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Issue no.18 13 September 2012

Ahmed Shafiq’s loss could cost him more than the presidency

A new state ofemergency outlawing the revolution’s tactics is in the works

Two artists collaborate towards spontaneity

In the wake of 9/11, some experts’ support for Egypt’s Christians could be more politics than principle

Two artists Two artists collaborate collaborate towards towards spontaneityspontaneity

LE5

Published by Al-Masry Media Corp

In the wake of 9/11, some experts’ support for Egypt’s 15184

Pakistan’s punishments for blasphemy are in the spotlight

9

3

Salt of the earth

Farmers try to hold their ground

2 News Briefs

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Published by Al-Masry Media Corp

13 September 2012

Cover IllustrationAndeel

A fighting breakfor Al-Qaeda

From military council to prosecution

Mohamed al-Zawahiri, brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, has offered a truce between the group and the US. Zawahiri told Al-Masry Al-Youm Monday that his proposed initiative would last for 10 years, open to renewal, during which time the US would be committed to abstaining from intervening in Muslims’ affairs and to release detainees in return for the group not targeting US and Western interests. He described the initiative as providing room for reconciliation in a proper, non-submissive way, adding that deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden had offered a similar initiative in 2004.■

Mohamed al-Zawahiri Sami Anan

The public prosecutor referred a report filed against former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Anan to the Military Pros-ecution to investigate graft charges. The report against Anan was filed by lawyer Samir Sabry, who said the general had il-legally obtained plots of land at different times, and had used the land to build a number of mansions for himself and his family in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement. The lawyer demanded that Anan be barred from leaving the country. A judicial source told Al-Masry Al-Youm Sunday that the case is taking its legal course in accordance with military trial proce-dures for those in retirement.■

Hamas finds a home in Cairo

Beards in the air

Jihadi threats

Journalists protest

Cairo has agreed to open an office representing the Palestinian fac-tion Hamas, an Egyptian source told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat, saying that both sides agreed to locate the office in the Fifth Settlement in Cairo. The source, who asked not to be named, said Egypt’s approval came after discussions between Egyptian intelligence officials and Hamas leaders. As a result of the discus-sions, a joint security panel has also been formed to manage the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the source said. The source added that the security panel would comprise officials from the Egyptian intelligence, along with Hamas leaders.■

More than 10 flight attendants submitted requests to EgyptAir to grow their beards, Flight Attendants Syndicate Chief Mahmoud Khairy said Tuesday. One flight attendant managed to obtain a court ruling in his favor, he said, adding that flight attendants will seek to implement their demands without resorting to strikes. Similar demands have been made by female flight attendants work-ing in EgyptAir, demanding their right to wear headscarves. Besides attire demands, EgyptAir witnessed Friday a major strike by flight attendants who had economic demands regarding their working conditions.■

The General Intelligence Services warned that a radical jihadist group is planning to launch terrorist attacks against the US and Israeli embassies in Cairo. Tel Aviv had accused the same group, Global Jihad, of perpetrating an attack in Sinai against Egyptian border guards, which left 16 dead on 5 August. Al-Masry Al-Youm obtained a copy of a confidential letter addressed to Major General Samy Sedhom, first assistant interior minister for social security, on 4 September. The letter stated that intelligence notified the ministry that members from the organization in Egypt and Gaza were plan-ning attacks on the two embassies.■

Dozens of reporters, administrative employees, technicians and workers at the state-owned MENA news agency staged a protest Tuesday calling for better salaries. The reporters say their salaries do not line up with rising prices, particularly since some of them re-ceive monthly salaries as low as LE500 after working for nine years at the agency. Shaker Abdel Fattah Gamal Eddin, chairman and editor-in-chief of the agency, said he previously submitted a request to Prime Minister Hesham Qandil to raise the agency’s budget, which has not been raised for 10 years.■

Thousands of protesters gath-ered outside the US Embassy in Cairo Tuesday to protest a film they deemed insulting to Prophet Mohamed. The protesters scaled the embassy walls and pulled down the American flag while flying a black flag with the words, “There is no God but Allah and Mohamed is his messenger” from atop the building. Protesters also spray painted the Islamic declaration of faith on the embassy’s outer wall and chanted against the US ambassador. They said they want the US to make a statement denouncing the film, for the film not to be shown in the US, and for Egyptians involved in the making of the film to have their citizenship revoked. The film was reportedly produced in the US and was scheduled to be screened in certain places in commemoration of the September 11 attacks.■

More than half the Egyptian population would like to see a woman appointed vice president, according to a poll conducted by the Egyptian Cen-ter for Public Opinion Research, which is affiliated with Al-Masry Al-Youm. The poll showed that 55.2 percent of the population supports seeing a woman as vice president. Of those polled, 55.7 percent of men and 54.6 percent of women were in sup-port. In addition, 61.1 percent of urban residents compared to 49.1 percent of rural residents, and 68.2 percent with a college education or higher compared to 48.9 percent with less education, were in support. The poll was conducted over mobile phones and sampled 2,065 citizens aged 18 years and older.■

Nom

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Protesters pull down American flag

Black flags and spray paintWomenfor vice!

Former Freedom and Justice Party MP Nasser Abbas said Monday that his cousin, Abu Bakr Ibrahim Moussa, who joined the Free Syrian Army a month ago, died dur-ing an encounter with Syrian government

forces in the city of Aleppo. Abbas said Moussa worked as a lecturer at the British Council and had formerly participated in relief efforts in Libya during the war against former leader Muammar Qadhafi. On

Saturday, the Turkish Anadolu news agency quoted Bassam al-Dada, the Free Syrian Army’s political adviser, as saying that 20 Egyptians had joined the Syrian opposition forces.■

Egyptian in Free Syrian Army killed

3News13 September 2012

Yesterday’s frontrunner

By Omar Halawa

hmed Sha�q, former presidential frontrunner and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, is back in the headlines. He was referred to

criminal court Tuesday on charges related to facilitating the sale of the Kabreet land, an area overlooking the Great Bi�er Lakes, near the Suez Canal.

Osama al-Saiedy, the investigative judge appointed by the Justice Ministry on the case, told Reuters the accusations include pro�teering, forging o�cial documents and squandering public funds.

While �lled with legal loopholes, the case is also raising questions about being politicized, with Sha�q representing an important opposition pillar to his former adversary in the presidential race, President Mohamed Morsy, and his group, the Mus-lim Brotherhood.

�e history of the case dates back to last May, when Essam Sultan, former MP and vice president of the moderate Islamist Wasat Party, �led a report to former Peo-ple’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, ac-cusing Sha�q of squandering public funds. According to Sultan, the report included o�cial documentation that would prove Sha�q — as head of the Cooperative for Construction and Housing of Air Force Pilots in 1989 — sold 40,000 meters of Kabreet land to Mubarak’s sons at a price lower than that o�ered to other members of the cooperative who acquired the land dur-ing the mid-1980s.

Even though other reports were �led against Sha�q accusing him of corruption during his time as civil aviation minister, this case seems to be heading in a di�erent direction. A�er Katatny referred the case to Public Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mah-moud, Sha�q entered a �erce media war with Sultan in parallel with the �rst round of the presidential election in May.

�is was followed by a period of silence that le� people under the impression that the case was closed and that the accusations were not based on solid evidence.

A�er Sha�q lost the presidential elec-tion and le� the country to visit the United Arab Emirates, the case came back into the spotlight and its legal procedures were ac-celerated. �e investigations ended with the corruption accusation against Sha�q, along with Nabil Shokry, former lieutenant and head of the cooperative at the time the deal was implemented, and three other air force o�cers.

Law experts see in the acceleration of the case an indication that a political factor is at play.

Ahmed Fawzy, human rights lawyer and secretary general of the Social Democratic Party, says it is illegal to refer Sha�q and his former colleagues to a civil court because Article 8 of Military Judiciary Law states that only military prosecution is allowed to investigate corruption accusations against former or current military personnel.

“�e sequence of events in the case, and the fact that the general prosecutor did not refer it to military court, both its investiga-tive and judicial branches, indicate a clear desire on the side of the political leadership to keep it in the civil court to guarantee no sympathy from the military,” argues Fawzy. “Unfortunately, o�cials in Egypt are always held accountable a�er they leave their posi-tions, and corruption is later used to se�le political disputes.”

�e storyIn 1985, the cooperative, a civil associa-tion that members of the same profession form with the state’s approval, bought the Kabreet land. According to its charter, all

current and retired o�cers and their fami-lies are entitled to the privileges o�ered by the cooperative.

Playing its role, which is acquiring state land and selling it to its members with no pro�t, the cooperative justi�ed buying this land because of its proximity to the airport. �e land was formed during the reconstruc-tion of the Suez Canal following its reopen-ing in 1975, when land appeared inside the Great Bi�er Lakes, surrounded by water from three sides.

Shokry, the fourth defendant in the case, says the land was bought from the gover-norate of Suez a�er the Suez Canal Au-thority and the General Authority for Fish Resources Development said they did not need it.

He says 64 members of the coopera-tive acquired lands in 1958. Seventy-three pieces of land were allocated to members between 1985 and 1989; three acquired land in 1987, and four — including Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, the former president’s sons — ac-quired land in 1989.

Con�icting accusationsIn his �rst TV appearance on an Egyptian channel a�er losing the presidential elec-

tion, Sha�q told Dream TV Saturday that Sultan’s allegations that he sold the land to Gamal and Alaa Mubarak at low prices were “absolutely false.”

At a press conference last May, Sultan said he had documents proving that Sha�q sold a total of 40,000 meters to Gamal and Alaa Mubarak in 1993, at a price of 75 pi-asters per meter. Sultan said he discovered, through the High Commi�ee for Land Ap-praisal, which is a�liated with the Agricul-ture Ministry, that the price of a meter at this time was actually LE8.

“I understand that the cooperative allo-cates land to young pilots with an average income, but to do it for the president’s sons and at a cheap price — this is wasting pub-lic funds,” Sultan said.

On the other hand, Yehia Kadry, Sha�q’s lawyer on the case, says that, as the trea-surer of the cooperative at the time the land was bought in 1985, Sha�q handled all the �nancial transactions of the cooperative. Hence, he would have known the coop-erative had signed a contract with the Suez Governorate that year pricing the land at 59 piasters per meter, and that the land was al-located to members at this price.

“�ere is an important point that demon-strates my client’s innocence, which is that there are two kinds of contracts: the alloca-tion contract, which the buyer makes with the cooperative at the time of land acquisi-tion, and the sale contract, which is made when the buyer intends to build,” says Kadry.

Kadry says the price listed in the alloca-tion contract is the preliminary

price, which is 59 piasters — a sum that goes up

in the sale contract when the buyer de-cides to build on the land.

He adds that the Mubarak brothers paid

the di�erence be-

tween the price of 59 piasters per meter in the allocation contract and the LE6 for the 40,000 meters in the sale contract.

During the prosecution’s investigations, Gamal con�rmed he and Alaa paid the dif-ference, in addition to a surplus of LE127, when they made the sales contracts in 1993.

�e Public Funds Investigative Author-ity also accused the defendants of adding 10,000 of the 40,000 meters in question with no legal basis.

Sha�q’s lawyer and Shokry, however, say both were aware of the allocation of the addi-tional 10,000 meters, which were meant for the presidential guard, which was expected to go there when the president visited his sons.

“�e 10,000 meters were included in the payment and we added them to the contract in case there was a need for a building for the presidential guards. �is is a routine proce-dure,” Sha�q said during his TV appearance.

Sha�q’s fate Since last August, Sha�q has been put on the airport surveillance lists, based on a public prosecutor call. Legal experts predict that if he is found guilty, he could serve a jail sen-tence of 10 to 15 years.

Kadry speculates that this might be the reason behind Sha�q staying in the Emirates and that the case would be heard in absentia. He denies reports that the public prosecutor has issued a warrant to Interpol to arrest him and bring him back into the country. Egypt shares an extradition agreement with the Emirates, based on which Sha�q could be ar-rested, returned to Cairo and kept in deten-tion.

But Fawzy doubts this will happen. “�ere needs to be political will for this

scenario to take place. �e Emirates had good ties with Mubarak and hence won’t ex-tradite his associate that easily,” he says.

Fawzy adds that there are indications that Sha�q is in a politically precarious position, with his alleged military backers facing cor-ruption charges themselves.

�is week, a report accusing former Armed Forces chief of sta� Sami Anan of gra� charges was transferred to the military prosecutor by the public prosecutor. Similar-ly, a report on illicit gains by former defense minister and head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Hussein Tantawi was also referred to the military prosecutor.

�e referrals follow Morsy’s decision to send both men to retirement and replace them with a younger rank of o�cers.

“While Anan and Tantawi are being re-ferred to military prosecution, which is the normal path for military o�cers, the devel-opment of Sha�q’s case is indicative of the fact that he is being politically punished, not criminally. His referral to a civil court is in violation of the law,” says Fawzy.■

A

Are corruption charges against Shafiq politically motivated?

While Anan and Tantawi are being referred to military prosecution, which is the normal path for militaryofficers, the development of Shafiq’s case is indicative of the fact that he is being politically punished, not criminally

Shokry, the fourth defendant in the case, says the land was bought from the gover-norate of Suez a�er the Suez Canal Au-thority and the General Authority for Fish Resources Development said they did not

He says 64 members of the coopera-tive acquired lands in 1958. Seventy-three pieces of land were allocated to members between 1985 and 1989; three acquired land in 1987, and four — including Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, the former president’s sons — ac-

In his �rst TV appearance on an Egyptian channel a�er losing the presidential elec-

tion contract is the preliminary price, which is 59 piasters

— a sum that goes up in the sale contract when the buyer de-cides to build on the land.

He adds that the Mubarak brothers paid

the di�erence be-

ruption charges themselves. �is week, a report accusing former

Armed Forces chief of sta� Sami Anan of gra� charges was transferred to the military prosecutor by the public prosecutor. Similar-ly, a report on illicit gains by former defense minister and head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Hussein Tantawi was also referred to the military prosecutor.

�e referrals follow Morsy’s decision to send both men to retirement and replace them with a younger rank of o�cers.

“While Anan and Tantawi are being re-ferred to military prosecution, which is the normal path for military o�cers, the devel-opment of Sha�q’s case is indicative of the fact that he is being politically punished, not criminally. His referral to a civil court is in violation of the law,” says Fawzy.■

Kabreet land overlooking the Great Bi�er Lakes

List of 73 members of the cooperative who bought land

Ahmed Sha�q

4 News13 September 2012

In the case of war, the new law gives the president broader powers: to control publications, evacuate areas and cut down business hours.

State of exceptionA new emergency law is set to be passed by presidential decree

Meanwhile, some political �g-ures openly support the return of a state of emergency, including Tarek al-Malt, Wasat Party political bureau member.

“If the amendments will ensure that the law is only used in criminal cases against convicts and people with criminal records, and not used to limit freedoms and con-duct political arrests, I support the reinstatement of the state of emer-gency now, because of the severe security void and thuggery that we’re witnessing,” says Malt.

Meanwhile, Mekky’s keenness on introducing a law known to be used to curb freedoms, while pro-claiming an anti-corruption bag-gage, is understood as the jurist’s statist identity.

Ashraf El Sherif, political science professor at the American Univer-sity in Cairo, sees it as a typical transition of opposition figure to regime figure adopting the rheto-ric of restoring the prestige of the state.

“There is now an inclination towards grassroots politics and demonstrations while the Muslim Brotherhood are by nature conser-vative and need to put a ceiling on this. So it’s natural that they would give room for the security forces to act,” says Sherif.■

By Heba A�fyhe o�cial state of emer-gency inaugurated by Hos-ni Mubarak became syn-onymous with the political

repression of his rule. Under what was supposed to be a temporary measure, freedom of expression and human-rights were deferred permanently, to a future which nev-er got any closer.

�e state of emergency was �nal-ly li�ed in June by the then-ruling military council, which allowed the state of emergency to expire for the �rst time in 30 years. At the time, it seemed, for all the caveats that a�end any summary of the revolu-tion’s gains, that one of the revolu-tion’s main demands had been met.

�e law, which was �rst an-nounced in Egypt during the 1967 war, was reactivated following Pres-ident Anwar Sadat’s assasination in 1981. Many assumed that it would be abrogated or substantially modi-�ed by Parliament. But now it looks as if a new emergency law, estab-lished solely by presidential decree, may be on the cards.

New Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky, respected for his ba�les for the independence of the judiciary under Mubarak, has proposed an amendment to the Emergency Law in preparation for the reinstate-ment of the state of emergency.

While Mekky and his support-ers justify the move with reference to the continuing security crisis in Egypt, and an increase in “thug-gery,” lawyers and human rights experts reject the proposals, saying these problems can be solved using standard laws. �ey express fears that a renewed state of emergency is detrimental to urgent security sector reform.

On Tuesday, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported about a dra� law “to pro-tect society from dangerous peo-ple”, currently being examined by the Cabinet. �e dra�’s connection with the Emergency Law is un-known, but it is deemed an execp-

tional law. However, its stipulations include giving the Ministry of Inte-rior the right to limit the location of suspects for a period of up to 30 days. Crimes identi�ed under the dra� law include “thuggery,” arms, antiquities and drugs’ dealing, road blocking and money laundering. Under the dra� law, defendants will be tried in exceptional courts, set in the city where the crime took place and using the stipulations of the pe-nal code to set the punishment.

While he sees the new Emergen-cy Law as an improvement on the old, human rights lawyer Ahmed Ragheb is opposed to the passing of the law by the president.

“Technically, the amendments are be�er than the old law but there is no immediate need to pass it now. It’s be�er to pass it through the elected legislative authority. Use of the president’s legislative powers should only be in absolute necessities,” he says.

Unlike the 1958 law, active to date, Mekky’s law di�erentiates between two states of emergency. In the case of a state of internal troubles that endanger the security of the country, a state of emergen-cy is announced, giving the presi-dent the power to order arrests and conduct searches free of the limita-tions of the penal code, and to im-pose a curfew.

In the case of war, the new law gives the president broader pow-ers: to control publications, evacu-ate areas and cut down business hours.

�e new law would limit the state of emergency to six months, only renewable through a popular refer-endum, and allows the announce-ment of the state of emergency in a

limited geographical area. It stipu-lates that those arrested under the Emergency Law are to be tried in regular courts, except in the case of certain speci�ed crimes.

However, the list of exceptions is extensive. �e president may re-fer civilians to a military court for crimes of murder, the�, “thuggery,” obstructing roads or railways, and a�acking buildings protected by the military. Since the early days of the revolution, protestors with economic and political demands have been characterized by politi-cians and courts as “thugs.” Addi-tionally, the obstruction of roads or railways has emerged as an important and powerful tactic for poor Egyptians who have strug-gled to �nd alternative means to assert themselves politically. It also allows the president, in times of war, to determine the crimes to be handled in military courts.

