Kodak Agfa posted a photo:
The entrance of Cairo tower : the old emblem of the United Arab Republic , the official name of Egypt in the past.
From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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From the top of Cairo tower [Flickr]
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Egyptian Summer tales : The Ghost of summer past !!
First of all , sorry for the lack of updates and posts. I went on a short vacation at Egypt's North Coast and I had plans to blog more about many different things. Still, unfortunately or fortunately, there was no Wi-Fi connection and I had more time on the beach. Thank God , it was nice a break from all the ongoing madness back in Cairo.
Nevertheless , I followed what is happening back in Cairo through the social media. Among the main issues that went viral on social media was the re-emergence of Gamal Mubarak once again to public life in North Coast.
From five days ago , a man called Amr Rageb posted his photo with Gamal Mubarak while partying at the famous 6IX Degrees night club at Hacienda Bay resort.
The younger son of ousted Mubarak seems to be coming from an early 1990s party with that shirt !!
Oh yes , I was not alone in Sidi Abdel Rahman as few kilometers away where I was staying Gamal Mubarak was partying all night long !!
I was not surprised or shocked to see the photos of Mubarak's infamous son whose political ambition became an international example to be avoided at Hacienda resort.
Simply, people tend to forget that the Upper-Class Hacienda resorts are owned by Gamal Mubarak's father-in-law, Mahmoud El-Gamal.
Since his release in 2015, the former NDP leading member was seen several times in public. He was seen visiting the pyramids with his wife and daughter in 2015.
In 2016, he was seen at some event at his daughter's school "British school" and then his daughter's special piano recital at the Opera House that was attended by his mother. He also attended some gymnastic event along with former PM Ahmed Nazif earlier this summer. He has been truly active.
Back to Sidi Abdel Rahman, A friend of mine has seen him later this week at Telal resort while having a dinner in some restaurant there.
She told me that waiters and customers in the restaurant were wondering if it were better to have him as a president too.
After the spread of that photo in 6IX degrees online, I have noticed that some Upper and Middle Upper-Class social media users began to wonder if it were better to have him as a president.
Some tweeps began to post polls wondering if he would win if he ran in the upcoming elections against Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Not so surprisingly , he would win those elections according to those not-so-representative polls.
I do not find that strange , this is natural especially after the past three years and the terrible economic crisis we are facing now in Egypt.
Some Egyptians are already now nostalgic to the days of King Farouk when the Egyptian pound was worth more than the US dollar.
It is not an indication that the 25 January revolution has failed as much as the current administration of Sisi has failed in the eyes of those people.
Not all the people are over the moon with his sudden appearance in the North Coast's hottest club especially young people.
That post went viral even more than the Instagram photograph.
Realistically speaking, Gamal Mubarak can not return back to politics for the upcoming 5 years because he was officially found guilty of corruption and emblazing public funds in the infamous presidential mansions trials.
So,legally he will miss the 2018 presidential elections if we are going to have any true multi-candidate elections.
![Gamal Mubarak during one of his trials]( "Gamal Mubarak during one of his trials")
A side note, Gamal Mubarak was not going to be the president of Egypt , even without the 25 January revolution as it seems.
Already , the younger son of Mubarak had two opposing deep state powers he underestimated in addition to the public rejection : The intelligence and the army.
I remember very well that Field Marshal Tantawy once said in 2011 that the Egyptian armed forces had a backup plan in case that Gamal Mubarak began his ascension plan in July 2011.
By the way, if Gamal Mubarak continues to show up more often and people to speak about him more and more as an alternative , I won't be surprised or shocked to find the prosecutor general bringing up some corruption case with new sudden evidence incriminating him.
Already, Gamal and his brother Alaa still have another corruption in front of the court. They are still facing charges of corrupt stock dealing in a trial that will be resumed in September.
The names of Gamal and Alaa Mubarak remerged once again to the media as investigative journalists Ahmed Atef and Ahmed Al-Shamy re-opened the case of corruption stock dealing connecting it with the Swiss HSBC leaks last month.
Nevertheless , I followed what is happening back in Cairo through the social media. Among the main issues that went viral on social media was the re-emergence of Gamal Mubarak once again to public life in North Coast.
From five days ago , a man called Amr Rageb posted his photo with Gamal Mubarak while partying at the famous 6IX Degrees night club at Hacienda Bay resort.
The younger son of ousted Mubarak seems to be coming from an early 1990s party with that shirt !!
Oh yes , I was not alone in Sidi Abdel Rahman as few kilometers away where I was staying Gamal Mubarak was partying all night long !!
I was not surprised or shocked to see the photos of Mubarak's infamous son whose political ambition became an international example to be avoided at Hacienda resort.
Simply, people tend to forget that the Upper-Class Hacienda resorts are owned by Gamal Mubarak's father-in-law, Mahmoud El-Gamal.
Since his release in 2015, the former NDP leading member was seen several times in public. He was seen visiting the pyramids with his wife and daughter in 2015.
In 2016, he was seen at some event at his daughter's school "British school" and then his daughter's special piano recital at the Opera House that was attended by his mother. He also attended some gymnastic event along with former PM Ahmed Nazif earlier this summer. He has been truly active.
Back to Sidi Abdel Rahman, A friend of mine has seen him later this week at Telal resort while having a dinner in some restaurant there.
She told me that waiters and customers in the restaurant were wondering if it were better to have him as a president too.
After the spread of that photo in 6IX degrees online, I have noticed that some Upper and Middle Upper-Class social media users began to wonder if it were better to have him as a president.
Some tweeps began to post polls wondering if he would win if he ran in the upcoming elections against Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Not so surprisingly , he would win those elections according to those not-so-representative polls.
I do not find that strange , this is natural especially after the past three years and the terrible economic crisis we are facing now in Egypt.
Some Egyptians are already now nostalgic to the days of King Farouk when the Egyptian pound was worth more than the US dollar.
It is not an indication that the 25 January revolution has failed as much as the current administration of Sisi has failed in the eyes of those people.
Not all the people are over the moon with his sudden appearance in the North Coast's hottest club especially young people.
That post went viral even more than the Instagram photograph.
Realistically speaking, Gamal Mubarak can not return back to politics for the upcoming 5 years because he was officially found guilty of corruption and emblazing public funds in the infamous presidential mansions trials.
So,legally he will miss the 2018 presidential elections if we are going to have any true multi-candidate elections.
A side note, Gamal Mubarak was not going to be the president of Egypt , even without the 25 January revolution as it seems.
Already , the younger son of Mubarak had two opposing deep state powers he underestimated in addition to the public rejection : The intelligence and the army.
I remember very well that Field Marshal Tantawy once said in 2011 that the Egyptian armed forces had a backup plan in case that Gamal Mubarak began his ascension plan in July 2011.
By the way, if Gamal Mubarak continues to show up more often and people to speak about him more and more as an alternative , I won't be surprised or shocked to find the prosecutor general bringing up some corruption case with new sudden evidence incriminating him.
Already, Gamal and his brother Alaa still have another corruption in front of the court. They are still facing charges of corrupt stock dealing in a trial that will be resumed in September.
The names of Gamal and Alaa Mubarak remerged once again to the media as investigative journalists Ahmed Atef and Ahmed Al-Shamy re-opened the case of corruption stock dealing connecting it with the Swiss HSBC leaks last month.
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Egyptian Summer Tales : The return of the cronies
On Monday , a Cairo court lifted the travel ban and unfroze the assets of former Mubarak-era PM Ahmed Nazif and his family. The court decision comes after the acquittal of Nazif in his retrial over illicit gains charges.
Just like Gamal Mubarak , Ahmed Nazif was seen lately in public more often.
Most people believe that Nazif will take the first flight and leave the country ASAP.
Earlier Saturday , the illicit gains authority announced that it lifted the name of Mubarak business tycoon Hussein Salem and his family members off the travel ban and the assets freeze in Egypt after their reconciliation.
Last week, the Egyptian government represented in the illicit gains authority announced that it reached out to a reconciliation agreement with the runaway businessman where he would give up 75% of his assets in Egypt and outside it in exchange for dropping charges against him.
According to the statement of the illicit gains authority , Salem who is currently living in Spain as Spanish citizen gave up LE 5.3 billion ( USD 799 million) which allegedly 75% of his assets "about LE 7 billion.
This is very interesting because that statement contradicts with what the same authority announced in October 2011 about Hussein Salem's wealth and assets in Egypt and outside it.
In October 2011, the illicit gains authority announced that it got documents that proved Salem and his family transferred more than LE 24 billion to several banks abroad in 6 months following the 25 January revolution and the ouster of Mubarak. "They transferred their assets into liquid money".
In the same statement , the head of the authority Assem El-Gohary then hinted out those LE24 billion transferred aboard did not represent the true fortune of Salem and his family as there were other real estate assets owned by business mogul abroad including Jolie Ville Galleria mall in Romania.
