EGYPT: Obama’s visit changes Cairo’s chaotic face for a day
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Anyone who took a walk along the usually busy Cairo streets Thursday might have thought he was in the wrong place. Areas like El-Tahrir Square, Giza and Salah Salem Road were half as full as they normally would be. Was it a Friday? A public holiday? No, it was the day American President Barack Obama was visiting the city to deliver his awaited speech at Cairo University.
In his path across the city, Obama met President Hosni Mubarak at the presidential palace in Heliopolis and visited Sultan Hassan Mosque in old Cairo before addressing the world from Cairo University and taking a brief break at the historical pyramids area, a tour that covers nearly the whole of this normally chaotic metropolis.
The Ministry of the Interior announced Wednesday that a number of road conversions would be part of the security measures accompanying Obama’s visit. Some major bus stops were relocated. Private transportation – a primary mode of travel in Cairo – was not allowed to pick up or drop off passengers in certain areas.
The ministry suggested alternate routes that drivers could use during the president’s few hours’ stay in Cairo, but most people didn’t bother with all of that.
‘Many employees were asked by their managers to simply take the day off. Similarly, many taxi drivers didn’t leave their homes because they knew Cairo streets might be empty,’ says taxi owner Ahmed Abdul-Naby.
In an unprecedented development, Cairo, Ain Shams and Helwan universities all postponed end-of-semester exams to avoid the consequences of the expected traffic jams on students. ‘I’ve never seen something like this before. I remember when we were having exams the same day Israel was bombing the Sinai Peninsula in June 1967,’ Abdul-Naby said. ‘All of this because of a speech that won’t be of any benefit to regular citizens like us.’
Nonetheless, other Egyptians found compensation in Obama’s message to the Muslim and Arab worlds. The president’s speech were met by a general feeling of content from many people, who were waiting to see what this visit was all about.
‘What Obama said was well worth all the inconvenience caused by the visit. I am very optimistic of his perspectives towards Islam, human rights and peace in the Mideast,’ accountant Khaled Mostafa said. ‘The speech sounded different than any of the ones we heard from previous American presidents, especially those of George W. Bush.’
Many Cairo residents found themselves stuck at home because of Obama’s visit, but the president’s words – even if just words for now – brought hope to many throughout the country. ‘I’d certainly welcome Obama to come every day if he’s going to say a speech like,’ Mostafa said jokingly.
--Amro Hassan in Cairo