Even though some contend that Mekky’s proposal contains neces-sary modi�cations to the current law, most object to the proposal to pass the law by executive decree, in the absence of Parliament.

A�er a court ruling dismantled Parliament, expected to be re-elected by the end of the year, Pres-ident Mohamed Morsy, who also currently holds legislative power, promised not to use it to pass leg-islation singlehandedly.

Mekky, however, proposed that a commi�ee of judicial �gures be formed to discuss laws, which will then be passed by the president, starting with the Emergen-cy Law.

“�is is unacceptable. Our penal code is enough to stop

crime as long as there are correct practices and the arms of justice are functioning well.All we need is for the police to do their job,” says human rights activist Ghada Shah-bandar. “And what’s more impor-tant is to have the political will to reform, restructure and cleanse the security apparatus.”

She argues that if the demands to reform and restructure the security apparatus corrupted by Mubarak for decades were realized, security would be restored with no need for an emergency law.

Similarly, Mohamed Naeem, a member of the Social Democratic Party, says that granting the police the same privileges that Mubarak gave them under the Emergency Law will hinder the necessary re-forms in the institution.

“�e direct e�ect would be that it will not allow the necessary taming of the security apparatus to operate within the constraints of the law,” says Naeem.

Ragheb also says that the current situation does not justify the impo-sition of the state of emergency. He believes that the rush to reinstate the Emergency Law is a result of pressure from the security services, who are used to operating in an at-mosphere of impunity.

�e lawyers’ syndicate rejected the proposed law at a press confer-ence last �ursday.

“Speaking of an emergency law following a revolution is a danger-ous �rst, unprecedented in any of the world’s revolutions,” claimed Ihab al-Khalk, syndicate board member.

T

act,” says Sherif.■Mekky’s proposal contains neces-sary modi�cations to the current law, most object to the proposal to pass the law by executive decree, in

A�er a court ruling dismantled Parliament, expected to be re-elected by the end of the year, Pres-ident Mohamed Morsy, who also currently holds legislative power, promised not to use it to pass leg-

Mekky, however, proposed that a commi�ee of judicial

�e lawyers’ syndicate rejected the proposed law at a press confer-ence last �ursday.

“Speaking of an emergency law following a revolution is a danger-ous �rst, unprecedented in any of the world’s revolutions,” claimed Ihab al-Khalk, syndicate board member.

Arch

ival

5News13 September 2012

By Jano Charbelrom Alexandria to Aswan, protesting teachers from numerous governor-ates descended upon the Cabinet for a third day of protests on Monday.

Around 2,000 teachers and academic em-ployees embarked on an open-ended protest outside the Cabinet, calling for higher salaries and improved working conditions, among other demands.

�e previous two days were characterized by small localized protests — primarily in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira, and small rallies outside the Ministry of Education in Cairo.

�ese protests were called for by the Inde-pendent Teachers’ Syndicate and the Federa-tion of Egyptian Teachers, along with a host of educational institutions. �e o�cial Teachers Syndicate, up to 1 million strong, has not en-dorsed the protests.

�e independent union activists, however, are calling the protests “the second teachers’ uprising,” in light of last year’s nationwide strike, which marked a landmark in the his-tory of public sector employee unrest, and which they hope to repeat. Teachers and edu-cation employees have threatened to escalate their protests into strikes at the start of this academic year, 16 September, if their long-standing demands are not met. �ese re�ect both economic grievances and political ambi-tions.

�ey include: a �xed salary scale starting with a minimum wage of LE1,200 for cus-todial workers, LE2,000 for administrative employees, and LE3,000 for full time teach-ers; an incremental pay raise scale according to educational degree and years of service; full time contracts for full time work; restructur-ing the Ministry of Education and purging it of corruption; ending the phenomenon of private tutoring; the appointment of teaching graduates in public schools; improved pen-sions and insurance plans; housing for travel-ing teachers; and representation of teachers in bodies that dra� national educational policies, programs, and school curricula.

Teachers and academic employees claim that these demands were the same demands that they put forth last year, to li�le avail.

“What has the Ministry of Education granted us in terms of our demands? Noth-ing,” says Cairo primary school teacher Es-sam al-Sayyed. “�ey only raised our salaries

by LE150 or LE200. �e authorities have not met our demands, especially not our primary demand for a minimum monthly wage of LE3,000.”

Sayyed makes only LE730 (US$121) per month, although he holds a university degree and has been teaching at his public school for the past 15 years.

Yasser Abbas, also from Cairo, says, “I’m a teacher at a public secondary school, and a�er 29 years of service, I make only LE1,229 per month.”

Abbas explains that “poor salaries are what push teach-ers to give private tutoring. During their classes, we �nd that teachers are reluctant to ful�ll their educational duties to their students, be-cause they know that they can make much more mon-ey by giving private lessons a�er their classes.

“We want to end this phe-nomenon of private lessons, as do the student’s parents. �e best way to do so is to raise teachers’ minimum wages, then teachers wouldn’t resort to private tuition, and students would get quality education in the classrooms — not at home,” he concludes.

“Other than private tutoring, some teachers work as taxi cab and tuk tuk drivers a�er their classes just to make ends meet,” Sayyed adds.

Both Sayyed and Abbas are members of the o�cial Teachers Syndicate, yet heeded the call of the independent syndicates to protest. “Our syndicate is a yellow syndicate; it doesn’t represent us or our demands,” says Sayyed. “Our syndicate has sold us out, while the Min-istry of Education is threatening to sack or ar-rest us if we choose to strike.” Two other protesters held an o�cial syndicate banner.

�is week, the Ministry of Education announced that it “supports teachers’ right to pro-test,” but denounced strikes on the basis that they infringe upon students’ right to educa-tion.

Another Cairo public school teacher, Ahmed Moharam, jumps into the conversa-tion. “�e ministry claims that striking will deny students their education,” he says. “Yet if we strike, we will do so for the sake of pro-viding students with a higher quality and stan-

dard of education. Striking shouldn’t be considered a crime or a sel�sh act.”

A few tents were pitched on Qasr al-Aini Street out-side the Cabinet, indicating that this protest may last for several days.

Ibrahim Abdel Latif, a young public school teacher from Monu�ya, exclaims, “I’ve been working full time for the past six years, and I only make LE600. I’m mar-ried and have a child, yet my salary is not enough to meet my own personal needs let alone those of my family. I’ve come here to Cairo to protest out of desperation.”

Hundreds of teachers from the governorates of

Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Port Said, Beheira, Aswan, Sharqiya, Gharbiya, and Ismailia have reportedly threatened to escalate their protests into a strike if their demands are not met before 17 September. �e real likelihood

of a mass strike is unclear, however. �ere have

been no media reports of strike threats from the remaining 17 governorates.

Abdel Latif claims that teachers were con-ducting protest rallies outside the Ministry of Education’s bureau in the city of Shebin al-Kom in Monu�ya on Monday. But he believes that strikes are unlikely to break out in the tra-ditionally quiescent governorate.

According to Iman al-Bawab, an administra-tive employee at a public school in the city of Mahalla, “I’ve been employed by the Ministry [of Education] for the past 25 years, and I still make just LE600 per month.”

Bawab points out that conditions in her school, and others in Mahalla, are not condu-cive to a quality education. “We have only one teacher to every 50 or 55 students,” she says.

Classrooms are overcrowded and students are crammed onto their benches. Bawab adds that conditions are even worse in other schools where “there may be just one teacher to every 70 or more students, some of whom have to sit on the ground due to the lack of benches.”

Speaking from a stage erected across from the Cabinet building, a bearded teacher with a trimmed mustache addresses the crowd of protesting teachers. “[President Mohamed] Morsy is originally a professor and an edu-cation specialist, thus he should take our de-mands seriously and also uphold our basic rights,” he proclaims.

Hearing this, Bawab screams in reply: “Morsy cares only about his throne and the rights of the [Muslim] Brotherhood.”

Another teacher addresses the audience from the wooden stage. “We teachers are entrusted with manufacturing Egypt’s most valuable product — the human mind,” he shouts. “Help us, so that we can help these young minds who are Egypt’s future.”

Habiba Salama, a public school teacher in the town of Hihya in Sharqiya Governorate speaks of the exploitative conditions associ-ated with employing full time teachers on part time contracts. “I’ve been employed at my school for over a year now, yet they pay me only LE82.25 monthly. I was supposed to have signed a full time contract a�er my �rst six months at the job, but the school admin-istration has failed to provide it,” Salama says.

“�is salary is like a bad joke. I live in Cairo and I have three children to support. I pay around LE25 each day in transportation just to go to work and back home. I’m indebted because I work.”■

School’s out

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Jano

Cha

rbel

My salary is not enough to meet my own personal needs, let alone those of myfamily. I’ve come here to Cairo to protest out of desperation

Teachers say they’re striking for higher wages and better education for all

“Other than private tutoring, some teachers work as taxi cab and tuk tuk drivers a�er their classes just to make ends meet,” Sayyed adds.

Both Sayyed and Abbas are members of the o�cial Teachers Syndicate, yet heeded the call of the independent syndicates to protest. “Our syndicate is a yellow syndicate; it doesn’t represent us or our demands,” says Sayyed. “Our syndicate has sold us out, while the Min-istry of Education is threatening to sack or ar-rest us if we choose to strike.” Two other protesters held an o�cial syndicate banner.

�is week, the Ministry of Education announced that it “supports teachers’ right to pro-test,” but denounced strikes on the basis that they infringe upon students’ right to educa-

of a mass strike is unclear, however. �ere have

6 News13 September 2012

Tales of the South

By Mai Shams El-Dinanan Solayman’s decision to resign from her work as a full-time journalist in 2010 to think of her

own project was not an easy one. It was preceded by years of study and preparation, prompted by a longing for a new media platform — one borne out of the margins.

Mandara Online is now turn-ing into a reality as an online news portal dedicated to 11 governorates in Upper Egypt, an initiative con-ceived in response to media central-ization in Cairo. �e portal, found at mandaraonline.com, strives to present a new vision for the long- neglected part of the country, in which more than 35 percent of the population live.

“Every year, there is at least one incident of sectarian strife, mostly in Upper Egypt. Media in Cairo usu-ally shed light on the incident and its negative aspects, and then draw a stereotypical image about Upper Egypt,” Solayman tells Egypt Inde-pendent. “But did this reporter stay for the rest of the year, trying to un-derstand why such issues happen? Do they understand the problems of the people before blaming them? Upper Egypt’s problems are ticking bombs.”

Mandara, meaning guesthouse in Upper Egyptian dialect, will launch shortly in six Upper Egyptian gover-norates in the �rst stage.

�e main editorial team will be based in Cairo in the �rst stage and will receive news stories and fea-tures from journalists reporting on the ground in Upper Egyptian gov-ernorates. �is central, Cairo-based management could be a limitation for the project’s ambitions, a ma�er its creators are aware of.

“As the project picks up, we hope that we will have a bigger edito-rial team with a newsroom in ev-ery governorate, so that the work will be less centralized,” Solayman says, adding that her work as editor-in-chief would be supported by a managing editor who is more expe-rienced in Upper Egyptian culture.

Flawed coverageMarginalization was Solayman’s main concern from the outset. She examined the possibilities of focusing her project either on Up-per Egypt or Sinai, as the two most isolated geographical spots in the country. But she placed her bid on Upper Egypt because of the huge population living there and the dif-�culty of operating inside Sinai.

In print media, coverage of local news is limited to a small section in which news items about the gover-norates are listed next to each other, usually focusing on the achieve-ments of governors appointed by the president, rather than elected. Only at times of crisis or violence do governorates get a li�le more media space.

State TV dedicates a few channels across the country to local coverage, but they are o�en accused of not ful�lling non-Cairo residents’ needs for media platforms that genuinely represent them.

“Before the revolution, state-owned media institutionalized the idea of media centralization. Gover-norate news usually means news of the governor and what he achieved,”

Mahmoud al-Desouky, an inde-pendent journalist working in the southern governorate of Qena, tells Egypt Independent.

Desouky thinks local communi-ties have never had the chance to voice their concerns. But with the rise of privately owned media — and the extensive use of social me-dia, following the revolution — lo-cal reporters have found their way.

“Upper Egypt became the epi-center of many events, and more local journalists found the chance to challenge media centralization and instantly report on the news with a local perspective, mostly to inde-pendent newspapers like El Badil and Al-Masry Al-Youm,” he says.

A well-traveled entrepreneur, So-layman understands how local me-dia is critical to media development outside of Egypt.

“When I traveled abroad and vis-ited several media outlets, I discov-ered that we lack strong local media. Local media in many countries is the core of journalism. Journalists usually start their careers as corre-spondents to their own local media outlets in small cities before they advance in their careers,” Solayman says.

Initiatives like Solayman’s aside, prominent journalist Yasser al-Zayat thinks decentralization should hap-pen on the decision-making level as well.

“Decision making in Egypt is highly centralized in Cairo, which a�ects the �ow of information from Cairo to other governorates. Such a top-down �ow of news will make readers in other governorates trust the central media outlet more than the local one,” he says.

Zayat argues that local media will only become stronger when deci-sion making is decentralized.

“In a country like the US, local newspapers enjoy higher distribu-tion rates than �e New York Times and the Washington Post because decisions are made locally,” he says.

Fresh blood�e new media platform is currently on the lookout for fresh journalism graduates. “I want to focus on fresh graduates who can start their career in a small place and grow with it,” Solayman says.

She stays clear of hiring profes-sional journalists, while keeping bloggers and citizen journalists for social media.

For her, hiring fresh graduates from Upper Egypt is a way to re-spond to the problem of having no local employment opportunities in the profession.

Having graduated from journalism school at Cairo University, Solayman always

found her Upper Egyptian col-leagues having to leave their gover-norates and stay in Cairo to �nd a proper job in news.

“Why should they leave their hometowns to work in another city? Isn’t the state obliged to pro-vide them with job opportunities in their hometowns? Others return to their governorates and work in places that don’t match their spe-cializations. Why do they have to come to Cairo in the �rst place to study journalism?” Solayman won-ders.

In Upper Egypt, there is only one journalism department in the Min-ya University Faculty of Arts, and it is not as academically renowned as the one at Cairo University.

Solayman is not concerned about what form of media she is present-ing so long as it is focused and sensi-tive to Upper Egyptian culture. For her, form aside, Upper Egyptians will be a�racted to any media spe-ci�cally tailored for them.

“�ey say print media is about to turn extinct. I cannot say this is true of Upper Egypt. If people �nd print media or any other type spe-ci�cally dedicated for them, if they see a platform directly addressing their concerns, they will support it,” she says.

However, the chances of an online media platform in an area marred with poverty and illiteracy raise some concerns.

Ideology and power politics are also elements that Solayman is con-

sciously staying away from, even though

they have been critical play-

ers in me-

dia institutions. Her focus is on a local approach toward the culture of Upper Egyptian society, its prob-lems and its aspirations.

Zayat thinks that focusing on the direct problems of the people and their simple concerns away from politics will establish stronger con-nections and build more credibility and trust between audiences and new media outlets.

Critical challengesBesides �ghting its grand ba�le against centralized narratives, Man-dara is facing its own ba�le to exist, which entails state bureaucracy and security checks.

�e media platform won a grant from the International Press Insti-tute in 2012 as an innovative media project, among other winning proj-ects initiated by �e Guardian, the AFP Foundation, and Media Trust in the UK. But in Egypt, the image was never as bright.

Mandara, registered as a nonpro�t organization in order to be able to receive grants, faced di�culties in ge�ing the necessary government approvals to receive its awarded �-nancial support. �e issue is in tan-dem with increasing wariness from the state toward NGOs receiving foreign funding.

Solayman tells Egypt Indepen-dent that the Social A�airs and In-surance Ministry has to investigate the nature of the grant before ap-proving it, while “security checks by the national security apparatus do not acknowledge time limitations.”

She says national security has been investigating the initiative owners and the sources of the grant given to them.

“In the circumstances Egypt is in, I fully understand the need to monitor any foreign funding for ac-tivities, but just like I’m appreciating the circumstances, authorities need to respect the law and work within time limitations,” she says.

�e project launch was delayed twice because of the inability to re-ceive the grant on time, which has made Solayman think of other al-ternatives, like resorting to private sponsorships.

But such an alternative seems to be another dilemma. Solayman says the biggest challenge is to choose which investors should be addressed because certain business tycoons may gear the new initiative toward their own interests.

“A new media platform in Upper Egypt is a�ractive for many, but we do not want our project to be politi-cized, as we have seen happen with other media outlets owned by busi-ness tycoons,” she says.

For Solayman, in a context where the two prevailing business models for media ownership in Egypt are either state-owned or business-owned, both negatively a�ect edito-rial policies.

But depending on grants raises a concern of sustainability, for which Solayman has a response.

“We will make our business model sustainable through online ads and licensing some of the con-tent to keep the business going,” she says.

Meanwhile, Mandara has already occupied its space online with a catchy, cartoon-based home page design and a mo�o that reads, “Tales of the South.”■

New media platform Mandara challenges Cairo-centric coverage

H

Arc

hiva

l

Before the revolution,state-owned mediainstitutionalized the idea of media centralization.Governorate news usually means news of the governor and what he achieved

Besides fighting its grand battle against centralized narratives, Mandara is facing its own battle to exist, which entails statebureaucracy andsecurity checks

Having graduated from journalism school at Cairo University, Solayman always

sciously staying away from, even though

they have been critical play-

ers in me-

Upper Egypt has for long su�ered �om media neglect

7News13 September 2012

Neighbours at warA month after Christian families fled Dahshur, tensions remain

By Omar HalawaAHSHUR — It could be a Delta village like any other. Tuk tuks, more numerous than cars, drive down rutted dirt roads of fertile

soil. Cattle graze on every street corner as little children play hide-and-seek. Central Security conscripts sit on the sidewalks smoking and chatting with passers-by; local residents, mostly women, shop for food and haggle for lower prices.

At first glance, the scene is calm and en-tirely ordinary. But this village was the scene of sectarian clashes just six weeks ago that left one dead and resulted in the flight of the Christian community.

On one low-built street, Eid Tawfiq, 39, a resident of the village, stood outside his clothing shop, hanging up new wares from a nearby factory.

“Things started to settle by the end of last month. As residents of the village who are not connected to either party of the prob-lem, we only want peace so that our trade gets to be revived again,” says Tawfiq.

On 27 July, a fight erupted between a Christian clothing presser named Hany Youssef and Muslim residents of the poor vil-lage after Youssef burned the shirt of a Mus-lim resident while ironing it. A Muslim man, Moaz Hasaballah, died after intervening to break up the fight, when Youssef hurled a Molotov cocktail, killing him by mistake.

