Wish there were more of this kind of articles, NY Times. NY Times, by Michael Slackman—Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting.
Like the city around it, the Cap d’Or’s better days are behind it. The bar was opened about 110 years ago by Greek residents. Credit Scott Nelson for The New York Times
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — These two women were veiled, true. They are religious, too, or at least as religious as their community expects them to be. But do not tell them they cannot stop into Sheik Ali’s bar and sit at a table and eat fried calamari and laugh over a glass of juice while surrounded by men drinking beer and whiskey.
The women, Nelly Rafat, 52, and Magda el-Gindy, 52, are childhood friends who believe that while their religion prohibits alcohol, people are free to make their own choices. That is not the typical view here these days. But they sit, eat and enjoy, guilt-free amid the smoke-filled ambience of a hole-in-the-wall bar.
“If somebody else sitting here wants to drink, it’s none of my business,” Ms. Rafat said, as Ms. Gindy nodded in agreement.
There is a lot of pressure out on the street, here and around Egypt, to at least appear pious. For women to wear a veil. For men to have a prayer bump, a dark callus in the middle of the forehead from bowing to the ground five times a day.
And definitely, especially for women, to stay away from alcohol, and especially in a bar filled with men.
“It’s not a Muslim tradition,” Muhammad Suleiman, 32, complained as he sat in a barbershop next door to the bar. “It should not be there. I don’t like it. It’s not our religion. I’d like it closed.”
But that is not how everyone wants to live, not all the time, not even among people who agree to conform in appearance, like Ms. Rafat and Ms. Gindy.
Especially not here, in Alexandria, a city built to look out to the world, not in on itself. The arc of history has been unkind to Alexandria, taking it on a long slow slide from the center of global learning in ancient times to a rundown, crowded metropolis on the Mediterranean,
High school students are conducting scientific experiments in the classroom to solve some of their country’s greatest challenges.
Left to right: Mona El Sayet, Hoda Mamdouh and Sara Ezat. Last year, these students from the Maadi STEM School for Girls competed in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles and placed third in their category. Claudia Gilmore Gutierrez, USAID
Meet Hoda Mamdouh. She’s a 17-year-old girl from the lush Nile Delta region of northern Egypt. Like most teenagers her age, she loves playing sports and listening to music. What makes Mamdouh different is her scientific research that’s taking her places she never imagined.
Last May, Mamdouh and two classmates traveled halfway around the world to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the United States. Together these high schoolers found a way to purify drinking water—from either taps or well—using 24 percent less energy than typically used in thermal water distillation. They won second place at Intel’s national science fair in Egypt. And at the global competition in Southern California, they placed third in their category among 1,600 of the best and brightest students in the world.
As high school juniors, Mamdouh and her friends are already preparing to become agents of change in Egypt. They attend the Maadi STEM School for Girls, one of two new secondary schools in Egypt that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Here they learn how to think outside the box, conduct experiments and work in teams—all important skills for growing into leaders and designing solutions to their country’s greatest development challenges. And they’re already putting them to use, conducting classroom research on issues directly related to Egypt’s economic growth like effective water use, traffic congestion and disease prevention.
“Coming here was a turning point in our lives,” Mamdouh says. “We went from memorizing every day at school to doing real research. Everyone’s a teacher, and everyone’s a student.”
This state-of-the-art model for public education was introduced to Egypt by USAID’s Hala ElSerafy, a senior education specialist at USAID’s mission in Egypt, and her team of experts. Instead of using your average high school curriculum—which in Egypt is rote memorization—these students become scientists in the classroom and learn from hands-on experiments and open dialogue.
USAID partnered with the Ministry of Education to build and develop the country’s first two STEM schools three years ago—one for boys and one for girls. “The idea is to raise a generation of critical thinkers and future leaders,” said Maadi school principal Samia Ahmed. “We believe our youth can solve Egypt’s grand challenges through science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And, so far, our experiment is working.”
Currently, 300 students attend the girls’ school and 357 students attend the boys’ school, both located in suburbs outside Cairo.
Embassy of Egypt, Washington, DC by Mohamed Tawfik, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States
The following is a letter to the editor submitted by the Embassy to the New York Times regarding their editorial board’s recent commentary.
To the Editor,
The New York Times May 19th editorial “In Egypt, Deplorable death Sentences” starts with yet another outright fabrication.
