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Egypt That You Don't Know
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    Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

    The flowers arc at Egypt's Flowers show 2017

    People taking photos at one of the partitions under some type of metal arc covered by flowers at Egypt's annual Spring Flowers show


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    Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

    The flowers arc at Egypt's Flowers show 2017

    People taking photos at one of the partitions under some type of metal arc covered by flowers at Egypt's annual Spring Flowers show


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    Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

    The pyramids of flowers at Egypt's flowers show 2017

    Pyramids made of flowers at an entrance of one of the partitions in Egypt's annual Spring Flowers show


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    Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

    The pyramids of flowers at Egypt's flowers show 2017

    Pyramids made of flowers at an entrance of one of the partitions in Egypt's annual Spring Flowers show


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    Kodak Agfa posted a photo:

    Taking photo at the flowers arc

    A young man taking a photo of his friend under an arc covered by flowers at Egypt's annual Spring Flowers show


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    And it is our annual time with Egypt's Spring Flowers Fair.
    On 21st March , Egypt's minister of Agriculture and the Governor of Giza inaugurated the 83rd Springs Flowers fair in Al-Orman Botanical garden as usual on the start of Spring officially.
    You know I could not resist going there. I went there before in 2015 and 2016.
    I went to the fair this year but I did not stay long enough in the fair to take too many photos as I used to do.
    But I still managed to take a couple of beautiful photos 'I guess'.
    Flowers at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    Beautiful orange daisies "I guess"

    Flowers at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    Beautiful flowers everywhere 
    According to the ministry of agriculture , not less than 155 Egyptian and foreign companies participated in the fair this year.
    The space of the fair also extended 25% more than its usual space in Al-Orman botanical garden.
    More and more flowers
    Flowers at a landscape company in partition 
    Inside a partition of a landscaping company in Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Inside a landscape company in the flowers fair 

    I was very curious to see the impact of the economic crisis on the fair and the industry of gardening in Egypt.
    After floating the Egyptian pound value freely in front of other currencies, the whole exports sector was hit hard.
    Many companies and flowers nurseries depend on foreign imported flowers , I want to see what they would do.
    More and more flowers
    Rows and rows of flowers 

    A gardener looking after flowers
    A gardener watering the flowers in one of the partitions 
    Trees with flowers at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    Trees with flowers at Egypt's Spring Flowers show

    Well foreign flowers, plants and trees are there like bonsai trees.
    Bosnai trees at Egypt's Spring Flowers show 2017
    Bonsai trees at Egypt's Spring Flowers show 2017

     This year I have seen for the first time in the Fair a flower called "American Dianthus". It looks different than the Egyptian Baladi Dianthus.
    Pink roses at Egypt's flower
    American Dianthus

    That flower nursery sold one flower pot of the American Dianthus for LE 20 so I think yes the economic crisis hit the fair and flowers industry.
    Nevertheless people still buy flowers an cacti , trees and domestic herbs.
    Syrian mint at Egypt's flowers show
    Syrian mint 
     The domestic herbs caught my attention when I saw their popularity in the fair.
    One flowers nursery sold various types of herbs like Syrian and Saudi mint in addition to Egyptian mint. I do not know the difference between them.
    It also sold chives, sage and local Egyptian basil.
    There was a high demand for cacti especially Aloe Vera because of the benefit especially for the hair and skin according to a friend of mine who owns a Cacti farm and participated in the fair.
    Cacti everywhere at Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Cacti  at Egypt's flowers show 2017

    My friend told me that other cacti companies sell for almost LE 50 whereas its price does not exceed LE15 .
    Short cacti at Egypt's Flowers show 2017
    Short cacti at Egypt's Flowers show 2017

    I bought an Aloe Vera plant for LE 10 from him and I put in the balcony. Honestly, I do not know how to use.
    Mid-Size cacti at Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Mid-Size cacti at Egypt's flowers show 2017

    Cacti is popular in Egypt because of our weather.
    My friend told me that the fair received more visitors and customers than last year despite the economic crisis.
    Inside a partition at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    A lady picking up a flower pot inside a partition in the fair. 
    The humans were not the only customers to the Spring Flowers fair , the bees were also there doing their job in spring pollinating flowers madly and quickly.
    And bees are here in Spring time
    The bee and the flower

    The fair was like a gift from God to them. Watch the video blow to see that beautiful bee in clear HD.
    As I have visited the fair three years in a row , I found out that there were landscape companies and flower nurseries that have not changed its location.
    Like for instance the Egyptian German company for flower nurseries got its partition in the same place.
    Instead of arranging the flowers like the Egyptian flag in 2016, it arranged the flowers like Giza pyramids.
    The pyramids of flowers at Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Pyramids of flowers 
    The flowers arc at Egypt's Flowers show 2017
    The arc of flowers 
    Selfie lovers and photographers were attracted to that partition not because of the pyramids of flowers but rather because of the arc of flowers.
    Unfortunately I could not get closer or photos from inside because two friends were snapping photos amusingly by their mobile phones. I did not want to spoil their moment.
    Taking photo at the flowers arc
    Taking a photo inside the arc 
    Taking photo at the flowers arc
    Strike a post under the flowers arc 
     There is another landscape company "My garden" that has not changed its location in the fair.
    Nevertheless I feel that the company was hit by the economic crisis. Last year's partition was more interesting if I recall correction.

    Trees and roses at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    Some fancy creation made of flowers and tree branches 
    Other landscape companies cared less for the economic crisis and showcased their fancy creations to visitors whom can be potential customers.
    Inside a partition of a landscaping company in Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Inside a partition of a landscape company in Egypt's flowers show 2017

    Inside a partition of a landscaping company in Egypt's flowers show 2017
    A topiary shape inside a landscape company 
    Setting up such partition took a week according to the Landscape company representative in the fair.
    Inside a partition of a landscaping company in Egypt's flowers show 2017
    Fancy fountains inside a landscape company. 

    The Fair continued to May as it was extended as usual too. This year, it continued for nearly two months.
    White flowers at Egypt's Spring Flowers show
    White flowers
    A kind of red flowers at Egypt's
    Red flowers 
    Amazing look violet flowers
    Amazing look violet flowers
     I did not spend a longer time in the Fair this year unfortunately so I decided to do something different.
    Here is a very short and a very shaky as usual video from the Fair.
    You must watch till the end because there is something beautiful in it.
    I hope that you will like it and will share it just like this post :)
    I did also very quick Live periscope broadcast from the Fair itself.
    Subscribe to my Periscope channel and check it from time to time because I like it.

