The Completely Forgotten #Rohingya Suffering

Dear friend Jenan Moussa , the amazing Al Aan TV channel has traveled to Burma and filmed there the suffering of the Rohingya Muslim minority after it was almost forgotten in our Arabic media.
Jenan went there to the city of Sittwe to find out that there are 5000 Muslim Rohingya living in a ghetto not allowed to leave it surrounded by radical nationalists Burmese Buddhists. They do not work anymore living in one kilometer ghetto in fear. The people there demand the UN to help them.

5000 Muslim Rohingya stuck in one kilometer “Arabic”

She found out that  Rohinigya people are also banned from receiving any proper health care from any kind. They are not allowed to use the hospitals or clinics in Sittwe.

Muslims are not allowed to check in hospitals in Sittwe “Arabic”

In that Muslim ghetto , the people turned a coffee shop in to a very poor field clinic on Monday and Tuesday only.
They do not receive polio vaccination for a year now and it began to spread among young children. I think the UNHCR and UNICEF should do their job and head to this ghetto ASAP.

The two days clinic in a cafe !!

Of course the Islamists in the Middle East whether in Egypt or Gulf or in Turkey have completely forgotten the Rohingya. I understand the reasons for our Islamists in Egypt but I can not understand this silence in the Gulf or Turkey anymore.
Needless to say I am not waiting any of the governments in the Arab world or the Islamic world to do anything in order to stop the agony of those people. There is no big difference already between the governments and regimes in the Middle East and that corrupted junta in Burma , they are all playing on the sectarian nationalist game in a way or another.
Even Aung San Suu Kyi is just as hypocrite as our political elite especially in Egypt now.

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Mosa’ab El Shamy Presents : The funerals of Al Warraq Wedding

Dear friend and talented renowned photographer Mosa’a El Shamy attended the funerals of the sad and misfortunate wedding of Al Warraq. He was not there alone , he accompanied his camera with him and got us some sad pictures from those sad moments. 

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A Wedding and 4 Funerals : #AlWarraq tragedy

Blood on the Church's floor

Last night a wedding in a Church in the popular area of Al Warraq , Imbaba turned in to 4 funerals. Egyptians were attacked while attending a wedding ceremony at a Church in Al Warraq , Imbaba after two assailants opened their fire on the people standing outside the church late Sunday. The two assailants were on a motorcycle and fled away after opening their fire.

A Wedding that turned in to 4 funerals including the funerals of 8 years old and 12 years old girls carrying flowers , a wedding that turned in to 4 funerals including the funeral of the groom's mother. 

As it is a church in a popular area , the Virgin Church in Al Warraq is not secured and according to its bishop it has not been secured since the ousting of Morsi or after the attacks against the churches following 3 July.

Moments after the attack all the fingers were pointing to the Muslim brotherhood and co. as the attackers , they are the primary suspects that have been convicted by the crime that we have not known yet for real who did it or why.

Inside the Church from short time ago

All what we know that the Muslim brotherhood and their pro- radical Islamist allies radical rhetoric against the Christians and the Church played terrible and major role in the continuous attack against Churches. That rhetoric they refuse to give up , those actions they refuse to stop make them the primary suspect in highly polarized society.

The human rights activists are blaming the ministry of interior for its failure to protect the Christians , I can not blame them to be honest because since July 3 , 2013 and the government , the army and police have been warned over and over by human rights organizations that Christians would pay the price and were paying the price.

On the other hand since the attack all the Pro-military supporters as well the Pro-Mubarak supporters have gone in to a crusade against PM Beblawy demanding him to resign from his position along all his ministers. Ironically everybody knows that Beblawy is not real responsible for security in Egypt and that it is beyond his power. Security in Egypt is officially the responsibility of two men  : Abdel Fatah El Sisi and Mohamed Ibrahim. Be brave and speak about the responsibility of the ministry above the accountability responsible for the security of civilians aka the ministry of interior.

Anyhow unfortunately this is the first attack of its kind and sadly it will not be the last "despite I am praying that it would be" as long as there is no justice , no state of the law , no respect of human rights for all Egyptians regardless of their religion or color or race or class.

The 4 funerals will be held after two hours.
The second photo is by photographer Alaa El Kamhawy.
Update : Below after the break a small photo gallery for the sad day in Al Warraq.

 

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#9Oct #Maspero : We Will not Forget

Today is the second anniversary of the Maspero massacre.Today we remember the awful massacre where a peaceful protest “was the first in the history of Egypt to be granted a permission from the government” ended up with army VPCs running over 28 bodies of the protesters.
Unlike last year grand commemoration that included a long march from Shubra to Maspero in a breathtaking procession with chants rocking against the military and SCAF , this year revolutionaries only had a very small vigil compared to last year commemoration.
I saw its start at October bridge , the flags of the martyrs headed by Mina Danial in the sunset. It was a beautiful scene.

I recorded this shot video clip for that small protest there.

#Maspero : For the martyrs.

The vigil was for couple of hours at Maspero building.There were chants against Military and MB.
Here is a photo gallery in Storify which I am adding photos to.

Here is also a video by dear friend Simon Hana showing the vigil and the small protest.

