Interviewed by: Daniel Bennet
Don't
be fooled by her petite stature and soft spoken manner, Basma Moussa,
is anything but timid. She is widely known as the prolific blogger,
prominent media figure, victim of persecution, women's and Baha'i
rights activist, and last year's “most influential woman” in
Egypt. Despite her growing stardom she continues to devote the
majority of her time to her chosen profession – professor of oral
and maxillofacial
surgery. Between exams and activism, she found time to sit down and
answer a few questions for the 5F. Basma Mousa is the laureate of 5F annual prize for the Freedom Fighter of the Year.
Q:
What are you fighting against?
I'm
Fighting against the ignorance in Egyptian society and the media
which allows false stereotypes and stigmatization to spread against
Baha'i and women. For example, this idea that Baha'is are Zionists,
it's not true.
6
years ago 90% of the media falsely portrayed Baha'is and wouldn't
take the time or effort to communicate with us, reporters were afraid
to get the truth from us. The Baha'is are a quiet minority, they
don't protest or cause problems, however they also don't participate
in dialogue.
Nowadays
its mostly the religious programming in the media that's intolerant
while discrimination remains present in the eduction system and
workforce, especially for women: opportunities are severly limited
from birth, through primary education, and finally in the workforce
It's important to remember for Baha'is the problem is one of
citizenship, not of faith and is with individuals, not Egyptian
society on the whole.
Q:
What experiences growing up shaped your activism?
I
Grew up in a war zone, Port Saed during the Egypt-Israel war was like
Gaza today. The best day of my life was when Gurion, Carter, and
Sadat brought peace to my home city. Raised as a Baha'i I was taught
that men and women were equal and all humans ought to be united,
regardless of religion. However, upon entering college in Cairo, and
then the workforce I was subjected to stigmatization because I am a
woman.
While
working to achieve my masters in medicine and become a lecturer, and
then a professor, I was religiously discriminated against multiple
times. It began with false accusations being made by those in
university, then professors would flunk me, a university committee
declared my scientific expertise invalid, pamphlets were issued
identifying me as a "non-believer", a fatwa was issued
against me, news papers singled me out as a “non-believer"
putting my personal safety in danger, and finally government security
forces had to accompany me for protection. Throughout this process I
appealed first to professors, then deans, then the head of the
administration of education. Now I am an assistant professor.
I'm
still without ID. Once my driver's license expires I will be unable
to drive legally. This is just the beginning, many Baha'is are
without birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death
certificates which greatly complicates their financial matters. An
Egyptian can get a birth certificate in 5 minutes, a Baha'i will wait
6 months at the least.
Working
as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon has given me plenty or
opportunities to witness violence against women - one time I operated
for 8 hours on a woman who's entire face had been smashed in by an
iron rod. After the surgery was complete the women refused to press
charges or file for a divorce because she knew she was completely
dependent on her husband. I have also had other surgeons refuse to
participate in surgery with me because I am a Baha'i.
Q:
Do you see any hope for change?
The
problem is with individuals and the religious establishment. Within
Egyptian society there is little prejudice, people who know me do not
think me any worse because I'm a Baha'i, and I always consider myself
an Egyptian from the heart. Today the Clergy is afraid that if
Baha'is or women teach then they will spread un-Islamic ideas and
this contributes to the misinformation we're trying to prevent. Life
was much better for Baha'is under the monarchy.
Today
the mentality of the Egyptian is also a problem: many of us don't
research for the truth, we believe whatever people say. In order to
solve this we need to filter out the misinformation in the books and
media people do read. Education: religious texts and texts in
religious schools need to be filtered for bias content. It's going to
be a long project but we've started with texts in primary schools and
eventually we will remove bias from universities and the workplace.
Also women must be educated. Only through education can women become
empowered and only this way can we become truly independent.
Additionally Baha'is need to make their case known in the media, we
need to clear up the misconceptions being spread by biased
individuals.
Most
importantly we must continue to contribute constructively to society.
By working hard we will continue to gain respect and will always have
hope. As long as we remain between the two radical sides, we don't
protest, and we remain non-aggressive there is always hope.
Q:
Quickly, who are your three biggest role models:
Ghandi,
MLK, and Nelson Mandella. Ghandi spoke extensively about Baha'ism and
all three supported the same non-aggressive peaceful resistance
strategy.
Want
to know more? - Who is Basma Mousa?
Assistant
Professor Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Cairo University.
Blogger,
Public Speaker, Activist and advocate of Baha'ism, religious
tolerance, AIDs patients' rights, and women's rights.