Tawakkol Karman
By Tawakkol Karman
Soon after the military coup that deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, I announced that I would join the pro-Mursi demonstration outside of Cairo’s Rabaa Al Adaweya square. 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 January 25, 2011, revolution. 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 August 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, fulfil their threats by arresting, killing or prosecuting me. 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.
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.
Mursi was not only Egypt’s democratically elected president, he is now emerging as the Arab world’s Nelson Mandela.
The South African leader brought peace and democracy to his country; during Mursi’s one-year reign, Egypt enjoyed freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate peacefully, and not a single one of his political opponents were jailed. Even when he was ousted by force, he killed no one, jailed no one, and never resorted to violent resistance. This is unparalleled in the region.
By maintaining this peaceful approach, Mursi and his followers will have a role not less than that of Mandela’s African National Congress. Despite being subjected to killing, arrest and oppression, Mursi’s supporters have held fast to the democratic process and prevented Egypt from descending into civil war. The free world must recognise their positive role by supporting them and rejecting the crimes committed against Mursi, his party, and pro-democracy figures.
I am not blind to the shortcomings of the previous government: Before the coup, I supported the June 30 rallies against Mursi.
But I had had my eyes set on one objective — ending the rift within Egyptian society, and building a country led by partnership rather than narrow majority rule. The military takeover aims to uproot the Muslim Brotherhood and its partners, replacing them through brute force with the losers of a democratic ballot — namely Mohamed ElBaradei and the National Salvation Front.
Democracy can’t thrive under military rule — history is quite clear on this point. In Egypt, this is evident through the terrible violations against rights and freedoms since the coup. The police state is back, and it is even worse than Hosni Mubarak’s.
What is happening in Egypt today is very scary: The coup could lead society to lose its faith in democracy, which will give terrorist groups a chance to breathe again. As Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri said in his latest audio message, the Brotherhood won the elections — and still Mursi was deposed. He concluded that democracy was a dead end, an exclusive right in the West, but one that is not accessible to Islamists.
What happens in Egypt will not stay in Egypt — the implications of this coup will reverberate over 1,000 miles away, in my home country of Yemen. It is wrong to look at the Arab Spring as an unrelated set of events: The people of the Middle East all rose up against tyranny and justice, and have the same dream of freedom, dignity and democracy.
All the ousted regimes, as well as the oppressive regimes that have hung on during the Arab Spring, have now blessed Egypt’s coup. But it’s not too late to reverse this trend: Just as policies of oppression can start in Egypt and then spread to other Arab countries, a blossoming democracy in Cairo can easily spread throughout the Arab world.
This may be why so many regional and international powers are arrayed against a democratic Egypt. Those who support freedom and democracy in the Middle East, however, should resist the new tyranny in Cairo with all their might.
WP-BLOOMBERG
By Tawakkol Karman
Soon after the military coup that deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, I announced that I would join the pro-Mursi demonstration outside of Cairo’s Rabaa Al Adaweya square. 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 January 25, 2011, revolution. 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 August 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, fulfil their threats by arresting, killing or prosecuting me. 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.
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.
Mursi was not only Egypt’s democratically elected president, he is now emerging as the Arab world’s Nelson Mandela.
The South African leader brought peace and democracy to his country; during Mursi’s one-year reign, Egypt enjoyed freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate peacefully, and not a single one of his political opponents were jailed. Even when he was ousted by force, he killed no one, jailed no one, and never resorted to violent resistance. This is unparalleled in the region.
By maintaining this peaceful approach, Mursi and his followers will have a role not less than that of Mandela’s African National Congress. Despite being subjected to killing, arrest and oppression, Mursi’s supporters have held fast to the democratic process and prevented Egypt from descending into civil war. The free world must recognise their positive role by supporting them and rejecting the crimes committed against Mursi, his party, and pro-democracy figures.
I am not blind to the shortcomings of the previous government: Before the coup, I supported the June 30 rallies against Mursi.
But I had had my eyes set on one objective — ending the rift within Egyptian society, and building a country led by partnership rather than narrow majority rule. The military takeover aims to uproot the Muslim Brotherhood and its partners, replacing them through brute force with the losers of a democratic ballot — namely Mohamed ElBaradei and the National Salvation Front.
Democracy can’t thrive under military rule — history is quite clear on this point. In Egypt, this is evident through the terrible violations against rights and freedoms since the coup. The police state is back, and it is even worse than Hosni Mubarak’s.
What is happening in Egypt today is very scary: The coup could lead society to lose its faith in democracy, which will give terrorist groups a chance to breathe again. As Al Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri said in his latest audio message, the Brotherhood won the elections — and still Mursi was deposed. He concluded that democracy was a dead end, an exclusive right in the West, but one that is not accessible to Islamists.
What happens in Egypt will not stay in Egypt — the implications of this coup will reverberate over 1,000 miles away, in my home country of Yemen. It is wrong to look at the Arab Spring as an unrelated set of events: The people of the Middle East all rose up against tyranny and justice, and have the same dream of freedom, dignity and democracy.
All the ousted regimes, as well as the oppressive regimes that have hung on during the Arab Spring, have now blessed Egypt’s coup. But it’s not too late to reverse this trend: Just as policies of oppression can start in Egypt and then spread to other Arab countries, a blossoming democracy in Cairo can easily spread throughout the Arab world.
This may be why so many regional and international powers are arrayed against a democratic Egypt. Those who support freedom and democracy in the Middle East, however, should resist the new tyranny in Cairo with all their might.
WP-BLOOMBERG
