Mosireen Presents Prayer of Fear

This is one of the latest productions by Mosireen Citizen journalism collective : Prayer of Fear. It is a must watch clip.

Prayer of Fear is a poem by writer Mahmoud Ezzat in Arabic. Its narrator is Mosireen member and activist Salma Said.

This poem recounts the feelings of many true January 25 revolutionaries and supporters. The fear and confusion they live in nowadays.

The video clip brings very sad memories for all the past clashes and massacres.

Despite that is being labeled as youth revolution , its youth are hunted by death and think about it day and night more than those elderly who do not want to give up their chairs and thrones or even to think that they are two steps away from the grave !!

In the past two years the true revolution youth went to the morgue and funerals as well protests to commemorate the fallen ones demanding some sort of what seemed to be impossible justice more than to plan and to build for the future of this country , of this nation.

This poem gives a little hint on how the true revolutionaries feel nowadays in Egypt and how they are waiting for a new hope.

Read More

#Sudan_Revolts : It is Martyrs Friday “Graphic”

It is Friday and people started to protest against El Bashir regime while facing his security forces and their weapons bravely as usual. This is the fourth day the Sudanese head to the street protesting not only now against the lift of subsidies but against the massacre that took place in the country.

There are lots of development going on in Sudan and I am afraid our sources of updates on the ground are Netizens.Luckily for us the internet has not been cut yet by the government. Some sources say that some foreign “Mainly Western” embassies expressed their concern on how the internet was cut from two ago. Ironically and sadly enough the government officials are claiming that the protesters were the ones who sabotaged the internet lines in the country !!

Here is a photo gallery for the protests

The Sheikhs and preachers in the mosques in Sudan today spoke about the bad saboteurs and their bad protests. In some areas especially in Omdurman the mosques have been closed. The shops and markets are closed once again. The protests are now in Omdurman , White Nile , Al Jazeera and Khartoum as well North Kordofan. Here is a UShahadi map with the protests in Sudan.

Now there are reports coming from Omdurman and other major cities that security forces are using live ammunition and tear gas grenades. There are martyrs falling down by hour.

Nevertheless the protests are not stopping. Some of the chants the protesters are saying “People wants to topple the regime” , “Freedom , Freedom” down with the military rule”. Nile river unity rocks.

Sudan : Freedom , Freedom and The people want to topple the regime.

Here is a video showing the security forces firing at protesters.

Sudan : Firing at protesters

A video for the protests

Sudan : More protests

Sudan : Opening fire on the protesters

Another graphic video showing one of the protesters after being shot in the protests.

The Sudanese regime detained the Al Arabiya TV channel reporter there for a while then released him and closed its office there. Sheikh Youssef Qaradawy sent a message to El Bashir reminding him that he is an Islamist and he should not do what the regimes in Syria and Egypt !! Ironically the renowned Sheikh forgot the war crimes committed by that Islamist president against humans including Muslims in Darfur !!

Anonymous has hacked the Youth ministry website. The UN issued a statement condemning the killing of the protesters.

Again Sudan is cursed by the worst type religious backed up military regime. It will take some time to topple it. This is another step towards removing this rotten corrupted regime.

I believe that Sudan has not seen protests like this from very long time.

Read More

#SudanRevolts : Returning Back online , Returning Back to Streets #Abena

From two hours ago the internet is back to Sudan and with it news are pouring from there and they are not good. It seems that yesterday was a night of hell.

According to the photos , videos and testimonies of eye witnesses online Omdurman has witnessed a massacre. Officially the government is saying that 27 only were killed while activists and opposition movements say that over 130 protesters including women and children have been killed in the past 48 hours. Hundreds are transferred to hospitals every hour as far I could tell from the tweets and updates I read on Facebook. The director of Omdurman hospital was arrested after speaking to the media.

The tragedies continue and activists are reporting that the Omdurman morgue refuses to let the families to bury their relatives except when they sign papers that those relatives are thugs and criminals. In fact it is much worse to know that there are racism in it , light Skin Sudanese protesters are considered thieves while the dark skin Sudanese protesters are considered murderers in the eyes of the bloody El Bashir regime. 

The photos from Omdurman hospital gives you the impression that there was an actually massacre going on in the city. “Warning : Extremely graphic”

It was like a déjà vu of January 28 ,2011 in Egypt where the regime’s forces and security thugs unleashed a night of horror that ended at about 5 AM. Tweeps are reporting that protesters arrested security agents wearing civilian cloths trying to break an ATM. The people there are also saying that those security agents aka thugs go and set fires at the fuel stations.

For the third day in row protests continue not only in the cities Khartoum and Omdurman but in other areas as well including North Kordofan , Al Jazeera and Port Sudan. The protests are still going despite the crackdown. People are extremely angry. They are holding night protests.

Shops and markets are closed . The streets are deserted in some areas in Khartoum. Some areas there reportedly suffer from bread shortage. In some cities angry protesters have blocked the roads.

It is serious as it seems El Bashir cancelled his visit to the UNGA , some say that he is afraid from the warrant on his head but personally I believe it is not only the warrant. He is afraid of further developments in Sudan as well.

Interestingly the Sudanese minister of defense interrupted his visit to Jeddah and returned back to Khartoum earlier today. I do not know if he is going to pull a Sisi move considering that he was visiting the Kingdom that is vowing to bring the Muslim brotherhood everywhere or what.

I will not speak much because now we got material coming from Sudan after a crazy night.

Here is a footage taken from TV channel “I do no know which one” showing the security forces using live ammunition.

Sudan : Security forces shooting protesters.

Here is another video showing the protests in Omdurman yesterday.

Protests in Omdurman yesterday.

Here is another graphic video showing a protester shot down.

Tomorrow the Sudanese are planning for big protests. You know our Fridays in the Arab world as you know. There are strong rumors that the Sudanese regime is going to cut off the internet in the country for the upcoming 48 hours.

