Egyptian Chronicles

Regarding the #TwitterCensored

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:35:14 PST

Yesterday Twitter surprised us with this decision : Twitter will withhold a specific tweet from specific country while keeping it available for the rest of the world !!

The people behind twitter give us the lamest justification ever. I am not convince with that considering the fact of the freedom of speech that the West always preaches us about. I do not get how withholding a specific tweet or specific tweep in one country and keeping it available for the rest of the world is good or great.
Many of the tweeps in the world do not tweet for countries outside their country or from tweeps outside their country. In fact when I imagine this feature or decision or censorship being applied , these examples pump in my head.

Manal El Sharif’s tweets about women to drive with be censored and blocked in Saudi Arabia as well the all the ladies who drive as well because their tweets are dangerous on the social stability in Saudi Arabia. Now in El Sharif’s case I do not care if the whole world reads her tweets , what is important is that her tweets are read by other Saudi women and men !!!
The criticism to the king and the virtue committee in Saudi Arabia will be blocked in Saudi Arabia
Rasha Azab’s tweets about virginity checks scandal as the Egyptian society is so sensitive to what is related to sex , it will be censored , of course it is worth to mention that if it were not for tweets , nobody would know in Egypt.
Human rights crimes committed in Bahrain from time to time will be of course in Bahrain.
The crimes of IDF in Palestine will be censored inside Palestine and Israel or even inside the EU or America because of course this overstretched the anti-Semitic charges
Do I need to speak more about Egypt !? I think you got the whole idea.

I am from Egypt , from that country that led the social network revolution in the Arab Spring , I am from that part of the world that made of twitter something more than a gossip social network , I am from that part of the world that turned twitter in to a new source “despite what I think about being reliability” and I am from that part of the world that will pay a huge price because of this new genius decision !!!
We live in a part of the world those 140 characters can send you in jail because you criticize the royal family in the Gulf for God sake and you want to block tweets in a specific country.
I do not tweet for the world all the time , I tweet for my follow Egyptians most of the time so most of the Arab tweeps do who found in those 140 characters a virtual forum after years of forced silence.
Ironically many Arabs on twitter were happy from couple of days about how twitter will start to localize its UI and thus many Arabs would join twitter but I think it is different now.
Many people from all over the world have decided to boycott Twitter on #Jan28 today , ironically from a year we did not have access to twitter since January 26th , very few tweeps used proxy services and fewer tweeps knew that they could access it through dial up and internet satellite.
Returning back to twitter to on February 1st ,2011 through regular broadband before heading to Tahrir square to join the first million man protest and it was a huge moment as I far I remember it.
Is it the Walid Ibn Talal effect ? Are the world powers governments in the world behind it ?
By the way the Saudi tweeps are so concerned about this matter more than anyone because in a country where everything is filtered , twitter censorship seems to be a gift from San Francisco to many conservatives and the regime.

Ironically as far as I see people did not boycott Twitter for real as they are continuing to vent their anger in #TwitterCensored and #Twitterblackout
I am extremely angry from twitter administration but I am more angrier from my own self because I have wished one day that this feature would exist to shut someone like Ahmed Zpider after insulting racist tweet about Doaa Sultan when he described her as a slave yet now I regret my wish.

Technorati Tags: Twitter,Citizen journalism,Politics,Freedom of expression,#Twitter Censorship,#Twitter Blackout,Walid Ibn Talal,Manal El Sheirf,Saudi Arabia,Egypt,Media,Social media

#ElBaradei tweets a new transitional Plan For #Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:58:50 PST

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei tweeted last night on Thursday a new roadmap for the transitional period in Egypt which he proposes and hopes that it will get approval from all political powers

The parliament would elect an interim president.
Forming a provisional assembly immediately after electing an interim president.
Drafting a constitution that ensures the civility of the state and citizenship rights as well freedoms.
Electing a president after drafting a constitution as now the president’s power will be specified.
Electing a new parliament based on the new drafted constitution.

التسلسل المنطقى :١- رئيس مؤقت منتخب من مجلس الشعب٢- تشكيل لجنة الدستور فوراً ٣- دستور يحدد شكل النظام و يضمن مدنية الدولة والحقوق والحريات
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) January 26, 2012

٤- انتخاب رئيس معروفة صلاحياته طبقاً للدستور ٥- انتخاب برلمان على اساس الدستور الجديد. بعد عام من التخبط حان الوقت للتوافق على تصحيح المسار
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) January 26, 2012

I think this is an attempt of Dr. ElBaradei to bridge between those who want to have a presidential elections first “including myself” , those who want the parliament to take over power and those who want the constitution first. It is a good suggestion but again there are two questions :

Who will be that interim president elected by the parliament ? And how we can trust the parliament in the first place and its majority party ?
Why would the parliament accept this scenario when it knows that it is an interim parliament and a new parliament will be elected ?

Nevertheless I think we should discuss this roadmap carefully.
P.S I do not think that there is no country in the world that uses the social media for politics as we do in Egypt !!

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Politics,ElBaradei,Parliament,News,Roadmap,Interim period,elecitons,Constitution,Post Revolution

#Tahrir Friday of Dignity : The #Jan25 is still there.

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:00:14 PST

Again we got a full packed Tahrir square this Friday , there are thousands currently in the square. There are about 7 stages set up in Tahrir square including the Muslim brotherhood stage and April 6th Youth movement.

MP Yahia El Fakhrany is in Tahrir square , the Parliament is supposedly going to distribute a statement in the Tahrir square today. Mazhar Shahin said a strong Friday Sermon today where he said and demanded the following :

Purging the media.
Public trials for icons of the Mubarak regime
Complete transparent audit to the Suez canal revenues and the Mubarak regime icons.
Parliament holds revolutionary trials for the Mubarak regime icons.

There are many marches heading to Tahrir today :

From Mostafa Mahmoud square to Tahrir square.
From Giza square to Tahrir square.
From Shubra to Tahrir square.
From Al Abassiya square to Tahrir square
From Maadi to Tahrir square.
From Al Azhar Mosque to Tahrir square
From Nasr city to Tahrir square
From Salam mosque to Tahrir square.
From Heliopolis to Tahrir square.
From Cairo university to Tahrir square.

Here is a video shot from Tahrir square by Pierre Sioufi earlier this morning at 11 AM CLT.

#Tahrir : Overview Jan27 @11 AM

I think Sioufi did not imagine his flat would be the hot spot for the reporters and photographers from around the world. Mr. Pierre is also transferring on air from time to time from Tahrir square through Bambuser.

@1:12 PM CLT.

Hundreds began to head from Mostafa Mahmoud mosque to Tahrir square. “A photo shot by Maged Sherif”

Hundreds began to head from Giza square to Tahrir square as well by Hossam Hamalawy

From Cairo university to Tahrir square by Gigi Ibrahim

From Shobra to Tahrir square by Ziad Hawas

There are marches in Alexandria and Assuit as well.

@1:32 PM CLT

Thugs are attacking Al Azhar march and the police is watching !! The march had to be spilt under the attack yet there are no injuries reported so far.

@1:53 PM CLT

Here is a link for the Mostafa Mahmoud march in Bambuser.

Al Abaseya people are participating in the march by Nazly Hussein.

All the chants are against SCAF and military rule. I think protesters should focus on the military rule and leave Tantawy because it is not about Tantawy , it is about the principle itself.

Some irresponsible protesters thought of heading to the ministry of defense but the majority forced them to head back to Tahrir square.

@2:43 PM CLT

From Alexandria where the weather is extremely bad. The activists and protesters were planning to head to the TV and Radio building there but had to cancel the plan because of the bad weather condition.

Here is a snap shot for the march for the march in Mahran Bek street by Maged Butter

And this photo in the rain by Double Zam

There marches and rallies in the following governorates : Cairo and Giza “heading to Tahrir” , Bani Sawif, Tanta , Alexandria, Sohag, Assuit, Aswan and Minya.

Here is a march in Tanta by Lio.

