Preoccupying: Nawal El Saadawi

Nawal El Saadawi is one of Egypt’s most prominent activists and feminists. She has been working for equality and an end to gender discrimination since the 1950s, and has been jailed and exiled for her writings and protests. She has been a presence in Cairo’s Tahrir Square since January 2011. The Occupied Times interviewed her while she was in London.

The Occupied Times: You have been in Tahrir Square since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution. What brings you to London now?

El Saadawi: This is a global revolution. We all inhabit the same world – one world, not three separate worlds. To me, this feels like I am in Tahrir Square. Someone made a City of Westminster street sign that reads “Tahrir Square”. When I saw that, I had to smile. I am dreaming of one world. One world that revolts against exploitation, capitalism, racism, patriarchy, colonialism. Being here is like living a dream.

OT: How are the protests here linked to the protests in Madrid, in Athens, in New York?

ES: We have the same goal. We are speaking out against inequality, against the divide between the poor and the rich or between Christians and Muslims. We must stand against inequality, and that is what unites us.

OT: The camp here at St. Paul’s has been growing every day. So you think that the momentum can be sustained?

ES: You have to sustain it. Why would you not?

OT: Are concrete demands one way to establish long-term momentum?

ES: You have to generate the momentum yourself. Don’t rely on demands and the actions of others. To whom to you want to send demands? To the government?

OT: Because institutions are likely to resist change?

ES: It has to be a combination. You have to change the institutions, and you have to pursue change outside of institutions. This is a revolution, not just the call for appraisals. This is a revolution for equality in all its forms: economic, social, sexual.

OT: Is this a youth movement, or has it outgrown that stage?

ES: Do I look like youth? I am 80 years old. This is everyone’s revolution. The youth, men, women, everyone. This is our revolution. The idea of the 99 percent is just like in Tahrir Square. We are the majority that is suffering from the system.

OT: What do you mean when you talk about “the system”?

ES: I am talking about global contexts and local contexts. They are connected. We should use the word “glocal” to describe our world.

OT: You have always linked politics to creativity. Why?

ES: When you are truly political, you are creative. When the law is unjust, you have to break the law. That is what we are doing now. We are breaking the global law and the local law. That is creativity.

By Martin Eiermann