Quantcast
Channel: Egyptian Chronicles
Viewing all 4288 articles
Browse latest View live

Meet Egypt’s Ansar Al-Islam, the not so new Al-Qaeda group

0
0
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu,
The Art of War

A little-known militant group claimed responsibility early Friday on 3 November of the 19th October’s Al-Wahat Shootout that took place between Egyptian police forces and a group of unidentified militants in Egypt’s Western desert where 16 police personnel were killed from Five weeks ago.

The group is called “Ansar Al-Islam” and it released online a statement on Social Media Network "Telegram", at one of its channels linked to Al-Qaeda “The Sharia Guards” claiming responsibility for the shootout calling it “Lions’ Den battle”, detailing from its side what happened and revealing also some important information.
The statement has got no videos or photos to support that claim though.

On 19th October, Egypt’s police fore convey was involved in a shootout with a group of militants. According to official statements, 16 police personnel were killed and 13 others were injured in one of the worst attacks targeting Egyptian security forces outside North Sinai.
The following days witnessed a joint operation between Egyptian armed forces and Egyptian police against terrorist hideouts claiming scores of them as well liberating police officer Mohamed El-Hayes who was captured by the militants during the shootout.

Interestingly, very few Egyptian media and news outlets covered that news of that militant group claiming responsibility while the majority of news outlets did not share it in the same enthusiasm like the news of the attack or saving Captain Mohamed El-Hayes. I do not know why for real !?
Some cited the reason was the Counterterrorism law and its 54-articles that include one article prohibiting the broadcast or publication of terrorist statements in the media.
Yet, I think there is a difference between being a terrorist organization’s mouthpiece and declaring that a little known terrorist organization affiliated with one of the world’s biggest terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the most brutal attack against police force recently outside Sinai !!!!
Egyptian Police
A photo at the scene taken on 21 October showing security personnel
sitting on a police vehicle "AFP
The people need to know what they are facing already !!

Now here are a couple of thoughts I wanted to share it with you since that Friday from two weeks ago regarding the group and its telegram channel before it disappears. Luckily, I wrote down all my notes and observations before it vanishes. I do not know if its admins decided to close it down or it was closed down by the government or it became a secret one.

The Telegram Channel

Interestingly, the “Sharia Guards” channel was created on 19 October 2017 as Egypt’s first so-called “Jihadist” channel adding that its administrators are the so-called “The Forts of Glory’s lions” in Arabic.

That term is used frequently by Al-Qaeda affiliated groups as I have noticed online to describe their fighters and members on the Frontlines.
Basically, they directed their messages to the Egyptian youth to rebel against the unjust and unfair regime of Egypt to the end of that talk. Ironically, they slammed Daesh as extremists!!
Nevertheless, just like Daesh members, they listed the enemies of Islam according to their doctrines were “the Jews, crusaders aka Christians, the Egyptian army commanders and the Egyptian journalists against Islamic Sharia.

As that channel was directed to the Egyptian people, Al-Qaeda-affiliated Telegram mentioned its most infamous Egyptian members  Mohamed Atta of the 9/11 and Saeed Al-Masri aka Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the financial chief of Al-Qaeda praising them.
The administrators also listed a number of groups as some sort of Al-Qaeda representatives in Egypt. Those groups are : Agnand Misr , Al-Morabtoon , Hasm and Gund Al-Islam in Sinai.

We spoke about Al-Morabtoon and its founding leader, the most wanted man in Egypt Hisham El-Ashmaway before.
El-Ashmaway and his group were the primary suspects in Al-Wahat attacked on the 19th and 20th October.
Most people believed that he was behind it as the attack was big and sophisticated one plus the Western desert and Libya were his territory.
Early October, El-Ashmaway was sentenced to death along 13 others in a military tribunal for committing El-Farfra massacre in July 2014 killing at least 21 military personnel from the borders guards at a security checkpoint 100 km away from El-Farfara city.
Hisham Al-Ashmawy and his only photos available online
At the same time, I remember reading somewhere that allegedly El-Ashmawy’s wife Nesireen Hussein was arrested along with her two kids from him while attempting to sneak from Sudan to Libya.
He is believed to be in Derna as part of its  Shura Council of Mujahideen. I think that was why Derna was targeted twice by Egyptian airstrikes officially in the past three years.
On October 30, an unidentified airstrike on several locations in the city killing 16 civilians including women and children.
All parties involved in Libya including Khalifa Hafter’s Libyan National army denied their relation with the airstrike.
The Shura Council of Mujahideen accused Egypt of launching that airstrike but the Egyptian government denied that and condemned the airstrike officially.

Moving to Hasm, I am surprised to find their name in that name because it is affiliated more to the Muslim Brotherhood than Al-Qaeda.
In the early news reports on Friday during the shootout, H name was brought up that as security sources and security experts told news websites that the National security got intel that there was a Hasm hideout at 135 km.
Personally, I believed that scenario which says that the National security got false info from an informant claiming that there was a Hasm Hideout in the Western desert and that’s why the police force went unprepared enough to find RPG missiles waiting for it.
Many security experts later believed Hasm group was not behind it because it could not pull an operation like that.
Anyhow days will tell if the group has joined Al-Qaeda or not.

Next Aganad Misr group, it has been making headlines lately as on early October a Giza criminal court handed 13 people a preliminary death sentence for terrorism-related charges including killing policemen.
The offspring of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in North Sinai, Aganad Misr or the Soldiers of Egypt claimed responsibility for at least 19 operations targeting security forces from January 2014 to April 2015.
The High state security prosecution is still investigating their cases and people are still arrested and detained pending investigation for joining that banned group which people forgot.  

Last but not least,Jund Al-Islam in Sinai group which is older than other groups according to what I have read yet it was forgotten as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis stole its thunder.
The original Al-Qaeda affiliated group had one big operation in September 2013 when it attacked the Military Intelligence H.Q in Rafah city killing 6 soldiers and injured dozens. In the past years, the group had few operations against the Egyptian security forces compared to ISIS franchise in North Sinai aka Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis.
Now the militant group is a having a come back as on 11 November it issued a statement claiming its responsibility for an operation against El-Baghdadi's boys in North Sinai.
Safely to say, it seems that ABM is losing it power and it seems that Al-Qaeda began to restore its power.

The channel published too many messages on the 19th October but it did not mention anything about that action taking place in Egypt’s Western Desert.
On 20th October , the channel’s first mention of Al-Wahat shootout as a post in the early afternoon featuring the photo of Police Captain Elsam Mashour who was among the first police officers to be killed and their names publicized unofficially.
At 6:23 PM on the same day, it spoke about “Happy news” and then on 7:02 PM it spoke about “Al-Wahat battle”. Next day, it continued to speak happily about the updates of the shootout publishing what was already known in the social media. Then complete silence till 3 November.

The statement

Early 3 November the channel published a-two-pages-statement for a group called “Ansar Al-Islam” introducing itself to the Egyptian people and declaring its responsibility for the attack/shootout on 19 October. The statement said that the group’s “fighters” used “RBG” not “RPG” against the security forces and this was a strange mistake for me because RPG’s spelling is known already.

The use of the word “Enemy” in Arabic to describe the security forces reminds me of the language Egyptian military to describe their opponent.
The militant group also claimed that despite the number of its members were small yet they stood against the security forces that came in “3 armored vehicles” and “5 police trucks”.
The group said that it killed all officers except one they captured who is police officer El-Hayes.

They added too that they gave the soldiers and conscripts the opportunity to join them in their fight before setting them free. The group did not say that it shot the conscripts in their legs and arms. Old school militant Islamists do this and shoot who they believe “not the enemy” but are forced to help the enemy like the soldiers or conscripts. They shoot them in their arms and their legs to give them a chance to repent.
If you remember the alleged audio leak released online from Police Hospital and made a controversy, there was a part where the alleged doctor spoke about how the militants invited the conscripts to join them then shot them in legs and arms. 

The group also claimed that only one militant was killed in that operation. The ministry of interior said in its statement a number of militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved by their group before leaving the place.
Now to the most important part of the statement from my point of view.

The group announced that its leading figure Emad El-Din Abdel along an unspecified number of other militants were killed by the strikes launched by Egypt’s air forces the following days in the Western desert.

Emad El-Din Abdel Hamid’s name and photos were spread on 3 November and sooner people found a match for him in one of the photos of dead militants at the official Egyptian army’s spokesperson
Little is known publicly about Emad El-Din Abdel Hamid except that he was an ex-army officer who is usually associated with Hisham Al-Ashmaway.
On Thursday, the Egyptian ministry of interior issued a statement about the latest developments in the joint security operation in Egypt’s Western desert targeting terrorist hideouts.
According to the statement, Security’s investigations revealed that “ a terrorist cell” was formed in Libya’s Derna led by the deceased Egyptian terrorist Emad El-Din Ahmed Mahmoud Abdel Hamid who was killed in an airstrike.
All that is known about him is that the Alexandria-born was in his thirty and was among the army officers that fired because of their radical religious views.
It is not clear when he was fired but in the “Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis trial” investigations claim that he and Hisham Al-Ashmawy began to form terrorist cells starting from 2011 in the Nile valley.
Just like Al-Ashmaway, he was a member of Egypt’s Special forces or as we call it “The Thunderbolt forces”. It is not clear When they met.
He was sentenced to death in Absentia just like Al-Ashamawy in the same trial of “Farfara Massacre” in October.
Emad El-Din
This is the only photo for Emad El-Din Mahmoud released
by the MOI in January 2014 following the Cairo security directorate attack
Some say that he became the second man in command in Al-Morabtoon group in Derna while others say that he was responsible for training.
Yet, he appeared reportedly as a leader of a new group at least for us. I do not know if he split and decided to have his own group that is still affiliated with Al-Qaeda or it is a game to have a new name for an old group to fool the security forces and to exhaust them !!