@8 :51 PM CLT

There have been marches and protests against SCAF in Kafr El Sheikha, Damietta , Mansoura where clashes took place unfortunately between Muslim brotherhood supporters and the other protesters from other political movements and groups over the stage in El Thawara square.

There were protests as well in Suez , Ismailiya , Sharkia and Port Said against SCAF.

Back to Cairo from several hours there was this march heading to the ministry of defense but it was stopped by the barriers created by the military police. The protesters had to leave and head to Tahrir square and Maspero after they were attacked by pro-SCAF mob.

Several marches headed towards Maspero and the numbers seemed to be increased compared by yesterday and the day.

Now to Tahrir square what I fear from took place and it seems that there have been clashes between the Muslim brotherhood supporter and the protesters. Of course after the short clash now the stage of MB attacks the military and says “Down with the military rule” , ‘Civil state , Civil state”. The actions of the MBs provoked many especially that they raised the volume of the Holy Quran to hide the voice of protesters chanting against SCAF !!

The anti-Ikhwan feelings are extremely high now among the revolutionary class and protesters , it is crazy , classical divide and conquer. CBC and Egyptian TV are focusing on these short clashes as division in the Egyptian political scene.

It started as a good day but now , well the Egyptian society diseases are crystal clear to everybody.

Syrian Revolution : #Homs is under attack “graphic” and “Updated”

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:24:43 PST

The city of Homs is currently under terrible assault by Syrian Arab army “Pro El Assad army” now and I do not know what we can do know to save our families in Homs , yes they are our families in Syria.
The city is currently being shelled , it seems that there is a huge operation taking place against the people after capturing this group of Iranians in Homs. Here are some videos leaked from Homs short time ago. I can’t confirm these videos but there are sounds of heavy bombardment

Homs : From Bab Hood , you can listen to the live ammunition sounds

Homs : From Al Ansha’at area sound of shelling

Homs : From Baba Amr area , another terrible sound of shelling

The Farouk battalion following the FSA in Syria captured allegedly a unit following the Iranian Revolutionary guards in Homs today.

Homs : The captured Iranians

The Iranian and Syrian governments claim that they are tourists !! Well this is a strange time for tourism in Homs as far as I noticed !!!!!!!!!! From short awhile ago I found out that allegedly the Free Syrian army issued a warning to the Syrian government either they stop that operation immediately or they will kill those Iranians one by one.
The hospitals in Homs are demanding blood donation. The FB pages and twitter accounts are warning people not to fall in trap and go out of their homes in Homs if they listen to calls for “Jihad” from Mosques as the El Assad may want them to leave their house in order to have a massacre. Twitter and Facebook are full of terrible details , I fear that in the morning we will have a new Hama Massacre.
60 Syrians have been killed in Syria on Thursday , half of them in Homs and 10 of them are Children. The children of Karm El Zaiton , Homs are the martyrs of the day. 5 children were killed from Karm El Zaiton along with the rest of their family by the El Assad troops “+18 Graphic”

Homs : The children of Karm El Zaiton-1

Homs : The Children of Karm El Zaiton-2

Homs : The Children of Karm El Zaiton-3

I was planning to write more cheerful post on how Syria was in the heart of Tahrir square last January 25th,2012.

The Syrians in Egypt have set up another tent besides the LAS with a stage that had that replica of the famous Homs’ Horreya square. I heard later that famous Syrian activist Haytham Manna was there in Tahrir square and spoke to the public from the Syrian stage.
Yesterday I met a Syria gentleman at the Syria tent in Tahrir square who told me that Syria and Egypt are not two close countries but rather Egypt is just the extension of Syria and Syria is just the extension of Egypt. He also told me that most of the activists in this stage were from Homs.

Tahrir : Anti- El Assad folkloric songs in front of the LAS

One of the Muslim clerics said on the Muslim brotherhood stage that El Assad deserves to be killed.
Aside from the big long wonderful flag of Syria that roamed the square among the big amazing sea of Egyptian flags in a beautiful harmony , I found out that regular average Egyptians are extreme concerned about what is taking place in Syria
This video shows two average ladies , not revolutionary activists who warn El Assad of the ill fate of Qaddafi.

“One of the lady sent a message to SCAF to prove its good intention by purging corruption and Mubarak regime in Egypt”. These two ladies also do not welcome Pro-El Assad actors in Egypt especially Raghada whom they want her to be expelled as soon as possible.

#Jan25 : Two Egyptian ladies message to Syria and El Assad

The other video is a message from an ordinary Egyptian who wants to send a message to the Local coordination committees in Syria asking to follow the Egyptian example of organizing million man marches and protests instead of announcing a death toll everyday.

#Jan25: A message from Tahrir square to Syrian LLC

Of course that citizen does not know how much the LCC suffer in Syria yet his noble feelings towards Syria shows you that how much we care.
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei is not going to Syria as it was announced in the media , it was just a suggestion.

Updated :

The statement of Farouk Battalion

The Farouk Battalion issued on Thursday a statement which is actually an ultimatum to Iran despite making clear that they respect Ali Khamenei and the battalion has not sectarian motives. The Battalion has got one clear demand now : All the members following the Iranian Revolutionary guards have to leave Syria by January 28th “Which is tomorrow” in return of releasing the captured Iranians
The Statement says in the end that the Battalion has not declared all what it knew about the Iranian revolutionary guards to avoid embarrassment to the media.
Meanwhile in Cairo Tens of Syrians have already arrived to Tahrir square at their Syrian stage and started to chant against El Assad.

The battle For #Maspero in #Jan25

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:27:29 PST

I apologize for my late coverage but between work and uploading tons of photos and videos , I am literally exhausted

By Yahia El Gammal

Hundreds of protesters are having that huge protest in front of Maspero , the iconic building of the Egyptian Radio and Television union “The heart and soul of state owned media” demanding the state media purge as well the end of the military rule. The protest was big as you could see from the video below.
The numbers were big that some of the protesters managed to hold that “Kazaboon show” on the building in front of Maspero using the protector. “Paprika restaurant building if you are familiar with that area”
Yesterday a group of protesters headed to Maspero but their numbers were not big like tonight.
The traffic was cut for a while but from what I see now on TV it is back.
The protesters managed to post the “Down with military rule” using a projector on the iconic building of Maspero.
People are fed up with their lies and hypocrisy , they are demanding a real media that represent them instead of the regime or whoever rules.

By Sandmonkey

Now from what I understood some of the pro-revolution employees in the Nile News and Maspero in general are supporting the protests , in fact they are calling people for a sit in tomorrow at 7 PM. The pro-revolution employees protested tonight and forced the administration of the TV to transfer the protest on air. Now the major channels “Ch.1, Al Masriya and Nile News” transfer from time to time the protest live.

It is not a new movement on the contrary , it has roots since February 11st ,2011. Of course the movement gained a new power last week when the employees of the Nile News protested inside the building demanding the channel to air a documentary they made called “My name is Tahrir” in the anniversary of the revolution “Despite it did not worth all that fuss”. The protests reached to the minister of information former Lt. General Ahmed Anis. “Who used to head the Morale department in ministry of defense”. It was not only about this documentary to be honest but about freedom of speech and the fact that many people in Maspero can’t tolerate the corruption and that silly position of minister of information.

The statement

Not only the protest made that documentary but now the minister of information has promised the employees of Nile News that the channel will be independent from the ministry’s policies since February 2012. We will see about that.
A group empolyees of ERTVU have raised the bar and issued a statement signed today demanding the cancellation of the ministry fo information and founding the EBC like the BBC in UK among other demands like have regulations for media standards in Egypt and drafting laws for freedom of expression..etc.

Here is a video showing part of the march that headed to Maspero from Tahrir square.

#Maspero : March heading to Maspero to purge media

I will not deny that I am extremely concerned ,extremely worried because I will not deny that Mina Daniel and brothers are in my mind now. I feel that we are walking in a mine field from time to time. Now I fear that someone I know from activists and protesters get killed , I am a human before anything.
Here is a live stream for the protest.
There will be another planned protest tomorrow insh Allah in front of Maspero
Here is a photo slideshow showing party of the protest by Sherif Maged El Din of E-Socialists.

