Quantcast
Channel: Egyptian Chronicles
Viewing all 4293 articles
Browse latest View live

Happy Eid Prayer 2012

August 19, 2012, 2:42 pm
$
0
0
Today is the first day from the 3 days of Eid El Fitr. I do not feel like posting any serious stuff to be honest , so I will keep it light those 3 days unless anything serious takes place. “Hopefully not”
So here are couple of interesting scenes from today’s Eid prayer.
Women praying "Reuters"
Morsi prayed publicly in Amr Ibn El As mosque, Cairo’s oldest and biggest mosques in a scene that we have missed for decades. Nasser and Sadat used to pray with the public in various mosques across Cairo and in the governorates unlike Mubarak who used to pray in army mosques at back row.
Morsi Praying "AP"
The rivalry between the MB and Salafists is still over which group would control the praying spaces and mosques in the Eid. The MB won this Eid. Many expressed their dismay from how the MB is trying to use the religious event to promote for its political party Freedom and Justice.
BY the way after decades the famous Mohamed Ali Mosque was opened for Eid prayers.
Eid prayer in Mohamed Ali Mosque "Reuters"
In North Sinai, Al Arish a Salafist Sheikh addressed the the people in the prayer speaking about the importance to cooperate with authorities to fight terrorism in the Eid’s speech.
Al Arish Eid prayer in a a stadium "AP"
Happy Eid everybody.
A kid scared from Republican guards "Reuters"

↧
Search
↧

Aswan from 100 years ago in color

August 20, 2012, 11:24 am
$
0
0

Here is a very rare footage shot in Aswan in year 1911 “year from 100 years ago” using the Kinemacolor technique.

An amazing footage by all measures. I can not ignore the huge poverty people used to live in then.

You can check the clips I shot in Aswan in early 2012 after 100 years  here.

Thanks to Ahmed El Llozy for this treasure clip.

Now as we are living these little nostalgic moods , I recommend that you read this amazing piece about the famous and historical Groppi restaurant and Cafe from the Newsweek by Vivian Salama. I am happy that the Groppi clan is still thinking of returning back to Egypt to reopen new set of cafes as it was said in the end of the feature. I really wish they would return back , already from economic point of view there is rapid increase in the foreign cafes and restaurants in Cairo now especially with the increase of fancy malls. Chains like Paul and La Gourmandise are opening now several branches throughout Cairo and Giza as well Alexandria catering to high and Upper middle class successfully.I do not need to speak about Cilantro or Costa or Beno’s huge success among the middle class.

I hope that the Groppis return back to Egypt.

↧

#EndSH : The Eid beasts are back !!

August 21, 2012, 9:46 am
$
0
0
The Eid beasts are back and in the past 48 hours there was sad rapid increase in sexual harassment in Cairo especially in public gardens and busy street.
Th Eid beasts
This year you can not ignore the fact we got a new kind of harassers , 10 years old harassers who chase girls to grope them imitating the older harassers in the most dirtiest way ever despite I do not think that a 10 years old boy think about sex in that age but rather football and video games !!
Young victims and young harassers 
Both the ages of the victims and harassers are decreasing year after a year !!!
It is like children now jumping in to the sexual harassment wagons. These boys will grow up in to a time bomb without doubt.


These girls in the videos and photos are younger than usual too !! I bet most of them did not reach to the age of college already !!!
I will not ignore the fact from the photos, footage and video clips take this Eid those harassing kids seemed to be from the working class and lower middle class. I am not judging , I am trying to analyze the scene.
Kids harassing kids , I think there are not much role models anymore especially with what you represent for them in the media from violence against women and glorification the sexual harassment in drama and music !! Adel Emam and Tamer Hosni anyone !? I am
Now strangely we did not have this amount of sexual harassments in Eids last year when I remember it comparing to this year. Of course some MB boys will say that this is another conspiracy by the former regime and military to sabotage the progress of President Morsi !!
Shamefully and unfortunately the Islamist youth from Muslim brotherhood and Salafists are justifying the sexual harassment  not to mention encourage in order to force the women in to modesty , Hijab and Niqab !! “Despite the majority of Egyptian women are veiled and most of them are harassed”
Supporting these actions may force the women to reconsider their appearance and actions in their point of view. Of course they justify these actions because women and girls are not committed to the modesty in their point of view !!
Already we got now posts on Twitter and Facebook that rape rate in the West is higher than the Arab and Muslim world ignoring the fact women in the Arab world do not like to report sexual violence and harassment to the police for fear of scandal.
Here is an example of comments on Facebook
Girls deserve it for what they wear
I do not think that this will help in stopping sexual harassment epidemic . Sadly stopping harm in the road is from the teachings of Islam and I believe it is important just like women’s modesty.
↧

Regarding the IMF loan : Why I am against it

August 22, 2012, 5:26 pm
$
0
0
Egypt has requested officially today a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF during the visit of Mrs. Christine Lagarde to Cairo today and her meeting with President Morsi and Prime minister Hisham Kandeel.
Ironically the Muslim brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party under the leadership of Morsi rejected the loan from the IMF from several months ago when former PM Ganzoury “Current President’s adviser” announced that his government will seek a $3.2 billion loan from the IMF. We all remember how the MB in the parliament stood against the matter just like the rest of the revolutionary forces that refused to increase the burden of the country another loan with conditions that will harm the poor in the future.
The Freedom and Justice Party “led by our current president Morsi” issued a strong short statement refusing the loan and wondering why we have to get a loan from the IMF when we have a lot of sources last February. Former FJP leader and current elected president of Egypt Mohamed Morsi told the IMF officials back that we did not need economic burdens !!
It is worth to say that in 2011 SCAF refused that loan then in early 2012 it backed Ganzoury’s government in its quest but MB refused then when MB is in charge of the country it accept it !!
It seems to me that the Muslim brotherhood and their presidential candidate did not know the trouble Egypt is suffering from when they made up their great renaissance program that their experts spent over 20 days working on it !!!!


