This part two of my Day one Aswan Chronicle , you can read my first part here. Already I visit so many places on Day one and took 4 GB of photos and videos , so you can imagine how I am trying to organize and edit everything properly before uploading and publishing it.

Very small number of foreign tourists in the city despite it is a golden season for Aswan now , the city is surviving on the local tourism. The Esna lock strike was devastating to the industry according to our tour guide as the city depends on the Nile Cruises.He also told us that thousands of irrigation workers and employees are threatening to cut again the channel by the end of the month if their main demand is not met : To be fully appointed. They suspended their strike after the massacre of Port Said.

Some tour guides do not like the revolution as it harmed their business.

The beautiful island of Philae is more than great as you will see in the photos. I am speechless after visiting it. I took over 100 photos there an I think you should bookmark this set in order to enjoy it. Please browse till the end as I spent hours uploading it !!

I knew for the first time that the early radical Christians destroyed many of the images featuring ancient Egyptian gods including a beautiful depiction for Isis breastfeeding Horus.

It is at the Holy of Holies and the head of Isis was removed by the radical Christians as they felt there was a resemblance between it and between the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.

Before heading to the Holy of Holies ,there was this simple old Upper Egyptian Man with that traditional wear and gray mustache listening with us to the explanation and description of the Holy of Holies , then he headed with us and I found him telling his companion "this is the altar" and "here is the picture of that lady whom they removed her head".
That old man asked our tour before leaving from what books he knew this stuff and he told him the books of Dr.Selim Hassan."The Godfather of Egyptian Egyptologists"

It gives me the creep on what the radicals can do and it also gives me an idea on how the early Muslims are not like the so-called modern Salafists who want to cover the ancient Egyptian statues with wax !!

Anyhow to be honest I saw a group of Salafist men visiting the temple in my way out. “It turns out the MB is offering trips for Luxor and Aswan to promote local tourism from what I understood !!”

First time to see all these French inscriptions in the 19th century ,disgusting just like Ahmed loves Mona Shit inscription .

I think I should have stayed more time in that amazing temple , my first ancient Egyptian temple in amazing Aswan.

I wish that I was able to take more photos for that small temple besides it.

Aswan : Temple of Philae

Of course one of the important lessons I learned in Philae is that the rulers of this country always use religion to win the heart and mind of the Egyptian people since ancient Egypt. The Ptolemaic dynasty used religion to come close to the Egyptian people  so all the kings and queens of ancient Egypt.

This shows you how religion and politics are mingled in Egypt and how the religion is playing an essential role in this nation.

And I have managed at last to upload the video scenes I recorded in Tahrir square last January 25th 2012 to YouTube after nearly a month of facing difficulties due to the big size of the video. “Despite it is only few minutes”

#Jan25 : Year later in Tahrir square

To refresh your memory I recommend to read this post I wrote on that special day while covering the first anniversary of #jan25

Today after few hours either Judge Ahmed Rafaat will announce the date of verdict’s announcement or will announce the verdict itself in the trial of the century aka the trial of Mubarak.

Mubarak , Habib El Adly , the former minister of interior and 6 of El Adly’s assistants can face to death penalty if they are found guilty of giving orders to security forces to shoot the protesters in the early days of the revolution. If they are found guilty , there will be an appeal for sure.

Mubarak is facing two charges : Giving orders to shoot the protesters and taking bribes from Hussein Salem. Both of them especially in the shooting of the protesters case depend upon circumstantial evidence.

The shooting of the protesters case is built around the fact that Mubarak was the head of the supreme council of Police and Supreme council of armed forces from January 25th to February 211th 2011 and that the minister of interior can’t use live ammunition without his orders.

The shooting of the protesters’ case needs more evidence and according to the prosecution’s arguments from two days ago, the ministry of interior withheld the information needed. “Do I need to tell you about the GIS !? Mubarak somehow chose loyal men from what I see in the trial, I thought that they will continue selling him but I was mistaken !!”

If Mubarak faces a death penalty , the West and human rights organizations should not panic because as an old man he will be pardoned. Already personally I hope that he spends the rest of his life behind bars in order to know what the true meaning of freedom is.

As long as the security apparatuses do not cooperate properly with the prosecution as apparatuses working for the sake of the people sponsored by the tax payers then forget a real solid conviction.

I support the regular court system with all its flaws , I do not like exceptional revolutionary courts because innocent men always get stuck in the middle.

The so-called revolutionary powers do not consider this is a serious trial , in fact they consider it a charade despite they will be angry if Mubarak is acquitted.

