Asmaa Mahfouz Sets An Entire Nation On Fire

Update February 18: Asmaa Mahfouz is safe and praying in Tahrir Square today :)

Susan notes: it's February 6, 2011, and 26-year-old Egyptian activist and prolific vlogger Asmaa Mafhouz hasn't been seen online for several days. Friends and supporters are worried for her safety. Why? Because she spoke directly to the heart and soul of a nation in pain. This is one of the best pieces of public speaking I've heard in a long time. Learn more about the history behind the vlog here.

Translation by: @iyed_elbaghdadi (Visit his video channel here to see more of Asmaa Mahfouz's vlogs with English translations as well as other related videos)
Vide tagging by: Ammara Alavi

Asmaa Mahfouz set an entire nation on fire with these words:

Translation by: @iyed_elbaghdadi (Visit his video channel here to see more of Asmaa Mahfouz's vlogs with English translations as well as other related videos)
Vide tagging by: Ammara Alavi

Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire, to protest humiliation and hunger and poverty, and degradation they had to live with for 30 years.

Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire, thinking maybe we can have a revolution like Tunisia, maybe we can have freedom, justice, honor, and human dignity.

Today, one of these four has died, and I saw people commenting and saying: "May God forgive him, he committed a sin, and killed himself for nothing"

People! Have some shame!

I posted that I, a girl, am going down to Tahrir Square and I will stand alone, and I'll hold up a banner, perhaps people will show some honor, I even wrote my number, so maybe people will come down with me. No one came except three guys! Three guys, and three armored cars of riot police!

And tens of hired thugs, and officers, came to terrorise us. They shoved us roughly away from the people, But as soon as we were alone with them, they started to talk to us, They said: "Enough, these guys who burned themselves were psychopaths!"

They said: "Enough, these guys who burned themselves were psychopaths!"

Of course on all national media, whoever dies in protest is a psychopath. If they were psychopaths, why did they burn themselves at the Parliament building in particular?

I'm making this video to give you one simple message: We want to go down to Tahrir Square on January 25th.

If we still have honor, and want to live in dignity on this land, we have to go down on January 25th. We'll go down and demand our rights, our fundamental human rights. I won't even talk about any political rights…

We just want our human rights and nothing else. This entire government is corrupt - a corrupt president and a corrupt security force.

These self-immolators were not afraid of death but were afraid of security forces! Can you imagine that? Are you also like that? Are you going to kill yourselves too? Or are you completely clueless?

I am going down on January 25th, and from today till that date I'm going to distribute fliers in the streets every day. I will not set myself on fire! If the security forces want to set me on fire let them come and do it!

If you think yourself a man, come with me on January 25th. Whoever says women should not go to protests because they will get beaten, let him have some honor and manhood and come with me on January 25th.

Whoever says it's not worth it coz there will be only a handful of people, I want to tell him, you are the reason behind this. And you are a traitor, just like the president or any security cop who beats us in the streets.

Your presence with us will make a difference, a big difference!

Talk to your neighbours, your colleagues, friends and family and tell them to come. They don't have to come to Tahrir Square, just go down anywhere and say it, that we are free human beings. Sitting at home at just following us on news or Facebook leads to our humiliation - leads to my own humiliation!

If you have honor and dignity as a man, come. Come and protect me, and other girls in the protest.

Related links:
How Asmaa Mahfouz Ignited Egypt & Became History In The Making
Egyptian Icon Nawal El Saadawi Stands Her Ground In Protest
13 Amazing Images Of Egyptian Women In Protests
Women On Ground In Egypt Ask For Global Support For Peaceful Resolution