Egyptian Chronicles

AIDS Day in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:08:04 PST

Today the world is celebrating the AIDS world day ; it is not a celebration but rather a day of solidarity with AIDS patients. Approximately we have about over 10,000 positive HIV patients in Egypt and only 1500 of them are registered in the ministry of health. I do not need to tell why this small number is registered in the ministry. This is of course besides those who do not know that they carry the virus and continue to live on.

On this day I would like to focus on a segment in Egypt that is threatened by AIDS and we pretend that we do not see them. The streets’ children, those children are threatened by AIDS and no one seems to care about this danger. Already nobody seems to care about them in the first place. 97% of these children thanks to drugs and unsafe sex are just closer to this virus than ever.

I do not know when we will pay attention for real to them!!??

Also the AIDS patients in Egypt suffer due to the lack of the advanced medical care they need and the look of the society towards them , it is enough how they are treated in the hospitals . The people in Egypt unfortunately believe that all the HIV patients are either be homosexuals or prostitutes, well not all of them are so and people should be educated more and more to know that how it is transmitted. It is being transmitted through heterosexual relations, drugs and blood transfusion.

Drugs and blood transfusion are the real challenge facing the Egyptian society and it is God’s mercy that HIV and HBV are not spreading like fire because of them. It is enough that by the recognition of the ministry of health HCV has spread in Egypt for decades because of poor medical measures and the use of contaminated syringes. It is enough that Queen Farida had been infected by HCV through blood transfusion in the Maadi military hospital in mid 1980s !!

Safe sex and condoms are not enough in our case , we need better medical care and a better social protection for those lost kids in the street.

AIDS in Egypt “Wikipedia”

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Health,International,National,Society,The language of number,HIV,AIDS Day,virus,Mideast,Middle East

Egyptian X-File : Judge Abdel Ghafer’s Documents

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:50:08 PST

Yesterday it was announced that the Egyptian authorities have detained the son of judge Abdel Ghafer Mohamed for no announced reason since last week. Not only that but also the Egyptian authorities have searched the house of the late judge and confiscated his personal documents. I think you are asking now : Who is or was judge Abdel Ghafer Mohamed in the first place and why are his documents so important to this level ??

Well judge Abdel Ghafer Mohamed has a special role in our Egyptian life with two top X-File cases : The Abdel Hakim Amar’s group case and the assassination of President Sadat case.

Judge Abdel Ghafer was the prosecutor in Abdel Hakim Amar’s group which was accused for planning a coup after the six days war still his big fame came from being the judge in what was known as “The grand Jihad” case which was associated with “The Sadat assassination” case , the mother of all Egyptian X-files.

This was man knew all the details up till now we know none of them , all those details we are speculating and guessing he had it under his own hands ; he read over 10,000 document in this case and had to study over 203 accused who were facing death penalty all of them in one of the longest and hardest cases the Egyptians courts have ever seen.

He did not speak except once in 2007 in an interview that was supposedly going to be published then at Al Masry Al Youm but for some unknown political reason it did not publish ; it only has seen the light after his death !!

The interview for sure is very interesting especially the part concerning Hassan Abu Pasha , the former minister of interior who told him that Israel demanded that Al-Islamboly would be executed first before the withdrawal from Ras Mohamed !!?? The late judge did not say why because of it is a political subject !!!!!

He said that he knew that information when he tried to use to his influence to free his son from jail , it seems that his son was arrested among the September arrests “He said that his son was innocent and yet entered the jail because his friend said his name in investigations”!!

Strangely no one would have paid that attention to this interview despite its importance if it were not for what happened after it. On the same day that interview was published the police went to his house at Misr El-Gadida and confiscated all his documents including his memories which he had just finished before his death. The memories were expected to include secrets and documents related to the “Grand Jihad” Case the Egyptians do not know ; the same secrets the man asked that they would not be revealed except after his death !!?

What is in his memories ?? What did he write ?? What did he see behind the curtains and decided to share with the public after his death ?? What are these documents to be included in his memories ?? What are these important documents that made the police move in the Eid and not only confiscate it but also arrest his eldest sick son !!!??

New questions added to the old questions and we are waiting for an answer ; I wonder when we will have it !!

Non-trivia :

203 persons were accused in that case and were facing death penalty.
2 of them had died in jail.
190 were found not guilty and were freed.
33 were sentenced to 3 years in jail.
17 were sentenced to 25 years in jail
The rest received between 5,10 and 15 years.
Among the most famous names in this case : Ayman El-Zawahary “whom the late judge remembered how to used to speak to foreign reporters in English” and Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman.
That case was in front of the civilian courts and after its verdict if I am not mistaken the case was transferred to the military courts according to the emergency laws.
After leaving the judiciary Judge Abdel Ghafer and became lawyer Abdel Ghafer where he defended members of the Islamist groups in front of the Egyptian courts

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Egyptian X-Files,National,National security,Politics,News,Sadat assissnation,Abdel Ghafer Mohamed,Mideast,Middle East

Did it happen or Did not It happen ??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:31:56 PST

The Houthis are claiming that the Saudi army has committed a new massacre against civilians yesterday at the Mazab area in Saada governorate.
The Houthis are saying that the Saudi Air forces launched an air strike that hit a civilian house in the area killing 7 and injuring 9 of its occupants.
3 children and 4 women have been killed where as 9 people "children and women" have been injured.
The Houthis website is giving names , real names , I do not know how the Saudis will fire back on this.They should speak and say the truth.
The Saudi army is still denying the capture of its soldiers despite all these youtube videos saying otherwise.