#Jan25 : From One year ago

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:17:22 PST

From one year ago I could not get to Tahrir square yet there was a big hope on January 25,2011

And today this is how Tahrir square looked like on January 25,2011.

AFP : Tahrir square

I remember from year ago CSF blocked Al Galaa bridge completely.

Here is the Kasr Al Nil bridge today.

Source : Facebook

The big achievement of this revolution is that it brought hope back to the Egyptians and reminded them that they have got a voice the whole world will listen to.
May Allah bless the souls of the martyrs as well the lives of the injured , May Allah bless the Egyptian people even those who think that the revolution was a bad thing.

From Egyptian Chronicles’ memory :

The 25th Big Day

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,#Jan25,Politics,Democracy,Photos,National,History,Tahrir square,Mideast,MENA

#Jan25 : Live blogging For an important Day

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:23:51 PST

Good morning everybody and happy Revolution Day , oh yes it is an official national Day whether some like or not.
All respect to all our martyrs and injured , to whom we owe this day to. May Allah bless their souls :)
There is no state of emergency starting from today in Egypt except in case of thuggery which is a vague word.
It is 10:02 AM CLT , the weather is clear after long rainy night that did not stop thousands of protesters from coming to Tahrir square since last night. It is still cold though.

Tahrir square at 3 AM CLT

Here is a photo for the square from short a while ago.

At 10 AM CLT

The Muslim brotherhood supporters are still there and they have controlled almost all the entrances to Tahrir square except Talaat Harb street’s entrance.
The keyword again today is the marches.
Again you can follow live video for the different activities through out the day.

Now I am going to update this post from time to time insh Allah from Tahrir square after an hour. Follow this post and refresh it from time to time , also follow me on Twitter @zeinobia

@12:32 PM CLT

The numbers are huge and the marches have not arrived yet. The MB has mobilized its supporters and their families indeed with the flags of the brotherhood and the FJ party flags which are being sold now in the square for a price higher than the Egyptian flag "10 LE for Egyptian flag ,15 LE for the MB flag". There are FJ party souvenirs sold as well.

I think there aren't less than hundred thousands in Tahrir square.

At KFC area there are 3 stages set up one of them by the Wafd party Youth , another one by a group of independent protesters.

The Omar Abdel Rahman supporters did a march and I filmed it.

The Egyptian Red crescent doctors are there just in case with first aid backpack.l

The Egyptian museum is closed today ,it is being secured by the youth of the Egyptian museum as well undercover police personnel. Some groups offered to protect the museum but the youth of the Egyptian museum declined their offer. The undercover police told me that nobody offered help to these young volunteers.

A group of Egyptian tourists guide set up a tent beside the museum with the " coalition to support tourism" to protect the museum as well beside supporting the revolution.

The weather is hot

took tons of photos and videos already.

@2:48 PM CLT

Ok some rest.

There are nearly 7 stages now : The MB stage , the Martyrs and injured Stage , the Wafd youth stage , two liberal stages and other two I do not know to whom they belong yet.One of the liberal stages collapsed yet people continued to use it, it is the one in front of Hardee's. That stage announced that they will hold a trial for Hosni Mubarak with judges and so on in the square then there will be a march to get him from the international health center. That stage also announced that there will be a march from Tora city to Tora prison to get the rest of the Mubarak gang and bring them to the square.

The MB stages airs patriotic songs and even held some marriage ceremony on in. The families of martyrs are extremely angry from that stage describing it as celebratory , one of the martyrs mother told me that they aren't here to celebrate. The injured hanged big banners saluting Heba El Swedi.

A man from from Port Said made some sort of memorial for the Martyrs as a gift ,it is set up at the circular garden of Tahrir.

I recorded two video clips which actually messages from Ordinary Egyptians to Syrians. I also met a nice Algerian lady activist in Cairo who was hanging along with her friend a poster for Algerian political dissident called Muard Dahiba who was arrested in Paris,she told me that there were protests last year in Algeria but their government does not want the media to know it.

I heard that Safwat Hegazy , Alaa Al Aswany , Ahmed Maher are there , have not seen any of them. I saw the flags of Sharkia and and Suez. I do not know the news of Marches except that the march of Giza is here and big , also that ElBaradei could not continue walking in this march

The street vendors got a golden opportunity today they are even selling liver and crepe !! There are all sort of people From all classes.

@7:57 PM CLT

At 3 PM CLT I saw the martyrs and injured stages showing the documentaries about the martyrs in a screen installed in the stage.

At 4 PM CLT I met the protesters coming from the Maadi march to Tahrir square.

At 5 PM I stood for about an hour watching the entrance of the biggest march I have seen in my life which is the Giza March , already I call some of my friends who joined me and told me that they did not reach even Kasr Al Nil bridge and they are stuck at Ahly club in Zamalak. It was big and long in a way you can’t imagine it.

The march was so big and it included all classes , it brought with it a cartoon obelisk with the names of the martyrs on it. It was put besides that memorial made by the Port Saidis.

At 6 PM I began to notice that some off the Islamists and MB supporters began to leave , there were buses waiting from them . Now according to some MB sources these members leave and other come !!

Several political movements including April 6 movement “Democratic front” and Revolutionary socialists as well the families of the martyrs and the injured will have a sit in. I do not support the sits in because they always end with disasters , the marches are much better.

The fireworks started in Tahrir square from 6 PM and there was that shift in the mood as it became more celebratory than protesting. The speakers of the MB are extremely louder at night. Their stage did not stop patriotic songs in a silly way.

I met Fardos Abdel Hamid , the famous actor who slammed the MB for their celebratory actions in the square. She is very nice lady by the way.

The Syrians were there in Tahrir square as well with their flag and their tent besides LAS where they will have a sit in for their cause.

I will write a post about it later.

There are hundreds of protesters currently at Maspero building attacking its bias media policies led by Nawara Negm and Samira Ibrahim. Hopefully it will not end tragic also. I am extremely worried about it.

The 3G connection was extremely bad so I do not know exactly what happened in the world outside Tahrir square.

Here clips I recorded on Bambuser today in the square , unfortunately I could not record more because I did not know where I could charge my iPhone battery , 3G will take more power.

Tahrir square : Part of the protests–1

Tahrir square : Part of the protests-2

Tahrir square : The Giza March

#Jan25Two : Tomorrow a big day

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:41:34 PST

I do not know how tomorrow will be for real in Egypt , this is how things are after the revolution unlike the past 30 years where everyday was just the same. The weather is cold and it has been raining for hours yet may be tomorrow insh Allah it will be better.

Bread, Freedom and Social justice

Now concerning tomorrow insh Allah , well the keyword is not Tahrir square this time but rather the marches , there will be several marches in Cairo and Giza from different street and squares to Tahrir square. The most important two marches in Giza my will be the one from Mostafa Mahmoud square in Mohendessin as it will include many political figures and the one from Giza square including Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei.

The marches in Cairo and Giza

In Cairo there will be important marches , one from Al Azhar Mosque that will include the students of the late Sheikh Emad Effat at 1 PM , already January 25th, 2012 commemorates the 40th days following his murder at the Cabinet clashes last December 2011. The second one will be from Shubra , the Mina Daniel march as it is being called dedicated to the famous Christian Socialist activist Mina Daniel who was killed during the Maspero clashes.
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei visited the families of late Sheikh Emad Effat and Mina Daniel today.

ElBaradei at Mina Daniel's house "Sheikh Emad's poster"

There will be marches in several governorates as well. Of course to follow the news of the marches in the governorates , you can follow the hashtag “#Jan25” or “#Jan25two” as the hashtags with the names of Egypt’s governorates. A group of activists will transfer the protesters live on this US stream channel tomorrow.
The marches will gather at 12 PM/1 PM and then will head to Tahrir square , it is expected that they will reach the square at 4 PM.
Currently there are couple of thousands in Tahrir square thanks to the rain.Those thousands are chanting against Field Marshal Tantawy . On the other hand The Muslim brotherhood and Salafists supporters are there as well and as expected. The MB supporters have set up a stage in the square already chanting “One hand” replying on the anti-SCAF chants of other protesters. The MB supporters are Protecting that stage.
I do not know how things are going to be in Tahrir square , especially that the army and MB said that they will celebrate the revolution while the protesters and many political figures say there is no celebration.
By the way I do not like how Dr. ElBaradei described last year as sad.
There are tensions between some independent protesters and MB supporters as expected. I do not fear from clashes between security forces and protesters as much as the clashes between the MB and Salafists supporters and the Tahrir protesters.

