But the “Freedom fever” that has rocked the Middle East for the past year has shifted gender dynamics and challenged predetermined notions of women in the Arab world. Women in Egypt did not just take part in the protests; they were at the forefront of the revolution. Hungry for freedom and equality, bloggers such as Leil Zahra Mortada took momentous risks to keep the world up to date daily of the scene in Tahrir Square and elsewhere while Asmaa Mahfouz’s video “I go out to the street on January 25” was watched by millions on youtube, in which the activist explains why Egyptians should revolt. The New Opinion Workshop (NOW) estimates that approximately one-fifth of those taking to the streets in Change Square are women, which in and of itself represents a transformation in a country that ranked last in the 2011 Global Gender Gap report. Mubarak has been toppled but women are still, however, excluded from political participation in Egypt. During the parliamentary elections, there was not one even female candidate. Beside exclusion from national politics, they are still subject to torture, brutality and second-class treatment. It seems that their political activism has been limited to protests.

Ben Ali has been toppled and Tunisia’s interim government took over. Scheduled parliamentary elections were held on October 23, 2011. This election allowed voters, both women and men, to choose their representatives for a Constituent Assembly that will create a new constitution and political framework for Tunisia. The leader of the party An-Nahda pro-democracy party, which won 40% of the parliamentary votes, Rachid Ghannouchi, has pledged not to reverse the rights and freedoms Tunisian women have gained in the past. Tunisia’s first elections saw an unprecedented registered voter turnout of over 90%, with many women voting for the first time with women gaining 25% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly. It is important to note that According to UNESCO these women protesters are well-educated, with a literacy rate of 71%, outnumbering their men counterparts in universities.

In Yemen women have helped to create a pulsating civil society, something recognized internationally last year when Yemeni and women’s rights activist and journalist Tawakkol Karman was one of three women to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yemeni activist Dalkis al-Lahabi said that the number of women activists had grown tenfold as a result of the uprising. “It brought the women back to the Yemeni civil and political society,” she said to NOW. They were also at the forefront of demonstrations calling for political and human rights reform, which led Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh signing a power-transfer deal in November 2011. But even in Post Saleh Yemen discrimination against women is still on the rise. Women who took part in last year’s protests were harassed, arrested and in some cases beaten for their peaceful activism.

A little bit north of Yemen, due to the media blackout since the uprising began in the country in March, it is still difficult to talk to women activists in Syria, many of whom are hiding. Some organized women-only protests, others in the mixed crowds and others on microphones to lead defiant chants at protests. Fadwa Suleiman, has gone from celebrity to revolutionary-freedom fighter, and finally to an escapee renounced by her own family. She’s now in hiding and has stated that if she’s caught she expects to be beaten, tortured, imprisoned, and killed.

How will the situation for Arab women develop? Will it progress or regress? No one has a clear picture about the future and no one had ever imagined that we would see the fall of three major dictators.  “Free and fair” elections are at least one step towards establishing a democracy and certainly not the last, though the West forgets this point far too often. Keeping up with an actually democratic political life remains a challenge in every liberal democracy, and as analysts argue, we should not expect the Middle East and North Africa to change in a year.

Eπιμέλεια: JJ
Photo source: Facebook album titled “Women of Egypt” by Zahra El Mortada.

With Jubilance and optimism for the future of their country, Egyptians in Greece gathered under the rain on Wednesday in Syntagma Square to do three things: commemorate their revolution, memorialize the people who died and demonstrate against the country’s ruling generals.

“Down with military rule” and “Revolution until victory” chanted the crowd.

Since February 11 last year when Mubarak was driven out the military council has assumed power and is led by the man who was Mubarak’s defense minister for two decades, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The army has promised to relinquish power to an elected civilian government. In this time there have been a growing number of military trials, new anti-protest laws and protesters have been detained. In response, protests have continued in Tahrir Square.

“Definitely, the revolution has not achieved its goal. The revolution continues until it realizes its goal; that’s when we will really celebrate,” says Egyptian and president of the Muslim Association of Greece Naim EL Ghandour.

The words “freedom”, “Democracy” and “revolution” punctuated all talks in Syntagma Square. There was a sense of bewilderment that went along with the words, but most of all joy.

The Anthem of the Egyptian Revolution “Ya Beladi” meaning “My country” played over the loud speakers and people started singing some with tears in their eyes while others waving their flags and chanting “My country”. Suddenly, everything went dark and hundreds of candles lit to remind the world of the souls that have been lost.

“A great victory has been achieved. A victory of dignity. The victory is not only ours but of all oppressed people around the world. It is time to celebrate. Long live the Egyptian revolution” says Egyptian Taghrid in an interview with Postnews.

But underneath the jubilation there seems to be a sense of responsibility. What will become of Tahrir square where thousands of people lost their lives in clashes with security forces before Mubarak stepped down? With elections underway, how does the future of the Egyptian people look and what are the challenges that lie ahead?

The events in Tahrir Square indubitably mark the beginning of a new era for Egypt. But while the future holds many big questions for the Egyptians, the revolution continues.

Επιμέλεια: JJ

Recently, these demands are expressed though Arabic hip hop and rap which seems to be gaining momentum in many Arab Spring countries including Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain. Hip hop and rap carry a message of sophistication that pushes them to break the barriers of fear and face the authoritarian regimes and long term rulers who seek to ridicule their demands.

In Tunisia, Hamada Ben Amor known as El General paid for his boldness with his freedom as he was arrested by the state after he released last November a critical song about former leader of Tunisia, Ben Ali, reaching audiences around the world through media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The song was immediately banned in Tunisia, but Al Jazeera Television and other stations were still able to pick up on the El General story followed by other media outlets such as TIME magazine which ranked the 21-year-old man one of the 100 most influential people of the year as his song is credited for inspiring Tunisia to take to the streets. His music extended beyond Tunisia’s borders and inspired protestors in Bahrain and Egypt.

Demonstrators in Bahrain prepared to flood the streets with El General’s tunes to express their demands for change. Bahraini rappers talked in their songs mostly about the rationality of the Sunni- Shiite divide that served only the interest of the regime.

Egypt’s day of rage brought to the forefront a group of rappers like Ram Donjewan who composed the anthem of Egypt’s revolution by simply laying out the reasons why it was normal to revolt against the government. In order to stand against a regime and its repression claim a group of rappers “the Arabian Knightz” in their song “not your prisoner” they must overcome all the pit politics that paralyze people in their everyday lives not only in Egypt but also in the entire region.

Libya is another country, which has seen a very fast rise in its hip-hop scene. In Libya, artist Ibn Thabet adjusts a code for the Libyan youth in which his music captures the anger and frustration of young Libyans that have lived decades of repressive rule under Gaddafi.

Meanwhile, Syrian rappers are staging their own uprising in their country. A search on YouTube for Syrian revolutionary rap results in thousands of videos and songs. Little is known about the artists or their way of working because secrecy is needed to prevent artists who criticize the government from being arrested. In some cases, governments as has happened in the past, have co-opted hip hop, popularity by supporting and exclusively giving National TV airtime to artists with pro-regime lyrics.

Each of these songs which include no managers, record labels or copyright are distributed via social network sites like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook, all stand in solidarity with the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.

Material from the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS) was used for parts of the story.

Επιμέλεια: JJ