The artist and businessman Mohamed Ali, residing in Spain, launched a call to rally in the squares of Egypt - especially Tahrir Square in central Cairo - on Friday under the name "Friday of Victory", to demand the departure of the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Although the square in the heart of Cairo is the dream destination for revolutionaries and those seeking change in Egypt, after it was the beating heart of the January 2011 revolution that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak after 3 decades in power, the invitation sparked a debate between an enthusiastic supporter and a conservative opponent.

Ali said that his plan is based on the demonstrators entering the square individually without cheers, and to further protect themselves, they can put pictures of Sisi on their mobile phones if they are forced to do so, to protect themselves, and when the square becomes full, the demonstrators will be encouraged to chant without fear, without the police being able to disperse them.

Through a video clip on his Facebook page, Ali - an actor and contractor who worked with the army, before leaving Egypt and beginning to uncover incidents of corruption in which Sisi and army commanders were involved - justified his call to demonstrate in Tahrir by saying that "Demonstrating in Tahrir Square will convey the voice of Egyptians’ anger to the world, " In contrast to demonstrating in villages and hamlets in the governorates.

Ali explained that he advised the demonstrators in the villages and outskirts to be careful when leaving, because the police followed the method of spreading their secret eyes among the demonstrators, knowing the exiles, and then arresting them due to the people of the villages knowing each other closely, but in large squares no one knows the other, which represents a protection for them from being tracked.

Ali called on Egyptians in Upper Egypt and the Delta to travel to Cairo and go to the square, and he also called on Cairo residents to go to the square from the nearest point, pretending that they were passing by to relieve themselves.

Following the invitation, calls to participate in Friday of Victory escalated against the regime, but it was noticeable that the front tags were devoid of the phrase "in liberation", especially after the killing of a young man in Luxor, Upper Egypt, by the police, fueled anger against the regime.

It was also noticeable that the Egyptian opposition channels abroad ignored the call to go out to Tahrir Square. Rather, the anchor in the Al Sharq channel, Moataz Matar, demanded that Egyptians not go to the square, stressing that the day of his entry is coming soon, and advising not to rush and continue protests for a second Friday of anger, as happened in the first on The margins of big and small cities and villages.

On the ground, Cairo did not witness a state of alert and security alert on Thursday, in addition to the one that has continued since mid-September, according to what the Al-Jazeera Net correspondent monitored during a tour in a number of main fields.

On the eve of all possible demonstrations called by the artist Mohamed Ali, ambushes are spread in various areas of Cairo, and after every call for demonstrators to enter Tahrir Square, the authorities used to close the Sadat metro station leading to the square, in parallel with the closure of the main streets leading to it.

Since the 20th of last September, Egypt has been witnessing continuous night demonstrations in villages and the outskirts of Cairo in protest against economic conditions that culminated in a government campaign to demolish real estate constructed without permits, in addition to the deterioration of living conditions and the blockage of the horizon of participation in political life, and the main slogan of the protests demanding the departure of Sisi .

God willing, he gathered victory, the second Friday of the demonstrations, for me to bring down Al-Sisi and the victory of the Free


Revolutionaries. We will complete the journey.

- German fudge hamde slama (@ py8X2vQMZAWzlHI) October 1, 2020

I am not saved in the alternative of death in Tahrir. Akram than death at home, God willing. Friday of victory. # The people_want_the fall of the regime

- Red Hawk (@ veiWXW1lN73w80b) October 1, 2020

Let our opening on Friday be "God is Great",


as our opening was in the 73rd War, and so was victory

- Friday of Anger (@ Ayman71423727) October 1, 2020

Our only chance, all of it, will come down to Tahrir Square after the prayer.

- Mo (@ Mohaned32789135) October 1, 2020

Activists saw in the debate whether or not to go to Tahrir Square a kind of confusion that must be avoided at these critical times, and Sharif - an activist from the January revolutionaries - said that there are those who would accept Muhammad Ali’s call and go to Tahrir Square, while others would suffice to demonstrate in their areas. He accepted the advice of others, such as Mu'taz Matar, which, in his opinion, is a "dangerous" matter.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that the essence of Ali’s call is the gathering of hundreds of thousands of people in the field, which represents protection for each other, while if a few went, they would represent an easy catch for the security forces deployed in the field.

