Cairo's Protest

In Cairo

Egypt says it’s moving towards democracy quickly -

the military, led by their Field Marshall

Mohamed Hussein Tantawi,

the military should relinquish its power in as little as

two more years,

when there have been parliamentary elections

and ratification of a Constitution. 

Muslims make up 90

percent of the populations and Christians,

Coptic Christians, make up 10 percent, and the

military partially dismantled a church

near Aswan recently.

Yesterday, the Christians marched

from a Cairo neighborhood towards the radio and

television buildings downtown, and they scuffled

at least three times with Muslims, but the violence

wasn’t awful - horrible, meant, mean - until 6

pm, where plainclothes security forces and demonstrators threw

rocks at each other. 

State televisions had urged “honest Egyptians” to go into the streets

and protect the soldiers from Christian protesters.

            Previous Christian protestors have appealed to the military

            for protection against radical Islamists.  Not this

time – at one point, groups of riot police officers beat

Muslim protestors, who were shouting in Arabic,                             

“God is Great!”

while a few yards away other Muslims were breaking pavement into

pieces, so they could throw rocks into a group of Christians –

both sides. 

The protestors chanted                       

“The people want to bring down the Field Marshall”

and

            “Muslim and Christians are one hand.”

The police officers, cushioned by hundreds of men armed

with clubs and stones chanted

            “The people want to bring down the Christians”

and

            “Islamic state, Islamic state.”

In retaliation to the fighting, military

vehicles drove into protestors, crushing at least four

people -           bones, skin, meat – were they the passionate ones or the slow ones – how fast were the vehicles going?

Soldiers fired bullets at the protesters - 

at least 24 dead, and 200 wounded.

 

Thanks to the New York Times’ “Rage at Military in Egypt Fuels Deadly Protest”