Merry Christmas Again and Again :)

I love how we got two Christmases in Egypt :)
Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians especially Egyptian Orthodox Christians that saw a lot last year. God knows all Egyptians from North to South , from East to West saw a lot.
Anyhow to celebrate Christmas this year I would like share this amazing mix of classical music , Islamic inshad, Egyptian Coptic hymns and Christian hymns from Mozart in Egypt 2 album. 
It is called "Al Maghfera" - The Pardon. The one who sings the Islamic part is late Sheikh Mohamed El Helbawy who was one of the most famous Monshadeen in Egypt.
This amazing piece of art makes me cry from its beauty.

Again Merry Christmas everybody

Read More

#EgyGraffiti : The City lady

And here is one of Egyptian graffiti artist Keizer’s latest graffiti painting : The city lady. I call her the city lady but Keizer called her “Set El Settet” which means in English “The lady of ladies”

By Keizer

It is so beautiful and true. Here is what Keizer said about on his official Facebook page.

This piece is dedicated to our working class women that make our daily lives in Egypt possible.
To the beautiful hardworking mothers, bawabas , cleaning ladies ,cooks, farmers, nurses, maids, vegetable vendors and the like.
This one is for you. Thank you .

Read More

#RIP Ahmed Fouad Negm (1929-2013)

The Fagomi has passed away :(
Renowned Egyptian Poet Ahmed Fouad Negm has passed away earlier this morning after long controversial life full of revolutionary poems. His funeral will start soon in Cairo at Al Hussein Mosque. I do not know
what to say now except I represent my deepest condolences to his family especially his daughter Nawara Negm.
Through his life Negm refused to be the regime's poet insisting to be the voice of the poor and the oppressed and I think this is why he will be remembered more than any poet in our time.
Let's respect death for God sake.
Ahmed Fouad Negm has gone but his poems and songs remain as the words of the revolutionaries not only in Egypt but across the world. Here is a collection of his poems translated to English. 
I will be storifying his funeral.

Read More

#AblaFahita ; The dangerous Puppet Spy !!

The level of Public Nationalism Paranoia in Egypt has reached to a scary level especially now it is being adopted by the mainstream media. Now our media is repeating claims that U.S President Barack Obama is a member of the mighty international Muslim Brotherhood organization and that the international MB is actually running the world. “But failed to sustain a rule in Egypt more one year amazingly !!”
Of course this paranoia is rooted online in social media in the Anti-25 January revolution Facebook pages that adopt the conspiracy theory forever , you know the revolution was a cosmic conspiracy and we had a great life during Mubarak rule and so on.
So now after the fifth column lists craze , we got the latest Mossad and CIA spy in Egypt : Abla Fahita , the famous YouTube Puppet.
It started with the Pro-Mubarak Anti-Freemason/Anti-Revolution/Anti-MB/Anti-Sisi Conspiracy theorist and financial analyst Sameh Abu Arayes who analyzes and predicts disasters and terrorist attacks according to the TV ads.
He is the father of the infamous Closed Conspiracy theory Facebook Page Subliminal Message. Now Abu Arayes saw the Dolce Ice Cream ad starting Abla Fahita and her daughter Caroline and predicted that the sinister puppets were speaking about terrorist attacks because Abla Fahita was speaking on how the new Dolce Ice Cream tasted like bomb !!

Here is the funny ad which is the best in the campaign if you ask my opinion.

Doleca New Bomba Ice-Cream starring Abla Fahita

Next Day an attack took place in Sinai and you know Abu Arayes went on fire since then , the puppets are agents !! 
Now you got this enlightened report in an Egyptian news website called  Misr 30 June wondering if the puppet was actually a member of the Mossad or the CIA sent with encrypted messages to the Israeli intelligence in the Egyptian society in order to create chaos. The site is using the comic tweets of Abla Fahita as an evidence on its ambiguity !!
Now the Abla Fahita official Facebook began to receive FB Messages warning its admin of the end !!

