Live From the Egyptian Revolution

CAIRO, Egypt -- I grew up in Egypt. I spent half my life here. But
Saturday, when my plane from JFK airport touched down in Cairo, I
arrived in a different country than the one I had known all my life.
This is not Hosni Mubarak's Egypt anymore and, regardless of what
happens, it will never be again.

In Tahrir Square, thousands of
Egyptians-men and women, young and old, rich and poor-gathered today to
celebrate their victory over the regime's hated police and state
security forces and to call on Mubarak to step down and leave once and
for all. They talked about the massive protest on Friday, the
culmination of three days of demonstrations that began on January 25th
to mark National Police Day. It was an act of popular revolt the likes
of which many Egyptians never thought they would see during Mubarak's
reign. "The regime has been convincing us very well that we cannot do
it, but Tunisians gave us an idea and it took us only three days and we
did it," said Ahmad El Esseily, a 35 year-old author and TV/radio talk
show host who took park in the demonstrations. "We are a lot of people
and we are strong."

In Cairo, tens of thousands of people--from
all walks of life--faced off against riot police armed with shields,
batons, and seemingly endless supplies of tear gas. People talked about
Friday's protest like a war; a war they'd won. "Despite the tear gas and
the beatings, we just kept coming, wave after wave of us," one
protester said. "When some of us would tire, others would head in. We
gave each other courage." After several hours, the police were forced
into a full retreat. Then, as the army was sent in, they disappeared.

The
military was greeted warmly on the streets of Cairo. Crowds roared with
approval as one soldier was carried through Tahrir square today holding
a flower in his hand. Dozens of people clambered onto tanks as they
rode around the square. Throughout the day people chanted: "The people,
the army: one hand."

While the police and state security forces
are notorious in Egypt for torture, corruption and brutality, the army
has not interacted with the civilian population for more than 30 years
and is only proudly remembered for having delivered a victory in the
1973 war with Israel. A 4pm curfew set for today was casually ignored
with people convinced the army would not harm them. The police were a
different story. Their brutality the past few days--decades in fact--has
been well documented.

Saturday, some of the police forces were
holed up inside their headquarters in the Interior Ministry building
near the end of a street connected to Tahrir Square. When protesters
neared the building, the police began firing live ammunition at the
crowd, forcing them to flee back to the square. Three bloodied people
were carried out. "The police are killing us," one man yelled
desperately while on the phone with al Jazeera from outside the
building. When the firing stopped, defiant protesters began approaching
the building again. In the background, the smoking, blackened shell of
Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party headquarters served as an
ominous reminder of their intentions.

At this point it seems clear
the people are not leaving the streets. They own them now and they are
refusing to go until Mubarak does. They chanted, "Mubarak, the plane is
waiting for you at the airport," and "Wake up Mubarak, today is your
last day."

At one point, a rumor spread through Tahrir Square that
Mubarak had fled the country. A massive cheer rippled through the
crowd. People began jumping up and down in joy. One man wept
uncontrollably. When it turned out not to be true, the cheers quickly
ended but it provided a brief glimpse of the sheer raw desire for
Mubarak's ouster. Reports now indicate that Mubarak's two sons and his
wife, Suzanne, have fled Egypt, as have some of his closest business
cronies. Many people believe that is a sign that Hosni will not be far
behind.

There is a great sense of pride that this is a leaderless
movement organized by the people. A genuine popular revolt. It was not
organized by opposition movements, though they have now joined the
protesters in Tahrir. The Muslim Brotherhood was out in full force
today. At one point they began chanting "Allah Akbar" only to be drowned
out by much louder chants of "Muslim, Christian, we are all Egyptian."

As
the sun set over Cairo, silence fell upon Tahrir square as thousands
stopped to pray in the street while others stood atop tanks. After the
sunset prayer, they held a 'ganaza'-a prayer for those killed in the
demonstrations. Darkness fell and the protesters, thousands of them,
have vowed to stay in the square, sleeping out in the open, until
Mubarak is ousted.

Meanwhile, across Cairo there is not a
policeman in sight and there are reports of looting and violence. People
worry that Mubarak is intentionally trying to create chaos to somehow
convince people that he is needed. The strategy is failing. Residents
have taken matters into their own hands, helping to direct traffic and
forming armed neighborhood watches, complete with checkpoints and shift
changes, in districts across the city.

This is the Egypt I arrived in today. Fearless and determined. It cannot go back to what it was. It will never be the same.

Sharif Abdel Kouddous is a senior producer for the radio/TV show Democracy Now.

Follow him on Twitter at @sharifkouddous.