Egypt: ‘the man staring at me made a throat-slitting gesture’
The conventional wisdom goes, when it’s too dangerous to film on the streets, you can always do an interview with someone inside a building.
Not in Alexandria you can’t. Not today.
We had arranged to interview a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood in his apartment, but the neighbours – sitting by the door on the street, snarled like guard dogs when we arrived. They didn’t want foreigners inside their building, they said, and saw us off.
We retreated down the street to our car. A group of young men approached, armed with baseball bats, sticks and machetes. They were the neighbourhood Popular Committee.
For the past few days, these groups have been smiling and friendly to us but this lot started shouting and banging on the roof of our car. They demanded to see our passports.
I think I know why. Last night and today, Egyptian state TV had been broadcasting of Israeli spies disguised as western journalists roaming the country.
It’s a wicked rumour to spread because it puts any westerner – or any Egyptian working with westerners – at risk of a beating or worse. It’s cynical to say the least.
This government did a deal with Israel, but it still stirs up anti-Zionist feelings when it suits and that’s one reason so many journalists have been attacked in Cairo today.
Yesterday, our mob experience was worse. We were trying to get a shot from the window of our car as we passed the military headquarters where families were queuing to get news of relatives who had been arrested during the demonstrations.
Someone spotted us and didn’t like it – whereupon a screaming crowd of about sixty descended upon us. Banging on the car, trying to drag us out and reaching through the open windows of the front to hit our driver and cameraman.
I clamped my left hand on the old fashioned stick lock on the back door and dug the nails of my right hand into the arms reaching around trying to force it open.
I looked at the baying mob through the window and the man staring at me made a throat-slitting gesture.
Not nice.
We were grateful to be arrested by the military who managed to calm the crowd after about 10 minutes.
And this is nothing to what colleagues have witnessed and experienced in Cairo. Why are passions so volatile here? Partly because political expression has been repressed for so long, I suppose, and because people are frustrated with the lack of freedom in their lives.
Also, because conspiracy theories are so widely circulated and believed. When you have a government that’s as un-transparent and hypocritical as this one, no wonder people don’t know what to believe.
The result is that anti-government protestors give credence to government propaganda that journalists are all spies out to destroy Egypt.
There were protests in Alexandria today, but we didn’t film them – for obvious reasons. There haven’t been any major clashes as it seems that pro-government supporters haven’t been able to attack the anti-government groups in the same way they have in Cairo.
We are holed up in a safe place where we can see the place where people are expected to gather for more protests tomorrow. But we’re unlikely to venture out to see if they still think we’re Israeli spies.


There are 9 comments on this post
You are so brave to report from there Lindsey and still keep you composure.
Lindsay time to go undercover. However whilst Jon Simpson’s Chadour might be a little excessive a niqab and a bit of khol might do the trick. Anything to get the story!
Be safe.
Hope and pray you and and your crew remain safe.
In the madness a calm voices still prevail, Lindsey Hilsum and Jonathan Rugman. Don’t take any risks please. Wishing the violence ends soon.
The best of human nature and the worst within a matter of days. That is what Egypt seems like today. From peaceful cries of freedom to garlands of flowers for soilders to in sharp horrific contrast mobs preying on stray supporters of opposing camps. The vast human system is empty and in that emptiness all sorts of evil will manifest itself leaving no heart free from the threat of demonizing oneself and the other. Such terror and violence knows no loyalty to any ideology, democractic, totalitarinian, sacred or secular. They say the army in Egypt has not taken sides between both sets of protestors; true and plain to see. Perhaps it has taken a side and maybe never left that side; the seat of power. Time will tell; hoping it tells a hopeful tale.
Thank you Lindsay. This report gives tremendous insight to people such as me who have never been to Egypt. It is difficult for us to fathom the Israel paranoia, but I am beginning to see it.
Can I challenge Lindsay to reach the end of a sentence without saying “basically”? When reports are padded with redundant adverbs, I assume the journalist is filling airtime and has nothing to tell us…. basically.
May God save Egypt from the Square !
It is utterly brainless to sink the ship in order to kill the Captain
Egypt is NOT represented by the people in the square.
Regrettably the reporting of the BBC, Aljazeera and most of the foreign media in Egypt is transmitting a picture to the entire world that the people in Tahrir Square are Egypt.
THEY ARE NOT, the Egyptians are in front of the “TV Stations” crying, tense, anxious and apprehensive by the media inaccurate one sided reports
A catastrophic tragedy to humankind conducted by the Media
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