Egyptians united in facing tear gas, rubber bullets (News Feature)

By Aya Batrawy Jan 28, 2011, 14:42 GMT

Cairo - Some are enraged by years of government clampdowns on freedoms. Others are mad at the abject poverty felt by many in Egypt. Many more simply seem tired of nearly 30 years of rule by President Hosny Mubarak.

But all of the thousands of protesters seemed ready to brave tear gas, rubber bullets and police attacks on Friday, as clashes between anti-government demonstrators and administration forces went into a fourth day with no end in sight to the unrest.

'Stop, don't go back,' some protesters urged their companions as security forces used tear gas to disperse demonstrations Friday.

'I want democracy, I want social equality, I want my son to find a job and find an apartment to live in,' said Said Hassan, an agriculture engineer as he protested in central Cairo.

The anti-government protests on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities represent the biggest public demonstration in the country since the 'bread riots' of 34 years ago, when people protested the end of subsidies on basic food items.

Those only ended after 800 deaths and with army intervention.

Food prices remain a problem in Egypt. But much of the aggression seems directed personally at Mubarak and his entourage. Together, that desire for democracy and rage at deteriorating standards of living seems to be giving the protests their strength.

On Tuesday, many of the protesters were largely educated students. Poorer members of society told the German Press Agency dpa that they did not dare get involved because any retaliation against them would be significantly worse than that visited upon the students.

But as the original pro-democracy protests gained strength, other segments of society entered the fray, with the first large protests in poorer neighbourhoods of Cairo reported late Thursday.

At Tahrir Square - in central Cairo and the site of major protests on Wednesday - security officials were doing their best to keep demonstrators from reaching the area, shooing away journalists and blocking entrances. A photographer had to hide his camera's memory card in his sock to keep officials from confiscating it.

But that did not cow a group of almost 2,000 protesters approaching the square. A dpa reporter said the crowd was a cross- section of Egyptian society: men and women, rich and poor, young and old, Christian and Muslim.

As they marched, some chanted 'God is great' in unison. Others modified chants from the recent Tunisian uprising, roughly 'Down with the government.'

And they did not stop at the sight of the police, pushing the agents back until the security forces broke out tear gas and an unidentified yellow gas, which was also ignored by the people who had come prepared with vinegar and onions to ward off the worst effects of the gas and with special gloves for flinging the canisters back at the police.

The were also armoured police cars rushing the crowd, forcing people to dive for safety until some protesters clambered atop one and forced it to spin out of control. And there were security personnel, dressed as civilians, seen roughing up protesters.

But the protests went on.

'All people can die, to hell with us all, only Hosny Mubarak wants to live,' another demonstrator told dpa.

'This is the oppressing regime that the West was supporting for 30 years. this is how it is treating its people,' said one man who took refuge in his apartment downtown after security fired tear gas at the hundreds gather in the street below.

'People are poor. I meet people who cannot afford to pay one Egyptian pound (0.17 dollars) at a clinic for the poor. Do you understand what it means that they do not have one pound?,' said Mohamed Qandil, a doctor and young protester.

Still, at times, the city seemed to be divided in two: the part that was protesting and the part that was watching the protests.

Ragah Kamel, who lives in Cairo's Garden City district, said she has been able to hear the protests from her apartment, but has not personally witnessed anything. Indeed, she said her main impression was of a city that had been emptied out.

Cut off from most communications due to the government's Friday ban on mobile phones and the internet, she said she has been staying home upon the advice of acquaintances.

People have told her 'if you run into a situation, then just run into the closest building. You'll be protected there. That's what we're going to do.'

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