{"id":80,"date":"2011-10-11T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-11T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/11\/dogs-of-war\/"},"modified":"2022-04-11T21:38:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T20:38:31","slug":"dogs-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/11\/dogs-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"DOGS OF WAR"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0Beneath a full moon, a crown of Coptic Christians gather outside Alexandria’s library to protest at the previous night’s violence. Egypt has had its Black Sunday – 26 dead in Cairo following confrontations between Christians, Muslims and the military. There was fighting too, in Alexandria, the heart of Coptic Christianity.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
T<\/span>he bloodshed<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>occurred just over a week after the burning of a Coptic Christian church in southern Egypt. Christians and some Muslims had gathered together in a peaceful protest<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>demanding equality and protection of Coptic places of worship.On the evening of the violence\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I had been due to meet Ahmed at Sidi Girbir station, but he had called to say, “Don’t come. It’s dangerous here.” In the background I could hear shouting and sirens. He hung up. I walked home past\u00a0 people gathering\u00a0 to watch\u00a0 their Revolution unravel on the television.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The next day \u00a0Ahmed tells me how he attended what started out as a peaceful rally outside Sidi Girbir station. \u201cThere were mainly Christians, but plenty of Muslims in support.\u2019 he says. \u2018Some young boys suddenly started throwing stones and it turned ugly. Afterwards I went to my sisters. I didn\u2019t feel well. I woke up in the morning \u00a0and saw \u00a0what had happened in Cairo. I\u2019ve been feeling bad all day.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He is unusually subdued and doesn\u2019t want to go to the library to photograph the demonstration, even though it just across the road.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI feel ashamed. I don\u2019t know what to say to the Christians. We tried to protect them, but failed. This is very bad\u00a0 for Egypt.\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
His phone rings and he is suddenly animated. \u201cLets go to the demonstration\u201d he says, snapping the\u00a0 moon. \u00a0When we reach the library the Christians have gone. Ahmed makes a call. \u201cMy friend is coming. I met him last night at the demonstration. He\u2019s a Christian.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
\nImeen\u00a0 meets us at the petrol station. He drifts out of the shadows clutching a mobile. After greeting him, Ahmed turns to me and says, \u201cI don\u2019t trust him. Do you? He says his brother was killed in Cairo last night.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
For someone who has just lost a brother, Imeen is unnaturally nonchalant. And why is he in Alexandria? Ahmed might be right. \u2018He\u2019s from Upper Egypt, they always\u00a0 say prayers immediately after a death, but he says they haven\u2019t done this \u00a0yet for his brother.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t pray it means they are waiting until they have revenge.\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to Imeen\u2019s sources, the demonstration has moved to a church in Mencheya district. \u201cThey are going to fast in protest,\u2019 Ahmed says. We spend an hour looking for the church. Imeen evaporates into a side street.\u00a0 Ahmed walks ahead, mobile pressed to his ear with one hand and \u00a0combing his hair with the other. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to the Cap d\u2019Or for a drink,\u201d I insist, desperate to escape the traffic, noise, and dust.\u00a0 We step into another world \u2013 French boudoir almost \u2013 full of memorabilia from Alexandria\u2019s own Belle Epoque.\u00a0 A large man stands at the bar with a bling crucifix. Ahmed calls him over. Francis is a Catholic.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a conspiracy,\u201d he says. \u2018The military want to cause trouble before the elections. They want an excuse to delay them and keep the Emergency Laws in place so they can control us. This is not about Christians and Muslims. We live very well together. But now, now it is dangerous. \u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
He says he has heard\u00a0 that bodies were being thrown into the Nile by the police . Ahmed looks as though he will burst into tears. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When we leave, we pass Francis sitting alone in his shop. He makes and sells school uniforms and is surrounded by\u00a0 shelves of gingham blouses, white shirts, and\u00a0 maroon cardigans. He waves at us, and I suddenly want to rush over and cover his crucifix.\u00a0 It makes him look vulnerable. <\/span>Ahmed\u2019s phone rings and we are off again. \u201cI am meeting a friend. We meet up nearly every day \u00a0for discussions, but in secret places.\u00a0 You never know who\u2019s around.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We wade through rubbish (Alexandria\u2019s dustmen are on strike) and into a small haven of grass and palms away from the city centre.\u00a0 Couples and groups of women cluster in the darkness. Ahmed walks\u00a0 around waving\u00a0 his arms and calling out to his friend. We head towards\u00a0\u00a0 the sound of someone whistling.\u00a0 Abdul is sitting on a bench with a glass of tea, smoking a cigarette. He is tall,\u00a0 and his eyes are red rimmed and anxious. He is probably in his late twenties.\u00a0 He invites me to sit on the bench as\u00a0 if I am a guest in his home. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Abdul worked as a business development consultant until the Revolution. \u201cI had my own office. It was a good job. But after the revolution the business went bust. Now I work for the Revolution. For freedom, bread and justice. I\u2019m not in any party, but I support the liberals.\u201d <\/span>
\nHe \u00a0wasn\u2019t interested in politics until 25th<\/sup> January. \u2018Now, it\u2019s my life.\u2019\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I am beginning to understand that for many Egyptians, the Revolution has \u00a0birthed an inner revolution<\/span>\u201cYou know Pink Floyd\u2019s The Wall? That\u2019s where we are now,\u201d Abdul says, and together \u00a0we\u00a0 sing an offkey rendering of, \u2018We don\u2019t need no education\u2026teacher, leave the kids alone.\u2019 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A tea lady\u00a0 collects Abdul\u2019s glass. Ahmed orders more tea. \u2018Her son has just been jailed for five years by the\u00a0 military. He\u2019s 21.\u201d\u00a0 Arabic pours from the tea lady as she tells Ahmed that her son was charged with trying to burn down a police station. (All the police stations in Alexandria were burnt down during the revolution.)<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cHis friends got away, and he was caught. But he swears he is innocent,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a civilian. He shouldn\u2019t have been\u00a0 \u00a0tried in a military court,\u201d Abdul says, and mutters \u2018Dogs of war\u2019 under his breath. He does this often .<\/span><\/div>\n
We sip our tea staring up at the moon. \u201cIsrael\u2019s Massod \u00a0and the military are behind this together,\u201d Abdul says. <\/span><\/div>\n
Ahmed nods his head vigorously. \u201c<\/span>No one cares about the poor people and how they are suffering. But we won\u2019t allow them to take the Revolution from us. Never.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We sit in silence for a long time until Abdul whispers into the night, \u201c<\/span>Dogs of war.\u201d<\/span>
\n\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Beneath a full moon, a crown of Coptic Christians gather outside Alexandria’s library to protest…<\/p>\n

Read the postDOGS OF WAR<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wordsfromarevolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}