Tahrir square from awhile ago

By the way the Ministry of interior issued a statement on Monday congratulating the Egyptian people for two feasts in its official Facebook page : The revolution Day and the Police Day
April 6th Youth movement and political movements are urging all the protesters tomorrow to avoid protesting in front of any security building whether security directorate or police station in order to avoid any clashes or any claims that we are thugs.

No for protesting in front of police stations

Here is a tweet by former PM Essam Sharaf who supports the peacefulness of the revolution.
Many people are worried from any clashes tomorrow , I will not lie and hide it. Banks downtown have emptied their ATMs like HSBC and NSGB. Speaking about money , the CBE has issued a Revolution memorial coin.

The memorial coin

What else ? Well nothing for now , the weather is cold and I have to get some sleep as tomorrow insh Allah will be a big long day.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,politics,National,Follow Up,Post Revolution,#Jan25,Tahrir,Revolution

Breaking News : Status of Emergency is over on #Jan25Two

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:03:09 PST

Field Marshal Tantawy has just announced in speech aired from on TV from short awhile ago that SCAF has lifted the status of emergency except in the cases of thuggery starting on January 25,2012.

More details to come.

#Jan25Two : It started with Marches on Jan23 !!

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:41:32 PST

While the new elected people’s assembly had its first session on Monday , there had been 4 marches moving towards the parliament with the several demands.

One for the economic demands including the workers demands.
One for the freedom of creativity and freedom of arts
One for the martyrs and injured rights
One for the revolution’s demands.

Of course none of the marches reached to the parliament because simply the security forces blocked the way to the parliament peacefully and even if they reached there , they would have met the supporters of both the Muslim brotherhood and Salafists who cheered for their MPs and secured the parliament.

Here are photos for the marches by dear Sarah Carr.

Revolutionary parliament march by Sarah Carr

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Politics,Marches,Parliament #Jan25,#Jan25two,Photos,Protests

#EPA : The first session "Updated"

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:12:35 PST

Ok ladies and gentlemen after few hours from now the first session of the Egyptian people’s assembly , our lower house of the parliament will start. It will be the first session of the people’s assembly aka our parliament “forget about Shura council” after the revolution.
Since 1866 this is from the few people’s assemblies which people actually had a choice in electing its members regardless of what you think and regardless of the violations that took place in the first democratic elections after the revolution and ousting of Mubarak in addition to the fall of the legendary NDP.
Unfortunately the official website of the Egyptian parliament is currently down , I think its administrators have got loads of data to update the website with. The administrators should know that unlike the previous website , this website will receive a lot of hits as people will follow up the new parliament.

I have already read several tweeps demanding electronic voting system in the parliament to know the exact numbers of votes. My relatives and friends are going to watch the sessions and happy to know that the Egyptian TV will make a full 24/7 channel to air the sessions. “Ironically that channel used to be Nile Drama 2”.
Indeed there will be a lot of drama. My relatives and friends are also demanding that the TV or rather the parliament to announce every session the number of members who have attended. Things have changed indeed.
This parliament includes ironically the biggest number of Christian member of parliament. Already aside from the Christian MP elected , Field Marshal Tantawy as head of SCAF “current acting president” appointed 5 Christian MPs out of 10 MPs.
This parliament also unfortunately does not have a high women participation yet I am not sad about this. There is one blind MP in this parliament , I do not know if he is the first in the history of the Egyptian parliament or not but I know he is a member of Al Nour party. There is also the first MP couple in the parliament.
Back to the first session that will be aired insh Allah in less than 24 hours from Cairo. Well here is how it will go :

The session will start at 11 AM
The first session will be headed by the oldest members of parliament and in that case I am more than proud that he will be Dr. Mahmoud El Sakka “whom I voted for during the elections in 2010”
It is expected that Field Marshal Tantawy will be there in the inauguration and that he will announce in a speech in front of the new parliament some thing big like for instance : lifting the emergency status.
The first session will witness the election of the people’s assembly’s speaker. The MB or rather FJ party got Saad El Katani as a nominee There is big competition but the MB’s long Islamist rival El Wasat got Essam Sultan as a nominee. I think El Katani has better chance.
There is currently big fight on who shall head the committees of the parliament and the FJ party members are everywhere.
Strangely there is nothing in the media on who shall head the National security committee , which is the most dangerous committee in the current time considering the facts that it allegedly supervises the army and intelligence.
Tomorrow there will be not less 4 marches to the parliament , it will be intense day without doubt.
#EPA stands for Egyptian people’s assembly as I can’t find any other proper Hash tag to use it except this.

Photos and videos will be posted it in the morning.

@11:13 AM CLT

It is on TV now , the first session transferred on aired on the channel “Sawt Al Shaab” on Egyptian TV and Nile Sat. You can watch it on Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr online as well.
The session is headed by the oldest member Dr. Mahmoud El Sakka , the undersecretaries are the youngest members in the parliament who are 28 years old Mahmoud Hamdy Ahmed of Al Nour party and 27 years old appointed MP Marian Malek.It is nice tough
El Sakka inaugurated the session with a minute of silence dedicated to the martyrs of the revolution.
Tantawy is not going to attend the first session but rather PM Ganzoury. I see some smiling faces of new elected MPs , I feel there is bad organization I see 4 veiled ladies sitting besides each other , they look like Muslim sisters “The women branch in the Muslim brotherhood”.

The women MP from FJ party

The Revolution continues MP are wearing yellow ribbons with “No For military trials” slogans , most of them independent and liberal candidates.

MP Hamazawy wore it

Outside the parliament the supporters of Muslim brotherhood and the Salafists are protecting it. They cheering for the MB and Salafist MP saying Allah Akbar. I fear from any clash between them and the protesters who will head later to the parliament.

The FJ party supporters : The parliament is the square

@11:38 AM CLT

The members now are saying the oath , we got over 400 members. Some of them are not saying as it is and adding what they want. It started with Ultra conservative MP Mamdouh Ismail who said that he will respect the constitution and law as long as it does not violate the Islamic Sharia then we got the pro-revolution MPs Ziad El Alimy and Al Nagar adding a pro-revolutionary parts to the oath.

El Nagar added in his oath

It is unacceptable behavior in my point of view.

Debate about the oath.

Here is Hamzawy reading the oath.

Hamazawy reading the oath

@1:24 PM CLT

For the first time number of MPs left the first session to attend a prayer before returning back.
The FJ members applauded right after Saad El Katani swore in !!!!
Another Islamist MPs added to the oath something related to the Sharia but their microphones were muted. They are more than 3 now.
Two MPs are absent including one that was arrested after attacking police officers in Haram area.

@ 8 :46 PM CLT

I know I took a lot of time to write this post but oh God the first session has not finished yet !! Oh God 9 hours !!! This session is sponsored by Red Bull and Mount Due !!
Now where did I stop ? ah at the swearing thing !! Ok after we finished hearing the oath of nearly 400 MPs , Dr. El Sakka ordered the parliament officials to remove any addition to the oath by any MP from the session’s records. Dr. El Sakka did not like it either when one of the FJ MP held a banner saluting the martyrs while reading the oath as he considered it against the regulations.

Martyrs of the revolution we will not sell your blood

Of course the oath problem was not a big thing like the elections of the people’s assembly speaker when MP Essam Sultan of Al Wasat insisted that each nominee would have two minutes to introduce himself to other members so they would elect him. At first El Sakka refused because it is not included in the regulations of the first session but the man insisted then El Sakka said ok then the majority of the FJ MPs booed Sultan then in the end El Sakka said we would give the nominees two minutes to speak about themselves. Thankfully there were not too many nominees but rather 3 : MP Saad El Katani of FJ party , MP Essam Sultan of Al Wasat party “The old rival of MB” and independent MP "Youssef El Badry”.
El Katani got 399 votes , Sultan got 89 votes , El Badry got 10 votes while 7 votes were null.