Violence broke out after the incident and Muslim residents attempted to storm Mar Girgis Church, the only church in the Mus-lim-majority village. When the residents learned of Hasaballah’s death on 31 July, the 20 large Christian families — which are di-vided into 120 smaller families — decided to abandon the village before clashes broke out between security forces and residents.

The clashes led to 16 people being in-jured, including 10 policemen. Residents also broke into Christian homes and burned some of their shops and stores, as news of the death spread.

An uneasy peaceCentral Security Forces maintain a strong presence in Dahshur, especially around the church. The village seems quiet, but many Christian residents, most of whom returned to the village two weeks after the incident, still regard Muslims with suspicion.

Ibrahim Mansy, the village omda, or lead-ing local official, says he receives daily com-plaints from Christian residents who say Muslims are mistreating them.

“Every day, I receive a Christian who com-plains that a Muslim hit him on purpose with his bike or verbally harassed him on the market. All of that reflects how tense the sit-uation is. Nevertheless, there are no fights,” Mansy says. “But complaints of that kind reach security authorities, and so the Central Security Forces have not left the city for fears that the violence might renew.”

He says that, at the end of last week, a rumor circulated that some Muslims were planning a march to call for a swift trial for those who killed Hasaballah, and soon after Central Security Forces were dispatched.

Ahmed Samy, 17, says he saw Hasaballah’s aunt in the market quarreling with some Christian women.

Tawfiq, who owns a small clothing store, says the church’s priest is not seen as often as he used to be.

Priest Takla was aware that Youssef and some people close to him had caused ten-sions in the past, by not respecting Ramadan traditions, for instance, Tawfiq says.

Takla, speaking by phone with Egypt Inde-pendent, explains that he is spending time in Cairo with his wife, who is undergoing medi-cal examinations.

“But I assure you that most of the Christian

families have returned after restoring their homes,” he says.

Blood moneyOne of the most controversial issues in the village is the financial compensation Ha-saballah’s family was supposed to get, ac-cording to residents, and the compensation that Christian families in fact received. But residents disagree, in particular, over how far Hasaballah’s family has been compensated.

“Hasaballah’s family got LE250,000 last week from Giza Governorate, and another LE1 million will be allocated to the village to build a charity project to create jobs for vil-lage residents,” Samy claims.

Mansy, meanwhile, says Hasaballah’s fam-ily did not get any financial compensation but confirmed that LE1 million had been al-located to the village to start a charity project under the victim’s name.

Takla, however, voices his complaint about the compensation that the Christian families got, saying LE10,000 for each family is not enough to restore the damaged homes.

“Some will not be able to return if the com-pensation is not raised. Some of the homes will require LE50,000 to be restored,” he says.

The Public Prosecution detained Youssef and other members of his family pending investigations on charges of manslaughter, as well as 10 Muslims implicated in the ensuing violence on charges of “theft and assault on authorities.”

Village residents say Hasaballah’s family will not drop the case, adding that the gov-ernor and security leaders only just managed to persuade them not to take revenge. Chris-tian families, on the other hand, also reject dropping the case against the Muslims who were arrested on charges of burglarizing their homes.

Adel Aziz, a Christian resident, is one of those unwilling to drop the case, even though his own home was not damaged in the violence. The state, he notes, was still pursuing its case against those who had at-tacked police officers during the violence.

“The state will not give up on its right, so why do you want the Copts to?” he says.

The government respondsThere is nothing new in the state’s approach toward the sectarian violence in Dahshur, which is the sixth outbreak since the begin-ning of the revolution last year. Senior offi-cials mediate between the parties to dissuade future outbreaks of violence.

The superficial solution is money.A few days after the incident, the presi-

dent’s office formed “an appeasement coun-cil” to examine the causes of the conflict and address its repercussions. The council, which was largely ignored by the media, was com-posed of five Muslims and five Copts.

Mansy says the case is now in the hands of the head of the appeasement council, Sayed Ayyad, a leader of the Freedom and Justice Party in Giza.

Ayyad was born in the village, even though he does not live there at present. Mansy de-scribes him as the chief Brotherhood leader in the area.

Ayyad tells Egypt Independent that the president’s office assigned him to take care of the problem. He thinks a charity project will restore the spirit of harmony in the village; an opinion that largely echoes those voiced by former National Democratic Party lead-ers and other former regime figures when similar incidents happened.

“We have yet to settle on an idea for the project, but we are leaning toward beginning with a clinic for the village, and then we will decide what to do with the rest of the LE1 million,” says Ayyad.

Mansy had proposed holding a popular rally that would bring together Al-Azhar and Coptic Orthodox Church leaders to raise residents’ awareness and calm tensions.

But Ayyad rejected the idea altogether, saying that “the state should decide how to address such issues because it is the most ca-pable, possesses the best vision and listens to the voice of reason.”

“The omda wants media hype. It is mean-ingless to organize a rally after we’ve taken strides to solve the problem. Hasaballah’s father has rejected revenge, the compensa-tion has been paid out and the village resi-dents are already making use of it,” he says. But back at the clothing shop, Tawfiq was more cynical.

“I believe the reason why things are quiet is that the victim’s family is not one of the big families in the village,” he says. “They have little influence to change the course of events or escalate things.”■

D

The village seems quiet, but manyChristian residents, most of whom returned two weeks after the incident, still regard Muslims with suspicion

Every day, I receive a Christian who complains that a Muslim hit him or verbally harassed him. All of that reflects how tense the situation is

Tare

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Heightened security in Dahshur after sectarian clashes six weeks ago left one dead

Police maintain a strong presence in the village to restore calm

8 World Briefs13 September 2012

Protests in the West BankProtests against Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad continued for a week and showed little sign of abat-ing as Egypt Independent went to press Wednesday. Protests, strikes and road blocks involving hundreds of people took place in several West Bank cities, includ-ing Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron. Observers say the protests are backed by President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah and are, in part, an expression of a schism at the top of Palestinian politics. On Wednesday last week, Abbas dubbed the protests “the Palestinian spring.” Many slogans and chants have criticized Fayyad, although protests have also focused on economic woes, including fuel and bread prices, and unemployment, which stands at about 20 percent in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority, which is financially dependent on external donors, is having trouble pay-ing the salaries of public employees in a timely manner.■

SMS hackHackers infiltrated the Qatari satel-lite channel Al Jazeera’s SMS news service before sending out a message that said the Qatari emir had been killed in an assassination attempt in the royal court. The Syrian Electron-ic Army, which supports the regime of Bashar al-Assad, claimed responsi-bility, the Associated Press reported.

The hacking was likely triggered by the Qatari government’s support for rebels fighting Assad’s regime. Another text message said the emir’s wife, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Missned, had been wounded in the attack. Last week, pro-Assad hackers posted a statement on the channel’s website.■

Mahmoud Abbas

11 years since the twin towers’ attack took place

Americans marked the 11th anniver-sary of the September 11 attacks, when nearly 3,000 people died after 19 Is-lamic militants from Al-Qaeda crashed commercial jets they had hijacked. Speaking from the Pentagon, where 184 people died, US President Barack Obama said the victims would be re-membered “no matter how many years pass,” Reuters reported. The ceremony followed a moment of silence on the White House’s south lawn attended by Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. At the former site of the World Trade Center, where two airliners crashed into each of the two main towers at the site, New York Mayor Mike Bloom-berg, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gathered after they agreed on the terms of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which will be constructed at the site. The attacks killed 2,983 people at the Pentagon, World Trade Center and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where 40 passengers fought against the hijack-ers, leading the plane to crash 80 miles outside of Pittsburgh.■

September 11anniversary

A large majority of lawmakers in Somalia voted for Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in presidential elections Monday, in the first poll of its kind in years, Reuters reported. Celebratory gunfire erupted across the capital, Mogadishu, upon announcment of the news. Mohamud was one of four can-didates that made it to the second round of voting, competing against incumbent pres-ident Sheikh Sharif Ahmed after the other two dropped out. He was able to secure two-thirds of the vote, which prevented the vote from going to a third round. Mem-bers of parliament voted behind a curtain

in an election broadcast live on TV, and before foreign envoys and Somali men and women. Fears that the election would be rigged were abound in the country, which is consistently ranked among the world’s failing states since the central govern-ment fell in 1991. The capital has slowly rebuilt itself from ruins caused by years of battle between Al-Shabab militants linked to Al-Qaeda and African Union soldiers. Militants still control large portions of southern Somalia and pirates have wreaked havoc on international shipping routes off Somali shores.■

A new Somali president

Lebanon raidThe Lebanese army said it freed four Syr-ians who were being held captive by a Shia clan Tuesday after it kidnapped dozens last month, Reuters reported. The Mekdad clan, which had kidnapped more than 20 Syrian men as well as a Turkish business-man in Beirut, released all of its hostages except for four Syrians and the business-man. The Lebanese army raided the area where the hostages were being kept, located in the southern suburbs of the capital city controlled by the militant group, Hizbullah, which had been accused of tolerating the kidnappings. Typically, state actions in the suburbs require notification of permission

from the militant group. In a statement, the army said it was “intent on continuing its raids and imposing the rule of law.” The four Syrians who were freed told the Leba-nese news channel MTV that they were tortured, and forced to confess that they were members of the Free Syrian Army on the pan-Arab channel Al-Maydeen, which is based in Beirut. The head of news for the channel — which has been characterized as pro-Assad — said its correspondent was taken to the site blindfolded, allowed to film for only three minutes without asking ques-tions, and was not complicit in any forced confession.■

Somalians now have a new presidentA

rchi

val

Barack Obama

International supervision of an independent Kosovo formally ended Monday, 13 years after the country unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. Dutch diplomat Pieter Feith, who is the highest-ranking diplomat in Kosovo, told a press conference in Albania that the International Steering Group decided to end various forms of su-pervision, AFP reported. The group, which is made up of 23 European Union countries, Turkey and the US, decided in July that Kosovo would gain “full sovereignty.” Prime Minister Hashim Thaci called the end of supervision a “universal turnaround” for Kosovo while US President Barack Obama called it a “historic milestone.” Obama said the country “has made significant progress in solidifying the gains of independence and in building the institutions of a modern, multiethnic, inclusive and democratic state.” A NATO bombing campaign forced Serbian troops out of the then-Serbian province in 1999. The alliance’s peacekeeping force, KFOR, will stay in the country.■

Kosovo watch ends

Iraqi VP ‘safe’in Turkey

Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations and Arab League peace envoy, arrived in Cairo Monday to begin his Syria peace mission by meeting with Egyptian and Arab League politicians. He replaces previous UN envoy Kofi Annan, who quit the post in August over divisions within the UN Security Coun-cil and the lack of any obvious strategy to halt the violence on the ground. “International division means support for proxy agendas and the fueling of violent competi-tion on the ground,” Annan wrote in an article for the Financial Times. Brahimi, according to AFP, has proclaimed himself “scared” of his task and described the blood-shed and destruction in Syria as “staggering” and “catastrophic.” Meanwhile, fighting continued across Syria. In Aleppo, Free Syr-ian Army fighters were pushed back by regime troops, according to a source speaking to AFP. UN figures place the number of dead in the Syrian conflict at around 20,000, and the number of Syrian refugees marooned in neighbor-ing countries at 235,000. Other estimates are higher.■

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a press conference Tuesday he would not hand over the former vice president of Iraq to authorities in his home country, Reuters reported. Tareq al-Hashemi is accused of running death squads and was sentenced to death by hanging Sunday. “We will be willing to host Mr. Hashemi as long as he wants, and we will not hand him over,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara, Turkey’s capital. Hashemi is a Sunni politi-cian and was a strong critic of Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He fled Iraq after a warrant for his arrest was issued, which increased sectar-ian tensions in the country. “There is no truth in the accusations against him,” Erdogan said. “It is out of the question for him to be involved in such acts.”■

Lakhdar Brahimi

Tareq al-Hashemi

New envoy to Syria

9World13 September 2012

The pattern of a case is fairly standard. A person only needsto make the allegation and doesn’t require any proof:repeating the evidence would constitute blasphemy in itself

Pakistan’s minorities have long been persecuted under the blasphemy law, and even those who have been cleared of such charges, like Rimsha, have often gone into hiding or been killed

Gojra, located in Punjab province, has had flares of sectarian violence

A Christian pastor holds a desecrated cross

By Saba ImtiazARACHI, Pakistan — A young girl dressed in a green T-shirt and brown pants stepped out of the armed mili-tary vehicle, her face hidden. As cam-

eramen scrambled around trying to get a shot and police tried to clear the way, a man ran with the girl to a whirring helicopter, the wind flap-ping the sheet hiding her features from view.

He helped her into the helicopter, followed by a woman covered from head to toe. For a moment, the girl seated in the helicopter turned around, confusion palpable on her face. The camera zoomed in. It was the first sighting of a girl who has made headlines worldwide.

The scenes, broadcast on national televi-sion on 8 September, were of Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl from the outskirts of Islamabad who is barely 14 and reportedly has Down’s syndrome. She had been released from jail after being granted bail on blasphemy charges.

Rimsha was accused by a cleric of having burned pages of a religious text, but, after the case garnered international attention, a junior cleric came forward to reveal that false evidence had been planted on the girl by her accuser.

Pakistan’s minorities have long been per-secuted under the blasphemy laws, and even those who have been cleared of such charges, like Rimsha, have often gone into hiding or been killed.

The Emmanuels’ house in the town of Gojra in Punjab province still stands. But no one lives there, the doors are sealed and the exterior is charred. The Emmanuels were accused of writ-ing a “blasphemous” pamphlet and shot dead in July 2010 as they left a court hearing.

A year before the Emmanuels were killed, their house was set on fire as part of an orga-nized campaign against Gojra’s Christian com-munity, as revenge for an alleged act of blas-phemy in a nearby village. Eight Christians were killed, a church was desecrated and scores of houses were burned down. The Christian community eventually gave up on prosecuting those behind the carnage for the sake of main-taining peace, but there is still a bitter sense of resentment.

After Rimsha was accused, fear spread through the Christian community of the area in which she lived, and its members fled to avoid a repeat of the retribution in Gojra.

But in Pakistan, the politics of blasphemy are far more than just a sectarian fault line. They are a tool by which agendas - personal, political and sometimes commercial - are advanced.

A brief history of blasphemyThe blasphemy law is part of Pakistan’s penal code, which is largely an adaptation of the law introduced to the Indian subcontinent under British rule in 1862. The law includes “offenses against religion,” but the vague language leaves it open to interpretation. These comprise “de-filing a place of worship,” “deliberate and mali-cious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” and using derogatory words.

Lord Macaulay, who oversaw the drafting of the law, told the British parliament, “I am not a Mussalman; but if I were a judge in India, I should have no scruple about punishing a Christian who should pollute a mosque.”

Separate laws deal with Ahmadis, a sect that was excommunicated from Islam through the constitution in 1974, making it illegal for them to identify themselves as Muslims or use Is-lamic terms. The death penalty was tacked onto different clauses in 1982 and 1986.

The politicization of the blasphemy laws stem from the legislation pertaining to Ahmadis and finds its roots in the societal discord following Pakistan’s creation.

The Majlis-e-Ahrar group, which had op-posed the creation of Pakistan, found a new goal after its creation: to excommunicate Ahmadis from Islam. Following independence, Ahmadis were influential and held key positions in the government, bureaucracy and military.

The country’s first foreign minister was an Ahmadi, and Majlis-e-Ahrar’s opposition to

him stoked riots in Pakistan in 1953. In 1974, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a politically weakened prime minister looking to gain the support of conservative clerics, legally excommunicated Ahmadis.

That step paved the way for various sects to look to the government to enact similar legis-lation. A demand of the banned militant or-ganization Sipah-e-Sahaba was to have Shias excommunicated from Islam through the con-stitution. Sipah-e-Sahaba has pockets of sup-port in constituencies in the southern area of Punjab, where local politicians rely on it to help rally voters. This pattern is replicated in several other areas of the country.

Successive governments have used religious groups to support political goals. The military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, who ruled from 1977 to 1988, focused on propping up Deobandi groups to counter what it perceived to be the post-revolution influence of Iran and Shia groups. General Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a military coup in 1999, worked with an alliance of religious-political parties to gain support.

A 2008 US Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks noted that a Pakistani cabinet mem-ber “spoke in favor of ensuring that the laws are not misapplied to punish particular people, but said totally striking the law would be too con-troversial for any government to accomplish.”

Now the blasphemy law is a convenient tool for those looking to garner support from the forces of state-controlled and informal vio-lence. From property and business disputes to personal arguments, accusing someone of blas-phemy inevitably means that the state will sup-port the accuser and charge the other person.

The pattern of violenceThe pattern of a case is fairly standard. A person only needs to make the allegation and doesn’t require any proof: repeating the “evidence”

would constitute blasphemy in itself. Accusers amass a crowd by riling it up, often using the support of religious parties or mosque prayer leaders; they try to beat up the person, if not kill them. The police are forced to register a case.

“Blasphemy cases are usually registered be-cause of pressure,” says Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, Rimsha’s lawyer.

If the accused survive, they are sent to jail — but even at trial, proof is rarely presented.

Just a month before Rimsha was accused of committing blasphemy, a man was lynched in Punjab on suspicion of burning the Quran. Ac-cording to Amnesty International’s account, a thousand-strong mob dragged the man from the police station, beat him to death and then burned his body.

In the prosperous city of Sialkot in Punjab, a Christian bookseller was similarly accused of committing blasphemy in 2011, allegedly by asking his employees to burn pages of the Quran.

But the allegations came from the bookseller’s former business partner’s son, a Muslim, who was unhappy at how the former partners had ne-gotiated their split. He managed to gather a mob and forced the bookseller’s family to flee.

Fortunately for the bookseller, cooler heads prevailed. Elders sat down with the accuser and asked him if he had actually witnessed the act and how he could accuse someone who had a long business relationship with his family.

The cleric that accused Rimsha, however, suc-ceeded in his particular goal: to force the Chris-tian community to leave the area, although some families reportedly began returning after court proceedings begun. Chaudhry offers an explanation — when a Muslim is accused of blasphemy, the allegations are always against an individual. When a Christian is accused, the entire community is at risk.

Some offenses under the blasphemy law are punishable by death, and extrajudicial murders of those accused are commonplace. In 2010, 32 people were killed after being accused of blasphemy. According to a 2010 report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, nearly 1,000 cases of blasphemy have been registered in the country since 1986. Of those, 476 were against Muslims, 479 against Ahmadis and 180 against Christians.

The politics of blasphemySuch accusations have also been used to settle political scores. The former interior minister for the province of Sindh was accused of commit-ting blasphemy by a member of a rival political party, who the minister had criticized publicly. A blasphemy case was also registered against former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1993 for making “derogatory remarks” against Prophet Mohamed.

