Egypt

This Is Not a Revolution

Via the NY Review of Books, by Hussein Agha and Robert Mally--read on. 

Moises Saman/Magnum Photos/A campaign event for Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, Mansoura, Egypt, April 22, 2012. Morsi was declared the winner of the election on June 24.

All lies and jest

Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
—Paul Simon

Darkness descends upon the Arab world. Waste, death, and destruction attend a fight for a better life. Outsiders compete for influence and settle accounts. The peaceful demonstrations with which this began, the lofty values that inspired them, become distant memories. Elections are festive occasions where political visions are an afterthought. The only consistent program is religious and is stirred by the past. A scramble for power is unleashed, without clear rules, values, or endpoint. It will not stop with regime change or survival. History does not move forward. It slips sideways.

Games occur within games: battles against autocratic regimes, a Sunni–Shiite confessional clash, a regional power struggle, a newly minted cold war. Nations divide, minorities awaken, sensing a chance to step out of the state’s confining restrictions. The picture is blurred. These are but fleeting fragments of a landscape still coming into its own, with only scrappy hints of an ultimate destination. The changes that are now believed to be essential are liable to be disregarded as mere anecdotes on an extended journey.

New or newly invigorated actors rush to the fore: the ill-defined “street,” prompt to mobilize, just as quick to disband; young protesters, central activists during the uprising, roadkill in its wake. The Muslim Brothers yesterday dismissed by the West as dangerous extremists are now embraced and feted as sensible, businesslike pragmatists. The more traditionalist Salafis, once allergic to all forms of politics, are now eager to compete in elections. There are shadowy armed groups and militias of dubious allegiance and unknown benefactors as well as gangs, criminals, highwaymen, and kidnappers.

Alliances are topsy-turvy, defy logic, are unfamiliar and shifting. Theocratic regimes back secularists; tyrannies promote democracy; the US forms partnerships with Islamists; Islamists support Western military intervention. Arab nationalists side with regimes they have long combated; liberals side with Islamists with whom they then come to blows. Saudi Arabia backs secularists against the Muslim Brothers and Salafis against secularists. The US is allied with Iraq, which is allied with Iran, which supports the Syrian regime, which the US hopes to help topple. The US is also allied with Qatar, which subsidizes Hamas, and with Saudi Arabia, which funds the Salafis who inspire jihadists who kill Americans wherever they can.

via www.nybooks.com

Egypt activists try to stop holiday sex harassment

CAIRO (AP) — A group of Egyptian men had a mission for this year's Eid al-Adha, Islam's biggest holiday, which began Friday. They wanted to make some effort to stop sexual harassment of women, which in past years has spiked in Cairo during the holiday celebrations with the crowds of rowdy men in the streets.

Their idea was simple: to patrol downtown Cairo and shame men who harass women by cornering them and spray-painting "I'm a harasser" on their backs.

That proved pretty much impossible, however. The small group was outnumbered by boys and men who mocked them, some of them blaming women for bringing harassment by the way they dress.

Gathering on Friday afternoon on Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's 2011 revolution, about 20 men — mostly university students — donned neon yellow vests marked "Anti-Harassment."

They steeled themselves for confrontation with the throngs of young men and boys who had taken to the streets with spending money they received as holiday gifts on the first day of the four-day Eid, or Festival of Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims worldwide. Many in the crowds were blaring air horns and other holiday noisemakers.

"There's no solution but grabbing them and trying to stop them," said organizer Shadi Hussien, 19. "If there were (anti-harassment) laws, we could discuss those. And if the police did their jobs, then we wouldn't be here."

Hussien and the group of mostly strangers who he organized through Facebook and Twitter say their effort is a last-ditch attempt at forcing the new Egyptian government to respond to sexual harassment, a reality of daily life for Egyptian women.

Notably, no women showed up to join their group. "No women are coming today, it's too dangerous," Hussien said. "They might be attacked."

The only two women that showed up were Egyptian journalists covering it. "I expect there will be problems today because of this event," said Aya Dabis of the Egyptian paper The Seventh Day.

In past years, the Eid has seen major instances of harassment, with crowds of young men groping passing women — so heavily that women had to flee into shops, and for days afterward newspapers decried the mob attacks.

Harassment is a constant problem, and has only become more prominent amid Egypt's revolution, with several instances of crowds attacking women in Tahrir. In June, as women marched through Tahrir Square demanding an end to harassment, a crowd assaulted them, overwhelming their male guardians and molesting several of the female marchers.

On Friday, the anti-harassment campaigners set out, walking toward a bridge normally dotted with young couples enjoying the Nile breeze. On Friday, there were a few families but almost no women walking alone among the crowds.