The Egyptian MOI also added that that Emad’s terrorist cell members sneaked to Egypt illegally through the Western desert where they had a training camp at El-Wahat area.
That militant group reportedly managed to recruit 29 new members from Giza and Qalyubia governorates who were arrested by the security forces, MOI said.
Strangely, the MOI also said in its statements that some members of that group/cell were involved in the Christian Egyptians’ massacre in May as they had the weapons used in that attack with those people.

It is strange because Daesh claimed its responsibility for this horrifying attack against Christian Egyptians.  Again , I do not know what that means.

Now all what I think about currently is how many officers defected or fired and joined Hisham Al-Ashmawawy because I fear there are more two.


Seen in Giza : Zamalek Sporting Club's board elections

0
0
Zamalek Sports Club
 One of  Zamalek Sports Club's entrances at 7 PM Cairo local time on Thursday 

Elections time in Zamalek sporting club "ZSC" as its members are going to elect their new board on Thursday and Friday according to the new sports clubs law.
The elections are not only in ZSC but in other several clubs across Cairo and Giza Governorates as well other Governorates.
Despite Sporting Clubs are considered like NGOs and the work in its board is actually a volunteer work that is done theoretically with no revenue or profit expected for it, millions "Yes !! millions" have been spent in the elections campaigns especially in Ahly SC and Zamalek SC.
I totally understand that those two clubs are the biggest when we speak about sports in general in Egypt but still !!

When we speak about Zamalek club,  we are speaking about a wacky miserable drama and I am not speaking here about its football "Soccer" team but I am speaking about its current administration and its rivals.


ZSC is headed by notorious controversial full-mouthed MP Mortada Mansour and if you know that man then you will know why I am describing what is happening there as miserable drama.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Mansour kept speaking for several hours on air in some TV channel bashing his rival Ahmed Soliman in the elections with tons and tons of papers !!
Former police officer Ahmed Soliman is no angel either. It turned out that he got a bad record of alleged abuse and tortures against prisoners during his work in the prisons sector in the Interior ministry.
Soliman spent huge amount of money in the campaign on the outdoor advertising to the level I wonder from where he got all that money in the first place

Moving to Al-Ahly Sporting Club, it will have its elections on 30 November. It is a tough competition between its current chairman Mahmoud Taher and its famous legendary ex-footballer Mahmoud El-Khatib or as commonly known in the Arab world and Egypt Bibo.

Knowing that he is running Egypt's original's football icon, Taher who is said to a multi-millionaire oil company executive launched a huge outdoor crazy campaign that you may think that he is running for Egypt's presidency and not for Al-Ahly's chair position !!

Needless to say, those elections are much more interesting and you can not predict their results easily like Egyptian Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Egypt now under the current administration.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2zuQFuz

Egypt’s True Black Friday : North Sinai’s deadliest Mosque attack "+18"

0
0
It is a true Black Friday in Egypt. It is black as it can be for real.
At least 235 people were killed while praying the Friday prayers in a Mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai in yet another shocking attack. I will summarize what we know so far as well clarify some points regarding that horrifying attack and I am sorry if I seem little emotional.
The victims inside the Mosque
Inside the mosque after the attack in the afternoon
Tens of victims "Sinai News"
According to Egypt’s Prosecutor General office , 235 worshipers have been killed and at least 109 others wee injured in an attack on Al-Rawdah Mosque in Al-Rawdah village , Bir Al-Abd city of North Sinai governorate.
According to local sources , there are more than 20 minors among then the dead.
The attack happened in Al-Rawdah village whose population is not more than 2500 people and yes they lost 10% of their men on Friday.
According to eye-witnesses that spoke with Ahram Online,improvised explosive devices were detonated at the mosque initially, then gunmen fired at worshippers, including targeting ambulances transferring the injured to hospital.
Other eye-witnesses that spoke AFP say that the gunmen entered the Mosque and closed its doors while the people were praying where they opened their fire letting no one to leave.
It is more than horrifying.
Here is a video clip after the break showing the scene inside the mosque from Sinai News Facebook page


According to Mohamed Abu Attiya , a Sinai-based-journalist Mohamed Abu Attiya told BBC Arabic Radio Service that the people of Al-Rawdah village received warnings for quite some time that Daesh-affiliated group could attack them and they even organized checkpoints to protect themselves.
The injured have been transferred to hospitals in North Sinai , Ismailia and Cairo governorates.

As soon as the news was known back to Cairo , President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held an urgent meeting with the ministers of defense and interior and the heads of military and general intelligence services.
Sisi addressed the nation in the evening vowing to avenge for those 235 victims using “brute force” {yes , he used the exact term in Arabic in one of the most unfortunate use of words in a speech}.
“We will see God will stand with which party” He said addressing the terrorists.
The Egyptian security forces declared a launch an operation against the assailants who are responsible for that horrifying massacre.  

The Egyptian Presidency declared national mourning for three days in the country. It is a wise decision to show that the state truly cares for the citizens.
It is worth to mention that in previous attacks like for instance the recent shootout of Al-Wahat , the state did not declare a national mourning for a single hour.
No group has claimed its responsibility so far for the attack.

The Rawdah Mosque and Sufism

The foreign media has been describing the attack on Friday as an attack on a Sufi Mosque in Egypt’s Sinai and the worshipers as Sufis
I am afraid this is far from accurate description.

We do not have in Islam something called “Sufi Mosque” in Egypt. Al-Rawdah Mosque was built indeed by one of the biggest Sufi orders in Sinai yet it is not Sufi Mosque , it has not even got a Shrine in it.
Al-Rawda Mosque
Al-Rawdah Mosque from outside "Ahram Online
Most Muslims who use the Mosque built by those Sufi Orders are not Sufi themselves but they choose to pray at those mosques for different reasons above them that they are near to them just like Al-Rawdah mosque which attracts worshipers in Bir Al-Abd because it is big.

Another thing , the attack happened during Friday’s prayer when the Mosque is fully packed.
Sufis are not prosecuted in Egypt.

Yes , Salafists hate them and yes some of their shrines were attacked in the past 5 years especially in 2013 but I cannot considered them a minority that suffer injustice even in rural areas like Christian Egyptians. On the contrary , Sufism is still one of the dominated religious currents in Egypt.

The usual suspects and Sufi connections

We got two primary suspects as usual when we speak about terrorist attacks in North Sinai : Daesh and Al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

Daesh’s North Sinai-based Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis “ABM” or “Sinai province” as it calls itself got a record with the Sufi shrines and sheikhs in the area.
ABM claimed in the past the destruction of at least two Sufi Shrines including one in 2014. It also kidnapped and slaughtered in cold bold in November 2016 Sinai’s oldest Sufi Sheikh Soliman El-Haraz for witchcraft.
The sick terrorist organization released a video for the slaughter of the 96-years old man. During then , it was said that Sheikh was kidnapped from his home South of Al-Arish.
According to what I have read earlier Friday , El-Haraz used to live in Al-Rawdah village which is a center of Sinai’s biggest Sufi order " Al-Gaririya" which built many of Sinai's Mosques.

Updated : It seems that Daesh spoke about the village of Al-Rawdah as a center for Sufism in an interview with one of their leading figures in North Sinai in their English-speaking magazine Rumiyah in January with photos showing the execution of Sheikh Soliman. “via @LalaKdaho”
A copy of the terrorists' interview
The photo of execution of late Sheikh Soliman in the sick
interview
That leader vowed to eradicate “Rawdah lodge”.
Rawdah in the sick interview
Targetting Rawdah in the sick interview
Al-Qaeda’s affiliated Jund Al-Islam had a comeback last month after two years of hibernation when it launched an operation against ABM.
Updated : Jund Al-Islam issued a statement online denouncing the attack and presenting its condolences to the families of the victims. It also warned the Egyptian government and the army of taking a chance and attacking them because of that attack.
I think it leaves one primary suspect then.

Egypt’s fatalist attack for real

It is the deadliest attack Egypt has ever seen by numbers. 
With a death toll of at least 235 on Friday only , El-Radwa Mosque attack comes ahead of horrifying past attack above them the Metrojet bombing or aka the Russian airliner bombing in October 2015 {224 fatalities}. I have been revising all the previous attacks and so far , this is unprecedented by all measures.
It is the fatalist attack in North Sinai since the start of insurgency in time of Mubarak in the same way.
It is the first attack of its kind to involve Muslim worshipers during Friday prayer in a Mosque.
This has not been done before as far as I can tell.

Unfortunately in times like this , I and others miss the valuable insights and views of Egyptian journalist and researcher Ismail Iskandrani who has been in a pre-trial detention for nearly two years on charges of joining the Muslim Brotherhood , a group which he despised publicly and officially. 

Please pray for Al-Radwa Mosque victims and their families , please pray for the people of North Sinai , please pray for Egypt.

Egypt’s Black Friday : At least 305 humans were killed in North Sinai Mosque Massacre

0
0
All the flags of Egypt lowered on Saturday across the country in national mourning according to a presidential decree issued on Friday following the country’s deadliest attack since the 1970s in North Sinai’s Bir El-Abd.

Egypt’s Prosecutor General’s office issued on Saturday a new statement about Al-Rawdah Mosque massacre in North Sinai governorate with a new shocking updated death toll as well updated testimonies of survival.

According to the statement, the death toll in the attack reached officially 305 people including 27 children while the injured increased to 128.
It is officially a massacre
It is officially the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt.
A boy and a girl
A boy and a girl searching in the shoes and slippers left on Saturday outside
the mosque, maybe they would find their beloved ones  "Mohamed Ibrahim
Unofficially, the people are speaking there about how they buried on Friday in several mass cemeteries in Bir El-Abd 327 people !!
Some families have buried their victims without heading to the hospitals where the officials count the numbers.
According to the numbers from our people in that sad village, 28 kids who did not reach 10 years old were killed in the mosque.
At least 160 men above 60 years old were killed in the Mosque. Ten families lost grandfathers, fathers and sons in the Mosque. Three generations were killed together.
At 17 families lost the father and all its sons.


