I arrive in Cairo just in time for the #Sept9 protests in Tahrir, which brought tens of thousands to the street and ended the night with major protests at the Ministry of the Interior (where the gold eagle was liberated from the gate) and the storming of the Israeli Embassy. Three protesters were killed in the police crackdown that followed. Certainly off the deep end!Pictured here is a smaller march which set off from the square around 10:30am, calling workers & residents of the downtown area to come down & join in the protests. After some of the groups of young men guarding the various entrances (with limited success at that early hour, the odd car still broke through the crowds), I thought it might be best if I tagged along. A student told me to put my camera away until the march passed me by; my obviously touristy clothes & lack of journalist ID or local contacts made me inclined to agree. He then invited me to take shai with him, and as we sat & drank he invited me to a wedding that night or to visit his farm on the outskirts of Cairo. I declined, somewhat regretfully.
The view from my balcony the following day, September 10, is striking teachers march through downtown Cairo. Factory workers on strike, postal workers on strike, medical technicians on strike... Proverbially speaking, definitely not in Kansas anymore :)
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