But the activists became victims of harassment themselves. Hordes of all male onlookers shouted taunts and blew air horns at them. Some of the yellow vest wearers responded, slapping them away and throwing water.

"Harassment happens, why?" said Ahmed Sobhi, 17, standing nearby as the yellow vests and angry onlookers shouted at each other. "There are girls that do this to themselves, they wear jewelry and makeup. What are we supposed to do?"

Ahmed Ashraf, 20, one of the yellow vest wearers, stood on the Qasr el-Nil bridge and grimaced as some of his fellow anti-harassment campaigners ran to chase down someone they suspected of harassment while a cluster of police officers sipped tea and gazed disinterestedly at the scene.

"I see this issue of harassment every day, I finally had to do something" said Ashraf, a mild-mannered engineering student at Cairo University. "I'm just hoping that our idea will inspire some more people to take action." He politely but repeatedly asked a group of teenagers to move away from The Associated Press reporter interviewing him.

Fellow vest-wearer Ahmed Nassar, 20, said harassment was a cultural problem worsened by the

via www.usatoday.com

Neighbors recount raid on Nasr City 'terrorist cell'

Via Egypt Independent

One terrorism suspect was killed and five others arrested by police forces on Thursday after a gun battle in the deceased man’s apartment in Nasr City, east of Cairo, said security sources. The confrontation led to a bomb being detonated, setting fire to the entire building.

According to investigations, the deceased was Karim al-Azizi, a Libyan citizen suspected of involvement in last month’s assassination of the US ambassador to Libya.

The flat where Aziz was killed was used to store weapons used by members of a terrorist cell, allege Egyptian investigators. Security sources said they found 17 bombs, four RPGs, three automatic weapons and huge quantities of ammunition inside.

The Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to detain the five suspects for 15 days pending investigations into charges of terrorism and planning to commit terrorist acts in the country.

Local residents told Al-Masry Al-Youm that during the raid, Azizi threw a bomb at the police forces, but it bounced back into the apartment causing the building to burn down.

Residents of the building said that Azizi had started living in the apartment seven months ago. He lived alone, would typically return home late and would be visited by a few people.

One local resident, Mohamed Abdel Hamid, 28, said he was awoken by the sound of the bomb and found a huge number of policemen in the street, who prevented the building residents to leave out of fear that the suspects would escape.

As flames rose following the detonation of the bomb, people tried to get out of the building, some even throwing themselves out of windows onto blankets and mattresses that were placed on the ground for them to jump on, Abdel Hamid added.

Twenty four-year-old Nora Fawzi, who lives on the first floor of the building, said, “After the neighbors saved my family, the stairs collapsed after the explosion and flames rose from inside the apartment of the suspect. That prompted me to return to my apartment again and throw myself from the first floor after I got frightened and felt like I was inevitably going to die. People put blankets on the floor and I jumped from the first floor.”

Amir Mahmoud, who lives in the building across the street, said that after the fire neighborhood officials came to inspect the damage caused to the building.

He added that following the inspection they would grant each resident a LE1,000 in compensation, and the neighborhood would repair the damage caused to the building.

In Mahmoud’s opinion, “The police managed the incident poorly, especially since the security services already had information about the defendant and the cell to which he belongs.”

Samar Nasser, another resident, said the civil defense forces came to put out the fire before it moved to the adjacent buildings, shutting down the gas line and cutting the electricity to help prevent its spread.

Witnesses say neighborhood youth formed rescue teams, bringing long iron ladders and placing them outside the building to help the trapped residents escape their apartments.

Three others suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell have also been arrested in Gharbiya and Alexandria. Sources say the suspects were in possession of firearms, and are currently being interrogated.

via www.egyptindependent.com

Egyptian women organise 'Catch a Harasser' to demand respect during Eid

Via Ahram Online

Women and men members of "Catch a Harasser" movement and Egyptian Democratic Institute protest in Damanhour city against sexual harassment of women, as Eid approaches

Two women holding banners against sexual harassment in Damanhour (Photo: Ahram Arabic News website)

About 25 members of the "Catch a Harasser" movement and members of the Egyptian Democratic Institute in Baharia held a silent stand on Wednesday in the nothern Delta city of Damanhour to fight the exacerbation of sexual harassment of women during the upcoming Eid.

Contributors, women and men, carried signs declaring slogans such as "no to harassment" and "catch a harasser for a harassment-free Eid."

During the event, which lasted about an hour, participants also distributed a statement to drivers and passers-by, "Do as you please; you reap what you sow."

The statement addressed those who sexually harass women saying, "I'm your sister, your mother, your wife, your daughter. Do you stand for my humiliation and the loss of my dignity?"