A mother
A mother standing over the body of who could her son or
her husband at the mosque on Friday " Mostafa Singer" 
The photos of mothers and wives as well old grandmothers in shock over the loss of their men are heartbreaking.
The people of Bir Al-Abd buried tens of victims in mass graves overnight using bulldozers.
There were no public funerals for them.
I do not know why but I know the photos taken for the mass burial were more than sad and shocking. The locals told the journalists at Ismailia hospitals where the injured are currently treated that they would avenge

No one claims anything

No group has claimed its responsibility so far for the attack but as I hinted in my first post about the attack, ISIS’ affiliated Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis “ABM” is the primary suspect with their previous known attacks against Sufi shrines and Sufi sheiks in the area.
Interestingly, Hasm militant movement issued a statement denouncing the attack.
Also, the people of El-Rawdah spoke about how they received threats from ABM frequently because of the Jariri Sufi movement.

What happened at the Mosque according to the survivors

As the Emam of El-Rawdah started his Friday sermon and the mosque was full of worshippers who came to pray weekly Friday prayers not only from El-Rawdah,25 to 30 gunmen surrounded the mosque from its door and windows opening their fire and killing whoever moved inside the mosque.
Some of the gunmen were masked. They wore camouflage trousers. They came in 5 SUVs carrying the black flag of Daesh according to eyewitnesses.
After killing the worshipers inside the mosque , the gunmen set the cars and trucks outside the mosque on fire. 
I believe those testimonies because the mosque appeared in the photos intact unlike what claimed on Friday that it was bombed.
Now what scares me is that killing spree continued for few minutes and near 1/4 population of a whole village was killed.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ordered the government to pay LE 200,000  {USD 11,306} as compensation to the families of the victims. He also orders the Egyptian armed forces to build a memorial to commemorate the victims in Al-Rawda village according to the “latest designs” per a presidential statement.

I believe building a proper hospital or a clinic that small village is more useful than a memorial.
Presidential Fund “Long Live Egypt” announced that it started a campaign to collect donations in order to improve the living conditions there.
The Egyptian armed forces declared in the past 48 hours that the Egyptian air forces launched a series of airstrikes targeting “terrorist hideouts”
Egyptians are still in shock over what happened and we have to be in shock but we must ask questions, lots of questions about the war on terrorism in Egypt.

Some Egyptian officials said on Saturday that this attack was a sign of the triumph achieved in the war on terrorism !! I do not know how that attack would prove that we are winning the war on terrorism when more 300 people are killed in board daylight in a Mosque !!

Shadia of Egypt has gone : Farewell Sweetheart

0
0
It seems that this is a true tough sad week for Egyptians as it started with a horrifying massacre and now they are bidding Farwell to their legendary sweetheart, Shadia.

Shadia
Shadia in a colored photo in the early
 1950s, the original I think by Van Leo
From short time ago, the family of beloved legendary Egyptian star Shadia declared her death after a long struggle with illness in Cairo.

Born on 8 February 1931, Fatima Ahmed Kamel Shaker was the youngest daughter of an Egyptian middle-Class family. Her father used to work in the Royal Garden. The girl with Turkish roots entered the Showbiz following her elder sister Afaf Shaker whom the critics predicted to be the next big star in Egypt's cinema and theater in their golden age.

Ironically, it was young Fatima who became that under the stage name of Shadia.
Shadia means in Arabic a “Singer” and some say famous director Helmy Rafla while others say famous actor Abdel Waress Assar gave her that name because of her beautiful cheerful
Since the late 1940s till late 1980s, Shadia became one of Egypt’s as well the Arab World’s top divas and stars. As an actor, She is considered one of Egypt’s top artists in the Cinema world.
I use the word “artist” because what Shadia presented in cinema is true art.

Our critics called Shadia “the Pampered star” of the Egyptian cinema because of bubbly cheeky roles in her beginnings in light romantic comedies but she was for me The woman with thousand faces as one website called her earlier.

Starting in 1947, Shadia’s filmography extended for 4 decades becoming a top actor with 114 films. Her filmography started with light comedies then moved to melodramas to romance to musicals.

Shadia established herself as a serious actor when she presented the Leading role in “The Unknown Woman” film in 1950 directed by Mahmoud Zulfiqar, which is based upon French play “Madame X”.

In the 1960s, she presented her best performance in a series of films including films based on novels of Naguib Mahfouz. According to Egypt’s Nobel Prize for literature prize winner, Shadia gave a soul to his women character whether in the “The thief and the dogs-1962”, “Al-Madaq Alley-1963”, “The Road-1964” and “Miramar-1969”.

Shadia and Naguib Mahfouz
Shadia and Naguib Mahfouz while filming "Al-Madaq alley" 
Shadia and Mahmoud Morsi
Shadia and Mahmoud Morsi
in a Touch of fear 
She also presented in 1966 one of Egypt’s most memorable feminist comedy “My Wife is a general manager” along with her husband then Salah Zulficar.

In 1969, she presented one of the greatest role in the Egyptian cinema as Fouada in the political epic “A touch of fear” and since then Fouada became an allegory of Rebellious Egypt standing against that tyranny whom she once loved for the sake of her village.
film
That film directed by Hussein Kamal is considered from the top five films in Egyptian cinema, it is a true piece of art aside from all its politics.

As a singer, Shadia also became a top of her generation with her cheerful voice. Just like her acting, her voice and performance got better and amazing as she grew up where you can feel her emotions in the songs.


Her greatest songs were composed by Mounir Mourad whom she had a long friendship and as well Baligh Hamdy who was a true music genius.
Here is a nice playlist for my favorite Shadia's song , I hope you enjoy them.

Her immortal “Ya Habibity Ya Masr” was among the top songs that were sung in Tahrir square.



That patriotic song was composed in one day thanks to the music genius Baligh Hamdy. Here is a very rare video for Shadia in the early 1980s speaking about how that song came to the world.


In the 1980s, Shadia completely her legendary career by starring in a musical comedy play about Egypt’s notorious serial killer sisters Riya and Sakina along Soheir Al-Bably. The play was so successful that it toured the Arab world. That play was probably one of the best musical plays in the history of Egyptian theatre.

In the late or mid 1980s , Shadia took a decision to quit showbiz and wear a veil spending the rest of her life away from lights dedicating her time to worship God as well helping orphans.
Shadia in Mecca
Shadia in the 1990s during pilgrimage in Mecca 
She did not reject or regret her work in the showbiz like other actors who quited it in the 1990s denouncing it for religious reason.

She was in her 50s when she took that decision that surprised Egypt. Looking back to her decision and what I knew about her personal life then, I believe that she was so tired and decided to have the rest of her life as Fatima Shaker.
In that time, her fans ad the media did not know that she conquered breast cancer

An old magazine showed that Egypt’s sweetheart wished that when she would reach her 50th birthday, she would be married and having lots of kids.
Shadia's wishes 
Unfortunately, that did not happen. Shadia married officially three times and did not have any kids. She married famous actor Emad Hamdy then Radio engineer Aziz Fathy then Salah Zulficar.

Shadia and Zulficar were among the most iconic duets in the Egyptian cinema in the 1960s with their series of films together. Sadly, they divorced later.
Nevertheless, she was a true mother to her nieces and nephews like Egyptian painter Nahed Shaker who mourned her as her mother, not as an aunt.

Those who met after her decision describe a very sweet, modest and down to earth person.

You can’t simply describe the career or the life or the talent of Shadia in a couple of words in an
Shadia at the beach in the 1960s
Shadia at the beach in the 1960s 
obituary.
You may not know that but after my graduation from Cairo University, I planned to launch a fan site dedicated to Shadia because I felt the world needs to know about that amazing artist. Unfortunately, I abandoned the project following the death of my grandfather on 8th February 2005, ironically he died on the same day she was born on.

Our Shadia has been the true People’s idol in Egypt for decades. I could not believe how Egyptians prayed for her health in October when she was first admitted to the hospital. She seemed to be among the things that unite us as Egyptians who love her so much. She was that girl next door, the sweetheart, the sexy woman all men want and all women want to be and the sweet mother


I have just read that the moon does not go away, it shines next night until the end of our days on that planet thus is our Shadia. She may have left this world but her work in Cinema and Music will remain forever to remind us of her forever after.

In a big regional drama : Shafik declares his Presidential bid

0
0
That’s one hell of a week, Egypt is having already and it has not finished yet!!
It started with a massacre by terrorists that Egypt has not seen before to the death of Egypt’s legendary diva to a real crazy elections week in sporting clubs to the announcement of a presidential bid that creating buzz at least in two Arab countries thanks to two videos.

The First Video

Wednesday afternoon , many Egyptians were surprised to find an exclusive breaking news from Reuters at 4 PM Cairo local time saying that former Egyptian PM and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik declared his intention to run in the upcoming presidential elections in Spring 2018.

Reuters added that it received a phone call from the former 2012 presidential candidate from UAE and a video statement as well declaring his candidacy for the Egyptian Presidential office.
Shafik also added that he would return from UAE soon to start his campaign.

Reuters released the video and it is available online but it was edited.
Sooner Ahmed Shafik’s official social media account uploaded the 6-minutes’ announcement .

Reading from a paper while wearing a suit, Shafik started his speech thanking UAE and its rulers for hosting him all those years since 2012.
During his speech, he stressed that his aim was to have a civilian democratic Egypt that upholds accountability and human rights, which are not a grant from anybody !!! “Yes, this is Ahmed Shafik speaking !!”

You know I voted for Mohamed Morsi in 2012 and I did not support Ahmed Shafik but one must say that his speechwriter in 2017 is better than the one he had in 2012.
I have noticed an improvement in his statements already since the Tiran and Sanafir’s crisis.
The announcement freaked out El-Sisi supporters who were once his supporters in 2012.
During that time, I managed to get a confirmation from his party “The Patriotic Movement” that he would return Egypt soon at the time he chose.

