The Organization, Security and Social Interaction in Tahrir during
the Egyptian Revolution – A College Girl’s voice.
Story Corp. Project
Interview Transcript
Interviewer: Ylenia Swierk
Interviewee: Dina Hassan
Date: March 7th, 2011
Place: The American University in Cairo
Professor: Kim Fox
Ylenia Swierk: My name is Ylenia and today I’m going to interview my friend Dina.
Dina Hassan is a 20-year-old clinical psychology student at The American University
in Cairo. On January 27th, as the Egyptian revolution was going on, Dina decided to
wear comfortable clothes, sweatpants and a jumper, took the car and went with her
mother and brother to Tahrir Square and join the protesters.
So Dina, what drove you, as part of the higher socio-economic class to go to Tahrir,
protest and endanger yourself? It's understood why poor, unemployed people would
be present, but what was your motivation?
Dina Hassan: I was visiting my dad abroad, I came back on the 24th and when I first
read about it, ‘cause I’d heard about Tunisia I thought it wasn’t going to be something
very serious, like I… I thought it was just some type of protest but then I thought to
myself even if it’s just some type of protest I’d still want to join in and I’d want to be
part of it and… And then I also thought about like when it got a bit serious, I got more
convinced that I wanted to go. Even thought my mom was very afraid and she was
like “you gonna get hurt and I see people shot everyday” and some people had already
died. I think it was like three days after, and… Yeah, and then I thought, well if just
the poor people go, they won’t be backed up by the higher and middle class and they
won’t be able to do anything that will benefit them and I wouldn’t want to live in a
place where it’s unjust and where people couldn’t afford to buy meals or sleep… in a
place where they have like blankets and comfortable things. So I just wanted to be
part of it. Like… So that I felt that I did a difference or just added to the counts that
was already in Tahrir so that if we were a lot maybe that would make the difference.
So, not just to protest, just to be there…
Ylenia: And have you noticed any kind of smaller communities forming inside the
bigger "Tahrir" community? Maybe based on age, or social class, or gender? Or was
everyone socializing together as one big family?
Dina: Yeah, there were definitely many types of sects there, but there was more like
members of the same family. Like you had the sect for religious people, and then you
had the sect for activists and journalists, and you had one for famous people and
actors… But at the end they were all merged together, but there was… everywhere…
there was this camp, like each square had a camp with small tents in it, and blankets
and supplies and everything for these type of people and it made it more organized
because… like for example if you’d lost your child somewhere, they would call out in
the microphone and say like, for example, “this child so and so, was lost here, and his
parents are part of this sect” and they would come pick him up so it was very
organized, surprisingly. When I went in, they checked the ID’s and our bags, and it
was very organized… I was very shocked. And then you had like people offering you
tea, and food, and blankets, and distributing… And then you had the people in the
back, there was this place where they did surgeries and like first aid, and… and they
had this storage for all the donations of… as means of… like medication or blankets,
so that at night they would distribute them to the people, so that they could sleep.
Ylenia: And, I heard about some activities that were going on, like people singing and
protesting all together and doing like funny signs and everything, so… Was it
organized by someone or it just like… people were doing it on their own?
Dina: No, it wasn’t organized at all, but… it was more like, for example, I am a
normal person and I am not… I’m not a leader on anything, I would just start by
chanting something really loud and people would follow me. Then you had people
who did songs, and who did rhymes, and who did caricatures, and paintings, and stuff
that was making fun of Mubarak… And then you had people painting on the floor,
and like drawing with chalk, and then… Yeah, it was… I hate to compare it to this,
because it was something more serious, but it was more like a carnival and camp…
Like at night, we’d start a fire and people would start singing songs about Mubarak
and we all laugh together, and we’d all listen to the news together, and it was like one
big family… And it wasn’t organized but at the same time it’s not chaotic. It was like,
very together…
Ylenia: And you were talking about “night”, so you slept there? You stayed there till
late, or…?
