CAIRO: The effects of the government’s ban on Sayeda Zeinab celebrations are evident on the streets and in the voices of the surrounding community.
In a neighborhood normally bustling with preparations and visitors this time of year, police line the mosque and patrol the smaller streets for signs of celebration.
Each year, visitors from across Egypt – one million, by some accounts – arrive for the weeklong moulid, celebrating the birth of the prophet’s granddaughter here at the Sayeda Zeinab Mosque. Festivities were expected to culminate in the final, full day celebration next Tuesday.
But on Sunday, Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazeer banned the annual celebration upon recommendation from The High Committee for Fighting Swine Flu. Health advisers feared that the large crowds, representing all regions of Egypt, would present an environment dangerously conducive to the spread of the disease.
Police now circulate the area, pulling down tents and confiscating mats and gas cylinders accompanying festivities-seeking travelers.
Youssef El-Sebai Street, leading north up to the mosque, traditionally overflows with visiting moulid celebrators. Vendors arrive to meet their needs and an entire community is born in the week preceding the festival.
On Thursday, Youssef El-Sebai Street is crowded only with the traffic that plagues all of Cairo. Even in the side-streets that locals expect will defiantly hold celebrations, police have prevented preparations.
Mid-day on what would have been the third day of celebrations, Mohamed Abdel-Wahed sat on a side-street off of Youssef El-Sebai. From Alexandria, Wahed’s plans to run a food stand during the week had been ruined by the ban.
“I was preparing myself for this event and bought a lot of stuff, but now what will I do? he said. “I lost a lot of money.
Two street-clothed policemen drove by on an unmarked motorcycle, stopping to question Wahed and the Daily News Egypt reporters talking to him. As part of the crackdown on celebrations, authorities are not allowing the temporary vendors of the past.
“The government doesn t have the right to cancel the moulid, said a furniture salesman on Youssef El-Sebai. “It s a religious faith. Why cancel it and forbid people from what they accustomed with?
But the salesman, who declined to give his name, said his store will not be affected. The celebrators will not be shopping for furniture, he explained.
Indeed, locals had widely differing views on the government ban.
Ibrahim Madbuly said he agreed with the government’s concern with swine flu. “If only one was infected, all of the people around will catch the virus, he said at his metals store on an empty side-street that would traditionally be packed with travelers and the sweets vendors, game stands, and other festivities that accompany the celebration.
Other locals arrived at the Sayeda Zeinab Mosque to celebrate on their own, without the festivities. Sayed Suleiman explained that he had visited the Mosque the previous two evenings, but cared little for the missing activity.
Suleiman supported the ban for religious reasons though. I would prefer if the moulid became like this, he said.
And still others had their own reasons to agree with the ban. A garbage collector who declined to give his name said he was pleased.
“You couldn’t walk in the streets, he said of past years. “You wouldn’t be able to see the floor.
