Today We Are All Egyptians!

by Source on January 29, 2011 · 26 comments

in Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Popular

We will not be silenced, whether you’re a Christian, whether you’re a Muslim, whether you’re an atheist, you will demand your goddamn rights, and we will have our rights, one way or the other ! We will never be silenced!

{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }

annagrace January 29, 2011 at 8:52 pm

I have been pouring over footage for this past week. Where are the women? Is this a revolution only for men? That brief period of the Green Revolution in Iran was filled not only with women’s voices but women martyrs. What I have seen in the streets of Cairo strikes me as something…. different. This frankly concerns me.

Patty Jones January 29, 2011 at 9:14 pm: Watch the new video I added to this post, you’ll see one woman’s face there. I’ve seen them in other videos, but the men out number the women by far. I noticed too.

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pierreV.ross January 29, 2011 at 9:23 pm: interesting perspective. I think it’s purely an american perspective that is neither here, nor there. Quite frankly makes no difference in the grand scheme of things, whether the government is overthrown by a unisex movement or whether Egyptian women are told to stay home for their own safety, and the government is overthrown by men. The main point is to be sure that the government does not stand. This is a problem for the US. On one hand we would like to support a popular movement. on the other, we are not interested in seeing who takes control in a power vaccum. that regime most likely would not see eye to eye with US strategic interests. (for the sake of argument we can say may or may not, it’s moot- the devil you know…etc.) my question is this…. who is looting? why ? why would egyptian people loot their own museum(s) and neighbor(s) ?

are they opportunists?
are they Mubarak’s security forces?
are they a (foreign) party interested in discrediting this revolution for the foreign media?

think please

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Frank Gormlie January 29, 2011 at 9:06 pm

It’s true that we haven’t seen the numbers of women that were present during the Iranian upheaval in present day Egypt, but they’re there. I’ve seen them, I’ve heard them – and I read somewhere today that there was noticeable presence of more women in the streets. This revolt has been more violent than Iran. There were these numbers of deaths in Iran.

And although I share your concerns, those concerns shouldn’t allow us to miss the over-arching significance of this most momentous event in Egyptian and world history. Mubarak has been in power for 31 years – since Ronald Reagan was president here.

Sunshine January 29, 2011 at 9:26 pm

great videos. thanx for bringing news of such magnitude to the OBRag

pierreV.ross January 29, 2011 at 9:49 pm

and honestly….seriously, can you please xplain why the absence of women in a violent revolution concerns you? I mean, why is THAT the thing that concerns you anna?

Patty Jones January 29, 2011 at 9:55 pm: From your last comment, regarding our perspective as “neither here, nor there”, I almost feel like you don’t deserve an answer, as you will probably discount it anyway.

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Frank Gormlie January 29, 2011 at 9:58 pm: A good historian and student of social and political upheaval and change should always be cognizant of the position, status and role of women in that kind of environment. Whether it is violent or not is a different factor.

But to compare social revolts like what happened in Iran and what is going on today in Egypt is certainly valid for us westerners in our efforts to understand these other societies. The street protests in Iran had as their base the more modern middle-class youth, including a lot of women, and I think it had high percentages of students. The masses of people in Egypt come from a broader spectrum of its society.

Whatever our analysis here, it is inspiring to watch these videos, and we should show our solidarity for them and urge our own government to end its economic and political support for the ancien regime.

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jon January 29, 2011 at 10:03 pm

The events in Egypt will test America’s principles. The actions of the days ahead will reveal our faith in democracy. America’s history is checked with failure in such faith; no question America has subverted democracy. At this point in time do we stand for the principle of democracy or not? It’s our opportunity to justifiably end monitary support of a dictatorship. And I’m convinced we will be respected for it.

Frank Gormlie January 29, 2011 at 10:04 pm

Today, tomorrow, yesterday ….

pierreV.ross January 29, 2011 at 10:21 pm

thanks frank. and sorry ladies. I just meant to say that this is much much bigger than sexism. I wish someone would give those other questions some thought

pierreV.ross January 29, 2011 at 10:40 pm

and really Patty, i think you can do better than “almost think(ing) you don’t deserve an answer” because i’m a sexist. I may or may not be a misogynist, but is that really what we need to be thinking about? I will be attending the solidarity protest at the Egyptian embassy in DC tomorrow, where I’m sure there will be several, if not many, women. I promise, I won’t tell them to go home.

annagrace January 30, 2011 at 9:36 am

As I posted previously, I have been pouring over news reports and videos. I’ve given great thought to many aspects of what is happening and I find it dismissive and frankly patronizing to be told to “give some thought to what is happening.”

I want to know how the US is going to extricate itself from decades of financial and military support to Muburak.

I want to know how I can be part of a successful effort to establish a democratic government in Egypt.

And I want to know what 51% of the Egyptian population is doing and thinking right now and I am finding scant reporting and few videos showing women.

Sarah January 30, 2011 at 9:41 am: annagrace-
After reading your question I went looking for images of women and I found several news casts and videos that featured women and many covered heads were in some of the videos. That said, you’re right. There is not a lot of coverage of women.

I did not see many children, either. It is my hope that many of the women are someplace making sure the children are as safe as possible. Maybe when communications are back in place we’ll hear and see more about the women and children.

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pierreV.ross January 29, 2011 at 10:49 pm

Monkey Muck: Egyptian of the week

Sarah January 30, 2011 at 9:43 am: That’s a powerful image.

Thanks

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dave rice January 30, 2011 at 12:50 pm: Google Chrome says this link is unsafe…not sure why.

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Abby January 30, 2011 at 3:56 am

if you are a ham radio operator and interested in helping out with Egypt, irc.telecomix.org #hamradio if you are a hacker and want to help in other ways irc.telecomix.org #telecomix

Abby January 30, 2011 at 3:57 am

More you can do to help:

Abby January 30, 2011 at 4:49 am

Also:

If you have disk and bandwidth to spare, mirror a copy of all of the Egypt videos before they are taken down due to political pressure.

pad.telecomix.org

Abby January 30, 2011 at 7:37 am

20 Ways to Circumvent the Egyptians Governments Internet Block
http://pastebin.com/9jJUku77

Jon January 30, 2011 at 10:12 am

Here is a really interesting slide show from the streets of Egypt. I counted about a dozen of the photos that depict women. Be forewarned, some of the images are VERY graphic.

http://totallycoolpix.com/2011/01/the-egypt-protests/

annagrace January 30, 2011 at 10:23 am: Gut wrenching, brain searing powerful images.

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RB January 30, 2011 at 10:24 am

IMO, these uprisings in several countries are less about politics and more about poverty.
It does not matter how the government is organized or who is in charged when you don’t have food. Food commodity prices are rising by double digit amounts. Wheat, corn, and rice inflation are an inconvenience in the US as we get ever smaller cereal boxes but food inflation is life and death to those overseas living on a dollar a day.

Jon January 30, 2011 at 10:30 pm

I’ll hand it to our media for covering the “Crisis in Egypt”, as it has been coined this weekend, but it did start on 1/25… Funny how it got attention when wall street crashed on Friday – that pyramid on our dollar bill with the watching eye over the middle east is telling us something.

I am disappointed in people like Bill Mawr who have a LIVE opportunity to talk about Egypt in the midst of the events. Guess it’s about sticking to the planned agenda Bill; or maybe you were just unprepared. Im sure there will be a new rule next week: Facebook for Freedom.

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