This compilation video was created from scenes depicting AUC and its student, faculty, and campus in the AUC Historic Films collection. The video was created by RBSCL staff and displayed at Community Day in 2015
######, a 46 year old security guard at the American University in Cairo, gives his account of the 2011 revolution in Egypt. Based at AUC’s downtown Tahrir Square campus, for several days from January 25 into the second week of February 2011 he was assigned security shifts at the building at 5 Youssef El Guindi Street, a side street off Mohamed Mahmoud Street. During this time he tells of being able to “hear everything but see nothing,” and about the conversations he had with police officers stationed nearby. He reports on what the police had to say about the events at Tahrir Square, for example their not expecting significant demonstrations on January 25, and recalls meeting police officers who had not slept for four days after the 25th and who feared losing control of the protests. Some police officers and military personnel he spoke with revealed that they did not oppose the uprising against the government.
######, a 20-year old engineering student at Ain Shams University, describes his participation in Egypt’s revolutionary period. He states that he had been dissatisfied with the Mubarak regime, although he lacked any prior political affiliation nor had he participated in protests before 2011. Having followed events on social media, ######, at the time a teenage high school Thanaweya Amma student, he tells of joining the demonstrations on January 28, 2011, and standing at the front lines confronting the police and witnessing the kind of police and army brutality that he had been hearing of since childhood. When not protesting, he participated in a local ligan sha’abiyah watch group protecting his neighborhood. He also tells of participating in demonstrations against Ahmed Shafik, and states his opinion that the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) represented an extension of the Mubarak regime. He states his opposition to the demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi on June 30, 2013, saying that Morsi should have been allowed to serve out his full term as a democratically-elected president, and decries the government’s violent response to pro-Morsi demonstrators in Rab’a and Nahda Squares. He also notes that he was against the election of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as president, and mentions his plans to go abroad outside of Egypt after completing his studies.
"######a 23 year old graduate student and AUC alumnarelates her experience of the revolution in Egypt from 2011 and beyond. ###### speaks of taking part in the 18 days of demonstrations in Tahrir Squareusing particular banners as meeting points to join with friends. She describes aspects of the services at the Tahrir Square demonstrationsparticipation of AUC community membersand reports incidents of violence she observed. ###### compares these initial demonstrations with and later Friday protests against the army the Muslim Brotherhood in which she participated. She recalls how security conditions differed from one area to anotherdescribing the situation where she lived in Agouza and her brother’s participation in a neighborhood popular committee (ligan sha'biyya) in Mohandiseen. Differences in opinion were brought out by the revolutionaccording to ######giving the example of her best friend who was outside of Egypt and who was adamantly against the protests. She admits her misgivings about the parliamentary elections and constitutional referendumand offers her observations on Egypt’s political system and the difficulty of and long time required for reforming the country’s institutions like the military and police."
######, a 65 year-old artist, gives her account of her experience of the 2011 revolution in Egypt. She had taken part in student protests in 1972 in Alexandria and participated in other movements during the mid-1970s. Learning about the Tahrir protests from her children (who had been in-formed through Facebook), she participated in the 18 days of demonstrations, whose sense of community across diverse social classes, religions and ages she recalls. ###### also describes the clashes between protesters and security forces, having witnessed the attacks on protesters praying on Kasr El Nil bridge and a young man getting shot in the eye which resulted in her be-ing sprayed with blood. The interviewee comments on the safety situation and the efforts of young protestors to protect public property like the Egyptian Museum in Tahir Square. She also tells of her participation in a women’s march as well as the June and July 2013 protests in Tahrir Square. Also covered are her views on the Egyptian media coverage of the revolution up to the 2013 protests, and on Egyptian politics from President Mubarak’s removal through President Morsi’s ouster and the 2014 presidential elections.
######, a 39-year old faculty member teaching history at the American University in Cairo, describes her experience of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. ###### tells of learning about the protests via Facebook, observing marchers in the street on the first day, and then joining demonstrations at Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque Square, near her home in Mohandiseen, along with other friends and family who like herself had not previously been politically active. She also gives an account of attending the protests at Tahrir Square for several days, noting the sense of familiarity due to the presence of AUC community members and the location near the old campus, as well as concerns over reports about snipers shooting from the roofs of AUC buildings. ###### gives her observations on the role of the news media and social media, and tells about how the curfew and the closure of the university affected her. She discusses the effect of the revolution on AUC, including making students and other community members more politically aware and vocal about their rights, and how this influenced her teaching. ###### describes the demonstrations against the military and Muslim Brotherhood that took place after February 2011, including their limited impact, lack of direction, smaller numbers of attendees and generally reduced public interest. She relates her own participation in demonstrations like the one held for International Women’s Day in 2011 and other protests against sexual harassment, and speaks about the political campaigns, elections, and referenda that took place.
