Downtown says goodbye to two walls

The Armed Forces took down two concrete walls blocking roads in downtown Cairo on Wednesday morning. 

The first wall they dismantled had been blocking Qasr al-Aini Street, and the other blocked Abdel Qader Hamza Street off Simon Bolivar Square. Although traffic can now progress down the length of Qasr al-Aini, however, a second concrete wall still blocks access to Tahrir.

Security forces built the first wall on Qasr al-Aini 11 months ago to prevent protesters from reaching the Parliament, the Shura Council and Cabinet buildings. The second wall off of Simon Bolivar was built last year during the rule of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

According to the privately owned Youm7 newspaper, the concrete blocks were then rearranged near the end of Abdel Qader Hamza Street to block the way to the US Embassy.

Local residents in Garden City and downtown rejoiced at the removal of the walls. Many celebrated by going in the streets and playing “Teslam al-Ayady,” a pro-military song that went viral after the June 30 protests that led to Morsi’s downfall.

There were sporadic grassroots efforts to topple the walls since their construction last year. In January 2012, a number of protesters succeeded in bringing down the first Qasr al-Aini wall in five hours using hammers, ropes and cables, spurred to act by a call issued by the “No to the Wall” Facebook group.  

In the course of clashes in February 2013, protesters also succeeded in pulling down pieces of the Simon Bolivar wall.

Security forces swiftly rebuilt both barricades.

"Receiving my monthly pension became mission impossible since the wall was built," says Farida Abdallah, a former employee of the People's Assembly. The former government official resorted to appointing an office boy to receive her pension for her.

"Removing the wall saves me money," adds Abdallah, who had difficulty doing her monthly shopping downtown after the wall was built.  

Mohamed Khamees, an employee at the Blue Nile Grocery Store located on Qasr al-Aini, says that he’s already seen an increase in sales since the wall came down.

"Our delivery was severely impaired during the last 11 months because of the constant traffic jams in front of the store," explains Khamees.

"I saved around 30 to 45 minutes each morning going to work," says Hani Darwish, an Qasr al-Aini resident. Darwish used to have to travel through Mounira and Garden City in order to get on the Nile Corniche, which would take him to Dokki, where he works.

"Now, I just drive to Simon Bolivar Square, then take Qasr al-Nile to Dokki," explains the young man.

Removing the wall has also helped alleviate traffic congestion on the Corniche, which has gone back to being a one-way road and now sees less traffic.

At least six other walls still block roads in downtown. There have been no reports as to when they might be taken down.