cairo diary

New Egyptian film mirrors real tension between Muslims and Christians

2008-07-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I went to see Egypt's new and popular big-screen release, Hassan and Morkos, which tackles the issue of relations between Christians and Muslims in Egypt. It is the first film in quite some time to take up this subject, and it does so at a key moment - just as tensions increase between Coptics and Muslims here - and through two of Eygpt's biggest stars.

In the movie, a Coptic priest, played by Adel Imam, and a devout Muslim, played by Omar Sharif, are forced to assume false identities after being attacked by enemies. Imam adopts the identity of a respected Muslim sheikh, and Sharif of a Christian man, and of course you can imagine where it goes from there. After eliciting laughs early on (such as a scene where Imam is brought to a mosque and asked to deliver fatwas on various situations) the film transformed abruptly into a melodrama promoting tolerance and unity, and ends with the two families walking hand in hand through violent sectarian clashes in Alexandria.

The movie, and its warm reception in theaters, is significant in the context of current events, such as this outbreak of sectarian clashes in Fayoum, this in Minya, and this in Abu Fana, not to mention the riots between Christians and Muslims in Alexandria in 2004 and 2005. Tensions seem to be running high, and the international press is also noticing. The Washington Post recently chronicled what it calls the increasing self-imposed "isolation" of Coptics as they come under pressure and attack, and Bloomberg raised the possibility of Lebanon-like sectarian strife coming to Egypt. While the Post and Bloomberg pieces seemed a little over the top to me, perhaps that's wishful thinking.

They did make me think of a Egyptian friend from a Coptic family who assured me that Muslims were not to be trusted; of an Egyptian Muslim man who recently accused Christians of sacrificing babies during worship rites; of a Coptic taxi driver who mocked the call to prayer several Fridays ago; of a Muslim who told me the Bible teaches Christians to kill unbelievers.

And indeed there is a Facebook group, albeit with only 27 members, calling on Muslims to boycott Imam's films because the actor, in reality a Muslim, played a Christian in Hassan and Morkos. But there is also a group supportive of the movie, with 80 members, and as of Wednesday, 787 people had become virtual "fans" of the movie on Facebook. And if the full theaters are any indication, the film - whether or not that includes its message - has more supporters than detractors.

Here is a trailer for the movie with subtitles in English.

Survey: two thirds of Egyptian men harass women

2008-07-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't need this article from Reuters to tell me what I already know: sexual harassment of women is widespread in Egypt.

According to the article, nearly two thirds of the 2,000 Egyptian men surveyed said they had harassed women - that's nothing new for anyone who has ever been to Egypt. The most disturbing statistic, however, was that more than half the men said the women were at fault for the harassment. Most of the women, the article points out, said they did nothing to stop the abuse.

Those two points are exactly why sexual harassment is such a huge problem here and why I don't believe it will go away anytime soon.

Bahais in Egypt still face persecution

2008-07-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Daily News Egypt reported that Egyptian schools are refusing to enroll Bahai children - five months after a court ruled that Bahais in Egypt can leave religion off their national identity cards and recognized their right to state services.

Egyptians are allowed only three choices in the religion field on national ID cards - Muslim, Jewish, or Christian. Before the court ruling, Bahais were forced to either falsely claim one of the three choices or go without ID, making them unable to enroll in school and other state services. The court ruled that they could leave the field blank (though Egypt still does not recognize their religion.)

According to The Daily News Egypt, Egypt is replacing national identity cards with a new version, but has not issued the new cards to Bahais. The schools refuse to accept the old cards, according to the article, preventing the children from enrolling.

Sexual harassment in Cairo

2008-06-28T12:16:00.001-07:00

I consider myself a strong person, not easily intimidated or threatened. I was surprised, then, when the subject came up in several recent conversations, to discover just how much I have been affected by the constant sexual harassment in Cairo over the course of nearly a year.

