Cablegate And Egypt : Reactions in The Region

We are still with the Cablegate , I am sorry if I am not covering the elections circus as I should but the Cablegate is completely ignored in our mainstream media and this is where our role as bloggers comes.

First of all the U.S Embassy in Cairo has issued an official press statement on the Wikileaks. The statement is contradicting itself as Margret Scobey says :

Cablegate And Egypt : Prince Of Qatar’s Quick Visit

Prince of Qatar paid a very quick surprising visit to Egypt yesterday evening. It was a a surprise two hours visit that was described by some sources in Cairo international air port as “Private” according to Al Masry Al Youm newspaper.That quick surprising short visit comes in less than a week from Mubarak’s visit to Doha.
I do not know if the Cablegate of Wikileaks has something to do with that visit or not , we should not forget that according to the cables Mubarak and his men attacked Qatar to the level of accusing it of supporting the insurgents in Yemen where Prince Hamid complained a lot about Egypt to Sen. Kerry earlier this year.
Some will say that it could be a visit for economic proposes as Rashid Mohamed Rashid , the minister of trade was in the farewell of the prince at the CIA but .. I do not know the timing is very interesting.
It could be economic and political visit at the same time just like Mubarak’s visit, Mubarak for sure did not go to Doha only to ask for Al Jazeera’s mercy ,he went for other reasons like for instance gaining some sort of support for him and his son plus attracting new investments in Egypt. There is a new page between the two countries for sure like what Mubarak had said in his short historical statements in Al Jazeera.
That new page is being stained by the ugly cables of the U.S embassies in Cairo and Doha.
For the record unlike the Iraq war logs , Al Jazeera ignored the latest Wikileaks release speaking about it generally without going too deep in the content of the cables or even hinting from near or far that Qatar had its share there.
Update : 
Officially the prince of Qatar came to Egypt to present his condolences to the family of his late former teacher who taught him geography and history from 50 years ago !!!  It is very touchy and I am moved. May Allah bless the soul of that teacher. 

Technorati Tags: Cablegate,Egypt,Politics,Qatar,National,Regional,Prince Hamid,Mubarak,Wikileaks,Mideast

Follow Up : Youssef Shaaban Is Free Man Again

Egyptian journalist Youssef Shaaban of El-Badil has been released from detention last Monday despite he should have been released days ago after the order of the general attorney assistant in Alexandria.

Youssef with his fiancée Ranwa Mohamed and his cat

Youssef was arrested by the police when he was covering a protest in Alex , he was accused of possessing narcotics despite the fact he does not smoke. Shaaban spoke to  Masrawy.com and said that the officer who arrested during the protest told him that he would teach him not cover protests again !!
Photo Source : Facebook

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Follow Up,Human rights,media,National,Photos,Youssef Shaaban,El-Badil,Mideast,Press

The Cablegate And Egypt : The First Batch Goes On “2”

And now this is the post dedicated to the cables at the Wikileaks Cablegate website itself.
The U.S Embassies in the Middle East have a big share in that released batch , if you look to the graph down that the main home page of Cablegate website. Of course you must bear in mind that may be because this released batch deals with the presence more than the past , I am sure that if  we goes back to 1970s and 1960s we will find that the cables from the Eastern bloc is more than other cables. “By the way the website is too confusing when it comes to browsing”
Based on tags I was able to find Egypt as EG at last.
You can browse the cables about Egypt here. Already 5 of these cables were covered in the previous post. Now the cables in the Wikileaks’ Cablegate website are more explosive especially one where Gamal Mubarak speaks directly with congressmen about regional politics and national security.
Here are summaries of the cables with highlighted interesting parts. Again GOE stands for government of Egypt , GOI stands for government of Israel  , EGIS stands for Egyptian intelligence service and CODEL stands for congressional delegation.

• The first cable discusses the meeting between the congressional delegation led by  Voinovich and our chief spy Omar Soliman was covered before . It was sent on 2nd of January 2008.
• The second cable discusses the meeting between congressional delegation led by Brian Baird and President Mubarak during the World Economic forum in Sharm El-Sheikh. The cable was sent from the US Embassy in Cairo on May 27 ,2008 and it was classified as confidential.

ElBaradei Among The Top Thinkers of the World

ElBaradei earlier this month in Hiroshima , Japan

Ok this is a very cheerful news to us in the midst of the elections from one side and the Wikileaks’ Cablegate scandal from another side ; Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei has been chosen by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the Top thinkers of the world for year 2010.
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei who is being identified as a democracy activist in Egypt is  chosen as the 2010 top thinker of the world No.20. He was chosen as a top thinker as he has proven that there are second acts in public life. Dr. ElBaradei chose a more difficult second act in the public life by standing against the Mubarak regime in Egypt and fighting a 58 years old legacy in his homeland.
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei is currently in Brazil and it is expected to return back to Egypt next week if I am not mistaken. I believe the Egyptian opposition owes him an apology for participating in the elections especially the Muslim brotherhood and Hamdeen Sabhi.

It will fall sooner rather than later.

The FP ends ElBaradei’s profile with his quote about the Mubarak regime.

Technorati Tags: Politics,Egypt,Egyptians,Foreign policy,Mohamed ElBaradei,Top Thinkers of the world,2010,Mubarak,Democracy,International

Because The Elections Are Not Enough Scandalous , We Have Got The Wikileaks Too “The First Batch”

Nobody thought for one second that Egypt will have its share  from the scandal in the new latest Wikileaks releases : The Cables gate , nobody though for one second we will be mentioned but what you know !!??

