Friday, January 31, 2014

And ElSisi Competes Abu Ismail in Posters yet Abu Ismail wins

Yesterday Egyptians woke up to find the posters of Field Marshal Abdel Fatah El Sisi all over main bridges and highways in Cairo and Giza especially on October bridge.

The posters had his famous picture with the lion in the background and phrases like “The people’s will” , “The Citizen’s sovereignty” or “Mr.Citizen” {I do not know what they mean here actually} , “Complete your path” and “People’s call”.
Those who hate the Field Marshal of course did not waste any time in vandalizing the ads.
To  be honest there is another potential candidate who got his ads over October bridge : Mr. Ahmed Mokhtar whom we do not know nothing about him in some irony. His posters are over October bridge near Heliopolis.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Links and Notes 01/29/2014

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

The Future That We do not want to see in #Egypt

Today was another round of Morsi trial saga where the ousted president shouted at the judge behind a glassed cage reminding him on he is and some defendants were found out to be dead in Gaza as well to be prisoners in the Israeli prisons for several years now before January 2011.
Still nothing captured my eyes in this trial except one picture or rather a scene that captured the eyes of photographers waiting outside the police academy where the trial is held.
By Mohamed Hossam
It is like the famous quote in George Orwell's 1984 "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human faceforever "
This girl is the future of Egypt and the military boat represents the military and you got El Sisi’s poster in the back.This is a future I do not want to see in Egypt. I do not think anyone with dignity and hope for this country would like to see this future or picture.

Monday, January 27, 2014

And #ElSisi For President 2014 is on

 And with in hours from promoting Abdel Fatah El Sisi to Field Marshal "Despite he did not lead the armed forces in any real war" , SCAF held its meeting to discuss matters like the situation in Sinai .. and El Sisi's presidential bid.
And from few moments ago SCAF announced that it delegated/mandated Field Marshal Abdel Fatah El Sisi in the upcoming presidential elections. Yes SCAF representing the Egyptian armed forces announced its political support to Abdel Fatah El Sisi as a president like any other political party !! They even voted for his support , you know like any high office in any political party.
Oh yes now El Sisi will run in some farce in front of couple of candidates in a decorative way in front of the world which knows now that it was a coup more than saving a growing democracy from a fascist religious group.
Already now the mainstream media whether press or radio or TV says President Abdel Fatah El Sisi already.
El Sisi has not resigned yet from his position by the way.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

#Jan25 : After the anniversary

And we are having the aftermath of the huge Sisi party last night and boy what a hang over. Another day , another live updates to keep up this ongoing tragedy.
We got over thousand arrested and not less than 49 killed last night. Today the saga continues and at least 3 soldiers were killed in ambush in Sinai. We got human rights and constitutional violations committed by the police. It is another day. 

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Meanwhile our Diplomats are kidnapped in #Libya

In case you do not know with all the drama we are having in the past 48 hours whether terrorist bombing or bloody anniversary and a helicopter that is blown up in Sinai  , we got 5 Egyptian diplomats kidnapped by Libyan militias.
Abu Obeida
Yes it started last night , in fact it started yesterday after the arrest of the Libyan Revolutionaries operations chamber head Sheikh Shaaban Heida in Alexandria. Shaaban Hedia aka Abu Obeida El Zawy is said to be connected to Al Qaeda. Of course he was arrested and is said to be accused of cooperating with MB. This is what we know from Libyan sources. 
After couple of hours of his arrest his militias which are connected to the GNC and stood behind the kidnap of the Libyan PM Ali Zidan last October , kidnapped the Egyptian administrative attaché from our embassy in Tripoli. Hours later another 4 diplomats including the cultural attaché Dr. El Halali and 3 administrative employees also from Tripoli “No security what so ever as it seems despite what happens in Libya especially after the attack on the US embassy in Libya”
The militia’s demand was clear since the first hour : The release of Abu Obeida.
Egypt evacuated its diplomatic commission in the past hours from Libya in some military plane.
Now the kidnappers released a photo for the kidnapped diplomats and let them speak on TV , on Al Arabiya TV channel demanding the release of Abu Obeida in the upcoming 24 hours.