So how suddenly Salem and family's fortune shrunk from " LE 24 billion " {Which is known to the authorities} to become "LE 7 billion" !?? This is one important remark
The illicit gains authority listed in another statement about the assets " highlighted in Yellow" Hussein Salem gave up to the state and seriously speaking , those are not for real 75% of this man's assets inside Egypt.
He gave up 8 villas , Jolie Ville Golf and resort , South Sinai water company in Sharm El-Sheikh , A villa in North coast "Salem and family got one villa in North Coast !!?", two buildings in Heliopolis , a palace in New Cairo , a farm in Al-Natroun valley , 36 acres on a Nile bank somewhere in Egypt,shares in Crocodile for tourism Company and Theodore electricity company "could not find anything about it online" as well more than LE 123 million liquid money !!!
Seriously speaking, this could no be 75% of the assets of that former intelligence official who started his fortune along with Mubarak in the White Wings Corporation and its shady arms deals to Egypt in the late 1970s.
Despite claims that Hussein Salem's talks with the government started in March 2016, we find in Al-Shorouk archives in January 2015 Salem wanted to reconcile with the Egyptian government offering LE 27 billion "equal to 85% of his assets according to the report"
The report including a list of Salem's assets as presented by his lawyers during then and they were definitely more than what is listed in August 2016 as his 75% of his assets.
In July 2015 , former Justice minister Ahmed El-Zend "who himself is overshadowed by accusations of corruption" revealed that the talks with Hussein Salem reached to the level that he would give up only LE 5 billion because he wanted to die in Egypt !!
In November 2015, El-Zend stated that the talks reached to up to LE 10 billion.
It seems that Hussein Salem got what he wanted and he is back for LE 5 billion only !!
It is worth to mention n March 2015 , President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree to pass a panel code amendment that allows the government to pursue reconciliation in profiteering cases outside judiciary even if the Judiciary said its final word in those cases !!
Back to the illicit gains authority , it also announced that it received 26 requests from another other Mubarak-era figures for reconciliation with the government.
Ten requests were accepted and only LE 302 million ( USD 34 million) were retrieved.
Do not get me wrong but Hussein Salem and his family won't return Egypt "if they return at all" as poor because there are offshore accounts that nobody knows anything about.
It is worth to mention that Salem started talks to reconcile with the Egyptian government since 2013.
According to Justice Minister Hossam Abdel Rahim in April, the Egyptian government represented in the illicit gains authority is currently holding talks with Mubarak cronies in not less than 35 corruption cases.
Now a week earlier , a Cairo misdemeanor court sentenced former head of Central Auditing Organization "CAO" one year in prison and an LE 20,000 fine for "spreading false news" about the size of corruption in Egypt's public sector.
The court also suspended this sentence till the appeal for LE 20,000 bail which Hisham Geneina paid right away.
By the way, the name of Geneina is being repeated as suggested presidential candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections in 2018 against Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the social media. "Wait for another post about him"
You can find the news of Ahmed Nazif , Hussein Salem and Hisham Geneina are unrelated but actually, they are.
It is not about the defeat of the 25 January revolution and the triumph of corruption but about the state's failure to combat corruption in the first place.
May be we wouldn't have a terrible economic crisis if there were a better economic plan and better true counter-corruption efforts in Egypt as well true political and legislative reforms that ensure transparency and accountability.
Just like Gamal Mubarak , Ahmed Nazif was seen lately in public more often.
Most people believe that Nazif will take the first flight and leave the country ASAP.
Earlier Saturday , the illicit gains authority announced that it lifted the name of Mubarak business tycoon Hussein Salem and his family members off the travel ban and the assets freeze in Egypt after their reconciliation.
Last week, the Egyptian government represented in the illicit gains authority announced that it reached out to a reconciliation agreement with the runaway businessman where he would give up 75% of his assets in Egypt and outside it in exchange for dropping charges against him.
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| The army : No deals with Mubarak or any of the former regime icons and the photo of Wael Ghonim with Essam Sharaf in the front page of Akhbar newspaper "April 2011" |
According to the statement of the illicit gains authority , Salem who is currently living in Spain as Spanish citizen gave up LE 5.3 billion ( USD 799 million) which allegedly 75% of his assets "about LE 7 billion.
This is very interesting because that statement contradicts with what the same authority announced in October 2011 about Hussein Salem's wealth and assets in Egypt and outside it.
In October 2011, the illicit gains authority announced that it got documents that proved Salem and his family transferred more than LE 24 billion to several banks abroad in 6 months following the 25 January revolution and the ouster of Mubarak. "They transferred their assets into liquid money".
In the same statement , the head of the authority Assem El-Gohary then hinted out those LE24 billion transferred aboard did not represent the true fortune of Salem and his family as there were other real estate assets owned by business mogul abroad including Jolie Ville Galleria mall in Romania.
So how suddenly Salem and family's fortune shrunk from " LE 24 billion " {Which is known to the authorities} to become "LE 7 billion" !?? This is one important remark
The illicit gains authority listed in another statement about the assets " highlighted in Yellow" Hussein Salem gave up to the state and seriously speaking , those are not for real 75% of this man's assets inside Egypt.
He gave up 8 villas , Jolie Ville Golf and resort , South Sinai water company in Sharm El-Sheikh , A villa in North coast "Salem and family got one villa in North Coast !!?", two buildings in Heliopolis , a palace in New Cairo , a farm in Al-Natroun valley , 36 acres on a Nile bank somewhere in Egypt,shares in Crocodile for tourism Company and Theodore electricity company "could not find anything about it online" as well more than LE 123 million liquid money !!!
Seriously speaking, this could no be 75% of the assets of that former intelligence official who started his fortune along with Mubarak in the White Wings Corporation and its shady arms deals to Egypt in the late 1970s.
Despite claims that Hussein Salem's talks with the government started in March 2016, we find in Al-Shorouk archives in January 2015 Salem wanted to reconcile with the Egyptian government offering LE 27 billion "equal to 85% of his assets according to the report"
The report including a list of Salem's assets as presented by his lawyers during then and they were definitely more than what is listed in August 2016 as his 75% of his assets.
In July 2015 , former Justice minister Ahmed El-Zend "who himself is overshadowed by accusations of corruption" revealed that the talks with Hussein Salem reached to the level that he would give up only LE 5 billion because he wanted to die in Egypt !!
In November 2015, El-Zend stated that the talks reached to up to LE 10 billion.
It seems that Hussein Salem got what he wanted and he is back for LE 5 billion only !!
It is worth to mention n March 2015 , President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree to pass a panel code amendment that allows the government to pursue reconciliation in profiteering cases outside judiciary even if the Judiciary said its final word in those cases !!
Back to the illicit gains authority , it also announced that it received 26 requests from another other Mubarak-era figures for reconciliation with the government.
Ten requests were accepted and only LE 302 million ( USD 34 million) were retrieved.
Do not get me wrong but Hussein Salem and his family won't return Egypt "if they return at all" as poor because there are offshore accounts that nobody knows anything about.
It is worth to mention that Salem started talks to reconcile with the Egyptian government since 2013.
According to Justice Minister Hossam Abdel Rahim in April, the Egyptian government represented in the illicit gains authority is currently holding talks with Mubarak cronies in not less than 35 corruption cases.
Now a week earlier , a Cairo misdemeanor court sentenced former head of Central Auditing Organization "CAO" one year in prison and an LE 20,000 fine for "spreading false news" about the size of corruption in Egypt's public sector.
The court also suspended this sentence till the appeal for LE 20,000 bail which Hisham Geneina paid right away.
By the way, the name of Geneina is being repeated as suggested presidential candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections in 2018 against Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the social media. "Wait for another post about him"
You can find the news of Ahmed Nazif , Hussein Salem and Hisham Geneina are unrelated but actually, they are.
It is not about the defeat of the 25 January revolution and the triumph of corruption but about the state's failure to combat corruption in the first place.
May be we wouldn't have a terrible economic crisis if there were a better economic plan and better true counter-corruption efforts in Egypt as well true political and legislative reforms that ensure transparency and accountability.
Sources :
- Mr. Karm Yahia's report about Hussein Salem's deal in Mada Misr "in Arabic"
- Mr. Gamal Mohammed Ghietas' Facebook post about Hussein Salem and his fortune. "in Arabic"
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And Egypt got two bronze medals in Rio 2016 in one night
This is definitely a great day for Egypt as well the Arabs in general in Rio Olympics 2016 as Egyptian Olympians managed to score two bronze medals in Weightlifting.
Fantastic 18-years-old weightlifter Sarah Ahmed Samir managed to score the bronze medal after totaling 225kg after six successful attempts in the 69kg women snatch and clean and jerk weightlifting event on Wednesday.
Sarah managed to score Egypt's first medal for Egypt in Rio so far.
She also made a historical achievement as she has become the first Egyptian to get a medal officially in weightlifting the Olympics for real since 1948 Olympics in London.
