Muslims From Yemen

"My beliefs were that men and women alike have to be in this struggle together, and we cannot safeguard our country just with one wing. ... Now our women are the leaders, not only political leaders, but also leaders that lead in every single front, and they are part of the main leaders of the revolution. And therefore, you can see that the rulers are afraid from women."

"...my people are facing difficulties. They are being killed in the streets. They are on the sidewalks for almost nine months now. As you know, they own more than 70 million machine guns. That’s their personal weapons...Personally, I’m not protected, because my people are not protected. And therefore, the international community have to provide protection, and the United States of America, as well. They have to take a clear stance with the Yemeni people."

"...We are in one world. We are one nation. And therefore, what’s common in between us, what should be common among us, is love and peace."

"The international community have to create pressure on Saleh. One, they have to establish an international commission so they can investigate the killing that is happening...Without that justice, and if they leave Saleh alone, there will be no security and peace, not only in Yemen and our region, but also around the world."

"[The killing of Gaddafi] means a lot. That means dictatorships is going down and is done, and there are a lot of scenarios for the end of those dictators...In Yemen, we will have our own scenario. We will not go in the direction of violence."

"[In response to a question about drone strikes:] I’m sure that the new Yemen, the civilized Yemen and the democratic Yemen, it will be a Yemen without terrorism, without extremism. And we know that we’re going to be the deepest path for democracy and for peace and international security."

"Since the start of this revolution, we were able to get rid of a lot of the issues and the problems that this regime created. ... We have the dream, and we have the ability. And we started to achieve a lot of our goals. And we will not stop here. We will build our country. And we’re not only talking about Yemen here. I’m talking about every nation or every people that are looking toward freedom."

"...we tell Saudi Arabia that they should stand with the Yemeni people. And anyone who doesn’t stand with our people, they are the losers. We know what it means to be free, and we will achieve it. And the interests of countries, it’s with the people and not with the regimes, because these regimes will be gone."

"We were against oppression, and then we elevated our struggle to demand our rights. We will go against all the dictators, and not only Saleh in Yemen, so we can spread peace."

"To begin, I am a citizen of the world. The Earth is my country, and humanity is my nation. This is my motto: What everyone has longed for and will be achieved when all of the people shall also celebrate this prize that every Yemeni, and every Arab, and every human being and every woman has also won beside me."

"Women have become at the forefront of these demonstrations and lines in protests — in the medical camps, in the security services, in the strategic planning for the revolution and the strategic planning for the civil democratic society after the revolution."

"We need the nation of equal citizenship. We need a nation that fights corruption, a nation, a state where law rules, a nation where those who abuse their authority are questioned. We want to retrieve our nation, and we want to become citizens in a new world."

"The people have tasted it and have made great sacrifices and will not give out ... We have blazed a path for ourselves … and we will win."

"Students’ role doesn’t end in the classroom. Student-led movements have always been a part in changing history and fulfilling peoples’ dreams of achieving freedom and dignity [interview after her speech]"

"The most important pretext for the ousting of President Morsi was the existence of division in Egypt....My support for the 30 June movement in opposition to Morsi changed after the military coup, which went against all the gains and values of the 25 January revolution...Clearly, the leaders of the military takeover have something to conceal from the watchful eyes of the world....I now feel I have a responsibility to warn the world of the fact that a fully fledged despotic regime is seeking to reinforce its foundations in the country."

"it has now become obvious that most of the state institutions, including the judiciary, the army, the security apparatus and most of the government departments, stood against him [Morsi]. They acted in a co-ordinated manner to foment a crisis aimed at impeding the president and forcing failure on him."

"Perhaps one of the few positive aspects of the coup is that it has discredited the claim that that that the state had been taken over by the Brotherhood under Morsi."

"The repercussions of the coup on nascent democracies in the Arab world will be destructive. People may soon lose faith in the democratic process, paving the way for the revival of extremist groups...The coup serves to strengthen the radicals, interrupting the course of peaceful change."

"The popular rallies at Rabaa al-Adawiya and other squares across Egypt will defeat despotism and terrorism in the long run. But in the meantime, any solution that fails to restore the public's confidence in the ballot box and falls short of alleviating the sense of victimhood in the Morsi camp will be doomed to failure."