#Jan25 : Third year anniversary

Here is coverage for the third anniversary of 25 January revolution. Today is a busy day where as most Egyptians are staying in their homes the pro-El Sisi supporters are allegedly celebrating the revolution where as they are demanding the general to run for presidency while the Pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters are allegedly celebrating the revolution where as they are actually demanding the reinstatement of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood rule.
Small groups of revolutionaries are also going to celebrate the revolution despite all the odds and arrests. It is tough day because Ansar Beit Al Maqids warned that they will bomb Cairo to the end of that talk.
Personally I feel stabbed this year , this is not our 25 January revolution nor our Tahrir. :)

Friday, January 24, 2014

And vloggers are more dangerous than terrorists in Egypt

 As if this day does not want to end , Egyptian filmmaker and vlogger Aalam Wassaf has not been arrested for no clear reason. This afternoon police searched his house downtown Cairo for three hours before he was arrested along with his Swiss friend Iris Ott. According to Khaled Abdullah , the founder of Mosireen the two are detained at Kasr Al Nil police station.  Updated at 12:28 AM both Aalam and Iris are released. It is unclear why they were detained. 
Alam Wasaf is a member in Mosireeen and has got his own satirical YouTube channel.
Also Do you remember the case of Ahmed Anwar , the Egyptian vlogger sued in 2013 by the ministry of interior for his clip criticizing the ministry in 2012 ??
Well guess what on Thursday he was sentenced 3 months in jail and a 10,000 LE fine for ““insulting the interior ministry” and “deliberately provoking others using the internet.” !! oh yes insulting the interior and provoking others using the internet according to Tanta’s Economic Misdemeanour Court. Anwar will appeal the court verdict.
Someone is scared from satire and 5 minutes clips as it seems. 
It seems to me that vloggers are more dangerous than terrorists in the eyes of the MOI which does not want to admit its failure in fighting terrorism for real and is trying to stalk the revolution youth in a way or another. 
By the way I think constitutionally people should be informed on why they arrested from their homes, at least this is what the new constitution says according to my knowledge.
Happy #Jan25 guys. 


#CairoExplosions:Question To be asked

The huge crate in front of Cairo security directorate
And Cairo woke up today on 3 bombings killing at least five and injuring dozens early morning in Cairo and Giza targetting security checkpoints and directorates. The biggest explosion is at Cairo security directorate.
The Cairo security directorate in the heart of Cairo was badly damaged along with the Islamic Museum.
That series of the explosions come 24 hours prior the 25 January revolution anniversary.
Some say Ansar Beit Al Maqdis claimed responsibility at their shady private twitter account while others use the own words of the Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters only that "we are going to have one hell of a week" to the end of that talk. 
The Muslim Brotherhood members are accusing the regime itself of standing behind the explosions to destroy the anniversary of 25 January and to stalk the remaining members of the brotherhood..etc
The TV channels now are full of commentators , strategic analysts and angry callers are asking the authorities ever woman,man and child of the Muslim Brotherhood as well to bomb Gaza..to the end of that talk. Of course those TV channels won't waste the opportunity and remind people on how Egyptians are in desperate need to elect General El Sisi as a president in order to conquer terrorism .. and the whole world and universe as well.
Amazingly after the horrible bombing at the Cairo Security directorate , we find dozens of citizens in the crime scene carrying the photos of both El Sisi and Ibrahim of interior cursing the brotherhood. Well you are going to fight terrorism for real if you start to treat the explosion site as a crime scene and stop turning it on a political theatre.
Now I got couple of questions :
Earlier this week we found the minister of interior Mohamed Ibrahim bragging proudly that "No one will dare and come close to any police station on 25 January like what happened 28 January 2011 other he will find .." and the MOI started sharing photos of police stations and checkpoints with rockets installed and big guns everywhere ,well the terrorists are telling Ibrahim one thing as I see it "In your face".

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Links and Notes 01/23/2014

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

#FreeAlaa : And this is sad message actually

Mona Seif published a message from her brother activist Alaa Abdel Fatah which he sent to her and her sister Sanaa from his detention at Torah prison.
Here is the English translation of the letter.

To Mona & Sanaa:

I miss you a lot, although I see you more when I'm in jail than when I'm free. Maybe because when I'm out of jail, I'm able to check up on you at any time and I'm able to follow and understand your news. When I'm
The chairs of absent Arabic bloggers including Alaa
in jail, we have to determine how we spend the limited time of your short visits, which news we talk about. We split up the time carefully and of course, I don’t end up having time to hear all the little things that make you Mona and Sanaa. Mona's fights on Twitter or the romantic phases she goes through, whether Sanaa watched  the latest Ahly match or her amusing stories that she inadvertently finds herself in.

This may be the hardest thing about being imprisoned, that someone else is controlling your time to this degree. To the point at which you are even deprived of the basic right to worry because I’m not going to know if Khaled came down with a cold until he gets better. That someone else is controlling the coinciding of our feelings. For example, the winter storm...I only heard about its extent after it ended. The whole country was talking about the snow for four days, but by the time you were able to see me, I was only able to tell you that we dealt with it and that we’re fine now; we weren’t able to even excitedly talk about how cold it had been.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

What Road of Democracy is that !?