The second video

Two hours later, we found Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV network declaring that it would air an exclusive video statement from Ahmed Shafik declaring that UAE barred him from travel.
Here is the video.

Thanks UAE for hosting him at first, Shafik stated in the short video that he was barred from leaving the UAE for reasons beyond his understanding as he said.
He also added that he intended to have a tour to meet Egyptian abroad before returning back home.
You got Shafik appearing in Qatari Al-Jazeera saying that UAE blocks his return to Egypt to participate in the upcoming presidential elections !!

It is no longer Egyptian matter, but rather regional matter or rather drama.

An hour later, we found UAE’s state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash denying what Shafik said and slamming him big time on his official Twitter account. Gargash admitted that the Emirati government did not approve some of Shafik’s stances despite all the help, facilities and honors he
Ahmed Shafik
Shafik is back "his famous campaign photo in 2012"
received in the UAE since 2012.
The Pro-regime Media went mad in Cairo before Abu Dhabi !!
All those Pro-regime TV hosts who once praised him turned against him in a surreal scene.

Lamis El-Hadidy praised Khaled Ali for God’s sake !! Her husband Amr Adeeb was extremely sad and angry that you might think that one of his kids were killed by Shafik heavens forbid !!
Adeeb claimed that the former presidential candidate may return back to Cairo early Thursday !!

At 11:44 PM Cairo Local time, AFP announced that it received a video message from Ahmed Shafik stated that he was barred from leaving the UAE by its government too.
I think it is the same video sent to Al-Jazeera.

At 1:15 AM Cairo Local time, I got a statement from Shafik’s political party “The Patriotic Movement” party saying that the former Prime minister did not and won’t deal with Al-Jazeera TV channel and he is currently facing a smear campaign in the media following the announcement that he intended to run in the upcoming presidential elections.  The Party which got 4 seats in the current House of Representatives added that Shafik did not send any video to that TV channel.

Seriously speaking I do not understand what happened. I hope we will understand in the upcoming hours. All that I can say is that Ahmed Shafik is a serious rival to Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
And just like Ahmed Shafik said to his supporters following his success in the first round of the Egyptian Presidential elections 2012 “Let’s get some sleep”.

#Jerusalem _Capital_of_Palestine : We Will fight with Hashtags or How we enter wars with words only “Updated”

0
0

Updated on 6 December 2017

And in a miserable reckless move to achieve a fake internal victory among his radical right wing supporters, U.S president Donald Trump recognized the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel giving his orders to transfer the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to the officially occupied city.
I do not need to say that this man made my blood boil while listening to his crappy speech showing how much he is braver and smarter than other former U.S president who had actually brains not to take that step.
Donald Trump just gave a kiss of life to all radical groups in the region above them Daesh and Al-Qaeda.
I must say that with his so-called historical decision earlier , the 45th President of the United States broke at least three UN security council resolutions :
  • UN security council resolution No.242/1967 which stipulates the complete Israeli military withdrawal from the territories it occupied in June 1967 including East Jerusalem.
  • UN security council resolution No.478/1980  which rejects the Israeli government’s decision then to annex East Jerusalem and declare Jerusalem as its official capital.
  • UN security council resolution No.2334/2016 which states that the council does not officially recognize changes changes made to Israel's borders post-1967, other than those agreed by the two sides through negotiations.
The official Arab reaction above the Egyptian reaction came as expected : condemnation and we refuse the decision …bla, bla, bla !!
Unfortunately , Egyptians cannot protest such decision like in the old days due to the Protest law.

With the next few hours, the Middle East is waiting anxiously U.S President Donald Trump’s official announcement to transfer the U.S embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as an official capital of Israel in a complete defiance to all the warning he received from world leaders.
After the telephone call between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Trump Wednesday afternoon, it was clear that the man in the Oval won’t change his mind.
What are we going then?
Well, the assistant of the League of Arab States “LAS” secretary general Hossam Zaki has got a nice idea: We should write more on social media using #Jerusalem_Capital_of_Palestine“Extensively” !!


This Facebook post published by the Egyptian diplomat veteran summarizes the despair we have reached.
If this is Hossam Zaki, then what is left to me as Zeinobia to do, the so-called blogger and social media activist as journalists like to call me !?
This really angers me because it shows how those who seem to be in charge are clueless !!!
I guess a man like him knows that we, the Arab and Muslim people can not change the fate of a city like Jerusalem with hashtags.
Ironically, Pro-regime TV hosts like Amr Adeeb and Ahmed Moussa had the same message to the public that we should address the American president through social media !!
I wish it was that easy and simple.

Palestinian Jerusalem
The beautiful Arabic Palestinian Jerusalem by
Fadi Amirah
It is interesting though to find Zaki saying that “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” when the current Egyptian administration says that “East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian State” !!
This is beside the infamous the miracle children of the world-Kushner and MBS’ peace plan that involves a chunk of Sinai as part of the Palestinian state and a small village East of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.


President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt spoke with Trump on Tuesday emphasizing “Egypt’s position that Jerusalem should maintain its current legal status within the frameworks of the international and UN resolution” !!

It is interesting to see that Sisi did not inform Trump Egypt’s direct and complete rejection of the transfer of the U.S embassy instead of using those indirect phrases !! “Maintaining the city’s current legal status within frameworks of the international rules and UN relevant UN resolution !!” I highly doubt that the current POTUS fully understood that !!

Now I think about it, I believe that the current leaders in the Middle East and the Muslim world won’t do nothing if Trump goes on with his plans and that’s why he will do it.

Those leaders won’t call for a boycott of American companies and products in an effective way to send a message that Trump will understand as a businessman very well. If the Gulf countries decided to suspend all their military purchases from the U.S, that will be a strong message… in another time.
Those leaders won’t even call their ambassadors from Washington D.C for consultation.

My bet is always on the people of Palestine, not the PLO or Hamas or any other Palestinian political group. It is the people of Palestine.
May God protect and save Jerusalem as well the world from those fools ruling it right now.

Al-Rawda Mosque Carnage : Two weeks later

0
0
Last Friday, head of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed El-Tayeb led Friday prayers at North Sinai’s El-Rawda Mosque just one week after the horrifying massacre it witnessed where not less than 311 people were killed according to official statements in Egypt's worst terrorist attack.

The week before President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi renewed his orders to the Egyptian armed forces and police force during the official celebration of Prophet Mohamed “PBUH” to use “brute force” or “utmost force” to restore order within three months in the Egyptian Northern East governorate.

The Egyptian Mainstream Media passed over that horrifying massacre as you know life goes on and we should not ask too many questions as terrorism is having its last days in North Sinai.

I had too many questions and I could not find them in the mainstream media as usual.
I can not travel to North Sinai except if I have security permits and unfortunately I could not travel to Ismailia to meet with the injured either as I have been battling flu. Yet, thank God for telephones despite it is not perfect.

In the past week, I managed to speak with locals from both Bir Al-Abd city as well Al-Rawda village through telephone calls.
Their answers and information did not only reveal something I did not know then about the worst massacre in the history of Egypt but also about the situation in general in North Sinai governorate after nearly four years of war against terrorism.
The Black Friday
On Friday 24 November, the People of Bir Al-Abd began to feel that there was something wrong with that 35 km away small village as news came that militants cut the International highway between their city and Al-Rawda.
The news came that afternoon about how there was a bombing inside the village’s mosque during Friday prayers and the injured were transferred to the Bir Al-Abd hospital as there is no medical facility in there.
Al-Rawda Mosque on Google maps
Al-Rawda Mosque on Google maps
Mohamed Khalil, a resident of Bir Al-Abd remembered what happened next very well as he rushed to the hospital to donate blood like others.
“We saw urgent cases of badly injured people flooding into the hospital and found out that it was bigger than the usual militant attacks.” He said describing how a huge number of corpses coming in an unstoppable wave of cars.
Injured rushed in to Bir Al-Abd hospital by Mohamed Ibrahim
Injured rushed in to Bir Al-Abd hospital by Mohamed Ibrahim 
The small Bir Al-Abd hospital turned in to a field hospital with more corpses in the upcoming hours in a horrifying scene before the ministry of health would send over 20 ambulances from Ismailia and Cairo governorates to transfer the injured.

The hospital's supplies already began to run out, especially cotton and plastic bags as well medicine.


" A video shot by Mohamed Khalil showing the people rushing into Bir Al-Abd hospital on that day, he uploaded on 27 November " 

“More injured people began to speak and tell us what happened” He added.
Just as the Imam of the Al-Rawda Mosque began his sermon, masked and unmasked militants appeared encircling the mosque blocking its windows and door, the injured said.The carnage started when the militants opened their fire on whoever was moving in that mosque.
First responders to get in to the village before the security forces, the people of Bir Al-Abd were horrified by the scenes in front of them.
Inside the Rawda Mosque
Inside the Mosque by Mohamed Khalil the day following the carnage
They took video clips and photos documenting bodies all over the Mosque built by the Jarirs, the biggest and main clan in the village which is related to El-Swaraka tribe in North Sinai.
It was not only men who had been killed but also there were at least three women who were shot down by the militants as they hurried to see what is happening in the mosque, to their doomed destiny as we say in Egypt.
“We also found that the militants also killed an elderly man and his wife at their home.” Mohamed Khalil said.
The women victims as well that elderly couple killed in their home did not find their way to the mainstream as they should.
The numbers mystery
The Egyptian government declared that only 311 people were killed while the Facebook Sinai local news pages speak about not less than 320 people.