It claims that an Egyptian court has sentenced Mohamed Morsi and others to death. Had the editorial board chosen to apply basic standards of journalism, they would have disclosed that the judge actually set a date in early June to pronounce his sentence. Until that time, any reports as to what that sentence may be amount to nothing more than conjecture. Faithful to what has become its established policy, the Times again goes out of its way to absolve the Moslem Brotherhood of their crimes. At a time when the Brotherhood’s official media outlets are openly instigating their followers to violence and terrorism, this newspaper makes the claim that the Moslem Brotherhood “renounced violence in the 1970s” without providing a shred of evidence to that effect, and brushing aside the ample evidence to the opposite that has surfaced in recent years. In January of this year, the Moslim Brotherhood’s official website posted a statement in Arabic calling for a “long, uncompromising Jihad” against Egypt, while the Brotherhood-controlled TV called for the assassination of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Soon thereafter, terrorist attacks in North Sinai killed more than 30 and injured nearly 100. The Times editorial makes a clumsy attempt at reinterpreting these calls as an “invitation to continue to demonstrate peacefully”. I wonder how they would defend similar Moslem Brotherhood calls to target Westerners.
In an attempt to sidestep the serious events at the heart of Morsi’s trial, the editorial board sums the case this way: “He was among scores of Moslem Brotherhood members who broke free from jail after being unfairly detained in the early days of the revolution”. There is not as much as a hint to the coordinated assaults with heavy weaponry that caused those jailbreaks. The Times is even mute on the victims, the guards and inmates who were brutally murdered for Morsi and his colleagues to walk free.
Frankly, I never expected this editorial board to mention that members of Hamas and Hezbollah were among the prisoners freed by the assailants. It simple would have been too close to the truth, exposing the network of militant organizations in our region and elsewhere, at the heart of which is, of course, the Moslem Brotherhood, without whose help these militants would have been unable to quickly resurface in Gaza and Beirut, respectively.
Even more disturbing than its misrepresentations of Egypt’s judiciary, or its unquestioning adoption of Moslem Brotherhood’s propaganda, is the Times’ attempt to explain away the actions of terrorists. Rather than condemn unequivocally the cold-blooded assassination of three Egyptian judges by terrorists, or at least show sympathy for their families’ suffering, the Times asserts that “a surge in terrorist attacks during the past two years, including recent ones targeting judges, suggests that armed violence is increasingly becoming an acceptable response”. This statement demonstrates, at best, a complete misunderstanding of the roots of radicalism. At worst, it amounts to a justification for violent extremism.
Today, terrorists in Egypt are part of a network of extremists who are bound by a singular distorted ideology, and by a shared goal of taking our region back hundreds of years. They are inspired by the radical teachings of the former Moslem Brotherhood leader Sayyid Kutb. Terrorists in Egypt share the same evil goals as terrorists in Iraq, Syria and Libya. To say that one court case will further enflame radicalism neglects the stark reality that terrorists in Egypt and across the region are already enflamed by a deadly hate.
Asserting that decisions in Egypt’s legal system will breed more terrorists ignores the thousands of Western fighters who are flocking to join ISIS. According to the skewed logic of the New York Times editorial, who should bear the blame for the Oklahoma or Boston bombings?
Mohamed Tawfik, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States
Decision “according to court orders for belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood”, says minister
Minister of Solidarity Ghada Wali ordered the dissolution of 50 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the suspension of 27 NGOs’ boards of directors, which have been banned by court due to their affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, officials said Tuesday.
The ministry said in a press release that the NGOs were banned in five governorates, mostly in Beheira where 23 organisations were banned, 13 in Fayoum, nine in Beni Suef, three in Gharbeya, and one in Cairo.
As for the boards of directors, Wali said they were replaced by new appointments to keep their business running. So far, 420 NGOs have been dissolved amid an ongoing judicial and security campaign against the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
A rather bizarre and unexpected change is occurring amongst Egyptians: they may have always cared about Egypt, but they now exhibit that love in a distinct and zealous fashion. Oh yes, most of them probably always loved Egypt, but they took it for granted; they complained, criticized, and chose to focus on the negative. Not anymore—demonstrating their devotion, by focusing on what Egypt offers, by defending it unabashed, and by cherishing its hard workers and great achievers, is becoming a common denominator amongst many Egyptians.
Posts on social media and articles on standard media highlight the best of Egypt: the world number one squash players, the best swimmer or athletes in general, the magnificent beaches, and the exceptional history. And prefaced with hashtags such as #تعالوا_زوروا_مصر i.e. Come and visit Egypt, photos of beautiful sites adorn websites.
