Why cairo protests

It was just over a week since mass protests had forced the long-time, dictatorial President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee his country, and like many Egyptians, I was wondering if this could set a precedent. For three decades, we had been ruled with an iron fist by President Hosni Mubarak, nicknamed "the pharaoh" by ordinary Egyptians after the ancient, all-powerful monarchs.

Social media was abuzz with one sentence: "The answer is Tunisia. It was 25 January, National Police Day, and there had been rare calls on Facebook for protests against police brutality and poor living standards.

However, the authorities did not expect much of a response because strict emergency laws prohibited most mass gatherings. Then, suddenly, I heard reports that thousands of demonstrators demanding political and economic reforms had poured into the streets of Cairo.

Immediately, I drove the short distance to Tahrir Square in the centre of the city and could not believe my eyes. It was an extraordinary sight: young men and women from all walks of life crowding into the heart of the capital and chanting the same thing: "The people want the fall of the regime". They were not from opposition parties or the Muslim Brotherhood, which was then Egypt's most organised Islamist group. Most were regular Egyptians who were bravely taking part in anti-government protests for the first time.

During my life, I had known only Mubarak and his security apparatus. The shouts that I was hearing for democracy and freedom must have seemed to many like an unachievable dream.

And yet, the momentum only grew. By Friday, declared a "day of rage", protests had spread across the country. Click to expand Image. Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world. More Reading. October 1, Report. August 17, Report. September 16, Report. September 7, Report. Anti-vaccine mass protests hit parliament street in New Zealand. US, Egypt hold strategic dialogue in Washington.

Pakistan lifts ban on far-right party. Police teargas seasonal firefighters in Greece, 1 injured. We use cookies in a limited and restricted manner for specific purposes. There was no going back. As the protests picked up, so did the clashes. A pellet hit my brother, Nour, in the head during that battle. I took him to the field hospital and told him to wait for me there while I returned, but he refused.

Within minutes, the person next to me was alight with the cocktail and, without thinking, we all rushed to him, hugging him, putting out the fire immediately.

A piece of cracked marble came flying towards me, barely missing my eye and cracking the skin under it. Wounded, exhausted, overwhelmed. Those injured were directed towards a mosque to rest in. I felt as though I was hearing these verses for the first time in my life; was I going to rest while the revolution was happening? Towards the evening, live ammunition had started. The thugs had not ceased firing, and every time we looked to our phones, social media was abuzz with updates and rumours.

Somehow, a system came together. Visibly wounded, sleeping on the floor from sheer exhaustion, people would pass by us and kiss our foreheads, thanking us for our service and looking at us in hope. I lived a revolution. January 25 was a revolution in every meaning of the word.