Mohamed Khalil went and participated in the mass burial of the victims who got no public funerals at night in the nearby Al-Mazar village, where the Al-Rawda’s villagers’ cemetery is.
“There were security officers overseeing the burial who counted the bodies and wrote down their names,” said Khalil adding that the number he got from those officers then was 309 dead bodies buried using bulldozers and manpower.
The mass-burial of the victims late 24 November by  Mohamed Khalil
The mass-burial of the victims late 24 November by
Mohamed Khalil 
“There were other 18 bodies that were buried in another cemetery, so we are speaking about 327 dead bodies on that Friday.” He said describing how everybody participated in the burial including children.

In Islam, martyrs who are got killed are buried without a burial wash or a shroud into their tombs.
Khalil believes the contradiction in the locals’ numbers and the official numbers come from the fact that “things happening in Sinai do not reach the people in the valley”
“We can be speaking about approximately 330 dead as some of the injured died in the following days” He added.

The victims in their coffins by Mohamed Khalil before their burial in the early hours of November 25
The victims in their coffins by Mohamed Khalil before their burial
in the early hours of November 25 
On the other hand, Al-Rawda resident Mohamed Ibrahim believes that this contradiction in the official and local death toll numbers goes to what he thinks as “the policies towards North Sinai”.
“Since 2013 and there was a policy to minimize human casualties in North Sinai, it is better to have smaller numbers.” the University student said.
According to Ibrahim, 350 people mostly from men were killed on Friday 24th November and 5 more died in the following days.

“The eligible male voters in Al-Rawda were 420 per the official statistics we gathered so most of those voters are killed on that Friday.” He said hinting out that there are also 90 to 150 people injured.
“Most women in the village are widows now” He added.

Visiting the village daily from Bir Al-Abd to check on their needs, Mohamed Khalil recounts how the Diwan, which is the main gathering place for men in the village is empty now except may for two or three men. The remaining men are staying in their homes trying to cope with that shock.
According to the official statements of the ministry of solidarity, Al-Rawda village lost ¼ of its men out its 2400 population.
The threats
Yes, the village received threats from Daesh-affiliated militants in the past.
“From three months and a half, masked people reached to the village chief and told him not to hold any Sufi activity in the village,” said Ibrahim hinting to the infamous brutal video released by Daesh in November featuring the cold-blooded execution of Sinai’s oldest Sufi Sheikh following Al-Jaririya Order in November 2016.
“They warned him of holding any Sufi meetings or gatherings” He added.
Al-Rawda Mosque is built by the Jaririya order, Sinai’s biggest Sufi order which it is related to the Jarir clan in the doomed village. The order had a shrine for their Sheikh “Abu El-Jarir” near Al-Arish city but the militants blew it up.

The University student who lives in Al-Arish and studies in its university hinted out that thereare or were utmost 20 to 40 Sufi people only in the village.
“Some people stopped indeed while others did not care and continued holding Sufi meetings.” He said.
There were also warning to the villagers not to work in the salt fields owned by the government nearby the village. Seen on Google maps, several salt fields that once Egyptian military intelligence Noam Shakib spoke about in his 1907-Sinai and its Geography book are still there.

In October, militants tried to storm an army-owned cement factory in Central Sinai but they were stopped by a checkpoint guarding the factory. The factory workers reported that they received warnings from the militant group not to cooperate with the army.
A month later, those militants attacked a convoy transporting workers from the factory killing 10 of them. Those two attacks show some sort of change in the targets in North Sinai.
No group has claimed its responsibility for both attacks.

Mohamed Ibrahim also spoke about how the militants allegedly used a very narrow desert road called “Jarir El-Ghozan” from the East of the village to come from and that the people informed the authorities but “nothing was done about it”
Questions raised after the attack about why the security forces did not protect Al-Rawda from the militants after threats especially there is a reportedly security checkpoint hundreds of kilometers away from the village.
Not defending the security authorities but there is another question here: Why did the militants attack the worshipers during the Friday prayers and not during the Sufi gatherings which are known to everybody?

In the past two weeks, there had been rumors about attacks coming from the East and at the same time we read in the past three days how security forces found tons of explosives around it.
A small village becomes big in the news
Al-Rawda is a small village just like any other rural village in Egypt suffering from a shortage of basic services, its difference that it is in North Sinai governorate.
There is one school complex in Al-Rawda serving its people, though the education level there is not high according to Mohamed Khalil.

That school lost six teachers in the attackers along with their kids. Most of the teachers live in Bir Al-Abed but they prayed on that Friday in Al-Rawda Mosque. For the next two weeks, the remaining teachers reopened the school to a very small number of students from all stages.
The Al-Rawda's Elementary schoolyard, empty
two days following the attack "Sinai News" 
“Almost all the women became widows and the children are fatherless in that village,” Mohamed Ibrahim said.
There are no employees thus there are no official pensions. Special pensions were allocated to the villagers from both the government and Al-Azhar institution.
Most of the men in Al-Rawda are day-to-day workers who work in the city of Bir Al-Abd or in the salt fields.
Outside Al-Rawda Mosque
Children searching for relatives' shoes and slippers in that pile
outside Al-Rawda Mosque hours following the attacks "Mohamed Ibrahim"
In the same week of the attack Sisi gave orders to build new cities in North Sinai like New Bir Al-Abd and I do not know how building a new city will solve any problem.

The government discussed how to upgrade the standards of houses, electricity, water and sewage in the original Bir Al-Abd.
The TV channels got others and they shifted to cover quickly.

The first week following the attack life was hard for the Al-Rawda people who haven’t woken up from their shock yet, but they showed great resilience and patience like no other comparing to the size of their catastrophe.

In his 1907-book about Sinai’s geography, Lebanese-Egyptian Shakib Noam spoke that the Jarirs were known in North Sinai by their grace and commitment to religion.

Palestinians in Gaza were speaking about how the simple villagers there opened their houses and helped the Gazans who were stuck before in the Rafah Crossing Drama months ago.

As Muslims, we believe that patience is a blessing of God and that those who are unjustly killed regardless where are martyrs whom on the Day of Judgement would ask the Almighty to pardon their families. Those people were killed while praying to God on a Friday in his House, they are believed to be better in place.
From a psychological point of view, Al-Rawda villagers are still in shock but life goes on eventually.
New carpets brought the mosque
New Mosque carpets were brought to replace the blood-stained ones
the week following the carnage when Sheikh Al-Azhar visited Al-Rawda.
BY Mostafa Singer
There was food as well supply shortage in there as the village depends completely on the city of Bir Al-Abd but as the surrounding highways were a military zone and trucks carrying goods are suspicious even those who got security permits. Even aid conveys from the valleys were not let in the first couple of days.

Ibrahim spoke about how that week killed the movement of trade from the city of Bir Abd not to only Rawda but the rest of North Sinai.

“We are killed everywhere now in North Sinai,” said Mohamed Khalil describing how the civilians in Egypt’s Eastern borders governorate are stuck in that war on terrorism.
There is not official or estimation number of the civilian casualties of that war on terrorism in the past 4 years.
“We got the message of the militants in Bir Al-Abd, they want us to spread fear in ourselves,” He added
No group has claimed responsibility so far after two weeks of the attacks.

Dabaa Nuclear Plant : Sidi Abdel Rahman is safe for now

0
0
A sidi Abdel Rahman beach

It is just safe for the time being !!!
The Sidi Abdel Rahman beaches and its crystal baby blue water and white sand have survived for the time being a nuclear apocalypse as Putin and Sisi did not sign the final agreement of Egypt’s Nuclear power plant in Dabaa, which is a couple kilometers away from Egypt's best North Coast beaches !!

They only witnessed the signing an agreement to launch work on Egypt's first nuclear plant between the Egyptian government and Russia Rosatom despite the final contract concerning the financial as well technical details have not been signed yet.

According to Mada Masr, the Egyptian government, security bodies and State council's legislative committee have got serious concerns about the Russian offer' financially and technically but President Sisi decided to ignore all those concerns !!

It turned out the Russians made a loose ambiguous contract that did not detail for example the ways to dispose of nuclear wastes !!

Historically, Al-Dabaa location was chosen as the perfect place for a Nuclear plant since the 1960s when President Nasser was alive.

Every Egyptian president since Nasser must talk about Dabaa and the dreams of having Nuclear plant and nothing has happened. Even in the short doomed rule of President Morsi, it was brought back and soon faded away.

Anyhow, I am totally against it for two reasons: The environment and the Egyptian economy. Most countries are investing in renewable environment-friendly energy sources like Solar energy. I do not need to remind you that Egypt is in a perfect place for solar energy. 

Why are we going to build that nuclear plant when we are building the so-called biggest Solar energy park in the world in Aswan governorate? 

Economically, Egypt is going to $25 billion from Russia to build Dabaa Nuclear Plant with high-interest rate !! Yes, more debts for an energy that is going to be obsolete after a couple of years !!

Anyhow, I am glad that we have not signed the final agreement because it seems like an agreement from hell !!! I am so worried that this beautiful area of Egypt's North coast will be polluted and affected by that Nuclear plant.

Back to the Russian president's visit, I do not know what Vlad was doing in Egypt for real in his short visit.

Seen in Cairo : The Zamalek Obelisk

0
0
Zamalek Obelisk

Seen in Cairo: The underrated Zamalek Obelisk at Al-Horreya public Garden.
I do not know much about its ancient history or its true location before it was transferred to its current location in a public garden in the upscale Nile island.
I do not know which Pharaoh it has immortalizing his name all those years but one thing for sure , he did not imagine it would survive thousands of years keeping his name high in a public garden.

Here is how it looks from the Nile.


The obelisk of Zamalek
The Nile view 

The upper photo Via Instagram 


Days at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo : Some of its hidden jewels “Vol.1”

0
0
Egypt’s Museum of ancient Egyptian antiquities in Cairo aka the Egyptian Museum celebrated its 115th birthday in November and since then I wanted to share a new thing about it but what was happening in Egypt and the world since the last weekend in November did not give me a chance.
It is never too late to celebrate the oldest Museum in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa.
Here is a small video I have made about some of the hidden jewels of that beautiful Museum despite all its flaws.
Those hidden jewels are mostly overshadowed by the great Tutankhamun’s collection.
First of here is the video, I hope you like it and also you subscribe to my channel as I update it from time to time with nice as well serious things.



