This vlog was recorded on January 18th by Asmaa Mahfouz, the girl who helped start it all. She had shared it on her Facebook, and it had gone viral. It was so powerful and so popular, that it drove Egyptians by the thousands into Tahrir Square, and drove the Egyptian government to block Facebook . I'll shut up now and let Asma talk.Translated by Iyad El-Baghdadi, subbed by Ammara Alavi. Find me here:
www.el-baghdadi.com
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Asmaa Mahfouz recorded and posted this vlog on January 26th, after an eventful Tuesday on January 25th, the first day of th revolution. She describes what she saw and urges people to continue and join her after Friday prayers, on January 28th.Translated & subbed by Iyad El-Baghdadi & Ammara Alavi. Find me here:
www.el-baghdadi.com
www.twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi
www.facebook.com/iyad.elbaghdadi
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Egypt’s Revolutionary Women: This is what reality looks like
Asmaa Mahfouz, from YouTube
The Egyptian people overthrew a dictator last week in a peaceful revolution that revealed the sheer might and beauty of the people’s will. And, incidentally, they made the U.S. government look like a bumbling band of hypocrites.
As Noam Chomsky said, when it came to ousted president Hosni Mubarak, the United States followed its “usual playbook” for handling those dictators whose power is convenient for U.S. interests in Israel, oil, order and other things.
There’s a kind of a standard routine—Marcos, Duvalier,Ceausescu, strongly supported by the United States and Britain,Suharto: keep supporting them as long as possible; then, when it becomes unsustainable—typically, say, if the army shifts sides—switch 180 degrees, claim to have been on the side of the people all along, erase the past, and then make whatever moves are possible to restore the old system under new names. That succeeds or fails depending on the circumstances. – Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now! on Feb. 2
While Al Jazeera and other media showcased the beauty of the revolution — strangers kissing in the street, protesters handing out bread to each other, people of all ages and backgrounds uniting around a common sense of urgency — some strains of U.S. media focused on the ways the revolution might backfire, either by falling short of the changes demanded by Egyptians, or by inspiring a tidal wave of “unrest” across the Middle East that could threaten U.S. interests in Israel, oil, order, etc.
There were two prominent stereotypes of the Egyptian protesters that emerged in the U.S. throughout the protests. One was that the protesters were naive, driven by emotion and idealism instead of common sense. The other — perpetuated by television coverage and photo galleries on major news sites — was that most of them were male.
Democracy Now! gleefully debunked the latter myth by showing footage of dozens of women protesting in Tahrir Square, and by interviewing women who were part of the movement, such as feminist Nawal El Saadawi, U.C.-Davis Professor Noha Radwan, columnist Mona Eltahawy, and others. Then, there was the powerful reminder of 26-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz, who helped ignite the Jan. 25 protest when her Youtube protest appeal went viral.
Here are a few of the brilliantly incendiary things Mahfouz had to say:
I, a girl, am going down to Tahrir Square, and I will stand alone. And I’ll hold up a banner. Perhaps people will show some honor. Don’t think you can be safe anymore. None of us are. Come down with us and demand your rights, my rights, your family’s rights. I am going down on January 25th and will say no to corruption, no to this regime.
If you think yourself a man, come with me on January 25th. Whoever says women shouldn’t go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25th.
That call appeared to work, as hundreds of thousands of people poured into Tahrir Square on Jan. 25.
Then, there was the stereotype of the Egyptian protesters as naive and unrealistic. National security analyst Anthony Cordesman had this to say about the protests on the National Public Radio program On Point on Feb. 11, the same day Mubarak was forced out.
Historically, this is something where you have to be very patient, where it’s going to take a lot of help and encouragement from the outside. And celebrating the fall of an authoritarian is fine for about 48 hours, and then you better start coming to grips with reality.