The abuse takes place nearly every time I step outside. Usually it's verbal - sometimes in the form of catcalls, and more often extremely vulgar remarks. Sometimes it gets physical, when a boy tries to run me over with his bicycle and swipe a slap, when a man touches me, or worse, when he grabs me. And lastly, some men occasionally expose themselves to me, or touch themselves while watching me.

The constant onslaught has honed my defenses. I am on guard every time I walk outside here, particularly when I'm by myself. I often keep my hands up near my chest as protection against groping when I walk through crowds. When I walk down the street, I stare into the distance, never looking anyone in the eye, which provokes harassment, and never staring at the ground, which radiates submission. This into-the-distance stare is so intense that I have walked right by friends without even seeing them. I don't register people anymore, because I don't see faces; they are only bodies. I perceive every man as a threat, and I am always aware of men's positions around me. If a man is walking behind me, I keep my eye on him, and change to the opposite side of the sidewalk if possible.

I am afraid of escalators. They close me in, provide me with no way of escape from the surrounding men. I try to step in front of a woman if I have to ride one to avoid the nervousness that besets me when a man is standing one foot behind me.

I ride the women's-only car on the metro to avoid the stares and possible harassment of the men's car. In public waiting rooms or buses, I always sit next to a woman. If the only open seat is beside a man, I stand.

In short, I walk the streets in a posture of defense, always ready for a possible confrontation. I come home surly and worn out. And I see every man on the street as a threat. It doesn't matter what I wear. It doesn't matter how I look, either, because Egyptian women suffer just as much abuse as foreign women. It is a problem of upbringing, of the utter lack of respect for humanity, and particularly for women, displayed by many of the men in Cairo.

This post is not meant to overshadow the positive aspects of life in Cairo or the wonderful traits of many Egyptians. But living with constant sexual harassment is a heavy burden to bear, and I wonder if it will leave lasting affects on me.

Ad-Dustour launches web site as editor appeals prison sentence

2008-05-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

An Egyptian court will hear tomorrow the first appeal of Ibrahim Issa, the editor of independent daily newspaper Ad-Dustour who was sentenced to six months in prison for printing rumors of President Mubarak's bad health, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights.

Ad-Dustour also launched a new web site today. The newspaper regularly attacks the government, and according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights, the ruling party has brought at least 35 suits against the paper.

Issa, (or Eissa, depending on where you see it, as names transliterated from Arabic are often spelled in different ways in English,) was accused of harming the state's economy after Ad-Dustour printed rumors circulating about the elderly president's possible illness or death after his long absence from public appearance last summer. The government said this caused foreign investors to take their capital out of Egypt. Mubarak turned 80 on May 4.

burn those books!

2008-04-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

Two books have riled up Egypt's beleaguered regime in one week, prompting panicked government attempts to swipe copies from bookstore shelves, according to news reports here.

So what are these evil books? The first is So They Won't Beat You On The Neck, a Egyptian protester's how-to guide with advice on citizens' rights, written by former police-officer-turned-human-rights-lawyer Omar Al-'Afifi. (Hat tip to Patrick for alerting me.)

According to Al-Arabiya, the book was on sale for 10 days and sold 50,000 copies before security forces stormed bookstores to round up remaining copies. I guess they don't want any informed protesters at the next general strike, called for May 4 (happy 80th birthday, President Mubarak.)

The second confiscated book is Metro, Egypt's first graphic novel, which apparently has "political connotations."

The Arab Network for Human Rights says police broke into a publishing house and confiscated copies of the book, written by Magdi El Shafi'i, because it was "harmful to the public manners."

These actions are evidence of the regime's increasing defensiveness in the face of a rising swell of public discontent. But keep trying, Mr. Mubarak: banning a few books isn't going to solve that problem.