Protests are planned right after the Friday prayers. I see now online statements from political groups with demands like completely accountability for those responsible of the killing of the protesters and lowering the prices of the commodities. I have not seen the famous demand of forcing the president to step down.

Read More

#SudanRevolts : The Sudanese are doing it again “Graphic”

I am already taking some time off away from the blog and social media altogether yet I am forced to return back with all the developments taking place right now in Sudan.
For two days now protests are rocking the Sudanese cities especially in Khartoum and its surrounding suburbs. Protesters set the headquarters of the ruling party “NCP” on fire as well some police stations and checkpoints after they were attacked by security forces that did not hesitate in live ammunition.

Late Hazaa

As usual the peaceful angry protests are met with violent crack down. The latest numbers we got at 21 have been killed and hundreds have bee injured. The fatalities are caused by live ammunition fired by security forces. Updated : Numbers are jumping as eye witnesses are telling Girifana that Omdurman hospital’s morgue got at least 30 bodies while another witness told the famous political group that he saw 17 dead bodies at a police station in the area.
Not less than 1500 protesters have been arrested in the protests in the past 48 hours.
Updated @11:41 Cairo Local time :
 According to some estimation the death toll in Omdurman has become 73 at least. Some say even bigger numbers.
The students are playing role in this uprising especially in high schools and universities as far as I understand. One of the young student martyrs whose picture is shared online earlier was Hazaa Jafaar who was killed yesterday. Today the Sudanese security forces attacked his funeral by tear gas grenades." I have seen this before in Egypt , same tactics and same moves”
The protests erupted after the government’s decision to raise the fuel prices by 75%.
Now as Omar El Bashir is stupid as other dictators like Mubarak, the Sudanese regime  cut the internet off the country for several hours
The internet was cut off Sudan for 2 hours starting from 1 PM to 3 PM then it returned back for only 10 minutes then it was cut off again since then and returned back at 9:52 PM Cairo local time for short time and again it is cut !!
Here is a diagram showing how the internet is completely cut off in Sudan earlier. 
Five private TV channels were also shut down temporarily but they are back on air according to Girifna “We fed up” group. Please follow this group on Facebook to get the latest updates from Sudan. Here is its twitter account. 
Also follow those hashtags for live updates from Sudan : #SudanRevolts and #Abena “We reject"
A TV host called Salafa Abadafeera was arrested for criticizing the crackdown.The Sudanese Journalists Network announces a general strike follow the prevention of newspapers from publishing tomorrow according to journalist Ashraf Ghalay.
It is not all about the fuel prices in Sudan , this is an accumulated anger and if you remember last year the Sudanese revolted but their revolt was dispersed violently. Through the year Sudanese activists have been reporting of the human rights violations committed by Omar El Bashir’s regime against Sudanese citizens and the activists.
The fuel prices are like the last straw.
I would like to hint out that El Bashir’s regime is the worst mix of regimes ever : Religious+military regime in one shot !!
There is no enough media coverage and I think this is what El Bashir holds on keeping an iron curtain for real in Sudan. Foreign correspondents are not that free to move around with cameras , in fact I got two friends who used to work as  foreign correspondents in Sudan but were kicked out from there for doing their job.
Anyhow here is a photo gallery for the protests yesterday.

Here is also also a storify photo gallery showing the protests in the past 48 from social media. Not much though.

Now here is a video clip allegedly filmed today.

 Here is another video clip. I do not know when it was filmed but it was uploaded today before the internet cut.

Another graphic video showing a student shot down and killed by security forces.

Post by ‎اللجنة السودانية بالخليج لدعم ثورة التغيير‎.

There is no enough media coverage for what is happening in Sudan for real.

Before the internet was cut , some protests were live broadcasted shortly on Bambuser.

Read More

#BanMiltrials : The Battle is on

This is one of the main challenges we are currently having when it comes to the Constitution 2012 amendments and God knows it is not a challenge more than it is a battle.

This battle, this challenge is the military trials for civilians. You see according to the Constitution 2012 vague article 198 civilians can stand military trials.
Here is what article 198 says “Translated to English by Dr. Nivien Salah”

The military judiciary is an independent branch of the judiciary. It alone decides on all crimes related to the armed forces, their officers, and personnel.
Civilians may not be tried by the military judiciary unless they are accused of crimes that hurt the armed forces. The law specifies these crimes as well as other competencies of the military judiciary.
Members of the military judiciary are independent. They cannot be dismissed, and they have the guarantees, rights, and duties that attach to all members of the judiciary.

According to Constitutional law expert Gaber Nassar who is also the head of Cairo University and a member in the Constitution committee this is a vague article.
Nassar gave a brief history of the military trials in Egypt as well in a series of tweets on Friday. They are extremely important.

1-كانت تسمى المحاكمات العسكرية داخل الثكنات وبعد يوليو دخل النظام القانونى المصرى لأول مرة مصطلح القضاء العسكرى وأستخدم على نطاق واسع ..يتبع
— DR. Gaber Gad Nassar (@drGABER_NASSAR) September 20, 2013

1- It was first called “military trials in barracks” and after July 1952 the term “military judiciary” was introduced for the first time to the Egyptian legal system.

2-وكان المقصود تسويغه بإعتباره قضاء وهو ليس كذلك وفى نهاية حكم مبارك عملوه على درجتين من أجل ترسيخ فكرة كاذبة أنه ليس محاكمة خاصة نوعية يتبع
— DR. Gaber Gad Nassar (@drGABER_NASSAR) September 20, 2013

2- It was meant to market it as a judiciary but it is not. In the end of Mubarak era two stages legal procedures “primary and appeal” were introduced to the military judiciary in order to enforce the false idea that it is not a special judiciary.

3-فى دستور 2012قالوا أنه قضاء مستقل وهو لايمكن أن يكون كذلك لان القاضى ضابط هو وأحكامه يخضع لوزير الدفاع ولذلك لابد من عودته كما كان
— DR. Gaber Gad Nassar (@drGABER_NASSAR) September 20, 2013

3- In Constitution 2012 , it was said that military judiciary was an independent judiciary which can not be because in the end the military judge is an officer who follows the minister of defense.

