Lovely. Laura must be so proud.

Well.   Lovely.  Democracy... marching along... and beating the shinola out of anyone who isn't marching in ranks, while groping as many available protesting women as possible.   

Dan Murphy:

Kifaya men were dragged into the crowds of Mubarak supporters, beaten badly about the face and kicked repeatedly when they fell to the ground. In one instance, Kifaya member Ragab Mahdi, a young woman, was trapped against the grate for an underground garage with riot police between her and the pro-Mubarak men.

As the riot police began to move aside to allow the men through, she screamed, "What are you doing, they're going to kill us."

An Egyptian journalist off to the side urged the police to intervene, but was told, "Our orders are to allow this to happen." After the men beat her for a few minutes, older men in suits working with the attackers told them to back off and, her clothes torn and her body bruised, she was bundled into a taxi and taken to safety.

Associated Press:

Elsewhere in the capital, 150 pro-Mubarak protesters attacked Kifaya members, belting them with wooden sticks use to hold Mubarak banners. Demonstrators scattered, with some taking refuge inside the press syndicate building.

One woman trying to leave the building was pounced upon by Mubarak loyalists who punched and pummeled her with batons and tore her clothes. As police looked on, the woman screamed, then vomited and fainted.

Another clash occurred when demonstrators placed Kifaya stickers onto placards emblazoned with Mubarak's face and waved them in the air, chanting, "Leave, leave Mubarak!"

An Associated Press reporter on the scene said plainclothes state security investigators were beating, groping and verbally harassing demonstrators, particularly women.

About a dozen people, mostly women, were violently cornered and surrounded by nightstick-toting plainclothes police. Some began beating demonstrators. The AP reporter was grabbed and pulled by the hair.

Mohamed (From Cairo): 

I called a friend involved with Kefaya after I finished voting to confirm his boycott, and to tell me that today's demonstration by Kefaya turned violent, protestors were beaten and girls were sexually harrased (I hope the two girls I know there weren't violated by those thugs).

Financial Times:

Witnesses said police abused women taking part in the demonstration, while several men were beaten.

Alaa (via Mohammed in comments): 

today me and my mother where attacked by tens of hired thugs from the NDP sham demonstration.

the police where there, they saw everything and they did not interfere, they kept asking for my ID while I was being kicked, they tried to arrest me and tried to confiscate my camera.

...

I was scared very scared but I'm glad I showed some bravery they attacked my mom first and I actually managed to protect her (other females where not as lucky, the fucking bastard harrased many).
they cracked some bone in the feet (yet to be confirmed, going to get an X ray soon) , they broke our glasses, I can hardly see.
but I don't feel violated, after we got cornered (we gopt the police to thank for that), after it became obvious the police was not about to help (they tried to interogate me while I was ducking blows and kicking back, its hard to describe how it looks like having a wal of police officers in front of you with gaps opening from time to time to let a hand or a leg in to do damage), after the stole my bag with everything in I decided not to break I stood up and started taking photos, one of the officers asked the thugs to get the camera.
.... (it goes on... and on)

 

Baheyya: Just go read everything. But especially this: "Two days after Laura Bush and Suzanne Mubarak held their summit meeting about the necessity of girls' and women's “empowerment” in the Middle East, Mubarak's hired thugs battered and sexually assaulted women protestors and reporters, as they did during the 2003 anti-war protests and during parliamentary elections. AP reporter Sarah al-Deeb is no stranger to Mubarak's thuggery, this is the umpteenth time she gets assaulted while doing her job. Women were pulled by the hair, punched and kicked, and dragged on the ground until their clothes came off, while policemen stood by watching. To all the women and men who had their bodies violated while peacefully demanding self-rule today: your pains are not forgotten, your bravery humbles us, your souls edify us. Your blood is on the hands of this despotic regime, until the day of reckoning."

Will the "protest babes" crowd have anything to say about this?  How about you, Laura?   

Or are we still in the "Bushy Democracy Tsunami" phase?

UPDATE: al-Arabiya is now running the assaults on women as their lead story:

The story features a female Egyptian journalist who says that she was assaulted by NDP thugs in a sexual manner and her clothes ripped.  These stories are coming from everywhere now, fast and furious - enough to suggest that these were not isolated events.  That, or it's a concerted Kifaya media strategy.  Either way, it's highly disturbing. 

By the way, why is it that nobody seems to be writing anything at all about the travesties surrounding this Egyptian referendum?  After all the Bushy Tsunami talk, you'd think that people would be all over a referendum vote in Egypt... right?   Whether to crow over another Arab vote on Bush's watch, or to complain that Bush sold the Egyptian opposition out... but I haven't seen much of anything at all yet.  What, are they all waiting for the outcome?  Because the only vote that counts was already cast:

(note:  I've been updating the middle part of this post as new stories of these attacks on protestors, and especially on women, come in.  In case you can't tell, I'm really pissed off about this.  Not that it isn't 100% expected by these thugs, but still... as I said to Mona in comments a minute ago, we're going to find out whether the world really is watching, and cares, the next few days.  The world, and Bush.)