In January 2011, Punjab’s governor was as-sassinated by a member of his security squad who opposed the governor’s criticism of the misuse of the blasphemy law. Two months later, Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti — who had made his name as a promi-nent Christian activist and also opposed the misuse of the law — was assassinated outside his house.

An attempt to introduce a bill comprising re-forms to the blasphemy law in the lower house of parliament was never taken forward, and the legislator who drafted the legislation was openly threatened in rallies. After the assassina-tions of the governor and Bhatti, she kept a low profile.

TransitonThe revelation that Rimsha was set up, her lawyer says, contributed to her securing bail on 7 September against surety equivalent to US$10,500. The government, Chaudhry says, has promised to provide security to Rimsha and her family.

The case against her could take months if it isn’t dismissed out of hand, since a charge sheet still needs to be submitted, following which a trial date will be set. But for now, for her own safety, her current location is a close-ly guarded secret.■

In the name of the LordThe politics of blasphemy in Pakistan

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10 Economy13 September 2012

By Sherif Zaazaa

li Mazen, a day laborer from Fay-oum, barely makes enough in Cai-ro to buy food for his family back home. He can’t imagine how he

would cope if basic food prices were to rise.“�e money I make now barely covers

my own expenses. I wait for weeks to gather enough money to go home,” he tells Egypt Independent. “I don’t know what to tell my children anymore.”

But Mazen and others like him could face a steep rise in prices if the current economic problems worsen. Economists warn that a food crisis could take place within months if several domestic and international factors don’t improve signi�cantly.

Egypt is in a precarious situation, being heavily dependent on food imports. For-mer Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza, in a speech before the Food Security Confer-ence in 2010, said Egypt imports 40 percent of its total food and 60 percent of its wheat.

�e 2012 World Bank Global Monitor-ing Report warned that North African and Middle Eastern countries were seriously behind on their Millennium Development Goals of providing a�ordable and nutritious food to the poor. People in the region re-main susceptible to international food price �uctuations due to governments’ reliance on food imports, the report says.

“Progress toward halving the proportion of people who su�er from hunger is signi�-cantly lagging in the Middle East and North Africa,” the bank says. “In times of high food prices, the double burden of malnutrition and chronic disease increases, and obesity and undernutrition may coexist within the same household and the same person.”

One of the indicators of an imminent food crisis is the devaluation that seems to be in the country’s near future. Having burned through its foreign reserves to keep the cur-rency’s value high at a rate that cannot be sustainable for more than a few months lon-ger, the government has li�le choice but to devalue or keep racking up debt.

Depreciation, most experts say, is more likely — and because of higher import prices, that would probably cause in�ation across the board.

But the government also needs the for-eign currency to purchase the country’s badly needed food imports, and they are enough to last just a few months. Foreign reserves stood at US$15.1 billion in August a�er currency injections from neighbors Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to the Central Bank of Egypt.

“With the drop in tourism and invest-ments, the bare monthly minimum re-quired to cover Egypt’s needs are $2 billion a month,” says Alexandre Starker, a gov-ernance adviser and economic consultant who specializes in Egypt. He says that if Egypt keeps spending the reserves at the current rate, consumers could wake up to skyrocketing food prices in a few months.

�ese problems could be compounded by a shortage in US and Russian corn pro-duction; the decrease in supply within the coming months is likely to push prices for all global grains higher, including wheat — of which Egypt is the world’s largest im-porter.

A planned decrease of 22 percent in en-ergy subsidies marked in the 2012/13 bud-get could also raise prices of most consumer goods, including food.

“On a macroeconomic level, a rise in energy prices would deter foreign invest-ments,” says Starker. “Further, production capacities would decrease because of fac-tories’ inability to accommodate increasing costs.” �e consequences could be serious unemployment and possible social un-rest, he says.

In 1973, a�er the global increase in commodity prices, the subsidy system became a �xture of

“On a macroeconomic level, a rise in energy prices would deter foreign invest-ments,” says Starker. “Further, production capacities would decrease because of fac-tories’ inability to accommodate increasing costs.” �e consequences could be serious unemployment and possible social un-

In 1973, a�er the global increase in commodity prices, the subsidy system became a �xture of

Egyptian policy — a measure to keep social and political stability.

Leaders have tried to li� it in the past, but with li�le success. In 1977, riots ensued af-ter former President Anwar Sadat a�empt-ed to eliminate �our, rice and cooking oil subsidies.

It is also internationally recognized that cheap bread for Egyptians means more re-gional stability. Saudi Arabia and Qatar con-tributed to Egypt’s World Food Programme fund this year, and the US sent food aid un-til 1992.

It remains to be seen whether Egypt’s new leaders will adhere to the same cheap-bread-no-ma�er-the-cost policies.

Purchasing powerIf a food crisis does happen, it seems many consumers could end up losing doubly. Food prices will increase while their income is decreasing.

According to a December 2011 report is-sued by the Information and Decision Sup-port Center, Egyptians spend an average of 44 percent of their total income on food-related items.

Amid rising prices, factories could in-crease layo�s in an a�empt to reduce ex-penses. Unemployment would lead to re-duced income per family, further straining their ability to obtain food.

In addition, data released by the Central Bank of Egypt shows that, nationwide, to-tal savings have dropped by nearly a third since last year. Many people have essentially been dipping into their savings to make it through the past 20 months of unrest.

When those savings run out, an even greater number of people will be struggling to put food on the table.

�e conditions are ripe for a full-on food crisis, which would be a political disaster for the current government.

But if leaders remain unable to provide for the dearth of resources, the government will either have pass on the higher prices to its citizens, or it will bear the cost itself, while risking running down its foreign re-serves and worsening its own balance of payments.

Hungry YemenSome experts warn that Egypt could go the way of Yemen, which has

been in the grip of a food crisis for more than two years.

Yemenis also revolted against

their leader last

year, ending Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-reign, which many said was plagued with suppression, economic turmoil, inequality and corruption. His regime le� behind a population, like Egypt’s, of which half lives on less than $2 a day.

According to the United Nations O�ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs, the number of food-insecure Yemenis has doubled over the past two years. �is translates to roughly 10 million nationals, or 44.5 percent of the population, of whom 5 million need immediate assistance.

Yemen has also been in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which approved a $370 million loan in April.

But the IMF money does not guarantee a relief from soaring food prices. Anti-IMF groups say the fund’s economic free-market policies and ideology will breed more pov-erty and raise prices, as they say they did un-der former President Hosni Mubarak.

In recent years, food price volatility has been in part a�ributed to food commodity speculators who bet on the price of wheat or other foodstu�s in the near future. Trad-ers have become increasingly active and bold in recent years, speculating over the weather and crop yields.

�e practice is hardest on poor and devel-oping countries that rely on a stable market price for foodstu�s.

Proof is in the policiesNo ma�er what measures are taken, experts say the government will likely have to deal with increases in food prices in the coming months — but how much these increases will impact the poor will depend on the competency and safety net of the govern-ment’s overall economic policy.

So far, it seems that President Mohamed Morsy’s government still has many hungry bellies to �ll before it proves itself capable of keeping food a�ordable.

Om Shahenda, a domestic worker who lives with her three daughters, is unim-pressed by the new government’s actions so far to help her feed her family. Widowed, and in her late 50s, she says she can no lon-ger keep up with rising prices.

“At times, I have no money at all at home,” she says. “On a recent occasion, I had to the sell the last bag of sugar to a nearby co�ee shop to a�ord transportation to a house I work at.”

She’s not hopeful that leaders’ actions will be able to change her situation any time soon.

“Where is Morsy now? Collecting money from the world — money that we never see,” she says.■

A looming food crisisIf economy worsens, experts say, empty stomachs could follow

It is alsointernationally recognized that cheap bread for Egyptians means more regional stability.Saudi Arabia and Qatar contributed to Egypt’s World FoodProgramme Fund this year

Many people have essentially been dipping into theirsavings to make it through the past 20 months of unrest

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Food prices expected to rise

11Economy Briefs13 Septamber 2012

Qatar comes through

More landopen for industry

Qatar said last Thursday it would invest US$18 billion in tourism and industry projects along Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline over the next five years, the latest pledge of support to an economy hammered by a year and a half of political turmoil. The projects include $8 billion for gas, power, and iron and steel plants at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, and $10 billion for a giant tour-ist resort on the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reported. The stock exchange closed at a 14-month high Thursday on optimism that a new government with a clear popular mandate would secure investments and donor aid to stave off a balance of payments and budget crisis. “We spoke with his Excellency President [Mohamed] Morsy and agreed to invest $8 billion on a power plant, natural gas and iron steel,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, said at a joint news conference with Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil shortly after meeting Morsy. “This will be in an integrated complex in east Port Said.”■

Up to 5 million square meters of new land will be available for industrial in-vestment soon, divided into nine indus-trial areas, after the Cabinet’s consent is obtained, Industry and Trade Minister Hatem Saleh said Sunday. During his visit to Badr Industrial City on Saturday, Saleh said 1,029 plots of land would be available in industrial zones in the cities of Sadat, Nubariya, Beni Suef, Kafr al-Dawar, Sohag, New Salheya, North Gulf of Suez, Borg al-Arab and Assiut, state news agency MENA reported. Saleh added that the ministry is considering allocating 20 percent of this land to small-scale industries, rather than the current 10 percent, to better meet the needs of small investors. Saleh said the allocation of land for industrial activities is the foundation for industrial develop-ment plans. Less land being allocated for industrial purposes in recent months has had a negative impact on develop-ment and hindered the attraction of new investments to the local market, the minister said.■

Hamad bin Jassim al-ThaniHesham Zaazou

Hatem Saleh

Down to business

Egyptiansmust work harder

Domestic debt soars

A US business delegation said its members had been reassured by the Egyptian government’s desire for investment and plans for reform during a four-day visit to the country. Over the course of their stay, they announced several public-private partner-ships between US firms and the Egyptian government, including a large-scale development project in Sinai and a wastewater treat-ment project. US businessmen said they had been encouraged to expand their operations in the country by their meeting with President Mohamed Morsy. During the visit, the Middle East investment giant Abraaj Capital and the US Overseas Private

Investment Corporation (OPIC) announced they were planning to invest US$150 million in small- and medium-sized businesses in Egypt, in one of the first steps the US has taken toward imple-menting an economic aid package promised nearly a year and a half ago. US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides announced the joint venture at a welcome break-fast for the US delegation made up of 100 American business ex-ecutives on Sunday. Abraaj is one of the largest private equity firms in the Middle East, and OPIC acts as an investment firm that finances US government-backed development.■

Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed said the deficit for fiscal year 2011/12 was higher than earlier estimates in a ministry statement Tuesday, adding that Egyptians would have to work hard to make the country’s ends meet. The deficient for the year ending 30 June was LE174 billion, much more than the LE134 mil-lion the ministry had projected earlier. The deficit amounts to 11 percent of GDP, rather than the original estimate of 8.6 percent. The difference in projection was attributed to a growth in state payroll, from an estimated LE110 billion to LE122 billion, as well as state revenue falling LE25 billion behind estimates. Saeed attributed the falling revenues to investor flight caused by increasing anxiety

over security, as well as worker sit-ins and strikes in the wake of the uprising that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak. “The country does not withhold from those with fair demands,” Saeed said in the statement, accord-ing to Reuters. “But those with fair demands should wait until the economy improves, and this improvement does not come until we get to work and achieve the necessary increase in national income and GDP, and reduce the public debt.” The current budget projects spending of LE533 bil-lion and a revenue of LE393 bil-lion, resulting in a deficit equal to 7.9 percent of GDP. Said Hirsh, an economist with Capital Econom-ics that Reuters spoke to, said that figure was also optimistic.■

Egypt’s domestic public debt reached unprecedented high levels in September, rising to nearly LE1.39 trillion, numbers issued by the Finance Ministry Tuesday showed. Much of the newer debt was issued through treasury bills, of which the Central Bank of Egypt sold about LE136

billion in July and August. Of the domestic debt, 80 percent is owed by the government, 5 percent by public economic bodies, and 14.8 percent by the National Invest-ment Bank. The country’s external public debt, as of March, was US$33.4 billion, according to the ministry.■

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hiva

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Prime Minister Hesham Qandil announced Sunday that he is finalizing an economic reform plan that would rein in hefty subsi-dies. He said the economy was expected to grow in the current financial year by 3–4 percent or more if investment goals are achieved, and ruled out currency devalu-ation in the near future. He told Reuters that the government aims to cut the budget deficit, now running at about 8 percent of the gross domestic product, by 1 percent in two years, though he said that target was “dynamic,” adding that he hoped Egypt could hit 7 percent in four years. Mean-while, Qandil said the government needed to boost revenues as well as cut spending through more targeted subsidies, by casting the tax net wider. “We need to look at our taxation system so it covers more people, not necessarily that we tax more. But it would be better to tax more people,” he said. “We’ll try to get them into the formal economy, and we will do that very soon.”■

Cut subsidies,expand tax system

Hesham Qandil

Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou said more than 5 million tourists visited the country between January and July 2012, an increase of 23.4 percent from the total number during the same period last year. Zaazou attributed the increase to the Tour-ism Ministry’s efforts to boost tourism. On the sidelines of the first session of the Luxor Egyptian and European Film Festival, Zaazou said last Wednesday that Egypt is going through a critical period because it is becoming a full-fledged democracy, a pro-cess that has had an impact on tourism in the past 19 months. Zaazou said revitalizing tourism would not have been possible had the government not made it a top prior-ity. Tourism makes up 11.3 percent of the gross domestic product, and, with 4 million workers, 12.6 percent of the labor force. It is responsible for 20 percent of the foreign currency that flows into the country.■

Tourism up

Sudan-Egypt connectedA new road linking Egypt to its southern neighbor, Sudan, will be inaugurated on 20 September, significantly cut-ting transport costs between the two countries, a senior Egyptian official was cited by state news agency MENA as

saying Saturday. The road, which cost LE45 million to build, will connect the village of Qastal in southern Egypt to the Sudanese city of Halfa, said senior transport official Ibrahim Amer.■

12 Focus File13 Septamber 2012

The lie of the landAbandoned by the system, Egypt’s farmers are suffering widespread discriminaton, violence and poverty

By Steven Vineyhey live largely out of sight of most urban dwellers so few in the city would understand the extent of their problems. But Egyptians

who live in rural areas face serious dilem-mas that are threatening their very exis-tence and survival. �e last 18 months have only served to exacerbate their problems, and hopes for a brighter future are dim.More than 40 percent of those who live in the countryside live below the national pov-erty line of US$2 a day, according to World Bank statistics compiled before last year’s uprisings. For rural Egyptians — the major-ity of whom are small farmers who live o� the land — economic statistics are simply a backdrop to the hardships and fear they live with, day in and day out.

Ray Bush, political economy professor at the University of Leeds in the UK and co-au-thor of the book “Marginality and Exclusion in Egypt,” says the two biggest issues that threaten rural lives are land ownership and, more generally, access to resources. Other is-sues are administrative, involving agricultur-al loans, subsidies and market organization.

“Until there’s a �ushing, systemic change throughout, from the big landowners to gov-ernment, and right down to irrigation repair-men, nothing can really change,” says Bush.

Land wars have taken place for almost two decades now, a�er the enactment of Law 96/1992, granted pre-Nasserist landowners an almost incontestable right to take back their land. �is �ghting has resulted in hun-dreds of deaths per year and thousands of injuries and arrests.

“Since that law came about, landowners, government o�cials and thugs have con-tinually sought out land and a�acked resident farmers until they leave or are killed, despite the fact that they had been living and harvesting that land since the 1950s,” says Karam Saber, director of the Land Center for Human Rights.Former Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali, who is now in jail, was at the fore-front of aggressively enforcing the new land reclamation policies. At the same time, he dissolved cooperatives — the only real, empowering tool small farmers had to �ght back.

Sons of the Soil, an NGO formed in 1997 by farmers who lost their land, estimated in 2010 that at least 270 small-scale farmers had been killed due to land disputes.

Saber says that over the past 18 months, these numbers have been increasing signi�-cantly.

“While the law is caught up trying to pun-

ish corrupt land deals of the old regime, more business owners and thugs are going in and abusing small farmers to take more,” he says.Some farmers have tried to take these issues to court, but most small-scale farmers don’t have the money, time or health to persist in losing legal ba�les, says Saber.

Land disputes have displaced millions of farmers from their land, to the point that 47 percent of farmers now operate on less than a feddan, and 90 percent on less than �ve.

Many farmers have also been displaced just before their land yields its crops, lead-ing to continued bankruptcy.

But despite the constant limbo regarding farmers and land insecurity, Mahmoud al-Mansy, media spokesperson for the Sons of the Soil, says most farmers have accepted land insecurity as an occupational hazard.“For most small farmers, it’s the only skill they have because generations upon gen-erations have invested their lives in agricul-ture,” says Mansy.

But land insecurity aside, Mansy argues that there are endless problems that face small-scale farmers.

“Even if you manage to �nd land to grow your crop, small farmers face poor access to inputs — seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. — and don’t have equal and proper access to markets,” he says, adding that poor sani-tation and access to clean water is now also becoming a pressing issue in rural areas.

“A farmer might sell all of their family jewelry just to buy the proper fertilizer and seeds, only to �nd out that it doesn’t work

or they can’t sell the goods for a sustainable price. �is re-sults in families going com-

pletely broke even when they have land, ” he adds.

Going bankrupt in rural Egypt o�en means that small-scale farm-

ers must resort to indentured labor.

�e farmers either rent themselves or their families out to work for larger farms, if they are lucky, or be contracted out to traveling labor gangs to work in poor conditions for very li�le or no pay.

“If a farming family can’t feed them-selves — and is without other skills, in-cluding literacy — the only option is to nomadically contract themselves with the hope of �nding a way,” says Mansy.Adel Beshai, professor of agricultural eco-nomics at the American University in Cairo, says he thinks a major part of rural poverty stems from agricultural markets being mo-nopolized by large farm owners and policies that don’t encourage inclusive growth.

“Prices are unfairly controlled by busi-nessmen and large farmers who then sell ag-ricultural goods to European countries for low prices,” he says. “�at money doesn’t trickle down, and so small farmers have to compete by selling their product at severely undervalued rates.”

Another pressing concern that adds to rural poverty is unpaid debts owed to the Agricultural Credit Bank. Beshai says he thinks many small farmers looking to bor-row money to purchase land are conned into signing contractual agreements with

compound interest rates that they don’t un-derstand, resulting in many farmers owing up to 20 times the initial borrowed value.“It would take a single farmer several life-times to pay o� debts with these interest rates, assuming they don’t later get kicked o� the land and can then access the right resources,” says Beshai, who adds that the credit bank was another money producer for the former regime.

