Egypt

Egypt anger over 1967 'massacre'

2007-03-06T03:52:00.001-08:00

Well, last week Israel's TV1 was showing a documentary movie about Ruach HaShakid (Spirit of the Shakid), the Israeli army unit lead by Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the current minister of infrastructure during the six days war in 1967 that resulted in Israeli invasion of Sinai (Egypt), Golan Heights (Syria) and West Bank and East Jerusalem (Jordan). The documentary showed interviews with some people who served in that unit, and they were saying that they feel guilt for killing 250 unarmed Egyptian soldiers who were surrendering and having their arms up high in the air, when they got an order from their commander at that time, Ben-Eliezer, to open fire against the Geneva's claimed to be POWs, waiving against all Human Rights and international treaties. Some of those ex-soldiers admitted that they feel sorry for doing such thing, as by that time they were still young dudes, driven by youth-spirit and if time goes back they will never do such thing again. Despite that the soldiers who committed that crime themselves were interviewed in this movie and they were talking about it, but the minister guy was "defending" himself by saying that those soldiers were not actually Egyptians, but they were Palestinians.......funny, isn't it?

While showing this documentary sparked anger in Egypt that led to canceling the Ben guy's visit to Egypt that was supposed to take place today, fearing that he may get arrested by Egyptian police for allegations as a war criminal. The sarcastic thing that yesterday's Egyptian people assembly's meeting has witnessed the first incident that the majority of PMs agreeing on something from NDP (the ruling party), opposition and MBs, which is starting international accusation of Israel in this case. At the same time, for people who would not know about the reality in Egypt, they might think that Egyptians were surprised from such incident as if it is not an Israeli habit, or as if it was the only incident, but actually people have forgotten about Madraset Bahr ElBakar massacre when during the six days war, the Israeli air forces bombed a primary school in Delta killing hundreds of children, and a lot of other similar incidents.

Despite BBC's poll survey that just showed today that majority of people around the world sees Israel as on the top of the list of having negative influence on the world followed by Iran and the US, this incident sounds more funny than it seems. First of all, according to the report by Israel's Human Rights institution, they can not charge anybody from that Shakid's unit, as they already have a long list of people to be charged for war crimes starting from the top of the country's government till soldiers. The other thing is that, unsurprisingly, Israel is not part of the Hague's International Justice Court!! which means that whatever war crimes are committed in this country, it will always stay as an internal issue.

Politics

2007-03-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well, one of our problem in Egypt, that everybody is speaking about different topics like; politics, sports, problems of the country, even problems of other countries, wars in mid-east and others, and similar topics, as if the whole nation are 70M presidents, 70M FMs, 70M football managers, 70M army generals, 70M leaders. God has created this nation out of brilliant people who knows.....not just knows, but they are "professionals" in every aspect that they start thinking about different strategies in all aspects, and this is exactly is the country's problem!! I mean of course it is good to have people who are aware about the country politics and other things, but when people sitting in cafes or 2ahwas who start speaking in such way, that you feel like turning to one of them and asking about how their son is doing, or how they are managing their houses, or even if they have a financial plan for saving......but you always feel that such people can not even do regular maintenance for their cars, can not raise their children in a proper way. They only "think" that they can manage the country, the region and the whole world!!

As any child in Egypt, I started talking about politics and government from an early age (may be 8 years old!!). BUT, after being myself in some situations that made me realise that most of what people say is just B**ls**t, I tried to look at points from a different angle than what almost 95% of Egyptians are looking from, and I discovered a different Egypt than what people see.

Anyway, I want to say that despite political systems are sophisticated as the proper ones are developed in a combination of the culture, traditions, and the ideologies of the nation. Meaning that a system that can work perfectly in a country, should not get success in another, but actually, it can be a terrific failure in other countries.

Freedom of Speech in Egypt

2007-02-27T03:29:00.000-08:00

Last week, we have seen in the news the verdict for the Egyptian blogger to be sentenced for 4 years. One year for insulting the president, and three years for disdaining religions.
I know that there are a lot of Egyptians who are already talking about such things and criticising the government for several issues, but believe me if Egypt become Utopia, or heaven on earth, Egyptians will still criticise the government for ....... (we will come up with any reason to do so, and we are so good in it). The proof on such thing, that in Egyptian perception, every problem that happens in the country is because of the government, every problem that happens in the region is because of Israel, and every problem that happens in the world is because of either US or Jews (depending on which is easier to find a link to). It is one of our major problems in the country, passing the cause of our problems onto "others". Few years ago, there was a big case about importing expired Babies milk, when everybody accused the importers on being corrupted and spying for Israel, because they have known that it was expired, and they import it from a Jewish company, with an intention to spread diseases among Egyptian children. The link for such story was the increasing numbers of Children's cancer in Egypt!!
Another story was a little bit older (early nineties) when some agricultural deals with Israel were signed to exchange plants seeds between the two countries. One of the types of seeds were for cantaloupe, when people started accusing Israel for intending to spoil Egyptian fertile farms, mentioning that such seeds corrupt the soil after planting them for one time, and that farms cannot be farmed after then for 10 years!!

