WATCH: Egyptian journalist urges Israelis in Hebrew: Stand up to ‘Bibi and Lapid’

Mairav Zonszein By Mairav Zonszein July 3, 2013 | Edit

Israel’s Channel 10 news anchor Guy Zohar interviewed Egyptian journalist and political activist Heba Abo Seif live from Tahrir Square on Tuesday. Abu Saif, who spoke excellent Hebrew, assured Zohar that the military stands behind the Egyptian nation, and urged the Israeli people to stand up to their own government. She specifically references “Bibi and Lapid,” saying that Israelis should not remain silent if they are not getting what they were promised. She also said that Egypt “will never be Syria,” referencing the unity between Egyptian nation and the military.

Here is the video interview, translated in full (Note it only lasts 3 minutes but the Youtube video goes on):


The news anchor of course played up the “anti-Israel” card by asking her about whether she is scared to speak Hebrew right there in Tahrir. But the much more important and relevant question I would have wanted her to answer is whether she is scared, as a woman, to be in Tahrir, considering reports of sexual assault of women there – and specifically the report about a Dutch journalist gang-raped and hospitalized last Friday.

According to a comprehensive 2013 UN report, 99.3 percent of Egyptian women say they were subjected to one form or another of sexual harassment, 91.5 percent of which involved being physically touched and 30-60 percent included rape.

Mairav Zonszein

Mairav Zonszein is a journalist and editor who writes about Israel-Palestine and its role in U.S. politics. Her publications include The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Intercept, VICE News, Foreign Policy and many more.

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