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7000 years and counting ...

older | 1 | .... | 68 | 69 | (Page 70) | 71 | 72 | .... | 162 | newer

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    Extremely hot weather plus a dust storm , in nutshell it is not the best weather for hanging out in the street.


    By the way there will be a drop in temperature tomorrow.

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    First of all an important update about Abdullah El-Shamy.
    According to his brother renowned photographer Mosa’ab El-Shamy , his family has seen him at last. It turned out  after his disappearance from Tora prison , the 26 years old Al Jazeera TV correspondent was
    An old photo for Abdullah in Tora prison months ago
    transferred to security tight Al Akrab maximum security prison in Tora complex to a solitary confinement.
    It turns out that he was transferred to hospital as it was claimed earlier but he was allowed to buy water from the prison cafeteria after fainting several times and his kidney functions began to fail. Yes they prevented him from buying bottled water and vomited blood.
    This young man needs to be transferred to hospital ASAP. For God’s sake murderers , spies and drug dealers are treated in prison better than him !!
    Up till now he has been in prison for no official crime !!
    Now Abdullah denied totally that he was photographed while he was taking solid food insisting that he did not break his food strike in the past weeks. Regarding this two weeks ago we  found out leaked photos for him allegedly eating solid food published in Egypt’s Military Photos Facebook Page “Which is one of the top Pro-Military FB pages in Egypt” as well other Pro-Police and Pro-El-Sisi Facebook pages with captions claiming that he was lying and was not on strike.The photos appeared right after his video was leaked online.
    It is worth to mention for more than 14 days his family failed to see , only today after a lot of noise earlier this week they were allowed to see him.

    Earlier this week the families of Abdullah El-Shamy and Mohamed Soltan along with activists and Pro-Revolution protesters held a protest demanding the release of those detainees as well other detainees arrested and imprisoned because of the illegal protest law.


    On Monday day they held a press conference demanding their immediate release fearing on their health in detention after more than 120 days of hunger strike. Of course I can not ignore how leftist human rights activists Laila Soueif and Aida Seif El-Dowala are on a hunger strike in solidarity with El-Shamy and Soltan.
    Mohamed Soltan is another Islamist who has been detained for months , his father is MB leading preacher Salah Soltan who got controversial statements. His father was detained also. I am not following his case as carefully as El-Shamy but I do not recall that he was officially accused in some trial.
    According to Soltan’s family , the young man who lives in the US and got the US citizenship came to Egypt to look after his mother who got cancer and was not involved in politics despite he was allegedly arrested for along bunch of Pro-MB RSSD News Facebook Network
    Last week a video for Soltan was leaked online asking US president Obama to interfere for his release.
    Mohamed Soltan appeals to the US government
    It is worth to mention that I read days later that he was transferred to a hospital.
    Now besides Soltan and El-Shamy as well Al Jazeera crew , I can not ignore talented Freelance photographer Mahmoud Abou Zeid “Showkan” who was been in detention since the dispersal of Rabaa. Abou Zeid was arrested along two other foreign journalists , of course the foreign journalists were released and left Egypt while he was forgotten in prison.
    Shokan and a letter he sent to the world last April 
    Of course Freelance journalists and photographers in Egypt are doomed as no one can prove that they are journalists in the first place according to Egypt’s red tape.
    For more than 200 days Showkan has been in detention for only doing his job.
    Here is a Facebook page dedicated to Showkan.

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    It seems that after 47 years of the Six days war defeat many Egyptians have forgotten all the lessons they learned for an expensive price they paid with blood and land.

    After 47 years the Egyptians returned back to the same reasons that made us lose in what can be described as the worst military defeat in the Egyptian modern history in the 20th history.

    Once again they allow the army to get busy in politics as well economy , once again they let the mainstream media deceive them with cheap nationalism slogans and hypocrisy, once again they idolize a mortal military making him immortal savoir. Once again cheap populism is taking the country.

    Now nobody dares to question a decision taken by the regime just like the 1960s , nobody dares to say a different opinion otherwise he or she will be a traitor.

    In 1967 it was not only about warfare but it was about a series of bad leadership in Egypt that nobody dared to criticized for fear of dictatorship. Same headlines are back in the newspapers , same ideas are back , even in politics we see now a new modern one Party Socialist Union in making to provide a so-called political cover for the new elected president.

    Now amazingly the 1967 Generation is the same generation right now idolizing Field Marshal El-Sisi as the savior of not only of Egypt but the Arab world if not the world who stood against the American imperialism !!

    That 1967 generation had a dream that saw it turning in to a nightmare in that summer and despite it achieved victory in 1973 and despite they had 47 years to restore that dream they failed and yet they insist to continue pursing it. That generation is always speaking about its dream in that bloody summer of 1967 , just check all the renowned writers , intellectuals and poets’ interviews in the past few months. You will find that lost dream there.

    Amazingly that old generation does not realize that it is killing the dreams of other generations that came after it, especially the young generation which has got its own dreams for its own time.

    I fear that the old generation dream of 1967 will make us repeat the same defeat in a different way and unfortunately the only generations that will pay the price are the younger generations as usual.


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  • 06/06/14--14:48: And From Four years ago ..