The man of the hour : Assange

Logically from the 1/4 million confidential American diplomatic cables in the past we had our share whether directly or indirectly. I expected to be indirectly as nobody said anything about Egypt In the last few days as we all thought the Wikileaks cables will include the GCC, Israel, Turkey and Iran. At least this is what we understood from the news reports about how the States are scared on its relations with these countries excluding Iran. Egypt’s name was not mentioned at all till we found a whole section in the Guardian dedicated to EGYPT.  The first batch released to the media included Egypt , 4 cables with Egypt’s mention directly and indirectly !! Moments later we knew that there was more in NY Times and more in the Wikileaks cablegate website itself.
First you must know that actually despite being confidential there is nothing explosive about them , these are not CIA reports , these normal correspondences between the embassies and their countries. Our embassies have the same kind of correspondences. You will not be surprised by the American side or its views that much compared to the scandals of our rulers. FYI diplomats are official spies, from their job description collecting and analyzing data to help the decision maker back home.
Up till now I do not know how Julian Assange got these 1/4 million cables or why he publishes them considering the fact he has created a huge diplomatic crisis not between the U.S and other countries but also between countries themselves like for instance Egypt and Qatar as you will see.
Since knowing about the release of the cables and more importantly since knowing that my Egypt is involved , I forget altogether about the Greek tragedy we calling parliamentary elections.  I have read the cables in the Guardian and the NY Times about Egypt and decided to summarize them by date.
By the way GOE stands for the government of Egypt

• The first one is about General Omar Soliman , our Spy chief and minster of national security. It goes back to 2/01/2008 It was sent from the American Embassy in Cairo to Washington. “Guardian”

Elections 2010 Follow Up : The Big Day Is Here “Updated”

The big man voted

“The biggest elections in the history of Egypt” as described in Al Ahram newspaper today , strangely as far as I remember every election is described by the regime media as the greatest , the biggest and far most important elections in Egypt !! May be because our population is growing by time and this is why our elections this year are the biggest, I do not know !!
The regime promised a democratic clean election in a way that forces us to ask : What about the previous elections.
Up till now all the news is depressing , really depressing with all the thuggery , the cheating and the hacking to websites. From North to South reports coming to the internet that committees are being closed , ballot cards are already in the boxes, there are empty committees that have not opened their doors.
First of all there are several websites that have been banned in Egypt including the official websites of the Muslim brotherhood and Shahid 2010. The websites are working outside Egypt by the way.
Here is the full list of the websites :

• ikhwanweb.com
• ikhwanonline.com
• egyptwindow.net
• dakahliaikhwan.com
• shahid2010.com
• ikhwanscope.com
• ikhwanophobia.com
• amlalommah.net

Elections Follow Up : Let The Cheating Begin !! "Updated"

I want to write about regional changes taking place at the right moment but I am unfortunately I am attracted to the on going circus currently in the country better known as the Parliamentary elections !!
Now tomorrow polls stations will be open from 8 AM to 7 PM across the country.
Despite the polls stations will be opened tomorrow , the foul plays have started from today thanks to the NDP.
Here is the ballot card from El-Beheira governorate from the Women quota. “Source”

In Beheira 

Here is a ballot card from Giza , from Boulaq El-Dakrour

Free Youssef

Youssef in some protest 

Youssef Shaaban has not returned home yet despite the general attorney assistant ‘s order to release him immediately from detention. Up till now we do not know where Youssef is.
There is a news that Youssef Shaaban is currently detained at Borg El-Arab prison in solitary confinement for 4 day !! The lawyers of Youssef are on food strike currently to object his detention.
By the way Khaled El-Balshy  , the chief in editor of El-Badil received threats after writing a strong essay about Youssef.
Here is Youssef Shaaban’s special coverage in El-Badil.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Journalists,Reporters,Alexandria,Human rights,Khaled El-Balshy,Politics,El-Badil,Follow Up,Youssef Shaaban,Democracy

The Pampers of Change in Egypt

I just want to know who is behind the Wafd party TV ads !!?? Yes it turned out that these silly pathetic ads are truly Wafd party TV ads . Who is that genius for real !!??Here is the newest Wafd Party TV ad in its elections campaign : The pampers of change which you can watch below :

Anger Day Follow Up : A Step Towards Real Anger

Tonight at 7 PM Egyptian activists and youth hold the Anger Day only for 30 minutes across the country.
There were gatherings across the country in Alexandria , Giza , Sharkia , Bani Sawif , Port Said ,Gharbia,  Qalubiya, Mounfia and Mansoura.
Some honked their cars , some stood in their balconies with their pots and some walked in the streets in small groups making noise to express their anger.

In her balcony with a cooking pot 

Omraneya Follow Up : Death Toll Increased To Two !!

Here is the latest update  in the Omraneya bloody Wednesday’s events and it is not good at all. The ministry of health has announced the death of  24years old Milad Malek Maikhal Soliman in the hospital of Al Ahram as a result of the injuries he suffered from  or to be accurate as a result from the gunshot wound he suffered from !!

I fear from what will happen next in this country !!

Technorati Tags: citizien journalism,Egypt,politics,News,National,Omraneya,Christians,Minorties,Clashes,Police,Violence,Follow Up,Updates,Mideast,society,Human rights

Elections Follow Up : Just Questions !!??

