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Imagine #Morsi doing that !?

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After leaving the army to become the president of Egypt , SCAF chose new minister of defense and a new chief of staff.
Not surprisingly Newly promoted general Sedky Sobhi became the ministry of Defense. The new chief of staff was Major General Mahmoud Hagzy. Hagzy has been familiar face since 25 January revolution as he was among the SCAF faces speaking in the media as well the revolution youth.
Anyhow a surprise was waiting for us , we knew that Mahmoud Hegazy was actually the father in law of El Sisi’s son.
I have got a naive question I have to ask : Is it ok to appoint a chief staff who is related to a Presidential candidate in an upcoming presidential elections !? I think it is very naive question to be asked. Does it happen in other countries !? Because this actually raises questions about favoritism and bias in elections.

 Of course wicked people would say that El Sisi is making sure that the army would be under his control and that Sobhi won’t dare to have any kind of thought.
Interestingly Morsi accepted that Hegazy would come as head of intelligence when El Sisi was a minister of defense. This shows me how the MB trusted SCAF. Already I remember the uproar about Morsi’s son when he was appointed in Cairo airport as well the other uproar about how his daughter’s father in law was the head of Shura Council Ahmed Fahmy. Imagine that Morsi appoints a chief of staff who turns to be his son’s father in law !!!
Anyhow the Pro-Military supporters are claiming that after the upcoming 8 years of El Sisi and Nasserite Pro-Military Newspaper Sawt El Oma demanded that the Constitution would be amended so El Sisi would be the President for eternity.
Anyhow here is a very nice info-graph by Washington Institute about the faces of SCAF.

#EndSH : Let's fight it properly , Let's start with the media

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Last week Egypt made headlines once again as usual in a negative way. A British tourist revealed that she was raped in Sharm El sheikh by some hotel guard.
Amazingly we got a confession from the ministry of tourism that this was not the first case and it happened before !!!
At the same time the British press spoke about this scandal , our conspiracy theory media refuted the case.
TV host Naela Amara , who is a media university professor working in a TV channel supposedly owned by liberal advertising tycoon Tarek Nour described the rape of the British tourist as a "comedy".

Amara who always speaks about global western conspiracies said that the British tourist continued her trip easily and that the whole matter is simple !!?
Rape is simple now !! What is difference between someone like Amara and those conservative radical Islamists !? Nothing !!
This was just two weeks after the sexual harassment scandal in Cairo university by the way. Again the woman is here to be blamed.
How can we fight sexual harassment when our media and TV channels are blaming the victims and women !? If we want to fight sexual harassment then we must start with the media. From talk shows to films , ads and songs , we got a whole culture that should be stopped and changed.  Already I cannot ignore media assholes like Amara and Tamer Amin.
Ok I understand Amin is a stupid man with conservative misogynistic views , what about the educated university female professor working allegedly in so-called liberal TV channel ?! "Actually Qahera wel Nas is more of Fox News but without the conservative religious tough" 
I am not speaking about politics here but I am speaking about social norms and traditions that should be changed. It is so provoking.
Just watch that translated video of young boys in Cairo speaking about sexual harassment and you will know what I mean. It is frustrating.
Ironically at the same time Egyptian authorities were investigating the British tourist's case , we found out that prosecutor general of Egypt referred a policeman to criminal court in Ismailia for attempted rape of a Russian tourist in Sharm El Sheikh early March. We found also ministry of tourism revoking the license of two resorts "Hilton Sharks" and "Sharm Holiday" in Sharm El sheikh for the spread of sexual harassment there. 
From what I see the ministry of tourism is just like any governmental institution in this country. It seems that we have a huge problem when it comes to sexual harassment in tourism sector but it only reacted after the disaster.
I do not need to say that this is just another big blow to tourism in Egypt.
Of course when we speak about rape here , we are speaking about a new level of sexual abuse.
Dear Shady Hussein directed and produced this video about sexual harassment in the Arab world, it was shot in Amman, Jordan. Once again social media is fighting a war against sexual harassment where as mainstream media is enforcing sexual harassment.

#Syria : the Bigger Photo From #Yarmouk Refugee Camp

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Last March the world spoke about that photo from Yarmouk Refugee camp in Damascus Syria showing long queues in order to get food.
Waiting for food
Well that photo is just the tip of the ice-berg from there.
There are more shocking photos from
Chris Gunnes , the UNRWA spokesperson published on his twitter account for weeks now a series of photos by activist and photographer Ramy El Sayyid. It is part of online exhibition that it called “Cry from the heart : The Children of Yarmouk

 Up till now the refugee camp UNRWA finds it hard to distribute food in the camp or rather the city to be precise. Starvation has killed hundreds in the Yarmouk camp from civilians. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are stuck there.
You must know that the Syrian authorities “the saint patron of Palestinian rights” did not give UNRWA the right to access to the camp for 4 days last weeks till Friday. 
It is like a double price the Palestinian refugees have to pay away from their home.
You can help Yarmouk Camp and UNRWA in General through donations.
By the way here is a video showing the food distribution in the camp uploaded on YouTube last December.
Food distribution in Yarmouk “December 2013”

