Meanwhile in Cairo…
It’s been a couple of weeks since we left Cairo for cold but peaceful and safe Sweden. Unfortunately the stories we keep hearing from our friends back in Egypt tear us apart.
We’ve heard about MP forces shooting at, beating up and attacking many of the people we met. MP has also broken into apartments, confiscating equipment used for live broadcasting of the unrest.
One of the more disturbing stories came from Mahmoud - whom we met by one of the many camps at Tahrir Square. He was part of a group of students that spent most of their days and nights at the square to support the revolution. They usually slept 2 or 3 hours a night and then headed off to class for a couple of hours before returning to the square. We shared some great moments on the grass in front of their tents, talking about the current situation in Egypt, their hopes and dreams for the future and comparing life in Egypt and Sweden.
The story tells us that many of the guys seen in this video have been beaten up and Ahmed who was translating many of the conversation has been shot. Ahmed reportedly survived the shooting and our thoughts are with him.
It’s incredibly hard to express how it feels to get these eye witness reports from people who you hung out with, sang songs and discussed architecture with just a few weeks back. It’s also devastating to see the streets we just recently walked and the street corners where we were invited for tea with random strangers, are on fire with violence again.
ending this post with some words from Mahmoud, don’t think we could say it better ourselves…
“One day we will be free .. and we will sing 2 gather again. promise we will be free soon”