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    Credit Foncier Egyptien

    A new Downtown Cairo building discovery for me: The Credit Foncier Egyptien bank building or as it is known now as Arab international bank "AIB".

    Built in 1903 in its current location, the Credit Foncier Egyptian or the Egyptian Credit Foncier bank was active till its nationalization in the 1950s.

    Originally Founded by Karl Heinrich and Raphael Suares in 1880 in Alexandria, it predated the National Bank of Egypt "NBE" so yes it was the oldest and first bank in Egypt. Reading more about it the Credit Foncier Egyptien Banque represented the French interests whereas the NBE represented the British interest for dominance on the Egyptian economy then.

    It is no secret that there has been a rivalry between the British and French on controlling the Egyptian economy since the 19th century.

    Did not know that information was till I searched online thanks to Samir Rafaat and his valuable website.

    According to Rafaat's extensive research, that neo-classical building was most probably designed by the famous Miksa or Max Hertz, the Hungarian architect whom Islamic Cairo owes him a lot.

    Thankfully the AIB is doing a great job in keeping the building in a very good shape, excellent shape actually.

    Via: Instagram 

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    Once again I was planning to write something about certain that happened in Egypt then another thing more outrageous happened and made me change my mind.

    Blocked
    A familiar scene now 
    From a couple of hours ago, Egypt's State news agency "MENA" announced that 21 websites were blocked in Egypt.

    Quoting an unnamed source in a very short news on its wire service, MENA added that those were blocked because their content supported terrorism and radicalism as well deliberately spread lies.

    The source added that among those blocked websites: Al-Jazeera.net, Al-Sharq TV channel, Misr Al-Arabia, Al-Shaab newspaper, Arabi 21, RSSD and Hamas Online.

    He also said that the legal procedures were being followed regarding those websites.
    The decision was taken in Egypt in less than 24 hours of blocking Al-Jazeera and Qatari news websites in Emirates, Saudi Arabia following their fake news media war in the midnight on Tuesday.

    Now we discovered the rest of the Websites are Ikhwan Online, Egypt's Window,  Al-Mesryoon, Huffington Post Arabic, Qatari Al-Watan, Qatari Al-Arab , Qatari Al-Sharq, Qatari El-Raya, Cairo Portal, Klmty , Hasam militant group official website,  Horriya Post,  Aswat Masriya and Mada Masr. (Yes , MADA MASR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
    Yes, Mada Masr; one of the finest Egyptian online independent English and Arabic news websites in Egypt and the Arab world is banned in its own country !!!!!!

    Many people including myself are extremely angry for banning Mada Masr and I am actually worried too because its journalists may pay a price as well for their great work.

    Aside from the five Qatari media outlets above them Al-Jazeera and aside from Aswat Masriya and Mada Masr, most of the above websites got affiliations with the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamists in Egypt in a way or another.

    Ironically this list includes Aswat Masriya, the once Reuters-affiliated Egyptian News website which closed down from two weeks ago. Currently, the archives of the website are still online !!!!
    Another irony, Mada Masr, Misr Al-Arabia and Al-Mesryoon got a license officially to operate in Egypt.
    Also, Al-Mesryoon got a daily printed newspaper !!

    On the other hand, we got Hasam militant group which claimed responsibility for a number of attacks targeting security forces, mostly policemen since September 2016.
    This is the only case I understand why the government would want to block a website.

    Nevertheless, I do not know or understand on what legal basis the government decided to take this move. Is it the emergency law ??

    This is a very bad sign especially if you connect it with the ongoing crackdown against political activists and members of opposition parties in the past three weeks.

    We are back to use VPN and proxies once again !!!
    This is not good at all.
    All support to my dear friends in Mada Masr.

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    Egypt's prosecution ordered on Wednesday the release of famous Egyptian human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate Khaled Ali on LE 1,000 bail and referred him to misdemeanor court to be tried next 29 May on "making an obscene act on a public street" !!
    Khaled Ali
    Ali in custody on Tuesday by Mohamed El-Raai 

    The potential presidential candidate spent the night in custody at Dokki police station.  after the prosecution ordered his detention for 24 hours pending further investigations in an unprecedented move when it comes to misdemeanor according to lawyers.

    The famous lawyer and founder of leftist "Bread and Liberty Party" is accused by famous lawyer Samir Sabry of giving the middle finger to his opponents in the street in January during celebrating his victory in Tiran and Sanafir lawsuit in front of State Council.

    Following the historical Supreme AdministraCourtcourt verdict to reject the current Egyptian government's appeal appeal against the administrative court ruling annulling the Egyptian-Saudi deal to redraw maritime deal,a photo emerged online showing the famous lawyer giving the middle finger "the Egyptian style" to his opponents while he was being held on the shoulders of his protesters.
    Some say the photo was genuine and it was one for a less than a second.

    Others say it was a "photoshopped" fake photo and he did not give the middle finger to anyone.
    Needless to say, the Pro-regime media went mad and used that alleged photo to smear Khaled Ali who won huge popularity following the verdict.

    Ignoring the implication and the importance of the Supreme administrative court, the regime media portrayed the longtime leftist activist as rude and vulgar with no decency.
    In the same month in January, the very active concerned citizen and lawyer Samir Sabry reported Ali to the prosecution for "making an obscene act on a public street".
    Then the prosecution summoned Ali on Tuesday after 4 months and interrogated him then surprisingly it ordered his detention 24 hours pending investigations.

    Now there are two explanations or theories for what has happened to the leftist lawyer in the past 48 hours.
    Khaled Ali who ran for presidential office in 2012 is one of the few names suggested to run once again for the presidency against Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in the upcoming 2018 elections.

    In the first stage of the 2012 presidential elections, Ali got 134,056 votes "0.58%" only in the votes
    Still, his popularity grew hugely as an independent civilian candidate after the Tiran and Sanafir lawsuits to the level that his ultra-leftist views are completely ignored.

    If Ali is found guilty by the misdemeanor court then he will be disqualified right away of running for the office.
    Yes, he can appeal if he is found guilty but till the appeal is accepted and he wins the case, he can not run for the office.

    Ironically Ali has not officially declared that he will run for the office yet.
    In fact, in an interview with BBC Arabic in June 2016, the lawyer stated he did not intend to run in the upcoming 2018 elections wondering at the same time if Egypt was going to have any presidential elections in the future at all.
    Still, his name is always mentioned as he showed huge political maturity in Tiran and Sanafir crisis in the past few months that made him gain lots of fans.

    Many believe that what happened in the past 48 hours is an attempt to get rid of potential presidential candidate.

