Pro-reform Activists Attacked Again in Egypt!

SLEAZE FACTOR:
Read the News (in Arabic), on other bloggers: Digressing, Manal&Alaanet, from Cairo with love, Leaders of Kefaya arrested (in English), ABC news, attacks by thugs, at least 2 injured, dozens arrested. Watch a slideshow of brutality from http://arabist.net/.

Bits & Pieces: Sharm, Elections, Nancy Agram, British Council, Martyrs

Arab Leaders versus Nancy Agram
Mubarak has been for years calling for a conference on terrorism but no one is responding to him in the world. Probably many know that he is one of the reasons why are suffering from terrorism. Now wearing the hat of the victim of terrorism after Sharm El-Sheikh, he is calling on all Arab leaders to convene in Sharm El Sheikh on an Arab conference on terrorism. I hope he remembers to mention that Iraq’s violence is terrorism and tell his press people that terrorists blowing themselves everywhere in Iraq are not martyrs or resistance. Iraqi friend of mine saw Egyptians demonstrators in Cairo hailing terrorists in Iraq as resistance; she felt so disgusted and almost fainted. Thanks to Mubarak’s rubbish mass media that are run by a bunch ignorant that were paid Saddam’s oil coupons.

Lebanese singer Nancy Agram in solidarity with Egyptians announced holding a concert in Sharm El Sheikh to beat terrorism. I prefer to go and see Nancy’s concert rather than seeing a group of ailing, one-step away from coffins Arab leaders whom their regimes breed terrorism all over the world. I prefer to go to a concert where I know the price of the ticket rather seeing a futile conference that I know nothing about its budget or how much money is spent on 8 hours live broadcast on TV and radio, and printed papers, booked suites in lavishing hotels and guest houses when this money should be spent on my people for development programs.

Martyrs in all cases
Sharm El-Sheikh victims are named everywhere in the Egyptian press as martyrs. I owe all victims all over the world all the respect for paying their lives in such horrific ways. But I would like to tell my friends here also that Hamas suicide bombers who blew themselves in children’s school buses are named martyrs by the Egyptian press and mass media in general. Would anybody please give me the number of the fax or the email where martyrdom licenses are granted? I would like to read guidelines on who is qualified as martyr. I would like to say also that allowing the ideology of extremism in any form is a way of promoting it. Bravo Egyptian mass media.

Mubarak’s election campaign versus Bush
I would like to remind our dictator that using any property for election campaigns where public money is spent is forbidden. The US is attacked everywhere everyday in our press except when they claim that the US hails Mubarak, because this is the only time, the Egyptian press of Mubarak play friends with the US. I would like to see the press mentioning that the http://www.whitehouse.gov/ was not EVER used by President Bush for his 2004 election campaign though he was in office. He and Vice President Cheney had a separate website for elections that has nothing to do with public money. Is there anybody here listening? Or we will continue to live in the world of deaf dictators forever.

Pharaohs versus vice president
I was waiting to hear from the dictator an announcement on a vice president. I think I would rather wait to milk the bull. Even the claimed liberal Ayman Nour, he standing as another pharaoh with no vice president. He is the one man show all the time as well. Is pharaohship is a gene in the blood of Egyptians? Should I give up on democracy and freedom?

The regime’s gang
I would like to mention here that some Egyptians enjoy the fact that they are enslaved as long as they getting a piece of land in the northern coast or a job opportunity for son or daughter. Some of them would be satisfied with a shake of hand from Mubarak, his wife or his son. To my surprise some of them hold PhDs from Oxford and US universities and other renowned universities and when you tell them political change is needed, they answer you back who else could replace? They are acting as slaves and they are enjoying being enslaved to an amazing extent. They look at themselves as scum and in deed they are. In my opinion they sold all Egyptians because; guess what, the regime placed them everywhere in embassies, trips abroad for conferences…etc to speak on behalf of all Egyptians who hate their guts. True Egyptians who believe in change, democracies and freedom cannot find one door open to express their will because of the monopoly of this class that is hired by Mubarak to represent Egyptians everywhere in front of non-Egyptians who support freedom and democracy. Speaking of democracy, this is time for the world to reach out for the people of Egypt who are not hired by the regime to listen to their true wishes.

British Council versus Muslim Brotherhood
I do not have to mention this here, because I consider it a betrayal of privacy. But I feel obligated to tell the world something positive to assure the peoples of the world that there is a hope to win the war against terrorism. I sneaked few days ago to one of the Egyptian bloggers in Arabic and they had opened a discussion. One of them was informing his other friends saying that the British Council in Cairo is ready to sponsor any activity against terrorism and that could be a concert or anything. He/she said it as if wishing his/her friends could join or approve the idea. The idea was not rejected by the group at all. My impression is that they wanted to go and do something but they were very afraid. One of them warned his friends that Egyptian press would depict them as traitors working with foreigners against Egypt. This image is the easiest way to harm and intimidate any Egyptian citizen. This is the not so bad scenario from my own point of view. The worst case scenario would be tapping their the telephones by the state security and following their routes, then some other guys wearing civilians at night would fake a fight with them. All will be taken to the police station. The targeted group will remain at the police station and I ll not go on describing what can happen to this green youth. The regime of Mubarak does not mind at all that this same young guys be trapped by a group of extremists at any corner in the streets of Cairo to brainwash their minds or by an ignorant terrorist Sheikh at any mosque that harbor terrorism in Egypt rather seeing them joining international cultural centers in Cairo to join the civilizations of the world. Egyptians do not mind, help them get over the culture of fear that terrorized them for years under the ruling of officers and the brutality of the bullying regime otherwise the alternative will be the active mushrooming extremist radical networks in Egypt.