“Abla Fahita , you and CarCora {Nickname of her daughter Caroline} are going to attend soon the farewell. Be ready with your red dress !!”

Now Speaking seriously it has become a usual scene to see guests on TV channels that used to chant about the great revolution speaking about it as a conspiracy to bring down Egyptian police and army where the MB killed the protesters in January 2011.
I take this seriously because this is how you forge history , a history that you and I have lived. I take this seriously because it is extremely dangerous and honestly I fear one day a revolutionary activist could be assassinated by some angry citizen who believes that this activist were a spy !!
Terrorism does not only happen because you got religious fanatics but it can happen because of you got radical nationalists as well ignorant zealots.

Read More

Banksy is not welcomed in the new democratic Egypt !!

 The Mubarak deep state ministers in El-Beblawi’s cabinet are not wasting anytime. After proposing the Protests Law , they are now proposing a law to criminalize “abusive graffiti and stencil” in the country.
The law is proposed by former police general/old time governor/current minister of local development Adel Labib. According to that proposed law if you are found guilty then you will either face a prison sentence of up to four years or a fine up to 100,000 LE ($14,516) !!

Banksy in Manhattan

So the abusive graffiti and stencil according to the government means a 100,000 LE fine or 4 years in jail !! Interestingly as Mohamed Mahmoud 2011 clashes anniversary gets close , I remember that police officer El Shenawy who shot the protesters in their eyes got 3 years in prison.
Of course the matter of abusiveness will be determined according to the government’s views. Labib is justifying the new draft law that the country needs to be clean.
Definitely Banksy is not welcomed in the new Democratic Egypt !!
Needless to say that there was a media campaign in the past week in the mainstream media about how much we needed this law to stop those insulting stencils and graffiti drawing on our walls and how much we need this country clean !!!
Al Masry Al Youm published a strange news that French police arrested a group of graffiti artists in Paris with a picture from the clashes between the French riot police and PSJ Ultras from couple of months ago. There was no source for that news at all.
I do not know why the mainstream media was not that angry when insulting stencil , graffiti and slogans were written for the first time on the outside walls of the Presidential palace during Morsi’s presidency !?
I am so amazed on the amount of time this transitional government had spent  in drafting laws to fight the freedom we gain after January 25 revolution when it ignored the anti-corruption laws and to fight a deadly bureaucracy in the government in order to help the recovery of the ill economy.  I am so amazed on the amount of time this government and its minsters dedicate to draft laws against freedoms ignoring laws for transitional and social justice !!
BY the way the Protest law is going to be issued sooner to fill the gap made by lifting the state of emergency this week.
You must know that the graffiti artists have not stopped expressing their arts and views yet. Recently graffiti drawings were made in Sabry Abu Alam street to commemorate martyrs Belal Ali and Miriam Ashraf by Graffiti artists Ammar Abu Bakr and Zeft.
Belal was young Morsi supporter that shot down point blank by police officer during the clashes last month while Miriam is the young girl that killed in Imbaba’s Church bombing.

Belal

Miriam

That graffiti was disfigured but and other artists painted again. Who is afraid of Miriam and Belal as a graffiti on a wall for God’s sake !?

by Abo Bakr

By Abo Bakr

Anyhow I will seize this opportunity and share with you the photos of the Tahrir area graffiti. There are new drawings I believe there. May be I will head there soon and take some snapshots.

Read More

This is what I can imagine A Salvador Dali Ghost House will look like !!!

And Cairo does not stop to surprise us !!
This villa is for sale in El Oboor area and its owner wants LE 4,200,000 according to Dubizzle. It got 12 bedrooms too.

This is a nightmarish version of some crazy Jumanji Ghost house designed by none other Salvador Dali !! WTH !!? Animals and one big eye seeing dinosaurs !? Who designed it for real !! What were the owner and the designer thinking.
By the way there are more expensive villas in Cairo than this villa.
I could not resist myself from posting this landmark of its own in a separate post. 