#Aswan : Tribal Massacre and State Failure

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Today Egypt woke up on a disaster in Aswan, tribal fights between local ethnic tribes in El Seel Al Refy area resulted in the death of not less than 23 citizens. Of course the death toll increased till it reached to 27. It is a complete shock because we are speaking about peaceful Aswan and peaceful Nubians.
Unfortunately this disaster has been taking place since last Thursday yet the Local authorities did not give a damn leaving it escalate in to a semi ethnic tribal fight. The fight started as a normal quarrel between teenagers from two ethnic clans "Daboodiya" and "El Hilaliya". The "Daboodiya" clan is from Nubia while "El Hilaliya"clan is from the Arabs.
Last Thursday A group of "El Hilaliya" clan's students sexually harassed a Nubian girl at a secondary school where a group of Nubian students defended her and thus a fight started between both groups. Here is a video showing the original fight.

Then some alleged drug dealer from "El Hilaliya" showed up with an automatic gun. That armed man opened his fire shooting randomly killing three Nubian students and a Nubian woman passing by in the street.
Where was the police ? Watching the whole matter then issuing a statement on Thursday that there was a  fight between Pro-MB students and the locals in Aswan and the locals won the fight !!!!! That stupid statement made the Nubians even more furious. Nubian clans joined the "Daboodiya" in their anger.
Losing hope in the system the Nubians took the matter in their own hand.Early Friday a group of armed angry Nubians attacked an El Hilaliya village torching their houses and shooting the people.
The photos coming from Aswan showing scary scenes. They are extremely graphic. All the photos I posted here are from News Website Welad Al Balad


In retaliation early Saturday a group from El Hilaliya went attack houses of Nubians including houses of people who were not part of the feud slaughtering the men in those houses.

Nubian women mourn their victims
You can imagine what happened next. A hell broke loose in Aswan with checkpoints in the villages and torched tires in the street. Each clan wants justice.
The streets of Aswan today
The police claimed that it lost control asking the army to intervene.
An official tribal massacre one used to see and read about in Upper Egypt not in Aswan.
If only the police arrested that alleged drug dealer who killed those people on Thursday.If only !!

The photos from the Nubian villages showing horrifying brutality not to be used or seen usually in Aswan. According to early forensic reports the ages of the victims are between 20 to 50 years old , mostly men. Some of the victims had fractures in their skulls while some were completely slaughtered. I do not know what to say.
I had to wait all that time to gather testimonies “mostly from Nubian Netizens and activists” about what happened there and to wait till my old hard working laptop would start to work. All testimonies from Nubia agree on that version.
Interestingly thanks to this unfortunate version one has been introduced to a new interesting clan in the South of Egypt : El Hilaliya

El Hilaliya or El Gamsa clan is regarded in Aswan as Gypsies who work in illegal activities like drugs and thuggery according to the Nubians. They are being labeled in Nubia and Upper Egypt as “Gypsies”. They are considered new comers to Aswan. From several years ago some of them were kicked out from Luxor and Edfu and moved to the shanty towns of Aswan city. It seems that thugs from that clan were hired by both MB and Police to attack the protesters. According to some angry Nubian tweeps some police officers were implicated with the drug dealers from Hilaliya and that's why they did not arrest the drug dealer who shot the four Nubian students.

"The Nubians had to carry arms and defend themselves after they found the police bias to "El Hialiya" This talk was repeated by Nubian social media users today in Egypt over and over. It is worth to mention that the police did not and does not waste any time or effort in dispersing any protest against the regime whether MB protest or revolutionary protest in Aswan.

By the way some Arab clans “ From Arab ethnicity” in Aswan joined the Nubians in the past 48 hours in their anger against El Halayilia clan because that clan killed one of their members from two months ago. 
Of course all that information does not show a positive image about El Hilaliya today.

Now this tribal massacre exposes one important fact : We do not have a real state in Egypt.
You got armed society and ethnic tensions. You got a police that uses thugs and drug dealers aka honorable citizens in order to attack protesters when time comes neglecting that they are armed drug dealers “according to the Nubians” who break the law in the first place. I do not know what to say honestly.

Again and again our so-called governmental official focuses on one kind of security : The political security related to the continuity of a failed state.

In Cairo people are shocked to see what happened in Aswan and to see the peaceful Nubians carry arms and kill their enemies. Well the Nubians are very peaceful but they are fed up. This is what their activists and tweeps have been saying all day long. The incident of last Thursday was the last straw especially for the young Nubian generations.

The Nubians’ representative in the last C50 constitution committee Haggag Oddoul issued a statement in his official Facebook Page.He spoke about he warned that the young generations from Egyptian Nubians can not tolerate shit anymore
Here is important part of his statement translated in English about why the Nubians are armed now.

