30/9 : Tahrir against SCAF

@1:00 PM CLT
There are problems and I can not update my old blog post.
The numbers are not many in the
square. There are about 4 podiums in the square where the biggest two are set up by El Wasat that is definitely showing off its size with its shirts and caps. The second biggest podium is set up by Abu Ismail Campaign with his posters and tshirts all over the place.
Needless to say the religious factor is present in both podiums with the use of Quranic verses and prophetic quotes despite the Al Wasat podium is more open airing songs
Despite the major Islamist factions said they will not participate there is undeniable presence of them.
Also despite the Muslim brotherhood made it clear that they will not participate I saw famous MB Kamal Al Halabawy at Tahrir
Saw George Ishak and Asmaa Mahfouz as well as Basma.
There are talks of a sit in from the podiums
There are of course anti SCAF chants and slogans like the people want to down the mosheer ..etc
The street vendors are here
The El Adl party and social democratic party
There is a pro Omar Abdel Rahman protest
Waiting for the rallies

@3:45 PM CLT

The numbers are still not that impressive despite they increased with the April 6th youth movement rally with strong chants
There was another rally from the free Egyptian front against military trial ,a small one
There are expectations that the leftist powers are organizing rallies coming to Tahrir
People come and ago
Essam Sultan is like a star
Street kids are hired by parties to distribute flyers and held banners
Photos and videos on the way

@5:10 PM CLT

April 6th Youth movement is going to have a sit in at the Tahrir complex along with the transportation workers.
There is a group of revolution injured protesters who decided to have a food strike.
Met with Mustafa El Nagar and Ahmed Shoukry "El Adl party founders" and I agree with what El Naggar told me that we should push to amend the elections law as soon as possible in order to have elections in the nearest time.
There are protests and rallies in Alexandria and Asuit
Saw Nawara Negm who is doing a coverage for Tahrir square.

@7:10 PM CLT

Ok there are unconfirmed news that Abu Ismail campaign and Al Wasat campaign are going to have a sit in. 

April 6th Youth Movement denied having any relations with that march heading to the ministry of defense , the HQ of SCAF insisting that the movement did not leave the square and that will leave it at 7 PM. 

The important march will start now from Tahrir square to Maspero TV building to protest against the ministry of information. 

 We fear from another disaster like 9/9 

30/9 : Restoring the revolution in Tahrir by ending the emergency law

And many Egyptians are heading back to Tahrir square once again today to restore the revolution. The protest seems to be getting bigger and bigger with the participation of many political powers and forces from left to rights.
It is noticeable at least for me that the Salafists and Islamists are participating in this million man protest. The three Islamist presidential candidates “El Awa , Abu El Fatouh and Abu Ismail” are participating powerfully. “El Awa” has suspended his campaign till things get better yet he and Al Wasat party are participating in this protest unlike any other Friday protest. Abu Ismail got podiums installed in the square. Both men are expected to say speeches.
The Muslim brotherhood is not participating but its youth are participating as usual. The group is giving SCAF time till Sunday to change the elections laws otherwise there will be another plan they did not declare. The group is somehow confident that SCAF will change the law.
Yesterday thousands of them declared that the emergency law was lifted at 12 AM last night based on the second constitutional declaration’s article no. 59. That declaration came after a statement issued by 6 presidential candidates “Abu Ismail, El Awa, Sabhi, Moussa, Abu El Fatouh, Sabhi, Bastawisi” to SCAF demanding the following :

Kodak Agfa presents : At the Pet Shop

Ok this is a new thing to break the mood.

At the pet shop

Couple of photos I took in pet shops at Cairo and Giza.

By the way the smell in the Egyptian pet shops is horrible , there should be better ventilation

I miss the pet section at Omar Effendi by the way , yes in the past there used to be pet sections at Omar Effendi before it was privatized , destroyed and then re-nationalized !!

Why do not we close League of Arab states then !?

So Kuwaiti Al Watan newspaper claimed that Gulf states are having negotiations with Egypt to join the GCC in order to stand against Iran’s influence according to Gulf sources in Riyadh. The newspaper claims that Cairo welcomes , well Cairo does not welcome for sure.

So after Jordan and Morocco the GCC are invited to join the GCC we are being invited to the Royal club of the Arab world , strangely we are a proud Republic.

I see that we are in front of a New Pro-American club in the region ,the new Baghdad pact !!

Why do not we close the League of Arab states then ??

30/9 Friday in Tahrir : Our Force is in our unity

Tomorrow there will be another million man protest at Tahrir square and unlike previous million protests there is a real consensus on its goals above them : Rejecting the emergency law.
Not only the emergency law is rejected but there are other demands that are related to the elections laws. Here are the demands most political groups and parties participating in the protest.

• Ending the emergency law
• Amending the elections law
• Activating the treachery law to ban the remnants of NDP
• Setting a date for presidency elections
• Shorter timeline for power transition.
• Ending the military trials for civilians 

The participation will be high according to what see as many parties including the parties that stood against the million man protests in the past like El Wasat party.

Crazy thoughts : Titans and Pawns

Sometimes , in fact recently I reached to the conclusion that we reached to level that the people of Egypt including activists and the youth that are so moved by the revolution are turning to pawns in a big chess game.

Sometimes I believe that we are inside some sort of clash of the titans as Zeus has fallen down and they are fighting on who should rule the mount Olympus. 

Of course in this time we are waiting for that human hero to come and save the people in earth because there has been always that hero who units the people around him in order to stand for their rights and freedom from slavery.