There is no doubt that Egypt hit rock bottom thanks to the corruption and poverty spread in time of Mubarak and his economic policies , some of which were determined by IMB and International Bank. These economic policies that increased the gap between the poor and the rich in Egypt were from the main reasons of the #Jan25 revolution. We had enough from bad economic policies , from foreign economic intervention. We will not fool ourselves , the IMF and the IB are not charities.
Former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh was the first to declare his refusal to the loan. The social democrat Islamist’s new party was also the first to issue a statement refusing the loan in a strong language demanding Morsi to hold talks with national powers in order to reach for alternatives.
Moderate Islamist Al Wasat Party also issued a statement about the loan and despite it is critical than Abu El Fotouh and his new party , it demands the President and the government to declare the conditions of such IMF.
The Salafists which are the right wing of the Islamists are also angry from the IMF loan for one reason , one religious reason : It is riba
Now to what I think.
I will quote the FJP’s words from its statement published in February 2012 and say that we got enough sources that can spare us from borrowing and aids if there is true proper use of these sources. We have to think outside the box for God sake , we have to think about the 40% of the public under the international poverty line.
Already there are certain questions in my mind :
  • What are the conditions of the IMF ??
  • Where is that plan of Morsi which he promised to adopt economically that would bring to Egypt $900 billions in 4 years ??
  • What about raising the fees of Suez canal and forcing ships to pay with the Euro instead of the dollar or even the Egyptian pound ??
  • What about progressive taxation ?? I think in a country like Egypt this is good and do not preach about investments to the end of that crap as people have sold their organs and babies in the last 20 years because the bloody economic plans to attract foreign investments !!!
  • What about the government expenditure ?? The government’s advisors’ salaries that reach to millions per year ?? Already how much are the salaries of the president’s advisers and teams ??
  • Where is our money abroad that MB promised to get ??
  • What about the Gulf aids from Saudi Arabia and Qatar ??
  • Why can not we stop importing useless luxurious stuff like imported ice cream , juices .. extra ??
  • Why can not we have a proper real estate tax ? a real one.
  • Why can not we start to reach for cheap energy renewable sources in order to save money like Solar energy and wind energy !?
  • Where is the money Sheikh Hassan collected during the NGOs crisis ??
  • What is the fate of Al Sokary Gold mine ??
We need a true transparent report about the Egyptian economy , we need to know the truth in order to work together because it is not only about the future of the bloody brotherhood but the future of a whole nation. We need a detailed report about the Egyptian economy in order to know what Mubarak did for real in this country if we want to enter a new era of transparency.
There are other alternatives then taking a big loan from the IMF and missing around with subsidiaries that people have spoken since February 2012 . For instance The Popular campaign to drop the Egypt’s debts issued that report to the parliament in early 2012 showing the alternatives. This campaign includes economic experts not football experts for God sake.
Away from economics , as long as Egypt is still suffering economically from the burden of debts , forget any attempt to amend the Camp David treaty for real. I can not expect any political or social stability if the government starts missing with subsidiaries in this stage where people no longer fear to protest and guns are everywhere.
↧

The big action film of the day : The president saves the day as usual !!

August 23, 2012, 5:52 pm
$
0
0
For the first time since getting rid from SCAF and without having a parliament , President Morsi uses his granted legislative powers and issued a law to ban the temporary detention in the press related crimes amending article no.41 of the Press law no.96 for year 1996.
According to the Presidency spokesperson Yasser Ali the accidentally infamous hero of the day Islam Afifi, the editor in chief of Al Dostor will be released from his temporarily detention.
This law is considered ineffective up till now because it has not been published in the State's official newspaper yet the Public prosecutor decided to release Ali who will be a free man in a couple of hours.
And that was finale , from that presidential intervention at the end of the film that saved the day miraculously. 
Today the Giza criminal court decided to adjourn the case against Islam Afifi to September 17,2012 and to detain him temporarily for 15 days pending the trial !!
Afifi is accused of defaming the president , the ruler of the country and he can go to jail according to article no. 179 in the penalties. This article is very old , it was the defame of royalty in time of monarchy then the defame of president in time of republic. It should be abolished.
Already Morsi also cancelled the temporarily detention yet Afifi can go in jail in the end if he is found guilty of defaming the president.
This is the first time since the revolution that a journalist is being detained for something he published in press. It is extremely dangerous and sad when I remember that Morsi promised that no journalist will be imprisoned  and no newspaper or TV channel will be closed in his term 
Ironically nobody knew who Afifi was before this circus and sadly enough Al Dostor was considered a tabloid whose distribution was less than average. Today all the issues of Al Dostor were sold !!!
After the tragedy of Al Dostor in 2010 and the control of Mubarak's State security through the infamous Reda Edward accusation, the famous newspaper turned in to a true tabloid and after the revolution it took a Pro-SCAF Anti-MB stand.
The newspaper reached hit rock bottom with its Front page during the Presidential elections time full of red and black bold headlines speaking about devilish conspiracies of MB to control Egypt with the help of States and Qatar warning the people of electing Abu El Fotouh and Morsi. The newspaper continued its warning from the MB invasion to Egypt with fictional tales. It reminded me with the 1950s headlines of the U.S newspapers in the Mid West during the McCarthy witch hunt warning the Americans from the Soviet invasion.
Now thanks to this trial Islam Afifi has become a martyr of freedom of speech and a hero whether inside Egypt or Outside It is so sick .Amnesty International issued a statement about Afifi yesterday while Reporters without borders issued  a statement attacking the court's order as expected. Egyptian human rights organizations like EIPR also issued a statement condemning the court order.  Even the Revolutionary socialists who can not stomach journalists like Afifi found themselves defending him because of freedom of speech !!
It is worth to mention that the MB and its political arm now are defending themselves claiming that they did not report Afifi or any journalist !! 
↧
↧