 The four displacements that shocked our existence especially the displacement of 1964 took us off our root around the banks of the Nile and threw us in the desert among armed groups. Nubians had their share from insults and abuse those armed groups while they were unarmed , Nubians do not even carry a stick. Those armed groups used to attack and steal the houses of Nubians as well beating Nubian women and men. Those armed groups were not punished by anyone because there was not authority in those places. We were insulted and called black and barbaric. We  had to be like them , carry guns and threat to use it in order to defend it , in order to be citizens like other citizens.
The Egyptian Nubians are angry because up till now the El Hialiya clan has been given more space in the media to attack the Nubians. The Nubians online accuse the government of being bias to the other clan because it is standing with the MOI.
By the way despite all that neglect from the state , all those years away from their land the Egyptian Nubians did not think to carry arms despite they turned to be armed as we all see. This is something we should remember.
At the same time the people from Aswan , the young Netizens from there are swearing that the current fight has nothing to do with politics and the Muslim Brotherhood is not involved , we find out that the official spokesperson of armed forces claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood members were involved in this clash !!

Yeah blame it on the Muslim Brotherhood because it is the easiest thing to do despite all the testimonies from the people in Aswan that say otherwise !!
This reminds me so much with what happened in his first statement regarding the St.Catherine Hikers tragedy .
You know I wish that the army did not get involved in this matter and issue that statement and to send enforcement only to the police forces.Police already got enforcement from several neighbor governorates.
Anyhow in some good sign “I know it is more of public stunt” PM Mehlab” is now in Aswan along a number of ministers including the minister of interior. He is holding meetings with the tribal leaders of both tribes.
I will quote Egyptian Nubian activist Fatma Emam from her twitter account and will say that we should stop dealing with the Nubian file as a National security file that the army , intelligence and ministry of interior and start to deal with it from a true citizenship human way.
Emam is so also demanding the authorities to start investigates about the clashes, to control the weapons problem and to hold the security officials responsible as well to end their impunity. This could have been stopped since Thursday.
Fatma Emam also did not forget the people , she demanded the citizens in Aswan to seize the fire , to hand over the inciters to the authorities and to release the hostages from both sides.
You must know since early Saturday demanded a curfew so the fight would stop.
By the way I predict that the head of Aswan directorate will be dismissed because of this.

#Aswan : The Massacre continued Because of The bloody Traditions !! "Updated"

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Late last night we hoped all over Egypt that the scary tribal clashes in Aswan would stop after the visit of PM Mehlab to the city and his meetings with the tribal leaders of both “Daboodiya" and "El Hilaliya". He already issued three decisions : First to arrest the inciters , second to form a committee to compensate both parties and another committee to stand on the reasons on why there are clashes in the first place.
In other words another fact finding committee !!
You know it just came across my mind that neither the PM or the minister of interior spoke in the media about how both clans had arms in the first place. We are speaking about unlicensed weapons for God’s sake !! 

Anyhow one hoped that that visit would lead in to some sort of a truce but we were wrong because in the afternoon clashes erupted madly. According to the Nubian activists and tweeps “again they speak online more than “El Hilaliya” suddenly the security forces disappeared from the clashes area and there was some kind of attack unleashed by “El Hilaliya”.
Not less than three were killed today. Tens were injured and several houses were torched. There is extreme anger on both sides.
One of the injured in the hospital "Al Mandra Online"
At the same time Facebook pages from both sides increased the tension and published ugly racial crap. Same crap was found on twitter with rumors and hate from both sides.
Amazingly when one was asking on why the security forces would leave its position and let both sides clash once again , we found out that people from Upper Egypt got yet another shocking proof on the fakeness of the state we have. Some Nubian tweeps believed in this theory.


Allegedly the number of victims of “El Hialiya” is more than the victims from the Nubians thus in order to reach to a truce and reconciliation then the victims from Nubians should be equal to the victims of “Hilaliya”. In other words the “Hilaliya” should kil more Nubians to balance the number !!!! I can not believe it.
A stupid tradition causing more people to be killed !!
Shockingly when the number of Nubian victims reached to the number of El Hialiya victims , the clashes stopped and the police began to spread again in the area !!!!!!!
What kind of state is that !!?? 
Strangely later today we read that Al Azhar will send a delegation in order to reach in to another truce. I hate to say that thousand sheikhs will not solve that hate implanted in the hearts and minds of both clans now.
By the way here is a map showing where the clashes are concentrated. It is mainly in El Seel El Rify area.

Of course today the clashes spread from time to time reaching to Aswan General Hospital as both tribes transferred their injured to the same hospital in some irony. The clashes continued forcing the other patients as well doctors and security “oh yes” to flee the hospital !!!
A photo for conriche Aswan during the clashes "Al Mandra"
Over 20 schools were closed today and I think after today’s clashes more schools will be closed tomorrow as both students and teachers will be afraid to show up.
Here is also a photo galley by AP Photographer Mohamed Ali Eddin who went to Aswan today. Ali Eddin was among a group of journalists who were smart enough to travel to Aswan before trains movement would be suspended due to security reasons.

The mainstream media or rather the TV channels insisted on adopting the story that the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the clashes. It is worth to mention that the Pro-El Sisi and Pro-Morsi supporters both used the clashes to attack the other team as well to spread conspiracy theories. I want to go to Aswan to see what is happening.

Updated : 

  • Army special forces sent units to Aswan last night. 
  • Not less than 14 people were arrested in the past 24 hours. 
  • According to news reports the governor of Aswan announced that there will be a truce for three days in an attempt for a reconciliation. 
  • Hisham Mubarak human rights center called the civil society to form a fact finding committee. 

