Reflections of a Nomad

Fouad GM for MEPEI: Is Sidi Bouzid really unprecedented in the Arab World?

2011-01-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

In my article for MEPEI, I argue that the events of Sidi Bouzid are not born from a vacuum and are not as 'unprecedented' to the course and heritage of social struggle in the Arab World as much as Western and isolationist/defeatist Arab media reports - although the outcome and the overthrow of Ben Ali may be unprecedented.

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“The most spectacular thing about the events in Tunisia is that they make everything uncertain, but they also make everything possible”

Tunisians made history last week—fact. Never have we seen an Arab dictator flee his country and roam the skies begging for refuge like we did with Ben Ali on Friday night. Never have we tweeted the ill-fate of an Arab dictator’s junta like we did last week. And never have we witnessed a decades-old police state toppled from below in this fashion. In fact, for many Arabs, this may even be the first time they use the expression ‘former president’ in reference to a living man!

Undeniably, the Jasmine Revolution and, even more remarkably, the society’s reactions to post-Ben Ali lawlessness indicate the maturity of a deep-rooted social struggle in the absence of a charismatic revolutionary figurehead and without the political intervention of the national army. Furthermore, it proved to be a true grassroots movement and the culmination of a cumulative struggle against socioeconomic inequalities and repression of freedoms, not merely a response to an electoral debacle or a single incident by select social forces. More importantly, the Tunisian revolution was sparked by disenchantment and desperation amongst the most deprived social classes in the most peripheral regions of the country before ‘conquering’ the capital and engaging the professional middle classes and the Diaspora.

Another aspect brought to the forefront by events in Tunisia was the role of the media. Under Ben Ali, Tunisia ranked amongst the most repressive environments for journalists and was notorious for its severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the flow of information. However, despite the instrumental role traditional and post-traditional media played in the events of Sidi Bouzid, this revolution was unlike Iran’s ‘Green Revolution’ of 2009: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were not at the core of the Tunisians’ social struggle. For the Tunisian protester, new social media were not the ‘battlefield’ but a channel to express revolutionary fervor and provide a regional and international audience with otherwise scarce information from the real ‘battlefield’—the streets of Tunisian towns and cities.

In other words, the Jasmine Revolution was ‘twitterized’ but was not a ‘twitter revolution.’

In short, the events of the past month demonstrate that the dynamics of Tunisian society were ripe and mature enough to escalate into a social struggle that voiced the grievances of the regions and social groups at the centre and the periphery alike. The desire for change and the intolerability of humiliation, repression and deprivation overcame fear of Ben Ali’s notorious security apparatus. Tunisians of both genders, of all age groups and from all walks of life took to the streets with aspirations that had outgrown the usual outlets—the homes, salons and Facebook accounts of Tunisians at home and abroad.

Uprooting the Revolution

However, the significance and maturity of the Tunisian revolution pose an important question—is Sidi Bouzid really an unprecedented event in the Arab world? To what extent is the Jasmine Revolution particular to Tunisian society?

The toppling of Ben Ali’s regime from below and the revolutionaries’ persistent struggle to eliminate the ruling party and get rid of the corrupt ruling junta are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, regionally unprecedented. But is the social dynamic behind the events of Sidi Bouzid ever so ‘unique,’ ‘particular’ and ‘new’ to Tunisia and the Arab World?

The question implies that social revolutions are a rarity in human history and are more so in the Arab world—a claim few social scientists and historians will oppose. But the assertion that Sidi Bouzid is unprecedented in the Arab World also implies a certain assumption that the Tunisian revolution is borne in a vacuum and is not the result of a cumulative social process informed by the political dynamics, protest movements and intellectual heritage of Arab and Tunisian social struggles.

The view that Sidi Bouzid is ever so unique and ‘new’ to the Arab World is perhaps a product of neo-orientalist and self-orientalizing discourses which continue to view social dynamics in non-Western societies with suspicion and, therefore, fail to acknowledge that a cumulative heritage of social and intellectual activism exists in these societies.

The result is evident in the coverage of the Tunisian revolution by mainstream Western media. “Holidaymakers evacuated!”, “Civil war looms in Tunisia!”, “Will Tunisia turn Islamist?”, “Can Tunisia change?” are examples of the coverage offered to the average reader in the West. Analysts who received news from Tunisia with a glimpse of hope that believing it could lead towards democratic change credited Western sources for instigating the revolution. Some gave Julian Assange the credit, claiming that Wikileaks’ revelations triggered the revolution. Others wrote that the Tunisian revolution was an inevitable outcome of the information revolution and new social media. Some even credit US democratization policies for Sidi Bouzid. Despite their differing interpretations and their divergent analyses, they all share a total disregard of the political and intellectual heritage, the inbred social dynamics and the pan-regional social struggles which led to the events of Sidi Bouzid and the Jasmine Revolution.

Skeptics have no faith in Tunisian society and question its ability of produce change without help and guidance from the West. More positive analysts can only explain Sidi Bouzid’s success and its reforming potentials by connecting the revolution to this or that Western intervention.

The Jasmine Revolution contextualized

Lebanese academic and political thinker, Fawwaz Traboulsi offered an alternative explanation. Commenting on its potential to inspire change and protests elsewhere, Traboulsi described the Jasmine Revolution as “simply the culmination of a series of popular uprisings [demanding the right to] a decent living, employment and freedom.”[1]

It is in this light that we can contextualize the Tunisian revolution. The events of Sidi Bouzid can be contextualized in their Tunisian and Arab social contexts by refuting the assumption that Sidi Bouzid is an extraordinary event or that the social dynamics at the heart of the revolution are as novel and original as many will have us believe. In fact, Sidi Bouzid can be seen as the product of a long history of inbred social dynamics dating back to the early decades of the twentieth century and cross-cutting with social struggles, protest movements, uprisings and revolutions throughout the Arab World.

It is in this spirit that labor unions, political activists and protest movements expressed solidarity with Tunisian protesters weeks before the final escalation and the downfall of Ben Ali. Most notably, throughout the past four weeks, Algerian unionists repeatedly expressed “solidarity with the brave social struggle of the Tunisian people” at a time when they themselves were mobilizing protestors against unemployment, rising prices and the housing crisis.

Similarly, activists in protest movements in Egypt contested the argument that the events of Tunisia are indeed peculiar and specific to Tunisia and expressed dismay at the increasingly vocal discourse prevalent amongst both isolationist state-run media as well as defeatist elements from within activist circles. While the former presented the events of Tunisia as a specific response to a peculiar variant of tyranny,[2] defeatists lamented the backwardness of Egypt’s reformist movement. In response, one Egyptian activist wrote in frustration: “the Tunisian revolution is only a more mature model of the social struggle in Egypt [...] it is an extension of the revolution we’ve worked towards for more than six years.[3]”

An inspiration

Recognizing that social struggles and protest movements contribute to a shared pool of experiences, achievements and accumulative cognition over time and across political boundaries, it is natural to assume that the Jasmine Revolution will have an impact on the social dynamics of, and will inspire protesters in, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Jordan and Sudan—perhaps even in Iran and beyond.

In other words, the Jasmine Revolution itself will become a ring in a chain—indeed it already has.

The events of Sidi Bouzid have already inspired activists and protest movements driven by Maslowian demands elsewhere in the Arab World. Rioting Algerians have looked to their neighbor for inspiration and at least one Algerian is reported to have set himself on fire protesting unemployment and mistreatment by the authorities and imitating Mohammad Bouazzizi whose self-immolation on December 17 triggered the Sidi Bouzid uprising. Rioters in Libya continue to protest the housing crisis in their country; Jordanians protest rising prices; and Moroccans are expressing anger at the poor state of public transportation in the country. Similarly, the Northern Sudanese opposition leader, Hassan Turabi, was arrested after calling for an uprising against al-Bashir days after a historic referendum on the south’s independence.

In Egypt, three cases of self-immolation have been reported within 24 hours. Significantly, the three victims are not known for any political activism and demonstrate the wide array of social groups suffering disenchantment and desperation. The first victim, a 49-year-old restaurant owner from the port city of Isma`iliya, set himself on fire in front of the Egyptian parliament on Monday in protest against the government’s decision to lift subsidies on essential commodities, including bread[4]. Less than 24 hours later, a Cairene lawyer set himself on fire in the same location[5]hours before reports of similar incident involving a 25-year-old unemployed Alexandrian[6].

In short, the Jasmine Revolution has evidently provided angry Middle Easterners suffering extreme class and regional disparities; the recession of productive and labor intensive sectors of the economy; a state of joblessness; rising prices of essential commodities; deteriorating infrastructures; uneven development; rampant corruption; and state repression with a ray of hope and a momentous boost. Rooted in the a long history of social struggles dating back to the Egyptian Bread Riots of 1977, Sidi Bouzid has become a new milestone in Arab societies’ struggle for social justice and democracy.

[1] Fawwaz Traboulsi, « الأمل بالياسمين » (Jasmine Hopes), As-Safir, 18 January 2011 [http://bit.ly/eByjGn]

[2] Shayma’ Abdel-Hadi, «الخصوصية السياسية و الاقتصادية و الاجتماعية و الاعلامية في التجربة التونسية» (The Political, Economic and Social Peculiarities of the Tunisian Experience), Al-Ahram, 15 January 2011 [http://bit.ly/g9Yea2]

[3] Facebook note, Mohamed Motasem El Haiwan, on 16 January 2011 [http://on.fb.me/dVc3e1]

[4] Al-Masry Al-Youm, 17 January 2011, [http://bit.ly/gfF5kx]

[5] Shorouk News, 18 January 2011 [http://bit.ly/fdBwqy]

[6] Youm7, 18 January 2011, [http://bit.ly/gs1gyS]

لبنان : غلاء لا يرحم , تلاعب التجار بالاسعار , امتيازات احتكارية , و تواطؤ الدولة

2011-01-22T09:28:00.001-08:00

تقرير سلام خضر عن الغلاء و ارتفاع اسعار السلع الاساسية الغير مسبوق في لينان ... في لبنان تتضافر عانصر عدة و تتكالب على مواطن اخضع لعقلية طائفية جعلته متلقي للمعلومة و الخبر و الاصطفاف السياسي من زعاماته و ليس إلا ... النتيجة: غلاء لا يرحم , تلاعب التجار بالاسعار , امتيازات احتكارية , و غياب (أو تواطؤ) اجهزة الدولة الرقابية فيما تبقى المداخيل جامدة و حقوق العامل مباحة

تم بث التقرير على قناة الجزيرة اليوم السبت 22 كانون ثاني / يناير 2011

احببت ان اضيف الى تقرير سلام خضر بعدَا آخر , الا و هو الاستثمار الأجنبي و الاغترابي الذي تجلبه الزعامات السياسية ذاتها و التي تنتج اقتصادَا ريعيَا يرتبط بالخارج و يهمش الداخل بسكل متطرد ... النتيجة ان بيروت صارت جنة للسواح و المستثمرين و الزوار ... و كابوسَا و مقبرة لطموحات مواطنيها ... و قد كتبت معلقَا على جانب من تلك المأساة تحت عنوان "كالغريب في بيروت: باعوا المدينة و اشتروها" في تعليقي على عملية انتقال الملكيات في الوسط التجاري في بيروت ما بعد الحرب و ما انتجه ذلك من اغتراب قصري و تهميش قمعي لمواطني هذه الاحياء العتيقة و اللبنانيين بشكل عام

الفقر و التعتير و العوَز و العشوائية بلبنان لا تقتصر على المناطق و الاقاليم و الضواحي و انما تتسم به احياء وسط بيروت نفسها

الحسين يظهر لمريديه في مصر: مدد يا سيدنا حسين و حي على الثورة

2011-01-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

تقليديَا يحتفل المصريون بالمولد النبوي الشريف و رأس السنة الهجرية و موالد الأئمة و الأولياء ممن ليس لهم اضرحة و مزارات في المحروسة بمواكب مهيبة و خيَم الضيافة و حلقات الذكر و الشعر و الإنشاد الصوفي حول ما بات يعرف بـ"كعبة أهل مصر" أو المشهد الحسيني في القاهرة

هل ظهر سيد شباب أهل الجنة و سيد الشهداء و الثوار سيدنا الإمام الحسين مشاركَا المصريين احتفالهم برأس السنة الهجرية بالفعل؟ منذ شهر أو اكثر قليلَا جاب موكب مهيب شوارع القاهرة الفاطمية احتفالَا برأس السنة الهجرية بعد مغادرة المشهد الحسيني الذي قال روّاده ذاك ان التيار الكهربائي انقطع و ظهر الإمام منيرّا امام المئات من المريدين اثناء صلاتهم عليه امام ضريح الرأس الشريف في القاهرة ... الحيرة و نقاشات العلماء و المشايخ و روَاد المشعد الحسيني تمحورَت حول ما اذا كان الحسين قد ظهر بالفعل علمَا بأن المصريين - مسلمين و مسيحيين - أكثر اعتيادَا لكرامة ظهور العذراء مريم

و لكن يفوت المصريين و الحسينيين منهم بشكل خاص السؤال الأهم ... لو كان الحسين قد ظهر بالفعل فهل أتى ليشم هواء القاهرة الملوَث أم ليتناول خبزَا يعجز الكثير من المصريين عن شرائه اليوم؟ أم ربما اتى لإبلاغ اكثر مشايعيه ولاء في العالم رسالة ثورية أبيَة؟ هل أتى الحسين - روحي له و لثورته الفداء - مستنهضَا همم شعب اعتاد الطيبة حتى صارت هبلَا؟ هل ظهر الحسين ليذكَر المصريين ان تشريفهم باستضافة الرأس الأشرف تكليف لا تشريف؟ أم ربما أتى ليقول لمشايخ الهشّك بشَك و نواب و أمناء سر اللبان و البون بون ان كل يوم عاشوراء و ان كل أرض كريلاء؟

ربما حان الوقت لقراءة كتيّب " دم الحسين: القصة الكاملة لقتل الحسين والانتقام من القتلة " لكاتبه ابراهيم عيسى الذي يدرس فيه الثورة الحسينية على طغيان يزيد مقارنَا الأخير بعصر مبارك في مصر و هو الكتاب الذي لم أزل انتظر الفرصة لقراءته