Egypt marks 2nd anniversary of Maspero Massacre

After that another small group of protesters tried in vein to enter in Tahrir square but they were met with gunfire and police as well army closing the square in front of their faces arresting some of them.
Yes Tahrir square is now officially a forbidden zone for the revolutionaries and protesters even if they are not Muslim brotherhood members.
The Maspero Youth Union and other Christian groups decided not to participate in this year commemoration because they did not the Muslim brotherhood to hijack the protest and the vigil.Ironically in tonight’s vigil people chanted against the Muslim brotherhood.
This is another dilemma because now people fear to organize protests for fear the Muslim brotherhood would hijack. Last week I heard a friend saying that it was better for the Muslim brotherhood to stop protesting for awhile so the revolutionaries would go to the street safely. Unfortunately I disagree with that point of view because peaceful protesting is the universal right , you can not take it from people and also you can not give it up.
Sadly enough now many Egyptian Christians nowadays believe that the army is innocent and that the massacre happened because of the third party aka The Muslim brotherhood.
Indeed there are lots of question marks about how things evolved in to a massacre in Maspero on that bloody night yet one thing for sure Hamdy Badin is not a Muslim brotherhood member nor that those soldiers who ran over the protesters are not Muslim brotherhood member, Anchorwoman Rasha Magdy is not a Muslim brotherhood and the soldiers who stormed buildings specifically Cairo Sat searching for Christians were not Muslim brotherhood members. You can not whitewash everything .
It is recorded history in video and photos , it was being eye witnessed. People can not forget. Of course now people say that we can not incriminate the whole army for what happened. Well it is true but you can not ignore the fact that no commandership had been questioned or presented to justice. The soldiers were accused of manslaughter and got very slight punishment compared to the horror and sadness they caused.
As far as I could tell the Muslim brotherhood and the Islamists stood besides SCAF in this crisis and they are paying the price now. to be honest I believe the Islamists especially the Muslim brotherhood are paying the price of their silence and their support to what happened to the Christians in Maspero. I am so sorry but yes there is Karma and as people of religion they should stand besides the weak but they did not and they do not want to admit it.

By the way as Maspero aka the Egyptian National TV building is also celebrating the anniversary of massacre in a very special way.

Maspero Massacre for those who forgot

The infamous newsreader Rasha Magdy that from two years urged the Egyptians to save the Egyptian army from the Christians read the 9 PM news just like from two years ago.

Rasha reading the news on October 9,2013

I swear to God we have not forgotten and we will not forget. 

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Regarding the NYTimes Map Dividing 5 Arab countries in to 14

NY Times published a op-ed about how 5 countries in the Arab world can be divided in to 14 countries by Robin Wright. The graphic representation of the op-ed as a map became a viral in the Arab social media especially in Egypt.

It spread like fire as if that map was a reality , not the visualization of some analyst’s views that may happen and may not. It spread like a fire as if that that was going to happen for real. As Big Pharaoh said on twitter this map in the New York Times would fuel debate and conspiracy theories in the region especially in Egypt for the upcoming 825 years.

This is not the first map of its kind where American Middle East analyst says something similar, if you remember some American Magazine published another similar map during the invasion of Iraq about possible divisions and unlike Wright’s map Egypt was among those unlucky countries that were going to spilt.

I know that what I am going to say now won’t appeal to many people now as fascism is the fashion nowadays along with waiting for the strong just dictator Messiah to bring order and stability to the country that suffers from foreign plots from here and there. We will not have those maps and those predictions if there are true democracy and equality that does not differentiate between any citizen in those countries.

All those countries mentioned in that map scaring the people in their dream do not and did not enjoy freedom or democracy or justice except may be for short times from long time ago.

“The Divide conquer” policy will not vanish by dictatorships in fact it becomes a true reality through dictatorships that spread hate and fear as well racism through religious nationalism , ideological nationalism and ethnic nationalism.

This map can turn in to a reality if the people in the Arab world do not wake up and admit that they got huge problems when it comes to religious sect and ethnic minorities. Of course I do know how many alarms the Arab world has to hear to wake up since the first spilt of Yemen and the first civil war in Lebanon in 1950s !!

Interestingly at least for me that Sudan is being neglected from Wright’s map when actually both Darfur and Kordofan have their own woes thanks to El Bashir regime considering the fact that like South Sudan they were independent from Khartoum and had their own rulers.

The Pro-Military supporters think that Egypt was saved from that theoretical map and won't be divided thanks to the 30 June and the army , well I have to say that it is more complicated than that.

When it comes to Egypt , unlike other countries in the region including those mentioned in the map I would like to hint out that for 3000 years our borders have not changed and we do not have this extreme mix of ethnic and religious minorities like in Syria or in Iraq “for example Shiite and Kurds” or  violent tribal nature thanks to Qaddafi in Libya as He used to favor tribes over others” or in Yemen where the South feels that is being discriminated by the North.

Still I can not ignore that we will be always live in fear as usual if we do not face our problems as we should. We should stop hiding our problems and claim that Egypt does not suffer from sectarian or ethnic problems that truly threat our national security and our future as a nation.

