tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104847022024-03-13T04:37:19.903+00:00الخان المصريحماة الحمى يا حماة الحمى هلموا هلموا لمجد الوطن ــ
لقد صرخت في عروقنا الدماء نموت نموت و يحيا الوطن ــ
إذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة فلابد أن يستجيب القدر ــ
و لابد لليل أن ينجلي و لابد للقيد أن ينكسر ـــــــ
أبي القاسم الشابيUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-16220125198531154882011-09-26T07:21:00.001+00:002011-09-26T07:34:34.672+00:00نص شهادة المشير طنطاوى في محاكمة مبارك<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">لا لحظر النشر.... دي ثورة مش فيلم سكس... يعني الشعب لازم يعرف كل حاجة......<br />
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نص المشير حسين طنطاوي، رئيس المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة ف قضية قتل المتظاهرين أثناء ثورة 25 يناير المتهم فيها : الرئيس المصري المخلوع حسني مبارك، ونجليه علاء وجمال، ووزير الداخلية الأسبق حبيب العادلي، و6 من كبار مساعديه </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س١ : حصل اجتماع يوم 22 يناير، هل ورد إلي رئيس الجمهورية السابق ما دار في هذا الاجتماع وما أسفر عنه وما كان مردوده ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج1 : الاجتماع كان برئاسة رئيس الوزراء واعتقد أننه بلغ</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س2 : بداية من أحداث 25 يناير وحتي 11 فبراير هل تم اجتماع بينك وبين الرئيس السابق حسني مبارك ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج2 : ليست اجتماعات مباشرة ولكن يوم 28 يناير لما أخذنا الأمر من السيد رئيس الجمهورية كان هناك اتصالات بيني وبين السيد الرئيس ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س3: ما الذي أبداه رئيس الجمهورية في هذه اللقاءءات ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج3: اللقاءات بيننا كانت تتم لمعرفة موقف القوات المسلحة خاصة يوم 28 وعندما كلفت القوات المسلحة للنزول للبلد ومساعدة الشرطة لتنفيذ مهامها </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج٣-2: كان هناك تخطيط مسبق للقوات المسلحة وهذا التخطيط يهدف لنزول القوات المسلحة مع الشرطة وهذه الخطة تتدرب عليها القوات المسلحة </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج٣-3: القوات المسلحة بتنزل لما الشرطة بتكون محتاجة المساعدة وعدم قدرتها علي تنفيذ مهامها وأعطي الرئيس الأمر لقائد القوات المسلحة </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س4 : هل وجه رئيس الجمهورية السابق المتهم محمد حسني مبارك أوامر إلي وزير الداخلية حبيب العادلي باستعمال قوات الشرطة القوة ضد المتظاهرين؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج٣-4 : أعطي الرئيس الأمر لقائد القوات المسلحة اللي هي نزول القوات المسلحة لتأمين المنشآت الحيوية وهذا ما حدث</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س٤-2: استعمال قوات الشرطة القوة ضد المتزاهرين بما فيها استخدام الاسلحة الخرطوش والنارية من 25 يناير حتي 28 يناير ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج4 : ليس لدي معلومات عن هذا واعتقد ان هذا لم يحدث </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س5 : هل ترك رئيس الجمهورية السابق للمتهمين المذكورين من أساليب لمواجهة الموقف ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج5 : ليس لدي معلومات </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س6: هل ورد أو وصل إلي علم سيادتك معلومات أو تقارير عن كيفية معاملة رجال الشرطة ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج6 : هذا ما يخص الشرطة وتدريبها ولكني أعلم ان فض المظاهرات بدون استخدام النيران </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س7 : هل رصدت الجهات المعنية بالقوات المسلحة وجود قناصة استعانت بها قوات الشرطة في الأحداث التي جرت؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج7 : ليس لدي معلومات </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س8 : تبين من التحقيقات إصابة ووفاة العديد من المتظاهرين بطلقات خرطوش أحدثت إصابات ووفيات..هل وصل ذلك الأمر لعلم سيادتك وبم تفسر ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج8: إنا معنديش معلومات بكده.. الاحتمالات كتير لكن مفيش معلومة عندي </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س9 : هل تعد قوات الشرطة بمفردها هي المسئولة دون غيرها عن إحداث إصابات ووفيات بعض المتظاهرين ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج9 : إنا معرفش ايه اللي حصل</div><br />