    • And from Four years ago a young Alexandrian man was beaten to death in Alexandria by two police informants and this changed Egypt forever for real. That young man is late Khaled Said and the two police informants that beat him till death are currently serving ten years sentence in jail after a retrial.
    Now after four years one feels that we returned to square one especially now those activists who defended Khaled’s right back in 2010 like Mahienour Al Masry , Mohamed Adel , Hassan Mostafa and Ahmed Douma are all in jail for illegal protesting.
    It is a setback but may be we need this setback to correct our path
    This video below was shot at the first protest in solidarity with Khaled at his home , you will see familiar faces in it like Mahienour and Ahmed Douma. This was the beginning in Alexandria while in Cairo it was a very small protest in front of the ministry of interior by brave few protesters.

    Black Out - Protest in Egypt - English Subtitles/Sous-titres français from Mayye Zayed on Vimeo.
    In 2010 it started in Cairo with this small protest "Omar El-Hady" 


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    Presidential Elections Commission announced the results of the presidential elections 2014 officially last week.

    Field Marshal Abdel Fattah El-Sisi got a landslide victory for 96.9% of the votes while his rival Hamdeen Sabahi got only 3.1% of the votes.

    The official turnout is “47.1%” which is less than in 2012 Presidential elections runoffs “52.1%”  despite all the attempts to increase it through extra day and imposing fines..etc.

    Here are updated infographs with the final results of presidential elections, I updated the numbers after they were first published here.

    Here is an updated chart showing the votes of El-Sisi and Sabahi as well the spoilt votes.

    Here is updated chart comparing between the spoilt votes in 2012 and 2014. I have the feeling the spoilt votes will increase in the upcoming elections.

    Another updated chart comparing between Sabahi’s results in 2012 and 2014.

    It is worth to mention that despite admitting that El-Sisi is a winner , Sabahi and his campaign raised question about the numbers of the turnout as well the votes. They officially presented an appeal against extending the election for an extra day demanding PEC to cancel all the votes scored on that day but of course the appeal was rejected.

    Here is an updated comparison between the results of the candidates in the presidential elections 2014 and Presidential elections 2012 “Second stage”. Interestingly you will find a parallel between Shafik and El-Sisi.


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    And Egypt is witnessing its second big presidential inauguration within two years , oh yes within two years.
    After few hours from now newly elected President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will head to the Supreme Constitutional court in Maadi , Cairo to take the presidential oath in front  of the Judges and a number of Egyptian public figures and statesmen.
    Needless to say Maadi will be a military zone from 8 AM to 12 PM because El-Sisi will take the oath at 10.30 AM.
    The red carpets have been set since early Saturday morning at the Supreme Constitutional Court.
    The red carpet at the Supreme
    Constitution Court "Haitham El-Tabei"
    Then afterwards there will be a big ceremony at El-Koubbeh Palace in Cairo attended by VIPs from Egypt and around the globe. El-Sisi as well Mansour will address the nation tomorrow.
    El-Sisi is not the first Egyptian president to swear at the Supreme Constitutional court because there is no parliament , Morsi did it in 2012.
    Tahrir square will witness also another celebration by the Pro-Morsi and so it will be also closed in front of traffic.
    Heavy security deployments are seen in Heliopolis , earlier today there were helicopters hovering all over Cairo.
    Of course Sunday is a National holiday in Egypt because of the big inauguration day.

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  • 06/07/14--23:41: Live : Inauguration Day 2014

    • And here is a live blog for the Presidential inauguration Day 2014 edition.


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    Yesterday I found out that from 40 days ago I was shocked to know from twitter that my dear friend Bassem Sabry passed away in a tragic way.
    Bassem in Abu Dhabi last year 
    40 days and I am trying to something about him in my blog not as a mourning as a something to celebrate to the life who gave a lot in a very short time. 
    I was lucky enough to know Bassem Sabry when we were students in Cairo University and I saw that shining like a little star in campus during the students activities. 
    I am trying to overcome my feeling that if I write about him it will be like an obituary , a thing that I dislike because I know that Bassem and his ideas are still living with us through his writing. 
    I miss him now more than ever. 
    Now I decided to remember Bassem and let the world remember him in a new way. Bassem Sabry used to play Spanish Guitar and he recorded some pieces on Soundcloud. He was not only a blogger/writer/young politician. He was really multi-talented.
      

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    A new day in Egypt and a new president swore in. Here are the Front pages and headlines of Egyptian newspapers on Monday
    Today's newspaper after the presidential inauguration in #Egypt #elsisi #egymedia
    The headlines of newspapers today
    Another shot by TV host Dohaa El-Zohairy
    Ahram's Front Page was dedicated to the New Transfer of Power document. This is the first time we would have such document in our modern history.