• How come that none of the candidates competing on the seats of the labor and farmers are actually labor and farmers , they are white collars in fact many of them are CEOs and former Ambassadors !!??
• How come that we have ministers running for the elections when among the roles of the parliament is monitoring ministers and ministries on behalf of the citizens !!?? Is this an overlapping or rather cheating !? How can a minister MP question another minister as he or she supposed to do !!?
• How come that there are 3 members from the same party competing on the same seat !!??

Elections Follow Up: The High Elections Committee Official Website !!

I am surprised that I did not know before about this website if it were not for a Google ad I found in my blog :

The High Elections commission official website

This is very good move for real. We needed this from a long time.

Now let’s leave official websites following the regime and go for the unofficial independent elections monitor sites , our dear geek Mustafa made for us the ONE Map that will rule them all : A map that gathers are irregularities from 5 sites including : U-shahid , Shahid 2010 and Abu Blash.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,democracy,Follow up,Elections,Geek,Politics,National,Websites,Ushahidi,High elections commission,Follow Up

Cast The First Stone If Your Princes And Princesses Do Not Go To Israel For Treatment

The Arab media is speaking and dying to know which Arab Gulf princess went to treated medically in Israel and before the President’s visit to Qatar all accusation fingers in Egypt were pointing to the Qatari royal family. We love to blame Qatari royal family and to accuse them of sleeping with the Israelis despite the fact our regime is an original sinner !!
Our media loves to remind us with the secret relations with the Qatari royal family and Israel despite the fact the Egyptian Israeli relations especially the economic one are kept as secret away from the public and the media like for instance the fact that we export to Israel tomatoes and steel !! “I did not know about the tomatoes before”. Unlike Qatar we have normal relations with Israel considering the Peace treaty we signed , why we do not keep our media and the people in the dark when it comes to the economic and security agreements with Israel !!?? A question that I hope to know its answer soon.
Yes the Qatari royal family and its prince are having a very special and close relations with Israel but I hate to tell you that our sick princess is not from Qatar but from Emirates , she is supposedly from one of the ruling families in UAE. Of course I am astonished that they call her princess and not Sheikha , as in the UAE there are no princes or princesses but rather  Sheikh and Sheikha.

Omraneya Follow Up : The Day After The Storm

Ok I have not published any follow up about yesterday’s sorrowful events in order to have a comprehensive report of all reactions and updates .

First of all there is unconfirmed that another Christian died today from his injury, again there is no confirmation especially according to the ministry of health all the injured were released today from the hospitals. The latest injured numbers were 35 according to the ministry of health.

Facebook Is Closing Its Door In Front of Egyptian Activism

The Khaled Said Arabic Facebook page is no longer available online in the Facebook and we do not know if it is deleted or what as it administrator has not received any notification yet. There were more than 300k  fans for this image making it from the top Egyptian pages in the Facebook pages for God sake.
Also the MB’s page for elections field monitoring is reportedly has been closed too but they have launched a new one. 
The Facebook has already deleted the accounts of Egyptian activists like Gameela Ismail and Gamal Eid.
It is worth to mention that Egyptian activists are calling for a day of anger tomorrow at 7 PM on the Facebook and it was from the Facebook that the Khaled Said found its way to the world. The activists have already launched a new Khaled Said FB page from awhile  ago.
The group has launched an email newsgroup to keep the supporters of Khaled Said updated in case the group can't return back to the popular social group.
The new session of Khaled Said’s trial will be held next Saturday by way in Alexandria.
Update#1: 

• Mohamed ElBaradei official FB page has been removed !! Here is its url : http://www.facebook.com/Elbarad3i
• Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei has commented on what happened in twitter : 

Efforts to silence our voices will only strengthen our resolve to regain our freedom . Anger is on the rise.

• Hamdeen Sabhi presidential campaign page has been removed too !!
• The Muslim brotherhood Parliamentary candidates in Fayoum pages have been removed !! 
• ElBaradei supporting campaign has published on its official website the instruciton on what we should do tomorrow insh Allah on the day of Anger : 

1. Coordinate with the 6th April youth and ElBaradei campaign. 
2. Gather a group of 5 or 6 of your friends and go to a crowded street or area wearing black. 
3. Start to make noise at 7 PM 'whistle or scream' , you can even do this from balconies. 
4. Take cameras to document the event , film in video from 15 to 20 mins maximum 
5. Try to avoid any contact or clash with the security when you see police officers coming , move in to another area. 
6. If you find yourself in front of any legal trouble "police arrest" , please contact these numbers for immediate legal help : 0120624003- 0105805657

Updates#2 : 

• The Pages of Khaled Said and ElBaradei have returned back , thank God our dear Egyptians in the States were behind the Facebook's administration till it has unblocked the two pages , I do not know about the rest of the blocked pages. 
• The admins of the Khaled Said page are not actually administrating it currently , we do not know who is currently responsible for it. 
• Here is the poster of the Angry Friday which I like so much , I think Guebra is behind it !!??