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س10 : هل تستطيع سيادتك تحديد هل كانت هناك عناصر أخري تدخلت ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج10 : هيا معلومات غير مؤكدة بس اعتقد ان هناك عناصر تدخلت </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س11 : وما هي تلك العناصر ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج11 : ممكن تكون عناصر خارجة عن القانون</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س12 : هل ورد لمعلومات سيادتك ان هناك عناصر اجنبية قد تدخلت ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج12 : ليس لدي معلومات مؤكدة ولكن ده احتمال موجود</div><br />
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س13 : وعلي وجه العموم هل يتدخل الرئيس وفقا لسلطته في ان يحافظ علي أمن وسلامة الوطن في إصدار أوامر أو تكليفات في كيفية التعامل ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج13 : رئيس الجمهورية ممكن يكون أصدر أوامر - طبعا من حقه ولكن كل شئ له تقييده المسبق وكل واحد عارف مهامه</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س14: ولمن يصدر رئيس الجمهورية علي وجه العموم هذه الأوامر ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج 14 : التكليفات معروف مين ينفذها ولكن من الممكن ان رئيس الجمهورية يعطي تكليفات مفيش شك</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س15 : وهل يجب قطعا علي من تلقي أمر تنفيذه مهما كانت العواقب ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج15 : طبعا يتم النقاش والمنفذ يتناقش مع رئيس الجمهورية وإذا كانت الأوامر مصيرية لازم يناقشه</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س16: هل يعد رئيس الجمهورية السابق المتهم محمد حسني مبارك مسئول مسئولية مباشرة أو منفردة مع من نفذ أمر التعامل مع ألمتظاهرين الصادر منه شخصيا?</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج16 : إذا كان أصدر هذا الأمر وهو التعامل باستخدام النيران أنا اعتقد ان المسئولية تكون مشتركة وأنا معرفش ان كان أعطي هذا الأمر أم لا</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س17: وهل تعلم ان رئيس الجمهورية السابق كان علي علم من مصادره بقتل المتظاهرين ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج17: يسأل في ذلك مساعديه الذين ابلغوه هل هو علي علم أم لا</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س18: وهل تعلم سيادتكم ان رئيس الجمهورية السابق قد تدخل بأي صورة كانت لوقف نزيف المصابين ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج18 : اعتقد انه تدخل وأعطي قرار بالتحقيق فيما حدث وعملية القتل وطلب تقرير وهذه معلومات</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س19: هل تستطيع علي سبيل القطع والجزم واليقين تحديد مدي مسئولية رئيس الجمهورية السابق عن التداعيات التي أدت إلي إصابة وقتل المتظاهرين ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج19 : هذه مسئولية جهات التحقيق</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س20: هل يحق وفقا لخبرة سيادتكم ان يتخذ وزير الداخلية وعلي وجه العموم ما يراه هو منفردا من اجراءات ووسائل وخطط لمواجهة التظاهرات دون العرض علي رئيس الجمهورية؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج20: اتخاذ الاجراءات تكون مخططة ومعروف لدي الكل في وزارة الداخلية ولكن في جميع الحالات يعطيه خبر بما يخص المظاهرات ولكن التظاهر وفضه ولكن التظاهر وفضه هي خطة وتدريب موجود في وزارة الداخلية</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س21 : وهل اتخذ حبيب العادلي قرار مواجهة التظاهر بما نجم عنه من إصابات ووفيات بمفرده بمساعدة المتهمين الاخرين في الدعوى المنظورة وذلك من منظور ما وصل لعلم سيادتك ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج 21 : معنديش علم بذلك</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س22 : علي فرض إذا ما وصلك تداعيات التظاهرات يوم 28 يناير إلي استخدام قوات الشرطة آليات مثل اطلاق مقذوفات نارية أو استخدام السيارت لدهس سيارات لدهس المتظاهرين..هل كان أمر استعمالها يصدر من حبيب العادلى يصدر من حبيب العادلى ومساعديه بمفردهم ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج 22 : ما أقدرش أحدد اللي حصل أيه ولكن ممكن هو اللى اتخذها وأنا ما أعرفش واللى اتخذها مسئول عنها</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س23: هل يصدق القول تحديداً وبما لا يدع مجالاً للشك أو الريبة أن رئيس الجمهورية السابق لا يعلم شيئاً أو معلومات أيا كانت عن تعامل الشرطة بمختلف قواتها أو أنه لم يوجه إلى الأول سمة أوامر أو تعليمات بشأن التعامل والغرض أنه هو الموكل إليه شئون مصر والحفاظ على أمنها ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج23 : أنا ما أعرفش اللى حصل أيه لكن أعتقد إن وزير الداخلية بيبلغ وممكن ما يكونش مش عارف بس أنا ما أعرفش</div><br />