#August24 Protest : And it was predicted by many

August 24, 2012, 3:11 pm
$
0
0
Many people in Egypt predicted that the #August24 Protest will be huge failure for following reasons :
  • Logically people do not go to protest against new democratically elected president after 50 days of his rule.
  • Many of those calling for the protests like Abu Hamed and Okasha are false leader with no real popularity what so ever in the street when it comes to revolution or revolutionaries.
  • This protest was backed up by that branch in SCAF and intelligence opposing the revolution in generation , that branch has gone with the wind now.
  • The ambiguity of the protest’s goal : Is to bring down the democratically President or to call for a military rule or to bring down the Muslim brotherhood ??
The problem now that the Muslim brotherhood will act as if it got a divine legitimacy thinking that the numbers of protesters came today to the street is the true size of its opposition in the street. Already we got a statement of one of the FJP officials in Al Shorouk newspaper website claiming that the protests reflected the true size of Morsi’s opposition in the street. This is not the true opposition that the MB will face and is facing it , the brotherhood and its party will be fooling themselves if they think so. Still realistically the brotherhood won today.
I covered the protests or protest to be accurate in Tahrir square where it was controlled by dozens of Mohamed Morsi supporters , despite some of them were Islamists , few told me that they were not MB but they were independent protesters who came to support President Morsi with their own blood.
I do not want to seem judgmental or rude but some of these Pro-Morsi protesters did not look like the MB members at all, in fact some of them reminded me with the NDP supporters. “Some of them reminded me with the NDP thugs especially with their aggressiveness and rudeness”
DSC04055
Needless to say any other protesters who came to protest against Morsi or the Muslim brotherhood was kicked out and insulted by those dozens. I witnessed how an old man was kicked out of some group standing near Hardees where he was being labeled Abu Hamed’s man who is financed by Sawiris ..etc.
These supporters chanted “ Morsi, Morsi” , “The Square says that there is no place for felol”.. etc. “They once chanted “Not eastern nor western but rather Islamic , Islamic”
Now there were these scenes that made me stop like the scene of the flags sellers selling the MB, Morsi and Islamist flags besides the Egyptian flag, like the Morsi merchandise sold everywhere. There was that scene of that family made of father , mother and two toddlers including a boy wearing a tiny army suit. The man insisted that he was free to protest against the MB in Tahrir square because he and his family were Egyptians and Tahrir is for all Egyptians. If it were not the madam and kids , he would be beaten without doubt. It ended that the family went to Mohamed Mahmoud street.
DSC04033
I met a lady in her 50s , Mrs. Fatahia who is uneducated as she said yet she came to tell Morsi that he should look after the poor and not to honor men like Tantawy.
The best scenes of all was that man who kept his hands in chains and screamed in the pro-Morsi and anti-Morsi protesters in Tahrir square.
You sons of bitches stop fighting each other , your money is stolen abroad and you continue to fight each other like in time Mubarak !!
DSC04037
Side talks in the corners of Tahrir square and Talaat Harb were the main interesting thing in the boring day.
There was that short battle of rocks hurled between the pro-Morsi protesters and Anti-Morsi protesters in Talaat Herb street, there were no casualties then. Now contrary to the proper misconception the Revolutionary socialists did not join the anti-MB/Morsi protests but rather the Egyptian communist party.
The aggressiveness of the Pro-Morsi supporters was epic here with people screaming in the face of the reporters and cameras that people should give Morsi a channnnnnce.
DSC04051
There was no shooting in Tahrir square , I was there when I heard that shot that according to TV reporters standing the scene some kind of fireworks. Needless to say the guy who threw these fireworks was captured by the Pro-Morsi supporters and got his ass kicked. I do not know if they went to the police to report him or not but there was no single policeman in the square today. The traffic was organized by volunteers.
In the end it was a boring day.
↧

Water problem in the land of the Nile !!

August 25, 2012, 10:18 am
$
0
0
Morsi is facing a lot of challenges more than anyone can imagine with a legacy of failing decay state that needs to be revived.
One of the major challenges facing Morsi is Water in Egypt , oh yes Water in Egypt aside from food prices and housing and aside from the Nile Basin struggle on water. We are speaking about the basic clean water access. You will be amazed how many areas in Egypt , the land of the Nile , people suffer from clean water access problems. You will be shocked more when you know how much money was supposedly spent on water infrastructure project in time of Mubarak using foreign aids and for sure you will wonder where that money had gone.
There are water access problems , water distribution problems and water filtering problems.
Hundreds of citizens were poisoned because of polluted water in Sanasfat village in Monufia  The numbers of patients are exceeding everyday

Sansafat village is the not the only village in the country that suffer from clean water access problems , in fact it  is from the lucky villages and towns in the Nile Delta with water access. There are many villages with no water access at all in Upper Egypt !!!!!!!!!!!!
This happens in the land of the Nile !!
Sanafar village and other villages in Egypt are not the responsibility of Morsi.

Check the photos our amazing citizen journalist Heba Kholy took in Sansafat village , Monufia.You should see the color of water to know what I am trying to say




↧

#Daraya : Another massacre , the biggest so far !!

August 25, 2012, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
The town of Daraya in Reef Dimshaq was associated in my mind before the revolution with fruits and jams ; the best jams in the world , the best cherry in the world , the best canned apricots but now it is associated with massacres more than anything !!
Today El Assad forces committed another huge crime , another huge massacre that according to human rights activists not less 200 have been killed in the shelling of Daraya today. The footage coming from there is extremely horrible , charred bodies , blown limbs and brains !! Children , elderly women and men !! Horrible scenes that have actually become the norm !!
Daraya : Shelling the residential houses
 “+18 Extremely graphic”



Daraya : The victims , extremely graphic
Daraya : The dead bodies were shelled too !!
After the shelling El Assad militant gangs reportedly attacked a mosque where not less than 150 civilians were using as a shelter , they killed the people inside the mosque !!




 According from what I understood that mosque is in some tribal area which means the blood river will not stop.
Daraya : Abu Soliman mosque massacre
Oh God most merciful please stop this blood river. Today nearly 400 were killed in Syria !!
Morsi is going to China tomorrow and after it he will visit Iran and the States , I hope that he remembers Syria in that tour.
↧
Search

Save the Sultan from that ugly Metal thing !!

August 26, 2012, 2:09 pm
$
0
0

I think I spoke about this before , may be on twitter anyhow I think the ministry of Culture and Cairo Governorate should do something about that ugly metal structure called “Ayman Taha Mall” beside the famous and Ancient Sultan Abu Ela Mosque in Boulaq Down town Cairo.