Mona El-Gobashy, political science professor at Barnard College, had this to say of the protesters in response to Cordesman:
They know very well what they did, they know very well the constraints of the system under which they have toiled for decades, and they are simply demanding that they have a say in how they’re ruled…I don’t think we necessarily ought to paint them as a bunch of idealistic people who don’t know the tasks that lie ahead.
That’s right. The Egyptian people overthrew a dictator. You can’t get any more real than that. And as it turns out, Egyptians understand their own plight and purpose better than any foreign expert. One thing they understand very well is the role the U.S. government has played in their repression. While standing firm for nearly three weeks in Tahrir Square, protesters faced assaults from U.S.-made tear gas canisters and bullets. And while some in the U.S. may choose to ignore it, Egyptians know exactly what $1.3 billion in annual military aid looks like.
The call to action by Asmaa Mahfouz and others is a call not only to support those who protest, but also to hold ourselves accountable for our actions — or inaction. “If you stay at home, then you deserve all that’s being done to you, and you will be guilty before your nation and your people,” Mahfouz said in her video. Her words and her willingness to stand — alone if need be — drew hundreds of thousands to Tahrir Square. That’s real.
>via: http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2011/02/15/egypts-revolutionary-women-this...
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Asmaa Mahfouz & the YouTube Video
that Helped Spark the Egyptian Uprising
GO HERE TO VIEW DEMOCRACY NOW VIDEO REPORT
Three weeks ago today, 26-year-old Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz posted a video online urging people to protest the “corrupt government” of Hosni Mubarak by rallying in Tahrir Square on January 25. Her moving call ultimately helped inspire Egypt’s uprising. "I, a girl, am going down to Tahrir Square, and I will stand alone. And I’ll hold up a banner. Perhaps people will show some honor,” Mahfouz said. "Don’t think you can be safe anymore. None of us are. Come down with us and demand your rights, my rights, your family’s rights. I am going down on January 25th and will say no to corruption, no to this regime." [includes rush transcript]
AMY GOODMAN: Right now, as we talk about sparks of a revolution, from Wael Ghonim to a young woman, I want to turn to a video recording that was posted to Facebook three weeks ago—that was January 18th—and then went viral across Egypt. It’s recorded by a young Egyptian named Asmaa Mahfouz. In the video, the veiled 26-year-old activist appealed to her fellow citizens to join her in protest at Tahrir Square on January 25th to demand their rights. Asmaa Mahfouz is one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. The group has been credited with playing a leading role in organizing the January 25th protests. This is Asmaa.
ASMAA MAHFOUZ: [translated] Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire to protest humiliation and hunger and poverty and degradation they had to live with for 30 years. Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire thinking maybe we can have a revolution like Tunisia, maybe we can have freedom, justice, honor and human dignity. Today, one of these four has died, and I saw people commenting and saying, "May God forgive him. He committed a sin and killed himself for nothing."
People, have some shame.
I posted that I, a girl, am going down to Tahrir Square, and I will stand alone. And I’ll hold up a banner. Perhaps people will show some honor. I even wrote my number so maybe people will come down with me. No one came except three guys—three guys and three armored cars of riot police. And tens of hired thugs and officers came to terrorize us. They shoved us roughly away from the people. But as soon as we were alone with them, they started to talk to us. They said, "Enough! These guys who burned themselves were psychopaths." Of course, on all national media, whoever dies in protest is a psychopath. If they were psychopaths, why did they burn themselves at the parliament building?
I’m making this video to give you one simple message: we want to go down to Tahrir Square on January 25th. If we still have honor and want to live in dignity on this land, we have to go down on January 25th. We’ll go down and demand our rights, our fundamental human rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Again, that video posting by the young Egyptian activist Asmaa Mahfouz on January 18th, one week before the start of the Egyptian uprising.
While much of the youth organizing in Egypt has been over the internet, much of it has been through anonymous postings. In her video postings, Asmaa Mahfouz speaks directly to the camera and identifies herself. The boldness of this act, speaking out so forcefully as a woman, inspired many others to start posting their images online, as well.