I understand that the Saudi regime fears on its image but if it is insisting on hiding the truth then it should re-think again its strategies.
I will not say again this should not happen and the Saudi regime is committing a huge sin not a mistake against the Yemeni and Saudi people alike. There was a golden opportunity the Saudi regime could have used during the Hajj reason to reach for a peaceful solution between them and the Houthis from one side and between the Yemeni regime and the Houthis from another side ; if they do not want to spell the Muslim blood like that in this holy month !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saudi Arabia has the right to defend its territories but it has no right to use forbidden weapons in killing civilians as the Houthis regardless of the political and religious belief of these civilians.

Searching For Sorour and sister !!??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:41:51 PST

It seems that the rumors are true and Dr.Hani Sorour and his sister are in Switzerland spending the weekend in Omar El-Nasharty’s villa there !!?? Do not you love the fact the runaway businessmen take care of each other !!??

Was not that Omar El-Nasharty whom in the last couple of weeks trashed Algeria and swore on the love of Egypt and her president on air shows on the phones from London !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Back to the medical supplies mogul and his sister ; it is believed that they left Egypt with fake passports and fake ID , the same old scenario of the iron lady and the rest of runaway businessmen.

Again as Karim Abdel Aziz is active in marketing his film , why no one is asking him about the location of his father in law ; with my all respect he should not come chanting about the love of the country and his father in law is breaking its laws and jeopardizing the health of millions of its citizens for sake of extra cash !!?? I know he is not responsible for his father in law’s actions but at least he should have the decency not to launch his film at the same time Sorour has not only violated and disrespected Egyptian courts but he also escaped using from the country fake ids !!!!?

Already I do not know why he would escape 3 years in jail !! It is not execution for God sake and do not tell me he did it because he is innocent !! Innocent people do not run using fake passports and ids.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,National,Hani Sorour,Hany Sorour,Omar El-Nasharty,Politics,Economy,Switzerland,Europe,Laws,Haidylena,Medical supplies,Mideast,Middle East

Princess Ferial Farouk in Photos And Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:20:15 PST

Late Princess Ferial had lots of photos in public and also in private during the royal years more than any of her siblings , here are part of them

The late Princess captured the hearts and minds of people around the world when she spoke for the first on Arabic Channel MBC about herself then her brother then about her father in exile with Ricardo Karm. Karm for sure owed for the Egyptian royal the big return on TV, not so many are interested in watching Farah Diva but many were interested to watch and hear the princess of Egypt for the first time.
Of course the more focused interview with the late Princess was with Amr Adib ; I believe that interview was one of the most important interview Adib has done during his career regardless of what I think about him. “Here is what I thought about it”

Her last televised interview with Maslmany on Dream TV 2 and up till this moment I have been searching for it online, already it caused controversy in Egypt.
By the way the Royalists in the facebook have opened a virtual condolence book for the princess and I hope from the Nasserites and nationalists to respect the royalists and leave them alone. This is not an opportunity to express political points of views ; it is an opportunity to show some civilized attitude.
Tomorrow the funeral is expected to held ~~after Al-Asr prayer~~ at the Rafai Mosque , also the memorial service will be held there. Suzanne Mubarak has called both Yasmine Sharawy and former King Ahmed Fouad yesterday to share the first family condolences . King Ahmed Fouad will arrive with the body of his sister tomorrow.

Update:

The former royal family and the coffin of the late princess will arrive Cairo airport at 7.05 PM Cairo local time on the board of Egypt
The burial will be 8 PM insh Allah

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Egyptians,Princess Ferial,Ferial Farouk,Princess Farial,Photos,Women,History,National,Egyptian Royalty,Mohamed Ali Royal Family,Vide,Media,Mideast,Middle East

Dubai Woes Egypt feels It

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:47:25 PST

There are speculations that Egypt and Abu Dhabi will attract the foreign investments in the region after the current fall of Dubai; well it is falling now and is falling ugly with no doubt. I do not know on what basis these speculations were based upon ; Egypt is no Abu Dhabi for sure , second for God sake our stock market is feeling the woes of Dubai as soon as the market is back in business after the Eid !! “ I think they should close it again till things become stable again”

The blow to Dubai will affect the Dubai Emirati investments in Egypt negatively and the size of these investments is not small not to mention our economy will be affected in a way or another , you got Emaar in the market, you got both Al-Futtiam cousins in construction and retail too and you got Dubai Ports world too if you have forgotten !! I do not have doubt that EFG-Hermes and Pioneers too will join the club not to mention the huge Citadel Capital which has investments there. I think Dubai Capital and Dubai holding have shares in different Citadel Capital subsidiaries like ASEC and Glassworx if I am not mistaken. “Perfect time to enlist your shares isn't he market , is not it !!??”

Even if we attract foreign investments from Dubai to Egypt ; what good will return on the Egyptian people if only a very small percentage of the society enjoys the real fruits of these pseudo economic reforms !!?? Already we are not that foreign investments attraction heaven thanks to corruption, bureaucracy and the fear of future political instability following Mubarak’s death.

We do can attract foreign investments from Dubai and from all over the world not to mention we can become a real Jaguar on the Nile ‘as the Ganzoury’s cabinet used to name Egypt’ if we become a real democracy with a real transparent political system. We can become more powerful than Dubai because in the end Dubai is just a city not a whole great country with lots and lots of unused resources and potentials above them : The human resource.