#FreeJournalism #FreeAJStaff : 100 Days Passed

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Journalists from around the globe organized today another online viral campaign in solidarity with the Al Jazeera international staff marking 100 days of their arrest in Egypt.
Again we find journalists from BBC , Channel4 News , Sky News and Al Jazeera network participating in online viral campaign using the hashtags “#FreeAJStaff” and “FreeJournalists”

Today BBC and its reporters were the stars of the online protest when its reporters , TV and radio hosts and journalists joined the campaign and stood a moment of silence in front of the BBC building in London calling for the release of journalists in Egypt.
I have to hint out that Al Jazeera international and other reporters like Sohip Saad accused in the so-called “Marriott cell” are not the only detained journalists in Egypt. We got Al Jazeera News correspondent Abdullah El Shamy who has been in detention with no official charges for more than 200 days. You must know that El Shamy has been on food strike for more than 60 days. His wife Gehad Khaled is also on a food strike.
The trial of Marriot Cell is still on. It was adjourned last week to April 10th. Of course the judge refused the defendants on bail.
Peter Greste in the trial last week
Again the Egyptian journalists seem to be busy to defend this important cause but do not get me wrong. Some of them are still defending their right in life in the first place. After the murder of late Dostor reporter Mayada Ashraf during the clashes between the MB and security forces , Egyptian photographers went on a strike last Friday demanding protection.

The decision of photojournalism sector in Journalists syndicate
That was the first time in the history of Egyptian Photojournalism  we have a strike for one day like that.
Stop killing journalists
You must know that Egyptian newspapers and channels do not provide its reporters with any protection what so ever despite the clashes , despite the bombing and despite the direct attacks against reporters in Egypt.You must know that all people are now allergic from cameras whether security forces or Pro-Morsi supporters or angry locals. It is dangerous to be a journalist nowadays in Egypt.

Let’s Bring down That Stupid Law

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Yesterday the appeal of April 6 Youth Movement founders Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel as well activist Ahmed Douma against the three years in jail sentence for breaking the protest law was rejected.
Maher and Douma behind bars
Yes officially Ahmed Maher , Mohamed Adel and Ahmed Douma will spend three years in jail and pay LE 50,000 as a fine for breaking the protest law. Of course there is a third degree appeal in front of the criminal court , the three will have to do it to but it will many years, many years more than their original sentence !!
Sadly enough April 6 Youth movement was just celebrating the anniversary of its founding one day before rejecting the appeal. You know somehow I expected this to happen but somehow I had a hope after the release of Alaa Abdel Fatah and the Maadi 25 January 3rd anniversary detainees.
Now I can not ignore what happened yesterday when Ahmed Douma’s wife Nourhan Hafzy led a group of women activists to have a sit in at the Presidential palace. Hafzy and the rest activists had one demand to presidency : To nullify the protest law.
The sit in including women activists like Nourhan Hafzy , Mona Seif , Sanaa Seif , Rasha Azab and Laila Soueif. I cannot ignore that Nourhan Hafzy is playing one hell of role in this crisis that can not be ignored. Of course she is mocked and attacked by both Pro-El Sisi and Pro-MB at the same time.
The sit in was suspended hours later in the evening. According to Hafzy it was suspended because there would be other ways of escalations.
It is worth to mention that despite the sit in was suspended yet the TV hosts are insisting that it is still on and that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind it. Yup despite it is suspended and it was organized by those who were standing against the brotherhood. The TV hosts also are attacking Alaa Abdel Fatah madly in the past 48 hours.
They are mad because it was the first attempt of revolutionary Pro-democracy Non Islamist activists to have a sit in after Rabaa Sit in.
Despite that the suspension of the sit in , political parties and movements like Constitution Party and April 6 Youth movement announced that they would start organizing events like human chains and protests against the Protest law. The first event will be next Thursday. This is a good move. Anyhow better late than never , I believe that the parties and activists should start work for real to bring down that law.
Part of my brain is telling me that Maher , Adel and Douma will be pardoned by the president but not by interim president Mansour but by president El Sisi , he will pull a Mubarak move and pardon bunch of political detainees to show that supports democracy and so on.

 I will not speak about protesters and activists but I will speak about the simple citizens whose misfortune brought them by accident in to the protests and rallies being dispersed by police.These people are suffering and they have to be released. There are countless examples in my mind.
Also I can not ignore the fact that all the media is focusing on activist Douma and is forgetting the other two activists jailed with him “Adel and Maher”. Of course they are ignoring Adel and Maher because they are the co-founders of April 6 Youth Movement, the bad April 6 Youth Movement !!
I wish they pay attention to Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel in the same way they pay attention to Douma.
My position is clear : I am totally against the Protest law.I do not want any president to pardon the trio. I want that stupid law to be cancelled.
A trivial fact : From 100 years ago British occupation issued the first Protest law to ban protests in Egypt.