Follow-up on Reda Helal and Sayed AlQumni

This morning while drinking my coffee, I was doing my usual surfing for the different Egyptian and Arab news websites. I saw this very weird news on Alarabyia.net (in Arabic) linking the murder of the Egyptian journalist Reda Helal to the repentance of the Egyptian writer Sayed Alqumni from writing. I am sure this concept of repentance from writing is strange to many people but this what had happened. He claimed that a group of terrorists wanted to kill him for his writings (as I wrote in one of my previous blog) so he decided not to write.

I am seeing a dirty foul play now unfolding in front of my eyes!! It is so strange that suddenly AlQumni alleged threatening letters are linked to the murder of Reda Helal!!! The regime is the prime suspect accused of killing Reda Helal for reasons we all know.

Suddenly out of the blue, the emails Alqumni received are linked to the murder of Reda Helal. OH MY GOD! HOW DISGUSTING! The regime collaborated with AlQumni to wash its hands from the blood of REDA HELAL!! By faking this terrorist group that's called "Jihad in Egypt"! and using Sayed Alquimi to play this dirty role on all of us. I have to reconsider now all what I wrote in my previous blog about this Alqumini. This means that the regime can kill all of us faking OH it was a terrorist group! SHAME SHAME SHAME! SHAME ON YOU Alqumni if my speculation is true.

I am SO disgusted!

Previous blog on Reda Helal.

Mubarak seeks 5th term...30 years in office?..kefaya

Mubarak's aide enters his office at the palace. He asks the president, "Isn't it time you write a farewell speech to the Egyptian people?" The president looks at him, confused. "Where are they going?" he asks

Sharm El-Sheikh Aftermath- My protest!

>>> I have noticed that Scotland Yard in London sealed off all sites that were attacked by terrorists, I saw that tourists were taking pictures in the attacked sites in Sharm El Sheikh. Sites were not sealed until the following day...hello....what kind of investigation is that?

>>> Egyptian & Arab TV camera men were kicking the rubble around with their feet to have clear spaces....Hello... where are the forensic teams ??

>>> The Egyptian ministries of the Interior, Health and Tourism are CONTINUOUSLY contradicting each other on the death toll....hello... where is the truth????. Should we go in person and start counting!

>>> Egyptian local channels are interrupting transmission to tell the people that President Mubarak gave directives to save the people in Sharm El Sheikh...hello....should I understand that without his blessed directives people should have been left without rescue!!!!

>>> Sharm El Sheikh was completely paralyzed for two hours due to the President's visit. All rescue efforts were interrupted...hello...Not only that but all cell phones networks were taken offline or jammed for his security.....so all emergency rescue and investigations came to a halt????People's attention was diverted to clean the scene rather than looking for more survivors!!!! Is his security more important that saving the lives of the innocent victims of the horrendous attack? What if there is a victim under the rubble who has a cell and can call? There is no consideration for the victims lives.....


>>> I will not mention the mass arrests following Sharm El-Sheikh attacks in view of the Egyptian efficient investigations....I leave that to human rights groups...

>>>>> The nicest part of this trauma was that many Egyptians went to the streets of Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh condemning the terrorist attacks. Images showed cooks in Sharm wearing their chef's hats with "Stop terrorism".Candle light vigils were in Sharm and one was stopped in Cairo. I got an invitation on my blog for a demonstration on 6 of October bridge in Cairo. I am seeing all those Egyptians are reacting positively to the horrific attack condemning it in Cairo and Sharm. I am so proud of my people. Despite the difficulty of taking permissions from state security department, they are keen on condemning terrorism. If any Egyptian citizen attempts to demonstrate with no permission he/she is under arrest by Emergency Law. Thumbs up guys!! Your courage is beating the clumsiness and recklessness of the negligent government!

This is my little Protest Against Terrorism in the blogsphere, please join !

Terrorist attack on Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

Fall and spring were the perfect seasons for a group of six women to visit Sharm. At midnight we all ride the bus, spending the night in the bus. We wake up in the beautiful morning of Sharm, breathing the sea and seeing the open sky that we miss most under the low sky of polluted Cairo. We get the best pictures ever for the year, returning so fresh as if born anew, promising ourselves that we can make the trip possible every fall or spring. Working or studying hard all year, then earn our carefree break in Sharm, enjoying our independency and liberty while treating ourselves really good. It was also great to meet all those Egyptians who are coming from all Egypt’s governorates to earn their living in Sharm. It was so phenomenal to find all those Egyptians that are married to non-Egyptians, standing as true manifestation of how cosmopolitan Sharm El-Sheikh became. Visiting Sharm was another chance to see all those foreigners from all over the world who come to enjoy and that saved us traveling abroad to see other nations. It was hard to tell that Sharm is an Egyptian city.