Sarah is also the first Egyptian woman to win officially a medal in the Olympics since Egypt's participation in 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
Needless to say, she is the first Egyptian woman weightlifter to win officially a media in the Olympics.
It is an amazing achievement for Sarah and Egyptian women as well Egyptians in general.
You must know that Sarah and her family asked the ministry of education to deferral her high school exams due to her training before the Olympics but the ministry refused.
From a couple of weeks ago, Sarah knew that she failed in her exams.
Following her victory by few hours, 27-years-weightlifter Mohamed Ihab scored Egypt's second bronze medal in the 77kg men's weightlifting event in Rio after a very hard competition.
Officially, Ihab is the first man Egyptian weightlifter to win a medal in the Olympics since 1948.
Mohamed Ihab's father died recently and that's why he carried his photo while crying on the podium. His mother is extremely sick and is currently in the hospital in Egypt.
Hopefully , his mom will get better after knowing her son's victory.
Here are the photos of both Sarah and Mohamed while training from nearly 7 weeks ago by dear Sarah El-Sirgany.
Of course, Wednesday was a great day for Arabs in the Olympics.
Despite he did not represent Kuwait officially , Kuwaiti Fehaid al-Deehani won his first men's Double trap Gold medal in the Olympics. Tunisian fencer Inas Boubakri won its first Bronze medal in women's individual foil
On Tuesday , UAE's judo player Sergiu Toma secured the country's second ever medal in the Olympics in the Men's Judo 81 Kg.
A side remark :The Egyptian athletes managed to achieve amazing advanced ranks in the Olympics with our modest sources in several games so far.
I wish the clubs spend on our athletes just quarter what it is spent on football, things will be different.
Of course , I did not speak about the Egyptian women's beach volleyball and how teenage Doaa and Nada became stars worldwide.
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| Our winners on Wednesday |
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| Sarah Samir , the Egyptian weightlifter in Rio "AP" |
She also made a historical achievement as she has become the first Egyptian to get a medal officially in weightlifting the Olympics for real since 1948 Olympics in London.
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| Sarah lifting the weight in an amazing shot "Getty" |
Sarah is also the first Egyptian woman to win officially a medal in the Olympics since Egypt's participation in 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
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| Sarah and the victory's smile "Getty" |
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| Sarah and the medal "Getty" |
It is an amazing achievement for Sarah and Egyptian women as well Egyptians in general.
You must know that Sarah and her family asked the ministry of education to deferral her high school exams due to her training before the Olympics but the ministry refused.
From a couple of weeks ago, Sarah knew that she failed in her exams.
Following her victory by few hours, 27-years-weightlifter Mohamed Ihab scored Egypt's second bronze medal in the 77kg men's weightlifting event in Rio after a very hard competition.
Officially, Ihab is the first man Egyptian weightlifter to win a medal in the Olympics since 1948.
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| Mohamed Ihab "Reuters" |
Hopefully , his mom will get better after knowing her son's victory.
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| Mohamed Ihab after winning "Reuters" |
And you got love Sarah with her Supergirl shirt :))
Mohamed and Sarah brought happiness to many Egyptians and Arabs tonight.
Of course, Wednesday was a great day for Arabs in the Olympics.
Despite he did not represent Kuwait officially , Kuwaiti Fehaid al-Deehani won his first men's Double trap Gold medal in the Olympics. Tunisian fencer Inas Boubakri won its first Bronze medal in women's individual foil
On Tuesday , UAE's judo player Sergiu Toma secured the country's second ever medal in the Olympics in the Men's Judo 81 Kg.
A side remark :The Egyptian athletes managed to achieve amazing advanced ranks in the Olympics with our modest sources in several games so far.
I wish the clubs spend on our athletes just quarter what it is spent on football, things will be different.
Of course , I did not speak about the Egyptian women's beach volleyball and how teenage Doaa and Nada became stars worldwide.
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Egyptian Olympics Tales : The Egyptian Olympian and the false Aryan supremacy
It was in summer 1936 when Adolf Hitler used to the summer Olympics in Berlin as his biggest propaganda tool to spread the ideas of Nazism and Aryan racial supremacy.
The Nazi leader made sure that his athletes were the best and the strongest, especially the strongest to send a clear message : The Aryans were the masters of the world and they were the new world power.
It was not about the Olympic spirit, it was about Aryan supremacy. Yet amazingly , a simple young dark Egyptian man proved Hitler wrong.
That young Egyptian man was legendary weightlifter Khadr El-Touni.
The 1916-Cairo born made history not only when he broke the world record for his 75 kg class once again in the 1936 Olympics but also when he proved that both Hitler as well the international weightlifting Federation were wrong.
In 1925, the son of a simple leather shop owner in Cairo's Shubra already broke the world record in a local competition amazingly for his class but the International Weightlifting federation did not recognize it. For some reason , the federation believed then that the young Egyptian was bluffing and lying as no man could not lift up 107.5 kg.
Months later , the federation was proven wrong when El-Touni broke the world and Olympic records once again for three times in Berlin.
He did not only crush the world and Olympic records but also crushed his German rivals whom Hitler was presenting as a proof of the white Aryanism supremacy.
The 20-years-old Egyptian was facing, Germany's Rudolf Ismayer and Adolf Wagner despite all the Nazi propaganda that they are the strongest men on earth.
Khadr El-Touni lifted up a total of 387.5 kg winning the Gold medal of weightlifting in his class for Egypt. His German competitors won the silver and bronze medals.
El-Touni is said to impress the Führer of Germany himself then. Reportedly while awarding him with the Gold medal , Hitler told him that he wished that him "El-Touni" were a German. He also told him that Egypt should be proud of him. Hitler even named a street in Berlin after that Egyptian African Arab man.
That short tale of El-Touni in Nazi Germany actually deserves to be a drama film.
Of course, he was not the only African to impress Helter and prove that his theory was wrong as African American Jesse Owens who won 4 gold medals in those Olympics games.
El-Touni would be ranked as a legendary weightlifter topping the International federation of Weightlifting's History's 50 greatest weightlifters for decades till 1996 when Turkish weightlifter Naima Süleymanoğlu replaced him.
Our legendary weightlifter represented Egypt later in 1948 London Olympics where he could not get a medal because of his illness. Nevertheless, he came in the fourth place.
In 1956 , he died in Cairo unfortunately in an accident while doing house repairs.
Thought they could not score gold medals like El-Touni in the 1930s , new Olympians Sarah Samir and Mohamed Ihab are now officially called "El-Touni's grandchildren" and they deserve it.
It is noticeable that they are just like El-Touni coming from humble working classes that already lift even heavier weights than in weightlifting : The burden of life itself.
I must thank dear Ahmed Abdel Rasoul for reminding me with that great Egyptian forgotten hero.
The Nazi leader made sure that his athletes were the best and the strongest, especially the strongest to send a clear message : The Aryans were the masters of the world and they were the new world power.
It was not about the Olympic spirit, it was about Aryan supremacy. Yet amazingly , a simple young dark Egyptian man proved Hitler wrong.
That young Egyptian man was legendary weightlifter Khadr El-Touni.
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| Khadr El-Touni with the Egyptian National weightlifting team in the 1940s |
In 1925, the son of a simple leather shop owner in Cairo's Shubra already broke the world record in a local competition amazingly for his class but the International Weightlifting federation did not recognize it. For some reason , the federation believed then that the young Egyptian was bluffing and lying as no man could not lift up 107.5 kg.
Months later , the federation was proven wrong when El-Touni broke the world and Olympic records once again for three times in Berlin.
He did not only crush the world and Olympic records but also crushed his German rivals whom Hitler was presenting as a proof of the white Aryanism supremacy.
The 20-years-old Egyptian was facing, Germany's Rudolf Ismayer and Adolf Wagner despite all the Nazi propaganda that they are the strongest men on earth.
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| El-Touni between Ismayer and Wanger in Berline 1936 "Getty Images" |
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| El-Touni and his German rivals in Berlin 1936 "Getty images" |
That short tale of El-Touni in Nazi Germany actually deserves to be a drama film.
Of course, he was not the only African to impress Helter and prove that his theory was wrong as African American Jesse Owens who won 4 gold medals in those Olympics games.
El-Touni would be ranked as a legendary weightlifter topping the International federation of Weightlifting's History's 50 greatest weightlifters for decades till 1996 when Turkish weightlifter Naima Süleymanoğlu replaced him.
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| Khadr El-Touni |
In 1956 , he died in Cairo unfortunately in an accident while doing house repairs.
Thought they could not score gold medals like El-Touni in the 1930s , new Olympians Sarah Samir and Mohamed Ihab are now officially called "El-Touni's grandchildren" and they deserve it.
It is noticeable that they are just like El-Touni coming from humble working classes that already lift even heavier weights than in weightlifting : The burden of life itself.
I must thank dear Ahmed Abdel Rasoul for reminding me with that great Egyptian forgotten hero.
