Egyptian Chronicles’ Movers and Shakers of 2020

Welcome to the 2020 edition of Egyptian Chronicles' Movers and Shakers.
Here is my list of those I believe that have been the shakers and movers of 2020.
I started writing down this post at 2:44 PM, yet once again my epic procrastination and being burned out for the year rules.

It is not procrastination, more than it is being burned out between work and anxiety this year.

I guess this year one must be thankful for because it taught us that there are some fundamental things we took for granted but we learned in 2020 about their importance above them health, freedom of movement and family.

That tiny virus coming from China’s Wahun turned the world upside and down and it will take a lot to recover.

We are still on a verge of a new world that is shaping as a result of the economic and political consequences and repercussions of that pandemic.

I feel sorry for everyone who lost a relative or a friend in this pandemic. I feel sorry for everyone who lost his or her job or business because of this pandemic.

Hopefully inshallah 2021 will be better.

Now enough of that wise talk and let’s go to our movers and shakers
This is not the list of the top people but rather those who made an impact whether positive or negative based on my own views
This list is without any order.

These names were the ones that came into my mind in those few hours.

Locally :

Nadeen Ashraf, Mayar Sherif, Hala Zayed and Afsha 

• Egypt’s Health sector workers: The current frontline protecting millions of Egyptians despite we are not the richest country in the world. Egypt’s Health sector lost more nearly 300 people from doctors, nurses, physicians and administrators and they are still standing up as much as they can. This year we know first-hand that the health sector is truly part of our national security.
• Egyptian Medical Syndicate: For defending the rights of Doctors’ long lost financial rights and speaking up despite the attacks and accusations.
• Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed: A year to remember for Zayed who will not forget 2020 by all measures. I do not have doubt in my mind that when she swore in as a minister, she did not imagine things would turn like this and her ministry would be in the focus. I am waiting for her memories already.
• Egypt’s Education Minister Tarek Shawky: Usually the ministers of education in Egypt are under fire but this man is under double fire with his plan to upgrade the education system “The ultimate dream of every education minister in Egypt since I was a student” or his decisions to continue study in schools despite coronavirus “a  decision which is always cancelled by a presidential directive to save the days and kids winning the hearts of the concerned parents. Shawky Vs. Mommies are still on.FYI, he may not be in the upcoming cabinet 
• Heba Rashed, the CEO of Egypt’s CEO of Mersal NGO which provides help to coronavirus patients across the country to find a place in hospitals and ICU with limited resources comparing the challenges it is facing. Rashad is currently coronavirus positive and in quarantine yet she is still working. “Special mention to journalist Basma Ahmed who launched a campaign for food making and delivery to coronavirus patients for free, she is currently in Beirut”
• Police Assault’s Nadeen Ashraf: the blogger girl behind Egypt’s second wave of #MeToo that resulted in only exposing sexual predators in the Upper class but also unveiled sexual predators among awarded journalists, dentists and bloggers too. Nadeen was forced to reveal herself after receiving threats against her and her family. “Special mention to the anonymous bloggers of The Tales Notebook blog dedicated to the testimonies of sexual assault and harassment survivors exposing journalists and bloggers like H.A and W.A”
• TV host Radwa El-Sherbiny: yeah I am adding here because not too many celebs took the side of Egyptian women in cases of rape and sexual harassment publicly with all her controversial views.
• Al Ahly Sports Club:😁 It does not need an explanation because this year despite hardships, this club made many Egyptians happy including myself "Special mention for midfielder Mohamed Magdy Afasha “ and القاضية ممكن”
• The Egyptian Initiative For Personal Rights “EIPR” and its staff from working in silent actively in many human and economic rights issues in the country to find its head and researchers detained then released following a huge international campaign including big stars, it was one hell of a ride for the EIPR and its staff. For me, the EIPR made many important political, economic and legal research centre that we need more of its kind in the country by all measures.
• Egyptian Tennis Player Mayer El-Sherif: The first Egyptian woman to play at Roland  Garros who reminded millions of Egypt with their love of tennis.
• Amr Salama: The director of Egypt’s first original Netflix Network production “Paranormal”.I have not seen the TV series yet but foreign reviews are in its favour while local ones are either up or down, there is no in-between and I totally can understand this.
• Mortada Mansour: the bigger than life, the notorious Egyptian version of Donald Trump. This year witnessed what could be his end for this decade but we will not know for sure.
• Mohamed Ramadan: Aside from his Israeli fans act and his provoking statements to deal with the matter, Ramadan’s arrogance can’t be tolerated. Sadly, he is truly a talented actor but he is wasting his talent by all measures. That gangster rapper image is not good at all.