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س24 : هل هناك اصابات أو وفيات لضباط الجيش ؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج 24 : نعم هناك شهداء</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س25 : هل تعاون وزير الداخلية مع القوات المسلحة لتأمين المظاهرات ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج 25 : لأ</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س26 : هل أبلغت بفقد ذخائر خاصة بالقوات المسلحة؟ </div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج26: مفيش حاجة ضاعت لكن هناك بعض الخسائر في المعدات واتصلحت ومفيش مشكلة</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س27: هل أبلغت بدخول عناصر من حماس أو حزب الله عبر الأنفاق أو غيرها لإحداث إضرابات ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج27 : هذا الموضوع لم يحدث أثناء المظاهرات واحنا بنقاوم الموضوع ده واللي بنكتشفه بندمره وإذا كان فيه حد محول لمحكمة فهذا ليس أثناء المظاهرات</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س28: هل تم القبض على عناصر أجنبية في ميدان التحرير وتم إحالتهم للنيابة العسكرية ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج28: لا ..لم يتم القاء القبض على أى أحد</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س29: فى الاجتماع الذي تم يوم 20 يناير هل تم اتخاذ قرار بقطع الاتصالات؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج29 : لم يحدث</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">س30: بعض اللواءات قالوا طلب منا فض المظاهرات بالقوة..هل طلب من القوات المسلحة التدخل لذلك ؟</div><br />
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<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">ج30: أنا قلت فى كلية الشرطة في تخريج الدفعة إن أنا بأقول للتاريخ إن أي أحد من القوات المسلحة لن يستخدم النيران ضد الشعب<br />
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انتهت الشهادة و لكن لي تعليق واحد و هو ان في الرسالة 52 للمجلس الأعلى و الخاصة بما قاله المشير في كلية الشرطة (اجابة سؤال 30) اكد انهم "رفضوا" و الرفض لا يكون إلا لأمر و بالتالي مين الي اعطى الأمر و ليه المشير غير كلامه؟ الرسالة 52 تحت للي عايز يقراها و حسبي الله و نعم الوكيل....... </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjGtLmgQViZNFSL-VHAROpe2o1fJUeznDcdSSbb32_BEV5Hd7GBOF7eLYGKsBJ8AWde0859uO8GI2KD8x34S53ds2U60w_6-RMQ0PdXvOBsldNwfIPGAat902GXZfrVqWmiLcUw/s1600/message+52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHjGtLmgQViZNFSL-VHAROpe2o1fJUeznDcdSSbb32_BEV5Hd7GBOF7eLYGKsBJ8AWde0859uO8GI2KD8x34S53ds2U60w_6-RMQ0PdXvOBsldNwfIPGAat902GXZfrVqWmiLcUw/s320/message+52.jpg" width="174px" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-46363446441272858972009-10-27T12:43:00.001+00:002009-10-27T12:46:35.339+00:00حضن جبل<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">كان يوماً شبه مشمساً، يوم من تلك الأيام التي تظهر فيها الشمس حيناً ثم تختفي أحياناً أخرى خلف السحب المتناثرة. تلك السحب المتناثرة التي تتراوح ألوانها بين الأبيض الناصع البياض و الرمادي الداكن المنذر بقدوم الغيث. و على السواء بيضاء كانت أم رمادية كانت السحب كثيفة و ذات أشكال عشوائية و كلها تتسابق في أن تُخفي الشمس خلفها فتخلق عن دون قصد إضاءة هادئة لا تُضطر معها أن ترخي جفونك كي تتجنب أشعة الشمس المباشرة. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;">كنت متأخراً على الميعاد المتفق عليه بالرغم من قيامي مبكراً و كان لابد أن أُسرع و أتحرك من منزلي الواقع على أحد التلال الثلاثة التي تحد مدينة تونس من الشمال و تحديداً كان منزلي أعلى تلة "قمرت" التي تجاور تلتي "سيدي بوسعيد" و "قرطاج" و يطلون مجتمعين على البحر من ناحبة و على المدينة الممتدة بطول الوادي من الناحية الأخرى.انطلقت بالسيارة نحو وسط البلد حيث مكان اللقاء المتفق عليه بجانب فندق "أبي نواس" و قد تعودت كل يوم عند الخروج من البيت على إلقاء نظرة سريعة على البحر كي أتابع تغير لونه على حسب تغير لون السماء و أحوالها. كانت تلك السحب المبعثرة قد استطاعت أن ترسم على البحر الهادئة طباعه لوحة مكونة من مساحات من الأزرق الشديد القتامة و مساحات أخرى من اللون المرمري الشفاف الذي يكاد يكشف عورة الرمال تحت صفحته، طبعت تلك اللوحة أثرها في نفسي على مهل قبل أن أدرك أني لابد أن أسرع إن كنت أريد أن أصل قبل ميعاد التحرك.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">يوم الأحد صباحا تكون الطرق شبه خالية من السيارات و قد ساعدني ذلك في طي الطريق بين الدار و شارع محمد الخامس حيث الفندق في حوالي ربع الساعة. توجهت إلى المرفأ حيث وجدت بقية المجموعة و قد وقفوا إلى جانب سياراتهم يتكلمون و يتناقشون في ترتيبات بقية اليوم. لم أكد أترجل من السيارة حتى أقبلت عليَ و في عينيها نظرة حاسمة لكن حنونة...