ALEXANDRIA: “This is Alexandria’s Tahrir Square”. With these words, a banner greets visitors of Sidi Gaber square in Alexandria, where 500 people camped out, saying they won’t leave until President Hosni Mubarak steps down.
The sit in started with 50 people on Jan.28, but it only started to take an organized form two days ago when tents where erected, and volunteers started organizing demonstrations and events in coordination with protesters in other governorates across Egypt.
“We came here on Jan. 28 after being attacked by thugs in our former sit-in in the Shohadaa Square, because this is a strategic location. We are protected from behind by the train station and with a wide vista of streets in the front. There is a key military unit down the street,” said Tarek Soliman, an accountant involved in organizing the sit-in.
At Sidi Gaber a nuclear energy scientist sits next to an ex-convict who claims he was framed by a police officer. Construction workers from the nearby Sidi Gaber train station join the sit-in at night after working hours.
Members of different political parties and groups, including Al-Ghad and the Muslim Brotherhood, are present, but the organizers stressed that these people represent themselves not their parties. Anyone who attempts to advocate or advertise a political agenda is required to either stop or leave.
“When we found a Ghad party member giving out party flyers, we burnt the flyers and asked him to leave. We are run purely by people’s donations; you won’t find KFC meals or $100 bags here,” says Soliman.
Each protestor in Sidi Gaber has his own grievances and complaints, but police brutality and poverty are the most common.
“I get paid LE 232 a month, from which I pay LE 50 in medical expenses. How is my household supposed to survive? Even if the president increases salaries, I will never forgive that I was forced to beg, steal, and deal drugs in order to survive,” said Ramadan Mohamed.
“I am here because I was slapped last Ramadan by a police deputy, and when I objected, his supervising officer and other deputies beat me up,” said Hussein, a driver who has been at the square since Jan. 25.
The protesters agree on one demand that they stress is not negotiable: President Mubarak’s departure and, according to some, his prosecution.
“We don’t want anything before Mubarak is put on trial for the murders he is responsible for. Poverty and living standards were the reasons behind the protests of Jan. 25, now people have been murdered and it is about blood,” said Ahmed Bahr on behalf of those in the sit-in.
