Friday, February 14, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Al-Sisi’s dwindling options
"Going down that road is an idea we should never even flirt with, and
the military knows this. It starts with a single candidacy announcement,
which is why it hasn’t come so far. God save us if it does."
Al-Sisi’s dwindling options - Daily News Egypt
the military knows this. It starts with a single candidacy announcement,
which is why it hasn’t come so far. God save us if it does."
Al-Sisi’s dwindling options - Daily News Egypt
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Lexicon of a revolution's insults | Mada Masr
"A dictionary of labels invented after January 25, 2011":
Excellent analysis of how language and its interpretation have defined the past three years in Egypt:
Lexicon of a revolution's insults | Mada Masr
Excellent analysis of how language and its interpretation have defined the past three years in Egypt:
Lexicon of a revolution's insults | Mada Masr
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
What to watch in Sisi’s run for president of Egypt
Another good analysis from the "pen" of Nervana. I think she hits the nail on the head with her list of challenges facing Field Marshal Sisi in his probable run for the presidency.
What to watch in Sisi’s run for president of Egypt - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Life in the City of the Dead by Virginie Nguyen | PANORAMA
Life in the City of the Dead by Virginie Nguyen | PANORAMA
"The City of the Dead lies below the Moqattam Hills, in the Arafa
necropolis, on the southeastern edge of Cairo. The cemetery stretches
for more than six kilometers. As many as half a million people live
within its tombs and mausoleums. It is considered a slum.
"Some of the residents have chosen to live here so they can be near
their ancestors. But most of the people who call the City of the Dead
home moved here when the cost of living in central Cairo became too
expensive. Others migrated from rural areas, in search of a job and the
cheapest place to stay in Cairo.
"This story is about the hardships faced by two families living in the City of the Dead.
"Fathi, 31, is a gravedigger and tomb keeper. He has worked in the
City of the Dead for 15 years. He lives alongside two tombs in a room
with his wife and two-year-old daughter.
"Sherifa, 36, suffers from breast cancer. She lives in the City of
Dead for financial reasons. It’s where she can afford to pay rent. She
lives with her husband and her two children in a single room."
This story was produced for the World Press Photo ’Reporting Change’ training program.
"The City of the Dead lies below the Moqattam Hills, in the Arafa
necropolis, on the southeastern edge of Cairo. The cemetery stretches
for more than six kilometers. As many as half a million people live
within its tombs and mausoleums. It is considered a slum.
"Some of the residents have chosen to live here so they can be near
their ancestors. But most of the people who call the City of the Dead
home moved here when the cost of living in central Cairo became too
expensive. Others migrated from rural areas, in search of a job and the
cheapest place to stay in Cairo.
"This story is about the hardships faced by two families living in the City of the Dead.
"Fathi, 31, is a gravedigger and tomb keeper. He has worked in the
City of the Dead for 15 years. He lives alongside two tombs in a room
with his wife and two-year-old daughter.
"Sherifa, 36, suffers from breast cancer. She lives in the City of
Dead for financial reasons. It’s where she can afford to pay rent. She
lives with her husband and her two children in a single room."
This story was produced for the World Press Photo ’Reporting Change’ training program.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Women of Egypt Vote!
Regardless of the outcome of the constitutional referendum held on January 14 and 15, it's heartening to see the women of Egypt turning out to vote. Thank you to Wafaa El Saddik for sending me this photo!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Boxed In
I (very) briefly grappled with whether to vote, or boycott this
referendum but after the experience of covering the Sisi popularity
contest Tuesday, I will not be ticking any boxes.
I did a little straw poll on Facebook to see what others were doing. The overwhelming majority are also boycotting, because they are mostly all lefty traitors and spies. Various reasons were given why:
“I didn't go anywhere on 30 June or sign the Tamarod petition because it smelled rotten. So I haven't shifted my opinion; everything still seems shitty to me and I can't see where to start working on something constructive.”
“I'm ignoring. Boycotting is too motivated a stance to have for this charade.”
“I will not participate in anything that can be used by this regime to
claim it has achieved stability or a trace thereof. I realize that at
this stage what I do or don’t do will change nothing on the ground. But I
need this to keep my sanity.”
“Boycotting. Besides rejecting the dictates of the fascist-nationalist project, as noted above, a boycott is not without political significance if a large turnout plays into their hands.”