I know that I am a better photographer than a videographer but one is learning from her mistakes whether from photography or videography.
Now here are clearer views of those hidden jewels.

We got our golden boy with an amazing beautiful mask.I could not believe how beautiful it was or how it was full of details.
King Tutankhamen's mask at Cairo's Egyptian Museum
King Tut's Mask after saving his beard thanks to the German experts
I took that photo for the mask after recovering from the epoxy injury thing that happened and the Egyptian officials do not want to speak about.
Here are also a couple of photos of some of his amazing artifacts. Ironically, this is is a small pharaoh who was not that strong and ruled for a decade only.


King Tut's Golden sarcophagus at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
King Tut's Golden sarcophagus at Cairo's Egyptian Museum 
I wonder what we would have seen in the tombs of many important pharaohs who ruled Egypt for decades.

From King Tut's Collection at Cairo's Egyptian Museum
Se the tiny details in that artifact, the dresses of those two goddesses!! 
By the way, the officials began to transfer some of King Tut’s stuff from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. His beds were transferred as far as I know.
Now to some of the hidden jewels I know some of you did not know that it existed before in the Museum.

1) Wadi Kubbaniya skeleton

This is the oldest skeleton for a human being found at Wadi Kubbaniya in Aswan governorate in 1983.
Wadi Kubbaniya skeleton at Egypt's Egyptian Museum
Add caption
It is estimated to be 20,000 years old.
Wadi Kubbaniya skeleton at Egypt's Egyptian Museum
Add caption
I used to think that there is the oldest human being’s skeleton but it turned out that there are even older skeletons than that one. Hopefully inshallah I will be able to trace them.

2) Mernepath Stele

Merneptah Stele "Israel Stele" at Cairo's Egyptian Museum
Mernepath stele 
Mernepath Stele or as commonly known as The “Israel stele” is probably the most controversial piece in the Egyptian Museum.
It is the only text from the Ancient Egypt that included reportedly the word “Israel”.  Many archeologists say that the modern kingdom stele talking about the military victories of Pharaoh Mernepath mentioned “Israel” in its 27th line.
“Israel is laid waste and his seed is not” Few words open a huge debate about the Israelites and Exodus. Modern day archeologists deny that the story has ever happened as it lacks any evidence.
some say that it refers to the Exodus but according to the Torah, New Testament and Quran say that it was one Pharaoh and he drowned in the sea which Prophet Moses split by his staff.
Some archeologists say that it was a mistranslation of the stele found in Luxor in 1896.
The stele is always the center of a controversy that the Museum’s administration decided to put it in a place where it won’t catch any attention.

I found it with the help of dear veteran guide and heritage activist Sally Soliman

3) The Libyan Palette

I am fond of the Prehistoric Protodynastic Egyptian section in the Egyptian Museum because it shows that how the Ancient Egyptian civilization came as result of having that sophisticated society.
The Libyan Palette
One of the remaining parts of the Libyan palette. 
Hopefully inshallah in 2018, I will go again to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir square and film more hidden jewels there for history lovers especially ancient Egyptian history lovers.
Libyan Palette
The second part of the Libyan palette
From its name you can guess that even in Prehistoric Egypt, we have had relations with Prehistoric Libya in a way or another. There is not much about it in Wikipedia. Some say that the name of prehistoric ancient King Scorpion is mentioned in it whether he was Narmer or not. “Not the Rock”

4) The Rahoteps statues

My favorite couple from ancient Egypt: Mr. and Mrs. Rahoteps.
Prince and commander of army Rahotep and his beautiful wife Nofret’s statues are from the perfect piece of art from Ancient Egypt for real. The old kingdom’s statues look like living human beings.
The Royal ancient Egyptian couple
Fourth dynasty's Prince and army commander Rahotep and his wife Nofret 
Legend says that when their statues were found in his tomb in Giza from many decades ago, the modern Egyptian workers freaked out and thought that they were alive.
The Royal ancient Egyptian Couple
Fourth dynasty's Prince and army commander Rahotep and his wife Nofret 
By the way, we know now the origin of that famous Egyptian army officers’ mustache.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to beautiful treasures in that museum.
Please tell me if you have any comments about the video clip.

Al-Rawda Mosque Massacre : Three weeks passed and No one claims responsibility officially

0
0
Three weeks have passed and no one has claimed officially the responsibility for the horrifying massacre of Al-Rawda Mosque

Yes, I can not move forward easily and forget what happened in Al-Rawda village of North Sinai. It is not easy after all as we are speaking about Egypt’s worst terrorist attack ever whether by the official numbers or non-official numbers. “Check the infograph I have done about it below”

The latest news I have read about Al-Radwa village was how the Egyptian government allocated nearly LE 70 million to the families of the victims. Cristiano Ronaldo’s BBF and steel/media mogul Ahmed Abu Hashima declared his charity would build new houses there as part of his initiative to help poor villages across the country.

The Egyptian mainstream media moved on with life quickly, the death of legendary star Shadia as well the dramatic return of presidential hopeful of Ahmed Shafik, Trump’s Jerusalem announcement and the victories of Mohamed Salah in Liverpool gave it a chance. The Egyptian social media is also busy in speaking about how TV-social dramas like “Seventh Neighbor” and “The flood” are threatening our social values.
Al-Rawda Mosque
Al-Rawda Mosque and the victims' slippers two weeks after 
the attack "Reuters"
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks officially so far.

The Egyptian prosecutor general said in his statement issued following the attack that it was a Daesh-affiliated group in North aka Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis “ABM”  according to the testimonies of the survivors and the injured as well eyewitnesses.

According to the testimonies, the 25-30 militants came carrying the black flag of Daesh.
The warnings issued to the Sufis in Al-Rawda since January as well face-to-face warnings in the village from three months ago point to “ABM” as a suspect.
An Islamist Anti-regime Facebook page and Telegram channel called “Mnabr Sinai” published an alleged audio recording for communications for ABM members claiming responsibility for the attack.
Some may think that it was the smoking gun but I have a big problem with “Mnabr Sinai”.


Its administrators claim to be anti-Sisi regime as well anti-Daesh but their Facebook page is named as “The Sinai province media” in Arabic and it is full of Pro-Daesh media.
“Sinai Province” is the name of ABM after becoming a part of Daesh’s franchise. At the same time, Mnabr Sinai hinted out that it could a false flag on its telegram page !!

Either way, no one has claimed its responsibility for REAL for the attack in an old-fashioned way.

I won’t waste my and your time about that fake statement allegedly issued by radical Christian group because it has been debunked thanks to cheap fake language.

All the fingers are pointing to ABM to stand behind that horrific massacre but so far the Daesh media machine has not issued anything about it.
Egyptian Chronicles' infograph : 5 deadlist terrorist attacks in Egypt
Egypt's 5 deadlist terrorist attacks
Click to zoom in 
Even though in the past three weeks, Daesh issued at least three statements about the activities of its franchise in North Sinai including one statement about how ABM executed a local young teenager for cooperating with the Egyptian security forces.

The attack on the Mosque has created a huge debate among Daesh fanboys online already as we are speaking about worshipers killed during a Friday prayer.

That “Sufi sin” cannot stand too much in front of the horrifying act after all even for those extremist fanboys who cry day and night on how foreign and Arab regimes do not respect the Islam Houses of God.

Personally, I do not understand the motives for such action as again if ABM or group X was targeting the Sufis in the village “who are not more than 20 people”, the militants would have targeted their gatherings.

Al-Sawaraka tribe or at least a militant faction of it declared that its men were at the “disposal of the Egyptian army” to establish stability in North Sinai or in other words, they will seek revenge after the death of its men like that. It is highly expected

Interestingly following the Rawda Massacre we found out pro-TV hosts and journalists calling the tribes in Sinai to carry arms against terrorists !! Literality they have been calling for militias which are banned clearly in the Egyptian constitution !!

Real National security experts warned from the implications of such matter, local tribal chiefs also warned of the implications of such matter as well but no one listened.

Anyhow there is nothing big that happened so far from Al-Sawaraka tribe’s side.

Things are calm somehow in North Sinai now but usually that it is the calmness before the big storm.

Speaking about terrorist militant groups and as we are leaving crazy times worldwide now, at least two groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda declared their rejection and commendation to the attack.
Jund Al-Islam in Sinai and its sister group Ansar Al-Islam declared their own condemnation for that attack and vowed to avenge for those Muslim worshipers as soon as possible.
Hasm militant group also condemned the attack blaming El-Sisi regime !!

Ayman El-Zawahiri himself released an audio recording lately claiming that Al-Qaeda is fighting Daesh on behalf of the world !!!!!
 Crazy times indeed !!

Media Empires of Egypt : The King is dead , Long live the Queen

0
0
In the past three years , Steel mogul Ahmed Abu-Hashima deserved the title “Egypt’s Robert Murdoch” as by far he was the king of a huge empire with over 16 companies working in all types of media in Egypt including a TV network in his early 40s to complete the saga and his mystery of fast speed rise.

The close to the regime businessman did not give any indication that he would leave that media realm in Egypt anytime soon but surprisingly he did it this week in the same way he entered it: suddenly.
With no introductions or previous announcement, a new financial investment company announced that it has acquired all the shares of Abu-Hashima in Egyptian Media group this week
In a very short statement that including too many surprises the announcement came late Monday night.
“Eagle Capital for financial investment” has acquired the shares of businessman Ahmed Abu Hashima. The CEO of Eagle Capital Dalia Khorshid stated that the acquisition is the first business deal for the company.
She also said that the acquisition reflected her company’s interest in that strategic sector (media) that affects the citizen on a daily basis.
The short statement added the company appointed former head of Egyptian Radio and Television Union “ERTU” Osama El-Sheikh as the new CEO of Egyptian Media group replacing Abu-Hashima who resigned from the post.
The statement did not include any mention of how much Eagle Capital for investments bought the shares of Abu Hashima.
The young king of media left the realm and there was a new Queen with a veteran Sharif in town, hail the Queen.

