Today is the black Sunday in Egypt officially.
For the record the protest was peaceful in Shubra with thousands of Christians along with Muslim activists who went in a rally to Maspero building in what they called “The Wrath Sunday”.
The rally was peaceful till Shubra tunnel where suddenly it was met by rocks hurled and gunshots in the air by some people “allegedly from locales !!” , nevertheless the rally continued but people were angry. In their way to Maspero at Galaa street in front of Al Ahram Newspaper building there was some sort of clash. Some eye witnesses say there were gunshots in the air again from the bridge . I saw by own eyes the angry protesters heading to Maspero.
In Maspero it was like a war zone. The rally was dispersed violently by the military police and clashes started between protesters and military police.
The military police vehicles ran over the protesters and the angry protesters had beaten some soldiers.
The protesters got injured and dead as well as the security forces. Officially according to the ministry of health not less 150 are injured while 10 are dead from both sides. The Egyptian TV claims that 3 army conscripts have been killed While on twitter there news that 28 dead bodies from protesters have arrived to hospitals downtown. “15 bodies in Coptic Hospital according to eye witnesses”
25TV channel has been stormed by military police that interpreted its live broadcast where the TV viewers suddenly heard screams on TV. The channel is currently is showing re-runs. According to my sources the military police was searching for something or someone “Some say that while storming the channel and terrifying its employees and reporters.
Al Hurra TV stops its live broadcast from Cairo by the orders of the SCAF.
I fear that the Egyptian TV will be set on fire thanks to the new low it reached when it calls for sectarian confrontation between Muslims and Christian protesters. It is the ugliest
It is hard thing to watch your country falling a part.When I look to what is happening I feel that it is history repeating for 1954 scenario once again considering the fact that on October 12th the candidacy for parliament will be opened.
Story is developing ..
19 civilians have been reportedly killed , 156 have been injured.
Protesters are currently in Tahrir square or rather Abdel Monam Riyad where there are currently clashes between protesters and thugs.It is chaotic.
Egyptian TV host Mahmoud Youssef has resigned from Egyptian TV on twitter “I am searching for this tweet”
@10:07 PM
The death increased to more than 23. The photos from morgues showing scary scenes , here is a shot from AFP "graphic"
The Maspero area is clam now but there are tensions at Tahrir square. Reports on people on motorcycles coming from Boulaq to support the security forces against the protesters. There are CSF and military police in Down town Cairo as well.
Ambulances are reportedly still taking injured from Maspero. The Coptic hospital needs blood donations still there is no blood donating facilities there , I do not know if donors should bring blood packets from blood bank or what.
@10:29 PM
It is a crazy night , crazy old night.
The cabinet will have a meeting tomorrow as Pope Shnouda III with the Church men. The potential presidential candidates as well political powers will have a meeting as well tomorrow's morning according to Amr Moussa
I do not know if SCAF is having a meeting tonight or not.
Essam Sharaf has issued a short statement published in his official Facebook Page describing the clashes between Muslims and Christians "actually between military police and Christians not a Sectarian one" as an attempt to spread chaos. The Prime minister believes that implementation of the law was enough to restore order "really !?" and demanding the children of the nation not to listen to the sectarian fire.
The Sheikh of Al Azhar is calling the Church to interfere.
@11:02 PM
Sharaf is having a meeting with the Cabinet and members of SCAF now.
Hilary Clinton says on CNN that it offers U.S protection to Christian worshiping places !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make things worse.
Minister of information Osama Heikal says now that the news readers claimed that the protesters opened their fire against the army were only provoked emotionally !!
Potential presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabhi tweeted that it is time for rationality and to stop the spell of Egyptian blood rejecting violence and demanding the sovereignty of law. Hamdeen Sabhi is in Italy currently.
Dr. Heba Raof , the famous Islamist political activist and professor who lives at Tahrir square says that there are young men now in Tahrir whose ages are between 16-18 , they seemed to be from popular areas and they are chanting sectarian chants as well as pro-army chants. For the record the protest was peaceful in Shubra with thousands of Christians along with Muslim activists who went in a rally to Maspero building in what they called “The Wrath Sunday”.
The rally was peaceful till Shubra tunnel where suddenly it was met by rocks hurled and gunshots in the air by some people “allegedly from locales !!” , nevertheless the rally continued but people were angry. In their way to Maspero at Galaa street in front of Al Ahram Newspaper building there was some sort of clash. Some eye witnesses say there were gunshots in the air again from the bridge . I saw by own eyes the angry protesters heading to Maspero.
In Maspero it was like a war zone. The rally was dispersed violently by the military police and clashes started between protesters and military police.
The military police vehicles ran over the protesters and the angry protesters had beaten some soldiers.
