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Subscribe to RSSThousands of Egyptian women marched across Tahrir Square Tuesday, calling on their countrymen to join them and demand an end to the abuse of women demonstrators. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Cairo.
AP reports:
Around 10,000 women marched through central Cairo demanding Egypt's ruling military step down Tuesday in an unprecedented show of outrage over soldiers who dragged women by the hair and stomped on them, and stripped one half-naked in the street during a fierce crackdown on activists the past week.
Amr Nabil / AP
Hundreds of Egyptian women march at Cairo streets during a protest as they angered by the recent violence used against them in clashes between police and protesters in Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. Egypt's ruling generals are coming under mounting criticism at home and abroad for the military's use of excessive force against unarmed protesters, including women, as they try to crush the pro-democracy movement calling for their ouster. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
The dramatic protest, which grew as the women marched from Tahrir Square through downtown, was fueled by the widely circulated images of abuses of women. Many of the marchers touted the photo of the young woman whose clothes were partially pulled off by troops, baring her down to her blue bra, as she struggled on the ground.
"Tantawi stripped your women naked, come join us," the crowd chanted to passers-by, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak. "The daughters of Egypt are a red line," they chanted.
Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images
An Egyptian woman holds the widespread picture of a woman who was stripped and beaten by riot police during clashes last week as Egyptians gather for a protest in downtown Cairo to denounce the military's attacks on women and to call for an immediate end to the violence against protesters on Tuesday.
Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for what it called "violations" against women — a quick turnaround after days of dismissing the significance of the abuse.
The council expressed "deep regret to the great women of Egypt" and affirmed "its respect and total appreciation" for women and their right to protest and take part in political life. It promised it was taking measures to punish those responsible for violations.
The statement suggested the military's fear that attacks on women could wreck its prestige at home and abroad, which has already been heavily eroded by its fierce, five-day-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding it surrender power. The ruling generals have campaigned to keep the public on its side in the confrontation, depicting the activists as hooligans and themselves as the honorable protectors of the nation, above reproach.
Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images
Egyptians gather for a protest in downtown Cairo to denounce the military's attacks on women and to call for an immediate end to the violence against protesters on Tuesday.
In unusually harsh words, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday accused the Egyptian security forces and extremists of specifically targeting women.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said.
In a possibly significant hint of new flexibility, the council also said in its statement Tuesday that it was prepared to discuss any initiatives to help the security of the country. In recent days, a number of political factions have pressed the military to hand over power by February, rather than June, when it promised to hold presidential elections.
Thousands of Egyptian women marched in the streets of Cairo, protesting abuse by soldiers who dragged women by the hair, stomped on them and stripped one half naked on the street. NBC's Ayman Moyheldin reports.
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AH OH, soon you'll hear our Christian Fundamentalists here in the USA standing by the Egyptian Security saying that women should be home not on the streets. The Muslim Fundamentalists have lots of followers here in the USA, they are called Christian Fundamentalists.
Um... I know this is news to you but last I heard, Christian Fundamentalists were burning the Koran.
Shocking, I know.
D.David Silva you are showing your ignorance.Christians believe that everyone is equal in Christ. It is written in the Bible that both husbands and wife should submit to each other.Read the New Testament and you will be surprised.
I am assuming that you must be one of them.
This article is about the Egyptian army violating the rights of women, who are peacefully protesting. Not about religious differences, American politics, Ms. Clinton, etc. Let's stay on the topic!
Why was D. David Silva's comment collapsed? There is nothing wrong with it (no cussing, etc.)--plus his comment is 100% accurate!
I suggest you restore it. Or maybe the truth embarrasses and hurts you too much?????
You go girls! The women have all the balls in the muslim world.
This is so not surprising. The Facebook crowd blocked and tackled for the Islamists who were well organized and waiting patiently. Now the struggle is between the brutal military and the Islamists, the young people and women have little stance. Both the Islamists and the military will mistreat women. I don't know which will prevail, Islamists or military, but neither is a good choice.
wait till the brotherhood establishes sharia law.
Just what "revolution" should be respected ..according to Hilary The Islamic sharia jihad revolution brought to you by the Brotherhood and even some Sisterhood terrorists as well.,Some of these women may put bombs under their robes if not now then later.The miltitary is the only secular force than can control Egypt.The media must be more discerning in their coverage Some of the Arab Spirng is now an Arab Nightmare..And The Brotherhhod will use every form of propaganga .just as hezbollah .hamas and others use.They are extremely violent To call them just typical ganster thugs would be to vastly underestimate their danger. The protestors got rid of Mubarek .Now what to they want.. to get rid of Egypt?Be VERY careful !!.
