Egypt

BBC's lopsided view

The BBC report "Are women in Egypt being discriminated for wearing hijab?" is a lopsided view that needs to be probed into further. 

BBC Arabic had its undercover reporters, a married couple where the wife wears a hijab, go to various bars/restaurants in Egypt only to be told that the woman is not permitted on the premises because of her attire. The report, and later a BBC article, sites dozens of bars/restaurants by name and repeats the explanations provided by the bouncers/security for not allowing the veiled woman in. In one incident, the woman is asked not to sit in the vicinity of the bar. 

Let's peruse this issue further. 

As a general standard, alcohol is categorically considered unlawful (haram) by devout Muslims, and it is unlawful for such Muslims to even sit amongst those drinking alcohol. Simultaneously, an Egypt woman wearing a hijab is generally acknowledged as a fairly conservative person. Her hijab identifies her as pious and modest, someone who would feel uncomfortable being amongst tourists, and Egyptians, drinking alcohol. 

What is not very clear is why a conservative Muslim wearing a hijab would want to be in this environment, an establishment mainly serving alcohol, in the first place? Is she trying to prove her right to be there, despite the visit going against her beliefs? Is her act an act of defiance, of superiority, or of confronting the norm? 

Veiled women have the right to practice their religion the way they see fit. They also have the right to be treated equally and not be discriminated against. Still, one must wonder how many conservative women, or men for that matter, in Egypt would like to sit in a bar surrounded by those who drink? 

Of all the discriminatory and exclusive behaviours against veiled women, this is by fair the least damaging and the least of all aberrations. And this is due to the fact that it is occurring in an environment where conservative women would rather not be.

The West believes that Egyptian women who wear the hijab see no contradiction between wearing the veil and asking for broader women's rights. And Egyptians believe the same: in Egypt, women wearing the hijab have reached the highest levels in society, be it ministerial positions, judicial posts, media anchors, or an astute job such as doctor, engineer, or university profession. 

Still women's rights don't necessarily entail sitting in bars; women's rights encompass other more crucial and vital issues of which many are not realized in other countries. Hijabophobia manifests itself in various forms across the word: discrimination, abuse, bias, mistreatment, and lack of opportunity. None of these issues exist in Egypt. 

Around the world countless other scenarios exist where veiled women have been subjected to acute discriminatory behaviour in matters that affect their day-to day lives. Such episodes should be scrutinized with deliberation to uphold the rights of veiled women everywhere. 

In various societies veiled women are discriminated against quite overtly. In 2018, a judge in Quebec, Canada, refused to listen to a woman's case unless she removed her hijab. The judge told the woman that the courtroom is a secular place and that "Hats and sunglasses for example, are not allowed. And I don't see why scarves on the head would be either." This is what extreme discrimination looks like. 

The colonial values that Quebec, Canada, adheres to are worth the critical eye of the BBC rather than the trivialities they conscript around Egypt. Quebec's Bill 21 disproportionately marginalizes women and minorities in particular. It bans Canadians working as teachers, lawyers, police officers, amongst other vocations from wearing religious symbols such as crosses, hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes. However, it obviously affects Muslim women who wear the hijab the most. 

France, home to the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, has its own set of discriminatory rules. The examples are endless. France forbids girls under 18 from wearing the hijab. Veiled women find it extremely difficult to find a job while donning the hijab; in fact, many veiled women were dismissed from their jobs since they refused to remove their hijabs. Even though FIFA allows the hijab, France's Soccer Federation forbids hijab wearing women from practising the sport. And recently, President Macron's political party, Le Republique en Marche, withdrew its support for one of the party's own candidates, Sarah Zemmahi, for wearing a hijab in a campaign poster. 

Employers int he European Union are allowed to ban staff from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab. Around the world, female athletes have been considered ineligible in sport for wearing a hijab. The Iranian women national soccer team was disqualified from the 201 Olympics because the players wore hijabs. 

These are all pivotal and life-changing sacrifices where veiled women are prohibited from leading normal lives, where their rights as human beings are jolted and sacrificed. These are the restrictions that the BBC should be reflecting on and presenting to its viewers and readers. 

Let's end this on a positive note. Veiled women have gained much in the last few years, and we should be proud of them and the countries they are affiliated with. When Dina el Ghobashy of Egypt played the volley ball match in Rio 2016 wearing her hijab, long-sleeves and leggings against the German bikini-clad rivals, she made a powerful statement. When Gisela Massa, the first hijab-wearing Canadian tv anchor appears to read the CBC news every night, she makes other veiled women and all Canadians proud. 

