“LEAVE, I WANT TO HAVE A SHOWER!” THE USE OF HUMOUR ON THE SIGNS AND BANNERS SEEN DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS IN TAHRIR SQUARE Liesbeth Zack ﺮحΟ ϢϠϘϟ اϖϤϋ أϦϣ ﺮحΟ ϒϴδϟ ا ‘The wound of the pen is deeper than the wound of the sword’ Arabic proverb 1 1 Introduction On Tuesday 25th January 2011, National Police Day, 2 huge numbers of people took to the streets in Egypt to demonstrate against the government and the reign of President Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for almost 30 years. These demonstrations were inspired by the Jasmine Revolution that took place in Tunisia at the end of 2010 and ended the regime of President Ben Ali. 3 The protests in Egypt were initially organized using new media, such as Facebook and other social networks, and, due to the major role played by these media, they became known as: t̠awrat 25 yanāyir ‘the Revolution of 25 January’; t̠awrat al- šabāb ‘the Revolution of the Youth’; and t̠awrat al-Facebook ‘the Facebook Revolution’. The demonstrations ultimately led to the resignation of President Mubarak on 11 February, 2011. Although protests were organized all over Egypt, the place where the unrest began, and where the greatest numbers of people demonstrated, was the aptly na- med Tahrir (‘liberation’) Square in the heart of Cairo. The protests were peaceful on the part of the demonstrators; they put up barricades at all the entrances to the square and ensured that no-one carrying any weapons was allowed inside. 4 There was also a strong feeling of unity among the protesters. Muslims and Christians, young and old, rich and poor all stood together, sharing food and drink, shouting their slogans and waving their signs.