The worst thing is that in ancient Egypt the hero always turn in to a pharaoh , our own version to demigod !!

Crazy thought before heading to sleep.

Road to Civil State : Not everything is bad

Despite many people and parties do not like the recent elections law issued by SCAF and there is a lot of fear regarding the elections yet there is always hope.

Today the ministry of administrative development had a meeting regarding the elections API , oh yes API. That meeting was attended by by tweep Amr Abdel Aziz who shared its details with us on twitter ,  I am just summarizing and translating what he said here.

The government will allow software developing companies to use elections API “Provided by the high commission of elections” in order to develop application.

Through the Elections applications you will know the following :

• You will be know if you are registered or not.
• You will know where your voting station is.
• You will know which ballot box and the number of your name in the list before going and searching for hours “I tried it in time of Mubarak and know how it means to search for hours to find your name”

Welcome back Ahmed Gharib

Ahmed Gharib is from the January 25th revolution injured , today he returned back home from months of treatment abroad.

Gharib at the airport earlier today

 He received treatment in Switzerland and Austria for months and today he returned back to Egypt , to Cairo to be received warmly by his people who did not  and will not forget how his blood and the blood of other injured and martyrs brought to Egypt dignity once again.

And Egyptians are once again nominated to get Nobel Prize

Some European president once said that the Egyptian people deserve a Nobel Prize , well it seems that we are going to be nominated after all.

Today there are leaks from the Nobel peace prize committee that Wael Ghonim, Israa Abdel Fatah and April 6th Youth movement as well Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni.

I am so happy and honored as Egyptian and as an Arab, this nomination is not for these guys only , this nomination is for all Egyptians , Tunisians as well as the rest of the Arab people who gave their blood and effort to make the Arab Spring true thing.

Egyptians received Nobel prize for 4 times in peace , chemistry and literature , we will not hate to receive one more time. 

Now some people start in attacking Ghonim , Abdel Fatah and April 6th Youth Movement , well guess what they did not ask to be nominated and they know that it is so big for them and thus all of them agree that they are representative for the Egyptians people.

Now the million dollars question : If these guys win the prize , who will go from April 6th Movement Youth knowing that it is split in to two fronts that confuse us now with their statements and actions.

Let’s enjoy the moment and insh Allah in the upcoming years we will have more and more nominees in the Nobel prize not only in peace but in every field especially science fields.

And yes the rules of Nobel Prize should be changed to include the dead because Khaled Said , Mohamed Bouazizi and Youssef El Khatib  deserve it.

I am so happy and I wish Wael, Lena , Israa and April 6 “I hope they return to be one” to win because if they do win “insh Allah they will” , I will feel personally that I win this prize for my country and for my people.

This is our moment , please enjoy it and feel that you did something great and huge for God sake.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Nobel Prize winnters,Post Revolution,Politics,Media,International,Human rights,Wael Ghonim,April 6th Youth Movement,Israa Abdel Fatah,Tunisia

Road To Civil State : SCAF’s current roadmap

SCAF has just announced from less than 45 minutes ago that the parliamentary elections “people’s assembly” will be held on November 28th,2011 while the Shura council’s elections will held on January 29th ,2012 
The first session of the people’s assembly will be held on March 16th , 2012 while the Shura council's first session will be held on March 24th,2012

The parliamentary elections will be held on three stages as follows : 

• The first stage will be held on November 28th , 2011 and it will include the following 9 governorates : Cairo , Fayoum , Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Kafr El Sheikh, Asuit , Luxor and Red Sea. 
• The second stage will be held on December 14th , 2011 and it will include the following 9 governorates : Giza , Bani Sawif , Monufia , Sharkia , Ismailia, Suez, Bahaira , Sohag and Aswan. 
• The third and final stage will be held on January 3rd , 2012 and it will include the following 9 governorates :  Al Mania, Qalubiya , Gharbiya , Dakhalia , North Sinai, South Sinai, Marsa Matrouh , Qena and New Valley. 

And my expectations are some how correct , the presidential elections will be not be held before fall 2012 !!
According to some military source the presidential elections will be held in late 2012 or early 2013 , did not I expect that.
Lt. General Mamdouh Shahin is refusing to speaking about the date of presidential elections on TV.
The Muslim brotherhood and its party Freedom and Justice refuse the law insisting on the closed proportional list   despite they welcomed the elections' schedule. 

Tantawy , the man in the suit "Updated"

Field Marshal Tantawy , the head of SCAF and the minister of defense in Egypt for nearly 20 years surprised us last night with a tour Downtown Cairo in a civilian suit. Yes Tantawy was wearing a black civilian suit and walked in Kasr Al Aini street where people saluted him.
Here is a video from the Egyptian TV showing Tantawy in a civilian suit at Kasr Al Nil.

Cairo : Tantawy at Kasr Al Aini street

According to the military source Tantawy was in a private visit without his bodyguards.
Now of course this visit generated a huge reaction from the people online. Well many did not like the move as it reminded them with the moves of Mubarak when he used suddenly to appear in a mall to show how down earth he is.