    And the award of the most creative headline "sarcastically" goes to Al Watan that used verses from the Holy Quran about Prophet Moses and his miracle stick to describe Egypt under El-Sisi's rule !!!
    Al Watan front page "Dr. Khaled Hamza"
    Al Watan quoted the Verse that says "We will return it to its former condition." 
    This verse is taken from Surat Taha "20:21" where the whole verse says "[ Allah ] said, "Seize it and fear not; We will return it to its former condition." This verse is about Prophet Moses and his stick when he spoke to God in Mount Sinai for the first time. Of course one wonder what the newspaper meant when it quoted a religious script like that "amazingly like their opponent the Muslim Brotherhood" 
    In the original verse God was telling Moses to take the stick and throw it in order to see it turn in to a serpent and so I wonder , I really wonder what they meant to "return to its former condition !?" I know they mean "Egypt" instead of the stick but what "former condition" , did they refer to Mubarak's era !? 
    Al Watan is also wondering why ElBaradei congratulated Morsi after presidency and did not congratulate El-Sisi on twitter.

    Now speaking about the media , a strong rumor says that Colonel Ahmed Ali has resigned from his position in the army as official Spokesperson and is joining the media team of President El-Sisi , you know the civility of the presidency is important. 

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    And fairly we can say that the talk of town in the past 48 was not the speech of newly elected president but rather the mass sexual harassment or mass sexual assaults to be precise in Tahrir square.

    Another series of sexual assaults and attacks took place through the past week where the climax was last Sunday on the inauguration night where there was a gang rape for a lady in the square who was saved by police officers.

    Personally I think that we would not know  about that tragedy if it were not for a shocking video that reminded us with that epidemic called Sexual Harassment.
    The shocking video clip showed a badly beaten naked lady escorted by a group of men including a policeman to a nearby ambulance in a chaotic sad scene. I will not post that terrible awful video , it is truly shocking and worst than any video for mass sexual harassment as it is actually a sexual assault.

    Thanks to that horrible video the people knew that Tahrir square was hit by another merciless wave of sexual harassment and sexual assaults.

    It is worth to mention as soon as the video hit the social media “allegedly on Saturday” , Pro-El-Sisi supporters claimed that it was an old video from 2012 and that the Muslim Brotherhood supporters republished it to spoil the celebrations of democracy.

    Well according to the official investigation that it was recorded last week and the victim was 45 years old lady who came to the square to celebrate El-Sisi presidential victory with her 5 years old son.

    It turns out that there are also at least 9 girls in Al Helal Hospital , downtown Cairo in a critical condition because of sexual assault. One of the girl was actually a victim of a gang rape , she is in a critical condition. Her uterus is torn to the level that she may have to remove it. She lost her virginity and is suffering from huge bleeding !!

    Couple of suspects were arrested and the Prosecutor General is investigating the whole thing. Newly elected president El-Sisi called the people today to restore the moral spirit of Egypt. Whether he likes it or not but the “alien to the Egyptian society” incidents spoiled his inauguration.

    Another video made people even madder online. On Sunday night also A TV host called Maha Bahnassy laughed at the fact that there were sexual harassment incidents in Tahrir square.
     

     
    Sexual harassment cases in Tahrir sqaure
     
    The Tahrir channel reporter at tells Maha that there are sexual harassment incidents in the square and Maha answered “Let the people be happy !!” with a silly laugh.
    “Let the people be happy” so it is ok to let harassers because they make people happy !! I do not get the logic of that Pro-Mubarak TV host.

    After being criticized and attacked on social media whether Facebook or Twitter , the Pro- defended her on her official Facebook page claiming in two posts that she was not addressing the reporter.

    In the first post she claimed that she was not addressing the reporter and that she did not know the mic was open and she was speaking on air.
    A screen capture for the deleted FB post
    Then she deleted that FB post and posted another one where she claimed that she was speaking with the guests and she did not mean it  !!
    Post by Maha Bahnassy.

    Now she is claiming that she is a victim and that bad 25 January and Muslim Brotherhood supporters are attacking her.
    I do not know what kind of excuse is that !! Bahanessy clearly does not realize that what she had done or the meaning of what she said. If she really did not mean then she did not pay attention in the first place to her channel's field reporter !!
    Not so surprisingly Tahrir TV channel issued an apology defending at the same time Bahnassy claiming that that she did not laugh at the sexual harassment cases.
    Post by ‎Tahrir Channel - قناة التحرير‎.

    The channel's anti-25 January revolution TV hosts are defending their colleagues. Pro-Mubarak/Police State Ahmed Moussa claims that the Muslim Brotherhood. Accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of standing behind the mass sexual harassment. Mohamed El-Ghaity claimed that the first one to spread the video was Blogger Wael Abbas whom he accused of being MB agent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Despite the horrifying testimonies and the official investigations and reports , TV channels are now adopting the theory that the Muslim Brotherhood and Pro-Hamza Abu Ismail supporters are behind the mob attack !!!
    Naturally Religious People "Andeel"
     
    A recurring theme of blaming the MB is spreading in the media and among the Pro-ElSisi supporters. Unfortunately you will find activists and NGOs claiming to be liberal like Dalia Ziada as well the National Council for Woman's rights adopting that theory !!

    On the other hand shamefully the Pro-Muslim Brotherhood and Pro-Morsi as well many Islamists are gloating at the incident because the victim is another “Pro-El-Sisi” supporter who was raped by other “Pro-El-Sisi” supporters in the sinful Tahrir square unlike the Pro-Morsi Rabaa and Nahdaa sit in.

    As far as I could tell Islam prohibits us to gloat not to mention to act like this under any circumstance. I know that the women of the Muslim Brotherhood have been insulted and defamed a lot in this disgusting political conflict with rumors like “The sex Jihad” in Rabaa sit in but this does not mean they forget the teachings of Islam !!