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Watch this : Sleepless Cairo from 5 to 7
This short documentary below is called "Cairo from 5 to 7" produced by Egypt's High Cinema institute and directed by one of the institute's students a project from 3 years ago.
The short documentary shows parts of Cairo from 5 am to 7 am where the buzzing city seems too calm but not sleepy.
Cairo from 5 to 7 from Ahmed Abo el-Fadl on Vimeo.
Even in those early hours of the morning , the streets of Cairo seems to buzz with life but in a very quiet way.
"Cairo from 5 to 7" is filmed and directed by the student then Ahmed Abo El-Fadl and edited by Badr Dhai.
It was filmed in different parts of Cairo including downtown Cairo and Islamic Cairo between January and April 2013.
You can see how the sleepless loud city can be quiet sometimes , for few hours in some parts
Now I will seize this opportunity to post more photos from my visit to Cairo tower from a couple of weeks earlier.
They were not taken between 5 to 7 AM but during the sunset and night using my iPhone.
The short documentary shows parts of Cairo from 5 am to 7 am where the buzzing city seems too calm but not sleepy.
Cairo from 5 to 7 from Ahmed Abo el-Fadl on Vimeo.
Even in those early hours of the morning , the streets of Cairo seems to buzz with life but in a very quiet way.
"Cairo from 5 to 7" is filmed and directed by the student then Ahmed Abo El-Fadl and edited by Badr Dhai.
It was filmed in different parts of Cairo including downtown Cairo and Islamic Cairo between January and April 2013.
You can see how the sleepless loud city can be quiet sometimes , for few hours in some parts
Now I will seize this opportunity to post more photos from my visit to Cairo tower from a couple of weeks earlier.
They were not taken between 5 to 7 AM but during the sunset and night using my iPhone.
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| That side from Cairo |
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| The same side of Cairo but a bigger part of Zamalek appearing |
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| Now another view showing the stadiums of Al Gazeera youth club |
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| October bridge traffic lights before sunset |
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| That magical hour |
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| October bridge at night |
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| The magical Cairo at night |
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So Which governmental agency in Egypt did buy those fancy French business jets !?
Sources in the Egyptian Presidency denied to Al-Watan newspaper that it acquired new 4 air jets from France hours following the spread of a French news report claiming that Egypt bought 4 air jets for 300 million Euros on Tuesday.
According to French Le Tribune , the Egyptian Government signed a Contract with French Dassault Aviation to buy 4 business jets Falcon 7X for 300 million Euros "Nearly LE 3 billion".
It is worth to mention according to Le Tribune's archives that actually the Egyptian government began talks with Dassault Aviation about the 4 expensive business jets in July.
The Egyptian government or rather the Egyptian ministry of defense already 24 Rafale combat jets from Dassault in a famous 3.2 billion Euros deal.
I should hint out that for the first time in the history of modern Egypt, the Egyptian ministry of defense took loans from French banks to finance this deal.
The newspaper did not reveal the name of the Egyptian governmental agency or institution but you can understand that it is the Egyptian government in general as there was no more information to share already.
In Egypt , people read this report and accused the Egyptian presidency of acquiring those business jets as it is the only institution in the country known to own Falcon business jets in its air jets fleets.
According to Al-Watan Daily newspaper's investigative report about Mubarak's presidential air jet fleets , the Egyptian Presidency already owned 3 Dassault's Falcon business jets already.
Al-Watan report included many interesting details about the air jets, their history and the Mubaraks.
The report slammed Mubarak for spending nearly LE 3 billion on that huge fleet of air jets during his 30-years rule accusing him of corruption.
Now Egypt is also going to buy 4 business jets with another LE 3 billion !! I hope people ask questions now and not after 30 years.
Back to Mubarak's report , there is an interesting part about Pentagon documents speaking about how Mubarak spent millions of dollars to buy Gulf stream jets as part of the U.S aid.
Going back to the internet, I found out that this was brought up in January 2011 in U.S military forums and websites about how the U.S taxpayers' money was spent like that on that dictator's presidential jets.
I do not know if U.S administration or rather the Pentagon answered or not.
The news about the contracts and deals between the Egyptian government and Gulf stream about presidential planes are already available online in English since 2002.
Now , we are back to our Falcon deal in 2016.
Some informed journalists, the Egyptian Presidency is the only institution in the country besides EgyptAir that is allowed to negotiate and acquire private civilian jets directly.
Anyhow, the news came in a very provoking time.
It became viral in time as people on twitter and Facebook wondered why President Sisi would say on Saturday that people especially women in Egypt should face the difficult economic conditions when allegedly presidency acquire LE 3 billion 4 business jets !?
In that speech at the inauguration of some petrochemical complex , El-Sisi mentioned that the wars Egypt had affected its economy.
The last major war that affected Egypt was in 1973 !!
People also began to share photos of the interiors of that Falcon 7X jet.
They shared that news about how former president of Malawi Joyce Banda sold the Presidential Jet and a fleet of 60 Mercedes presidential car to help her country setting examples to all African nations of course except the land of Pharaohs !!
The news came hours after the Bloomberg's editorial about how Egypt's failing economy is El-Sisi's fault went viral like fire in Egypt.
I think we , as Egyptian citizens have to know which governmental agency or institution has acquired those air jets because that governmental agency or institution needs a lesson in austerity measures before speaking about citizens' spending.
I do not think that the House of Representatives will dare to ask about that governmental agency that bought those air jets.
According to French Le Tribune , the Egyptian Government signed a Contract with French Dassault Aviation to buy 4 business jets Falcon 7X for 300 million Euros "Nearly LE 3 billion".
It is worth to mention according to Le Tribune's archives that actually the Egyptian government began talks with Dassault Aviation about the 4 expensive business jets in July.
 |
| Dassault Aviation's official photo for Falcon 7X |
I should hint out that for the first time in the history of modern Egypt, the Egyptian ministry of defense took loans from French banks to finance this deal.
The newspaper did not reveal the name of the Egyptian governmental agency or institution but you can understand that it is the Egyptian government in general as there was no more information to share already.
In Egypt , people read this report and accused the Egyptian presidency of acquiring those business jets as it is the only institution in the country known to own Falcon business jets in its air jets fleets.
According to Al-Watan Daily newspaper's investigative report about Mubarak's presidential air jet fleets , the Egyptian Presidency already owned 3 Dassault's Falcon business jets already.
Al-Watan report included many interesting details about the air jets, their history and the Mubaraks.
The report slammed Mubarak for spending nearly LE 3 billion on that huge fleet of air jets during his 30-years rule accusing him of corruption.
Now Egypt is also going to buy 4 business jets with another LE 3 billion !! I hope people ask questions now and not after 30 years.
Back to Mubarak's report , there is an interesting part about Pentagon documents speaking about how Mubarak spent millions of dollars to buy Gulf stream jets as part of the U.S aid.
Going back to the internet, I found out that this was brought up in January 2011 in U.S military forums and websites about how the U.S taxpayers' money was spent like that on that dictator's presidential jets.
I do not know if U.S administration or rather the Pentagon answered or not.
The news about the contracts and deals between the Egyptian government and Gulf stream about presidential planes are already available online in English since 2002.
Now , we are back to our Falcon deal in 2016.
Some informed journalists, the Egyptian Presidency is the only institution in the country besides EgyptAir that is allowed to negotiate and acquire private civilian jets directly.
Anyhow, the news came in a very provoking time.
It became viral in time as people on twitter and Facebook wondered why President Sisi would say on Saturday that people especially women in Egypt should face the difficult economic conditions when allegedly presidency acquire LE 3 billion 4 business jets !?
In that speech at the inauguration of some petrochemical complex , El-Sisi mentioned that the wars Egypt had affected its economy.
The last major war that affected Egypt was in 1973 !!
People also began to share photos of the interiors of that Falcon 7X jet.
 |
| The Falcon 7X from inside |
 |
| The Falcon 7X from inside |
 |
| The Falcon 7X from inside |
 |
| The Falcon 7X from inside |
The news came hours after the Bloomberg's editorial about how Egypt's failing economy is El-Sisi's fault went viral like fire in Egypt.
I think we , as Egyptian citizens have to know which governmental agency or institution has acquired those air jets because that governmental agency or institution needs a lesson in austerity measures before speaking about citizens' spending.
I do not think that the House of Representatives will dare to ask about that governmental agency that bought those air jets.
↧
And Egypt got another Bronze medal in Rio 2016
And Egypt has managed to get another medal in the Rio 2016 earlier Friday morning thanks to the amazing Taekwondo fighter Hedaya Malak.
Malek won the Bronze medal in the women's Taekwondo-57kg category beating her Belgian rival by a golden kick.
Hedaya , who is a studying décor at the Faculty of fine arts managed to get Egypt's its third medal after Sarah Samir and Ehab Mohamed in the Rio 2016 summer Olympics games.
Many Egyptians including me woke up till the early hours of Friday morning following Hedaya Malak and man , it was worth it.