Sultan Congratulated El Katani later in good spirit

To be honest it was not strange because actually for weeks the FJ party announced that El Katani would be their nominee and made their deals already. It was predictable
Many people disliked the scene but actually it was a good rehearsal for opposition in the parliament , well this is what I hope for

@10:46 PM CLT

The first session is still on , we are speaking about nearly 12 hours !!
As I hinted above Saad El Katani was the nominee of the FJ Party to head the parliament. It was something expected it after all the man got 399 votes for God sake !!
Dr. Mahmoud Sakka ended his work as an interim speaker with amazing poem about the martyrs.

Announcing the new speaker of people’s assembly

Some new MPs have slept already while others spoke on their mobile phones. I understand that the session is extremely long and some of these MPs came from faraway places like in Upper Egypt but it did not look good in the first session.

@9:33 PM CLT

Field Marshal Tantawy has issued a decree by which the parliament is handed over the legislation power according to the constitutional declaration. Of course according to the constitutional declaration in the same way the people’s assembly will not be able to issue any law except after the Shura council’s elections.
It is worth to mention that all those spoke today on the podium thanked the Egyptian army and SCAF , El Katani even raised the bar and thanked the police for securing the parliament.
I think the MPs can have finished the voting for the parliament’s undersecretary , of course we still have to wait till we get the names of the undersecretaries and the members of the different committees.
It is exhausting without doubt and we have to wait for another two months till e-voting system installed in the parliament.
Nevertheless I am so proud of today’s parliament despite my political views that oppose the majority of its members.I think this first session scored the highest viewership when it comes to parliamentary sessions since the start of the TV transmission in Egypt in 1960s !!

Egyptians watch the session like Football matches

@11:56 PM CLT

Wow the first session has finished from short awhile ago , wow 12 hours for the first session !!! Well the first session used to finish in couple of hours in time of Mubarak because simply all the committees were pre-chosen in advance by the NDP.

Ok the undersecretaries of the parliament are one form the Nour Party and one from the Wafd party.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Politics,Democracy,Parliament,Party of parties,FJ Party,El Katani,El Sakka,Video,Egypt,women,Christians,Minorites,Egypt parliament

MOFA celebrates the #Jan25 Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:43:11 PST

The ministry of foreign affairs in Cairo is celebrating the #Jan25. “ Photo by Eman Yousry ”

It is worth to mention that before SCAF issued a decree to make #Jan25 a national day ,the Egyptian embassies already received orders to celebrated it as a national revolution day.
Whether you like it or not , we achieved something when it comes to our foreign policies thanks to the #Jan25 revolution :

We managed to restore back the name of Egypt in the world thanks to the revolution to its martyrs.
We managed to restore back some of the relations with the Nile basin countries , of course they are waiting for presidency elections to know the fate of our water crisis but at least we broke the ice. The public diplomacy was a great thing.
We managed to return back again to the Arab world.
We managed somehow to return back for awhile our relations with the Iranians , of course Nabil El Araby paid a price for it
We managed to be friends again with Turkey “which is extremely important to us on a national security level and please check the latest navy exercises and arms deals”
We managed somehow to solve some of the Palestinian issues to the end of the Shalit’s saga , despite the MOFA did not play that big role compared to the Egyptian intelligence yet both GIS and MOFA , in fact when I think about it I will say that Galid Shalit owes it to the Egyptian revolution.
The Egyptians abroad now have got a vote.
The revolutionary diplomats who issued an important statement supporting the Tahrir supporters during the Mohamed Mahmoud street clashes.
Despite what you may think but our young diplomats played an important role in helping our community in Libya during the revolution especially in Tripoli. Nobody mentions them.

Yes we still have got a lot of things to amend our foreign relations, we still have a lot to fix the relations between the Egyptian themselves and the Egyptian embassies but to achieve what I mentioned in one year ,in unstable conditions without a clear foreign policy , I think we did something great.
All this we would not be achieved except for the revolution and its martyrs whom I thank God for , despite I feel sad for our martyrs and injured “who were killed and injured by other Egyptians” yet my condolence is that they are in a better place.
The last thing I want to say in this point our #Jan25 is like the key to our soft policy technique.
Do not believe those pessimistic people who tell you that we achieve nothing this year , we achieve something and we are going to achieve more and more insh Allah in the upcoming years.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Politics,MOFA,Revolution,#Jan25,Africa,One Year,History

Happy Yemen : Adieu Ali Abdullah Selah

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:27:40 PST

And Ali Abdullah Saleh ended his career as the president of Yemen on January ,2012 after ruling this great nation for about 33 years !!

Saleh left Yemen today to Oman after 33 years of ruling it , Saleh has left the building indeed !! Saleh went to Oman first before heading to the States for treatment.

Saleh did not leave of course except when he got that immunity law from the parliament for him and his some of his aides , you can sense the Mubarak’s trial effect here without doubt.

Saleh asked the forgiveness of the Yemeni people if he did anything wrong in those 33 years !! wow , forgiveness is a big word indeed but one thing for sure the Yemeni people gave a lesson to the whole world about forgiveness.

Saleh asks forgiveness from the Yemeni people

Despite being one of the most armed societies in the world , things have not turned in a real civil war in Yemen thanks to its great people.

Of course the last thing Saleh has done before leaving to Oman was to promote Major General Mansour Hady to field Marshal !! Hady was the vice president and now officially he became the interim president. Yes Yemen got its own field Marshal now !!!!!!

The revolution in Yemen has got others battles to win after winning this battle against Saleh , the corporal who ruled Yemen for 33 years and dreamt once to leave the rule for his son !!

Anyhow enough of Saleh , he is from the Yemen’s past and now here is a clip made by photographer Abdel Ruhman Rajab to represent the daily life of Yemenis in those tough revolutionary days. The clip is called “Concept”

Yemen : Situation

Technorati Tags: Yemeni revolution,Yemen,Ali Abdullah Saleh,Democracy,Politics,Revolution,Regional,Arab,Oman,Mubarak,trials,Citizen journalism

What is taking place in Libya ?

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:14:24 PST

What is really taking place in Libya ? Yes we got a lot to care about in our home but our neighbors got a lot of noise that we should pay attention to at least for the sake of the national security not for the sake of meddling in other countries’ affairs.
The NTC seems to have very , very hard time and ironically Abdel Galil is being accused of lots of charges above them the lack of transparency. NTC Deputy chief Abdel Aziz Ghoga has resigned after the storming of the protesters including the families of the Libyan martyrs to the NTC headquarters last night.

The protesters outside the NTC

The families of the Libyan martyrs storm the NTC

Abdel Galil tried to calm down the protesters, I wonder if Abdel Galil was the Essam Sharaf of the Libyan revolution.

Abdel Galil trying to calm down the protesters

I found this message on one of the Libyan FB pages and strangely the Libyans began to suffer from the same problems we are complaining from in Egypt ironically. It is like a copycat and what makes it worse is that the Libyans got the money !!