    It is worth to mention that Ali's detention came as there is an ongoing huge crackdown against young Egyptian activists especially party's members above them Khaled Ali's own "Bread an Liberty party".

    In the past three weeks, not less than 28 Egyptian activists and opposition parties members were arrested throughout the country for a number of strange like owning books, believing in Mohamed ElBaradei's thoughts and attacking the regime
    in men's only closed Facebook group !!

    I can't ignore the fact this is happening as the parliament is getting ready to discuss and most probably pass the Tiran and Sanafir agreement starting next week.

    Personally, I believe someone is getting trying from that lawyer who has been giving the government hard time since the time of Mubarak.

    The Khaled Ali hashtag in Arabic has been active in Egypt for several hours. Also, Ali's supporters launched "The popular campaign to support Khaled Ali for president 2018" on Facebook and it gained followers in no time.

    We will see what happens next week inshallah.
    In that BBC interview in June 2016, Ali stated that he was ready to go to jail because of Tiran and Sanafir.
    I am worried that that may happen after all.

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    Again it is one of those mornings, one of those Fridays that you woke up to find a massacre taken place in the south of the country and you want to go back to the bed again praying that this is an awful nightmare.

    At 11 AM Cairo Local time "CLT" at that the same time millions of Egyptian Muslims were on their way to Friday prayers , a group of masked militants came on three 4x4 Cars and opened their fire randomly on a bus carrying Christian citizens at the desert western of Minya governorate' Idwa city according to the first official statement issued by Egypt's Ministry of Interior "MOI" at 1:28 PM CLT.

    The MOI added that as security forces reached the attack's scene, it turned out that it happened at one of the desert sub-routes heading to Saint Samuel the Confessor monastery, which is 60 km away from the city of Maghagha , North of Minya in the heart of the Western Desert.
    At the attack scene
    Two monks watching the attack scene "Reuters" 
    It also stated up till then 26 Egyptian Christians were killed and other were injured.
    Already we have known before that at least 26 people were killed while 25 others were injured. The victims included lots of children.

    It turned out that it was not a bus but rather a convoy of Egyptian Christians heading to the 7th-century monastery.

    A bus carrying worshipers from neighbor Bani Suef governorate as well a microbus carrying worshipers from Minya's villages headed were in their way when they were stopped by the militants.
    According to eyewitnesses accounts that I have been reading all day and the MOI's statement, militants came on three 4x4 Cars and hell started.

    First, they reportedly asked the passengers if they were Muslims or not then asked them to convert to Islam but the passengers said no.

    Opening their fire at point blank in some cases, I just can't imagine the carnage that happened on the sand in that morning. They took the money and the gold jewelry of the women.

    After the first attack according to Reuters report, it seems that one of the 4x4 vehicles had a flat tire and the militants stopped a truck carrying Christian workers heading to the monastery.
    They killed them and took the vehicle where they vanished into the desert.

    What is even scarier is that even children were killed. The youngest one was 2 years old.
    Throughout the day, the bodies of the victims were taken to local churches in Minya where they had funerals and buried.

    The families of the victims protested and demanded the dismissal of the interior minister. The security forces dispersed in no time as usual.
    After several hours of the attack, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah held an emergency meeting for the National Defense Council in Cairo.

    Following the meeting and surrounded with standing army and state men, El-Sisi addressed the Egyptian people declaring that Egypt once again carried out an airstrike on terror camps. He also called "his Excellency President Donald Trump" to wage a war on terrorism as his first priority.

    He also revealed in that on-air speech that not less 1000 vehicle passed through Libya to Egypt illegally through the Western desert and that Egyptian armed forces destroyed about 300 vehicles in the past two months only.
    Sisi and members of National Defense council
    Sisi and members of National Defense Council "Egyptian presidency" 
    At the same time, unknown senior sources told State-owned MENA that the Egyptian air forces launched a strike on targets in Darna, eastern Libya. The Libyans confirmed as well.
    Up till now, no militant group has claimed its responsibility for the attack but it has Daesh's prints all over it.
    Tonight is Ramadan eve.
    The official reactions look more of a Deja vu to me
    I feel so angry and exhausted.
    Tomorrow inshallah, I will publish a post about some remarks concerning the attack.

    Funerals
    From the funeral of the victims Friday night "Reuters" 

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    And the time has come to our annual date with our Egyptian Chronicles' Ramadan Arabian Nights.
    It should have started from three nights but honestly, I could not post anything when my country Egypt and my fellow Egyptians are mourning.

    Cairo Arabian nights-travel poster

    On Saturday, at least 28 Egyptian Christians were killed in a massacre in Minya governorate by a Daesh-affiliated group in Egypt.

    As a respect to the victims and their families, I decided to have an Egyptian Chronicle' National mourning for three days. This was the least thing I can do to the victims and their families.
    Up till this moment, the Egyptian State has not official declared a national mourning for reasons beyond me.

    Anyhow despite the grief, we will return back to the Egyptian Radio Arabian Nights to escape the dull present and find hope and solace in fantasy.

    This year our tale will speak again mighty kings of the sea and their mermaid daughters who fall love as usual with a human being.

    Make no mistake that our tale written by legendary Taher Abu Fasha is not the same like our tale "The Cursed lady's wall" in 2015 which was inspired by the famous Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid.

    So no further delay I am to present to you the tale of Princess Sea Pearl produced by the Egyptian State Radio service decades ago.

    The tale was written by Taher Abu Fasha and directed by legendary Mohamed Mahmoud Shaaban. our first radio Arabian night for this year was the 373rd episode of that show.
    Tonight I will share with you the first, second and third episodes.

    Episode 373rd - First night


    Episode 374th-Second night

    Episode 375th -Third episode.


    A quick synopsis of the first episodes:
    King Shahryar is angry and decides to kill Scheherazade because he had enough of her tales yet the wise woman managed to trap him again into one of her tales, the tale of Sea Pearl and her father, King Mehyar of the vast sea.
    We know in that episode tat Sea Pearl used to leave her kingdom and visit the human world with her nanny as humans and I think you will know the rest.
    Unfortunately, this year I won't be able to continue writing the synopsis in English. I am really sorry.

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    First of all, I must present my condolences and pay my respect to the 4 Egyptian armed forces personnel who have been killed early Wednesday in a campaign against militants in the Western desert.
    May God bless their souls and bring patience to their beloved ones.

    Second, it is our daily Ramadan date with the original Egyptian State Radio's Arabian nights.
    We continue our tale for this year, the Princess Sea Pearl.