On the eve of the protest, Asmaa posted a follow-up video outlining some of her expectations.
ASMAA MAHFOUZ: [translated] It’s now 10:30 p.m. on January 24th, 2011. Tomorrow is the 25th, the day we’ve been waiting for, the day we all worked so hard for. The most beautiful thing about it is that those who worked on this were not politicians at all. It was all of us, all Egyptians. We worked hard. Children no older than 14, they printed the poster and started distributing it after prayers. Old people in their sixties and seventies helped, as well. People distributed it everywhere they could—in taxis, at the metro, in the street, in schools, universities, companies, government agencies. All of Egypt awaits tomorrow.
I know we are all nervous right now and anxious, but we all want to see tomorrow’s event happen and succeed. I’d like to tell everyone that tomorrow is not the revolution and is not the day we’ll change it all. No, tomorrow is the beginning of the end. Tomorrow, if we make our stand despite all the security may do to us and stand as one in peaceful protest, it will be the first real step on the road to change, the first real step that will take us forward and teach us a lot of things. Our solidarity in planning is a success in itself. To simply know that we must demand our rights, that is success.
AMY GOODMAN: Asmaa Mahfouz. The next day after that recording, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Liberation Square, to call for the ouster of President Mubarak and an end to his regime. The turnout was unprecedented, even among the organizers, including the April 6 Youth Movement.
The next day, Asmaa Mahfouz posted another video with her reaction. She called the demonstrations "the happiest day" of her life but said there’s still more work to do.
ASMAA MAHFOUZ: [translated] The people want to bring down the regime. This is what we were all chanting yesterday, January 25th, 2011. Thousands upon thousands—I could not count how many there were. Demonstrations from all sides. Riot police could not control the sheer numbers.
What we learned yesterday is that power belongs to the people, not to the thugs. Power is in unity, not in division. Yesterday, we truly lived the best moments of our lives. We learned that the Egyptian people are not chaotic or disorderly. The government keeps saying that we are a chaotic people and a revolution will lead to chaos. Yesterday, we were truly one hand, concerned for one another. Yesterday, not even one girl was harassed, even among those thousands. No one stole anything. No one struck anyone. No fights broke out. We were defending each other. Everyone was concerned for one another. Some bought water bottles and distributed them; others distributed sandwiches. We all said it was from our hearts. Long live Egypt! Some boys and girls even cleaned the streets of trash and garbage. This is the Egyptian people that we have always dreamed of. I can now say that I am proud to be Egyptian. I truly wish to kiss every Egyptian’s forehead and say, "Thank you for being Egyptian." I never imagined that I would see this.
But we must continue. The riot police was after us until 5:00 a.m., chasing us to beat and arrest us. Yesterday, we saw them scared. Live ammunition and rubber bullets and tear gas and water cannons to break us up. But we did not break up, and we’re still united.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Asmaa Mahfouz, 26-year-old Egyptian activist, part of the April 6 Youth Movement. We will post the full video that she posted on January 18th, before the uprising, calling for people to go to Tahrir, on our website at democracynow.org.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go back right now to a bit more of the recording of this young, brave Egyptian woman, this young activist with the April 6 Movement, who posted a video on January 18th. We just played a clip of it at the top of the show so that we could fit everything in, but we wanted to go back and play a little more for you of Asmaa Mahfouz, a week before the January 25th uprising.
ASMAA MAHFOUZ: [translated] I won’t even talk about any political rights. We just want our human rights and nothing else. This entire government is corrupt—a corrupt president and a corrupt security force. These self-immolaters were not afraid of death but were afraid of security forces. Can you imagine that? Are you going to kill yourselves, too, or are you completely clueless? I’m going down on January 25th, and from now 'til then I'm going to distribute fliers in the streets. I will not set myself on fire. If the security forces want to set me on fire, let them come and do it.
