Three years after the revolution, the state is trying to cleanse central Cairo clashing with street-sellers, revolutionaries, politicians, property investors and artists
On the streets of downtown Cairo a squadron of armoured personnel carriers and kalashnikov-toting policemen have stood guard for much of the past few months. In itself, this isnt new Egypts security forces have often fought protesters in these streets during the past four years. But this time their target is different: theyre here to keep downtown Cairo free from street-vendors men selling T-shirts and pants emblazoned with Spongebob Squarepants. We will not allow one vendor to busy the street, Cairos governor, Galal Saeed, warned at the start of the crackdown.
For the sellers, the policy is a small catastrophe. After the 2011 uprising, the police vanished from the downtown area, and hundreds of stallholders took advantage of the security vacuum to set up shop in the heart of Cairo, clogging several of its main streets. But now the state is finally making its presence felt once again, and the sellers have been shunted en masse to the Turgoman car park, in the shadow of Cairos main bus station. Footfall is almost zero here, and the vendors revenues have fallen to a similar level.
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