I believe Dubai can create cash in a fast way if Sheikh Mo sells his horses , if all those construction companies stop building these useless big buildings ; what use of having the biggest and longest buildings in the world with a broken economy for God sake !!???

The problem of Dubai is that it has faced a huge problem during the financial crisis and Sheikh Mo did not want his citizens nor the world to know the ugly truth and thus he kept it under his carpet till the time he could not hide anything !! Just a typical dictatorial Arabic way of thinking !!??

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,National,Economy,Dubai,Stock Market,Politics,Democracy,Financial Crisis,Emaar,Pioneers,EFG-Hermes,Dubai Holdings,Dubai Capital,regional,Mideast,Middle East

Remembering Princess Ferial Farouk

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:35:05 PST

Princess Ferial Farouk has passed away today at 7 AM in Switzerland. She was 71 years old ; she had just celebrated her 71st birthday from couple of weeks ago , her birthday was a real big event in Egypt ; the eldest daughter of the beloved royal couple. Up till now that event is remembered historically by those who saw the big celebrations of the little princess ; despite the fact she was not a baby boy but the celebrations accompanied her birthday were so great that the foreign press spoke about it

Princess Ferial lived a long tough life , I know some of you will be amazed at the choice of the word “tough” well with my all respect unlike the rest of her sisters and her brother she had seen it all. She saw the peak of her father rule and his awful fall along with the end of her family rule to Egypt. She was the baby girl her mother and father adored and loved. She was the little princess whom the Egyptian people watched growing on the magazine covers along her sisters. She was the little girl who woke up one day to find out that life inside the Royal palaces was not truly a bless and her parents could not live any longer with each other after a lovely young love. She was the eldest daughter who saw her father wedded to a young bride older than her by few years. She was the eldest daughter who chose to go with her father to exile despite she may not understood what it really meant on that day in hot July.She was that teenage girl that for the first time in her life walked in a real street and bought an ice-cream from a real ice-cream parlor just like commoners only in exile ; she was that teenage girl that felt happy that she escaped the big Royal prison to freedom with no real understanding for the price she and her family had forced to pay to become commoners. She was that young lady who found herself responsible of her brother ; the young king of Egypt and younger sister after the sudden enigmatic death of her father. She was the woman who took after her younger sister till her death than after few years she lost her other sister suddenly with no warning or any other thing. She was the woman who saved her young brother ; whom she used to hold him in her hands when he was a baby .

Citizen Ferial Farouk suffered a lot , she was not that princess from fairy tales; in fact in her interviews she seemed to dislike the life behind the royal palaces.

Princess Ferial was among the people that I wished to meet and interview and honestly I tried to reach to her through my connections ; I wanted to meet her next time she would visit Egypt but God had better plans for her. I am so happy that some of her last visit to Egypt’s photos were provided to me to publish for the first time in the Egyptian blogsphere “Thank you so much dear Omar and I will never forget this”

I think God gave her the opportunity to see again the memory of her family revived in Egypt ; monarchy is not coming back but gratitude and respect are coming back. The last time she came her , she was received in a very welcoming warm way.

Princess Ferial Farouk had one daughter Yasmine from her marriage ; Yasmine is half Egyptian-half Swiss and is currently married and living in Egypt. Her husband is the grandson of famous Egyptian feminist Huda Sharawy. Yasmine is from the active members in the society in keeping up the Mohamed Ali Royal heritage live and preserved a long time of neglect

I am not her remembering as a princess of a royal family but also a strong woman who managed to stand out against all those hardships.

May Allah bless her soul , please remember her in your prayers regardless of your faith.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Egyptians,Princess Farial,Princess,Ferial Farouk,Mohamed Ali Royal Family,Swizertland,death,National,News,Europe,Media,History,1952,Ahmed Fouad,Photos

Breaking News: RIP Ferial Farouk

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:38:46 PST

I have just known that princess Ferial Farouk,the eldest daughter of late king Farouk and queen Farida has passed away today. I feel so because I had hope that she would conquer the cancer as she had done before. May God bless her soul. Wait for more coverage

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Updates :

The late princess may God bless her soul has passed away in Switzerland today at 7 AM.
Her funeral will be held next Tuesday at the Rafai Mosque where she will be buried along with the rest of her family
President Mubarak has sent his condolence to the former King and his family ; he also has ordered our Embassy in Bern to give all the help they can provide to her family.
This was a very tough year on the Egyptian Royal family

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:22:00 PST

The Muppets sing Bohemian Rhapsody of Queen ; no more I need to speak just watch.

My favorite part is Animal singing Mama then shifting to Dada and for sure Miss Piggy’s performance.

Technorati Tags: International,Muppets,Bohemian Rhapsody,Video,Music,Media,Queen,In the wind's direction

More Than A Swine Flu ??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:21:04 PST

There were news from couple of days ago that Zine El Aibdine Ben Ali of Tunisia was infected by swine flu and this is why he had cancelled his meetings and public appearance this week.

We took the matter as a joke in Egypt but it seems in Tunisia it is a joke because there is a rumor that reached to internet saying that the old dictator with no vice president has travelled abroad to receive treatment !!??

Is it something more serious than swine flu ??? Officially there is no vice president for Ben Ali , it is not only Egypt that is ruled by an old man with no vice president.

Unofficially there is the rumored candidate ; his son in law media mogul Sakher al-Materi as his son Mohamed is still too young to rule a whole country like his daddy " he was born in 2004" Lately I stumbled in the facebook with a group calling his wife shopaholic Laila to run for the office !!

