Deja Vu Monsieur

Are we going forward or backward? After the semi-success of the JAN25 revolution (I wont say success cause not all demands have been met) all we wanted to see was more good news and less corruption on our way to build a new Egypt. What happened yesterday and today was far from that. Lots of things have happened and I personally lost track at some points during the day but I will try and put things in order and you can judge for yourselves...

Yesterday the families of the martyrs were having a sit in at Maspero to ask for the rights of the martyrs. During that time, some families were having a ceremony at Al-Baloon Theatre in the honor of the martyrs. Suddenly some thugs appeared at Maspero and snatched some posters and signs that had the photos of the martyrs and headed to the theatre. And when the police didnt allow them to enter they started smashing the doors and windows and jumped over the fence. This video shows one lady who is the sister of one of the martyrs as she tells the story of the thugs:

The police at this point attacked the thugs in order to protect the families who were inside the theatre, and all videos shown at this point were of the police protecting the theatre from the thugs. But lots of excessive force was used, which is frowned upon even if that person is a thug. Like this video here:

The action moved to the Ministry of Interior and then on to Tahrir, at these points people got all mixed up like a blender between thugs, activists, families of martyrs, and normal people wanting to take place in the protest. The battle started to include rock throwing, and tear gas which was - surprisingly - recently made in USA and some were labeled May 2011 ! This snippet from the talk show "Baladna Bel Masry" shows this piece of information and was also confirmed by many activists there like Gigi Ibrahim. Which means there was a massive amount of money paid to equip the police :

Even some activists tried to reason with the riot police. We see Alaa AbdelFatah in this video:

This video shows how the riot police were using loudspeakers to provoke the protesters by cursing at them and calling them names and saying they will "kill them all" :

Most media turned a blind eye to this all, even Al-Jazirah who the Egyptian people relied on as their source in news prior to Mubarak's stepping down. Their coverage was a joke, and of course I wont start on the Egyptian national TV. The only channel that was showing an actual view was ONTV. The surprising thing is that Essam Sharaf (The Egyptian PM) himself did not make a single move or appearance! So what happened Mr. Sharaf about your promise in Tahrir that if you didnt fullfil your job you will join the protesters in Tahrir?!

Till this day, officers from the Ministry show up to martyr families homes to offer them money in order to withdraw their lawsuits against the other officers! Nothing is happening and no one is going on trial but the activists and normal people. This is not what we were expecting in the new Egypt.

This is the interview of Reem Maged with 2 of the martyrs' relatives , Alaa AbdulFatah , and Gigi Ibrahim which shows a logical (and some hidden) sequence of the incidents (sorry thats in Arabic only):



I leave you now with a few broadcasts using Bambuser from activists Tarek Shalaby , Ramy Raoof , Emad Mubarak , and others. All in order of sequence from older to newer :

00:30 - 29 June



01:23 AM :



1:46 AM :




2:20 AM :





6:03 AM :



20:42 :



00:20 AM - 30 June in Tahrir :

My Brother

ماى براذر

بقلم أسامة فوزى
 

تورطت بعد أسبوع واحد من وصولى الى أمريكا عام 1986 فى مشروع تجارى خاسر التقيت على هامشه بسمسار عقارات باكستانى الأصل كان يخاطبنى بكلمة (براذر) من باب التحبب ولما قلت له انى مسلم معتدل، لا أحمل السلم بالعرض، قال لى انه مثلى تماما، بل واضاف - على سبيل النفاق - انه لايتردد على المسجد الا لاصطياد الزبائن!! فقلت له (مصوباً) ان الاعتدال الذى أعنيه لا يعنى النصب