The protesters got injured and dead as well as the security forces. Officially according to the ministry of health not less 150 are injured while 10 are dead from both sides. The Egyptian TV claims that 3 army conscripts have been killed While on twitter there news that 28 dead bodies from protesters have arrived to hospitals downtown. “15 bodies in Coptic Hospital according to eye witnesses”
25TV channel has been stormed by military police that interpreted its live broadcast where the TV viewers suddenly heard screams on TV. The channel is currently is showing re-runs. According to my sources the military police was searching for something or someone “Some say that while storming the channel and terrifying its employees and reporters.
25TV : Screams on air
I fear that the Egyptian TV will be set on fire thanks to the new low it reached when it calls for sectarian confrontation between Muslims and Christian protesters. It is the ugliest
It is hard thing to watch your country falling a part.When I look to what is happening I feel that it is history repeating for 1954 scenario once again considering the fact that on October 12th the candidacy for parliament will be opened.
Story is developing ..
19 civilians have been reportedly killed , 156 have been injured.
Protesters are currently in Tahrir square or rather Abdel Monam Riyad where there are currently clashes between protesters and thugs.It is chaotic.
Egyptian TV host Mahmoud Youssef has resigned from Egyptian TV on twitter “I am searching for this tweet”
@10:07 PM
The death increased to more than 23. The photos from morgues showing scary scenes , here is a shot from AFP "graphic"
 |
| This is Michael and his fiance Vivan |
Ambulances are reportedly still taking injured from Maspero. The Coptic hospital needs blood donations still there is no blood donating facilities there , I do not know if donors should bring blood packets from blood bank or what.
@10:29 PM
It is a crazy night , crazy old night.
The cabinet will have a meeting tomorrow as Pope Shnouda III with the Church men. The potential presidential candidates as well political powers will have a meeting as well tomorrow's morning according to Amr Moussa
I do not know if SCAF is having a meeting tonight or not.
Essam Sharaf has issued a short statement published in his official Facebook Page describing the clashes between Muslims and Christians "actually between military police and Christians not a Sectarian one" as an attempt to spread chaos. The Prime minister believes that implementation of the law was enough to restore order "really !?" and demanding the children of the nation not to listen to the sectarian fire.
The Sheikh of Al Azhar is calling the Church to interfere.
@11:02 PM
Sharaf is having a meeting with the Cabinet and members of SCAF now.
Hilary Clinton says on CNN that it offers U.S protection to Christian worshiping places !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make things worse.
Minister of information Osama Heikal says now that the news readers claimed that the protesters opened their fire against the army were only provoked emotionally !!
Potential presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabhi tweeted that it is time for rationality and to stop the spell of Egyptian blood rejecting violence and demanding the sovereignty of law. Hamdeen Sabhi is in Italy currently.
هذا وقت للتعقل وحقن دماء المصريين جميعا . أدعو كل مصرى مخلص لضبط النفس والحفاظ على الوطن . العنف مرفوض وسيادة القانون هى الحل .
حمدين صباحي
HamdeenSabahy
حمدين صباحيHamdeenSabahy
@11:34 PM
A curfew has been imposed from 2 AM to 7 AM only in Maspero area to Abassiya area.
Thugs have attacked the Copitc hospital.
Al Shorouk newspaper reports that there are thugs attacking shops and destroying private properties in Ramsis street.
@12:09 AM
Thugs have attacked the syndication of journalists reportedly.
The Ramsis street is being attacked by thugs , cars are set on fire.
Strategic analyst Sameh Seif Zal Yazal claims April 6 movement and George Isahak are involved in the attack and that they had led the protest from Shubra which they completely deny and I truly believe it.
Potential presidential candidates Abdel Manam Abu El Fatouh and Mohamed Salim El Awa are urging the people to stay at home. Both men believed that it is an attempt to kill democratic transition in Egypt.
Hamdy Baden , the commander of military police said that the incident of Maspero will not affect the morale of the army that is ready for martyrdom !!
Many commentators whether politicians or officials blame foreign parties as usual.
People are extremely worried , angry and scared .
The public prosecutor is going to visit the location of the clashes tomorrow.
Waiting for the twist in the story to end this blackness !!
@1:14 AM
Essam Sharaf is going to speak soon on TV. He is already at the Egyptian TV
The death toll has increased to 24 and injured to 212.
@1: 54 AM
Essam Sharaf spoke for few minutes on air without a tie , without any preparation.
In nutshell he said that it is a conspiracy and we should not spread rumors.
I feel ill.
ReplyDeleteWe should not deny that emergency law is in place and that the protest should have never happened. Regardless whether it was peaceful, it was against the law.
