Some Angry Rallies but Things Kept Peaceful

I woke up to the sound of helicopters circling the neighborhood rooftops. Soldiers in camouflage-purple uniforms had already taken up positions on our roof and the roofs of other tall building in the area. I hadn’t expected much out of today but these guys were clearly prepared in case the unexpected happened. Ten or fifteen soldiers in red berets were milling about the street on my walk to work. A scooter zoomed by with a giant poster of Saleh’s face pasted on the front.

No one was in the mood to sit at a desk today. We all wanted to see what would happen, and the atmosphere of uncertainly teased us as we sat in our enclosed office. The accountant and I decided to “get tea” at his dad’s restaurant, which just so happens to be on the same street as the cabinet ministers’ office. A few extra guards were out and an armored vehicle was parked in the gate of the broadcast building. After tea we decided to head to the roof of the school where soldiers had also been posted. We made small talk with them for a little bit before heading back down to our office.

Tahrir, where the anti-government protests were supposed to have been held, was occupied all night long by the pro-government rally. The anti-government protest location was forced to switch back to the familiar grounds of the Sana’a University Campus. From the we could hear aggressive chants, songs, and loud addresses in support of the president coming from Tahrir. One banner read “Yes to security, yes to stability.” The protest was dominated by males, but a special women’s enclosed area was set up for female supporters. A high fence shielded them as they publicly protested in private. Sitting at our desks we heard a low murmur coming from the street just outside crescendo as it approached closer to our building. We ran to the roof to see what was going on, but it was only a group of 25-35 people waving Yemeni flags and chanting over a loud speaker.

A few of the other students went to Sana’a University to check out the anti-government protest there. What they described sounded to me like a rally. Perhaps 8,000 people had gathered and calmly chanted slogans between listening to speakers address the crowd

Despite Aljazeera’s premature headline that “Dueling protests rock Yemen,” from what I saw I would characterize these demonstrations more as political rallies, where supporters of each group, the pro-Saleh and collective opposition, gathered to engage with each other and publicly express their political views. My impression is that this day never had a chance to boil over into something more, and nor did those in support of the opposition seek such a result. By three o’clock this afternoon the soldiers posted on the roof of my apartment building had moved downstairs to sit in the mafraj and chew qat. Today was a good display of political activism, and hopefully the opposition’s concerns will be addressed with an equal degree of true political engagement.

Tents set up for the pro-Saleh rally in Midan Tahrir forced the opposition rally to an alternate location

A car plastered with the president's portrait and playing supportive slogans

Pro-Saleh march from the roof of my work

Soldiers posted on the roof of my apartment

An army helicopter observes the days events from the air.