معلش ياما دوَشتك ... عارف ملكيش في السياسة ... بس أعمل ايه؟

2011-01-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

قليل جدا من فيديوهات الشباب المصري المطالب بالاصلاح و الديمقراطية تعجبني ... بس ده كان رائع ... جمع أهم ثلاث عقبات امام الحركة الاصلاحية في مصر وواجههم

أولَا - يجابه الفيديو مشكلة كل مصري مدرك ان البلد من سيء الى أسوأ و يتخاذل و يتمادى في الخمول السياسي بدعوى القلق على الأهل و الولد و الحبيب و لقمة العيش ... أيوة ... كلنا عندنا أهل و عيال ... و أم و تربية أجيال ... بس كمان السكوت مش هيسبلهم لا علام و لا وظيفة بعد العلام ... و لا أكل و لا شرب و لا عيشة كريمة الا و هيسرقها ابن الحرام

و زي مبيقولوا اليومين دول ... اذا لم تثوروا اليوم فلا ثورة غدا ... واذا جلستم في منازلكم اليوم فلا منازل لكم غدا ... وإن ارتضيتم الموت أحياء ... فأنتم الغد موتي بلا كفن

يعني ياما كل منقبَل بالقليل هيحرمونا منه و يصبح أقل ... و اذا قبلنا الموت عجزة و متخاذلين مش بعيد يمنعوا عنا حتى الموت

ثانيَا - الفيديو كان رائع في أنه مزج بين التظلمات العمالية و المطلبية و الفئوية المشروعة و خلفياتها السياسية من خصخصة بلا رقيب و اموال بلا عديد و فساد بلا قيود

ثالثَا - كل ده مهوَاش مكلب معيشي بس ... مهو أصل محمد البوعزيزي في سيدي بوسعيد اللي ولَع في نفسه و خالد سعيد في الأسكندرية اللي فقد اعز ما يملك ... مهو أصلهم مماتوش عشان لقمة العيش ... ماتوا عشان حرمانهم من لقمة العيش كان جزء من حرمانهم من الكرامة و عزة النفس و الحرية ... الشهيد البوعزيزي موَلعش في نفسه يأسَا من البطالة و انما اعتراضَا على المذلة ... المخبرين مقتلوش خالد سعيد و لا السيد بلال و لا غيرهم من شهداء السجون و اقسام الشرطة في مصر لأنهم مجرمين ... لأ ... قتلوهم عشان قالوا لا للمذلة و المهانة

المشكلة عويصة ... بس تونس اثبتت لنا حاجة مهمة ... الجبابرة اللي قاعدين متسلطنين ... و على العروس مستكنيصين ... و وراء جيوش الأمن و المخابرات محتميين ... ما أهونهم ... مسمعتوش زين الهاربين بن علي و هو بيقول لشعبه العظيم "فهمتكم"؟ ايوه الله ... ما أهونهم ... ديَتهم شعب أبَي ... ديتهم ثورة حرة ... دينتهم ان الفقير يرفض فقره و قهره و ظلمه ... و ان الـ"ميسور الحال" يعرف انه مهان و مستباح و رخيص ... ايوه ... حتى ان كنت ابن بابي و مامي ... حتى ان كنت سايق عربية و ابن سلطح بابا ... أخرتك معاهم ضابط يشاكسك و التاني ينفخك و التالت يقتلك ... و اما تطلع ابن بارم ديله ... يعتذروا و يقولوا صاحب سوابق ... يا حرام ... مات بالع كيفه

Caricature offers an alternative explanation for sectarianism in Egypt

2011-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Sameh Samir offers an alternative explanation for rising sectarian conflict in Egypt. The Egyptian state, represented by the archetypical policeman (mustache, attire, rank and helmet), uses religion to scare Muslims of Copts and Copts of Muslims.

محمد منير : رسالة صوفية ردًا على الإرهاب

2011-01-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

رغم اصراري ان الوقت ليس وقت "مسح گوخ" و لا "تبويس لحى" و رغم اصراري ان الحل ليس دينيا على الإطلاق و اقتناعي التام ان المشكلة مشكلة تحلل المجتمع المصري و استبداد مؤسساتي و ان الحل يجب ان يتضمن مواجهة عنيفة و جذرية لهذه الاخفاقات الهيكلية ... بس بصراحة الأغنية ديه فعلًا معبرة عن شعوري

غناها الأسطورة محمد منير و هوابن النيل و النوبه و ناسها الطيبيين المظلومين المهمشين المنسيين اللي محدَش بيتضامن مع حقوقهم المدنية او الثقاقية او الاقتصادية . غناها منذ عقد ردًا على احداث 11 أيلول/سبتمبر و ركز فيها على عدد من الرسائل اللي هي لب القضية في رأيي ... و طعّم هذه المقاطع المليئة بالمعاني باستنجاد جميل و لجوء و خشوع متواضعين للحبيب محمد طالبا منه المدد و لعون -- طبعًا للأخوة اللى حرموا شعار الهلال و الصليب و ادانوا مبادرات التضامن مع اقباط مصر اثر هجوم رأس السنة الارهابي فطبعًا طلب المدد من رسول الله كفر و التواضع مع جنابه الأعظم شرك -- و لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله

الأغنية جزء من البوم منير الصوفي الوحيد و هو الأول الذي غناه الأسطورة المصرية بعد عودته من حج بيت الله الحرام

ملخص الأنشودة

العدل في الميزان لكل خلق الله

الدم كله سواء ... حرام بأمر الله

الحرية ... على الأرض السلام و بالناس المسرّة

Some Ramblings : Post-Alexandria Reflections

2011-01-06T00:10:00.000-08:00

I didn't realise this was going to be so long when I first started to reflect -- so, grab a coffee, light a cigarette or pour yourself a pint and come chill to some of my ramblings and reflections on the terrorist attach on the Alexandrian Coptic Church and the debates that followed.

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Understandably, the Alexandria terrorist attack has triggered immense debate amongst the more vocal and technologically-savvy in Egypt and within the diaspora. Like their compatriots, Egyptian Facebookers, bloggers, youtubers and tweeters have struggled to come to terms with the event and its reprecussions.

Many descended into an aggressive wave of sectarian conflict: accusations, excommunication and even exchanging threats -- as 'alien' as this sounds to Egyptian idealists and denialists, this is not unlike Egyptians. Egyptian schoolchildren, a friend reported on his FB status yesterday, marched around their neighbourhood chanting anti-Coptic slogans, supposedly, 'in response' to Copts' protests in which they vowed to 'avenge' the dead, threatened to 'slay' Muslims and 'redeem the Cross.'

Copts and Muslims in Egypt reacted rather similarly when Al-Qaida attacked Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad and considered it a threat to the Coptic Church in Egypt -- Copts even declared the establishment of a "Coptic Al-Qaeda" to retaliate against any possible attack against theit church!

Let's not go too far: days before the terrorist attack, I was invited to a family friend's Christmas dinner party in Sheffield -- the hosts were Egyptian Muslim and so were most of the guests. Nevertheless, socialisation and political debates after dinner turned into a row between Christians and Muslims who disagreed on the role of religion in society and argued as to whether or not Egypt was an 'Islamic country'. They were all -holders, mostly MDs, all over 50 years of age, not young, not radical and certainly not poor or ill-educated! The others' reaction? Calm them down, separate them and close the topic . Typical : دع الفتنة نائمة and pretend all is good. Instead of dealing with the situation and allowing the debate to continue, a policy of Sad El-Hanak was applied and Om Ali and tea were served for dessert!

In another Egyptians-in-England Christmas dinner, I overheard a few whispering -- they were discussing whether or not it's Islamically-permissable to wish Christians a Merry Christmas. The conclusion: yes, it's permissable in Christmas as it marks the birth of a prophet acknowledged by Islam; but come Easter and season's greetings become haram!

Egyptians on Facebook are no different: many got bogged down in an aimless debate on whether or not it is Islamically-permisable to use the Cross on your Facebook status, in slogans condemning the attack or in visual representations of national unity .

You can call all of that 'alien to Egyptian society' all you want, but these are educated, literate, well-off and Facebook-savvy Egyptians -- they are the créme de la créme of Egyptian society, graduates of top universities, drive the fanciest cars in town, shop in Europe and send their kids to universities in America!.

Idealists and denialists (who are most certainly the more visible majority) on the other hand have overtaken Facebook employing hundreds of creative ways to externalise responsibility and throw the blame on some non-Egyptian evil. Their techniques were rather colourful: thousands of "Crescent and Cross" profile pictures; Egyptian flags; and millions of statuses and FB groups, pages and causes condemning the 'foreign' attack on 'all of Egypt', expressing outrage at the 'alien' mentality behind it, and pointing fingers towards Israel, the USA and Al-Qaida. Some even posted 'documents' that 'reveal' a secret 'Zionist' plan to divide Egypt.

Good-hearted as their intentions may be , Egyptians' idealism and denialism has been my target in recent posts and has led me to see prospects of reform and democracy with pecimism and scinicism. -- this inspired my post two days ago . An article by Wael Abdel Fattah in the Lebanese Al-Akhbar inspired a little bit of optimism in my post today.

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Nonetheless, not all is negative: some constructive debate has taken place in the wake of the heinous terrorist attack. In fact, the aforementioned post was inspired by a debate which evolved around a friend's note on Facebook.

Another interesting debate has taken place between me and a dear relative of mine. Although we come from different generational backgrounds and live thousands of miles apart, our disagreements in the past week have been expressed in utmost respect and with constructive intentions.

I have decided, after consulting with her, to respond to two of the issues which we debated publically. I shall refer to her in his blog as A.N.

Firstly, in response to my criticism of the opinion that the terrorist attack and sectarianism is ever-so 'foreign' and 'alien' -- A.N attributed my opinion to my 'young age' and that I did not live the struggle for independence in the early twentieth century, the 1952 Revolution , the Israeli invasions in 1956 and 1967 or the violent 1970s. This, according to A.N explains why I am unable to appreciate the possibility of external forces as the perpetrators of the terrorist attack

Secondly, I 'disliked' a Facebook Cause claiming that "REAL Egyptians (Christians & Muslims) love one another" which A.N was promoting -- my argument was, real Egyptian society, even real Islam and the real Coptic Church are not innocent and are not unrelated to the terrorist attack that targeted Al-Qidissain on New Year's Eve. In response, A.N asked me to define what a real, good, patriotic Egyptian is.

*****************************

Here's my response to the two points:

Firstly, as flaterring as being called 'young' may be -- I disagree that young age makes one essentially and intrinsically unable to comprehend and analyse events which he/she has not lived in person. If that was the case, we would not have medievalists and scholars of antiquity amongst us! I therefore do not hold the belief that my young age disqualifies my judgements of events or makes my opinions and views any less informed.

In a previous post a few weeks ago, I expressed some of my positions towards the classical argument that 'because you live abroad' then you essentially 'don't know enough' and cannot make an 'informed judgement'. I believe the same stands for age and time. So, if A.N's opinions count although she hasn't lived in Egypt for decades, then I don't see why mine don't even though I wasn't physically around when Israel invaded the Sinai.

No arrogance intended, but, as a social scientist and almost-PhD-holder with a particular focus on early modern sociology, al philosophy and political-economy, I believe I am qualified enough to study and understand the events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, perhaps even more than some of those who 'lived' these events: one might have lived an event but been kept ill-informed thanks to the limited access to information for which the Middle East is notorious! One might have lived a certain era so deep that they are genuinly unable to separate fact from the myths and conspiracy theories of the time. One might even live a certain era but be unformed of the opinions of other social classes and communities -- especially if you come from an aristocratic-turned-bourgeois family like ours, in a society as classist as Egypt!

This brings me to A.N's second point: how do I define a real, good and patriotic Egyptian.

My answer is rather simple: you cannot define a person, let alone a nation!

Egyptians are workers, professionals, thieves, beggers, poverty, gated communities, peasants, city-swellers, ba7raweya, sa3ayda, sayadeen, badw, beber/amazigh, 3arab, qebt, nubians, African blood, Arab heritage, Turkish roots, Levantine, Greek and Italian origins!

What counts is that a certain social order, social contract, social conduct and a state coordinated their living together. A social order guaranteed a degree of coherence, respect, civility, commitment, rights, duties and sanctity of life, property and honour (perhaps Ibn Khaldoun's Muqaddima might offer a good explanation).

The social contract has collapsed and the civility long-gone: it all started over a century ago -- has come to an absolute end decades ago. That's why A.N's father left Egypt; that's why she's where she is now and I'm where I am; and that's why millions of Egyptians want to follow our path -- Egypt only became an emigration country two decades ago. but, according to studies, the increase in the rate of Egyptians emigrating is higher than other sending-developing countries (excluding Iraq and Afghanistan). Egypt is currently 'exporting' more emigrants (as a percentage of population) than traditional-sending countries, India and Pakistan!

We can deny it all we want. We can pretend that the Crescent and the Cross as 'naturally' in harmony in Egypt all we want. And we can certainly point fingers to Iran, Al Qaida or Israeli-directed GPS sharks and other conspiracy theories all we want. And, actually, we might even be right -- Israel, or Al Qaida or whoever else might be beneficiaries. Hell, they might have even funded or planned the attack. But Egypt is not an innocent victim, it's a fertile ground which breeds frustrations, hatred and terrorism thanks to a precarious social order and a failed state.

Unfortunately, our theories on how 'alien' and 'foreign' sectarianism is conceals a sad reality: Egyptian society has failed to nurture a commitment to development, an aspiration for a decent living, a promise for a better future. Failed to protect human life, provide social justice and has certainly failed in creating a citizen with a stake in this land, nation and country.

If you ask me, the problem is NOT one of poverty or ignorance. The lower classes might be poor, and they certainly harbour rather conservative views on sectarian, religious and social issues, and they are quite xenophobic when it comes to 'the non-white other' in general. But the 'real' issue is the Egyptian middle class. Despite their 'education', 'culture', 'travels', 'exposure' and endless richesse, the middle class harbours endless contradictions -- from genuine, well-articulated and disguised backwardness, sectarianism and xenophobia to an admirable ability to pretend 'everything is alright'. And when everything is not alright, then it must be 'something foreign.'

Another 'alien' conspiracy? FB group condemns a joint prayers on January 6

2011-01-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this is actually for real or it's some joke but check this out!

