A Wall Crumbles

The Qasr Al Aini wall coming down--the first stone has just fallen from the right side
(a video taken from a friend's camera to be posted ASAP)

The ground under my feet shakes for a full second, maybe more, as one of the giant concrete stones tumbles to the asphalt. On this Friday afternoon, a few dozen young men gather (many at the bidding of a Facebook event page) to tear down one of the seven ad hoc walls that the military installed in downtown Cairo to protect its Interior Ministry headquarters after several bouts of street fighting since late November. For more than three months now, this particular wall on Qasr Al Aini Street, combined with several rows of barbed wire on the other (non-Tahrir Square) side, has locked down a half-kilometer stretch of what was until recently one of the busiest streets in Cairo.

The wall stands next to the Egyptian Institute, which used to hold invaluable manuscripts from Napoleon Bonaparte's three-year scientific expedition/colonial invasion of Egypt at the end of the 18th century. The building was torched during clashes in December resulting from the breakup of a sit-in in front of the cabinet building. Some artifacts were saved, many destroyed. The building is now covered by metal scaffolding, presumably to facilitate repairs, but I only ever see construction workers on the roof pushing around dust and rocks.

Around 5:15pm, the first block falls from the western side of the wall. Men and boys have scaled the 4-meter high wall and push from different directions, while others work on the ground with the help of two long prying sticks and a cloth strap--all improvised tools for this unusual task. The guys take turns explaining to each other the best method for moving the stone, and onlookers chime in their advice from a safe distance below. The stones must be immensely heavy, since young men thick with muscle huff and puff as they try to move just one at a time.

With success in sight, the guys count to three in Arabic and make a coordinated push/pull. The block falls to the ground as if in slow motion, sending bystanders scattering and a cloud of dust pillowing into the air. As the ground shakes, the men leap with satisfaction and a leader among them begins a chant against military rule. The crowd, which is beginning to grow, erupts in cheers and applause, while the guys atop the wall stare down the police standing 100 meters away on the other side as if to say, Whatcha gonna do about that?!

Before long, the guys are back to work on the next stone block of the top row. When I return to the scene three hours later, the top row is on the ground and the second row is on its way. The crowd has grown to about two hundred people, including some women and children. I jump up on one of the discarded stones to watch the men at work. It's a group effort with more than a dozen people aiming at the same goal, but they have a strategy down and each stone takes about 20 minutes.

I spot some friends on the other side of the wall and we trade notes about what's going on. Nobody is quite sure who is actually doing the physical work of disassembling the wall. Some of the guys identify as Ultras, Egypt's notorious football hooligans who played an important role in the revolution and in the February street clashes and who are currently protesting outside the cabinet building. Others deny association with any group.

We're also not sure what to expect from removing the wall. On the other side there are police, and unless they move there could be a violent confrontation. The point is proven immediately when the appearance of reinforcements send the people near the wall scattering back to the safety of the other side. It's a false alarm--nothing to fear right now--but a discomforting hint of what may be coming.

When I pass by the street again around 1am, the wall is now completely horizontal--3 rows deep instead of 3 rows tall. The blocks will have to be moved to the side if traffic is to pass, but perhaps this is a solution--take down the wall to resist the military, but leave it in the street to prevent renewed clashes with the police. The people on the street at this hour have clearly been distracted from removing the wall. There are a few groups of young men talking/arguing and one group seems particular rowdy. Avoiding their heated exchanges, I weave through the discarded stone blocks and peer over at the other side to find just a handful of police talking in groups. If it weren't for the uniforms, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two sides.