I took those photos in a taxi with my iPhone so I am sorry if they are not that great.

That building made of metal and glass is called the “Ayman Taha Mall” , some sort of a project by former MP Ayman Taha for street vendors in the famous Boulaq quarter. Needless to say for months that building is not working or operating , standing still beside the ancient mosque and destroying the scene which is already damaged by the popular market of Boulaq !!

Taha was a member of the NDP who used to represent labor seat in the parliament on behalf of Downtown Cairo area. You can see the ads showing NDP MP Taha calling the women to vaccinate their children freely with the NDP logo on the walls of Al Galaa hospital.

After the revolution he joined the Free Egyptians Party “ I doubt he knows the meaning of liberalism” and he won the parliamentary elections and represented the Labor seat of Downtown Cairo. After being a member in the industry committee, Taha resigned from the party. “I bet he is thinking of joining Freedom and Justice Party now”

I do not care about Taha and his project , I care about that old ancient mosque , it is enough the damage this bridge had to endure because of the bridges now it got that tasteless metal building besides it with the ugly posters of Taha all over it , enough is enough !!

Sultan Abu Ela was not a Sultan but rather a Sufi Sheikh from Arabia who came and lived in Egypt in order to be near from Prophet Mohamed’s family “Peace upon them” in Egypt. He was called a Sultan as the Sultan of Sufis. Despite the current building or mosque was built and decorated in time of Mamluks , the shrine itself exists since 9th century CE for God sake.

This mosque and its history is part of the real history of Cairo. For God sake

By the way I read in the newspapers late 2011 that this ugly mall thing is going to be removed by the municipals workers and that

You can read more about the Sultan Abu Ela mosque in those links :

↧
↧

Meet Morsi’s presidential team

August 27, 2012, 10:09 am
$
0
0
The presidential team has been announced today by Yasser Ali , the Presidency's spokesperson. It includes 4 assistants and 17 consultants.

4 assistants:

  • Samir Marcus : The president's assistant for the democratic transition. A Christian thinker and writer. Highly respected man in Egypt.
  • Emad Abdel Ghafur : The president's assistant for the social communication "Do not even ask me what the hell this means!!". He is the leader of Al Nour Salafist party.
  • Pakinam El Sharkawy : The president's assistant for political issues. A political sciences professor in Cairo university who is allegedly close to the Muslim brotherhood.
  • Essam Ahmed El Hadad : The president's assistant for the foreign affairs and international cooperation. A MB guidance office senior member and a physician , interestingly enough he was accused in the international organization of Muslim brotherhood case in time of Mubarak. He is currently responsible for the international MB branch. He comes from a MB family in Alexandria. He was the manager of Morsi's campaign and the head of the foreign relations in Freedom and justice party. Morsi wanted to appoint him as the head of presidential staff but
From the 4 , I will choose Samir Marcus. Now we got one Christian , one Salafist , one woman and one MB. Of course in another reading I will say we got one independent Christian thinker and 3 Islamists in the President's assistants.
The assistants will have official offices in the Presidential palace. No word if Abdel Ghafur and El Hadad will keep their partisan positions.

17 consultants :

Now the consultants council is not part of the presidential team according to Ayman El Sayyad , it is made of consultants who got only a consulting role.



  • Ayman El Sayyad : A Pro-revolutionary journalist and a dear sir. The editor in chief of Waghat Nazar magazine that is considered one of the most important cultural and political magazines in the Arab world. A veteran who worked in several regional publication as well a consultant to several media forums in the Middle East. Politically some classify him as liberal , others as nationalist while I know people who classify him as a leftist.I think a social democrat nationalist can be the best to describe the man with moderate views. He is from the true reasonable voices in Egypt.
  • Sakina Fouad : The famous novelist and writer with strong views against corruption and dictatorship. Despite Fouad is known for her nationalist views , she was among the co-founding members of liberal Democratic Front Party. "I think she is its vice-chairman now." I love her. Arabic Wikipedia Link.
  • Farouk Goweida : The famous poet and writer was a candidate for the minister of culture position for a long time. Goweida used to criticize Mubarak's regime and its corruption in his quiet calm smooth way where he raised important issues about culture, Sinai and Wheat.
  • Essam Al Arian : Do I need to speak about the loudmouth smiling provoking leading member of the Muslim brotherhood and current acting leading of Freedom and Justice Party Essam Al Arian ??
  • Rafik Habib : A Christian protestant writer and activist who is too close to the MB and Islamists , he is the vice-chairman of Freedom and Justice Party. He is not popular among Christians at all as he is regarded as biased to the MB.
  • Mohamed Salim El Awa : The famous Islamist lawyer and thinker as well former presidential candidate known from his controversial statements about arms in churches in time of Mubarak and the army during SCAF role where he was regarded a Pro-SCAF man. He is close to the Muslim brotherhood as his dad is from the founders of the brotherhood and his
  • Amr El Lithy : A TV host who used to be member of the NDP media committee according to some journalists. Interestingly enough he was the first to host Khairat El Shater on TV. He is the son of famous TV producer Mamdouh El Lithy and the nephew of 1960s film producer Gamal El Lithy. I do not understand why he would be chosen in the first place. Journalists are angry and they have to. El Lithy used to publish and head a tabloid called Thursday.
  • Seif El Din Abdel Fatah : A political sciences professor with Islamist views who used to be the political advisor of former Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh.
  • Dr. Omamia Kamel : This women is a member in too things , she is a member in the constituent assembly as well Freedom and Justice as well MB. The Physician and mother  was also a former MP in the People assembly and was the Women's affairs spokesperson in Morsi's presidential campaign. She is married to Khaled Hanafi, a leading member of the MB too. "Actually MB women leading members are married to MB men"  Here is her FB page.
  • Dr. Mohi Hamed : A MB member , a member in the Guidance office of the MB to be accurate. A physician from Sharkia . Here is an interesting quote for the senior member in some Iranian website about the US and the West.
  • Emad Hussein Hassan Abdullah : The only name that pops in the Google search when I am trying to find any info about him is Police General Hussein Hassan Abdullah. Born in 1952 , Abdullah was a former assistant for the minister of interior and the head of police academy.
  • Hussein El Kazaz : Another MB man in the council. He is an economic consultant for the Muslim brotherhood. He is a businessman who owns SKOPOS council.  His name is listed from the substitutes in the constituent assembly.
  • Dr. Khalid Alam El Din : A member of Al Nour party who was nominated to become the minister of environment but did not get the post , the thing that made Al Nour party extremely angry from MB and Morsi.
  • Ahmed Mohamed Omran : I could not find much about him despite some claim that he is a Salafist from Hazamoon Group " Member of Hazem Abu Ismail supporters group !!". According to this link sent to me through twitter , he is a professor of computers in university of Fayoum.
  • Mohamed Esamt Seif El Dowala : An Arab nationalist Islamist writer and activist, the son of the famous socialist activist Seif El Dowala and the brother of famous human rights Aida Seif El Dowala. Here is a part of his interview last year during the cabinet HQ's clashes on Salafist Al Nas channel where he speaks about the protests.
  • Bassam Razaqa : A member in Al Nour party high committee. He was also a member in the constituent assembly and former MP in the last people's assembly.
  • Ayman Ahmed Ali : We know nothing about so far except that he is a MB member and a physician !!
Our people , the true Pro-Egypt Revolutionary people are : Ayman Sayyad, Sakina Fouad and Samir Marcus.
There are 6 MB in total from that team despite the Guidance office of MB is considered a separate entity from the Freedom and Justice Party. It is more conservative if I may say and it got two members in the assistants team and the consultant council.
There are two Christians : Marcus and Habib. There are 3 women , 2 of them are from the Islamists. There are 4 Salafists as well.
The parties currently represented are Freedom and Justice Party , Al Nour Party and the Democratic Front.
There are no members from any other political party nor nor youth in that team. It is worth to mention that many public figures refused to join the consulting council like for instance dear Wael Khalil.
We need to know what these people are going to do and we need to know also their salaries because we are speaking about the right of tax payers in Egypt.
↧

