Tawakkol Karman - People Quotes

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... we chose to march in the streets demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an end to his corrupt and failed regime and the establishment of a modern democratic state... Yemen is now facing a complete vacuum of authority; we are without a president or parliament. Mr. Saleh may be gone, but authority has not yet been transferred to a transitional presidential council endorsed by the people.

Tawakkol Karman
To begin, I am a citizen of the world. The Earth is my country, and humanity is my nation. This is my motto: What everyone has longed for and will be achieved when all of the people shall also celebrate this prize that every Yemeni, and every Arab, and every human being and every woman has also won beside me

Tawakkol Karman
The least we desire from the institutions of the free world, and especially the US and the countries of the European Union, is that they appreciate our struggle for freedom. We want them to discharge their responsibilities towards vulnerable people and support them in the face of the cruelty of rulers who continue to kill.

Tawakkol Karman
Soon after the military coup that deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, I announced that I would join the pro-Morsy demonstration outside of Cairo's Rabaa al-Adaweya square... I wished to protest the killing, forcible disappearance, and jailing of coup opponents... I declared publicly that I was going to Rabaa al-Adaweya to defend the gains of the Jan. 25, 2011, revolution — freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right of the people to select their rulers

Tawakkol Karman
In my capacity as a leader of the popular and youth revolution in Yemen, I reaffirm our adherence to the peaceful nature of our struggle until the end. At the same time, I ardently call upon the free people of the world to examine what is happening in my country and Syria especially, and to honour their responsibilities to confront rulers who do not hesitate to carry out the most heinous crimes against people who have the temerity to demand their natural rights to freedom and dignity.

Tawakkol Karman
There have been violations in the protest squares, especially in Sana'a. This is natural when hundreds of thousands of people [protest] for extended periods of time. However, these violations are marginal, and do not tarnish the beauty of the revolution. We see rival tribes meeting and debating in their tents, and men and women struggling [together] in the square to oust the regime.

Tawakkol Karman
... my people are facing difficulties. They are being killed in the streets. They are on the sidewalks for almost nine months now. As you know, they own more than 70 million machine guns. That's their personal weapons... Personally, I'm not protected, because my people are not protected. And therefore, the international community have to provide protection, and the United States of America, as well. They have to take a clear stance with the Yemeni people.

Tawakkol Karman
The extremist people hate me. They speak about me in the mosques and pass round leaflets condemning me as un-Islamic.

Tawakkol Karman
If the US and Europe genuinely support the people, as they say, they must not betray our peaceful revolution. It is the expression of the democratic will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Yemen.

Tawakkol Karman
Students' role doesn't end in the classroom. Student-led movements have always been a part in changing history and fulfilling peoples' dreams of achieving freedom and dignity.

Tawakkol Karman
... we tell Saudi Arabia that they should stand with the Yemeni people. And anyone who doesn't stand with our people, they are the losers. We know what it means to be free, and we will achieve it. And the interests of countries, it's with the people and not with the regimes, because these regimes will be gone.

Tawakkol Karman
The repercussions of the coup on nascent democracies in the Arab world will be destructive. People may soon lose faith in the democratic process, paving the way for the revival of extremist groups... The coup serves to strengthen the radicals, interrupting the course of peaceful change.

Tawakkol Karman
So what happens when the regime falls, as it must? We are in the first stage of change in our country, and the feeling among the revolutionaries is that the people of Yemen will find solutions for our problems once the regime has gone, because the regime itself is the cause of most of them. A new Yemen awaits us, with a better future for all.

Tawakkol Karman
What unites us in the Youth Revolution Council is the desire to oust the regime... We do not ask the members of the Council or of the Preparatory Committee about their source of authority, nor about their political, geographic, or sectarian affiliation... In this revolution, I have forgotten my partisan and geographic affiliations... I belong only to the people of the revolution. The revolution is a glorious [cause] that stands above any consideration.

Tawakkol Karman
... it is inappropriate for a public activist [to wear a niqab], since people want to see you. The Islamic faith does not mandate wearing a niqab; it is [just] a social tradition.

Tawakkol Karman
Since the start of this revolution, we were able to get rid of a lot of the issues and the problems that this regime created.... We have the dream, and we have the ability. And we started to achieve a lot of our goals. And we will not stop here. We will build our country. And we're not only talking about Yemen here. I'm talking about every nation or every people that are looking toward freedom.

Tawakkol Karman
Over the next three years, governments will have to choose whether or not to adopt this new people-centric framework for development. The temptation for political leaders to retreat to a safer, more conventional approach will mean a strong global grassroots campaign will thus be necessary to build pressure for adoption of these groundbreaking and transformative elements recommended in the report.

Tawakkol Karman
The interim presidential council will take the reins from the ousted president and his regime... We take this possibility into account, which is why we have demanded that the interim presidential council represent all the national elements, in order to meet the demands of the youth and the people. We demand that the political elements suggest names to present to the youth, since we object to anyone seizing power after Saleh, whoever they may be. These fears exist in any revolution... Whenever officials stray from the straight path, the youth must be prepared to take to the streets in every province and shout: The people want to oust the official in charge, to hold the minister accountable, to prosecute the general.

Tawakkol Karman
The young people of this revolution have made their demands clear: authority must be handed over to a transitional presidential council approved by the people... Yemen's people have charted the course of revolution and we will follow this course to its end. We have left our authoritarian past behind. Now, we ask our friends in Washington and Riyadh to help us build a democratic future.

Tawakkol Karman
Requiring governments to make all publicly held information and data available to people—thus giving citizens a powerful tool to expose corruption—is just one aspect of the accountability revolution that can be unleashed if the report's recommendations are implemented in full.

Tawakkol Karman
American intervention in Yemen is a product of the war on terror... Because American security was given priority over all other concerns, counterterrorism agencies paid no attention to the human rights abuses being committed by their local partners... Because America has invested so heavily in Yemen's security forces, it now seems that a transition to democracy will depend on whether Washington believes that investment will remain secure... Sadly, it seems likely that the United States will support figures from the old regime rather than allow a transitional government approved by the people to take control

Tawakkol Karman
We understand America's concerns about terrorism... We have no objection to agreements that protect your security interests. We only ask that you respect international standards on human rights and the Yemeni people's rights to freedom and justice.

Tawakkol Karman
I call on the United States and the European Union to tell Saleh that he must leave now... They should end all support for his regime, especially that which is used to crush peaceful opposition... They should freeze the Saleh family's assets and those of Saleh's henchmen and return them to the people.

Tawakkol Karman
American policy makers must understand that the activists and young people who started Yemen's peaceful revolution deeply respect the United States and Western civilization... We call on American officials to engage with the leaders of Yemen's democracy movement and abandon their misplaced investment in the old regime's security apparatus

Tawakkol Karman
My aim for now is to lead a peaceful revolution to remove this regime. I think if I can be in the street with the people I can achieve more than if I am the president.

Tawakkol Karman