I do not understand or comprehend those who are claiming that Egypt is on the right path of democracy and that soon enough we will be enjoying the fruits of that democracy.
I do not know what kind of democracy they are speaking about when people get arrested for campaigning “No” in the referendum and activists are hunted down by silly lawsuits and defamed badly in disgusting Non stopped media campaigns spreading hatred and ignorance. 
I do not know what kind of democracy they are speaking about when the mainstream media is trying by all its power to mold the public mind again in to that Presidential cult mentality once again replacing the president with El Sisi  !!
I do not know what kind of democracy they are speaking about when thousands of young protesters are arrested and awarded wining journalists are arrested and treated like criminals in prisons.

I know that logic , yes logic says you got certain beginning that will lead to a certain end and what I see in front of me the beginning of something that does not lead to democracy but rather that leads to something else that is not good.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Return of the Absent General

As if the daily dose madness in Egypt is not enough !! It seems that there are some people in Egypt who believe that former vice president Omar Suleiman is still alive and that he will return back .. just like the

Absent Emam
!!
They even launched a Facebook page called “The popular campaign demanding General Omar Suleiman to reappear” and more than 9000 person likes it !! These people are demanding Omar Suleiman to reappear again in order to save Egypt and run for presidential elections !!They are also posting these scary photos for the general with words like "The fox of the pyramids will return , wait for him" !!
Oh yes they believe that he is alive and is actually running the show from the backstage. They also believe that Suleiman’s plan or rather the general was to hide all that time in order to expose the plans of the world’s intelligence …etc.
The true irony is that some people are leaving comments that if he did not show up or return , the credibility of the Facebook page would be affected !!! 
This is not a parody thing I am afraid. It is black comedy.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Links and Notes 01/20/2014

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

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Will He Run ? Will He Not ? It is a matter of time

El Sisi "Army Spox FB page"
Will General El Sisi run for the Presidential elections !? When will he announce his candidacy !?  Will he have a second though after the results of the constitutional referendum !?
These are the questions of the hours in Cairo. Of course now his candidacy for presidency is something almost everybody certain of especially with all the leaks and his own words not to mention how the media is portraying him as a savior and that we do not have any other alternative at all , we are just waiting for the matter to be official.
Nevertheless there are certain questions that still puzzles me.
Some think that El Sisi would not run because he is a smart man and he won’t accept to be less powerful than the minister of defense according to the Constitution. Oh yes in constitution 2014 the minister of defense and SCAF has more power than the president so El Sisi can be under the mercy of the upcoming minister of defense “expected to be Sobhi Sadky” and SCAF losing all his privileges.
Why would he do something like this !? If it is about fulfilling his dreams then I will be extremely worried.

Friday, January 17, 2014

#TheSquareFilm : And An Egyptian Film makes to it the #Oscars For this First time

And The Square has become the first Egyptian film to be nominated for an academy award in history.
Yes The Square made to the finals. It is being nominated for Oscar best Documentary feature for 2014. I am extremely happy more than you can imagine.
 
It is worth to mention that The square has not been screened yet in Egypt. It was supposed to be screened from couple of months ago in Cairo but its screening was cancelled. The censorship board ironically has not approved it yet. The film’s director Jihane Noujaim told Jon Stewart about that. It is not a big secret both the army and police will reject such film especially it got unseen raw footage from clashes like Maspero , Mohamed Mahmoud and Cabinet HQ. This is why the Censorship board has not approved yet and we all know it.  

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Voting girl 2014 : Constitution Referendum

And here is my experience in the Constitution referendum 2014.
First of all since the 20th century Egyptians had 25 referendums where each one witnessed unprecedented turnout and the answer was always Yes.
Second of all “No” was not taken as an option , in fact people were arrested for promoting “NO” , a thing that did not happen amidst the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule unfortunately. If the MB accused those who were against their constitution to be infidels , the supporters of this constitution accuse those who are against of being traitor.
Third this referendum was not about the Constitution itself as a document as much it is about creating an alleged legitimacy of the current regime to counter the alleged legitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was also about giving a support to General Abdel Fatah El Sisi in order to run presidency and also to tease the Muslim Brotherhood.Yes teasing the Muslim Brotherhood.
Of course there were other reasons on why the voters went to vote without even reading a single article in it for the hope of finding stability and welfare as the intensive media campaign kept telling them.
Despite Constitution 2014 is slightly better than Constitution 2012 I reject it.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Constitution Referendum 2014