Mahalla citizens smash Mubarak's Posters أبطال المحلة يحطمون صور

2008-04-08T13:29:00.001-07:00

Mahalla citizens smash Mubarak's Posters أبطال المحلة يحطمون صور الدكتاتور مبارك
Originally uploaded by 3arabawy - صَحـَـفي مِصـْـري

Photo by Nasser Nouri in Mahalla, from 3arabawy's flickr

First victim of Mahalla clashes confirmed

2008-04-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

Clashes between workers and security forces continued for the second day in Mahalla yesterday, with thousands of people gathering in the streets, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks, and tearing down posters of Mubarak and stomping on them.
Reports of a death at the hands of police are finally confirmed: 15-year-old Ahmed Ali Mabrouk Hamada was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.
Bloggers have called the events an "intifada" and are posting pictures of tear gas, police beatings, and the huge masses in the streets.
Hundreds of activists, bloggers and protestors have been arrested, and their families are waiting at the police station in Mahalla for news of their loved ones. Among them was blogger Kareem el-Beheiri, who was arrested and blindfolded, then taken to an unknown place, where he was beaten and electrocuted, reports the Hisham Mubarak Law Center's blog.

Meanwhile, municipal elections today saw minimal turnout and accusations of rigging, according to The Daily News Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood (the largest opposition party) boycotted the elections because most of its candidates were disqualified and more than 800 of its members rounded up and arrested in the last few weeks. About 90 percent of the candidates in today's elections were Mubarak loyalists.

UPDATE: Al Jazeera reports Mabrouk was shot three times by police in the head and neck while he was standing on the balcony of his house. According to witnesses, the article said, he fell from the balcony after being shot, and died almost immediately.
Police fled the scene when residents came out of their homes after hearing the gunshots, the witnesses said.

General strike prompts protests, arrests

2008-04-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

Security forces clashed with and arrested protesting workers and labor organizers in Mahalla today after thwarting the planned strike at a factory there by sending policemen inside, AP is reporting.
In Cairo, heavy police presence discouraged all but a few protests and participation in the general strike was moderate. Traffic was light, streets were nearly deserted and most schools were closed, but many shops were open.
The strike at a textile factory in Mahalla was to be the focal point of a nationwide strike to protest rising food prices and government policies two days before important local elections. The situation turned violent there today, and BBC reports that as many as 50 people were arrested and hundreds wounded in clashes with police.
3arabawy reported that security forces opened fire on protestors and killed at least two. Many labor organizers who have not been arrested are on the run.
Groups of riot police on almost every street corner of downtown Cairo foiled plans for a protest in Medan Tahrir, but protestors gathered at several places, including the lawyers' syndicate and Cairo and Helwan Universities.
At the lawyers' syndicate, hundreds of central security forces in riot gear blocked the entrance to the building, hemming in the hundreds of protesters who stood on the steps and chanted slogans like "Down, down Mubarak!" and "we want a free government!"
My favorite was this: "You send our gas to Israel and we're eating donkey meat!" referring to the Egyptian government's agreement with Israel to export natural gas at an extremely cheap price, while many Egyptians struggle to afford basic commodities like gas and food as prices soar.
At one point, people on the roof of the syndicate building threw bottles and debris onto the riot police.
The tense atmosphere was heightened by a dust storm that descended upon the city this morning like a dense cloud, cloaking the sun, limiting visibility, and casting a foul yellowish-brownish glow.
The nation-wide unrest is the sign of growing anger over soaring prices and insufficient salaries in Egypt, where striking is illegal.

Eagerly awaiting April 6

2008-04-03T09:25:00.001-07:00

Talk is growing of the general strike set for Sunday, called by opposition movements, to protest a long list of grievances against the government.
One of my professors at the American University in Cairo cancelled class for Sunday, both in solidarity with the strike and because her childrens' day-care had been cancelled in anticipation.

The opposition movements are calling for all Egyptians to stay home and refrain from buying anything Sunday to send a signal to the government two days before local council elections. No one knows yet how many will participate - I've heard speculation that it's going to be widespread, as well as doubts that the lack of grassroot organization will result in a weak show.

Cross the street at your own risk

2008-03-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have become accustomed to while living in Egypt is the method used to cross the street. Cross walks here are rare, and traffic lights are nonexistent. So if you need to cross, you simply wade out into oncoming traffic, dodging cars, buses, and donkey carts, sometimes standing in the middle of the street while two vehicle whiz by on either side of you, just inches away, at 50 miles per hour.