وبعد أن أصدرت العدد الأول من عرب تايمز التقيت في مدينة هيوستون بولاية تكساس بـ (براذرين) كانا يملكان محلا لبيع اللحم الحلال، كان (الورع) يبُظ من أعينهما بظاً الى أن باعا المحل لـ (براذر) آخر، وكانت المفاجأة حين وقف أحد الاخوين فى المسجد تبرئة للذمة - كما قال - وذلك حين اعترف ان اللحوم فى محله الذي باعه (لا حلال ولا بطيخ)... وأضاف: كنا نشتريها من المسلخ الامريكي ونبيعها على انها حلال بعد ان نقرأ عليها الفاتحة

كان (البرذران) يبيعان كيلو اللحم (الحلال) بثلاثة أضعاف سعره فى السوق ( الامريكاني )، وهما لم يعترفا بعملية النصب باسم الاسلام لتبرئة الذمة - كما زعما - وانما فقط من أجل (خوبرة) المشترى الجديد و (تخريب بيته)!! وهو عربي ومسلم و ( براذر ) مثلهم

وشاءت الأقدار أن يعمل معى فى الجريدة (براذر) من طراز عجيب... كان يقضى أوقاته بـ (القبقاب)، يطرقع به ممرات العمارة التى تضم مكاتبنا كلما ذهب الى الحمام أو رجع منه بحجة الوضوء، كان (ماى براذر) يقضى ثلاثة أرباع (وقت العمل) على هذا النحو، وكان - يوم الجمعة - يهرب من العمل بعد العاشرة صباحا بحجة الرغبة فى أداء صلاة الجمعة ( جماعة ) مع باقي البراذرات  ولا يعود الى المكتب الا قبل انتهاء الدوام بدقائق حتى يوقع ويقبض ... لاكتشف بعد ذلك ان (ماى براذر) كان فى الواقع يقبض مرتبه منى.. ويعمل خلال أوقات الدوام الرسمى لغيرى من البراذرات

وفى السنة ذاتها التحق بنا (براذر) من جريدة عربية يومية معروفة ( الاهرام ) ليعمل كمخرج للجريدة، فأكرمناه وأسكناه فى شقة مفروشة، ولما قرر العودة الى بلده ، حملت حقائبه على ظهرى وأوصلته بسيارتى الى المطار، ولما طالبته (اللوفتهانزا) بدفع غرامة مقدارها (600) دولار بسبب الزيادة فى الوزن، سارعت الى دفع الغرامة بالنيابة عنه وودعته الى الطائرة بمصمصة الخدود على الطريقة البراذرية العربية... لكنى لما عدت الى الشقة المفروشة لتسليمها الى أصحابها، اكتشفت ان (البراذر) سرق كل أثاثها، وحمله فى الحقائب التى (عتلتها) له على ظهرى ودفعت غرامة الزيادة فى وزنها 600 دولارا.. ولم أصب بالدهشة - بعد سنوات - حين نشرت احدى الصحف المحلية فى بلده مقالاً ضدى تبين لى بعد ذلك ان كاتبه لم يكن الا (ماى براذر) الذى سرق الشقة المفروشة وهرب بها

فى السنة الماضية، رن جرس الهاتف فى مكتبى وكان على الطرف الآخر (براذر) من التابعية الباكستانية يعمل فى مهنة المحاماة، طلب منى أن أنشر اعلانه فى الجريدة لانه (براذر) مثلى على ان اعطيه سعرا خاصا لانه ( براذر )، فلم أخيب ظنه.. نشرنا اعلانه بسعر التكلفة، ومنذ ذلك التاريخ لم يدفع البراذر فواتيره، بل وطنش كل رسائلنا وهواتفنا مما جعلنا نلجأ الى القضاء، وستنظر المحكمة قريبا فى دعوانا ضده، وسيقضى بيننا قاض امريكي ليس من (البراذرات) على أى حال، وأقصى ما أطمح اليه فى الدعوى المرفوعة على (ماى براذر) هو أن أعرف وفق أى قاعدة فقهية أجاز لنفسه أن يأكل حقوق (البراذرات) الآخرين ... مثلي