Morsi speaks to International media for the first time

August 28, 2012, 5:50 am
$
0
0
And Reuters pitches the first international interview with President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt.
Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of his interview , I think they recorded video with Morsi.
Morsi in Reuters interview 
Now the important points in this interview :
  • No devaluation of the Egyptian pound
  • No more taxes
  • The government will focus on investments and tourism.
  • Morsi urges El Assad’s regime to step down.
  • Morsi urges El Assad’s allies “China and Russia” to force him to step down.
  • The Egyptian suggestion considering Syrian includes talks with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.
  • The Peace treaty with Israel is safe and Israel should not be worried from the military campaign in Sinai.
  • The visit to Iran is a new start for the troubled relations , still Egypt is working on having balanced relations with everybody.
  • The visit to China and the States is to attract investments.
By the way I think Morsi should speak to Egyptian too.
Here is part of the interview in video in Arabic with no English subtitles.

↧

Morsi in China

August 29, 2012, 3:27 am
$
0
0

President Mohamed Morsi started his visit to China today where he was received officially by Chinese president Hu Jintao in Beijing earlier today. This is the third foreign visit for Morsi after his visit to Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia since he was elected as the President of Egypt.

Aside from the bilateral relations between Egypt and China , the Syrian issue is the main topic of the hour as I expected and hinted out before on twitter and people mocked me. Chinese media is highlighting the statements of Morsi’s spokesperson in China about Egypt’s refusal to military intervention in Syria. “Syrians are cursing Morsi already for this statement”
Morsi at the Great Hall of the people "Xinhua"
Economics relations are another important file Morsi is discussing with his Chinese counterpart. Morsi will sign 8 economic agreements in China concerning investment , telecommunications and ports.
I think those 8 economic agreements are old ones from time of Mubarak that the ousted president ignored like for instance like developing west of the Suez project. It was signed during time of Mubarak and was completely forgotten.
Interestingly enough the 70 businessmen accompanying Morsi are former NDP tycoons like Mohamed Farid Khamis and MB businessmen like Hassan Malak. Businessman and new steel tycoon Ahmed Abu Hashima “formally known as Haifa Wehbe’s hubby” is speaking about Egyptian-Chinese partnership in steel industry .


Chinese will not help us in re-building our national economy or industry , for God sake in Damietta the furniture industry is struggling !!! I hope Morsi knows what he is doing. We need to know what these deals are.
Morsi and Jinato "Xinhua"
There are arms deal in this visit which are also old arms deal from time of Mubarak that were completely ignored so the States won’t be angry. The ministry of interior will import couple of anti-riots vehicles from China too.


Morsi at the Great Hall of the people "Xinhua"
By the way speaking it will be a nice thing if the President of Egypt prayed in Beijing's oldest mosque “Niujie Mosque” , it can send a simple good message to Chinese Muslims who suffer under Chinese ruler. By the way I love how the Niujie Mosque looks like.

↧

Rachel Corrie , it is your damn fault to stand in front of military bulldozers after all !!!

August 28, 2012, 4:36 pm
$
0
0
Now the Egyptian judiciary got a competition when it comes to politicized verdicts regionally : The Israeli judiciary !!
Today an Israeli court ruled out that Israeli government is not responsible for Rachel Corrie’s death !! It was the 23 years old American activist’s fault to stand against military bulldozers in 2003 to protest the demolition of Palestinian houses in Gaza. After all like judge Oded Gershon said , she could distance herself from bulldozer like any reasonable person !! Clearly Gershon believes late Corrie was a crazy woman to stand against a military bulldozer of an invading army attacking civilians !!
It was an accident and she brought it upon herself !!
Am I surprised ?? No I am not unlike those who thought Israel will treat the case differently because it concerns an American citizen !! After all if the court convicted the IDF , that conviction would open a debate about the actions of the IDF in Gaza and demolishing the Palestinian houses in the occupied territories.
Here is the reaction of the Corries after the verdict.