It is true it has been more than a year since we came together again; however each one of us is still dreaming of returning. Commitments tore the group apart and apparently developments in Sharm blew it up. Sharm became another victim like all Egyptians citizens who are ground and beaten everyday by poverty, starvation and oppression. I feel so sad that Sharm became a victim of oppression like all of us.

Before approaching Sharm, the bus stops near a security check point where all Egyptian and non-Egyptian passengers IDs are checked. Security around and in Sharm is really tight or this how it appeared to us, so we felt always safe. I am extremely shocked how can all these amounts of explosives find its way to Sharm? Where is the ministry of the interior? Only busy cracking down on demonstrators with an army of soldiers and arresting thousands of Egyptians everywhere while failing to protect tourism and innocent humans.

Friends closely following the Sharm’s incidents told me that the smell of human flesh is everywhere, many people are still missing and many of the dead are not identified not to mention that some people lost control and badly traumatized due to the horror experience.

Many tried to link London and Egypt attacks; however, they have only one common factor that is both are branded as terrorism. I see what had happened in Egypt is close to what is happening in Iraq. It is this kind of terrorism that erupted after toppling the Iraqi dictator where local or neighboring terrorist groups claim responsibility. It is the kind of terrorist responsibility that does not have any cause except imagining that they are defending Muslims who did not ask for their defense or help. Terrorists claim they help Muslims against the new introduced values to the region like democracy. Why are we included in this war, knowing that Egypt has no presence in any international army?

Dictators all over the Middle East maintained stability as they claimed until before 9/11 2001. But because Egypt’s dictator oppressed freedom and all forms of human civil liberties under emergency law for 24 years, the only culture that thrived was Islamic fundamentalism which is a normal answer for oppression. With the failure of the security to crack down on networking of terrorists cause security and intelligence departments in Egypt are usually busy with personal security of the Mubarak family and his ailing government, terrorism found a fertile soil to grow.

This kind of terrorism thrive under dictatorships and oppression and will continue to do so cause the higher interests of Egypt is not to fight terrorism but to keep the power, the office and the status quo. No reform will be introduced to education programs. Mass media and particularly press will continue to be ruled by a bunch of pan Arabism fanatics whom some are funded by Syria and formerly by Saddam’s oil coupons. It is worth mentioning that Syria is the founder and sponsor of the pan Arabism project that was proven a big failure. It is doing its best to protect it in Iraq and now in Egypt. The regime of Egypt has been always the biggest supporter of fanaticism and extremism. There is no evidence that Mubarak is in support scientific research or liberals or freedom, only military and sheikhs who are everywhere on television and streets adding nothing to the values of humanity except breeding terrorism through oppression.

Mubarak regime is shaken now as never before. No one wants him. And he and his gang know that very well by now. He didn’t dare to nominate himself until now and we are one month and a half away from Election Day. All candidates withdrew, though they were only there theoretically. Opposition parties and groups are boycotting. I am here to declare that I m boycotting elections cause there is no one to represent me. I M NOT GOING TO THE POLLS. There is no way even to say no as previous times. It is only Mubarak. So what kind of elections is this? Dictatorship in disguise! Egyptians will continue their national disobedience that started in 1952.

Mubarak's regime is under siege. Egypt’s diplomatic roles have vanished in the ME. The US is giving support to all movements of freedom all over the Middle East and a big boost to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Mubarak’s biggest ally is gone. He wants to stay in power at any cost. He does not want to introduce democracy. It was evident with the fraudulent referendum. And now Egyptians have never been ready for democracy as before. Muslim brotherhood wants to be part of the civil political system. This banned group that we have been always scared of is showing some positive signs. Though I m totally against them, however, democracy and freedom should be a platform for inclusion not oppression, as Mubarak did, as long as we stand on the same principles of freedom.

Terrorists are trying to make us believe that freedom and democracy are no good, cause terrorists will attack like Iraq and blackmail us to make us believe that there is no alternative to the status quo which is dictatorship. Mubarak will try to make the whole world believe that he is a victim of terrorism, though the Egyptian people are the only victims. Innocent Egyptians were killed and many lost their jobs in tourism. Mubarak's seeds of hatred and ideology of extremism that he sowed in the brains of many Egyptians over 24 years through the mass media and mosques are reaping fruits. We are paying a very dear price.

Taba explosions are still a mystery, especially with the 3500 people detentions that left the human rights record of the country tarnished forever, because there was no proper justification for mass arrests. Same will happen for Sharm attacks and we will never know why these attacks had happened or who committed it, except that it is terrorism.

Sharm attacks are like the Iraq attacks that are meant to disrupt democracy. They happened after toppling Saddam because he was taken by surprise. So the enemies of freedom started terrorism after. In our case, timelines are given; the enemies of freedom know very well that freedom and democracy are coming. They started before democracy takes over. Regrettably and sadly Sharm attacks are not the first and will not be the last.

That’s why Sharm El-Sheikh is a victim of oppression. My heartfelt condolences to all victims. The attack on Sharm El-Sheikh tore my heart apart. I feel helpless as probably many Egyptians cause we had never been part of any reform and combat against terrorism and we will never be under Mubarak to be able reverse situations and help ourselves and other nations in their war against terrorism.