<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- هل كان الحلم ممتعاً؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أي حلم؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- الذي أخر صحيانك<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لم يكن الحلم الذي أخرني<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- ماذا كان إذن؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- البحر المتغيرة أحواله<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- عذر أقبح من ذنب<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و لكنني لست آخر الحاضرين فرأيسة المجموعة نفسها لم تصل بعد<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و هل يعفيك هذا؟<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;">- لازلت مذنبا إذن!<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و لكنك المذنب المفضل إليَ<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">ابتسمت عيناها قليلا و بادلتها الابتسام ثم هتف يناديها أحد أفراد المجموعة فانطلقت نحوه و انشغلوا في تقسيم الماعون الذي تم تجميعه طوال الأيام الفائتة من المتبرعين بين السيارات التي تم اختيارها كي تقودنا إلى الجبل، لم تكن سيارتي من بين تلك السيارات حيث فضلت تركها بالمرفأ لكونها عهدة من الشركة التي أعمل بها. قمنا بتقسيم أنفسنا بين السيارات و لم تكن هي في نفس السيارة التي كانت من نصيبي.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;">كانت القافلة متجهة إلى مدرسة نائية تقع في وسط الصحراء وتم اختيارها للزيارة و المساعدة بسبب شدة فقر مواردها و عدم اهتمام الدولة بها و لبعدها عن مساكن الأطفال المسجلين فيها، كان لموقعها دور في سوء أحوالها حيث الطرق شديدة التعرج و التلال كانت تقف حائلا بينها هي و القرية المجاورة لها و التي تسمى "الرقبة" من جهة و بقية الحقول و الامتداد السكاني من جهة أخرى. الهدف كان أن نمضي اليوم مع الأطفال كي نرفع من روحهم المعنوية ثم نعرج على الإدارة كي نرى كيف يمكن مساعدتهم في المستقبل.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;">بدأت رحلتنا على الطريق السريعة و كانت السحب قد بدأت في إرسال دفقات من الأمطار الخفيفة و لكن ذلك لم يحول دون رؤية المناطق الفارغة المرمرية في جسم السحب التي بدت و كأنها تلملم من نفسها استعداداً لما يبدو أنه أكثر من دفقات خفيفة. كانت "الرقبة" تبعد حوالي مائتي كيلومتر عن العاصمة في اتجاه الغرب التونسي و لم تكن تقع على الطريق الرئيسة بل اضطررنا إلى سلوك طريق آخر صغير فرعي يمتد وسط الحقول. بعد فترة من السير في هذا الطريق تكشف أمامنا منظر خلاب خطف حواسي عن كل ما حولها و حتى عن صوت فيروز التي كانت تشدو للقدس العتيقة.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;">كان الجبل أسمراً شامخاً وسط السحب و محاطاً ببعض التلال الصفراء و البنية التي تنم عن فقر الزرع و ندرته و كانت لحظة انكشافه مبهرة و بدت التلال المجاورة له و كأنها الخدم الساهر على خدمة سيده العليَ شأنه. منظر الجبل لم يوحي بأنه يوجد من يسكن أو يتعلم في ثناياه فهو من تلك الجبال التي تعتقد أنها وُجِدت فقط كي تكون نِداً للزمن و شاهداً عليه دون أن تنال منها أكثر من رؤيتها و التملي بجمالها.حاولت أن أحيط بهذا الجمال بكاميرتي الفوتوغرافية و لكني فشلت في قنص ذلك الجمال الذي تملكني و جاءت الصور منقوصة... و بدأت أفكر فيمن سيساعد من و تعجبت، أنساعدهم نحن بالماعون أم يساعدونا هم بالسماح لنا بالنظر إلى جنتهم. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: right;">انتهت الطريق الصغيرة و دلفنا إلى الصحراء و كنا لنزال على مسافة غير قليلة من "الرقبة" المختفية وراء الجبل، السيارات كانت تشكل صفاً يسير رويداً بسبب وعورة مسلكنا و على جانبنا سار عدد من الفلاحين ممتطين لدوابهم و قد غطوا رؤوسهم بقبعات من الخوص التي عرفت فيما بعد أنها من عادات الفلاح التونسي.رفع أحد الفلاحين بجوارنا يده مُرحباً و كأنما كنا مقبلين على باب داره فبادلناه التحية، و مضينا في طريقنا و أخذت الطريق ترتفع شيئاً فشيئاً فوق التلال إلى أن بدأنا نرى أطفال متشابكي الأيدي يسيرون في نفس الاتجاه و كانوا يصارعون وعورة الطريق بأقدام صغيرة و لكن بخفة و مهارة ثقلتها الخبرة فتارة يتقدمون بالقفز و العند و تارة بالتروي و تخير موطئ القدم. كدت أشعر بالأسف لقسوة الطريق على أجسامهم الصغيرة لكني فكرت أن الطريق الوعرة مدرسة في حد ذاتها و ربما ما يتعلموه فيها كل يوم هو أخير و أقيم مما نتعلمه نحن في مكاتبنا المكيفة. ظهر في الأفق مبنى أبيض (ناصع البياض في بعض أجزاؤه) يبدو عليه حداثة البناء على الرغم من الدهان المتهالك لبعض الحيطان. اقتربنا من البوابة و إذا بنا نجد جحافل من الطلبة خارجها و لاحظنا أن كلهم تقريباً من الأولاد و جميعهم أكبر سناً من أطفال المدرسة و عرفنا بعد ذلك أنهم من نفس القرية التي أتى منها الأطفال و لكنهم من المدرسة الإعدادية البعيدة عن هذا المكان و لكنهم أتوا بعد أن سمعوا بالزيارة ليظفروا ببعض الهدايا مع أخواتهم <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: right;">الصغار.