Here is sweet little Corrie in the 5th Grade speaking about future plans to help the third world.
Rachel Corrie join your great uncles of USS Liberty !!
Of course there is huge anger in social media concerning the verdict worldwide, here are two angry hashtags in English : #Justice4Rachel and #RachelCorrie. The Israeli PR machine started its work and we found Israeli PM’s spokesperson Ofir Gendelman speaking on twitter about the verdict and thank goodness he did not accuse Corrie of terrorism herself like ISM !!
↧
↧

The Bombardment of #Alexandria in 1882 in photos

August 29, 2012, 12:00 am
$
0
0
The Rare Books and Special collections Digital library of The American University in Cairo has published a very rare collection of photos showing Alexandria after its bombardment in 1882 by the British Navy.
In  1882 Ahmed Orabi and the army revolted against Khedive Tawfik , that failed revolution unfortunately could not stand against the British forces and its modern arms in Egypt. UK invaded Egypt by the request of Tawfik whom history will not forgive easily in 1882.
Anyhow this magnificent collection of photos shot by Italian photographer Luigi Fiorillo whose photo collections depicting the Middle East from the 19th century are considered a very good source to know how life was used to be like.
Here was Alexandria after its bombardment by British Navy , the Alexandrian cannons could not keep the British invaders away.
The Fort of Citadel of Qatibay , badly destroyed

Maguid Mosque in Alex !!!? "Can not find a mosque
with that name now !!"
The Max fort in the famous Max area
it is known as the fishermen´s Venice in Egypt now 
It had a famous lighthouse

Those were Ras El Tin palace cannons
You can see someone killed there. 
Ras El Tin Palace cannons destroyed 
Al Max  fort´s cannons destroyed
You can see the rest of the photos here. I wonder how many Egyptians were killed in that invasion.
Interestingly the army and the people were truly hand in hand and because of international geopolitics and interests this revolution was not only destroyed but squashed , it was the true Egyptian popular revolution against regime in Egypt and it was failure. Khedive Tawfik is from the most hated rulers I can not stand in our history , seriously.
My great great great grandfather fought in Orabi´s army according to my grandfather May Allah bless his soul." I do not remember if he were a solider or officer or just a volunteer" . He told me that he had fought till the defeat of Orabi. After knowing about the defeat he took the Egyptian flag his unit kept it with him so it would not fall in the hand of the British. That red flag was kept in the family till the departure of the last British solider form Suez canal in 1953 , when the father of my granddad went and presented it to the Military museum then . I thought of sharing this little family tale.
Now I wish that they did not return that Orabi army red flag and kept it so I can have. 
↧

Arrogance is the beginning of the failure

August 29, 2012, 1:53 pm
$
0
0
The Constitution party has admitted its papers officially today to be recognized as an official political party presenting a new hope for the liberal parties in Egypt.
Most politicians welcomed including the Muslim brotherhood politicians in their own way

I welcome the Constitution Party in an addition to the parties that will appear and the parties that disappeared and Freedom and Justice Party will remain for a real democratic life in Egypt

This was leading MB member and current acting Freedom and Justice Party leader as well newly appointed adviser to President Morsi Dr. Essam El Arian !!!!!!!!!!!!! Freedom and Justice Party will remain and the rest will disappear !!?? Wow so much for modesty !? and the MB insists on not being a new NDP !! The MB and FJP politicians can not stand the party of their old ally Mohamed ElBaradei mocking it since its activities in the Eid.   
Anyhow on the other hand Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh welcomed the new party that will compete his own party "Strong Egypt" in a very civilized noble way that shows the difference between him and El Arian.
The participation of Dr. ElBaradei in the partisan life will enrich it and the youth that surround him are a hope to Egypt .. good luck to constitution party and every committed young member in it.
I have got hopes for the Constitution party and I pray it will succeed. I have got hopes not because of the big names like ElBaradei, Gameela Ismail, Bothaina Kamel or dear Israa Abdel Fatah but because of its active members from youth all over the country that are engaging with the public unlike any other party so far
↧
Search

Who wrote the NAM Speech ??

August 30, 2012, 10:23 am
$
0
0
Some think it was sectarian , some think it was the best, few like think it was balanced and well written to the level I wonder who wrote it !?? I am speaking about Mohamed Morsi’s speech in Tehran at the Non Alignment movement summit.
Here is the speech in Arabic.

The important points in the long speech that continued for 42 minutes
  • El Assad regime should leave. “The Syrian delegation left and later slammed the speech as an intervention in Syria’s issue”
  • The right to have a Palestinian state recognized internationally and the rights of Palestinian refugees.
  • Keeping the Middle East free zone of nuclear mass destruction weapons.
  • He spoke about Nasser ,he could not ignore him.
It is a good thing that Morsi went to say in Iran that El Assad regime should leave , it is better than boycotting the summit.
Now there is an euphoria among Arabs and Egyptians mainly from Islamists and Salafists because he saluted all the Righteous Caliphs name by name in Tehran. Radical Shiites do not recognized Abu Bakr , Omar and Othman as righteous caliphs. It is being hailed as the most important speech ever told in the Modern age in NAM , in Islamic world in the universe !!!!!
May be I am not sectarian but I believe that it was good gesture to unite Muslims in the speech of Morsi by mentioned Abu Bakr, Omar , Othman and Ali peace upon them all.
Now we got the Muslim brotherhood and activists like world famous Asmaa Mahfouz calling for a public hero reception for Morsi after historical great speech in Iran !!!
 This is how Egyptians excelled in making false idols from their rulers !!!!!

The Muslim brotherhood and Al Nour Salafist Party have mobilized their members already to receive Morsi at the airport and also to receive at Fatmah  El Shorbagy mosque in New Cairo where he prays
Ok now it is getting out of control , a Kuwaiti Poet called Hamd Ibn Abdullah dedicates a Poem to Morsi praising him as a President who conquers all villains and kicks the asses of Zoroastrians "Shiite" , Zionists , crosses "Christians". By the way that Kuwaiti Poet is actually from Salafi Jihadist Sheikh.
↧

#August24 in Video

August 30, 2012, 11:08 am
↧
↧

Regarding Morsi and the conquest of Tehran 2012 !!