Read More

Links and Notes 11/10/2013

• Ladies Who Rally by Tanya Habjouqa | PANORAMA

  Meet Speed sisters , the Middle East's first all female auto racing team from Palestine :) Oh yes Palestinian female auto racing team. Please check the fantastic Photo report from Panorama Mada Misr by Tanya Habjouqa

  tags: #DWC #LN Photos Ladies Women Arabs Panorama Cars Rally

• صحافة القاهرة: عناوين الستينيات + صورة السيسي | مدونة محرري ياهو مكتوب - أخبار Yahoo‎ مكتوب

  Dear Ahmed El Deriny compares the Egyptian press of today to the Egyptian press of 1960s. Same headlines about getting how evil America is and how getting close to its rival Russia is great but with one difference : Instead of Nasser pictures, you will find the photos of general Abdel Fatah Sisi. The Op-ed is in Arabic only.

  tags: #DWC #LN Egypt Arabic Press Sisi Nasser 1960s

• The Monkey and the Mask: Terrifying Portraits of Indonesia’s Street-Performing Macaques - LightBox

  This explains why I believe the acting monkeys in Jakarta were scary. Thanks for the animal activists for saving those monkeys and sparing us from that terror !!

  tags: #DWC #LN monkey mask indonesia portraits Photos

• No More ‘Monkey Business’ in Jakarta · Global Voices

  Great news because it was not animal abuse but also scary !!

  tags: #DWC #LN jakarta monkey Indonesia

• US, Israel lose UNESCO voting right in dispute - Region - World - Ahram Online

  Both Israel and US lose voting rights in UNESCO

  tags: #DWC #LN israel unesco dispute America Palestine

• Egypt: Police Violence Video Revives Fear of Return to Old Regime · Global Voices

  The Egyptian police is back to its what knows best : Torturing people !! This time the victim is from in Minya . Now you must know that at the same time we saw this video , we heard that a journalist was tortured in Minya also. The journalist is a MBC Misr reporter in the Upper Egyptian governorate and he is denying that he is the man in that video so we could be in front of two torture cases. As long as there are no true

  tags: egypt police violence video torture #LN #DWC

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

Links and Notes 11/09/2013

• When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren’t Called ‘Hitler’ | Diary of a Walking Butterfly

  About the not so much heard genocide committed by Leopold II in Congo

  tags: #DWC #LN genocide racism Europe Africa Congo Belgium

• Russell Brand: we deserve more from our democratic system | Russell Brand | Comment is free | The Guardian

  Russell Brand caused controversy last week with interview on BBC about elections and democracy. He is explaining his views more.

  tags: #DWC #LN democracy change Russell Brand UK Elections

• Michael Haag: The Struggle to Preserve Egypt's Heritage

  It is not only a struggle in fact it is like war that we are losing day after day.

  tags: #DWC #LN Egypt heritage history Cairo Alexandria

• Mansour revives plan for nuclear power plant on Egyptian coast - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  The history of Egypt's ill fated Nuclear power plant in Dabaa , North Coast

  tags: #DWC #LN plant power Egypt Energy Nuclear Nuke

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

Links and Notes 11/08/2013

• Cairobserver — 10 must watch videos to understand Egypt's urban challenges

  My favourite Cairo Observer presents 10 must watch video to under why some activists are working so hard in the Right Housing initiative and why social justice is important demand for Egyptians

  tags: Egypt Mada Masr #LN #DWC Cairo Urban challenges videos

• A voice of dissent joins the nationalist chorus | Mada Masr

  Sonallah Ibrahim shocked many people with his views in that interview with Mada Masr. Still to be honest I am not that shocked because Ibrahim indeed is a Nasserite , the Nasserites have a very soft spot for the military thanks to Nasser.

  tags: Egypt Mada Masr Nasserites Novelists Sonallah Ibrahim Culture Interviews #LN #DWC

• The Freedom Certificate

  This amazing certificate was issued by the Egyptian government to free slaves from their slavery in 1881.