#SaveFustat : How Did we Master The art of Destroying our history !? “Updated”

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We do not need external conspiracies to destroy our history and our past for some sinister , we are doing a perfect job ourselves !!
Culture and archeology activist Sally Soliman has shocked us and revealed that one of the most important archeological site of Islamic Cairo was under attack by none other than Cairo governorate and the ministry of antiquities.
The site we are speaking is about is the site of El Fustat. El Fustat was the first capital of Egypt under the Muslim rule. The site is part of Islamic Cairo. It has been under attack in the last years when suddenly excavation works stopped and it turned in to a dumpster , oh yes dumpster !!
Last year  Sally Soliman and a group of concerned citizens “they exist” made noise and the governor of Cairo then promised to clean the site. Here are photos for the site in 2013. Oh yes this was once our capital.

Now we hear that this archeological site “about 7 fedans” is going to be turned in to a garden and that the ministry of archaeology is giving up the site to Cairo governorate !! A garden !!? What the hell those officials are taking !?
We are speaking about an important site for God sake that has not been excavated properly in the first place !!
Of course many of us do not know that such archeological sit exists in the first place. Needless to say there is even worst neglect from the government’s side when it comes to Islamic heritage site , it is enough what is happening to Islamic Cairo from aggression against ancient Mosques and ancient buildings.
A copy from a newspaper about the topic
Either ways I think mainstream media should pay attention to this important site.
Update : The head of Islamic antiquities sector in the ministry of antiquities told Al Shorouk newspaper that the site was being cleaned and there was no intention to turn in to something else.
Somehow I am still worried and frustrated. We are destroying our own history. I am frustrated and sad.

Vice On Crimean Tatars

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Ok I know it is a bit late but it is interesting. Vice News explored last month The Crimean Tatars and made a very informative yet short documentary from that you should see if you are interested in knowing more about the Tatars in Crimea.

Tatar Nation : The other Crimea

This was filmed before the referendum of Crimea.

After watching this short documentary one has got many thoughts about ethnics minorities , lost rights and lost land , politics , history and chauvinism .

One part stroke a nerve for me about the Crimean Tatars do not believe anyone and how the Ukrainian government did not help them as a minority. I love the part where the Old Tatar lady speaks on who politicians divide the people when they are all one despite their ethnicity.

Another part is how the Russian ethnic in Crimea insists that the Tatars aided the Nazis from more than 50 years while not less 100,000 Crimean Tatar fought as part of the Russian army against the Nazis.

Despite things are different in Egypt yet this reminded me on how many people unfortunately look to the local Bedouins in Sinai because of propaganda.

Back to Crimea, needless to say I do not feel good with all what’s going in Ukraine especially that Russia seems to have an eye on other parts.

I wonder if we can see another World War III originated once again in this area. Let’s pray it won’t happen in our time.

The Pro-El Sisi/Pro-Military in Egypt are over the moon with what Putin did of course and in the same way they hated what happened in the Maiden square. No need to explain why.

We can argue about Vice as we want but their Vice News is really interesting.We need to have a similar thing in Arabic. Of course Mosireen collective is pioneer but it focuses on human rights and abuses as well civil rights only.

Back to the Streets Against the Protest law

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And Yesterday was the beginning of the movement against Protest law in Cairo. Several political movements and parties participated today in the press conference at the Journalists syndicate and march through Talaat Harb street. This was the launch of series of events against the protest law in Egypt.
Among the political movements participated in this press conference : The Revolutionary Way , April 6 Youth Movement and Freedom for the Brave. Of course Nourhan Hafzy, the wife of Ahmed Douma was leading the scene. Another Egyptian woman activist taking the stage bravely.
According to the press conference the series of events to escalate the movement against the protest law will be as follows :
  • Next 16 April 2014 series of human chains on October bridge and in governorates against the protest law.
  • Next 22 April 2014 Women activists will continue their sit in at the Presidential palace.
  • Next 26 April 2014 a big rally heading to the Presidential palace.
Of course this is enough , there must be some back up from the mainstream media whether TV or press. Needless to say we won’t have that type any time soon.
Speaking about Douma , I fed up about celebs who do not give shit about the current human rights abuses in Egypt or the other detainees and speak only that reckless young boy called Ahmed Douma.
I can safely say that some 25 January revolutionaries began to return back to the street. It is better late than never. Again it is a start.
The Fridays are being ignored now because they are the Pro-MB and Pro-El Sissy Days. It is wise thing to avoid them now.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Ain El-Sokhna Spring 2014

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So from two weeks ago I went in a shot vacation to Ain El-Sokhana. It was a nice gateway for couple of days away from the noise.

I took couple of photos there , I played around with my camera. Of course I realized after I returned back to Cairo that there was stupid smudge on the lens. I cleaned it and now it is perfect again thank God.
The weather is fantastic now in Ain El-Sokhna. It is nice quiet place.Of course you can barely see any foreign tourist there now. I hope the fall season the foreign tourists would return back.
Here is my favorite photo from that short vacation.
DSC07048

#Marathon For Freedom in #Cairo Against protest Law

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And today was the first event organized by Revolutionary political movements in Egypt against the protest law.  In case you do not know , we got very stupid protest law that resulted in detention of thousands and imprisonment of hundreds unfairly. True Pro-Jan25 Revolutionary political movements want to abolish this law.
A symbolic marathon in Cairo that ended at the journalists syndicate staircases.
The symbolic marathon where the protesters wore signs calling for the freedom of detainees started in Zamalek from Opera house and ended at the Journalists syndicate. The majority of protesters ran but there were also bicyclists too.