That is the first thought that went into my head.
I think the Brotherhood and the very extreme Islamists will prevail over the military. But it will be bloody, as the military has hated the Brotherhood for many years and still has power. Once the Islamists take over, and Sharia law is in place, the economy will falter, there will be even more poor people, and Egypt will become a haven for terrorists. The desperate young people will gladly put a belt on and blow themselves up at the Rafah Crossing.
Bart Martin, spewing the tipical republican paranoia.
F.X., Gary and Jack ----Hold your horses!!! Do you truly beleive that the Egyptian women will stand still for this? NOT!!!! I call Egypt my second home and have lost track of the number of times that I've been there. I have many friends of all ages there and talk to them frequently.
Right now the whole world is watching. These repressed and depressed people have been under the thumb of a brutal dictatorship for generations, they will not tolerate this treatment any longer. They want to have the basic and simple freedoms that we take for granted here.
I know MANY muslims there. Yes, there are Radial Muslims there, but the majority of these people are just like you, they are humble and loving people that want more for their sons and daughters and grand children than what you basically describe as the "future of Egypt" ......they will not tolerate going back to being repressed. What we are seeing right now is a "high and mighty" group of Egyptian military that temporarily beleive they are superior and can twist the current lack of Egyptain law illegally. These few that are making a very bad name for the Egyptian military are radicals that are using and abusing their military post to rape, pillage and plunder the city of Cairo.
These people are anxious for change and basic freedoms...they have made huge sacrifices and have worked hard to come to today...They will not settle...TRUST ME!!!
Not restoring comment # 1, off-topic.
These acts were nothing compared to what you Egyptian women will get the the muslims take over! Remember you just had an election and the muslims won big time! I'm afraid you will all get to see firsthand and up close what islam is all about....
My friend, your argument has no legs to stand on. If this woman was dressed like our woman here and she was attacked like that I would agree your statement. But this woman dressed just like "Moslem Brotherhood" would dress. I believe people like Saudi government and their SUPPORTERS thought they will remove Mubarak and play the Egyptians as bunch of stupid camel jockeys, and wait till this thing die down. Well, they were wrong about Egyptians and they are wrong about Bahrain and Yemen as well . You understand what I am talking about. It is all about oil and Israel unfortunately.
Ray ------- Au contraire! It's all about Islam and its nature and nothing else.
jack,,,you are so rite...the only thing that matters in the muslim countrys are their so-called religion..human rights doesnt matter at all..and they all know this,,nobody has the balls to admit it..i have many so-called muslim friends..and you cant even make any kind of joke to them about democracy,,they all tell me they dont want our democracy,,,but they all would kill to come to any democratic country
ray, what does this possibly do for Israel? Last I checked, the Arab Spring has made the middle east a more unpredictable place and in fact made it a more dangerous place. Or are you just another Israeli basher? I agree that oil has something to do with it, but Obama will never admit to that. Lack of oil explains why our President and NATO have hardly had anything to say about what is going on in Syria right now. I believe Jack was referring to the domination of women under the Muslim faith. Like the Muslim women whose fingers were cut off by her husband because he caught her studying.
I think these developments are bad for Israel. The people of Egypt have been anti Israel from 1948. Nassar and Sadat lost major wars against Israel, and the people of Egypt still harbor a need for revenge and return of their pride. Israel has only had peace treaties with two dictators in Egypt(no more) and Jordan. Whenever Islamists take over, they all blame Israel for their problems and envy their success. Israel is very concerned about the Arab Spring, but probably they are concerned about Egypt the most.
Welcome to the world of martial law. Of course, it wasn't long ago the Birthers here were calling for a military coup...
@Toasty McGrath....are you for real???..."IF" you are, get off the dope or crack or whatever illegal drugs you're on!!!
While I dont consider myself a "Birther"...I continue to have MANY ?'s and reservations regarding "resident" (thats NOT a typo!) obama!...He still has MANY unanswered ?'s regarding his past/background...the supposed Birth Certificates released were flawed in one way or another....strange type/ie: 2 different types of type on same document???....use of term: "African-American"...not in use when obama was born!; and supposedly his SS# is from CT??? My son can do what "resident" obama can not/has not done yet...produce an unquestionable Birth Certificate from Hawaii!-LOL!
2012-SAVE THE REPUBLIC! NO MORE "resident" obama; mooochelle "antionette" (once AGAIN, her worshipfullness has jetted ahead of hubby on vacation, she is TOO important to wait;....Im sure she is already stuffing her maw with kalua pig,...NO left overs for "zero", NO big deal, that stuff IS againest his religion anyways-LOL!); AND the cabal of socialist/marxist czars!!!
