And It snowed in Egypt

And it snowed in Egypt for the first time since decades and here we are not speaking about hail or snow in Sinai or Saint Catherine Mount. No we are speaking about snow in Cairo outskirts.

It is freezing right now. Almost raining from time to time. Alexa is not fooling around. It is extremely cold. The storms in Alexandria led the authorities to close the ports. It is extremely cold and one can imagine how the poor in shanty towns and street children. Sports centers and mosques as well churches should be opened for those but whom shall we address !??

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Kodak Agfa Presents : At Al Azhar Park

Last month I visited Al Azhar Park to attend a family birthday and of course it was an opportunity to take my camera and snap couple of shots at Cairo’s biggest park. I did not have a chance to go around and smell clean fresh air for too long but I had an opportunity some shots at night I think they are interesting.

I am very proud of this shot for Mohamed Ali Mosque at night considering I am very bad at taking night shots.

I am so proud that I posted it at Your Shot at National Geographic. Of course it is nothing compared to the stuff there but I feel that I am accomplished something and I should celebrate it.
Here is another shot I am proud of.

By the way I must record my admiration for the gift the Aga Khan IV gave to the people of Cairo.
Also you must visit the Bazaar at the restaurant building in the park where you can find beautiful handmade stuff in very good prices.

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ElMasna3 presents : The Barman

This short documentary is a must watch , it is short but full of amazing information and emotions too.

The hero of this 2 minutes documentary is Mr. Magdy who has been working a barman for nearly 3 decades in Downtown Cairo’s Windsor Hotel.

This short documentary is directed by very dear friend Ahmed Naguib and is produced by dear friend Ibrahim Gamal El Din and The Factory. Wait for more clips like that.
By the way here is the official website of Windsor Hotel.

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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. 

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Solar Eclipse in #Egypt

Here is a slide show for the Solar Eclipse in Egypt by photographers and citizen journalists as well mostly in Cairo and Giza. They are beautiful.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring the battery of the camera with me but I took a snapshot after the eclipse with my mobile phone , it is more of romantic scene !! You will find my shot in the slide show. 

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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.

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#UA07 Protest to release their detainees

Members as well supporters of Ultras Ahlaway group “UA07” are organizing a protest today in Cairo as well a rally. The UA07 boys are demanding the release of their colleagues that have been arrested from two weeks in clashes with the security forces. Among the detainees leading figures in the groups. Those who have been released from the UA07 detained boys reported that they were badly tortured by police forces during their custody.
I believe that this is the biggest Non Muslim brotherhood rally organized in Egypt against the security since the ousting of Morsi.
Here is a short live blogging for the main event. Scroll down to read it.

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A Kodak Agfa Co-Production : #Oct73War Anniversary in #Tahrir square

This small photo gallery is from Tahrir square last 6 October 2013. It is a co-production between Kodak Agfa and a dear friend of mine.

Of course the day ended in a very sad way despite all the celebrations and so on unfortunately.
Tahrir square is closed in front of protesting until further notice.
Some revolutionary youth are frustrated from its closure. Well Tahrir square was a bless and a curse on the 25 January as it limited the revolution thanks to the media , I still believe that the 25 January revolution and its goals from social justice , freedom and democracy should spread in all over the country from Rashid in the North to Hala’ib , from Rafah to Salloum. One of our bad mistakes is that we limited the revolution to become Tahrir  revolution and Tahrir youth.
Anyhow Symbols are still extremely important and this is why there is a battle over Tahrir between the Muslim brotherhood and the current regime over it. The MB is dying to reach there and the regime is closing in front of protesting.
Call me foolish and dreamy but I believe that the Egyptians will return to Tahrir square again .. just like the first time on 28 January 2011 when they overcome their political differences and ideologies for the real interest of a civilian modern Egypt based on democracy, justice and equality. The revolutionaries will be back when they learn their mistakes.