“Boycotting as a moral responsibility. If there's one thing we should have learned by now, it is that stability and injustice don't mix.”
But, one friend made a compelling argument for voting no:
“I'm voting no. Mainly in defiance of the incessant 'yes' propaganda and the crackdown on the 'no' campaign. I think the state, mukharabat [intelligence] and Sisi lovers are more bothered by no voters than boycotters. If I'm doing something they don't like, I'm probably doing something right.”
I wonder, though, given that only a tiny minority will vote “no,” whether, as another friend suggested, the number that most matters to them now is the turnout and not the (assured) “yes” result.
“Yes” voters are being criticized in some circles as army-loving zombies or Sisi obsessed fascists. But, while I don't agree with their reasons for saying “yes,” I can sort of see that it is possible to be a rational person and vote “yes.” Examples include:
“I voted. If we give into apathy and lose hope now, what message are we sending future generations?”
“Voting ‘yes.’ I'm getting old, stability is more important than ever… I mean with the new baby and all.”
“Participating saying ‘yes,’ and que sera sera.”
“Intended to vote ‘yes’ because of a handful of good articles in the constitution that I think represent significant gains. Of course, I have a big issue with military trials and some other things, but I don't think we'll realistically get something better at this stage. But after I decided to vote ‘yes,’ I couldn't be bothered to go the embassy because it's all shit anyway...”
“Yes, because I prefer to have the new constitution over the Morsi written constitution, so want it to pass. Also, I want Islamists to lose legitimacy. Is it the best constitution or the way I want Egypt to move forward? No.”
This last one for me sums up my reasons for boycotting. "A referendum on the constitution is rarely about the document itself, but more than any previous plebiscite this vote is about sticking two fingers up at the Brotherhood and expressing varying levels of confidence/adoration in the army and more specifically the person of Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fatah el Sisi."
Voters repeatedly linked a “yes” to the constitution with a “yes to Sisi” yesterday. His picture was everywhere, and in some quarters he is regarded as the second coming. One man actually said this, that Sisi was “sent” to protect Egypt. I remembered 2011, and the Islamists and their rhetoric, a “yes” vote is a vote for Islam. It's still all about interchangeable deities in the end.
One interesting aspect of all this is that Mubarak was noticeably absent from the military effigies (Nasser, Sadat, Sisi) plastered everywhere, but his spirit permeated everything. He bequeathed the current situation to Egypt, after all, the us vs. them mindset, the suspicion of political or cultural otherness, that idea that Egypt, and Egyptian identity, must be a fortress against interlopers and the ease with which the threat of such interlopers, real or imagined, can steer the country's course.
This referendum is part of that legacy. It is another brick in the wall of the security state and its relentless homogeneity. In January 2011, there was a small crack put in that wall and we were given a glimpse of a new possibility, of new faces, and new political forces. But through a tragic and increasingly inevitable combination of their own inexperience, blind trust and the public's unwillingness to back an unknown entity, they were eventually shut out of the public space and we were reduced to the same old tired binary of Islamists and the old state — just like Mubarak promised us.
Now the old state has won, to great applause, and there is absolutely no room for difference, all in the name of stability and progress. There is no visible “no” campaign, and a “no” voter has become an endangered species. Nine people (apparently mostly affiliated with the anti-coup movement) were killed yesterday.
The ballot itself seems to be pretty much violation-free (there were a few incidents of polling stations opening late, judges not showing up, etc), and the authorities and others who vocally support the army and its roadmap will make great play of that. They will ignore the seemingly low turnout and the way that the “yes” campaign equated saying “yes” with loving one's country, and with saying “no” to terrorism. They will also ignore the fact that people were quietly arrested while campaigning for a “no” vote.
We back a wishy-washy state that dodges bullets by lingering at the margins of legality. It arrests and imprisons journalists without charge, but only journalists from one media establishment, so that when you condemn a violation of media freedoms it brushes this off with “no, this is about fighting terrorism,” and people can write what they like, as long as they are not employees of Al-Jazeera. It silences the opposition, but either in the name of the law or covertly, through laws that shut down protests or groups and through telephone threats and surprise visits to activists' homes. It points to the huge public support, the “authorization” it sought and received for its war on terrorism as empowering it to create this state of exceptionalism, the never ending danger justifying measures that reduce opposition public life to furtive mad dashes through an obstacle course of threats and penalties.