    It is turning to a disgusting blaming game.

    Amazingly the true 25 January revolution supporters are the only ones online who are asking people for real to stop using this shameful incident in politics and to think for once about this social disaster called “Sexual harassment”

    The 25 January revolution women from protesters and activists have taken the biggest share of defame and insults before 30 June from both the Pro-Mubarak and Pro-Islamists , in fact till this day Anti-Military activists from women are insulted and defamed day and night yet as far as I see they have not lose their humanity and turn monsters like their enemies.
    Doaa El-Adl
    Speaking about the 25 January revolutionaries amazingly some people are blaming the famous volunteer watchdog groups like Tahrir Bodyguards for their absence claiming that those group had a political stance.
     
    Well those people forget this is a volunteer group that used to protect Tahrir square as much as it could because the police used to leave Tahrir square for protesters altogether to avoid any clashes.

    Tahrir Bodyguards addressed those critics in a series of tweets Monday’s evening , the most important one of them is the direct reason behind their decision not to participate in any public event recently.
    “What prevent us from being in Tahrir square is that we are at risk of being arrested for “forming armed group” charge according to the statements of the MOI officials statements.

    Returning back to the main problem , you can not fight a problem like sexual harassment in Egypt by imposing new laws alone as long you have this social culture that does not actually denounce and criminalize such behavior.

    Again this incident exposes the fakeness of some so-called liberal human rights activists as well women’s rights organizations like The National Council For Woman.
    FYI there will be rally against sexual harassment in Downtown Cairo this weekend .

    This is not a plot to spoil the happiness of the Egyptian people or a conspiracy against El-Sisi , this is a social disease and the first step to treat disease in the world is to recognize. Unfortunately we have not diagnosed correctly.


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    This is not the kind of news you want to hear in early morning.
    Prominent activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah and other 24 protesters have been sentenced 15 years in jail and 100,00 LE Fine early morning in absentia.
    This is just ridiculous when you hear what happened in today's session. Another episode of that on going TV series in crazy verdicts in Egypt.
    Today the Cairo criminal sentenced the 25 protesters in the Shura Council clashes trial. The judge issued his sentence in absentia despite the fact that Alaa Abdel Fattah , Wael Matawally and Ahmed Abdel Rahman , the defendants were waiting outside the court "at police academy" and were trying to get in.
    The court claimed that the defendants did not show up where as there were thee of them trying to get in.
    Needless to say the three were arrested and currently in detention. Of course as this is an absentia court verdict , I believe there should be a retrial.
    A photo for Alaa earlier this morning "Al Masry Al Youm"
    BY the way Alaa did not call for this protest , the No For Military Trials campaign called for it. He did not steal the Walkie Talkie or attack any officers. There are video and photos showing the whole affair.
    There are other protesters in the trial , please do not forget them.
    Among those Wael Matawally is a mobile phone apps developer , already he and his company were awarded. Wael is a dual nationality citizen and got an Italian passport yet he has never used it.
    Ahmed Abdel Rahman "Noubi" was on his way home when he saw women protesters attacked by security forces and tried to defend them. Again there are photos showing this
    Alaa Abdel Fatah is still facing two trials by the way : Torching Shafik's campaign HQ and insulting judiciary.




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    In the Egyptian presidential elections the biggest winner is not Abdel Fattah El-Sisi , the bigger winner of the presidential elections are those spoiled their votes aka the spoilers “Yeah I will call them the spoilers”. DSC07415

    Yes according to the official results“The spoilt votes”  scored the second place in the elections“1,036,410 votes” in one of the biggest surprises in this election. Yes the spoilt votes scored more than Hamdeen Sabahi did as he got only “740,304 votes”  

    The founder of the Popular Current who was the wining horse of the presidential elections 2012 first stage did not even get one million votes. Now there was an online joke that El-Sisi is going to have the runoffs along with Mr. Spoilt Votes.

    Let’s leave Sabahi and his votes and let’s go for Egypt’s newest voting bloc aka The spoilers. I know that they may seem insignificant but to score more than the second rival in the elections this means something.

    I know many of the spoilers , they appeared in the Presidential elections 2012 runoffs between Morsi and Shafik and mostly they are from the revolutionary camp. Compared to the Presidential elections 2012 runoffs , there is an increase in the spoilt votes. In 2012 when I visited several polling stations , observers and officials used to tell me that most youth used to spoil their votes.

    This election in 2014 it is no longer youth who are spoiling their votes, I found many people decided to spoil their votes even from the Non-Revolutionary camp because simply they are not convinced with both candidates whether El-Sisi or Hamdeen.

    The spoilers usually go and spoil their votes instead of boycotting altogether because they are worried that their votes would be rigged.

    Usually the spoilt votes are considered unintentional in most of the time but this election , it seems that they are more than intentional considering the messages written on the ballot papers. You will find funny comments to political comments.

    You will find Pro-revolutionary comments supporting revolutionary activists currently in prison like Mahienour El-Masry as well Pro-Mubarak regime supporters who believe that Former Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik is the legitimate president of Egypt.