Tahrir square empty in the morning "Source"

All the respect and all the glory to the martyrs of the 1973 war and their grandchildren , the martyrs of Tahrir square.

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Bomb explodes in #Cairo , back to the old 1990s day

An explosion has rocked Nasr City district earlier today. It turned out according to eye witnesses that it was an explosion at the minister of interior's house targetting his convey. The minister survived the attack that rocked the area but 8 people including a child were injured according to ambulance authorities. Some sources say that 5 officers were injured in the blast.

A photo for the explosion earlier from twitter

A photo from the site by Ahmed Soliman

A photo from Ahmed Soliman

Up till now the reason of the blast is unconfirmed as the Nile TV said that a bomb was thrown from a building while the convey was passing by and eye witnesses are speaking about explosive devices in a car. 

A Photo from Mohamed El Kholy

A Photo from Mohamed El Kholy

A photo from Ahmed Soliman

From two days ago the minister of interior Ahmed Ibrahim said on TV that he knew that he was targetted by the terrorists. It is worth to mention that the minister of interior was facing growing criticism because of Abu Zabal prison incident that killed 38 detainees last month as well his past record as a minister of interior in Morsi's administration.
Anyhow I think that this explosion will end any reconciliation attempts between the regime and the Muslim brotherhood.
Also it will make the regime extend the emergency status for another month. We should forget tourism too. 
We are back to the ugly 1990s with its terrible terrorism and terrible human rights abuses.
Here is a photo gallery for the area following the attack.

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August #2013’s New Governors Reshuffle in #Egypt

Today 25 governors took the oath in front of Egypt’s interim president Adly Mansour in the presidential Palace.
Six of those governors who have continued in their positions since their appointment by Morsi. I will not comment on the names now. Below there is a list for the governors and short bios for those I managed to found now.
The governor of Monufia is still vacant as the man nominated for the position was exposed as a former Mubarak’s regime remnant, and he had to refuse it due to public rejection. His name was released before other names and people rejected it .

Here are the names of the new faces in the governors’ reshuffle :

• Galal El Saeed : The new governor of Cairo. The former minister of transportation in former Kamel El Ganzoury’s cabinet in December 2011. The former governor of Fayoum till January 25 revolution was not only a member in the National Democratic Party, but he was also a member in the policies committee. He is said to be close to Gamal Mubarak as well.
• Army Major Gen.Tarek El Mahdy : The new governor of Alexandria. The most famous name when it comes to military in this reshuffle. The former SCAF member was appointed first as the head of TV in the early days of revolution and he was so popular among the employees, but had to resign later. Then he was appointed as the governor of New Valley from August 2011 to June 2013. During then He was then appointed as the governor of Red Sea. It was worth to mention in Morsi’s last reshuffle , till the last moment he was tipped to be the governor of Alexandria but in the end we found him as the governor of Red Sea. During then people understood that the Muslim brotherhood could not give up Alex to the army especially that the deputy governor there Hassan El Bernes was the true governor.
• Army Major Gen. El Arabi Sorror : The new governor of Suez. The commander of the Popular defense troops. As far as I know the Popular defense troops’ main mission now is to spread military awareness in the society. In the Past this department used to train high school and university students on combat and so on in order to help in protecting cities. Suez as a Canal City always had a governor from a military background. Current reports from the city speak about huge spread of arms there. It is also a stronghold for Salafists.

