Tomorrow marks the five year anniversary of Egypt's 2011 revolution. Journalists and activists have commemorated the date with tributes to the fallen and bittersweet thoughts on what has—and hasn't— changed since hopeful Egyptians filled Cairo's Tahrir Square and spearheaded the toppling of former president Hosni Mubarak.
On the ground, the Egyptian government has promised crackdowns on protests—military vehicles were already lining up at Tahrir on Friday in anticipation of the anniversary. Some media outlets report Egypt under president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is worse than it was under Mubarak five years ago.
Meanwhile, reports of massing Egyptians planning to arrive at the square tomorrow are already hitting headlines.
And on Twitter, the debate is just as fierce. Social media users tweeted under the hashtag #Jan25 about police crackdowns, the fate of 2011 activists and what's in store this year.
See some of the reactions below, via Twitter.
#Egypt youth mock the state's precautions for #Jan25 5th anniversary, especially the army's siege of #Tahrir square pic.twitter.com/DGKVwAOsbG
— AbdelHalim AbdAllah (@Abdukhalim1) January 24, 2016
El-Sisi's Emptiness :: https://t.co/fNQBwshY3b #Egypt #Jan25 #Tahrir #Sisi #Cairo pic.twitter.com/aemgjbxT5k
— Ian Alan Paul (@IanAlanPaul) January 24, 2016
Journalist Samehy Mostafa who's serving a life sentence in #Egypt has been in prison for 29 months. #Jan25 #Egypt https://t.co/1HSpEVqD1J
— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) January 24, 2016
#Egypt #Jan25 #Sisi #Free_samhy https://t.co/3H88RFNl0d
— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) January 24, 2016
Egypt's #Jan25 is national holiday, where one can't even attend Tahrir. Surely this regime is doomed?
— YQXO (@yqxo) January 24, 2016
@AJStream Don't just focus on Tahrir square, there were tens of other liberation squares in Egypt at that time and after! #Egypt #Jan25
— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) January 24, 2016
#Jan25 taught us not to give up. We'll always have hope, don't lie!
— Doaa Farid (@DoaaFarid) January 24, 2016
The Black night before the big Black Day... #Jan25 #Egypt
— Mohamed Ramadan (@M_Ramadan) January 24, 2016
#Egypt's Interior Minister says in an interview on Channel 1 that 'forced disappearances' is an invented term.#Jan25 pic.twitter.com/4Q6Nqs5Qtj
— HA Hellyer د. إتش (@hahellyer) January 24, 2016