Making fun of NTC sounds familiar to me

What is that Supreme council of Libyan forces ? What is that Libyan SCAF ? What is that ? Already there are many questions regarding the Libyan defense policies now and actually the future of the Libyan army and its weapons. For weeks I am reading complaints from Libyans , the ordinary Libyans from the armed militias behavior on FB pages. I do not know where is the truth regarding the reports about NATO constant control on the airports.
Needless to say Egypt has become a hot spot for smuggled Libyan army weaponry now !!
Now the Qatari and Emirati businessmen are allowed to invest in Libya without Libyan partner like in the days of Qaddafi. I do not if this is implied on all foreign investors or not. Libyans are worried from these changes and fear from monopoly. It is worth to mention that in the Gulf as I far as I know and I studied you need a local partner and that’s why we got big rich clans working in commerce aside from the oil fortune.
I just hate the fact that we are in the shade now , the only thing I know that Tantawy refused the topic of the foreign military bases in Libya as one thing of sure the people of Egypt and the Egyptian army will not accept any foreign military bases in Libya just like the Libyans.
We know the price of the Libyans have to pay for the international support will not be small. I am praying that they do not have pay more than they have paid for their battle from freedom and democracy.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Arab,Africa,National Security,Politics,Maghreb,Economy,Democracy,Mostafa Abdel Galil,NTC,MENA,Protesters,Human rights

El Manaway’s book , we should have seen this coming

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:55:00 PST

And Abdel Latif El Manawy is back once again to the scene celebrating the #Jan25 Revolution in his own way , by publishing a book in London about those 18 days from inside the Mubarak regime’s camp using the magical “Tahrir” word.
The new book of the former head of the infamous news sector in the Egyptian TV is called “Tahrir : the last 18 days of Mubarak” and I do not know if he will dedicate a whole chapter about the amount of lies his news sector aired through out the 18 days.
You know this will sell in the west without doubt !! You can read about the book in Times , unfortunately the Times is not free to browse thanks to Robert Murdoch but thankfully El Manawy published what was written about his new book in his twitter account. “Here is also a copy from what is published in the Times at the Australian”
To be honest I do not believe some of the parts like for instance how Suzanne broke down !!

Bakry's book with its ugly cover

El Manawy’s new twitter account is only made for public appearances in London as far as I could tell , of course I hope that he opens a direct discussion with the tweeps because I think we all have a lot of questions about many things beyond the news sector starting with the Soad Hosni for instance.
We are in the Tahrir inspired books written by former regime writers , already from earlier we found Mostafa Bakry the former Pro-Mubarak and current Pro-SCAF publishing a book called “The army and the revolution : From Tahrir square to Victory !!” with details that make you wonder if the army or rather field marshal Tantawy were the brain behind the #Jan25 after all !!
I think El Manawy and Bakry should have a lit longer , at least till we forget their past for a while !!
Aside from El Manawy and Mostafa Bakry , we got the legendary Haikel who has just published book called “Mubarak , his time from the Nasr city podium to Tahrir square”.
You can read excerpts of Haikel’s new book here.
Unlike El Manawy and Bakry , there is no doubt that Haikel has been written that book about Mubarak and his era for years waiting for the right the time to publish it. I believe that Haikel did not imagine that Mubarak would stay all those years.
I imagine more books about Tahrir square and the revolution will be featured at the Cairo International book Fair that will be inaugurated today.

off the topic :

Abdel Latif El Manawy has got a blog right now if you are interested in reading his opinions. Also here his wife TV host Rola Kharsa’s twitter account, Kharsa is currently working at Sadaa El Bald TV channel which is widely believed to be owned

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Politics,#Jan25,Books,Haikel,Abdel Latif El Manawy,Mostafa Bakry,Tahrir square,Rola Kharsa,Media,TV

#Egyelections : The results of the people’s assembly elections 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:48:39 PST

And the HCE has finally announced the final results of the people’s assembly elections , the first part of the parliamentary elections on Saturday , we finally got the final results of the three stages and here they are :

Hopefully I doing it right.

1- Freedom and Justice party got 228 seats in general.

Freedom and Justice party got 109 individual seats and 119 list seats.
Al Amal party “member of the FJ party alliance” got one seat
Al Hadra party “member of the FJ party alliance” got two seats { Mohamed El Sawy got one of these seats }
Nasserist El Karma “members of FJ party alliance got 6 seats
Al Wafd defected member Dr. Wahid Abdel Magid got one seat.
Accordingly FJ party and its alliance have got 45.7% of the seats, they can’t form a majority “50%+1” and they have to form an alliance.

2- Al Nour Salafist party and Al Nour list got 123 seats

Al Nour party and its list only have got seats 24.6% of the seats
Al Nour party got 25 individual seat only “This is extremely interesting and shows that they do not have an edge on the individual like in the lists”
Al Nour party list which includes Al Nour and two other Salafist parties got 113 seat. Al Nour party got 98 seats while the other two parties got 15 seats only.
The Al Nour party got 108 seats accordingly “both individual and list seats”

3- Al Wafd part and lists got 42 seats

Al Wafd party and its list only have got 8.4% of the seats
Al Wafd lists got 40 list seats “The list seats saved them”
Al Wafd party got 2 individual seats only.

4- The Egyptian bloc got 33 seats

The Egyptian bloc got 6.6% of the seats
The Egyptian bloc got 32 list seats and one individual seat !!
The Egyptian Social Democratic party list got 16 list seat
The Free Egyptians party got 14 seats in the lists seincluding the individual seat of Downtown Cairo district “Mohamed Abu Hamed”
Socialist El Tagammou got 3 seats in the lists seat

5-The Development and reform party and list got 10 seats

The Development and reform party got 2% of the seats
The Development and reform party got 9 list seats
The Development and reform party got one single seat. “ Mohamed Anwar El Sadat seat in Monfia”

6- Al Wasaat party and list got 9 list seats

7-The Revolution continues list got 8 lists seats

8-The ex-NDP parties got 14 seats

The Egyptian citizen party and the National Egyptian party got 10 seats while “The freedom party” got 4 parties.

9-The Union party got 2 seats

10-El Adl party , El Salam party , The Egyptian Arabic federation party , El Arabi Nasserite party got one seat

Now by the Islamists parties including FJ Part and Al Nour party have got about 351 out of 498 seats in the people’s assembly “70.4%”.More analysis tomorrow insh Allah.

Syrian Revolution : Idlib Massacre !! “+18 Graphic”

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:53:43 PST

Idlib witnessed a massacre today with over 90 Syrians have been killed in clashes , explosion and God knows out !! 94 Syrian have been killed in the city of Idlib today !!

Here are extremely graphic footage showing bodies of Syrians killed today in Idlib at the city’s state hospital.

Idlib : The state hospital’s morgue-1

Idlib : The state hospital’s morgue-2

The Free Syrian army is fighting all day the Syrian Arab army in Douma , Reef Dimshaq. There has been rumors that the Free Syrian army has controlled the city but the activists denied it. From what I understood the clashes between the two armies are now all over the Reef Dimshaq governorate in several towns and cities.

Updated :

Now there is a rumor that the Free Syrian army has kicked the Syrian Arab army from the city of Douma in Reef Dimshaq.

There is no secret now that Qatar began to support the Free Syrian army , I will assume that Saudi Arabia is doing the same thing. The Syrian National council is demanding the LAS to refer the file of Syria to the Security council. I hate this game of Nations and powers when it comes to beloved Syria.

According to some newspaper I read from two weeks ago the United States is not pushing Bashar El Assad to step down before it knows where that emerging revolutionary Arab world or rather Middle East is heading to. The US administration is waiting for the revolution especially in Egypt and Tunisia especially Egypt based on the relation with Israel to be accurate.

This is unfair without doubt and I believe whether this is true or not , it is not up to the States and El Assad but rather the the Syrian people along with God’s will.

Another thing I think I should clarify that LAS Secretary general Nabil El Araby’s only daughter Mai is not the wife of Rami Makhlouf , Mai El Araby is the wife of businessman tycoon of Citadel capital. Nevertheless there are business relations between Ahmed Heikal and his brother Hassan with Makhlouf because in Syria you must pass through him with out doubt. By the way a little tip SODIC and Mansour Amar got projects in Syria as well.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Syria,Idlib,Douma,El Assad,Politics,Human rights,Video,America,Democracy,War,National security

US presidential elections circus : Teach Iran a lesson to send a message to the Egyptians

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:04:07 PST

One thing for sure the GOP candidates need good geopolitics lessons before they speak. Here is another GOP Rick in the race who got interesting views about the Islamists , Middle east as well Egypt yet unlike Rick Perry that Rick , Rick Santorum is advancing in the GOP presidential elections race.

Rick Santorum believes that the US should send to the emerging Islamists in the countries of Arab Spring especially Egypt by giving a good lesson to Iran !!