Technorati Tags: Facebook,Egypt,Politics,Khaled Said,Human rights watch,media,media crackdown,National,Democracy,Mideast,Geek,activism,online activism

Follow Up :Youssef Shhaaban Is A Free Man Again

El-Badil correspondent in Alexandria Youssef Shaaban has been released from detention by the orders of the general attorney assistant today. Youssef as I hinted before was arrested in Alex from couple of days ago from a protest on a charged of drugs possession despite the fact he does not even smoke a cigarette !!
A delegation from the syndication of journalists went to Alex to meet its general attorney assistant who issued the release of Shaaban this morning. 
Yesterday there was a stand in front of the syndication of journalists in solidarity with Shaaban attended by journalists and activists.  You can watch part of the stand below.

Khaled Said’s Mom Calls For A Peaceful Anger Day

Mrs. Laila , Khaled Said’s mother is calling the Egyptian youth to express their anger peacefully next 26th of November 2010 across the country.

Khaled Said’s mom calls the youth to express their anger peacefully

I do not know whenever I see this lady , I feel that I want to cry still I must confess that I admire her strength and persistence.  Hopefully that this lady sees justice prevails for her son in her lifetime.

I wish that the Egyptian Christians join the angry protesters next Friday insh Allah.

Now to be honest I do not understand fully what is supposed to happen on that anger day , the video here speaks about something we all should do at 7 PM but in the first description for the event in the Facebook it is a two hours event from 2 PM to 5 PM.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Follow Up,Khaled Said,Egyptian Life,Human rights,Video,Anger day

Today Was Egypt’s Day on Al Jazeera Channel

Today was Egypt’s day on Al Jazeera TV channel “Arabic” as the channel covered and aired the following :

•  Omraneya clashes coverage
• Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi’s provoking statements about Egypt and the Egyptian reactions coverage
• President Mubarak’s visit to Qatar coverage and his second short statements  for Al Jazeera in a a very rare moment.
• The Parliamentary elections coverage
• An interview with NDPians leaders
• An interview on air with MB guide.

Even Al Jazeera Mubshar hosted on air NDP candidate and current MP Ahmed Shobair and independent opponent candidate Gameela Ismail.
I think other Arab viewers got bored from today’s Egypt comprehensive coverage on Al Jazeera , I got bored myself from all these depressing news.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Arab,Human rights,Al Jazeera,Media,Politics,Regional,Religion,Omranya,Mubarak,Meles Zenawi,TV,Qatar,Parilamentary elections,NDP

Bad Day In Omraneya

In what is considered the biggest clash between the security forces and the Egyptian Christians from along time , ugly violent clashes erupted today from the morning in the crowded Omraneya district in the morning. We got as usual two versions of the story.
According to the unofficial version of the story the Christians were building a service building supplement to the Church in the area , there was some problem about the permits and the Giza governorate insisted that they should not build the supplement building without a permit , yesterday according to the Christians the Police attacked the place and used tear gas bombs inside the Church “The Virgin and angel Mikhail” which angered the Christians naturally and made them protest violently today.
According to the official version of the story a group of Egyptian Christians protested in front of the Giza governorate building at Al Ahram district, they attacked the building and tried to enter it by force. In return the police had to defend the building and clashed violently with the protesters that were using Molotov bottles. The governor says that he gave the permit for a supplement building yet the Church decided to turn it in to another Church with no respect to the legal procedures.
The mainstream media is adopting this version for sure.

Parliamentary Elections Follow Up : Security Thuggery In Saris El-Lyan

Last November 13,2010  the security forces cracked down violently  in their infamous thuggery way a peaceful protest for the Muslim brotherhood in Sers El-Lyan , Monufia governorate. Sers El-Lyan city is a hot zone in Monufia in this election as it is NDPian strongman Ahmed Ezz’s electoral committee. Ahmed Ezz’s men including the police are making sure that there is no chance for any rival especially from the Muslim brotherhood to have a fair chance in electoral publicity in the committee.
Last November 13th ,2010 the security forces arrested a 19 years old student called Mohamed Mahmoud from the HQ of the MB’s candidate in the city and dragged him to the police station. According to what I understood and what it seemed the boy is from the MB and so is his family.His family and other MB supporters went protesting outside the Police station demanding his immediate release of Mahmoud as he was arrested and humiliated for no reason not to mention he is a minor. The protest went from peaceful to violent when the security forces attacked and chased the civilians in a disgusting way in the videos you will see below. “Most of these videos were gathered and uploaded online by the Muslim brotherhood”
The clip below shows the protest in the beginning , the MB repeating their famous chants before the clashes.

Al Wafd Shadow Cabinet : A Shadow Cabinet Of A Shadow Party !!

Al Wafd party has announced Egypt’s first ever shadow cabinet. Dr. Ali Salmi is the shadow prime minister , Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour is the shadow minister of economy, Dr. Mohamed Kamel is the shadow minister of foreign affairs ,famous lawyer Bahaa Abu Shoka is the shadow minister of legal affairs and Amr Adeeb is the shadow minister of information.

By the way MP Mustafa El-Genndy is the shadow minister of Sudan !!?? Yes Sudan , it seems that Al Wafd party thinks itself in 1945 or something !!? Already  we do not know what Sudan they referring to , the Northern Sudan or the the Southern Sudan !!?

