January 25 2012 - Happy Anniversary EGYPT

A great, great day in Tahrir today, 25 of January 2012! Al7amdulilah after what I saw today I can tell you that my hope and optimism are BACK.. 

                                                    Courtesy Amani AbdelBari
I have NEVER seen Tahrir so crowded, not even when Mubarak was ousted! 

                                          Courtesy Amani AbdelBari

Joined Zamalek procession with some great friends and met up with many more on the way, on Kasr El Nil Bridge and in Tahrir.

                                  The Guardian - APAimages/Rex

We arrived in Tahrir after 2 but it was so crowded that we couldn't go beyond the Metro station opposite Omar Makram statue.

                                  Courtesy Amr Nazif
There were thousands upon thousands of fellow Egyptians flocking into Tahrir in what seemed like never ending processions from all over Cairo of Egyptians who were joined by politicians, activists, bloggers carrying banners and flags, chanting slogans in defiance of military rule and refusing to celebrate before the Revolution triumphs.

                                  Courtesy Amr Nazif

Egypt was there with all its economic and political strata: the poor, the rich, the intelligentsia, the uneducated, socialists, Islamists, capitalists, communists, Arab nationalists, professors, doctors, engineers, unemployed, men, women, young and old.. 

                                  Courtesy Amr Nazif

Everyone was in revolutionary mode and the voice of the people thundered: يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر everywhere. There was a sense of purpose and power in the air, the Power of the People of Egypt, who refuse to be coerced or oppressed. The Power of the People of Egypt who are adamant about their dignity and human rights. Today I can tell you with conviction that Egyptians won't be sidelined or taken for a ride.. Today there was no fear and most of all, there was no going back.. الثورة مستمرة