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Thousands of Egyptian women marched in Tahrir Square, Cairo, on Tuesday to protest the Military’s mistreatment of women. The marchers were a fusion of Christian, Muslim and secular women of all ages whose anger was sparked by a video that caused international uproar. The video in question shows Egyptian police on Saturday, December 17 violently stripping a female activist of her clothes, revealing her undergarments, then proceeding to stomp on her chest and beat her while she was apparently unconscious. Although her identity is as yet unknown*, the brutality the woman in question faced, has ignited fury all over Egypt and the Arab world. Military leaders, though initially hesitant to accept responsibility, have finally admitted that the assault occurred and have stated that the perpetrators would be tried. The military however, blamed such violence on provocations by protestors themselves. One official has gone as far as saying that the peaceful protests planned for January 25, 2012, the first anniversary of Mubarak’s ousting, are a ploy to launch a civil war in Egypt. In a statement this week US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the Egyptian Military’s crackdown on women protestors stating that the “systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution.” Despite this criticism, the Obama administration has maintained a largely laudatory view of the Military’s rule of Egypt with little indication that it will investigate the many accusations of abuses committed by the regime. The Muslim Brotherhood, currently leading the parliamentary elections in Egypt, has expressed resistance to joining secular activists in calling for the Military government to relinquish power, instead vying for the completion of the electoral process. Even though some media reports cite that the Egyptian public is growing weary of the protests, activists and opposition groups have called for a new mass demonstration tomorrow Friday, to condemn military violence and demand that power be transferred to a civilian authority by February 2012. The Egyptian Prime Minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, who was appointed by the military, called for a national dialogue today, and appealed for calm for two months to help restore security.

GUEST: Ghada Talhami, emeritus professor in the department of politics at Lake Forest College, author of “The Mobilization of Muslim Women in Egypt”

* Prof. Talhami reported during our interview that the identity of the “woman in the blue bra” as she’s being called, is well known in Egypt.