"If you dislike my clothes or my walk, is that an excuse to molest me? If that was so, why do you still harass me when I'm veiled or fully veiled? All the aforementioned are just justifications you use to explain your shameful actions. I would like to walk freely and safely. I want your respect. No to harassment. No excuse for harassment. Harassment is a disease. You reap what you sow." 

The event impressed many citizens, who lauded the organisers.

During the recent years, sexual harassment of women has been steadily increasing in the Egyptian streets. This increase usually reaches a climax during the Eid, were crowds makes it easier for culprits to go unpunished.

According to a survey issued in 2008 by the Egyptian Centre for Women Rights, 83 per cent of women in Egypt and 98 per cent of foreign women have been exposed to sexual harassment at least once.

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil stated on 21 October using his official Facebook page that his cabinet, along with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and the National Council for Women, are working on finding ways to wipe out sexual harassment in Egypt. 

Qandil revealed in the statement that a law is currently being drafted to combat harassment on the streets through imposing harsh penalties, adding that they are "dealing with sexual harassment as a disastrous phenomenon." 

This statement came after the National Women Council started a national campaign, "Patrols Against Sexual Harassment," in August 2012 to combat sexual harassment in Cairo, specifically during Eid. This decision is to fight the wide-spread harassment.

The council also addressed the Ministry of Endowments and the Coptic Church to include this subject in Friday prayer sermons and Sunday church services, especially before the Eid El-Adha. 

 

via english.ahram.org.eg

غضب سكندري بسبب فتوى البدري بتحطيم التماثيل..ومطالب بحصر المواقع الأثرية وحمايتها | الموجز

  تزايدت حالة الاستياء والغضب بين السكندريين، بسبب تصريحات الشيخ يوسف البدري التي دعا فيها إلى تحطيم وهدمت  كل الآثار والتماثيل الموجودة في مصر، باعتبار ذلك واجبًا شرعيًا، حيث تؤدي إلى إثارة الفتن والعودة إلى عبادة الأصنام من دون الله.

وطالب المواطنون ومثقفون وناشطون سياسيون في محافظة الإسكندرية، بحماية المناطق الأثرية والتراثية وذات القيمة العالية في الفترة المقبلة، تجنبا لتعرضها لأي اعتداءات من جانب من وصفوهم بـ"معتنقي الفكر الوهابي المتطرف والرجعيين ومتحدي الحداثة والمعاصرة والتحضر والتقدم".

قال أحمد ماهر، عضو الحملة الشعبية للدفاع عن الممتلكات العامة بالإسكندرية، "إن الاعتداء على المواقع الأثرية والمتاحف والأماكن المهمة، شيء لا يقبله عقل ولا دين، ويؤثر بالسلب على تاريخ مصر ومستقبلها"، مطالباً الرئيس محمد مرسي والحكومة والقوى السياسية المستنيرة بـ"التكاتف لتأمينها والحفاظ عليها".

وطالب ماهر بـ"وضع خطة تأمينية محكمة للحفاظ على هذه المواقع التراثية، وعدم السماح للمنظمات الدولية بالحديث بشأن وجوب توفير حماية دولية للآثار المصرية، وقطع الطريق على أي تحركات ضارة بالحضارة المصرية"، مشيرًا إلى خطورة "الاستخفاف" بأهمية الآثار المصرية التي يعتبرها العالم إرثا للبشرية وليس ملكًا لدولة بعينها.

وأكد سعيد عز الدين، منسق اللجان الشعبية بالمحافظة، على "ضرورة مكافحة مثل هذه الفتاوى بشكل سريع وعلى كافة المستويات"، منتقدًا ما اعتبره "فتح المجال للفكر الوهابي للاستشراء في كافة جوانب الدولة، والعبث بالحضارة المصرية والأصول والأعراف والقيم المجتمعية التي أرساها الشعب المصري على مدار القرون".

واستنكر عز الدين تجاهل السلطات والجهات المعنية للأمر على الرغم من خطورته على الدولة والمجتمع، مشددًا على "ضرورة الوقوف ضد المحطات الفضائية الدينية التي تسعى دائمًا إلى التفريق بين المواطنين وتمييز فصيل على آخر وهدم "مصرية" الدولة، ونشر أفكار متأخرة وهدامة".

وأضاف محمد عبد الكريم، القيادي بالجمعية الوطنية للتغيير بالإسكندرية، "إن الشعب شعر بحجم الفاجعة عند احتراق المجمع العلمي في أثناء أحداث العنف التي شهدها محيط مجلس الوزراء وشارع محمد محمود، وبخاصة بعد أن تهافتت دول العالم في عرض المساعدة في إعادة بناء وترميم ما تبقى من كتب نادرة ومخطوطات تحكى تاريخ مصر، متابعًا "لكن أصحاب الأفكار الرجعية لم يستوعبوا الدرس وواصلوا مطالبتهم بهدم التاريخ".