This will not be the last chapter in the trial of the century , it is more of the last chapter in Volume I

More updates to come to this post.

@11:50 AM CLT

According to what I understand from the Radio news that Judge Rafaat suspended the session after a verbal altercation between the court and one of the plaintiffs !!!

Also the prosecution has informed the  court that the Tora prison hospital is ready to receive Mubarak according to the report of the health committee in the Egyptian parliament.

Newspapers in Egypt are claiming that El Adly is going to speak directly to the court today “Some say that he is going to present a written testimony” where he will expose the true role of Mubarak , field marshal Tantawy and former VP Omar Soliman in the revolution.

Many observers already believe that El Adly is going to be the scapegoat “as if he were innocent !!”

Newspapers also claim that Mubarak is going to send a letter to judge Rafaat to defend himself !!

Very few managed to send photos from Homs especially with the imposed media and security siege in the city.

A young Syrian human right activist and citizen journalist managed to get in to the city and to send dozens from photos showing several parts of the city like Bab El Saba’a. The city looks like a ghost city yet strangely the scene of young falafel seller and vegetables mini-market , life goes on indeed.

These photos are taken by Mulham Al Jundi whom I praying for his safety  , in fact after knowing what happened to Marie Colvin and Rami Ochveli I wish that he keeps his profile as anonymous as much as he can. I am so worried on him to the level I feel uncomfortable of mentioning him because a news blogger and reporter , I know the danger he is currently facing.

Our young brave man in Homs will post more photos and I will gather them to post them later here ISA.

Here is the second batch of Photos Mulham El Jundi manages to upload online from Homs despite the bad internet connection in the past 48 hours. Please spread them.

These photos are even much worse and shocking than the first batch , it is like seeing Bosnia war torn towns and what is scary in these photos is the streets and buildings look like our streets and buildings in Egypt.

These photos were shot on February 22nd and there are more photos Mulham will upload online.

The last thing Mulham has announced online was that the Syrian Free army was planning for a military offensive against El Assad forces  , a step that is considered as an escalation in the fight between the two factions of Syrian army.

Here is the 3rd patch of Photos Citizen journalist Mulham Al Jundi had uploaded from the city of Homs in the past 48 hours. He uploaded over 100 photos on February 23, 2012 from Homs.

He took photos from Karm El Zaitoun neighborhood that seems to be deserted except from few locals who are considered in my point of view as the perfect example for the famous phrase “Life Goes On” !! Karm El Zaitoun had its share from the security offensive in the city , it seems that El Assad’s security forces are moving from one place or another.

From what I see there is no strong military presence from the photos but there are snipers over the rooftops like a reminder for the people there not to protest. Our friend Mulham was shot in his leg by one of these snipers , I fear on him as he became well known to the media.

Homs : Our Mulham is shot in his leg

Mulham is a member of the SNC , he used to work in Saudi Arabia and left his work and family to go inside Syria and to become one of its famous citizen journalists. Let’s pray to God that he survives this. Mulham will be offline for two days. I hope he will be fine. He should hide for awhile.

The field hospital in the area is very poor , it seems to me that it is located at some pharmacy. The Mosque there did not survive the attack. Already as a Muslim I know for God the life of a person is much more important than a Mosque. The garbage has not been cold for a while. The food prices are increasing madly for instance the eggs were sold for 90 LS now they are sold for 250 LS , the prices of gas cylinders have reached to 1000 LS in this extremely cold weather as well where the weather degree can reach to 3 degrees in the morning.

You can check the first and second part from Homs and from Bab El Sabaa

This is the 3rd part of my Day One’s Aswan Chronicles series of post , you can check the Aswan Chronicles Day One : Part one about Aswan High Dam and Part two about the amazing Island of Philae.

The Aswan plants island aka Kitchener’s island needs more attention , it is like a forgotten piece of paradise in Egypt. I can’t imagine how this island will be like in time of Spring !! I want to be there.

I did not stay for a long time there but I saw amazing long trees from around the globe in this island. Thank Goodness it were not an Island in Cairo or Giza , God knows what would happen to this island. I do not think all military commanders were like Lord Kitchener when it comes to that amazing hobby. The view is amazing from there. I mean in Egypt now any police or general retired general would sell such beautiful island for the highest price !!