2012-ABO= "ANYBODY but obama!" [We are overdue to replace the current "resident" with a REAL President!]
GOD BLESS AMERICA! GOD "SAVE" THE REPUBLIC!
Toasty, the birther thing was encouraged by Obama when he refused to release a copy of his birth certificate. I voted for Obama and although I've been sadly disappointed in him, I never questioned where he was born until I asked myself why he didn't just present his birth certificate to shut down the accusations saying he was born elsewhere. Turns out he was just trying to stir the pot. When our Governor Abercrombie (D) left DC to become our governor, he stated one of the first things he would do when in office is expose the false birther issue by releasing proof that Obama was born here. That never happened and it's quite possible that he got the phone call the top guy to leave it alone and let the accusers make fools of themselves. Another example of how this President tries to pit one class against another and race against race.
@Deus... Dude, do you ever get out much? Wow!!!
No dwhefner, he doesn't get out much. Mommy keeps locked up in the basement. He must be on/off meds to post BS like that.
Welcome to the rampant paranoid section.
I didn't say ALL the Birthers. It was just the ultra-right fringe, but they didn't exactly make it secret.
Isn't this what the Muslim Brotherhood and Obama wanted? Obama had to stick his 2cents into it and look how it turned out.
2012 Anyone but Obama and Democrats!
PLAIN BOB 2012...let the people rule not the politician...strike down nafta...make bankers accountable...stop the wars before they start...protect our borders...buy american made...
The question is: "Is this what Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of those clowns wanted?". You keep blaming President Obama for everything. White people have been mucking up sh#t for centuries. The British Empire started this sh*t and we are all suffering the repercussions and it has been on and off for years. The white man sees something he wants like: oil, diamonds, sugar, or any of the other natural resources from which he can profit and over consume these resources of which are not native to their respective countries or regions and now it's all coming to blow up in their faces except not we have a black President to whom they can now blame everything and that has not change. They invade, deplete, infect, and dismantle sh*t on and then return it or in condition 50 times worse than it was found. Same ol' b.s.
The usual mindless comments attacking Christians while the news item is about a Muslim Government mistreating Muslim women.
BTW a Salafist claimed that this woman was just wearing the Hejab to pretend that she is a devout Muslim and that drew a strong condemnation by most of the educated Egyptians.
Meanwhile you guys go back to barking up the wrong tree as you usually do!
Silva - Christianity was the first religion that recognized women as equal to men, limited the grounds for divorce to marital infidelity, etc. a far cry from the way women were being treated by the jews of the day or other religions in neighboring areas. If you read the Koran you will find that Islam places women much lower than men. You should try educating yourself instead of spouting off about something you clearly know very little.
And how long did it take before women could vote in this country Eric? That right there shoots your comment down.
The equality bit may have just been to promote orgies during the early years. Women were not in any leadership positions. Apparently the early Xian church in Greece had the reputation of using women as sexual recruiters...i.e., join our cult and get free, unlimited sex. Kind of like the old Mormons or versions of present-day Islam. This is saying nothing against Christianity or Islam...the use of sex (i.e., to make females available to males) to promote a sect is as old as the gods and predates both.
C'mon Christian, give them a break. Afterall, chief-wanna-be only pays per post!!
They got what they asked for, The muslim brotherhood, backed by our illustrious President, Obummer
Like the ole sayig goes, becareful what you ask for!
Just like those that voted for change here in the U.S. We got what we asked for and 5 million dollars more in debt.
Don't Worry, Be Happy!
5 million? That's it? Really?! 5 MILLION? And you're complaining that Obama's a spender? How hypocritical, considering that the moron before him, Dubya, put the country in debt 3.9 TRILLION with his spending. You're complaining about Obama's spending? Wow... economics must not be the GOP's strong suit nowadays.
BUT, on the flip side, I WILL agree with your statement on Obama backing Al'Qaeda spin-off terrorists like The Brotherhood, though now the women in Egypt are stuck. They wanted their so-called "revolution?" Well, now they got it! Go ahead and organize, and protest over the beating of 1 woman by police; feel the pain as all of them get beaten down by police real soon! They wanted it, they got it! Just like Libya, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and all those other joints in the Middle East.
Mike7 please be quiet. They did not ask for this. Obama did not ask for this. It is not 5 million in debt, it is 5 trillion added by this administration to our current 15 trillion in debt. Be worried.
Why do these nut cases above beleive it is OK to beat and drag women no matter what faith they are, especially the idiot that beleives it is our president that instigated this act. Talk about a right wing anti- American nut case look at your statement you idiot..