Signed mourning Egyptian citizen

Sharm El-Sheikh!

I am in shock, when I collect myself I will write!

Terrorist attack on freedom of expression in Egypt

My new blog is just an exemplification how the culture of terrorism and hatred became so entrenched in Egypt. It is so horrific to imagine. But before reading the sad news and developments, I would like to remind you of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

Freedom of expression beaten by terrorism:

This sad news is coming from our Cairo, Egypt: An Egyptian writer, known for his articles against Muslim fundamentalism, said he has quit writing after receiving death threats from a militant group operating in Egypt. The death threats include shooting him from rooftop from a neighboring building or from speeding car at any time. I personally sympathize with him and not considering him as coward as many did, simply because there will no one to protect him and because I also respect anyone's choices in life.

Sayed Al Qumni told journalists few days ago "They [the militants] threatened to kill me unless I repent within a week". Knowing that the Egyptian government is lenient with the culture of terrorism that is spreading in schools, mosques and everywhere where oppression is exercised, AlQumni’s safety is not guaranteed anywhere in Egypt. Egypt failed to protect Naguib Mahfouz, Nobel Prize laureate, and he was stabbed in his neck. Instead of going to the roots of the problem and why fundamentalists in Egypt are growing in numbers and operating, security personnel is increasing. Anyone will be scared when seeing all these persons in uniform in Cairo in comparison to many places in the world, however this is not a guarantee to any security and safety.

Poor Al-Qumni could be killed while many Egyptians believing that he is an infidel deserving his destiny just as many Egyptians still believe that Farrag Foda is an infidel who deserved what had happened to him. The answer is pretty simple. Where is AlQumni at TV shows in Egypt? He is nobody. I don’t remember seeing him or even seeing someone talking about him and his invaluable researchs on TV. Where is the space dedicated to this man to give him the chance to talk to Egyptians in order to defend himself instead of waiting to his death sentence? Was he given time to spread his enlightening ideas on TV? It is because all material published or broadcast in governmental Egyptian media is supporting extremists and fundamentalists and not freedom of expression or enlightenment. I didn’t see Farrag Foda’s friends and colleagues on TV or radio following his assassination by Islamists in Egypt.

Al-Qumni, who holds a PhD in comparative religion, is Al-Azhar graduate, but his only “sin”, that he tried to reform Islam. The death threat was sent to him via e-mail from a militant group calling itself "Jihad in Egypt" and it is not the first. I read it in Arabic on the internet and it is disgusting.

I wonder how many Egyptians know how he looks like. I bet we can count them on our fingers, because the government is restricting his freedom to express his opinion as it goes against fundamentalists. But fundamentalists are given more prominence of course. This man could have been protected through the Egyptian people if he was given space to enjoy popularity as many uneducated sheikhs (Muslim clerics) were given hundreds of hours on TV adding nothing to the values of humanity, instead they became idols for ignorance and terrorism. It is at the end of the day, that the peoples of the countries to defend their values not a security guard in front of a building.

Scotland Yard in Egypt:
Since the arrest of Magdy ElNaashar in relation to the London attacks, Egypt has been desperately denying this guy’s links to Al-Qaeda. It is actually very funny; did the government of Egypt get any confirmation from Al-Qaeda? Are there any contacts between Egypt and AlQaeda? Were faxes are emails received and sent confirming that this Egyptian citizen has no records at AlQaeda networks? As an Egyptian citizen, I have the right to transparent flow of information. I am entitled to know why the Egyptian regime is denying links without saying why.

I am personally not surprised at the accusations pointed at this man. The amount of rubbish that is flushed daily into the brains of Egyptians qualifies them to join any fundamentalist group. Is the government going to hire security on the brains of 70 million Egyptians. Naguib Mahfouz, a victim of terrorism, is protected by guards but not protected from the culture of terrorism.

Alqumni could save millions spent on security guards. I am sure many westerners don't know about him cause the regime was always keen on putting its collaborators at the front as innocent faces as human rights advocates and reformers…etc when they are only regime informers.

Egyptians support more attacks:

During September 11, 2001 attacks on NY and Washington, I received phone calls from some Egyptians rejoicing over the attacks on the US. And they were not poor or uneducated.

Four years later, July 7, 2005, there was no change in some of the Egyptians’ reactions. Some Egyptians are still waiting for more attacks on the western civilized world, which means that the regime of Egypt had never joined the world to stop terrorism and sadly will never. What did the government and the regime do four years after 9/11 to stop sabotaging the peoples’ minds and empower people with enlightenment? The answer is nothing. There is more terrorism and hatred towards the values of life in mass media and education programs. Welcome to the new budding generation of terrorists who will be so ready for AlQaeda recruitment.

It is getting worse and Al-Qumni is the evidence to the victory of terrorism. The problem is that the world will find very tight mechanisms to fight terrorism because the free world is so serious about it. What will happen in Egypt is that fundamentalist Islamists will start killing the freedom of other Egyptians because this will be their only haven to kill more innocents whom their only sin is believing in freedom. The result will be very bloody, and another groups of Taliban will be ruling Egypt. There will be no opposition as the seeds of the ideology of hatred are sowed, thanks to Mubarak Regime.

In solidarity with Al-Qumni:
http://www.rezgar.com/camp/i.asp?id=42

The woman I cried my eyes out for...