According to eye witnesses and photos, the numbers were good considering the campaign against the revolutionary powers and movements.
Now there was one single problem. The regular people did not know who these runners were and why they were running. Another problem big parties as usual were absent yet media came to cover the event.
During the press conference depressing stories were being told about victims of that unjust law which did not stop any protests or any clashes or anything as well the victims of security abuses.
One of the most depressing stories is the story of student Amr Raba’I , a young Islamist activist who was allegedly abducted last March fro Downtown Cairo. The fate of the young student is unknown as he could not be founded anywhere.

Happy Palm Sunday 2014

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Palm dolls outside a church in Cairo "Reuters"
Happy Palm Sunday to all the Christians around the globe celebrating it especially in Egypt.

And here is the original Tripartite Committee Report about #Ethiopian Dam

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From a year ago if you remember the tripartite technical committee to study the impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance on Egypt , Sudan and Ethiopia. The report pissed Ethiopia because it claimed that the upstream country did give the committee all the documents and blueprints they needed about the dam and its security measures.
There was one hell of circus in Cairo about it from exactly one year ago.
Did you remember this now !? 
Well in case you do not know the dispute over the dam and Egypt’s share of the Nile’s water is still there. I am afraid the talks with Ethiopia are not doing good with the insistence of the Ethiopians to complete the constructing of the dam. Of course our government is trying to have talks with the Ethiopians from time to time despite they seem to fail every time. DSC02517
I do not need to say that Sudan sold out Egypt.
Anyhow why I am blogging about this , well because last March Anti-Dam Environmental NGO International Rivers Organization published a statement calling Ethiopia to halt the construction of the dam till all the studies about its impact on the downstream countries as well its safety measurements. The IRO also called international investors to stop funding this project.
The Anti-Dam movement which has criticized Ethiopia’s dam boom since 2008 is known from its environmental stances. OF course now our media found for the first time a good US-based NGO !!
Of course the GRED’s National Panel of experts had to fire back to International Rivers organization in a big statement last Thursday accusing the Anti-Dam California based NGO of being paid by Egypt and that it was fighting Ethiopia’s progress against poverty. To be honest the language used in the Ethiopian's statement reminded me very much with the Ultra-nationalist conspiracy language used in our media.
What is interesting is not the statement of the Pro-Environmental US based NGO , what is interesting is that the International Rivers organization published online the complete report of the tripartite technical committee to study the impacts of the GERD on Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Egypt.
Yup the NGO published the full report in English now. Of course they did not say how they did get it. You read it below after the break.

International Panel of Experts for Ethiopian Dam

If you remember I published report leaked from the presidency about that report. The presidency report was then a summary in Arabic.
BY the way it seems that the Ethiopians took the threats of potential presidential candidate Mortada Mansour seriously. The infamous outspoken racist bigot Mansoura said that he would attack Ethiopia militarily if it did not stop building the GRED if he was elected as a president !! Oh yes he will shut down twitter and Facebook as well declare war on Ethiopia !!
Speaking about the Presidency and so on. I do not feel the same anger in the media towards our fiasco in the Ethiopian Dam’s crisis like the one we used to have during Morsi’s presidency from a year ago. It seems that the failure continues and yet no one is screaming and shouting in the media telling the people that we are doomed.
We are doomed either ways if we do not get down from our ivory tower and think outside the box.

And it is getting Scary Now , It is a routine

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The death and murder news in Egypt have become a routine , it is not longer a shock. It is a normal thing now.
Today a student was killed in Cairo university. He was shot by live ammunition. I think the students from Cairo university that have been killed in the past 8 months are more than 12 now.
Two journalists covering the protests were shot also by live ammunition according to their medical records. The journalists are from Youm 7 Newspaper and Sada El Balad channel. Both are from the Pro-regime media by the way.

Photographer Khaled Hussein from Youm 7
Eye witnesses from students and reporters say that they were shot by police forces that went earlier Monday to disperse the Pro-Morsi Students Against Coup movement’s protest. According to eye witnesses from reporters and students the police opened its fire against the students when the protest was inside the campus not even outside it !!
Here is a video showing that
Cairo University : Police fires live ammunition
According to Amr Salah El Din , the Chinese news agency photographer the police opened its fire against the reporters targeting them deliberately. Here are photos Amr took from inside the campus. Here are photos Salah El-Din took. They were not many because of the live ammunition used.
This is the first time live ammunition is documented to be used against students in Cairo university in this way. I know that it was used before but we are speaking about documentation here.
Despite the reporters’ testimonies , despite the videos the MOI is insisting that its security forces did not shot anybody. Its supporters as usual blame the bad criminal terrorist MB students !! 
Now head of journalists syndicate is threatening that we stop field coverage if the attacks against journalists won't stop.. To be honest this is what the MOI wants , no coverage.
Already yesterday two policemen killed two citizens , two civilians for no apparent reasons. The first was killed in Imbaba , Giza while the second was killed in Bani Sawif, Upper Egypt. The first was killed in a police station while the second was killed in a café. The first was a lawyer while the second was the painter. The first was shot down by a policeman intentionally after a fight in the police station while the second was shot down by a mistake.
Oh yes two citizens were killed by policemen yesterday and nobody cared. By the lawyer was defamed by the Pro-Police/Pro-ElSisi supporters online who claimed that he was a worker and MB member as if being a worker or a MB members means you should be killed !!
The 32 years old  lawyer left a baby girl who was born from 8 days ago. His mom screamed in front of the cameras that she was  Pro-ElSisi who hanged his photo in her living room but now her son is killed.
It is getting scary now that there is no public anger like before regarding these incidents. Of course mainstream media plays an important role here.