In the slew of Facebook statuses and tweets bidding good riddance to 2013 and its travails, one friend wrote that for all its sadness, 2013 will be remembered as the year in which a Muslim majority country unseated an Islamist regime. There is something to be said for that, I suppose, just like 2011 was the year in which Egypt deposed the dictator that had sat on its chest for three decades.
I still believe that the Brotherhood should have been left longer to prove their spectacular inability to govern equitably and expose more of their authoritarian tendencies. It is a minority view, but their sinister little project was aborted too early. The counter argument to this is that blood was being spilled, and Egypt was on the cusp of a civil war. But people are still dying almost every day, killed by police bullets or in bombings, and with arguably an even more impoverished democracy. The Brotherhood demonstrated no interest in democracy outside of the ballot box, or willingness to engage with the opposition, while at the same time crowing about legitimacy and the democratic process. Its successors are not much different, except that they are a military regime built on a legacy of 60 years of authoritarianism and which is claiming legitimacy through people power. It has already killed hundreds of people and arrested thousands. I find this terrifying, and won't legitimize it by taking part in a vote whose purpose is to sanction what has happened and what is to come.
I did a little straw poll on Facebook to see what others were doing. The overwhelming majority are also boycotting, because they are mostly all lefty traitors and spies. Various reasons were given why:
“I didn't go anywhere on 30 June or sign the Tamarod petition because it smelled rotten. So I haven't shifted my opinion; everything still seems shitty to me and I can't see where to start working on something constructive.”
“I'm ignoring. Boycotting is too motivated a stance to have for this charade.”
I
remembered 2011, and the Islamists and their rhetoric, a “yes” vote is a
vote for Islam. It's still all about interchangeable deities in the
end.
“Boycotting. Besides rejecting the dictates of the fascist-nationalist project, as noted above, a boycott is not without political significance if a large turnout plays into their hands.”
“Boycotting as a moral responsibility. If there's one thing we should have learned by now, it is that stability and injustice don't mix.”
But, one friend made a compelling argument for voting no:
“I'm voting no. Mainly in defiance of the incessant 'yes' propaganda and the crackdown on the 'no' campaign. I think the state, mukharabat [intelligence] and Sisi lovers are more bothered by no voters than boycotters. If I'm doing something they don't like, I'm probably doing something right.”
I wonder, though, given that only a tiny minority will vote “no,” whether, as another friend suggested, the number that most matters to them now is the turnout and not the (assured) “yes” result.
“Yes” voters are being criticized in some circles as army-loving zombies or Sisi obsessed fascists. But, while I don't agree with their reasons for saying “yes,” I can sort of see that it is possible to be a rational person and vote “yes.” Examples include:
“I voted. If we give into apathy and lose hope now, what message are we sending future generations?”
“Voting ‘yes.’ I'm getting old, stability is more important than ever… I mean with the new baby and all.”
“Participating saying ‘yes,’ and que sera sera.”
“Intended to vote ‘yes’ because of a handful of good articles in the constitution that I think represent significant gains. Of course, I have a big issue with military trials and some other things, but I don't think we'll realistically get something better at this stage. But after I decided to vote ‘yes,’ I couldn't be bothered to go the embassy because it's all shit anyway...”
“Yes, because I prefer to have the new constitution over the Morsi written constitution, so want it to pass. Also, I want Islamists to lose legitimacy. Is it the best constitution or the way I want Egypt to move forward? No.”
This last one for me sums up my reasons for boycotting. "A referendum on the constitution is rarely about the document itself, but more than any previous plebiscite this vote is about sticking two fingers up at the Brotherhood and expressing varying levels of confidence/adoration in the army and more specifically the person of Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fatah el Sisi."
Voters repeatedly linked a “yes” to the constitution with a “yes to Sisi” yesterday. His picture was everywhere, and in some quarters he is regarded as the second coming. One man actually said this, that Sisi was “sent” to protect Egypt. I remembered 2011, and the Islamists and their rhetoric, a “yes” vote is a vote for Islam. It's still all about interchangeable deities in the end.