    By the way many of the spoilt votes in Alexandria called for Mahienour’s freedom.

    Of course there is a bigger bloc I see growing once again which is the boycotters bloc.

    Despite that the number of eligible voters in 2014 increased by more than 3 million voters in 2012 elections , those who went to cast their ballot papers in this year’s elections is less than those cast their ballot papers in 2012 despite the huge media campaign to urge the people to vote , extending an extra day and threats of imposing fine. {Imposing fine made many people , especially poor elderly go to the polling stations by the way}

    Main reasons of boycotting the elections in Egypt are well known : Indifference and the fact that many people live and work in governorates other than the governorates they registered at as voters. Yet in 2014 there were other reasons. You got the Islamist bloc “From the Muslim Brotherhood mainly” boycotting this election along many revolutionaries. Also many people felt that there was no need to go and to vote when it was already known for everybody that Abdel Fattah El-Sisi

    Here is a chart showing a comparison between the eligible voters , total votes and correct votes as well spoilt votes in Presidential elections 2012 and 2014

     

    By the way I prefer people to go and to spoil their votes than to boycott the elections like the day of Mubarak. Spoiling their votes show that they still follow politics and want to share in their own way instead of being indifferent and passive. I could be wrong but this is how I look to it.


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  • 06/13/14--06:43: #FreeAlaa :Back to 2005

    • First of all early Thursday morning there was a very small protest at El-Koubba presidential Palace. It was the first protest in front of a presidential palace after the presidential inauguration. It was also the smallest protest made of four girls only : Mona Seif , Sanaa Seif , Aida El-Kashef and Sara El-Sherif. "The photos are by Alaa El-Kamhawi"

    Freedom for Alaa , Nouby and Wael


    Unjust judiciary , A protest = 15 years in jail
    The girls were demanding the release of the Shura council protest's detainees who were sentenced 15 years in jail including activist Alaa Abdel Fattah on Wednesday. 
    In the afternoon the defendants's lawyer as well Egyptian activists held a press conference as well a protest on the famous Staircase of the Journalists syndicate. "Oh yes back to the famous staircase". Needless to say the small protest was dispersed by security forces that returned to use thugs in dispersing the protest. !! At least one person was arrested in that chaotic dispersal. (Photos by Sharif Abdel Kouddos)

    This reminds me so much with 2005 and how the thugs were being used to attack protests and rallies at the journalists syndicate.
    Now for those who asked here are the photos from the Shura council protest , here is a coverage for the whole day. You must know that there are several witnesses who confirmed that Alaa came late to the protest and did not attack anybody. You must know that during the trial's sessions the prosecution's eye witnesses never showed up and the defendants' attorneys demand to see the CCTV videos the prosecution claims to be a key incriminating the defendants was not answered at all.
    Of course the retrial of the defendants that have been arrested "Alaa, Wael and Nouby" should arrest next week. 

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    Ok lots of updates following Egypt's latest mass sexual harassment and assault incidents in Tahrir square.

    On Wednesday President El-Sisi paid a visit to one of the victims currently being treated for burns in El-
    The anatomy of a harasser by Ternz
    Halmia military hospital along the minister of defense where he vowed to fight sexual harassment apologizing for the victim and the Egyptian women for the spread of that epidemic.

    Needless to say after that visit all the media has launched a crusade on that alien phenomenon attacking the Egyptian society following this visit. Now the president admits that there was something.
    The victim asked El-Sisi to remove the video showing her being assaulted in Tahrir square and so the Presidency asked YouTube to remove that video filmed from two weeks ago showing the assault. 

     I forgot to say that the Egyptian National TV blurred the victim's face during El-Sisi's visit "it was aired on TV" but left her mother's face !!! This is much better than the ministry of health which sent a press release to the media with the photo and name of the victim before asking them to blur the photo !!

    Just like any president of Egypt , El-Sisi gave his orders to form another governmental commission made of religious institutions and bunch of ministries to put a strategy against sexual harassment in Egypt !!! Yeah a strategy.


    I am sorry for not joining the festivity mood of celebrating on how El-Sisi apologized to the victim but I got a very bad problem : I do not forget easily. No one has apologized for the girls who had undergone virginity tests in March 2011 "El-Sisi him admitted that there were virginity tests in Egypt in his meeting with the head of Amnesty International" or the famous Blue bra girl in December 2011.
    I can not forget either that there are girls in Anatar women's prison are being beaten and assaulted during their imprisonment because of their political affiliation.  

    By the way Entasser El-Sisi , Egypt's current first lady visited the victim at the military hospital  early Friday in what is considered her first public visit as a First lady. It is still unclear if she is going to have a public role like Jihan El-Sadat and Suzanne Mubarak or will have a small public role like Tahia Abdel Nasser and Naglaa Morsi.

    Earlier today during his cycling marathon which he won it , President El-Sisi spoke about sexual harassment problem and he attacked the sexual assault video and that person who filmed. The Field Marshal wondered how the man had the guts to leave "his honor" {The lady} to be assaulted and to film that video and share the video defaming his country.

    As much as I understand the debate about whether the man should have tried to save the lady or to complete filming but I do not understand how this clip defamed the country. This quote means that we are returning to the old days of sweeping dirt under the carpet for fear of defaming our image in front of the world as if the world does not know the truth !!