• Army Major Gen. Mustafa Hadhod : The new governor of  Beheira.Originally he was the deputy head of military intelligence. He is the new governor of the Coastal governorate.
• Army Major Gen. Ahmed Bahaa El Din : The new governor of Ismailia , a canal city was the former chief of staff’s aide and the head of the signals corps branch in armed forces.
• Army Major Gen. Tarek Saad El Din : The new governor of Luxor. He was the former chief of engineering staff in the armed forces. He was also the executive head of Tourism development authority. 
• Army Major Gen. Mohamed Abdel Latif : The new governor of Damietta. He was the former head of military survey authority.
• Army Major Gen. Omar El Shadofy : The new governor of Dakahlia. He was also the former head of military survey authority.
• Army Major Gen. Mustafa Yosri El Siyad : The new governor of Aswan. He was the head of the air defense institute.
• Army Major General Abdel Hamid El Hagan : The new governor of Qena. He was working in the Administrative Control Authority “ACA”.He used to work in the military intelligence. During his work in the ACA , he used to be among the staff of current head of General Intelligence General Mahmoud El Tahomy. El Tahomy was already accused to destroy evidence incriminating Mubarak’s regime in 2011.
• Police general Ibrahim Hamed : The new governor of Assuit. A former general in State security.
• Police general Salah El Din Hassan : The new governor of Minya.
• Police general Mahmoud Othman : The new governor of Sohag. Interestingly this man was the deputy governor of Alexandria in 2011, and he is famous for his video where he pulled his gun on a group of teachers that stormed his office while protesting. Knowing the Upper Egypt’s fascination with guns, I believe he is welcomed in Sohag because of that gun’s moment !!

From 2011 : Pulling the gun in office

• Judge Ezzat Agowa : The new governor of Kafr El Sheikh. The former head of Judges’ club in Alexandria. He is well known to be against the 25 January revolution. He is accused of forgery in 2005 parliamentary elections by grassroots movement Shayfenkom and was reported to former minister of justice from 3 months ago.
• Judge Magdy El Betity : The new governor of Bani Sawif. He is well known to curse the 25 January revolution and the revolutionaries in court during a court session.
• Dr. Saeed Abdel Aziz : The new governor of Sharkia. He was the dean of faculty of Commerce in University of Alexandria. He denied his affiliation with the National Democratic party.
• Dr. Mohamed Abdel Naim : The new governor of Gharbia.
• Dr. Hazem Atteya : The new governor of Fayoum. He was the deputy chairman of Helwan University.
• Engineer Mohamed Abdel Kader : The new governor of Qalyubia.

These are the old governors who continued in their positions from Morsi’s presidency :

• Army Major Gen. Khaled Fouada : The governor of South Sinai.
• Army Major Gen. Sameh Qandil :  The governor of Port Said.Originally the head of reconnaissance. He was appointed already in that position during Morsi’s presidency. He is popular in Port Said as he is the first governor from the locals there.
• Army Major Gen. Abdel Fatah Harhor : The governor of North Sinai.There is a lot of action happening in his governorate and I am surprised that he is still in his position.    
• Army Major Gen. Mahmoud Khalifa : The governor of New Valley.
• Army Major Gen. Badr Tantawy : The governor of  Matrouh. Matrouh is not only a Salafist hot zone, but it could be the only governorate that supported Morsi. Some say that the challenge won’t come from Sinai but rather from Matrouh especially with the arms pouring from Libya and the spread of Salafist Jihadist teachings there.
• Ali Abdel Rahman : The governor of Giza 

Not only the governors took the oath but also their deputy and there are two interesting names from deputies we should stop at. “Thanks to the MB we are paying attention to the deputies”

The NDP poster of Nadia Abdou

• Police General Sami Sedhom : The deputy governor of Sharkia. The notorious police general in Cairo has a black record during the days of Mubarak. This man already should be held accountable for the shooting of the protesters in 2011 especially in Mohamed Mahmoud street. Sharkia got one of the biggest voting blocs in Nile Delta by the way.
• Nadia Abdou : The deputy governor of Beheira. Unfortunately,the first woman to be appointed in that position turned to be an infamous leading member of the NDP in Alexandria. She won in the 2010 parliamentary elections in shady ways according to activists.