Santorum believes that despite Mubarak was a bloody dictator yet the Stateds sacrificed him to deal some radical Islamists , at least the States knew how to deal with Mubarak "Do not give a damn to the people of Egypt and their suffering despite they are more important than Mubarak"

It is worth to mention that Santorum attacked Obama on February 10th,2011 for supporting the Egyptian protesters against Mubarak ,the ousted president got a friend. He also described the Muslim brotherhood as A terrorist group as Al Qaida , the former senator does not know that US Ambassador Peterson has visited te supreme guide of the brotherhood at their fancy HQ in Cairo last week where she admitted that the US did some mistakes in the past !!

What is the Source of that image ?

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:13:58 PST

This image showing Gamal Mubarak helping his father minutes allegedly before one of his speech during the 18 days of the revolution.

Those who are sharing it say it is from the American “Times” magazine “!!” , of course there is only one American “Time” Magazine and I can’t find this photo in its website.

I do not think it was published at the Times or NY Times also , I think it was leaked from Egypt after all.

If you know the source of the image , please tell us kindly what it is just for history.

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Politics,Mubarak,History,Photos,#Jan25,Time,Gamal Mubarak,Citizen journalism

#Masrena : Let have the presidential race start after the parliamentary elections

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:55:33 PST

Referendum says civilian constitution

Masrena movement has issued an important statement last Thursday calling SCAF to open the registration for the presidential elections right after the end of Shura council elections on February 28,2012.
The movement announced in its statement that it surveyed its registered members “over 10 thousands” and more than 70% agreed on that suggestion.
This is suggestion already goes with the constitutional declaration issued in March 2011 after a popular and successful referendum , the constitution declaration which SCAF has totally ignored its results. According to the constitutional declaration we should have the parliamentary elections followed by presidential elections followed by drafting the constitution declaration.
The SCAF roadmap says parliamentary elections followed by drafting the constitution followed by presidential elections in June 2012. Already earlier this month one of the SCAF commanders stated that the registration for the presidential elections will be opened in April 2012.

If the registration for the presidential elections started on February 28,2012 we can have early presidential elections in May 2012.
The first session of the Shura council will be held on February 28,2012 according to the current roadmap adopted.
I support this suggestion and I think this suggestion should get wider support from more people.
On the other hand I can’t ignore the success of Masrena’s “revolution’s chains” as it managed to transfer the revolution from Tahrir square once again to different streets in Cairo and outside it despite the cold weather.
“Revolution’s chains” are simply silent stands along the vital streets where participants hold banners with slogans calling for democracy and the transfer of power to defend the revolution.
Here is Masrena’ FB page with the dates of the “Revolution’s chains” across the country.

Updated :

And the team that wants the people’s assembly to demand power from SCAF did not give up yet !! Here is an invitation in my district calling people to present a petition to our MP Dr. Amr El Shobaky to demand power from SCAF !!
I have one question : The parliament is a legislative authority while presidency is executive authority , if the parliament takes the power of president , won’t this be a contradiction of power !?

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,politics,National,Democracy,Photos Post Revolution,Elections,Masrena,presidential elections

Let The US presidential elections circus start !! Double fun with the Egy Elections circus and US presidential circus !!

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:41:10 PST

Aside from the politics in Egypt , I can’t ignore these remarks about Turkey by GOP potential presidential candidate Rick Perry who boldly described the AKP government there as Islamist terrorist government !!!!!!!
I think Perry should watch couple of Turkish TV series before he would speak !! I do not think that Perry has been to Turkey lately and there is no doubt that his information is from the right wing media biased to Israel .
Updated : Rick Perry announced yesterday that he withdrew from the race to endorse another racist Newt Gingrich.
I waiting for the GOPs candidates views especially about Egypt in the upcoming debates , it will be fun.
Of course we have our share from right wing presidential candidates on our side of the world like Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. Abu Ismail made many eyebrows to raise when he said in some popular conference he held last week in El Marg when announced that the Zionist lobby in the States is waiting to know his fate in the Egyptian presidential elections in order to see who can be the next president of the States !! He also added that if he wins , then Obama will continue in his place !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well sheikh Abu Ismail must know that the Americans have already made their scenarios !!
The scary thing is that Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail has got a huge popularity especially outside Cairo thanks to his role as a religious man. Already Al Shorouk’s famous cartoonist Amr Salim was under fire from making fun from Abu Ismail statements.

Amr Salim's cartoon

The man tells his wife :
It is fortunately that we have Sheikh Abu Ismail after they stopped the comic TV shows of Dr. Tawfik.

It is harsh but unfortunately a man with the popularity of Abu Ismail competing for the president of Egypt’s position should be careful for what he says. Of course you can imagine the anger of the Salafist front and other movements on how dare the newspaper to criticize his holiness !!
Well unfortunately this is how it is going to be as a politician , he is not a prophet nor a holy man for God sake !! He is a politician now and if he can’t take it he should withdraw. He should be ready for the jokes about him from now !!

Technorati Tags: Rick Perry,Politics Post,Revolution,Elections,Turkey,Hazem abu Ismail,Egypt,National,Amr Salim,US presidential elections,news,citizen journalism,media,Cartoons

What is wrong with Al Wafd Newspaper ?

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:16:20 PST

Last night the leaked first page of the weekly issue Al Wafd newspaper took the Egyptian twitter world by storm with its extreme anti-Field Marshal Tantawy headlines, yet in the morning we found out that the weekly issue of Al Wafd in the newsstand was a bit different than what is leaked online.

Here is the issue of Thursday as it was online

As you can see it was completely different.
And here was a new related to Field Marshal Tantawy on the first page , a positive one.

Oddly enough there is a screen shot of that leaked anti-Field Marshal Tantawy issue at the Wafd.org domain !?

Interesting enough this issue is different when it comes to that box in the middle of the page , there are no names in that editorial box in the first page , there are not editor in chief or CEO and this is quite interesting.
The admin of SCAF official page on FB slammed New Al Wafd party and the newspaper demanding answers for these headlines working to create a drift between the people and the army !! He hinted interestingly to the splits creating taking place in the old liberal party indirectly.

Technorati Tags: Citizen jouranlism,Egypt,Politics,Al Wafd,Follow Up,Tantawy,SCAF,Media,Parties

The way to The unclear #Jan25Two

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:50:10 PST

Nobody expected that the original #Jan25 would turn in to a revolution on January 28th yet everybody is anticipating what is going to happen on #Jan25 two this year as well those 17 days following it more than ever.
We can’t say that there is something in the air only , everyone is anticipating what is going to happen whether from all parties involved , from SCAF to political powers or the protesters or even the people , the majority of the people who are worried about the future for the country.
There are recent news every day that make me worried because if they prove anything , it will be the uncertainty

The constitutional court has rejected the draft law of presidential elections presented by the government as some of its articles contradict with the constitutional declaration issued in March.
Former 1970s minister Mansour Hassan is being suggested as a president , he heads now that advisory council.He is old and despite Sadat was planning to appoint him a VP in 1981 instead of Mubarak , it is good that he did not become the president. I think his name is being tested as a potential presidential election not by the military , he is too old.
Speaking about advisory council , Al Wafd party’s chairman Siyad Badawy has resigned from it today allegedly to have more time in heading his party. “Why did not he resigned his economic empire as well !?”

I will not even go after these rumors saying that he is angry because the military chose Hassan as a presidential candidate but I do not think that Badawy will be mad even to seek that position in the first place yet there is something interesting in Al Wafd weekly issue on Thursday

Al Wafd front page

The pro-SCAF newspaper is now saying boldly “The people want the head of the Field Marshal” and “The military intelligence assassination plans” along “Mubarak and Tantawy , one end”
And inside “ The leaders of February 11th coup are planning to stay in power through blood weapon !!”

Go and revolt !!