    To refresh your memories, you can listen to the previous episodes here.

    Tonight we will hear two episodes and continue that tale of Djinn Sea mermaid that turned into a human after loving a man from the earth.
    Her father, the King of the Sea got her back from the surface of the earth but with no memories what so ever and he will not stop doing the impossible to return her Djinn Sea mermaid.

    With no further delay, here are the two episodes in Arabic.
    Please enjoy and share.

    Episode 376th or the Fourth Night


    Episode 377th or the Fifth Night.


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    And we are on the right track now :))
    Tonight we will continue our tale of this Ramadan, the tale of Princess Sea Pearl and how she turned into a human.
    You refresh your memory and hear last night radio Arabian nights here.
    Tonight we will meet that man who turned the Djinn Mermaid Princess into human like him, the poor "Hamal Alasya" or "The pain bearer"
    Do not ask me from where Mr. Abu Fasha got those names because I do not.
    Anyhow with no delays, here is tonight's episode in Arabic.

    Episode 378 or the Sixth night


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    We continue tonight our tale , the tale of Princess Sea Pearl and her human husband. Arabian Nights

    Tonight we go from a story to another one as no we are going to hear the story of ""Hamal Alasya" or "The pain bearer".

    You can refresh your memory and remember how that man who bears a sad name ended up in the sea realm by checking last night's episode here.

    Now it is time of our episode tonight.

    Episode 379 or the Seventh night


    I hope you enjoy the episode and have a pleasant night.


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    It is time to continue our tale of this year , the tale of Princess Sea Pearl. Arabian Nights-Cairo

    Before we know how Princess Sea Pearl turned in to a human and how it ended up with no memory , we will know the story of "Hamal Alasya".

    We will also meet his stepmom and know the story of his so-called brother.

    It is a nice tale which I think you will enjoy knowing as usual.

    You can refresh your memory and remember what happened in our tale here.

    Now it is time of our episode tonight.

    Episode 380 or the eighth night

    I hope you enjoy the episode and have a pleasant Ramadan night. 


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    A week passed following the horrifying Minya massacre on Friday where at least 29 Egyptian Christians including children were killed by militants while they were on their way to visit an ancient Christian Orthodox Monastery in Minya's Western desert.

    On Sunday, the infamous Daesh claimed their responsibility for the attack unsurprisingly claiming that they killed "warrior Christians" !!! There were Children, women and elderly in that convoy !!
    This is the third terrorist attack targeting Egyptian Christians since December by that death cult.
    Daesh claimed its responsibility for the bombing of El-Botroseya Church in Cairo in December and the Churches bombings in Alexandria and Gharbia in April.

    It also had declared that it would target Egyptian Christians at least twice.
    The first time was in February as it published a video repeating the infamous ultra-Egyptian Islamist rhetoric when it comes to accusations of the Christian community in the country.
    The video is technically produced to justify its old as well upcoming attacks against the biggest Christian population in a Muslim country in the Middle East.
    The second warning which is the most recent in early May was in an interview with an unidentified leader of Daesh-affiliated group Daesh in one of their online publications.
    That alleged leading figure in that terrorism franchise warned of further attacks against Egyptian Christians urging Egyptian Muslims to stay from Christian gatherings.
    That request to Muslims came after at least three Muslim people were killed in the churches' bombings in April.

    First question about security

    Despite warnings , there has not been enough protection to the Egyptian Christians and their gathering places and the proof is what we saw in front of us last Saturday.

    Since knowing about the attack in Minya, I have been asking myself on why that Christian Convoy was not escorted by security till the monastery in the Middle of the desert.

    That monastery is in the Middle of the desert inside Bani Suef governorate, it is like the gate to Egypt's Western desert.
    The location of the monastery
    The location of the monastery, the red line shows
    El-Edwa City in Al-Minya governorate. 
    The road to the monastery is not paved or equipped.
    There are no clinics or emergency checkpoints to help people on that road if there is a car accident, let alone there is no police presence there.
    Here is a graphic video at the attack's location showing the victims' bodies in the middle of nowhere.

    A video from the attack site showing the victims bodies scattered over the ground. According to local media outlets, the attackers stopped the bus, asked the passengers about their religious believes and then they killed men first and opened fire on the rest! Video's credit for Page " صوت من السماء"
    Posted by Mina Thabet on Friday, May 26, 2017
    This video can give an idea about what I mean.
    There is no even a mobile phone network coverage in that place.
    I do not understand how no one paid attention to the fact that we got monasteries in the Western desert and that Daesh and other militant groups had its share of operations there in the past three years.
    Thus monasteries and its visitors as well monks need protection.
    The Minya governor says that the monks in the monasteries rejected security protection.
    I do not know if he is saying the truth or not but at least that outside the monastery should have been secured.

    The road should have secured. The buses should have been secured.
    One would have thought that the security agencies in Egypt would have paid attention to the monasteries after the Saint Catherine monastery checkpoint attack.
    Yes, it did not target the monastery itself but it would have triggered an alarm that those isolated places can be on the terrorists' radar.
    Checkpoint
    Police checkpoint at the attack's location from 8 days
    "Reuters" 
    Needless to say, now the Egyptian government will either act and appoint security to monasteries in the Middle of nowhere or it will order the Churches in the country to stop those religious trips.
    Knowing how the regime thinks, I will say that it will go for the second option.
    The Egyptian House of Representatives has not summoned yet the minister of interior to question him in a hearing over this failure.
    In fact, liberal and Christian MP Emad Gad wanted to address the parliament about the massacre and yet the speaker refused to let him speak for a reason beyond me.

    Where it happened and when it happened

    I can not get over the idea of how that terrorist group thought about that monastery in a rural area like that and how they planned to attack that convoy in that time.
    Most of the Muslims in Egypt do not know about the locations of the Christian monasteries in the rural areas outside their governorates or their cities. Yet, it is easy to know the monasteries with a quick search online.
    The big question is how the terrorists knew about the convoy and when it was going to reach the monastery. It was not a random thing as we are speaking two buses coming two different governorates "Bani Suef" and "Minya"


    That awful massacre happened in El-Minya governorate which has a long history of sectarian tensions and clashes as well its share from radical terrorist organizations since the 1980s.
    It also has got extremely big Christian population that we have full Christian rural villages there.
    Following the dispersal of Pro-Morsi sit-in in Rabaa and Al-Nahda, the governorate witnessed horrifying 48 hours attacks against Christian houses, properties, and churches.
    The attackers were not only angry pro-Morsi supporters but well-known thugs who found the chaos was a perfect time to steal and destroy.