Rosa joins Sawt Al Oma "Updated"

The GIS is once again standing against the freedom of press in less than 4 days after confiscating Sawt Al Oma because of an op-ed , now it strikes again and confiscates the issue of Rosa Al Youssef Daily tomorrow because of a whole page.
Yes a whole page was censored because it was related to the GIS. That full page was a report , an explosive report if it is true “again we do not know its authenticity as many things currently in the media ” by journalist Tawhid Magdy.
According to that explosive report Hosni Mubarak let an Israeli spy leave Egypt despite the Egyptian intelligence was going to arrest her in Cairo airport or had actually arrested there in July 1997.
That alleged spy is called D'ivoire Ganani Elad who allegedly was spying on our economic sector and on our businessmen from tycoons. Allegedly Elad’s cover was being the representative of some American company called “World Wide Vision” in the Middle East and she stayed in Egypt for months collecting economic information. The Egyptian intelligence knew about her and decided to arrest her after arrival in July 1997 at Cairo airpot. As soon as she was detained in Cairo airport , Mubarak interfered and gave orders that she would leave the country in Ehud Barak’s jet. “He was visiting Egypt then”
Here is a part scanned from the page that did not make it to the newsstand.

The scanned part by Mohamed El Garhy 

The report which seemed to be presented in series got a first episode that is online and in case it is taken down , you can see it here as in screen caps after the break.

And State security is still alive and kicking

And the State security is still alive and kicking whether it is named National security or the Mickey Mouse Club.
From two days ago political analyst and researcher Amr El-Shobaki was detained for a while in Cairo international airport after arriving from Beirut. El-Shobaki was detained for a while for no reason by the National security just like the old days when it was the state security. El-Shobaki was released to return home remembering the bad old Mubarak days and how he used to find to be treated in the airport.
Boldly enough the National security is claiming now that El-Shobaki was detained because there was a mix between his name and a name of another person in the airport blacklist !!!!!
The old state security is still in playing around !!

Saudi Women Spring is not over yet

And 2011 is important in Saudi Arabia , revolutionary change has reached there in its own way. Today King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia issued a historical decree : Women are allowed to vote and run for the Shura council in the kingdom

Now the Saudi women have been granted this historical right , they still need a very basic right in order to get to the electoral committee : The Right 2 Drive.

There is no doubt that this historical decree is related to the Right 2 Drive’s campaign in a way or another. 

I am happy for this decree despite I feel the Saudi woman should have had her right to drive her own car now.

I am happy more to see how all the extremists who fought women’s rights granted by Islam are not shut up after this decree whether in Saudi Arabia or in Egypt as well.

From 14 centuries ago Arabian woman fought with Prophet Mohamed “PBUH” in wars for God sake , you know what is the meaning of fighting in a way and now she is fighting to drive her own car !!

Hopefully insh Allah she will get it very soon.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Arab,Society,Saudi Arabia,Right 2 Vote,Right2Drive,#Saudiwomenspring,Arab spring,KSA,King Abdullah,Shura council

Mubarak trial : The alleged Leaked Tantawy’s Testimony

For hours now thousands of Egyptian tweeps followed carefully the tweets of Egyptian journalist Mohamed El Garhy in his account where he posted the alleged leaked Tantawy testimony.
El Garhy is the head of the news department at Tahrir newspaper and he is also the editor in chief of “Manshet” TV show on ONTV.  El Garhy did not reveal the source of this testimony “which most probably one of the few lawyers that attended the closed session. He only mentioned that journalist Al Walid Ismail in Tahrir newspaper and Original Dostor website got this alleged testimony made of questions and answers. Ismail covers the trials of the shooting of the protesters.

كانت هذه شهادة المشير فى محاكمة الرئيس المخلوع والفضل الأول والأخير في نشرها ليس لي وإنما للصحفي الموهوب الوليد إسماعيل وكنت مجرد ناقلSun Sep 25 16:33:30 via webمحمد الجارحى
mohamedelgarhey

That leaked alleged testimony is made of 30 questions , there are no details on how asked these questions whether the judge or the prosecution or the defense
Here is the alleged testimony “I repeat Alleged testimony” storified by Tarek Amr and translated by Mosaab El Shami after the break.

Egypt’s speech in front of the UN General Assembly

Amr in UNGA

Now I know the name of latest minister of foreign affairs “ Mohamed Kamel Amr” after the speech he said yesterday in the UN General Assembly.
Here is the speech of Egypt before the UN GA 2011 and it covered many issues from our revolution to the Arab Spring in details “he mentioned every country in the Arab spring by name except Bahrain” , he spoke about South Sudan as well as Egypt’s full support to the Palestinian state recognition.
Amr also renewed Egypt’s call for clean middle east from nuclear weapons again. You can watch the video of the speech after the break.

Sawt El Oma is confiscated but not because of Tantawy’s testimony

Sawt El Oma newspaper’s issue for this week has been confiscated and was not printed today in the first incident of its kind after the revolution.
The newspaper’s issue was not confiscated because of the gag order in Muabrak’s trial as there was a rumor that it was confiscated because its editor in chief published the testimony of Tantawy.
The newspaper’s issue was confiscated because it criticized the General intelligence “GIS”.  According to the newspaper’s editor in chief Abdel Halim Kandeel , this week’s issue included a criticism to the intelligence after the CCTV CDs scandal in Mubarak’s trial. The GIS shocked Egypt last week when it showed the CCTV CDs it filmed during the revolution at Tahrir square from the cameras of the Egyptian museum and it turned out that the CD partially contained the Romantic Comedy “Pasha Talmeez” !!

Do not go these cafes , restaurants and shops if you are NY !!

