Al Jazeera Arabic speaking together and standing side by side in a show of solidarity. Their words were incredibly inspiring and uplifting, even for an atheist like myself.

Other than the renewed unity between the different components of the Egyptian people, there were also very happy news from the square. a couple got married today in the square. This is hugely symbolic. The fact that two revolutionaries decided to get married in that now mythic stronghold of the revolution is incredibly beautiful. Of course there’s also a couple of revolutionaries who are spending their honeymoon there. Again this is huge. People have become so attached to what is being achieved in Tahrir Square that they are deciding to spend these important moments of their lives there shows how much this revolution means to the people of Egypt.

On the other hand, there are also disturbing news coming out. Today a meeting behind closed doors has happened between opposition figures and the VP. All of these opposition groups seem to be trying to co-opt the movement. There were a few images of the meeting on Egyptian state tv. There was a huge portrait of Mubarak there and everyone present looked alike. Basically it was a meeting of old men in suits. I think that the youngest man there was 50 or 60. This is outrageous. The movement is led and energised by the youth of Egypt, yet all the people there were old. Anyway, it’s highly likely that this is going to go nowhere.

The most disturbing news coming out of Egypt is that Ayman Mohyeldin, one of the best journalists and reporters working today, for Al Jazeera English, has been arrested by  the Egyptian army. I have been a fan of his work since his fantastic reporting during the Gaza massacre. His work on Egypt has been fantastic as well. He is very knowledgeable and his analysis has been spot on through out. Plus he is the most bad arse guerilla reporter around. I really hope that he is released now. Also I honestly hope he isn’t hurt. Another great bad arse guerilla reporters from Al Jazeera English, and also a veteran from Gaza, Sherine Tadros, was arrested and detain for questioning for a short time and then released. This is unacceptable. The government can’t continue with its double speak, saying that they aren’t targeting journalists and then doing exactly that.

Anyway, this post turned out to be longer than I expected. I believe that I will go to sleep now and hopefully wake up early and work. I am sending positive thoughts to the universe that Ayman will be released very quickly (I know it’s bullocks and positive vibes don’t exist and don’t work, but that’s all I can do). Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow. Hoping that Egypt will be free soon. Long live the revolution.