Back to last week's story. Every country has its own laws that may look stupid or weird for other countries, but this is how it goes. One of those points in the Egyptian law is "Disdaining religions" which is considered as a major crime. I mean by disdaining religions, insulting monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism), which is highly prohibited in Egypt were verdicts for such crime can reach life sentence!! Another point in the law is "deformation of people" and not only public characters, meaning that if you are my neighbor and I am nobody important in the society, and you insult me (for example in a magazine, newspaper, or even just telling me bad words), it is of my right to sue you, and then you will be paying a huge fine (depending on the harm).
BUT, insulting the president is a different crime, which its sentence can reach to 10 years!! And for your information, this point in law is similar to almost all countries, I mean it is there in countries like Netherlands and the UK (insulting the queen or the royal family), or Poland (insulting the president).
So, I still do not understand what is the reason behind that all international media and newspapers starting a fierce campaign against Egypt for the verdict against the blogger, while the guy should got sentenced to at least 20 years in the prison!! Just bear in mind that Egypt is a different country with its own LAWS!!

Insurgency Station Shut Down

2007-02-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

I had heard lots of rumors about this being on-air, but I never got the chance to check it out.

"Egypt has stopped the transmission of a private Iraqi TV station which glorifies the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. The United States has privately asked the Egyptian authorities to stop al-Zawraa which is carried on Nilesat, a government-owned TV satellite.

Al-Zawraa broadcasts from a secret location. Its owner is a former Iraqi MP who now lives in Syria.

The channel shows footage of attacks by Sunni groups against US and Iraqi forces. It also shows images of bloody and mutilated bodies of women and children which it identifies as Sunnis killed by US soldiers and Shia militiamen.

The Iraqi authorities shut down al-Zawraa's offices in Baghdad last November, accusing it of inciting hatred and instigating violence, but Mr Jaburi said his channel condemned equally all attacks against civilians."

From BBC World.

A bombing plot in South Sinai was foiled

2007-02-22T04:27:00.000-08:00

Few hours ago, the Egyptian security forces foiled a plot for bomb suiciding in a Southern Sinai resort that a lot of Israeli tourists visit frequently. The three detained terrorists are palestinians, the first guy was captured at one of the secret underground tunnels at the Egyptian Israeli borders, and by interrogation, he told the security forces about the rest of the palestinian group at Rafah (Northern Sinai city).

For Arabic readers.

Crackdown

2007-02-22T03:52:00.000-08:00

The infamous saga of a jailed Egyptian blogger finally culminated into a four-year prison sentence:

"Abdel Kareem Nabil's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt.
He had used his weblog to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, the al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator."

"A human rights group called the verdict "very tough" and a "strong message" to Egypt's many thousands of bloggers."

How severe of an effect this will have on free speech here--particularly within media circles--is soon to be seen.

Everyone has a place here

2007-02-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

I technichally should be going through some intense culture shock right now, especially with being sick and all. But I'm still loving Cairo and all it's crazy faults. So come visit me, I'm serious. I can pretty much guarantee the best few days of your life so far. So far my Dad's confirmed, and Andrew from HK should be heading out here soon. Beth? There's an unlimited amount of cheap non-spicy food. Liz? The percentage of annoying hipsters is far far less than Madison. Jenks? You better come. AIESEC people? Jesus Christ, this place is the epicenter of AIESEC. HK people? Andrew's coming in March, lets make it a reunion. Birthright people? Probably not the most obvious destination... but I can guarantee you won't notice a drop of anti-semitism and camel-riding is far more exciting with the Pyramids as your backdrop. Music committee people? The music scene here is a little bland, but if you bring Max it's guaranteed non-stop entertainment! Emmy? Brink Mikele! Karen? Cairo is the capitol of unironic MIDI appreciation! (Danny)

Egypt is a place where people come together. Now you've heard it from someone other than me.

Egypt vs. Arabs

2007-02-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

Although that this has been one of the most complicated controversial discussions lately in Egypt, but there are a big some of Egyptians (including me) who would claim the difference between the Egyptian race and the Arab one. There are different points that make a good basis for such claim, mainly because Egypt and Arab states has different history, background and culture.
Even Egyptians who are claiming against that, back in their minds they believe that we are not Arabs; for example when we meet some Egyptian Bedouins (who are supposed to be Egyptians just because they are living in Egypt) we call them "Arabs"!!
The people who would base their counter-claim upon the fact that Egypt's official name is "Arab Republic of Egypt", would better know that at the time that this name was given to Egypt, was Nasser's time, who was aiming at convincing the Arabs and middle-easterns in general to choose him as their leader (who to an extent succeeded in that) but it was only for political reasons and no more, and later on when Sadat (the former president) made the peace treaty with Israel which resulted in kicking Egypt out of Arab League (which was created by Egypt), he made some comments against Arab like (el-3arab garab wel masreyeen fara3na) which I would never translate to English, but anyway, means that we are different than the Arabs.

