Abeer Abdel Satar
“I am Egyptian. I participated in the revolution as an Egyptian. It is a normal act.” - Abeer Abdel Satar is an actress |
Abeer explains how patience is needed to see the full benefits of the revolution and that high hopes for instant change are not desirable. Even so, in the immediate aftermath of the revolution, fear has gone away and people are free to express themselves and protest in public. Abeer is optimistic and hopeful. |
INTERVIEWInterviewed in English in Cairo on 7-May-2012 by Tatiana Philiptchenko.
Q: Where were you on the 25th January 2011? Actually things started for me on the 24th where we agreed with other protesters to demonstrate in front of the Syndicate of Journalists on the 25th of January 2011. On the 25th we were demonstrating as agreed against the regime, against the falsification of the elections and against the repression of journalists. So at noon that day we had a march to Tahrir Square. We thought we will stay in Tahrir Square until 5 or 6 o’clock in the evening and then we will disperse. But it happened that people didn’t want to go back home. The authorities were circling us and were throwing tear gas bombs on us so we will back up from Tahrir. It was midnight already and we were still demonstrating. The subway had closed. Personally, I thought about leaving because I felt the situation was degenerating and I have children. But the enthusiasm of younger women than me and the instance of the young men to protest us made me stay. But I didn’t spend all night in Tahrir and I left at 3 o’clock in the morning of the 26th of January 2011. At 8 o’clock in the morning of the 26th of January 2011 I went back in front of the Syndicate of Journalists and I stayed there until 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The authorities were surrounding the Syndicate; they let us go in but will not let us get out. We were screaming our slogans. Pedestrians were encouraging our protest. A pedestrian suddenly started protesting with us. Authorities beat him up in front of our eyes. At one point we started smelling the teargas, we wanted then to go down the street to reach Tahrir Square. Some very violent altercations happened then between journalists and the authorities. And some female and male journalists got wounded. But we succeed in getting out and this was the first time I spent the whole night in Tahrir Square. On the 27th of January, the number of protesters really grew. There was not only young people but elderly citizens and women with their children. This day authorities became even more aggressive. We spent the day coming and going between the Syndicate of Journalists and Tahrir Square. Some of our colleague journalists got arrested. Authorities will let us leave the syndicate, but as soon as we were on the street they will take us away in a patrol car. On the 28th of January, the phone lines got cut. I couldn’t get hold of my comrades but I still went to Tahrir Square. There was a chaos organized by the authorities and lots of aggressive behavior. The authorities were behaving in a stupid way. This was the Friday of rage. This is the day where firearms were used against protesters. We saw people falling just next to us. At one point there was a young Christian Copt next to me. We were running fast and taking cover because we were getting shot at. I felt and hurt my knee, my pants were torn. He gave me water and a towel to clean my wound. When we came back towards Tahrir, we talked for a bit: he told me that his name was Michael and that he was 26 years old. He graduated four years ago and had never joined a political party or been in a demonstration. He was standing next to me and next thing: he just felt on the ground… he got shot in his back. Thanks god, he recuperated now but others left their lives in Tahrir. This same day: there was another big surprise: authorities retreated and prisons were evacuated. I went back home to take care of my children. I was following everything on the television. I didn’t believe in Egypt anymore. It was such a shock to see the country in flames, the properties ransacked and people dead. They played the card of the security or the freedom (the authorities). I couldn’t believe that they went as far as opening the gates of the prisons. This day I knew that the regime was going to fall, even if I didn’t believe it before. As a journalist I used to see Mubarak’s son taking the role of his father: because there was no one to stand up against them. They eliminated all political opposition. Regular Egyptians worked very hard to survive and feed their children, they didn’t care about politics. But I had forgotten the role of the young people: they were exasperated and outraged. Q: What were your feelings the 13th February, when it was announced that Mubarak had left? I was in the subway. People were responding to the news on their mobiles and were saying loud “Mubarak left”. People were congratulating each other. I never seen Egypt like that. I thought that Mubarak will die after all the young people were going to die. But it wasn’t the case. Around Tahrir Square some girls will get out of the cars and dance on the cars. There was so much joy. People were all saying “Mabrouk” (Congratulations in Arabic).This was the best day of my life. I stayed in Tahrir Square with my children until 5 am in the morning. (continued on the right) |
Q: More than a year later, What has changed? The people hoping for a quick change are wrong. It is very hard that after a power that was directing the country for over 30 years that we will see changes overnight, or in a year, two years or three years. Egypt needs ten years to stand on its feet. There is always chaos after a revolution, anywhere in the world. I don’t like that people say “What a disaster after the revolution”. We didn’t make a revolution to have jobs the second day. There are still many people around from the old regime and it is in their interest to make the results of the revolution look bad to tarnish the image of the revolution. I am not surprised by all what’s happening now. I believe that some external powers are not happy with the emancipation of Egypt today. Other countries are afraid of having the same civil uprisings than we had here and scare their citizens by telling them: look the stage of chaos Egypt is in after a revolution: you stay put so you can food and water otherwise you will experience chaos too. Things have changed though. The fact that we still thought a while ago that Egypt was going to be more like a monarchy dynasty (even when we have a presidential regime) is no more anymore (talking about Mubarak father and son). The fear that people had to go on the streets and protest (is no more). The fear of the security forces (is no more anymore). Now we need to believe in the revolution. We have had half of a revolution so far. We should have removed all people from the old regime. It is going to be hard to have a civilian regime, but I believe we will have one. I believe the military will not hold onto the power. Q: Did your personal life change? Following the revolution: I have economical problems now, but am not regretting this, am considering it as if I had health problems and didn’t work. Freedom is more important than anything. I am sure that my economical hard times are just temporary. Q: What is the situation of the Egyptian woman now (after the Revolution)? The fact that the woman participated in the revolution is very important. Even if we had women active on the streets in organizations in politics before: they were not taking so seriously and people didn’t know them. But our very active participation in the Revolution itself gives us a social and political platform. And it gave the woman the chance to express herself. And people now say less “Oh, she’s a girl: she shouldn’t be going down in the streets”. Now, there’s more respect for women. Q: What is the biggest danger for woman? There’s nothing in the political programs dedicated for women. There should be 50% women presence in the ministries. There’s not many organizations dedicating themselves to improve the status of woman. Q: Do you see yourself as a revolutionary? No, I am Egyptian. I participated in the revolution as an Egyptian. It is a normal act. I wanted to do something for my country: protest against a bad regime that ruled us for 30 years. And those who didn’t participate physically participated emotionally and supported us from their homes. Q: What did women gain following the Revolution? No one gained anything yet. Not only the woman, but society as a whole has not gained anything yet. But I have hope, that the souls of the young protesters killed are very dear to us are and we have to continue fighting for them. I hope that the presidential elections will be good. And I have lots of hope. We need to work and we need to have patience. And our new civilian ruler that will have to represent us all if not he will be out in a plane. As for “the woman”, she went to Tahrir and did so many things in the revolution. She needs a bigger role and she needs to fortify her newly acquired position. And men also need to give us more space. Q: Did the Internet and social media play a role in the revolution? Yes, of course, because let’s say I have 2000 friends on Facebook. All I have is to say: I am going to Tahrir and explain why to people in my circle and I reach many people with this status on Facebook. And than we have discussions on social media on the subject. This is much more efficient than sending e-mails to people. So, yes, social media played a big role in our revolution. I use Facebook a lot for this purpose. We also had contacts with the revolutionaries from Tunisia, they gave us lots of practical advice on how to behave in demonstrations. This helped us a lot in our revolution here. On social media, an idea can fly all over in a second and reach such a big number of people. |
