From January 28 to February 11, 2011, Tahrir Square in Cairo was occupied by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians from different social, religious and political backgrounds. Members of the left, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood united in their protest against the authoritarian regime of president Mubarak, who had been in power for 30 years. The Revolution had started a few days earlier, In Egypt, the 25th of January was officially “Police Day” and that date was chosen by activists to protest against police brutality at Midan al-Tahrir over the past decades. The fighting moved back and forth and the state used the so-called baltagiyya (thugs) to smash the demonstrations. However, on January 28, the police were withdrawn and the army took over. The new slogan was “the people and the army one hand”, but the left and the more political acute activists realised that the army had in fact executed a coup d’état.After Mubaraks resignation, the unity at al-Tahrir quickly dissipated and the ingrained distrust between the secular left and the Islamist movement re-emerged.