Activist Ahmed Alish did an amazing a break down for the governors and their affiliations since August 2011 “The first reshuffle after 25 January revolution and ousting Mubarak”

• In August 2011 “SCAF rule” : We had 14 army officers “One from intelligence” as governors , 2 Police officers “One from state security” and 11 civilians “3 judges , 3 academics , 3 civil servants , One ambassador and One Nasserite”
• In September 2012 “Morsi’s rule , his first reshuffle” : We had 10 army officers , One police officer “From state security” and 16 civilians “5 judges , 5 academics , 1 ambassador , 2 civil servants and 4 Muslim brotherhood”
• In June 2013 “ Morsi’s rule , it was his second and reshuffle” : We had 7 army officers “One military intelligence” and 20 civilians “3 judges, 6 Independent figures , 1 from Al Gama’a Al Islamiyaa , 1 from Ghad El Thawra and 10 Muslim brotherhood”
• In August 2013 “During interim president Adly Mansour’s rule , his first reshuffle” : We have 14 army officers “two from military intelligence” , 4 police officers “ One from state security” and 8 civilians “5 academics , 2 judges and one civil servants”

Did you read the names and their short bios ?? You know in time of the MB , it was a mix between MB and military as well old regime figures. Now it is military and old regime figures.
With my all due respect we do not know how these names are picked for those particular governorates.
We are being told that those 14 army generals are chosen because there are threats of terrorism and so on. “Some self claimed army officer is saying so on twitter and people like retweeting him crazily without thinking”
First many of those army generals are not counter terrorism specialists and according to the famous fact Field Marshal Tantawy did not change the army’s doctrine to include counter terrorism to it despite the American pressures for years. Also,some of these generals actually were not specialized in countering terrorism for God sake and some of them left the military service from years and worked in the civilian sector.
Needless to say,this is the oldest trick book , create an enemy and use a vague word like terrorism to justify what you want.
This reshuffle does not give me the impression that the current regime actually wants to pave the way for a true interim period followed by a true democratic rule. This is a reshuffle does not represent the 25 January 2011 but rather the old 23 July 1952 governors’ reshuffle !! 
It is not a big secret that there is a belief in the army as well the public that border governorates should be governed by military man despite the fact that we are a centralized country where the governor takes his orders from Cairo.
I do not have high hopes in a true revolutionary constitution that speaks about the governors’ elections and ends the deadly centralization in Egypt after that reshuffle seriously. There are indications for reforms and I do see any indication for any democratic reform what so ever especially with this all that nationalist war on terrorism hype.
If you speak against the current , you are no longer accused of being MB member but rather a traitor.
Ironically when one goes back to Mohamed ElBaradei’s twitter old archive , he would find interesting tweets that went back to August 2011 with the first governors reshuffle after 25 January revolution.

18 generals out of 27 governors. All Moslem. Revolution should change the mindset and not just indivduals. When do we begin?
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) August 5, 2011

not a single woman among the 27 governors. What happened to so called equality?
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) August 6, 2011

Amazingly there are no women or Christians as governors and like in August 2011 “Same month” we have the same number of army officers as governors. There are not Islamists or revolutionaries either.
Of course it is worth to mention that Al Nour Islamist party “the only Islamist party ready to speak to the army and presidency” refused to have any governor in this reshuffle.
It is worth to mention that from a couple of weeks ago ElBaradei presented his vision to the interim president regarding the governor’s position. He wanted the governors to be elected.
BY the way,the Pro-Mubarak/Military started to campaign online that electing governors is a bad idea and the Pro-January 28 revolutionaries from youth should not open their bloody mouth because they are not united in one single strong political body.
The Muslim brotherhood members and supporters started to tease the people forgetting how the Morsi’s governors reshuffles made people angry.
As the revolutionaries are angry and blaming both ElBaradei and Tamaroud and Tamaroud activists  are firing back claiming that it is not their responsibility.
Mahmoud Badr , its spokesperson and representative when it comes to the talks with the army as well its representative in the Constitution amendments committee said on his twitter account that it was better to focus on the constitution.
Well I hope he does focus on the constitution and manages to get something better than this reshuffle.

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You are not Getting #Morsi back by terrorizing Christians

 Last Friday Pro-Morsi supporters mainly from Islamists had marches all over the country especially in Cairo.  One important thing they allegedly left from trace was the offensive and provoking graffiti on the walls and doors of churches and Cathedrals they passed by.

