Interviews with Nora Younis

But all the international media, especially the U.S., paved the way that Mubarak is stepping down tonight. So I went down with my camera to Tahrir, and I had all the expectations of filming victorious Egyptian people, my generation, and other generations, rejoicing and Mubarak came and gave a very silly and provocative speech. Saying that he understands and it´s going to be better. And there was one sentence he said that provoked me the most. I think he said “One day, I was a man like you.” And I just couldn´t take it anymore, said, “This man really doesn´t understand.” He´s not getting it. Nothing is reaching out to him.

So I switched off my camera, I gave it to a colleague, and I decided I am going to be a protestor right now. And there was a very small group of people who said– whispered to each other, “Maspero,” [A prominent Cairo landmark housing the headquarters of the state broadcaster], which is a T.V. building. And it was a group of, like, maybe 100 or 50 people. To me, the moment was just– the history is repeating itself. All the revolution movement now is contained in Tahrir Square. And Mubarak wants– doesn´t care. And he can keep Tahrir Square just going on like this.

I mean the media was talking about Tahrir Square becoming Hyde Park, and a place for free expression. And people started to go back to work. And life was becoming normal again in Egypt. And then there was Egyptian stock market and all the pressures for a stock market to go back to work again. And I felt that we are losing, we are going to lose. We have to escalate. We have to push it forward. So there were two small groups. I was with a group that went to Maspero, and another group went to the presidential palace in Heliopolis, where the president lives. And I think this was very important. I think it made a big difference.

I stayed there for three or four hours. And after our four hours, there was 5,000 people there. And when we reach 5,000, I went back to work as a journalist. I said, “They don´t need me anymore here. It´s okay. It´s going to be bigger.” I think the first milestone was when Omar Suleiman [Omar Suleiman was the head of Egyptian intelligence before President Hosni Mubarak appointed him vice president in January 2011.] came and said Mubarak will step down. I think I was– everything that was happening in Egypt was just too much for me. I mean things were happening but they were not sinking in.

Like, you know, we were reporting. We were covering. I was managing a big crew. You know, writing and filming. But it took a lot of time for things to– for me to really feel what was happening and, like, understand it. But I think one of the most striking things personally, like, between me and myself was when Habib el-Adly [El- Adly served as Interior Minister under Mubarak and was later sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption and conspiring to kill protesters.] was put behind bars, I was not happy. I did not feel satisfied. I did not feel that– even when Mubarak was put behind bars and the whole world was watching his trial.

I don´t feel happy. I don´t feel that´s it. I feel we are not there yet. I feel it´s not over. There is a game that´s happening, that is military and it´s monopoly over power. The human rights situation is better. But it´s not what I worked for and it´s not what I dreamed of. The press– still you cannot, I mean, yes we are witnessing unprecedented era where you know, you can write opinion pieces about the Army and you can criticize how the Army is managing the country. But still there are publishing bans. And some things will not pass. You cannot say what you want.

Some people get arrested for writing on blogs or get questioned for tweets. They get questioned by the military police for tweeting. So I went through a state of shock to a state of disbelief. But I am more on a state of optimism and dissatisfaction at the same time. I´m not happy with what we have. We can go more. We can do more. We can achieve more.

Nora Younis is a human rights activist, journalist and blogger who is now working as the website managing editor of Al-Masry Al-Youm Daily Independent, one of the best known newspapers in Egypt.

As a human rights activist, Ms. Younis won the Human Rights First (HRF) thirtieth anniversary award in 2008 for her work using new media tools to expose human rights violations and police brutality.

When she started blogging in 2005 she focused on addressing the information vacuum on protest movements in Egypt. Before Twitter came into being, she was continually sending mass text messages to human rights activists, political groups, and journalists, informing them of rallies, arrests, state violence and police brutality.

After Twitter became established among Egyptians, she moved into visual documentation. Most recognized is her video of the textile workers’ strike in Mahalla in September 2007 that soon grew into a nationwide movement known as the April 6th strike. One of her most famous blog posts includes her testimonial about the brutal police raid on a Sudanese refugee protest camp in Cairo in 2005 where at least 27 men, women and children were killed. Her testimonial was translated by fellow bloggers and activists across the world into more than seven languages. It was used in law suits and human rights reports condemning the Egyptian government.

During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Ms. Younis played a major role in documenting and reporting events. Using improvised communications methods, she filmed and disseminated to global audiences the demonstrations and crackdowns in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Before she took up her position as website managing editor of Al-Masry Al-Youm Daily Independent, Ms. Younis covered the Middle East for The Washington Post (2008) and for other international newspapers.

Twitter: @NoraYounis 

With a history dating back to the 10th millennium B.C., Egypt has long played a central role in the Middle East. Egypt is the largest Arab nation and has an influential voice in Arabic and Middle Eastern culture. Egypt has a diverse economy, but has struggled to create sustained economic growth and opportunities for its population of 84 million people.

The country has little experience with representative democracy. From 1956 to 1970, President Gamal Abdel Nasser ruled Egypt with a strong hand, nationalizing the Suez Canal and taking the country into conflict with the new state of Israel. Upon his death, Anwar al-Sadat became president. Together with other Arab nations, Sadat launched the October War against Israel in 1973. In 1979, Sadat signed a groundbreaking peace treaty with Israel.

From Sadat’s assassination in 1981 until the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Egypt was governed by President Hosni Mubarak. For all of Mubarak’s time in office, and for much of the time since his resignation, Egypt has been under “Emergency Law,” which allows the government to suspend constitutional rights, including limiting political activity and restricting free speech. Emergency Law also allows the government to use summary arrests against political opponents.

For four successive terms, Mubarak was reelected in referenda without an opponent. In 2005, under domestic and international pressure, Mubarak proposed a constitutional amendment to allow Egypt’s first multicandidate presidential elections. Because the amendment would have imposed severe restrictions on the eligibility of opposition candidates, opposition groups boycotted the vote. Mubarak claimed to have won the September 2005 presidential election with an official 88 percent of the vote, amid widespread allegations of fraud and vote rigging. The main opposition leader, Ayman Nour, was subsequently prosecuted by the government for forging signatures on petitions and was sentenced to five years in prison, provoking protests from the United States and other democratic countries.

Following the example of the Tunisian Revolution, large protests swept Egypt in early 2011. The military, led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), withdrew its support of Mubarak. On February 11, 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi then assumed power in Egypt. SCAF dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution.

In November 2011, Egypt held parliamentary elections that were reportedly fair and democratic. In June 2012, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi was elected President, in part because liberal and secular forces failed to coalesce around a single candidate. Morsi’s popularity declined as he declared his orders immune from challenge, removed judicial review processes, and was accused of taking steps towards the implementation of Islamist policies. Conflict arose between those supporting Islamist policies and those seeking a more liberal and secular government. Protests occurred throughout his presidency until Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013. Muslim Brotherhood leaders were arrested and their camps and offices raided. Until new elections are held, a SCAF-installed provisional government led by acting President Adly Mansour is in control.

In its most recent report, the independent watchdog group Freedom House classifies Egypt as “partly free.” On its scale where 1 is the most free and 7is the least free, Egypt earned scores of 5 in both the civil liberties and political rights categories.