#SaveFustat : So It is turning in to a public Garden after all !!

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And it seems that the Fustat archaeological site is going to be turned in to some sort of a public garden after all and the ministry of antiquities was bluffing us.
This photo was taken earlier Monday , as you can see this is the site of Fustat. A new wall was built around the site with a big sign stating that “this land is owned by Cairo governorate”  !! The site is also secured by a CSF vehicle as it seems.
Fustat site now !!
Again Fustat was the first capital built by Muslims in Egypt. The site was being excavated , now all those excavation works are going to be destroyed.
It is not that out present is screwed and our future looks uncertain , our history is being destroyed over and over !! I feel that we are leaving nothing to future generations except failure. Anyhow at least some of us are fighting this.
I know one thing fore sure. If this had happened during Morsi , the media would have gone mad for real. I can not get over how people were claiming to be mad that the Islamic museum was damaged during the bombing of Cairo security directorate and yet do not care or move a muscle for what is happening not only to Fustat but old Islamic Cairo from aggression.



#EndSH : What do school girls Think about Sexual Harassment ?

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Dignity with borders made another video clip about sexual harassment and young Egyptian students in schools. The first video ,a shocking one was about the views of young boys in the schools about sexual harassment. I posted it here earlier this month.

School girls’ views about sexual harassments

By the way new amendments were added to the current sexual harassment law and soon enough the interim president will issue the law with the new amendments.
The new amendments include harsher penalties for sexual harassers as well for mob sexual harassments. This is the first time mob sexual harassments are included.
I do not think these amendments would have seen the lights if it were not for the campaigns started online to fight this disgusting epidemic.

#SaveFustat : Save the Excavation Works

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Here are some photos for the excavation works in the old archaeological site of El Fustat City , Egypt’s first Capital under the Islamic role. These excavation works were made by a French archaeological mission which stopped its work because of the current security situation. (Photos taken in 2012 by Conservation architect Omneya Abdel Barr"
In case you do not know  that archaeological city is going to be transferred in to a garden by Cairo governorate and the ministry of antiquities is ok with that.
As you can see the remains of the Fustat city were built by mud and thus turning this area in to a garden
By the way aside from “Save Cairo” and its fantastic restless founder Sally Soliman , no one else is speaking about the matter. By “No one else” I mean “political powers and parties” as well “Civil society”.
Only from two days ago Egyptian Creativity Front , which was founded by a group of artists and intellectuals during the days of Morsi to protect the Egyptian identity issued a statement slamming Cairo governorate and the ministry of antiquities demanding them to stop what they are doing.

Other than that complete silence.
I do not hear the same outcry I heard before regarding the fate of the Islamic museum or that some of our Islamic antiquities were found suddenly in Qatar Islamic Museum !!
Again I wish our activists , our intellectuals and our people make more noise regarding the future of that important area representing our history, the history of Egypt. Fustat is part of our Egyptian identity.

The photos and the Cartoon of the day

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This photo or rather series of photos were the most shared photos in my twitter timeline , they had to be the photos of the day.
From Anadoulu News agency

The president on a wheel chair
The photos of Algerian president Abdel Aziz Bouteflika heading to cast his vote in Polling station in the presidential elections on a  wheel chair along with his brother and his little nephew.
The Bouteflika "AFP"


His brother is believed to be the real ruler of Algeria and the next ruler of Algeria as well. 
In case you do not know the old Algerian president is running for a fourth presidential term in Algerian. It is an irony.
Ironically the Algerian ruling regime learned from the mistakes of other Arab regimes that fell in the Arab Spring. After what happened in 2011 , the Algerian regime kept saying in the media there that what happened in Tunisia , Libya, Egypt , Yemen and Syria  was a foreign conspiracy and of course what happened in those countries from implications helped them.
Then came the 3 July 2013 in Egypt and Bouteflika learned a lesson from Egypt , he made changes in the army and military intelligence.
Of course when you speak about Algeria , you can not ignore the civil war there between the military and the Islamists.
In case you do not know there are growing movement of youth opposition taking place in Algeria. It is a steady one considering the iron fist of security there as well the iron curtain imposed on the media. There are protests taking place in Algerian states , some of them find their way to YouTube while others do not.
As we have the photos of the day , we got the cartoon of the day representing the reality of the Arab world now.