The original topic that BBC chose to depict is not really worth the investigation it embarked on. However, it is merely yet another skewed view of Western media on Egyptian issues where the aim is for Western media to come across as keepers of the humanitarian torch and be viewed as those who know best.  

Another Perspective: 'Journalist' Ayat Oraby: mainstream or extreme?

Baffled that she is still allowed to speak though all what she saying is definitely hate speech. 

The American Spectator, Samantha Rose Mandeles. Here is a link to the original story. 

The unfortunate side of a voice for Arab women.

On October 20, 54 Egyptian policemen were killed in a firefight with “militants” in the desert, 80 miles from Cairo. Local media reported the police were attacked by the Hasm Movement, a terrorist organization that the Egyptian government claims is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Governments around the world offered statements of sympathy to the Egyptian government over one of deadliest attacks against Egyptian security forces in many years. The U.S. State Department announcedthat it “condemns the terrorist attack,” “[offers] profound condolences,” and “stands with Egypt at this difficult time, as we continue to work together to fight the scourge of terrorism.”

But among some Islamist activists in America, there was jubilation. In a Facebook post, written on October 20, New York-based journalist Ayat Oraby applauded the killings, accusing the deceased soldiers and police of insolence and cowardice. In another post about one of the murdered soldiers, Oraby expressed “Joy at the death of that criminal!”

Oraby accused the deceased soldiers of having previously been paid by Egyptian General (and now President) Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to murder unarmed Muslims during the infamous Rabaa massacre in 2013, during which supporters of the deposed Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi, clashed with Egyptian police and military.

Oraby is a prominent figure. She serves as the editor-in-chief of Noon Al-Niswa, the “first Arab American Women’s magazine.” In 2013, Noon Al-Niswa held an event to celebrate its first printed issue after being an exclusively online publication. According to another Arabic-language online publication, the event was attended by self-styled “human rights activist” Linda Sarsour, former Deputy Secretary of Energy Randa Fahmy Hudome and New Jersey state senator Barbara Buono.

In her capacity as an editor, Oraby has won the Shirley Chisholm Award in journalism (awarded by New Jersey Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver), and been invited to speak on college campuses all over North America, including at Concordia University, University of Toronto, and Montclair State University. At her Montclair State talk, Oraby was billed as an “Activist, Journalist, Broadcaster & Advocate for Arab women.”

What sort of activism does Oraby practice? In a 2016 Arabic-language video on her Facebook account denouncing Egypt’s Coptic Christian population, she declared that “the Crescent must always be on top of the Cross” and urged her audience to “Boycott the Christians economically.”

Oraby’s Facebook posts, meanwhile, include virulent anti-Semitism. She claims that Israel has taken overthe Middle East, and that Egypt’s former president Gamal Abdel Nasser was “a Jew” and an “American Intelligence agent.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has a long history of commenting on hate speech issues. But when we asked CAIR’s national office and its New York branch to comment on Oraby’s extremism, they refused.

CAIR was founded and remains run by Muslim Brotherhood members. Its refusal to condemn this anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and pro-terror rhetoric is explained by Oraby’s own history of involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood. Oraby’s Twitter profile lists her as a member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC), a Turkey-based organization that supports Egypt’s ousted Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi. Although Oraby claims she is “not with Muslim Brotherhood,” Oraby’s membership in the ERC indicates otherwise.  When ERC first formed, at least one Egyptian English-language paper announced, “MB supporters launch revolutionary council.” Another Arabic-language paper describesOraby as an “active member of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Furthermore, Oraby has lobbied Congress alongside MB activists who endorse the boycott of Copts, later showing up in a photo with them displaying the four-fingered Muslim Brotherhood gesture. Oraby has praised Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb as an “intellectual” and a “martyr.” And, both of her Facebook profiles feature pictures of Muhammad Morsi as the cover photo. She even captioned her personal page’s photo of Morsi with the declaration, “We still consider you to be the legitimate president of Egypt.”

Ayat Oraby is no journalist or activist. She is an Islamist propagandist and an apologist for terror. She should be stripped of her Shirley Chisholm Award, disinvited from speaking on university campuses, and deprived of the credibility of senators and stateswomen. We contacted Assemblywoman Oliver, who runs the Shirley Chisolm Award, but received no response. It is time for political leaders to condemn Oraby’s extremism, and revoke her awards.  