Partial debt forgiveness for these farmers has continually made headlines, both now and during the Hosni Mubarak era, the lat-est being former Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri’s promise to enact it last De-cember, and President Mohamed Morsy’s promise last month. But these promises have not been ful�lled and li�le is expected to change.

“But even assuming debts were to be com-pletely forgiven, it hardly alleviates the mul-tifaceted problems that continue to destroy the lives of rural communities,” Beshai says.Agriculture continues to comprise 15 per-cent of the country’s gross domestic prod-uct — more than twice that of tourism.

But with all the di�culties facing rural Egypt and its farmers, many are beginning to wonder what lies in store for them and whether anything can be done to improve the livelihood of the country’s largest de-mographic.

Most agriculturalists and farmers have by default adopted an inexhaustible optimism toward rural issues, but in practical terms, many are disillusioned and pessimistic.

Cooperatives and unions used to be farm-ers’ saving grace, as they were able to lobby for rights. While farmers are now allowed to form cooperatives, a�er Mubarak’s ouster, there is still relatively li�le they can do.

“�ere’s no point for a cooperative to lob-by if there’s nobody sympathetic to lobby to,” says Saber, explaining that even in new-

T

While the law is caught up trying to punish corrupt land deals of the oldregime, more business owners and thugs aregoing in and abusing small farmers to take more

Construction of the Old Aswan Dam which partially stored the waters of the Nile to allow the growing of multiple crops per year in the Nile Delta

�e Department of Agriculture established under the Ministry of Public Works

�e Ministry of Agriculture is relocated in the historic Dokki building.�e Principal Bank for Devel-opment and Ag-ricultural Credit is established

�e Nile Waters Agreementbetween Egypt and Sudan allo-cates 55.5 billion cubic meter of water per year to Egypt

�e Ministry of Agriculture now has 193 departments, from seven departments at its inception in 1913

Food riot a�er the removal of subsidies on bread

A royal decree establishes the Ministry of Agriculture and His Excellency Mohammed Said Pasha becomes the �rst Egyptian Minister of Agri-culture

Law 178 is �rst land-reform legislation under Nasser, an e�ort to change land ownership practices in Egypt and limit individual land ownership to 200 feddans

Egypt imports wheat for the �rst time in its history

Aswan High Dam is completed, eliminating the annual Nile �ood

19021910 1931 1959 1963 1977

1913 1952 1960 1970

13Focus File13 Septamber 2012

The lie of the landAbandoned by the system, Egypt’s farmers are suffering widespread discriminaton, violence and poverty

On 11 September, Egypt celebrated Farmers’ Day. But the dire straits that many farmers �nd themselves in call for anything but celebration. Strangled by poor market access, marginalization and general disregard from the authorities, many of the country’s 11 million farmers are either going bankrupt, losing their land, or facing sys-tematic violence. Egypt Independent takes a closer look at the issues ravaging the country’s rural heartland.

er governments, most o�cials bene�t more from larger landowners in the short term.

“It has actually drained small farmers even more and increased their disillusion,” he says.

�ough it is still arguably too early to judge whether Morsy or the new agricultur-al minister, Salah Mohamed Abdel Momen, will implement policies, laws and strate-gies that encourage inclusive growth, many think positive change is highly unlikely. �is is partly because of continued rhetoric from Morsy that praises rural Egypt, but of-ten without any strategic follow-through.

Many solutions continue to �oat around, such as ensuring proper land distribution, halting agricultural privatization, encourag-ing cooperatives instead of o�cials, and of-fering direct farming subsidies — many of which the Brotherhood is allegedly against. However, most agree rural areas su�er from a lack of long-term vision and strategic bankruptcy.

“�ere are headlines, but there is no strat-egy for reconciling the rural disconnect,” says Bush, the University of Leeds profes-sor, who thinks agricultural reform is un-likely. “�ere are plenty of ‘whats’ but there are never any ‘hows,’ which is the real chal-lenge.”

Bush maintains that what successive gov-ernments in Egypt fail to understand is that the country’s massive rural population just might be its biggest asset.

“New governments need to establish a strategic vision that can translate large ru-ral populations into a national resource that promotes inclusive growth, rather than a hindrance to the economy to be overcome through economic a�itudes like privati-zation,” he says. “However, that requires strong political will for a thriving, balanced economy, which doesn’t seem to be on the agenda for the current government.”■

R By Rana Khaled

eda Mohamed Nassif, a farmer from Madinat al-Sadat, was a victim of land reclamation and rural violence during the Hosni

Mubarak era. He was also one of the farm-ers who protested in front of the Interior Ministry on 27 August to ask for their rights in defending their lands.

�ese farmers plan to gather for another strike until President Mohamed Morsy lis-tens to their demands.

Nassif spoke with Egypt Independent about farmers’ circumstances and what he calls “the new feudalism.”

EI: Generally speaking, what are the main problems that face small farmers nowadays?

Reda Mohamed Nassif: Farmers nowa-days aren’t just treated as second-class citi-zens. I think they are treated as 10th-class citizens who don’t have any rights to com-plain or to protect their lands. We are fac-ing a lot of problems but the biggest one of them is discrimination.

�e government sells desert and agri-culture lands to the businessmen and the companies while refusing to sell or rent them to the small farmers. Pesticides and fertilizers are one of the main problems, because the agricultural commi�ee pro-vides peasants with very small amounts that don’t cover the annual requirements of half an acre. Most of these fertilizers and pesticides go to rich businessmen’s lands and we resort to the black markets, which sell fake ones at very expensive prices.

As for distributing our crops, this is another disaster. �ere is no demand for small farmers’ crops because the large ag-ricultural companies monopolize the local market and the export markets. �ey de-termine the prices as they like.

When international companies de-cide to import fruits and vegetables from Egypt, they don’t go to small farmers but to the big, well-known companies. �e farmers don’t �nd any outlets for selling their crops and face huge losses.

Most of these small farmers depend mainly on loans from the Agricultural De-velopment Bank to help them buy seeds and build irrigation systems. Unfortunate-ly, they are sent to prisons when they can’t repay the loans. �erefore, most farmers decided to abandon agriculture and sell their lands, and started working in shops and factories.

Egypt Independent: Why did you protest in front of the ministry and

Protesting farmer Reda Mohamed Nassif

Kicked off our lands for a golf course and shopping mall

Farmers nowadays aren’t just treated assecond-class citizens. I think they are treated as 10th-class citizens who don’t have any rights to complain or to protect their lands

what are your complaints?Nassif: We have been complaining and

protesting for more than six years, but no one listens to us and nobody cares. We are a group of small farmers who decided to get out of our villages and go to reclaim the desert, searching for a new source of livelihood for our families.

We started reclaiming some pieces of land in Madinat al-Sadat, on the Alex-Cairo Desert Road. We began to cultivate this land in 2007 and spent every pound we had on digging wells, building infra-structure and buying irrigation networks and pumps.

A�er turning this [uncultivated land] into one of the most fertile agriculture lands in Egypt, the Housing Ministry de-cided to remove the crops and kick the farmers out because they want to establish golf playgrounds and shopping malls on the land by 2035.

EI: And what did your protests result in?

Nassif: We were promised that a commit-tee consisting of representatives from the Agriculture Ministry, the Housing Minis-try, the national land use planning center and the farmers would meet in Madinat al-Sadat in order to reach a se�lement.

We went to the meeting but unfortu-nately we didn’t �nd anyone except the Housing Ministry representatives, who refused to discuss the issue with us and called us terrorists and thugs. �at’s why we will continue our protests again, and many farmers have decided to stop eating and drinking until President Morsy listens to our screams.

More than 5,000 families live on this land, which is the only shelter for about 25,000 people and the main source of living for about 500 day laborers. I can’t imagine that the government doesn’t pay any a�ention to this number of people who will be homeless a�er dismissing them from their lands!■

A full version of Egypt Independent’s inter-view with Nassif will be available at www.egyptindependent.com.

Economic reform and liberalization �rst presented within agricul-ture by Youssef Wali, minister of agriculture at the time

Law 96/1992 allows pre-Nasser era landowners the “incontestable” right to take back their land

Beginning of the Toshka Project, a system of canals around Sheikh Zayed Canal fed by Lake Nasser, to irrigate 234,000 hectares in the Sahara

Ministerial decree 1920 establishes Egypt’s �rst gene bank to collect and conserve plant, animal and microor-ganism genetic resources

Egypt agrees to import Monsanto’s genetically modi�ed corn MON810

�e president announces that approximately 44,000 farmers – whose debts amount to less than LE10,000 each – would have their debts forgiven

Law 96/1992 is enacted and about one million Egyptian families lose their land

Over 200 deaths in the country-side, perhaps 1,500 injuries and a similar number of arrests, victims of land grabbing and rural violence

63 percent of the Egyptian population has access to ration cards for subsi-dized food

Farmers’ NGO Sons of the Soil plans the creation of cooperatives

19871992 1997 2003 2008 august 2012

1996 2000 2004 2012

14 Opinion13 Septamber 2012

Why thugs are just not into hospitals By Amani Massoud

ver a year ago, I watched with much amusement a satirical show discuss potential solutions to the then (and now) growing problem of a�acks on

hospitals by “thugs.” �e solutions o�ered all revolved around changing the identity of hospi-tals by dressing them up as nightclubs, schools or some other establishment less favored by thugs. �e premise was simple: thugs, for some inexplicable reason, just love run-down unde-requipped hospitals. If we could only restrict their access to hospitals, the a�acks would cease.

�at idea, in its naivety, is no di�erent than that used for months by many health profes-sionals, activists and journalists to explain the persistent crisis that endangers the lives of both patients and the medical team. Consequently, interventions advocated for were as narrow as the problems presented, demanding that state security apparatuses enforce stricter security measures to protect hospitals and their sta�. �ere were fewer a�empts to answer the real question: Why are thugs so into hospitals?

If thuggery were a profession, as we have been so passionately led to believe, it would make li�le sense for thugs to do business in hospi-tals over other places. So, it wasn’t until the at-tacks on hospitals outlasted the generic surge of crime and violence of the early months of the revolution that they were seen in a clearer, and quite complex, context. �ugs don’t particularly love hospitals, and the a�acks are not driven by gangs craving the sights and sounds of broken emergency wards, and terri�ed patients and health workers, encouraged by the lack of secu-rity the revolution brought.

Granted, the lack of security did support an increase in the frequency and intensity of at-tacks, but such incidents can be traced back to around the time when the Egyptian health system started its legendary descent into failure. Most doctors will assent to that. For years now, patients, supported by their family and as many friends who owed them favors as they can get, have bullied their way to medical treatment,

and it’s not di�cult to understand why. To many Egyptians, a doctor represents a

memory of a painfully long wait, a misdiagnosis, an unnecessary death ... any form of negligence that might or might not have been a doctor’s fault, but it sure was someone’s fault, except no one was ever held accountable for it. It is indeed alarming that medical workers are at risk, but we should be as alarmed that people increasingly feel the need to resort to violence to get any de-cent level of medical care. �e lack of security did not cause the violence, it simply allowed for more of it. Similarly, signing protocols between the Ministries of Health, Interior and Higher Education and the Doctors’ Syndicate to en-hance hospital security might tone the violence down a notch but, it won’t change the popular resentment towards the health system.

Many must step forward now to claim respon-sibility for this resentment. Young doctors are thrown out of overpopulated medical schools with minimal training and negligible bedside manners into absurdly low-paid jobs and forced to work under dire circum-stances. Most hospitals don’t have infection control protocols - at least none that are enforced - or their sta� are not trained to follow them.

As a result, many preventable infectious dis-eases are alive and kicking in Egypt and thrive in our hospitals. Doctors lack the con�dence, the knowledge, or both, to perform straight-forward surgeries to patients with blood-borne diseases, denying treatment to these patients. Stigma in the healthcare se�ing is abound and no medical responsibility laws are in place that protect the right to treatment, con�dentiality, and privacy of patients. Hospitals serving major governorates lack doctors of critical specialties - or they can’t be found during their shi�s.

A host of doctors make a living out of referring patients of public hospitals to their private prac-tice. People can’t a�ord health care, but out-of-pocket spending accounts for 70 percent of all health expenditure. �e state spends less than 4 percent of its annual budget on health com-pared to the internationally acceptable average of 12 percent, and a “Universal Health Insur-ance Bill” is now almost 40 years in the making. Health is a rare commodity, and if people would �ght for scarce food during a famine, would they not �ght for the life of a loved one, or that of their own?

I do not endorse harassing doctors for medi-cal a�ention or punishing them for failing to save a life, nor do I believe that prioritizing hospital security isn’t a crucial intervention to contain the situation in the short-term. �ere

are many reported gang/clan �ghts that were e�ciently moved into the hospital when

members of either side fell= and that can only be addressed by the presence of well-trained security personnel and the swi� response of the police when backup is needed. But, securing hospitals and emer-gency wards has to be seen as one item on a long list of daunting tasks that must be

undertaken to restore people’s faith in the health system.■

Amani Massoud is the Human Rights Edu-cation and Campaigns Director at the

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

To many Egyptians, a doctor represents a memory of a painfully long wait, a misdiagnosis, an unnecessary death ... any formof negligence that may or may not have been their fault

The legitimacy of the president’s constitutional declarations By Yussef Auf resident Mohamed Morsy’s constitu-

tional declaration issued on 12 August has sparked an extensive debate on a number of legal and political points. A

key question in this discussion is whether the president of the republic has the right to issue new constitutional declarations or amend ex-isting decrees.

Some are under the impression that the pres-ident does not have the right to issue consti-tutional declarations. �is is due to the belief that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces alone holds that right, a�er assuming both ex-ecutive and legislative powers when former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

�ey also think the elected president is not permi�ed to exercise constitutional legislative authority, as he was elected solely as the head of the executive branch. �is argument does not hold and the following will demonstrate that not only does the president have this au-thority, but we are obliged to entrust him with it.

�ere is no disagreement that there must be a constitutional framework to govern the ad-ministration of the state and regulate its activ-ity, whether it is a permanent constitution or a temporary one. In a vacuum, however, where the constitution does not contain any text es-tablishing who has the authority to amend it and what procedures are to be followed — as is the case in Egypt — “de facto authority” comes into play. �is means that the executive authority in the country is granted constitu-tional legislative power to issue new or amend

existing constitutional declarations.To suggest otherwise — that there is no au-

thority in the state that has the right to carry out constitutional declarations in anticipation of a new constitution that establishes this au-thority — would subject public life to total paralysis.

In February 2011, the political authority shi�ed to the SCAF without any consideration of the 1971 Constitution. As a result, we were faced with a situation in which the legal value of the existing constitution had collapsed.

From February 2011 to June 2012, propped by de facto authority and revolutionary legiti-macy, the SCAF issued several constitutional declarations, with the last one issued on 17 June, on the pretext of necessity and organiz-ing the a�airs of the country.

With a democratically elected president in place, supreme political authority was passed on to Morsy on 30 June, but without any change in the constitutional structure of the Egyptian state. �at change will only come about with the dra�ing of a new and perma-nent constitution.

�e state continues to be regulated by tem-porary constitutional declarations devoid of any text establishing amendment procedures, while the major and constant element remains: the inevitability that the political authority should make constitutional changes that meet society’s immediate needs. In this case, is it correct, both legally and politically, to say that the president of the republic does not have the right to issue constitutional declarations, bear-

ing in mind that the former “president,” the SCAF, was entrusted with de facto authority, whereas the current president was entrusted with that authority by the people?

In many countries facing a similar situation regarding regular legislation, in the event of an absent parliament — whether due to annual recess or dissolution — legislative authority is transferred to the head of the executive branch until the return of parliament. In this case, one cannot expect legislative power to be put on hold, with no laws issued until the power with inherent jurisdiction returns to exercise its role.

�is would only serve to obstruct the inter-ests of the country. In such cases, the head of the executive power must exercise legislative authority by issuing laws, with certain condi-tions or checks on his power, speci�cally that legislation issued must be for urgent and nec-essary ma�ers. As a result, when constitutional legislative power — as opposed to regular leg-islative power — is absent due to the lack of a relevant text in the constitutional declaration, the right to issue further declarations rests in the hands of the president of the republic until a new constitution is put in place, which brings with it constitutional legitimacy.■

Yussef Auf is an Egyptian judge and 2012 Humphrey Fellow at American University’s Washington College of Law. He is currently

pursuing a PhD in constitutional law and political systems at Cairo University. �is

article �rst appeared on EgyptSource.

In a vacuum where the constitution does not contain any text establishing who has the authority to amend it and what procedures are to be followed, as is the case in Egypt, — ‘de facto authority’ comes into play

P

O

15Opinion13 September 2012

The revolutions in the Arab world may inform and inspire our own democray to resuscitate and renew itself, as much as ours may have inspired yours. You have much to build; we have much to rebuild

By Paul SedraIn one of the last pieces he published at Salon before moving to �e Guardian, the American columnist Glenn Greenwald mounted a devastating critique of what he labeled, in the article’s title, “�e Sham ‘Terrorism Expert’ Industry.” In his inimitable style, Greenwald proceeded to discuss the work of sev-eral so-called terrorism experts — among them, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, J. M. Berger, and Fran Townsend — who have embraced the pretense of scholarly objectivity to justify the US government’s ‘war on terror.’ As is well known, this is a ‘war’ that has overwhelmingly targeted Muslims, due in no small part to the pervasive Islamophobia that has spread through Western Europe, Canada, but above all, the United States, since the terrorist a�acks of September 11, 2001.

Greenwald points to ‘terrorism experts’ as hav-ing played a particularly insidious role in stoking fear of ‘Islamic terror’ through the exaggeration of so-called jihadi violence, and thus having provided a pretext for US violence against Muslims over the past decade.

Not unlike the ‘terrorism expert’ industry that Greenwald eviscerates, there is a separate quasi-academic industry that has seen its fortunes rise precipitously since September 11, 2001, again due in no small part to pervasive Islamophobia. �is is what I would call the ‘persecution expert’ indus-try, with the persecution in question that directed against Christians in Muslim lands. And, this is an industry that has long had Egypt as one of its princi-pal targets of reproach.

Before I discuss ‘persecution expertise’ as indus-try, I should emphasize that none of what follows is to suggest that persecution of Christians in Muslim lands is nonexistent or unimportant. Indeed, I have wri�en at great length elsewhere of the imperative

that Egypt address its problem with sectarianism — a problem that is of the utmost importance in the post-revolutionary context, with the rise of various currents of Islamists on the political scene. Discrim-ination against Copts and anti-Christian a�itudes are disturbingly genuine phenomena, arguably on the rise, that Egyptians can no longer breath-lessly deny as they invoke the well-worn symbols of national unity. And, activism to combat these phenomena, both in Egypt and among Egyptians abroad, is a vital part of the solution to this problem.