If you think yourself a man, come with me on January 25th. Whoever says women shouldn’t go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25th. Whoever says it is not worth it because there will only be a handful of people, I want to tell him, "You are the reason behind this, and you are a traitor, just like the president or any security cop who beats us in the streets." Your presence with us will make a difference, a big difference. Talk to your neighbors, your colleagues, friends and family, and tell them to come. They don’t have to come to Tahrir Square. Just go down anywhere and say it, that we are free human beings. Sitting at home and just following us on news or Facebook leads to our humiliation, leads to my own humiliation. If you have honor and dignity as a man, come. Come and protect me and other girls in the protest. If you stay at home, then you deserve all that is being done, and you will be guilty before your nation and your people. And you’ll be responsible for what happens to us on the streets while you sit at home.
Go down to the street. Send SMSes. Post it on the net. Make people aware. You know your own social circle, your building, your family, your friends. Tell them to come with us. Bring five people or 10 people. If each one of us manages to bring five or 10 to Tahrir Square and talk to people and tell them, "This is enough. Instead of setting ourselves on fire, let us do something positive," it will make a difference, a big difference.
Never say there’s no hope. Hope disappears only when you say there’s none. So long as you come down with us, there will be hope. Don’t be afraid of the government. Fear none but God. God says He will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. Don’t think you can be safe anymore. None of us are. Come down with us and demand your rights, my rights, your family’s rights. I am going down on January 25th, and I will say no to corruption, no to this regime.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Asmaa Mahfouz, 26 years old, calling for people to protest January 25th in Tahrir Square.
>via: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/8/asmaa_mahfouz_the_youtube_video_that
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David Degner in Cairo: Strikes Threat to Democracy OR Expression of It?
Maybe policeman protesting this Sunday were less taking aim at the new democracy than they were expressing it, the use of the shooting target as protest sign a dramatic symbol of turning over a new leaf.
In the United States, where the term “community organizer” was demonized in the last presidential election and the labor movement hasn’t been winning any popularity contests, it’s understandable how news of strikes in Egypt, especially in these first few days after the fall of the Mubarak regime, might seem like an ominous sign. But then, as Barnard Professor Mona El-Ghobashy explained Monday on DemocracyNow, strikes have not just become part of Egypt’s social fabric in recent years but helped lay the foundation for the revolution:
What this (current wave of strikes) shows is a convergence of the old style of protest with a completely changed political environment. That’s the significance of it.
Observing and photographing this “new normal,” photographer David Degner takes a similar attitude, also seeing these demonstrations, at least at this point, as more a symptom and expression of the transition. As Degner related to me:
“This Sunday, there were at least four or five protests going on here in downtown Cairo as workers from different organizations went on strike. For example, just in one stretch there was one at Egypt Telecom, a major health insurance company and at one of the smaller newspapers.
“The police protest we see in these two photos took place on Sunday at the Ministry of Interior … the location an odd thing in itself. Taking pictures the night of Jan. 29th was one of the most significant moments of the protests for me. There were kids just one block up trying to get to the Ministry running directly into police gunfire. And now, just a few weeks later, the policemen, in the same spot, are protesting for better housing, health care and wages — and want the people to also know that they are no longer under their former leader, Adly, who was removed as Minister of the Interior.
“This picture is from Mansoura, which is in the Nile Delta about four hours from Cairo — which I got to from Alexandria by getting on a train by accident going in the wrong direction.
“Finally finding a train back to Cairo, I was delayed by these guys standing and sitting on the track. When I talked to them, they said they were mechanics asking for wages more comparable to what the engineers make. They felt the engineers were earning too much to be sitting in offices drinking coffee and tea all day while they were out working. The people on the side of the track were commuters trying to convince these guys to get back to work. The protest lasted about two hours. When they got their message heard enough, I guess (looking mostly pleased here, you’ll notice), they left the tracks and the trains starting running again.”