We got a Nubian problem that can be solved so easily if the Egyptian Nubians restore their land and compensated equally and fairly as well treated like other Egyptians.

We got a problem in Sinai that can be solved so easily if you start to develop this desert and change its demographics in the the right way at the same time , treat its locals the Bedouins as true Egyptian citizens not third class citizens you disrespect coz you know they are untrusted Bedouins !! 

We got a Hala’ib triangle problem that we think we are going to hide by banning all the maps showing it as disputed region in Egypt when the whole world shows it as a disputed region. Hell we do not even try to improve the horrible conditions there to make those people really feel that they are Egyptians.

Of course I do not need to speak about the Christians and how they suffer in Egypt and before anyone tells me that this is over and it was the Islamists problem , I hate to tell you that it is beyond the Islamists.

We should not rely on the intelligence and military intelligence when it comes to deal with the religious and ethnic minorities files. As a society we have even bigger and more important role. We should stop those stupid useless reconciliation media stunts.

With my all due respect not 100 revolutions or military intervention can save a nation from doom if its people do not recognize their problems and try to solve them for once and for all in the correct way.
Again “Divide conquer” does not happen in a healthy society but rather weak society and God knows how many weak societies we have from the ocean to the gulf.

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Mosireen Interviews Hazem Barakat And People Began to React Somehow "Graphic +18"

Mosireen went to Abu Muslam and interviewed citizen journalist Hazem Barakat who witnessed the horrifying massacre of Shiites last yesterday.It has not been translated yet to Arabic.

It is extremely important.Hazem says that the police was there two hours before the people were killed and they did not nothing. This clip including new sad scene like how the women of village were also participating in the mob attacking cheering against the Shiites.
There are more shocking and graphic clips surfacing. The villagers turned in to monsters. It is as if they were demonic creatures attacking human beings. They are even happy and do not think that they did anything wrong.
Now below a video showing Hassan Shehata before his tragic death along his relatives shortly. He did not come with women like the villagers claim. 

Now below the video showing the attack on the same home. It is extremely graphic.

That cartoon made by Andeel summarizes the whole thing.

Do You like it dear God ?

 Here is a quick storify report with reactions in Egypt.

I want to say something Al Nour Party is trying to distance itself as I hinted on Storify. There are posters against Shia all over Egypt with the party´s logo.

Together Against Shia

In Aswan by Kristen Chick

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Unjust village "Graphic+18"

I do not know what to say or what to write. Let´s start with facts. This afternoon in a small village in Giza called Abu Muslam a mob of angry locals , 3000 attacked the houses of the Shiites killing not less than 4 and injuring dozens. Not less than 5 houses owned by other Egyptians who happened to be Shiites were also torched. 

Today was the 15th night of Shabaan ,a holy night for all Muslims and one of the most famous Egyptian Shiite sheiks Hassan Shehata was visiting one of the families there. As soon as Shehata was known to be there the angry mob attacked the house he was staying at throwing Molotov cocktails and then attacking th house itself. 

The house when the mob showed up

Shehata was stabbed and killed as well dragged in the streets. 

Shehata was accused by Sunni clerics in Egypt of spreading Shiism in Egypt. They

According to the villagers who did not hide their pride with what they did in front of the media they prevented those bad Shiites from debauchery and urfi marriage orgy !!!!!!

This is the true unjust village. Unjust village is the name of a novel I once read about Jerusalem after the trial of Jesus.

This is a simple thing to summarize things but it is more than that. People attacked the Shiites stabbed them and dragged them through the narrow the streets of the village in front of the police force that came late and yet did not stop the on going public lynching. Amazingly the police did not try to disperse that mob not with a singly tear gas bomb !! It could have saved lives.

The CSF was there but did not stop anything

One of the victims who were killed in front of police

By the way the locals dragged the bodies and threw to the CSF vehicles and policemen that piled the bodies with no respect at all. Here is our great police disrespecting the dead Egyptians as usual.

AFP

According to Hazem Barakat , the young citizen journalist who witnessed the whole affair what happened tonight was actually the result of incitement that started by the Salafist Sheikhs in the village from 3 weeks ago against the Shiites families. 

I am sorry I will not be able to show all the photos or videos taken by citizen journalist Hazem Barakat who broke the story to the whole world through twitter.I chose the least graphic. I apologized in advance and I warn you that it is graphic. 

There are 40 Shiite families in the small village according to Shiite activist Bahaa Anwar who holds president Morsi the responsibility of that attack after the huge sectarian incitement rhetoric used against Shiites  the Salafist and Jihadist sheiks in the Pro-Syria conference. Morsi , the president of all Egyptians including Egyptian Shiites was attending the conference and did not reject that sectarian talk. Well I am not surprised because the same language has been always used against the Christians and Shiites in Misr 25 , the official TV channel of the Muslim Brotherhood as well the other Salafist channels like Al Nas channel.