It's an intricate dance between cars and pedestrians, one in which the key step is the ability to judge the speed and intentions of oncoming vehicles, and weave your path between them. Oncoming traffic rarely slows down for pedestrians, because it's rarely necessary. The process usually works so well (no need to stop traffic, no need to wait at cross walks) that I am quite fond of it. I often forget that it can be a quite dangerous endeavor.

The doctor who works for the American embassy here told a Fulbright briefing last year that around 60 vehicle/pedestrian collisions take place every day in Cairo. I have never seen one (well, not a serious one) so I choose not to think about them. But that changed a little bit yesterday as I walked down the large, busy street in my neighborhood to pick up dinner.

As I passed a silver mid-sized sedan parked at the curb, I suddenly stopped. Blood was smeared across the hood. A tell-tale dent marred the bumper. At first I thought maybe it was paint, or mud, or anything else but blood. But the smears were unmistakable, a dried, almost-brown-but-still-maroon substance splashed across the silver paint.

I stood staring for a few minutes as people walked routinely by, wondering if the victim was human or animal, calculating how large it/he must have been to lose so much blood. And then, as I berated myself for not carrying my camera with me and prepared to cross the street, I thought I should be more careful than usual.

But as I stood at the edge, I asked myself how that was possible. And then I plunged into the stream of oncoming vehicles, weaving and dodging, sprinting and stopping. I guess pedestrian casualties, like much else in the most populated city in Africa, are just a fact of life.

Mubarak needs glasses

2008-03-26T13:19:00.001-07:00

This is just too funny to pass up.

From AFP: "Putin, Medvedev - what's the difference? Mubarak asks"

Then again, he is 79. Maybe he's losing his eyesight. (Good thing I'm foreign, or I might be arrested for "defaming" the good old president, or "spreading false news" about his health.)

Egyptian newspaper editor sentenced to six months in prison

2008-03-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

I was expecting this...

An Egyptian opposition newspaper editor who published rumors about Mubarak's health in August was sentenced to six months in prison today for harming the economy, but was freed on bond pending an appeal.

Ibrahim Issa is the editor of Ad-Dustour, an opposition paper critical of the government. He has been a thorn in the Mubarak's side for some time, and this is not his first run-in with the courts.

But apparently he went too far in August, when Ad-Dustour published the rumors swirling through Egypt that Mubarak, 79, was ill, (some even said dead,) because he had not appeared in public for weeks. The government said this caused investors to worry about the stability of Egypt and pull their capital out of the country.

Issa was also sentenced to a year in prison in September, along with three other Egyptian editors, for supposedly defaming Mubarak and his son Gamal. (In that case, also, he was spared prison time by paying a bond.)

This is just another example of Mubarak's crackdown on the freedom of the press (and other freedoms) that began in 2005. Bloggers, newspaper editors, Al Jazeera correspondents - it gets worse and worse. And to think that the regime so intent on supressing freedom of expression is supported by more than $1 billion per year from the United States. So much for all the talk about supporting democracy in the Middle East...

Professors strike for wage increase

2008-03-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

Egyptian university professors today went on strike for the first time in history, taking their demands for higher salaries to the next level after talks with the prime minister broke down.
Several hundred professors gathered on the steps of Cairo University's administration building, despite threats from the government that striking professors would be punished.
Dr. Feisal Yunis, chair of the psychology department at Cairo University, described the participation as "moderate" and said some professors were afraid of retaliation.
Similar strikes took place at universities across the country, joining a growing wave of workers' strikes in Egypt and unrest provoked by soaring food prices. The doctors' union was also scheduled to protest today in support of a minimum wage for doctors. Such manifestations of discontent cannot be comforting to Egypt's authoritarian leader Mubarak.
I was surprised by the absence of the familiar Egyptian riot police, normally present at any protest. I only saw about 15 normally-clad officers standing well back from the crowd.
Professors in Egpyt make on average 3,000 Egyptian pounds per month, or about $546. Assistant professors start at less than 500 pounds, or less than $91, per month.
Dr. Yunis told me he saw the historic strike as a first step towards securing appropriate rights for the faculty.
"I think it will happen along the way," he said. "I don't think it will happen right now or today. But we have a role here. It's a role for defending our rights as faculty members. We need to reach a balanced relationship between employees and employers in this country, so they can negotiate with us in a straightforward and civilized manner."