ودعا عبد الكريم، إلى "وضع قائمة بالمواقع الأثرية والتراثية، وتخصيص قوات لحمايتها بشكل دائم للحفاظ عليها، وبخاصة محكمة الحقانية ومكتبة الإسكندرية والبلدية والمتحف الروماني واليوناني وقلعة قايتباي وأسوار إسكندرية القديمة ومجمع المساجد والمعبد اليهودي".

وحمل عمرو الدمرداش منسق حركة كفاية بالمحافظة، أنصار التيارات الإسلامية مسؤولية إصدار هذه الفتاوى بسبب "التشدد والرجعية" في خطاباهم السياسي والديني، بحسب وصفه، مؤكدًا أن "شباب هذه التيارات أصبحوا أقوى من الدولة، ومسيطرين على مؤسساتها وبخاصة مع عدم عودة وزارة الداخلية للعمل واكتفائها بالدور الرمزي بعد الثورة".

وقال الدمرداش "أذكّر أعضاء تلك الجماعات بأن عمرو بن العاص لم يقم بتحطيم أي من الآثار أو هدم الكنائس أو تشوية أي مشهد تراثي عند فتحه لمصر، وإذا كان وجود تلك الآثار حرام شرعًا لكان فعلها"، مطالبًا الدولة بتحمل مسؤوليتها تجاه مثيري الفتن بين أبناء الشعب المصري.

وتحتوي محكمة الحقانية بالإسكندرية على متحف يضم مجموعة من المقتنيات التاريخية، منها 1200 فرمان يرجع تاريخها إلى عصر محمد على وختم للمحاكم المختلطة، ولائحة لقانون السلطة القضائية، وميزان أثرى ومجموعة أثرية من صور الملول ورؤساء المحاكم منذ إنشائها، وسجلات ونماذج لتوقيع حكام العصر المملوكي وقطع فنية نادرة ترجع إلى القرن السادس عشر كان الملك فؤاد الأول قد جمعها عام 1937، وتمثال من البرونز للخديوي عباس حلمي الثاني ولوحات زيتية نادرة بإطار من الذهب الخالص.

كما تُعد مكتبة البلدية من أهم تلك المواقع، حيث تأسست عام 1892 وتضم أكبر خزانة خطية بالإسكندرية، حيث تضم 9 آلاف مخطوطة تاريخية منها 1200 مخطوطة عليها توقيع وختم إبراهيم باشا نجل محمد على وقائد الجيوش، فضلا عن آلاف المخطوطات الدينية مثل مخطوطة الجامع الصحيح للإمام مسلم ابن حجاج البشابوري، والتي يعود تاريخها إلى عام 368 هجرية، ومخطوطة فقه المالكية عام 530 هجرية، إضافة إلى مخطوطات علمية في علوم الطب والصيدلة والفلك والطبيعة باللغتين الفارسية والتركية، ومنها مخطوطة القانون في الطب للعالم الكبير ابن سيناء

وتحتوي مكتبة الإسكندرية على آلاف من المخطوطات والكتب التراثية النادرة، مثل نسخة طبق الأصل من الكتاب المقدس الذي طبعه مخترع الطباعة الحديثة الألماني يوهان جوتنبرج، ونسخة خطية نادرة "طبق الأصل" من المصحف الذي كتبه الخطاط ابن البواب الذي توفي ببغداد عام 1022 ميلادية، فضلًا عن أكثر من 16 ألف كتاب نشرت بين نهاية القرن الخامس عشر وأوائل القرن العشرين وخمسة كتب لاتينية طبعت بين عامي 1450 و1501، إضافة إلى أكثر من 40 كتابا صدرت في القرن السادس عشر منها "أشهر جزر العالم" الصادر في البندقية عام 1576 لمؤلفه تومازو بوركاشي، وهو من أهم الكتب التي تناولت وصفا دقيقا لأشهر جزر العالم، ويضم صورا توضيحية وخرائط لتلك الجزر رسمها النحات بورو جيرولامو، 1520-1604.

 

via almogaz.com

Brotherhood’s Eid prayer in Cairo short on politics

Via Ahram Online, by Hatem Maher

The preacher decides to keep politics out of his sermon, referring once to Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi during the kick-off to the holy Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha before thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Cairo

Thousands of mainly Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Eid Al-Adha prayer in Cairo (Photo: Hatem Maher)

In an apparent attempt to sidestep controversy, a huge Muslim Brotherhood Eid Al-Adha prayer in Cairo stopped short of discussing some headline-grabbing political issues in a largely religious sermon.

