A Match and a Memorial

Chaos ensues following Al Ahly vs. El Masry soccer match in Port Said. Photo credit: Foreign Policy

My initial reaction to the deaths in Port Said was absolute shock. How could over 70 people die at a soccer match? For those who have not yet read the headlines, estimates of 74-79 people died directly following a soccer match between teams Al Ahly and El Masry in Port Said this past Wednesday. Al Ahly is the most popular team in Egypt and is from what I have known to call my hometown, Zamalek. It is also widely recognized as by far the best team in Egypt. Al Ahly was playing in El Masry's hometown, Port Said, which is located north of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea. When El Masry came from behind to win 3-1, its fan stormed the field chasing the Al Ahly players and its fans with knives, clubs and the like. 

In videos of the chaos online, it seemed fairly clear that the security and police who are on the field were doing little to stop the violence. Apparently many of the fans died from suffocation as they were pushed into small spaces like bathrooms and were not able to escape. Others blamed the security and police for ever allowing El Masry fans to enter the stadium with knives or other weapons. But above all, people were blaming the military-led government (SCAF), of deliberately allowing violence to escalate as a ploy to justify its extensive police power, which it has used regularly against protestors in Tahrir Square. 

My take on the horrifying event is two-fold.  On one hand, security is certainly to blame. How could stadium security and police allow hundreds of fans to enter the stadium with knives, ready to attack? Violence at soccer games in Egypt is not unusual. Before Port Said, I had no intention of attending a soccer match for fear I might get seriously injured. And that is before this happened. So why did this particular game get so irrationally out of hand that around 75 people died? Someone is to blame. At the same time, my first inclination is to think too much of the blame is landing on SCAF.  It is possible that all of the men with knives who rushed the field were hired baltagiya or paid thugs, but with soccer fans having such a violent history, I am not sure that this is the case. Isn't the first problem that Egypt has soccer fans that think it is rational to kill other team's fans? I remember Philadelphia would have its fair share of riots or occasional car burnings after an Eagles game... but deaths? Something is seriously wrong with this picture.

On Thursday morning I was back at work and was following the emergency parliament session that met to discuss the horrific events that took place the night before. The members of parliament blamed Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim for the deaths and injuries in Port Said and started a petition to charge him directly. Prime Minister al-Ganzouri also spoke to the parliament, visibly distressed. He announced that he accepted the resignation of the Governor and dismissed the security director and chief investigator, all of Port Said. Furthermore, the director and board of Egypt's Football Association were fired. 

Students lead a protest against SCAF at AUC New Cairo.

As this was happening, one of my co-workers came over to my side of the office and let us know that there was a strike happening outside. I quickly had flashbacks to September when the students and workers held regular strikes outside the Administration Building which kept my office on its toes. I grabbed my camera and shuffled outside with the rest of the girls in my office. The students were fuming. The had marched from the central plaza to the Administration Building in a rage against SCAF, yelling chants that I have heard regularly since I moved to Cairo. "Yaskut yaskut hakm al-askar!" Down, down with military rule!

An AUC student, Omar Aly Mohsen, had died in Port Said. He was supposed to graduate this February. 

Translation: Omar Aly Mohsen, martyr of the events
of  the Al Ahly and El Masry match

Whenever I hear about a student dying, I can't help but think all of the Desert Mountain students (my high school) and Cornelians that died during my time there. In high school it was too often. At least one per year, usually more. I hated seeing the school principal on the TV because we all knew exactly what it meant. At Cornell it was even worse. Not only were there multiple student deaths per year, but they were often painfully tragic, suicides or otherwise. There was a tendency to blame the workload and the administration for not taking better care of its students. Someone should be punished for what happened. Egyptians have expressed the same sentiment.

The memorial service was held today, a day of mourning for Omar and the others who died, and classes were cancelled. I didn't know Omar, but I thought I should go and take the office camera, just in case we needed pictures later on. Prior to the service I was actually quite worried. Worried that not enough people would show up. I thought with classes cancelled, there would not be enough students willing to come to campus (which is painfully far away) if it wasn't mandatory. Thankfully I was wrong. The plaza was full of people. I think every staff member was there along with a large number of students. 

The ceremony was incredibly sad. It began with remarks from Lisa Anderson, the president, and afterwards the dean of the School of Business. A number of other people spoke including one of his professors and five of his friends. I, along with the rest of the attendees, really lost it when Waleed spoke, the unofficial head of the custodial workers. At this point it has switched to Arabic, but I was hanging in there. He spoke about Omar's strong dedication to the strike at the beginning of the year and how he worked closely with him as the students and workers led the strike together. His friends read some of the songs he had written about freedom in Egypt and the importance of completing the revolution. Behind the words of his friends was more than sadness, there was anger. Some of them yelled about the military-rule and how they will end it in Omar's name. 

The most chilling moment of the entire ceremony was between speeches. One of the staff members started screaming at the top of his lungs, "Yaskut yaskut hakm al-askar!!" This felt out of place to me at a memorial, but it seemed fitting to everyone else as they joined in. As he continued chatting, fuming with anger, a saw another staff member, who I know from often passing through my office and saying hello, walk over towards him. I thought he was going to stop him so they could proceed with the memorial but to my surprise he joined in to help him yell the chat, with more energy and anger than I ever could have imagined. 

At AUC during the memorial. In Arabic: Down, down with military rule

There have been intense protests in Tahrir Square since Thursday. Protestors have already demolished the stone wall that was built on Mohamed Mahmoud street, built during the deadly November protests to block the protestors from attacking the Ministry of Interior and to end the clashes with police. Tear gas fills the air. More people have died. 

There are still many unanswered questions. Why was this particular game so violent, rivalry aside? Why did neither the governor of Port Said nor its security chief attend this particular game, when they normally attend every El Masry soccer game? Field Marshall and defacto leader of Egypt Hussein Tantawi blamed unidentified "citizens." While I still stand my original point that there is a blatant problem with the fact that so many people were carrying knives at a soccer game, I can't help but lean more towards what some might see as conspiracy theories. In the end, Tantawi and SCAF have failed to keep Egyptian safe, its most important and fitting task as a military. And Egyptians are angrier than ever.