    Let's be clear here without any photo or video footage unfortunately no one would have believed that there were horrifying sexual assaults in Tahrir square whether now or in the past. In fact no one would have believed that there were torture, abuse and brutality in Egyptian police stations without video or photo proof because simply people reject to admit that we got problems. Nobody would have cared about the victims if that shocking video did not find its way to the internet.

    Do you know that during the 30 June protests till the ousting of Morsi on 4 July Tahrir square witnessed several sexual harassment and assaults and that nobody gave a damn in the media !?

    Last week hours the Pro El-Sisi supporters claimed that the video clip was an old one from 2011 and that the ones who spread it "Marwan Arafa" was a Muslim Brotherhood supporter "he is not and he did not film it , he only shared it and he removed it now" . Some of them even claimed that that video was made to spoil their celebration. Of course when the authenticity of that video was confirmed they shifted to the new level of accusations.

    The Pro El-Sisi supporters  are attacking the person who film the incident claiming that he was coward and he should have defended the woman instead of filming her , well this is the biggest dilemma ever that meets photographers and video journalists whether professional or amateurs but this is not their true issue. It is about exposing an ugly truth that tried to hide.

    Either ways I know that that anonymous person who filmed the video and Marwan Arafa helped the cause against sexual harassment a lot and that they helped the victims a lot because if there was no video , nobody would have cared.

    Now for those who are always claiming that the social media is useless, well it is not useless because Tahrir TV channel has suspended TV host Maha Bahnassey after her remarks. Of course Mrs. Maha acts as if she was a victim of campaign against her because of her political views.

    Anyhow she got a competition in the stupid remarks grand Prix , actress and sex symbol Ghada Abdel Razik said on her instagram account that she wanted to be sexually harassed so President El-Sisi would visit her !! Of course Abdel Razik later said that she was joking and that she was one of the founders of "Execution For Sexual harasser" Facebook page !!!!

    Tomorrow there will be a big rally against the sexual harassment tomorrow afternoon at Cairo Opera House. The rally is originally organized by an independent activist who is not a member of feminist NGO or anti-Sexual harassment NGO.

    Still she is cooperating with several NGOs in organizing the event which was granted the MOI's permit for assembly. Yes there is no fear that the protesters tomorrow will be arrested for illegal protesting. 

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    From couple of hours ladies as well men joined a protest against Anti-Sexual harassment phenomenon in Egypt.
    It was a small protest compared to the fact that not less 13,000 people said that they would go on the Facebook’s event page for a whole week. According to a friend who went and attended the protest , the number of journalists and TV channels were more than the protesters. It is sad. Of course when you read the FB event page , you will find fights and endless debates.
    Of course several women’s NGOs and activists said that they would not go after the announcement of the National council for Woman “NCW” would go.
    Those NGOs and activists made it clear that they did not forget on how the NCW ignored all their pleas and their activities against sexual harassment in the past three adopting the state’s position to ignore the whole thing.
    It is true and actually the NCW did not and has not real recognized that there was a real problem in Egypt , instead it is blaming some entities of spreading that behavior in order to intimidate women and defame Egypt’s image.. to the end of that talk. Of course when they speak about  entities they speak about the evil Muslim Brotherhood.
    Anyhow we leave the NCW and the activists, already their absence for real was the reason on why less people showed up than what was expected. Interestingly two things happened in this rally. The first thing a taxi driver passing by the protester sexual harassed one of the ladies and you can imagine what happened. He was arrested.
    Two feminist activists have been arrested too while participating in the protesting for holding Anti-MOI’s sexual violence banners during the licensed protest. Allegedly they were arrested for holding banners with slogans that have not been approved. Those activists are Nader Osman and Hermas Fawzy.
    One of the two activists by Mrs. InjyS 
    I noticed in the photos of the protest that there was a banner calling for justice for Samira Ibrahim, the outspoken victim of the virginity tests in 2011.

    For the record the MOI and its officers are involved in sexual harassment or rather sexual violence to be precise whether they admit or not. Starting with the sexual abuse that reaches to the level of sodomizing  “aka Emad El-Kebeer case” in 2007 or the use of sexual harassment to attack the women protesters on the staircase in May 2005.
    Last month already couple of activists were harassed by the security forces after the storming of the Alexandria’s office of the Center for Economic and social studies.In November 2013 photos of a man wearing a plain cloth arresting a man and holding him from his private part during the famous anti-Military trials for civilian protest at Shura council was another proof that the MOI did not change its techniques of humiliating the people.
    From the protest by "Anadolu News agency" 
    By the way the MOI official who was supervising the security of today’s protest against sexual harassment was the same official who slapped a protester in the same protest.
    Slapping a protester at Shura council protest against military trials for civilians
    You can not change facts I am afraid.
    By the way here is the best photo taken today by AP's photographer Nabil Amr , it summarizes everything.
    From the protest "AP-Nabil Amr"
    Here is a photogallery for the protest earlier today by several tweeps.

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    Cartoonists in Egypt have been fighting sexual harassment with their art.