The Nile river in Aswan is nothing like in Cairo , it runs wild and freely in Aswan while in Cairo it has all the diseases the old capital suffer from unfortunately. The Nile Cataracts or rather the first Nile Cataract in Aswan is amazing , really amazing , I caught it on video but I know it is not like anything you can see on TV or newspaper , You have to be on a boat in order to feel it with the fresh water splash on your face.

#Aswan : Nile Cataracts

The Islands of the Nile are so so so so so beautiful, already many of them are considered national reserves.

The state security in Aswan aka National security now burnt a national reserve island in the Nile while burning their documents after the storming of the SS HQs across the country according to our tour guide. I think the name of that island is the Al Anam island , of course it is still there.

According to our tour guide Gamal Mubarak is allegedly from the owners of some hotel called Isis Hotel island “Actually it is owned by Pyramisa Hotels and Resorts” and using Gamal’s influence Movenpick Hotel Resort had to stop its plans to build another extension to its resort in that significant island in the Nile so it will not compete the Isis Hotel. The Isis Hotel is allegedly built on a national reserve itself. Only after the ousting of Mubarak , Movenpick started to build that that extension. I do not know how much of this is true , but I found it interesting.

Question : Why is the villa of Mohamed Monuir considered a significant place in Aswan with all the amazing places there ? The Agha Khan III Mausoleum  looks more interesting to me. The Agha Khan Mausoleum is not opened for visitors except from the Ismaili Muslims according to our tour guide.

I went a Nubian village where we were hosted in a Nubian house and saw small crocodiles as well beautiful paintings. Unfortunately I can’t feel my legs now.

The tombs of the Nobles in Aswan in the heart of the Nile look magical.

I love Aswan so much , May God bless this beautiful city and its beautiful kind people.

Ok folks this is the last part in my Day One Aswan Chronicles , Oh yes I have visited all those place “ in one Day and even wrote all these remarks before heading to bed on February 8 ,2012 .

Wait for Day two ISA

I consider Syria as my country , it is not my second country as it is the extension of Egypt in the North , many Egyptians believe that and many Syrians believe that also. Some will say that this is part of the Nasserite legacy and short UAR experience , well I think this is the from the few good things we are inherited the Nasserite legacy then.

Speaking from political views , since Ancient times Egyptians considered Syria as part of our national security , our security in Egypt starts from the Tartus mounts.So when I speak about Syria and its people , I speak about people. For the past months I have been covering the Syrian revolution’s news without reflecting all my thoughts, I think I will take time some of your time and reflect them now as matters develop rapidly whether inside or outside Syria.

Stuck in the middle

What is taking place in Syria now is not good after all those months of deliberate delay to save the Syrian nation from the the El Assad. This deliberate delay was intended by the international community mainly in the West aka the US administration to give El Assad all the time in the world to crack down this uprising that turned in to a revolution and at the same time to have enough time to plan for the new middle east map with all its changes. Again Israel does not want El Assad to go , after all for more than 30 years El Assads did not really want to restore the Golan. The fall of Mubarak and what followed it from protests in the middle east that either turned in to full revolutions or promising uprisings changed a lot of plans when it comes to the Middle East.

Of course the game is more complicated than just an uprising turned in to a revolution as Syria unfortunately is now the playground of a new battle between the current world powers whether between the US and Russia&China axis or between the Gulf and Iran.

I think what happened in the Arab world was not unexpected for the States and Russia , thus both powers spent all those months planning as another battle in their new world power war. Already Russia lost in Libya and it can’t tolerate its old alley in the region aka Syria. Unlike Egypt the Syrian Russian relations have been more stronger. It is enough that the Russians used to sell more advanced weaponry to the Syrians unlike Egypt in 1960s and 1970s according to Late General Abdel Ghanai El Gamsy.

Unfortunately Egypt now is no in power or position even to take the right decision and to help our brothers and sisters in Syria as it should in the right way to preserve its unity and to preserve its true national security which is ours as well.. The Gulf is taking the lead now not for the sake of the Syrians but rather because countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar “God knows its true intention” are using Syria as to their own revenge from Qatar and its support to the Uprising in Bahrain.

They do not care for democracy or people dying , they care for their interests only.

Turning the conflict in to a confrontation between Sunni and Shiite

I have been following the protests in Syria since day and I do not like how the conflict is turning in to another confrontation between the Sunni and Shiite thanks to the Arab sectarian media and the growing influence of the Salafists. The Syrians already are disturbed with this sectarian nature because they also fear that it will affect their youth. It is worth mention that the Syrians for months used to name every Friday after a Syrian symbol or word that represents the diversity of Syrian society to stress on the unity of the country like The Saleh al-Ali Friday and Azadi Friday.