There are files leaked from New York Police Department “NYPD” showing that the “NYPD” was spying on Moroccans , Egyptians and along other Middle Eastern nationalities in New York through restaurants and cafes. These files reached to AP that published them online after redacting names.

Not only the Moroccan restaurants and cafes were targeted and were under surveillance there were Egyptian , Syrian , Lebanese and even Italian cafes and restaurant.

This reminds me of the famous techniques of state security that surely is still applied by the new National security.

I am not surprised the “NYPD”' ‘s actions because I know after 9/11 how things were for the Arab and Islamic communities in the States.

Now to our dear Egyptians , Moroccans and Syrians in NY , do not go these restaurants and cafes as the walls got ears there.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,America,Arab,International,New York,NYPD,Politics,Terrorism,Muslim,Islam,Morocco,Egypt,Syria

Khaled Said’s Trial : It will not be the end

The Mubarak’s trial and the testimony of Tantawy are not the only big thing today in Egypt because in Alexandria the Khaled Said’s trial can come to an end and this end will mean a lot.

Today some expect that the judge will issue his historical sentence in the case that changed Egypt forever. Already in this session the second autopsy report made by forensics universities professors will be discussed.

It will not be the end because there will be appeal in both ways. It will not be end because if the sentence is in Khaled’s side , it will open a new door for the victims like him including late Siyad Belal. It will not be the end if the sentence is not in Khaled’s side

I ask God to give strength to the judge and guide to the right pass of justice after few hours. I ask God to make the judge fear of the day of judgment when he will stand in the hand of God to be asked about his own judgment in this case among other cases. I do not want the judge to issue his sentence based on the public opinion , I want him to issue his sentence based on justice.

ElBadil Newspaper reported that some close sources from the trial claimed that the second forensic report has reached to out that it was impossible for late Khaled Said to swallow the marijuana packet when he was alive and that it was inserted in his mouth after death which means there is a criminal intent in the case and not unintended murder. 

@10:52 AM CLT

The judge has decided to adjourn the case to October 22nd . The media will not be allowed in to this session !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Technorati Tags: Citizen jorunalism,Egypt,Follow Up,Khaled Said,Alexandria,Trials,torture,History,#Jan25,marijuna,Foresnic report,Justice,Live blogging

Mubarak’s Trial : And the Field Marshal Tantawy is going to testify

Field Marshal Tantawy is going to testify after few hours in front of Judge Ahmed Rafeat in New Cairo while Mubarak is in the cage.
This time it was confirmed by the army that the head of SCAF and Mubarak’s minister of defense for 2 decades is going to see what he knows about the shooting of the protesters.
Yesterday Tantawy issued a statement to MENA :

I have decided to testify in front of the civilian court to stress the importance of the sovereignty of law 

The field Marshal added that it has never happened before that a military personnel has testified in front of a civilian court. 
This is for sure the real testimony of the year in the case of the century.
I expect everything but based on the episode of El Midan on Tahrir TV last Thursday I believe Tantawy can sell Mubarak again. Still I am not that sure because in the shooting of protesters there is no written orders and words can be twisted in these circumstances.
Of course The Mubarak’s sons will not show up as the army will secure the Police academy. Few lawyers will be allowed to attend this secret session.
Tomorrow Sunday Sami Anan will testify.

@10:34 AM CLT

Field Marshal Tantawy is in the court and according to Sources he is going to testify at 11 –11.30 AM. He came from an hour ago
Mubarak’s helicopter has arrived to the court from short while.
The families of the martyrs are outside the court despite the correspondent of the Egyptian TV say they are not there.

@10 :45 AM CLT

Al Masry Al Youm reports that Tantawy has finished his testimony in front of limited number of lawyers and has left the police academy from half an hour !! According to the lawyers of civil claims rights the succession started at 9 AM unlike what was claimed in the media. 
According to sources El Adly and the Mubaraks have left.
This is considered the fastest testimony in history.
Judge Ahmed Refaat has adjourned the trial to tomorrow.

@11:06 AM CLT

More details are coming for new Cairo.
According to Reuters and based upon the statements of two civil claims rights lawyer the testimony of Tantawy took an hour while Al Ahram claims that  he testified in 90 minutes !! Al Ahram portal says Tantawy answered the questions of 10 lawyers from the defendants’ defense team.  The civil claims rights lawyers were not let in to the court room according to some sources except in the last 15 minutes of testimony.
.........................................
And so there were leaks that Tantawy testimony came in the favor of Mubarak and that leak created a huge uproar online.
The Egyptian TV claimed that the testimony was against Mubarak
Now hours later a military source denied to the media all what was spread all day long about the case and the testimony.
According to some leaks Tantawy's testimony as expected was not in the favor nor against Mubarak.
The civil claims rights lawyers had some sort of clash with the field marshal's security and tomorrow they will hold a press conference to say what happened. It is worth to mention that they were not let in the court room to ask Tantawy except in the last 15 minute.
Tantawy was allegedly asked 10 questions by Habib El Adly's defense lawyers.
The trial was adjourned to October 20th because one of the civil claims rights lawyers wants to change the judge and the court because of what happened today. Most lawyers believe that his request will be rejected.
The implications of Tantawy's testimony have not finished yet

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Mubarak's trial,Politics,Post Revolution,National Security,Follow up,Tantawy,Sami Anan,MENA,tahrir tv

Where is King Farouk’s Bracelet !?