It is worth to mention that Constitution 2012 gave the army privileges that have not been granted to the military institution in any other previous constitution in the history of Egypt including Constitution 1971.
Now the brave No For Military trials campaign has started a new crusade against the armed forces in order to stop the military trials for civilians and to make civilians stand civilian trials constitutionally.
Tomorrow the No For Military trials campaign will have a hearing session in order to explain their views to the Constitution committee.
Last Thursday the head of the military judiciary had his hearing in front of the committee. Of course the media focused on what he said without even trying to represent the other views at least from the professional way !!
By the way Tamaroud representatives aka youth representatives in the Constitution committee “Mahmoud Badr and Mohamed Abdel Aziz” seem to be okay with the military trials for civilians. The Nasserites also seem to be okay with the military for civilians.
Nevertheless there are some voices in the committee against the military like Constitutional law expert and head of Cairo University Dr. Gaber Nassar whom I quoted above as well artist Mohamed Abla.
Currently we know that two journalists are standing military trials and sadly enough they are from Sinai : Mohamed Sabry and Ahmed Abu Draa.
Mohamed Sabry stood a military trial in time of ousted president Morsi and up till now his trial is being adjourned for ages.
Now here are important remarks I would like to add regarding the military trials and my source is none other than the fantastic and brave Mona Seif herself.

• Up till now we do not know the exact number of the civilians who stood and are standing military trials. The latest number we have got is “11,000” and this is according to the statement of Adel Morsi , the former head of military judiciary to Ahram Gate in September 2011. Since then there are no official statements about the exact number.
• It is true that there are no civilian prisoners in the military prisons because the civilian prisoners have been transferred to civilian prisons since 2012.
• The military trials are on rise after June 30 mainly in the governorates away from media like in Suez canal governorates , North Sinai and Matrouh as well some Upper Egyptian governorates like Minya.
• The No for military trials campaign is trying to help people as much it can but it does not have lawyers or activists enough to help people in those campaigns.

Read More

Saving_history :It is sold now on #eBay

A screen shot from there

Professor Azza Sedky published on her blog a shocking post on how our ancient Egyptian artifacts are being sold on eBay now , oh yes on eBay !!
With quick search on eBay , you will find more than 1,000 artifacts for sale. Some of these artifacts are being listed by companies like Art Ancient LTD. Art Ancient LTD is a British company that works online in trading ancient artifacts from around the globe. It guarantees the legality of the artifacts it trades.
There are also items listed by ancient-artefacts.com that directs you to Antiquities.co.uk.
If I am not mistaken trading in Egyptian artifacts officially had been banned in Egypt since the second half of the 19th century.
I wrote before on how our ancient Egyptian heritage is being sold in international auctions. I will not deny that Egypt stopped some auctions in the past, but now it is getting ridiculous .. eBay for God sake !! What next we found our ancient Egyptian artifacts being sold on Craigslist !!
Already now the lazy ministry of antiquities began to act against some auction in Jerusalem showing some of the artifacts from different ancient eras.

Read More

Sami Anan and Presidency :Let the games start

Al Watan newspaper claimed that Former Chief of Staff and deputy commander of SCAF Sami Anan announced today that he was going to for presidency in Egypt. The news was published in the newspaper’s Friday evening

According to Al Watan General Anan announced this during some public conference in North Coast attended allegedly by thousands of Matrouh’s tribesmen. It is quite interesting because Matrouh is considered an Islamist voting bloc , a Salafist voting bloc to be accurate.

Hours later Al Masry Al Youm claimed that it spoke to the general and he denied that he intended to run for presidency !! He did not explain the reason behind that meeting though.

When I made a quick search online , I found interesting news like for instance how in several shady news websites on how the his support campaign claim that he was the main financier of Tamaroud campaign and how he reconciled with the so-called revolutionary youth.

I do not understand what is exactly happening knowing that Al Watan is too close to what is being referred to the Deep State of Egypt

Let’s be clear that Anan is not popular anymore. He is not popular among the revolutionaries who can not forget what happened during SCAF’s rule and he is not popular among the pro-military or the NDP supporters who used to support in the past because they believe that he supported the Muslim brotherhood.

He is also believed by that conspiracy theory group that he cut his visit to the States in January 2011 only to implement the US plan to destroy Egypt ….etc.

It is worth to mention that this news comes at the same time that there are several campaigns in Egypt calling General Abdel Fatah El Sisi to run for presidential elections. It is also worth to mention that most of those campaigns if not of all them are moderated by NDPians ,Omar Suleiman and Pro-military’s figures. 

Abdel Fatah El Sisi , the new idol of the public in Egypt has not declared yet whether he will run for presidency or not.

So yes we got two possible presidential hopeful : Sami Anan and Abdel Fatah El Sisi.

Read More

#NU : Talk to me about the State of law

Next week study will start in all Egyptian universities except one university : Nile University.
Yes Nile University whose students fought for two years to restore their university and yet they could not to get back whether during SCAF’s rule or during Morsi administration.
Nile University already got two court rulings last April 2013 from the High administrative court to reallocate the land and buildings allocated to Zowail City of science and technology to NU and to consider NU as National university.
Needless to say this court rule to reallocate the land and the building to NU was totally ignored and instead ousted President Morsi issued a decree with a law to found the Zowail city. Again the State continued to defy the court ruling like in the days of Mubarak.
Now Morsi and his administration are gone , things have not changed so much. NU has not restored its land or its buildings.
Minister of higher education Hossam Eissa promised to solve the problem of Nile University and said that he respected the court ruling giving back the buildings and land to the NU. He presented suggestions but Zowail and his university totally refused.
Anyhow earlier this week we found out that the CSF and army are protecting and guarding the Zowail city of science in first day of school standing against the NU students and their families who came to protest how court ruling are being defied. 