Sara Said (on the right) was among the students watching the protest, and she and her friends spotted many of their professors among those gathered on the steps.
She is afraid that one day she will be in the same position, a college graduate with a good job but a salary too small to cope with the rising cost of living in Egypt. She said she hopes, however, that she won't have to be in that position thanks to her professors.
"They will give us our rights," she said.

Converstion continues on the first female Islamic marriage officiater in Egypt

2008-03-22T01:52:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing a lot of commentary lately in Cairo, nearly a month after the fact, about the first woman to be appointed in Egypt as a "ma'zuna," an official who performs the Islamic marriage ceremony, so I thought I'd write about it.

Amal Suleiman, 32, was appointed to the job by a court in the governate of Sharkiyya, beating out 10 male applicants for the position. According to Al Arabiya, this is a first not only for Egypt, but for all of the Muslim world. (The article is in Arabic, sorry.)

Suleiman holds a masters degree in law. None of her male competitors had a masters degree.

Her appointment is significant, both for Egypt's male-dominated society and in Islamic terms, and of course Egyptians have much to say about it, both negative and positive. It will be interesting to see if any other women follow in her footsteps or if this is an anomaly.

Coming soon: what Egyptians think about Suleiman.

more on religious freedom

2008-02-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

As a follow-up to my post " 'Victory' for religious freedom in Egypt," here is an extremely witty and sarcastic response to an Egyptian court's decision to allow Christians who converted to Islam, then back to Christianity, to identify themselves as Christian on national identity documents - with the catch that the documents will also say they were formerly Muslims.
It's written by Mohamed Salmawy, head of the Arab Writer's Union.

Robert Fisk's biography of Saddam Hussein on sale in Egypt - except that he didn't write it

2008-02-24T09:33:00.001-08:00

This is an extremely amusing story that aptly illustrates the state of intellectual property (or should I say, lack thereof?) and general chaos in Egypt.

"Victory" for religious freedom in Egypt

2008-02-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

In a decision that has largely been reported as a step forward for religious freedom in Egypt, a civil court in Cairo ruled Saturday that 12 Christians who converted to Islam, then returned to Christianity, can have the change of religion officially recognized on their national identity cards.
(How generous of the court.)
However, BBC and The New York Times fail to mention the catch (reported in the Egyptian opposition daily Ad-Dostour): the Coptic Christians' previous religion, Islam, will also be printed on the cards.
This could make them susceptible to discrimination and abuse in a country where many consider those who leave Islam to be apostates, and some believe the offense is punishable by death.
The case also offers little hope to those who were originally Muslim but have converted to Christianity. One such man, Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, was forced to go into hiding because of death threats last year when he attempted to force the government to recognize the change in his identification documents. His efforts were denied last month by the same court that issued Saturday's ruling.
The judge appears to have allowed the change in this case because the 12 were born into Christian families. They had converted to Islam (a much simpler task) in order to get divorces, which are easily obtained by Muslim men but practically forbidden to Coptic Christians.
Egyptians are required to list their religion on their national identity card, and were only afforded three choices (Muslim, Christian, or Jewish) until two weeks ago, when courts granted Bahais the right to leave the field blank.
Previously, Bahais were forced to choose between falsely listing one of the available religions or going without official identification documents, making it impossible to enroll in school or open a bank account.
Unfortunately, Egyptians of all other religions still face the same dilemma. Converting to Islam, however, remains just as easy as ever.