Well it is important to keep it in the family whether the father or the son or the son in law !!

DEBA Tunisie

Technorati Tags: Africa,Tunisia,Politics,Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,Laila Ben Ali,Democracy,Arab,North Africa,Sakher Al-Materi

Where Is That Captured Somali Pirate Now ??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:11:44 PST

Do you remember when Egyptian fishermen and their boss managed to liberate themselves from the Somali pirates’ in last August ?? Do you remember when they announced that they brought with them a Somali pirate they managed to capture !!?? Where is that captured Somali pirate now !!??

I remember him now thanks to Mohamed Henedi’s new comedy “ The prince of seas” currently in the Cinemas which is about the piracy problem in the Red Sea.

There is no more updates about his trial or anything else about him.

I am just wondering.

Of course the fight about on who really saved the day between Chief Hassan and the fishermen in the media made us forget that lonely pirate of Somalia.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,National,News,Somali,Somalia,Somali pirates,Red Sea,National Security,Politics,Human rights,Follow Up,Arab,Africa

Arabia Cinema’s What really happened between Egypt and Algeria Documentary

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:56:19 PST

Here is the full the documentary produced by Arabia Cinema production company which I hinted to before. The documentary chronicles the Algerian attacks before and after the two match from an Egyptian view with English subtitles. By the way this documentary is from a very radical biased Egyptian view and I am not ashamed to say it because it is natural thing ; all what we see from Algeria is radical biased view to what happened in those two weeks. Honesty makes me say that there is a scene which is from a clip unrelated to the sorrowful events that followed the match in Khartoum , which is the scene of those young men beating another young man.

Egyptian actress and writer Isaad Yunis ; the CEO of the Arabia Cinema production company has been very vocal against Algeria after the attacks of Khartoum to the level that her company has boycotted the Algerian film festivals and cinemas not to mentions directors and actors too till we receive an official proper apology for what had happened. Isaad Yunis is currently being criticized for her statement that she was a proud of her pharaonic ancestry.
Back to the documentary , well I believe it is a nice attempt despite being biased ; one of the problems that has weakened our position is that we did not document our version of the story like the Algerian football team and hooligans.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Arab,Isaad Yunis,Follow Up,Media,National,Politics,Video,Culture,Algeria,Khartoum,Cairo,Middle East,News,women

Part of Mona El-Shazely’s Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:38:31 PST

First of all there is a good news : Mona is still in Dream , at least this is what I get from the repeated promo in the channels. Second of all there is a part from Mona’s firing intro last Wednesday that reached to the internet at last , you can’t imagine how I searched for it “Thanks Hanady :D”

Up till now there is apparent reason why Mona went ballistic like that ; there are three theories :

1) She showed how the Israeli press covered the whole crisis.

2) Earlier this day there was a firing meeting between the heads of the private channels to discuss the coverage of the game with lots of criticism to TV shows “Strangely her TV show was less vocal unlike other TV shows”

3) As concerned citizen she is fed up with the government.

You must know that the Egyptian Ambassador in Sudan spoke last night on TV angrily. I also noticed that press ignored her too and I do not know why ; she did not speak more than we are saying.

And to remind you ; here is Aisha Abdel Hady’s Royal moment.

I want to say something , I read some stupid comments from Algeria attacking Mona , with my all respect you do not know Mona or what kind of program she presents and I doubt that you have a program like hers or a TV personality her in your media !! Also please think outside the box of football federations and associations , it is not about defeat ; it is about a whole system failure. Please think about that when something bad happens in your country and you can’t express on TV.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Arab,Egypt,Democracy,Follow Up,Media,National,Sports,Sudan,Regional,Politics,Video,Women,Mona El-Shazely,Algeria,Mideast,Middle East,Aisha Abdel Hady,Suzanne Mubarak

System Failure

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:34:16 PST

I am amazed at the official statements and leaks which state that the Egyptian regime knew about the bad attentions of the Algerian regime and their support for the Algerian hooligans for at least 2 days prior to the match; in other words the Egyptian regime knew what was going to happen and it let it happen to its citizens in Khartoum !!!??

Our Embassy in Khartoum knew in advance that the Algerian hooligans had emptied Um Darman’s markets from knives and swords 3 days prior to the match and according to National security expert and former national security officer Sameh Seif El-Yazal Said Boutaflika planned for that night in Algiers on Saturday the 14th after the defeat of the Algerian national team in Cairo. So if we have all this intelligence why we waited till we have been attacked.

I am not speaking about Algeria this time, I am speaking about a system failure. It is not the first time we know that our regime is a reactive , in fact this time it is worse ; it is not even reactive nor anything , it has been standing still since last week leaving us to explode from anger.

Officially we did not do anything except vague statements regarding the attacks on our citizens in Khartoum including the statement of the President himself, we did not do anything officially for real to stop these lies against Egypt in the world because of this damned match. Alaa Mubarak’s phone calls are not enough to make people forget that night.

Up till now we have been humiliated on a daily basis whether in online or in press or on TV and our regime is watching, with my all respect we are not waiting for couple of live TV shows to attack Algeria ; we want a real official action to restore back the rights of our citizens who were attacked in Khartoum and our businesses that were damaged in Algeria.