INTERVIEW—Egypt to invest $14.5 bln in petchems, refining over 5 years

Excerpt only—read on here: Egypt to invest $14.5 bln in petchems, refining over 5 years. Reuters, by Ehab Farouk  and Abde Rahman Adel

CAIRO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Egypt plans to invest $14.5 billion in developing its refining and petrochemicals sectors over the next five years, its oil minister said, as part of efforts to overcome an energy crisis that has led to near-daily power cuts and hit company profits.

It is also considering floating stakes in some state-owned oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange.

Sherif Ismail told Reuters in an interview that Egypt was trying to boost its output of refined oil products by 5-10 percent each year, hoping to reduce its dependence on costly imports.

"Total investments that will be implemented over the next five years will be around $14.5 billion and include $12.5 billion in the refining sector and $1.9 billion in the ETHYDCO project," Ismail said, referring to a new complex that will produce ethylene and other petrochemicals.

Egypt has struggled to curb its swelling budget deficit whilst meeting soaring energy demands, resulting in daily electricity cuts around the country of 86 million people.

Lines at petrol stations and a shortage of gas that transformed Egypt from net gas exporter to net importer in recent years at huge cost to the state, were among the public grievances against former President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Oil-producing Gulf countries have come to Egypt's aid since the army, prompted by mass protests, ousted Mursi last year, pumping billions of dollars in cash and oil

via uk.reuters.com

الي ثوار مصر: اسمعوني

هذه الرساله اوجها لكم متمنيه ان يصلكم رايئ. ليس لدي اي نيه في قمع امالكم او الاستهزاء بكم. كل ما اتمناه ان اجعلكم تروا الوجه الاخر وما يراه معظم المصريين

لقد مضت اكثر من ثلاثة سنوات منذ ان وقفتم ببساله وطلبتم التغيير. في هذه السنوات الثلاث لقد طالبتم بتنحي مبارك وبالعيش والحريه والعداله الاجتماعيه وبحق الذين سقطوا. واحيانا طالبتم بتعيين رئيس وزراء معين او اقالة وزاره معينه ولكنكم في نفس الوقت رايتم الجميع علي خطاء: الفلول وحزب الكنبيه والاخوان والجيش والداخليه والقضاه والحكومات وللاسف مصر باجمعها. في نفس الوقت لقد تظاهرتم للاسباب هذه بعينها ولكن ايضا من اجل التحدي في حد ذاته ومن اجل اثبات انكم علي حق ولانكم فوق القانون وحتي تحطوا من قدر الامن ومن لايوافقكم في الراي. تظاهرتم ايضا من اجل ان تثبتوا ان باستطاعتكم التظاهر

ولكن في هذه السنوات الثلاثه نادرا ما رسمتم لنا طريق للتغلب علي المحن او الصعاب او حتي لتحسين العلاقات بعضنا ببعض. ابدا لم تقودوا او توجهوا هذا الشعب الي الطريق الصواب. لقد مكثتم  في مكانكم متعثرين متجمدين كما لو كنتم اخترتم التظاهر كنمط حياه.  فعلا لقد اصبحتم  نشطاء الي الابد. كان بودي اسمع منكم ولو مره كلمة شكر او امتنان لاحد ولكن للاسف  كل ما تروه حولكم ليس جدير بموافقتكم

   تفضلون اسلوب الاستهزاء وتلجاءون الي السخريه وعدم الاحترام لما يعتبره المصريين عزيز عليهم ولكن تنتظرون ان يستجيب المصريين لمطالبكم واراءكم. سوف تتم الانتخابات الرئاسيه قريبا. حتي الان ثلاثة قد تقدموا للترشيح. ولكنكم قد قررتم ان الانتخابات سوف تزور فعلا. عندما تساءلت عن  ذلك كان الرد "وهي ديه انتخابات رئاسيه برضه لما محدش يقدر يتجراء ويرشح نفسه؟" دعوني اقول لكم ان من لا يتجراء علي الترشيح  فهو متاكد من عدم فوزه في الانتخابات 

كذلك فانكم تستغلون اجهزة التواصل الاجتماعي حتي تتمكنوا ان تقولوا ما شئتم علي ما شئتم وتستغلون المتسع هذا للتوبيخ والاهانه والافاظ البذيئه