One interesting aspect of all this is that Mubarak was noticeably absent from the military effigies (Nasser, Sadat, Sisi) plastered everywhere, but his spirit permeated everything. He bequeathed the current situation to Egypt, after all, the us vs. them mindset, the suspicion of political or cultural otherness, that idea that Egypt, and Egyptian identity, must be a fortress against interlopers and the ease with which the threat of such interlopers, real or imagined, can steer the country's course.
This referendum is part of that legacy. It is another brick in the wall of the security state and its relentless homogeneity. In January 2011, there was a small crack put in that wall and we were given a glimpse of a new possibility, of new faces, and new political forces. But through a tragic and increasingly inevitable combination of their own inexperience, blind trust and the public's unwillingness to back an unknown entity, they were eventually shut out of the public space and we were reduced to the same old tired binary of Islamists and the old state — just like Mubarak promised us.
Now the old state has won, to great applause, and there is absolutely no room for difference, all in the name of stability and progress. There is no visible “no” campaign, and a “no” voter has become an endangered species. Nine people (apparently mostly affiliated with the anti-coup movement) were killed yesterday.
The ballot itself seems to be pretty much violation-free (there were a few incidents of polling stations opening late, judges not showing up, etc), and the authorities and others who vocally support the army and its roadmap will make great play of that. They will ignore the seemingly low turnout and the way that the “yes” campaign equated saying “yes” with loving one's country, and with saying “no” to terrorism. They will also ignore the fact that people were quietly arrested while campaigning for a “no” vote.
We back a wishy-washy state that dodges bullets by lingering at the margins of legality. It arrests and imprisons journalists without charge, but only journalists from one media establishment, so that when you condemn a violation of media freedoms it brushes this off with “no, this is about fighting terrorism,” and people can write what they like, as long as they are not employees of Al-Jazeera. It silences the opposition, but either in the name of the law or covertly, through laws that shut down protests or groups and through telephone threats and surprise visits to activists' homes. It points to the huge public support, the “authorization” it sought and received for its war on terrorism as empowering it to create this state of exceptionalism, the never ending danger justifying measures that reduce opposition public life to furtive mad dashes through an obstacle course of threats and penalties.
In the slew of Facebook statuses and tweets bidding good riddance to 2013 and its travails, one friend wrote that for all its sadness, 2013 will be remembered as the year in which a Muslim majority country unseated an Islamist regime. There is something to be said for that, I suppose, just like 2011 was the year in which Egypt deposed the dictator that had sat on its chest for three decades.
I still believe that the Brotherhood should have been left longer to prove their spectacular inability to govern equitably and expose more of their authoritarian tendencies. It is a minority view, but their sinister little project was aborted too early. The counter argument to this is that blood was being spilled, and Egypt was on the cusp of a civil war. But people are still dying almost every day, killed by police bullets or in bombings, and with arguably an even more impoverished democracy. The Brotherhood demonstrated no interest in democracy outside of the ballot box, or willingness to engage with the opposition, while at the same time crowing about legitimacy and the democratic process. Its successors are not much different, except that they are a military regime built on a legacy of 60 years of authoritarianism and which is claiming legitimacy through people power. It has already killed hundreds of people and arrested thousands. I find this terrifying, and won't legitimize it by taking part in a vote whose purpose is to sanction what has happened and what is to come.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Hands and Hippos
We stopped in at Aladdin's Hule to pay for the kilim and had no
intention of spending any more money. But the road to Hell is paved with
good intentions... So, four "hands of Fatima" and three hippos later...
.jpg) |
| The "white sheep" of the family is one I purchased in 2011 in a shop under the entrance to the Winter Palace. She has company at last! |
Aladdin's Hule
We visited with our friend Badr in the suq yesterday, on a quest for carpets and kilims. But before one reaches the rug room, one passes through other parts of the shop. A real treasure trove! In fact, when I was checking the photos before uploading them, I noticed some silver metal "hands of Fatima" that are a regular feature in the decoration of caleches (behind the collection of keys in the lower left of center in the first photo). I will be looking at them more closely when we return. Here are a few photos:
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Saturday Stroll Through the Suq
The Saturday after Christmas I joined friends Ursula and Lena for a journey through the Luxor tourist suq. The sad part was the number of shops that were closed, as if their owners had given up. And there were fewer importunate vendors as well. Nice for us, but bad for the local economy!
