On March 8th, International Women's Day, I went to Tahrir to march for freedom, I went because unless the minorities in Egypt have real freedom, and unless our human rights are written into the constitution, Egypt will never be free. I want women in Egypt to have respect, equal rights with men, representation in government and the right to run for president. We arrived in Tahrir around 5pm. Traffic was still moving around the midan but it was slow. Initially we did not see any women or women protests. We walked into the central tent area and there were people milling around, but no one protesting. Finally we saw a small group of women holding signs surrounded by a large group of men. We pushed our way to the center of the group, stood next to the other women and help up our sign “I am woman, I am Egypt.” Right next to us was a large loud group of angry men yelling chants against the women protesters. At one point a sheikh was being held up and leading the chants. They told us to get out, they told us we were bitches and maids and rebellious children, they lifted and shook their shoes at us. The women stayed silent and tried to hold their signs steady as they were being pushed around, they hardly even chanted. It was better to be silent, we didn't want to provoke more anger and aggression then was already being hurled at us. There were men protesting with us, but they were worried for our safety, some told us to leave, and then they themselves left. Other men came and engaged us in intense debates. They didn't know why we were protesting. They didn't know that today was International Women's Day. They said “You have freedom in Egypt, what more do you want?” I told them “We want respect and we want a voice.” One of our demands was to have the right to run for president, one man told my sister that Arab women could never be president because they were too emotional. She responded by asking him which demonstration was currently more emotional, loud and out of control, the women's protest or the anti-women's protest? He shook his head, “No no, women are more emotional on the inside.” Then he walked away. Another man started to speak of the Quran to us. My sister held up her cross. I am Christian, what does the Quran have to say about my rights? He also walked away. There were also women who were yelling at us. One lady told us she had never been harassed while walking in the street. We responded by asking her if she had ever walked in the street. Another women was screaming and pushing us, grabbing our signs trying to rip them from us and destroy them. The women protestors began to leave. We heard reports on twitter that women were being molested. The number dwindled to under ten, we tried to stick together but we were being pushed and jostled on every side by increasingly angry men. Despite the decent men who wanted to engage us in discussion there were others who would get in our faces and scream insults at us, push us and grab at our signs trying to tear them. Some of the men seemed to be completely out of control, now that I think about it I wonder if they were on drugs. It is possible that some of those men were thugs, but the majority of men seemed to be normal passerbys; some of them returning from work and sincerely confused as to why we were protesting. When it became impossible to move or even stand comfortably because we were being pressed in on all sides my sister and I and another girl would grab each other's hands and try to get to an area where we could breathe. The men would follow us, the decent men wanting to discuss as well as the angry ones. After moving several times and each time being subsequently surrounded and again squeezed on all sides we decided to leave to regroup. We put up our hands and told the men that we were taking a break and would not talk to them. Still we had to move fast and almost run to get away from them. My sister and I are half Egyptian. We look very foreign with fair hair and light eyes. This added another disturbing dynamic to the demonstration. Men were yelling “foreigners! foreigners!” They were calling us jews and Israelis. There was a strong xenophobic undercurrent, the Egyptian Muslim tried to defend us telling the men around us that we were Egyptian, but it was hopeless. Finally we realized that it was hopeless and the situation was getting beyond our control and dangerous. We decided to leave and come back on Friday and next Tuesday, which is Egyptian Women's Day, with larger numbers, more support and better organization. They called the Egyptian veiled women jews as well. They yelled “Look! Look! You have foreigners standing around you!” This incident made me wonder. Who was Jan. 25th for? What did our martyrs die for? Didn't they die for “Tahrir,” liberation for all? The symbol of oppression is gone, but the oppression in our society is deeply rooted. Egypt's road to freedom will be a long one. BM