 انتم يانشطاء مصر: متعلمون وذوي الاخلاق العاليه والطموح الرهيب فلماذا لا تروا الطريق الاخر؟ انتم تجدون الخطاء في الجميع وتنتقدون الجميع ولكنكم لا ترون الخطاء في انفسكم. وعامة النقد "البناء" مطلوب حتي نتاكد ان من في السلطه يستمر  في الاستماع الينا ولكن ياحبذاء لو كان لديكم روءيه مستقبليه تخرج مصر من كبوتها

ربما الماساه التي تعيشها مصر الان لا تهمكم كثيرا فانا لااراكم تناقشون كيف نتغلب علي الارهاب او العنف او الفقر او كيف نحسن من مستوي التعليم. لااراكم تتكلمون عن الوسائل الي ممكن ان تحسن من الاقتصاد المصري او تعيد السواح الي مصر

ياهل تري شباب اوكرانيا كانوا علي علم بما سوف يحدث لبلادهم والنتائج الوخيمه لاختياراتهم؟ ياهل تري عندما قرر السوريين  تقليدالثورات الاخري كانوا ملمين بما سيحدث لبلادهم؟ وهل ياتري ترون احداث اليوم وما وصلت اليه مصر علي ما هو عليه فعلا طريق مسدود؟

اليوم لديكم روءيه تودون فرضها علي المصريين او لعلكم لا تعنون بان يري المصريين روءيتكم. فلقد وضعتم انفسكم اعلي من الجميع ومع ذلك تنتظروا الجميع ان يتبعوا اراءكم فانتم تعيشون داخل شرنقه من صنعكم ولا تخرجون خارجها لتصلوا الي بقية المجتمع

ايها النشطاء انتم قادة المستقبل ولكن كل ما اري افعالكم اجد نفسي قلقه علي تمكنكم من القياده وقلقه علي مصر التي سوف تكون تحت اجنحتكم ورحمتكم. للاسف لم تتمكنوا من اقناعي بان لديكم القوه او الادراك . ربنا مع مصر في هذا الوقت

 ملحوظه: منذ ان كتبت هذا المقال عدد اخر من المرشحون قرروا الترشح لرئاسة مصر

كذلك لقد ترجمت هذا المقال للعربيه بناء علي طلب بعض القراء. يوجد المقال باللغه الانجليزيه اسفل هذا المقال 

Egypt’s Mubarak goes back to prison

Via The Raw Story

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was transferred Thursday from a military hospital back to prison to await a retrial in May over his role in the deaths of protesters in 2011, a security source said.

Mubarak was taken by ambulance to Tora prison under heavy security escort, the source told AFP.

Egypt’s public prosecutor ordered Mubarak back to prison on Wednesday after his health was deemed stable.

Mubarak, 84, was being treated for a heart condition, fractured ribs, fluid in the lungs, depression and high blood pressure, according to his lawyers and official accounts.

The transfer, however, was delayed as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside the military hospital in the Cairo suburb of Maadi in a bid to prevent his return to prison, the security source said.

Mubarak stunned many Egyptians when he appeared last Saturday at the opening hearing of his retrial, looking strong, defiant and waving at supporters.

The retrial was meant to begin on April 13, but Judge Mostafa Hassan Abdallah recused himself in an opening session that lasted just seconds and sent the case to the Court of Appeal to choose a new circuit.

In October, the same judge had acquitted defendants in the infamous “Battle of the Camels” trial, accused of sending men on camels and horses to break up a protest during the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak.

Mubarak, his former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs are charged with complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters on January 25-31, 2011.

Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, will face corruption charges along with their father and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem.

The new trial will open on May 11 at the North Cairo Criminal Court.

Mubarak turns 85 just days before the retrial.

via www.rawstory.com

Israeli Soldier Killed as Egypt Border Is Breached

Via NY Times, by Jodi Rudoren

Israeli soldiers helped transfer a Sudanese refugee on Friday, near the site where a soldier was killed in an ambush by three men at the Israeli-Egyptian border. 

JERUSALEM — One Israeli soldier was killed and another was wounded on Friday morning in a battle with three men who stormed into Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, the second such deadly border attack in less than two months, reviving concern about the ability of Egypt’s new Islamist government to control growing lawlessness in the area.

 

The Israeli military killed all three of the men, who wore sand-color clothing as camouflage and carried assault weapons as well as an explosive belt, which detonated during a 15-minute gunfight, officials in the Israel Defense Forces said. A military spokeswoman said the group had also placed a cache of weapons in a pit nearby, including another explosive belt, AK-47 assault rifles, a machine gun and three rocket-propelled grenades.