Tonight Al Nas Channel TV host justified the attack of the Shiite citizens including Hassan Shehata claiming that the famous Shiite cleric used to insult Prophet Mohamed's wife and so on !! I do not think Prophet Mohamed "PBUH" will approve what happened by all measures.
By the way Salafist Facebooks are bragging and even are claiming responsibility , here is screen capture below. "Life has become Salafist" is happy that Hassan Shehata and bunch of his friends were killed by their brothers "I do not see Salafists in the videos" who threw their bodies to the CSF !! 

A Salafist Facebook Page announces the operation !!

This is the worst and loudest sectarian incident involving Shiite in Egypt.

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The Kurdish who Made it to Arab Idol Quarter Finals

I do not think for one second that anyone has ever thought that a young lady from Kurdistan would be popular in the Arab world through a Reality TV show.
Parwas Hussein was the only Kurdish Iraqi Contestant that made it to MBC’s Arab Idol “Pop Idol Arabic version” when she does not speak Arabic fluently. She made to the quarter finals in Arab Idol and lost. “Tough to compete with other contestants with their strong voices in that stage”

Singing in Beirut while wearing Kurdish traditional dress

Of course it was a clever thing from the Arab Idol producers and the MBC to accept Parwas , they did not have to accept someone who is not fluent in Arabic to become the Arab Idol but for sure politics play a role here. This year was the first time Arab Idol would include Kurdistan.
The young wife and mother made it and earned the love of the viewers all over the Arab world and she had to. Her voice is nice and young with beautiful young face. She had a cheerful charisma that made viewers like her despite the language and cultural barriers as well political conflicts.
Hussein made it regularly for the viewers in the Arab world to listen to Kurdish language and even to hear Kurdish songs in the beginning of the show. I do not think that she made to that stage with the votes of the Iraqis and Kurds only when I think about it.
Here was Prawas singing some Kurdish folk song while wearing a Kurdish traditional dress.

Singing in Kurdish

Another thing I liked about her during the show was her attempts to sing in Arabic. Of course I think it was bold thing from her to do. She even sang for Um Kulthum , a thing that not so many people can do in a live show.

P sings a Thuma song

I am not a reality TV show fan but I love how through this show Arabs knew that the Kurds are normal people and not villains and how Kurds watched the show and listened to the Arab songs to support their representative.
This is how things should be and how ethnic minorities should be invited to be included in the society. What I liked about P was how she celebrated her nation’s culture in pride in one of the most watched reality TV shows in the Arab world. We should not be afraid from including ethnic’s cultures in to our mainstream cultures whether our Arabic cultures or our nations’ cultures. I believe these sub cultures and ethnic cultures actually enriches our Arab/National culture and make it stronger with its diversity.
I do not know if the producers of MBC’s Arab Idol understand what they have done or not but they managed to break the ice for real through Kurdistan and the Arabs through Parwas Hussein. I just wish that after breaking the ice , there will be bridges to mend the gap made from a very long time ago. This is the true soft public diplomacy.
Amazingly from what I see the foreign media was focusing on Mohamed Assaf, the popular Arab Idol Contestant from Palestine and did not pay to attention to that young lady from Kurdistan.
Parwas Hussein did not lose , in fact I believe she won a lot of popularity whether in the Arab world or Iraq or Kurdistan. She also made something politicians failed and it is more significant than being the Arab idol.
Here is the official Parwas’ official FB page.

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After the Jews of Egypt , Watch The Italians of Egypt

Just like Jewish community in Egypt , there was big Italian community in Egypt prior 1952. The community found a place in Egypt since 19th century.Spot 1 and Al Jazeera Documentary decide to explore the history of this community.

The Italians of Egypt_trailer from SPOT1.TV on Vimeo.

When I think about it Egypt was much tolerant and open to the other with its cosmopolitan nature past more than today despite in the past we did not have many educated people like now.

I know that we are paying the price of the wrong nationalism policies adopted in 1960s and have been used since then by our presidents. These nationalism policies turned in to ugly chauvinism.

The documentary was already screened earlier this year and according to its official Facebook page its DVD in Italian is available in Europe. I would like to see the documentary so I will search if there are other versions translated in to English or Arabic.

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Happy Easter 2013

Happy Easter to all those celebrating it all over the world today especially in Egypt and Syria.
This amazing cartoon by Doaa El Adl summarizes everything I want to say. It is answer on all those who are saying we should not say Happy Easter to Christians.

 And so Happy Easter ,Happy Easter , Happy Easter 

So Happy Easter and things hopefully insh Allah will be better next year.
 

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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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How To Start a Sectarian Crisis : Search For Ignorance And Lack of state !!

Now it turns that those who are responsible for the sectarian clashes in El Khousos that led to the death of not less than 6 another round of sectarian clashes in Abbasiya and death of another 2 are two Muslim kids . Yes Muslim kids !!

Ahmed “12 years old” and Saleh”13 years old” were the one who drew the Swastika on the Religious Islamic Azhar institute ‘This was how it started’. The two kids drew the Swastika and wrote their names besides it. They say that they do not know what it really meant. Indeed their names were beside the Swastika with the same color yet nobody paid attention or may be it was only trigger for the anger in the small poor city to explode.

Journalists including dear friends attempting to find the truth went there and found out that there were some kind of sectarian tensions in the area that could have been resolved if there is a true state of law.