THIS is OBVIOUSLY 'alien' to Egyptian society -- of course Dr. Tamer Sha`aban Ali (as his Zionist name indicates) and other organisers and commentators on this page are not 'REAL Egyptians' nor are they 'REAL Muslims' ... Of course this is a conspiracy -- 'foreign' hands have infiltrated the country and caused the bombing weeks after having sent the GPS-directed sharks to eat up tourists in Sinai ... The reason? Simple, it's because Egypt is a pioneer in all fields of life, speaker of the Upper House told Egyptians.

El-Mokhles TV, one of the organisers of the campaign against the joint prayer of solidarity on January 6 hosts a number of links like this one which propagate conspiracy theories about Coptic organisations with links to Zionism and accuses them of perpetrating the terrorist attack. The page administrators also conducted a short survey on their status at 02:42 on Tuesday asking participants 'Who do you think is the biggest beneficiary from the Alexandria attack -- Copts? Muslims? the State? Other?' The results are shown in the screenshots below:

Another post on the page asked whether the attack targeted the Al-Qidissain Church or the mosque across the street. Again, the result was very 'alien' to Egyptians although the respondents weren't : the attack targeted the mosque of course -- the explosion occured 3 metres away from the mosque and 8 metres away from the church, and yet, the victims were predominantly Christians, go figure!

Of course, this all points to one thing -- of course they don't point to the rapid spread of hate speech and conspiracy theories in a socially-decaying Egyptian society; nor does it point towards a failed state and a culture of repression and counter-repression. If any thing, they point towards 'foreign' hands and 'alien' ideas that are conspiring against Egypt -- maybe Zionist or American, but maybe Iranian or Shi`a given the new wave of regional hate-speech and incitement.

Sigh. I leave it in your hands to judge.

In the meantime, this is getting too much for me -- they say the sand in Alexandria is splendid this time of the year. Anyone wanna join me? I think I'll go for a head-burying henak.

مصطفى حلمي عن تفجير الاسكندرية : ينصر دينك يابطل

2011-01-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

UPDATE: There has been much ambiguity as to who the real author of this poem is. Most sources I have come across online attribute it to Ahmad Fouad Negm although the style is significantly different to Negm's -- my assumption was that Negm produced this poem hastily in response to the NYE terrorist attack.

However, it has come to my attention after consulting with commenters on this post and others online as well as after contacting Mostafa Helmy and accessing the original note on his Facebook page that the poem is indeed authored by 28-year-old Mostafa Helmy -- not Ahmad Fouad Negm.

First of all, I would like to express my solidarity with Helmy against plagiarism -- part of a general trend of disrespect and disregard of intellectual property rights common amongst Egyptians in general and the Egyptian online community in specific. Secondly, I would like to apologise to Helmy (as well as Negm) for having taken part in propagating the poem as a work of Ahmad Fouad Negm for the past day or two.

Finally, I would like to apologise to my readers for misinformation -- Most importantly however, I wish to thank those who commented on the post in public and in private for correcting my information.

Please keep up reading, interacting and contributing to my blog and others' -- it's the only way so-called 'citizen journalists' can continue to express opinions guided by your opinions and knowledge.

Thank you.

************************************

ينصر دينك يابطل

مصطفى حلمي عن تفجير كنيسة القديسين بالاسكندرية

ينصر دينك يا بطل

قتلت ناس عُزًّل كتير

ستات، شيوخ وكمان عيال

ازحت عنا خطر كبير

دي ناس بتقول الله محبه

والمحبه دي شئ خطير

إقتل بطرس وإقتل مينا

اللي إخواتهم ماتوا في سينا

واللي ولادهم رقصوا فـي فرحك

واللي فـ ميّتم بيعزّينا

إقتل ماري وطنط تريزا

دول ناس مافيهومشي ولا ميزه

دايمًا كده يبتسموا في وشك

ويقولوا اهلاً خطوه عزيزه

وإقتل برضه عمّك حنا

في اي خناقه بيحوش عنّا

غاوي يصّلح بين الناس

ولا يمكن يوّرد على جنّه

وإقتل سامي ناجي نجيب

اصل الإسم صراحه مريب

يمكن يطلع واحد منهم

او داقق على إيده صليب

ولا اقولّك...إضرب شبرا

والكيت كات وميدان الاوبرا

فجّر واحده في كل مكان

خلّي جيرانهم يصبحوا عبر

لينا رب إسمه الكريم

ها يجي يوم تعرض عليه

تقف امامه و يسأل الشخص ده عملك إيه؟

بأي ذنب تقتله

وفين ومين وإزاي وليه؟

إبقى قول لي يا بطل

ها ترد يومها..

وتقول إيه؟

Alexandria attack reveals the fragility of the Egyptian state and the precariousness of social order

2011-01-05T01:41:00.000-08:00

I have always been a fan of Wael Abdel Fattah's coverage of Egyptian affairs for the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, but his coverage of the recent terrorist attack on Al-Qidissain Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve simply topped it up. The article was published a day after I published a post criticising an Egyptian middle-class-in-denial. In my post, I argued Egyptians must admit that the attack was not as 'alien' or 'foreign' as they would like to assert and that the root causes of social conflict (sectarianism included) are entrenched in a decadent political system and a rotten social order.

At the end of my previous post, I asked if there were Egyptians with the balls to admit the ills of society and polity at the root of this heinous terrorist attack. The next morning, Wael gave me my answer.

Wael published another article on Tuesday, 4 January 2011, discussing the sectarianisation of Egyptian society and the ascent of Christian fanaticism and a discourse of martyrdom among Egypt’s Copts in the wake of the attack – another must-read!

Angry Copts at the Cathedral of Saint Mark attack dignitaries and ministerial delegations with stones, shoes and angry chants. Dignitaries, Sheikhs and ministers have been visiting Pope Shenouda III to show solidarity and express condemnation of the terror attack.

Below are excerpts from his article published on Monday, 3 January 2011.

الموت في انفجار كنيسة القديسين لم يكن حادثة إرهابية عادية، لكنه لعب خطر على بناء المجتمع في مصر. وسواء كان الجناة «أفعى» لها رأس في الخارج وجسم في الداخل، أو وحش محلي يكبر في السر منذ سنوات، فإن قنبلة المسامير أشعلت الفتنة التي لم تعد تنام طويلاً. أشعلتها ومعها شعور بالخطر تحركه كثير من عواطف الفزع من الموت، وقليل من عقل يقفز فوق النار الطائفية

بداية من الرئيس إلى أصغر ضابط في الشرطة، يبحث نظام حسني مبارك عن أفعى تسرّبت من التجمعات الأمنية، وأشعلت السنة الجديدة كلها. سنة «الحسم» بدت حاسمة فعلاً في كشف «رخاوة» في جسد الدولة. وبعد ساعات من انفجار كنيسة القديسين، هاجم ملثّم نقطة شرطة وقتل شرطياً وسرق سلاحه الرسمي. وفي سياق الاحتجاج على الانفجار، قطع أقباط طريق الاوتوستراد، ومنعوا مرور السيارات. «الطريق» و«السلاح» هما من رموز الدولة التي تحاول استدعاء المجتمع لنصرتها في المحنة بحديثها عن الأفعى، والمجتمع خارج السيطرة، يشعر بالخطر، ويدافع بفوضوية عن تماسك ما. كل العناصر موجودة في حال الدفاع ضد الخطر: في المقدمة تعصّب يرفع شعارات دينية. الأقباط يصرخون بشعار تهتز له الكنائس: «بالروح بالدم نفديك يا صليب» و«مهما يعملوا فينا... العدرا ها تقوّينا». المسلمون في العادة يردّون في العلن بهتافات «الله أكبر»، وفي السر بشماتة ساذجة: «لكي يتوقفوا عن الاحتفال برأس السنة في دولة مسلمة». صوت التطرف الإسلامي خافت، لم يكن أمامه إلا البحث عن عدوّ خارجي. أشار الدكتور محمد سليم العوا مثلاً بإصبع الاتهام إلى «الموساد» ليلتقي مع الدولة في بحثها عن الأفعى، وليغسل يديه شخصياً من صنع موجات تحريض ضد المسيحيين ومعهم في مصر. دعوات صنعت له نجومية أخيرة، تأتي في سياق وضع توازن مع الكنيسة ونجومها. العوا لمع أخيراً لأداء دور في تحجيم قوة الكنيسة عن طريق عناصر من خارج المؤسسة الدينية

رجل دين عادي، مثل الأنبا بيشوي، يترك موقعه الكهنوتي ويتحدث قبل أسابيع من الانفجار كزعيم سياسي عن ضيافة المسيحيين للمسلمين في مصر. ثم يفجّر قنبلته بالحديث عن آيات القرآن الكريم التي تكفّر المسيحيين، ويتساءل عن وجود الآية من عدمه، لتمرّ فكرته في إطار كلام عن تحريف القرآن

الدولة تتحلل، بينما يكاد مخزون العنف ينفجر في مواضع خطرة هذه المرة

هتفت جموع مسيّسة ضد أسطورة الأمن التي لم تعد مهتمة إلا بتأمين المقاعد العليا، بينما أمن المجتمع مشروخ ومفزع. الهتافات اتهمت الدولة وأمنها مباشرة بالإرهاب «يا بو دبورة ونسر وكاب... إنتو الي عملتوا الإرهاب». ورأت أن المجتمع يحمي مصر وليس الدولة في رسالة «قولوا للحاكم جوا القصر إحنا الي بنحمي مصر» ... قنبلة رأس السنة أزالت أقنعة متعددة، لم يعد فيها مقبولاً إنكار الدولة: ليس هناك مشكلة طائفية. مصر وطن خال من التعصّب. وبعد كل فتنة يقبّل الشيخ القسيس و«اللي في القلب في القلب يا كنيسة... أو يا جامع» ... بعد التصوير يعود المسلم إلى البحث عن قلعة للمسلمين ويختبئ المسيحي تحت خيمة الكنيسة. هي حرب أهلية غير معلنة، لكنّ تفاصيلها أصبحت واقعاً يومياً يزداد ضراوة

حياة على الهوية لم تصل إلى درجة تكوين ميليشيات، لكنها أصبحت عادة، في المدرسة وإشارة المرور، والصراع على التجارة، بل ومنافسات بناء دور العبادة. الجديد أن الدولة، التي تشيخ مع حكامها، تتعامل بالهوية، وما لا يعلنه المسيحيون هو أنهم يشعرون بضعف الهمّة في حماية الكنائس رغم تلقّي التهديدات، لأنها (التهديدات) تخصّ مسلمين وتسبّب للضباط المسلمين شرخاً في الوعي
هذا عنصر جديد أضيف إلى التمييز التقليدي المتوارث، منذ أن تراجعت رغبة المجتمع كله في الدولة المدنية الحديثة التي لا فرق فيها بين مسلم ومسيحي ولا بين بحراوي وصعيدي أو غني وفقير. لا فرق في الحقوق الأساسية، ولا توزيع مناصب حسب الحصص الطائفية

«وحدة عنصري الأمة»
السخافة ليست في الشعار. ولكن في أنه كان مرفوعاً في ثورة 1919، لحظة تكوّن الأمة المصرية، وانصهار الطوائف في دولة حديثة لا تعترف باللون والجنس والدين. وبعد ما يقرب من 100 عام، عندما يُرفع الشعار نفسه، فإنه إشارة إلى تغلغل الطائفية إلى حدّ تشتعل فيه حرباً أهلية تحت كل سرير وفي كل زاوية ولا يشعر المجتمع بالنار. الرصاصات والقنابل تعميد للكراهية، وصور الشهداء تكريس للفرقة والانشقاق

عندما يكون ضحايا المذبحة «شهداء المسيحيين»، فهذا يعني أن هناك انتقاماً آتياً أو دماً معلّقاً يخصّ طائفة ضد طائفة أخرى

Click on the image for the source article

While Tunisians and Egyptians riot, Morjane and Abol Gheit convene to 'consult'

2011-01-04T01:04:00.009-08:00

Egyptian Foreign Minister is expected to visit Tunisia to take part in the twelfth session of the joint Egyptian-Tunisian Committee for Political Consultation. According to official sources, the committee will discuss 'bilateral cooperation' and regional and pan-Arab dossiers of mutual concern.

During their 29 and 23 years in office, US allies Mubarak and Ben Ali have faced little formal opposition

In the meantime, Tunisian activists continue to riot in Sidi Bouzid protesting corruption, dictatorship and regional and class disparities. Their Egyptian counterparts have persistently expressed solidarity even as Egypt marked the start of a new year with a shock of unprecedented magnitude and, as a result, phenomenal social, political and sectarian momentum.

In the meantime, the Tunisian regime has been busy repressing the uprising, using excessive force to 'quell' the 'unlawful' acts of so-called 'agents of foreign plots', and employing 'international' expertise to censor activists' internet access. Likewise, the Egyptian regime is, as usual, externalising the terrorist attack on the Alexandrian Al-Qidissain Church and singing along with a bourgeoisie-in-denial. "The attack on the Al-Qidissain Church is alien to Egyptian society" they claim. The attack "bears the hallmarks of a foreign plot" aimed at causing sectarian strife which, they persistently tell us, is 'foreign' to Egypt and a 'distortion' of religious teachings.

While Tunisians riot for the third week in a row, Egypt is witnessing daily clashes

between Copts, Muslims, pro-democracy activists and the police since New Year's Eve

It's therefore not a surprise that, while both regimes struggle to quell mounting opposition and externalise the roots of social discord and dismay, they find common ground and a reason to 'consult'.

Manning up and growing some balls ... For Egypt's sake

2011-01-02T15:28:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine wrote a short Facebook note which he ended with the provocative (even blasphemous) phrase:

طزّ في الهلال قبل الصليب . و ماحدّش يكلمني عن "الدين" الصحيح
(tr. screw the Crescent as well as the Cross ... And do not talk to me about "real" religiosity)

His remark comes in context of the heinous attack on the Coptic Orthodox Church of Al-Qidissain Mar Murqus and Mar Butrus in Sidi Bishr, Alexandria. The attack took place shortly after midnight as a 1000+ congregation gathered in the church for midnight mass on new year's eve causing shock and terror on a scale unprecedented since the 1997 Luxor massacre (bearing in mind, the former targeted the lucrative tourism industry empowering the state whereas the latter targeted Egyptian Copts).