Islamic in reference to Islamic State on the doors of Church in Heliopolis

This is the tip of the ice berg when it comes to harassments and attacks against Christians in Egypt since July 3, 2013.
The Muslim brotherhood members and their supporters from supporters are inciting hate in Egypt whether online and offline.
Now since July 3, 2013 Christians in Upper Egypt have been a subject of continuous attacks by Islamists in North Sinai, Assuit , Minya and Sohag where people were killed and houses were torched. There is no police protection what so ever for churches or even for Christian populated areas in Upper Egypt.

Boycott the Christians graffiti in Assuit

Islamic , Christian + Thug : 30 June -Another graffiti in Assuit

The human rights organizations like Egyptian Initiative for personal rights warned the authorities, but no one cared to listen on July 10,2013 but no one cared to listen. Instead,there has been a huge systematic attack against human rights organizations in Egypt accusing of them of defending the MB’s supporters and protesters.
EIPR and other human rights organizations issued late last month a joint statement telling the Muslim brotherhood to stop inciting sectarian violence.
What puzzles me is the absence of the police in Upper Egypt and how it does not protect the Christians An evil part of my mind says that like in the time of Mubarak the authorities are leaving the Islamists to harm the Christians in this way in order to use this image abroad. Another part of my mind says that this is the usual Egyptian police action , they do not give a real damn for citizens outside Cairo. “Or even inside Cairo, they only care for buildings”
Still what really annoys me is how the big clans in Upper Egypt completely are totally ignoring what is taking place. You see there is a different social system in Upper Egypt than in Nile Delta or Cairo , clans got the final word there. There is also coordination between the clans and the security forces when they want to. I just do not understand.
Many Egyptians are wondering why the international media does not cover the attacks against the Christians in Egypt in order to show the other face of the Islamists. Of course it is not about international media but rather the media in general. A Christian friend explained to me that as a journalist should found out that Christians in Upper Egypt fear to speak to the media about the attacks more openly because they are afraid of retaliation. In the end journalists in Cairo do not understand that we are speaking about rural areas where everybody knows everybody and unfortunately there is no police protection.
Many Islamists if not most of them believe that the Church played a direct role in ousting Morsi in coordination with the army. The appearance of Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria in the video of El Sisi’s speech on 3 July enforced this belief.

Tawadros the dog , a graffiti seen frequently in Cairo

The appearance of Pope Tawadros in the speech and his meeting with El Sisi along with Sheikh Al Azhar was indeed a clever political move, but it had a price in extreme polarized society that suffers from sectarian tensions from time to time.
Of course the Muslim brotherhood’s leaderships were using the same old sectarian rhetoric against the Christians accusing them of standing with the old Mubarak regime against Morsi in the past year in a disgusting way.
We have enough of sectarianism in Egypt to increase it like this and in this sick way. 
The attacks against Christians should be stopped immediately, and the ministry of interior should do its job for real.The Muslim brotherhood should order its leading figures and speakers to using a sectarian talk to mobilize their supporters in this way.
Mohamed Morsi will not return back by killing Christians or torching their houses.

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The orphaned Friday of Ramadan 2013 , exceptional more than usual

Today is known in Egypt as "The Orphaned Friday" ,the last Friday in Ramadan which Muslims celebrate by praying to God for prosperity, peace and happiness. It is the last Friday in the holy month before Eid. Of course this year no one can argue that it is the least Ramadanian Ramadan "It is like the least cheerful traditional Ramadan".
Now we are all concerned on what will happen today. The Muslim brotherhood and its supporters are going to have mass rallies across the country. Allegedly not less than 33 rallies are planned for the day in different governorates.
On the other hand the ministry of interior got the orders to disperse the sits in according to the law. We fear that there will be bloodshed today.
Anyhow here is alive coverage for the day

 

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Captured on Camera : #July7 Rally To #Tahrir

I took couple of photos from the Mostafa Mahmoud Rally to Tahrir square last July 7 and after what happened from clashes next day , I did not have time to post them.
Here are the photos.