فى رمضان الماضى، اخترت (براذر) من التابعية الايرانية لدهان منزلى، وقد اخترته من بين عشرة أشخاص لأنه قدم نفسه لى على انه (براذر) مثلى و (صائم) مثلى ولشدة ثقتى به سلمته الأجرة (نقداً) مقدما بل وتركته وحده فى المنزل ليعمل على راحته، ولما عدت مساءً لم أجد (البراذر)... لقد طار فجأة وطارت معه كاميرا فيديو وجهاز تسجيل وبعض الأدوات الكهربائية وشوية (كاش) وغرفة النوم والصالون والمطبخ.. وحتى أكون صادقاً وعادلاً أقول ان (ماى براذر) لم يسرق كل شىء فقد ترك لى صابونة الحمام ورزمة من ورق التواليت وبشكير أمسح به (.......) قبل أن يهرب ليلحق بموعد الافطار حتى لايفوته (المدفع) فيلحقه اثم كبير

لماذا لايريد (البراذارات) أن يفهموا ان (الدين المعاملة) وان الدين لم يكن يوما لحية ومسبحة وعنزة مخنوقة فى مسلخ هيوستون الحكومى يبيعها (البراذرات) لبراذارات مثلهم بثلاثة أضعاف سعرها فى (راندلز) و (كروغر) و (فياستا) وغيرها من المحلات الأمريكية المحترمة التى لايمتلكها

 والحمد لله - البراذارات

Full Speed Ahead .. !

Get the popcorn, defrost the Coke, and grab a seat and tune to Twitter: cause today was the day we were waiting for Saudi women to make history ! A campaign was started on Facebook asking all Saudi women to drive their cars in the streets of Saudi Arabia as an objection to the ban on driving, making Saudi Arabia the only country in the world that doesn't allow women to drive.

FYI, this isnt the first time that brave Saudi women took to the streets. This happened in November 1990 when 47 brave women drove their cars in Riyadh. Nothing happened of corse and it only got worse for these poor women, passports were confiscated, businesses closed, and husbands and fathers were ridiculed and taunted as not being able to "control their women" !

After watching closely the tweets unfold the action through the hashtag #women2drive , it seems nothing has changed much since the last incident 21 years ago except that the reaction was less fierce and only included a slap on the wrist, signing a pledge not to drive again, and a traffic ticket:

Which was a lot less than what Manal Al-Sherif suffered when she was detained for many days, not even allowed to go out to visit her sick hospitalized son!

My personal opinion to not acting strongly today was the pressure the USA and Human Rights have recently been putting pressure on Saudi Arabia regarding allowing women to drive. Let's wait and see if tomorrow will bring more light on the goverment's reaction.

The Western media had a great time with this story. BBC were looking for people to talk to over the radio , TIME , SKY News ,  and even Al-Arabiya (being a Saudi owned news channel) had a report about today. So congratulations Saudi women, you have been heard and seen and the world is now behind you. Lots of countries even started a "Honk for Saudi women" campaign and published many videos on Youtube, including American racer Leilani Munter !

Lots of Saudi men (surprise, surprise!) were not happy about that. Saying that the reason women dont drive is of respect to her and that she is like a "diamond" and that the delicate society and its customs dont allow this. Personally, I dont think it has to do with any of that but to the fact that Saudi women are becoming more successful and more intelligent day by day, which of course translated to power. This power is threatening to these men who were raised and grew up that a man is "flawless" and is above the woman and that she has to listen and obey no matter what. Well guess what, those days are gone and if you want to be respected and obeyed you have to earn it. The same way Saudi women have built their own respect and power over the past 30 years or more.

Am I sounding too feminist? I hope I'm not turning into Mona El-Tahawi who - FYI - I hate and she irritates the shitt out of me! Everywhere I go or turn or read she is there with her sly smile preaching about the Arab rise and Arab women rights. To me, she is just a power parasite who is just attaching herself to whatever hot topic there is to gain more spotlight. Anyway, let's not drift off I just wanted to put in this "I hate Mona El-Tahawy" anywhere.

