Cairo Wall Turns One Man’s Shop into Public Thoroughfare

 

CAIRO, Egypt – The wall that Egypt’s new authorities built on Cairo’s Kasr al-Ayni street two months ago was in hopes of controlling some of the crowds into Tahrir Square: The epicenter of the Egyptian revolution has descended into turmoil like much of the rest of the country since the February 2011 overthrow of the government.

But foot traffic heading north from this walled neighborhood toward Tahrir Square now just cuts through another thoroughfare: Mohi Marwan’s modest grocery store, whose double entries opening on two streets have turned into a shortcut for anyone wanting to avoid a long detour around the wall.

With literally thousands of people passing daily through his shop, Marwan should be doing brisk business.  Instead, he complains that business is down because the majority are not paying customers, just people looking for a short cut.

When asked how many people pass through, the affable owner laughed: “The whole of Egypt! Workers, students, bicycles, dogs, you name it!'

Marwan says the crowds have driven away old customers, who find the place too busy to to shop anymore. Due to falling sales, he had to lay off an employee since the wall went up. Moreover, many passers-by steal from the outdoor stalls, which he cannot keep an eye on when the store is full.

Economic woes are one of the many complaints heard in Egypt, since protests that began in Tahrir Square ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s nearly three-decade rule in February 2011. A year ago, before the wall made things even worse, Marwan had to lay off another employee.

In an effort to control Egypt's growing instability and frequent clashes with protesters --largely demanding greater democracy and an end to rising prices and food shortages from the Muslim Brotherhood that is now in power – the army gradually built concrete walls around Cairo to control traffic and crowds in the city center.

Marwan’s shop, which his father opened in 1970, has fallen victim to one of those walls.

Marwan, 50, says he thought about charging one pound per crossing, after a friend jokingly suggested that would make him “more money than the Suez Canal.”

But he knew that would not go over well with neighborhood residents, and decided that his gesture of letting people through without objection would be his modest contribution to post-revolutionary Egypt.

Local residents appreciate Marwan's gesture. “The owner does not have to do this,” said Leila, a 26-year-old student.

“Marwan is a good man to allow us to go through his shop,” said Husseim Hafez, 46, a lawyer who crosses the shop several times a day.

“This wall makes us feel like animals in a cage. Even Mubarak didn't do this. Why is this happening now?” Hafez complained.

Many residents believe that it will be small kindnesses like Marwan’s that will help return normal life to Egypt, where the walls alienate city dwellers and remind them of the looming instability.

But even against the gloomy odds, Marwan remains incorrigibly optimistic.

“Whatever happens, this will give me great publicity in the long run. When the wall is taken down, and Cairo is finally back to normal, people will remember crossing through my shop and will come back!” he hopes.

“Maybe they'll even return the packets of potato chips they've been stealing from me.” he laughs.