    Execute them "Doaa El-Adl"
    Doaa El-Adl 



    Dad : We did not speak when one harassed then we
    we got a mass harassment then it became an assault
    Then it became rape
    Daughter  : After that you want to be a grown up and
    a bride !! "Doaa El-Adl"

    No for sexual harassment "Doaa El-Adl"

    Naturally religious people "Andeel"


    It is men's party "Andeel"

    Hey Kitten "Haitham"

    Have you praised Prophet Mohamed today ?
     "Hisham Rahma"


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    In a huge development today the prosecutor general has ordered the release of Abdullah el-Shamy , the Al Jazeera correspondent who has been on a hunger strike for more than 140 days as well other 12 detainees Monday afternoon. 


    el-Shamy who was detained during the dispersal of Raba'a sit in last August along with other 12.The prosecutor general has not referred el-Shamy or the other 12 to the court. According to the official statement issued by the prosecutor general , el-Shamy has been released due to health concerns. 


    Of course this means that the health of the 26 years old journalist is not great and fine as the so-called June 30 revolution fact finding commission claimed. El-Shamy who has been for a food strike for more than 100 in order to be referred to court lost a lot of weight as you may have known. His wife Jehad started a food strike as well demanding the release of her husband. 


    Leading leftist activist Laila Soeif has been on hunger strike for more than 3 weeks as well in soldiarity with El-Shamys. Human rights activist Aida Seif El-Dowla was also on a hunger strike in soldiarity with El-Shamys but ended that hunger strike last week. 


    Now personally I believe that Abdullah won that battle against the regime. Of course there are other detainees who are on hunger strike like Mohamed Soltan. Soltan was transferred to Kasr Al Aini hospital in a critical condition after more than hundred days of hunger strike. The US Egyptian citizen is among the defendants  in the Raba'a control room case . He is accused among others like MB supreme guida Mohamed Badie of inciting violence in the country. 


    Soltan's family insists that he is innocent and that the security forces arrested him while caring for his cancer patient mother. His family says that security forces arrested him from his house when they failed of finding his father , famous MB leading preacher Salah Soltan. I think His father was arrested later.


    I hope people do not forget freelancer photographer Shokan who was detained in Rab'a sit in dispersal as well.


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    First of all I am sorry for the lack of posts and updates , I took a short break and traveled to the North Coast for the last four days. I tried to keep the blog updated as much as I could but I failed as I did not bring my laptop. To blog using the iPad is not that easy and honestly I felt that I had to have a break from politics after our 7th historical impressive elections in three years.
    I ignored the news of the cabinet but I could not ignore the news of Abdullah El-Shamy’s release, it made my day from two days ago. Seeing him with his family , with his brother , with his strong wife who shared him his hunger strike for many days gave a lot of people hope including me
    The freedom Selfie with Mosa'ab El-Shamy "By Mosa'ab"
    Abdullah hugging Jihad "By Mostafa El-Sayed"



    Both are wearing "Freedom is a promise
    for those are faithful to it" T-Shirt. This is a quote from
    his letter in jail.
    "By Mosa'ab El-Shamy"
    With his mom "Getty"
    It is a huge victory after months of fighting back a brutal system.
    At the same time many wonder what price in return is going to be paid for Abdullah’s freedom knowing the regime we are dealing , some are expected the price could reach to a health pardon for Mubarak himself !! The ousted president who has been convicted of corrupted and should be transferred to jail fell today at Maadi Military hospital broke his thigh !!
    Mubarak has not been transferred to jail by the way and is still staying at Maadi Military hospital’s “ex-Military presidents retirement house”  !! Anyhow let’s leave this old dictator and return back to El-Shamy and his victory.
    I can not ignore how his mother thanked leftist activists Leila Soueif and Aida Seif El-Dowla for their support to her man’s support.
    Mosa'ab's mom in a press conference about hunger strikers
    detainees along Leftist activist Ahmed Seif and Laila Soueif
    "Photo by Abdel Hailm Abdullah"
    What those two ladies did along a number of Non-Islamist activists did from supporting Abdullah’s cause is a lesson on how it is not about ideology but about humanity and justice.
    Today Abdullah El-Shamy spoke with a number of reporters and correspondents mostly from Foreign media.
    El-Shamy speaking to reporters at his home wearing
    "Life is good" T-Shirt
    "Sherif Abdel Kouddous"
    Abdullah tweeted also earlier from his twitter account earlier telling Peter Greste , Mohamed Fadel and Baher Mohamed that they would be next.

    The trio's trial should end this month. I am trying to be optimistic but let’s be clear here the trial of Greste, Fadel and Baher is a disgrace by all measures,  a true politicized trial. It was true scandal for Egypt and it cost us a lot.
    I can not forget either Mohamed Soltan who is in a critical condition in Kasr Al Aini hospital. I can not forget Alaa Abdel Fattah , Mahienour El-Masry , Mostafa Hussein , Wael Matawelly and Nouby.
    The list of the detainees who should not be behind bars is long but releasing one like Abdullah after one hell of a fight like the one he had and how the activists helped him gives anyone hope.