Muslims complain that a Christian man from a big family owns the gas cylinder distribution warehouse and they suspected that he was favoring the Christians over the Muslims when it comes to gas cylinders in time of shortage.

Egypt now suffers extreme gas problem and the working poor class is the one that harmed mostly.

They also found out that there was a Muslim man who was harassing Christian lady from a big family there from several months and that the Christian family has not forgotten that yet.

Moving to the Shocking video that spread last Tuesday. Well it turned to be an old video that goes back to year 2009 indeed specifically in the city of Farshout ,Qena.

The infamous sectarian clashes in Farshout  in November and December 2009 sparked when a Christian man was accused of raping a 12 years Muslim girl. This incident led to clashes and displacements of several Christian families. It turned out that members of the girl’s family “or clan if we are speaking in Upper Egyptian term” wanted revenge and waited for Christian women to come out of Church there to attack them barbarically like in attempt to avenge for the girl in the most disgusting way.

Already I know two journalists from there who witnessed the whole thing including a Christian one. .

Whether it is old or new video I believe that those attackers should presented to justice but unfortunately we are speaking about the lawless Upper Egypt.

Now I must say and hint out that many Egyptian Christians were the ones who exposed that this video was old one and that it was extremely alarming to have it now.

I think it will be a sign of end of days when Upper Egypt gives up its tribal clan laws for the state of law for real !!!

If you search deeper you will not find religion is not the problem here as much the lack of the state of law and justice with the spread of ignorance and poverty that produce hatred towards other.

Now speaking about sectarianism for real I think the Muslim brotherhood should do something about their youth who ask people whether they are in favor of searching churches for arms. I also wonder why few days prior to the clashes in Khousos we find Pro-MB figures and members on twitter launching the hashtag of “#Church_Militias” in Arabic on twitter.

I want a real explanation on why the MB members and not leading figures speaking to foreign media responsible for Ikhwan Web speak like that.

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The Shocking Video of the day : What I knew

Do you know when you see a video in the beginning of the day that turns you off for the rest of the day !? This is what happened to me today when I started my day watching a clip showing girls stripped from cloth and on the verge of rape in daytime while men are shouting "Allah Akbar" and "Christians, Christians"
It is terrifying video , shocking one on too many levels. For a girl regardless her religion to face those creatures in daytime while the whole world is watching.For Egyptian I am so disgusted and angry from our men while they would watch such act in front of their eyes.
 For a Muslim to see those bastards that should be hanged according to Islamic laws doing this while screaming "Allah Akbar". I am furious
Anyhow as part of my job and part of myself I began to dig for the truth behind the video and thank God I have a friend from Qena with lots of contact in Nag Hammadi. The first description mentioned below the video claimed that it was filmed in Nag Hammadi. He contacted Bishop Kirollos , the head of Nag Hammadi Bishopric and he denied completely that a similar case took place in Nag Hammadi or its surrounding villages. Bishop Kirollos is known for being outspoken and he was not silent on incidents against Christians.
Some believed that it was an old video from 2009 during sectarian fights in another city , the city of Farshout.
It is worth to mention that the first person to upload that video today was James Knowing ,now the video is removed and his channel does not exist anymore. There is very empty Google + profile for Knowing.

Before closing the channel

His only contact is SickOfThisCrap who is sharing the video. Sick of this crap from the States hates Islam and Muslims to the end of that talk. Of course the video is like a treasure for him.

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Will There Be A Civil War Between Muslims and Christians ? Send to us the answer in SMS !!!

What you read in the headline has been actually aired in the news bar in the Hafez TV channel last night.

In the news bar "by Mohamed Ali"

For hours on air the infamous so-called Islamist channel "It is insult to Islam more than anything" published an important question and asked its viewers to send their answers.

"Will there be a civil war between Muslims and Christians !?" Please send your SMS on 94172 

Seriously !? Civil war !?
It is worth to mention the CEO of the channel and its main host Atef Abdel Rashid was invited and seated beside the minister of information last week in that conference about media's freedom and future in Egypt.
Is not this incitement !?? Is not this a direct danger on the so-called social peace and National security !!?

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#Abassiya3 : Playing with Fire again and Again