Egyptians' reactions have followed a usual, predictable and rather 'conservative' pattern ranging from expressing outrage at the attack to expressing solidarity with the Coptic community. The more daring, pointed their fingers at the failure of Egypt's repressive security apparatus; linked the attack to the precarious political situation in the country; or called for the dismissal of Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly or holding him accountable for torture, the perpetuation of the State of Emergency and for the repeated failures of the security apparatus in preventing terrorist attacks or bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The Coptic Orthodox Church hosts an annual iftar in Ramadan as a complimentary show of national unity, another example of the "Crescent and the Cross" denialism [source: 3arabawy on FlickR].

The usual response has been the same since the turn of the twentieth century: an outburst of the famous slogan "عاش الهلال مع الصليب" (Long Live the Crescent and the Cross). On the other hand, while expressing outrage at a terrorist attack; the alleged kidnapping of a convert from one faith to the other; or sectarian clashes here and there ... Egyptian's are accustomed to repeating a number of lame phrases with little or no meaning. These include "there must be foreign hands behind this heinous crime" because "Egypt is known for the coexistence of its 'two components', Christians and Muslims"; "this is a distortion of genuine religiosity"; and "religion doesn't preach such a crime against innocent people".

The more 'political' will point fingers towards the USA or Israel and accuse them of "meddling in Egyptian affairs"; "inciting sectarian hatred"; and "attempting to divide the otherwise-inseparable Egyptian nation."

This is not just a popular view, but also an institutional one which the Egyptian Coptic Church, the Muslim establishment and the government work together to propagate. The press conference held in the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Mark in Abbasiya, Cairo by Pope Shnouda III, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Minister of Religious Endowments is a case in point. President Mubarak's speech in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Al-Qidissain Church in Alexandria is another case in point.

Mubarak: The attack bears the hallmarks of the sinful hands of external forces [...] who targeted our nation, Muslims and Christians alike [...] The terrorist attack is 'foreign' to us! And left the blood of our innocent martyrs mixed on the streets of Alexandria.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians changed their Facebook profile pictures and statuses to correspond to the terrorist attack. Images of Crescents and Crosses coloured with the red-white-and-black colours of the Egyptian flag flooded the social networking site and tens of thousands of Egyptian flags replaced Egyptians' profile pictures. Some, Muslims and Christians alike, even used pictures of Coptic churches and sacred iconography in place of their profile pictures.

Once again, "Long Live the Crescent and the Cross" dominated Egyptians' reactions to the attack whose magnitude is yet to be realised. Needless to say, it is slightly refreshing to see that some still resort to notions of national unity and a legacy of coexistence (even if it's just mythical) in response to such an attack.

But I do wonder, how much thought has the average Egyptian put into the attack? How much thought have these innumerable people who use Crescent-and-Cross slogans, images and symbols given to the causes of the attack and its repercussions?

Very little it seems.

Little has been learnt from the previous attacks against Egypt's Christian community and the noticeable escalation of sectarian strife in Egypt since 2008 has been allowed to go on despite occasional outbursts of condemnation by Egypt's middle classes. How come so little has been said of the innumerable online forums and Facebook groups issued repeated terror threats and incited? Interestingly, when a number of these forums and groups surfaced to the attention of the online Egyptian middle class, they were immediately reported to online administrators and were eventually closed down - but no conclusions were made; debate was barred; and no lessons learnt!

Even worse, very little thought and certainly-insufficient attention has been paid to the attack on the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad in October 2010 by Al-Qaida's Islamic State in Iraq which declared the attack a 'warning' to Egypt's Coptic Church.

Which brings me to the real issue. Yes, I believe the attack might well have been the doing of Al-Qaida. Yes, it might well have been funded by external sources. And yes, it might well contribute to the further fragmentation of Egyptian society which might further the strategic gains of this foreign country or the other.

But why did the perpetrators of the numerous sectarian clashes of the past three years find it justifiable to attack Egyptian Christians and their churches? Why did Al-Qaida's 'ever-so-foreign' brand of terrorism and it's "false interpretation of Islam" appeal to some Egyptians?

On the other hand, why did angry Christian protestors view this as a 'Muslim attack' against 'the Christian community'? Why did they not subscribe to the official narrative that this is a 'foreign attack' on 'Egypt as a whole'? Why have angry mobs demanded Pope Shenouda III not receive the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar? Why has the slogan "with our souls, with our blood, we redeem the Cross" dominated young Copts' protests? And why have Coptic youth throughout the country expressed their desire to be martyred in defence of the Cross?

Clearly the glamourous slogans of "Long Live the Crescent and the Cross" along with the externalisation of responsibility are not as convincing for Egyptians as they are omnipresent.

One might be a man of faith. One might be convinced that religion preaches benevolence. One might even believe that religion unleashes the good in man and not the heinous, hateful and vengeful. You might be confident that an attack like that on the Al-Qidissain Church is not an act of Islam, but an act of terror. But if you harbour such convictions, you need not wait for an alibi to prove your faith's innocence. In fact, you, more than anyone else, should be seeking the real cause behind sectarian violence.

It is high time for Egyptians to stop burying their heads in the soft sands that are engulfing their country. It's high time for Egyptians to stop using colourful and glamorous veils tainted with words and sentiments of an artificial national unity to blind themselves from the evidently internalised sectarian conflict within Egyptian society. It is time we ignore the benefit foreign powers might gain from internal divisions and focus on why these divisions exist and how they go violent.

For these reasons, I couldn't agree more with Ahmad Gharbieh ... TOZZ ... I do no care for the Crescent, nor do I give a sh*t for the Cross !

I care to see a more aware and a more proactive Egyptian middle class: one that does not view sectarian violence as "a distortion of religion" or "a Zionist plot" ... I care to see an Egyptian middle class that does not hide behind the ridiculousness of "Long Live the Crescent and the Cross" to disguise a culture of political apathy.

Enough propaganda, enough lovey-duffy bullocks and let's face our issues before Egypt descends into endless 'Lebanonisation' - or should I say, 'labwanisation'.

Instead of upholding artificial notions of national unity, I insist on aspiring and working towards an Egyptian middle class with the balls to acknowledge the deep structural imbalances in Egyptian society and the entrenched political failures of over a century! Let there be an Egyptian middle class with enough courage to hit the nail on the head and tackle these structural imbalances and failures.

Let us leave the Crescent and the Cross aside and lets address the role of religious institutions in public life; tackle the question of citizenship and citizen rights. Let us reform a political system that thrives on dealing with society in a segmented form; let us reform a security apparatus that skillfully terrorises citizens and tortures them but categorically fails to defend public life and private property from petty criminals, organised crime and terrorism. Let us address the structural imbalances in the relationship between the institutions of the state and the severe regional and class disparities.

A new video reveals the horrors of the Alexandria attack

2011-01-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

A new video emerged on Facebook showing the moments of the explosion and the horror and terror in front of Al-Qidissin Church during a midnight mass on new year's eve.

Freedom4Copts Youtube Channel has also revealed a video of the joint press conference which included Pope Shnouda III, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church; Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyib, Sheikh of Al-Azhar; Imam Sheikh Dr. Ali Goma`a, Mufti of Egypt; and Minister Mahmoud H. Zaqzouq, Minister of Religious Endowments. The press conference was held in the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Mark, the seat of the Holy See of Saint Mark in Abbasiya, Cairo, Egypt which the the two Sheikhs and Minister visited to show solidarity with the Church and express condolences to the Coptic community. The visit was scarred by the chants of angry protesters in the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral who demanded justice, revenge and asked the Pope not to appease the government, Muslims or the Islamic religious establishment.

Egyptian police forces tightened security measures around churches following the Alexandria attack

John Insan : my silence killed the Alexandria victims

2011-01-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

The Alexandria victims' funerary mass held in Mar Mina Monastery amidst loud

chants "with our blood, with our souls, we redeem the Cross"

كتب " جون الانسان "عن الخمول السياسي و الصمت عن الحق و العدالة في مصر ... كتب عن القاتل الحقيقي و المسئول الفعلي عن جريمة كنيسة القديسين ليلة رأس السنة في الأسكندرية ... كتب يلوم نفسه و المجتمع ... كتب فقال

أنا من قتلت هؤلا

أجل

أعترف بذبح كل من مات

ذهبت اليوم الى الأسكندرية معزيا

تأكدت بأني منذ الدهر قاتلا

أنا ذلك المتطرف الأرهابي

أجل من قتل هؤلاء الأبرياء

ذبحتكم بيداي عارية كانت او مسلحة

أوقفني الجميع صارخين أنت مريض سكر

أنت لا تصلح للتبرع بالدم

صرخت أنا دمائي ملوثة

أنا دمائي مزيفة

أرجوكم خذوا دمائي وبدلوا هويتها

أنا قاتلا لأني مصريا

أجل

لاني كاره حاقد مشوها

انا مصريا

لاني لا اعرف الا الدماء والاحتقان

قتلتكم بصمتى عن الحق

وذبحتكم بثورتي على العنف

بصمتى وبثورتي ذبحتكم

صمت عن قادة دين يبحثون عن مجد

وحينما جائت ثورتي عارمة كانت تحمل أغراضا

قتلتكم لأني لازلت اكتب على هذا الموقع الكاذب

هذا الفيس الزائف

قتلتكم لأني أبحث كل يوم عن كلمات تهدئني وتدفن جثثكم

قتلتكم لأني سكتت عن أباطرة يذبحون حريتنا

وحينما تكلمت صرخت مع معارضين فاسدين

أجل

أنا قتلت هؤلاء الأبرياء

لأني لازلت أستمع لنفس الزيف

وأغني تلك الاغاني المعلبة الفاسدة

قتلتكم لأني سارعت لدفنكم

لكني كنت ادفن حقيقتكم

لستم شهداء ولا ضحايا

أنتم بشر لازالوا يحلمون

قتلتكم لأني لازلت اعبث بالكلمات

قتلتكم لأني أبحث عن عبارات تهدئني وتميت ضميري

قتلتكم لأني لم اغير إلا صورة بروفايلي

لأني لم أغير إلا حالة الاستيتيوس خاصتي

لأني لم أثور إلا بلافتات مغرضة تعبر عن أحزاب وحركات

قتلتكم لأن ثورتي وصمتى تحمل أجندة مصالحي

قتلتكم لأن دمائي وعقلي ملوث بالكره

قتلتكم لأن رئيس دولتي ورؤساء الديانات عرائس كره

لأن الديانات معالجة بالفساد

مسمومة بالكراسي

يصمتون.. ويتكلمون.. ويحرضون.. ويزيفون.. ويصرخون

حسب الأجندة

أجل مازلت أصمت فاسدا

أستمع وأصمت فاسدا

لازلت اصيح واثور فاسدا

وابكي فاسدا

وأنعي فاسدا

واخيرا.... انا من ينصر فاسدا

كل المصالح والسياسات معلبة بالنفاق

بالعهر والقتل والحقد

قتلتكم لاني مازلت استمتع بحزني على صوركم

مازلت أستنزف نفسي بالبكاء عليكم

قتلتكم لأني أعزي أهلكم

وأحيانا البس الحداد ممتنع العزاء عليكم

قتلتكم لأني أبحث عن أمل في التغيير

قتلتكم لأني أؤمن بأن الغد شريف

قتلتكم لأني أحلم بمصر التي ماتت...... منتصرة

قتلتكم أنا بيداي

أجل

أنا من ذبحت أجسادكم وأنتظرت الدم

أجل أنتظرت الدم وأنتصرت الى الحقد

قتلتكم لأني لم يهمنى من دمائكم إلا صور ولقطات

لم يعنيني إلا نقل الأحداث للجماهير

ملعونة دمائي لا تكفي فدائكم

ملوثة وفاسدة

دمائي لن تحييكم لم تشفيكم

مشاركتى تهدئني لكن لا تروي حياتكم

كنتم حالمين رائعين

وأنا فاسد أنتظر النبيذ والرقص برأس السنة

فأنا بينما تشرب الارض دمائكم كنت أشرب نبيذ فسادي

رقصت من الفرح والعهر

وسقطت أجسادكم ترقص من الإنفجار

فردت أذرعي أرقص بينما طارت أعضائكم مبتورة

أجل قتلتكم ولا يعنيني إلا دموع نرجسيتي

أبكي كي أشعر أني أحس

بينما لا تستطيعون البكاء

لأنكم لستم بموجودون

قلت انكم شهداء وتارة كفرة

لكنكم انتم لستم بموجودون

أنا القاتل أنا القاتل

يــــــا كل أجهزة الدولة المعنية النظيفة والفاسدة

انا جون ميلاد امين ... من قتل هؤلاء

تصادم شباب قبطي غاضب مع قوى الأمن المصرية في تصعيد طائفي جديد

2011 for Egyptians : a bloody start for a critical year

2011-01-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

Egyptians welcome the new year, 2011, with a massacre of unprecedented political and social significance. Following a year of tense relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt, Egyptians bid 2010 farewell less than half an hour before a deadly attack targeted a congested Coptic Orthodox al-Qiddissin Church in the Sidi Bishr neighbourhood of Egypt's second-largest city, Alexandria [map].

The car exploded in front of the church as worshippers emerged from a New Year's Mass (source)

The attack sums up a year which characterised by tensions between the Church and the Muslim community over allegations of extra-legally imprisoning and torturing converts to Islam and, recently, an Al-Qaida threat against the Coptic Church. I, referred to the heightened tensions between Copts and Muslims in Egypt amidst political turmoil at this critical phase of Egyptian history as 'the bagamisation' of society. I first used this expression jokingly, but eventually it became a token of my anger and frustration at the prevalent state of affairs: a situation in which Egyptians are driven and kettled into primordial ties and enchained by unbreakable bonds of fear and loyalty at risk of 'excommunication'. As a result, an Egyptian is bogged down into stupidity, meaningless conflicts aggravated, and attention diverted from the imminent questions of democracy, political reform and social justice.

Blood splattered the facade of the church, a painting of Jesus inside, and a mosque across the street

(more photos of the attack and the clashes that followed can be found here)

A rare and amateur video released hours ago shows the congregation in the Coptic midnight mass inside the al-Qiddissin Church of Saints Mark and Peter when the unexpected struck: a car bomb exploded outside the church killing 21 people as worshippers hurried outside the church. The incident sparked violent sectarian clashes between angry Christians and the neighbourhood's Muslims as well as between Christian mobs and anti-riot police almost immediately after the attack.