    The monasteries in the governorate survived the attack because they were far away.
    Even the current El-Minya governor, a former state security police general has got a sectarian history and has not done much anything new when it comes to recent sectarian incidents.
    He won't do anything as well because he has been working according to that old fashioned sick instructions manual given to all governors when it comes to sectarian tensions: Bring a sheikh and a priest to kiss each other in front of the camera and hold an informal reconciliation meeting with the clans that will end into enforcing the Christian families to leave the village.

    Since that recent attack, I have been worried because we are speaking about Minya, the gate to Egypt's Upper Egypt where tribalism and weapons strive.
    The greatest amount of weapons and arms have ever entered the country Libya illegally, headed to Upper Egypt after the fall of Qaddafi regime in 2011.
    The memories of the black terrorism years in the 1980s till mid-1990s are having a flashback with worrisome feeling.

    Survivors reportedly said that the militants spoke with an Upper Egyptian accent that identical to the people of El-Minya.
    In other words, the suspects could be from that governorate and that would be reasonable.
    Minya and Upper Egypt governorates present a perfect hiding place for anyone when it comes to the mounts, hills, and desert that security forces think twice when going to search for criminals and fugitives.
    On  Monday, the minister of interior transferred police general Feisal Dowiader , the head of El-Minya's security directorate to another sector in the ministry in a move that many considered as a punishment.

    This means that something was wrong when it comes to the security strategies in the governorate.
    I must hint out that on Wednesday that four army personnel including three army officers were killed in an army operation against terrorists in the Western desert. We do not know if those terrorists were part of Daesh or another group but the location is so interesting for me. We have to be worried a lot.

    The media failure

    The Egyptian mainstream media did not show any sympathy what-so-ever especially the Egyptian TV channels. It seemed that there is some kind of selectivity when it comes to mourning the victims of the attack.
    All the TV channels are strictly following their Ramadan hot season showing tens of TV shows and hundreds of ads. They do not even insert a black ribbon on their TV screens. This is the weakest and simplest thing to do.
    The Egyptian Christians are angry and feel that they are being ignored by the TV channels and mainstream media. They see Egyptian Muslims enjoying their time watching TV in Ramadan and think they are being alienated.
    Mass funeral
    Egyptian Christians in the mass funeral of the victims in Minya
    "Reuters"
    They have to be angry and they express their anger on social media and as we know radicals from both sides clash because we are in a virtual reality online.This is what Daesh wants by the way; To create and widen that gap between Egyptians in the country.
    I do not understand why no official is paying attention to that point.
    I do not understand why the State has not called an official mourning in the country.
    When I see the TV channels ignoring the attack and its victims in that disgusting way, I think about two possible reasons.

    The first one is that we are dealing with very greedy TV channels and executives who won't sacrifice their multi-millions advertising campaigns for the sake of three days only.
    The second one is that the government does not want bigger coverage. It is not a big secret that all the TV channels are under the state control and follow its order.
    It is worth to mention that President Sisi once criticizes the mainstream media coverage of Al-Botroseya bombing.

    In general, the mainstream media is selective. Hundreds of police and army officers, soldiers and conscripts were killed and yet there were certain incidents and attacks that have been highlighted in the media. in

    The Retaliation and revenge : Wrong direction !?

    Following the end of the National Defense Council's urgent meeting, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced that Egypt carried once again air strikes on terror camps without giving more details. At the same time, news came from Libya that the unknown air jets launched an air strike on the city of Derna.
    Then the official spokesperson of Egyptian armed forces confirmed the news saying that the Egyptian armed forces

    Since then the Egyptian Strikes has not stopped on targets in Derna as well the city of Jufra.
    Yet it seems that the Egyptian strikes targets are quite puzzling because Daesh has already left the city of Derna after being kicked out of it by the Derna Mujahedeen Council.

    The Derna Mujahedeen Council has not been linked to any activities outside Libya and actually, they managed to liberate the city from Daesh's control in April 2016 !!!!
    Unfortunately, the Egyptian government did not give an evidence publicly connecting those Islamist fighters to the attack in Minya or Daesh.
    It is clearly to the world that the Egyptian government is actually targeting its alley Khalifa Hafter's rivals in Derna and in Jufra.
    Libya air strikes map
    A map of Libya showing the targets of Egyptian air forces
    in Libya by Reuters 

    Unlike the Egyptian strikes in February 2016 in Libya which met complete rejections by the international community, nobody cared this time.
    The Egyptian air forces continue to attack Hafter's rivals in Libya whereas the Egyptian people especially the Christians are asking about how effective those strikes in stopping the upcoming attack and whether the terrorists are really in Libya.

    Needless to say, that MP Emad Gad's statements that the survivors of the attack and their families told him they knew the identity of the terrorists and that they were from Minya's villages and not from Libya  !!
    Some are saying also that Abdel Fattah El-Sisi violated the Constitution with orders for those strikes in Libya because he has got to have the parliament's approval for those strikes according to article no.152.

    Despite there has no been a discussion about those strikes and El-Sisi has not called the parliament officially to pass those strikes urgently, the speaker of the House of Representatives welcomed it and stated that they "the MPs" supporters the strikes.

    The House of Representatives should have asked already most of the questions in that post, it should have stood to its role as representatives of Egyptian people and question the government.

    In six months, the Egyptian Christians were subjected to different attacks by a terrorist organization and they were promised each time that there would be no futures. Yet, the attacks did not stop.

    I pray in that Ramadan night that the awful Minya attack will be the real last attack against the Christians in Egypt for real.

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    It is time for our Ramadan Radio Arabian night. We will continue this year our tale , the tale of Princess Sea Pearl and her human husband. Cairo Arabian nights

    We will know what Hamal Alasya's wicked stepmom had done to him and to his father.

    You can refresh your memory and know the young man and his stepmom ended up in the Sea realm here.

    Now it is for our episode tonight.

    Episode 381 or the Ninth night of our tale this year.

    Hope that you enjoy tonight's episode :)


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    Okay forget what happened early Morning in the Gulf and the Middle East and Pay attention to this post.

    It is time for another night of our Arabian nights this year. Arabian nights

    We will continue our tale , the tale of Princess Sea Pearl.

    You can refresh your memory and remember what Hamal El-Asaya's wicked stepmother had done here.

    Tonight we will meet his so-called brother.

    Here is our episode for tonight.

    Episode 381 or the tenth night of our tale this year.

    I hope you enjoy it and share it with your friends online.


