Moataza S.Abd Elsabour 

“The revolution has done a lot for Egyptian women which society will witness later on. Egyptian women played a vital role”

Moataza is an actress, writer and activist promoting citizen’s rights. She studied English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo.

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Moataza says that the revolution changed her life dramatically. She explains that there are still many challenges before it succeeds. Years of mismanagement created a culture of corruption in Egypt. Moataza shares her own frightening experiences from the past year.

Interview

Interviewed in English in Cairo on 6-May-2012 by Tatiana Philiptchenko.

Q: Where were you on January 25, 2011?
I was in Tahrir. It was the first time I participated in any demonstration. I never participated in any demonstration. I was discontent by what was happening in the country. I assumed very little people 300-400 (few hundred that get beat up and leave) were going to show up but it turned out to be very different this time around…
  
Q: Has the revolution changed anything in your life?
Everything has changed. It made me more focused and more confident of the beliefs that I always held. I knew that there was something wrong with our society but I wasn’t getting enough support for my beliefs. People who got hit by corruption on some level or another were surrounding me. You are always considered too idealistic or too dreamy – but then you go down with a very big bunch of dreamers to Tahrir, it turns out you are not alone.

The revolution has changed me in positive ways. It changed my lifestyle, I am involved with demonstrations and the community work that comes with it. My stance in this revolution is not political but humanitarian, I try not to be politicized – it’s about human decency and politics are just a part of it.

Q: In regards to women, what do you think the situation of Egyptian women is today, has it changed, evolved or stayed the same?
No, it’s not the same. The revolution has done a lot for Egyptian women which society will witness later on. Egyptian women played a vital role, they were next to the men all the time but not only in making sandwiches & healing the wounds. I was healing the wounds & volunteering in field hospitals but there’s much more to it. Egyptian women have always been strong behind the scenes.

Q: What is the greatest danger now?
The SCAF and the Muslim brotherhood are the greatest danger.And the United States government that has been supporting SCAF is a danger too.I do respect the American people themselves that are trying to have their own revolution but their government is creating lots of problems around the world. You know, it’s one big police state everywhere and few very rich people protecting their wealth. Different methods of control are used to control the people in different countries.

Q: In your view, did social media play and will play a big role in the revolution?
Social media played a positive role and negative role. Facebook, for example: plays a negative role: people revolt from the comfort of their home. You can write all you want on Facebook, how will that remove SCAF? The only real revolution is the one on the streets.

Q: How about the women who represent you in parliament?
The Muslim brotherhood lost their credibility on the street.

There are four women (referring to the women of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian new parliament in May 2012) who are calling for women slavery. These women represent nothing – They represent four veiled women from the Egyptian brotherhood executing the Muslim Brotherhood agenda.

In a country where there are so many educated women: engineers, doctors, and professors: these four women have nothing to do with what Egyptian women want.

Q: Do you consider yourself as a revolutionary?
I have no idea. If I say yes, it will be like bragging. I know I am an agitator and a troublemaker (laughing).

Q: Are Egyptian women benefiting from the revolution?
They are questioning their values and the authenticity of the values they’ve been living with. They are also questioning role they should be playing in their society. Nobody is benefiting from the revolution. The revolution is being beaten to death. The only one we removed is Mubarak, he was nothing: he was the head of the servant. The entire regime is still there in every government institution in Egypt and private institutions that flourished under Mubarak. What is even more dangerous is that corruption (decades of Mubarak rule) has emphasized on very bad values: cowardliness, lack of ethics. Corruption is now very deeply rooted in Egypt. 

Many people are crooks, are not hard workers and don’t believe in reading or culture. Many people are also still afraid of the Mubarak regime. People are still in fear.

Successful bad regimes have corrupted the soul of the Egyptian people. 

(continued on the right)

Q: Did the Egyptian women get pushed aside after the big demonstrations of 2011?
No, on the street, women are still full part of the revolution. In the last massacre in Abassiya committed by SCAF (May 4, 2012), lots of girls and women were there: and many got detained.

Q: What happened to you this past week, you had troubles?
Not troubles but crime.

We were in the demonstration in Abassiya (night of the 2nd of May), we left back to our house at night. A friend of ours was killed by a shot later that night. We wanted to check on him and make sure a report about the exact cause of death was produced. His was a great friend, we went to the police station at 5.30 AM from where the death reports was supposed to come out.

The most bizarre thing happened: When we got to the police station: 50 or 60 thugs protected it – they work for the police and are on the payroll there. If a thug kills you: no one can help you since they work for the police.

These thugs came around the car and started saying about us “ These are the people from Tahrir, we know this actress, they were screaming very offensive words” and they were shaking the car and waving knives at me. One of them had even a gun. They were the ten worst minutes of my life. Suddenly a Night and Shining armor came from the crowds and said “ I am going to help you, come into the police station “, and two other cops came too, they told us: “Take your car inside the police station, we will help you“. But when we actually got inside: they framed us for a lawsuit. They said we were distributing pamphlets that stated, “ we want to overturn the regime”. And that my husband was shooting from the car and I was photographing him. I told them “You think we are in a movie and my husband is Antonio Bandera’s?”

And the persons who filled the report against were some of the thugs. The police said “you accept the lawsuit against you. You are lucky that it’s all you have to suffer; yesterday they brought a dead person here”. So, two of the thugs filed a report against us accusing us of imaginary crimes.

We were treated badly for five hours and the officers told us bluntly: “either you take the shit (the lawsuit we are making against you) or we throw you to the thugs”. While this was happening: The thugs were filing the report against us and smoking with the cops. And as they were insulting us, one of the police officers said ”give them more”.

Q: What is happening to the revolution now?
They are killing the activists. They are arresting them. There’s around 400 people detained (as of May 2012). Thousands are missing which means they are probably dead. SCAF is fighting us. They know it’s either them or us. They were trying to defame us. We have a big problem: Huge number of Egyptian people are scared and are lazy and are making themselves believe the lies that are said about the revolution in the media. Because, if the people don’t believe it (the lies of the media) it means that they will have a moral responsibility to go out on the streets and take a chance to get shot.

But SCAF won’t be able to shoot an entire population. If we, the Egyptians, all go down on the streets, SCAF will be out in two days. SCAF will never shoot a quarter of a population of 80 millions. In addition, SCAF is playing a very intelligent game: they put now the danger of Islamists rule in the foreground.

Q: Does the media manipulate Egyptian people?
Sure, but I don’t believe in total manipulation. One always believes the version he wants to believe. Very few people have enough honesty to face themselves in the mirror.