Sharif said that after he listened to Ali's call, it was more appropriate to go out in demonstrations in large cities close to the demonstrators in their countries, and instead of going to the square, it was more appropriate to bring his symbolism and slogans to the parties.

It is not necessary for Tahrir Square to have


sporadic

demonstrations

. Every place is better for the revolutionaries,


with continuity and increase in numbers


and the descent of the critical mass at that time,


but you will meet yourselves, for liberation, I


wish there is no risk of it now.

- Siham Al Haqq (@ Emadomar4444) September 30, 2020

Oh our beloved, Tahrir is difficult. Now all of them will be there in a thousand square in Cairo. Other than that, it is difficult for people.

- Ahmed Mohy (@ egyq8) October 1, 2020

This will remain a trap for the rebels. In January, the army wanted to remove Mubarak, so that he did not attack the rebels, but this time is the equation with zero for.

It is indeed possible to annihilate the one in the square, and for you in the Rab'a and al-Nahda massacre, a lesson to be made.

- Fahmi Alaado (@FAlaado) October 1, 2020

Maneuver

The head of the Egyptian Center for Media Studies and Public Opinion "Integration of Egypt" researcher Mustafa Khoudary estimated Muhammad Ali's call as "just a maneuver used by an anti-Sisi wing in a sovereign body that supports Muhammad Ali," expressing his belief that "the apparent goal for us so far is that this party is seeking to break the police." Which together with the Republican Guard represents Sisi's safety shield. "

Khoudary added to Al-Jazeera Net that this party might want to confuse Sisi by pushing the largest number of security forces into the heart of the capital, giving the protesters the opportunity to outdo the local security forces, and at the same time exhausting the security forces in the capital until it becomes an easy spot in front of the demonstrators when the time comes for that. .

He stressed that no one expects the size of the participation in the demonstrations, but the matter is not only about the size according to his opinion. It could completely change the equation. "

The spokesman believed that the killing of Aweys Al-Rawi in Luxor by the National Security Officer could "drown" the Interior Ministry's compound, "with the spread of weapons widely inside Upper Egypt and the motive for revenge against the killers of Aweys Al-Rawi, events could escalate and turn into violence, and with the fall of the first center." Police will collapse the interior. "

Khoudary added that the parties ’success in bringing about large demonstrations will cover their retreat from the capital, especially since the spontaneous demonstrator is not the appropriate to storm Tahrir Square or any of the central areas in the capital, expressing his belief that“ the cooperation that is taking place now between the Brotherhood and the sovereign party supporting the movement will culminate. The arrival of the Brotherhood’s youth to the capital at the appropriate time, supported by their ideological back from the Salafi movement’s youth, and they alone are able to topple it.

Authority is preparing

On the other hand, supporters of the authority circulated calls for the crowd to support it, as there was an invitation to the people of the Abdeen area near Tahrir Square to attend a large ceremony on the occasion of the October victories.

In addition, invitations were circulated to participate in a march heading towards the Al-Manassa area, east of Cairo, in order to "support and support the Egyptian state and President El-Sisi during this important stage."

An invitation to attend the next Friday 10/2/2020 at exactly 2 p.m. in front of the Nuri Al-Khattab Mosque and the Presidency of the M. Nasr neighborhood to make a collective march to the monument on the victory road "the platform" in support of the President of the Republic and attend a large concert in the presence of a constellation of art stars and


invite your friends and Your relatives to support the Egyptian state and its president.

pic.twitter.com/InmrozZ9Z1

- Watan Future Party - Youth Trust in Nasr City (@YMostakbalwatan) October 1, 2020

Invitation to the workers union to attend an event in support of Sisi in front of the memorial east of Cairo (Al Jazeera)