Just from moments ago it was announced that Mahrous Henna Ibrahim passed away in Damdrush hospital. Ibrahim was injured in his neck. He was shot allegedly by live ammunition. He passed away at the ER.
Wassfey was shot in his neck while covering the funeral of the Khosous Christian victims at Saint Mark Cathedral in Abassiya earlier today. You probably know that there were sectarian violent clashes between Muslims and Christians in Al Khosous town in Qalyubia governorate on Saturday that resulted in 9 fatalities from both sides.
Update : There is another fatality announced in Abassiya clashes according to the ministry of health. The second fatality was not identified !! The injured are over the 80 
The MOI on the other hand announced that its injured have reached to 25 !! The MOI also announced that it arrested 11 during the clashes. 
The ambulance authority stated that there are about 21 injured in the clashes. OF course unofficially there is a field hospital inside the Cathedral.
I will not go in to much details but today was supposed to be the funeral of the Christian victims “6 Victims”. The day started peaceful sad one at the Saint Marks Cathedral , the HQ of the Egyptian Coptic Church papacy itself. According to the activists who attended the funeral there were not too many mourners like in Maspero massacre funeral.
After the funeral procession began to move the people suddenly found the angry people attacking them clashes with rocks and Molotov cocktails from side streets then the security forces entered and hell broke loose for real. The Christians were forced back to the Cathedral and security forces showered the area with tear gases as the same time those so-called unknown attackers who were not stopped by the security forces as we have seen on TV screens for hours.
The newspapers and TV channels showed young men with arms and rocks on the roofs buildings including the cathedral in a nasty street fight.
It is worth to mention that the first Ministry of interior’s statement blamed the mourners in the funeral and claimed that they started the fight.
The so-called Islamists on twitter say that the Christians were chanting inside the church chants against Islam , the president and MB as well chants saying Egypt is originally Coptic on TV and that this is what allegedly provoked the Muslim locals of Abassiya.
The thing for sure is that the angry mourners in the church and the funeral chanted against Morsi and the Muslim brotherhood.
I have not seen the chants or the funeral itself as I have been sick all morning. I followed it through twitter.Of course from what I see from photos and eye witnesses the locals are more like thugs with handmade guns. Already I wonder how many of them watched ONTV Live and CTV as well Christian TV channels
Today the security forces threw tear gases inside the cathedral.Today according eye witnesses, according to live broadcast of TV channels the security forces from police did nothing except watching those so-called unknown assailants
There are hundreds of Egyptian Christians inside the Cathedral , many of them are women and children as today is Sunday. From what I understood many families are staying now in the Cathedral’s theater for safety reasons singing hymns asking for protection. 
It seems that Abassiya will have bad reputation after three major clashes with others starting with Revolutionary protesters then
Ironically in the past Abassiya was a cosmopolitan area full of Egyptians, Arabs and foreigners as well Muslims , Christians and Jews with too sects living peacefully. Again this in the past. There is no doubt after three clashes the locals played a vital role in beating the other if not killing him, we have to wonder about why the locals of Abassiya allow this to happen in their area.
I will not jump in to the wagon of conspiracy theories and start the game blame , I see clearly that police and the ministry of interior are directly responsible for this disaster, for this fire.
Of course I can not ignore how some mainly from the Islamists are playing with fire for days now. Since April 3, 2013 so-called Islamist tweeps like Abdel Rahman Ezz launched a Hashtag about the #Church_Militia.
Now these Islamists like Ezz are accusing the Christians of accusing these tensions to affect the visit of the EU officials today to Cairo. These Islamists are the supporters of Morsi and the members of the Muslim brotherhood.
President Morsi as usual called the Pope from short time ago according to the Presidency where he assured him that he does not accept these attacks and he ordered the fast investigations to arrest those attackers.

Any attack on the cathedral is an attack on me personally !!

Morsi told Pope that !! I wonder what the supporters of Morsi will think about that !!
Mr. President Please check your supporters because they are sectarian seriously speaking and will not hesitate in starting a civil sectarian war in Egypt
Here is the storify report with all the updates and photos. I have to apologize because I have been sick all day.

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“Jews of Egypt” in Cinemas now

This is a belated post but “Jews of Egypt” is now in cinemas. Oh Yes it got the approval from the Homeland security , it seems that the noise was good after all. The Homeland security had stopped its screening at first despite it got an approval from the ministry of culture.

“Jews of Egypt” is now screened in three cinemas “Renaissance Cinemas” in Nile City, Sun City and San Stefano malls” in Cairo and in Alexandria.

Several friends went and they think the documentary is really interesting and important. By the way this is the second documentary to be screened commercially in Egypt and I believe this experience means we got a growing market for documentaries. Of course cinemas owners are still not encouraged but may be if there is enough media exposure and people show interest “especially the young viewers”

By the way Amir Ramsis and his film are now being accused by Pan Arab media like Al Quds El Arabi newspaper of promoting for the neutralization with Israel. Well it is not about neutralization but rather to put the spot light on some of our dark unknown history.

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#Libya and #Egypt : The Silent Crisis

