Tahir Square

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Passion, pluck and people power in Tahir Square. Wet fish in Whitehall.

Photograph’s original source: BBC News, 10.2.11.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12421000 

As I write, the news is broadcasting images of Tahir Square. The atmosphere looks stunning…tents make it look like an encampment. This is people power reminiscent oof when the Berlin Wall was torn down.  Whether Mubarek going (if that is what he’s about to announce) will solve some of Egypt’s woes, leading to a possibly fairer redistibution of wealth, better job and career opportunities and a more democratic system of government, is another matter. I hope so, for what my hopes and wishes are worth.

What all this does show is how much ordinary people can achieve. It’s taken three weeks to push Mubarek to the point where he could resign today. Makes me wish people in the United Kingdom had more get up and go about them, and would protest more.

Imagine if the scenes in Tahir Square were repeated in Trafalgar Square. If everyone I know who is unhappy with the Coalition Government piled into Trafalgar Square, London would be crippled. And people should be angry - the Government has broken countless election promises in the space of a year, cut essential services, cut education budgets, cut police budgets, cut health budgets, and every time they’re challenged, they say, “It’s not our fault, and anyway, it’s for your own good.”

How do they get away with it, every time? I’d understand if they had some aura of charisma, but George Osbourne, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are as charasmatic as wet fish. There’s an army major speaking to the people in Tahir Square at the moment, full of charisma and passion. I wonder if anyone in the government has ever been as passionate and angry as that soldier? I doubt it, somehow.

And look what happens when they are faced with genuine anger and passion, as in the student protests. Because of the actions of a tiny minority, they denounce the protests. But. Just imagine if all the people who genuinely care in the UK really did protest in Trafalgar Square. Protested and kept protesting, staying there like the people in Tahir Square, until they achieved what they want, peacefully and good-humouredly. But staying there. Imagine tents around the lions, around the fountains, in front of the National Gallery. Traffic halted for weeks on end.

Maybe the people of the United Kingdom could learn something from those from the Land of the Pharoahs. And maybe they should learn it, quick, before our own health care, education system and job opportunities are dismantled.

Tags: Egypt
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Egypt

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

I’ve been trying to write, but keep watching the news about Egypt. It must take an unimaginable amount of courage take to the streets and protest against a totalitarian regime. Nothing to hide behind.

When I lived in Cairo, the expats used to make wry, helpless little jokes about the percentages of recent elections, how they were obviously rigged. And all the time I was there, and all the time since I left, there university graduates who counted themselves lucky to have jobs that earned them hardly enough to feed their families.

To stand up and refuse to accept the corruption anymore, to refuse to be helpless… I don’t know how they can do it, in the face of batons, guns, snatch squads and tanks. Could any fiction, ever, accurately encapsulate such real life bravery?

I don’t think it could, which is why the truth in Egypt is so much more compelling than any fiction.

Tags: Egypt
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Great Places to Write (Part Three - In Egypt)

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

The Old Cataract, Aswan

My favourite hotel in the world; Princess Diana, Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie all stayed there. Part of Death on the Nile is set in the Old Cataract’s grounds.

The Old Cataract sits on a headland overlooking the River Nile and Elephantine Island. The Agha Khan loved Aswan so much his mausoleum stands on the opposite bank of the Nile. You can see why when you sit on the Old Cataract’s veranda. Elephantine Island’s black rocks stand in stark contrast to the white-sailed feluccas drifting up and down the Nile. Beyond the river, the desert undulates towards the hils on the horizon; just before them, sits the abandoned monastery of St. Simeon. Sunset is my favourite time to look at the view from the veranda. Silhouettes of palm trees frame the Nile, whose waters sparkle like liquid gold, and feluccas glint as the sun sinks below the desert hills.

Sunset on the Old Cataract

 

With such an inspirational view, and such relaxing surroundings, writing on the veranda is easy; I planned out an entire novel there, in great detail. A thriller, set in London, Lisbon and Cairo. I never finished writing it, but the structure is still there for me; waiting.

If you need a break from writiing, or want to do something more active than just staring out at the view, Aswan has plenty of attractions. I did all of the items on the list below, but there are many more things to do:

• * Trek to St. Simeon’s monastery (by camel, preferably. Trust me on this. I’ve walked to the monastery and gone by camel; Camels hooves have evolved to hold their grip in the desert sands. Human shoes haven’t.)
• * Wander through Aswan’s souks ( I bet you can make it to the end without spending any money)
• * Visit Philae temple
• * Hire a felucca as often as possible - there is no better way to relax than floating down the Nile.
• * Visit the Tombs of the Nobles
• * Visit the Nubian Museum

The Old Cataract is currently undergoing a complete internal overhaul, but according to the Sofitel Group’s website the building will retain its original character. I hope so. I’d hate to think everything will be modernised for the worse. And that veranda had better be the same next time I go…

Tags: Aswan, Egypt, writing
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