I respect Algeria though and its people still as an Egyptian citizen I want my government to do something officially to make me feel I can raise my head high again at least temporarily . If the insult comes from an enemy is a natural thing but when it comes from someone I consider a friend and an ally ; it is another thing. The insult did not come from Algeria only this time but it came from Sudan. Our strategic ally has abandoned us despite what Mubarak had done unfortunately for Bashir and the ICC tribunal ; of course this is the natural result when you depend on someone like Bashir and his regime. Yes Omar Soliman went there accompanied with Abu El-Gait for protocol uses only to thank Al-Bashir and remind him of what he and Mubarak had done for him to escape the ICC but then what !!!?? His personal envoy goes to Algeria and claims that they had fed up with us !!??

Could this happen in time of President Nasser or President Sadat ?? I do not think so.

Mubarak had the opportunity to gain lots of points but he wasted as usually along with his son Gamal ; they do not deserve these points unlike Alaa Mubarak whom suddenly became the voice of the average Mohamed in Egypt.

I do not know what kind of regime is in Algeria but surely it won a lot of undeserved points because of this game which has entered our political history before our sports history.

Of course we think about it , I could not expect our regime to attack in different way than the way it is doing ; this is a regime that loves failures ; addicted to failures to be accurate. It is a natural thing to reach to this result.

Hopefully we learn from mistakes ; not repeating them at least as citizens !!

You know most people thank God that we did not win as our fans could have been slaughtered in Khartoum , well I thank God now that our regime did not act as it should because then Gamal Mubarak could have won undeserved popularity ; let him lose more and more as we do not forget easily

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Africa,Arab,Follow Up,Media,National,Politics,National Security,Regional,Sudan,Algeria,Sports,Mubarak,Omar Soliman

Nadya Suleman’s Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:09:00 PST

Thank God again that Tareq Salahi is not that proud of his Arabic roots just like ; it is a relief. Yes Salahi is a member at the American task force on Palestine which organizes Polo matches for the cause but I can’t consider a real American Arab !! I bet he joined this organization only to organize this Polo matches.

For crashing on a State dinner in the White house like that is alarming ; attending the White house dinner without an official invitation and going there like this require a lot of nerve !!?? From a security point of view I know some people are going to lose their jobs !! Man I can’t imagine something like that to happen in Egypt with all the security frenzy to protect Mubarak so you can imagine to find out that it happened in the White house ; in a dinner attend by Barack Obama with all the threats surrounding him !!

Still I love the fact that Joe Biden was smiling like an idiot between the Salahis

Did Salahi speak with Emmanuel about the Peace process in the Mideast !!??

The Salahis are just like Nadya Suleman in their own way.

Technorati Tags: America,Tareq Salahi,Joe Bidden,Rahm Emmanuel,Obama,News,Nedaya Suleman,Reality TVs,Arabs,Society,Photos,Palestine,Mideast,Middle East

Happy Eid

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:57:00 PST

Happy Eid to all Muslim all over the world

Happy Eid / Bayram/Eid Al Adha

Eid Al Adha

P.S despite my anger and disgust from the Algerian regime and media , I send my greetings to Algerian people and tell them Happy Eid and hopefully next year insh Allah our relations will return even stronger than before. This crisis showed how both of us were alienated from each other thanks to politics.

Technorati Tags: Letter from the editor,Eid,Eid Al Adha,Religion,Islam,Muslims,world,International,Citizen Journalism

Hats Off Ahmed Mekky Again and Again

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:44:41 PST

He did it before and he has done it again

Ahmed Mekky has released a new Rap song but this time he is singing for Egypt. Egyptian-Algerian Mekky demands an official apology from Algeria for what happened. It is the best among all these songs released lately may be because it is more honest and it is not about the crisis rather about Egypt itself.

Egypt My Country / Misr Balady

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Ahmed Mekky,Algeria,Media,Mideast,Middle East,National,Africa,Music,Songs

Mona El-Shazely’s Intro Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:05:39 PST

Did you see Mona El-Shazely’s intro in her TV news night show “10 PM” ?? Did you see and hear what Mona has said !!??

Mona technically opened the fire on Nazif’s cabinet,the media, Al Ahram newspaper, Tamer Hosni, the ministry of foreign affairs, the Parliament ,the Egyptian football association and Aisha Abdel Hady.”in that specific incident”

Today I felt so angry and violated , I was frustrated that our regime did what it is best at and made us lose our rights after all these Algerian attacks whether in the media or in Khartoum or the Egyptian interests in Algeria itself. I feel so tired as if I am speaking in a lonely valley and suddenly Mona came to express this anger in a very moderate way comparing to my anger.

Of course for Mona ,it was not moderate. Mona was tough in her attack more than usual; yes other TV hosts use to attack the regime more like the daily attack of Muslamany but this was something new for Mona.

Now there are speculations that this could be her last episode from her popular show and I wish this will be untrue because she is the most valuable asset in Dream TV ; Dream TV will suffer a lot without her and Ahmed Bahgat knows this very well.

Again Hats off to El-Shazely , she was my voice to the world on air ; in fact she was not my voice only but the voice of 80 million Egyptians who got sick of this humiliation and inconsideration from the regime’s part.

By the way according to sources Mona improvised her intro on air.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Mona El-Shazely,Women,Egyptians,Democracy,Media,Politics,National,Al Ahra,Mideast,Middle East

The Yemeni Swamp

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:34:17 PST

I was wondering why Saudi Arabia was away from this Egyptian-Algerian crisis and of course I forgot the Saudis are busy with the front they opened with the Houthis in Yemen.

