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[03 Nov 2006|12:28pm] |
I want to update you guys on what's happened here:
The Holy month of Ramadan has ended on Monday 23. Tuesday was thus the first day of Eid. Traditionally, it's a time where everyone goes out, has fun, and, especially, goes to the cinema. New (crappy) films are released that time of the year, and, as most people here are too poor to afford over 2-3 films a year, they seize that chance. Also, the cheapest and best-known cinemas are downtown, so that area was very crowded on Tuesday. Cairo's always crowded on the first night of Eid; we're kind of used to living in a 15 million+ city.
So, on that night, there was that huge mob of men (depending on stories, they could be anywhere from 100 to 1000) who didn't get into the cinemas. Places were quickly sold, and I'd guess that, being poor and looking shabby, they were told i a less-than-kindly manner to keep away from the doors.
So they boke on of the guichet windows, and went in the street to "have some fun".
That night, every single girl or woman, veiled, face-veiled or unveiled, old or young, passing them by was attacked. They tried to touch them, hug them, and ripped their clothes. For four hours on end.
The next day, it happened again.
The police? Completely absent, whereas if we just try to demonstrate against anything they encircle us and prevent us from breathing.
The women were mainly saved by shop clerks shutting them in the shops, or taxi drivers rescuing them away.
So why am I writing about this over a week later?
Because until last Tuesday, no newspaper had reported this. None. We have very few independent newpapers, who don't always report everything. Governemnt-affiliated ones are, of course, hushing the matter.
Fortunately, there's independent press beyond newspapers. A group of young people (mainly fresh uni graduates) have set up a system of blogs, who've morphed into the new generation of indie expression. Some of these guys were present during the attacks and reported them on the same day.
I only knew about it Monday; that's how far these blogs can reach. 80% of Egyptians have no internet access altogether.
In the comments in the blogs, some people are in denial, some are disgusted... and some think it's the fault of the girls. "They arouse the guys".
Yeah.
So now I'm scared shitless.
But am I going to stay that way? I'm going to fight back. I've been molested before, I know how it feels. Of course, it was never anything big, but it was sexual assault. The activist bloggers have set up a site to publish reports of molestation. Many girls have already emailed them with their stories. Me too.
I'm not going to shut up. And I'm not going to stay idle. I think it's time for me to get actively involved in the fight; we're fighting for our rights, our civil liberties here, and I'm going to fight with those guys.
Also, I'm going to make my political stance more clear. This journal had been so far pretty un-political, and I intend to keep it this way. That's why I'm creating a private community to voice my thoughts. It'll be political, biased, violent.
![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) fight262
The whole flist is invited to watch it, of course. But also, random LJ-hoppers who're reading this might too.
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![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}