Maybe someone should Drag your mother around like this women in the picture...
Larry Szyms
Was this happening before the muslim brotherhood took over the country? Don't think so!
Just keep backing the muslim brotherhood and see what happens to the Middle East.
That's because women don't protest anything in the middle east; they just get raped and thrown in jail for prostitution or adultery after being raped.
D David SiLVA
Just how do you connect christians with muslims !
You are a blind bigot and a hater with no clue about anything ! Please tell me the last time a MAINSTREAM christian said women should stay at home ?
tallman
Why respond to these ignoramuses. These are the types whose wives are hiding in abuse shelters.
journal,,,what the f''''k are you talking about...you are an idiot...shut your muslim mouth..its the muslims now in egypt that are burning the churches and killing the christians..so much for your reveloution,,you people are the most racist religion in the world,,,so stop talking
SILVA? wow you are stupid and blind,,stop talking,,,dont ever compare muslims and christians as the same,,,youre a moron
The unrest, the chaos, the mindless senseless conflicts require a world leader to step up and bring us peace.
The End is Near. One generation of Israel. Widespread Knowledge. Wars and rumors of wars. Famine and natural disasters. Get ready people. There is a train coming.
jake515 banned, new user making racist comments against Jewish people.
No thanks, pal.
Human rights should not be religion or gender or country specific...human rights should be for all people. In many countries, the rights for women are non-existent, while in other countries, the poor have no rights. Each country has the right to govern, but to treat any class of people in an inhumane way should not be tolerated. Perhaps the U.S. should look at our own record on human rights before being too critical...we have children and seniors going hungry, dramatically increasing incidences of homelessness as jobs are not available and homes are foreclosed, people who can't afford healthcare or health insurance, gangs praying on whole neighborhoods and oh by the way, Congress not caring who is hurt as they push a personal agenda rather than considering what is best for their constituents. Aren't we just as guilty of not respecting human rights?
Completely agree. Human rights violations happen everywhere. This string of comments has been one of the most ignorant I've ever seen. Healthcare for All's comment is one of the only ones with any sense or logic. BTW, religious nuts from Christianity and Islam have caused all sorts of problems in all kinds of countries for centuries. It's easy to point fingers and not see what people from your own group have done. You can find things in the Koran that talk about subjugating women and utilizing violence but you can find those things in the Torah and Bible too. You can also find loving, positive things in all these books. What matters is what you CHOOSE to take from them - do you choose to utilize the positive teachings and adapt them to modern life or do you choose to fear the way the world has changed and use your religious book to justify hatred and violence? For many centuries, if you read your history books, Christian countries in Europe were incredibly intolerant (witch hunts, Inquisition, quelling scientific and healthcare findings, enforcing incredible inequitable social structures that kept 99% of people scraping through the dirt for survival while a lofty 1% reaped the rewards) and provided women with no rights. At the same time Muslim ruled areas were far more open to Jews and Christians (considered fellow People of the Book), had better justice systems, more diverse and active economies and more rights for women. It has changed dramatically in the last few centuries, but part of that is due to colonization of Muslim countries by European parties who inspired hatred between Islamic factions and allowed the birth of an extremist underground movement. Then these European powers backed out of the countries and left them a mess. This happened in India too. So like I said, everyone can point a finger at someone, and at their own culture as well, but that won't get us anywhere. A person, regardless of religion, race or gender has a right to expect basic humane treatment and to protest if they aren't getting it. The points to take from this article arehow brave these women are for speaking up, thinking about what could be better in our own country regarding gender relations and considering how our own government treats us - subjugating us not with force but with expensive baubles, biased media and our own unending dislike for anyone not just like us.
vienluna --------- Oh why, Oh why are liberals incapable of focusing on the contents of the article in question and discussing it? Invariably they want to drag other religions into the discussion simply because , in reality, they despise all religions, especially Christianity and Judaism , but one, Islam. Why they don't realize that they-- liberals -- will reap the whirlwind if Muslims ever gain complete control is the million dollar question.
tnt4him thats being going on as long as man been on this earth,,what the hell are you ON?
Oh Hell, Puke on them, they have tollerated it for century's, now these women want what they will never have. They asked for it, they got it! Ha Ha Ha He He He! Cry baby Cry!
Your mentality is that of a rapist who would so defend himself during a rape trial that the reason that the woman was raped was because she had a short skirt on.
It must be the fact that you hate knowing that the male species came from the female species why else would man have nipples?
and i'll tell you what you'll never get larry...thats to get laid because your an a-hole and no decent woman would be with a jerk like you
How's that new government thing working out in Egypt? About like that hope and change thing in the U.S. Arab spring, Arab spring, Arab spring, Arab spring !!! Yes we can, Yes we can, Yes we can !!!