Up till now the Saudis did not achieve any kind of victory over the Houthis ,on the contrary the Houthis up till now have the upper hand. The Houthis are continuing to release videos online showing allegedly Saudi POWs from the Saudi navy.

It seems that Saudi Arabia has requested a Jordanian military aid , the Hashemite kingdom has reportedly sent a commando squad to fight the Houthis !! We are speaking about 2,000 Jordanian commandoes here.

I hope Egypt stays away from this , we had a very bad experience in Yemen ; terrible bad experience hopefully the Saudis and Jordanians would learn from it “ it does not seem so”

Here the media plays an important role ; the truth is lost between the Houthis and the Saudis for real. Of course the fact that almost if not all the Shiites in the world are supporting the Houthis makes this on going war seems to be a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Again hopefully Egypt will not be dragged to Yemen and the Jordanians will get away from it as fast as they

Technorati Tags: Arab,follow Up,Media,Politics,War,Video,Egypt,Mideast,Middle East,Yemen,Saudi Arabia,Jordan,special forces,Iran

How Can Anyone trust This Newspaper Anymore ??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:43:12 PST

Algerian Al Chorouk is not only specialized in creating diplomatic regional crises but it is also specialized in theft. Algerian Al Chorouk has stolen an Op-ed by Al Jazeera TV host Ahmed Mansour which was published in Al Dostor last Wednesday the 18th in Cairo and published it in their tabloid paper. Mansour who did not watch the matches was criticizing the buzz around the game in Egypt. What he had said was acceptable and logic ; there was nothing new about it because it was said by other writers too.
Now Algerian Al Chorouk published with no permission from Mansour nor Al Dostor and it did edit it too.
The Algerian tabloid has created a crisis to Mansour himself who was regarded in the past 48 hours as traitor bastard working for Al Jazeera and writes in Algeria's most hated and disgusting newspaper against his own country and people.Of course Mansour is a regular target for the official media to be attacked and so what the Algerian paper was like an open invitation to be attacked in Egypt ; in fact to put his life and the life of his family in danger.
Now a question to the Algerians : Why do you trust this tabloid if it steals other people's work without their permission ?? !!??

Watch This Other Video

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:45:33 PST

What makes me angry the fact that we are being accused in front of the whole the world of lying. Please watch this segment from Cairo Today show as there is a part of a documentary that chronicles the events of before and after the two matches from Egyptian point of view with English translation.

A Middle Eastern Greek Tragedy : Yasmin Nassim

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:19:32 PST

The story itself in summary without any details , without any character background is a a tragedy and when you go deeper and deeper in it you will find yourself in front of an original classic Greek Tragedy ; A Middle Eastern Greek tragedy or even better an Egyptian Greek tragedy. I admit that I thought twice in publishing it , in fact this is the reason why I am late in publishing this tragedy of course besides the Egyptian-Algerian current crisis.
You may know that there is a huge debate in Egypt regarding the Egyptians currently working and living in Israel especially those who married Israeli women and have children who bear the opposite citizenship of Egypt and Israel.
It is a huge debate with lots of unanswered questions regarding the loyalty of those men and their families , the fate of those children and how the Egyptian law would deal with them not to mention how the society can treat them. It is a dilemma especially that the number of Egyptians in Israel is increasing not decreasing thanks to the economic conditions. It is not about Judaism , Muslim man can marry a Jewish woman but it is about the Israeli passport , the same tragedy Egyptian men face when they marry women from Arab 48 community.
Earlier this month Al Masry Al Youm shocked the whole Arab nation not only Egypt when it reported that there was a Bat Mitzvah of an Israeli Egyptian girl in Sinai attended by her Muslim Egyptian father and his family in his resort near Taba. When I said that it shocked the whole Arab nation I meant really these words because as soon as it hit the internet most Arab news websites copied the news and started to comment on it. The report was taken from a Haartez’s report about 12 years old Yasmin ; the half Egyptian Muslim-half Israeli Jewish girl who speaks Arabic with her dad and Hebrew with her mother ; lives in Ramat HaSharon in Israel and spends the summer vacation in her dad’s resort in Taba and her granddad’s farm in Cairo. Without going in to details and knowing the name of that Muslim father who celebrated his daughter Bat Mitzvah , the news was very provoking in the first place but when you know that Yasmin’s complete name is Yasmin Hisham Mohamed Nassim ; it will turn in to a Greek tragedy.
Hisham Nassim , the father is known to be an adventurer businessman who owns two resorts in Sinai and in Western desert. Egyptians only knew about him when he suddenly crossed the great sand sea and we got a new hero in the Guinness Book of records ; of course the Egyptian media cheered especially when they realized that he is the son of Mohamed Nassim ; it was enough for the journalists to stop at this and not to dig more to find a big skeleton in his closet. Being the son of Mohamed Nassim was enough I think and honestly I can’t deny that I was not happy when I read the news and I even thought of writing a post about him in order to speak about his dad but what you know !!

