Thoughts on "Black Wendsday"

I think the "Association of Egyptian Mothers Response" is actually a great idea, because what happend at the Referendum made me personally so sick that it took drinking half a bottle of Vodka at a party to take my mind off of it. Anyway... The Good news is that the campaign is gathering steam, and even garnering some publicity: According to Al Jazeera, this internet campaign was started by Hiba Rauf Izzat, a political science professor at Cairo University. The movement is also paralleld by this other campaign , called the "White Ribbon national apology campaign". You know you are definitely becoming politically savvy, when your cause has a colored ribbon. The "White Ribbon" movement was initiated by Ghada Shahbandar - a teacher and member of the Kifaya (Enough) movement which staged the 25 May protest - together with two other women, a television presenter and a housewife. "Since we initiated this campaign, by emails and SMS (text messaging), we have had tremendous feedback and support ... It was originally a personal initiative but we are trying to work out a more organised plan to maintain the momentum," Shahbander said. She said that 4000 ribbons had already been produced and that the official launch of the initiative would take place on 1 June, when protesters gather in front of the journalists union building in Cairo where the incidents took place. Their choice of White Ribbons to protest the violence the women were subjected to that day by men is telling, since the International White Ribbon campaign is about ending men's violence against women. Guess it doesn't get more obvious then that. My only fear is the reaction Habib Al Adly might take if he became informed of those campaigns, especially the one demanding his resignation. The man has been on thin ice and in hiding ever since the last terrorist attacks, and there is talk that he is running out of favor with Mubarak for not managing to keep the country stable in this crucial year, and for committing a number of stupid mistakes afterwards which he hides with blatantly unbelievable lies. The man is cornerd and he might be compelled to take extreeme measures in order to make this campaign look trivial. I mean, i wouldn't be surprised if he orderd the arrest of every woman that's dressed in black tommorow, just to save face in front of the President. Oh well... Either way, the women who started these campaigns are commendable, for standing up and fighting for themselves and for their rights in a country where most men are too afraid to do anything about the daily injustice and opression they experience. Call me Mr. Inspired, but i am going to work all decked out in black tommorow in solidarity with those brave women who refuse to be bullied and silenced.