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    The crisis has not ended yet in the Gulf and it seems that it is getting complicated each hours especially with Trump's tweets. Arabian Nights

    If you need a break from that crazy Middle East drama then I recommend complete reading this post to listen to a new Ramadan Arabian night.

    Tonight we will continue our tale "Princess Sea Pearl".

    We will continue to hear "Hamal Al-Asya" and his family's story and how he and his father endured hell with his stepmom and his so-called brother.

    To refresh your memory , you can hear the beginning of that family that found itself in the under the sea Djinn realm here.

    Now here is tonight's new episode from Egyptian state radio's old Arabian nights.

    Episode 383 or the eleventh night of our tale this year.

    Thanks for listening and I hope you share it.


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    The Middle East is still turning upside down and our tale for this year continues with Princess Sea Pearl and her human husband. Arabian nights
    Tonight we will see how evil for real Hamal Al-Asya's stepmom and his so-called brother.
    You can refresh your memory and remember how his father passed away here.
    Now it is time for our episode tonight

    Episode 384 or the eleventh night of our tale this year.


    Thanks for listening and I hope you share it.

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    First of all, I apologize for not posting episode 13 last night as I was very tired and arrived home late after very long and hot Ramadan day.
    An illustration inspired by Arabian
    nights in 1911 "Edmond Dulac"
    Needless to say, Thursday was full of drama worldwide whether the ongoing Gulf feud or Comey's testimonies or the British elections.

    Second, tonight we will have a double bill, two episodes instead of one as we continue our Egyptian Radio Arabian nights tale for this year "Princess Sea Pearl".

    To refresh your memory, here is what happened from two days ago.
    Tonight we will continue the tale of Hamal Al-Asya , in fact we know tonight his newest adventure and it is nice and worth to listen too.

    With no further delays, here are our episodes tonight where we know what our young hero will do in the old haunted mill.

    Episode 385 or the thirteenth night


    Episode 386 or the fourteenth night



    Thanks for listening and I hope you like it and share it :)

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    Arabian nights And we are back on track.
    We continue our tale for this year, the tale of Princess Sea Pearl.
    We are still with the tale inside the tale hearing the story of Hamal Al-Asya as he recounts it to the Djinn King in the Sea realm
    You remember how he ended up in some haunted mill here.
    And now to our new Arabian night.

    Episode 387 or the fifteenth night


    Thank you for listening and if you like it then please share it with your friends :)

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    Dear friends, first thanks for your support and the messages I have received.

    Yes , my Twitter account (@Zeinobia) has been locked since Saturday afternoon and is temporarily restricted.

    Saturday afternoon, I found myself locked out by Twitter due to some problem related to "automated tweets" in my account.

    I usually use Hoot Suite to schedule tweets with posts from my blog as I have done in the past three years and did not face this problem.

    I followed the procedures according to Twitter support and I was supposed to receive a call from Twitter to get a verification code and up till I have not received it.

    Nevertheless, I managed to contact Twitter and I am trying to find a way to fix things.

    I see many of the replies and notifications as well DMs in Windows 10 Twitter Native app and as I can not reply, I must say in my blog that I am overwhelmed with such support and love.
    Thank you so much 

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    Just as the Egyptian Parliament is on the verge of committing unforgivable sin by discussing the Tiran and Sanafir deal against the public opinion as well the court orders, we find that more websites are blocked including petition website and a whole popular publishing and blogging platform !!!
    Medium blocked in Egypt
    A screenshot for Medium homepage on TEData

    On Friday , I have known that an online petition website against the Egyptian Saudi maritime borders demarcation deal was blocked.
    Honestly, I am surprised because this website is not that popular and only 1480 people have signed the petition so far.
    I have just known Saturday evening that popular Medium publishing and blogging platform has been blocked in Egypt.
    You can't get access to Medium.com and its blogs and sites whether on TEData DSL ISP or Orange 4G LTE as I have tired.
    You can access it through VPN.

    Aside from its current blogs publishing what the regime rejects of ,I read that some of news websites originally blocked in May was going to use Medium as alternative to reach to its readers in Egypt.On 24 May , not less than 23 websites were blocked in Egypt including independent Mada Masr news website as well Al-Jazeera TV network's websites.

    In the following days , more websites have been blocked in the country till they reached over 40 websites according to Cairo-based AssociatioforFreedom of Thought and Expression "AFTE".
    Following the first batch , we got new websites blocked everyday. Aside from Medium.com , Turkey-based SasaPost was also blocked in Egypt.

    The close to Islamists SasaPost used to publish very interesting analytic reports about military involvement in economy and politics in Egypt from time to time.
    It is really good website.
    SasaPost is not the only the Turkey-based website to be blocked in Egypt in that recent campaign.
    TurkPress , Akhbar Turkiya, Akhbar Al Aalm and Arab Turkey.

    Iran-based websites have showed up in that list as the famous Al-Alam website is blocked now in Egypt.
    Even Dubai-based Moheet News website was also blocked.
    The Tor project website was also blocked in Egypt making it hard for the users to download and use it.
    Nbad mobile phone news aggregator was blocked along with Doha-based Gulf Times.
    In late May, we found out that Daily News Egypt "DNE" and El-Borsa Daily were both blocked. It is worth to mention that their publisher Mostafa Sakr's assets have been frozen by the Egyptian government over alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties in December 2016.
    Sakr was already known to be designated as a terrorist since January. He was officially designated as a terrorist in the official Egyptian State's Gazette early June.
    Another even more interesting fact , President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi wrote two op-eds about the Egyptian economy and investment opportunities in DNE exclusively during the Euromoney conference in Cairo.
    Geneva-based Sinai human rights NGO's official website has been blocked and I think this can be the first time I have heard about that NGO as well the first time to visit its official website.
    I write this blog post and I read that there are more websites per day are joining that block list.
    It is getting more than ridiculous for real.
    As the Six day war 50th anniversary passed last week , I do not remind the people that we live in 2017 and not in 1967.
    I think one of the lessons that we should have remembered how the State-controlled media eventually harmed the state and the Egyptian army eventually as people lost their credibility in the national media due to the constant lies.
    It is not a big secret that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi admired the so-called "Nasser" media that supported him in his career. That"support" was not a free one but rather obligatorily one. That support was forced one as journalism in Egypt was nationalized losing its freedom of expression. That "support" was actually a cheap propaganda that glorified the ruler of Egypt as if he were god who cannot be accountable for anyone.
    That support made the Egyptian people lose their confidence in the local media and search for the truth in foreign media outlets.
    I do not need to say that but it is getting ridiculous.
    We are not the Gulf , We are Egypt and this is 2017 and not 1967.