Disclaimer: Now a big portion of that long post I have been working on for months in an attempt to decode the Egyptian Media map currently in an attempt to understand who is running the show and why.  Spoilers: If you are following the Egyptian internal affairs very well, you already guessed.

Old faces, new roles

There has been no official website or Facebook page available online for Eagle Capital for Financial Investment whose headquarters are in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement.
It is not registered in the Egyptian stock market.There is nothing in the Egyptian news archives about it.
According to Misr Al-Arabia website, Eagle Capital for Financial Investment was founded in 2016.
Now, we do not know who REALLY owns or founded this company.

News reports speak about two potential buyers: A group of Gulf investors owns 40% of Eagle Capital and the Egyptian General Intelligence service.
Dalia Khorshid
Dalia Khorshid in her official ministerial profile
Misr Al-Arabia and Mada Misr quoted veteran Egyptian veteran publisher Hisham Kassem saying that the Egyptian General intelligence service did not only stand behind Eagle Capital but stands behind Egyptian Media group as well.

The veteran publisher even says that the acquisition of Egyptian Media group was only a way to change the management only. Mada Misr supports that claim according to its sources as you can see.

If you remember, Egyptian General Intelligence is allegedly associated with Private contractor Falcon Group which acquired Al-Hayat Network in September for LE  1.4 billion.

We do not know for sure how much Eagle paid to Abu-Hashima as for instance, Masrawy claims according to its sources that the company acquired 60% of his shares in the company for LE 600 Million as the businessman is still keeping his shares in “Presentation agency”.
On the other hand, Misr Al-Arabia claims according to its unnamed sources that Eagle Capital would pay LE 6.8 billion for the deal.

Interestingly, Lebanese Al-Akhbar Newspaper spoke about the acquisition a month earlier.
Anyhow what can be sure is the available data in front of us officially.
The CEO of Eagle Capital for financial investments is Dalia Khorshid, the former first woman minister of investment in Egypt “March 2016- February 2017”.

The 1993 American University in Cairo alumna disappeared from the media in March 2017 after her marriage from current Governor of Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amar. After becoming a material for gossip for couple of weeks, she truly disappeared.
As someone who joined Orascom Construction Industries “OCI” in 2005 till becoming its vice-president and group treasurer, some thought that the Sawirises were behind the Eagle Capital.  The only other connection between Sawirises and the Egyptian Media group was the fact that Abu Hashima acquired Naguib Sawiris’ ONTV network in May 2016. Either way, the Sawirises do not stand behind the current deal.

Moving to Osama El-Sheikh, Egypt’s veteran TV executive. The 1952-born El-Sheikh played a very important in founding and operating a group of big TV networks not only in Egypt according to that C.V sent to the news websites in the past 48 hours.

The 1975-Cairo University graduate joined the ERTU where he worked there for decades.
In 1993, He left the ERTU and helping in founding and managing Saudi-owned ART satellite network in its prime. Since then, he began his long career with Privately owned-Arab TV networks in countries like Kuwait.
In 2001, he returned back to Egypt where he helped in founding Dream TV.
In 2007, he returned to ERTU. In 2009 he became the head of ERTU until February 2011 where he resigned following the January revolution. He was arrested in the same month along with ex-minister of information Anas El-FIky for charges related to corruption and squandering public funds.
In January 2013, he was released on bail. In the same year, he headed shortly Dream TV network before resigning months later.
In July 2016, he headed Al-Assama TV network before leaving it three months later. In September 2014, the corruption charges were dropped against the famous TV executive.
In November, Osama El-Sheikh traveled to Saudi Arabia where he was appointed as a consultant to develop and modernize the Saudi State-TV network in the new MBS era.

Only on Monday, he returned back to Cairo after “receiving orders from Egypt“ to become the CEO of Egyptian Media according to his own statements to El-Shorouk Newspaper on Tuesday.
“After receiving orders from Egypt” gives you the impression that he is speaking about some sort of patriotic mission.

All the companies under the Egyptian Media Group umbrella including the management were surprised that they got new bosses. Most of them even have not updated their management information on their official websites.

Egyptian Media Empire

The Egyptian Media empire started in 2013.
In January 2013, Ahmed Abu-Hashima and Alaa El-Khaky “the co-owner of Al-Nahar TV network” acquired the shares of businessman Soliman Amar and Mohamed Al-Amin “owner of CBC network” in Youm 7 news website and newspaper.

During then Abu-Hashima was accused of being too close to the Muslim Brotherhood especially his business partners were Qataris. His move was regarded by some as an attempt to “Brotherhood-ize” the media.  It was said even that he divorced his wife Lebanese bombshell and singer Haifa Wahhabi because she did not “fit” the conservative image of the brotherhood.

Officially and according to documents, Abu-Hashima founded Egyptian Media group in June 2013.
In September 2013, Abu Hashima acquired 60% of the shares in Al-Mehwar TV network and became a partner to its founder Hassan Ratab “35% of the shares” and ERTU “5%”.
A month later, the deal failed and he withdrew from Al-Mehwar TV.
Ahmed Abu Hashima
Ahmed Abu Hashima "Official Abu Hashima Facebook page"
In May 2016, the 1975-born businessman acquired ONTV Network from its founder and owner billionaire Naguib Sawiris. In less than a month, the new management of ONTV terminated the contract of famous Pro-revolutionary political TV host Liliane Daoud who was deported from Egypt on the same day to her country Lebanon in the most humiliating way ever.
Pro-revolution TV hosts and correspondents who even express their opinions on social media only were not welcomed anymore in the channel.
Since then the once critical-liberal Pro-revolutionary TV network is turned in to a 100% pro-regime entertainment/football TV network. ONTV is a perfect example of what the regime perceives as perfect media now.

In June 2016, Abu-Hashima acquired 50% of the share in Misr for film production. In the same month, he acquired 51% of the shares in Presentation Sports advertising agency, which currently owns the rights of broadcasting and sponsoring the Egyptian Premier League aka Presentation Premier.
Trivia: The multi-millionaire from Port Said was once a footballer in Egypt’s Olympic football team. His son Omar is a member of Egypt’s Under-20 national team. Abu-Hashima is also a close friend of Cristiano Ronaldo and his family.

In July 2016, Egyptian Media acquired DotMisr news website in a very big drama that puzzles me up till now.
At first, it was announced that Abu Hashima acquired the website that was originally founded by Emirati money then his lawyer denied it as tens of journalists in the website were fired suddenly without having any of their financial rights.
The intelligence officer turned-into/and Media mogul Yasser Salim who used to own DotMisr stated in the same month that the real owner of the site then was “Egyptian Media group” since the beginning of July. Then it became a fact that Egyptian Media owned DotMisr.
FYI, the name of Yasser Selim will meet a lot whenever you do a thorough research about media or elections after July 2013. He is a friend of Abu-Hashima and he owns some shares in Youm7 yet he is rarely mentioned as a co-owner.
His company “Black and White” in partnership with Sawiris’ Promomedia have been the advertising agencies of Youm 7 since 2014 but it is also rarely mentioned as Promomedia is more famous.

In the same month our man from Port Said, Abu Hashima who started his career in steel business in 2002 acquiredPOD agency for PR.

In September 2016, Egyptian Media group and DMedia which owns DMC“Got a long post about it lost in a broken hard drive ” announced their merger to “form a strong media body that can restore Egypt’s leading media role whether regionally or internationally”. That merger failed and did not complete its mission quietly.

In the same month, he acquired what was once weekly opposition newspaper Sawt Al-Oma and its sister tabloid Ain from their owner-publisher Ahmed Fahmy for allegedly LE 12 million.
Sawt Al-Oma newspaper is currently a Pro-regime newspaper in what of the ironies in the country.
In November 2016, Egyptian Media group acquired 50% of the shares in Synergy advertising agency and production company. Yasser Salim’s Black and White agency had a partnership with Synergy since May 2016 according to news reports. They produce films and TV series.

In early 2017, Egyptian Media group acquired Egypt’s oldest and first privately-owned magazine Egypt today “ET” and its economic sister Business today from IBA Media. ET is turned in to an online English news website.
You guess what happened to ET when I tell you that it is headed by Moatez Abdel Fattah. The online archives of that important magazine disappeared under the new management.

How much did Abu Hashima or Egyptian Media group pay for those companies in 2016 alone? Nobody really knows.
Money is not mentioned in the official statements or news releases for reasons beyond me. Is it the fear of taxation authority? God only knows.
God only knows also what those acquisitions aim to or who stands behind them for real.
One thing for sure, the Egyptian people do not care much for those acquisitions as they no longer trust the media as before.
Now, Abu-Hashima is officially out of the media market suddenly, he is no longer its king. It is Dalia Khurshid who is currently Queen of a media Empire.

Merry Christmas from Egyptian Chronicles

0
0
Merry Christmas from Egyptian Chronicles to all the people celebrating it all over the world
Here is a nice Christmas Tree in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement made by ABn’G art gallery for some real estate development company there.
Cairo's Christmas tree
ABn'G Christmas tree in 5th settlement suburb, East Cairo  


ABnG did a similar thing in the Kodak passageway in front of Adly Synagogue in Downtown Cairo this year too and it is beautiful.
The reindeers in Kodak Passaway "ABn'G"
The reindeers in Kodak Passaway "ABn'G"
This year we got another amazing big Christmas tree in Korba, Heliopolis. I hear that there is decoration
I wish I was able to snap photos or those trees and decorations all over Cairo like in Christmas 2015 but unfortunately, I am stuck in work and cold but it is never too late as we still have the Orthodox Christmas
Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Despite all pains and attacks : Happy New year From Egyptian Chronicles

0
0
Happy New year From Egyptian Chronicles.