not your usual Cairo traffic jam

2008-01-27T14:51:00.001-08:00

Egyptians took a break from thinking about the situation in Gaza last night as their football team, the Pharoahs, defeated Sudan in an important game.
It was harder than usual to flag down a waiter in the cafe where I was eating dinner around midnight, because they were all glued to the screen. There was a deafening roar when Egypt scored the final goal.
But several minutes after the game ended, I heard a commotion outside. It turns out all the young men had poured out of the sports cafes down the street and formed a giddy mob directly in the middle of the very busy road, blocking all traffic.
They waved Egyptian flags, brandished blowtorches, and jumped up and down in a huge, tight circle singing "ole, ole ole ole!" as the cars they were blocking honked furiously.
This went on for about half an hour, bringing already crazy traffic to an absolute standstill. Some of the revelers, taking advantage of the empty street on the other side of the jumping, singing, blow-torch carrying crowd, spun their cars in donuts as young men hung precariously out the windows waving Egyptian flags.
Only in Egypt.

Security forces crack down on protests in Tahrir

2008-01-23T06:29:00.001-08:00

Egyptian bloggers are reporting that security forces beat and detained demonstrators expressing support for Gaza in downtown Cairo today.
I passed through Medan Tahrir a few hours after the protests were broken up, but the police were still out in force as you can see.
There were groups of 20 or so policeman standing at different points all around the square (including in front of Hardees, possibly to make sure no one demonstrates in support of hamburgers.)
My camera ran out of batteries before I could get a really good shot. (And a policeman was yelling at me to stop taking photos.)

Rafah update

2008-01-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

By now everyone knows that Palestinians blew through the border wall last night and flooded into Egypt by the thousands, buying food, fuel and building supplies.
Reuters reported that Mubarak said Egypt was letting the Palestinians in to buy food. More likely, he can do nothing to prevent it.
Mubarak has faced harsh criticism here by those who say Egypt should do more to help the people of Gaza during a heightening humanitarian crisis. Standing by while Palestinians blew a hole through the border wall was his way of "helping," I guess.
The Egyptian blogosphere has been quick to weigh in on the situation in Gaza.
Here's a taste:
The Skeptic - Gaza Goes Dark
Egyptian chronicles - They blew it baby
3arabawy: Message from Gaza

Violence at the Rafah crossing

2008-01-22T04:57:00.000-08:00

I'm watching live on Al Jazeera English as Palestinian crowds carrying green Hamas flags surge through the border crossing at Rafah from Gaza into Egypt.
Just a few moments ago, the protestors, including many women, were pressing against the gates, where Egyptian security forces in riot gear were beating them with sticks. Then I watched live as the crowd surged suddenly forward, and the Egyptian police fired shots. I couldn't tell whether they fired at the crowd or into the air.
Then I clearly saw a Palestinian lift a rifle and fire towards the security forces as the crowd overwhelmed them, surging through the gates and into Egypt.
I saw at least two people, one a young woman with blood staining her hijab, carried away on stretchers.
This is the first online news I have seen of the events.

Lebanese college students sent to jail for facebook comments

2008-01-22T04:43:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to read of this happening in Lebanon, but it highlights the need everywhere to clarify the way laws that govern printed media apply to electronic media.

Fighting torture in Egypt, and unafraid of the consequences

2008-01-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

I talked this morning with Dr. Aida Seif el Dawla, a pioneer in Egypt's human rights movement, about her work to combat torture here, for a story I'm writing. She is a a co-founder of the El Nadim Center for the Psychological Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, which documents instances of torture and abuse committed by government security forces and police.
Torture is widespread and steadily increasing, she said, and only regime change can stop the rising tide.
She talked clearly of her vision that opposition groups around the country will one day join together to finally create a force the government cannot repress or ignore.
I asked her whether she felt hesitant to talk so openly about regime change, particularly in the current political climate, when the government could use her words as ammunition to shut down her organization.
"No," she said simply. "If I worry about myself then I cannot ask anybody else to do anything. I cannot ask victims of torture to speak out."
Many of the victims who come to El Nadim go public with their stories of abuse, and face renewed arrest, torture, or harassment.
Despite the danger, the victims and Dr. Seif el Dawla refuse to remain silent.