To wrap this up, I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth here. Which may not appeal to many (or some) of you. I don't think that allowing women to drive right away is the right solution at the moment (I hear gasps everywhere). For such a closed community, suddenly allowing this burst of freedom will cause chaos everywhere. I am not Saudi but I lived there for 32 years and I KNOW how it is. I have lived in both Jeddah and Riyadh and understand allot about the way of life and how people think.

How can you allow women to drive when you still ban singles from entering malls in fear that they will turn into werewolves and harass the women inside? How can you allow them to drive when you still dont allow cinemas which can be a great time waster for guys instead of cruising the streets and chasing cars? Things have to come gradually. If you stop viewing the Saudi youth as Testosterone crazed humpers , start placing fierce laws for cat calling and harassment, and allowing people to interact and function normally at public places like malls, then we might have a chance to ease the society into accepting women to drive without causing a stir.

I now leave you with videos posted today showing these brave Saudi women who took to the streets to show and say "YES we can".

The Shorter the Dress ...

Well here I was surfing Twitter as my usual daily routine, catching up with the time lines and tweets covering everything from the massacres in Syria to Saudi women planning to drive tomorrow to prove their right to do so (which is another blog comin later today). Anyway, one tweet caught my eye which made me then try and trace the conversation to find out what was going on. This is a photo of the tweet courtesy of Gigi Ibrahim from her blog Tahrir&Beyond :

The tweet was by an idiot called Gamal Kharma  , whom I think his surname matches his intentions* :  
* (Kharman in Egyptian slang means craving something, usually sexual or addictive)

So apparently a bunch of idiots from the AUC decided to host an after grad party and decided that veiled grad students are not allowed. If this happened before the revolution I would have seen it normal because - to be honest - you expect nothing less from a bunch of spoiled AUCians who are known between most of the Egyptian people as the creme de la creme of the society and live life to the fullest. But the fact that this incident happened after the revolution made my blood boil.

This is not the Egypt we want. We fought and protested and hundreds lost lives in order to bring democracy and freedom of speech and choice to this country. Not that some discriminating anti-Islamist idiots decide that Muslim veiled girls are "uncool" to be seen amongst those Gods and Godesses of the AUC and depriving them of the right of attending a party to celebrate their own graduation. So what will we next? A note saying "Please don't attend if your dress is longer than knee length and your cleavage doesn't show at least 50% of your breast circumference" ? Is this how sexist our community has become? Our cinema, TV, and video clips are becoming more sensual that you cant watch anything with your younger sister or brother anymore.

What many of you don't know, its that there is actually a law that allows hotels and bars not to allow veiled women into their premises. Including the famous Hard Rock Cafe that once didn't allow me and my veiled wife to enter after 10 PM. And this happens in a "Muslim" country, where in the UK no matter what you are wearing or whatever your religion no one can disallow your entrance. As my veiled friend said "Veiled women have more rights in the UK than in Egypt!"


Another surprise was the actual reaction and response from other Tweeps, defending this insane rule and comparing it to weird scenarios. Like what Rawand Helmi said :

Yeah right, so a short skirted lady walking in a mosque would offend God and the Muslims inside, who is this veiled girl offending? The cool crowd? Or the alcohol that's probably pouring in rivers as we speak? Another Tweet by Marie Lakah :

LOL OMG (and other abreviations) did you just insult yourself love? A veiled girl is just a girl, so if there are things that mean she wont be there due to respecting her choice of dress then probably what is planned to happen there is not respectable to start with.

Finally I leave you with a reply I got on my Facebook after I wrote an angry status  after finding out about this anti-new Egypt event. Its by Afra Naushed the author of Bethlehem Calling :

And by the way, if you want to know the list of those numb-nuts who made this shameful event happen, they are all on Gigi's blog post. 

Please pray with me for a better Egypt, with better people.... Watch this short video by Amal Abou Setta :