I know that 2017 was very hard in Egypt with all the terrorist attacks that took place across the country, most recently on Friday with that failed attack against a Coptic Orthodox Church in Helwan district in Cairo where ten people were killed “Yes, it is a failed attack thanks to God then to the Egyptian people” but we should not lose hope in better tomorrow or better Egypt that is inclusive of all people regardless of their race, gender, color, religion as well nationality.

Egypt's Nile

So Happy New year 2018

And I chose a photo for the Nile because this year will be critical for Egypt when it comes to its main source of water for the first time since thousands of years.
Ethiopia may finish its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Egyptians will find themselves in front a huge challenge , God only knows how we will pass it under this administration.

The Cover girl : The Rebel Palestinian teen with a curly blond hair

0
0
And the cover girl of January’s issue from Diwan Al-Ahram Magazine is none other than the rebel Palestinian teen with curly blond hair Ahad Tamimi.
Ahad Tamimi
Diwan Al-Ahram's cover featuring
Ahad Tamimi 
The quarterly annual heritage and history magazine published by Al-Ahram institution's issue came on the same day , an Israeli Military Court accused the 2001-born Palestinian teen who descends from a famous activist family in West Bank a list of 12 charges including assaulting an Israeli soldier and hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers “Yes, it seems that it is an official charge in Israeli Military law” .

In early December, Ahad Tamimi made headlines when Avigdor Lieberman said that “she will get what she deserves” for slapping an IDF soldier following her arrest from her home earlier in the Middle of the night.

The obnoxious ultra-right-wing minister forgot to say that four days earlier as Ahad and the rest of the Tamimi family of Nabi Saleh village were protesting Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel, her 14-years-old cousin Mohamed Tamimi was shot point blank with a rubber bullet by an IDF soldier.
Ahad Tamimi
Ahad Tamimi smiling to the camera at the Military court "AFP
Moments later, Ahad Tamimi was filmed while slapping an Israeli soldier.
FYI, Mohamed Tamimi was placed into a medically-induced coma when he was transferred to a hospital. He is in better condition now.


Ahad’s Mother Nariman filmed her arrest and for that, she was arrested too. She is facing the charges of assaulting Israeli military personnel as well incitement for uploading the video of her daughter's arrest to the social media !!
Oh Yes !! the Oasis of democracy and freedom of speech in the Middle East cannot tolerate a video showing its finest military arresting a teenage girl with blond curly hair.

Ahad’s 21-years-old cousin Nour Tamimi was also arrested and is facing charges of assaulting in front of the Israeli military court.
Ahad's Mother and her cousin
Ahad mother's Nariman laughing, Nour is on the left
"Active Stills" 
Ahad’s aunt Manal Tamimi was also arrested last week for protesting her sister and her nieces’ arrest !!!

Up till now, I do not know what Ahad Tamimi and the rest of the Tamimi women should have done to express their anger over the injury of Mohamed Tamimi or over what is happening to their own land or their own country.

Some Pro-Zionism Arabs saying that Ahad is rude and she should not slap the Israeli soldier on his face !! It seems that they wanted her to kiss him !!!!
Sadly they compare how that IDF soldier did not shot her back or assaulted her brutally like unfortunately Arab soldiers including my own country’s soldiers.
Younger Ahad
Younger Ahad in Turkey while being honored from a couple
of years ago. 
But realistically speaking, there is no much difference between Israeli judiciary and its cousin Arab judiciary when it comes to politicization and discrimination against a certain group of people for ethic and political reasons as well sending civilians to military courts !!

Those Pro-Zionism Arabs who are actually neo-fascists believe that civilians should stand in front a military tribunal.

Now the civilized world has watched what happened to Ahad Tamimi and her cousins in silence forgetting some basic facts including that the Tamimis were protesting in an officially-internationally-recognized occupied territory, Nabi Salih is part of the West Bank.
Ahad's Mother and her cousin
The Tamimis women and children in an early Photo

For those who do not know/ignore/remember the West Bank is part of the Occupied Palestinian/Arab territories in 1967 that Israel should have evacuated immediately according to UN State security resolution No.242.

Interestingly, international media ignored Ahad and Nour Tamimi despite they present in my view that example of rebellious Arab Muslim teenage girls which opposes that usual oppressed Arab Muslim teenagers' stereotype.
 Nour and Ahad Tamimi
 Nour and Ahad Tamimi 
They are presented or rather Ahad is presented more as the young angry-girl-turned into-teenager who attacks Israeli soldiers. By way, in most of the incidents Ahad was photographed so-called attacked Israeli soldiers since childhood she was either defending her land or defending her young relatives including her brother.

Knowing the Israeli military court’s justice when it comes to Palestinians, I will say that our cover girl will be sentenced to jail but I guess she and her family know the price and they are ready to pay if they have to.
FYI, the young teenager does not recognize the Israeli military court and refuses to speak any language there except Arabic.

Wolf Moon 2018 [Flickr]

0
0

Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

Wolf Moon 2018

NASA says that this moon is the biggest in
2018. Had to wait three days to snap this not so-sharp photo thanks to the cold and the clouds in Giza , Egypt right now

Kodaf Agfa Presents : Wolf Moon 2018

0
0

Wolf Moon 2018
Wolf Moon 2018 

NASA says that this moon is the biggest in 2018.
I had to wait three days to snap this not so-sharp photo thanks to the cold and the clouds in Giza, Egypt right now. It is freezing technically to stand long at the night to take a perfect shot. I admit but I think this is a good shot considering I am having a runny nose and cold hands !!!

By the way, the sky is so clear despite the unstable weather to the level you can spot the Orion belt and that small red spot on its left, I can not know if it were Mercury or Mars.
I wanted to snap another photo of the sky but I just could not thanks to the cold weathers !!!

By the way, stop taking selfies and start to look at the sky especially at night and see how many stars looking down at us. It is worth it.

Merry Christmas again from Egyptian Chronicles

0
0
I think Egypt is lucky to celebrate Christmas twice 😊
From Egyptian Chronicles to all Orthodox Christians celebrating Christmas tonight especially in Egypt.
An Egyptian Church
An Egyptian Church's dome in Cairo
Egyptian Orthodox Christians had one hell of a tough year, hopefully2018 will be better for all Egyptians and all the people everywhere.
Merry Christmas again and again from Egyptian Chronicles and happy holidays.

Egypt’s Presidential elections 2018 : The shortest uninteresting elections ever !!

0
0
Egypt’s National Elections Authority “NEA” declared in a press conference in Cairo on Monday that the upcoming presidential elections in 2018 will be in March. “Yes in March”.
Egypt is going to have presidential elections on 26,27 and 28 March with one month of the Presidential elections campaign only.

The NEA declared the timetable for the upcoming presidential elections as published in the official gazette :

  • From 20 to 29 January, the NEA will receive the request for nominations in its headquarter in Downtown Cairo according to the Constitution and Presidential elections law of 2017.
  • On 31 January , the NEA will publish a preliminary list of the candidates in Egypt’s State-owned Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar newspapers as well the number of endorsement they receive from their supporters whether through the notary offices or through the MPs in the parliament.
  • On 6 February, the NEA will declare the names of the disqualified candidates if any and the reasons behind their disqualification.
  • On 7 February, the NEA will receive the complaints and appeals against the disqualifications if any.
  • On 9th February, the NEA will rule on the complaints
  • On 23rd February, the NEA will declare the final list of official Presidential candidates.
  • From 24th February to 23rd March, the official Presidential candidates will have their presidential campaigns.
  • From 14th March to 15th March, there will be elections silence for Egyptians abroad.
  • From 16th March to 18th March, the presidential elections will be held for Egyptians abroad
  • From 24th March to 25th March, the elections silence will be held inside the country.
  • From 26th March to 28th March, the Presidential elections will be held inside the country.
  • On 2nd April, the winner will be announced if there are no runoffs. {Spoilers: We already know who he is }
  • From 19th April to 21st April, the second round of voting will be held for Egyptians abroad if there are runoffs
  • From 24th April to 26th April, the second round of voting will be held for Egyptians inside the country if there are runoffs
  • On 1st of May 2018, the NEA will declare the winner and the new President of Egypt {Spoilers: We already know who he is going to and the first letter in his name is Abdel Fattah El-Sisi }
Of course, the winner in the Presidential elections must have 50%+1 of the votes.
Are not these the shortest presidential elections ever ??
Egypt's NEA in Cairo
We are speaking about officially about one month for presidential campaigning !?

In what kind of universe, a true and serious rival to the president in the office will stand a chance to convince the majority of more than 50 million voters in a country like Egypt with the current Sisi’s administration control over media?
Al-Ahly Sports club had more interesting elections than these for real !!!
Those presidential elections are considered the first to be surprised and organized by the newly founded National elections authority in accordance with the Constitution.
Interestingly, the NAC law which was approved in summer will put an end to the full judicial supervision of the elections by 2024.
Thanks to human rights lawyer Ahmed El-Gadamy’s tweet about the Presidential elections regulations law of 2014, we know that according to article no.36 El-Sisi can be declared as the upcoming president on the conditions that there are no other presidential candidates “or they withdraw” and he got at least 5% of eligible votes.
If he does not get that percentage, there will be new presidential elections within 15 days.
I will quote journalist and TV host Tamer Abu Arab said sarcastically on Twitter after the announcement of the NEA because it is the best description of these elections.
“Oh Yes !! Let’s go back to the time of the beautiful referendums !! No need for elections !! We want to build our country !!”


I said it before, Al-Ahly Sports Club’s elections were much interesting, freer and transparent than the Egyptian Presidential elections.
Viewing all 4288 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images