CAIRO, August 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – "O Egyptian, wake up! Egypt is calling out on you! Take me to victory…This is the duty you owe me!" chanted a couple of hundred people, surrounded by a couple of thousand-strong security cordon in downtown Cairo.

The lines, sung by an Egyptian singer named Aly Ismaeel, were written long decades ago by one of Egypt's most famed artists, Sayed Darweesh, whose struggle against the British is now being recalled, but against what these demonstrators call "the tyranny" of the Egyptian regime.

The two-hour-long demonstration, organized by the Writers' and Artists for Change Movement, was actually a reflection of the movement's members way of life and thinking.

They sang and delivered well-chosen poems highlighting the feelings of the silent majority of Egyptians, some of whom raised an eye-brow as they passed through the heavily cordoned Talaat Harb Square in the heart of Cairo.

"We are here today to say that real democracy and freedom of speech are not grants from the ruling party to the people. These are our given rights and we need no permission to practice them," actor Khaled El-Sawy said, to the cheering crowd.

The Writers' and Artists for Change is a movement comprising a number of Egypt's writers and artists that decided to join the untraditional drive of reform that broke away with the almost unfelt opposition to the ruling National Democratic Party by political parties for decades.

The popular movement for change "Kefaya" (Enough) was the leader in this domain that was followed by many others such as "Youth for Change", "Journalists for Change", "March 9 Movement (University Professors calling for reform of the Egyptian Academia)", "doctors for Change", "Street is for Us" and many others.

The demo reflected the drive for change in a panoramic scene.

All these nascent movements, in addition to the traditional opposition blocks – notably the banned but largely tolerated Muslim Brotherhood – do have one goal; that is to see a real change to what they see as the "stagnated, corrupt and unreliable regime of Mubarak". Hosni Mubarak is the NDP's head and has been in power since 1981, following the assassination of his predecessor Anwar Sadat.

The Tuesday, August 23, demo was actually a reflection of the general state of these nascent movements. Not only that, at a broader look, it could also be seen as a reflection of the larger picture in Egypt currently.

The demonstrating artists and writers carried pictures of late Egyptian artistic and cultural symbols such as legendary female singer Omm Kolthoum, legendary comedian Nagiub Al-Rihany, Darweesh (composer and singer. He is also the composer of Egypt's National Anthem), Taha Hussien (heavy-weight man of letters), in addition to others.

They also carried banners with their movements name and others decrying "dictator Mubarak", "No to Fifth Term" and "No to the Farce of Presidential elections".

"Do not ask me about elections, please. What elections? We all know this is a big sham and the nine other candidates are just completing the picture for Mubarak to look democratic before the world," teacher of English literature at Cairo University and female writer Sahar El-Mogy told IOL.

"Our stance (as regards the presidential elections currently in the campaigning stage) is clear. We are against participating in any form because this process is nothing but a cosmetic procedure aimed only at breathing life into a dictatorial regime," El-Mogy added.

Mubarak, 77, and other nine candidates – most of them are hardly heard of before, just like the political parties they chair -- are vying in the presidential race.

No independent candidates are running because none secured the backing of 250 members of elected bodies, such as parliament, which is dominated by Mubarak's National Democratic Party.

Critics say the government set such tough requirements for independents partly to block a Brotherhood challenger.

The scene of the demo Tuesday was also reflective of a society that has been living under the harsh grip of emergency laws for almost two and half decades, and suddenly found an historic chance in the international circumstances and the wind of change blowing strongly on the whole area.

Young man and women, some veiled and others wearing jeans and t-shirts, are circulating statement papers among demonstrators. Some of them represent "Youth for Change" or "Shabab Kefaya" (Youth of Kefaya), others represent "The Egyptian Group for Combating Globalization", while others are from "The Egyptian Movement for Supporting Detainees".

A quick look at the statements and booklets make it clear the anti-Mubarak opposition front is immensely widening and slowly gaining momentum.

Across the street, the balcony of the headquarters of Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, whose leader Ayman Nour is running for the September 7 10-candidate presidential race, is decorated with a huge banner carrying the Egyptian Flag and Nour's picture.

A Nour campaign member crossed the street to join the demo carrying his candidate's picture, but he was gently told by some organizers to keep it down as the Writers' and Artists for Change Movement is already boycotting the whole process. The Nour guy complied.

Representatives of local and international media were heavily occupying the demo's ground and the whole scene seemed almost colorful.

Thousands of security forces cordoned the whole square of the demonstration despite the fact that the demonstrators themselves were less than three hundreds at the most.

Unlike other rallies – especially by Kefaya – where extreme violence by security forces was used against the demonstrators (what happened July 31 was a case in point), there was no "security incidents" this time.

Typically, thousands of security forces cordoned the demonstrators.

At one side of the square a group of black-clad women, old and young, stood silently carrying pictures of young men and banners reading: "What about my detained son?" and "Striking till they are freed!".

"My son was detained 13 years ago. He was tried and sentenced to 3 years term back in 1992. He served his term and was supposed to come home ten years ago, but he is till behind bars," a crying, broken-hearted mother told IOL.

"We live in Abu Za'bel. My son is detained in Abu Za'bel prison. Everyday I'd go to the prison, plead with the officer there to just let me see son and held him in my arms, but no avail."

Abu Za'bel is a district northeast of Cairo and is home to one of Egypt's many notorious jails.

The detainee's sister told IOL that they just came from the Attorney General's office and were told that "your problem is with the Ministry of Interiors, not with us".

This case is just an example of hundreds, if not thousands of cases, where the government uses the emergency laws – in effect since 1981 – to indefinitely lock people up without trial. Even when a detainee is cleared from any wrongdoing by a court of law, the security forces can just keep them locked up for allegedly posing a security threat, employing the notorious laws.

Lifting emergency laws is a demand all opposition fronts in Egypt are calling for. Mubarak himself in his electoral program promised to replace the emergency laws – giving security forces a free hand to detain without trial any person they deem to be a threat – with an anti-terror law.

the Writers' and Artists for Change Movement was launched in mid-June and its founding statement was signed by 25 members, notable among which is Ahmed Fouad Nigm (famed poet), Bahaa Taher (writer) Sunaallah Ibrahim (well-known author), Dawood Abdulseed and Aly Badrakhan (cinema directors), Sahar El-Mogy, Khaled El-Sawy and many others.