Tahrir today

Months ago I’d made plans with the Swiss artist Ursula Biemann to be interviewed on camera today. It was the only day that fit both of our travel schedules, and we decided to do the interview at the AUC Tahrir Campus. Filming is usually frowned upon there, but we had the right permits. We walked through Tahrir on the way, and there was more or less nothing going on. Hardly any protestors there, even.

We were going to do it in the Science Building Garden right across the fence from Tahrir, but the traffic was too noisy. So we moved behind the large Main Building into the pleasant fountain area.

I can’t remember exactly how long the interview had been going when the disturbances began. Loud chanting by protestors. Then a woman came running in, interrupting the interview and telling us to “please get inside.” We weren’t sure if she was looking at us or not, but she was. She was warning us that there were “bombs” in Tahrir (less than 100 meters from where we were sitting) and that we needed to go inside any building and lock the doors.

So, we went into Ewart Hall. I phoned two friends and had them check the news, but neither had heard anything. After awhile we decided it was a false alarm and went back outside to finish the interview. But the tear gas was pretty thick by then, and burning our eyes and noses. We finished anyway.

We were told we might be entirely locked into campus, but that on the side of Sheikh Rihan Street we might be able to get out if we were lucky. The Sheikh Rihan gate was closed, but they were opening it to let people leave at will, so we left.

Tahrir looked completely normal. The protestors had been pushed all the way to the side nearest Talat Harb Square, roughly the southeast of Tahrir. We walked down Qasr el-Aini and went and had dinner in Garden City, and a couple of hours later walked back to Zamalek. No real sign of problems during that time.

To my utter surprise given the normal appearance of the areas adjacent to Tahrir, the Tahrir battle is still very much alive, even growing in size.

You can follow it HERE.