Army unit protect ZCS "Eslam Farouk"

Already I do not understand why Dr. Zowail is insisting on his position. Ironically his spokesperson offered couple of millions of pounds to NU as a compensation. Well instead of giving the NU those millions, they could invest those millions on new buildings and Egypt will have two universities like NU and ZCS instead of one.
Of course Zowail got his own lobbyists now in the current government starting with none other than Ahmed El Muslimani , the interim president’s media advisor. After all El Muslimani believes that Israel was trying to foil Zowail’s project through NU !!
The story of NU describes how state of  law is actually an optional thing for the regime to use it whenever it likes for its reasons.

The students continued their sit in at NU 'Nancy Fanos"

The Nile University sit in is still on despite all the army and CSF units. Those students will not give up their rights that will return one day. 

TO NU students : Please do not give up rights and fight till the end, you are an inspiration to all of us.
Update : Hossam Eissa promised to issue a decision regarding the NU tomorrow. We will wait and see.

Read More

Another Sad Tragedy in a series of tragedies

From the boat

I am sorry but I can not find any other suitable title to describe what the Syrian refugees suffer from in Egypt now.The Syrian refugees are now trying to flee Egypt even it is going to cost them not only their lives but also their freedom. It is sad as Egypt was among the safe places for them. 
Today another group of Syrian and Palestinian refugees were arrested during a fail attempt to emigrate illegally from Egypt to Italy in one of a ship from Alexandria. It is not the first but today things went from bad to worse. The coastal guards opened their fire on one of those illegal emigration killing two of the refugees “30 years old and 50 years old” in the boat and injuring other refugees including a lady.
The rest of the refugees “about 100” were detained in inhuman conditions at the Monatzah 2nd police station. By the way another group of refugees “about 70” were arrested also today while they were at one of the cafes near the port.
I know what those refugees do from legal perspective totally illegal , totally wrong. They did a huge mistake and they will be deported eventually but instead of Italy, they will have other choices like Turkey, Jordan or even Syria.
I know they did a huge mistake against law , still my dear follow Egyptians we have been committing sins since last July against those Syrian guests who found in Egypt  some safety heaven they did not find in any other place. These people were trying to escape from our country even if it would cost their lives for God sake !!
Since July 2013 and most of the Syrian refugees are being punished as a price for what the Muslim brotherhood did and for all the rumors on how Hamas and Syrians are helping the Muslim brotherhood. They have been the price for what the MB had done from using their independence flags and their songs in Raba’a sit in.
They have been paying the price for the media incitement against them.Thanks to the media and its current icons from racists like Youssef El Hossainy “on ONTV , a channel that once supported the Syrian revolution” and Tawfik Okasha.
Even Egyptian politicians participated in this shameful campaign like Mostafa El Gendy , the leading member of The Constitution Party who called to people to kill Syrians and Palestinians on the spot at the popular Checkpoints !! El Gendy is the head of the Public diplomacy delegation in Nile Basin countries by the way.
Syrians and Palestinians have been arrested in checkpoints in Egypt and some of them are still deported despite having a residency permit and refugee cards.In July and August Some Syrian families were afraid to go to the streets. Kids were attacked, Syrian restaurants and workshops in October and Damietta were attacked as well. It was like hell.
Now some Syrians fear to speak in their accent in the street to avoid harassments.
Syrian activist Rami Jarrah made this video showing how even Syrian kids are harassed in Egypt by other Egyptian kids who refuse to play with because they are Syrians. One of those kids , Mahmoud is among the Syrians who are currently detained in the police station with his family. They were among the families arrested in today’s boat incident.

Syrians Facing Harassment in Egypt

Media whether TV or press or online websites spread rumors and false claims about Syrians to millions of Egyptians changing the way how the look to Syrians , this should be changed immediately. Unfortunately there is no sane voice in Egypt media except very few voices in press like Belal Fadl ,who is being attacked day and night thanks for the Neo-McCarthyism in Egypt.
Reem Magued and Yosri Fouda are in a leave now and we do not know when they will come back.
I believe that the Egyptians will stop that blind hate and collective punishment when they see something different like for instance the crimes committed against Syrians “legal refugees” in Egypt documented at the UNHCR. Very sad stories that kill me.Those people did not flee war to be treated like that while they used to treat Egyptians generously in Syria in the past.
I do not understand at all how the media is claiming that Egypt stands with Syria because we were one in the past while it spreads hate towards the Syrians in Egypt at the same time !!
Rami Jarrah, the famous Alexander Page launched a petition to stop racism against Syrians.
There is also new campaign on the Facebook aimed to show solidarity with the Syrian refugees.
I am truly sorry and ashamed for what is happening to our Syrian brothers and sisters in Egypt nowadays.
I am extremely angry too and feel hopeless. I am angry because those people who came to avoid death in their country are now paying the price for the shit we made by our hands.