Wikipedia - Egypt

2007-02-16T08:21:00.000-08:00

This may sound silly, but actually I have never thought before of wikipedia-ing Egypt before, till I start getting lately loads of Qs about my home country. I was searching for one piece of information when I accidentally opened Egypt's page and turned out to be one of the very few online resources that gives REAL and very interesting information about the country.

Let's keep that blog rockin'

New Realm

2007-02-14T01:42:00.000-08:00

My first post on this page. Considering the expansive nomadlife network in Egypt, and the fact that IPM commences this weeked at Aid al-Soukna, we should be able to fill up this space with some vibrant discourse and FYIs. I'd like to see it expand beyond news clips and commentaries relevant to Egyptian current events and bring in discussions pertaining to individuals' personal experiences, perspectives on culture, the "Salaam" phenomenon, etc.

Let's see if we can get this ball rollin'.

One more time?

2007-02-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

We're going to try to get this going again. Dandy.

more protests, and a call for contribution

2006-05-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Iron Grip continues. May this internal revolution continue. Funny how the US Government focuses all its energy on revolutionizing countries that aren't necessarily ready, yet here Egyptian people struggle for freedom. I would propose we help the people already fighting to create their own change.

And also, let this be a call for contributions. Should you wish to contribute to this community, email mixmasterAT nomadlife DOT org

If I get one response, first round's on me.

Back in the Game

2006-05-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm going to give the old college try to keep this thing going with the occasional relevant tidbit of info in the World of Egypt.
They recently arrested a blogger for "insulting the president." You can follow more of the story here. What's a bit amazing is they were able to organize a protest in DC around the issue. In other news, emergency law was extended for another two years (so much for Mubarak's campaign claims) and the DNP continues to fuck the country in the ass.

Tomorrow will be a day for uplifting news.

nomadfest: egypt

2005-12-12T02:18:00.000-08:00

23 people attending (4 exclusive fly-ins, possibly more)
11 girls
12 boys

This will be the best ratio of any New Year's party in Egypt, and people are still signing up.

Don't Forget

2005-11-28T04:23:00.000-08:00

Exalted Party
Originally uploaded by Mix Master.

If we can laugh about it, can we talk about it?

2005-09-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Take a look at Egypt's new way at dealing with reality.

But when you think about it, its the old way, humor. Now, the question is, can they actually talk about it and make a change....or is it the same old thing on both sides?

The Embassy is in the Building

Democracy 101

2005-08-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

An analysis of how superficial the Egypt 2005 are, predicts that the superficially will have many cultural and social implications in Egypt. Tarek Atia wonders: while everyone seems to think this stage-managed show is being done for the benefit of the outside world, could it also be to the local audience's benefit as well?

As an Egyptian seeing this gong-show from overseas t is very hard to realize the implications in the Egyptian society. Yet, just reading some blogs from Cairo make me realize how much impact this superficial election has had on society. In my 19 years in Egypt had never seen individuals speaking publicly about their plans to demonstrate let alone publish it on the internet.

Even talking to several of my friends, who were a prime example of political apathy, in Cairo, I have started realizing how much their interest in local politics and their desire to see change has surfaced up. They have become proactive in their work to see their vision of their country come true. I dont know whether Mubarak was forced into this or not, I know that dont agree with many of his policies. But definitely 2005 is going to be a year remembered in Egyptian history as the one that the apathy has decreased, public debate has started. It is a small step in the right direction.

Chef!

a nomadic gathering

2005-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

As it would be, there will be a glorious celebratory event held later this year. First 50 tickets get body shots off Allah!
Follow it here.

Miracle Beach - Marsa Matruh

2005-07-31T02:27:00.000-07:00

Miracle Beach
Originally uploaded by Mix Master.

If you seek something off the path and away from the masses, yet still stunning, this is the place to go. I haven't been to Sinai yet, but this will be hard to beat.

Politics

2005-07-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Mubarak will run for president again. In other news, the grass is green.

In case you've never seen it

2005-07-27T00:51:00.000-07:00

Sand dunes in the desert around Siwa
Originally uploaded by Mix Master.

This is the desert in western Egypt, outside of Siwa and about 50 - 100 km from the border of Libya. I forget the official name of the area.

Cafe

2005-07-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

In a cafe
Originally uploaded by Mix Master.

The cafe is the quintessential part of Egyptian social life. Whether lost or found, you will always be near a cafe and its glorious, savory wares. Tea, shisha, juice, and some dominos or cards is all you need to ride out the dark hours. Don't expect a variety of shisha flavors, most have just apple. My standard order goes as follows:
"Shisha tuffa wa shay koshri binana."
(Apple shisha and real tea with mint). If you don't say "koshri" you get the liptons tea packet crap, which I think is lame. Not all places have real tea, but this increases your chances of organic success. Now sit back, relax, and have some conversation. At the end, pay three pounds max, two for a shisha and one for tea.

From a trainee apartment

2005-07-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Nile.

Beefing up the home security

2005-07-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

Editing of this blog is open to anyone with an interest in Egypt.

To all the Pharaohs out there

2005-07-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Let your voices be heard.