A progressive interview with Nawal El Saadawi.

• Author: Mayton, Joseph
• Position: Interview

The Arab world's most prominent feminist has lost none of her fire. Jailed by late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, Nawal El Saadawi was forced into exile under Hosni Mubarak. Now, almost a year since the revolution that toppled Mubarak, Saadawi is back in Egypt. And she believes in her country, and its future. She spoke to me in Cairo, going back and forth between English and Arabic.

Q: How would you describe women's rights before the revolution?

Nawal El Saadawi. Before the revolution, we had a very corrupt government with Sadat and Mubarak. I do not separate the two. Under Sadat, I was put in prison and I lost my job. Under Mubarak, I was in exile and I was excluded from my culture. Mubarak banned the Arab Women's Solidarity Association we had founded, and his wife, Suzanne, banned the Egyptian Women's Union.

Why? Because they wanted her to be the leader of the feminist movement. So she established the National Council for Women with governmental officials. Of course, some of what they did was good and was the result of the struggle of women for decades, like securing divorce rights, allowing unmarried mothers to name their children, and helping to end female genital mutilation.

Q: What role did women play in the revolution last spring?

El Saadawi: Women were everywhere in the revolution. Women participated in it, and many women were killed. Then we had the right to speak up and gain some more rights, but what happened was there was a backlash. Why? Because we have the Salafists, Muslim Brothers, religious groups.

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Q: What do you mean by Salafists and the religious groups?

El Saadawi: Saudi Arabia paid $7 billion for the Salafists to come, and the United States and Israel are pouring a lot of money into Egypt. Why? To divide the country by religion. You know, I've lived here among Christians and Muslims, and we never had a conflict. Now you have a conflict between Christians and Muslims and Baha'is and Sunni and Shia. The Salafists are trying to abort the revolution and make it religious, though the revolution started secular. There was not a single Islamic slogan. It was secular men and women, and in fact, they were unified. Now they want to divide the revolution, and religion is a very strong weapon.

Q: How does this affect women?

El Saadawi: Women are suffering because they are being excluded. The high military council excluded women from the committee to change the constitution. We cannot be liberated as women in...