Preaching to crowds of thousands of mostly bearded men dressed in the traditional white galabeya robe and women wearing full-face veils in a huge courtyard in Cairo’s Nasr City district, a mosque Imam opted not to play politics.

He made one reference to Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood and enjoys the constant backing of the influential Islamist group, in a 25-minute sermon that follows the prayer of Eid Al-Adha, a four-day-long holy Muslim holiday.

"May God help our President, Mohamed Morsi in the daunting tasks he is facing," he said in stark contrast to last year’s sermon in the same place, which was focused on calling on people to "take the side of Islamists and turn a blind eye to what liberals are seeking."

Many had anticipated an exchange of words between the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Islamist Salafists as both jostle to turn their beliefs into written articles in a much-anticipated constitution that is currently being drafted.

The Salafists accuse the Brotherhood, which has the largest chunk of members in a controversial Constituent Assembly, of ignoring their requests to implement sharia (Islamic law).

The main argument lies in article 2 of the constitution, which is expected to stay as is despite the pressure Salafists are mounting for certain modifications. The article stipulates that the principles of Islam are the main source of legislation.

Salafists argue that the word "principles" would see sharia only play a peripheral role in the authorities’ decision-making process, but their pleas for an amendment fell on deaf ears.

The Brotherhood, however, is embroiled in another battle against liberals and many of the youth who ignited last year’s popular revolt that unseated autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak from his 30-year reign.

Liberals accuse Morsi of failing to fulfill promises he said would deliver within his first 100 days in power, but the Brotherhood has staunchly stood by him, insisting he needs more time to tackle the country’s mundane issues.

 

The preacher did not make a single reference to the saga but a leaflet distributed by the Brotherhood to worshippers appears to defend the so-called Renaissance Project, which formed the backbone of Morsi’s election campaign against Mubarak-era prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq.

"The project endorsed by the Brotherhood and is President Morsi is implementing is not about wishes and dreams; it’s a goal that we can achieve to follow in the footsteps of our brothers in Turkey and Malaysia, who now boast two of the world’s developed economies," a page in the leaflet read.

Festive atmosphere

The Brotherhood shied away from politics on Friday but still carried out its routine promotions, setting up makeshift tents to give gifts to kids before and after the Eid prayer.

"People want to be happy during Eid in a festive atmosphere - they do not want to be distracted by politics. That’s why I was satisfied that the preacher did not talk about politics today," Mohamed Mahmoud, a Salafist who owns a barber shop, told Ahram Online.

"However, normally Islam should be involved in all fields of life, including politics. Political discussions would be more suitable in the weekly Friday prayer for instance," he added a caveat.

It remains to be seen whether the Brotherhood will up the rhetoric in the near future as the final draft of the constitution looms.

They might need to make the most of Friday prayers to confront a wave of criticism from the lurking Salafists and liberals.

via english.ahram.org.eg

Cairo's chronic traffic jams: The price of bad public planning

Via Ahram Online, by Dina Samir

Congested streets in the capital where 20 million people live are a daily nightmare for Cairenes and cost the country billions of pounds. Ahram Online talks to experts about the roots and solutions for the problem

 

A daily dilemma...(Photo: Reuters)

In the last few years, Cairo traffic has become major problem that is costing the country a significant amount of money and Cairenes their lives.

 

 A recent study by the World Bank titled, "Cairo Traffic Congestion" at least 4,000 Cairenes are injured and 1,000 Cairenes die each year in traffic related accidents, of which more than half are pedestrians.

The same study claims that the capital's congestion problem costs the country EGP50 billion (US$8 billion) a year, which is four per cent of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is four times the amount lost by cities of the same size. 

The figures are determined by calculating the loss of productivity due citizens sitting in traffic rather than working, the additional fuel consumed due to extended travel times and the environmental impact of increased vehicle emissions. The study also considers indirect costs, such as the effect of the environmental degradation on public health.

Traffic experts believe that the Egyptian government needs to develop a coherent vision in attacking the roots of the problem as well as applying solutions developed by other cities with traffic problems.

President Morsi's transport plan 

During his election campaign, President Mohamed Morsi vowed to tackle five key issues during his first 100 days in office, one of which was traffic congestion. 

In his plan for improving traffic, President Morsi singled out 21 approaches. 

According to online independent monitor "Morsi Meter", only two of those points were implemented: removing street vendors blocking roads and the launch of telephone services and announcements on local radio traffic stations guiding drivers to the less clogged streets.

In his speech during the 6 October War anniversary celebrations, President Morsi said that traffic had improved by 60 per cent. 

 

Traffic expert Magdi El-Shahed said that President Morsi should have outlined the bases of that conclusion. 