Footage courtesy the al-Qiddissin Church

An eyewitness quoted by a number of online and print forums said he saw two men leave the car and head for the charitable hospital across the street from the church before the car exploded destroying the facade of the church. According to Michel Nasr, the car bore the phrase "and the rest will come" on the back. According to Nasr, who also spoke to the state-owned Nile News TV as well as a number of Coptic diaspora satellite channels, angry Christian mobs attacked Muslims in retaliation immediately after the attack causing a number of casualties before tens of anti-riot police trucks arrived and highways leading in and out of the 4-million-person city were shut down by state security police.

Despite attempts to reveal the circumstances of the tragic event which comes at an acute political stage in Egyptian political life as well as heightened sectarian tensions, the Egyptian government refuses to reveal any information to the public and has restricted journalists' access to information leaving a large vacuum which unverified testimonies and speculation have readily filled.

Another eyewitness, Mina Sami, narrates the incident

According to another eye witness, Mina Sami (the video above), the attack against the church was in fact threefold: according to Mina, after the first car bomb exploded between 00:30 and 00:45 CLT, the clergymen directed the worshipers out of the church using the back doors fearing the main entrance may be too dangerous for a mass evacuation. Mina claims that upon exit from the back doors however, another car bomb exploded. The episode was repeated a third time when worshippers were directed to a small emergency exit on El-Essawi Street.

According to his testimony, the attack also involved a dozen or so vandals penetrating the crowds and vandalising the computer rooms, archives and stained glass facade of the church as worshippers hurried out of the church. The vandals, Mina asserts, were arrested by angry Christians who presented them to the Priest of the al-Qiddissin Church who checked their IDs and determined they were in fact Muslim men before handing them over to state security. State security have made no statement and nothing has been heard of the alleged vandals so far.

As usual in cases deemed "sensitive" and of "particular importance to state security", the Egyptian government continues to provide the public and the media with little or no information and operates its usual heavy-handed policing policies. The lack of information has left public opinion informed only through unverified testimonies, rumors and speculation.

Egypt's Coptic community is due to celebrate Christmas on Friday, January 7 according to the Coptic or Alexandrian calendar which will probably be accompanied by a show of force by the police including intense security measures around churches and public places and might involve a number of arbitrary arrests aimed at reassuring the Coptic community, appeasing the Church and diffusing vengeance.

The attack on parishioners at Our Lady of Salvation in Iraq in October 2010 has led to worldwide condemnation and featured highly in Christmas prayers and papal/patriarchal speeches this year.

The attack is expected to be the work of Al-Qaida-related groups. Al-Qaeda vowed revenge against Egypt's Coptic Church amidst popular allegations that the Church is holding a number of converts captive in remote monasteries. Al-Qaida launched a deadly attack against worshippers in the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad, Iraq [photos]. Al-Qaida sources said the attack is only a warning to Egypt's Coptic Church that "it too will be targeted" in retaliation for "holding Muslim sisters in captivity and forcing them to denounce Islam and convert back to Christianity."

The Egyptian Coptic Church has raised great concern and caused immense anger and sectarian strife in the past two years following the mysterious disappearance of a number of women (especially wives of priests) who allegedly converted to Islam. The church was almost immediately accused of imprisoning the converts in its remote desert monasteries in an attempt to force them to convert back to Christianity. Although none of these allegations are substantiated, Al-Azhar records and the threatening intonation of the Coptic Church's top clergymen have left little room for doubt.

Jordanian-Iranian relations: Wikileaks and the making of diplomacy in the Middle East

2010-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

"Jordanian-Iranian rapprochement is a result of Wikileaks and their revelation of Jordan's mild positions towards the Iranian dossier in contrast to the Saudis and the Egyptians".

From the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi

Monday, December 13, 2010

الاردنيون يستعدون للقاء قمة نادر بين الملك عبدالله الثاني والرئيس احمدي نجاد
بسام البدارين

عمان ـ 'القدس العربي'لا يمكن اعتبار تسريبات ويكيليكس كلها ضارة بالحكومات العربية فقد ساهمت في تقارب نادر جدا خلال الساعات الـ 48 الماضية بين عمان وطهران، لم يكن ليحصل وفقا للمراقبين لولا الوثائق المسربة التي تظهر فرقا كبيرا في الموقف من الملف الايراني ما بين الحكومة الاردنية ونظيراتها العربية وتحديدا المصرية والسعودية

وحصة الاردن حتى الآن من وثائق ويكيليكس انحسرت عمليا بورقتين الاولى تتحدث عن الموقف الاردني من الضربة العسكرية لايران، والثانية تتحدث عن انطباعات بعد مباراة بين فريقي الفيصلي والوحدات

بالحالتين تأثرت عمان، فقد نقلت التسريبات عن الموقف الاردني معارضته الشديدة لاي عمل عسكري ضد ايران وتحذيره من ان ذلك سيقود لتعقيدات كبيرة تطال الجميع في المنطقة

طهران فيما يبدو، لم تفوت الفرصة فسارعت لارسال مبعوث رفيع المستوى للقصر الملكي الاردني هو رحيم مشائي المدير الخاص لمكتب الرئيس الايراني احمدي نجادي، وهو عمليا اول مسؤول ابراني بارز يزور عمان منذ سنوات طويلة جدا

مشائي استقبل بحفاوة بمكتب الملك عبد الله الثاني ورتبت معه جولة مباحثات رسمية وكانت المفاجأة بتبادل حديث ايجابي بينه وبين العاهل الاردني عبد الله الثاني حسب بعض المصادر

المفاجأة الاهم احضرها معه مشائي وهي دعوة شخصية ورسمية للملك الاردني لزيارة طهران من الرئيس نجاد، وهي اول دعوة من نوعها بين بلدين ربطتهما دوما خلافات سياسية جذرية وعلاقات باردة للغاية

وعمان ردت على الخطوة الانفتاحية بأفضل منها فقد نقلت وكالة الانباء الرسمية بترا عن الملك ترحيبه بعقد قمة اردنية - ايرانية ستكون لو حصلت قريبا نادرة جدا، والمثير ان الملك رحب بالقمة سواء اعقدت في عمان او طهران، مما يعني ضمنيا قبول الدعوة والاستعداد لتوجيه مثلها

هذا التسارع الهائل في التواصل بين البلدين برأي المراقبين، لم يكن ليحصل لولا الوقائع التي سربتها ويكيليكس عن تحذيرات عمان في اللقاءات المغلقة من ضرب ايران، ومن الواضح انه تواصل يحاول احتواء تردي العلاقات وتدهورها منذ اقترحت عمان التحذير من الهلال الشيعي، خصوصا وان السفير الاردني في طهران الشيخ نوح القضاة قضى سنوات في ايران وهو يحاول كشخصية دينية ابقاء مستوى التوتر الدبلوماسي والسياسي عند مستواه القائم ومنع اي تدهور اضافي

وهناك ثمة فضيلة اضافية، فمستوى الاهتمام السياسي والاعلامي الذي تعيشه البلاد لليوم الرابع على التوالي بقصة الوحدة الوطنية بعد الاحداث الاخيرة اثر مباراة الفيصلي والوحدات يمكن ايضا رده لتسريبات ويكيليكس، وفقا للمحلل والحقوقي نضال منصور، الذي قرأ كغيره الوثيقة الثانية التي تخص الاردن بالتسريبات وتتمثل في انطباعات السفير الامريكي قبل سنوات عن مباراة بين نفس الفريقين

حسب التسريبات تحدث السفير الامريكي عن 'بلطجة' تستهدف الاردنيين من اصل فلسطيني خلال المباريات، لكن السلطات اهتمت جدا بما حصل بعد المباراة الاخيرة الجمعة الماضية في محاولة واضحة لنفي تهمة التواطؤ ضمنيا او اظهار الجدية في التعاطي مع مشكلات كرة القدم التي تهدد الوحدة الوطنية

وبالنتيجة انتهى الامر بأول لجنة تحقيق رفيعة تشكل لدراسة مشكلات المدرجات خصوصا خلال مباريات الفيصلي والوحدات

The story of Niri, a foreign domestic worker in Lebanon

2010-12-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Listen to the story of Niri, a foreign domestic worker in Lebanon. Just a taste of what its like to be a migrant or migrant-domestic worker in Lebanon.

Click HERE to listen to the story of Niri

[ Thanks to the Anti-Racism Movement ]

Beirut: Lebanese protest against the abuse of foreign domestic workers in Beirut on March 8, 2009.

Placard in Arabic reads "On International Women's day we support the rights of foreign domestic workers."

(thanks to the Marxist-Leninist Daily of the Communist Party of Canada)

7ekayat min el-Mokattam: empowering Egypt's less-heard youth

2010-12-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

In this video, Mahmoud Saber sheds some light on "El-Mokattam Blog Tales", a civil society project to empower young men and women from the temporary-turned-permanent "Earthquake Victims' Resettlement Project" (Masaken El-Zelzal) on the El-Mokattam Hills east of Cairo through art. The project aims at capacity-building and explores and trains youth from El-Zelzal the use of digital photography and the skills of internet-writing providing the most ambitious, yet least socially-mobile the means to express themselves and have their voices heard globally.

In this video, Nesma Geweily of the Namaa Initiative explains more about El-Mokatam Blog Tales [video in Arabic, with English subtitles].

The project is part an initiative by Namaa Initiative in partnership with the NGO Alwan & Awtar. It is also supported by the Rising Voices initiative of Global Voices.

More details on the project can be found on the El-Mokattam Blog Tales page on the Rising Voices/Global Voices website. Here is another video [in English] featuring Nesa Geweily introducing the project earlier this summer when the project was formally launched.

El-Zelzal is a particularly marginalised settlement which developed in the early 1990s as thousands of Cairenes fled their homes in the wake of the 1992 earthquake and the collapse of a number of budget-accommodation apartment buildings built using shoddy building materials and and insufficient use of steel reinforcement bars. The neighbourhood developed on Al-Hadaba Al-Wosta (The Middle Plateau) of the Mokattam Hills just above the earlier state-planned-turned-informal settlement of Mansheyyet Nasser. Together, they are referred to as El-Douweika.

The inhabitants suffered yet another natural disaster in 2006 when a landslide left their homes destroyed, or under threat from an avalanche of rocks from Mokattam's upper plateaus where tope-end residential and luxury developments are taking place. Large parts of the neighbourhood were forcefully-evacuated in a brutal show of force and its social fabric once again shaken.

Cairo's landscape is scoured with 'unfinished' or unpainted apartment buildings which are intentionally left on concrete and red brick form to avoid government taxation levied on 'finished' and 'luxury' residential properties. The aesthetics of these buildings is characteristic of many urban slums, informal settlements and peripheral neighbourhoods inhabited by the less affluent and the city's aspiring newcomers. This photo is from Masaken El-Zelzal, El-Douweika.

لبنان بين واقعية الدراما و اكاذيب الواقع

2010-12-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

انتجت شركة ( ORTV ) التي يملكها السعودي عبد الرحمن الراشد شريطها «الوثائقي» (المشكوك في أهدافه السياسية !!) العام الماضي و المعنوّن «جريمة في بيروت» . مفاد الفيلم تورّط «حزب الله» وسوريا في اغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري ... أما اليوم فيستعدّ الكاتب والمخرج السوري منذر حويجة لإنجاز فيلم روائي طويل بعنوان «لبنان حجر شطرنج» . و وفقا لمقال وسام كنعان في الأخبار فان الفيلم المزمع تصوير مشاهده بين بيروت و دمشق يتناول اغتيال رئيس الحكومة السابق عبر قصة متخيّلة تعتمد على كتاب «اغتيال الحريري... أدلّة مخفية» للألماني يورغن كاين كولبل الذي ناقض رواية القاضي الدولي ديتليف ميليس و الرئيس الأسبق لفريق التحقيق الدولي.

و الملفت للنظر في هذا السيل اللا متناهي من الأفلام و الروايات و القصص التي تتناول قضية اغتيال الرئيس الحريري انها , و رغم انها اعمال سينيمائية او روائية , الا انها تحاول اماطة اللثام عن حقيقة قرر اللبنانيون تناسيها و إن احتشدوا سنوياً في تظاهرات فلكلورية حاملين يافطات حزبية و مرتدين «فولارات» آخر موضة مزينة بكلمة الـ«حقيقة» وهم يهللين و يصفقين لرؤساء احزابهم التي تواطأت و تهاونت في مقارعة مرتكبيي الاغتيالات السياسية بالقانون و العدالة منذ القرن التاسع عشر !

دعاية «كرمالك» و «لعيونك» تحتل سماء لبنان لعدة ايام قبل منتصف شباط من كل عام قبل ان تتحول الى طيارات ورق يلعب بها الأطفال و الواح خشب يأوي اليها الشغيلة السوريين و المهجريين المنسيين

ففي الحقيقة , اصبح «خيال» الدراما و «مخيلة» الرواية هما «الحقيقة» التي تنافيها اكاذيب المسرحية التنكرية المسماة بـ «السياسة اللبنانية» .

و لعل التسريبات المتتالية التي يفضحها موقع « ويكيليكس » بشكل شبه يومي فيما يخص الشأن اللبناني تثبت ذلك . ففضائح مداولات المسئولين اللبنانيين الـ(غير)ـمحترمين في كواليس «عش الدبابير» في عوكر تثبت ان الوفاق و حكومته « ضحك على الذقون » . و ان التوافق المزعوم بين الطوائف و احزابها ما هو الا غشاء «شيك» يليق بشعب ألِف و تمرس دفن الرأس في الرمال كالنعام . أما الدولة و مؤسساتها ووزارائها و الجماعة السياسية المنادية بها فما هم الا نكت لا يليق الخوض فيها الا على برنامج «أهضم شي» .

و لا شك ان ما خفي كان أعظم . فلعل اليوم الذي تتسرب فيه مراسلات السفارات المصرية و السعودية و الفرنسية و الايرانية و غيرها من سفارات لاعبيي الشطرنج في لبنان قد دنا.

و الخلاصة ؟ اصبحت الدراما و الرواية هما المسرح الأقرب للحقيقة و الملجأ للباحث بجدية عنها . اما «الواقع» فقد اصبح هو ذاته الفيلم و المسرحية الساخرة .

و لا اعتقد ان كثيرين سيجادولنني في هذا الاعتقاد اللهم الا المتحفظون على اسعمالي لإسم «اصبح» الناسخ و كأنني ادعي ان « الواقع » اللبناني شهد يوماً لم يكن هو فيه مسرحية

WikiLeaks reveal that, in Lebanon, there is no minister, no defense, no nation, no enemy and there is even no people

2010-12-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

On December 2nd, Al-Akhbar published a WikiLeaked diplomatic cable emanating from the US embassy in Beirut. The cable, dated 11 March 2010, briefed the US State Department on a meeting between embassy officials and Lebanese Minister of Defense (MoD), Elias el-Murr. The full text of the cable was published by the opposition, leftist Al-Akhbar.