Read More

Regarding the Military’s loyalty Oath

I do not think that it is too late to discuss this matter that made controversy and headlines all over the world.
Interim President Adly Mansour issued a presidential decree late last August to remove a very interesting part from the armed forces’ oath of loyalty.
That part concerning the allegiance to the President of republic does not exist anymore. That part was “to be loyal to the president of the republic.”
I was surprised when I had heard the news. Of course all the world consider that move was another example on how the Egyptian armed forces will not obey any civilian president enforcing the military state and political power in Egypt.
Still no one had paid attention to the  history of the armed forces’ oath of loyalty  before.
It turned out that the original military loyalty oath had not had this part before ousted Hosni Mubarak. Yes it turned out that Mubarak added this phrase to the loyalty oath. Some say that Mubarak added to the oath after getting rid from his rival defense minister Abu Ghazla.
As you may know Abdel Halim Abu Ghazla was popular not only among the army but also by the public and Mubarak got rid of him in a big for fear that he would lead a coup against him. “Of course some say that Program T was behind his dismissal”
The oath continued after the 25 January 2011 revolution and of course Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi would not think to change it.
Well ironically the army turned against Mubarak and Morsi whom the officers swore loyalty to it !!
Now the current oath is as follows :
“I swear to God to be a loyal soldier to the Republic of Egypt...protecting its security and peace...protecting and defending it on land, at sea or in air, inside and outside the republic...obeying military orders, implementing my leaders’ orders, protecting my weapon which i will not leave until death...God is witness to what I say.” 
Well I know that the Commander of Chief of the armed forces is the President thus the army should be loyal to him or “her… yes I am dreaming but it will not hurt ;)” according to military judiciary law of 1966.
The Pro-military supporters Of course say that it was a great decision because it liberated the army from loyalty to one person that is the president whom can be good or bad , fair or dictator to become fully loyal to the nation.
On the other hand I would say Pro-democracy and revolutionaries are concerned from that change saying that it would enforce the state within the state notion.
Personally I believe that the oath does not matter as much because we got already a constitution that gave the army privileges more than any constitution in the history of Egypt. I do not think that the new amendments those articles about the army will be touched.
Nevertheless we have to think about the timing of the decision , why would an interim president or rather the army take it now ?? 
In the end that oath can be changed by the next president. Again Mubarak who added the president’s loyalty words ; was sold by the army during the January revolution.
People should realize that the constitution is the real deal here and it defines everything in the state including the relation between the president and the army. Of course SCAF got the upper hand in this relation thanks to Constitution 2012 especially if our next president will be a civilian.
Again the constitution is the thing that we should pay attention to now.
By the way I wish someone begins to discuss without fear the Civil-military relations especially in democratic transitions times in a simple way to the public in Egypt with all the challenges we got now. We need someone to discuss in Arabic too before English as it turned we got many articles and too many speakers about that topic in English but not in Arabic.

Read More

And #ElBaradei has become the enemy of #Jan25 and #June30

Here is Ahram Arabi magazine’s cover for this week.
The magazine publishes the blacklists of the 25 January revolution and 30 June revolution enemies and members of the fifth column. The cover includes a group of photos for public figures; some of them are Muslim brotherhood supporters and some of them are not Muslim brotherhood supporters but rather democracy supporters.

Among the photos and the names featured in that blacklist : Mohamed ElBaradei “yeah ElBaradei is from the enemies of the revolution !!” , Amr Hamzawy , columnist Balel Fadl and singer Hamza Namira !!
I have not read the rest of the names as it seems that it has not been published online yet but you can say it is a mix between the Islamists and Pro-Democracy faces in Egypt including the faces that criticized publicly the policies of the current regime. ElBaradei’s resignation because of the use of force in dispersing the Raba’a and Nahdaa sit it , Hamzawy’s criticism to the dispersal as well the McCarthyism in Egypt and Balel Fadl’s recent firing op-eds in Al Shorouk warning from any future dictatorship “Here is a translated example for one of his latest op-eds” earned them a spot in the blacklist !!
They even included Mohamed Abu Tarika because he supports the Muslim brotherhood !!
The state-owned magazine publishes a blacklist for public figures as fifth column and as enemies for the revolutions of January and June. This means something for sure if you connect the dots to that campaign working perfectly in the media to defame 25 January revolution.
There is even an active hashtag on twitter called “Fifth_Column” in Arabic where people share the names of those agents sabotaging Egypt and its army from public figures and human rights activists.
The list of the fifth column that works against the nation and the army for the sake of the Muslim brotherhood and United State include the following : Mohamed ElBaradei , Amr Hamzawy , Reem Magued, Yosri Fouda , Wael Ghonim , Mahmoud Saad “He returned back to air recently on the same channel” , Mona Seif, Alaa Seif , April 6 Youth movement members , Israa Adel Fatah , Wael Abbas , Asmaa Mahfouz and revolutionary socialists. These are the primary 25 January suspects in Egypt.
According to the people who are keeping this hashtag active , the fifth column agent is anyone who dares to speak about his rejection to human rights abuse and state of emergency as well to that “War against terrorism” rhetoric and military trials and above them military/police state !! Of course in their view all these points mean that you are against the army thus you are a fifth column that wants to bring the Egyptian state down after the fall of Syria and Iraq.
Ironically most of these names “except Wael Abbas” supported the 30 June and called for it.
In short these names are those who supported the original 25 January revolution and stood against the violations of SCAF. Of course there are other similar hash tags now on twitter like “The January Setback” as people buy more of the conspiracy talk.
Sadly enough this McCarthyism flourishing in Egypt is forcing to people to rethink their positions and even fear to express their opinions freely online or offline as before for fear of the backlash.
Reem Mageud’s TV show is stopped on ONTV for no apparent reason , of course I can not imagine someone like her appearing in the channel now. Wael Ghonim does not update Kolena Khaled Said Facebook page , in fact he does not update his own Facebook page for God sake !!
All this makes the youth that believes in the revolution disappointed and desperate , their voices are not heard because the people will attack anyone who say anything different. Some young people I know unfortunately believe that the deep state of Mubarak has won and there is no other option except to leave the country.
Of course it is a long road but you can not blame them when all the media whether TV or radio or press or even social media is full of Ultra-nationalism,McCarthyism and old ugly faces from Mubarak’s era returning back. People are affected by this extensive propaganda.
It is a long road but you not blame them because they are now trapped between two hells with no third road to escape , with no hope , with no true leadership that can inspire and unit them once again. They want to revive their hope once again.
ElBaradei has left Egypt and is back to the blacklist of the State owned media after being the Vice president of Egypt. Unfortunately that old man was the one that used to give young people hope for true change.
We need a new hope.