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpooqO0rMkaKgbmvz4GQeSjO7CWgxXlBoMX9xNEsVV50mWF1-xSsvD8KSalARL5H5XGwF3HP4JSwzYe0UzIO01YL90UCXWp0-7CvFsGjd5UnHhiYtPF9R8Pqh6fFwgsH-0AOWuQ/s1600-h/el+regba+2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpooqO0rMkaKgbmvz4GQeSjO7CWgxXlBoMX9xNEsVV50mWF1-xSsvD8KSalARL5H5XGwF3HP4JSwzYe0UzIO01YL90UCXWp0-7CvFsGjd5UnHhiYtPF9R8Pqh6fFwgsH-0AOWuQ/s400/el+regba+2" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: right;">كانت المدرسة من الداخل في شدة البساطة و لكنها كانت نظيفة، كانت مكونة من ثلاثة أضلاع متعامدة من المباني التي تحيط بحوش متسع يوجد في منتصفه هيكل أشبه بالنصب التذكاري و يرتفع فوقه علم تونس. المدرسة كانت في حضن الجبل و كانت رؤية التلال من المدرسة سهلة جداً (أيها التعساء الصغار... آه لو تدركوا الجمال الذي يحيط بكم... ستكبرون يوماً لتجروا جري الوحوش و تتنافسوا فيمن يخرج من هذه الجنة إلى جحيم العاصمة). كان معظم الأطفال في الفصول في انتظارنا و كنا قد بدأنا في سماع أصواتهم و رؤية وجوههم المطلة من الشبابيك و الأبواب و كانوا كحبات الهواء في الماء المغلي منتشرون في كل أنحاء المدرسة و في حراك مستمر، تحرك زملائي في اتجاه الفصول إلا أنني لم أذهب معهم و وجدتني سارحاً أتجول في المدرسة إلى أن أصبحت وحيداً و استوقفتني لوحة بليدة الشكل و لكن عظيمة المعنى مرسومة على أحد حوائط المبنى و كانت تقول:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">"العلم يبني بيوتاً لا عماد لها ، و الجهل يهدم بيوت العز و الشرف"<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBBPOW9NlzPR1o9D7DsfvM62nCsBJkLFaGd98VrE6lRurw49RASJ915394LgKndcS00bPvEjf9h6XWDow0ci8A920lpu3UtBGQwadaPTWTQuGnGbluMotonTv3pHnLQ31s-THIQ/s1600-h/el+regba+3" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBBPOW9NlzPR1o9D7DsfvM62nCsBJkLFaGd98VrE6lRurw49RASJ915394LgKndcS00bPvEjf9h6XWDow0ci8A920lpu3UtBGQwadaPTWTQuGnGbluMotonTv3pHnLQ31s-THIQ/s400/el+regba+3" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">كانت تلك أول مرة أقرأ فيها هذه المقولة و حتى الآن لا أعرف قائلها و لكني عجبت أني تعلمت شيئاً جديداً في تلك المدرسة البعيدة كل البعد عن مسار حياتي فصرت مثلي كمثل هؤلاء الأطفال و هم يقرءوها لأول مرة. أخذت أفكر في المقولة و شدة دقتها و تعبيرها عما نمر به و كأنما قد عرف قائلها بما سيحدث لنا يوما... ً و بينما أنا سارحاً مع أفكاري و متأملاً للحائط ذي المقولة إذا بها تربت على كتفي.. التفت إليها لأجد ابتسامة رقيقة قد ارتسمت على شفتيها....<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لماذا تقف وحدك؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">(أشرت إلى الحائط أمامي ثم نظرت إليها بطرف عيني و قلت)<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- جميلة.. أليس كذلك؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- من قائلها؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لا أدري<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- هل ستبقى؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و لماذا أبقى في "الرقبة"؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">لمحت ذرات غضب في عينيها و توارت البسمة المعهودة ثم قالت في اقتضاب<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- تفهم قصدي<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- نعم أفهم<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- حسناً... هل ستبقى؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لا توجد أرض عربية تستطيع أن تحتويني<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أغرور هذا أم ثقة زائدة بالنفس؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- بل خوف من عذاب لا مفر منه إن بقيت<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أي عذاب؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- ضيق التنفس... أتعرفينه؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- نعم أعرفه.. أسبابه عندي تختلف.. و لكني بعد لم أفهم<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- قسموا أرض العرب و لم تنتج القسمة عن جزء يكفيني فكلهن صغار عني...<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">فإما أن أبقى و أتعذب أو أرحل و أتنفس..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">و أنتِ...