It was very strange to disccover that I am a fan of a celebrity. I always tried to play the cool. But yes I am a big fan of the murdered Egyptian actress, Soad Hosni. I didn't know how much I loved this beautiful creature until her funeral day. I was watching her funeral on tv and I realized that I cannot stop my tears that were running like a river. I cannot remember I had been in such state before or after.

The reason why I m remembering that day again, it is because some courageous Egyptians are trying to reveal the Egyptian security lies about her death, which comes in a long string of stories intended to make fool of Egyptians. Egyptian security claims that she committed suicide.

One of the reasons why I loved Soad Hosny is because she was among very few stars in the black and white movies era who called on women to always play a role in her relationship with her man. Some would ask me what's new...two equal partners and both are expected to play equal roles in a relationship. For those who are not so familiar with cultural differences, women in the Middle East in some communities are expected to act like a chair or side lamp when she marries. The man is usually the one in control and the dominating partner. The ego of some eastern men does not allow women to have a say in anything, not to mention in a relationship. Soad Hosny was quite different in that respect when she picked her female characters in her movies, she encouraged women to initiate relationships and that was revolutionary in the 1960s. She stressed the fact that women should play a role in relationships.

At a meeting for some artists and lawyers at the Lawyers Syndicate in Cairo yesterday, Egyptian lawyer Essam Kandeel indicated that there could be reasons why Soad was killed, almost sure she was killed by secret Egyptian authorities. Kandeel said that there are political reasons behind the death of Soad. He also said that Egyptian republican guard chief general Al-lethy Nasser and another Egyptian scientist were killed same way in the same building where soad was killed. This is itself is an evidence that there are some secret Egyptian service that is operating to kill Egyptians abroad for political disagreement with the regime or for having secrets that are not supposed to be uncovered. Soad was probably the latter case as she wrote her diary that disappeared following her murder.

At the same meeting were all these revelations were made, this Samir Sabri (actor) claims that she was killed because of the money she had in her apartment in London. He was probably on drugs when he said so. She could not pay for her treatment. Sorry to tell him that condolences are not accepted from a person, the money he earns is tarnished with her blood. He worked for the people who killed her and they pay him his income.

When Soad Hosny died I realized what kind of cancer that spread into the glamorous life of movies in Egypt when our cinema was replaced by the cinema of officers in the 50s', killing all potential talents and existing stars in which Soad was one of them. Soad is a victim like many other victims in the different fields in Egypt. She is only under the spot lights. But many Egyptians are killed daily by frustration, hunger and poverty. When will the time come when Egypt stops burying its talents at the hands of the power-thirst gang ruling us?

Many actresses were luckier than Soad, they either fled the country or remained at their homes giving their lives of glamour in the 1950s. Soad was poor and had nothing except her talent. She wasn't well established like those who fled the country.

I hope that the new attempt to open Soad Hosni's case will help free our cinema from the grip of the security and officers, returning it back to its glamour when it was the 4th cinema industry worldwide in the first half of the last century .

It is true we miss her so much but she is still there helping us find our freedom and lightening up our lives with her wonderful movies..

In Egypt, when you want to flatter a woman you tell her you resemble Soad Hosni or when a mother wants to brag about her daughter she says she is a carbon copy of Soad Hosni and I always loved that. She is an idol.

Soad Hosny is an Egyptian movie star who was killed in mysterious circumstances in London in June 21, 2001. Fingers are pointed at the ex-minister of information as a prime suspect for her death.

Signed one of your fans who cried when you died.

http://www.soadhosny.com/

War of the Worlds

On Sunday: It is worth mentioning for those who don't have the privilege of reading Egyptian newspapers and seeing TV bulletins that all suicide bombers are named Martyrs. !!! Please welcome with me sponors of the ideology of hatred and crime. Regime with no brains, what will be the result?

Then if you think you are against government newspapers, and you have other choices... well you are mistaken, there are only government mass media or government mass media. There is no such weird concept as private sector media....You are stuck unless you are among those who can buy a satellite dish or able to borrow your neighbor's cable. A regime with no brains is securing the best policy for monopoly over the people's minds.

If some succeeded in doing something separate, staff should pay full allegiance to Egyptian authorities otherwise licenses are withdrawn... a fraudulent court case here or there if you dare to go in a wrong direction. I mentioning here most decent punishments by regime. Long Live our Freedom!

On the regime's the latest games: since everyone knows the level of coverage of Egyptian media ...no weight... and no credibility on the international level whatsoever ...etc. The regime is trying to recruit all Egyptians that are working in Egypt as correspondents for foreign media offices, to work for the regime. Recruitment offers include high posts in government media with high salaries and of course winning full consent of the ruling family which means good chalets in Egypt's northern coasts...one-hour programs on TV.....a piece of land here or there...an employment offer for a son or daughter. The offer depends on your weight, level or grade...

My worry now is that the regime won't be able to interpret the London attacks as terrorism...7ad yo2lom ya gama3a....

I wrote on Friday
Seeing "War of the Worlds" by Tom Cruise over the weekend, then waking up on Thursday, July 7 on such horrific news in London and Iraq, is like a nightmare coming true.

