Hala Shukrallah

“The Islamist movement was and still is a red herring that deviates completely from the real struggle. Its ongoing violence, most recently felt by a string of bombs in Cairo and in the Sinai, also used justify repression.”

“That’s what happens when a political force uses violence - like the Brotherhood. They did it in a way that marginalised the democratic opposition movements - they were against democracy and against the state. Sadat supported them as a foil to democratic opposition.”

“There is now a shift in tactics, since outright street protest have become dangerous and, she says, “almost suicidal.” There’s been a renewed emphasis on media exposure and grass roots activities like regular “I am an Egyptian citizen” events, where young people visit slums and villages and speak about human rights issues while painting walls, picking up garbage or fixing train signals.”

“There’s really no comparison to the Sadat era, in many ways it’s worse but in ways it’s also better. When we were imprisoned for our activism in the 70s, no one knew about it. There was no social media of course and no state media would cover such things.”