September 1, 2012, 1:37 pm
$
0
0
Morsi and Ahamedinajed
The speech of Mohamed Morsi in the NAM summit meeting in Tehran yesterday is still echoing and causing controversy among Egyptians and the Arabs. Most people in Egypt find it reasonable balanced as well announcement that Egypt is back in leading the  region once again. “Despite it is still speech, there are no real actions yet to make Egypt return back to its position ”
Nevertheless the brothers in the Gulf as well the brothers in the Muslim brotherhood and Salafist movement in Egypt and Arab worldwide have turned the 42 minutes speech in to the greatest victory over the Persian Empire since 1400 years and beyond !!
Unfortunately the overreaction of the Islamists in Egypt after the speech whether online and offline stunned many revolutionary Egyptians with its sectarian nature including me. The MB and Al Nour Party ordered their members to receive Morsi in the airport and then head to his house in order to salute him. Now Morsi is being hailed as the New Saladin of modern time because the radical sectarian Islamists believe that he slammed the Shiite in their own land thanks to the few words he said in his speech.
In the beginning of his speech Morsi saluted the four caliphs by name
Peace upon Prophet Mohamed “PBUH”’s companions our lords Abu Bakr, Omar , Othman and Ali
Radical Shiites do not recognize Abu Bakr , Omar and Othman as the rightful to rule after Prophet Mohamed “PBUH” and some of them hate and insult them in some of their rituals.
Thanks to very trusted diplomatic sources I knew that the ministry of foreign affairs is not responsible for this speech so this speech is made and written in presidency. Some say that that Morsi that Caliphs’ phrase to his speech while reading in order to slam Ali Khamenei as the later ignored the first 3 Caliphs and spoke about chosen caliph Ali.
I can not describe how the radical Salafist and Sunni in the Gulf received that sentence in why you can not imagine it , here is a collection of what I saw last night and depressed me.
What Morsi did in Tehran to Omar was important than what 1000 TV series like Omar can do for him !?
This status was copied all over the FB and twitter madly. We are speaking about Omar Ibn El Khateb , the second Caliph in Islam who was assassinated by Pirouz Nahavandi aka Abu Lula , the Persian because of the Muslim conquest of Persia. Nahavandi got an alleged Shrine in Kashan that was built in time of the Sunni Khwarazmian dynasty. That Shrine was already closed thanks to the International organization of Islamic scholars “headed by MB veteran Sheikh Karadawy” in 2007 in an attempt to have a dialogue between Sunni and Shiite.
To be honest some historians believe that it is not a shrine for Omar’s assassin but rather to a some Sufi Sheikh as it was built during the rule of the Khwarazian dynasty that was a Sunni ruling family. Also according to historical account Omar’s assassin was executed in Madina after his horrible crime and was buried there. Arabs do not have tombstones in Arabia and it does not make sense on how his body would be transferred from Madina to Iran during that time.
There is a huge historical gap when it comes about the reality of  that shrine yet I can not deny that there are radical Shiites who got very hateful views about Omar , Aisha and Abu Bakr as well Othman “Peace upon them all”.
We got similiar tweets like that all day long :
Morsi slammed the Zoroastrians
Morsi avenged for Omar from the Zoroastrians !!!
I do not think that a great man like Omar needs a man like Morsi to restore back his right. Already the radical Shiite will not stop their hate or insult to him or lady Aisha or Abu Bakr after what Morsi said.
Anyhow It did not stop at tweets, statements and Facebook status , we got the blessings of the radical Sheikhs in the Gulf who crowned Morsi who is struggling to control Egypt and to solve its problems in the first 100 days as the leader of the Nation.
we got even fake quotes for celebs that celebrate the huge victory in most of the Muslim brotherhood pages.
A fake Erdogan quote
Erdogan : Morsi is the first Muslim Arab Egyptian to slam the Iranian regime at the their household since the fall of the Othman Empire in this incredible way. Egypt is a giant that no one will stand against anymore !!
No way could Erdogan say this or any prime minister or any real politician say this !!Ironically this is not the first time the Muslim brotherhood FB in Egypt post fake quotes of Erdogan about how great Morsi is !!
Famous political sciences professor and TV host Moatez Abdel Fatah denied that he praised the rallies supporting Morsi in Cairo because he championed Abu Bakr and Omar in the home of those who curse them !!
Welcome to the new Islamic world , no wonder we suffer a lot.
To be honest I do not know if Morsi wants to send a message to the Gulf state that we will be in their side or he wants balanced relations with Iran and the Gulf. You do not start a new chapter with a country like Iran in a very critical time by igniting sectarian differences.
The Muslim brotherhood media and icons used to defend this visit to Iran as a sign of independence from the American fellowship and that the Egyptian Iranian relations are good for our Egyptian economy. Already after that summit Morsi held talks with Ahmadinejad  to discuss the bilateral relations and its future. Now we got leaks to the media that we are going to re-open our embassy in Tehran and that we are going to welcome Iranian Shiite pilgrims to visit the Holy Shrines of Ahl Al-Bayt !!!! As you can the scene is contradictory if you pay attention for news for real.
Knowing the names of Morsi’s advisers and staff , I know that many of these names support the return of the Egyptian Iranian relations as well enforcing the Egyptian Turkish to form a strong regional alliance as well Muslim alliance. Among these names the President’s adviser for national reconciliation Islamic thinker Mohamed Salim El Awa as well Political sciences professor Seif Abdel Fatah. Mohamed Salim El Awa is from the leading members  The international organization of Islamic Scholar that played a role in closing down
Morsi’s adviser journalist and Ayman Sayyad also criticized how the speech was received in a sectarian way.

