Photographer Amr Abdallah managed to take some photos of the strike by drivers, bus clerks, and maintenance workers of the Public Transportation Authorities in Nasr City on Wednesday.
Amr was not allowed into the station, which was under the police siege. He managed to meet up with some of the strikers’ colleagues outside.
I received a text message around 5:45pm, saying Jimmi and Diga’s wedding was cancelled due to the heavy security deployment in Talaat Harb. The one in Sharm is of course underway. I arrived in the square few mins after 6pm, to check the scene out for myself anyways.
And indeed all the expected guests showed up: brigades of Central Security Forces, plainclothes thugs, State Security officers and even firefighters!
[Above: Talaat Harb Sq under occupation by Mubarak’s police.]
When I started taking photos, a young State Security officer in plainclothes crossed the road and ordered me to leave and not take photos of the troops. I told him I was gonna leave, but didn’t move and kept chatting with fellow journalists and photographers who showed up. The officer came back to me again, and told me to instruct the BBC crew not to film. I replied saying he should tell them that himself. He replied rudely saying “I am State Security.” I told him: “Pleased to meet you.”
“Ok, so now go and tell them to leave. Aren’t you working with them?”
“No. I’m a freelance journalist.”
“Ok, go and tell them.”
“Why don’t you do it yourself?” (Of course I know why.. because he’s chicken shit when it comes to foreign Westerners, but only like to flex his muscles on locals.)
“You should be more patriotic,” he charged (I wanted to get my violin out then, and start playing the national anthem.)
Anyways, we were about to leave… so I asked the State Security officer: “So no events planned for today?”
“No, there was no event in the first place.”
“Oh, I heard there was a wedding.”
“No, and if there was one, we won’t let it happen.”
“Why not? People wanna express their joy and share the happiness felt in Sharm.”
“Ok, yalla yalla… There’s nothing today”
The new Egyptian Workers & Trade Unions Watch report cites 16 labor conflicts in the last week of April.