Mixed thoughts : Regarding the Al Nour Party and its members

These are mixed unarranged thoughts which I am writing down and sharing in order to clear my mind.

• The Protesters angrily headed to the MOI after the Port Said Stadium massacre , some of Al Nour party members of the parliament shout in the people’s assembly and accuse the protesters of being thugs and agents paid LE 200 and Tramadol pills !!

Then Al Nour party spokesperson Nader Baker apologized saying that Al Nour party MPs did not mean any offense to the protesters or the revolutionaries.

MP Mostafa Bakry speaks about agents working for the States and the Israel then accuses Dr. ElBaradei of supporting these agents , Al Nour party MPs cheer for him.He defends himself later in front of people’s assembly and speaks about foreign funding , conspiracies and ElBaradei and yet again Al Nour party MPs cheer for his pseudo victory.

Then Al Nour party Spokesperson Nader Baker apologized

MP Anwar El Balkimi does a nose job that costs him his political career and Al Nour Party spokesperson yet apologizes once again to the public announcing that the party decided to fire El Balkimi. “There is recent rumor that they did not”

After weeks of apologizing for the behavior of Al Nour party members in the parliament , Bakr seemed to be the Party’s official apologist and not the official spokesperson !!

• For weeks now it seemed that there is no real synchronization between the party and its MPs and of course if you raise this point , you will find someone telling you that it is a new party and the Salafists are still learning politics and are gaining political experience unlike veteran Muslim brotherhood.

Well it is true that Al Nour party and Salafists are not that experienced like the Muslim brotherhood but this is no time for experimentation and  trial and error way of learning unfortunately.

Already it seems to me that from political point of view that Al Nour party did not screen its members well at least those whom it pushed to the parliament , in fact it seems to me that the only common factor between its members is Salafist way of thinking !!!!

This is not enough for political party. The Muslim brotherhood has got a political project to revive the Islamic Caliphate based on their ideas , other than implementing the Islamic Sharia according to their Ultra conservative understanding I do not know what Al Nour party’s real goals are.

• It is well known that the Salafists were enforced and supported by the State security during Mubarak’s time as Islamist force against the Muslim brotherhood. It is the like the same game Sadat did in 1970s and blew up in his face. Of course up till now I feel that security apparatuses whether SCAF or the MOI are still allies to the Salafist movements and parties in Egypt.

The famous Sheikhs of Salafist movements were totally against any revolution or political activity against Mubarak. “I have not forgotten how they stood against #Jan25 protests.”

After the revolution also I will not forget how the Salafist Sheikhs in Alexandria approached the families of the martyrs and convinced some of them to withdraw their cases against the ministry of interior.

• I am against the exclusion of the Salafists on the contrary I wish and hope that from that movement a new party or group that represents the Salafists and does not refuse the other.

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Mixed thoughts,Salafists,Al Nour Party,Politics,Parties,Nader Bakr,Egypt,National,Muslim brotherhood

Aswan Chronicles : Day Two “Edfu”

You can check my second day in Aswan chronicles earlier in Kom Ombo here.
This chronicle was written on February 9,2012, in Aswan.

Hours later, we headed to the magnificent temple of Edfu in the city of Edfu, the biggest city in Aswan. 

You go to the temple in carts. 

The city is calm, clean and quiet as I can tell. 

The Muslim Brotherhood has a headquarters in the heart of the city's market, the most active part of it.

 

A Horse Cart driver in Aswan's Edfu

The Edfu temple is the second biggest and most preserved temple in Egypt after the Karnak temple in Luxor; again, it was built by the Ptolemaic in Egypt. 

Check the crowns at the top of its pillars; they are different from each other, unlike in Egyptian temples.
Below are over 100 photos of the amazing temple. I swear, if I had had more time, I would have taken more pictures.

#Syrian Revolution : Regarding Israel

" Israel’s neighbor is burning” is an Op-ed published in Haartez by Gideon Levy about what Israel can do to help its neighbor Syria and Syrian people. Levy knows very well that Israel can’t intervene directly because any action will unite the Syrian people against it “As if uniting the people of Syria was a bad thing , I stood in front of this phrase a lot t be honest”. This op-ed is very interesting on many levels because it made me think about the Israeli position in the Syrian crisis.

There is no doubt that Israel is worried about the future of its neighbor in the North , the Israelis do not want El Assad and his Pro-Iranian Hezbollah regime but they also do not want a radical Islamist rule or radical nationalist rule to replace El Baath rule especially with the rise of the Islamist powers in the region.

The Israeli military generals want to neutralize if not to weaken the Syrian Arab army , they will welcome something like the new Syrian army indeed with no rockets arsenal or air forces “like what happened in Libya”. You must know according to military experts El Assad has not yet used the full power or capacity with all the brutality we are witnessing .