Consistent with the hand wringing in some Western media, maybe the Generals will just decide to put their feet down and outlaw all strikes. Until they do so, however, perhaps what we’re seeing — in the policemen in Cairo or the rail works in Mansoura — is the expression of new-found freedom combined with the people’s insistence on economic reform.
Or, as David puts it, maybe these strikes just seem to be what is going on right now.
–Michael Shaw
PHOTOGRAPHS by DAVID DEGNER.
You can see the archive of all the photo-reports from BagNews since the Middle East crisis began at Middle-East Uprising 2011. For David’s photo-documentation of life in Cairo, including more crisis images, visit his website, Incendiary Image.
Previous post: “Yesterday I Was A Demonstrator. Today I Build Egypt.”
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Egypt After Mubarak: Labor Strikes Escalate
The Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, a self-selected alliance of pro-democracy groups that organized the Jan. 25 protests, said today it met with military leaders Sunday night to discuss reforms.Today, the coalition issued its demands for a transition to civilian rule by establishing a technocratic government within 30 days, saying a new legitimate government would better stop job walkouts."I think a lot of these strikes will be solved by changing the government, which I stressed on about the coalition government and how it should be quickly met," Shadi El Ghazaly, a leading member of the youth coalition, told reporters.The group said the army had taken steps in the right direction by opening a dialogue with the coalition, but urged a 12-point reform program for the next six to nine months. The demands include a timeline for the end of a transitional period, the release of all political detainees and removing the three-decade-old emergency law.The coalition set a 30-day deadline for a civilian technocratic council to replace the current cabinet, a remnant of Mubarak's time in office. It threatened continued demonstrations if its demands are not met."We are asking the government to choose them, but they know who we trust and we know who we don't trust," El Ghazaly told AOL News. "We're telling them [the military] the kind of people that we want, and we hope they will respect that."A military statement read on television said Egypt needed a calmer climate in this "critical stage" to eventually transfer power to an elected civilian administration. It did not specify a date. It also warned that continued demonstrations would hurt the country's security and economy, giving power to "irresponsible parties" to commit "illegal acts," according to The Associated Press.The youth coalition said it was planning on meeting the army again this week to continue to press demands, calling the first meeting a "zero point" to establish a dialogue. The group acknowledged that it does not represent everyone who demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square but is a "channel" for dialogue with the new military government.The coalition includes members of the April 6 Youth Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood Youth, supporters of Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and independent activists. In a sign of the youth-led revolt, the group's demands also included lowering the age for parliamentarian candidates to 25 and for presidential candidates to 35. Currently, parliamentarian candidates must be at least 30 and presidential candidates 40.On Sunday, the army suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament, both welcome moves to demonstrators who have been calling for new elections and a new constitution. The armed forces pledged that free and fair elections would be held under a revised constitution, but did not give a timetable.The army also promised to lift the country's draconian state of emergency, but again did not specify a deadline, and said the cabinet, appointed by Mubarak last month, would remain in power.The spontaneous protests initially drew strength from their disparate members, but with Egypt in transition, disagreement over the negotiation process with the military continues to emerge. Some doubt the sincerity of the army, which formed the backbone of Mubarak's 30-year regime, and disapprove of negotiating with the top of the command chain."Now the military junta are making more or less useless statements which do not really say anything, except that they are the ones in charge, giving us promises about the transition to democracy," said Hossam El Hamalawy, a journalist and prominent blogger on workers' movements. "They are now warning against so-called chaos instigated by industrial actions. However, let's remember ... the working class are the ones who toppled Mubarak.
"Those striking Egyptian workers are not going home anytime soon. They cannot go home to their starving children to tell them the military promised us that they will solve our problems within X number of months. These are both economic and political demands by the working class that have to be met immediately," El Hamalawy said. "These strikes constitute our only hope that we have a revolution that's unfinished, to be completed."
>via: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/14/egypt-after-hosni-mubarak-labor-strikes-esc...