I hope that July 7 will remind us all that the mass media, particularly in Egypt, need to play more positive role in fighting terrorism instead of legitimizing its role in our lives.

It is so disgusting that the Egyptian media are insisting on calling terrorists in Iraq "resistance". It is so repulsive that the regime of Mubarak keeps insisting on giving orders to the mass media never to call Hamas and its likes anywhere anything but resistance. What the heck killing innocents called? What are you teaching the people? I hope that July 7 could teach such kind of abhorrent bloody media a lesson to give the right names for killing civilians and innocents; MURDER, CRIME, TERROR, TRANSGRESSION, GENOCIDE, HOMICIDE.

STOP THIS KIND OF MASS MEDIA, STOP REGIMES THAT SPONSOR TERRORISM
STAND UNITED WITH THE WORLD IN ITS WAR AGANIST HUMAN EXECUTION

Egypt's regime posted diplomatic mission in Iraq to reach out for militant groups and insurgents!
How did the regime of Egypt confirm the death of Egypt's envoy without any evidence???
Is Egypt's press going to call killers of the Al-Sharif Martyrs???

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050708/wl_afp/iraq_050708114428
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050708/wl_afp/iraq_050708194442

Referendum of May 25: Great Forgery Day

Under US and western pressure, the yes-yes and the 99% President decided to take the path of democracy, deciding on a referendum on multiple candidacy for president's office. Glorious Referendum day came on May 25, peaceful demonstrators were beaten by security and women were raped by thugs hired by the government. The day turned to be another successful day for the efforts of the government to empower Egyptians. We were trying to still believe that a person with absolute power is giving up for democracy. However, last Saturday, some honorable Egyptian judges produced a report on the results of the referendum.The report was published by al Masry el Yom newspaper. Here is the text in English as cited from this newspaper.

If these are the conclusions of the Egyptian judges who are supposed to oversee the polls, then this Referendum should be considered null and void and unconstitutional. Enjoy!

Following the Judges' Club General Assembly of May 13th in which it was agreed to form a fact finding commission to assess the experience of the May 25 referendum, especially with respect to judicial supervision and how fully it is going to be exercised, a commission was indeed formed of:

Commission Formation:

• Court of Cassation VP Hussam El Gharabany, Head
• Court of Cassation VP Muhamad Nagy Derballa, Member
• Court of Cassation VP Talaat Abdallah, Member
• Court of Appeal President Hisham Genena, Member
• Court President Ahmad Fathy Qazma, Member
  

The Commission was done with its report on the 28th of June and is supposed to circulate it later this week.

Al Masry Al Youm was able to secure a copy and following are the main findings of the report and its recommendations:

Sources of Information:The report depended on testimonials provided by judges and members of the judicial body who participated in the supervision of the referendum. The Commission considered them witnesses to the violations and forgery committed on May 25, especially that the judges provided written, audio taped and video taped evidence which helped the Commission prepare a report that is substantiated by figures, documents, pictures, CDs and videotapes. According to the Commission, it disregarded any testimonials or memos that did not have supporting documentation/evidence.

Report Findings:-- The Report refers to statements made by officials in the press to the effect that the number of judges/members of the judiciary who participated in the supervision of the elections was 11125, and that 20 only regretted for health reasons. Those figures - if true - would mean that the judiciary only supervised 20% of the branch polling stations which negates allegations that the referendum was held under full judicial supervision. Moreover, those figures are false because all judges affiliated to the Courts of Cassation and Appeal, as well as judges of that rank, a total of over 3000 judge, were not assigned any supervisory role during the referendum.Judicial supervision did not exceed 5% of the branch polling stations.

Every Main polling station was headed by a judge (rank of courtpresident), with three substitutes who are of the same rank. The jurisdiction of the Main Polling station extended over large geographicalareas which made it virtually impossible for the main judge or any of hissubstitutes to supervise/monitor the voting taking place in the branchstations under their jurisdiction either because of their remoteness ortheir large number (some main polling stations had 400 branch ones underthem). Hence, the role of those judges at the main stations was restricted to supervising the vote count at the main stations once the ballot boxes reached them. Some main polling stations (for example in Beni Swaif) there were discrepancies between the voters' lists available at the station and the ones issued by the Security Directorate (names added/dropped) which indicates the lists were revised after 4/30/2005 in violation of the law on political rights.

As noted earlier, members of the judiciary supervised only 5% of the branch polling stations, and their jurisdiction did not extend beyond their own branch station to others nearby, and the branch stations headed by judges were all collected in the same place (i.e classrooms of a school), far away from those supervised by non-judges. The majority of the branch stations were headed by state employees from other GOE bodies: namely state employees and employees of the Ministry of Local Administration, with no consideration to their educational level, rank, or reputation. For instance, one of the district attorneys ran into someone who was heading a polling station who was detained 45 days in a counterfeit case but was later released on LE 500 bail.

Most of the judges heading the branch polling stations insisted - inaccordance with the political rights' law - not to open the door for voting until two of the registered voters are added to the supervision of the station (note: according to the law, a polling station is not ready to receive voters/votes unless two registered voters - namely the first two to arrive - be part of the supervision and are to stay from the time voting starts until it ends. It should be noted that many voters complained the day of the referendum of such insistence by judges because the first voters would not accept staying all day and skipping work which meant that that polling station would not receive any voters). The report added that this insistence by the judges angered the GOE officials, the police officers present, as well as some attorney generals and presidents of primary courts.