There is no doubt that for decades the Sunni majority was marginalized because of the Baath party , a sectarian dictatorship party than a Shiite party or rather Alawi sect party to be accurate. The mini-war between the Muslim brotherhood and El Assad regime with El Baath concepts to marginalize the religious beliefs then the close Iranian Syrian relations in the recent years created tensions for sure and feeling of old oppression…but. But I do not want another Iraq , I do not want another semi-country.

You must know that the minorities in Syria after participating strongly in the past months in the protests are now concerned with their safety in Pre-Assad Syria. The Christian Syrians fear the same fate of the Christians in Iraq and yet they are helping the cities under attack and they are also being attacked by El Assad regime.

Several Syrian Shiite icons from writers and artists declared their support to the revolution like Fadwa Soliman who stood bravely for months before any Salafist Sheikh cared about the Syrian revolution in Egypt.

One Egyptian tweep told me to mention how many Christians , Shiites and Kurds have been killed so far in the country. A Salafist MP in the Egyptian parliament attacked Bashar El Assad from two weeks ago and described him as the criminal Shiite. This is only in Egypt ,the moderate Egypt so you can imagine the

I fear that the Gulf support to the revolution will export sectarianism to Syria and ironically history Syria knew the meaning of diversity , democracy and even the meaning of political life before the Gulf states got its independence. I do not mean any insult but this is a fact.

Syria is another unique country with its diversity of religions , ethnics and history I fear on it just like I fear on my country. I do not want another Iraq in the region.

The US is playing with fire once again by pushing this Sunni Vs. Shiite thing to get rid from Iran.

SNC : Questions marks

I do not like people when they think that the revolutions got catalogues and what was successful in one country will be successful in another country. I did not have high hopes for the SNC aka Syrian national council when it was announced for two reasons. The first reason is that  I felt it was an imitation of the NTC in Libya and what it is good for Libya with its circumstances can’t be good for Syria with its circumstances. The second reason is that I know the Syrian opposition in Syria is even more weaker than the opposition in Egypt. There are a lot of question marks about some of the members in the SNC as well a lot of question marks about their popularity for real in Syria itself away from the social media impact because one thing I learned about Egypt real world and the majority of the people are something and social media is another thing.

Part two will be the Syrian Free army and the Syrian army ISA.

Again these are the thoughts of someone concerned about Syria , someone who can’t bear more children killed by corrupted regime , someone who wishes to see a strong free democratic united Syria that will complete the second half of Egypt.

The NU

The students and the researchers have launched a big campaign to Save NU whether online or offline through protests and sits in. Here is the official Save NU website and its official FB page. They do not want to be a part of the Zowail city.
With my all respect and admiration to Dr. Ahmed Zowail , I think naming a university or an academy after his name while he is alive is a bit narcissistic. Update : Dr. Zowail is speaking about the matter on twitter in his official twitter account where he said that the Government is the one that named the city after him. It was not his choice.Zowail also said that the NU has given up the land according to some contract , well it turned out that that this contract was signed by former PM Ahmed Shafik.
Zewail is insisting in all his meetings that he met the NU students and administration and they are more than ok , unfortunately it is untrue to the level that makes me wonder about these people he is meeting.
Last February 21st,2012 the Zewail city issued a statement saying that it has reached to an agreement with the NU administration by which ZC ethnically acquires the NU and that Zewail had meetings with the angry student.
Then NU administration and its Chairman Tarek Khalil have slammed the statement denying what came in.
The last thing we have got is that the minister of higher education saying that nothing bad will happen to NU adding that it will continue in its mission and everything will be fine !!!
And this is ladies and gentlemen a true Egyptian case : Solve a problem by creating another one !! Nazif should not re-allocated those 127 acres but I think in the same way after 10 years Zewail can get not only 127 acres but another 300 acres for fear from the government or even from SCAF in now time leaving NU alone.
After few hours from now Zewail will appear for the first on Yosri Fouda’s famous TV show “Last Talk” on ONTV and the Nile University supporters are asking Fouda to give them the opportunity to speak with the Nobel Prize winner for once seriously about the Nile University for once.
TV hosts always speak in front of Zewail as an idol with big admiration and opened mouth like kids in KG , they do not dare to ask him any important question about NU or even criticize him. I hope that Yosri Fouda proves he is unlike all other TV hosts.

Links :

• Nile University in Wikipedia “ENG”
• Zewail city for science and research in Wikipedia “Arabic”