Comments

[Mona Eltahawy]

I am dismayed and sickened.

The strong turnout by women at the Kifaya demonstrations of the past few months was great. It was wonderful to see men and women side by side at the protests. This is what these sick thugs are attacking.

Are they plain stupid, beside being thugs? Don't they know that all this is bieng watched around the world?

[praktike]

More photos here.

[the aardvark]

mona - yes, they could be that stupid, don't you think? I wonder.. is the world really watching? Do they care? We'll find out soon...

prak - those are great pictures, thanks for the link.

[Mohammed]

read alaa's story:
http://www.manalaa.net/the_bastards_stole_my_laptop

[Mona Eltahawy]

Yes, AA, you're right - they could indeed be that stupid.

Their thuggery always amazes me but it really shouldn't shock me. The Arab world is definitely watching - and just as it watched the Iraqi and Palestinian elections and the Lebanese demonstrations - weren't these after all the great inspiration for Arab mobilization - it's watching Egyptians being beaten over a referendum.

[praktike]

Is it just me, or has the AJ coverage of this been fairly mild?

[the aardvark]

prak, see the post directly below this one. Al-Jazeera's coverage has been mild, they don't seem to have much footage nor are they getting interviews with Egyptian opposition figures. I'm not sure why, but I hope to find out.

[praktike]

I saw one clip that looked like a VNR from the NDP, and then there was a brief pan of a street scene (protesters?) and one those big black trucks.

[Mona]

Prak - my family in Cairo told me they saw the protests and people getting beaten up on al-Jazeera.

[Mohamed]

Abu Aardvark, This is the most vivid picture I've seen so far. Via Hazem

[praktike]

WaPo is now frontpaging the AP story.

[SP]

Awful. This is life in a police state in all its ugliness. What's sadder yet is that everyone - and I include myself in this, for feeling glad that I passed the demonstration before it got violent - gets scared off by brute force, wants to avoid trouble and as a result pretty much gives up on the possiblility of things being any different. I really hope that the pictures, on the satellite channels and so on, will arouse at least some outrage.

[Alaa]

since the police was not protecting the press anymore most members of the press kept a great distance.

al jazeera's reporter spent a few hours in police custody, might explain why it took time.

[Mona Eltahawy]

Here's what a very good friend of mine who is a journalist in Cairo and was one of the many women assaulted today wrote to me:

"i just thought they would keep it for later, or further down...NOt today..But the amount of it too was very frightening...i never was near collapse like today...because of how helpless i was before the SSI (security forces). One woman took me in her arms (in the middle of all the harassement) to say "this is the beginning of the end". I couldn't believe my ears..she was strong. (she fainted afterwards...but hey, she was reassuring).

[Mona]

She goes on to say when I replied to tell her how sorry I was and that I shouldn't be surprised because they are thugs:

"they were not all thugs, as in from at a distance agents. No, they were men of security..u know, like the mokhber and agent of SSI..blatantly..god, i shiver at the fact that i had to just give in at the end and stop fighting it and let them grope me"

[Nur al-Cubicle]

Calling Costa-Gavras...we have a sequel to "Z".

[praktike]

So is Alaa Yves Montand or Jacques Perrin?

[Mona Eltahawy]

Ok this is me one last time before I go and finish the oped I'm supposed to be writing about this shameful day in Egyptian history.

I quote Condi Rice:

"If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society...We cannot rest until every person living in a 'fear society' has finally won their freedom.

Someone remind me - was Egypt one of the "outposts of tyrrany"?

[Mohamed]

Unbelievable lies.

AlAhram newspaper 'reported' about the demonstration in page 26, saying that there was a demonstration from both, those who opposed and agreed on the referundum, anouncing their views transparently. 700 NDP joined in expressing their views, and 80 from Kefaya. Both groups exchanged words, and even fists, until one of the ladies tore her clothes and claimed that one of the NDP protestors did it, which prompted the police to escort her to the police station to file the incident. The protestors started throwing rocks and stones, which pushed the security forces to close the street for the safety of the passers by. In front of Saad's tomb there were 500 NDP members expressing their support for the amendment.

I'm sick to my stomach.

[SP]

Excellent quote from Condi Rice on the fear society. Now if only she would see it in inconvenient places.

[SP]

Don't miss Josh Stacher's fantastic up-close photos of the protest and the NDP goons, posted on Arabist.net. I've posted the link to the photo site, hope he is OK with that.

[underbelly of truth]

If only there were more pretty women in Egypt...so that freedom and democracy could flourish more better!