"Is it 60 per cent better than how the traffic was last year or before the revolution? I personally believe this was a random percentage based on no solid proof," El-Shahed says, before explaining that one of the 21 points was to cease wheel clamping because it blocks streets. 

However, during the last few months, there has actually been an increase in clamping, which, he says, shows Cairo's traffic department is not aware of Morsi’s plan.

There has been an undeniable increase in traffic police on Cairo’s streets during the last few months but no real improvement in street congestion.

Origins of Cairo’s traffic problem

Saadeddin Ashmawy, international expert in traffic and former dean of the Faculty of Commerce of Al-Azhar University, explained in his study on Cairo’s traffic that the root of Cairo’s street congestion is due to faulty urban planning decisions and insufficient public transportation.

Ashmawy explains that moving some of the ministries and public buildings to Cairo's satellite city 6 October, under the assumption that the staff would also move there, is an example of bad decision-making, as the government took no measures to encourage people to relocate. 

In addition, when the government built an industrial base in Cairo suburb Helwan, they did not provide suitable housing for workers. This resulted in workers commuting daily from different parts of Cairo, pressuring the limited means of transportation and road networks. 

 

It also decreased workers’ productivity because of the wasted hours spent travelling every day.

Omar Nagati, an architect and urban planner, believes that the government did not take the Egyptian public into consideration, exemplified by the fact that 70 per cent of Cairenes live in ashwaayat (informal housing) without adequate access to public transportation.

 

An example Nagati cites is Cairo's famous ring road which cuts through the capital's working-class districts of Imbaba and Boulaq. Despite the fact that the inhabitants can see the freeway from their balconies, the government did not give them access to it. 

Public transportation is another cause of Cairo’s traffic problem, Nagati explains:  "if there was reliable and humane transportation, people would prefer to use it." 

 

It has also become easier to own a car in the last decade due to the decrease in car taxes and the mortgage system that encourages people to buy a vehicle. 

 

During rush hour, cars on the Mehwar (one of Cairo's main highways) often only carry the driver. If the space these cars occupy was replaced with microbuses that transport more people, Nagati notes, congestion would be decreased by at least 30 per cent. 

 

"If the money that was spent on highways in Cairo in the last decade was invested in developing public transport, the situation would be a lot different now."

The inefficiency of public transport, Ashmawy points out, has led to a similar increase in the number of taxis, that alone constitute about 15 per cent of the traffic during rush hour. Furthermore, the number of private buses for governmental organisations and companies exceeds the number of public buses.

"In a populated city like Cairo, there should be at lead 10 metro lines," Nagati says, adding that the government should have focused on expanding the capital's underground transport network. 

Clearer Cairo roads in the future? 

Nagati asserts that officials should change the way they address the problem while involving local communities. 

The top-down approach officials take to approaching the issue, he continues, has resulted in people taking the situation into their own hands: such as organising microbus and tuk-tuks stops in areas that are not served. 

The attitude towards informal transportation should be changed, Nagati adds, "Instead of demonizing tuk-tuk drivers, for instance, and looking at the phenomena as a sign of backwardness, officials should work on integrating them."

El-Shahed believes that decreasing the daily number of vehicles coming to Cairo from other governorates (which constitutes about 1.5 million vehicles) would help. 

 

"[They should] provide public transportation at the Cairo toll gates and parking lots where people can leave their cars and take transportation into Cairo," El-Shahed suggests.

The 2008 traffic law has to be revisited to ensure road discipline, El-Shahed adds, as the legislation currently allows major violations to be punished with small fines.  

For example, he continues, citizens driving without a license are fined just LE50 ($8). Microbuses that are left at the entrances of bridges or crossroads also only pay LE50.

He went on to suggest that the driver should be ticketed, rather than the owner of the vehicle, when he or she has committed a violation and that these tickets should not be added to the car’s license. 

 

"Many of the taxi drivers do not own their cars," El-Shahed explains, "they would adhere more to traffic laws if they were paying for their violations, not the car owner."

Both sources agreed that Egyptian officials should look to countries that have dealt with traffic congestion issues for solutions. 

 

A common formula, Ashmawy notes, is encouraging people to use public transportation instead of driving cars.

In Rome, for example, the government allowed people to ride buses for free in the morning and afternoon to motivate people not to drive to their workplace.In London, 80 per cent of the inhabitants use public transportation when returning home after work.

Restricting parking in central busy streets and allocating lanes for public transport during rush hour are two other tactics which Ashmawy says Egypt could adopt. 

El-Shahed adds that traffic police have to be educated about transport legislation, "they themselves do not follow traffic signals and organise traffic according to their own systems."

Looking at the future of Cairo’s traffic, Nagati does not expect to see radical solutions implemented.

