Home > Blog > Protests and Clashes Mark Second Anniversary of #Jan25 [Updated 27 Jan]

January 25, 2013 Posted in | Share

Protests and Clashes Mark Second Anniversary of #Jan25 [Updated 27 Jan]

January 25, two years after the uprising that overthrew the thirty year reign of  Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, thousands of demonstrators have gathered again in Tahrir Square, as well as all over the country, with a similar list of demands that call for “bread, dignity, and social justice.” On this momentous #Jan25 anniversary, millions still chant “the people demand the overthrow of the regime,” and “down with the rule of the ‘Morshid,’” (Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie) but this time their chants are aimed at President Mohamed Morsi and his policies.

 

Throngs continue to press on with their long-standing revolutionary goals, while Morsi’s government responds to their repeated cries for freedom and dignity with tear gas, evidenced in the grim Twitter feeds below. The pictures depicting wounded protesters are particularly disturbing two years later, because they serve as a stark reminder that the social climate in Egypt is still one of oppression, poverty, and injustice.

 

Relations between the protesters and Egypt’s Central Security Forces (CSF)  became particularly incendiary when demonstrators attempted to dismantle a wall erected last November to protect government buildings. Protesters were attacked with rocks, birdshot, and tear-gas.

Activist Bassem Samir asked activists around the world for help:

Protester Ahmed Shabaan Ibrahim Eissa, shown in the video below, returned to Tahrir Square two years later seeking justice not only for himself but also his slain brother who was killed in the 2011 protests. Eissa explains that he and his fellow demonstrators are seeking freedom peacefully, but these goals are unmet by Morsi’s government that seek to suppress, using violent tactics.

 
[UPDATE, 27 January]

Unrest continued over the weekend, not just in Tahrir Square and the surrounding areas, but also in the northeast citty of Port Said, a city of over 600,000 people known for its export and tourism industries.  On Saturday, an Egyptian court handed down death sentences to 21 football fans for their role in a stampede at a match between a team from Cairo and one from Port Said in 2011.  Caught up in the trial were issues of the revolution, politics, and violence, as the accused fans of the Port Said side were alleged to have started the stampede deliberately to get back at fans of the other team, who were seen as largely in favor of the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak.


The verdict set off a new round of demonstrations for and against not just the verdict, but also the Morsi administration, on Saturday, leading to dozens of deaths.  On Sunday, a funeral procession for those killed the day before was again met with violence, this time from the military, which has been deployed in Port Said for the last few days.  As of Sunday evening in Egypt, news outlets were still on the streets attempting to determine the number of dead and injured. 

A video that began circulating on Sunday purported to show evidence of the clashes, including the shooting of at least one man among the demonstrators.  

 

 

<blockquote><p>Video of the shootings in Port Said today. <a href="http://t.co/4jgKoeHm" title="http://ow.ly/halz5">ow.ly/halz5</a> (via @<a href="https://twitter.com/mfatta7">mfatta7</a>)</p>&mdash; Evan Hill (@evanchill) <a href="https://twitter.com/evanchill/status/295558951519522816">January 27, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

 

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