There are video clips that I hope one day I will be able to edit and upload them.

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#June30 : What I saw

The protests of June 30 were the biggest thing I have seen. It is biggest than the 25 January 2011 and 28 January 2011. It is biggest than any other wave I have seen in Egypt. I saw a cross section from Egyptian society in that big rally or rallies coming from Giza , from Mostafa Mahmoud and trying to cross Al Galaa Bridge to join the rest of the protesters at Tahrir square. Of course they could not join them because the square was full in some historical scene.

Unlike other protests and revolutionary waves , it is no longer a youth movement. It is more varied. I am trying to understand that scene in front of me. Anyhow I could those snap shots below. By the way I am still uploading more photos to the album.

Wait for the video clips.

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#Egypt From More than 100 years In Color

The Brooklyn Museum published on Flickr this amazing collection of photos or rather Lantern slides taken in Egypt in year 1882. Yes in 1882 and they are in color , it is just amazing.
The photos were taken in different parts of Egypt in 1882. It is just amazing to see how our country and our people , our ancestors looked like during then. This is how Egyptians lived then. There are extremely old photos from Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Assuit , Luxor , Aswan and the newly founded Suez Canal and its cities like Ismailia.
You can a whole photo gallery with more than 100 photos from that year.
I was running through the photos and try to see how places had changed. For instance the photo of Wadi Es Sebua made me wonder about the fate of the ancient temple as I did not know before that we had an ancient temple with that name. I found that it was located in Lower Nubia in Egypt and it had to be displaced because of the Aswan High Dam. 

Just imagine that those photos were taken in 1882. Just see the photos you may be looking for your grandfather without knowing.
It is worth to mention that in 1882 Egyptians and their Egyptian army as well Sudanese under the leadership of Ahmed Orbai rebelled against their ruler Khedive Tewfik. Unfortunately this rebellion , this revolution was ended with occupation when the Khedive asked the help of the British. The British wanted to protect the new Suez Canal by all measures. This was one of the oldest invasions I believe using the minorities paper.
The Orbai revolution was the first time the Egyptian army of the Egyptian modern State truly stood with the people.
I wish people to learn and read about that revolution and its lessons.

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Rebellion Campaign HQ set on Fire

Late last night the Rebellion Campaign ‘Tamarud’ stated to the media that they got threats and after few hours we found that the Campaign HQ in Downtown Cairo was torched.

The HQ on Fire "Tamarud official FB page"

The Campaign is accusing the Muslim brotherhood of standing behind the fire. The Campaign also issued a statement saying that the signatures they are collecting from citizens are not being kept only in the HQ and they are safe. It seems that unknown assailants threw Molotov cocktails in to the HQ.

After putting the fire off at the HQ "Tamarud official FB Page"

The campaign also announced on Thursday that it refused to sit down with the minister of interior to discuss the upcoming arrangements for the mass protests on 30 June 2013. On that day the campaign is planning mass protests as well to represent the signatures they collect to withdraw confidence from President Morsi in order to have early presidential elections to the Supreme Constitutional Court.
It is getting intense in Cairo without doubt and it is not even 30 June already.
Last 5 June 2013 the attorney general has ordered the trial of 12 opposition activists for allegedly inciting clashes at the Muslim brotherhood HQ in Moktam last March. Those activists including Alaa Abdel Fatah, Ahmed Douma, Hazem Abdel Azim, Karim El Shaer, Nawara Negm and Ahmed Eid.
The regime is provoking the opposition and the revolutionary youth as it is daring them to protest next 30 June, this is how I see it.

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This is Called “Khamsin” In Case You do not Know

Today we had a strong sandstorm in Cairo and Giza since early morning and some Egyptians amazingly expressed their shock and surprise on social media that we have a sandstorm in .. Egypt !!