Lifestyle and Fashion websites are crazy about the Elizabeth Taylor’s collection that will be auctioned in Christies by end of this year and they have to.
The woman got a collection that only fits royal family not an actress even if a legendary actress when it comes to Jewels. Jewels were the real best friends
Now aside from the fact that as a young lady I love to see the photos of those wonderful and amazing Jewels ,I am also interested as someone who follows the fate of Mohamed Royal Family’s Jewels and collections. One of the most famous piece Liz Taylor had was King Farouk’s bracelet , which was a present from Richard Burton in 1960s after this wild love on the set of Cleopatra. It was adorned
During my research from couple of years in that file I knew that Liz and Richard got it from Henry Winston , who was among the Jewelers of the Egyptian Royal Family. Winston was wise enough to send his boy in the shameful auctions held in 1950s to get the Jewels of Mohamed Ali Family in legal ways.
Knowing the kind of Jewels Liz Taylor loved as well as the Jewelers I am surprised that she only got “Farouk’s Bracelet” and did not get Queen Nazli’s magnificent collection that was auctioned in the States in 1973
I hope to see Farouk’s Bracelet when the collection is revealed today in London  and featured in the media.
You can see a glimpse from Liz Taylor’s collections from Daily Mail here.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,King Farouk,Bracelet,Elizabeth Taylor,Liz Taylor,Jewels,Gems,Collections,Auctions,Mohamed Ali Royal Family,Henry Winston,Society

Palestinian State : Abu Mazen Vs. Bibi

And today was the big day , Mahmoud Abbas Vs. Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly.
Mahmoud Abbas aka Abu Mazen addressed in a long speech the representatives of the world countries in UN about how the Palestinians after 1948 deserve an internationally recognized state based on 1967 borders
Here are the interesting excerpts from Abu Mazen’s speech

The goal of the Palestinian people is the realization of their inalienable national rights in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the land of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in the June 1967 war, in conformity with the resolutions of international legitimacy and with the achievement of a just and agreed upon solution to the Palestine refugee issue in accordance with resolution 194, as stipulated in the Arab Peace Initiative which presented the consensus Arab vision to resolve the core the Arab-Israeli conflict and to achieve a just and comprehensive peace. To this we adhere and this is what we are working to achieve. Achieving this desired peace also requires the release of political prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons without delay.

RIP Khaled Abdel Nasser "1949-2011"

Khaled Abdel Nasser

The funeral of Khaled Abdel Nasser "1949-2011"was last Friday September 16,2011. The eldest son of former president Nasser died in hospital September 15th,2011 after long illness.
The funeral was not only attended by the Nasserites and Nationalists from not only Egypt but from all over the Arab world. Field Marshal Tantawy and Anan as well as members of SCAF attended the funeral as well. Already the ministry of defense is so near from Gamal Abdel Nasser’s mosque where the funeral was held.
Khaled Abdel Nasser died in a very interesting timing after the revolution or to be accurate after the incidents of Israeli embassy.
Despite being the son of Abdel Nasser was enough to earn him recognition ,Khaled earned a huge fame from the famous “Egypt’s revolution Case” in 1980s.

Unhappy Yemen : Look who is back !!

And Ali Abdullah Saleh has returned back to Yemen after 3 months of treatment in Saudi Arabia. 
I can’t believe , I seriously can’t believe how much this man is holding to his chair in this !!
Anyhow Al Arabiya network is reporting that Saleh may have returned to step down !! Yes there are expectations that Saleh would address the Yemeni people today after couple of hours and Al Arabiya expects that this will be the step down speech which I believe somehow unlike with all what we see.
Saleh returned back after a week of massacres in Sana’a , after what his forces have committed from war crimes against Yemeni civilians.
Ironically the ministry of defense in Yemen has issued a statement where it “President Saleh wants a cease of fire !!!” and that he wants a truce !!
The Ali Abdullah Saleh are extremely happy with the return of their dictator celebrating in the streets of Sana’a while on the other hand the revolutionaries are protesting his arrival.

I have seen this scene before !!

I forgot to publish this photo when Ofir Gendelman had published it in order to win sympathy of the world.
This is Bibi while watching on TV on how a group of Egyptian protesters stormed an empty apartment used by the Israeli embassy as archive for their old official correspondence in Egypt.

Bibi on 9/9 

I saw that photo before

During Bin Laden's hunt down

This is so …

Mubarak is still the president according to the ministry of education !!

Mubarak is still the president of Egypt according to the ministry of education
Who rules my country ?

Who rules my country !? 

My country is ruled by president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak
This is from 1st grade book for school year 2011-2012
Ok this is the 1st grade.
Updated : According to friends this book is not issued by the ministry of education but rather a private school !! Further sources say that the school decided to remove this page and today the kids returned back home without this page !!
We will move to on to the principles of philosophy book in secondary stage.
This is a book of The Principles of Philosophy and scientific thinking for 1st secondary stage and the school year is 2011-2012

ElBaradei and Shafik May launch their presidential campaigns tomorrow !!

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei is running for the presidential elections so far despite there is not much info about the presidential elections and he is going to launch his campaign officially at last insh Allah tomorrow.
Oh yes after more than a year he is going to launch it officially tomorrow in his family’s hometown Ibyar in Gharbia , Delta. Now strangely there is no buzz about this in the media to the level that I think there will be no announcement tomorrow despite I know personally some of Dr. ElBaradei’s supporters who will head to Ibyar from early Morning.
It is indeed strange compared to the buzz created by the news of Ahmed Shafik’s lecture in Alexandria at the Yacht club. There is an expectation that Ahmed Shafik will announce that he will run for the presidential race. Needless to say Ahmed Shafik is the Mubarak’s regime supporters no.1 candidate. Updated : His lecture in Alexandria has been cancelled. 
I do not understand why the news of Shafik found its way to the press and the media before the news of Dr. ElBaradei’s presidential campaign.
Dr. ElBaradei has criticized from few hours ago the long timeline of parliamentary elections describing as a return to the stone age.