  tags: Egypt History 1881 Slaves Egyptians #DWC #LN Photos Scans

  • 

• The Brotherhood and I

  Dear Hani Shukrallah writes about when he had hope that the Muslim brotherhood may change last year.

  tags: Egypt MB #LN #DWC Op-eds

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

Links and Notes 11/06/2013

• Tamarod: From rebellious youth to political actors - Features - Egypt - Ahram Online

  Egypt's Tamaroud is facing lots of challenges. Please read this important feature by dear friend Miriam. Read it till the end

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN features Tamaroud

• مراسل إم بي سي ضحية التعذيب لـ«الضابط»: «أبوس رجلك اتعلمت الدرس».. ولست صاحب فيديو رصد - بوابة الشروق

  Another Egyptian journalist tortured and beaten by police in Upper Egypt. This time the victim is from MBC Misr.

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Media Police EgyPolice

• Nubia: 50 years of displacement - Special Files - Folk - Ahram Online

  A fantastic report about the Nubian displacement in Egypt. It is a must read

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN

• تفويضكم يقتلنا.. | المصري اليوم

  Since 3 July 2013 and Egyptian journalists as well Egyptian media are paying the price in Egypt. A powerful and important op-ed by Shaher Eiyad in Arabic

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Media

• Syrian asylum seekers: Lost at sea, barred from land - Region - World - Ahram Online

  The agony of the Syrian refugees.

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Syria Refugees

• US defence minister talks with El-Sisi - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  The calls do not stop between the ministry of defence in Cairo and Pentagon in Washington D.C

  tags: Egypt ElSisi Hagel US #DWC #LN

• Photographer captures faces of bugs with extreme close-up photos | Mail Online

  Aliens living with us :))

  tags: photographer faces bugs photos #LN #DWC

• Egypt's millionaires make up 0.04% of total adult population: Report - Economy - Business - Ahram Online

  Credit Suisse Research institute got very interesting numbers when it comes to Egypt

  tags: egypt millionaires #LN #DWC population report economy

• Egypt's new constitution to guarantee absolute religious freedom: Salmawy - Egypt - Ahram Online

  This to be too good to be true. Knowing how conservatives Egyptians can be this may not pass.

  tags: egypt constitution #LN #DWC Religion

• From Daraa , Syria aside from the photos of destruction. Little Mischief maker hopeful

  tags: #LN #DWC Photos War Syria Daraa

  

• The military upholds virtue | Mada Masr

  A translation to Reem Saad's unpublished op-ed in Al Shorouk newspaper about how military check points in Red sea used to confiscate liquor.

  tags: #LN #DWC military Egypt Egyarmy

• Hasankeyf: Civilization Condemned to Death - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

  Ancient city of Hasankeyf to be destroyed thanks to Ilisu dam project in Turkey

  tags: #LN #DWC civilization middle east history Turkey

• This photo from Khan Younes refugees camp in Gaza won the UNRWA and EU for Palestinian refugees

  tags: #LN #DWC refugees Palestine Gaza Photos

  

• In Egypt’s Countryside, Vendettas Between Police and Islamists Simmer - The Daily Beast

  Vendettas between Islamists and Police are back once again in Egypt.

  tags: Egypt police countryside #LN #DWC

• Relationship between Church and state brought into question | Mada Masr

  Mai Shams El Din discusses the relationship between the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Egyptian state.

  tags: Egypt Church Copts Politics Mada #LN #DWC

• Syria: Are Amphetamines Funding the War? | TIME.com

  Illegal drug , popular in the Middle East is connected to the war in Syria

  tags: syria war drugs MENA Time #LN #DWC

• Controversy over granting defense minister immunity | Mada Masr

  Mada Misr speaks about granting the defense minister in Egypt an immunity in the draft Constitution

  tags: Egypt Op-eds #DWC #LN Egyarmy Constitution

• Constitution committee eliminates all barriers to building churches in Egypt - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  If this happens , then it will be a great step forward. I hope it happens

  tags: constitution churches egypt politics #LN #DWC

• مَنْ يحكم مصر بعد ٣٠ يونيو؟ - وائل جمال - بوابة الشروق

  Wael Gamel wonders in Al Shorouk about who is really ruling Egypt after 30 June. (Ar)

  tags: Egypt Op-eds Arabic #DWC #LN

• As Egypt's Brotherhood retreats, risk of extremism rises - Analyses - Aswat Masriya

