Yet, the crowds that reached and demonstrated in Tahrir Square were simply unprecedented.
Hundreds of thousands?
Aljazeera estimated that over two million Egyptians filled the square and adjacent areas to demand that President Mubarak resign at once.
Egyptians from all walks of life, many accompanied by their children were there and demanded to be heard at last.
Peasants from southern Egypt joined Islamists from the Nile Delta, businessmen from upper-class suburbs rubbed shoulders with street-smart youths from gritty Boulaqin in a square that served as a vast tapestry of a country’s diversity joined in the bluntest of message: Mr. Mubarak must surrender power.
« Go already», read one sign held aloft. « My arm’s starting to hurt », wrote Anthony Shadid and David D. Kirkpatrick in the NYT.
McClatchy’s Hannah Allam and Shashank Bengali described the scene thus:
All day long, protesters chanted « leave! » It came from the mouths of children draped in the Egyptian flag, bearded clerics in turbans, teenagers dancing to a drumbeat and elderly women with tears in their eyes. Long before the president’s speech, cameras flashed and video recorders rolled as the protesters documented what they hoped would go down in Egyptian history as the end of Mubarak’s regime.
« In my whole life, I’ve never known another president, and suddenly I can’t imagine how he can stay for even one more day, » said Tasneem Osman, 26. « He has to go. He will go. »
With information more and more difficult to obtain, as internet and mobile phone services were shut down by the authorities, rumors swirled in Tahrir Square. Some protesters cheered at the news that President Mubarak had fled the country. Alas, from the protesters’ point of view, this turned out not to be…
Google, Tweeter and Say now devised a system, speak2tweet allowing Egyptians to send Twitter messages by phone (Wednesday morning, however, the internet services were partially restored).
Originally, the huge crowd was to march on the Presidential Palace eight miles away, but the undertaking seemed too perilous, potentially leading to clashes with the army, which has, for the time being, refused to confront the demonstrators.
In the early evening, a huge television screen was installed in the square, broadcasting Aljazeera, a network officially banned by the authorities (it has now, once again, become available).
The determination of the Egyptians present seemed intact, even after a week of protest: everyone is out there to deliver a clear message to the system that we are not going to let go. We want our voices to be heard, one protester told The Guardian.
Moreover, the weeklong revolt has led to a virtual economic paralysis.
The stock market, which lost 17% last week, has been closed for four straight days.
The transportation of goods around the country has ceased due to a general lack of security. Shops and banks are closed, ATMs are empty and tourists are feeing the country.
Hence, most Egyptians did not receive their January salary as they are paid in cash, and none is available…
Life is therefore, becoming difficult, putting additional pressure on the protagonists. on President Mubarak, compelled to find a quick solution to the crisis, and on the demonstrators, obligated to choose between satisfying their material needs, and thus abandoning the struggle, or pursuing their political agenda and accepting the hardships that ensue.
Things are tough, but I’m more concerned about getting this government out of power. We can get by on less, Ahmad Ismail, a young real estate agent, told the NYT.
The pressure on President Mubarak to resolve the crisis has been intensifying.
The magnitude and intensity of the demonstrations convinced the Obama Administration last weekend that the days of the Mubarak regime were numbered.
As a result, and at Hillary Clinton’s behest, Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt, was dispatched to Cairo to try to convince Mubarak to leave the scene…
Yesterday, in a NYT op-ed piece, unequivocally called Allying Ourselves With the Next Egypt, John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote that the stability of his country hinges on his willingness to step aside.
The message was clear. Mubarak was now recognized as an impediment to the emergence of a new, democratic Egypt.
Kerry also urged the President and his son, Gamal, hitherto considered his designated successor, not to run in next September’s Presidential election.
He also recommended that the US reorient its financial aid to Egypt, currently almost exclusively directed towards the Egyptian military, in support of Egyptian society.
Although he did not formally ask for the President’s resignation, he concluded his article thus,
It is vital that we stand with the people who share our values and hopes and who seek the universal goals of freedom, prosperity and peace.
For three decades, the United States pursued a Mubarak policy. Now we must look beyond the Mubarak era and devise an Egyptian policy.
The old autocrat was now clearly on his own…
As a result, President Mubarak told an expectant nation during a television appearance last night that he would not seek reelection next September.
I will say, with all honesty and without looking at this particular situation, that I was not intending to stand for the next elections because I’ve spent enough time serving Egypt. I’m now careful to conclude my work for Egypt by presenting Egypt to the next government in a constitutional way.
Yet, he also made it quite clear that he would serve the remainder of his term, which expires in September.
The events of the past few days impose on us, both citizens and leadership, the choice between chaos and stability. I am now absolutely determined to finish my work for the nation in a way that ensures its safekeeping, he added.
He was also defiant, vowing that no one would drive him from the homeland he had served for so long.
The Hosni Mubarak who speaks to you today is proud of his achievements over the years in serving Egypt and its people. This is my country. This is where I lived, fought and defended its land, sovereignty and interests, and I will die on its soil, he declared.
The demonstrators in Tahrir Square, who followed the speech on television, were deeply disappointed. Leave, they chanted.
Leave, have some dignity, others shouted.
The President’s concessions were deemed insufficient, too little too late.
The people said it clearly: they want a new democratic regime and this regime has lost its legitimacy.
I would have liked that President Mubarak would listen to the sounds of the millions that went out today, Mohamed ElBaradei told Aljazeera.
You see all these people, with no stealing, no girls being bothered, and no violence.
He’s trying to tell us that without me, without the regime, you will fall into anarchy, but we have told him, No, a demonstrator told Anthony Shadid of the NYT
The Egyptians no longer need Mubarak. He no longer protects his people, or the nation, but has become an obstacle to the development of their vast potential…
Nor is he serving the interests of his country, but only his own, at the expense of those of his people.
President Obama called Mubarak shortly after he had addressed the Egyptian nation, to inform him that the crisis could not wait until September to be resolved.
What is clear, and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak, is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now, the President said.
Though not asked to do so, it is clear the President was hoping that Mubarak would resign as soon as possible, for, as he declared, the status quo is impossible.
Meanwhile, the situation on the ground was becoming more volatile.
Thousands returned to Tahrir Square (many have been there since…last week).
Some 3,000 of pro-Mubarak supporters also took to the streets this morning.
Some clashed with pro-democracy activists in Tahrir Square.
Thousands and thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters are now pouring into the square, Peter Beaumont, of The Guardian, reported this afternoon.
Fearing that the current situation was untenable and could degenerate into violence, the army issued a statement asking the demonstrators to go home.
Your message is received…Your demands became known. And we are here and awake to protect the country for you, not by power but by the love to Egypt. It is time to go back to normal life. You have the power to allow Egypt to return to normal life. We are with You. We will continue to secure our country, a Defense ministry spokesman declared this morning.
It seems that the pro-democracy camp intends to occupy Tahrir Square massively again on Friday, after mid-day prayers, hoping to force Mubarak from power at last.
Mubarak’s supporters seem intent on defending the old autocrat’s regime…
Mubarak should have done the honorable thing and resigned.
His legacy may now include helplessly presiding over a popular revolt that then degenerated into a violent bloodbath…
(the photograph of yesterday's demonstration in Tahrir Squrae is by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)
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