"Soon after the military coup that deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, I announced that I would join the pro-Morsy demonstration outside of Cairo's Rabaa al-Adaweya square...I wished to protest the killing, forcible disappearance, and jailing of coup opponents...I declared publicly that I was going to Rabaa al-Adaweya to defend the gains of the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution -- freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right of the people to select their rulers."

"The Egyptian officers informed me that I would be denied entry, and I was soon deported back to Yemen on the same plane on which I had arrived. The authorities gave me no clear answer why: They said that I knew the reason for my deportation better than them, and that my name had been blacklisted based on the request of a security body."

"Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to stand in person with the protesters outside Rabaa al-Adaweya square to echo their legitimate demands ... Egypt's current regime has ousted the first elected president in the country's history...There are limited options for those of us who care about Egypt's future: We can either side with civil values and democracy, or with military rule, tyranny, and coercion"

"Morsy was not only Egypt's democratically elected president, he is now emerging as the Arab world's Nelson Mandela...during Morsy's one-year reign, Egypt enjoyed freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate peacefully, and not a single one of his political opponents were jailed."

"Despite being subjected to killing, arrest, and oppression, Morsy's supporters have held fast to the democratic process and prevented Egypt from descending into civil war."

"I am not blind to the shortcomings of the previous government: Before the coup, I supported the June 30 rallies against Morsy....The military takeover aims to uproot the Muslim Brotherhood and its partners, replacing them through brute force with the losers of a democratic ballot"

"Democracy can't thrive under military rule — history is quite clear on this point ... The police state is back, and it is even worse than Hosni Mubarak's. What is happening in Egypt today is very scary: The coup could lead society to lose its faith in democracy, which will give terrorist groups a chance to breathe again...By blocking peaceful change and weakening the Islamist groups that participate in the political process, the coup leaders support this stance and do the terrorists a favor."

"All the ousted regimes, as well as the oppressive regimes that have hung on during the Arab Spring, have now blessed Egypt's coup...a blossoming democracy in Cairo can easily spread throughout the Arab world...Those who support freedom and democracy in the Middle East, however, should resist the new tyranny in Cairo with all their might."

"I visited Karman’s home earlier this year, while reporting a piece for The New Yorker. On her mantle sit the photographs of four people: Martin Luther King, Jr.; Mahatma Gandhi; Nelson Mandela; and Hillary Clinton. The first three, of course, are apostles of non-violent change. Karman told me that if her movement had a playbook it was Mandela’s autobiography. Karman idolizes Clinton because she is a strong woman — “she is my role model” — but also because of Clinton’s support for her ... Early on in the protests, Saleh tried to silence Karman the way people do in societies dominated by men: by appealing to a male member of her family ... She is still in mortal danger. But the canvas tent where Karman makes her home is surrounded by thousands of others now, and by tens of thousands of Yemenis who responded to her call."

"Tawakkol Karman was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 in recognition of her work in nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peacebuilding work in Yemen...Karman is a mother of three as well as a human rights activist, journalist, politician, and senior member of the Al-Islah political party...A journalist by profession and human rights activist by nature...In 2007, Tawakkol began organizing weekly protests in Yemen’s capitol, Sana’a, targeting systemic government repression and calling for inquiries into corruption and other forms of social and legal injustice...Bold and outspoken, Tawakkol has been imprisoned on a number of occasions for her pro-democracy, pro-human rights protests...Fiercely committed to change, Tawakkol spends the majority of her time in a tent in Change Square, where she continues her peaceful protests for justice and freedom."

"Tawakkol Karman ... seems to have lost her grip on reality ... she does not seem to understand that she is now a global figure ... She employs a parochial mentality when dealing with her Facebook page, exhibiting no restraint in her discussion of Yemeni issues. Her views are influenced by her party, the fundamentalist Yemeni Congregation for Reform, known as Islah ... Every day, Karman suffers losses because of the inappropriate way she uses Facebook. One of the worst incidents took place after she was chosen to be a member of the technical committee to coordinate an inclusive national dialogue. ... Karman wanted to be the official spokesperson for the committee, but they told her that this will be determined by open elections which included another candidate, the women’s rights activist, Amal al-Basha ... It seems that the Nobel winner needs to reevaluate her modus operandi to avoid similar losses."

"[She] became the international public face of Yemen’s Arab Spring uprising. After weathering multiple arrests and assassination attempts, Karman was named a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent work advocating for women’s rights and democratic reform. She was the first Arab woman to receive the honor and the youngest laureate to date."