Egyptian commercials: whiter skin, brighter future

2007-11-30T04:39:00.000-08:00

In the past several months in Cairo, I've noticed several television advertisements, in English and Arabic, for womens' face-whitening products.
In one, an aspiring fashion designer goes unnoticed, her ideas ignored by her boss, until she uses "Fair and Lovely" cream to lighten her complexion. Suddenly, her boss approves of her work and her designs are part of a fashion show.
I've been struggling to identify why these types of products find a market here. Is it because light skin is seen as more beautiful than dark skin? Or is it because light skin is a prerequisite for success?
In the United States, the socially-constructed definition of beauty usually does not include pale skin, thus the plethora of self-tanners and tanning beds. But I'm beginning to think the demand for skin-lightening products here in the Middle East has less to do with beauty, and more to do with success.
A glance through the society pages in an Egyptian newspaper reveals that most of the rich, successful and famous here come in at the lighter end of the skin color spectrum. Many of the workers in the service industry and lower class Egyptians are darker-complected.
It doesn't stop with just Egypt, either. I've noticed recently that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif look significantly different than most of the lawyers protesting in the streets of Pakistan.
So do young Egyptian women think they need to lighten their skin in order to get a good job? That's certainly what these commercial seem to suggest.

BBC: Egyptian prisoner dies after torture by police

2007-11-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

While torture is debated in America, it remains a fact of life for many of those imprisoned in Egypt.

trouble in the village

2007-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

As I descended the steps into Sadat Station of Cairo's metro system Sunday, joining thousands of people crowding into the dingy, stale tunnel, I was bracing myself for a hot, stuffy, and uneventful ride home.

But as I was walking through the tunnel toward the ticket counter, suddenly I felt it - a hand grabbing my rear. This was no innocent bump, but a full-fledged, lingering squeeze. I whirled around with my fists raised and struck someone on the chest before I even knew what I was doing. I was surprised to find myself staring into the face of an adolescent boy. I was even more surprised when he hit me back, punching my shoulder.

As soon as I could find my tongue, I decided he was going to learn a lesson. "Ayb aleyak!" I yelled into his startled face, the words echoing off the tunnel walls and attracting a crowd. "Haram aleyak!"

No sooner had the words left my mouth than an Egyptian man intervened. He slapped the boy across the face, grabbed his ear and began yelling at him as the crowd of veiled women clucked their tongues in disapproval. I won't forget the look of utter astonishment and embarrassment on the face of the boy, who must have been about 13. As I hurried off to catch my train, I had the small satisfaction of knowing that he had been shamed in front of others for something he had likely surmised would be an easy thrill.

Later I began to wonder - if I had been back in Washington, D.C., getting on the metro at Dupont, would anyone have stopped to help me? In the individualist society of America, would I have been on my own? Cairo, a friend told me the other day, is like a big village. Everything you do is everybody else's business, and on Sunday this boy's behavior became the business of everyone getting on the metro at Sadat. The communal attitude here gave everyone present the right to step in and help me. The man who grabbed the boy by the ear acted as if his own son or nephew had misbehaved. And the look I saw on the boy's face revealed that though everyone in the crowd may have been a stranger, he was just as ashamed as if his entire family had been present.

Then I wondered why, in the same society where strangers would punish a boy for his inappropriate behavior, such sexual harrassment is commonplace. If such behavior is unacceptable, then why do I raise my arm to protect my chest every time a man passes a little too close to me on the sidewalk? Why do I have to take the women's metro car to be assured that I won't be groped? Why do I have to bite my tongue and ignore the whistles and nasty comments when I walk down the street?

Cairo cleric fights secularism in the courtroom

2007-10-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this awhile back, but didn't get around to it...it's still worth reading now.

Bloomberg: Egyptian actor attacked for starring alongside Israeli

2007-10-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

So much for the "peace" between Egypt and Israel, huh? I especially like the last part - that an Israeli film has been banned from a film festival in Cairo intended to ``to advance understanding through the language of art between all the peoples of the world.''