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    And the banned websites list in Egypt is getting longer and bigger per day now.
    According to the Cairo-based Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression "AFTE"", we are speaking about more than 60 websites.
    They were more than 50 websites yesterday and the day before they were more than 40 websites whereas last week they were only more than 20 websites !!!

    The most noticeable websites that joined the list this time are Avaaz and January News Portal !!
    Yes, the famous U.S-based online petition and civic organization website is banned in Egypt for a reason beyond my knowledge or imagination.
    Online Petitions do not really change things in Egypt or really effective.
    I can't remember the last Avaaz petition that forced the Egyptian government to do something.

    This is not a thing to belittle Avaaz and its role in the world and in other countries where it really makes a change.

    Then we got January News Portal or Yaniar Gate which is founded and headed by Nasserite journalist Amr Badr.
    Former Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabhi at the sit-in of
    the Journalists Syndicate "Mohamed El-Raay"

    Yaniar Gate is just like Al-Bediah and Al-Badil, an independent news website that is totally against the Tiran and Sanafir deal as well the Egyptian regime's policies.

    Amr Badr, the current head of the Freedoms Committee in Egypt's Journalists Syndicate has his share of trouble with the regime because of his opposition to the Tiran and Sanafir islands deal.

    Currently, Amr Badr and other leading members of the Journalists syndicate including the trio of the previous Journalists Syndicate board are having a sit-in against referring the deal to the parliament and how the Legislative Committee passed in disgusting farce.

    Sit-in in Syndicate
    The sit-in at the Journalists Syndicate earlier "Mohamed El-Raay"
    A couple of political parties have declared their members would start a sit-in at their headquarters to object the deal and it is being passed in the House of Representatives like Nasserite El-Karma and Egyptian Social Democratic party.

    Back to the ban list.

    Interestingly, the website of Sawt Al-Oma weekly newspaper has been blocked as well !!
    I am quite amazed because the opposition semi-tabloid newspaper has been acquired by non-other than the pro-regime golden boy and steel tycoon turned media tycoon Ahmed Abu Hashima in November for LE 12 million.
    Needless to say the editorial policies of the newspaper has changed completely since then to become Pro-Sisi !!!!

    This is the third printed newspaper in Egypt to have its website to be blocked in less than two months !!
    Now, most of the websites of Qatari and Muslim Brotherhood are blocked. Most famous Turkish websites including the Pro-Golen sites ironically are blocked too. Anyhow, I think the current wave of blocks will include websites speaking about the how the Isles of Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian !!

    It is just sad and frustrating.

    Up till now, there has been no official statement for real about the ban of those websites. We got only anonymous quoted sources speaking to Egypt's State-owned news agency in MENA from several weeks ago with the first batch of websites.

    The National Telecom Regulatory Authority "NTRA" has not issued a single statement about that blocking spree.

    I do not know how many websites to be blocked they tomorrow.
    Many people fear that the ban may include the social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. I share their fear.

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    Sorry for the extreme delay in updating our Ramadan Arabian for this year. The past couple of days were extremely tiring.
    Arabian nights-Edward Dulac
    By Edward Dulac 
    It ended up by that defeat Egyptians faced in the Parliament on Wednesday as the House of Representatives, in what can be best described as a farce passed the maritime borders demarcation deal and there are lots of updates to catch on.
    I will not give to sadness and I am going to continue to share our Ramadan Arabian Nights.
    Tonight we will listen and continue our tale for the tale of Princess Sea Pearl and her husband Hamal Al-Asya from episode 16 to 19.
    First, I think you should refresh your memory and hear the last episode I published on Egyptian Chronicles.
    Now we will catch on with our hero Hamal Al-Asya and know how he rejected the unwanted advances of his boss's wife and how he would pay a huge price for that.

    Episode 388 or The Sixteenth Night

    We are still with the story of Hamal A-Asya and that wicked Wardshan.

    Episode 389 or The Seventeenth Night



    Episode 390 or The Eighteenth Night


    Episode 391 or The nineteenth Night


    Have a Pleasant night and the islands of Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian. 😉✌🏻

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    A group of opposition figures called for mass protests across Egypt in the past 48 following the fast approval of Egypt' House of Representatives on the Egyptian Saudi maritime borders demarcation deal on Wednesday.

    According to the deal and despite the history of Egyptian sovereignty, the Tiran and Sanafir Red Sea are part of the Saudi territories after this approval.

    Former Presidential candidate and Nasserite political founder of the Karma Party and Popular Current Hamdeen Sabhi called for protests on Friday.
    I do not know where or when those protests are going to be, to be honest.

    It seems that the security predicted that there would be protests and thus in the past 48 hours as there are extended security crackdown as well mass arrests for activists across the country.

    According to the latest Socialist Popular Alliance party statement, there are currently 64 detainees arrested from Cairo, Giza, Port Said, Gharbia, Sharkia, Al-Ismailia, Qalyubia, Fayoum, Alexandria, Aswan, Damietta, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Behaira, Bani Suef and Suez.

    The current crackdown targets independent activists as well party members like The Constitution Party, The Socialist Popular Alliance Party and El-Karma Party as well Bread and Liberty party.
    I am afraid that the protests would not attract too many people because we are speaking about Ramadan, Summer and above them fear.
    Lawyers protesting against the agreement at their syndicate earlier
    Thursday "Reuters" 
    People are afraid of protesting thanks to the infamous protest law.
    There had been small protests this week against the agreement whether at the Journalists Syndicate or Lawyers Syndicate or the doctors' syndicate so you can imagine how downtown Cairo was locked down in the past few days.

    Aside from the usual crackdown, the government to close down El-Sadat Metro station in Tahrir.

    A Late Midnight's recommendation

    At 3 AM Cairo Local Time, The Supreme Constitutional Court's Commissioners authority issued its recommendations to the Supreme Court to reject the two appeals presented by the Egyptian Government against the Administrative court's verdict that the two islands are Egyptians.
    The commissioners' authority whose opinion is advisory to the court upheld the original June 2016 administrative court, which was already upheld in January by the High Administrative.

    The final word for the Supreme Constitutional Court will be on 30 July.
    This is the newest episode of judicial dispute about the two islands.
    I did not know before that Supreme Constitution stays up and works in Ramadan till the early hour.
    We do not know what will happen next.
    Most people predict that the government will ignore the Supreme Constitutional court's upcoming verdict.
    President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi can hand over the islands to the Saudis but he won't face only an angry population but also a state on the verge of dysfunctionality.