Review: Holy Blood , Holy Grail

Before the Da Vinci Code there was “Holy Blood , Holy Grail” that made it to the list of the most controversial books in the 2nd half of the 20th century. This book is a must for conspiracy theorists and religious skeptics. It was destined to be remembered in the 21st century as source of inspiration to Don Brown and his controversial masterpiece “ The Da Vinci Code” , it is not only the hypothesis on which the novel is built upon but one of the main characters' name “Leigh Teabing” is believed to be a tribute to the Holy Blood Holy Grail’s authors Michael Baigent”Scrambled” and Richard Leigh. Since I have read "The Da Vinci Code" and followed the controversy it caused , I wanted to read the that book. I saw documentaries where its authors were speaking about the alleged Jesus bloodline and other controversial theories.
I have finished at last reading “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” , I read its latest hardcover illustrated edition issued in 2005. I read it out of curious and out of the fact that as a Muslim I believe in Prophet Jesus and I wanted to know what that book really claimed and has been causing all that controversy.  Already it is not the first time I read a book for Leigh and Baigent as I read their book on the Dead sea scrolls which elaborates more on the Essenes and how Jesus can be a member from that Jewish sect. 
First of all what I love in this book is that despite their belief in the authenticity of their info , the authors insisted that what they are saying is a hypothesis that can be wrong despite all that evidence that they gathered. The authors are not like Erich von Däniken and the ancient aliens theorists who consider what came in the “Chariots of God ?” is not a hypothesis but rather a reality and they will have the last laugh when the ancient aliens come back to Earth !! I like that sort of historical investigative journalism.

Talk To Me About Sovereignty

Again the Egyptian regime has rejected officially the U.S request for international poll monitors and the reason this time was to protect our sovereignty !! The Egyptian officials used very big words this time like : America is not our guardian , our sovereignty ,our dignity …etc.

I do not understand what brings international poll monitors to the sovereignty talk !!?? 

Why was it ok for the United States to call for international poll monitors to its last presidential elections but it is not ok for Egyptian regime !?? Ironically they invited poll monitors from Egypt like MP Mohamed Mustafa Shardi !!?? Was not an insult to the American sovereignty !!?

If the Egyptian regime believes that its elections whether presidential or parliamentary are transparent and irregularities free , why it is afraid to let the world see it !!?? This can be applied to the media crackdown , why there are so much restrictions on the media during this election if it is transparent and democratic !!?  If you do not want to have international poll monitors , then you must stop your media crackdown to show good intentions to the world !!

Also how dare these regime officials are speaking about the Egyptian sovereignty when our real sovereignty is being desecrated day and night !??

Follow Up : Youm 7 Journalist Acquitted From Forgery Charges

Youm 7 intern journalist Allam Abdel Ghafar has been acquitted from the forgery charges VACSERA accused him of. Allam won the appeal and he is not going to jail thank God.

Technorati Tags: Youm 7,Allam Abdel Ghafar,media,VACSERA,Health,Citizen Journalism,Laws,courts,democracy

Egyptian Presidency : Mubarak Warned The Americans From Invasion Not From

At last the Egyptian presidency officially has decided to address the Bush claims about Mubarak and the Iraq.

According to Soliman Awad , the presidency spokesperson President Mubarak warned Bush and the American administration constantly from the invasion of Iraq because they would face a huge resistance as the Iraqis would fight the Americans with all what they got from men and arms. Mubarak did not say anything about the Iraqi WMD to G.W Bush.

Awad revealed that Bush Sr. thought of invading Iraq after the liberation of Kuwait but Mubarak warned him that he would turn from the liberator of Kuwait to the invader of Iraq. Wise old Bush took Mubarak seriously unlike his reckless big fat liar son.

I think the Egyptian presidency should have tackled this part last week but may be they were taking the Whole week as a Eid vacation !! I wonder what Bush’s reaction will be.

Again I do not fully believe Bush JR. and just because I do not agree with Mubarak’s policies that I would believe whatever Bush or anyone says about him especially like Bush.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,America,G.W Bush,Media,National,Iraq,Politics,International,Mubarak,Soliman Awad,Decision Points,Invasion,WMD,Follow Up

Ahmed Shaaban Follow Up : Record No.15146

Here are the latest updates in the Ahmed Shaaban case :

• The case has not been closed yet as it was announced from two days ago in the media , the investigations are still going on. The case is registered in records a no. 15146. The investigation is still waiting for the autopsy report according to El Nadeem  center.
• Al Ahram has published an expressive report about incident where Ahmed Shaaban’s deceased father confirmed from the other world that there was nothing criminal in the death of his son !! The report includes the living too as according to Al Ahram Ahmed’s sister believed there was nothing sinister in her brother’s murder where as she has been vocal about his murder and reported the matter to the general attorney herself !!
• The report did not include why the body of Ahmed was found after 4 days of his absence when it says that people chased him to the lake and saw him jumping in to his death there !!
• Now El-Badil’s reporter in Alexandria , Youssef Shaaban “not related to late Ahmed” who covered the case of Ahmed was arrested for the possession of narcotics “marijuana packets” !! I have read somewhere that Youssef is not a smoker in the first place !! Youssef Shaaban was arrested during his coverage to a protest in Alexandria !!!! There will be tomorrow a protest in front of the journalists syndication at 5 PM in solidarity with Youssef.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Follow Up,Human rights,Alexandria,Ahmed Shaaban,Youssef Shaaban,Journalists,Police,Mideast

And Now We Have Aboblash To Monitor The Elections Too !!

Ladies and gentlemen I would like to present to you : Aboblash , the latest Egyptian parliamentary elections monitor website built upon the powerful Ushahidi platform!!

Aboblash is the third website of its kind in Egypt after Shahid 2010 and UShahid and do not ask me why !!!

Up till I do not understand why we would have 3 websites covering the same event !!