You may ask who is or was Mohamed Nassim and I will tell you in brief that Mohamed Nassim was from the truly founding fathers of the general intelligence service since 1954 , he was a legend in the Egyptian intelligence by all measures and he was a real pain in the ass for the Mossad by all accounts and among his successful operations :

Supervising Refaat Al-Gamal
Saving Abdel Hamid Sarraj in Syria
Arresting Israel Spy Baruch Zaki in Yemen
The Pilgrim operation

Nassim was “le coeur de lion” as he was called in the GIS or Nadim “le coeur de lion” as he was known or rather immortalized in our national memory thanks to Rafaat Al-Hagan Series. The man had done a lot to this country and one paragraph will not be fair to him.
Honestly it did not take too much time for Egyptians to know on which Hisham Nassim Haartez was speaking about especially Al Masry Al Youm mentioned his name and the name of his resort; you do not have to guess how it became a real Greek tragedy.
After few days from silence Hisham decided to face the issue ; the Israelis won’t twist his arm in Egypt and so we found him speaking about the matter publicly for the first time in a whole page with these headlines in Al Masry Al Youm :

Yasmin is a Muslim like her father and his grandfather.
My marriage from an Israeli woman is the mistake of my life I am paying for up till now

The introduction of the article made me feel that I was going to read a PR Q&A interview !! Of course Hisham denied the claims of Haartez saying that his daughter is a Muslim and there was no Bat Mitzvah in his resort. He said that his mother did not attend anything as she is so sick “I can imagine why”. He kept saying that Yasmine is a proud Egyptian and he is married to her mom coz it is halal ; he did not say why he left them in Israel and of course the journalist did not ask him. In the end he warned Egyptian youth from marry foreign women especially Israeli women !! Honestly he was contradicting himself in the interview in a terrible way.
Hisham Nassim claims that he wants her to live in Egypt and to complete her education in Cairo , I do not know why he did not do this from 12 years and please do not tell it would have been hard for him , after all Cairo is not Ramat HaSharon and his Israeli wife could have lived in Cairo with no trouble at all especially that in his long interview in Al Masry he said that she is facing trouble from time to time along his daughter who is proud to be Egyptian in Israel !! This is what logic says if Hisham is scared on his daughter. International schools do exist in Egypt from a very long time too.
I do not know if Hisham has told Yasmin about how great her grandfather was and how he fought her mother’s country all his life long !!?? Has he told her all that yet !!?? This young lady will be shocked ,truly shocked if she knows about the battles her granddad fought against her mother’s country where she is being raised.
I know about Yasmin for more than a year thanks to Adel Hammouda who did not give names or places , just that one of Nassim’s relatives has an Israeli love child . Hammouda is the only journalist wrote a biography about Mohamed Nassim and this is why I believed him. Unfortunately I thought of Hisham’s brother Fouad and do not ask me why !!?? Hammouda had written that shocking dirty little secret in his op-ed about Essam El-Attar and Noni Darwish and I still have it. I do not know why he did not mention his name !!??
Hammoda did not speak of marriage built on peace and hopes for a better future of the Middle East John Lennon would be proud of but rather a fling that made Nassim suffer from several strokes leading to his death in 1999 unlike to what Hisham claims that his late father went ballistic then he understood the matter !!
Hammoda spoke about the matter again this month but this time he spoke meanly about his professional life.
I think Hisham Nassim is suffering from that Noni Darwish syndrome in his own way !! I am not a shrink but I think judging from his so-called desert adventures he wants to rebel against his own dad and his legacy by creating his even if it were built over the ruins of his father legacy . I know I speak strange but I am trying to understand the matter and I can’t !! I remember in all Nassim televised interviews and they were very few that he used to repeat over and over that Israel is our real strategic enemy which we should beware of in time of peace more than in time of war. This shows that the man did not change his views after peace and treatment unlike for instance Hussein Salem then he son goes and fools around with an Israeli woman !!?? I do not get it.
I feel very sorry for Yasmin whom I do not know if she read her father’s whole page interview where he said that marrying her mother and having her was the mistake of his life for which he deserves to be hit with a shoe and he even warns Egyptian youth of marrying Israeli women.
I feel very sorry for her Egyptian stepmother whom I can’t imagine or understand how she deals with this whole drama , for sure she is a great woman as Hisham Nassim has described her , a truly strong Egyptian woman.
I feel very sorry for Yasmin’s Egyptian siblings whom surely are thanking God for the H1N1 outbreak in the schools and universities.
I feel very very very sorry for Mrs.Sharifa Nassim , I met this lovely lady twice and I saw by own eyes how patriot she is.
I do not feel sorry for Hisham Nassim. In fact a little PR advice appearing on TV and speaking about shallow adventures and refusing to speak about Yasmin will not make the Egyptian people forget especially your second shallow achievement came right after the interview. You should not blame the media , you are the one who decided to speak.
Hats off to Mona El-Shazely who slammed him in front of millions and next day he appeared on Al Mehewer channel speaking about the cheap media ; dear do not speak about cheap !! Hisham Nassim is from the most selfish persons from what I can see. He did not care for his father , he did not care for his Egyptian wife or even his Israeli wife “whom he regrets knowing her” and most importantly his daughter.
I hope from God that Yasmin comes and lives in Egypt, I hope in the future she will not suffer. I hope that Hisham stops appearing in the media for a while because he will remind the people with what he had done, they will not buy his desert adventure.
It is a tragedy but I think what Nassim had done to this country is much greater and stronger to be shaken from something like that.
It is a sad thing because I always to speak about Nassim as one of our great Egyptian faces in separate post and… why we always fail in keeping our legacy !!??

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Egyptians,Media,Hisham Nassim,Mohamed Nassim,Spy,GIS,Israel,National,Politics,Sports,Society,Mideast,Middle East

Why Is There A Surprise ??

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:38:27 PST

The offline and online press are so so surprised and shocked to know that Israel holds talks with Oman . It is well known that both countries had had relations since 1996 officially ; mostly economic relations that were cut during the second intifida due to the public and regional pressure on Oman then.