  Reuters presents an analysis about the fall of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt at the same time risk of extremism is increasing

  tags: egypt brotherhood reuters analysis #LN #DWC MB

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

Links and Notes 11/05/2013

• Nubia: 50 years of displacement - Special Files - Folk - Ahram Online

  A fantastic report about the Nubian displacement in Egypt. It is a must read

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN

• تفويضكم يقتلنا.. | المصري اليوم

  Since 3 July 2013 and Egyptian journalists as well Egyptian media are paying the price in Egypt. A powerful and important op-ed by Shaher Eiyad in Arabic

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Media

• Syrian asylum seekers: Lost at sea, barred from land - Region - World - Ahram Online

  The agony of the Syrian refugees.

  tags: Egypt #DWC #LN Syria Refugees

• US defence minister talks with El-Sisi - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  The calls do not stop between the ministry of defence in Cairo and Pentagon in Washington D.C

  tags: Egypt ElSisi Hagel US #DWC #LN

• Photographer captures faces of bugs with extreme close-up photos | Mail Online

  Aliens living with us :))

  tags: photographer faces bugs photos #LN #DWC

• Egypt's millionaires make up 0.04% of total adult population: Report - Economy - Business - Ahram Online

  Credit Suisse Research institute got very interesting numbers when it comes to Egypt

  tags: egypt millionaires #LN #DWC population report economy

• Egypt's new constitution to guarantee absolute religious freedom: Salmawy - Egypt - Ahram Online

  This to be too good to be true. Knowing how conservatives Egyptians can be this may not pass.

  tags: egypt constitution #LN #DWC Religion

• From Daraa , Syria aside from the photos of destruction. Little Mischief maker hopeful

  tags: #LN #DWC Photos War Syria Daraa

  

• The military upholds virtue | Mada Masr

  A translation to Reem Saad's unpublished op-ed in Al Shorouk newspaper about how military check points in Red sea used to confiscate liquor.

  tags: #LN #DWC military Egypt Egyarmy

• Hasankeyf: Civilization Condemned to Death - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

  Ancient city of Hasankeyf to be destroyed thanks to Ilisu dam project in Turkey

  tags: #LN #DWC civilization middle east history Turkey

• This photo from Khan Younes refugees camp in Gaza won the UNRWA and EU for Palestinian refugees

  tags: #LN #DWC refugees Palestine Gaza Photos

  

• In Egypt’s Countryside, Vendettas Between Police and Islamists Simmer - The Daily Beast

  Vendettas between Islamists and Police are back once again in Egypt.

  tags: Egypt police countryside #LN #DWC

• Relationship between Church and state brought into question | Mada Masr

  Mai Shams El Din discusses the relationship between the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Egyptian state.

  tags: Egypt Church Copts Politics Mada #LN #DWC

• Syria: Are Amphetamines Funding the War? | TIME.com

  Illegal drug , popular in the Middle East is connected to the war in Syria

  tags: syria war drugs MENA Time #LN #DWC

• Controversy over granting defense minister immunity | Mada Masr

  Mada Misr speaks about granting the defense minister in Egypt an immunity in the draft Constitution

  tags: Egypt Op-eds #DWC #LN Egyarmy Constitution

• Constitution committee eliminates all barriers to building churches in Egypt - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

  If this happens , then it will be a great step forward. I hope it happens

  tags: constitution churches egypt politics #LN #DWC

• مَنْ يحكم مصر بعد ٣٠ يونيو؟ - وائل جمال - بوابة الشروق

  Wael Gamel wonders in Al Shorouk about who is really ruling Egypt after 30 June. (Ar)

  tags: Egypt Op-eds Arabic #DWC #LN

• As Egypt's Brotherhood retreats, risk of extremism rises - Analyses - Aswat Masriya