Why can’t we agree on one thing , a simple thing like having a centralized website to the monitor the coming bloody election which we all know in advance that it will not only be full of  irregularaties but it will be the grand feast of elections fraud in the country !!

Already this website comes online after the fight between MB and the DISC on which group should have the right to use the Ushahidi first !! It is an open source platform for God sake !!

Again people will confuse on which website they should send to , not to mention these websites need publicity more than the average circle of online activists in order to play a vital role in recording all the irregularities !!

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,democracy,follow up,Politics,Aboblash,Media,National,Geek,Websites,UShahidi,Parilamentary elections

Follow Up : New Website For ElBaradei Supporting Campaign

The ElBaradei supporting campaign has launched a new website instead of its old one that was hacked earlier this month.
The new URL is : www.lazem.org
The new website is called “Lazem” which is the new slogan of the campaign. “Lazem” in Arabic or to be precise in our Egyptian dialect means “Must” and it refers to the change that must take place. “Insh Allah”
Here is the new logo of the campaign.

Hopefully the campaign will succeed in achieving its noble cause.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Politics,Lazem,ElBaradei supporting campaign,Mohamed ElBaradei,Websites,Geek,Campaigns,Mideast,Follow Up

Death To Arab Facebook Fan Pages !!

It seems that “Death to Arab” concept has got fans in Israel because we got Facebook fan page for it !! “English translation”. It is only liked by 89 fans !!
There is also another “Death to Arabs” fan page but this time it is more specific , they meant to the Arab MK , the representatives of the Arabs in the Knesset. There are 778 fans who like this page.
Please report these two ugly pages to the Facebook administration.
There are many Israelis who believe that Arabs should be wiped from the surface of the earth. I will not deny that there are no mutual feelings because from the other side we got it vice versa but If you want a true peace then you must take initiatives. I remember that when actor Mohamed Sobhi was accused of anti-Semitism , he wondered why the other thinks that his blood is more precious than mine , he wondered why he does not regard as a human at all. 
By the way Dutch filmmaker George Sluizer is accusing Ariel Sharon of killing two Palestinian toddlers in front of his eyes during the invasion of Lebanon. We all know that Sharon had done alone in the invasion of Lebanon labels him perfectly as a war criminal and we all know that civil war lord infamous Elie Hobeika was assassinated because he was going to testify against Sharon in order to expose his dirty role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
Now as we are speaking about war criminals , here is a list of war criminals who should be prosecuted in front of ICC for the war crimes they committed in Gaza. These are the new generation of war criminals raised in the IDF and for the record the IDF will continue in producing war criminals as long as they are not stopped internationally and exposed as war criminals.
Update : 
My dear friend Ruslan has shared with us another Israeli Zionist Arab hating group that attacks the Arab members of Knesset.  Now this group has got 1328 fans.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Arab,Human rights,Israel,Facebook,Geek,National Security,Politics,Lebanon,Ariel Sharon,George Sluizer,Knesset,Sabra and Shatila,IDF

Nobody Sleeps In Alexandria Literality !!

It seems that the tensions before the elections are escalating by time and they are taking ugly form.
Tonight there were huge violent clashes between Egyptian security forces and Muslim brotherhood “MB” supporters that turned ugly in both Alexandria “Alex” and Mansoura where the security used tear gas bombs in the first and rubber bullets in the second !!
I do not have details about Mansoura yet as all the focus is on Alex which is not sleeping tonight. There are photos and videos from the former mermaid of the Mediterranean that is turning day after day to the widow of the Mediterranean that give us a dark image about what happened that night and what will happen later.

The Valley of The Wolves : Palestine Edition

The Turkish wolves are still angry from Israel and they are just reflecting the public and official anger from what had happened in the Gaza flotilla. For the second time the popular series “The valley of the wolves” targets Israel after creating a diplomatic crisis earlier this year between the two countries.It seems that the makers of the franchise decided to escalate the confrontation by producing “The valley of the Wolves : Palestine” the movie.

Ahmed Shaaban Follow Up : Good News , Bad News

Here are the latest update in the case of Ahmed Shaaban , the updates include good news and bad news and I will start with the bad news first.
Al Shorouk newspaper website claims that the general attorney in Alexandria has decided to close the case of Ahmed Shaaban as there was no criminal , now the official story claims that Shaaban is a motorcycle thief that snapped a girl’s bag from Somaha and ended with his motorcycle in to the lake !!

And Saudi Arabia Joins Kuwait

Mushraf

Just like the Kuwaiti regime , the Saudi regime is showing its support to the Mubarak regime on the expense of the Egyptian people.
From four days ago the Saudi authorities arrested the coordinator of NAC  Osama Mushraf whom up till now has been detained at Al Mals prison before being deported to Egypt according Al Quds Al Arabi. Al Mals prison has got a bad reputation in the Kingdom by the way.
Why does the Saudi regime interfere in an Egyptian internal matter !!?? Why does the Saudi regime arrest an Egyptian who did not break any Saudi law nor posed any kind of danger on the Saudi national security !!??
The Saudi regime must understand that insh Allah change will come and sweep the Egyptian regime in its way because this is the core of life , as Muslims we believe in this.
We will not forget this for the Saudi regime as we have forgotten this to the Kuwaiti regime. Some day they will have to apologize for us on this.
Update : 
Osama has been released from detention. 