The stations that were headed by judges witnessed low voter turnout --some had no voters whatsoever, while others had a turnout that did not exceed 3%. One judge quoted a police officer as telling him jokingly: "We do not want to tire out your excellencies. We are satisfied with the(turnout) other stations." The turnout at stations that were not supervised by judges reached 90% and in some cases 100%. The latter percentage would mean that none of the voters on the lists had died or moved since the lists were prepared, or was even sick or unable to vote on that day for whatever reason. Moreover, many of such heads of branch stations were done with their work and submitted the ballot boxes to the main stations long before the closing time. When asked about the high turnout phenomenon and the early closing time, the following happened: some started crying, some just stared blindly at the ceiling, some tried to run away, some said they were pressured to do so by the police officers, or answers like: "this is the way we always did it," "I am only a poor man following instructions," "the officer told me, finish up, you do not want to get dragged into unnecessary trouble."

A member of a main polling station noted that he attended a meeting for the non-judicial heads of polling stations that was attended by a high ranking police officer who stressed the importance of reaching a certain turnout percentage, by accepting voters from outside the constituency, even if they are not registered (note: which is what happened with me) or if they had to fill out the ballots themselves. When this member said he could not because there are judges in his station, the officer asked to take aside those who will be in non-judicial stations to give them special orders.

A judge in Alexandria commenting on that noted a woman - who identified herself as an NDP local leader - wanted to fill out other ballots but he denied her request, adding "I don't know if she stoppedthere or went to other branch stations." The report adds that "a colleague discovered at the vote counting stage that the head of a branch committee counted a number of votes as invalid, and it turned out that this was his tactic to decrease the number of voters opposed to the amendment."

According to the report also, some "colleagues" took pictures while theballot boxes of stations that had no judicial supervision were being emptied, showing ballots "roped together" which proves that they were not put through the slot (as they would be too thick) but were rather put there when the box was open. There are pictures taken of open boxes in an open field with people sitting next to it, taking some out and throwing it away.Also, there were pictures taken of a non-judicial head of a branch station who was filling out the ballots himself and then handing them to someone else to put them in the box.

The report claims that some of the presidents of the primary courtsworked in favor of rigging the voting process. Namely, a number of themasked the judges who were assigned substitute duty during the elections, to stay in their hotels, denying their request to pass by the branch stations to supervise the voting process.

Recommendations:

• Merge the close by branch stations so that they would be at most 1/4 ofwhat they are now.
• Hold the elections - any elections - on several days.
• Have all branch and main polling stations headed by judgesAssign judges to head the main branches at the primary courts.

GOOD NEWS: FRENCH COURT CONDEMNS MAURITANIAN TORTURER UNDER 'UNIVERSAL COMPETENCE'

The world is continuing to give us hope in our struggle against brutality and the continuous violation of human rights in Egypt. The story is not directly related to Egypt but it is related to the human struggle against torture.

In Egypt's referendum day on reform on May 25 this year, police officers were ordered to sexually harass women demonstrators, to the extent of tearing apart their underwear. I have heard of police hitting, opening water pumps on demonstrators but to harass women and to try to rape them that was appalling and shocking. I was filled with disgust. But this is not the answer, to be only filled with disgust. Now, here is an eye-opener to get our rights, international courts are opening doors to criminals.

I was so impressed by those courageous journalists who went to Egyptian police stations to report incidents, knowing that Egypt is relatively conservative society when it comes to women. The answer of those courageous women was that "our honor is worthless when it comes to the honor of our country" (I m not so sure that everyone here will understand the cultural nature of such statements).

Let's remember here that Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon who ordered the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Let's not lose hope. Let's pay him tribute(the Spanish Judge not Pinochet).

The day is coming when those officials, officers, ministers and that president and his family will be traveling to the lavishing pretty cities of France and get arrested there. We are now counting on the French after this precedent. Let's hope that the President who gets treatment in Germany every year, be arrested in Frankfurt airport. Let's hope that every criminal responsible for torturing and killing Egyptians in prisons be arrested everywhere in the world. Let's hope that the day will come when the regime of Mubarak will be asked where are the years of the young Egyptians that have been wasted because he wasted all their chances for a decent life to fully utilize their potentials for the future of Egypt.

Keep writing the lists of tortured and the torturer and keep counting the names, because the day will come.

Here is the story of the French court.
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050701-012620-3279r

URGENT:An APPEAL from an Egyptian Journalist to the Free World- PLEASE HELP

This is a dear friend of mine. she is asking me for help. But the only help I can provide her with is to make her message heard everywhere. In Egypt we are ruled by police state under emergency law. Please help and send the message around the world to make her and other Egyptian journalists seeking freedom heard everywhere.

Please take the time to read her email. I deleted her name for security reasons. She is a defender of the rights of journalists and press freedom in Egypt that the regime and government want to ban.

Dear ....,

I am sorry because I am writting that very fast and in very poor English. We need your help urgently. Yesterday, was a day of confrontation with the regime. It is a matter of days until this parliamentary session is closed on freedom of journalits. The law related to the promise which President Mubarak has given in February 2004 to abolish prison sentences for jounralists ('publishing offences). The law is not issued yet.