  Reuters presents an analysis about the fall of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt at the same time risk of extremism is increasing

  tags: egypt brotherhood reuters analysis #LN #DWC MB

• Egypt Kung Fu gold medalist suspended for wearing Rabaa sign - Omni Sports - Sports - Ahram Online

  It is causing controversry already. Some say that he is free to do it others say that he is not. Of course I think now what if he wore an Anti-Morsi Shirt during the MB president's rule and how people will react ot it

  tags: egypt Kung Fu Morsi Raaa Sports #LN #DWC

• 22 Epic Places You Didn't Know Existed

  All those places are on my bucket list , I wish to visit them before I die with my camera and my beloved ones too.

  tags: #DWC #LN Photos World Earth

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

#Women2Drive is back Again : No Woman , No Drive They say in #KSA

The fantastic ladies of Saudi Arabia are doing it again. The Saudi women decided to take the wheel hitting the road trying to make it a reality in the kingdom : For Women to drive their cars.
Yes today the Saudi ladies are doing it organizing a campaign to drive in the streets of the kingdom posting photos and videos to encourage other ladies and to prove that they did it. 
Here are videos taken for videos behind the wheel in different cities in KSA.

A lady driving her car in Jeddah

A girl in Ha’il driving on October 26 , 2013

Nesreen drove her husband to get breakfast earlier today , I do not know where exactly

A lady driving in Al Hasa

Activist May El Sawayan driving her car to a grocery near her home in Riyadh accompanied with a female journalist

Eman Al Nafjan aka @Saudi woman drives her car in Riyadh

Here is Eman’s twitter account. Here is also October 26 to Drive Campaign on YouTube also on Instagram.
Here are some intagram snapshots for the ladies behind the wheel.

According to Saudi tweeps women drove their cars in Riyadh , Ha’il , Al Hasa , Jeddah. Some are saying that not less than 50 women drove today. I know it is a small number still big changes always have small beginning. 
Some tweeps also say that there are some ladies who drove to their work today. According to security forces more than 13 women “Ages between 22- 44 years old” were stopped by police and secret police. Their cars have been confiscated and their male custodians said to the authorities that they would not do that again !!!Five women were arresting in Riyadh and signed a pledge not to drive again. I hope that they forget that pledge soon and hit the road once again.
I respect so much how some Saudi men are supporting this right in this macho society of KSA now and I respect more how some of them are not shy of declaring this support publicly.
Here is a Saudi young man teaching his beautiful mother "as he said" how to drive earlier today.
Above those Saudi men Alaa Wardi and Hisham Fageeh as well the rest of  Telfaz 11 team for making the headlines in social media worldwide with their own “No woman, no drive”
This is a satire song by Telfaz 11 team is the first of its kind about this important social issue. Of course I know that the whole team now is under the surveillance of the security in KSA now.

No woman, no drive

With my all due respect how come the Kingdom is trying to appear the fighter of the Arab world against radicalism when it does not allow the ladies to drive cars !? I am speaking about that huge campaign sponsored by the KSA in Arab media against radicalism. Is not banning ladies from basic right like driving their own cars radicalism !?
I can not find any logic or religious reason on why the women can not drive when from 1400 years ago in the same land women used to ride camels and horses not to mention fight besides the prophet himself in the battlefield !!
Needless to say I am reading strange comments from those opposing this basic right online that makes so angry and sick.
By the way I would like to thank the fantastic lady Manal El Sherif and other ladies who hit the road from two years ago. A journey of Thousand miles starts with hitting the car pedal for a small trip to the grocery sometimes.

Read More

Links and Notes 10/25/2013

• Mīt `Uqba - Tadamun

  Learn the history of a famous working class area in Giza. It is a must read post.

  tags: Egypt Giza Mituqba History #DWC #LN

• Egypt’s got 99 problems, but US aid ain’t one | mohamed el dahshan. economist, writer, speaker, compulsive traveller.