In their meeting, according to the cable, Minister of Denfence Elias El-Murr "expressed his growing concern that a Hizballah war with Israel is imminent". El-Murr also echoed accusations by Amine Gemmayel, Walid Jumblatt and other Lebanese politicians regarding alleging that "the Shia, and in particular senior Hizballah members, have been acquiring land or renting homes in the Christian areas of Jezzine, Jebel Rihan, Junieh, Zahle as well as in Druze areas."

The most alarming, and perhaps shameful part of the communication between the MoD and US Embassy staff is his disclosure of the internal affairs and political stance of the Lebanese army regarding issues of a domestic, international and defense nature. Firstly, El-Murr disclosed his firm belief and commitment that the Lebanese army "should not get involved when Israel comes." Then, he offered the US a few pieces of advice, perhaps hoping they'd be passed on to Israel:

Making clear that he was not responsible for passing messages to Israel, Murr told us that Israel would do well to avoid two things when it comes for Hizballah One, it must not touch the Blue Line or the UNSCR 1701 areas as this will keep Hizballah out of these areas. Two, Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas. The Christians were supporting Israel in 2006 until they started bombing their bridges.

Not only that, El-Murr went on to brief the Americans on the state of affairs within the army expressing his concern for the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) stationed in the Beka'a "hoping" they wouldn't be totally cut off from LAF Headquarters near Beirut "while Israel is conducting operations against Hizballah in the Beka'a."

Yesterday, Khalid Saghiyeh commented on the 'leaked' cable on El-Murr's communication with the US Defense Attaché in Al-Akhbar. Under the title "Murr-Leaks" he wrote:

Indeed, the gems of the minister of defense that only reveal themselves within the corridors of the American embassy, tell us that there is no minister, and there is no defense, and there is no nation, and there is no army, and there is no enemy, and there is even no people.*

Saghiyeh satirically adds:

Welcome to the Minister of National Defense, Elias al-Murr, in the world of WikiLeaks, where the army, according to the Murr theory, is a mere channel allowing the Christians to blow their sectarian bottled up feelings against the Muslims. Indeed, according to the sectarian dissection of the army, and this is a free of charge service normally offered by ministers of defense to the ambassadors of the major countries, there is a need to start special, exclusively Christian, forces because the Christians are “perfect” for carrying out the task of fighting the terrorist Shi’is or Sunnis.

Welcome to the Minister of National Defense, Elias al-Murr, in the world of WikiLeaks, where sectarian division knocks on the doors of racism. Indeed, the Shi’is in the army, according to the testimony of the defense minister in front of the empire’s delegate [i.e. Michele Sisson], are a potential source of threat. And, unlike their Christian colleagues, they are joining the army “for salary and food.” *

It was only last week when these revelations were made by WikiLeaks. At the beginning of this new week, WikiLeaks had more to reveal.

This time, it was then-Telecommunications Minister, Marwan Hamadeh who, according to another US Embassy cable, had tipped the US and Saudi Arabia and informed them of Hezbollah's secret fiber-optic network in 2008. This, according to the date on the cable, was only weeks before the street battles known to most as "The Events of May 7."

According to the cable, Hamadeh had requested a special meeting with "Charge" to pass on the information:

Requesting a special meeting with Charge, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh decried the establishment of a complete fiber optics network by Hizballah throughout Lebanon. The GOL has been sharing this information widely among friends of Lebanon, to include the governments of France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE. Hamadeh sees only two choices for the GOL: approach the UN Security Council, or use the "cover" of March 14-friendly municipalities to cut the lines.

The Guardian notes that, Hamadeh, who escaped an attempt on his life in 2004, warned "friends of Lebanon" that Iran Telecom was "taking over the country" in 2008.

No doubt, many will discount the information as invalid, not true, inaccurate or even fabricated. An aide of El-Murr has already told the press that in response to their questions about El-Murr's alleged communications with US diplomats in 2008. George Soulage told the AFP "The information posted by WikiLeaks is not complete and is not accurate. The aim behind this is to sow discord in Lebanon." -- A typical Lebanese "get-away" clause.

What this clause really reveals though is something much deeper about the Lebanese political system: while everything may be done to weaken a domestic opponent and rally foreign powers against them, this is always done under cover. In public, "consensus" and "consociationalism" reign. When that appearance is disturbed by a 'leakage' of information from this source or the other, the response is always the same: it's a fabricated lie aimed at sowing disorder in an otherwise-harmonious Lebanon where political factions compete only in parliament and through debate; and where sects and confessions do not sow social hatred and violence.

As Hanibaael put it on Lebanon Iznogood, WikiLeaks seems to be revealing more about the lies and hypocrisies of the 'consensus' government than most studies have in years.

A breakdown of WikiLeaks cables, available here from The Guardian

* Article appeared in Arabic, translated by the media digest service, Daily Briefing, provided by Mideastwire.com on December 6, 2010.

عزاء لكل عربي ارتجل شوارع عالمنا العربي فهان على الأوطان و رجالات الدولة

2010-12-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

كتب صباح اليوم رضوان مرتضى في الأخبار فأبكاني ... ابكاني على مصير عبد الناصر الأحمد (سوري الجنسية) و ما لاقاه على يد رجالات القانون و العدالة في لبنان على بعد امتار من البيت الذي سكنته طوال العام الماضي في بيروت ... ابكاني على رخص الانسان الراجل على قدميه في شوارع العالم العربي ممن لا يمتطون الـبي ام دبليو و البورش ... ابكاني مصير عبد الناصر المهذب المحترم المكافح ضد ظلم الانسان و قهر المال ... ابكاني مصير اخي و ابن جلدتي عبد الناصر الأحمد لأن المصير الذي لاقاه لاقيته من قبل في شوارع القاهرة و بيروت و تونس قبل ان تأتي الواسطة و البورش لينقذاني ...

أسفا عليك يا ابن الاثنين و العشرين ... اسفا على المقتول بلا ذنب ... أسفا على المخضب بدماء ساءلت غدرا و قهرا

يعلق احد قراء الأخبار على المقال متسائلا " هل ياترى دم رفيق الحريري افضل من دم هذا الشاب بالنسبة لاهله ..... هل سوف تتدخل امريكا وجماعة 14 اذار وتطالب بالجنة تحيق ومحكمة دولية .....هل من سوف يتفوه بكلمة من الاعلام اللبناني غير النيو تي في بخصوص هذا الموضوع ." و لكن السائل يؤكد انه ليس في انتظار الجواب, فالجواب معروف سلفا

و لكن هذه الآراء و ان عكست وجهة نظر اصحاب الضمائر الحية من ابناء لبنان الا انها ستعجز عن العلو فوق الصوت الأعم الذي سيجد لهذه الجريمة البشعة ما يبررها و ما يفسرها . و رغم ان الحادث وفع منذ اقل من 18 ساعة الا ان هذه الآراء التبريرية قد بدأت في التوالي تباعا و منها هذه المقالة على موقع Cedar News و التي تعتبر الجريمة " اشكالا " ... و الـ" اشكال " سببه ان المغدور به لم يمتثل لأوامر عناصر مكتب مكافحة السرفات الدولية الذين نزلوا من سيارة مدنية في ثياب مدنية و لم يعرفوا عن هويتهم ... الأقاويل بدأت تتطاير " انه أكيد هيدا السوري ما معه اوراق ثبوتية " كما قال لي احد " الأصدقاء " صباح اليوم !

يا الله! ما اشبه اليوم بالأمس ... فمنذ قرابة الـ8 أشهر و انا ساكن بيروت قتل و سحل و صلب شاب لبناني-مصري في قرية كترمايا في جبال الشوف ... و لأكثر اللبنانيين من مختلف الطبقات و الانتماءات الطائفية فالجريمة الغوغائية ليست هكذا, انما هي رده فعل شعبية ضد " شغيل مصري " قتل أما و اولادها بدم بارد متناسيين حق المتهم في محاكمة عادلة ... متناسيين انه لبناني الأب ... متناسيين ان العدل لا يكون بسحل الشباب في الشوارع و صلبهم في ميادين القرى و التمثيل بجثثهم وسط زغاريد النساء و عويل الأطفال ... بل ان أم صديق لي و في ايماءة و لفته طيبة منها لطمأنتي (مقتنعة ان اعتراضي على جريمة كترمايا كان من منطلق اني مصري مقيم في لبنان آنذاك) قالت لي " ما تخاف ... منك متله ... يعني مش لأنه انك مصري بس منك شغيل ع طرمبة بنزين و منك مجرم " !

و يوثق " ماركو فيللا " لبعض الانتهاكات التي تعرض لها عمال و شغيلة سوريون في لبنان على مدونته بتاريخ 9 مايو/أيار 2009 تحت عنوان "العمال السوريون في لبنان : قائمة الخزي و العار المستمرة" و التي يسرد فيها ابرز الانتهاكات " التي تعرضت لها هذه الفئة من ضحايا العنصرية و عقدة التعالي و الكبر لدى اللبنانيين . و يبدأ مقاله بالزعم أن : اللبنانيين يتظاهرون بالحضارة و الحضارة و الأناقة و التطور و التي يرون ان ساحة ابرازها الأهم هس التعالي و التطاول و انتهاك حقوق اللاجئيين الفلسطنيين و القتل و سوؤ معاملة العاملات و الخادمات الآسيويات اضافة الى انتهاك آدمية العمال الوافدين من دول الجوار , لا سيما سوريه

Saudi women sue their mahrams for forcibly keeping them single

2010-11-28T12:32:00.001-08:00

Despite the appalling state of women's rights in Saudi Arabia, the biggest challenge women face in the conservative monarchy is male guardianship over women. Women cannot travel, gain admittance to a public hospital, live independently or "even buy a phone" without the guardianship and consent of a "mahram."

Most importantly for single women, they cannot marry without the consent of their guardians. Nevertheless, more women are challenging their guardians in court for "purposefuly turning down marriage proposals" and "forcibly keeping their daughters and sisters single" - a practice known as adhl.

From their Cairo Office, the Associated Press reports: the 42-year-old Saudi surgeon remains single, against her will, while her hefty salary keeps going directly to her father's bank account.

حرب البجم الطائفية قبيل الانتخابات البرلمانية المصرية : من التصعيد الكلامي و الاعلامي الى اشتباكات عنيفة لا مستفيد منها الا النظام

2010-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

و هكذا تحولت حرب البجم من حرب كلامية تصعيدية الى حرب مسلحة ذات ابعاد أمنية ... و الرابح؟ النظام الذي سيخرج منتصرا للاسلام من المسيحيين و حصن المسيحيين من المسلمين ... فهل هي مصادفة ان تتزامن هذه الأحداث البجمية البغيضة مع الاستعدادات الأخيرة للانتخابات النيابية الأكثر أهمية مما سبقها لأهمية البرلمان القادم في تحديد هوية مرشحيي الرئاسة في الانتخابات الرئاسية المرتقبة العام القادم؟

جانب من مظاهرات شارع نصر الدين

محمد العريان وسالم أبو رخا يكتبان

المصدر : البديل الجديد

الأمن يهاجم اعتصام للأقباط أمام كتيسه العمرانية في الخامسة صباحا..وغاضبون يقطعون شارع نصر الدين بالهرم

المدارس تغلق أبوابها أمام الأطفال خوفا من المواجهات وآلاف الأقباط يتجمهرون أما كنيسة القديس سوريال

المتظاهرون يهتفون “بالروح بالدم نفديك يا صليب..وشاهد عيان يتهم الأمن بإلقاء مواطنين من فوق كنيسة العذراء واحتجاز أطفال بداخلها

مصادر طبية لرويترز : حصيلة المواجهات قتيل و20 جريحا والأمن استخدم الهراوات والقنابل المسيلة للدموع

تفجرت من جديد أزمة كنيسة العذراء وكبير الملائكة ميخائيل بشارع الإخلاص بالطالبية ووقعت اشتباكات عنيفة بين الأمن والأقباط في أكثر من مكان بالجيزة وقال شهود عيان أن عشرات من سيارات الأمن المركزي حاصرت الكنيسة صباح اليوم وذلك ردا على تظاهر مئات الأقباط اعتراضا على محاولة البلدية إزالة سلم بالمبني الإداري الملاصق للكنيسة بدعوى عدم الحصول على ترخيص لبنائه ، ومنعت قوات الأمن مظاهرة أمام مبني محافظة الجيزة واعتدت علي المتظاهرين ، وقطع المتظاهرون شارع خاتم المرسلين ووضعوا صناديق القمامة أمام السيارات ، ردد المتظاهرون هتافات معادية للحكومة وقالوا ” بالروح بالدم نفديك يا صليب … والصحافة فين الإرهاب اهه” بعد تردد أنباء عن سقوط قتيلين

فيما تجمع الآلاف أمام كنيسة رئيس الملاك الجليل سوريال والشهيد العظيم مارماينا بعد فض تجمعهم في نصر الدين ..وتدخل مرشحون لمجلس الشعب لتهدئة الأقباط الغاضبين وترددت أنباء عن الوصول لاتفاق مع الأمن لفض الاعتصام .