I just fear we end up with another Bouteflika in Egypt with that stupid presidential cult of El Sisi and army support.
We got three presidential elections in three Arab countries : Algeria, Egypt and Syria. All of them are charades where the candidates are just a continuation of rotten old decaying criminal regimes.

Haifa’s film and the Role of the Prime Minister

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And the Prime minister of Egypt Ibrahim Mahlab has made something no other Prime minister in the history of modern Egypt did before.
From two days ago he issued his decision to ban a film called “Halawet Rooh”. Yes the Prime minister of Egypt banned for the first time a film in the cinema. “Halawet Rooh” is produced by none other the notorious Ahmed El-Sobky , directed by Sameh Abdel Aziz and starring the Arab world sex bombshell Haifa Wehbe.
Now for those who do not know “Halawet Rooh” is actually the Egyptian version of a famous Italian film “Malena” ,  yup that award wining sad romantic film starring Monica Bellucci. Of course the filmmakers of “Halawet Rooh” do not say that it was plagiarized despite the posters of the film were ripped off completely.
Unlike the award winning Italian film , “Halawet Rooh” film is another disgusting cult film.
Halawet Rooh's poster 

Malena's poster 


One look to the trailer and its official song or even worse ; the statements of its stars you will know what I am talking about !!
Halawet Rooh’s official trailer
Here is Mohamed Lotfy , one of its stars claiming that he was happy for raping Haifa that he cried !! You know that you do not get often to rape a sex symbol in front of the camera !!
The disgusting trailer of the film made many people believe that Haifa Wehbe is having a sexual affairs with the 15 years old boy in the film and thus it created an outcry online with calls to the government to ban this film that corrupts the youth’s morals. We got Facebook pages and twitter campaigns against El-Sobky and his films.
The National council of Motherhood and Childhood in Egypt also weighted in that campaign. The council issued an official statement accusing the filmmakers of violating the Child law No.126 for year 2008 and abusing children and using them in a film that include scenes that affect the children morals. 
And the decision of Mahlab came to save the society and its morals. The day is saved indeed !!
People cheered for the decision with any regards to its implications or the fact that it violated the Constitution. Yes the Constitution which was approved by the majority of Egyptians. Here is article no.67 from the Egyptian Constitution 2014
No lawsuit may be initiated or filed to stop or confiscate any artistic, literary, or intellectual works, or against their creators except by the Public Prosecutor. No freedom restricting sanction may be inflicted for crimes committed because of the publicity of artistic, literary or intellectual product. As for crimes related to the incitement of violence, discrimination between citizens, or impingement of individual honor, the Law shall specify the penalties therefore.
Not to mention that the mission of the State’s censorship board. Already this is not the role of the prime minister !!
This incident means any film or TV show or newspaper can be stopped by the order of the prime minister allegedly to protect the vague board society’s morals.
Ironically this is what our so-called intellectuals feared during the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule !!
By the way filmmakers , artists and intellectuals are angry but not angry enough about this dangerous incident as I see it. Again I can not keep thinking on how they would be defending the film if such decision was taken by Hisham Qandil.
Needless to see banning the film in the cinemas won’t stop the sexual harassments or make young men behave in a proper way when everyone got access so easily to soft and hardcore porn. The film is already available online.
For God sake Sex is the most searched word in Egypt and only last week Egypt’s latest social sexual scandal infamous hero from Mahalla Abdel Fatah El-Saidy toppled Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Google search !!
I hate El-Sobky’s films and want him to be stopped in the right way. The right way is to find people boycotting such films and arts altogether.When people boycott such films without the interfere of the state , you will know that the society is on the right path.
El-Sobky’s recipe of cult blockbusters in Egypt is simple songs, bully dancers, Vulgarity, nudity, tough guys, beatings, sexual innuendos and cheap jokes. Usually that cheap recipe makes him earn millions every year despite the objections and screams of the true filmmakers in this country. The butcher-turned producer does not give to these objections , claims that these were the objections of the elite cinema intellectuals and that he represents the true working class of Egypt.
On Friday the head of Censorship board Ahmed Awad allegedly resigned to object the decision of the prime minister. Of course those who support the decision of the Prime minister are attacking Awad claiming that he allowed this film to be screened in Egypt because Awad directed once a film produced by El Sobky.
Personally I believe that PM Mahlab gave both El-Sobky and Haifa Wehbe one million dollar publicity and they are using it great.  It hurts me to see that Prime minister of Egypt gets down to this degree and bans a film honestly. Already now El-Sobky is appearing in the media every where as a victim. Haifa Wehbe found another scandal to become the talk of town. He is claiming that he is defending the freedom of creativity.
By the way El-Sobky used to produced rubbish films that smash the box office way beyond the 25 January revolution. I had to remind people with this fact because I fed up claiming that the revolution brought up that kind of cinema !! Well If you want to speak about the cinema which is produced by the 25 January revolution than speak about “Rags and Tatters” and “Winter of discontent”.
Also several friends believe that we are back to the time when the regime used to create pseudo scandals and crises to keep away the public from things that matter.
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