New Year in Tahrir: A First

New Year in Tahrir Square:

Thousands of Muslims and Christians celebrated New Year's Eve together in Tahrir, in a show of solidarity particularly significant as it marks a year, to the day, since the horrific bombing of an Alexandria church. It is the first time Egyptians claimed Tahrir Square as a 'public space', Cairo's Times Square; under Mubarak, Tahrir was off-limits to a public assembly of any kind. Finally, the celebration is a heartening rejection of the Salafi current which holds such celebrations as 'un-Islamic'.