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Arab,Human rights,Media,National,Politics,Osama Mushraf,Mohamed ElBaradei,NAC,Change,Mideast

The Return of Angry Fridays

It seems that the anti-police brutality angry Friday stands and activities will return back after all. Since last Ramadan I believe we failed to have one again still he horrible case of Ahmed Shaaban reminded the people with the cause and that enough is enough.
Online activists are calling for “Angry Friday” next November 26 ,2010 across the country where they hope that 100,000 Egyptians will attend the event from 2 PM to 5 PM  to express their anger and refusal to police brutality. It has not been announced yet what activities will be held on that day but I assume that the organizers have not announced yet what we will do on this day because next day will be the elections big battle day.
If I am not mistaken there will a protest or march suggested tomorrow  November 18,2010 after the Friday prayer in Alexandria.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Egyptian Life,Human rights,Media,National,Politics,Khaled Said,Ahmed Shaaban,Mideast,Protests

The Wall Includes Khaled Said

Just from two days ago Roger Waters of Pink Floyd had a concert in Florida as part of his “The Wall 2010/2011”. The concert was a true successful one as according to press in Florida more than 14,000 attended the veteran British rock icon’s concert. The concert was amazing its audio and visual effects especially and the messages it sent considering the fact that the concert theme or the tour was based on historical “The Wall” album. According to what I knew there was that “Wall” screen that showed the photos from fallen soldiers and civilians around the globe. Among those fallen civilians was late Khaled Said , our Khaled Said of Egypt , of Alexandria , of Cleopatra Who was not brutality murdered but also is being defamed by a disrespectful regime.

Khaled Said 3rd from left "Khaled Said FB group"

And this is the Photo of the week.
We knew about Khaled’s photo in this concert but his photo will tour the world insh Allah hopefully.
Thank you Mr. Waters and your crew for bringing the world attention to Khaled Said.
Here aare the photos of Khaled in Roger Waters official website.

Fallen Loved one 

Khaled Said page in Fallen loved one 

I wonder if our media is going to mention this or not.
FYI there was a woman from Egypt who dedicated her pilgrimage to the Holy land this year to late Khaled.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Khaled Said,Alexandria,Pink Floyd,Roger Waters,Media,Music,The Wall,America,Florida,concerts,Human rights,torture,Police,Mideast

Another 19 Years Old Victim of brutality

Abdel Wahab

Before we know Ahmed Shabaan , we knew “the victim of Aboud” and just like Ahmed Shabaan , Abdel Rahman Mohamed Abdel Wahab was 19 years old and just like Shabaan for three days the dead cold body of Abdel Wahab was lying at a canal before finding it !!
Abdel Rahman Abdel Wahab is a microbus driver whose car was taken from him because some traffic violation , according to what I understood from both the MOI version and Abdel Wahab’s family that there was an argument between the cadets and Police agents from one side and Abdel Wahab from another side ended that the Police agents took their guns and threatened him.  Abdel Wahab was scared and jumped in to Ismailia canal and instead of letting him go a Police agent kept throwing stones on Abdel Wahab till he drowned !!
Of course the MOI version says that Abdel Wahab sneaked before the police cadets to get back his confiscated car and escape in it , the thing which led to his escape in to the lake and later to his death !!

Follow Up : Vodafone Egypt Apologizes And Pulls Ibn Firnas Ad

In a very important update to the Vodafone Egypt Abbas Ibn Firnas’ ad fiasco Vodafone Egypt has apologized and decided to pull the offensive ad that caused uproar online.

Vodafone Egypt has announced this in its Facebook page. The global mobile phone operator said that it has no intention from near or far to make fun of any historical icon and that it decided to pull the ad from YouTube , Facebook and TV channels but it is not expected to be any sooner as it is holidays time and it will take days to pull the ad from TV stations.

FYI I have seen the Ibn Firnas ad twice on Ch.2 of national TV this afternoon. We will wait till after the Eid to see if they are honest or not in pulling it. Honestly I can’t find any humor in it, how it can be categorized as humorous at all.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Arab,Media,Geek,Follow Up,Culture,Vodafone Egypt,Abbas Ibn Firnas,Ads,Advertising,TV,Mideast

Kamal Al Shazly : Till Death Does Us Apart

“Kamal Al Shazly  has passed away” a news that first appeared in tabloid Al Bashayer , some believed it and some did not due to the nature of the website and the fact that it is the elections rumors season. Just from two days ago El-Shazly himself reported his rival from Al Wafd to elections committee accusing him of spreading his death rumors in town of Bagoor.
People in Bagoor , Monufia are saying that there was a lot of noise coming from his villa or rather his palace, later they found his campaign manager roaming the town in a pick up car with loud speakers denying the rumors of El-Shazly’s death.

Happy Feast

And now officially it is the our grand feast time , happy Eid to all Muslims all over the globe. Insh Allah we will be on Arafat next year or near future.

I hope next year the Eid will come and those who killed Khaled Said and Ahmed Shaaban are behind bars , say Amin
Happy Eid and Happy Holiday

Technorati Tags: Letter from the editor,Islam,Religion,Grand Feast,Pilgrimage,Arafat,Society,Citizen Journalism

Ahmed Shaaban Follow Up : Unclear Skies

First of all there is an important update in the Ahmed Shaaban case , Youm 7 which published yesterday the MOI version has turned 180 degrees and published the other version of the story under the title “ For the second time , Ahmed Shaaban the victim of torture at Sidi Gabr police station”. The popular website published report including an interview with Mrs. Mona, his mother and I do not understand if the website has received an ok from the MOI to publish this or not !!