Luxor
Cairo
Nuba
The beaches
The history
Even the simple vendors selling their stacked-on-the-curb vegetables are found beautiful and worth sighting.
Of course, the complainers, those who exude negativity, remain steadfast in their grumbling, but these ones have always existed; it is the new breed of Egyptians who prefer to focus on the best that Egypt offers that are different and actually worth focusing on.
So why are Egyptians suddenly in love with Egypt? Why do they find it picturesque and exotic? Why are its beaches, cities, souks, monuments, once more, worth attention? Why do Egyptians fume and become defensive when western media highlight the negative but never mention the positive?
This newfound zeal is not out of nothing; it is the result of many stock piled, one on top of the other, events equal to the rungs of a ladder. Each rung taking Egyptians a step further up towards the state in which they find themselves today.
January 25th initiated this movement by giving Egyptians a voice. It allowed them to speak out, care, and demand improvements if nothing else. Then the despair associated with Morsi’s year of reign told them that they were about to lose the Egypt they knew. The worry and utter hopelessness translated to allegiance and loyalty to their about-to-go-astray homeland.
Two stormy years were followed by another Egyptian grassroots movement, this time encompassing all Egyptians—a movement that the world, today, still cannot fathom—June 30th. They succeeded and the exhilaration associated with this triumph brought out even further emotions that Egyptians hardly knew they had.
And, no doubt about it, Sisi’s apparent and transparent dedication to Egypt is infectious. He insists that Egypt comes before all and is above all, a contagious feeling. Hence, his love for Egypt, expressed so remarkably well, is reciprocated.
Then when Egyptians see how much others love Egypt, they can hardly contain similar emotions. “Bushret Khair,” “Good Omen,” by Hussein el Jasmi, the Emirati singer, had Egyptians dancing on route to elections.
And when the ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, spoke about his love for Egypt while receiving his Emeritus Ph.D. from Cairo University, it brought tears to the eyes of the audience; it could only but translate to pride and respect amongst Egyptians.
And when the New York Times, the Washington Post, or Foreign Policy choose to degrade what Egyptians hold dear, Egyptians, livid, pounce back.
To all this, we should applaud.
We may have stumbled quite badly to reach where we are today, but we are inching slowly towards where we want to be. True, it is not with endearment that a country develops, but without this heartfelt and honest affection a country cannot develop.
Travelstart Egypt's Travel Blog—go to the article itself to see the rest of the amazing beach spots.
Marsa Nayzak in Marsa Alam
This natural pool beach was formed after a meteor hit planet earth, it is located 14 km south of Marsa Alam.
Marsa Nayzak by Gigi Ibrahim
Ras Banas in Marsa Alam
A Red Sea peninsula located near the Egyptian-Sudanese borders, offering a delightful adventure to divers, and a pleasant experience for swimmers who want to enjoy watching coral reefs and colorful fish through its clear waters without going the extra mile, hence “diving or snorkeling”.
Ras Banas by Matt Kieffer
Sunken City in Sahl Hasheesh
It’s not an exaggeration when we say that the great Pharaohs have left their stains everywhere in Egypt; the Sunken City of Sahl Hasheesh is just another proof of that. Explore the beauty of a Pharaoh city that sank thousands of years ago while snorkeling or diving.
Ahram Online answers common questions about capital punishment in Egypt
Muslim Brotherhood's senior member Mohamed El-Beltagy reacts as he sits behind bars with other Muslim Brotherhood members at a court in the outskirts of Cairo (Photo: Reuters)
Capital punishment is making headlines again in Egypt, after the Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday issued a preliminary death sentence for ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and 105 others in the "Wadi-Natroun jailbreak" case.
On Sunday, Egypt executed six men, after a military court sentenced them to death in October 2014 in the "Arab Sharkas" case, over charges including "killing army personnel". They filed an appeal, but it was rejected.
They were all hanged, according to the Egyptian penal code.
On Monday, a Mansoura criminal court sentenced one person to death and another three to life in prison in a "terrorism"-related case in the Daqahliya governorate.
Ahram Online answers common questions about capital punishment in Egypt.
What crimes are punishable by death in Egypt?
According to the Egyptian penal code, the following crimes are punishable by death: premeditated murder, murder or an offense resulting in death, "terrorism"-related offenses especially leading to death, some cases of rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking, treason and espionage.
Perjury is also punished by death if it results in the death of an innocent person.
What happens once a death sentence is issued in Egypt?
When a criminal court issues a preliminary death sentence in a case against a number of defendants, it must first refer the whole case to Egypt's Grand Mufti for consultation.
