Cairo - Somaya Ibrahim
Women protest in Egypt from archives
The People\'s Alliance for Egyptian Women on Tuesday issued a statement lashing out at \"frequent media propaganda of some extremist Islamists against women\'s rights in Egypt, especially
after the January 25 revolution\".
The statement quoted some Islamist figures describing Egyptian women, particularly media professionals, as \"liberals who show no respect for the religious teachings, especially in the way they dress.\"
Other figures called for the foundation of TV channels dedicated to veiled women, according to the statement.
\"Egyptians will not accept any party to impose its own beliefs or vision on them whatever happens. These practices are in contradiction to what the Islamist parties had vowed to do before the revolution in case they take their chance in the country. Islam is based on tolerance and non-offensive preaching, not on violence or being aggressive towards the people. How can they share with us the demands for freedom, dignity and social justice, while they adopt the same approach of the former regime?\" said the statement.
Television host Mona al-Hosseini told Arabstoday she supported the statement, saying that Egyptian woman were not being defensive but would attack whoever tried to limit their role in the society, whether in the media or any other field.
Meanwhile, Dr Iman Baybars, a co-founder of the alliance, stated that Egyptian women will never allow \"these groups\" to send Egypt hundreds of years back, nor let them impose their ideals on Egyptian women.
Journalist Iqbal Baraka warned of the danger of \"power monopolisation\" by the Islamists in Egypt, saying such a thing could cause disastrous results, and could also repeat the experiences under the former regime which monopolised all sorts of power in the country.
The chairman of Egyptian Women Causes Association, Azza Suleiman, also voiced her support to the statement, calling for unity between all women rights organisations in Egypt to address \"the recent threats against women\".