Another military spokesman, Eytan Buchman, said the men entered Israel at Har Harif, about halfway between Eilat and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, through one of the last parts of the 150-mile fence Israel has been building since 2010. The soldiers they attacked were providing water to African migrants stopped at the border, military officials said, though another nearby unit quickly engaged the men.

Mr. Buchman said it was unclear whether the men originated from Sinai or Gaza.

The border breach came six weeks after a bloody attack close to Rafah in which militants stormed an Egyptian checkpoint, killing 16 soldiers, then drove a stolen truck through the fence, before driving a stolen armored car about one mile into Israel.

No Israeli soldiers or civilians were hurt in that episode, which led to the temporary closing of the Rafah crossing and the destruction of some of the smuggling tunnels beneath it, as well as a brief chill in relations between Egypt and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip. In its aftermath, Egypt intensified its military presence in Sinai, moving tanks and aircraft, which opened a debate about whether the military guidelines for Sinai outlined in Israel’s 30-year-old peace treaty with Egypt needed revisiting.

Officials of the new administration in Cairo, led by a former Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi, say that the security in Sinai deteriorated long before they took power, and that they have opened Egypt’s most concerted crackdown to restore it, including the destruction of more than 30 of the approximately 225 tunnels from Sinai to Gaza.

Col. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Ali, a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Defense, said in a briefing on Sept. 8 that the crackdown had resulted in the killing of 32 criminals and the detention of 38 others in Sinai, a vast territory of 23,000 square miles, much of it desert and mountains that are difficult to control. The Egyptian forces also confiscated “a big number of weapons,” Colonel Ali said, including remotely controlled planes that can be filled with explosives to destruct targets from afar, and 20 vehicles “used by criminal elements in implementing their operations.”

But security forces have struggled to make much of a dent in the pervasive lawlessness in Sinai, where Bedouin residents still speak of Cairo or even Egypt as if they were foreign countries. Last week, the Egyptian state news media reported that gunmen had attacked one police checkpoint on the road to Rafah for the 36th time in the 20 months since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

“The security forces now are chasing the gunmen and sweeping the surrounding areas, as well as searching the passing cars and checking the identity of the passengers,” the state newspaper Al Ahram reported.

After a period in which Israeli leaders were upset that they had not been notified of Egyptian actions that went beyond the treaty guidelines, coordination between Egyptian and Israeli security forces “are now fluid and frequent,” said a senior Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But the effectiveness of Egypt’s efforts — which combine enforcement with talks with tribal leaders and militants — remains unclear.

“The crackdown is limited to certain areas at certain times, and we cannot measure the efficiency of these measures,” the Israeli official said. “Some here say the cracking down does not look like a determined and sustained operation. Others point to renewed contacts between Hamas and Cairo as a source of relative leniency toward Sinai’s Islamists.”

Officials in the Morsi government say they are coordinating with Hamas to improve security on both sides of the border, and they blame criminals or radical Islamist militants for the problem.

Eli Shaked, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Egypt from 2003 to 2005, noted that controlling the terrorists and smugglers who have been operating freely for years in Sinai would take a serious and sustained commitment.

“It’s a long war; it’s not just one punch and they finish the problem,” Mr. Shaked said. “The Egyptian military will need time and Israeli cooperation — not by Israeli forces, but by the Israeli understanding of the Egyptian necessities to operate in Sinai with forces much beyond those agreed upon in the peace accords.”

The killing on Friday was the first of an Israeli soldier along the southern border in a year. In August 2011, two soldiers were among eight Israelis killed when gunmen ambushed a bus near the resort area of Eilat. In June, an Arab citizen of Israel helping to build the border fence — which is scheduled to be complete by year’s end — was killed when three men crossed into Israel from Egypt and attacked two vehicles with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices.

The victim on Friday was Netanel Yahalomi, 20, who was promoted to corporal posthumously. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, quoted Corporal Yahalomi’s sister as saying that their mother had spoken to him by telephone the day before his death.

“He said he received a package from home that we sent him with cooked food and sweets,” said the sister, Avital. “He was supposed to stay in the base for Yom Kippur. We sent him the package because we wanted him to feel good there.”

David D. Kirkpatrick and Mai Ayyad contributed reporting from Cairo.

 

via www.nytimes.com