Israel Matzav

You say you want a revolution?

You say you want a revolution ... - John Lennon

Once again a female reporter has been sexually abused by a mob ostensibly fighting for "democracy" in Egypt...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/world/middleeast/egypt-orders-release-of-3-american-students.html?ref=middleeast

Per the NY Times article: A military official in Cairo, Col. Islam Jaffar, who came into contact with Ms. Eltahawy while she was in detention, 'acknowledged' her accusation:

“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”

Wow; let's read that back: "But what did she expect would happen?" Ah, let's see ... 'gang rape by central security forces' is not the answer that immediately springs to mind.

There is so much wrong with Mr. Jaffar's response, it is hard to know where to start condemning it. Are we to understand that if Ms. Eltahawy _did_ have a press card, she would not have been sexually assaulted? Or perhaps she would only have been assaulted by people other than the Central Security Forces...? Anyone with a memory span exceeding that of a gnat will remember the ordeal of CBS reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by an Egyptian mob, in Tahrir Square, last February.

But here's the kicker: The societal reality underlying this event might be even more disturbing than the random sexual violence this attack appears to represent. Ms. Eltahawy penned an article in June of this year entitled 'These "Virginity Tests" Will Spark Egypt's Next Revolution' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests). Ms. Eltahawy's critique alleged and condemned state-sponsored sexual assaults in downtown Cairo four years ago that targeted girls and women during a religious festival. Ms. Eltahawy claimed the police watched and did nothing. The same article also cited startling statistics that more than 80% of [Egyptian] women now say they've been sexually harassed, and more than 60% of men admit to having done so.

Most people, before this week, might have been forgiven for assuming that the attack on Ms. Eltahawy was an aberration, rather than reflective of current norms in Egyptian culture. So what do we make of Mr. Jaffar's bizarre statement? Are we to now understand and accept that gang rape is acceptable as par for the course in Tahrir Square (the shining symbol of Egyptian democracy)? Should sexual abuse be expected by any reporter as a natural risk to be assumed when covering the Arab Spring - whether or not he/she is carrying a press card? I guess that, for the media in Arab countries, the international community that has let this event pass without any real fuss and Mr. Jaffar, gang rape is tolerable and somehow excused - or perhaps called for - when "[t]he country is in a sensitive situation" and/ or "we are under threat" ...

Ms. Eltahawy's article claimed that women's rights were at the heart of the current revolution and that if the revolution were to be 'worth its salt' "...in a country replete with misogyny, religious fundamentalism (of both the Islamic and Christian kind" it would have to have address the repression of women. The recent attack on Ms. Eltahawy proves that the revolution that must take place in order for Egypt to change must transcend politics and religion as expressed in Egypt.

A cultural revolution, that makes sexual abuse a contemptible exception, rather than the rule, is called for. Nothing less.

Labels: Egyptian Revolution, Mona Eltahaway, sexual assault

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:13 PM