How's that Sarah Palin presidency thing working out for you? Did you contribute to her PAC?
Are you going to vote for her?
The women protest has my support and the police should be and would be more sensitive to humanity and humility; it is kind of like when they should control the force, be professional and be ethical and be mindful.
The police force is first supposed to protect civilians and second repect to the protesters, regardless of their genders and religious and whatever socioeconomic status.
You are correct.
billie? youre living in a dream world,,,wake up
yes Greek,Billie wake up.
Obama wanted this new regime. Well the people of Egypt are stuck now. Stupid muslims have no clue about anything. Its how they were raised. Keep reading the koran. It will keep you stupid. Just how it is. And what do you think happened to that poor girl? Beatings and rape at the least.
Obama didn't want any new regime quit feeding into your own inner delusions. The Middle Easterner's are tired of being walked over and they want their freedom. But you wouldn't understand that because of your constant looking for yourself at the bottom of beer bottle now would you?
The only reason why the Egyptian security forces beat down the women is because they know that they females are not as strong as the males are thus making females an easy target to be subjagated by the male due to his lack of being able to be dominant over another male.
Those four security officers must feel real manly knowing that it took four of them to take down one female.
So why do men have nipples again if God created woman from man? Nipples serve no purpose for the male in respect to the nourishment value given to them as being part of the female's body.
Sounds to me like man evolved from women and man is insecure about having nipples so man justifies his insecurity by beating the woman down. Real manly. Real dominant of you. Sissies.
Not to argue with your main point, but men and women evolved simultaneously off the same body design.
Dwight - Hysterical reductio ad absurdum between man's rage with nipples and taking it out on women. Have to agree with TheRealChris though. If there was a species of only females, unless they could reproduce through mitosis or budding, they would have died out way before they could "evolve" males.
Sadly, these women are walking a very fine razor's edge.. Middle Eastern men and the governments that are run by them are notorious for their ancient beliefs that women are barely above cattle and sheep in the hierarchy of the Muslim AND some fundamental Christian religions..
Women marching in protest in the Mid-East is a very worrisome thing to see! First, because this insincere apology by the interim government is a band-aid for the rest of the world to see and hear and means nothing in the scheme of things and second, many of these women will probably go home to some severe reprisals by the males in their families.. I wish them well and I hope the attacks on women stop very quickly!
However, that being said, I see some idiots in here (and it makes me ashamed to be a woman and an American when I see this kind of crap), blaming President Obama for what happened to these women.. Damn, it sure takes all kinds of stupid people to make up a country and we sure as hell have our share here!
Susie, we got more than our share here. And most of their brains are part of their junk, just look at some of the posts here. Sure a bunch of ODS sickness here.
The funny thing is under the brutal rule of the brotherhood who want to go back to 7th century law it will only get worse and you have obama to thank for it
this is absolutely non of our concern. and what the hell does obama have to do with this? you @!$%#ing teagoons are so out of touch. actually you can thank goon w. bush, because he stuck his hawk nose in iraq where it didnot belong, and now you think its obamas fault. did he not vote no on the wmd farce war that goon w. started? did he not get us out of that bull @!$%#. he is tough on terror, as bush was weak, and they the gopers thought that they were going to use bin ladin as the boogie man forever. obama got in there and said iam going to put an end to this bull @!$%#. he found bin ladin, and he killed him, and his #2 in fact he has killed 10 xs more terror threats in less then 3 years then goon w. did in 8 years. @!$%# 9/11. goon w. caused the attacks with his big mouth, and his god talking to him bull @!$%#, and saying i have to fix the middle east. all 9/11 is now is a hillbillies national holiday, because weins finally got to kill some coloreds for them damn nigries causing the civil war.those 4500 people on our side and the 100,000s of innocent iraqis died for nothing. so what if saddaam was a dictator, you could have gotten him the same way we got bin ladin. all of you too patriotic idiots please quit letting the flag wavers fool you. this spring we are going to take care of the real threat to the us, that took off when goon w. sent all our ground forces to iraq, the mexican drug lords.but then all of you faux news idiots will scream oh no this will ruin our relations with mexico, when now you complain there are no troops there. i am white, and i think it is absolutely great that a so called nigrie as the real heathens known as hillbillies, call him, is actually stopping this nonsense. if goon w. was doing this you inerbread idiots would crown him as the second coming. remember all the negetive racial remarks, and the house voting down anything to help the middle class, and the poor? if you think the minorities voted the last election, you aint senn nothing yet, and obama wins easily.
YOU GO GIRLS!!!!