Archive for August 14th, 2013
Egypt Morsi, Mandela Arab twin? And Obama got Peace Nobel Award for delivering a speech in Egypt…
Posted by: adonis49 on: August 14, 2013
Egypt Morsi, Mandela Arab twin? And Obama got Peace Nobel Award for delivering a speech in Egypt…
Time to prove anything has no value anymore. You can recklessly label anyone Mandela, receive Nobel Peace award for no peaceful activities or prove any peaceful intentions…
Soon after the military coup that deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, TAWAKKOL KARMAN announced that he would join the pro-Morsy demonstration outside of Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adaweya square.
TAWAKKOL KARMAN published on Foreign Policy (FP) this August 9, 2013:
Why we must stand and support the Muslim Brotherhood’s fight for democracy.
My home is in Sanaa, Yemen, but all of us who placed our hopes in the Arab Spring have a stake in what happens in Egypt: I wished to protest the killing, forcible disappearance, and jailing of coup opponents — crimes that have been met with terrible silence from human rights activists and political elites.
Not only have such figures refused to condemn such violations of freedom, they have given their blessing and justified such measures.
I declared publicly that I was going to Rabaa al-Adaweya to defend the gains of the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution — freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right of the people to select their rulers.
For my activism, I have been the target of a massive incitement campaign by the pro-coup media: Regime supporters have threatened me with death, even to put me on trial for spying and interfering in Egyptian affairs.
On Aug. 4, I arrived at Cairo airport with my friend Bushra al-Serabi, the executive director of Women Journalists Without Chains, to fulfill my pledge. I had all the possible scenarios in mind: I thought the Egyptian authorities might grant me entry and then attack me later in the street, or worse, fulfill their threats by arresting, killing, or prosecuting me.
It was an exciting trip, although it didn’t end as I wished. Or begin, to be honest.
Upon arriving at the airport, I stood in line to complete the usual visa process. A few minutes later, one officer in the airport recognized me and asked me to go to a special counter where they complete the entry procedures for bearers of diplomatic passports.
At that moment, an unusual commotion began: The officers’ phones would not stop ringing, and I heard one of them whispering on the phone about me. “Tawakkol came! Tawakkol came! We won’t let her in,” he said, as if I was a very dangerous person.
The Egyptian officers informed me that I would be denied entry, and I was soon deported back to Yemen on the same plane on which I had arrived. The authorities gave me no clear answer why: They said that I knew the reason for my deportation better than them, and that my name had been blacklisted based on the request of a security body.
Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to stand in person with the protesters outside Rabaa al-Adaweya square to echo their legitimate demands. We shouldn’t be ashamed of standing by people who dream of democracy, justice, and a life with dignity — this is our duty.
Egypt’s current regime has ousted the first elected president in the country’s history, suspended a constitution that won 60 percent support in a referendum, and completely excluded the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party from political life.
There are limited options for those of us who care about Egypt’s future: We can either side with civil values and democracy, or with military rule, tyranny, and coercion.
“After being raped, I was wounded. My honor was not”. Who is Sohaila Abdulali
Posted by: adonis49 on: August 14, 2013
“When I fought to live that night, I hardly knew what I was fighting for. A male friend and I had gone for a walk up a mountain near my home.
Four armed men caught us and made us climb to a secluded spot, where they raped me for several hours, and beat both of us. They argued among themselves about whether or not to kill us, and finally let us go.
At 17, I was just a child. Life rewarded me richly for surviving. I stumbled home, wounded and traumatized, to a fabulous family.
With them on my side, so much came my way. I found true love. I wrote books. I saw a kangaroo in the wild. I caught buses and missed trains. I had a shining child. The century changed. My first gray hair appeared.
If we take honor out of the equation, rape will still be horrible, but it will be a personal, and not a societal, horror. We will be able to give women who have been assaulted what they truly need: not a load of rubbish about how they should feel guilty or ashamed, but empathy for going through a terrible trauma.
When I was 17, I could not have imagined thousands of people marching against rape in India, as we have seen these past few weeks. And yet there is still work to be done.
– Sohaila Abdulali.