Sexual aggression rampant in Egypt
The latest incident of sexual aggression in Egypt is reminiscent of the sexual assault on CBS News reporter Lara Logan during the Tahrir Square protests.Sexual harassment and assault incidents against women are high in Egypt. Many of the incidents go unreported as the victims fear being stigmatized. In 2008, 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed while 62 percent of men admitted to harassing, according to Egyptian Center for Women's Rights.[PHOTO: Handout of CBS Correspondent Lara Logan in Cairo's Tahrir Square, moments before she was assaulted] Reuters

The assault and rape of American news reporter Lara Logan by a frenzied mob on Tahrir Square on the night of Mubarak's resignation has sparked off anger and shock in various quarters.

But what seems to be taking the Internet world by storm now is the utter insensitivity and poor taste shown by one Nir Rosen - a Left-wing journalist and fellow from the NYU Center of Law and Security - who has used this incident to spew his personal venom against Logan, tweeting comments such as Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson... and that we must find humor in the small things.

As reactions came forth, Rosen justified all this saying, I just think she is so bad that I ran out of sympathy for her

In a series of tweets that has now called forth condemnation from a wide section of virtual citizens, Rosen referred to the assaulted journalist as a war monger and even expressed doubt about whether she was actually raped as is being reported, or just molested as many other Egyptian women seem to have been on that night of mob frenzy in Cairo.

For all his tweet-attacks on Logan, Rosen himself seems to have aroused the wrath and disgust of many. Twitter and blogosphere have been rife with strong words of censure and his reaction has attracted adjectives ranging from appalling, absolutely despicable to stomach turning. One Twitter-user capped it all, saying Nir Rosen is a pathetic excus(e) for a man.

Perhaps brought back to his senses by such responses, Rosen eventually issued an apology on his page, tweeting, As someone who's devoted his career to defending victims and supporting justice, I'm very ashamed for my insensitive and offensive comments.

Not everyone is pacified though, since the apology has met with statements such as No, actually, I'm pretty sure you're only sorry you got busted and U made tweet after tweet not backing down from your statement. Ur sorry that u started a shitstorm.

Nevertheless, the apology is a first step towards redemption for Rosen. One, however, is curious to know what stance NYU takes on his unrestrained, personal outburst on a public forum.

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