t is a familiar scene. Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, chanting for a better rule of law, an end to dictatorship and having their country where it belongs: for the people. On Friday, activists and average citizens are expected to once more join forces and head to the center of Egypt’s capital in the hopes of spurring the military to move quicker and heed the peoples’ call for freedom and justice.
For a number of activists, it is more of the same. The military, they say, has done little to move the country in the right direction, despite holding a referendum and convicting and jailing a number of former President Hosni Mubarak’s cronies.
“These are things that should have and would have happened with or without the military in power,” said Yussif Ahmed, a marketing student at Cairo University, who told Bikya Masr he plans on joining the protest as early as possible. “I am tired of dictatorship, whether it was Mubarak or is the military right now. We are going to make our voices heard and hopefully the military leadership will start to change its ways and put Egypt on the right track.”
Being dubbed a “Friday of Rage,” reminiscent of early February’s “Day of Rage” that led the final push to oust Mubarak from power. Then, and now, activists say the military is doing too little and is not working fast enough on a series of reforms.
Egyptians are angry. They believe their country remains controlled by a select few not elected by the general population. While the military maintains it will hold presidential elections as early as this fall, many see the statements as hollow.
“When they go and arrest a blogger and crackdown on newspapers for being critical it tells us a lot. It is what we saw for three decades,” began Samira Abdelsalam, recent unemployed graduate of The American University in Cairo (AUC). “What we need, and what the people want, is a radical break from the way things had been. This is what Friday is all about.”
Groups across the country, including the liberal left and the Coptic Church, have announced they would participate in the day of protests. However, the country’s leading political organization the Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that it would not officially participate in the demonstrations, but members of the Islamic group would be permitted to join as a personal decision not affiliated with the MB.
The Army has said it is worried of possible violence being sparked at the demonstrations, but added that it would not intervene and would only protect “critical” positions across the city and country.
With thousands headed to the street, and an online debate raging over whether the country is in the midst of a military dictatorship, Egyptians are doing what they seem to do best: taking their country into their arms and demanding change. Now, as Friday morning dawns in Cairo, the world waits and watches. It could very well be the beginning of a new revolution, one that activists like Ahmed believe is the only way to have an Egypt worth living for.
“All of my friends have only lived under Mubarak and the military. It is time for real change to happen in this country. I want to say I’d die for my country, but right now, I can’t,” he said.