وقال حنا فتحي يوسف احد شهود العيان للبديل أن المناوشات بين البلدية و الأقباط بدأت منذ ثلاثة أيام عندما هاجمت قوة من البلدية مقر بناء الكنيسة وصادرت جزء من أدوات البناء مشيرا أن الكنيسة حاصلة على ترخيص ..فلماذا يتم مهاجمتها ؟ وهل بناء سلم للكنيسة سيضر أحد ؟ وقال موقع أقباط متحدون أن نحو 20 عربة أمن مركزي اقتحمت كنيسة السيدة العذراء والملاك ميخائيل بالإخلاص بالعمرانية في الساعة الخامسة والنصف صباحًا ، وأطلقت قنابل مسيلة للدموع على المسيحيين الذين تجمعوا داخلها استعدادا للتظاهر وحماية الكنيسة من البلدية

وقالت مصادر أمنية وطبية لرويترز أن شخصا قتل يوم الأربعاء وأصيب 20 آخرون في اشتباك بين متظاهرين وقوات مكافحة الشغب في مدينة الجيزة عاصمة محافظة الجيزة غربي القاهرة. فيما قال شهود عيان للبديل أن قتيلين على الأقل سقطا ..وقال حنا فتحي أنه رأى قوات الأمن تلقي اثنين من الأقباط من فوق الكنيسة “وهو مالم يتسن للبديل التأكد منه

وقال مصدر أمني أن قوات مكافحة الشغب استخدمت العصي والقنابل المسيلة للدموع ضد المتظاهرين الذين كانوا يحتجون على أمر بوقف البناء في مبنى خدمات تابع لكنيسة بالمحافظة وان المتظاهرين ردوا بقذف القوات بالحجارة.وأضاف أن الشرطة حاولت تفريق المتظاهرين بعد أن أغلقوا لنحو ساعتين شارع الأهرام المؤدي إلى المنطقة الأثرية غربي القاهرة. وقال مصدر طبي أن المصابين نقلوا إلى مستشفى أم المصريين القريب لعلاجهم

وأشار شاهد عيان أن قوات الأمن اعتقلت ما يقرب من 25 من المواطنين الذين تجمعوا حول الكنيسة وان الاشتباكات نتج عنها سقوط أكثر من 15 مصابا بين الأقباط بعضهم في حالة خطرة مشيرا إلى أن الأمن يحتجز أطفال داخل الكنيسة..وقال حنا فتحي ” أخويا مينا بين المصابين اللي تم نقلهم المستشفى بس أنا دلوقتي اللي يهمني هي الكنيسة أخويا كده كده هيخف ” وتساءل فتحي “كنيسة طالعة بتصريح وفاضل السقف يحاولوا يهدموها ليه ماهو يا البلد دي تدينا حقنا يا إما يفتحوا لنا الباب نسافر ”

من ناحية أخرى قام اكثر من 200 من الأقباط المتواجدين بالكنيسة بعد مهاجمة الأمن لها بالتوجه إلي مبني محافظة الجيزة للتظاهر فمنهم الأمن واعتدي علي بعضهم ، وقطعوا شارع خاتم المرسلين بمنطقة نصر الدين لمدة ساعة ووضعوا صناديق القمامة أمام السيارات ومازالت الاشتباكات قائمة حتى الآن

وقال شهود عيان أن الاشتباكات حالت دون وصول عدد كبير من الأطفال على مدارسهم بينما أغلقت بعض المدارس أبوابها أمام الأطفال معلنة عن أجازة خوفا من تصاعد الأحداث

وكان عدد من أهالي العمرانية قد بدءوا في التوافد على كنيسة السيدة العذراء ورئيس الملائكة ميخائيل منذ ثلاثة أيام بعد تردد أنباء عن الخلافات بين الحي ورعاة الكنيسة حول أعمال البناء الجديدة في الملحق الإداري التابع لها وشارك المعتصمون في أعمال البناء بعد أن قامت قوات الأمن بالتحفظ على سيارات المواد الخراسانية الجاهزة ومنع دخول أية سيارات لمواد البناء شارع الإخلاص الذي تقع فيه الكنيسة

وفي محاولة منهم لاستيعاب الغضب قام الأهالي بتعليق لافتة كبيرة للرئيس مبارك يعلوه الملاك ميخائيل والسيدة العذراء ومكتوباَ عليها “مطرانيه الجيزة كنيسة رئيس الملائكة الجليل ميخائيل والسيدة العذراء .. شعب الإخلاص بالعمرانية يؤيدون راعى الوحدة الوطنية وقائد مسيرة السلام , بنحبك يا رئيس كل المصريين ونؤيد خطوات الحزب الوطني” وموقعة هذه اللافتة باسم شعب الكنيسة

وكان سمير بهنان أحد الأقباط المتواجدين بالكنيسة قد قال لموقع أقباط متحدون أن المحافظ طالب الآباء الكهنة بإرسال التعديلات الجديدة وتقديم طلباَ رسمي بها ليحصلوا على الموافقة, إلا أنهم لا يملكون الوقت لتلك الإجراءات ومما ساعد على ذلك عدم تواجد الأنبا ثيئودوسيوس أسقف عام الجيزة داخل مصر لأنه متواجد الآن في ألمانيا , وأضاف بهنان أن الأقباط لا نهبوا ولا سرقوا ولا حرقوا منازل أحد بل أنهم أرادوا التعبير عن غضبهم بشكل حضاري فقاموا بوقفة سلمية , وأوضح أن هناك عدداَ من العمال المسلمين يشاركون فى أعمال بناء الكنيسة

وقال خادم بالكنيسة ” كنا نتمنى أن يساعدنا رجال الأمن لا أن يقفوا ضدنا , ونحن نحب كل الناس وأخوتنا المسلمين لأن هذه هي رسالة المسيحية ولكن هذا لا يمنع حقنا في الحصول على مكان نصلى فيه خاصة أن أقرب كنيسة تقع على بعد خمسة كيلو مترات

Random Ramblings : a taste of Lebanon ... In Kabul

2010-11-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

I started off my evening today when I came across this piece on the Saudi-owned Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat. The article is seventh in a series of articles entitled "The Endless War: The Birth Pangs of Afghanistan".

Yesterday's article, the sixth in the series, spoke of women journalists and TV anchors and their fears of imprisonment behind burqas and in their husbands' houses if the Taliban would come back to power. But today's article was much more interesting - at least to me.

The article, subtitled "The Intercontinental: A Witness to History", tells the story of Kabul's famous five-star Intercontinental Hotel * on Kabul's imperial Khiyabun Bagh-e Bala (Boulevard of the Upper Gardens). The article explains how the then-trendy hotel stood witness to some major turning points in modern Afghan history - first, falling to the Soviets who transformed it into a headquarter for their command in Afghanistan in the 1980s; then a command centre for the mujahidin forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud. After Massoud's defeat in the mid-1990s and the invasion of Kabul by the Taliban, Intercontinental Kabul became a hotbed for Ossama Ben Laden and Al-Qaeda's so-called Afghan-Arabs, the warriors who volunteered to join Al-Qaida in the struggle against the Soviet invasion before becoming the biggest threat for the United States. The Intercontinental today has become home to international journalists, international businessmen and US and Western politicians and statesmen.

Adam Curtis wrote more on BBC Blogs about the history of the Intercontinental Kabul and its building during the reign of modernising dictator and King Muhammad Zahir Shah.

The Intercontinental Kabul in the 1970s, prior to the Soviet invasion

The article instigated and intrigued me to a few more readings on Afghanistan and guess where I ended up? Another article on the Saudi-owned Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat about another posh hotel in Kabul. This time, the hotel is the Heeta Plaza Hotel.

The article, also from today's newspaper, is entitled "Lebanese Restaurant: A Magnet for Foreigners in Kabul". It tells the story of a Lebanese restaurant that has attracted Kabul's visitors. The Lebanese entrepreneur behind the project, Kamel Hamada, is a Lebanese émigrée from the Druze-majority town of Ba`aqlin, in the Chouf range of Mount Lebanon. The restaurant lies metres away from Heetal Plaza Hotel, a five-star hotel owned by business tycoon and son of former Afghan President, Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Rabbani is currently the leader of Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan. Formerly, he served as president in post-Soviet Afghanistan between 1992 and 1996 beforeserved as the political head of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA), an alliance of various political groups who fought against Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Today, the Rabbani family are more renowned for their international business enterprises and partnerships.

Aaaaaanyway. Leaving my ramblings about the mixture of religion, tradition, militias, arms, politics and private business gains aside ...

Like the Heetal Plaza Hotel, Hamada's "Taverna du Liban", is located in the upper class neighbourhood of Wazir Akbar Khan*.

Villa on sale in Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul (by naweed2009)

According to Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat, Hamada started his business in Kabul, under the Taliban. He proudly and jokingly remarks that he liked the challenge and "after all, the Taliban had no enmity with Hummos, Tabouleh or Baba Ghannouj."

The fall of the Taliban in 2001 and the emergence of new economic activities and classes in the capital city after their demise, reflected positively on Hamada's restaurant which has become the most famous and most prestigious restaurant in town. The restaurant has become the "coolest" hangout in town today. Guarded by bouncers with kalashnikovs, "Taverna du Liban" is frequented by foreigners working for international agencies as well as NATO forces as well as the Afghan elite.

Traditional street-side kebab-sellers in Kabul (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat)

The interesting thing the article barely touches upon, is the impact Taverna du Liban and its likes have on the poorer immigrants and less fortunate Afghans running kebab stalls on the streets of the capital. For many of them, livelihood in the country was disrupted and migration to the city hampered by the economic grip of business tycoons and their foreign partners. Their only hope was finding a place in a parasite economy that developed on the economic peripheries of Kabul. And since 2001, many made a living off of kebab stalls and small traditional street-side restaurants. The aspiration was to overcharge the occasional yet lucrative foreigner.

I wonder if Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat can even tackle such a question?

* Does anyone else see a resemblance between the Intercontinental in Kabul and the Holiday Inn in Beirut?

** Wazir Akbar Khan is an upper-class neighbourhood and home to Kabul's bourgeoisie and foreign embassies since the first half of the twentieth century. It is also the setting for a large part of Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner.

A life in photos : updates from the photography scene in Lebanon

2010-11-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

I came across these two pieces in today's Al-Akhbar, the leftist, daily Lebanese newspaper.

The first piece is a captioned photo depicting a Palestinian lady visiting her son's grave along with her granddaughter. The grave stands in Al-Shohada (Martyrs') Cemetery, a section of the Sheikh Radwan Cemetery dedicated to Palestinian martyrs of the Sabra-Shatilla and Bourj El-Brajneh refugee camps in Beirut's southern suburbs.

تمرّ السيدة الستينية مع حفيدتها بخفة بين مقابر الشهداء. تخفف من وقع وطئها على الأرض لئلا تزعج من تحتها.

تقرأ أسماء الشهداء على شواهد الأضرحة في جبانة الشيخ رضوان، متجهة إلى قبر ابنها. الحفيدة التي سارت بجانب

جدتها قد ترث عنها هذه العادة عندما تصبح في عمرها. وربما عندما تكون في عمر جدتها ستكون فلسطين قد

حُررت، و ستبقى الأيام التي تعيشها الآن مجرد ذكريات. تصوير شعيب ابو جهل

The second piece, by Bassam Qanttar, is a report on a photography contest on climate change. The competition and the exhibition is funded and run by the European Union Commission to Beirut and was motivated by EU Ambassador to Lebanon, Patrick Laurent, who believes the heat wave hitting the country in November is an indication to the impacts of climate change.

The exhibition was held on the Mar Nicholas steps in Gemmayzé where "this nice, warm climate we enjoy today is neither normal nor natural" according to Patrick Laurent.

Qassem Hamdoun, 18, awarded first prize in the contest by Rahhal (right)

and Laurent (left/background) for his photo "The Increasing Ignorance of Man"

I have previously uploaded some pictures from other photography-related events in Lebanon. The photos can be found on my FlickR Photostream or, in the set "Beyrouth: la vie d'une capitale arabe"

Dubai: The Empty Quarter Gallery exhibits Snouck's rare 1885 collection of photographs from the Hajj

2010-11-17T18:53:00.001-08:00

The Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai is exhibiting an extraordinary collection of sepia-tinted images of Mecca in a bygone age. Mecca: A dangerous Adventure – Snouck Hurgronje’s early photographs 1885 exhibits the works of Dutchman Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, a nineteenth century orientalist, adventurer, scholar, possibly a spy and certainly a pioneer in multimedia journalism.

With his rare 1885 photographs and sound recordings of Mecca, Snouck documents a time ago when the eternal Ka'aba and the galleried compound which surrounds it is echoed by Mecca's contemporary architecture although the sparsely-built city of Snouck's era bears only a passing resemblance to modern-day Mecca.

Hajji tent camp at Mount Arafat, by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje | Al-Sayyid Abd al-Ghaffar

Snouck used Thomas Edison's newly-invented wax cylinders, the exhibition paints a very different picture from the ornate and built-up Mecca familiar to modern visitors. The photographs were originally published in 1889 as Bilder aus Mekka.

A larger collection of Snouck's photography from Mecca can be found on this link.

The Empty Quarter Gallery in Dubai has teamed up with the Dutch Leiden University and Hes & De Graaf Publishers in Houten, the Netherlands, to present a unique exhibition revisiting the historical photographs.

IN EGYPT: if you have an electoral query or wish to report irregularities call NCHR, they'll be out of service!

2010-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

In Egypt: if you have an electoral query; have a complaint about the electoral procedures; or wish to report any irregularities ... Please, don't hesitate to call us at the National Council for Human Rights : we'll make sure all of our numbers are out of service ...

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) announced earlier that it is running helplines reachable on fifteen different numbers on more than one of Egypt's mobile network providers as well as a number of landline numbers. The helplines are, according to NCHR, functional during weekdays, weekends, Eid Al-Adha and other public holidays in the run-up as well as during and after the upcoming parliamentary elections due to be held next week. The purpose of these helplines is to provide citizens with advice regarding the electoral process; allow voters to enquire about procedures and locations of polling stations; as well as to provide them with a venue to report any irregularities in their constituencies.

This service was launched in a press conference held by NCHR Secretary-General, Ambassador Dr. Mahmoud Karem Mahmoud, who confirmed the telephone and fax numbers and claimed they had already started receiving calls and faxes from candidates and voters reporting irregularities in the the pre-election campaigning process.

Earlier today however, Radio Horytna.net reported that these numbers were actually "out of service" !

A man casts his ballot, Shura Council Elections, June 2010 (source)

It's worth noting that NCHR is an Egyptian organisation established in 2003 by decree of a law and under the patronage of the ruling National Democratic Party and incumbent President Mubarak himself. Since its establishment, NCHR's performance has been subject of great controversy. Critics have accused the council of appropriating civil society and human rights advocacy on behalf od the ruling party which is often criticised for human rights violations. Optimists, including many veteran NGO directors and secretary-generals who joined the ranks of the NCHR, argue NCHR provides Egyptian civil society with a platform to voice its concerns to circles and people closer to the ruling party, the president and key decision-makers. NCHR annual reports on the situation of human rights in Egypt have also been praised for their relatively courageous documenting of violations.

Radio Horytna.net said it would follow up on the case and determine whether or not this was a genuine technical fault that NCHR was working to resolve.

