caught up in egypt's protests

When I visit on Monday evening, there are no more than four protesters at what is left of the Yemeni tent outside the Arab League in Cairo, after Egyptian security forces cracked down on neighbouring Tahrir Square on Saturday. In their drive to evict Egyptian protesters demanding civil rule from the square, security forces also targeted the Yemeni and Syrian protesters at its edge, firing tear gas at them, and seizing or destroying all their belongings, they say. "They took everything, laptops, phones," says Wael, a Yemeni student and one of the remaining protesters. "There wasn't even a sock left!" But Wael and fellow protesters have decided to keep going. They have re-wrapped their giant Yemeni flag around some trees, and set about distributing twin badges in support of Yemen and Syria.

Behind Wael, accross Tahrir Square, young Egyptian protesters continue to battle the tear gas of security forces in Mohammad Mahmoud Street after nightfall. A steady stream of injured are carried out on foot, by motorcycle, or in ambulances (see photo above) through the protesting crowds at the centre of the square. At the Omar Maqram mosque, on this side of the square, one of several field hospitals has been set up for the injured, with volunteers via initiatives such as #tahrirneeds and @tahrirsupplies bringing in blankets and medical supplies. In the square, protesters opposing Egypt's military regime chant: "Stay in your place, the square is your square." Over the mosque's loudspeaker, someone warns of live bullets, and urges protesters to stay in the square. By the end of the third day of clashes between protesters and security forces, the media has reported over 1,000 injured and 32 dead.

three weeks outside the arab league

For Yemeni students Redhwan, Amru, and their fellow protesters, tomorrow will mark three weeks of protest outside the Arab League in Cairo. Despite the landmark decision to suspend Syria from the Arab League yesterday, nothing similar has so far followed for Yemen. Here are some photos taken over the last three weeks, in chronological order from bottom to top.

November 12 - Behind the police line, engineering student Ola leads the Yemeni section of the protest in chants, as delegates inside the Arab League vote on Syria's temporary suspension. Before the final decision is announced, Syrians, Yemenis, and Bahrainis protest together outside the main gate. Police attend the event, after a Syrian opposition delegate was pelted with raw eggs several days before.

November 10- It takes two lightbulbs to make a cup of tea in the protester's tent. “The generator can’t handle both [the kettle and the lighting],” explains Redhwan with a grin, as he takes them down.

November 6 - After the first prayer of Eid al-Adha, Yemenis join Syrians to protest against the regimes of Saleh and Assad. Despite one of the Syrian protester leaders announcing that there would be no Eid today but a "funeral for the martyrs", the mood is jovial on the first day of Eid. Old friends reunite outside the tent, and one man licks the remnants of a plate of basboosa, an Arabic cake, off his fingers.

November 1 - Yemen's candidates in this year's Arab Idol, sisters Amal and Houria, sing Dana Ye Dana and other Yemeni songs to fellow Yemenis, Egyptian passers-by, and Taizi opposition figure Sultan al-Samie on a visit to Cairo.

October 28 - A giant poster of Taha al-Juneid dwarfs the photos of other deceased protesters beside him. Medic student Redhwan knew him, and tells me how his friend's story turned the weekly protests outside the Arab League into a permanent sit-in. They abducted and tortured him for being a protester, he tells me. Before, protesters were been killed in the squares, but this was different. “I went out. We’re protesting! I said.” Redwan motions to the large poster of Taha behind him. “That one I printed,” he says quietly. “I paid for it myself.” (Taha's story with graphic images is here.)

October 28 - Engineering student Amru and law student Mustafa, who I found reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho at 8 am that morning, charge their phones from the tent's generator after a shared breakfast with their Syrian neighbours. The Syrian anti-Assad protesters have set up their tent on the pavement on the other side of the Arab League's permanently-closed front gate.

October 26 - As night falls, Yemenis gather in the newly-erected tent outside the Arab League headquarters just off Tahrir Square in Cairo. The make-shift tent, topped, with the Yemeni flag, was put up on October 24. "We ask the Arab League to suspend Yemen's membership," reads the sign.

'imagine if ali left'

After 'Bloody Friday’ last week, pro-change protesters in Yemen today called for a ‘Friday of departure'. But as he addressed a throng of supporters near the presidential palace after midday prayers, President Ali Abdullah Saleh spoke of a 'Friday of tolerance', one of peace, stability and security. He told the crowds that he was prepared to hand over power, but only to "clean hands". He warned that the anti-governement protesters had been influenced by the Houthis and "drug traffickers".

There are those Yemenis who genuinely support the president, but also tens of thousands - now backed by senior army commanders and high-profile resignations - who continue to call for him to step down like Bin Ali and Mubarak before him. Yemenis advocating for change have been increasingly creative in rallying support over the last weeks. There have been improvised songs, satirical performances, hymns, and even reggae! On Youtube, here is one more pro-change voice with a difference.

And here is a translation:

Rent-a-Yemeni:

No one will do but Ali [Abdallah Saleh]. Who else but Ali? Imagine if Ali left. There would be a civil war! We’d become Somalia!

(Looks for encouragement to his left.) What else?

Ali holds Yemen like this! He holds Yemen like this! (Pretends to hold Yemen.) What would happen if he loosened his grip? Yemen would escape and smuggle itself into Saudi Arabia!

(Is handed money that he quickly stuffs into his shirt pocket.)

There was nothing before him, and there will be nothing after him. Just look at the others who don’t have Ali! There can only be Ali.

Pro-change Yemeni:

If Ali goes, then Ali goes. Are we going to close up shop? Is Yemen a shop? 25 million people! Are there really no leaders, no managers, no cadres among them?

(Sighs.) People! In 1962, the revolution was against ignorance, poverty and illness. In 2011, it’s against ignorance, poverty, illness, employment, corruption, and dictatorship!

And yet we won't have anyone but Ali...