Dina: Yeah, I… There was this one day when I slept… I can’t remember which day,
but it was the day of the two speeches… One speech that was very devastating, and
the speech after when he said that he would abdicate. So, I went with my boss, and
this time I… I work for this anti-drug campaign, and they’re making a movie and like
a hospital… so when I went with him, we went to the… to the section where there
were actors and famous people, and… And you could see a lot of activists there too,
they were chanting and they were protesting and everything… And I went to… He
was donating medications… So I went to see the part where they had like hospitals
and… Surprisingly, they had like surgery… they had a surgery section, and first aid…
And people were going there and getting like, their faces sewn together, and bullets
taken out, and everything, and… Yeah, and then at night I went to the parliament, the
‘maglesh el shaab’ place and… I’d say the people there were higher class, but not
because it’s divided, more because some of these people were too scared to join in, in
Tahrir because it was so crowded that day, because he was gonna give a speech and
people were expecting it to be the last speech, and… And then they had these tents
made of plastic wrap and they called them the ‘villas’… But of course they were
lower class people, but like… it was somewhat more of the higher socio-economical
class… And then, there were people protesting at night, then we had these campfires
and… and then there was this speech where everybody was like… I saw like maybe
three grown men collapse to the floor, and they had a nervous breakdown and you had
to spray them with water, so they would like feel better and they were crying… And
everybody was like… I saw like every five people listening to one phone, for… like
to hear the speech, and… Yeah, it was very held together, and then… I went with my
mom and we slept at this place called “Locandat El-Isamaileya,” which is basically
the eighth floor of this building in the middle of Tahrir and we paid like 50 pounds
and we were five people in one room, it was very amusing… it was quite the
experience. There were like authors, and activists and journalists there, and people
from abroad who were like recording… And in the morning I was interviewed by this
man who was writing a book about the Tahrir Square and everything… and then we
heard the speech… And everybody was crying, and bla bla bla, but… I have this
remark that people were so held together… People were so held together that it made
me think about the psychological aspect and how Mubarak could… I couldn’t believe
how oppressive he was to the extent where he got to people’s heads, and made them
fight together just for the sake of fighting so that they wouldn’t think about politics…
Like for example, I was wearing tight pants and so were a lot of other girls, and like
you wouldn’t see anybody harassing us, not even looking at us… We were all like
brother and sister… And there were people from very, very low socio-economical
statuses and they could’ve harassed me easily, or anybody else. Like you could see
people with very revealing clothes, not very, but like… according Egyptian like… the
way they think, it would be very revealing… and nobody like laid a finger on them,
nobody touched them… They were religious people and they were still talking to
these girls… it wasn’t like “oh my God, this is like a Sunni guy” he is not gonna look
at you or… There were ladies in burkas and they talked to these women normally,
they didn’t like lecture them, and at the same time these women weren’t like “oh my
God, these are terrorists, they have beards and they wear burkas…” It’s not what it
was like… It was more like we were all holding together, both religions and statuses,
and… Like, when we went to pray, we were all praying in the streets, and like
Christians would protect us, and when Christians were praying the Muslims would
protect them when they were doing their mass on Friday… So it was very, like, held
together and… And also like you could see a lot of poor people, and I… For example,
I left my bag open in the street, and my wallet was outside and nobody laid a finger
on it, so it was very, very safe…
Ylenia: You didn’t hear about any instance of girls being harassed, or robberies, or
anything… Even the days that they were saying that those thieves got out from jail
and they were going around in Cairo and everyone was really scared and the guys
were in the streets protecting their families… Did you feel any of this in Tahrir?
Dina: Not in Tahrir, because usually the guys that escaped prison were more
interested about like going to the other streets and robbing everything while
everybody was in Tahrir not being aware… And also at the same time… No, we all
acted as one hand, so I feel like Mubarak was keeping us hungry and building these
problems for us, and building barriers between layers of social classes and maybe
religions… So, like, he made us so occupied with these issues that we weren’t
thinking about politics… But now that we were thinking about politics, all the other
insignificant issues didn’t matter… So we were all acting as one hand… If there was
somebody hit, everybody would go and protect that person and… Of course there
were like shootings at night but that was more of… Like, it was the police’s fault,
they would come and attack us, but like none of us were attacking each other… We
were all one body… So, no, nothing really happened.
Ylenia: And how… How did you feel these days or did it leave something inside
you? As a psychology major did you notice some kind of interesting actions or have
you had any feeling that, you know, you didn’t know you would have or something
you understood from this situation, dangerous situation?
Dina: The thing is I’ve changed drastically, and I think everybody that I’ve met
changed… Like everybody has become more aware that Mubarak was building these
barriers between us so… We were more like… friendlier together… People don’t
throw their trash on the streets anymore; they are psychologically more serene
because they don’t feel like there is something between us… I’m not envious of you
and I don’t think they’re trash… But it also left this feeling that I did a difference just
by being there and I want to be part of it… I was talking to my friends who weren’t
really into it and I was like “when we win this, when Mubarak leaves, you won’t be
allowed to say, ‘I was part of this.’ Even though this is your generation you won’t be
allowed to say this because you didn’t participate… You didn’t even care.” And I’m
glad that I did, and I regret that I didn’t go as often. In fact, if I could, I would have…
I would have spent every single day there and… I’m so envious of the people that like
died or like the people that go injured, because I feel like they’re the ones that did
something… Even though I was just there and, okay I was part of it and I was part of
the count… but I didn’t really do something, I didn’t… If I’d injured myself, for
example, I would have this scar to keep it until I grow up and then like, “this was part
of the revolution!” I feel like I made a difference… But now I feel like all I have is
memories and a glove that they gave, like they were distributing gloves at night when
I slept there… So this is like my, my favorite glove in the world and I wouldn’t
change anything for it. This is something that reminds me of the revolution, so yeah…
Ylenia: Okay, thank you Dina.
Dina: You’re welcome.