 

 "We are not seeing any changes in public policies, not in traffic, nor in housing, infrastructure or anything. We are only seeing reproduction of the old regime but in new shapes," he concludes, "yet, we can only hope that after the revolution, officials will base their decisions on what is best for the people."

via english.ahram.org.eg

Egypt’s constitution: Make it tolerant

Via The Economist

Egypt needs a constitution that protects all its citizens

Reuters

AFTER six decades of military dictatorship, Egypt sorely needs a constitution to set it on the path to democracy. So far the post-revolutionary establishment, dominated by the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood and Muhammad Morsi, their new president, has been making a hash of it.

Mr Morsi needs to reassure Egyptians of all religious and ideological stripes that they will be governed by a set of rules everyone can respect. Until then, Egypt will fail to cope with its many economic and social difficulties, let alone its political ones. Egypt has 85m people, making it by far the most populous country in the Arab world. It is squandering the chance to become a constitutional model for the entire region.

Since the Islamists emerged earlier this year as the new parliament’s main force, the constitutional process has been a mess (see article). The Islamists’ mistake was to pack a drafting assembly with like-minded people, who lacked legal skills and failed to reflect Egypt’s diversity. When the constitutional court, admittedly with judges from the old regime, dismissed the assembly, parliament picked another body much like the first. On October 23rd the assembly was referred to another court, which may ponder for months. Nobody knows what will happen if the new court decides to scrap the assembly. For the moment, today’s body will plod on with its work.

The draft’s content is even worse than the process. Its authors have been using the dictatorial constitution of 1971 from which to cut and paste. As a result, the president’s proposed powers are too great. Among other things, he would be able to choose anyone as prime minister, regardless of the majority in parliament. The drafters have been deaf to the fears of secular, liberal and non-Muslim Egyptians—a mistake, considering that nearly half of Egypt’s voters plumped for a secular-minded candidate in the presidential run-off in June. They have enshrined “the principles of sharia” as the “main source of law”, which non-Islamists can probably live with. But they then define those principles sweepingly, in essence, as the entire body of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence. One article grants the al-Azhar university, the country’s pre-eminent Islamic establishment, the sole right, albeit hazily defined, to interpret sharia. Sections granting a range of freedoms are undermined by others that could limit women’s rights as well as freedom of speech and worship.

It is not too late for Mr Morsi to appoint a new, more diverse assembly with greater legal expertise to draft his constitution. Rather than get bogged down in questions of religious values and national identity, it should focus on setting out the basic rules of governance: electoral procedure, devolution from the centre, and checks and balances between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The courts must be independent and the armed forces entirely under the elected civilian authority’s control. Rights for minorities must be spelt out.

Still time to make amends

The question of Islam’s role is plainly the hardest. Mosques and churches can have a say in adjudicating family matters, but Egyptians who wish to conduct their personal lives outside those institutions should be free to do so. Drafters of constitutions elsewhere in the Arab world have performed semantic acrobatics to provide for Islam as a (sometimes “the”) source of inspiration, while not insisting that sharia, which is anyway open to interpretation, be enforced to the letter. Having won parliamentary power after long years of oppression, the Islamists, in Egypt and elsewhere, will surely want to infuse their constitutions with a tinge of religiosity. But they should not impose their beliefs on their fellow citizens.

via www.economist.com

Libyan suspect in US envoy attack killed

Via Al Jazeera English 

Karim Ahmed Essam el-Azizi was killed by bomb he had tried to use against security forces during raid, says official.

Libyan national suspected by Egypt of involvement in last month's attack on the US consulate in Libya has been killed in a raid by Egyptian security forces in Cairo, a security official said.

Karim Ahmed Essam el-Azizi was killed on Wednesday in the raid that targeted him and other fighters with suspected links to al-Qaeda in Cairo's eastern district of Nasr City, the official said.

Four Egyptians were detained in the operation, he added.

Azizi was killed by a bomb he had tried to use against the security forces during the raid, the security official said.

It was not immediately clear what role Azizi had played in the assault on the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11, in which the ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans were killed.

The security official, who asked not to be named because he was speaking about a sensitive matter, said Azizi had been living in a rented apartment in Nasr City for the past three months.

He said police had found 15 bombs and various weapons, including assault rifles, in the Libyan's flat.

The attack on the Benghazi consulate has become a highly politicised issue in the US presidential election campaign.

It occurred during a wave of Muslim protest over an anti-Islam film produced in California, which also sparked violence against US diplomatic missions in Egypt and Tunisia.

However, official emails obtained by the Reuters news agency showed that the White House and the state department were advised two hours after the consulate attack that an Islamist group had claimed responsibility.