And we have got another referendum for Constitution in less than 4 years. We are addicted to polling stations after decades of Mubarak rule !!
By the way Mubarak asked to vote in this referendum and he will say Yes too :)
Anyhow here are quick numbers about this constitution referendum 2014
  • The number of polling stations across the country is : 30,317 polling stations 
  • The number of judges supervising the polling stations all over the country : 16,000 Judges "10,000 substitute" 
  • The number of army forces participating in security of the polling stations "From Monday" across the country : More than 160,000 officer and solider. 
  • The number of police forces participating in the security of the polling stations : Allegedly more than 200,000
  • The number of eligible voters across the country : Nearly  53,423,485 citizens


Monday, January 13, 2014

#EgyConstitution : Talk to me about About the use of religion in Politics

One of the myths in June 30th that we were putting an end to the use of religion by the Muslim Brotherhood in politics , well now the current regime is using religion boldly and disgustingly in politics and nobody from the so-called liberal and secular politicians and parties are opening their mouths like before.
Dr. Shawky Allam , the current grand Mufti of Egypt is saying that boycotting the referendum is hateful in Islam !! Last time I checked as a Muslim there is nothing against or with the boycotting of any political election as it is not a bloody testimony in some court !!
Moving to the Salafists , to Nour party that masters the game of religion in politics.
Of course they are saying that the draft constitution protects Sharia and so on.
Salafist flyers for constitution 2014 
They also say that this draft constitution will protect the last Sunni army in the regime !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know verses the bad Iran !!!
I know that Sheikh Allam "who was appointed during Morsi" is trying to counter the MB's calls
The church also jumped to the wagon and unfortunately we found the Pope himself , Pope Tawadros II himself is telling the people to vote yes in order to be blessed by God !!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

#EgyConstitution : And Actually this documentary is sad

The Pro-regime mainstream media promoting for Constitution 2014 aired this short documentary about the participation in the constitution referendum called "Shark" aka "Participate".

"Participate" idea is to let the Egyptians or so-called "normal Egyptians" in different governorates to show how they are going to participate in the upcoming constitution referendum. True they are normal Egyptians but the reasons on why they are going to participate in the referendum have nothing to do with the Constitution !!! It is sad documentary when you hear simple Egyptians saying that they are going to vote for the draft constitution because "General El Sisi approves it" and "That it will bring stability" as well "welfare"
Unfortunately the constitution won't bring stability or welfare, nor it should be approved because the army's commander "who has not right to vote in the first place" likes it !! 
It is sad documentary.  

Friday, January 10, 2014

Mosa'ab El Shamy presents : The Oneness of the revolution

Since 2011 we saw amazing snippets of interesting people in the most unusual circumstances and here I mean circumstances related to death and clashes. Thank God we have got Mosa'ab El Shamy to capture those moments , those interesting people on camera.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Mosireen Presents : The three arms of Justice

Here is the latest production from Mosireen : The three arms of justice in Egypt. 
Justice is another meaningless word in Egypt. Unfortunately so far what I saw in the past two years a politicalized judiciary and biased prosecution that does not represent the public but rather represents the regime. I do not need to speak about police.
Yesterday the ministry of interior announced that the Jan25 activists trial of Douma , Maher and Adel would be adjourned to Thursday even before the judge would announce it. This tells you a lot.
You know the revolution in Egypt is facing some sort of Greek methodology multi-headed beast and unfortunately it has not got yet a magic weapon to kill it. 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A message to Whom It may Concern From Wael Ghonim

Wael Ghonim is back.
The famous Egyptian activist published yesterday a statement on his official Facebook page and it was an important one. It was about the leaks of his alleged phone calls on Al Kahera Wal Nas. It is his first after complete silence since 3 July 2013. It was a message for all those supporting him.
Ghonim announced that despite he decided to quit writing and expressing his views publicly upon the request of his family he returned to tackle this matter and to defend himself in front of any accusation upon the request of his family as well. He is going to take a legal action against the channel and Ali for fabricating those phone calls.
Earlier this week Abdel Rahim aired alleged phone calls for Wael Ghonim on Al Kahera Wal Nas as part of his Black Box TV show leaks. All those who heard the calls and still use their brains found nothing incriminating Ghonim. All that Ali was doing actually was interpreting the phone calls according to his twist mind or rather according to the script given to him.
Anyhow you can read it in Arabic below, it is long and it is worth to be read until the end.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Merry Christmas Again and Again :)

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

Monday, January 6, 2014

The Return of the #NDP Rascals


No I will not write what happened in Egypt  on Friday, it has become a routine as we have become like Lebanon. The only thing I can say that the protest law and designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization have been so successful in cracking down the protests of the Brotherhood in Egypt !! So damn successful !! Of course I am being sarcastic 
I will write about the return of the NDP and Mubarak rascals back again boldly and madly in the media and in public shamelessly.
Shamelessly the former speaker of Mubarak's parliament for 2 decades Fathy Sorror is giving lectures about how it is important to vote "yes" in the constitution referendum and about the 30 June revolution. 