#Syrian Revolution : One Year later

And one year later has passed so quickly in Syria since the start of the amazing protests that evolved in to an uprising that is evolving in to a revolution.
One year and I thank God that I have been there documenting in Cairo what was taking place.
Unfortunately Syria turned to be more complicated than any other country in the region and this is because of the importance of Syria. One year has passed and I have learned by heart the names of towns and cities in Syria , one year has passed and the flame of the revolution moved from the city of Daraa to Hama to Idlib to Reef Dimshaq and to Homs  the great Homs. Over 8,000 have been reportedly killed , over hundreds of thousands were injured and thousands are missing either detained or killed in one year. Thousands of Syrians  fled their homes heading to neighbor countries as refugees whether in Jordan or Lebanon or in Egypt.
In One year a revolution in Syria turned in to a cold game between international and regional powers where the players do not care or give a damn for all those people getting killed or the fact that the country is on a verge of civil war.
I do not know what to say except that I do not shocked anymore from the scenes of blood and disfigured human bodies because of El Assad regime’s brutality. I feel that I am not shocked anymore as a human and I know it is bad.
Anyhow Cairo celebrated the Syrian revolution in its own way , its own elegant way with a special cultural evening at the Cairo Opera house’s summer theater where Egyptian and Syrian artists lined up to celebrate one year of Syrian revolution.
I do not know how to celebrate something when blood is still warm in the street but I know that hope is important in this struggle , if Syrians lose hope , they will lose their battle for free united Syria.
I will leave you with Hope by Malek Jandali of Homs.

Malek Jandali : Hope

Here is another amazing musical piece by Jandali dedicated to martyr Ibrahim Qashoush.”May Allah bless his soul” This small symphonic piece is inspired from Qashoush’s famous anthem “Come on, Bashar Leave”

#UA07_March : The Ultras anger that paralyzed Cairo

If you are wondering what caused the traffic in Cairo especially in Downtown area to be such a pain today , well the reason is the Ultras huge march to the public prosecutor office since early.

At the entrance sixth of October bridge "Mohamed Ruby"

On sixth of October bridge by Sherin T

Thousands of Ultras Ahlaway fans are marching to the office of the public prosecutor at the cessation court Downtown Cairo along with the families of the martyrs of the Port Said stadium massacre demanding justice for the victims of the massacre.

In Zamalek By Rou Tarabishy

At Ahly Club By Omar Abu Yazeed

Now the Ultras Ahlaway aka UA07 has announced that they will start a sit in at the Cessation court till the retribution for the victims. It is expected that Ultras White Knights “Zamalek SC” and Ultras Ismaili “Ismaili SC” to join the sit in.

#RIP Amina , you are not the first nor the last

Amina Lehassan , a 16 years Moroccan girl raped by some asshole bastard in Tangier when she was 15 years old after she was abducted from the street. She feared to tell her mom for two months. When her mom told the Royal Gendarmerie “The police” and they told her that the case was referred to the Royal Prosecutor  in Tangier.
The Royal prosecutor ruled out that Amina should marry her rapist to hide this scandal !! Ironically the rapist and the family refused first but they agreed in the end in return of not paying a dowry. There was no wedding or anything for the little girl who just celebrated her 16th birthday.
For about 5 months Amina lived in hell at her husband/rapist house , she suffered from ill treatment and constant beating. Amina tried to leave her rapist hubby’s house but her mom used to tell her that she should not leave her hubby’s house !! Amina went to the police beaten asking for help but they told her to ask for the help of the Royal Prosecutor “Who forced her in to that marriage in the first place” and to bring a medical report for her condition. The police did not help thus Amina began to think about plan to grab the people’s attention.

#Syrian Revolution : The Mujahedeen From Egypt and Saudi Arabia

This video is spreading throughout Facebook like fire specially in the Conservative Salafist page and it is receiving a lot of “Likes”

The arrival of the Saudi and Egyptian Mujahedeen to Syria to join the FSA !!

When I saw that video allegedly shot in El Rastan , Homs earlier I freaked out because honestly I feel that we are re-watching Afghanistan two especially with all the sectarian talk and Salafist enthusiasm aside of the American and Gulf support.

This video shot allegedly in Rastan, Homs showing a commander of FSA unit called Gassar addressing the public and claiming that there are allegedly Egyptian and Saudi Mujahedeen who joined the Free Syrian army !! Of course we do not see any Egyptians or Saudis. Side note :  it seems that the area where they shot the video was liberated from El Assad regime completely.
Of course what is more disturbing than the claim of that defected army officer is how the people in that area are swearing to sacrifice him with blood and soul !!!  That culture is still there !!