Tahrir Square Remembered

In the week of the fourth anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution 2011, here is a collage of postcards and books that vividly recall the energy and determination of the Egyptian people when they overthrew the regime of President Mubarak.    As the aims of the revolution look ever more distant from realisation it is sobering to think that Mubarak himself could walk through this very square in a few days time as a free man.

There's a tendency for Egyptians these days to turn a blind eye to the oppression that continues unabated from Mubarak's day.   The narrative accepted from the government is that it is necessary for the protection of the state.    Here's what people would see if they had a cornea transplant.

Apart from the more than two thousand people killed on the streets during the eighteen days of the revolution, a further 189 died from brutality inside detention centres in the same period.   During the subsequent period of army rule, 47 died in detention facilities and 48 from excessive use of force by the police.  Under President Mursi the respective figures were 48 and 48, and under Interim President Mansour and now President Sisi the figures are 80 dead from brutality in detention centres and 28 from excessive use of police force.

Rana Allam, a former Egyptian newspaper editor, wrote this week, 'How can a nation rise when it is down on its knees continually receiving the merciless whip lashes from those who should protect it?   How can the January revolution die if its main cause still lives?'

Regulars will recognise the centrally positioned box of postcards in the shot above from my shot here.   I did go back and buy it along with the three other books visible.   I looked around carefully in the shop to see if anyone was observing me picking them up from a low shelf where they were collecting dust.  I waited until there was no queue at the pay desk before finalising the purchase and asked for a double brown bag as I did not want the single bag originally provided to burst in the street.   Such is life in Cairo.

PS
The book cover photos are accredited on their visible covers. The postcard photos are from a book of the same name by Karima Khalil, AUC Press, 2011.