President Barack Obama and other US officials have acknowledged that the attack was a "terrorist" act by fighters with suspected links to al-Qaeda affiliates or sympathisers.

via www.aljazeera.com

Egypt's forgotten minorities fear for future

Via DW.DE

The Shiites and Bahais are often overlooked in discussions about Egypt’s religious minorities. But activists say they face daily persecution. The rise of Islamist movements offers little hope of change.

Speak of religious minorities in Egypt and the first group that comes to mind are the Coptic Christians. But there are other marginalized and forgotten religious minorities that rarely make it into the news. They often shy away from public or political activism for fear of being the target of attacks by Sunni fundamentalists or even the state.

One of them are the Shiite Muslims who often face discrimination in predominantly Sunni Egypt. Mohamed Ghoneim is one of the few Shiite activists who publicly speaks out against the unfair treatment suffered by members of his religious group.

Mohamed Ghoneim is one of few Shiite activists to publicly speak out

Mohamed Ghoneim is one of few Shiite activists to publicly speak out

Ghoneim talks about the case of Mohamed Asfour, a Shiite teacher. He was sentenced to a year in prison in July for praying in a mosque according to Shiite rituals and representing Shiite viewpoints, Ghoneim says. He allegedly used a prayer stone as a bridge between the forehead and the earth, something that is frowned on by Sunnis.

"The family of the man's wife and a few Salafists demanded that his wife ask for a divorce after that. And she did that," Ghoneim says. "That was how the discrimination started."

Ghonem says Asfour was arrested while he was praying in the mosque. "They took him to the police and said that he believes in a wrong form of Islam."

Although there are no official statistics about the number of Shia in Egypt, it's estimated that they constitute roughly one percent of the population - around one million people.

Show trials, arrests, torture

The repression of the Shia in Egypt largely stems from the fact that they are generally believed to have close ties to Shiite Iran. Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, relations between Egypt and Iran have been frosty. That's one reason why the Egyptian regime has often portrayed the Shiite minority as a security threat.

Saleh El-Wardany knows that all too well. The well-known writer has often been the victim of sham trials, arrests and even torture.

"That was how it was in the 1980s and 1990s too," El-Wardany remembers. "From time to time, the regime arrested a few Shiites. And discrimination and torture continued," he says, right until President Hosny Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.

Writer Saleh El-Wardany has been targeted on account of his Shiite faith

Writer Saleh El-Wardany has been targeted on account of his Shiite faith

Since then, the rising freedom enjoyed by Sunni Islamic fundamentalists in Egypt has created a new threat to religious minorities. The election gains made by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists have dramatically raised the pressure on the Shia.

Activists say even the so far moderate state-run Al-Azhar University, Egypt's premier Sunni Islamic institution, is following the same pattern.

Mohamed Ghoneim says the university is currently drafting a new text book that describes Shiite beliefs as wrong and abnormal.

"This book is to be used at all state-run schools. That means it will reach the majority of the population," Ghoneim says. "What can you expect from people if they read that as young students?"

No ID for Bahais

The Bahais in Egypt face similar problems. The Bahai faith was founded in the 1860s in what is now Iran. The religion emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind and the similarities between the different faiths.

But the Bahais are often portrayed as "non-believers" in the Egyptian media and often falsely linked to Israel which many remain hostile to.

The regime has often used such campaigns to deflect attention from its own failures, Somaya Ramadan says. She's a popular Egyptian writer and a Bahai. "And then the regime tells the people 'these Bahais want to have their religion recognized by the state,'" she says. "And there's a huge outcry and the people begin to use the word 'Bahai' in a disrespectful way."

Activist groups say such campaigns often find fertile ground in Egypt's strongly conservative society. By discriminating against the Bahais, the state secures the support of a largely ignorant population.

Somaya Ramadan is a Bahai writer

A case in point is the issuing of identity cards. For a long time, Bahais weren't eligible to get any because the field 'religion'' in the document only allowed people to write "Muslim," "Christian" or "Jew." It was only in 2009 that a court allowed Bahais to leave the field empty.

Bleak future

But there are still many Bahais who are forced to live without identification papers in Egypt. The result is that many cannot get legally married or inherit property. At times, it's also difficult to get pensions.

Somaya Ramadan has experienced that first hand. She's worked as a teacher for over two decades. To get her pension, she first needs an ID. But since she doesn't have one, she doesn't get money but rather a cheque.

"The bank then says - 'of course you can cash your cheque. Where's your ID?,'" she says. "And that's how it always goes." She's not sure whether she'll ever get her pension.

The future doesn't look good for the Bahais and the Shiites in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood, which new President Mohammad Mursi is part of, leave little doubt that the country's religious minorities will be not be able to freely spread their faith.

via www.dw.de