I just read a horrifying post written by the Egyptian Sandmonkey. It seems that large mobs of men in Cairo, angered by the fact that they couldn’t get into a sold-out film on the first day of Eid ul Fitr, went on a rampage, first destroying the movie theater’s ticket booth, then running through the streets attacking women in a sexual frenzy. Apparently, no woman in the area was safe, and the police stood by and did nothing.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time that a blind eye has been turned under such circumstances in Egypt. Earlier this summer, female activists and reporters were sexually harassed at the hands of government supporters, while again, the police did nothing. It’s no wonder these men show no concern for possible consequences resulting from their actions.
A quick search of internet news sites for this hair-raising story produced no results, which I found rather shocking. How is it possible that such an event received no news coverage? For more on these attacks, please read this blog entry by Forsoothsayer.
Some of the comments I read regarding this incident placed the blame squarely on Islam, but I don’t think that’s the case. Many Americans will remember the incident that took place in Central Park following the 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade, when mobs of men accosted and sexually harrassed women in the park, groping them, tearing their clothes off, and dousing them with water, beer, etc. I can’t even begin to imagine what causes these men to act the way they do, how this crazed mob mentality manifests itself by turning people into such vicious sexual predators, separating them from their sanity. It is beyond frightening to think about hoards of males roaming the streets led solely by their penises, driven by their frustrated sexual appetites and callous indifference to their victims, treating these living, breathing human beings like objects to be touched and violated, and thinking that these acts are totally acceptable and unpunishable. And it seems, with regard to these last two, they wouldn’t be so far off the mark.
Hey Liza,
I’ve been following this horrific incident also and I still can’t understand how it has not been reported anywhere in the mass media. Is Egypt such a sacred cow in the eyes of the MSM?
Or perhaps the MSM either has such a low opinion of Egypt that they don’t see the story as newsworthy, or they are afraid that Muslims will see it as an attack on Islam, and react “badly”. Whatever the case, it is scandalous that such a story isn’t being reported. Fortunately, there are a number of Egyptian bloggers who are brave enough to get the story out.
I think us bloggers have a responsibility to broadcast this disgrace. But we weren’t there, so our credibility as witnesses or reporters is flawed. It could be dismissed as a hoax. The people who were there need to be supported though.
Male mob mentality is a thing unto itself.
After England was banned from playing soccer on the continent due to violence from their supporters ( bunch of people died in Holland) tons of studies were done.
One of the most interesting was that male mob behaviour would be moderated by a certain number of (related and known) females. They made rules such as soccer supporters couldn’t travel to matches without a certain number of women in their midst.
The problem in places such as Egypt is that the sexes are more separate, certainly in the Muslim community and so men miss out on that moderating influence.
I think the MSM, and quite honestly the public at large, just doesn’t really care about internal stuff in countries such as Egypt.
i have the solution to this problem. it’s so easy, i don’t know why no one has thougt of it before: CASTRATE THEM AND SET THEM ON FIRE.
hello?!
I can’t find anything about the incident either. Makes me shudder to think what else is going on in the world that I don’t know about.
I think of myself as a fairly non-violent person (except when the bus doesn’t stop when I KNOW the busdriver saw me running my *ss off towards the stop…) but I have to say that bagelunderthecouch brought an enormous smile to my face with her comment. Sad, but true. Perhaps chemical castration would stop them from joining the herd (hoard?) next time opportunity knocked, yet not get quite so messy.
You said it perfectly. The whole disgusting mess is infuriating- the fact that there are men who feel that sexually assaulting women is something they’re perfectly entitled to do, and the so-called police who turn a blind eye. Sickening.
Thank you for this post: I was unaware of pretty much everything. Depressing but important reading. Oy, we still have so much to do…
I am so sorry to hear that this happened. At the same time I’m reminded of how often men in America get away with much the same thing. Perhaps there aren’t mass, unrestrained attacks on women (though I know popular sports stars/teams get away with a fair amount that seems similar) but there are the daily, small occurrances (comments, advances, advertising) that stem from the same mentality. It doesn’t seem horrific when it’s happening in small doses, but it is. It’s the same mob mentality, as in they have the upper hand in society.
…i keep all these women in my prayers
i was shocked when i heard that happened!! what has the world come to?! ppl have gone mad….
anywya nice blog 馃檪