Cairo's camel market

2007-10-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

About an hour outside of the crowded filthiness of Cairo, in the beautiful green farmland, is a daily gathering for the buying and selling of an important commodity here in Egypt: camels.
They come from Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, and Morocco. Most of them walk from the Horn of Africa to south Egypt, where they are loaded onto trucks for the remainder of the trip, their necks sticking out from the bed of the truck like a bunch of ostriches.
At the market, men tend their flocks of camels with thick sticks, whacking them when they try to run away, and run away they do. Some are hobbled to prevent escape, with one of their front legs bent at the knee and tied up that way.
Mahmoud, a camel-herder who was selling a bunch of ten-foot-tall Somali camels Friday morning, said the animals had just arrived from Sudan. The camels were tired, he said as he drank his morning tea, but his lined face looked weary, too.
He travels back and forth from Sudan to Cairo, bringing camels to the market, where the prices start at 2,000 LE and go up from there, he said.
The market was mostly quiet Friday morning, but there were a few heated negotiations involving men yelling, walking away, then being pulled back by their gallabeyas to make a deal.

2007-10-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting op-ed about the Muslim Brotherhood from the Daily News Egypt.

2007-10-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight I saw children painting.

This might not mean much in the States, but these kids are from the impoverished Moquattem community. They don't have art classes in school, and their families aren't able to buy art supplies or send them to classes. Even if they were, they would probably think twice about spending money on something as frivolous as art.

But at Alwan wa Awtar, the NGO I visited tonight, about 1,500 children in Moquattem are exposed to all kinds of art- drawing, painting, theater, music, graphic design, photography, pottery, and more. Azza Kamel, founder and director of the organization, said she sees art as a vehicle for social development.

The children who come to Alwan wa Awtar are from El Hadaba el Wosta in Moquattem. Most of these families lost their homes during an earthquake in 1992, and were moved to El Hadaba el Wosta by the government. They still don't think of it as their home, said Kamel, and the poverty and harsh living conditions contribute to a sense of insecurity.

Often when the children first arrive at the center, they are afraid to voice their opinions, she said. But as they encourage the children to express themselves through art, the workers at Alwan wa Awtar watch them lose their attitude of passive acceptance of life and emerge as vibrant youngsters with opinions and desires.

I've heard much talk recently of how one of the problems in Egypt is the people's passive acceptance of an authoritarian government. Movements for change, like the Kefayah movement two years ago, failed to gain grassroots support and failed because people simply didn't care. Perhaps if organizations like Alwan wa Awtar can foster a sense of individualism and activism in children, replacing the passive attitude they learn at home, one day those kids can bring about a positive change in their country.

www.alwan-awtar.org

2007-08-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Memory is a tricky thing.
I arrived in Cairo yesterday and was instantly bombarded by heat, filth, and crowding that far exceeded what I remembered.
Was the sexual harassment always this bad, or did I just forget the feeling of rage rising in my chest when I can do nothing to stop the abuse?
Have more women started wearing the hijab, or veil, than did two years ago, or is this observation just another game my mind is playing?
My recollections of Cairo are mostly of the people who made my time here memorable. It will take some time to readjust to the craziness and contradiction that is the setting for life in this city.
I've already had a reminder of the unpredictability that reigns here.
No sooner had I arrived at my apartment in a quiet neighborhood than I heard yelling coming from outside. I walked out on the balcony and peered down at a crowd of maybe 30 agitated men in the street.
In the middle of the crowd, two men shouted in each other's faces, gesturing wildly as their voices rose to a fevered pitch and the onlookers tried to hold them back. From three stories up, I could see that fresh blood covered the neck and shoulder of one of the men's shirt, and was seeping down the bluish-gray checked pattern towards his waist.
All along the street, people stood on their balconies and craned their necks to catch the excitement, which was nothing more than a minor disturbance. About 30 minutes later, the street was once again deserted.
But if I've forgotten some of Cairo's peculiarities, there's at least one thing that's still exactly the same: crossing the street still means dodging dangerously through a stream of oncoming speeding cars.

coming soon...

2007-08-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

cairo diary