Vision was terrible and the weather was extremely hot today. Unfortunately this will continue for another 2 days , at least till Wednesday. I wish it rains in Cairo to make weather better.

I do know if those people are serious or they are just the victim of bad education system or what. All what I know that this sandstorm is normal thing in spring time in Egypt and that it is called El Khamsin too in case you forget.

Here how it was earlier today. Please take care while driving.

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Happy Sham Nassim 2013

Happy Sham Nassim and Happy Spring Day to all Egyptians and to all the people all over the world. And It will not be a true Sham Nassim without its national anthem.

Soad Hosny : It is spring time

Yes I do not even get bored from posting this every year.

Of course it is not that spring as the weather is extremely hot in Cairo and Giza  yet the capital and its twin city on the other bank of the Nile  are amazingly blessed with empty streets now. I believe that not less than thousands of families have left Cairo and Giza heading to resorts all over the country in this short vacation. It is a good thing now both cities are bless now.

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This is How We treat our Art in #Egypt

Earlier this week I was shocked to see this beautiful statue of Egyptian woman peasant in miserable condition neglected like that near the entrance of Al Hawamidiyya city ,Giza governorate. It is extremely beautiful statue

The statue neglected

It is just sad.This photo was sent to Egypt Military pictures Facebook Page last week.
This beautiful sad statue was made by artist Fathy Mahmoud “1918-1982” in a series of statues he made in Al Harm area , Giza from many decades ago. That series of statues suddenly disappeared from couple of years ago. When I searched I found out that the Giza governorate decided to spread those statues all over the cities entrances in the governorate.
The family of Fathy Mahmoud is extremely angry and they have to. I know Fathy Mahmoud’s granddaughter and they want to do something to save it.
Fathy Mahmoud’s portfolio includes the famous Talaat Harb statue in Cairo and the famous Mermaid as well the Students Memorial in Cairo University , Talaat Harb statue in Sharkia and Sails statue in front of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria. “The last one in Alex is extremely beautiful”.

Talaat Harb statue in Cairo by Martin Misr

Talaat Harb statue in Sharkia by Walkademagmal

The Mermaid and sail by May Mustafa

The Mermaid and sails by Rick Wiepking

I think we should raise this matter in the media. This is part of our contemporary art heritage and we are not doing enough to protect it or keep it.

Links :

• Fathy Mahmoud “Al Marefa Wiki” in Arabic

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Carmen Weinstein's Funeral : A Dying Community remembered

Right now the Jewish community in Egypt is holding the funeral of Carmen Weinstein , the late head of the community. The funeral and memorial service are held in an annex of Cairo's Sha'a Hashamayim Synagogue aka Adly Synagogue.
There is a huge surprising media presence as well security presence where those invited to the funeral have to show their IDs. I am surprised to see such media presence as I knew from a friend who is attending the funeral it was private event.
Anyhow the security presence can be explained by the fact that there are VIPs including the Israeli ambassador attending the funeral. The Israeli ambassador already returned to Cairo yesterday after nearly month working in Israel.
Now Rawah Badrawi is attending the funeral and is sharing with us what is happening , I storify her tweets.
Late today I will speak about Magda Haron the new head of the Jewish community.
@9:51 PM
Magda Shehata Haron is the new head of the Jewish community. She was elected from two days ago. Now Magda Haron is very interesting person because she is the daughter of late Shehata Haron.

Magda Haron "Youm7"

Late Shehata Haron was famous Anti-Zionist Leftist lawyer whose positions against Zionism was well known everybody.
Magda Haron is married to Italian Catholic doctor where as her sister Nadia is married a Muslim. Today Magda told the people in the funeral that the Egyptian Jewish heritage is for the Egyptians and they "The Jews of Egypt" are handing this to us in order to remember that once Jews lived here.
It is sad thing.
I wish to see Mrs. Haron more in the media as well other Egyptian Jews even if they are tens.

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