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