I tingled with pride and a cold shiver went down my spine, as I listened to ‘Voice of Freedom' in a Stockholm's theatre. The song was accompanied by the screening of photos from the Egyptian revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, depicting the many women who took to the streets for 18 days. The song was played at an event that launched the Swedish book Nothing Only for Men, edited by Swedish journalist Mia Grondahl and written by 15 Egyptian and Swedish writers. Nothing Only for Men tells the inside story of women who participated in the Egyptian Revolution. Four writers attended the discussion, including two Egyptian writers, Karima Kamal and Hanan Elbadawi. After the song and the screening of the photos, Mia, who has been living in Egypt for 12 years now, asked the audience with great enthusiasm, "Did you feel the power of Tahrir Square? Did you hear the voice of freedom?" With these two questions, Mia opened the seminar with the four writers, who took to the stage and told the audience more about the characters they wrote about in the book. Hanan, who was working before the revolution as a political assistant in Amr Moussa's office and now works as a freelance journalist, spoke first. In the book, she wrote about Azza Hilal, a modest Egyptian woman from a middle-class family, most of whose male members work in the military. Azza, who joined in the revolution from the very first day, respects everyone who chose to take to streets for the sake of freedom. Some of them died in the process. Azza is known as the ‘Woman in the Red Dress', as she was wearing a red dress when she defended a girl who was beaten by soldiers last November during the clashes outside the Cabinet building. "The revolution would never have succeeded without the participation of the 20 million Egyptians who took to streets during the 18 days of the revolution – men and women, educated and uneducated, poor and rich," said Hanan (31). "Women took to streets, just like men. On January 28 the number of women was equal to the number of men. It was only when violence between the police and revolutionaries intensified that the women went back homes," she added during the seminar. Karima Kamal, a journalist in The Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, spoke next. In the book, she wrote about Mona Mina, a doctor and a leftist who opposed the old regime. Mona was one of the doctors who worked day and night in the field hospitals in Tahrir. The hospital that Mona worked in was bombed and she was threatened more than once, but she insisted on being there and playing her role as a doctor and activist. Mona's son and daughter were injured in the Mohamed Mahmoud Street violence, but she never prevented them from going to the Square. She even appeared on TV with her daughter, to show what the police were doing to our children. Mona is very modest, the last woman to describe herself as a heroine. "When the revolution happened, nobody though it was a revolution at first. Most of us thought it was just a movement for change. Mona then told me that, if something happened, she must be there," added Karima. Mia then asked the Egyptian writers about their concerns for Egypt's future. Karima said she was very worried about whether the next Constitution would represent all Egyptians or not. “What will happen after this Constitution? The Islamist parties are ready, but the others aren't," she added. Hanan was more optimistic than Karima, arguing that the Constitution is not the most important thing for the man in the street, who is far more concerned about wages, prices, social security and social justice. "If the Constitution doesn't satisfy all Egyptians they will not be silent, as the revolutionaries are ready to do battle," she added. At the end of the seminar, Mia asked the two Egyptian writers about the political situation for women in the wake of the revolution. Karima stressed the importance of the role of NGOs in enhancing the feminist movement and increasing political awareness in rural areas. "We will never let anybody to take our rights from us; in fact, we're going to ask for more."