  Dear friend and blogger Mohamed El Dahshan writes about Egypt's problems that do not include the US aid. 

  tags: egypt aid #DWC #LN

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read More

Pilgrimage in #Mecca Decades ago

Very happy and blissful Eid Adha for all the readers of the Egyptian Chronicles. Now today I share with you this video clip I found online showing the pilgrimage in Mecca many decades ago.

Rare footage for pilgrimage

It is very beautiful and rare footage in Arabic.
The creator the video says that the material he got in the video was hundred years ago and that its source was pilgrims from South East Asia. Well I believe that the material was from an old Egyptian newsreel film based on the accent of the narrator and his style of reading. It is the same as the one used in the old Egyptian newsreel.
By the way,Saudi News Channel announced that it was found out that the oldest photograph for the Holy Kaaba in Mecca was taken by an Egyptian army officer and geographer Mohamed Sadek  in 1880. The army officer who was fond by geography and photography wrote books about Saudi Arabia and the trip of Pilgrimage during then. He took about 18 photos then.

Photo for the Kaaba in 1880 by Mohamed Sade

A photo for Al Masid Nabawi in Medina in 1880

Amazingly the photos of Mohamed Sadek Beh were not found in Cairo in the forgotten Geographic Society but rather in the archives of King Abdel Aziz Al Soud. It turned out that a German explorer and geographer bought the photos from Sadek in 1883 during a trip in Tunisia. The photos since then disappeared then resurfaced again in 1989 in some auction where some collector bought the 18 photos for $ 2,900,000. I guess the collector was a Saudi Royal figure. I respect their efforts to collect this history and heritage.

Read More

#EgyCartoons : And Mostafa Hussein Strikes again

In less than 48 hours Cartoonist Mostafa Hussein surprises us with another one of his masterpieces about General Abdel Fatah El Sisi.

Oh yes this was published this time in today’s issue of weekly Akhbar Al Youm.
The idea of that cartoon is famous Satirist writer Ahmed Ragab’s. The cartoon simply says that General Abdel Fatah El Sisi does not want to run for the presidency, but allegedly the people are carrying him to the throne of Egypt !!
So it is obvious that Hussein and Ragab want the general to run for the presidential elections.
Before I forget here is a collection of Hussein’s recent masterpieces :

Exhibit "A"

Exhibit "A" : Egypt as a transvestite that mothers whose got triplet “Army , police and people” that looks like that creature !!
Here you will find how he changed from 2011 to 2013 always taking the side of the regime.

Exhibit "B"

Exhbit "B" In 2011 the cartoon described the speech of Mubarak on February 1,2011 as the sun where as the protesters of Tahrir square as bats.
In 2012 the cartoons were speaking on how Morsi was facing lots of problems.
In 2013 the Sisi Man to the rescue.
Of course he got a series of other cartoons he always presents whenever there are clashes between the police and the protesters.

Exhibit "C"

Exhibit "C" : Here is one about the clashes at the ministry of interior. Vulgar ugly Egypt running after a protest carrying her slipper cursing him and saying that he deserved to be shot down !!

Also here is a cartoon mocking Egyptian famous footballer Abu Trika saying that his mind is corrupted because he is an Islamist.

Exhibit "D"

By the way,my last post about Hussein’s Sisi-man drew criticism from El Sisi’s supporters who believe that I should not mock about the man who brought back my freedom aka El Sisi otherwise I would be a Muslim brotherhood member who does not care about her freedom. Needless to say all of them are old in their 40s and 50s preaching me and other bad useless hippie Tahrir protesters who were trained in Serbia to have manners !! 

"I know what is best for you" by Andeel

Updated on 13/10
And Hussein continues his El Sisi for presidency's cartoon and I do not understand why he made Egypt says that she is waiting the "Pallot" box insteadof Ballot Box !!

Egypt is waiting for the "Pallot box" of presidential elections

Read More