Palestinian State : Do you really mean these big words Mr. Sawiris ?

There is a huge debate about the Palestinian state and the expected veto waiting from the States for the old nation trying to become a recognized state in the current UN assembly.
Now today surprisingly we found Naguib Sawiris saying the following in his official twitter account.

I do not know if Naguib Sawiris meant what he said because actually the United States and Europe will vote the recognition !!
 Is Naguib Sawiris for real calling the Arab countries to cut their diplomatic relations with the States ??
One tweep replied on Sawiris wondering if his account is hacked or not.
Guardian published a nice info-graph about the countries that officially recognize Palestine.

Source : Guardian

80% of the World Population recognize a country called Palestine , I repeat 80% of the world population which unfortunately that got 25% of the fortune in the world !!!!!!!!!!
By they way April 6th Movement issued a very strong statement by Palestinian State recognition which is an actually message to the States : The US will no longer be allowed to impose its influence over Egypt as it did under Mubarak, these days of dictatorship are gone. I will try to get a link to that statement.
The United States made it clear it veto the resolution , what are you really going to do without big statements and words as we always do ?

Technorati Tags: Palestine,Citizen journalism,Egypt,America,Naguib Sawiris,Palestinian State,April 6th Youth,MENA,UN,Twitter

Road to Civil State : Presidential elections long race

First here are the Potential presidential candidates currently in spotlight for those interesting :

• Mohamed ElBaradei
• Amr Moussa
• Abdel Manam Abu El Fatouh
• Hisham El Bastawisi
• Mohamed Salim El Awa
• Hazem Abu Ismail
• Hamdeen Sabhi
• Bothania Kamel
• Ayman Nour
• Magdy Hatata
• Mohamed Balal

Potential candidates without official announcement :

• Ahmed Shafik
• Omar Soliman

TV stunt candidates :

• Tawfik Okasha
• Mohamed Naschie

The military unofficial candidate :

• Sami Anan 

Israeli Investigations accuse Egyptians and Palestinians of standing behind Eilat attacks

Egyptian media says that Israeli Maariv and Yediot Ahronot newspapers claimed leaked the Israeli investigations about Eilat attacks and that the Israeli investigators found out that all the members of the militant cell that carried out the attack were all Egyptians among them a policeman currently in service !!
The Israeli leaked report goes on and says that these Egyptians were recruited and logistically supported by a Palestinian militant group “The resistance committees” in Gaza. “The resistance committees” in Gaza denied completely these allegations.
According to Sources the military in Egypt has refused this report. Now the official reaction in Egypt does not surprise me as much as the unofficial reaction. Almost all the comments in several news websites did not believe the leaked investigations and the accusations to Egyptians because NO Policeman got Nationalistic Patriotic feelings to that level !!!!!
The fact that this comment was repeated in almost all the websites that reported this news today shows you to what level the image or the perception of Policemen has reached to in Egypt !!
About the Israeli investigations , well I do not believe them to be honest and the Palestinians have already denied their allegations. The Palestinians do not deny claiming responsibility in general if they really are behind these attacks.
I find it hard that a Palestinian group would recruit a group of Egyptians to carry out operations against Israel with all the action we have in our country now. Believe it or not I would buy it before January 25th ,2011 but not now.
We are waiting the bloody official Egyptian statement.
Here are more details about that Israeli investigation leaked report from Israeli journalists.  "Thanks to Hany Ramsy" 

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Israel,National security,Sinai,Policemen,Palestine,Follow up,Politics,Post revolution

Khaled Said on Berlin’s Wall

Khaled Said's portrait on part of the historical Berlin wall.

We are all Khaled Said
"Berlin Wall"

It was painted by Andreas von Chrzanowski aka Case, the Arabic calligraphy was made by Mohamed Gaber aka “Gue3bara”. This is the second wall Khaled Said’s portait appears on if you remember.
Next Saturday September 24th will be very important day in the Khaled Said’s case : The court will issue its sentence in the case that turned Egypt upside down literally.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Khaled Said,National,Courts,Mohamed Gaber,Berlin Wall,Andreas Von Chrzanowski,Arts,Culture

Cablegate : Wadeh Khanfar resigns

Wadeh Khanfar, the Palestinian director general of Al Jazeera Network resigned today after 8 years of being a top executive in the channel. Khanfar sent a farewell email to the AL Jazeera staff earlier today announcing his resignation wishing them good luck praising their role in making Al Jazeera an international icon.
Khanfar also spread the news on his official  twitter account before anyone does.

After 8 years of service leading Al Jazeera, I have just announced that I am moving on.Tue Sep 20 12:39:07 via Seesmic for iPhoneW.Khanfar وضاح خنفر
khanfarw

Despite Khanfar made it clear in his farewell that the he though of stepping down for quite some time now , many link his resignation to the recent cables released by Wikileaks about his meetings with U.S state of Defense Department intelligence agency “DIA” officers in Doha in 2005.