What I �nd disturbing is the alacrity with which particular US political forces have taken up the cause of anti-Christian persecution, notably over the past decade, just as the ‘war on terror’ has gained so much momentum. And, perhaps unsurprisingly given these political links, ‘persecution experts’ have, much like their counterparts in the ‘terrorism expert’ industry, tended to �nd their way to particu-lar think-tanks in Washington.

Arguably the leader in this regard is the Hudson Institute, which houses the Center for Religious Freedom under the directorship of Nina Shea. Far and away the most popular is National Review On-line, “America’s most widely read and in�uential magazine and web site for conservative news, com-mentary, and opinion.”

Why would American conservatives take a par-ticular interest in sectarian tensions in Egypt? As is well known, in recent decades, evangelical Chris-tians in the United States have moved increasingly rightward in political orientation. At �rst glance, it would appear that Christian conservatives are moved by the plight of fellow Christians like the Copts. In practice, however, these Christian conser-vatives are moved to a still greater extent by Israeli protestations of insecurity. Given their track record

of unstinting support for Israel, and relative disre-gard for the plight of Palestinian Christians, the fo-cus on Egypt’s Copts emerges as a function of ‘Re-alpolitik’ rather than ideals. And with the political rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt since the 25 January revolution, accusations of anti-Christian persecution have become a particularly useful tool for discrediting the Islamists who are now in gov-ernment.

It is disturbing enough that the important issue of sectarian relations in Egypt is bandied about Washington as a means of leveraging Israeli securi-ty. Emblematic of this was how a panel at this year’s American-Israel Public A�airs Commi�ee confer-ence evolved into a sort of elegy for the Coptic com-munity, led by Nina Shea.

Perhaps more disturbing, though, is how par-ticular Copts have endorsed the Islamophobia of ‘persecution experts’ without considering their po-litical consequences in Egypt or the United States. In this regard, I cannot help but recall an image recently posted to ‘�e Free Copts’ page on Face-book. In the image, President Barack Obama, with photoshopped beard and turban, appears under the following caption: “�is idiot helped trans-form Egypt from a modern state into a Muslim Brotherhood-dominated tribe and still claims it’s a transition into democracy!” In a breathtaking con-coction of bigotry, white anxieties about a black president are fused with Coptic anxieties about the rise of Islamism. To my mind, the post speaks pow-erfully to the in�uence, and the ignorance, of the ‘persecution industry.’■

Paul Sedra is an associate professor of history at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia,

Canada

September 11, Islamophobia, and the ‘Persecution Industry’

The Arab-American reality, 11 years onhortly a�er the killing of 3,000 civilians (300 of them Muslims) 11 years ago in New York City, two giant (and expensive) cones of light were beamed each night

from Ground Zero into the sky, side by side. I took my family to see them, sensing a work of art that would never be duplicated.

Standing on a platform over the ruins with my wife and children and mother, I stared up and caught an unreal sight—a plane �ying into one of the light cones mimicking a tower. I winced. It did not explode. It �ew through, neither tower nor plane hurt. �e light remained. I hope my children saw that.

We live and write to uncover such light. When they awoke from their own unreal trance, Arab-American authors were quick to address the peril of the moment, which included an assertion that Arab Americans would be rounded up if there were another a�ack, as the Japanese had been during World War II.

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye, whose father was born and raised in Palestine, directly addressed the hijackers in a prose poem read over NPR: “Our hearts are broken; as yours may also feel broken in some ways we can’t understand unless you tell us in words. Killing people won’t tell us. We can’t read that message.”

Mona Simpson, who shared a Syrian father with her late brother, Apple founder Steve Jobs, circled what her heritage might mean shortly a�er the �rst World Trade Center a�ack, in her arresting 1993 novel, “�e Lost Father,” in which she states, “Being Arab was not something you’d want to right away admit, like being a Cherokee or Czech.”

�e novel comes down clearly on the side of “everyday” love, rather than the romance that birthed her protagonist, a love that “was more fallen, of the earth, full of practicalities and chat-ter.” Sounds like a Cairo street — or anywhere devoting itself day to day to the kind of outsider wound that began 9/11.

Other Arab-American writers took on the dark event directly and si�ed it for meaning. Syr-ian poet Moha Kahf, who wears a veil in her Uni-versity of Arkansas classes, published a feisty,

By Gregory Orfalea

More disturbing is how particular Copts have endorsed the Islamophobia of ‘persecution experts’ without considering their political consequences

u�erly imaginative and passionate collection, “Emails from Scheherazade,” in 2003. Meditat-ing on the couple who clasped each other as they jumped from the World Trade Center, she declares quietly, “Our lives have always been as fragile/as dependent on each other, and as beau-tiful/as the �ight of the woman and man/twin towers in my sight/who jumped into the last air hand in hand.”

Where are we now? A�er directly addressing society’s misunderstandings and paranoia in their literature, Arab-American authors seem to be seeking out analogues far from the madding crowd abroad, closer to home. I �nd myself, for example, buried in the 18th century, writing a biography of the Franciscan founder of Califor-nia, examining the o�en tragic relationship of empire, land and religion.

As Americans with ancestral ties to the Arab world, we stand in awe over the upsurge of de-mocracy half the world away. �e “Arab Spring,” for all its di�cult birthing is still an enormously important accomplishment, certainly the greatest antidote to the phenomenon of Al-Qaeda.

A�er all, Bin Laden’s o�-repeated (but rarely recorded in American papers) �rst reason for the gruesome a�ack on 9/11 was America’s backing of corrupt, despotic Arab regimes. �e second

reason he always cited, perhaps cynically, was the Israeli-Palestinian tragedy, on which we have made no progress. Obama, whom most Arab-Americans enthusiastically backed (I canvassed homes for him in Virginia and Pennsylvania) and who did the right thing supporting the Libyan rebels, seems to wither at the sight of the Israeli prime minister.

What visions will Arab-American authors cre-ate now, a�er the Supreme Court’s Citizens Unit-ed ruling in 2010, which pushed open the �ood-gates of corporate and special interest money in political campaigns, perhaps the biggest blow to American democracy since Jim Crow?

All Americans are trying to cope with the sense that our system seems broken, that our votes mean li�le, that each day we seem less of a de-mocracy and more an oligarchy of the privileged. �ey throw us a few bones of multiculturalism here, plenty of sopori�c sports there, and two presidential candidates with their tired promises, who have no more to say, much less do, on such diverse topics as Israeli aggression, the cornuco-pia of guns in our society, the obvious danger of global warming, or the coarsening of our social discourse, than any man on the street.

Ironically, the revolutions in the Arab world may inform and inspire our own democracy to resuscitate and renew itself, as much as ours may have inspired yours. You have much to build; we have much to rebuild. �e cause is the same: a voice and power for the powerless and greatest good for the greatest number. Not rule by the few for the few, or rule that favors one sect or religion over another.

�e heinous events of 9/11 shook Arab-Amer-icans to hide, at �rst, and then speak out in their literature against both hellish vengeance, as well as the insensibility of American policies before and a�er that black day. Did 9/11 also shake the Arab world to the “terrible beauty” of its upheav-als? Perhaps.■

Gregory Orfalea is an author and co-editor of “In �yme: Middle Eastern American Lit-

erature.” He teaches literature and writing at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.

S

16 Environment13 September 2012

By Louise Saranthere is a place in Egypt where the mountain blossoms on one side, where sea moisture accumulates on the mountaintop and forms rivulets

that trickle down the hill and spur insatiable, rainforest-like vegetation inhabited by the most incredible creatures. There is a giant stretch of land that encompasses a myriad ecosystems, from marshes, coastal plains, mangroves and coral reefs to mountain highlands, sand dunes and valleys.

This place is remote, stretches over 35,600 square kilometers of biodiversity-laden land and is an ordeal to access. This “Garden of Eden,” hidden from most eyes, is Gebel Elba, the country’s largest and richest pro-tected area.

The national park stretches from 50 kilo-meters north of Shalateen all the way south to the Sudanese border and includes dozens of islands that sprinkle the 250-kilometer-long maritime coast. It extends westward roughly 100 kilometers into the Eastern Desert.

A 25-kilometer-wide coastal plain sepa-rates the Red Sea coast from the southern-most mountains of Egypt, which include Gebel Elba — which reaches 1,435 meters — Gebel Shellal, Gebel Shendib and Gebel Shendodai.

On the other side of the highlands, deep into the Eastern Desert, lie desert valleys, sand plains and Red Sea hills, and a network of small and deep valleys, or wadis, such as Wadi Akwamtra, Wadi Adeib and Wadi Serimtai. They have been formed in the mountains that flow to the Red Sea and the Nile Valley.

Usama Ghazali, head ranger of Gebel Elba National Park, gave a presentation of Gebel Elba a week ago in front of a packed audience at the Nahdet El Mahrousa NGO office downtown, under the auspices of Na-ture Conservation Egypt, one of the coun-try’s leading conservation organizations.

Ghazali described the park’s splendid fea-tures and highlighted some of the threats Gebel Elba is currently facing, including cli-mate change and underdevelopment.

He says that although Gebel Elba was declared a national park in 1986, thanks to the lobbying work of conservationists and scientists, the Environment Ministry has shown a continuous lack of interest in the park, despite its legal status.

The ranger, who earlier this year won a conservation prize for his work to preserve the park, says that to this day, Gebel Elba’s only infrastructure is a visitors’ center at the park entrance, and the annual budget allo-cated to park management and rangers does not exceed a few thousand pounds.

“We only have three cars to survey 35,600 square kilometers. This is absolutely insuffi-cient. Budgets for parks should be allocated by taking into consideration the flora and fauna wealth, and should evaluate the re-sources needed for each park.”

Gebel Elba’s various ecosystems host a thriving biodiversity, with 458 plant species that include acacias, moringas and dragon trees; 86 different corals; 104 fish species; 60 resident birds comprising vultures, ea-gles and falcons; 26 mammals, including gazelles, Barbary sheep and ibexes; and 38 reptile and amphibian species that account for 35 percent of Egypt’s herpetofauna (rep-tiles and amphibians of a particular region).

One of the park’s most endangered spe-cies is the dragon tree, or Dracaena ombet, a 10-meter-high tree with curved, spiky leaves that gather rain drops and deliver most of the tree’s hydration. The top forms a thick

green canopy, and its fibrous wood — not suitable for making firewood or charcoal — has enabled its survival to this date.

Although human activities are not directly to blame for the reduction in these trees, it seems that climate change and higher tem-peratures have taken a toll, and numbers have continuously diminished for 20 years, according to Ghazali.

In 2007 and 2009, he and a team of eight rangers from various protectorates received two grants from the Conservation Leader-ship Programme, an international partner-ship of four organizations working to pro-mote the development of future biodiversity conservation leaders, to survey and assess the Gebel Elba dragon tree population.

“The dragon tree population has de-

creased by 65 percent for the past 20 to 25 years,” Ghazali says, “and our prediction for 2017 is that we will lose over 85 percent of them.”

Since this tree gets most of its water input from its leaves, whose cupped shape facili-tates the transfer of rainwater to the tree, the gradual decrease in precipitation for the past 20 years has greatly affected tree numbers.

“When we talk about climate change in Egypt, we limit its impact to the northern cities and the Delta. But its impact can be felt in Gebel Elba very accurately as well,” Ghazali says.

The area’s high amount of moisture comes from its closeness to the sea, and its favor-able position in the face of humid north-easterly winds. Precipitations used to be continuous and strong in the fall, and the area would enjoy an average rainfall of 400 millimeters each year.

But this has changed, says Ghazali, who

has noticed not only a decrease in the drag-on tree population and quality, but also the fact that the trees now grow higher on the mountain slope, thirsty for the infrequent rainfalls.

“I use the dragon tree as a biological indi-cator for climate change, which also acts as a whistleblower for the entire biodiversity’s well-being,” says Ghazali, who has been fol-lowing this endangered species since the mid-1990s.

The other threat to the dragon tree’s exis-tence is the fast and rampant invasion of the mesquite tree. Its ability to resist drought and its rapid spread have enabled it to nibble away at the dragon tree’s space and reach wa-ter deep below the ground.

“Until 1996, the mesquite tree was a do-mestic plant that was introduced by the lo-cal community in the village of Halayeb on the coast,” explains Ghazali, who says the tree came from Sudan. “But since the pre-cipitation is becoming irregular and drought has become the norm, the mesquite started spreading and now covers an area of 8,000 square kilometers. The seeds are chomped on by camels and deposited in the excre-ment in faraway locations, and the mesquite now competes with the dragon tree.

He says he fears that if no drastic measures are taken to remove the mesquite trees, they could replace the native dragon trees in 10 years. He launched a campaign through his small, local NGO to encourage locals to cut down the invasive tree, and has distributed seedlings of native species to encourage people to grow them instead.

One message Ghazali hopes to spread is that the great ecotourism potential of Gebel Elba is completely disregarded by authori-ties. He says the park needs more infrastruc-ture, such as better roads from Marsa Alam to bring in tourists. He would also like to build lodging for visitors.

But none of this can be achieved with-out substantial help from the Environment Ministry, he says, and the removal of travel restrictions imposed by the military on Egyptians and foreigners alike.■

Protecting a ‘Garden of Eden’Gebel Elba is threatened by climate change and underfunding

When we talk about climate change in Egypt, we limit its impact to the northern cities and the Delta. But its impact can be felt in Gebel Elba very accurately as well

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Gebel Elba’s population of dragon trees is decreasing

Gebel Elba National Park is a cradle of biodiversity that is hard to reach and discover

T

17Science13 September 2012

By Rana Khaledow do you turn a black-out into a business op-portunity? As part of its campaign to spread

green innovations, icecairo, an Egyptian organization working to develop environmentally friendly technologies, hosted a conference on exactly that subject last week.

Engineer Amr Farouk, an expert in renewable energy and co-founder of Egypt’s Solar Energy As-sociation, gave an insight-ful lecture about energy overconsumption in the country and the bene�ts of solar power.

According to Farouk, Egypt’s energy consumption has gradually changed over the years. People now use many more electrical devices, especially in the summer. Every single air conditioner in the country may sometimes be at work for about 11 hours daily, during the hot months.

According to some consump-tion statistics, Cairo is also one of the world’s most brightly lit cities, with a considerable amount of en-ergy used for illuminating homes and streets. �is high consump-tion exceeds what the electricity networks can deliver, so the gov-ernment is currently faced with a stark choice: either increase energy generation or reduce con-sumption.

“�e ordinary Egyptian house-hold uses an average of �ve kilo-wa�s of energy per day, which means that it consumes about 1,500 kilowa� hours monthly, says Farouk. According to him, some 18 percent of this energy goes towards heating, along with 20 percent for cooling, and 12 percent for lighting.

Farouk says Egyptians lack awareness on how to ration their power consumption. “�ey think it’s a complicated process, al-though there are easy ways to make more than 15 percent ener-gy savings, and good alternatives to traditional power consumption habits,” he explains.

Among these: energy-saving light bulbs, which can conserve 70 percent of energy consumption compared to other light bulbs. Installing 10,000 solar water heat-ers annually for the next 30 years could also compensate for one of the four nuclear stations the gov-ernment intends to establish by 2050, he says. And, replacing old air conditioners with new high-e�ciency devices is another e�ec-tive energy-saving device, as their capacity decreases over time, causing them to consume higher amounts of electricity.

Moreover, Farouk says several other countries have managed to increase the use of renewable en-ergy, including Germany and In-dia. He says that Germany began early by providing tax deduction incentives to residents installing

The future is greenSwitching to solar could solve current energy crisis, say NGOs

solar panels. In India, microloans were provided for those interest-ed in switching to solar. Farouk says the Indian model is probably closer to conditions in Egypt, and he suggests a similar approach to encourage the use of renewable energy here.

Although the repeated black-outs of the past few months an-gered many, they also opened the door for creative solutions to overcome the problem. Farouk proposes applying a consump-tion model that turns people from energy consumers to energy pro-ducers — and help them make money. He says the trend toward renewable energy no longer fo-cuses only on large entities but instead targets “the bo�om of the pyramid,” people in their homes and at their work.

“We can change consumers to producers, by installing renew-able energy equipment in house-holds,” Farouk explains. “For ex-ample, photovoltaic cells that are used for the generation of elec-

tricity can be installed in normal houses to generate electricity ei-ther for the same house or for the neighboring houses when con-nected using a mini-grid.

“Alternatively, photovoltaic cells could be connected to the main grid and pump the energy to the grid — a grid-connected solution — a process that is used in many countries to allow con-sumers not only to generate their own energy, but also to sell the excess energy to the grid,” he says.

During the blackout days, many shops, restaurants and hotel own-ers bought expensive diesel gen-erators that also pollute the envi-ronment. According to Farouk, the grid project could be applied here as the photocells are not expensive and are environment-friendly. However, to implement the grid-connected solution, the relevant regulations need to be revisited.

The trend towardsrenewable energy no longer focuses only on large entities butinstead targets ‘the bottom of the pyramid’

Installing 10,000 solar water heaters annually for the next 30 years could compensate for one of the four nuclear stations the government intends to establish by 2050

Farouk says the government, NGOs, �nancial institutions, and businesses must all be involved in making a renewable energy initiative work. Governments identify the framework for the system to work, and banks can provide funds for renewable en-ergy projects. However, people need to know that it’s not only the government’s responsibility but their own too. NGOs must play an important role in increasing awareness about saving energy and the alternative methods that help save it.

�e organization that hosted Farouk, icecairo — which stands for Innovation, Collaboration, Entrepreneurship — provides a network run by Egyptians and supported by German organiza-tion GIZ. It brings those who are interested in developing green technologies into one physical space.

In collaboration with Innoven-tures, a collaborative space that also encourages social innova-tions, icecairo’s team started Gre-enConnection, which consists of a series of conferences and meet ups for providing green alterna-tives and solutions for our daily problems.

“Nowadays, we face a lot of challenges in Egypt. �at’s why we need to cooperate and take

the best of the organizations, the groups and even the in-

dividuals who have knowl-edge and technology be-

cause, with cooperation, challenges turn into

potential products,” says Jay Cousins, one of the co-founders of icecairo. “In addi-tion to helping communities, we create business oppor-tunities for people through developing those green tech-

nologies.■

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Energy expert Amr Farouk talks about the bene�ts of solar energy in Egypt

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18 Culture13 September 2012

Message in a bottleTwo Cairo-based artists start a liberating collaboration

By Silvia MollicchiIt was loneliness that prompted art-ists Hady Kamar and Jenifer Evans to start working together, Kamar jokingly says about their collabora-tion for the past seven months.

So far, their series of screen prints on paper, layered with textual and �gurative elements, subtly share the aesthetics and taste of graphic novels. �e created imagery is play-ful, involving much repetition, yet uniqueness at the same time.

