During the 18-days revolt, against the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his regime, who ran the country and suppressed freedom for 30-years, Egyptian youth triggered a revolution that started from Tahrir Square. From a major public downtown square, Tahrir was transformed to a liberation and freedom symbol to Egypt and the Arab world. Other protests & revolutions in the Arab and western world were inspired by the peaceful revolt but not all of them succeeded; starting from the Libyan uprising to Occupy Wall street.
In Egypt, protesters lived the experience of Tahrir Square not only as a venue to demand their rights and calling for change but they actually established a smaller version of their dream country named “Tahrir”. I have been reporting to the Chinese Central Television since the beginning of the revolution and I have witnessed and felt the change in culture within this peaceful and positive arena. I asked one of the main activists of the revolution about their dreams and he says” We want Egypt to become another version of Tahrir Square, we want people to breathe freedom and live united and everyone should be treated equally”.
A miraculous transformation happened in Egypt due to the smaller country symbol just by the ignition of the eternal idea of freedom, justice and dignity. The most sublime moment occurred when Muslims and Coptic Christians engaged in common prayer on Cairo's Tahrir Square, chanting "Muslim & Christian are one hand…We are one!" – providing the best answer to the sectarian religious violence. Also and more impressive, at the time of the attacks by the former regime members on the second of February in the square, who didn’t have any way of defense, Christians were covering the Muslims backs as they performed their prayers and vice versa. It was a peace message to the world.
Tahrir’s protests included a diversity of people. One of the unforgettable incidents is to see several business icons and famous actors sleeping underneath the armed forces armored vehicles and spending nights in the square despite attacks. So it wasn’t about the poor. The rich wanted justice for Egyptians despite living a comfortable life.
Egypt witnessed almost 18 days free of sexual harassment inside Tahrir despite being a rising phenomenon. But walking in the streets month’s later one can easily sense that “harassment-free” is not the case anymore.
CCTV crew and I had the honor and privilege to be on the frontline of this revolution and ran its day-to-day coverage. Two of our crew members were detained for several days and I was lucky to flee away before the security forces capture me while reporting and shooting the violence against protesters
On the 11th of February 2011, the former Egyptian president Mubarak was forced to step down. Egypt was a very beautiful place to wake up to on Saturday 12 February. For the first time in the life of millions of Egyptians we woke up to a nation that wasn't ruled by Hosni Mubarak. The night before was like nothing Egypt had ever experienced. People poured on to the streets and strangers were hugging each other, congratulating each other, singing, dancing and relaying stories of 17 days of struggle. It is the day Egyptians regained their freedom and dignity, and Egypt reinstated its leading role in the region and beyond.
Thousands of volunteers who converged on Tahrir Square to help with the removal of the barricades and the clean-up operation, sending a message to the armed forces who is currently running the country that it is a time for clean-up after 30 years of polluted political practice
These were: the immediate lifting of the 30-year emergency law; the immediate release of all political prisoners; the annulment of the current constitution and all amendments; the disbandment of the present parliament, the Shura (consultative) council and regional councils; and, within nine months, to hold a free and fair election in which all political forces can participate, to be run by a national government under an independent presidential council. But that was too optimistic.
Ten months passed and yet the armed forces didn’t hand over the country to civilian rule. The supreme council of the armed forced (SCAF) announced the upcoming parliamentary elections with no clear law to avoid the former regime members to participate. Despite holding a referendum on the amendments of the constitution in March, the SCAF decided to create additional amendments without any political parties involvement triggering another million man march on the 18th of November calling for the SCAF to announce a clear timeline for the civilian rule handover.
The country moved to chaos over the past months. Strikes, protests and sit-ins for every working segment was frequent, the securiy aparatuses failure to control thugs and fugitives, secular tensions and violence between muslims and Christians and an ailing economy are all signs that the Tahrir Square country is only a living dream and the struggle for a new Egypt is not over yet.