######, an American graduate student at the American University in Cairo, describes her experience of Egypt’s revolution of 2011-2012. A three-year resident of an apartment on Mohamed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square, ###### remained in Cairo after other foreign AUC students and neighbors departed. She attended the January and February 2011 protests at Tahrir Square daily, taking photographs and videos to document events for friends in the United States. ###### says friendships with activists offered insight into the role of young upper and middle class participants and Facebook and Twitter commentators, but highlights the important part played by the young and poor men fighting against state security forces. She emphasizes the spirit of unity despite the diversity of participants, and relates interactions with conservative Muslim men. ###### witnessed a number of violent incidents (including snipers shooting from the roof of AUC buildings) and noticed people infiltrating the university along with demonstrators protecting the campus and defending shops from looters. ###### also describes the role of the military on January 28 and beyond. She describes the medical field clinics set up to treat injured protesters and other organized aspects of the Tahrir demonstrations, such as the provision of food and a lost-and-found area. ###### offers the perspective of a foreigner active in the protests, mentioning her sense of inclusion and safety in Tahrir. Despite this she reports that on February 4, in the wake of state television broadcasts prompting suspicion of foreigners, she was arrested and turned over to the military police, repeatedly accused of espionage during her 20 hours of detention. ###### covers events after the initial 18 days, including the attack on Coptic Christians at Maspero in October 2011 and the December 2011 demonstrations against the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) that turned violent, and discusses activists’ tactics such as the Kazeboon movement to expose abuses by the military. ###### also joined women’s rights groups in anti-SCAF protests and other rights activism in late 2011 and early 2012. She critiques AUC’s support efforts for students during the uprising and addresses the impact of the revolution at the university, including strikes on campus, drawing a comparison with other schools in Egypt.
######, a 28 year old alumna of and graduate student at the American University in Cairo, recounts her experience of Egypt’s revolution of 2011. She describes conditions when she traveled around the city during the early days of the January uprising, and speaks of making and posting online on January 27 a “call to action” video with colleagues from the media production company where she worked. Feeling disconnected due to the internet and mobile telephone outage on January 28, ###### and her husband decided to go to the protests at Tahrir Square, but they drove back home before reaching the demonstrations due to a radio announcement about the curfew. ###### tells of attending the protests at Tahrir Square several times after January 30, 2011, including the day following Wael Ghoneim’s appearance on television. She observes that different social groups had their own spaces (“downtown artsy crowd, there was the Muslim Brotherhood corner, there was the salafi corner”) but interacted with each other, which permitted “putting a face to all of these unknowns,” breaking down stereotypes. According to ###### the atmosphere at the demonstrations was at times carnival-like, with the presence of vendors and families with young children and even pets. She recalls an “unspoken code of conduct” at the demonstrations, but her recollection of the jubilant scene around Tahrir Square at the announcement of President Mubarak’s departure is tempered by the sexual harassment she and friends experienced on February 11. ###### also mentions the burning of the homes of two people she knew who had political and economic ties to the Mubarak regime. ###### depicts the demonstrations that took place at Tahrir Square after the initial 18 days as having a different mood and organization from those of January and February 2011. She speaks about her participation in such events, including a women’s demonstration and the unrest on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November 2011, contrasting the violence taking place there with the carnival atmosphere at the square. ###### emphasizes the special meaning of those spaces for members of the AUC community who had worked or studied on the campus nearby. She also assisted an Egyptian-American filmmaker who came to Cairo to document the revolution, providing contacts for activists and other figures involved in politics. ###### discusses her own participation in Egypt’s new electoral politics, including debating her voting choices with family members and others.
######, a 33-year old Egyptian filmmaker and photographer, tells of his experience of Egypt’s Revolution through 2011 and 2012, and discusses how it inspired artists and filmmakers. He mentions his participation in the demonstrations at Tahrir Square on January 25 and 28, 2011, in his words not as an artist but as an Egyptian. He characterizes the art produced after the revolution as part of the “train of change” launched on January 25, 2011, and speaks about his own work, intended to inspire others and promote change. This includes the documentary he filmed during the 2012 presidential election campaign, “Youm El Nasr” (Day of Victory). ###### describes the making of the film, which includes his interviews with people at Tahrir Square about their opinions of the elections and the candidates they supported, as well as footage of the celebrations that erupted when results were announced.
######, a 19 year old undergraduate student at the American University in Cairo, recounts his experiences during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. He was in Kuwait when he learned that protests were planned, through friends’ posts on Facebook and by watching videos on YouTube. He had already returned to Egypt when the protests erupted, but did not go to Tahrir Square initially. He explains that the turnout increased on Friday the January 28 when students finished exams. According to ######, there was a “great spirit” in Tahrir throughout the 18 days with people from all walks of life helping each other, providing food, and securing the square. ###### describes patrolling his neighborhood for thugs and escaped criminals with a “ligan sha’abiyah” popular committee, and tells of encountering robbers. He singles out Mubarak’s speech on February 1 as the most pivotal point of the revolution, as it left people divided on when he should leave office; ###### himself thought it best for Mubarak to leave in September as he promised, in order to prevent violence and spare lives. He recalls the sense of pride and achievement among Egyptians after Mubarak was toppled, and how their attitudes – even those who were against the revolution – had grown more positive about Egypt’s future.
######, a 23 year old biomedical teaching assistant and musician, relates his experience of the 2011 revolution in Egypt. He describes the role of internet social media like Facebook (the We are Khaled Said page) and YouTube in prompting participation in the 18 Days of demonstrations in January and February 2011. He claims that online videos of police violence like the shooting of demonstrators prompted many to join the protests; the arrest of his close friend was the reason for his own participation, and he slept in Tahrir Square for almost a week. ###### discusses how individuals had to balance their family responsibilities with participating in the demonstrations, rotating between protesting at Tahrir Square and looking after the security of their families. ###### describes Tahrir Square as a place where music and other forms of artistic expression thrived, and speaks about two revolutionary songs he wrote and distributed online.