Camp David accords Anniversary : The Back Door Channels

At the same time the 32nd anniversary of Camp David accords comes in very intense time in the Middle East by all measures , we find a very interesting documentary sooner to be released in the States related directly to the peace treaty or rather the the back channels of the famous peace treaty and how it was achieved. The documentary is Back Door Channels : The price of peace.
Now despite it discusses important parts of unknown history to the public , I know this documentary will reopen the discussion of whether Ashraf Marwan’s loyalty was to Egypt or to Israel.

9/9 In photos and videos

As lazy as and as I am having internet connectivity I have finished uploading all the photos and videos I took on 9/9 protest at Tahrir square.

I hope you enjoy the Ultras offensive chants."+18" after the break.

And Whales are finding their way to our Red sea shores

This year has still got a lot to surprise us with in Egypt. People suddenly found humpback whales in Red sea , oh yes a family of humpback whales from male and female at our red sea shores in Hurghada.

Hurghada : Humpback whales in Hurghada

According to experts there is one bad thing in the whole issue, this is not the natural environment of humpback whales that live in the Indian Ocean. Already the humpback whales eat tons of smaller fish everyday which means a change in the ecosystem of the Red sea if I am not mistaken.
I am so worried from tourists and fishermen by the way. I think the RSEC should do some researches about that whale couple. I hope someone records the male’s song.
Strangely this is not winter so these two whales would migrate to warmer water to give birth.
Where is Professor Gohar when you need him !? He missed this without a doubt May Allah bless his soul.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,video,Media,Nature,Environment,Red Sea,Hurghada,Whales,Humpback whatles,videos

Unhappy Yemen : Saleh’s killing machine is on !! "Extremely Graphic6+18"

@10:44 AM CLT

Explosions and heavy gunfire are heard in Sana’a. The security forces following Saleh opened its fire at 9.30 near the Change square. Not less than 6 have been reportedly killed and 20 injured so far by snipers. Snipers are allegedly located near KFC roundabout.
One of the martyrs today is allegedly a 10 months baby who was killed by a sniper while he was being carried by his mom in his father’s car !!
The security forces in Taiz opened its fire against the protesters who were having rallies in solidarity with Sana’a after what happened there yesterday.
Today is the #SupportYemen Hashtag day on Twitter.

@11:39 AM CLT

There is reportedly on going street war now in Sanaa between the republican guards "Pro-Saleh" and the 1st armored brigade "Pro Revolution". The Clashes are centralized at the Zubairy street in Sana'a , from what I understand , this street got a military supplies store yet fortunately it fall in the hands of the "Pro Revolution" troops.
There is an increased number of casualties ,  the field hospital in the Change square demands help. The National security forces "Pro-Saleh"occupied a hospital in the area called the "Republican Hospital" and their snipers are shooting the protesters from its rooftops.
A UN delegation has arrived to the country in the hope to search for a solution

Mubarak Daughters : Who are you for real !?

That video clip or that those interviews made by Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr’s correspondent with Mubarak supporters from ladies at his trial on September 7th became a viral in Egypt.

SO the veiled lady , Sheikha Magda was crying on January 28,2011 on the Nile Bank when she saw a boat coming carrying foreigners wearing police uniform , one of them told her that they were Iranians and Palestinians who come to help the protesters “By shooting them !!”. Of course you may wonder why an Iranian saboteur would confess all this to Sheikha Magda , well because she is the Sheikha Magda !!
The last lady says that Israel is a part of the Zionist entity that Mubarak fought !! I do not know how or what this phrase means.

Now couple of friends told me that some of the ladies participating in those Pro-Mubarak rallies and protests are actually the wives and daughters of those who used to work in the presidential palace.
By the way if during the revolution Iranian , Palestinian and Lebanese agents entered our country and the Mubarak regime with its police and intelligence could not stop them then it is a weak regime that could not be trusted for one second on our country’s national security !!

Technorati Tags: Mubarak,Society,Mubarak trial,Mubarak's daughters,Iran,Hamas,Palestine,Video,Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr,Viral,Egyptian army,Citizen journalism,Post Revolution,Women

Unhappy Yemen : KFC Roundabout battle “ Extremely graphic +18”

Warning this post includes showing graphic material from videos and photos”
Despite Abdullah Saleh is in Saudi Arabia and despite there is a vice president currently is doing his job as the acting president of Yemen , yet it seems Saleh will not go away without a fight.
Today a horrible massacre took place when Pro-Saleh government security forces from Republican guards and National security as well the first armored division and central security forces opened its fire in Sana'a at KFC roundabout “ yes it is bit of black comedy here” , heavy armored fire against the peaceful protesters killing not less than 25 and injuring not less than 800 !! According to activists live ammunition and RBG were used !!
Here is a video from the Change square during the clashes earlier today.

Here is a video showing the protesters while they were shot by snipers over some building “following the ministry of electricity”.

Camp David Accords Anniversary : Sooner or Late it will be amended

Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of Camp David accords and that anniversary despite it has passed in silent yet it came in a very loud period
Strangely on Friday 16th while there was a small love protest in Tel Aviv in front of our embassy , our ambassador there Yasser Reda was summoned to the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs and had a 30 minutes meeting with the ministry’s general director Rafi Barak who made it clear to Reda that “Under no circumstances that peace treaty will be reopened for negotiations once again” in a direct reaction for PM Sharaf’s statement to Turkish TV.