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    Last week while I was taking a break from all the political shit in Egypt , I found the name of Tahrir TV host Rania Badawy along with the word “Ethiopia” jumping over and over in my twitter notifications.
    It turned out that the journalist turned in to a TV host may have started a diplomatic crisis with Ethiopia after hanging up the phone on the Ethiopian Ambassador in Cairo on air angrily !! Yes she hung up on the Ethiopian Ambassador in Cairo on air. Updated : Rania Badawy is suspended by Tahrir TV channel's administration.
    On air fight between Rania Badawy and Ethiopian ambassador
    “ Why do you insist on building the dam with the current specifications !?” Rania Badawy asked Ethiopian Ambassador in Cairo Mahmoud Dardir. Ambassador Dardir told her that she did not understand the construction of dams and their specification and that she was speaking arrogantly. Things went madder starting from that point.
    Rania : Mr. Ambassador you crossed the line with me , I ask the questions of the Egyptian people. “!!”
    Then she continues : From diplomacy and the protocol that you answer the question or leave it without comment. Hanging up the line on air , the TV host said the ambassador crossed the line !!
    Amazingly Badawy did not see anything wrong in what she did and she even pinned the video of what she had done with the Ethiopian ambassador on her official Facebook page. Of course the faux nationalism wave taking the country by storm , she thinks that she saved Egypt’s dignity !!
    First You do not hang up the phone on the Ethiopian ambassador now in time of crisis in this way.  Second Even if he crossed the line , you should hang up on him on air like that !!
    By the way this is Rania Badawy who believes that an episode in “The Simpsons” was a proof that there is an US conspiracy behind the Arab Spring.
    Badawy works in the same TV channel “Tahrir TV channel” like Maha Bahnassey“who is currently suspended” and Ahmed Moussa , the infamous journalist and TV host who brags of working with the State security. Yes this is the kind of TV hosts controlling public opinion in Egypt !!
    Man we need Bassem Youssef than ever.
    Ironically enough the Rania Badawy’s incident comes at the same the mainstream media in Egypt is speaking about a positive breakthrough in the Egyptian Ethiopian relations after the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam and Nile water crisis.
    Speaking about the progress in the GERD’s file , I am amazed at the speed and breakthrough we had suddenly in that file according to the mainstream media. I do not understand why we had had not that progress before and please do not tell because it is about the new president.
    If the mainstream media is true about that positive progress in the relations between Egypt and Ethiopia , then it seems to that just like the Ministry of interior , other ministries and apparatuses involved in this crisis suddenly remember to work wisely and efficiently only after electing El-Sisi as a president !? 
    Of course this breakthrough can  be the product of the mainstream media’s imagination in order to increase El-Sisi’s popularity as a savior and that it is too early to speak about a permanent solution that suits both Egypt and Ethiopia’s needs.
    Personally I know that the problem between Egypt and Ethiopia is not the product of the past 3 years but several years ago in time of Mubarak and our regional policies in the East Africa and how we look to Africa in general.
    Of course how we look to Africa and African arrogantly plays a critical role here , you only have to see Rania Badawy to know what I mean. We are paying the price of this arrogance as well neglect now in the worst way ever.
    It is not enough to make your diplomats and intelligence officers act nicely and politely in Africa but you need make your people feel that they are Africans and they are not above the other people in the Continent.

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    Today activists protested against the infamous protest law whether inside or outside Egypt. It is the International Day of Solidarity with Egyptian detainees.
    Hundreds of protesters organized a rally against the infamous protest law to the Presidential Palace this afternoon.
    Several prominent political activists are participating in this rally like Mona Seif and Khaled El-Siyad , who was arrested in the latest anniversary of 25 January. He was also tortured and witnessed the torture of other detainees as well. The Revolutionary Way Front was among the main political movements participating in this rally.
    Needless to say the CSF did not waste any time in dispersing the rally using thugs and tear gases. The thugs hurled rocks and empty bottles at the protesters as usual followed by tear gases. The security forces are determinant not to make this rally did not reach the presidential palace.
    Of course what happened afternoon is a proof that the Ministry of interior is still using its old weapon : Thugs
    At least 30 people have been arrested during the dispersal of the protest including Sana'a Seif. Three of them are journalists.
    Here is a video below for the protest and what happened during its dispersal after the break.




    Outside Egypt the protest movement organized by activists in the Egyptian community around the globe kicked off on Friday in Athens and Buenos Aires. Today there are protests in several cities around the globe : London, Paris, Berlin , New York , Stockholm , Ontario and Dublin.Some of these protesters were in front of the Egyptian embassies.
    Here are photos from Dublin
    Photo : Mai Nasser 
    Photo : Mai Nasser 

    Photos from London
    Photo: Rana Gaza 
    Photo: Rana Gaza 
    Photos from Paris where the activists screened a short documentary about Mahienour El-Masry and protest law.
    Photo : Hanna Youssef 
    Photo : Hanna Youssef 

    Photos from Berlin
    Photo : Nora Shalaby 
    Photo : Nora Shalaby 
    Photo: Nora Shalaby 
    Photo from New York
    Photo :  Sharif Abdel Koddous 
    Photo from Athens which I found at The international Day of Solidarity with Egyptian detainees tumblr blog

    This reminds with the protests Egyptians used to have around the world and Egypt after the murder of Khaled Said. It is like returning back to square one. It is just depressing , really depressing.
    Please follow this blog to know more about these protests. I am sure that there will be more protests in the future.

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