She brought great happiness and pride to many Egyptians with her smiles after winning the game.
Officially Malak is the second woman medalist in the history of Olympics after weightlifter Sarah Samir.
She is also the first Arab woman to get a medal in Taekwondo.
Of course, early Friday was a good day for Arabs.
Jordan achieved its first medal ever in its Olympic history thanks to its Taekwondo fighter Ahmad Abughaush in the men's Taekwondo-68 kg category.
A tough fighter indeed, Abughaush won a gold medal.
It was really a good day.
Back to Malak, there were very beautiful scenes after the game starting on how she was crying after knowing that she got a medal or how celebrated victory upside down or running around with the Egyptian flag or how her Spanish trainer kissed her hands.
Here is the full sequence
![]()
In video
Very beautiful scenes.
Here is the first statement for Hedaya from Rio after winning the medal saying that she wished that she was able to win the gold medal with a beautiful smile.
Malek won the Bronze medal in the women's Taekwondo-57kg category beating her Belgian rival by a golden kick.
 |
| Hedaya and her medal "AFP" |
Many Egyptians including me woke up till the early hours of Friday morning following Hedaya Malak and man , it was worth it.
She brought great happiness and pride to many Egyptians with her smiles after winning the game.
Officially Malak is the second woman medalist in the history of Olympics after weightlifter Sarah Samir.
She is also the first Arab woman to get a medal in Taekwondo.
Of course, early Friday was a good day for Arabs.
Jordan achieved its first medal ever in its Olympic history thanks to its Taekwondo fighter Ahmad Abughaush in the men's Taekwondo-68 kg category.
A tough fighter indeed, Abughaush won a gold medal.
It was really a good day.
Back to Malak, there were very beautiful scenes after the game starting on how she was crying after knowing that she got a medal or how celebrated victory upside down or running around with the Egyptian flag or how her Spanish trainer kissed her hands.
 |
| Crying after winning from happiness "AFP" |
 |
| Jumping from joy "AFP" |
 |
| Her Spanish trainer kissing her hand |
— Hesham Esmail (@Etshhh) August 19, 2016
 |
| With her family and members of Egyptian Olympic delegation "AFP" |
 |
| Getting ready for taking the medal |
Very beautiful scenes.
Here is the first statement for Hedaya from Rio after winning the medal saying that she wished that she was able to win the gold medal with a beautiful smile.
↧
Seen in Cairo : Black and White Ramses railway station
Taken in May , I captured this shot while waiting in the morning for Cairo-Alexandria train at Egypt's Ramses railway station.
via Instagram
↧
Egyptian Summer Tale : The Geneina Saga
Now, this is the most controversial political summer tale of 2016 : What happened to Egypt's former top auditor and his family for attempting to expose the tip of the corruption berg in the country.
In late July , a Cairo misdemeanor court sentenced Egypt's former top auditor Hisham Geneina to one year in jail and an LE 20,000 fine for "spreading false news to disturb public order" over his statements in 2015 that the cost of corruption in Egypt's public sector in since 2012 was over LE 600 billion.
The court also set LE 10,000 bail pending an appeal which he paid immediately to avoid jail till appeal only.
That was a major milestone in Hisham Geneina Saga that reached its peak in 2016.
Geneina was the head of Egypt's top auditing agency , the Central Auditing Organization "CAO"or as it is being called now in English Accountability state authority "ASA"officially for a reason beyond my knowledge.
Found in 1942 ,the CAO or the ASA is Egypt's top auditing authority supervising the public sector.
He gained national and international attention since his dismissal by a presidential decree issued in late March but going through the archives show that Geneina saga went back a bit further beyond his famous study about the cost of corruption in Egypt.
For me , it was more than a study about the cost of corruption in three years.
Geneina was already the undersecretary of the Judges club then and in 2008 he ran as the candidate of the reformists judges against the Mubarak regime's candidate then Ahmed El-Zend over the club's presidency . El-Zend won. In 2010 , Hisham Geneina opened his fire on El-Zend accusing him of winning the Judges club's elections by cheating.
Since 2012 , his fights with former minister of justice/ex-head of judges club and ultimate nemesis of reformist judges Ahmed El-Zend became a regular news item with a long exchange of libel and defame lawsuits and soon enough that fight would extend to their offspring but let's move slowly here.
In April 2013 , sources began to speak in the media about how the ASA exposed a huge corruption case involving Ahmed El-Zend. That case was brought up back by Ahram Arabic Gate with files in September 2014.
In the same month, Geneina said a very important statement that people forgot.
He stated publicly that minister of defense then Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to put the Egyptian armed forces' commercial activity under the ASA's supervision yet other powerful state institutions rejected the ASA supervision like the General intelligence which got commercial projects as well a law against that administrative supervision.
"This does not mean we want to interfere in the work of those institutions but everybody must understand that the ASA will keep an eye on the public money whenever it is" He said.
Then came the ouster of Morsi on 3 July.
During those days , Ahmed Zend was described as one of the leaders of the "30 June Revolution" as he led the judges protests against the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the upcoming months , there would be a purge movement against both reformist and MB judges alike in Egyptian judiciary. Almost all the famous icons of the reformist judges movement either were forced in to retirement or jail except Hisham Geneina.
Declaring his support to 30 June and its results , Geneina continued in his position as the head of the ASA thanks to the Constitution and the ASA's law. No one could dismiss him from his position according to the law then.
In March 2014 , Geneina held a press conference declaring that the ASA filed 933 corruption complaint about corruption in public sector including judiciary and prosecution to the prosecutor general since he became the head of the authority but those complaints were not investigated.
He also said that in that press conference the ministry of interior refused to cooperate with the ASA despite the authority discovered that the financial corruption in the ministry and its slush fund was estimated then by LE 2.5 billion.
He estimated the size of the financial and administrative corruption reached to LE 200 billion annually in 2012-2013 in public sector alone.
Those statements with numbers and incidents would open the doors of hells on Geneina as well his family. Pro-regime media would accuse him that he were a Muslim Brotherhood and that his wife was Palestinian with Hamas connections.
In April 2015, Geneina and his family appeared on TV to prove that they were not Muslim Brotherhood or Palestinians but rather an Egyptian secular patriot family that participated in the 30 June revolution.
Those institutions are the Central Bank of Egypt "CBE" , the Administrative Control Authority "ACA" ,the Egyptian Financial supervisory Authority "EFSA" and the Accountability state authority "ASA" , which was headed by Geneina then.
According to that law , the President can depose the chairmen of those agencies and authorities if there is a strong solid evidence that that the official comprised Egypt's national security or interest or that official is proven to be morally incompetent or his health condition prevents him/her from from doing his/her job.
Everybody knew that this controversial law was tailored specifically to get rid from Hisham Geneina.
This law also was considered unconstitutional by many law and constitution experts as it violated article No.215 of the 2014 Constitution which stipulates those regulatory bodies should be consulted regarding the laws related to their work.
Also, it was issued before we would have the parliament. "The House of Representatives would approve it anyway in January."
Personally, I think this law got damage that it extends beyond Geneina as we giving the president the right to dispose those who monitor him or her and other state institutions in the country.
On 21 July 2014, Geneina spoke with Mada Misr about the attempts to oust him accusing Ahmed El-Zend by name of standing behind that presidential decree.
It was a matter of time when El-Sisi would take that decision.
On the 7th of December 2015 , President Sisi appointed Hisham Badawy , minister Ahmed El-Zend of justice assistant for corruption as a deputy for Geneina. It was a sign.
Within hours, that statement caused huge controversy in the media. Sooner , the ASA issued an important statement to clarify matter.
Geneina did not say that the cost of corruption in 2015 in Egypt was more than LE 600 billion but he said that the ASA made a study based on the reports of the authorities from 2012 to 2015 and that study estimated the cost of corruption in those years reached to more than LE 600 billion .
Two days later , President El-Sisi declared that he formed a fact-finding committee headed by the head of Administrative Control Authority "ACA" and representatives from the ministries of Planning , finance , interior and Justice in addition to Hisham Badawy.
Interestingly, the ministries mentioned above are subjected to ASA's supervision and Geneina accused officials in ministries of interior and Justice of corruption.
In a live Facebook interview with Al-Araby TV last week, Geneina revealed that already he sent to the presidency a copy from that study two months before his public statements and all the reports included in that study also were approved by the Presidency and state institutions.
The El-Sisi's fact-finding committee concluded its work on 12 January 2016 accusing the former reformist Judge of deliberately defaming state authorities with false claims.
The president referred the report of the fact-finding committee to the parliament and Hisham Geneina vowed to fire back at that report with another detailed report.
Till this day , we do not know what the parliament actually has done so far about those reports.
Pro-regime so-called independent lawyers had begin since 2014 to shower the General Prosecution and High state security prosecution with legal complaints against Geneina and so an investigation officially started against him.
Ironically , he used to be a state security prosecution before becoming a judge !!