Shahinaz Al Naggar , the former NDP MP and the ex-wife of Gamal Mubarak's best friend and steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz is back also and she is going to present a TV show on Al Hayat TV channel called "The Gains of the Revolution"  !! 

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Links and Notes 01/05/2014

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

Saturday, January 4, 2014

So what is your job exactly Mr. Minister !?

Al Mahdi in Al Shorouk "Source : Amr Ezzat"
Shorouk newspaper published a very interesting interview on Friday with minister of transitional justice Amin El Mahdi where the veteran judge stated a very important statement.
The minister of transitional justice believes now is not the perfect time to speak about transitional justice now because there is no legislative support to it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When it will be suitable for the transitional justice in Egypt if now is not the time !! When will it be suitable insh Allah according to the veteran’s judge’s view !? Last time I checked the interim president who issued laws like the protest law got legislative powers !!
What is the job of that minister now then !? Already if he is waiting for the parliament then he must know that there will be a new cabinet then. If there is nothing he can do then he can resign easily.  
If you are serious about transitional justice for real you start now with no hesitation to calm down this society on fire. True transitional justice will help you in fighting real terrorism and will bring stability for real.
Of course the only reconciliation seems to be recognized by the current regime is the reconciliation with the Mubarak’s regime icons and the ministry of interior which has not been restructured yet. 
I do not understand for real what happens to so-called respectable people in this country when they occupy official positions in Egypt. First Hossam Eissa and now Amin El Mahdi.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Links and Notes 01/02/2014

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

The Song of the Year and ..every Year so far in #Egypt

This song by Follkzion is the song of the year in Egypt whatever this year is as long as the revolution is on hold , paralyzed ….

Oh La Lah

This is one of the best covers of Jingle Bells ever arranged by Hamza Namira who is currently being accused of being a MB.It is extremely relevant.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

#AblaFahita , the master Spy of #Vodafone or this is how you attract #FDI to #Egypt and fight terrorists !!! "Updated"

And 2013 swore not to leave us any hope when it comes to the future of Egypt and here I am not speaking about clashes or bombings but about mentality.
Do you remember how Pro-Mubarak/Pro-Military conspiracy theorist Sameh Abu Arayes accused Abla Fahita puppet of being a spy !? Well guess what , today the regional manager of Vodafone Egypt stood in front of state security prosecution in order to explain the meaning of Abla Fahita.
Vodafone and Abla Fahita were reported to the prosecutor general’s office by Pro-Military Anti-25Jan self claimed activist Ahmed Spider for sending encrypted messages from the Muslim Brotherhood leaders to the members in Egypt including dangerous messages about terrorist attacks !!! 
This is not a joke , it is a bitter reality.
First of all ,here is the ad starring the famous Abla Fahita about the new year’s offers from Vodafone. It is hilarious.
Yesterday in the New Year’s Eve we found State security journalist turned in to TV host speaking about this on his TV show along with former singer and current Freemasonry and espionage expert Ahmed Spider about this horrifying spy Abla Fahita.
It was not a parody act in the New Year’s eve , I swear it was serious to the level that Vodafone Egypt PR spoke in Moussa’s show swearing there was nothing wrong. The man could not believe what he was facing actually in front of those two strange creatures with no brain.

Many people are trying to find a logic justification for what happened. Some claim that that could be a cheap attempt from Ahmed Moussa and Tahrir channel to blackmail Vodafone in order to sponsor the channel’s shows and so on. I am afraid it is not about the revolutionary channel turned in to a Felol channel in some irony representing the situation in Egypt. Infamous "Al Faraeen TV" channel exposed the huge conspiracy behind the latest Vodafone's ad too as well !!

Happy New year #2014

Happy New year 2014
I am praying for real that 2014 will be better than 2013 for real , for Egypt and for Egyptians who deserve the best , who deserve freedom , democracy, social justice and above all real justice.
May Allah bless the souls of Egypt's martyrs in 2013 , the bloodiest year of them all.