Currents of smoke rise into Cairo, and a fire that begins in the heart expands into the streets: riots smother the capital and arson overtakes the small, cobblestone streets of Wust el-Balad. Voices of opposition darken intent, and Egyptians rise from their humble homes to heed their own oppressed rage. It has been years of silence and servile dispositions; it is 1952 and the Cairo Fire is lit. It is the beginning of the end for Egypt’s monarchy. Described as “one of the worst acts of arson ever to hit the capital,” the Cairo Fire is shrouded in enigmatic narratives. Some chronologies blame enraged students and long-time demonstrators, others name the political forces opposed to King Farouk—who saw his confused relationship with the British as formal treason. “We don’t know,” says renowned historian and Harvard University professor Khaled Fahmy, “and we can’t know [for sure].” Though no known culprit has ever been identified, the source of the fire was born of a deep-rooted sentiment of colonial injustice. On what is known as Black Friday, 25 January 1952, the British occupation executed 50 Egyptian auxiliary policemen in Ismaliya, rousing an electric…