On 20 January 2016, the Prosecutor general issued a gag order about the general prosecution's investigation concerning the former top auditor's statements.
On 28 March 2016, the State security prosecution accused him of exaggerating the sums lost to corruption by referring to violations that took place prior to 2012 and abusing his position as the top auditor in gathering confidential documents to make his case.
Hours following the state security prosecution's statement , President Sisi issued his decree to dismiss Hisham Geneina from his position.
He later appointed Hisham Badawy , Geneina's deputy as the head of the ASA.
Following his dismissal , Wall Street Journal quoted Geneina's lawyer Ali Taha saying that his client was under house arrest. Later, the lawyer denied that Geneina was under house arrest "as it will need a court order" but it turned that the security did not allow people to visit Egypt's former top auditor at his house then !!
On 23 May 2016 , the ex-top auditor was summoned by State security prosecution for a hearing there over his controversial report.
On 2 June 2016, State security prosecution referred the former judge to court for spreading false news after he refused LE 10,000 bail and decided to stay in detention. After one day , He paid the bail and was released after one of his daughters was rushed to the hospital.
On 15 June 2016, Mada Misr published in Arabic the controversial LE 600 billion study releasing it to the public for the first time. According to economic journalists like Wael Gamal , the study was actually touching the tip of the corruption iceberg in Egypt professionally speaking.
Weeks later, another Geneina daughter made headlines.
A new presidential decree was issued to dismiss Shorouk Geneina from her position as an administrative prosecutor. It turned out that she posted a Facebook post on her personal Facebook account mocking former Justice minister Ahmed El-Zend !!!
The little Geneina, who is an animal rights activist was appointed by a presidential decree in 2014 as an administrative prosecution ironically.
After that incident , screen shots of El-Zend's sons mocking and insulting Geneina went viral as well but they were not dismissed from their jobs as judges.
You know , there are judges who used to mock public figures and express their highly politicalized opinions and yet they are still judge who sentence people to death and to life in prison in politics-related trials and cases so easily !!
Then on 28 July 2016, the misdemeanor court said its word sentencing Geneina to one year in jail and LE 20,000 as a fine for spreading false news in addition to another an LE 10,000 bail to suspend the rule till the appeal.
He paid the bail and started to appeal against the court rule.
Recently , he made a comeback in the media with lengthy interviews in Al-Araby TV and Al-Masry Al-Youm where he spoke about how he was threatened by some kind of corruption lobby made of influential official and the cost of corruption in Egyptian public sector in those 4 years is more than LE 600 billion.
It is worth to mention that during that time , Geneina gained alot of popularity among some revolutionaries who considered him as a good civilian candidate for the presidency.
Yet , the man shuts down all the calls telling him to run for the presidency or even lead the opposition but repeating his total respect and support to El-Sisi in all his interviews for the current time.
A fact that since 1942 , the head of ASA never has been under fire or created such controversy like Geneina.
This is the tale of Geneina this summer and I do not know if it has ended or not.
In late July , a Cairo misdemeanor court sentenced Egypt's former top auditor Hisham Geneina to one year in jail and an LE 20,000 fine for "spreading false news to disturb public order" over his statements in 2015 that the cost of corruption in Egypt's public sector in since 2012 was over LE 600 billion.
The court also set LE 10,000 bail pending an appeal which he paid immediately to avoid jail till appeal only.
That was a major milestone in Hisham Geneina Saga that reached its peak in 2016.
Geneina was the head of Egypt's top auditing agency , the Central Auditing Organization "CAO"or as it is being called now in English Accountability state authority "ASA"officially for a reason beyond my knowledge.
Found in 1942 ,the CAO or the ASA is Egypt's top auditing authority supervising the public sector.
 |
| Hisham Geneina in the offce "AP" |
For me , it was more than a study about the cost of corruption in three years.
Old history, old nemesis
Appointed in September 2012 by ousted President Mohamed Morsi as the head of ASA , Hisham Geneina was among the known judges in the Judiciary reform movement started in 2005 against Mubarak and his Judiciary authority law if you remember.Geneina was already the undersecretary of the Judges club then and in 2008 he ran as the candidate of the reformists judges against the Mubarak regime's candidate then Ahmed El-Zend over the club's presidency . El-Zend won. In 2010 , Hisham Geneina opened his fire on El-Zend accusing him of winning the Judges club's elections by cheating.
 |
| Judges Hisham Geneina and Zakaria in 2009 |
In April 2013 , sources began to speak in the media about how the ASA exposed a huge corruption case involving Ahmed El-Zend. That case was brought up back by Ahram Arabic Gate with files in September 2014.
In the same month, Geneina said a very important statement that people forgot.
He stated publicly that minister of defense then Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed to put the Egyptian armed forces' commercial activity under the ASA's supervision yet other powerful state institutions rejected the ASA supervision like the General intelligence which got commercial projects as well a law against that administrative supervision.
"This does not mean we want to interfere in the work of those institutions but everybody must understand that the ASA will keep an eye on the public money whenever it is" He said.
Then came the ouster of Morsi on 3 July.
During those days , Ahmed Zend was described as one of the leaders of the "30 June Revolution" as he led the judges protests against the Muslim Brotherhood.
In the upcoming months , there would be a purge movement against both reformist and MB judges alike in Egyptian judiciary. Almost all the famous icons of the reformist judges movement either were forced in to retirement or jail except Hisham Geneina.
Declaring his support to 30 June and its results , Geneina continued in his position as the head of the ASA thanks to the Constitution and the ASA's law. No one could dismiss him from his position according to the law then.
Opening the gates of hell
In February 2014 , Hisham Geneina began to release information about wide money squandering in several public sectors including presidency and security apparatus.In March 2014 , Geneina held a press conference declaring that the ASA filed 933 corruption complaint about corruption in public sector including judiciary and prosecution to the prosecutor general since he became the head of the authority but those complaints were not investigated.
He also said that in that press conference the ministry of interior refused to cooperate with the ASA despite the authority discovered that the financial corruption in the ministry and its slush fund was estimated then by LE 2.5 billion.
He estimated the size of the financial and administrative corruption reached to LE 200 billion annually in 2012-2013 in public sector alone.
Those statements with numbers and incidents would open the doors of hells on Geneina as well his family. Pro-regime media would accuse him that he were a Muslim Brotherhood and that his wife was Palestinian with Hamas connections.
In April 2015, Geneina and his family appeared on TV to prove that they were not Muslim Brotherhood or Palestinians but rather an Egyptian secular patriot family that participated in the 30 June revolution.
The beginning to the end
On 9 July 2015, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi entered that ongoing-state institution confrontation against Geneina directly when he issued Law No. 89 for year 2015 that granted the Egyptian president the right to depose the heads of four major independent state financial and regularity bodies in Egypt.Those institutions are the Central Bank of Egypt "CBE" , the Administrative Control Authority "ACA" ,the Egyptian Financial supervisory Authority "EFSA" and the Accountability state authority "ASA" , which was headed by Geneina then.
According to that law , the President can depose the chairmen of those agencies and authorities if there is a strong solid evidence that that the official comprised Egypt's national security or interest or that official is proven to be morally incompetent or his health condition prevents him/her from from doing his/her job.
Everybody knew that this controversial law was tailored specifically to get rid from Hisham Geneina.
This law also was considered unconstitutional by many law and constitution experts as it violated article No.215 of the 2014 Constitution which stipulates those regulatory bodies should be consulted regarding the laws related to their work.
Also, it was issued before we would have the parliament. "The House of Representatives would approve it anyway in January."
Personally, I think this law got damage that it extends beyond Geneina as we giving the president the right to dispose those who monitor him or her and other state institutions in the country.
On 21 July 2014, Geneina spoke with Mada Misr about the attempts to oust him accusing Ahmed El-Zend by name of standing behind that presidential decree.
It was a matter of time when El-Sisi would take that decision.
On the 7th of December 2015 , President Sisi appointed Hisham Badawy , minister Ahmed El-Zend of justice assistant for corruption as a deputy for Geneina. It was a sign.
The LE 600 billion study
On the 24th of December 2015, Youm 7 newspaper quoted Hisham Geneina saying that the cost of corruption in Egypt reached to LE 600 billion based on a study made by the ASA .Within hours, that statement caused huge controversy in the media. Sooner , the ASA issued an important statement to clarify matter.
Geneina did not say that the cost of corruption in 2015 in Egypt was more than LE 600 billion but he said that the ASA made a study based on the reports of the authorities from 2012 to 2015 and that study estimated the cost of corruption in those years reached to more than LE 600 billion .
 |
| Hisham Geneina in his office in 2015 "Agricultural Ahram" |
Interestingly, the ministries mentioned above are subjected to ASA's supervision and Geneina accused officials in ministries of interior and Justice of corruption.
In a live Facebook interview with Al-Araby TV last week, Geneina revealed that already he sent to the presidency a copy from that study two months before his public statements and all the reports included in that study also were approved by the Presidency and state institutions.
