26 thoughts on “Today We Are All Egyptians!

  1. 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.

    1. 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.

    2. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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?

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

    1. 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.

      1. 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.

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Pingback: Tweets that mention Today We Are All Egyptians! -- Topsy.com
  10. 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.

  11. 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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