Regionally :

• The Yemeni people who continue to suffer in silence whether war or coronavirus or hunger
• The Syrian people are still paying the price for wishing to have a free life away from the Baath Nationalist party.
• The Lebanese people are still paying the bills of their corrupted political class.

The Good rulers class

•  Sheikh Sabah Ahmed Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait: the last wise man of the Arab man and it is enough that his reconciliation efforts in the Gulf mainly between Saudi Arabia and Qatar are paying off at last. 

• Late Dr Saeb Erakat: The former Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization who before dying due to coronavirus complications slammed the Gulf states’ normalization agreements with Israel and the attempts to end the Palestinian cause.

The naughty rulers class 

“They are only missing MBS coz this year he is not active like before but it is the same naughty list of last year”

• Mohamed Bin Zayed aka MBZ and a new wave of naturalization peace agreements with Israel which he led
• Erdogan: I just wonder how he will get away with the so-many fronts he opened in 2021.
• Khalifa Khafter: His Zero hours to liberate Tripoli of 2019 led to having the Turks officially in Libya complicating matters more and more.
• Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Prime minister: The Nobel Peace winner who is killing his own people in the Tigray region. I won’t even mention what is happening in the talks of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam fiasco and the dam is endangering the Sudanese people before the Egyptian people because it seems that the world is uninterested.
• The whole Lebanese ruling class with no exception.
• Late Qassem Soleimani was worried about the Arab Spring and was in Damascus on 11 February 2011 because he was worried that the Americans will come after Al-Assad after getting rid of their puppet Mubarak !!

Internationally :

• The World Health Organization “WHO”: Do I need to speak why !?
• Dr Fauci: I mean he must understand his fame went beyond borders for real.
• Chinese government or regime or the fucking Chinese Communist Party: The whole world paid the price of lying, deception and hiding facts concerning the COVID-19 emergence in China’s Wahun. FYI, I do not believe for one second that Egypt’s official coronavirus numbers, in fact, Bahrain’s numbers are more than China’s numbers !!
• Emmanuel Macron: This man is throwing his country into the right-wing path for real whether through anti-freedom of press and expression laws or his law targeting the Islamic community. I won’t speak how he and his government handled the incident of the insulting cartoon in the Muslim world but I know that the whole affair created a huge crack and the calls of the French goods boycott are still there. Maybe starting with a Blessed Moulid Nabawy or Happy Ramadan post in his country’s official embassies FB and Twitter accounts can be a nice start for fixing that bridge which the previous French presidents built with Muslims and he blew it. It is not a sin to learn a lesson or two from neighbour European countries.
• Joe Biden: Some people considered him the Messiah who will save the world and personally Biden and his administration are going to face huge damage inside and outside the United States.
• Jared Kushner: A loser businessman whose father was officially convicted in a sexual blackmail case by got pardoned by his father-in-law. Jared will be remembered as the man who buried the dead Arab Peace Initiative forever
• Donald Trump: Do I need to explain why !?
• David Icke: Yes, the infamous conspiracy theorist who came to his biggest comeback ever with his theories about 5G and lizard people. Why do I add him !? It turned out that the Nashville suicide bomber believed in his conspiracy theories.
• BioNTech Couple Dr Uğur Şahin and Dr Özlem Türeci proved that immigrants can save the West.

Anyhow, Happy New year.

Inshallah 2021 will be better, we survived together 2020 and what does not break it, makes us stronger.