Read More

#Saving_History : Destroying our History by our hands

When the tragedy of Mallawi museum took place last August , some people blamed foreign parties and enemies of standing behind the looting and destruction that took place in the Upper Egyptian museum just like what happened in Iraq.
Unlike Iraq , I believe we do not need foreign enemies and parties because so far I am afraid to say we are own worst enemy when it come to how we destroy our history and heritage.
After all the looting happened to the ancient Egyptian archaeological sites and the attack against old Christian churches and monasteries , we continue our attack on the Islamic heritage of Egypt.
From couple of weeks ago I was surprised and shocked like many “I Believe” to know that part of the 17th century Youssef Agha mosque was turned in to a Shoes shop o!! Oh yes a Shoes shop !!

Shoes shop in 17th century mosque !!

First of all I will be lying to say that I even knew that this beautiful mosque existed in Egypt. It is in old Cairo and it was built by a Mamluk Amir Youssef Agha Al-Hinn in 1625. It was a mosque and a school. This beautiful mosque is besides the Islamic museum and the Cairo security directorate.

The Mosque before the shop "Mohamed Msobeih"

It is very beautiful mosque. Here is a photo gallery in the old days. “Most of the photos are from researcher Mohamed Msobieh’s forum.

I am sorry but from what I see that the Cairo governorate , the local council and the police are all involved in this crime because you can not open a shop like that without licenses and permits from the government !!
FYI the mosque is registered as a monument. It was also renovated after the 1992 earthquake.  You can also read more about the history and architecture of that mosque from this informative e-book.
I do not know why TV channels launch a true campaign to save the heritage and the  history of this nation for real instead of that campaign to fight terrorism full of racism and hatred.
Archeologists are demanding the government to change the minister of antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim as soon as possible. It was their demand from the start.
I think we need make more noise about this unaccepted attack. If you are okay that a Shoes shop opens a branch in a mosque that is regarded , tomorrow do not be sad when you some foul and falafal sandwiches in some ancient Egyptian site.
We are indeed our own worst enemy !!
The nation that sells its history for wealth , deserves none!!

Read More

#9/11 : What We Fail To learn as usual from history

Today is the anniversary of the 9/11 attack that changed the World upside down. Of course I can not get over this anniversary when we are having the infamous “War against in terrorism” in Egypt. Unfortunately we refuse to learn from other people’s experiences nor to learn from history .. even our own history.

These points below I believe we should know in Egypt especially now , they are lessons learned in a hard way from 9/11 and what followed it.

• Force will not beat terrorism and the evidence is in front of us , almost after 12 years of the 9/11 attacks and before it the World Trade center attack , the terrorists are not defeated !! In fact why we take an example from the U.S when we have our own experience with the bitter terrorism in the 1990s which I still remember very well. Using force and police state techniques did not stop radical thinking and terrorists.
• Terrorism based on ideology can not be defeated only by force but I will dare to say that you need counter ideologies more than force to fight the radicalism in ideologies that lead to terrorism.
• Fighting terrorism for real should start by admitting the root problems causing it from social, economic , cultural and above all political problems and try to solve it in order to prevent any radicalism in the future.
• Discrimination against others will not stop terrorism , in fact it may breed a new class of radicals who may resort to terrorism to make that society that rejected them suffer.
• History proved that “War of terrorism” was used by the Bush administration for certain political, economic and military gains that used fighting terrorism for a cover and the Iraq invasion is a good example.
• Shutting down media and forcing journalists to shut up in these times of so-called War of terrorism mean that there is something wrong and you do not want the public to know it.
• Do turn monster while fighting monsters. There are human rights according to religion and laws that should not be broken under any circumstances.
• McCarthyism always fails in the end

BY the way this year marks the 40th anniversary of Chile’s infamous coup supported by the CIA. I look to what happened in Chile and I know that there are many lessons should be learnt :

• The West has no problem with military tyrannies as long they serve their political and economic interests.
• Justice will prevail in the end in a way or another.
• Killing and torturing thousands can not be justified under any circumstances.

I am creating fighting terrible fall flu so I am not in mood for long posts to explain each point.

In the end I will quote what Ben Franklin once said :

Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Read More

Happy New Egyptian Year

Happy New Egyptian Year to all the readers of Egyptian Chronicles.

Today is the start of the new year 6255 according to the ancient Egyptian calendar and the new year 1730 according to the Coptic calendar.

Today is the start of Thout. 

Hopefully this year will be better than last year .. hopefully insh Allah 
 

Read More

And This is Why #Egypt Needs A Real Revolution

The world economic forum issued its annual Global Competitiveness index for year 2013 –2014 . Read it and you will know how Egypt needs a real revolution in every aspect in order to survive this ongoing world race.

First here is the ranking of the Middle East countries arranged  “as well other countries I found interesting in the report” as they appear in the report.

Country	Rank “Out of 148”	Score “1-7”	Rank among “2012-2013” economies	GCI “2012-2013”
Qatar	13	5.24	13	11
UAE	19	5.11	19	24
KSA	20	5.10	20	18
Israel	27	4.94	27	26
Oman	33	4.64	33	32
Kuwait	36	4.56	36	37
Bahrain	43	4.45	43	35
Turkey	44	4.45	44	43
Jordan	68	4.20	68	64
Iran	82	4.07	81	66
Tunisia	83	4.06	n/a	n/a
Algeria	100	3.79	98	110
Lebanon	103	3.77	101	91
Libya	108	3.73	106	113
Egypt	118	3.63	115	107
Mauritania	141	3.19	137	134
Yemen	145	2.98	140	140
Chad	148	2.85	143	139

Here is an info graph for the top ten Arab countries in the report. Of course all of them are rich oil gulf states.

Click in to zoom in "World economic forum"

Nevertheless you will find Israel after Qatar, UAE and KSA in the ranking when it has no oil.

Here is also an info graph about top ten Sub Saharan African countries.

Click to zoom in

Shamelessly Egypt comes in the 118th rank. It went down from 115 in 2012-2013 to 118 in 2013-2014. We used to be in the 94th rank in 2011-2012.

