Egyptian Human Rights Activist Asks What's Next For Her Country

16:28

January 25, 2012

Egyptian girls chant slogans in Tahrir Square during a rally to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)

Huge crowds are once again converging on Tahrir Square in Cairo on the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak from power.

The BBC's Jon Leyne says the demonstration has the feeling of a street party and there are more people in the square than last year because more groups are convening-- from liberals, to once-banned Islamists who won a majority of parliamentary seats in recent elections, to the country's current military rulers want to claim ownership of the revolution.

Earlier this week members of Egypt's new parliament took their seats for the first time, and only a handful of women were elected.

Dalia Ziada in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. (Courtesy Dalia Ziada)

29-year-old Dalia Ziada ran for Parliament but didn't win. She is a human rights activist from Egypt and a passionate advocate for women's rights.

And as director of the American Islamic Congress's Egypt Bureau, she translated a 1950s American comic book about Martin Luther King Jr. into Arabic, coining the Arabic word for "non-violence" that has now come into common usage in Egypt.

Here & Now: Tracing Roots Of Egypt’s Protests To Gene Sharp, An American Advocate For Non-Violence
Hamsaweb: Essays From The Middle East
Here & Now: Martin Luther King's Ideas Reverberate In Egypt
Twitter: Aerial Shot Of Tahrir Square On January 25th
BBC: Egypt Rallies Mark Anti-Mubarak Uprising Anniversary
American Islamic Congress: Martin Luther King Comic Book
Marketplace: Slideshow-- Women Redefine Role In Egypt

Guest:

Dalia Ziada, Egyptian human rights activist

This segment aired on January 25, 2012.