Removing the Mubarak name from public places

Lisa Goldman By Lisa Goldman April 21, 2011 | Edit

Egypt is gradually entering the post-Mubarak era. Yesterday I photographed this route map on a Cairo subway: the name of Mubarak Station had been scratched out, and someone had scrawled over it the word “martyrs” in green ink.

Removing the Mubarak name from public places
A Cairo metro route map, with the station named "Mubarak" scratched out

Since the January 25 revolution, this type of defacement has been a common sight in Cairo public places that were named for the deposed president and his family. Now it will be official: A Cairo court ruled today that the name of Hosni Mubarak and his wife, Suzanne, must be removed from all public places.

By the way, I took the photo of the subway route map while riding in a carriage reserved for women only. In general, sexual harassment in Egypt is annoying and a bit oppressive, but not nearly as bad as I had expected – and certainly no worse than the harassment I experienced while traveling in India, where I used to travel in the “ladies’ compartment” during long inter-urban train journeys.

It’s remarkably relaxing to travel in a women-only compartment.

Removing the Mubarak name from public places
Cairo metro carriage reserved for women only

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Lisa Goldman

I'm an Israeli-Canadian journalist and blogger, currently based in New York City. Before that I lived in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, where I wrote for the Israeli and international media and maintained a blog, which I launched in 2004. My articles have been published in Haaretz, Time Out Tel Aviv, the New York Times, Forward, Jewish Quarterly, Columbia Journalism Review, Slate and the Guardian, amongst others.

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