Either this is a Photoshop or we are in front of the introduction of some coup.
I have always known that SCAF divided in to islands and it seems that the Island of the Field Marshal Tantawy is losing in front of the other islands. I feel we are in front of silent coup. Tantawy is an old man after all whose name never came in the presidential candidacy nominations in Egypt before the revolution , it has been always the chief of staff whether Halaby or Hatata or Anan. I have always regarded him as Mohamed Naguib in his own way with my all due respect an admiration to great Noble Naguib May Allah bless his soul while Aanan is Nasser. Anyhow I do not think that it is Anan who will head the scene in the future , it is Mr. X or rather officer X.
Rosa Al Youssef claims that General prosecutor in Switzerland has issued a warrant against Suzanne Mubarak , well boys and girls it is untrue just

From Egyptian Venice to Egyptian Alps !!

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:07:23 PST

Egypt has got it all !!

A street in Alexandria (Alexandria Live)

The first picture is from Alexandria that is turning to Venice because of the rainy weathers , it is getting worse every year I suppose , hopefully insh Allah we do not see this scene next.

Saint Catherine Mount

The amazing photo is from Saint Catherine Mount in Sinai , really amazing.
I think it is not the first time I share a photo for the snow over Saint Catherine Mount in the cold winter.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Society,nature,Environment,Alexandria,Winter,Rains,Snow,Saint Catherine

Anti-Zionism is not a charge in our Egyptian law and Nader El Assar is not a member of SCAF !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:47:51 PST

In less 24 hours the news that Sheikh Salah Sultan of MB was accused of anti-Zionism by some army officer related to the SCAF and you can imagine how the Egyptian revolutionary social media world acted despite the fact there is nothing in the Egyptian law called “Anti-Zionism law”.
Yes there is nothing in the Egyptian law called “Anti-zionism” law , of course nowadays we hear about strange charges that got no origin in our laws like for instance “Deceiving the public opinion” still we want something called “The state of law” thus we have to defend our rights and make it clear that we know the law very well so not to be fooled or get scared.
Now the original accusation from the official controversial MB website are aside the news’ explosive title :

Insulting SCAF and the armed forces.
Inciting citizens to kill Zionists/Israelis

Anti-Zionism is not a charge in the Egyptian law and never has been so I do not know why the Muslim brotherhood websites mislead the people in that way that nor why some of the prominent activists on twitter repeat it as if it is true.
Police officer Ahmed El Assar of the infamous Al Azbakia police station. El Assar also reported the injured student Mohand Moslahy as one of the thugs in the cabinet HQ clashes despite he is badly injured. Mohand is still in detention pending investigation despite his bad injury.
Now because of that officer’s last name was El Assar ,our twitter activists thought he was the son of Lt. General Mohamed El Assar , the member of SCAF and the man who is responsible the American file in the ministry of defense
First there is difference between the two names in Arabic , second of all he is not the son of Mohamed El Assar but rather allegedly Lt. General Nader El Assar who is not a member of SCAF as well.
The MB’s official websites did a very extensive coverage and one of its websites claimed that Sheikh Safwat Hegazy contacted allegedly El Assar’s father , the Lt. General who told him that his son acted based on “higher orders”.
I do not know for what reason would an army Lt.General reveal that for Safwat Hegazy who says everything to the media !? I mean if there were higher orders than this general and his son will be very careful to reveal like that !!?

El Shatar , Hania and El Assar in Gaza

Now I did a quick search online about Nader El Assar in both Arabic and English and what I found out is that the only Lt. Nader El Assar mentioned in the news was Egypt’s main negotiator in the Galid Shalit deal between Hamas and Israel and that he is a senior officer in the Egyptian intelligence from the team responsible for the Palestine/Israel relations files in the GIS. General El Assar had been also our former consul in Tel Aviv. Currently General Nader El Assar is heading the Egyptian negotiation team in the Palestinian reconciliation file.
Already interestingly enough I found out that on December 26 ,2011 El Assar visited Ismail Hania in Gaza with a big a delegation from the GIS along with a delegation from the Muslim brotherhood headed by none other than Khairat El Shatar.
The Muslim brotherhood delegation would not go to Gaza so easily with the approval of the intelligence and the intelligence without doubt needs the MB because of they are the mother group of Hamas.
I am sorry but I do not imagine a man who heads an important position in the Egyptian intelligence will reveal to Safwat Hegazy that his son took orders from above from whoever to report Sheikh Sultan so easily at all !!!!!!!
In fact I doubt that the son of our ex-consul in Tel Aviv who heads a big position in the intelligence right will be working in the Azbakia police station and stalking activists in this way !!!!!!!!!!! There should be another Nader El Assar we are speaking about here.
Needless to say I know some will take what I wrote as a global conspiracy !!
Anyhow back the anti-zionism charges thing !!
Sheikh Salah Sultan is a member of the Muslim brotherhood as well member of the the international union of Islamic Scholars which is headed by Sheikh Youssef El Karadawy. He also heads the American Islamic center for research in Columbus , Ohio. Needless to say the right wing in the States has labeled Sultan as the Ohio terror Sheikh because of his opinions about Zionism , Israel , US administration and 9/11.
That officer Ahmed El Assar accused him of insulting SCAF and inciting people to kill Israelis/Zionists because of a speech he said in mid August 2011 during a public conference held in Cairo in solidarity with El Quds !!
Yes late August 2011 where he attacked SCAF for its week reaction against Israel and the murder of Egyptian military officers and soldiers by the IDF then and amazingly El Assar remembered it in mid January 2012 !!!!
El Assar said in the speech that if SCAF can bring back the rights of these soldiers then it should hand over the power and go to the borders to protect and that there will be big revolution again from all people in Egypt against Israel. I do not see any insult to SCAF in this because actually then and even now people are attacking SCAF day and night !!
Anyhow the problem was not in the part concerning SCAF but rather the Israelis or to accurate the Zionists as Dr. Sultan calls them. Sultan said in the speech if SCAF did not restored back the right of those Egyptians killed on the borders , he can reissue a fatwa the international union for Islamic Scholars issued in year 1994 after the massacre of Ibrahimi Mosque. That 1994 fatwa was to kill any Zionist / Israeli would come to Egypt whether tourist or not.
All what I can say about that radical fatwa was it is more of radical emotion fatwa issued in a extreme angry time , I remember the massacre of Ibrahimi mosque created so much anger not only in Egypt but across the Islamic world.
I do not need to say that many Islamic scholars will disagree with that fatwa that has not been used and nobody remembers it except Sultan who said it last year and ironically no one paid attention to except the right wing media in the States then and police officer El Assar in January 2012 !!
Of course since September 2011 and that speech has been circulating right wing websites in the States and Israel with translation to highlight his controversial fatwa.

The Fatwa of Dr. Salah Sultan

Sultan’s house in Ohio was set on fire and his son Mohamed was injured and transferred to the hospital yesterday. From his side Sultan accused the Zionists and the American administration of setting up the fire and attempting to kill his son.
According to Sultan’s lawyer he left the country and headed to the States to check on his son and family and that the prosecution has delayed the investigation. The lawyer added that these accusations are a return to the old techniques of Mubarak’s state security and that he was being punished for criticizing SCAF publicly in Egypt.
This incident has it all : Muslim brotherhood, Islamists, Zionists, States, SCAF, Police, army , fatwas , stupid charges, Al Azbakia police station , the Muslim brotherhood official website !!!!!!
Knowing the very good relation between SCAF and the MB , I am quite surprised with the whole incident and its timing to the level that my sick is wondering if the whole matter is set up to create both sympathy to the MB among the revolutionaries before #Jan25 so they would go back to their control on the scene in Tahrir square as well to create sympathy for SCAF abroad.
I know my mind seems sick but honestly these days you have to suspect everybody from what you hear and read from news and rumors on a daily basis that defy logic.

Updated :

Now bloggers are being called to blog against Zionism so we will be charged by that pseudo charge , strangely for years we have been doing this for years on a daily basis !!
The students of the German university in Cairo “GUC” will burn the Israeli “Zionist” flag in solidarity with Sultan.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Politics,Religion,Muslim brotherhood,Parties,Israel,America,Hamas,National security,Democracy,Salah Sultan,Safwat Hegazy