I believe the relations Israeli-Omani unofficial relations go back little bit longer just like Morocco.

Technorati Tags: Economy,Arab,Gulf,Israel,Media,Politics,Regional,News,Oman,Intifida,Mideast,Middle East

Alaa Mubarak : Third Time Is The Charm

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:36:58 PST

Alaa Mubarak called again a News night Talk show last night for the third time this week to attack the Algerian Ambassador and express his huge anger from what had happened in Khartoum in that bloody night. This time he spoke to Amr Adib.

This time he slammed Al Jazeera Channel along with the Algerian Ambassador in Cairo.
He said that the Algerian press criticized his way of talking and that it is not how the Presidents’ offspring should speak ; well then the Algerian press should not count him as a first son but rather a regular citizen especially that they would not understand the President’s offspring language there !!
He is speaking in this way to express all those on the cafes and drivers “ The man of the working class.”
He did not say that the Algerians were Jews , he respects Algeria as a country.
He is a Muslim man who fears God and as a Muslim he respects all religions.
He does not want Ambassador Al-Hagar in Egypt “The later refused to apologize”
He attacked big NDPian Magdy El-Dakak’s October Magazine “My favorite's moment”
He does not have any political ambition what so ever. “We know that , it is his brother”

I do not know why Alaa Mubarak is speaking to the media suddenly all that time , it is not an attempt to help his brother in his plans because he simply overshadows him.

Is this an attempt to absorb the public anger ? The President’s son is angry and he is speaking the language of people but it is too late to make anything on the official level so Alaa would go on the air and say that he can’t take it anymore and enough is enough ??

Is this a political game ?? Well he said that he is not a member in the party “really !!??” and he does not have any political ambition what so ever plus it is his brother who should beware from his growing popularity ; I will say it again this man managed to created a popularity in the Egyptian street since last Friday his brother failed to create for 10 years now.

Is this a real sincere talk from the heart ?? I know you will think that I am kidding but think in this ; Alaa earlier this year has lost his eldest son and as a person he has not been exposed to such violent experience , he could be moved from inside. Alaa in two calls mentioned how the Egyptian Children who accompanied their families were in danger “he mentioned the story of his friend who was attacked by Algerian hooligans before the match in front of his 6 years old girl and in that call above he mentioned his friend’s son who was there and up till now is suffering from nightmares” .

Also as the son of President Mubarak and despite being the modest down to earth son compared to his brother Gamal Alaa has never been put in such situation. Alaa mentioned that he found the Algerian hooligans in the stadium doing these signs to him and his brother that they would be killed when they were sitting in the VIP box ; the VIP box in Egypt is a real box with protecting glass with fans who come to cheer for football not to threat anyone by anything. On the way to the hotel his convoy passed by those Algerian hooligans then in the hotel till their departure with the national team he began to witness what panic was from the crisis in front of him. I know I sound strange here but I do not think all the time in political conspiracy theories nor I am biased because he is supporting our calls for our dignity ; the dignity which his father did a wonderful job in wasting it for 28 years but I am speaking a person who did not suffer all in his life and suddenly in one year he faces two shocks ; may be the second is nothing compared to the first but the first made him vulnerable at least psychologically to watch for what he is saying. But if he was shaken psychologically , could not they stop him in presidency ; the man actually is creating diplomatic crisis !!?? It has never happened in any country that a first son comes on the air and attacks another country and its ambassador in this way.

I do not get it , I am trying to figure out what behind this openness on the media.

He said that he will speak again and again till something is really done ; I think this means we will hear from him and may be see on TV soon !!

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Egyptians,Follow Up,Africa,Arab,Media,National,Amr Adib,Amr Adeeb,Politics,Video,Alaa Mubarak,Mideast,Middle East

A Real Son of Madam

noreply@blogger.com (Zeinobia) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:23:39 PST

Do you know who Israel will send to Egypt as its coming Ambassador ?? Yitzhak Levanon and do you know who is his mother ??

His mother is Israel’s first madam Shula Cohen ; the infamous Israeli spy caught in Lebanon in 1960s. Shula was the queen of prostitution in Lebanon since the 1940s and she was arrested in 1960s with a big scandal. She was extradited in 1967 for Syrian POWs. She had been a professional prostitute turned in to a madam with several brothels in Beirut , her clients and acquaintances including real VIPs from presidents to ministers to army generals in Lebanon . Here case indeed was very interesting because what made her exposed was an economic plot made by Israel to destroy the Lebanese Economy. The Lebanese economy in 1960s was booming and I am sorry if I say that it was booming thanks to the money Nasser spent there.

You can watch Zaven’s episode about the Lebanese intelligence history to know about the arrest of Shula. Prime minister Rashid Karami was the first man to lead the Lebanese security to Shula’s Lebanese accomplice who led them to her ; Karami was among our allies in Lebanon , very close allies by the way.

Being the son of a professional prostitute is not included in your resume especially when you are one hell of diplomat with experience in the Arab and this is why the AFP report about him doesn’t include this juicy info. Already I know it will only take 48 hours or even less when our press realizes who Shula Cohen was.

Of course I do not have to imagine the new title the national press will call on Levanon ; for sure it will be the son of bitch and technically it is true he is a son of a bitch.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Shula Cohen,Israel,Zaven Kouyoumdjian,Lebanon,Spy,Yitzhak Levanon,Mossad,Beirut,Women,Prostitution,National Security,Economy,Egypt,Rashid Karami,Mideast,Middle East,Photos,Cairo