�e roo�op of Kamar’s apart-ment building was the se�ing for their second, untitled exhibition, held for a single night in June. As audiences and friends gathered on the Nile-view terrace, there was something quite melancholic about watching the artwork at dusk, in a gallery that would exist only for a few hours.

Each of the screen prints hung on the walls presented an almost identical layout: a grid of four rows of colored parallelepipeds (three dimensional boxes whose faces are all parallelograms). On the boxes’ front side, you could see hand-drawn sea waves, a series of smiling mouths, a computer, or a hand.

Occasionally, commentary placed at the bo�om of the prints referred to old private conversations, or to the etymology of the word “desire.” We learned, for instance, that the noun comes from the Latin phrase “de sidere,” meaning “from the stars.”

Gradually releasing fragments of information, the grids of boxes re-sembled animated depictions of an unknown Morse code.

In relation to an art scene like Cairo’s, where many artists tend to justify their work with a meaning or function, Evans — who is also an Egypt Independent sta� writer — says that the duo is “not trying to do anything.”

Subject ma�er is, however, pres-ent in the artwork informed by the artists’ areas of interests, although in a rather open-ended, subtle way.

Evans is mainly interested in is-sues of migration, but also languag-es and labels. A migrant herself, she re�ects on the experience of being, or not being able, to cross borders

interruption allows a re-evaluation of the template imagery.

“A few months passed between printing the frames and our sec-ond show,” says Kamar, adding that when he went back to work on the prints, it felt like they were already an artwork on their own. “I was lay-ering art on top of art.”

�e repetitive nature of the cho-sen templates hints at in�nite pos-sibilities based on the next choices made by the artists.

“It all seems made of simple deci-sions,” as Kamar describes it.

�en, step by step, the pieces slowly gain aesthetic speci�city, and “the small decisions become monu-mental.”

�e spontaneity of the process is something that this artistic duo cherishes. Kamar explains that he does not really want to think about the possible ties between the sub-jects of their individual �nal works “in order not to start doing it inten-tionally.”

�e only intentional junctions between their practices remain lo-calized at the beginning of the cre-ative process and at its very end, with the exhibition.

“I wonder whether our works would look the same if shown separately,” asks Evans. Probably not — Kamar’s romantic taste and Evans’ distinctive sarcasm in�uence and play on one another in a sort of imaginary conversation, which they plan to continue.

In the near future, the pair would like to realize more shows and then work on a publication. It would in-clude the prints but also, as Evans explains, “some of the texts that we have taken words out for our pieces. �ere is something very cartoonish about our works. �ere is a lot of narrative going on and a magazine or graphic novel could create even more narrative.”

�e publication would constitute a third layer of their work.

“I am really interested in this ad-dition of other text or elements that have nothing to do with the [origi-nal template] images themselves. �is mechanism provides a certain kind of freedom,” Kamar says. “In-deed, I feel like there is freedom throughout the process.”■

The pickMemories of a nuclear holocaust By Ali Abdel Mohsen

In a moment of questionable parenting, my father gave me animated adaptations of “Animal Farm” (the 1954 CIA-funded version) and “When the When Wind Blows” when I was 5. �e former scared the hell out of me, and taught me to stay away from farms. �e la�er acted as a reference, an introduction to the world we live in. It also continues to haunt me.

“When the Wind Blows” tells the story of an elderly British cou-ple oblivious to the grave state of the world beyond their quaint, countryside co�age. When nuclear war breaks out, they are le� to depend on a handful of useless government-issued pamphlets, and each other. With the titular winds carrying radiation through the couple’s hilariously/tragically “forti�ed” home, the situation only gets bleaker.

Made back in 1986, at the tail end of the Cold War, the �lm still man-

ages a timeless quality, helped by its combination of animated charac-ters and backdrops with real-life walls and furniture. It’s slightly dis-tressing to look at, otherworldly, yet realistic. �e story is simply told, and devastatingly e�ective, building on universal fears of helplessness, loss, and the denial of a comfortable, or at least digni�ed, death.

Adapted from his own graphic novel, Raymond Briggs’ script draws both laughs and blood at the expense of the couple’s naïveté, as well as the pe�iness that drives politicians, and the cruel, absurd nature of war. A �nal kick in the gut comes in the melancholic soundtrack, provided by Roger Waters and the aptly named Bleeding Heart Band.

In a world far more connected than it was when it rushed toward mutually assured destruction, the misinformed and stranded pair at the heart of “When the Wind Blows” represents a truly terrify-ing concept. It is one of the many ways in which the �lm remains relevant, if distressingly so. And it is also beautifully animated, for 5-year-olds.■

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Cold war paranoia in “When the Wind Blows”

the collaboration with the same ease that transpires through their images. �e framing template comes �rst; the two decide on it together, whether it is a box or a bo�le, like the dominant pa�ern in their �rst show, held in February at Evans’ apartment.

Di�erent variations of the domi-nant motif are produced by the two artists, who then each add personal elements related to their respective �elds of interest. All the works �nally rejoin on the day of the show.

�e templates and content mate-rial are intentionally treated as sepa-rate elements during the creative process. Printing the templates and later layering them with personal motifs involves a temporal gap. �is

and “also on the contrast between people’s [migratory] physical ex-perience and the language used by bureaucracy to describe it, which is completely absurd. �ere is a gap between reality and how it is re-told,” she explains.

Kamar’s work, which is more text-based, is rather personal.

“Most times, I just put down things I am reading at the moment as a hobby,” he says. “I am interested in the grandness of space, distance and time. �ey are unknowable ... but just as much as our li�le human relations, that can hold the same gravity and magnitude.”

Viewing the work, audiences easi-ly a�ach a range of personal feelings to it, making it familiar.

“I could never initiate a conversa-

tion about space in my real life, as I am not knowledgeable enough. Yet during the show, people came and told me, ‘I can understand perfectly what is being said here,’” says Ka-mar.

�e sense of longing, separation and melancholic distance di�used across his works can be easily re-lated to Evans’ focus on human mi-gration. In a way, Kamar seems in-terested in the abstraction of Evans’ subject ma�er.

�eir works come together in a �uid way that allows viewers to draw implicit relationships — an e�ect that Kamar says is totally un-intentional, and happens only at the moment of the show, a�er an inter-val of separation.

�e artists explain the nature of

Gradually releasing fragments of information, the grids of boxes resemble animated depictions of an unknown Morse code

The sense of melancholic distance diffused across his works can be easily related to Evans’ focus on human migration

Evans is interested in the contrast between migrant experiences and the language of state bureaucracy

In their �rst exhibition, the duo selected bo�les as the main motif for the print screens

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19Culture13 September 2012

A hub of creativity

The culturalcenter promises to provide a far more extensive reach withinAlexandria than its theater-focusedpredecessor

At Teatro, we want to inspire not only next-generation artists, but next-generation thinkers as well

By Maha ElNabawi

LEXANDRIA — Part cafe, part performance space, part gallery, and even part music studio, Teatro Esk-endria is aiming to be not just a place

for social gatherings, but a cultural center, and a hub for dialogue and creative expression in the Alexandria community.

Teatro cultural manager Amina Aboudoma says it’s the first space of its kind in Alexan-dria. It launched this past June, attracting scores of young Alexandrians to the tunes of Egyptian indie singer and songwriter Dina El Wedidi and the beats of African reggae band Toot Ard from Palestine.

The space seeks to be “a liberal, cultural complex offering wide-ranging activities to Alexandrian society,” Aboudoma explains. Activities range from artistic performances, storytelling events, training for creative sec-tors, dialogue, and children’s programs, in ad-dition to social gatherings at the cultural cafe.

The cafe and gift shop are an attempt to set a model for cultural entrepreneurship and eventually guarantee Teatro’s sustainability through its own income.

The creative center is the brainchild of re-nowned Alexandrian playwright and theater director Mahmoud Aboudoma, who acts as the main financer, in addition to contribu-tions from the Netherlands Embassy and the Cultural Resource Center.

The playwright has an impressive list of ac-complishments in the alternative and inde-pendent culture scenes, most notably through his foundation, I-act — the International As-sociation for Creation and Training. Founded in 2004, the organization works in the fields of arts, culture, and social development, mainly targeting middle-class individuals and groups.

Amina, Aboudoma’s daughter, is head of the operational team managing Teatro.

“We all currently still work with I-act — the main initiative we work on is the Creative Forum for Independent Theater for disadvan-taged youth,” she says. “We’ve been running the forum for close to eight years now, with a focus on the European-Mediterranean region. It takes place every year and includes theater performances, publication and dialogue pro-grams, as well as training and capacity build-ing workshops for young people and artists.”

During the past eight years, she says, the I-act team has acquired expertise in the manage-ment and organization of artistic and cultural events, audience building, training programs related to human resources development, and project management.

While Teatro is a project developed by I-act and will be working under its umbrella for the first year, the cultural center promises to provide a far more extensive reach within Al-exandria’s cultural landscape than its theater-focused predecessor.

“In the years that we successfully organized the creative forum, we realized that there was a deeper need within all branches of culture for these types of organized gatherings,” says Amina. “Teatro’s main purpose is to act as an art space for social change and liberal expres-sion.

She says it is more important than ever to build platforms that encourage open dia-logue, freedom of expression, liberalism and critical thinking.

“Whereas the creative forum is limited to theater, Teatro is open to all artists and free-thinkers who are eager to create and affect so-cial change,” she adds.

Upon walking through the passageway lead-ing up to Teatro from Fouad Street, patrons are instantly met with splashes of creativity and inspiration, from the Turkish-patterned floors to the locally made modern art dis-played along the walls. The staff is trying to capitalize on its privileged location on one of the oldest streets in Alexandria and in Egypt,

dating back to the fourth century BC.The street also lies in the city’s commercial

center and is hence frequented by shoppers and people looking for entertainment.

The space was originally a restaurant de-signed by an Italian architect in 1928. It cov-ers 350 square meters, not including several halls and passageways. On the southern, back-end side of Teatro lies a 6-meter-wide dead-end street directly parallel to the Roman Am-phitheater, which is visible from the building’s roof.

Every nook and cranny of the space is uti-lized as a platform for performance, education and expression, in the hopes of optimizing visitors’ human potential and artistic talents to create positive change in society, particu-larly in Alexandria.

Margo Gorgui, Teatro cultural programmer

and gallery operator, says the center holds several specific objectives, but the main one is artistic performances, which are held both indoors and outdoors.

“Artistic performances and events range from dance, street theater performances, clowns, plays and film projections in the un-conventional settings the space offers,” says Gorgui. “We will also launch our main project through I-act, the annual Backstreet Festival. That will include street performances, region-al training, and dialogue opportunities for people across Europe and the Mediterranean, with a focus on Egypt.”

The event is set to take place 23–29 Septem-ber and will involve about 17 performances from Europe and the Mediterranean region. The festival will incorporate various types of cultural entertainment, including a circus

show, musical performances, living statues and street musicians, and aims to bridge the gap between artist and audience by bringing art to the streets.

Amina Aboudoma says the training pro-grams are at the top of the list of services provided to Alexandria’s creative sector. They include varied artistic workshops in cinema, creative writing, design, music and more, for young artists and creative talents who do not have alternative educational resources avail-able to them.

For Ayman Massoud, keyboardist and founding member of award-winning Alexan-dria-based band Massar Egbari, the cultural center also offers a wide array of services and platforms for both emerging and established musicians.

“There are very few resources available to independent musicians in Alexandria, partic-ularly when it comes to rehearsal or recording studios,” explains Massoud. “As a musician, it is extremely important to have a space where you can gather, jam and create in a concen-trated setting.”

Massoud says the studio rents at a very rea-sonable rate of LE120 per hour for recording sessions and LE30 per hour for rehearsals. In the coming months, Teatro plans to begin hosting workshops for producing and mix-ing electronic music, in addition to sound recording.

Thus far, the cultural center has held several musical performances, ranging from Palestin-ian oud and kanoun player Huda Asfour to lo-cal underground bands such as Oriental-rock fusion sensation Eftekasat, Alexandria natives Soot Fel Zahma, and open mic nights run by the group Mashrou3 Al Mareekh.

Additionally, Teatro uses its multipurpose hall to screen films to introduce local residents to different kinds of cinema. This month, the cultural center is screening Iranian films and holding discussions on them afterward.

Of the many services Teatro provides the community, Amina says dialogue and debate programs are of the utmost importance to the overall operation.

“The 25 January revolution was character-ized by social and political activities,” she says. “This reflects the desire of many young peo-ple, artists and intellectuals who want to ex-press themselves while presenting and analyz-ing their problems — this type of activity is crucial in the times we are living in. At Teatro, we want to inspire not only next-generation artists, but next-generation thinkers as well.”■

Additional reporting by Fatma Keshk

Teatro Eskendria is a refreshing addition to Alexandra’s cultural scene

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The award-winning Alexandria-based band Massar Egbari performing at Teatro Eskendria

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The new cultural center is hoping to be a hub for young Alexandrians

Teatro Eskendria hosts a range of art exhibitions at its premises

20 Life & Society13 September 2012

Prior to the procedure, he says, the hair that will be undergoing treatment should be shaved to get rid of hair, not the root, above the skin surface. A technician will also apply numbing cream over the area for half an hour to an hour, prior to the procedure.A�er each session, Abdallah rec-ommends avoiding sun exposure for four days and applying sun-block, as well as soothing cream.“Sun exposure increases your risk of developing side e�ects follow-ing treatment, including pigmenta-tion and, paradoxically, growth,” he says, stressing that these com-plications occur only very rarely. Ghada Omar, 33, su�ered a slight burn mark — redness and minor swelling that was limited to the top

layer of skin — a�er the third ses-sion of removing her sideburn hair.“�e burn occurred as a result of using an inappropriate laser type for my sensitive skin,” Omar says. “It was a �rst-degree burn that dis-appeared a�er applying bleaching cream prescribed by my doctor. �en I resumed my remaining two sessions, with no complications.”Newly married Yasmine Fakhry, 27, also expresses her satisfaction with the experience.

“A�er the treatment, red-ness appeared for a day, but soon my skin returned back to nor-mal with moisturizer,” she says.A�er treating her arms and bikini line, she says the procedure was worth the experience for saving time and providing permanent relief from the pain of using conventional methods.Some women still prefer to stick to common removal hair methods, though.

“My skin is thin and gets more easily irritated than normal. So the idea of laser exposure is risky. I usually use hair removal cream to avoid any pain, as well as ef-fort,” 41-year-old Noha Sayed says.If you are considering laser hair re-moval, the �rst thing to keep in mind is to �nd a reputable dermatologist to determine the treatment best suited for your skin type. �e pro-cedure is available at many derma-tology and cosmetic surgery clinics, and prices vary depending on the quantity of hair, number of sessions required and size of the body area being treated.■

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Cold turkey

Many women find laser hair removal a procedure worth considering

For food addicts, overeating is impossible to quit

By Heba Helmye�ing rid of unwanted facial and body hair with long-term, positive results is a dream come true for many

people . For some, undergoing non-surgical, laser hair removal treatment could be a solution.

However, the process’ success still depends on a number of factors that those interested should take into consideration before trying it. During laser hair removal treatment, a technician uses beams of light with wavelengths that can be absorbed by the pigment in dark hair, which are transmi�ed to the hair follicle inside the skin. �e follicle needs to be hit several times to be destroyed; eventu-ally, the outcome is permanent hair reduction.

�e service has been available in Egypt since 1997, but it has become increasingly popular as a result of vari-ous technologies that have proved its e�cacy on di�erent skin tones.

“Dark, coarse hair gets the best laser hair removal results, as black and brown hair absorb energy more e�ectively than blond, white or very �ne hair,” says Mahmoud Ab-dallah, assistant professor of der-matology at Ain Shams University. Permanent hair reduction is not a time-consuming process.

“Each laser pulse can treat from 15 to 18 millimeters in a second, which means that small areas such as the full face and underarms can be treated within 10 minutes only,” Abdallah says, adding that large areas such as full

By Sarah Elmeshadaught in a vicious cycle, Lamia sits in the bedroom she grew up in at her parent’s home with a pile of choco-late wrappers on her bed. A half

empty bo�le of soda stands beside her on her night-stand. �e top drawer of her nightstand holds a stash of crackers, cheese, jolly ranchers and a few sticks of gum.

A white collar professional, Lamia’s o�ce looks nothing like her bedroom. Immaculate-ly kept, one would need to search her drawers for a while to �nd an extension of her bed-room stash. �e single drawer which carries this stash is locked.

Lamia, whose name and occupation have been changed, spoke to Egypt Independent on the condition of anonymity. �ose who know her think of her as an outgoing person-ality. Praised for her con�dence and beauty, she is a leader in her �eld and many turn to her for advice. What people do not know is that Lamia su�ers from a common eating disorder. She is addicted to food.

According to Dr. Heba Kotb, Assistant Pro-fessor of Psychology at the American Uni-versity in Cairo, “although it is seen a lot, food addiction is not yet [o�cially] considered a disorder in Egypt. Most people consider people who overeat as lacking in willpower.” She says to many in the �eld, food addiction is considered a “luxu-rious disorder.”

Kotb says food, especially chocolate for ex-ample, is linked to the brain centers which re-leases hormones for happiness. �e response a human body receives from these kinds of food is similar to that of cocaine and heroin.

on one table. Generosity means more food in Egypt, and a mother is only a good mother if she feeds her child well.”

Despite her outward success, Lamia has been struggling with depression and other disorders for years now. Although not ex-cessively overweight, the only giveaway to her addiction are the numbers on the scale.

“Our culture is not sensitive to fat peo-ple,” she says. “Even strangers feel free to

make you feel bad. I remember I weighed myself once on those pharmacy scales (the big ones) and the specialist beside it told me, ‘How can you let yourself gain so much weight?’ My immediate retaliation was a nasty one where I said, ‘I can lose the weight but your nose, for example, is ugly. What can you do about that?’ She made me feel horrible. I felt she deserved to be hurt. �ese encounters are not funny, they stay.”

Food addiction is especially di�cult to overcome, because while alcohol and drugs are the types of addictive substances that can be quit altogether with enough determination

and proper direction, food is necessary for survival.

An addiction to food is one that starts from early childhood. Habits linking reward with food and all day feeding contribute to the ad-diction. Kotb says fat cells are formed as early as infancy, drawing the map of future eating habits. When children eat too many snacks between their meals or take too long to �n-ish their meals, they are sending their brain a message that they need to eat all day long, or they will stop feeling sated.

Using food as a reward also links it to self-esteem. Kotb says most people with food ad-diction may have an underlying disorder such as low self esteem. In the vicious cycle that Lamia talks about, when she looks at herself in the mirror and doesn’t feel happy, she turns to the one thing in her life which does give her the feelings she craves. Eating momentarily releases hormones that make her happy, but the same food a�ects her weight, and if she gains more weight, she is again unhappy with the way she looks.