Unfortunately the problem of some Muslims that causes their division is that they still live in the 1th century AH and their enemies drag them to this.
It is worth to mention that others did not like this sectarian of the speech, after all it is a NAM summit and not the Islamic Conference Organization summit.
Yes Shiite Iran is involved deeply in the blood rivers running in Syria but why do we forget that Sunni Omar El Bashir and his regime committed and are still committing horrible crimes against the Sunni Sudanese people. I do not need to speak about the crimes committed by Sunni presidents and rulers against their rulers. This is politics , game of interest and power. We can not forget how Saudi Arabia and Iran in 1960s had cozy relations against Nasser for couple of years
Yesterday I feared that the speech of Morsi and those few words he said in Tehran would be just an introduction to a war between the Sunni and Shiite. I do not want my country and its army to be dragged to a sectarian regional war by its president and his party as simple as that. Already there are educated people in Egypt who believed that there are mass-executions taken place in Iraq for all those named Omar !!
Egypt after the revolution should work on uniting the Arab world and Islamic world peacefully. 
↧

When humans lose their humanity !!

September 1, 2012, 7:09 am
$
0
0
I do not know what kind of title I can use but this is the simplest thing popped in to my mind when I saw this news report Pro-El Assad Al Donia TV channel aired after Darya’s massacre in the doomed city that witnessed last week one of the biggest massacres since the start of the revolution in 2011.
Al Donia aired a video report on August 25th showing the town of Daraya right after the massacre where bodies are everywhere and injured from women and children can not even speak from shock before pain !!!  It is extremely graphic video.
The most provoking and shocking part in the video how Al Donia reporter Michelin Azar walked around the dead bodies and the injured boldly asking children shocked in fear with her strong voice “Who did this !?” while they lying besides the body of their dead body.


That was the first official video filmed in the city and it shows horrible the massacre was.Of course it was a Pro-El Assad propaganda that accuses the unknown terrorist militants using dramatic music in the background !!
The fact that Michelin did not have the slightest emotion in her face or her voice while she was walking around and the smell of death and blood in her nose shock me by all measure , what kind of human she is. She lost her humanity in my point of view
Michelin Azar is being hated and attacked so much by the Pro-Revolution supporters calling her the devilish Michelin , still the Pro-El Assad supporters are defending her on the Facebook. Azar is married to Wassem Esmander; an officer in the Political security branch.Interestingly enough former Al Jazeera TV host Luna El Shabel is said to be the producer of that shocking segment.
One thing for sure Azar is blacklisted just like Libya’s Hala Masrati
↧

Syrian women are Refugees and Not your Captives

September 2, 2012, 3:35 am
$
0
0
Among the huge challenges and problems facing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are in the Arab countries especially in Jordan and Gulf , a very nasty problem : Rich old men from Gulf offer to marry poor refugee minor girls for money.
At first it started as rumors some thought that were spread by El Assad regime regarding how men marry poor Syrian refugee minor girls using their families’ need for small amount of money but sadly enough it was confirmed by Jordanian Press. It seems that men from the Gulf head now to Jordan to find young cheap brides at the refugees camps. A Saudi writer called Mohamed El Assamy wrote about that disgusting practice in a Saudi newspaper angrily revealing that there are prices for the girls range between 500 SR and 1000 SR !!!!!!
These men are using the poverty and extreme need of those Syrian families mainly from working class seeking refugee in the worst conditions ever. I will not speak about the role of the UN but I will assume that there are laws in Jordan banning the underage marriage. If those men want to help the Syrian refugees and their women for real , they would donate and help in improving the conditions of the refugee camps in Jordan.
Unfortunately it happened before during the war of Bosnia and the invasion of Iraq. It is a déjà vu for what happened to Iraqi refugees.
“Syrian women with the Revolution” FB page posted a status saying the admin received a lot of provoking messages like “I am Egyptian looking for Syrian refugee for marriage” and “I am Algerian looking for a Syrian refugee for marriage”adding that she wished that no one would send those messages again to her because “It is not the time of marriage in Syria but rather time of war”. In another post the admin of the popular Pro-Revolution page lost her temper “I will say to those who are using our situation to marry our free women that we got real men in Syria that break down mountains and that our free women marry from our men”. Indeed they got brave men in Syria not sissies who only think about sex.
Needless to say a Syrian friend of mine working in the refugees file in Egypt found some jerk wondering if she knew some Syrian girls in marriage age in order to protect them through marriage !!!
Now there is online campaigns against these marriage calls. On twitter tweeps started a a hashtag called “#Refugees and not captives”. On Facebook a campaign was launched with the same name “Refugees and not Captives” to protect Syrian women from disguised slavery.The FB page got a twitter account by the way.
Speaking about Syria , minor marriage and refugees , I have just heard on Friday about the tale of that young girl “about 15 years old” from the country side that married her cousin and that after one week of the marriage , her cousin was killed by regime forces leaving her as a widow and a refugee. That young widow is currently in Cairo waiting for the unknown.
↧
Viewing all 4293 articles
Browse latest View live
More Pages to Explore .....
Search

Latest Images

Eco Data 4/26/24

Eco Data 4/26/24

April 25, 2024, 5:00 pm
‘Pay day every day’ may become Shangri-La Group, BPOs’ secret to happy employees

‘Pay day every day’ may become Shangri-La Group, BPOs’ secret to happy employees

April 25, 2024, 5:51 am
Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in...

Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in...

April 23, 2024, 7:00 am
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo...

April 22, 2024, 6:00 am
Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

Ukraine bans military from online gambling amid addiction concerns

April 22, 2024, 5:17 am
ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

ಮಂಡ್ಯದಿಂದ ಸುಮಲತಾ ದೂರ; ಹೆಚ್‌ಡಿಕೆ ಪರ ಪ್ರಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿಯದ ಸಂಸದೆ –ಬರ್ತಾರೆ ನೋಡೋಣ ಎಂದ...

April 20, 2024, 8:08 pm
OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

OCBC Bank Singapore Offers Up to 2.8% p.a. Fixed Deposit Promotion from 21...

April 20, 2024, 12:38 pm
National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

National Poetry Month 2024: Maxine Starr

April 19, 2024, 9:56 am
Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

Vegan Chicken Pot Pie

April 19, 2024, 9:18 am
Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

Firefox UX: On Purpose: Collectively Defining Our Team’s Mission Statement

April 19, 2024, 7:03 am