Our shopping started with a lengthy visit to one of the spice shops. It was one I had not visited before, and I had a photographic ball! Color, color, color and some great packaging!
Our next stop was at our friend Adel's scarf shop. We were so surprised to see it open! Adel was there with his two grandsons, and we had tea and a lovely chat while we shopped for scarves we didn't really need, but couldn't live without!
Ursula wanted some inexpensive scarabs to use as small gifts so we stopped at one of the sellers with a cart on the pavement. She did some hard bargaining, and I found one I liked and managed to get him down a little bit. I always feel a bit guilty when I do this, because of the economy, but it is expected!
After that, we shopped for belts and purses in a leather shop, another one that I had not been in before. We ended up both buying a nice reversible belt (black on one side and brown leather on the other side) for a reasonable 75 LE (just over $10). I will go back there to examine his purses more closely. After a brief visit to Habiba, we ended up in another shop selling scarves and galabeyas, etc. I "needed" a black and white arafat (scarf named after Yasser Arafat because he always wore one) and they had some excellent quality ones for 20 LE (less than $3). I had to photograph this sign on our departure!
Then it was time for some freshly squeezed orange juice while observing the passing scene:
As we were leaving the suq, we passed a shop selling posters of General El Sisi, the new Egyptian idol. I had to purchase one with him and the hawk, although I have been informed that there is another one that I will have to hunt for that shows him with a lion!
All in all, we had an excellent time of it! Here is my swag:
Everything for just shy of $31.00 (exchange rate = 6.9 LE per $1)! And as the commercial says, "The suq experience? Priceless!"
Our shopping started with a lengthy visit to one of the spice shops. It was one I had not visited before, and I had a photographic ball! Color, color, color and some great packaging!
 |
| I bought some of the green label "Ostrish Fat" cream because it's supposed to be good for muscle and joint aches! |
 |
| LOTS of karkaday at the bottom of the photo |
 |
| The bright blue on the lower right is indigo |
 |
| Al Suoad Cream = "To weaken the hair growth" = not for your head but for your mustache, etc. |
Ursula wanted some inexpensive scarabs to use as small gifts so we stopped at one of the sellers with a cart on the pavement. She did some hard bargaining, and I found one I liked and managed to get him down a little bit. I always feel a bit guilty when I do this, because of the economy, but it is expected!
After that, we shopped for belts and purses in a leather shop, another one that I had not been in before. We ended up both buying a nice reversible belt (black on one side and brown leather on the other side) for a reasonable 75 LE (just over $10). I will go back there to examine his purses more closely. After a brief visit to Habiba, we ended up in another shop selling scarves and galabeyas, etc. I "needed" a black and white arafat (scarf named after Yasser Arafat because he always wore one) and they had some excellent quality ones for 20 LE (less than $3). I had to photograph this sign on our departure!
 |
| I particularly like the part (lower left) that says "Here you will find a gift for someone you don't like"! |
Then it was time for some freshly squeezed orange juice while observing the passing scene:
 |
| Just across from the juice bar was a bakery that was dispensing freshly baked "aysh balady" (country bread or pita as we would call it) |
All in all, we had an excellent time of it! Here is my swag:
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Sunset Stroll
On December 27 I decided I wanted to get out of the house for a little while and 5 p.m. seemed like a good time. I'm so glad I left when I did, since it meant I was able to capture this sunset moment:
Just after this I noticed a long line of glossy ibises flying north on the other side of the river
and took the time to shoot a video. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to add the music I wanted to it, so you'll just have to imagine "Evening Raga" by Ali Akbar Kahn playing in the background:
When the flock had passed overhead I descended to the Lower Corniche where I captured these images:
and took the time to shoot a video. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to add the music I wanted to it, so you'll just have to imagine "Evening Raga" by Ali Akbar Kahn playing in the background:
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Solstice Sunrise 2013
We chose to go to Karnak Temple for the winter solstice sunrise today rather than yesterday, and we are very glad we waited. Yesterday there were 1,500 people. Today there were perhaps 15! And the sunrise was surely equally spectacular.
 |
| The perfect akhet (hieroglyph meaning "horizon") and a bird I only discovered when I was reviewing my shots! |
 |
| A shot I would normally have trashed, but it has a certain je ne sais quoi... |
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