The famous silent man from Tahrir spoke about it

We are facing hard times when it comes to the Egyptian Libyan relations unlike what we have imagined especially in the past two weeks.
The Egyptians especially the Egyptian Christians are extremely angry from Libyans for the murder of Ezzat Attallah in Libya. Upper Egyptian Attallah was arrested in Libya for the suspicion of spreading Christianity. After couple of days of his detention along with other Egyptian Christians , he died."The image on the right : The famous silent man from Tahrir square received the body of Ezzat in Cairo airport with this message 'Ezzat do not be sad , Mohamed will bring back your rights' "
According to the family of late Attallah , he was tortured till death. His wife claims that she took photos for his body with signs of torture.His family is saying that he was not promoting Christianity and that he was his only relation to those Christians arrested there that the authorities there found his contact number in one of the detainees’ mobile phone if I understand correctly. Attallah used to own mobile repair shop in Libya. 
Egyptian Christians protested angrily for two days in a row at Libyan embassy in Zamalek area in Cairo last week. Some of them burned the Libyan flag in anger. Then Libyans became angry too after knowing that their flag  was burned in Cairo torched an Egyptian Church in Benghazi on Thursday.
There are still Egyptian Christians detained in Libya and those who were released from them and return back home are speaking about horrors they witnessed during custody.
Of course you will wonder where the Egyptian government is from all this , well unfortunately the Presidency is not keen to send the president’s aide for  foreign affairs Essam El Hadad nor the head of the intelligence as it had done with the MB detainees in UAE. The ministry of foreign affairs in Egypt issued couple of very small statements about the incidents claiming that it was following the matter with its Libyan counterpart..etc.
Now you can feel that there is a crisis between Egypt and Libya , people are witnessing its signs and I think the case of Attallah will inflame the crisis more and more.
The original crisis has to do with the fact that Egypt hosts some of the former Qaddafi regime members including Qaddaf El Dam. The new rulers of Libya do not buy that he defected and so on. Now the government of Libya does not want Qaddaf El Dam and other Qaddafi’s regime members and supporters from big families in Egypt alone but rather want to restore back their assets and investments in Egypt.
The Libyan assets and investments in Egypt are big , not small to the level that they can affect the Egyptian economy now especially in our current disastrous status as I have been told by trusted sources.
Another part of the crisis is the fact Libya has been the main source of arms that are flooding the country .
I do not know if the Egyptian intelligence is still holding the Libyan file like in the days of Omar Suleiman or not but I know that the Presidency is not doing its part as it should whether to seek the rights of those citizens allegedly tortured or to solve that dilemma of Qaddafi supporters or even.
I once heard a real strategic analyst saying that the real challenge for Egypt will not come from the East this time but rather from the West.
As usual Morsi’s administration fails to stand up for this challenge as it should and yes it is the responsibility of Morsi whether you like or not.
I know it is ironic as people believed that with the Islamists in charge in both in Egypt and Libya things will be great and our borders will be opened but what you know !!

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Homeland security bans “Jews of #Egypt ”

Do You remember that documentary “Jews of Egypt” ??
This ambitious interesting documentary was going to be the second Egyptian documentary to be screened commercially in Egyptian selected cinemas. Its official release was supposed to be tonight but just as we are waiting for its release we found out that it was banned.

 Yes it was banned from screening in Egypt officially despite it was approved by the Censorship bureau following the ministry of Culture. The film was banned by the Homeland Security previously known as State security.
The documentary film maker Amir Ramsis spoke about the matter on his Facebook page.

Ramsis' FB Page

The film’s producer Haitham Khamis also showed the approvals of the Censorship bureau on his Facebook page as well.
Here is the documentary’s English trailer.

“Jews of Egypt” trailer

I think Ramsis should air the documentary on TV channels for free , let the whole world watches it.
By the way ironically at the same time we found out that the Muslim brotherhood got a film production company called “Cinema Al Nahda” and it is going to screen its first production ever “The Report” { a social drama} in the Arts academy !! The Arts academy is owned by the State.

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Samira Ibrahim and Twitter Saga

I waited all that time before I would speak about Samira Ibrahim and her twitter saga. I waited till she would return back to Egypt and tell her own version of the story. Tonight she appeared on ONTV’s Manshet TV show to speak about what happened.
If you do not know what I am talking , I think this post from NYT’s the Lede sums everything up.
Now after returning back to homeland, Samira Ibrahim said on TV that she made a mistake to accept this award without reading more about it and that the Zionist lobby and department of State wanted her to apology for her comments and speak well about Israel but she refused.

Samira poster form Getty

Unfortunately Mr. Gaber El Armouty did not ask her about her tweets specifically about the 9/11 tweet or tweets about Jews before she would speak about Zionism to the end of that talk. He did not ask her whether her account was hacked or not and why she claimed that her account was hacked and that those tweets were not hers as she told the department of State and announced on her tweet.He did not ask her why she would accept an award from the States when she feels happy about 9/11.
It is not the first time Samira’s tweets cause controversy. Several times we find shocking tweets from her account regarding Egypt and whenever anyone speaks about the matter some activists claim that she is not administrating this twitter account nor does she blog in her blog. Indeed sometimes I feel that someone else writes in her blog
Needless to say many people unfollowed her on twitter from several months ago due to her tweets.
Look Samira did a huge thing ; she stood for her rights against the most powerful institution in Egypt. We will not forget her role and the other girls from 9 March 2011’s virginity tests to stop this disgusting procedure in Egypt.
Still unfortunately Samira is not a real political activist as some positioned her to be in the media. Samira is a very simple girl from Upper Egypt that found herself in the center of the world. She was the first Egyptian woman to be featured in the Time magazine 100 person of the year for God sake. Yet unfortunately some pushed her to play a role bigger in the media than she could handle. Activism comes with responsibility and respect as well honesty before other any other thing.
Samira is lured like many famous faces in the revolution by the media and attention sadly enough media lights burn people. I am afraid that she is not the first and will not be the last from the revolution faces that will face this.
You will be surprised about how both the Islamists and Pro-SCAF/Mubarak supporters were so happy for what happened to her back in Cairo. The Islamists do not like Samira Ibrahim anymore because she attacks them and President Morsi day and night. Of course the Pro-SCAF/Mubarak supporters used what happen to discredit her as a victim for the virginity tests in the first place.
It is not about her political views as much her contradicting behavior on how she accepts an award from a country she was celebrating its worst moments and how she claimed that her twitter account was hacked while it seems that it was not. It is about that tweet speaking about Egyptian Copts and then speaking about Zionist lobby. Yes the Right wingers in the States were angry so are the rest of the Americans who are offended by the 9/11 tweet and yes the Jewish lobby is angry too. No one can deny this.
Unfortunately Samira Ibrahim hurt herself , her image and her creditably with what happened or not and I am sorry to say those who surround her do not help her instead they are harming her a lot.
I know I will be attacked a lot but seriously I can not keep it anymore.

