A Look At The Anti-Morsi Protests In Video and Photos

An aerial view shows the actual scope of the anti-Mohammed Morsi protests in Egypt. It's truly quite incredible how many have taken to the streets. Millions and millions.



And there is also a plethora of anti-Obama (and therefore anti-US) sentiment out there in response to Obama's stance on the Egyptian people's attempts to wrestle back the fledgling democracy they had initially fought for, until so many foolishly voted the Islamists in. And much anger towards the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, for criticizing their protests, and telling them to stand down.

In fact, Obama is going to piss them off even more when the Administration's threat of possibly cutting aid to Egypt if there is a coup becomes common knowledge. They will see this as siding with Morsi once again. Not that they care about our money, they just want Morsi out.

Obama needs to stay out of it.

I wish the Egyptian people much luck, though they have a hell of a lot of work to do on themselves, especially the male population: starting with the abysmal attitude towards women, including rampant sexual harassment of females. Sadly, in Tahrir Square this go round, many women, including a Dutch reporter, a grandmother and 7-year-old child have been sexually assaulted.  No word of whether it was anti-Morsi or pro-Morsi Islamists who were the culprits.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few days.  I had given up on Egypt, but it's looking promising since they have the backing of the military, and the police are trying to not take sides.

H/T Policymic

2nd Arab Spring? Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Protests Turn Violent in Egypt

If the photo is any indication, there were thousands upon thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on the second anniversary of the Egyptian Arab Spring uprising. Last time around it was to protest President Hosni Mubarak and his regime, this time they were prostesting the Islamist they overwhelmingly voted for as president-  Mohammed Morsi. The people are so disenchanted, the protests have once again turned very violent with some 100 or so wounded, and at least seven dead. As a result, troops are being mobilized in the Suez Canal. Protesters have stormed buildings and even torched one of the Muslim Brotherhood's.

Egyptian protesters on Friday stormed the governorate headquarters in the canal city of Ismailiya and attempted to storm two other buildings elsewhere, witnesses said.

Protesters surrounded the governorate building in Damietta and in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh they stormed the courtyard of the governorate leading to clashes, witnesses told AFP.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the political wing of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), was torched in Ismailiya east of Cairo, an official told Al Arabiya.

[snip]

The Muslim Brotherhood said protesters also attempted to storm one of its offices in the Cairo district of Tawfikiya.

[snip]

Demonstrators outside the state television building in Cairo blocked traffic as marches of tens of thousands of people swarmed the capital, and tear gas was also fired at protesters in second city Alexandria.

I don't blame them, they fought long and hard for freedom, but did they really expect anything good to come of voting in to power the Muslim Brotherhood? And did the MB think the people would sit still while the little freedom they did have under Mubarak erodes even further.

Is the  beginning of a second Arab Spring?

Another Female Journalist Attacked In Egypt's Tahrir Square

Another female reporter has been "savagely attacked" in Cairo, Egypt. France 24 TV's Sonia Dridi was in Tahrir Square- which is still ground zero for ongoing protests- when she was grabbed by a crowd of about 30 men.

The news channel said in a statement that Sonia Dridi was attacked around 10:30 p.m. Friday after a live broadcast on a protest at the square and was later rescued by a colleague and other witnesses. France 24 did not give further details about the attack, but it said its employees were safe and sound, though "extremely shocked," and that it will file suit against unspecified assailants.

The network, which receives state funds but has editorial independence, said it and the French Embassy were working to bring Dridi back to France.

"More frightened than hurt," wrote Dridi in French on her Twitter page Saturday. Referring in English to a colleague, she tweeted: "Thanks to (at)ashrafkhalil for protecting me in (hash)Tahrir last nite. Mob was pretty intense. thanks to him I escaped from the unleashed hands."

Ashraf Khalil, who works with France 24's English language service, said the crowd was closing in on him and Dridi while they were doing live reports on a side street off Tahrir. He said the attack and rescue took about half an hour, but it felt like a lot longer.

"The crowd surged in and then it went crazy. It was basically me keeping her in a bear hug, both arms around her and face-to-face," he told The Associated Press, estimating that at least 30 men were involved. "It was hard to tell who was helping and who was groping her."

Khalil said they retreated into a fast food restaurant with a metal door, to keep her out of the reach of the attackers. He said they hustled into a car, and some men banged on it as it sped away. Some of their belongings had been stolen, he said.

"It didn't feel organized or targeted. It felt disorganized," he said. "I felt angry. I love Tahrir. I have a lot of nostalgia for Tahrir. I am still angry. I know this is not the first time this happened; it happened to other people I know. Still, it was a shock."

This incident is reminiscent of what happened to CBS's Lara Logan who was viciously attacked in Tahrir Square during the celebration of the fall of ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak; except in Lara's case she was also sexually assaulted.

Egyptian males are notorious for harassing women, with the problem apparently becoming "epidemic"- just another indication of what little respect or regard the male population has for women in that region. And it's not just Western non-Muslim tourists that are being targeted, women wearing Islamic garb are just as likely to experience harassment.

"It does not make a difference at all. Most of Egyptian ladies are veiled [with a headscarf] and most of them have experienced sexual harassment. According to activist, Dina Farid of Egypt's Girls are a Red Line:

"Statistics say that most of the women or girls who have been sexually harassed have been veiled or completely covered up with the niqab."

In 2008, a study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights found that more than 80% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harassment, and that the majority of the victims were those who wore Islamic headscarves.

So you can't blame it on the women's provocative dress, as some would like us to believe.  The whole reason Muslimahs are supposed to cover themselves is precisely for that reason- to prevent men from lusting and subsequently harassing them.  It just proves how bogus that is.

Maybe they feel that by harassing all women they'll force them to remain cloistered at home- that patriarchal, chauvinistic attitude that prevails among most non-Western Muslim males.

It's only going to get worse as the Muslim Brotherhood takes root, and religious conservatism becomes even more prevalent.