Egypt: Women of the Egyptian Revolution

This is a homage to all those women out there fighting on the streets of Egypt, to those whose voices and faces were hidden from the public eye during the first days of the revolution! The album by now has traveled the world back and forth via online social networks, blogs and websites. First and foremost the credit for this album goes to the courageous people of Egypt who are teaching us that freedom is taken and not given. See url link below

Second, to the women who by their courage, determination and strength are inspiring millions of us around the world. Third to the photographers who took these photos and especially to those who have caused absolutely no problems when it came to copyright issues. Fourth, to the amazing web of people who have been sending me photos and captions for the album, and to those who are sending corrections of mistakingly posted or labeled photos.

Mariam's sign, addressed to President Mubarak, reads "The people want you to step down!"

This compilation is meant to further shed the light on the Egyptian people´s strife for freedom, and the complicity of the world governments with the Mubarak regime. It is meant as a call for action and active solidarity with the Egyptian people. A call to protest companies like Vodafone and Orange/France Telecom who have left the Egyptian people incommunicado in the face of a brutal and a repressive regime. The world governments and big corporations have ignored the voices of millions of Egyptians, and the voices of millions of us worldwide and continue to further support and whitewash the crimes of the dictatorship, both vocally and silently.

This album is just a small reminder of what is happening right now, as you are reading this, on the streets of Egypt. A hint of the grassroots and popular revolution facing up to around 41 years of a totalitarian regime, a dictatorship and emergency laws  (around 11 years under Sadat, and around 30 years under Mubarak)

It is also very important to highlight the first spark of it all, the Tunisian revolution and its women. To stress that we should not shift our attention from them. They are still fighting and the battle is not over yet. Here is a link to a photo-stream from Le Monde / France in total admiration of the inspiring and courageous women of Tunisia http://ow.ly/3MDyZ

It is important to note that I did NOT TAKE ANY of these photos and that neither I nor Sawt Al-Niswa have the rights to any of them. For any commercial usage we suggest getting in contact with the people who have the rights to them, agencies and photographers.

I´m trying to confirm that all the photos I´m receiving are from Egypt and that they were taken during the past week´s rebellion. It is not an easy task judging the amount of photos I´m receiving and the limited resources I have. If you identify any photo that is mistakingly posted here, or that is not from Egypt or from the ongoing revolution please don´t hesitate to contact me.

For photographers and agencies (a.k.a. Copyright information and the other excruciating reality)

As much as I don´t support nor agree with copyright, I know I´m legally bound to credit you for these photos and take permission to use them. But I hope you understand that the importance of giving visibility to the women in the Egyptian revolution comes before your commercial “rights”. And that this album is NOT being used in any commercial way (i.e. no one is making money out of your work, not a dime) But nevertheless, I´m trying to include the sources of all the photos in a way to acknowledge the work of the photographers and as a thread to who has the copyright for them (in case of agencies). If you see any of your photos here, and wish to be credited for it, please contact me with a clear reference to the photo and the corresponding credits. If your photo was mistakingly credited to someone else, I apologize, contact me and I will fix it.

Patience and modesty are highly appreciated.

February 2, 2011 | Leil-Zahra Mortada