The Egyptian Museum stands on the square; it is the heart of Egypt. The bearer of its heritage. In the chaos of the revolution the museum’s unique collection was looted. Imagine ... The Museum on Liberation Square, BBC 2011
It houses 160,000 treasures from Egypt’s ancient civilisation. The age of the pharaohs began five millennia ago. ibid.
The treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb are here. ibid.
Luckily, in the looting these items weren’t touched. But fifty-four items were taken of which twenty-three have been recovered. ibid.
The thieves broke in on the night of January 28th. ibid.
The students rallied round. ibid.
Antiquities from Egypt were routinely shipped out and many are now to be found in museums in the West. ibid.
The sites were very vulnerable during the revolution. ibid.
Nasser’s revolution didn’t have the success it hoped for. ibid.
The army is not admitting or denying their actions. But for the time being they are in charge. ibid.
For a year Tahrir Square has been at the heart of a tumultuous struggle for freedom. Last February people from all over Egypt united in their desire to bring down a dictator and build a new country. Egypt: Children of the Revolution, BBC 2012
The thousands become tens of thousands who begin to camp out in the Square. ibid.
Hundreds are killed. ibid.
The army joins the protesters on the Square. ibid.
The military council finally announce parliamentary elections for the end of the year. ibid.
The demonstrators are now labelled as enemies. ibid.
As expected the Muslim Brotherhood end up as the biggest party. ibid.
The new Egypt has yet to be born. ibid.
When Hillary Clinton visited Tahrir Square some of the democracy activists refused to meet her. Whatever America’s ambitions for bringing democracy to Egypt, the US had thrown its lot in with a dictator. When he was thrown out, for many in Egypt, America had put itself on the wrong side of history. Richard Bilton, Wikileaks: The Secret Life of a Superpower I, BBC 2012
After marching two weeks across the desert Bonaparte’s army came within site of the pyramids. Empires: Napoleon II: Mastering Luck, PBS 2000
The battle of the pyramids was over in an hour. ibid.
October 6th 1981 Cairo: a military parade celebrates the anniversary of Egypt’s successful crossing of the Suez Canal. Suddenly a truck skips to a halt. Four men race to the reviewing stand firing and throwing grenades. Seven people are killed including Egypt’s president Anwar el-Sadat. Infamous Assassinations: Anwar Sadat
In 1882 Britain effectively takes control of the country. ibid.
In 1940 Mussolini’s Italy launches a major invasion from its colony in Libya, but this is easily thrown back by a British force less than a tenth the size. ibid.
Freed in 1948 Sadat returns to the Army and becomes a leading member of the free officers movement alongside Colonel Nasser. ibid.
July 26th 1956 Cairo: to emphasise the independence of the Egyptian republic Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal. ibid.
In 1969 he [Nasser] again makes Sadat his vice-president. ibid.
Nasser demanded control of the canal ... The Suez crisis as it came to be known. Iain Stewart, Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered the World II, BBC 2015
The lights are out all over Egypt. The Square, 2013
‘Egypt was living without dignity. Injustice existed everywhere. Before the revolution I lived from one job to the next. I started working when I was eight years old.’ ibid. Ahmed
They forced us to live for 30 years under emergency law. ibid.
‘We will go down and demand our fundamental human rights.’ ibid. protester
‘We have taken Tahrir Square! … The entire nation erupted at once.’ ibid.
When Mubarak stepped down, the armed forces took over the country’s affairs. They swore to God to meet the people’s demands. So the people went home. And nothing happened. ibid.
‘So we went back to the square.’ ibid.
They arrest people and take them to the museum. ibid.
The battle is in the images; the battle is in the stories. ibid.
The Muslim Brotherhood started shouting, ‘Islamic rule! Islamic rule!’ … The Brotherhood began to use the Square to negotiate with the Army. They’re not calling for the people’s demands but for their political demands. ibid.
‘They were firing live bullets at us … People were falling one by one.’ ibid.
‘Even the doctors are dying.’ ibid.
‘We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.’ ibid.
Winter 2012-13 Two years after the start of the revolution, President Morsi gave himself unchecked powers. Tensions rise between the Brotherhood and the revolutionaries. ibid.
‘Religion is the biggest problem we face in this next phase.’ ibid. Ahmed
‘The people demand the fall of the regime!’ ibid. Square protest
‘Revolution is a culture of the people.’ ibid. Ahmed
This could be the largest demonstration seen in the history of the world. ibid.
Ahmed and Khalid continue to fight for an alternative to Military or Brotherhood rule. ibid.
Unchanging Egypt is being transformed by a new force that threatens to overthrow the country’s pro-western government. Robert Fisk, From Beirut to Bosnia III: To the Ends of the Earth, Discovery 1993
A magnificent timeless country of excruciating poverty. ibid.
Amid these slums live the men who demand an Islamic republic. ibid.
Religion and violence are the only antidotes to poverty. ibid.
Tens of thousands of tourists are too frightened to come to the country. ibid.
Nasser had overthrown a monarchy and remade his country as a thriving republic. Secret Wars Uncovered s1e9: Coups D’etat, History 2020
Stirling and Avery had dinner with the foreign secretary Alec Douglas Hume at White’s Club in St James’s. They proposed a plan: a group of ex-SAS men would mount an operation to fight the Egyptians but they would do it privately. The Mayfair Set I: Who Pays Wins ***** BBC 1999
[Prince] Faisal was terrified that Nassar would invade his county next and agreed to the British idea: the Saudis would pay for the war. ibid.
The Saudis agreed to pay for the British mercenaries but also to smuggle weapons into the Yemen. ibid.
What was invented in the Yemen was a new private form of foreign policy for Britain, paid for by other countries’ money. But then at the very moment when Stirling’s team seemed to be on the brink of success, an economic crisis hit Britain which threatened his whole concept. ibid.
On his return Qutb became politically active in Egypt; he joined a group called the Muslim Brotherhood who wanted Islam to play a major role in the governing of Egyptian society. And in 1952 the Brotherhood supported the revolution led by General Nasser that overthrew the last remnants of British rule. But Nasser very quickly made it clear that the new Egypt was going to be a secular society that emulated western models. Adam Curtis: The Power of Nightmares I: Baby It’s Cold Outside, BBC 2004
Sayid Qutb’s ideas were now spreading rapidly in Egypt above all among students. Because his predictions about the corruption from the West seemed to have come true. The government of President [Anwar] Sadat was controlled by a small group of millionaires who were backed by Western banks. The banks had been let in by what Sadat called his open-door policy. ibid.