The El-Sisi's fact-finding committee concluded its work on 12 January 2016 accusing the former reformist Judge of deliberately defaming state authorities with false claims.
The president referred the report of the fact-finding committee to the parliament and Hisham Geneina vowed to fire back at that report with another detailed report.
Till this day , we do not know what the parliament actually has done so far about those reports.
Pro-regime so-called independent lawyers had begin since 2014 to shower the General Prosecution and High state security prosecution with legal complaints against Geneina and so an investigation officially started against him.
Ironically , he used to be a state security prosecution before becoming a judge !!
On 20 January 2016, the Prosecutor general issued a gag order about the general prosecution's investigation concerning the former top auditor's statements.
On 28 March 2016, the State security prosecution accused him of exaggerating the sums lost to corruption by referring to violations that took place prior to 2012 and abusing his position as the top auditor in gathering confidential documents to make his case.
Hours following the state security prosecution's statement , President Sisi issued his decree to dismiss Hisham Geneina from his position.
He later appointed Hisham Badawy , Geneina's deputy as the head of the ASA.
Following his dismissal , Wall Street Journal quoted Geneina's lawyer Ali Taha saying that his client was under house arrest. Later, the lawyer denied that Geneina was under house arrest "as it will need a court order" but it turned that the security did not allow people to visit Egypt's former top auditor at his house then !!
On 23 May 2016 , the ex-top auditor was summoned by State security prosecution for a hearing there over his controversial report.
On 2 June 2016, State security prosecution referred the former judge to court for spreading false news after he refused LE 10,000 bail and decided to stay in detention. After one day , He paid the bail and was released after one of his daughters was rushed to the hospital.
On 15 June 2016, Mada Misr published in Arabic the controversial LE 600 billion study releasing it to the public for the first time. According to economic journalists like Wael Gamal , the study was actually touching the tip of the corruption iceberg in Egypt professionally speaking.
Weeks later, another Geneina daughter made headlines.
A new presidential decree was issued to dismiss Shorouk Geneina from her position as an administrative prosecutor. It turned out that she posted a Facebook post on her personal Facebook account mocking former Justice minister Ahmed El-Zend !!!
 |
| Hisham and Shorouk Geneina "Shorouk Geneina Facebook page |
The little Geneina, who is an animal rights activist was appointed by a presidential decree in 2014 as an administrative prosecution ironically.
After that incident , screen shots of El-Zend's sons mocking and insulting Geneina went viral as well but they were not dismissed from their jobs as judges.
You know , there are judges who used to mock public figures and express their highly politicalized opinions and yet they are still judge who sentence people to death and to life in prison in politics-related trials and cases so easily !!
Then on 28 July 2016, the misdemeanor court said its word sentencing Geneina to one year in jail and LE 20,000 as a fine for spreading false news in addition to another an LE 10,000 bail to suspend the rule till the appeal.
He paid the bail and started to appeal against the court rule.
Recently , he made a comeback in the media with lengthy interviews in Al-Araby TV and Al-Masry Al-Youm where he spoke about how he was threatened by some kind of corruption lobby made of influential official and the cost of corruption in Egyptian public sector in those 4 years is more than LE 600 billion.
It is worth to mention that during that time , Geneina gained alot of popularity among some revolutionaries who considered him as a good civilian candidate for the presidency.
Yet , the man shuts down all the calls telling him to run for the presidency or even lead the opposition but repeating his total respect and support to El-Sisi in all his interviews for the current time.
A fact that since 1942 , the head of ASA never has been under fire or created such controversy like Geneina.
This is the tale of Geneina this summer and I do not know if it has ended or not.
↧
↧
Human rights Lawyer Malek Adly is released pending investigation
It is good to start the day with promising political and human rights news after all.
Earlier Saturday , an Egyptian court upheld the decision to release lawyer and activist Malek Adly rejecting a prosecution appeal on Adly's release.
On Thursday , a court ordered the release of the famous human rights lawyer Adly pending investigation on a number of charges including incitement of protests, attempting to topple the regime and spreading rumors "about Tiran and Sanafir".
Now, it is 12 :12 AM and up till now , Adly has not been released from his detention and actually, nobody knows where he is according to his wife, activist Asmaa Aly and his lawyer.
There is currently a very active hashtag in Arabic in Egypt called "#Release_Malek_Adly" demanding the authority his release.
Nevertheless, Adly's release is great.
He has been in solitary confinement for almost 120 days suffering from bad treatment despite according to the "Prison regulations" law amendments issued by President Sisi in October 2015 stipulating that the solitary confinement should not exceed 30 days !!
It is worth to mention that activist Nourhan Hefzy has been complaining that her husband activist Ahmed Douma has been in solitary confinement for three years with only 2 hours to spend outside his cell. This is just the tip of iceberg when it comes to activists and protesters suffering from solitary confinement
In June , activists launched "#No_to_Solitary_Confinement" hashtag and campaign to highlight this UN-condemned practice but nothing changed.
The hashtag is still active till this day.
Anyhow , this post will be updated with the latest development regarding Malek Adly inshallah.
Updated : Malek Adly is said to be detained at Shubra Al-Khaima police station but has not been released yet.
Earlier Saturday , an Egyptian court upheld the decision to release lawyer and activist Malek Adly rejecting a prosecution appeal on Adly's release.
 |
| Malek and his wife Asmaa with her daughter Bahiya |
On Thursday , a court ordered the release of the famous human rights lawyer Adly pending investigation on a number of charges including incitement of protests, attempting to topple the regime and spreading rumors "about Tiran and Sanafir".
Now, it is 12 :12 AM and up till now , Adly has not been released from his detention and actually, nobody knows where he is according to his wife, activist Asmaa Aly and his lawyer.
There is currently a very active hashtag in Arabic in Egypt called "#Release_Malek_Adly" demanding the authority his release.
Nevertheless, Adly's release is great.
He has been in solitary confinement for almost 120 days suffering from bad treatment despite according to the "Prison regulations" law amendments issued by President Sisi in October 2015 stipulating that the solitary confinement should not exceed 30 days !!
It is worth to mention that activist Nourhan Hefzy has been complaining that her husband activist Ahmed Douma has been in solitary confinement for three years with only 2 hours to spend outside his cell. This is just the tip of iceberg when it comes to activists and protesters suffering from solitary confinement
In June , activists launched "#No_to_Solitary_Confinement" hashtag and campaign to highlight this UN-condemned practice but nothing changed.
The hashtag is still active till this day.
Anyhow , this post will be updated with the latest development regarding Malek Adly inshallah.
Updated : Malek Adly is said to be detained at Shubra Al-Khaima police station but has not been released yet.
↧
MP Sadat may end up outside the Parliament after all
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| Youm 7's issue on Wednesday : "Sadat's show" in the Parliament |
On Tuesday, MP Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat resigned from his position as the head of human rights committee in Egypt's House of Representatives.
He resigned after he decided to travel to Geneva to attend some human rights conference without the permission of the Parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal.
Abdel Aal and Pro-regime MPs are currently accusing some MP "without naming Sadat but we all know that it is Sadat" of filing a complaint against the Egyptian Parliament abroad at some international human rights organization !!!
Speaking freely , Sadat said that he resigned from his position as the head of human rights committee because the Parliament speaker and government did not cooperate with him in doing his job to address the complaints of the citizens about injustice and human rights violations.
Now there is a huge campaign against Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat in the Pro-regime media to the level that I feel that he won't continue as MP.
For the record , his "tension" with Abdel Aal was not something new or because he went Geneva
In July , the veteran parliamentarian stated that Abdel Aal's loyalty to the regime came at the expense of parliament's supervisory powers, especially in human rights.
In late July , there was a famous confrontation between Sadat and Abdel Aal about the pensions of Egyptian military personnel.
The Parliament was discussing a bill to amend some articles related to the Military retirement and pension law. The amendments stipulate a 10% increase in the pensions of retired military personnel
A dispute erupted when Sadat boldly said after paying huge respect to the army that he was ready to support giving the military personnel an increase more than 10% in the pensions if he just knew their payment and salaries system the army adopted.
The nephew of the late President even continued in breaking that taboo and wondered about whether the "honorable ex-officers" who held civilian positions like CEOs and governors should be given that pension.
ِAbdel Aal stopped him and gave him a lesson on how he should respect the armed forces and the military personnel's sacrifices...etc. Needless to say, the parliament supported the amendments.
El-Sadat is not a radical opposition figure. In fact , you can consider him a centrist supporter of the regime.
He supports President El-Sisi and the Egyptian armed forces but I think he understands the true meaning of parliament. Already , he is a veteran parliamentarian during the days of Mubarak.
I won't lie that such parliament we have nowadays does not need Mohamed Anwar Sadat but rather his late brother , Talaat El-Sadat.
Talaat El-Sadat and his crazy outspoken unpredictable style were much needed in that parliament without a doubt.