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The Shiites are coming , The Shiites Are Coming

Ahmedinajed

I had enough of that new hysteria of media in the middle of the daily madness we face in Egypt nowadays. That hysteria simply revolves about the visit of the minister of tourism Hisham Zaazou to Iran.
The man went to open new market for Egypt in Iran , it is a great opportunity especially in those extreme bad economic and tourism times. We should be thankful  but instead there are hysteria and fear from those future Iranian tourists.
The Islamists are extremely angry from Zaazou’s visit and believe the Iranian tourists will spread Shiism in Egypt and the Salafists are screaming to Morsi “The Shiites are coming , the Shiites are coming” ordering him literality to stop that Shiite touristic invasion in Egypt otherwise they will stand against him till death !!
The liberals too are hysterical about these Iranian tourists as well. They think that brining the Iranian tourists will enforce the religious state in Egypt and that these tourists will be members of the Iranian regime in disguise who came to teach their Egyptian counterparts who control the state.. etc.
I do not know what kind of liberals they are to be honest.I feel that we are dealing here not with liberals but rather with Nationalists. No wonder the Egyptian liberals have failed the test and are not defending the rights of those fellow Egyptian Shiites as they do with the Christians and even the Baha’is.
Already Turkey , the role model of the Muslim brotherhood and its biggest alley after Qatar receives not less than 2 million Iranian tourist annually. I do not see that Turkey has turned in to a Shiite state or even Iranian follower in the region !!
The Iranian tourists will not transfer the Iranian Islamic republic experience but they will bring money. You need money now. For God sake Israeli tourists come and go freely in South Sinai for decades and people are hysterical about future Iranian tourists.
If we are speaking about true Religious tourism in Egypt : Two main target segments should be reached and they are the Christians and the Muslim Shiites. The trip of the Holy family in Egypt and the Holy sites of Ahl El Bayt in Cairo are the main attractions. Of course this can be achieved if you are tolerant enough as a society which is not the case especially now with all that sick polarization and hate.
Needless to say to see this hysteria from those Iranian tourists who have not shown yet in Cairo , I can not stop thinking about Egyptian Shiites. Egypt’s forgotten and less popular Muslims who are destined to face hell whether in time of Mubarak or in time of Morsi. 
It was one of the most ironic moments last month when Sheikh of Al Azhar Ahmed El Tayib actually stood besides Ahmadinejad demanding him to give the Iranian Sunnis and Ahvaz their rights where as he himself , an Egyptian official does not recognize any rights for Egyptian Shiites at all !!
Sheikh Ahmed El Tayib already forgot that the current Constitution approved actually does not recognize Egyptian Muslim Shiites at all. It clearly states in article 219 which was highlighted by human rights organizations that only the Sunni Islamic doctrines are recognized by the Egyptian State as sources of legalization.¹
Yes we got Egyptian Shiite population in Egypt and they will not go any where or disappear as they are Egyptians like you and me. According to foreign estimations there are nearly 1% of Egyptian Muslim population and some think that it is more than that as some Sunni Egyptian Muslims do convert from time to time.
I have done some extensive research about Egyptian Shiites and I found out that like any other group you will find the liberal , the religious extremist and the nationalists among them.They are not monsters who are serving some hidden Iranian agenda. Some of them served in their country’s army including veterans who fought in 1973. They are everywhere from Alexandria to Aswan. Some of them if not most of them hide their true religious faith to avoid trouble. In the end they are Egyptians who are in desperate need to feel that they are not alien or dangerous clandestine society. They are Egyptians who are seeking the rights of full citizenship. 
Unfortunately only in times of moderation and enlightenment you will find attempts to bridge that gap between Sunni and Shiite and unfortunately we live in times of radicalizations whether in Egypt or Iran or in general. People forget that for centuries Egypt had been ruled by Shiite dynasty that founded our Capital “Cairo” and our great mosque “Al Azhar” in some of history’s biggest ironies if you think about it.
The Egyptian Shiites file is extremely big and sad as it does not deal only with regional politics but with sad sectarian religious wrong ideas.
Anyhow I will end my short post with something I heard from one of the top and controversial Shiite figures in Egypt : We have faith in the Egyptians , the real Egyptians who are not radical but moderate non Sectarian Egyptians”
Notes
1. Explanatory article for the second in the Egyptian constitution.

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