Al Arabiya : Parliamentary elections in Egypt next November 21st

According to Al Arabiya News Network the parliamentary “People’s assembly” elections will be allegedly held on November 21st while the Shura council will be held on January 22nd ,2012. “Before the first anniversary of the revolution insh Allah”

BRK: #Egypt to hold elections for the People's Assembly on November 21 and for the Shura Council on January 22Sat Sep 17 18:48:58 via GoogleAl Arabiya Eng BRK
AlArabiyaEngBRK

The elections 2011 official website has already hinted that the parliamentary elections will be held by the end of November 2011. There were news that the parliamentary elections will be held on three stages by the way.

Raouf Boutros Ghali To be extradited from Spain !?

This news was published yesterday in the official website of the Spanish ministry of Justice :

El Gobierno acuerda continuar el trámite de extradición del exministro de Finanzas egipcio Raouf Boutros Ghali

Which means in English : The Spanish government has agreed to continue the extradition of Egyptian minister of finance Raouf Boutros Ghali

I know about this news since yesterday but I forgot to publish it.

Is Ghali in Spain and has the Spanish government arrested him there !?  I could not check from this information yesterday but I know that the full name of Youssef Ghali is Youssef Raouf Boutros Ghali

By the infamous controversial real estate tax law of Ghali is going to be implemented as it seems after all !!

Mucho Gracias Spain , hopefully the next will be Hussein Salem.

Youssef Ghali has been accused recently of being a spy working for the Americans with the knowledge of Mubarak !!!!!!!!

Technorati Tags: Spain,Citizen journalism,Politic,Economy,Post revolution,Youssef Ghali,Finance,Taxes,Extradition,Europe,Corruption

Egypt And Qatar : The return of hidden crisis !?

Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr was suddenly closed down by a disgusting security forces raid. The minister of information “Osama Heikal” who used to be a constant guest in the channel gives us a lame excuse everyday. First the neighbors were complaining from the noise then we found out that Al Jazeera Mubshar after operating not less 5 months in Egypt got no license !!  Today Osama Heikal claimed that Al Jazeera Mubshar entered Egypt by force and did not respect the Egyptian sovereignty !!
It is true that Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr did not get an authorization but for three months they tried to get it since day one and every time they found some employee telling them to come next week !!
Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr was pro-SCAF to the level that the Egyptian National TV in the past few weeks could not keep up with  , may be SCAF wanted to send a message based on the famous Egyptian proverb“ Hit the tamed animal , the rebel one will get scared”.
Some say that the coverage of Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr of the Giza clashes on 9/9 was reason as it was the only channel that showed the storming of the Israeli embassy’s building while other claim one of the AJ Mubshar Misr callers attacked Tantawy on air.
The minister of justice Abdel Aziz El Genndy accused of a small Gulf country of funding some NGO , El Genndy claimed that some unauthorized NGO got LE 181 Million from Qatar !! That NGO is Ansar Al Sunna El Mohamedia and according to its officials they got only LE 3 million for Eid Charity in Qatar. The officials of Sunna El Mohamedia also revealed that the Egyptian authorities were notified with that donation adding that they received donations also from Kuwait as well from “Reviving the Islamic heritage association”
Rashid Mohamed Rashid was found guilty last Thursday by a court order , he is being sentenced 15 years in jail in absentia and is fined not less One billion Egyptian pound in one of the biggest fines in the history of Egypt. Rashid Mohamed Rashid is believed to be in Qatar where he became an advisor of some minister despite the official Qatari denial
Qatar’s name has been mentioned as you use in the past two weeks more than usual and this is not the Mubarak’s days.
May be I am wrong in how I look and try to connect the dots but the name of Qatar has been mentioned frequently to the level I can’t ignore. It seems that there is some sort of crisis again between Cairo and Doha.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Media,Egypt,Politics,Post Revolution,National,Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr,Qatar,Charity,Economy,Follow up,Rashid Mohamed Rashid

AUC strike : The Students apologize for the Flag incident

In a statement officially issued by the Students movement in the AUC , the students participating in the AUC officially apologize for the flag  incident.
Here is the statement published online by Students union vice president Ahmed Ezzat. I will re-publish it in my blog here as it clarifies many things.

Dear AUC community,
There has been a lot of controversy about taking down of the American flag. Let it be clear that in no way shape or form was this meant to be taken as an insult or political statement. To any and all students that took offense to this action, this was not our intention and we sincerely apologize.

AUC Strike : And the flag Mania reaches to the New AUC Campus

The AUC strike has entered its 5th day in row since its start earlier this way and it seems that it will not end this weekend or today especially with the escalation that took place this afternoon and surprised everybody.
If you do not know what is going on in the AUC , well this week the  the workers “ DDC workers , Security staff and custodial workers” along with students decided to go in to strike against the administration of the university. Some of the university professors along with some of AUC alumni are standing with the students and the workers. Here is a list with the demands of the workers and students as well.

AUC strike demands

Earlier today President of AUC Lisa Anderson went and talked with the students in some sort of negotiations that did not succeed. She left the meeting and headed to her office along with her secretary after a little tension with the students , nobody attacked her physically from near or far by the way.  In fact according to protesters’ statement issued yesterday it was her guards that created chaos in order to make it as if the students were attacking her. According to Gigi Ibrahim , The AUC president left when the students began to speak about workers’ human rights and working conditions.
The students are demanding that she steps down.
Now yesterday afternoon we were surprised with by an unexpected escalation : The protesters pulled down the American flag !!

AUC Strike : Bringing Down the AUC flag