Although the Grand Mufti's opinion is non-binding, Egyptian judges have traditionally adjusted their final rulings in accordance with his recommendations because they are based on Sharia (Islamic law). If the Mufti approves the death sentence, then the Criminal court issues a final death sentence.
After a criminal court sentences a defendant to death and he or she appeals the court ruling, the Court of Cassation has the right either to uphold the initial verdict of a death sentence or accept the appeal, and thus order a retrial in front of another panel of judges in the criminal court.
Defendants have the right to appeal a death sentence at the end of the retrial, and the Court of Cassation can either uphold it or order another retrial.
This second retrial is held in front of the Court of Cassation, whose verdict is final.
Usually it takes years to reach to a final verdict and to carry out a death sentence. Sometimes it takes up to a decade.
Can a defendant facing a death sentence be pardoned?
Yes, if the last court upholds the death sentence as its final verdict in Egyptian law, the head of the state can issue a pardon or reduce a sentence after consulting with the cabinet, according to the Egyptian constitution's article number 155 as well the penal code's article number 74.
How many death sentences have been carried out in Egypt so far this year?
The Egyptian authorities have carried out seven executions in 2015 so far.
Mohamed Ramadan was executed in Alexandria in March, after he was found guilty of “killing a child by stabbing him and throwing him off a roof,” according to the July 2013 court statement, during clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Six men were hanged on Sunday, after they were sentenced to death by a military tribunal in the "Arab Sharkas" case.
How many death sentences are currently being appealed in Egypt?
Up to 479 death sentences are currently being appealed in front of Egypt’s Court of Cassation.
How many death sentences are currently being revised by the Grand Mufti?
As many as 122 death sentences are currently being revised by Egypt’s Grand Mufti, whose non-binding opinion is given on death sentences before a final verdict.
How many death sentences were issued and carried out in the past in Egypt ?
According to local and international reports, at least 709 people were sentenced to death in civilian courts between 1981 and 2000, with 249 of them reaching execution.
From 1992 to 2001, no less than 94 people were sentenced to death in terrorism-related charges in military and state security courts – at least 67 of whom were executed.
A relative increase in capital punishment became noticeable from 2009 to 2012. In 2010, 136 death sentences were pronounced, though it is unclear how many of them were carried out. At least one of the 115 death sentences from 2011 was implemented. In 2012, 91 people were sentenced to death . However, the amount who were executed is unclear.
What is the difference between military courts and civilian courts when it comes to capital punishment?
No appeal was possible to death sentences issued by Egyptian military courts until January 2014, when amendments to military judiciary laws made this possible.
What is Egypt’s position on abolishing capital punishment?
Egypt is one of 40 countries worldwide not to have abolished capital punishment from its penal code.
The Egyptian constitution includes an article stipulating that Sharia (Islamic law), which upholds capital punishment, is one of the main sources of legislation.
Muslim Brotherhood demonstration, Amman, August 8, 2014. . (photo credit:REUTERS)
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is being taken over by revolutionary youth after the government crackdown has diminished its leadership, according to a new report.
“The Brotherhood’s explicit endorsement of violence and partnership with other radical movements will alienate the broader Egyptian public even further and reinforce Sisi’s popular support,” said the article published in Foreign Affairs by Egypt expert Eric Trager and Marina Shalabi.
The report adds that the Brotherhood has tried to maintain “a level of plausible deniability” regarding violence by saying it “had no control over the ‘anti-coup’ offshoots,” but its “two-faced strategy” seems to becoming undone.
Asked if the Muslim Brotherhood could totally remove its cover and admit its part in violence similar to what jihadi groups do, Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday: “The Brotherhood will probably continue its long tradition of double-talk, framing its struggle in terms of democracy when speaking in English while emphasizing ‘jihad’ and ‘martyrdom’ in its Arabic statements.
“This is why it’s so important for policy-makers and analysts to examine the organization’s official statements and social media postings in Arabic, rather than giving the Brotherhood’s English-speaking interlocutors the benefit of the doubt,” he added.
Amr Farrag, an important young Brotherhood member and other exiled youths “rebelled against the group’s older leaders” for “mismanaging the post-Morsi period,” noted the report.
In an October 2014 interview with Amr Farrag in Istanbul, the Muslim Brotherhood member acknowledged officially for the first time that the group was behind attacks on Egypt’s infrastructure.
“There are things we’re not allowed to speak of,” he said adding, “Like the [so-called] anonymous acts that the Egyptian media speaks about, such as blocking roads and bringing down electricity towers.”
