A poem by Marwa Sharafeldin. Part of a series of poems by African feminist writers for 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence.
What happened on January 25, 2011 was not a revolution. What happened last week was reminiscent of January 25, but led by people who see a closing window of hope for their struggle. Maybe history of a different kind is finally in the making.
President Morsi’s latest constitutional declaration, even if it is cloaked in democratic and revolutionary rhetoric, presages a slide to authoritarianism, argues Mariz Tadros.
Why isn’t anybody doing anything? Attempting to curb sexual harassment by targeting the harassers is very challenging in Egypt since the driving forces are complex and compounded. We need to focus on the bystander, says Eba’a El-Tamami.
Morsi has shown that his policy on the Palestinians is no more imaginative than Mubarak-era policies and, partly as a result of US approval, he has undertaken a democratic rollback that has ignited Egypt’s streets.
While the eighteen day uprising saw Egypt’s men and women equally contribute to the greater good of the country and fought side by side in the face of violence and drastic uncertainty, women’s rights are being undermined.
Don’t they realize that once they start prosecuting people for breaching these rules, this is just the beginning of a vicious downward cycle? And that there is a lot depending on such decisions?
Tahrir Square has recently been taken over by the Salafists to demand Islamic rule in the constitution and hence in Egyptian society at large.
The rulers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar insist that Bashar Assad step down or be removed by force because the Syrian people want him gone. Yet, they ignore the fact that the Arab peoples want them all gone, not just Assad.
Even before Islamists made their mark, the state oversaw how people thought, felt and behaved. This guiding philosophy of the Mubarak regime has been inherited by the Islamists – it is an insult to millions of Egyptians who detest the state for treating them as children.
Cairo’s urban planning is separating the classes.