Here is what is written about Egypt in the report itself :

Egypt drops by 11 positions to reach 118th place  in this year’s GCI. This assessment is likely influenced by the country’s continued transition since the events of the Arab Spring. The deteriorating security situation and tenacious political instability are undermining the country’s competitiveness and its growth potential going forward. Although resolving political friction needs to remain the priority as this Report goes to print, many of the underlying factors that will be decisive about the sustainability of the country and the cohesion of the society over the medium to longer term are economic in nature. Establishing confidence through a credible and far-reaching reform program will be vital to the country’s future and to realizing the considerable potential of the country’s large market size and proximity to key global markets. According to the GCI, three areas are of particular importance. First, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated over recent years to reach 140th position mainly because of widening
fiscal deficit, rising public indebtedness, and persisting inflationary pressures. A credible fiscal consolidation plan, accompanied by structural reforms, will be necessary in order to maintain macroeconomic stability in the country. This may prove difficult in times of rising energy prices, as energy subsidies account for a considerable share of public expenditure. However, better targeting of subsidies could allow for fiscal
consolidation while protecting the most vulnerable. Second, measures to intensify domestic competition would result in efficiency gains and contribute to energizing the economy by providing access to new entrants. This, in turn, would make the country’s private sector more dynamic, thereby contributing to job creation. And third, making labor markets flexible (141st) and more efficient (145th) would allow the country to increase employment in the medium term.

There is no doubt that we are paying the price of the political changes in Egypt as the report says “turmoil”. Still if you think about , we did not reach to this low ranking among other developing and poor countries in the world because of the past three years but rather because of the past 33 years especially when it comes to education.

Here are the scores of Egypt in the report, one thing for sure we are a big market.

Click to zoom in

The original 25 January Revolution erupted from two years ago because of the reasons that lead a country like Egypt to hit rock bottom like that , at least this is my case.

We do not have true political leaders or figures that even have got a vision to see Egypt as true leading power using our capabilities and sources. We are still living in the great slogans that “Egypt is the mother of the world” and “Egypt is the most independent nation in the history of the mankind” not to mention “The world is plotting against us” to the end of those nationalist slogans.

We need a balanced economic policies to ensure social justice and at the same time to improve the economy and encourage investments.

We should not depend only on tourism and Suez canal as main sources of income. I am not an economic expert but I know true economic development will be achieved if we have true political reforms that support transparency and accountability.

Needless to say,I do not know if the people really want democracy , accountability and transparency anymore in Egypt. 

God does not help the fool nor the lazy but we continue to believe that God won’t let us down. Well the problem is that we are the ones who let ourselves down over and over as people with our choices.

Here is the full report in PDF.

Read More

The Sad end for the #SpyStork

I do not know if it is fate or what, but it seems that the story of Menes in the land of the Nile is extremely sad story.
After it was accused of espionage and spent a day in Egyptian detention , he was released in to a protectorate to fly free only to meet its end !! He was hunted down and eaten by an Egyptian Nubian family in the south !!!

It is a sad true story stranger than fiction , the story of the Spy stork in the land of the Nile.
RIP Dear Menes.

Late Menes

Read More

First They Came For The … "Updated"

Do you remember when I told you that there were not so good news on Thursday other than the bomb targeting the minister of interior and the arrest of Sinai journalist Ahmed Abu Daraa ??
Well the other bad news is the arrest of leading Revolutionary Socialists member and labour rights lawyer Haitham Mohamadein on Thursday afternoon in Suez. According to tweep Gharib , he was forced to leave the bus he was taking at a police checkpoint because he is a bearded man at first.

Mohamadein in a public meeting for Revolutionary socialists

After inspection , he was detained because they found with him so-called political pamphlets aka “The Socialist” Newspaper !! It is worth to mention that according to law , lawyers can not be inspected except by a permission from the prosecution.
Mohamadein was in Suez in order to solve some labor problem in some steel factory. Later the lawyers and activists in Suez said that Mohamadein was being accused of belonging to a secret organization aka the Revolutionary Socialists.
Today Haitham Mohameden was interrogated by a district attorney in Suez who revealed to Mohamadein and his  lawyers that the socialist lawyer was being interrogated by a state security court !!!!!! Yes it seems that Mohamadein is facing a state security trial !!
Lawyer Ramy Ghanem was tweeting from there.
Here are the accusations Mohamadein are facing :

• Founding and managing the secret organization of the Revolutionary socialists which incites to empower a particular social class over the whole of society and subvert the social systems of the states. “Its headquarter is well known in Giza and its members are also well known. ”
• Having pamphlets that incite violence. “Their statements and their newspapers.”
• Attempting to overthrow the government through terrorist acts committed through Revolutionary socialists.
• Attempting to occupy governmental institutions.
• Attempting to destroy the state’s properties in order to harm the national security.