The young Brotherhood leadership that won the group’s latest internal elections has helped change the makeup of the group and replace 65 percent of its leaders, with 90% coming from the youth, Brotherhood leader Ahmed Abdel-Rahman was quoted as saying in the report.
The Brotherhood is coordinating its uncompromising opposition to the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from abroad and is part of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council coalition of groups opposing the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi.
In response to Morsi’s death sentence, the organization released a statement calling for a “revolution that cuts the heads from the rotten bodies” and advocates “exterminating all of the oppressors.”
The report goes on to note that the group’s call for violence on social media is being matched by attacks by its supporters in the streets and even sees the group cooperating more with more radical jihadist groups.
“According to the Brotherhood’s own estimates, 70 percent of the anti-regime activ ity within Egypt is occurring without Muslim Brothers, and the organization seemingly fears that its influence is falling even among Egyptians who oppose the current government,” said Trager and Shalabi.
CAIRO: A strategic plan will be implemented to reduce Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) rate in Egypt from 60 to 15 percent over 5 years, in coordination with the United Nations Population Fund in Egypt, Youm7 reported Wednesday.
“A total of 60 percent of girls aged 15-17 experienced FGM, according to the 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS,)” training coordinator for the FGM Free Village Model Program at Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population, Vivian Fouad, told Youm7.
Fouad added that enforcement of the law banning FGM is one of the main outputs of this plan.
cards used to educate women about FGM in Upper Egypt, Reuters
A total of 92 percent of married Egyptian women, aged 15-49, have gone through FGM, but it decreases among girls aged 15-17 to 60 percent, according to the 2014 EDHS.
Currently, 58 percent of mothers favor FGM, which is a remarkable decrease compared to 75 percent in 2000, according to Ministry of Health’s Sunday statement on the latest survey.
The 2008 EDHS reported that 91.1 percent of women aged 15-49 experienced FGM, and that 74 percent of girls aged 15-17 experienced the practice, marking a reduction from previous surveys. The decline is expected to reach 45 percent among girls age 15-17 over 15 years.
The government passed an amendment to the child law in 2008 that bans the practice following several national initiatives aimed at confronting FGM.
Some 76 percent of girls undergo FGM at the hands of licensed doctors, despite its illegality, whereas midwives circumcise only 22 percent, according to a population health survey issued by the Ministry of Health in March.
Although there is an apparent shift in seeking doctors rather than midwives, the figures also reveal that both government and privately-employed physicians agree to perform FGM, which was banned in 2008.
The first application of the penalty only took place in January 2015, where a doctor who circumcised a 13-year-old girl, Soheir al-Batea, was sentenced to two years in prison and the victim’s father received a suspended three-month prison term, after she died of complications in 2013.
Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt’s official entity issuing religious opinions, decreed
in 2007 that the practice, which is followed by both Muslims and Christians, was “un-Islamic and forbidden.”
On the occasion of the U.N.-designated worldwide day of Zero Tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), head of the preaching department of the Islamic Research Academy Abdel Aziz al-Naggar reiterated that the practice was followed in Egypt before the inception of Islam.
He noted that Dar al-Iftaa said in 1981 that female circumcision that reduces the size of the external genitalia and does not remove them was a “form of honor.”
“Extensive research proved that Prophet Muhammad most likely did not approve of female circumcision, adding that there have been different opinions because there is not a categorical holy text adjudicating on the matter,” said Naggar.
FGM awareness campaign, WHO
Egyptian National Population Council (NPC) has launched a FGM/C abandonment program to eliminate the practice FGM/C in five years in coordination with the Egyptian government, according to a NPC statement in Feb 2014.
The FGM Free Village Model is a joint project between UN Volunteers (UNV) and UNFPA, in partnership with Egypt’s National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, to stop FGM in Egypt and raise awareness against it, according to UNV in March 2006.
Egyptians, Egyptians, when will you begin to appreciate what you are witnessing for what it is worth? When will you stop the heckling and smell the roses?
It takes a single event, true or made up, to get the whole country flared up and tangled around itself; while some furiously target President Sisi and his government, the rest go on the defensive. Mistakes do happen; don’t get me wrong. But nay sayers exaggerate if not twist facts; make up stories if not read them negatively. And always the ability to ridicule or refute overrides the event itself. Let’s look at how some reek havoc with this hoping-to-finally-move-forward country.
