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Photo by Amr Nabil via The Guardian.
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By Samantha Goldman
Cheers to the thousands of women of Egypt who marched through Cairo yesterday demanding the end of military rule in light of their systematic sexual violence against women, including the stripping & beating of a woman in Tahrir square whose assault has gone viral and acted as a catalyst to the demonstration. According to CNN this woman, Aza, suffered a fractured skull and was struck 20 times with batons by the military police officers. The people of Egypt did not fight so courageously to end the Mubarak regime for this! Many women held of pictures of her as she has become a symbol of the anti-woman violence that the Egyptian military represents. See video of the courageous protest here. Their demands and bravery are righteous and are a source of tremendous inspiration to us all.
As these women fight against a long history of oppression against women and now are being rounded up and assaulted at the hands of both the military and the extremists, we have the responsibility to oppose and stop our government’s material support of these crimes against humanity. While Hillary Clinton has spoken publicly about the “systematic degradation of Egyptian women” this government continues to send the weaponry and aid that make this brutality possible. Our brothers and sisters who are being pepper sprayed and shot at are relying on us.
Listen here to New York based, Egyptian born journalist Mona Elthaway interviewed on PRI, calling for the military to be held accountable and civilian leadership in Egypt. Mona herself was brutally beaten, detained and sexually assaulted while in Cairo covering protests. She was also interviewed on MSNBC on the U.S. involvement:
Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo responded on Twitter to a flood of demands directed at them to withdraw support for the military government’s repression of protesters. World Can’t Wait joined in the discussion.
Click here for the whole story, compiled by @UnifiedLeft.
Occupy Chicago is hosting a peaceful march and rally in front of the Egyptian Consulate tomorrow (Fri), in solidarity with peaceful protesters under violent oppression in several countries. Details here:
http://occupychi.org/direct-action/event/march-solidarity-egypt-syria-yemen-bahrain-and-palestine
I sent a message to touregypt.net expressing my concern that I would not be able to travel to Egypt to see the pyramids for fear of being attacked by the government thugs because I am a woman. I hope others will send them a message in this way also. It may be helpful for the women of Egypt.