Yup we are in 2013 and this is what political activists and labor activists are accused of after June 30 Revolution to end political dictatorship. By the way Mohamadein , a hardcore socialist who was against the Muslim brotherhood was asked if he were a Muslim brotherhood member. 
Updated : Haitham Mohamadein is released on bail , the charges have not been dropped though. 
Yes the Pro-Military Facebook pages and twitter accounts are claiming that the Revolutionary socialists are just another secret branch of the Muslim brotherhood !!!
You must know that there are educated people who believe this crap.
You also must know that the Revolutionary socialists used to collect Tamaroud petitions for God sake. 
Yesterday Army officers on twitter claimed that he had a fight with an army officer for refusing to let the army checkpoint to inspect his car and insulted him !! FYI Haitham Mohamadein is extremely polite person and does not get in to fights in general.
Ironically the tale of the twitter Army officers contradicts with the facts I mentioned above and enforced by the official legal reports in the police station not to mention Haitham Mohamadein does not own a car in the first place.
Anyhow some people online are buying the army officers’ tale including friends because activists are bad and Haitham is from the useless revolutionary socialists as they say. Yes some people got a huge problem with the revolutionary socialists.
Some people want Haitham and other revolutionary socialists to be sent to jail because  they do not like them and because they are socialists.
Unlike those people from twitter activists , Haitham is from the real activists that truly work on the ground with the true Egyptian working class from farmers and workers regardless of their ideologies and regardless of what you think about him. 
Some believe that Haitham Mohamadein was being targeted after appearing Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr earlier Thursday in a recorded video where he criticized General Abdel Fatah and described him as the leader of the counter of revolution.
Of course some also believe that Mohamadein should be sent right away to jail for this and for defending the detainees who were arrested following Rabaa sit in dispersal.
Today the revolutionary socialists and other activists as well protesters had a small protest at the Supreme court in Cairo and they had to move it to the small staircase of journalists syndication after they were attacked by honorable citizens who called them traitors !!
Yes political activists and protesters in Egypt are back to the staircase of journalists syndicate after rocking Tahrir square.
By the way yesterday the security forces arrested a man that makes Yellow T-Shirts with Rabaa’s logo and today the security forces announced that they arrested a dozen MB members and confiscated a laptop. They found anti-El Sisi songs on that laptop.
Today also I found that the prosecutor general has ordered the state security prosecution to investigate a bunch of public and political figures “mostly from the Pro 25 January revolution icons and activists like Wael Ghonim, Amr Hamzawy , Nawara Negm , Wael Abbas, Ahmed Maher , Wael Nawara and Ghada Shabander ” for US direct funding based on deliberate mistranslated Wikileaks cables.
The original Wikileaks cables speak about tea parties and talks between the embassy officials with those figures but Egyptian News websites are speaking about direct funding !!
Ironically the Tamaroud Nasserite boys told the German minister of foreign affairs that they did what Germany should had done from stopping the Nazism , well I am afraid they do not realize that we are on the verge of having another Nazism. “Of course they do not mind as long as Nasser is back in a new reincarnation. Damn Nasser did not allow political or expression’s freedom except cheap nationalism and presidential cult to flourish that led to a defeat in 1967. This is what the Nasserites actually want.”
In the end the words of Martin Niemöller echo in my mind nowadays.

First they came for the communists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.Then they came for the socialists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.Then they came for me,and there was no one left to speak for me.

Read More

#Sinai : Abu Draa is not a terrorist

Yesterday we had other alarming news that should you make wonder where Egypt is heading to and here I am not speaking about the terrorist attack against the minister of interior , I am speaking about another news.
Sinai based and international award wining journalist Ahmed Abu Draa has turned to be arrested by the army since last Wednesday and will be referred to a military trial.
 People found out the shocking truth when the photo of Abu Draa was published in Al Youm News website among other detainees labeled as a terrorist !! He is the man wearing white shirt and Jeans.

Like a criminal , Abu Draa stood in white shirt and jeans

Ironically Youm 7 had published from couple months a report with a picture for Ahmed Abu Draa after receiving a Samir Kassir Journalism Award for 2013 for his report about human trafficking in Sinai.

Now and then

Abu Draa is also from the well known reporters in Egypt to work with international news corporations and agencies.
Here is Abu Draa speaking in a video about his important that exposed how the security authorities are involved in the human trafficking in Sinai.

Abu Draa speaks about Samir Kassir award and how he got it.

On Thursday we knew that Abu Draa was being accused of spreading false claims about the army and was referred to a military trial. Abu Daraa was also being detained 15 days pending investigations.
Some say that the false claims are the report of Abu Draa in Al Masry Al Youm and ONTV about the strikes of the Egyptian army in North Sinai earlier this week. The official spokesperson claimed that the army killed and injured in air raids about 23 militants and destroyed some warehouses used by those militants.
In his report Abu Draa said the army’s Apache attack injured only 4 and destroyed houses and a mosque in that air raid.

Abu Draa was not the only reporter from Sinai to deny what the official army spokesperson claimed , other reporters “including reporters I trust like Mohamed Sabry and Mostafa Singer” and other citizen journalists confirmed what he said and even went and took photos from the area that was attacked by the army !!!!
According Mostafa Singer , the famous and trusted journalist in Sinai Abu Draa was arrested when he went to the security HQ in Al Arish in order to seek the release of one of his relatives who had arrested from couple days ago. Abu Draa was transferred later to Ismailia.
Mostafa Singer and other journalists in North Sinai are trying their best to release their colleagues. Already these journalists are having an independent News Facebook page called “Sinai Now TV Channel” about the news of governorate. It is very important and active. Abu Draa was a member in the page that is going to be turned in to a full News portal soon.

Abu Draa in Tahrir square when it used to mean something

The page announced that it will suspend its work till the release of Abu Draa.
Ahmed Abu Daraa is the correspondent of ONTV and Al Masry Al m newspaper , both are in good terms with the army especially ONTV which many consider as the morale department’s official TV channel more than National TV !!
Of course none of them spoke about him up till now. Only other journalists including the journalists from Sinai were the ones who brought up the matter.
As we live in time Senator McCarthy would be proud of , you will find people attacking anyone speaks about how Ahmed Abu Daraa is not a terrorist by claiming that we know nothing and the Egyptian government knows best plus the army is fighting war against terrorism !!
Journalist and reporter Ahmed Abu Daraa is the second Egyptian journalist from Sinai to be referred to military court after journalist and dear friend Mohamed Sabry. Sabry’s military trial was the first military trial in time of ousted President Morsi. It has been adjourned for months now. Next court session should be next month.
I can not also forget that there are other journalists who are currently detained in jails , of course most of them are accused of being members in the Muslim brotherhood including Al Jazeera English reporter Mohamed El Shami.
I can not also forget the fact the people of North Sinai are speaking about the return of the arbitrary arrests campaigns in that war of terrorism there where innocent people are arrested and referred to military trials while they are not the real terrorists.
Ahmed Abu Draa is not a terrorist and regardless of what he has done , he should stand in front of his judge , a civilian judge and a civilian prosecution.
By the way the military trials for civilians article is untouched in the upcoming constitution , it was not amended by the 10-members technical committee.

Read More