The Great Book Robbery of 1948: documenting Israel's purge of Palestinian heritage

2010-11-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Farewell my library! Farewell mansion of wisdom, temple of philosophers, institute of science, council house of literature!
~ Khalil Sakakini

The Great Book Robbery of 1948 is a multifaceted cultural heritage project. It has two major components, a documentary film to be produced, broadcast and screened internationally and a website which is expected to develop into a multi-function platform.

Two European broadcasters have already committed to air the film.

Stolen Palestinian books labeled "absentee property." (Courtesy of The Great Book Robbery)

Through rigorous research and documentation, the project reveals a hidden chapter in the history of the Palestinian Nakba. Accompanying the Palestinian expulsion and the flight of the Palestinian people at the hands of Zionist militias in the run-up to the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948, a process of appropriating culture as well as land and heritage was taking place.

The Great Book Robbery of 1948 looks into the the systematic looting, destruction and purge of more than 60,000 Palestinian books in Palestine's archives by Jewish militias in the run-up to the establishment of the State of Israel.

According to a review by Arwa Abourawa published on Electronic Intifada Net a few days ago, this untold story of the Nakba has remained hidden over the years until, by complete accident, Israeli graduate student Gish Amit stumbled across archives documenting the systematic looting of Palestinian books. "I came across this topic quite accidentally," Gish admits. "I spent the first few months of my doctoral studies at various archives, among them the archive of the Jewish national and university library, where one day, I discovered the first documents regarding the collecting of the Palestinian libraries left behind during the 1948 war. Anyhow, it took me a few more weeks -- and dozens of documents -- to realize that there was a story to tell. A story that hasn't yet been told and one that might enrich our knowledge about the Palestinian culture and its erasure."

Although many Palestinian families were aware that their books were taken during the aftermath of 1948, they had no idea that there was a systematic and conscious effort to appropriate their books.

While Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists continue to lament the loss of the nation's cultural heritage in this purge, leftist Israeli scholar Ilan Pappe describes it differently. To him, the purge is a "despicable" part of the well-organised process of appropriating the cultural assets of Palestine and its people, which is not different from the appropriation of the land, the houses, the natural resources and everything that Palestine had for the sake of the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel.

The aim of course is a simple one - yet of great strategic importance: to erase the history of a peoples and a nation and justify granting "a land with no people" to "a [Jewish] people with no land."

The Great Book Robbery (teaser) from Benny Brunner on Vimeo.

The project and documentary, as far as the website indicates, seems to focus all of its attention on Israel's war against Palestinian heritage and libraries during the Nakba of 1948. However, this war on Palestinian cultural heritage and the purge of a nation's collective memory and narrative didn't stop in 1948 of course. The Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 allowed the Israeli army and well-trained militias to run similar operations aimed at purging Palestinian memory, documents, archives and history.

Similarly the fall of Beirut, which had become home to the Palestinian cultural revolution, the cultural resistance since 1948 and a base for PLO fighters since the 1970s, to Ariel Sharon's armies in 1982 signaled the start of a new massacre: while Israel's right-wing allies in Lebanon massacred Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps Israeli forces targeted the archives and libraries with a wealth of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian leftist literature, documents and films. Christian Ghazi, a Lebanese director of tens of documentary-films on the plight and resistance of the Palestinian people has lived the experience and lost a lifetime of films in Israel's "great purge" of Palestinian heritage in 1982.

The latest re-invasion and surge of violence in the West Bank in the 2000s was also used as cover by the Israeli forces to close down, confiscate and destroy innumerable archives and collections of books and documents in Abou Dis (a suburb of East Jerusalem) and other locations.

*************

Many thanks to Farfahinne Kob for bringing my attention to this project.

كان يا مكان ... في يوم من الأيام كان في مصر ... اما الآن فهناك قاعدتان

2010-11-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

اعذروني ان كنت لا اضيف الى هذا الحوار العقيم الا الأسى و الألم و اليأس و القرف ... بعد سكوت عدة أيام و امتناعي عن الخوض في الموضوع مع اصدقائي او قراء هذه المدونة ... و لكن ربما سأضيف شيئا في المستقبل القريب ... أما الآن فاسمحوا لي ان انفس عن بعض غضبي اثر تفجر قنبلة جديدة في صراع العميان و الطرشان هذا

اليوم تفجت جولة جديدة من مصارعة البجم بين مسلمي مصر و مسيحييها الذين ينهشون في بعضهم البعض تحت غطاء كنيسة متعجرفة و أزهر فاسد و مشائخ الفضائيات المنافقين و نظام سياسي آخر آمله تتحقق حين تتناطح قبائل المصريين ... هذه المرة تعلن " القاعدة المسيحية " من أمريكا جهادها المقدس و رغبة ابنائها في الدفاع عن مصر و تخليصا لها من " المستوطنين العرب و المسلمين " و استعدادهم للـ" استشهاد " في سبيل تحقيق ذلك

و طبعا الرد من المسلمين جاء على حجم الوقعة و دويها

ذلك في الوقت الذي يمتنع فيه البابا شنودة بطريرك الكرازة المرقصية عن الحديث

و يبقى الصمت مفتوحا امام كل التفاسير ... اما الأزهر الشريف فممعن في فقدان شرعيته ... و مشايخ الفضائيات بين مجامل و مماطل و مزايد ... أما النظام فلا تسعه فرحته ...

و في هكذا اجواء تبقى الساحة متروكة للقاعدة المسلمة من جهة و القاعدة المسيحية من الجهة الأخرى ... و لا ننسى طبعا 80 مليون من البقر (اللى هم اهلي و ناسي) من اتباع هذه القاعدة او تلك

فراج اسماعيل كتب للـ "مصريون" صباح اليوم معلما قراءه ان " القاعدة المسيحية تهدد مسلمي مصر " بس الأسخم بقى رد فعل القراء و تعلقيقاتهم على المقال و هو ما يؤكد ان للقاعدتين المسلمة و المسيحية جماهير غفيرة و ان شئنا الادعاء غير ذلك

في مصر : إما تجاهل الاحتقانات المسيحية - الاسلامية او الصدام البغيض ... اما مواجهة العلل و

مناقشة الأسباب بروح التغيير فذاك تهديد للأمن القومي طبعا و مدعاة لتدخل الأمن لوءد الفنت

و طبعا مش لازم ننسى ان في خلال اليومين الماضيين اعلن 6000 من مسيحيي مصر على الفيسبوك مشاركتهم في صلاة حارة من أجل مصر . و رغم استهدافها دعوة الرب لحماية الكاتدرائية و ان يعم السلام ارض مصر الا ان الجروب الخاص بهذه الصلاة ينادي بوحدة مسيحية تتخطى الفواصل المليّة بين الأرثودكس و الكاثوليك و الانجيليين (المسلم ليس مدعو فيها) كما اتخذ الداعون لهذه الصلاة من شعار "مصر للمسيح" شعارا لها ... ولعل كتابات المشاركين تدل على ذلك التوجه الطائفي المتزايد و ان كان تحت غطاء من المحبة و الصلاة و الصوم

على كل , في اجواء مصر المعاصرة الملبدة بغيوم غطرسة الكنيسة و علاقتها الملتوية بالنظام الحاكم و سيطرتها على أقباط مصر كطائفة بالاضافة الى فساد الأزهر و انتهازية مشايخ الفضائيات و قمع الأمن للمبادرات الفكرية و الثقافية و الاجعماعية الهادفة الى مجابهة الاحتقان الطائفي ... فلا شك ان كل ذلك سيساهم في افساح المجال لمتطرفي القاعدة من المسلمين و المسيحيين ... و الوقود : شعب عودته قياداته الدينية ان " الجدال حرام " و عودته قيادته السياسية ألا حقوق لأحد و ان العنف و الكراهية هما السبيل الأوحد لنيل المطالب

لقد نجحت القنيسة القبطية تحت رعاية البابا شنودة كما نجح النظام المصري برئاسة الرئيس مبارك و ثنائيات الفساد و الرجعية الأزهرية و مشايخ الفضائيات ... لقد نجحوا مجتمعين في نقل مصر و المصريين من عصر "العمران المدني" الذي كتب عنه ابن خلدون في القرن الرابع عشر في مصر الى عصر القبائل و الطوائف و القطعان بعد ستة قرون كاملة

فالرحمة لا تجوز الا على الميت ... و مما لا شك فيه انها جازت على المواطنة في مصر

Zokak El-Blat: a step towards the preservation of Lebanese heritage?

2010-10-29T04:04:00.000-07:00

After a long battle in the bureaus of The Municipality of Beirut and other government offices, the Municipality took its decision (number 977) to appropriate the 19th century mansion houses of Fayrouz and Bechara El-Khoury some two years ago. Nevertheless, it has taken the government two years since then to take a decision to enforce that. Today's daily Al-Akhbar reported that nine days ago, the dossier (number 4011) landed on Minister Ziad Baroud's office in the Ministry of Interior.

The appropriation of the 19th century mansions aims at preventing their further depreciation and deterioration as well as their preservation as relics of an Arabo-Lebanese belle epoque.

Lycée Abdel Kader, Zokak El-Blat (former mansion of Dr. Hyppolite de Brun)

(from my album Zokak El-Blat : un quartier et une histoire à raconter)

The two questions that spur to mind now are: (1) will the government, which has taken years to claim property of these sites, act quickly and take over control before contractors lay their hands on these houses? Or will it be bribed into slow-motion until it's too late?

More importantly however, (2) how will the bourgeois-driven government deal with the squatters and IDPs who have lived and worked in these houses since the early days of the Civil War? Will it brutally expel their small businesses and evict their families without compensation and resettlement in something more humane? Or will they be left vulnerable and needy, and by extension, become easy prey for the political parties, multinational business groups and militiamen who divide Zokak El-Blat and Centre Ville between them?

The shameful eviction of IDPs (muhajjarin) from Qasr Aker, Qasr Ziadé and Qasr Hneiné in the northwest of Zokak El-Blat for a proposed Solidere expansion beyond Boulevard Fouad Chehab and the subsequent predation of political parties upon them are perhaps a constant reminder of the Lebanese government's failure to put a limit to the elite's expansion at the expense of both less fortunate citizens as well as national (and pan-Arab) heritage.

Having said that, activists and admirers of Beirut's endangered heritage will undoubtedly celebrate the good news - and they have the right to! But they mustn't get too excited! These two houses were only appropriated by the government because there has been no claims of ownerships by heirs of their founders and their inheritors.

So the crucial question now becomes: will the government have the balls and the political will to enact laws protecting the few remaining relics of Beirut's heritage in private possession? Or will the government's subjugation by the elite prevent it from taking such decisions? After all, no many amongst the elite want to see their mansions classified preventing them from converting the antique houses into more profitable concrete towers!

While living in Beirut last year I wrote a few times on Beirut's endangered heritage and I blogged on the "buying and selling of the city" as well as my reflections on the "cries of a Nostalgic Beiruti" whose cries have been translated into an active initiative: Save Beirut Heritage which, regardless of any reservations, one must commend and encourage.

My FlickR album Zokak El-Blat : un quartier et une histoire à raconter is a collection of some photos I took (2009-2010) and older ones I collected. Combined, they explore some of the aspects of the story of a neighbourhood that was home to Beirut's nahda in the 19th century. Unlike all the other FlickR albums from Beirut and elsewhere, I have not yet had the time to add captions and details under each photo.

You may also want to check my other FlickR sets which are a collection of some ten thousand photos I've taken throughout the past five years.

Vola vola, palombella : from our childhood with love

2010-10-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

I intended to post something politics-free, just musical, cultural, artistic. But politics made its way into it - only a bit though!

This bilingual Italian-Arabic song that, along with other childish-cheesy songs, made it to the top of the chart on kids' TV channels in Egypt and the Arab World. I recall this song clearly, I even recall a kindergarden performance we had when I was perhaps 5, in which we re-sang it on stage!

Oh, the days!

Nadina: Vola vola (1986)

Nadina is from Barja, a village near Chhim in the Chouf Mountains. After her parents escaped the carnage of the Civil War, Nadina was "discovered" by Palestinian-Egyptian composer and maestro Salim Sahab who nurtured her talent.

This song was first performed on 22 November 1986 in Bologna. Then six years old, Nadina performed this song at the Antoniano dei Frati Minori as part of the 29th Zecchino D'oro festival held by UNICEF. The song made her a child star with an audience of some 25-million people worldwide.

The song was a bilingual (Italian-Arabic) translation of Majida El-Roumy's late 1970s song by the same name "Teeri Teeri, Ya Asfoura".

Nadina's family finally decided to leave Lebanon for good in 1989 and never return to the war-torn country. The child star would become an athlete, swimmer and singer in Canada where she continues to live.

She is expected to release a new album soon according to her website.

Remix (2008?)

More than 20 years later, Nadina reappeared with a dance remix of her song, Vola vola palombella. The video, directed by Silvio Pollio, features 20-30 year old Lebanese men and women sat around an argileh (shisha). Dressed in the different costumes of the country's then-warring sects, the young men and women reminiscing on the song against the backdrop of flashbacks of these times. They debate where "the girl who sang Vola vola palombella" might have gone before Nadina appears and re-sings her song to the beats of Arabo-trance - something that'd pretty much suit modern Beirut nightlife!

The new video clip is dedicated to the memory of Maestro Mariele Ventre who directed her original performance in 1986.

Vola vola palombella (1986)

Lyrics: Joseph Abi Daher
Composer: Ihsan Almounzer

The Italian lyrics:
vola, vola palombella = fly, fly little pigeon
prima che scompaia la mia stella = before my star disappears
un bacino sulla fronte = and a little kiss on your forehead
Porta il sol che spunta all’orizzonte = bring the sun that appears in the horizon
e se un chicco d’oro ti darà = and if it gives you a gold grain
un chicco di felicità = a grain of happiness
me lo presti, amica bella? = can you lend it, beautiful friend?

The Arabic lyrics
بيتك يا عصفورة وين؟ = where is your nest o! bird?
ما بشوفك الا بتطيري = I only see you flying
ما عندك غير جناحين = you only have wings
حاكينا كلمة صغيرة = talk to me, tell me something

لو سألونا منقلن = if they ask me, I'll tell them
ما حاكتنا العصفورة = the bird didn't talk to me

طيري طيري ... يا عصفورة = fly, oh fly! O! little bird

Majida El-Roumy: Teeri teeri ya asfoura!

Below is a video of Majida El-Roumy's original performance of the song in the late 1970s.