Almost all major newspapers in Egypt have ignored the news altogether except for the pathetic report issued by the MOI saying that Shaaban was a mobile thief and a trouble maker, the thing which contradicts with what his friends and family are saying about him from being a well mannered hard working young man.

There were reporters from major newspapers like Al Shorouk Daily who interviewed the family but unfortunately the interviews and reports have not made it yet to the readers because the orders they have got. Hopefully after Youm 7’s move other newspapers will be encouraged enough to cover the incident as they should.

Second the family is currently huge a pressure from the MOI that you can’t imagine. They are poor people and can be intimidated easily. Already they are giving mixed signals of whether they will continue in defending late Shaaban’s lost rights or they will give up. Mohamed Abdel Fatah describes the matter first hand better than me, this young man has been on the phone with them since yesterday in Alex and has been receiving mixed signals of hesitation and fear. They need our support , really if we can stand with like we have done with the Saids, it will be more than great.

Dr. Ayman Nour contacted the family and said that he will visit them to present his condolences and give them support on next Wednesday as he is currently in Nubia if I am not mistaken. MB MP Hamdi Hassan has addressed the matter in a question to the prime minister about the police brutality with young people. The Nadeem center contacted the family and has sent two representatives to offer legal help , already there are 4 lawyers offering their legal to the family aside of their lawyer.

The news  of Ahmed Shaaban has made it to Al Jazeera English and also BBC News.

The mainstream media again proved its failure in this test.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,democracy,follow up,human rights,society,media,Ahmed Shaaban,Police,torture,Ayman Nour,Society,Alexandria,Mideast

Follow Up : Maikel Has Been Exempted

There is a big update in the Maikel Sanad case folks , the army has set him free forever yesterday !! Are you surprised !!?? Are you shocked !!? Well do not be because I will tell you why !!

First of all the army did not “won’t” give damn to the noise Sanad made about his cause along with his supporters and surely they will not set him free because he sent an email to the UN or that human rights organization. Second of all it turned out that Mr. Sanad has a heart condition that would set him free from the mandatory services naturally but he did not announce this because he is the man of his cause and he wanted to make a point !!

Follow Up : Ahmed Shabaan’s Family Needs You

Shaaban in his childhood

Ahmed Shaaban’s family needs our support more than any time , already just from few minutes ago the police officers came to the neighborhood and harassed his family and friends. Earlier everything was fine but it has just changed and it is something expected. There is no doubt that the Police and MOI are angry that the Shaabans are talking to the media. Now I fear on Ahmed Shaaban’s uncle who slammed Mubarak in video.
There was going to be a march from his house to the Police station at 12 PM Alexandria local time but the security presence cracked it in no time before turning its anger on the late boy’s family and friends. I read through twitter that there is a current curfew on the area of Mohram Bek where he lives.
Here is a video clip from Ahmed Shaaban’s funeral thanks to journalist Mohamed Abdel Fatah. The MOI wanted it to be secret but it failed and I bet they praying that the Shaaban murder will be forgotten in the Eid but insh Allah it will not.

The Quote Of The Week : Personal Ambitions

I do not have any personal ambitions

Gamal Mubarak

Misr ElNahrda TV show

11/11/2010

Technorati Tags: Democracy,the quote of the week,politics,Media,Citizen journalism,Egypt,Gamal Mubarak,Misr El Nahrda,Presidency,Mideast

Learn From Google Egypt , Vodafone Egypt !!

Vodafone Egypt  has aired its a new ad for its new internet bundle whatever it is using both humor and celebrity in an attempt to compete with Mobinil “oldest one to use both humor and celebrity” and Etisalat Egypt “celebrity from A size of Mohamed Moneer”.
Now that supposedly "funny'” is making fun about the failed attempt of Abbas Ibn Firnas to fly !! The ad is making fun from a scientist who got a great contributions in the history of science instead of reminding the public with him and his other great achievements !!
Watch it after the break

Sid Gabr Police Station Strikes Again

Sid Gabr police station and its staff seemed to be competing to get the title most notorious police station in Egypt !! In less than year from the murder of Khaled Said on the hands of staffers working in the police station we find another victim of the police brutality.

Meet late 19 years old  Ahmed Shabaan who was tortured till death at the Police station itself according to his poor family that got him back as a dead body

Ahmed’s family and friends said that Ahmed was tortured till death at the Sidi Gabr police station and that for fear of accountability the police agents dumped  his body in Al Mahmoudia lake.For three days they knew the 19 years old was in Station despite the officials there were between denial and confirmation. The people at Al Mahmoudia lake found his jacket and his mobile and call his folks. Then came the letter from the morgue that they found his body there. Officially the MOI claims that he committed suicide despite all the torture remarks in his body.

According To AP , Egypt Is Worried About The IAEA

AP has published a very interesting report : Egypt worries about IAEA probe

If you remember in May 2009 there were traces of uranium that were discovered in Egypt. Despite the Egyptian denial ,there was an official IAEA report and the Egyptian regime media used that report to attack ElBaradei and showed that he was biased against his own country.

It seem that the story has not ended as today AP published exclusive report stating that Egypt is too concerned with the reports about our nuclear activities currently and that these reports can make us the latest member of the nuke club in the region aside of Syria and Iran.