The recording of our livestream event with The Intercept is now viewable on their site here.
We heard powerful testimony from Egyptian activists, journalists, and writers, and from Bill McKibben joining us from surgery recovery with a passionate call for environmentalists to stand up for human rights. We learned why the regime of General El Sisi sees the summit as a crucial opportunity to gain international legitimacy and climate financing. We closed with concrete steps those attending COP 27 can take to support democratic movements in Egypt, and with these moving words from Alaa Abd El Fattah, one of Egypt’s most high-profile political prisoners, currently enduring the 188th day of his hunger strike:
“All that is asked of us is that we insist on standing up for what is right. We are not required to be victorious in our stand for what’s right. We’re not required to be strong as we stand for what’s right. We’re not required to be rehearsed in our stand for what’s right, or to have a good plan, or good organization. All that’s asked of us is that we insist on standing for what’s right.”
Speakers included Sanaa Seif, sister of Alaa Abd El Fattah; Omar Robert Hamilton; Sharif Abdel Kouddous; and Bill McKibben, in a discussion co-moderated by UBC faculty members Mohammed Rafi Arefin and Naomi Klein.
For more on what you can do to support human rights in Egypt, visit https://copcivicspace.net/