Moreover, the newly issued law of political right practices contains in its article 48 the right to imprison journalists. We are fed up. Last Wednesday, we organized a big conference. All political groups came to this conference. Several proposals and idea were given.

Everybody believe that resolving the freedom of expression issue is related to the political reform our country needs. One of the proposals came from a group composed of members of the general Assembly of journalists, Journalists to achieve change (Journalists for Change is among some other movements of same name but for different professions and brackets). We have called for a silent rally from the syndicate to the Parliament.

Yesterday, we went to our Press syndicate. There we found hundreds of police officers and soldiers and armored vehicles. Once we were preparing to move from the syndicate's stairs they put us under siege from allsides. They made a cordon preventing us to go out and prevented our colleagues to get in. It was a terrible situation. We tried to go out from any part. Their number exceeded us. Some other vehicles transferred other soldiers. We tried to talk with the officers. We did several attempts to break the siege. Things turned to confrontation. They didn't hit us but they pushed us regardless what happens. Things developed and they have closed the whole street leading to the syndicate. Other cars came carrying hundreds of soldiers. We didn't understand why they do all of that trying to prevent a peaceful march calling for one of the basic rights of expression without prison, whether a journalist or not. Other political groups knew what we are facing.

They tried against the situation calling for our freedom and issuing the law.Three of our colleagues are members of the Parliament. They carried our message and left to join the parliamentary session. They said on behalf of us that we are calling to; issuing the law that the syndicate prepared and presented to them 5 years ago or the new law which the ministry of justice has transferred to the Prime minister (cabinet) after being discussed in a committee from the ministry and thesyndicate. They told them that we were prevented fro our march to present our demand ourselves. The Speaker of the Parliament said that the law that have been presented to the Parliament has been transferred to the Shora council( a council for senates).

Now we want to guarantee that the Parliament discuss and issue the law when it returns from Shora council. This should happen in 3 or 5 days maximum.We are sure that if the government is serious, it would prefer the law it is already prepared by the cabinet to the Parliament.

The Speaker of the Parliament said that the law that have been presented to the Parliament has been transferred to the Shura council (a council for senates). Now we want to guarantee that the Parliament discuss and issue the law when it returns from Shora council. This should happen in 3 or 5 days maximum.We are sure that if the government is serious. It would prefer the law it is already preparing from the prime ministry to the Parliament.

We need your help urgently. A statment from differernt organizations to the governement or the parliment would be suitable. If you know anyone who can help to issue it to the president who gave us the promise. It would be great. We need pressure to urge our Parliament to issue the law before this parliamentary period is finished, remind them of the President's promise 16 months ago, tell them that is our right according to Egypt's international commitments.I forgot to tell you that we have arranged a sit-in inside the syndicate. We have started it today once the march was banned. We left the syndicate at 11pm.

Today, we will do that again from 2 pm until 9pm. Saturday, the same. At Sunday, we will organize another march. We don't know whether they will ban us again or not. Accordingly, we are arranging with all political movements and other related syndicates as lawyers to wait for us in front of the Parliament. They were coming to support us. They were prevented. We started to chant against the situation calling for our freedom and issuing the law.

We know that they (state security) have now files for everyone of us. Possibly, I won't be here tomorrow to communicate with you.This is serious. We are all in danger. We have emergency laws in this country since 24 years. We have torture in prison. They want the media and press to be speakless and speechless, trying to hide all of that. Please help us to reveal it and still keep our Freedom.

"Freedom...Freedom...Freedom"... this was our chant today when we were struggling with the armed soldiers trying to get out of the syndicate tothe streets. We believe that we can do something to our country.

Best wishes

Egypt's Crown Prince: Dad & Mom bought me a country with its people. And bouns gang to recruit Egyptians to work for me.

Mubarak had his son in mind since he came to power. This is an evidence, since more than 16 years ago in 1989. He deceived us all. Why would a son of a president lead an official delegation, 8 years after his dad takes office??

The Arabic story was published in Al-Ahram June 6, 1989 (Read Translation below)

Al-khoweldy Al-Hameedy receives Gamal Hosni Mubarak

Middle East News Agency:Tripoli, June 6, 1989 - Mr. Gamal Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian accompanying delegation that participated in re-operating EgyptAir flights to Libya yesterday visited the Libyan Leader. Moamer Al-Ghadafi at his house in Tripoli.

The Egyptian delegation was also received by Mr. Al-khoweldy Al-Hameedy who is member of the historical leadership and the security official in the general secretariat in Libya.

Tripoli radio quoted Mr. Gamal Mubarak as saying that meetings were cordial, adding that Al-Hameedy is looking forward for full normalization in relations between Egypt and Libya.

The Egyptian delegation returned to Egypt last night." END OF THE FARCE

It is very generous of a parent to give a country with its people as gift to their son. I wish I have the same openhanded dad and mom. Not only that but also a recruited gang of ignorant mercenaries around him who are taking the role of recruiting and brainwashing other Egyptians to make them believe that he is the sole brilliant personality in the history of Egypt. Long live the Crown Prince and his royal family for the despicable disgusting VALUES they are trying to instill in our society.