ReplyDeleteI watched it on US TV a moment ago (yes the whole world knows about it) and you see protesters hurling huge blocks of concrete on helpless soldiers. The violence against the army was carried out with utmost brutality and if the army would have opened fire gunning the mob down it would have been justfied. I am surprised about the restraint the army showed to these totally unacceptable actions.
You are indispensable, Z. Good reporting. Thanks for adding the updates.
ReplyDelete"Hilary Clinton says on CNN that it offers U.S protection to Christian worshiping places !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make things worse." I wonder if this is a false rumor. My Google searches could not confirm it anyway. It doesn't sound to me like something she'd say.
ReplyDeletePerfect reporting to one of the saddest days of Egypt since #jan28. Thanks Zeinab.
ReplyDeleteReligious conflicts in Egypt are always glossed over, denied, swept under the rug or resolved through friendly announcements stating that Muslims and Cops are brothers and Egyptians.
ReplyDeleteThese band-aid 'solutions' will never work unless the authorities (army) implement the word of the LAW as written.
The Canadian.
@Jason
ReplyDeleteOnly a troll like you would enjoy stirring the pot by making false claims.
Crawl back under the rock you came from.
The Canadian.
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"
ReplyDeleteBECAUSE JESUS CHRIST SAID....
"Never will I leave you nor forsake you"
I looked at several news sources about this. Some said it was the Muslims while other said it was the Coptics who started it. Then I found what appears to be an answer: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/world/middleeast/deadly-protests-over-church-attack-in-cairo.html
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that some in the Army don't want to give up control. They are therefore causing riots. It's an old tactic - divide and conquer. Get the two sides blaming each other then it will be up to the military to maintain order and remain in power.
"Hilary Clinton says on CNN that it offers U.S protection to Christian worshiping places !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will make things worse."
ReplyDeleteThis has been refuted
https://twitter.com/#!/bencnn/status/123319146925658112
I was with a friend the Friday before last, when she received a phone call from Aswan, informing her that a church had been burned and was in the process of being attacked by nearly 100 unidentified "salafists". The destruction of the church took several hours. During all that time, the caller said that the military refused to interfere.
ReplyDeleteAfter 9 days of inaction by our "authorities" (Zionist occupation forces), it is only when citizens organized a peaceful march to protest repeated attacks against civilians and churches that "our" glorious military felt the need to act: so they attacked hundreds of civilians with live gunfire, beatings and other crimes against humanity like crushing protesters with armored trucks.
Eyewitnesses like human rights advocate Hossam Bahgat on Tahrir TV reported that he had personally seen dozens of corpses at the Coptic Hospital alone, at least 7 of them women, most horribly mutilated, some crushed to a pulp, and more wounded.
This was the scene near the offices of 25January satellite tv channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=41PzqZ49kbEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=41PzqZ49kbE
Anonymous 11:14 said:
"I am surprised about the restraint the army showed to these totally unacceptable actions."
F*ck off, you sicko. Your standard for what constitutes "restraint" when it comes to armies brutally massacring Arab civilians is, not surprisingly, identical to the Zionists'.
@nancy: Thank you. I figured Hillary wouldn't say that.
ReplyDelete@The Canadian: Huh? What false claims? Calm down.
I am totally against demolishing or burning down churches in Egypt. Copts should have the right to build their churches in any part of Egypt as long as they use their own money. Also hate crimes should be punishable with stiff sentences.
ReplyDelete@Hazem - You are part of problem facing Egypt. Egyptian Copts are your fellow citizens, they are not foreigners that you have to tolerate because they have been inhabiting your country for centuries. Therefore, if the government in Egypt funds the building of mosques- then churches should also be built with government funds. I would moderately respect your argument if the Copts were exempted from paying taxes, otherwise your comment about Christians having to fund the building of churches with their own money is in line with the Slafist and Brotherhood’s agenda.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused by Alice's comment. Are the Christians the "Zionists" here, or is it the Muslims?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Even Alice is confused by Alice's comment. :) By the way if I recall correctly Alice is a Copt, in case that might help decipher her ravings.
ReplyDeleteIt shouldn't be the government's job to build houses of worship, no matter the denomination. Why does this even need saying?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous, 1:30am, I can't be part of the problem Sir/Madam simply because I currently don't live in Egypt.I also disgree that the government should fund mosques and if they do, they should fund churches as well but according to the population percentage of each religion in the country.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 01:38:00 AM: Hazem if I recall correctly is in Oklahoma City, USA. Though the opinions he regularly espouses on this site suggest he should be deported immediately as a threat to national security. ;)
ReplyDelete@Hazem: Just kidding, buddy. Sometimes I even agree with you.