Sharm El Sheikh
23-24 July 2005

Bidding a fellow member of the Quatro farewell before he flies to London, I arrived home after midnight. At almost 2 am I received an sms from another friend who is his own Al Jazeera agency -always on top of events- informing of the Sharm Sheikh bombings although he is physically in London. I get up to my computer -not owning a TV set- to check the news and soon my phone rings. We are flying to SSH.

We hit the grounds around 7 am -six hours after the blasts- and the first to see was a twenty-some tour operators filling the exit gate, holding signboards with guest names who were supposed to arrive. Yet, the plane had no tourists. Earlier, they were returning their tickets at 5 am in Cairo airport as we were buying ours. Half-empty, the plane carried reporters and a team of 23 doctors from El Salam Public Hospital and tens of mokhabaraat and state security agents.

7:45 at the Ghazala hotel it was quiet. Everything had settled on the ground – but in parts and particles, and it smelled like after-burn. It was not the common smell after a BBQ or garbage burning. It was a new smell. Now I know, when someone mentions ‘smell of death’ we will have a common reference.

Red crescent team said they arrived at around 3 am and were collecting body parts in plastic bags. A nearby Casino manager found a one inch remaining of an LE 20 note and handed it to me as he narrated the panic few hours ago. I got closer as the crescent teams found body parts and a british passport and continued to take pictures. At this hour, we were still allowed to get close.

Walking through the shops in the direction of the nearby parking lot where a 2nd explosion took place broken glass was everywhere. The beautiful shishas, souveniers and silver jewelery lied just out there unattended among scattered glass. It was very fresh, people were still worried for their lives; not their business. Eye witnesses narrated hearing the Ghazala explosion at around 1:15 am. Thinking it was an electric cable blown off or a cooking gas tank, people rushed to the parking lot crying ‘Taxi Taxi’.. Minutes later the Taxis break down into small parts! “If they want foreigners they would have blown the Hard Rock Cafe, and would have blown at an earlier hour.” An eye witness said. “At one am tourists are back in their hotels. Besides, the season hasen’t staretd yet”.

At the third location – the Old Market- special forces, mokhabarat and criminal investigators kept us 400 meters away and prevent us from taking pictures. I stood silent as the chief criminal investigator thought I am a foreigner and started answering questions of the american reporter I was accompanying while commenting to his colleague that he likes my eyes. I made sure my american friend has finished all her questions before I made a comment in Arabic to witness his embaressment.

Later at night the city was empty and silent. Silent as in no what so ever sound. Each restaurant or cafe had one or two tables occupied at best, most of which were head-covered egyptian women sitting next men sipping turkish coffee and heavy silence in the air. Sleepless from the night before -like everyone in Sharm- I chose an Italian restaurant that had only one table occupied by a couple holding hands and sipping red wine. I couldn’t tell their nationality and preferred not to stare.

Finally, a cafe broke the heavy silence by playing Mounir’s song “Maddad” in a very loud volume while Mahmoud, the waiter of 25 years of age, said the nearby restaurant set 75% of staff on paid leave for an initial two weeks. An unpaid leave of two months are highly expected to follow. “We could only hear the horrible noise at the early time of the day but we were told by the security not to move. We ordered the guests to stay in place and abide by security instructions. I was only able to go to the parking lot explosion at 3:30 am” says Mahmoud. “For me it is no problem. If the owner decides, I will go back to Alexandria for couple of months but I will always come back.”

“I always wanted to migrate to another country, clean, secure and beautifl. After coming to Sharm 3 years ago I knew this is where I want to live” says Mohamed Ahmed, 23, originally from Alexandria and now an accountant for a company owning 5 shops in Sharm. “Salaries here range between LE600 – 1200. Housing and drinks are paid by the employer and the rest we cover. We are six in a 3 bedroom apartment all working for the same company”. As I try to ask him about what’s next he still holds to last night’s events. “Until now I can’t absorb what happened. I am worried that more explosions will take place or that the security may widen the circle of suspects to include us.” He pauses as he mentions ‘security’ then adds “Seeing the security measures one wouldn’t have thought a needle can pass into Sharm. Now I am not sure about anything.” He concludes “All I know is that the owner of the company is a very good person and that we will not leave him. If we leave Sharm, we will be the one hurting tourism.”

In a near by shop Serag Sayed,23, received me with a smile. I was really looking for socks and Tshirts when no one was buying or selling. Serag was planning to get married after Eid. He came here to work with his uncle Ahmed Omar, 32. They both came from Menia (Upper Egypt). “Five families live on the income of our two shops” says Ahmed ” I was a salesman in Sharm for 9 years until I was able to have my own business. I saved and opened two shops only one year ago and God knows how I collected this money. For each I pay a rent of LE6000 per month but now I will never be able to pay.” He sweeps his whole head with his palms comforting himself while saying “the landlord will understand that we won’t be able to pay the rent. He himself has a restaurant here and knows the disaster we are all facing.” No one could explain how this happened in a city perceived so safe. “Every 15 days all our names are checked by state security as a regular procedure. They have an inventory of the city and they know who is here, who is out and who went on vacation”!

As the economic catastrophe was perceived differently from one Sharm-migrant to another, prevailing was a strong sense of ownership to the new land. No one thought this is the end, but rather a few months crisis that will pass. “Business shouldn’t be opportunity hunting” said Ashraf, 36, owner of four shops in Sharm and employer of 10 people. “We shouldn’t give up when we lose” He adds. Ashraf owned shops in Alexandria but then was charmed by Sharm to liquidate his business in Alex and inhabit the new land. “Salaries here are higher than those of Alex and Cairo. I will keep my four shops open and I will keep all my staff on 75% of their salaries” He affirms “We won’t close the business. Closing is a confession that the city will not rise and the message we want to convey is a one of trust. We believe this will be over soon and it has to.”

Whereas the shop owners lowered their prices to give a positive impression to the few remaining vistors and reporters in Sharm El Sheikh, the taxi drived doubled their rates squeezing the customers and worrying about the no-income days to come.