The big story: Morsi is sentenced to death for a mass prison break, amongst another 105 accused, many in absentia. You may hate the death sentence as I do, but as far as guilt is concerned, Morsi, without a shred of doubt, betrayed Egypt. But the aftermath of the sentencing transcends logic with opposers and defenders at one another’s throats.
Some find the sentencing preposterous, others claim the judiciary, backed by the armed forces, corrupt, and more allude to tyranny and total dictatorship. This while most Egyptians consider the sentences as justified.
Internationally: Erdogan blasted the Egyptian judiciary, Amnesty International condemned it; this while Germany was concerned, the US was alarmed. Just a reminder, the Boston Marathon bomber received the death penalty and no one nudged. On social media though, the tug of war grew fiercer. “30 year-regime that destroyed Egypt: no-one held to account. But hundreds of death sentences for people post 2013. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm,” “The death penalty has become the favourite tool for Egypt's authorities to purge opposition.” or “Where the truth/justice doesn't matter and the facts are made up.” and the “Death of sanity in Egypt.”
Bizarre? Absolutely. Worrisome? Definitely.
Another story, which at face value is neither here nor there, gripped the Egyptian society. After a two-year respite, Reem Maged began a new show on ONTV only to have it banned even before the second episode airs. And Reem comes right out to say: “Sovereign powers banned my program.”
Immediately her words went viral. It goes without saying that her accusation points to either President Sisi or a member of his cabinet as being behind the cancellation of her show.
So the government, amidst its piled-up tasks and troublesome duties, goes out of its way to clamp on the discussion saying it has played no role in the banning or the suspending of Reem Maged’s show.
In all fairness, this may work against Reem Maged since Egyptians have come to hate unnecessary flare ups if not made up ones. We only have to remember Bassem Youssef's demise to realize that some celebrities cause their own downfall. Viewers place celebrities on pedestals but remove them off the same pedestals in a flash.
These two events gripped Egypt and turned Egyptians against one another. But other ongoing issues, ingrained as a given in some minds, surface on a regular basis. One of the many issues that those against the current regime keep at is that the police force remains brutal but unscathed.
One hopes that this move would bring solace and comfort to those questioning the police force’s brutality. Yes, a young mother lost her life, but the offender, be he an officer or not, will pay for his act. Officers do err but are held accountable, and not all of them go free if apprehended and found guilty.
But it isn’t only the police force that to some remains unscathed after faulting but also those who align themselves with the government and the government itself. They accuse the government of turning a blind eye to the shortcomings of those who support it be they officials or media gurus.
But here are two separate cases where the government chose to side against its own. First, the Justice Minister’s resignation was accepted amid outrage over his remarks. Mahfouz Saber said judges were "lofty and have status" and had to come from a "respectable milieu." The second incident is when Prime Minister Mahleb, first, apologized to the public on the recent power outage to Maspero, the national Egyptian television and radio. He also sent the admin personnel to the general prosecutor for questioning.
Both are good examples of how those who err are penalized. No, it is not forgive and forget anymore.
The army, having not participated in any major war in recent years, directed its energy to improvements: infrastructure projects, such as building bridges and paving roads, manufacturing basics such as pasta and bottled water, but no one can deny that on its shoulders lies the security of Egypt, with the current underlying war against terrorism emerging. This leaves most Egyptians satisfied with the conduct of the army, relieved that it is powerful, and thrilled that they can rely on it. Baradai once questioned the existence of the army’s pasta factories. Today the satirical hashtag #PastaArmy prefaces stories of the army’s successes, its glories, and its dying soldiers. And photos of what the army is accomplishing adorn social media.
The fourth issue is how the opposition say that repression today is worse than in Mubarak’s days. The authorities target Muslim Brotherhood members and free speech seekers alike. That no one is able to speak his/her opinion and if such folks do that, they end up arrested, tortured, and jailed.
I’m surprised at this view since just about everyone on social and mass media voices his/her opinion without a shred of fear. They opt to cuss, curse, ridicule, and call for the downfall of Sisi and his government, and yet they’ve not been curtailed, questioned, or charged.
To all this, Sisi remains unruffled steadfast in his course.
Finally, the nay sayers ask if Sisi will deliver on the promises he keeps making. Well, we will have to wait and see. If nothing else, Egyptians are grateful for the effort exuded. This is not a “three-months-and-all-your-issues-will-be-resolved” kind of delusion. This is a painstaking, challenging gamble where a leader bets on his people, and it is only with his people can he trump.
Like the city around it, the Cap d’Or’s better days are behind it. The bar was opened about 110 years ago by Greek residents. Credit Scott Nelson for The New York Times