He resigned after he decided to travel to Geneva to attend some human rights conference without the permission of the Parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal.
Abdel Aal and Pro-regime MPs are currently accusing some MP "without naming Sadat but we all know that it is Sadat" of filing a complaint against the Egyptian Parliament abroad at some international human rights organization !!!
Speaking freely , Sadat said that he resigned from his position as the head of human rights committee because the Parliament speaker and government did not cooperate with him in doing his job to address the complaints of the citizens about injustice and human rights violations.
Now there is a huge campaign against Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat in the Pro-regime media to the level that I feel that he won't continue as MP.
For the record , his "tension" with Abdel Aal was not something new or because he went Geneva
In July , the veteran parliamentarian stated that Abdel Aal's loyalty to the regime came at the expense of parliament's supervisory powers, especially in human rights.
In late July , there was a famous confrontation between Sadat and Abdel Aal about the pensions of Egyptian military personnel.
The Parliament was discussing a bill to amend some articles related to the Military retirement and pension law. The amendments stipulate a 10% increase in the pensions of retired military personnel
A dispute erupted when Sadat boldly said after paying huge respect to the army that he was ready to support giving the military personnel an increase more than 10% in the pensions if he just knew their payment and salaries system the army adopted.
The nephew of the late President even continued in breaking that taboo and wondered about whether the "honorable ex-officers" who held civilian positions like CEOs and governors should be given that pension.
ِAbdel Aal stopped him and gave him a lesson on how he should respect the armed forces and the military personnel's sacrifices...etc. Needless to say, the parliament supported the amendments.
El-Sadat is not a radical opposition figure. In fact , you can consider him a centrist supporter of the regime.
He supports President El-Sisi and the Egyptian armed forces but I think he understands the true meaning of parliament. Already , he is a veteran parliamentarian during the days of Mubarak.
I won't lie that such parliament we have nowadays does not need Mohamed Anwar Sadat but rather his late brother , Talaat El-Sadat.
Talaat El-Sadat and his crazy outspoken unpredictable style were much needed in that parliament without a doubt.
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#TheDayIDisappeared : Speak about them all the time
Tuesday marked the International Day of disappeared worldwide dedicated to the forcibly disappeared people all over the world. I think after those three years , the term of "forcible disappeared" has become familiar to the level in Egypt that the White House issued a statement on Tuesday about forcible disappearance cases in Syria, North Korea .. and Egypt.
Yup , Egypt according to the statement issued by Susan Rice, the National security advisor in Obama's administration.
Cases like Esraa El-Taweel and her friends to Mostafa Massouny to Ashraf Shehata to Giulio Regeni made the term "forcible disappearance" familiar in Egypt to the level that President El-Sisi spoke about it. "Of course, he denied it"
According to the Egyptian administration whether Sisi or ministry of interior , those people who suddenly disappeared have joined Daesh.
Egypt's Stop Forced Disappearance campaign released its annual report about forcible disappearance from August 2015 to August 2016 saying that it documented 912 cases of forced disappearance. "The Campaign which originally launched in August 2015 by the Egyptian Commissions for Freedoms and Rights "ECFR" has got an official website now."
According to the report, 789 forced disappearance cases were recorded in that year while the other 123 cases were old ones that took place from 2013 to August 2015 before the campaign would start.
Most of the 912 according to the report "584" were survived "their whereabouts have been known" including 41 people who have been released from detention while 4 other people are still detained. The report added that 52 cases are still under the category of "forcibly disappeared".
When it comes to the rest 276 cases , the campaign made it clear that it could not update their info to know if they were found or disappeared.
The report also slams the National Council For Human rights "NCHR" for its report issued in July about forcible disappearance accusing other NGOs of exaggerating the number of cases.
What it is interesting about the NCHR's report that it received 276 complaints about people forcibly disappeared from April 2015 to March 2016 and that the Egyptian ministry of interior admitted that it detained 170 people including 143 who are still detained temporarily.
On Tuesday , a group of "forcible disappearance" victims' families tried to protest in front of the House of Representatives but they were forcibly dispersed.
On Tuesday , the hashtag "#1millioncandles_Iraq" has been active internationally to remind the world with those who disappeared with no trace.
Needless to say , Syria comes after Iraq unfortunately when it comes to the highest number of forcible disappearance in the country.
Syrian Network for Human rights released a report called "The Prolonged Pain" to document forcible disappearance cases in the worn-torn Syria since the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
According to the Syrian NGO , more than 75,000 people have disappeared since 2011 in Syria.
It is worth to mention that just like Iraq, forcible disappearance was a familiar thing during Al-Assad rule.
Action Group For Palestinians of Syria "AGPS" also issued a statement about the number of Palestinians forcibly disappeared in Syria especially in the prisons of Bashar El-Assad.
According to the AGPS' statistics and documentation not less than 11,000 Palestinian were forcibly disappeared and are believed to be detained at the Syrian regime's prisons. The Action group also announced that not less than 449 Palestinian refugees died due to torture in the Syrian prisons including women and old men.
Now, those people are not numbers , they are humans. People should speak about them all the time to know their fate whether in Egypt or Iraq or Syria or Lebanon or Palestine.
This is the least we can do.
Yup , Egypt according to the statement issued by Susan Rice, the National security advisor in Obama's administration.
Egypt has seen an unprecedented spike in enforced disappearances, with Egyptian security forces increasingly relying on this tactic to silence and intimidate the government's critics. Last August the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances reported a 100 percent increase in reported cases in Egypt over the previous year; in February, that same Working Group cited another forty new cases.I am waiting for the reaction of the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs.
Cases like Esraa El-Taweel and her friends to Mostafa Massouny to Ashraf Shehata to Giulio Regeni made the term "forcible disappearance" familiar in Egypt to the level that President El-Sisi spoke about it. "Of course, he denied it"
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| Source : 123 RF |
According to the Egyptian administration whether Sisi or ministry of interior , those people who suddenly disappeared have joined Daesh.
Egypt's Stop Forced Disappearance campaign released its annual report about forcible disappearance from August 2015 to August 2016 saying that it documented 912 cases of forced disappearance. "The Campaign which originally launched in August 2015 by the Egyptian Commissions for Freedoms and Rights "ECFR" has got an official website now."
According to the report, 789 forced disappearance cases were recorded in that year while the other 123 cases were old ones that took place from 2013 to August 2015 before the campaign would start.
Most of the 912 according to the report "584" were survived "their whereabouts have been known" including 41 people who have been released from detention while 4 other people are still detained. The report added that 52 cases are still under the category of "forcibly disappeared".
When it comes to the rest 276 cases , the campaign made it clear that it could not update their info to know if they were found or disappeared.
The report also slams the National Council For Human rights "NCHR" for its report issued in July about forcible disappearance accusing other NGOs of exaggerating the number of cases.
What it is interesting about the NCHR's report that it received 276 complaints about people forcibly disappeared from April 2015 to March 2016 and that the Egyptian ministry of interior admitted that it detained 170 people including 143 who are still detained temporarily.
On Tuesday , a group of "forcible disappearance" victims' families tried to protest in front of the House of Representatives but they were forcibly dispersed.
In other Arab countries, families still wait to know the fate of the disappeared ones
For that occasion , I am using that hashtag "#TheDayIDisappeared" launched by Lebanese activists and bloggers in the post headline to remind the world with those disappeared during the Lebanese civil war from 40 years ago. Up till this day , their families do not know their actual fate.In Iraq , it is estimated that no less than one million people disappeared forcibly since the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s leading the Arab countries so far.الحرب خلصت،— Ahmad M. Yassine (@Lobnene_Blog) August 30, 2016
بس حربها ما خلصت.
.Your war ended
.Her war never did#Lebanon#TheDayIDisappeared#يوم_اختفيتpic.twitter.com/WhWnNMMqES
On Tuesday , the hashtag "#1millioncandles_Iraq" has been active internationally to remind the world with those who disappeared with no trace.
Needless to say , Syria comes after Iraq unfortunately when it comes to the highest number of forcible disappearance in the country.
Syrian Network for Human rights released a report called "The Prolonged Pain" to document forcible disappearance cases in the worn-torn Syria since the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
According to the Syrian NGO , more than 75,000 people have disappeared since 2011 in Syria.
It is worth to mention that just like Iraq, forcible disappearance was a familiar thing during Al-Assad rule.
Action Group For Palestinians of Syria "AGPS" also issued a statement about the number of Palestinians forcibly disappeared in Syria especially in the prisons of Bashar El-Assad.
According to the AGPS' statistics and documentation not less than 11,000 Palestinian were forcibly disappeared and are believed to be detained at the Syrian regime's prisons. The Action group also announced that not less than 449 Palestinian refugees died due to torture in the Syrian prisons including women and old men.
Now, those people are not numbers , they are humans. People should speak about them all the time to know their fate whether in Egypt or Iraq or Syria or Lebanon or Palestine.
This is the least we can do.
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