Food addicts will keep eating despite nega-tive consequences; Kotb says it is as di�cult to quit a food addiction as it is to quit an ad-diction to drugs and alcohol. Many who have a�empted to cut back on overeating have tried many times unsuccessfully.

Lamia has �nally placed her �nger on her addiction. As with any addiction, food addicts go through withdrawal symptoms and, unless they seek professional help, may end up go-ing through hopelessness, anxiety and other disorders as they go on their traditional diet. With no social net to help them in their dif-�cult time, many more disorders may result from this speci�c disorder.■

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arms and legs may take up to an hour.It is di�cult to specify how many treatments would be required for long-term hair removal as it depends on a number of di�erent factors.“�e number of sessions ranges from four to eight, depending on the treated body area, hair thick-ness and individual response,” he says, stressing that sessions should be spaced four to six weeks apart.�e results di�er from one body area to another, he says.

“�e best laser results are seen on the underarms, below the knee and the bikini line, with 80 to 90 percent removal of hair. Hair growth reduction of other body areas [is] 70 percent,” he says.Hend Mohsen, 23, underwent laser

treatment for her underarms a year ago.

“I felt pain in the �rst session, but it started to ease gradually with every new session. I was encour-aged to try it out because of its al-most permanent result,” she says.Mohsen adds that she now only needs maintenance by conventional methods for the treated area about twice a year.

Abdallah says people who are inter-ested should take some precautions before undergoing the treatment.

“Avoid skin color changes by sun tanning and limit waxing and pluck-ing for six weeks, because these meth-ods pull the hair from the root, which the laser energy targets to eliminate its growth,” Abdallah says.

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C While alcohol and drugs are addictive substances that can be quit altogether with enough determination, food is necessary for survival

Addiction to food means a person can con-tinue to eat constantly, even a�er feeling they are full. A food addict may also su�er from anxiety over social situations where eating is involved, for fear of over eating. Food addicts tend to plan for their daily binge and food it-self occupies most of their thoughts.

In Egypt, food is at the core of almost all social activity and celebration and it plays a central role in society. Kotb believes the kind of culture Egyptians live in could be a direct cause of the rising rate of food addicts.

She says, “We live in a food culture. Coming out of Ramadan, we have only just seen the dining tables covered in several types of meat and di�erent kinds of dishes

ly kept, one would need to search her drawers for a while to �nd an extension of her bed-room stash. �e single drawer which carries

Lamia, whose name and occupation have been changed, spoke to Egypt Independent on the condition of anonymity. �ose who know her think of her as an outgoing person-ality. Praised for her con�dence and beauty, she is a leader in her �eld and many turn to her for advice. What people do not know is that Lamia su�ers from a common eating disorder.

According to Dr. Heba Kotb, Assistant Pro-fessor of Psychology at the American Uni-versity in Cairo, “although it is seen a lot, food addiction is not yet [o�cially] versity in Cairo, “although it is seen a lot, food addiction is not yet [o�cially] versity in Cairo, “although it is seen a

considered a disorder in Egypt. Most people consider people who overeat as lacking in willpower.” She says to many in the �eld, food addiction is considered a “luxu-

Kotb says food, especially chocolate for ex-ample, is linked to the brain centers which re-leases hormones for happiness. �e response a human body receives from these kinds of food is similar to that of cocaine and heroin.

on one table. Generosity means more food in Egypt, and a mother is only a good mother if she feeds her child well.”

been struggling with depression and other disorders for years now. Although not ex-

myself once on those pharmacy scales (the big ones) and the specialist beside it told myself once on those pharmacy scales (the big ones) and the specialist beside it told myself once on those pharmacy scales (the

me, ‘How can you let yourself gain so much weight?’ My immediate retaliation was a nasty one where I said, ‘I can lose the weight but your nose, for example, is ugly. What can you do about that?’ She made me feel horrible. I felt she deserved to be hurt. �ese encounters are not funny, they stay.”

Food addiction is especially di�cult to overcome, because while alcohol and drugs are the types of addictive substances that can be quit altogether with enough determination

She says, “We live in a food culture. Coming out of Ramadan, we have only just seen the dining tables covered in several types of meat and di�erent kinds of dishes

21Life & Society13 September 2012

A view from the bridgeCairo’s famous bridges are not just for crossing the Nile

By nightfall, the parallel steel conduits transform into promenades of makeshift teashops, where a veritable bridge cutlure has emerged

And, as soon as the traffic died down, at around 3 am, a gang of helmet-free adolescents too small for their motorbikes popped wheelies across the bridge’s span.

Beyond this curious conver-gence, pedestrians, families and would-be lovers straddle and stroll in a space where safety would normally be of concern. But somehow a palpable contract exists in the form of ego and ma-chismo that maintains a sense of order.

Rami, a 25-year-old soldier on break, chatted us up. He, like many other single men on the bridge, is looking for company and pointed out a girl whom he had once dated and who now ig-nores his gaze.

As we circled one of the lion statues that brackets the bridge’s end, a very familiar scene oc-curred: the sound of screeching brakes followed by a cringing

bumper-to-bumper crash. The crash led to a tug at the chin and swipe from behind the neck. Al-most instantly, a crowd formed, holding the aggressor back and assuaging his pride.

“These are how things are set-tled in Egypt,” Rami comments as the drivers return to their cars and carry on.

“There’s no security,” says Ye-hia. “This revolution carried sev-eral revolutions in Egypt. Martyrs walked on this bridge time after time. So many people died on this bridge protesting humiliation from the government.”

To date, the nightly cafes re-main intact with some gussied up by strings of colorful bulbs and shaabi tunes blasting from speak-ers hooked up to a streetlamp. But recent actions by the government against the informal sector, like last week’s clamp down on illegal stalls on Nabi Daniel Street in Al-exandria, may be foretelling.

According to Yehia, police of-ficers had detained vendors on the bridge before Ramadan and threatened to shut down their op-erations. “They gathered us and divided us into groups of three, and they took our watches and wallets,” he claims.

“We’re not sure if we will go or stay. The government told us that we can work here after Eid al-Fitr but that they will then try to find us jobs. If not, we can maybe stay on the kobri. For now, it’s ok,” Mohamed says.

But Yehia is doubtful, and jok-ingly says: “If the government comes, I have fire.”■

A few pillars east from Yehia’s fasha on the middle of the bridge, we sat with brothers Bobos, 27, and Eslam, 20, who, since earlier this year, have served similar fare. Bobos supports his wife and two kids on LE50 a day, while Eslam lives with another worker under the bridge.

“I was born on the bridge. My mother left me here,” he says.

Within moments, we man-aged to get a glimpse of Cairo by night and fell into casual conver-sations with boys with switch-blades tucked at their waists; an imam from Mecca and his brother who descended from their SUV, daubed us with a liquid musk, and reminded us of the pillars of Islam; a 22-year-old woman who for six years has been selling ros-es against the banks of the Nile while nursing her baby; and hus-tlers with an impressive fluency in English looking to close a scam.

By Marcus Benigno

nless you’re floating across the city’s blood-line, it is a safe bet that when traveling overland

from downtown to the island of Zamalek, you’ll cross either the Qasr al-Nil or the 6th of October Bridge. Here, rush hour venerates the daily commute with a steady procession of cars, carriages, lor-ries and the like. But by night-fall the parallel, steel conduits transform into promenades of makeshift teashops, where a veri-table kobri, or bridge, culture has emerged.

Sidewalk cafes known as fashas set against the bridge railings of-fer tea and titbits on stackable plastic stools with a view of the Nile. About eight fashas line the historic Qasr al-Nil, where Yehia, better known as “Fox” to his fel-low hawkers, runs one of these pop-up parlors.

“The issue requires two cups of tea, but now I’m working,” he tells me, while stirring a hooded, metal cauldron of watery hummus, or chickpea soup.

“I want to talk about so many things, like the life of a youth whose father has only enough to feed his family but he takes mon-ey from him anyway, even though he can’t pay him back. So he’s forced to do anything to get mon-ey, doing any job you can imagine, as a delivery man, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a wall painter, a plumber, even dealing drugs and sometimes he becomes addicted to them,” says Yehia.

For two months now, the 27-year-old and his partner, Mo-hamed, 21, have rented a few meters on the western end of the bridge from a source who man-ages the space and deals with local authorities, Yehia says.

Since the 25 January revolution and the subsequent ease in the en-forcement of civic laws like parking and traffic restrictions, public spac-es in Cairo are bustling with black market traders, eliding regulations.

“Ya basha!” says Yehia as he convinces a group of men to sit for tea. But little do they know — for those not schooled in the art of teatime tricks and haggling for Nescafe — that on top of the LE5 for tea, an additional LE3 seating charge per person is tacked onto the bill. Generally, coffee on the bridge goes for LE7 and hummus, LE7.50. But, if you dress up, the prices will match. It’s best to in-quire before taking a seat.

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Cairo’s bridges have become home to makeshift cafes

22 Travel13 September 2012

Grub in Gouna

By Amany Aly Shawky

inding a dining spot in Gouna can be tricky and confusing, since there are a lot of options and many differ-ent cuisines for one tiny town.

The Marina is now the center of all activ-ity within the coastal town. After walking around the beautiful and cheerful landscape, a dinner at La Scala is highly recommended. Their open-air setting is breathtaking and the food is simply scrumptious. Bread and three types of dips are presented on all tables; the olive paste and tomato dips are fresh but the Arugula pesto is peculiar. For the salads, the Caprese and Arugula salads are superb, the ingredients are super fresh and the seasoning is perfect.

Like most Italian restaurants, La Scala’s pasta is tasty, juicy and fresh; Pasta Alla Mar-inara is very much recommended. You may want to avoid some of the meals, including the fish and their risotto, which wasn’t quite up to the standard of the pasta when I was there.

Chez Chantale inside Turtle’s Inn is anoth-er fine dining destination you shouldn’t miss if you like your steak flavorsome and juicy. The Chez Chantale Steak is recommended, but if you have a sensitive digestive system, ask the waiter to use a little less black pepper and cream. Do ask for the special daily menu and their dessert menu, as they are full of ap-petizing surprises. The waiters are nice and

friendly, though the interior of the restaurant does seem a little dated.

If you are done with fine dining and look-ing for a meal without fuss, Thomas is a nice option for a relaxed meal. Do sit outdoors, as the view and breath of fresh air are ap-petizing. You’ll be delighted to know the pizza is tastier and less oily than the Cairo branches: I inhaled my Napolitana. My chocolate caramel cake wasn’t quite as good , but the cheesecake. made up for it. The sandwiches are fresh, the service is impec-cable and the branch in Gouna also serves alcohol.

Bua Khao Thai restaurant inside the Movenpick is definitely a must-visit also. Although it overlooks the pool, the tasty food compensates for the rather bland view. The seafood is fresh and tasty, and the fried rice is nicely cooked. The blend of coconut milk and curry will tingle your taste buds, while the cooks’ expert stir frying makes the food light and tasty. A soup is a must. Prices are little on the high side, however, so be preapared for a dinner for two to cost up to LE300.

For a drink and a breathtaking location, go to Maritim for some Swedish delicacies and mouthwatering snacks. Prices in almost all of Abu Tig Marina are expensive; main courses range between LE100 and LE150 but you’re certainly spoilt for choice, and you’ll have some delicious food memories to take with you when you leave.■

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From juicy steaks to scrumptious stir fries, the beach resort has it all

The Chez Chantale Steak is recommended but if you have a sensitive digestive system, ask the waiter to use a little less black pepper and cream

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23Listings13 September 2012

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Maurice Louca

The DowntownMeltdown

A year and a half after the release of his debut solo album “Gar-raya,” 29-year old electronic mu-sician Maurice Louca performs at 100Copies’ new music space. Louca’s music is distinct on the local electronic music scene, with its shredded and scattered samples, and live instruments fed into a multitude of filters, mutilated and deformed beyond the point of recognition.

14 September, 8 pm 100Copies Music Space 22 Talaat Harb St., Downtown, Cairo 010-0059-2998, 02-773-8760 www.100copies.com

Singer and songwriter Shady Ahmed will be playing tracks off his soon to be released record “Life Is Hard For Those Who Dream,” to the acoustic sounds of his band, The Downtown Melt-

Mus

ic

Like Jelly and Highon Body Fat The performances of these two local bands are both musical and comedic. High on Body Fat, the duo from Arabs Got Talent whose performances involve parodies of mainstream pop songs and have been described as “lively” and “hysterical,” will be followed by the musically eclectic four-man band, Like Jelly.

13 September, 8:30 pm El Genaina TheaterAl-Azhar Park, Salah Salem Rd., Cairo 02-2510-7378, 02-2510-3868 www.mawred.org/en/el-genaina-theatre

High on body fat

Film

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‘The Revolution, Now’

‘Literature, Revolution and Politics’

This 2009 thriller is an adaptation of Shahrnush Parsipur’s magic realist novel bearing the same title. Renowned Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, in collaboration with screenwriter Shoja Azari, chronicles the intertwining lives of four women in Iran during the summer of 1953. It traces a cataclysmic moment in Iranian history when an American-led, British-backed coup d’état brought down the democratically elected Prime Minister, Moham-mad Mossadegh, and reinstated the Shah in power.

18 September, 7 pm Teatro Eskendria 25 Fouad St., Downtown, Alexandria 03-390-1339 www.teatroalex.org

‘Women Without Men’

This Iranian film by Abbas Kiarostami is described as a “dra-matized dilemma.” Originally cen-tered around a classroom incident where students refuse to name a menacing classmate, Kiarostami showed this film to the Shah’s edu-cational experts and filmed their opinions in 1979. In 1981, he set about remaking the film with two options this time, one allowing the students to name the culprit. Commentary on the two cases by the new education minister and members of political parties was filmed and contrasted with previous ones. “First Case, Second

‘First Case,Second Case’

Case” was banned from view after its premier and reappeared online in June 2009.

19 September, 7 pm Townhouse Gallery Hussein al-Ma’mar Pasha St., Off Mahmoud Basiony St., Downtown, Cairo 02-2576-8086 www.thetownhousegallery.com

down. Mokhtar al-Sayeh plays bass while Tarek Abdelkawi is on guitar and Magued Nagati is the band’s percussionist.

18 September, 8 pm Cairo Jazz Club 197, 26th of July St, Mohandiseen 02-3345-9939 www.cairojazzclub.com

Writer and journalist Saad al-Kersh will be signing and discussing his recently released book “The Revolution, Now: Diaries From Tahrir Square” at Al-Kotob Khan. Written as a per-sonal record of the revolution, the book covers the 18 days in 25 chapters. But it also provides context that goes way beyond those days, into the past and the future of an ongoing revolution.

12 September, 7:30 pm Al-Kotob Khan 3/1 al-Lasilky Rd, New Maadi, Cairo 02-2519-4807, 010-6553-6885 www.kotobkhan.com

Renowned Lebanese writer, playwright and critic Elias Khoury will be introducing the theme of literature and revolu-tion at Cairo University, before critic and director of the Center for Translation Studies at the American University in Cairo, Samia Mehrez, moderates a discussion with writers and academics Ezzedine Choukri Fishere and Mona Prince, as well as writer Mohamed Rabie and journalist Ahmed Sultan. The panel discussion is part of an ongoing Aesthetics and Politics program of events by the Sum-mer Academy for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers.

19 September, 7:00 pm Faculty of Arts’ History building, 1st floorCairo University, Giza 02-3762-3694 www.cu.edu.eg

“The Revolution, Now” by Saad al-Kersh

Stag

e Mariam al-Quessny launched Mashrou3 Al Mareekh (The Mars Project) in 2010, with several underlying initiatives that promote self-expression among Egyptians. Mashrou3 Al Mareekh gives space to perform-ers and comedians to experi-ment with their acts to diverse audiences. They perform on the second Friday of every month at Darb 1718.

14 September, 7 pmDarb 1718Kasr al-Shams St., Al-Fakhareen, Old Cairo, Cairo 02-2361-0511 www.darb1718.com

Locally organized by the “Esmo Eh...?” contemporary performing arts crew, this is the first inter-national, independent festival of mime arts taking place in Egypt. It is a great opportunity to get to the public in new ways with the expansion of the discov-ery of different art forms. The performance at Beit al-Seheimi has the theme of “Mimes versus Violence.”

15 September, 7:30 pm Sehemi House Al-Darb al-Assfar alleyway, off al-Moez le Din Allah al-Fatimi St., Azhar, Cairo 011-1668-3507 www.masterpeace.org

The Mars ProjectThe Mars Project

100 Thousand Mimes for Change Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘First Case, Second Case’

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Issue no.1813 September 2012

24

Printed by Al-Masry Media Corp

Find the latest Egypt

Independentissue here

Minutes of the Borg al-Sahab Tower Block ResidentsAssociation meeting, Sunday 9 September

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1. The new chair, Mohamed Morsy Eissa al-Ayyat, PhD (apartment 2, floor 10) intro-duced himself and said that he hopes to restore the tower block to its former glory.2. Dr. Morsy paid tribute

to former chair of the Resi-dents’ Association General Hussein Tantawy (apartment 3, floor 5) who was forced to voluntarily resign last month.3. Dr. Morsy said that he

will continue to consult the General and make use of his valuable expertise but that the General need not trouble himself to attend meetings or take part in association ac-tivities in any way.4. Dr. Morsy noted that

negotiations are continuing with General Hussein over the return of the spare key for the association kitty, which is still in the possession of General Hussein. General Hus-sein said that he is busy with his new job as head of securi-ty at City Stars Mall but will endeavor to return it.5. Several residents in-

quired on what basis Mr Saf-wat Hegazy (apartment 1, floor 1) was selected to be in charge of the building notice board when he has no previ-ous experience with notice

boards. A physical alterca-tion then ensued. The physi-cal altercation resulted in Mr Safwat’s removal from the meeting.6. Mr Mohamed Abou Hamed

(apartment 2, floor 1) filed a complaint about the “Zad” su-permarket recently opened on the ground floor of the build-ing by Mr Khairat al-Shater (apartment 2, floor 5).7. Mr Mohamed alleged that

the Zed supermarket is usurp-ing its proper boundaries and using communal property as a storeroom.8. The charge was denied by

Mr Khairat, who complained that the previous night some-one had scrawled graffiti on his shutters and that while he wasn’t pointing fingers, it was Mr Mohamed’s handwriting.9. After being readmit-

ted to the meeting Mr Safwat complained that Dr Mohamed ElBaradei (apartment 1, floor 10) has been posting short messages on the association notice board without his per-mission.10. Mr Safwat wondered how

he was doing this given his protracted absence from his apartment.11. Mr Nader Bakkar (apart-

ment 3, floor 10) recorded these minutes (on his iPad).

Borg al-Sahab, Harat al-Fardous, Abou Atata, Giza

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