    Now, you got the legislative branch standing against the judicial branch in the state over something critical like handing over the islands.
    Historically, this is not the first time that clash happens between the two state branches.
    It happened before during Mubarak's time when the courts dissolved the parliament over fraud votes and the People's Assembly as well the government ignored.
    Also, it did not reach to the level of giving up territories, we are speaking a forbidden zone.
    Long time People's Assembly speaker Fathy Serror with all his corruption did not dare to insult judiciary in the face like HOR's speaker Ali Abdel Aal.
    Ali Abdel Aal, Originally a Constitutional professor law said earlier this week that the High Administrative Court's ruling was nothing.
    That claim angered the judiciary and we find the State Council firing back with a strong statement.


    You know in the past few days, I did not know what to write exactly on the 50th anniversary of the six days war defeat because I feel that we as Egyptians as well as Arabs did not learn a single thing from it after all those decades.

    I thought at first to write about this disgusting Gulf internal fight taking place but then came Tiran and Sanafir's parliament approval like a slap in the face.
    Needless to say, many people from my generation feel that we are living the same feeling our parents lived in 1967 and even worse. At least in 1967 it was a war and the land was taken from us in an unequal fight, we did not fight at all. On the other had in 2017, We find the Egyptian government giving two important strategically Islands to Saudi Arabia supported by the parliament in an illegal and an unconstitutional way as well in a very bad economic time and at the time of the war on terrorism.

    Unlike that young generation of 1967 who was frustrated in that long and sad summer after realizing the farce, it was living , my generation warned other generations that this would happen but no one listened.

    With all the challenges we have got in Egypt from economy, terrorism, social justice, political reforms and freedom of expression to an ever-changing region to restoring back Tiran and Sanafir peacefully, it seems that restoring the land after 1967 through war and peace was much easier.

    May God have mercy on our souls

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    Whoever runs this ongoing online censorship latest crackdown does not want to stop !!
    Now the number of blocked websites in Egypt jumped from 65 in the past 48 hours to 77 according to the Human rights law firm "Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression on Friday.

    The new blocked websites in Egypt are:

    I feel that sad that Al-Manassa news and citizen journalism platform has been blocked.
    I think that website founded by veteran blogger and journalist Nora Younis joined the blocked websites list for its distinguished for its parliament's coverage.
    The website had an excellent parliamentary correspondent who used to reveal the tiniest thing happening the in the House of Representatives.
    It was among that the few websites that followed minute by minute on Wednesday how the Tiran and Sanafir Islands deal passed.


    Turkey-based Noon Post is similar to Sasa Post. The Islamic-leaning website used to have very interesting news reports and investigative reports from time to time.
    Now, I think Nooun Feminist webzine is paying the price of having a similar namFacebookn Post
    Nooun's Logo
    Nooun's logo after being blocked
    "Nooun's Facebbok page" 
    because other than that I cannot find a reason on why this blog webzine dedicated to women's affairs and issues would be blocked now !!!!

    Newly launched Madaad has joined the list. It is not a big surprise to me or others. Since day one,, there was an expectation that the Nasserite news website affiliated with former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabhi and his Popular Current Movement would be blocked because of its Tiran and Sanafir coverage.

    Earlier this month, the new website made an interview with the commander of paratroops division in the Egyptian arm in 1967, former Major General Abdel Moneim Khalil who spoke about the Tiran Island Egyptian POWs for the first time.
    The website also made an excellent historical investigative report "which I envy" about the Egyptian POWs captured on that island and two of them were killed proved the current regime wrong. The current regime claims that we did not the price of blood on those two islands. I know this cliché but pardon me because I get emotional here.

    I did not visit Cairo-based Ida2at.com or even know its true affiliation which I assume Islamist but I found out that the website published a news report about the documents proving the Egypianhood of that two islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
    Once again we are back with Signal Messaging app and the Egyptian government.
    Now, its official website "Open Whisper Systems" was reportedly blocked Friday night. Interestingly, the Signal service is still working. You do not need its official website to download it ironically. You can download it easily from App store whether on iOS or on Android !!

    Egyptian El-Sabah's First page
    Egyptian El-Sabah's First page
    Interestingly earlier Friday, all the websites that have been blocked since May were unblocked for few hours.
    It seemed that whoever runs that show decided to test some new setting or chose some option and unblocked the websites accidentally in that expensive blocking software.

    Again and again, there is a huge fear that the next move will be the social media networks especially Facebook as many of those blocked websites began to use it to publish its reports and article like Mada Masr.

    Personally, I believe now the regime won't block the social media especially Facebook because it is a major instrument to spread its propaganda and fake news.

    By the way , the weekly issued of El-Sabah newspaper which is owned by businessman Ahmed Bahget was not printed on Friday because the Front Page of the newspaper had one word "Egyptian" in reference to the two islands with photo of legendary actor Mahmoud El-Milgy in his iconic role "Abu Swelam" in 1970-film "The land"

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    Cinema Opera in Cairo

     Seen in Downtown Cairo the once famous and currently closed down "Opera" Cinema theater.
    It survived the Grand fire of Cairo in February 1952 but it did not survive the curse of time.

    Now it is closed down and surrounded with ugly big buildings and shops in the overcrowded Opera square aka Al-Ataba Square. I do not know when it was built or who owned or owns it but I know it was named after Egypt's Khedival Opera House.

    Well, there is no doubt that the whole Opera Square was doomed after that huge fire that destroyed the Khedival Opera House in the mid-1980s in strange circumstances.

    Here is an old photo for "Opera" Cinema after the grand fire of Cairo in 1952 whom we have not known officially who was behind it until this day !!
    Cinema Opera in 1952
    "Opera" Cinema was showing the When Worlds Collide 
    during the grand fire of Cairo


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    And we continue our tale for this year, the tale of Princess Sea Pearl.
    Again this Ramadan is special for personal as well for general reasons that make me share with you those episodes in that way.
    To refresh your mind, here is a link to the past episodes so you can remember what Hamal Al-Asya has done.
    Now without further delay and lots of useless and endless talk, here are the episodes.
    We will see how Hamal Al-Asya meets with Princess Sea Pearl and how his life will be turned upside down. His wicked stepmother and so-called brother return back to our tale for this year for more bitterness and wickedness as usual.

    Episode 392 or the twentieth night


    Episode 393 or the twenty-first night


    Episode 394 or the twenty-second night


    Episode 395 or the twenty-third night