Every morning, Mahmud Ali stands near his wooden pushcart, selling lupine in King Abdullah Square, nearly 300 meters away from the Governorate Headquarters, in order to provide for his five-member family. He stands under a huge banner of the Saudi king’s photo and name. He says workers from the Governorate Headquarters placarded it a few days ago, implementing the resolution of the governor, to change the name of the Tigara Square in downtown Luxor, about 670 kilometers south of Cairo, to King Abdullah Square—after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Every morning, Mahmud Ali stands near his wooden pushcart, selling lupine in King Abdullah Square, nearly 300 meters away from the Governorate Headquarters, in order to provide for his five-member family. He stands under a huge banner of the Saudi king’s photo and name. He says workers from the Governorate Headquarters placarded it a few days ago, implementing the resolution of the governor, to change the name of the Tigara Square in downtown Luxor, about 670 kilometers south of Cairo, to King Abdullah Square—after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

“Should be named after martyrs”

Luxor Governor Tarek Saadeddin says naming the square after King Abdullah was a popular demand, to which the authorities responded, in appreciation of Saudi Arabia, which supported Egypt in its recent “tribulation”.

Changing the square’s name, however, has not been welcomed by some political movements in the governorate, such as the April 6 Youth Movement (A6YM). “We refuse to call the square after King Abdullah and believe Egypt’s squares and streets should be named after the martyrs of the revolution,” says Mohammed Shqiri, the A6YM coordinator. “We asked former governor Ezzat Saad to name a school or street in the city of Esna (about 60 kilometers south of Luxor) after martyr Abu Hassan Ibrahim – an A6YM activist – but he refused.”

Shqiri is in fact critical the Saudi King, saying, “He is a hater of the January 25 Revolution. He punished the Egyptians living in Saudi Arabia either by deportation or by dismissal after toppling his friend Mubarak.” 

 “Not for the sake of the new rulers”

People and drivers previously called it the Tigara (trade) Square because of the nearby trade school, says Director of the Upper Egypt Study Center Abdel Moneim Abdelazeem.

In the square, there are a number of important governmental services, such as the Antiquities Department and the old Luxor Hospital. It is also a crossroad where the roads leading to the Pharaonic Kebbash Road, Luxor Temple, the Governorate Headquarters, the Nile Corniche, and where the railroad and Luxor Airport intersect.

“The government, represented by the Luxor governorate authorities, has named the square after King Abdullah in support of the relations with Saudi Arabia because the Arabs princes are found of such things,” says Abdelazeem. “On the other hand, the government well knows that the Saudi support to Egypt after the overthrow of Morsi was not for the sake of the new rulers, but to spite the Muslim Brotherhood, which spread to Saudi Arabia and its cells there started to threaten the continuous existence of the ruling family.”

Controversy

Mahmud, the lupine seller, says since the governorate authorities have placed this banner, local residents only talk about Saudi Arabia and its king. On one occasion, says Mahmud, two people quarreled over changing the square name and Saudi Arabia’s position toward Egypt.

“We are a passionate and romantic people driven by instantaneous emotions, upon which we act. This is what happened when the decision to change the square’s name was issued,” says Abu Bakr Fadel, a political activist and the Secretary of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party in Luxor.

“Some consider that naming the square after King Abdullah is to show gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s favor, but I do not believe that there was a favor in the first place. Saudi Arabia’s support to Egypt after millions of Egyptians demonstrated on June 30 was a pragmatic move based on its interest since it considered the Brotherhood a threat. Had the events that took place in Egypt during the last period conflicted with those interests, Saudi Arabia’s position would have been a different story. This was evidenced during the January 25 Revolution since it was obvious that the Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia, were unhappy with what was happening to their allies in the Arab Spring countries.”

People will keep calling it “Tigara Square”

Head of the Tourist Bazaar Workers Union Bakri Abduggalil, who was behind the idea to honor the King of Saudi Arabia, does not like the fact that some describe changing the square’s name as a propitiatory gesture. “We called for honoring King Abdullah because he stood beside the Egyptian people in their ordeal,” says Abduggalil.

People, says Mahmud, will keep calling it the Tigara Square because they are accustomed to this name and the banner placed there will not force them to do otherwise.