<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">هل ستبقين؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- مقاسها يناسبني<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- ماذا تعنين؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لا أفضل الملابس الفضفاضة<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- فهمت... و لكن ماذا ستفعلين؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أفتش في ثنايا تلك الأرض<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- هي مليئة بالكنوز... حتى في حضن هذا الجبل.. أليس كذلك؟<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">- بلى<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">التفت إلى منظر التلال الماثلة أمامي و هي لازالت بجانبي و قد تبعتني عيناها و أحسست بأصابعها و قد لامست أصابعي في وهن قبل أن تسحبها لتزيح بعض من شعراتها المتطايرة على وجهها بفعل النسيم ثم مالت بشفتيها على أذني و همست..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- اختلفت الطرق و اتفقت المنى!<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- قد نلتقي<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- ربما... سأسأل عن أخبارك في كل حال<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لا أستطيع أن أعد بالمثل<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">نظرت إليَ باستغراب و قالت..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و لم لا؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- لست قارٍ بعد و لا أعرف متى أستقر و لا أين<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و ما يمنع المرتحل من الوصل؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أتعرفين حسن بن محمد الوزان؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">؟Jean-Leon de Medici- <br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- هو ذاك... و هو كذلك يوحنا الأسدي الأفريقي<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- و ما صلته بسؤالك عتي؟ <br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أشعر أني سأنتهي على حاله..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">ولد بمدينة و قذف منها إلى أخرى...<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">و ارتحل مجدداً... ثم سيق إلى أقصى الأرض..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">فكثُرت أسماؤه و صفاته...<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">فتجدينه في بعض أنحاء المعمورة الغرناطي و بأخرى الفاسي..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">و في أخرى الأفريقي... <br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">و في ترحاله سُلِب حق الوصل..<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">حتى استقر حيث أسكن في "قمرت"<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">أخشى أن أصير مثله....<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">و الرحالة لا يملك وعده.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">تدفقت من عينيها ملامح الحزن و سرعان ما فاضت على وجنتيها و شفتيها ثم رويداً تبدلت ملامحها فصارت أكثر دفئاً و قالت<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- أتعرف ماذا كان يكفيه في ترحاله؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">- ماذا تعتقدين؟<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">L'amour, c'est suffisant- <br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">لم تمنحني فرصة للاختلاف بل اقتربت مني في هدوء و مالت برأسها عليَ و أحسست بحرارة وجهها قرب أنفي و بملمس أصابعها فوق كتفي ثم أطبقت بشفتيها بقبلة على خدي و أحسست بطرف شفتيها و قد لامس طرف شفتاي عن دون قصد منها....<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">بنفس الهدوء تراجعت قليلاً حتى تلاقت عينانا لحيظات قليلة و لكنها كانت كافية لكل واحد منا كي يلقي للآخر بحبات وجده..<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">تركتني و انسحبت بهدوئها المعهود من محيطي (و حياتي) و وجدتني أرجع بنظري إلى الجبل و تلاله المحيطة و وددت لو أنه ضمني إلى حضنه الدفيء....<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">هممت بالعودة للمجموعة و لم يكن أحد قد لاحظ غيبتي و كانوا قد بدءوا يتوزعون على الفصول و في أثناء سيري فوجئت بشيء يصطدم بجسدي بقوة و اندفاع من الخلف، التفت خلفي في دهشة لألمح طفل لا يتعدى الخامسة من عمره يرتدي فانلة بيضاء و سترة كحلية و قد سقط على الأرض بفعل ارتطامه بي قبل أن يثب واقفاً و كأن شيئاً لم يكن ليعاود جريه. أمسكت به قبل أن يعاود الجري و كانت على وجهه ابتسامة المنتصر و تطل من عينيه علامات الذكاء الحاد و نظراته تنم عن فطرة عربية بدوية نمت في حضن هذا الجبل. سألته عن اسمه فجاوبني هاتفاً و قال "مالك" ثم حاول الفرار من بين يدي و كأنما يريد الهرب من شيء ما أو الإسراع لاقتناص شيء ما. كانت حركات يده و جسده تزخر بطاقة لا تُستنفذ و لم تستطع قبضتي أن تبقيه أكثر من ذلك حيث انطلق مجدداً ليرتطم تلك المرة بمدير المدرسة الذي ظننت أنه سيعاقبه و لكنه اكتفى لدهشتي بملاطفته و مداعبته قبل أن يدعه كي يذهب إلى فصله. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">عندما لحقت بالمجموعة اكتشفت أنه تم توزيعي على فصل الأطفال الأصغر سنا و عند دخولي الفصل وجدته يموج بحركة عشوائية و الأطفال يصيحون بلا سبب و بلا توقف و أخذ بقية زملائي يحاولون تهدئتهم حتى يقوموا بتوزيع الهدايا عليهم. اقترح أحدنا أن نقوم برسم أشكال على السبورة و نسألهم عنها و نعطي لمن يجيب بالصواب أحد الهدايا و بالفعل بدأنا و كان من الواضح أن "مالك" و طفل آخر (أتضح فيما بعد أنه ابن ناظر المدرس) هما قائدا هذا الفصل فبعد أن جلسا و استقرا في درجيهما تبعهما بقية الفصل. بدأ الرسم و التخمين وقام زميلنا برسم شمس على السبورة و سألناهم عنها فهتف ابن الناظر أولا و تبعه الآخرون و هتفوا "سمشون" فصحح لهم زميلي قائلا " شمسٌ " فبدا الاستغراب على وجوههم الصغيرة قبل أن يعيدوا الكرة و يهتفوا "سمشون" و كأنما غير مقتنعين بما قلنا... أوقفتنا أحد بنات المجموعة و قالت إن الشمس تُعرف في تلك الأنحاء من تونس باسم "سمش" فصرنا نحن جهلاء "الرقبة". آثر زميلي السلامة و بدأ برسم الفواكه و الغلة حتى يضمن أكبر قدر من الاتفاق بيننا و بينهم و بدأ برسم بعض من أصابع الموز و على الفور صاح ابن الناظر ولحق به الآخرون "بناناتون" و كان عودٌ على بدء.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">شعرت بالحنين للجلوس إلى الدرج و تذكرت أيام مدرسة الفرير بالكربة و در وجها التي احتضنتني و وجدتني أتجه نحو آخر الفصل لأجلس بأحد الدروج و إذا بالطفلتين الجالستين أمامي تلتفتان إليَ بابتسامة خجولة... حييتهما فإذا بهما تضحكان و تتهكمان على لهجتي الغريبة على أذنيهما، سألتهما عن اسميهما و قالتا "هالة" و "هناء"... رددت قائلا أنا "أحمد" فقالتا شنوا الأحوال سي أحمد..... <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtXkSBmvXOmht6oZ9IDe0rD-OWy3H0hAqaEAakHGrjjAHcFTuegliisN437zKNsjU3O7FHrVD7zfA0AySL3WzzeuXTuDFjGKUDf9PG3ir8JvRtNfBrMRZc0ZhKuLFeQ1sHVdFYQ/s1600-h/el+regba+5" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtXkSBmvXOmht6oZ9IDe0rD-OWy3H0hAqaEAakHGrjjAHcFTuegliisN437zKNsjU3O7FHrVD7zfA0AySL3WzzeuXTuDFjGKUDf9PG3ir8JvRtNfBrMRZc0ZhKuLFeQ1sHVdFYQ/s320/el+regba+5" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9MeLzVaWTE3o6np8rDNB0WVSaIMtv5oSXYdbKTj7QDSFJyXB55D2y9Ej-HFNW65wf8ITMaSqi1loBqmp_DavLUwsQeg6j0FRQwMtMAMFh6I_0F6DJ63geTInrJ4YYH6zR9b5tA/s1600-h/el+regba+6" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9MeLzVaWTE3o6np8rDNB0WVSaIMtv5oSXYdbKTj7QDSFJyXB55D2y9Ej-HFNW65wf8ITMaSqi1loBqmp_DavLUwsQeg6j0FRQwMtMAMFh6I_0F6DJ63geTInrJ4YYH6zR9b5tA/s320/el+regba+6" vr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">تركتهما للمسابقة و الجوائز و أخذت أفكر..<br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">فكرت في كل تلك الثنايا التي تملأ تلك الأرض التي ورثناها..<br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">أليست هي المصدر و الممول لتلك الحضارة؟<br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">تحت كل ثنية أرض و في حضن كل جبل و وادٍ عالم كامل يزخر ببنات أفكار تلك الحضارة...<br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">فإذا ظننا أنها صارت أرضاً بور فاجأتنا من حيث لا ندري بجديد مثري... <br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">و تبدأ القصة من جديد.... <br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;">إنها أرض تستحق الخدمة .... و العودة.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;">و كما قال أعرابي "غفلنا و لم يغفل الدهر عنا، فلم نتعظ بغيرنا، حتى وُعِظَ غيرُنا بنا، فقد أدركت السعادة من تنبه، و أدركت الشقاوة من غفَل، و كفى بالتجربة واعظاً"<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-61517669645744397772009-10-27T12:29:00.000+00:002009-10-27T12:29:15.678+00:00القاهرة المقهورة<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE06vu8xVpFUIQyRpMmzrJ8yrfyIzjmQeJI_vuEntupA9sPatEgnpcle_xP9Er6fITdABBfeKN7H0MbUiOvQr_xjL862o5VY46-xMLT7GpzSSJD8aCrwyM8s6q-WSeX0wn2sa_g/s1600-h/View+from+Qalawoon+Minaret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmE06vu8xVpFUIQyRpMmzrJ8yrfyIzjmQeJI_vuEntupA9sPatEgnpcle_xP9Er6fITdABBfeKN7H0MbUiOvQr_xjL862o5VY46-xMLT7GpzSSJD8aCrwyM8s6q-WSeX0wn2sa_g/s320/View+from+Qalawoon+Minaret.jpg" vr="true" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>هذا هو المنظر من جامع قلاوون في </strong></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>وسط القاهرة. اطلال بيوت و بقايا حكايا لأسر بسيطة تركت منازلها </strong></span><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1162338068827473112006-10-31T23:06:00.000+00:002006-11-01T00:00:59.473+00:00ناصر و مقاومة الإمبريالية بجامعة لندن<div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/nasser-lecture.0.jpg"></a></div><div align="center"><img height="370" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/nasser-lecture.3.jpg" width="261" /></div><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">طالعتني أسوار جامعة لندن اليوم بمنظر لا أظن أن أحدا من جيلي قد عايشه قبل ذلك. منظر ذكرني بقصص الخمسينيات و الستينيات التي </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ألفت أن أسمعها من أبي و أمي و نبرات الشوق تتخلل صوتهما... وددت لو كانا معي و لكني لا أظن أنهما كانا سيغالبا الشوق فالشوق على المشتاق أغلب. ملصقات متناثرة على الأسوار تحمل صورة الرجل الذي طالما ألهب مشاعر المصريين... <strong><span style="font-size:130%;">"ناصر"</span></strong> .... تطلعت حولي و فكرت.... أتلك كانت هيئة أسوار القاهرة في العهد الذي مضى؟</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">أما عن الملصقات فتلك حكايتها</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;color:#cc0000;"><strong>يعلن حزب "رسبكت" بكلية العلوم الشرقية و الأفريقية بجامعة لندن عن محاضرة بعنوان</strong></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">أزمة السويس....ناصر و مواجهة الإمبريالية</span></strong></span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">بعد مرور 50 عاما على الأزمة التي قزمت الإمبراطورية البريطانية و أكدت المكانة البطولية لناصر في العالم العربي نلقي نظرة على تلك الأحداث و على أوجه تطابق تلك الفترة مع الأحداث الجارية و أخيرا على ناصر و ذكراه</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><strong>المتحدثون</strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">المهندس كمال بيومي</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">فدائي بحرب السويس</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الأستاذة آن ألكساندر</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">مؤلفة كتاب .... ناصر: قصة حياة</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الأستاذ سامي رمضاني</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">محاضر و كاتب بجريدة الجاردين</span></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#333399;">و ذلك يوم الخميس الموافق 2 نوفمبر بقاعة الطلبة العامة بالكلية</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1160341585338736032006-10-08T20:42:00.000+00:002006-10-08T21:06:25.516+00:00Hasta La Victoria Siempre!<a href="http://www.egy.com/P/articles/94-12-17.2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.egy.com/P/articles/94-12-17.2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Nasser & Guevara</strong></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>both dead...</strong></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong> </strong></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>their ideas & hopes are still alive...</strong></span></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></strong> </div><div align="center">"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall."<span style="font-size:78%;">Guevara</span> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">الخائفون لا يصنعون الحرية و المترددون لن تقوى ايديهم المرتعشة على البناء"<span style="font-size:78%;">جمال عبد التاصر</span>"</span></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><br /><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:130%;">صرخة جيفارا</span><br />جيفارا مات..... جيفارا مات .....اخر خبر فى الراديوهات.......وفى الكنايس.......والجوامع وفى الحواري........والشوارع......وع القهاوي وع البارات ..... جيفارا مات واتمد حبل الدردشه......والتعليقاتمات المناضل المثال ياميت خسارة على الرجال مات الجدع فوق مدفعة جوه الغابات جسد نضالة بمصرعه......ومن سكات .. لا طبالين يفرقعوا.....ولا اعلانات ما رايكم دام عزكم ياانتيكات يا غرقانين فى المأكولات...والملبوسات يا دافيانين......ومولعين الدفايات يا محفلطين يا ملمعين.....يا جيمسنات يا بتوع نضال اخر زمن فى العوامات...ما رايكم دام عزكم جيفارا مات لاطنطنة...ولا شنشنه ولا اعلامات واستعلامات عينى عليه ساعه القضا ** من غير رفاقه تودعه يطلع انينه للفضا يزعق...ولا مين يسمعه.. يمكن صرخ من الالم من لسعه النار ف الحشا يمكن ضحك...او ابتسم او ارتعش....او انتشى يمكن لفظ اخر نفس كلمه وادع....لجل الجياع يمكن وصيه...للى حاضنين القضيهفى الصراع....صور كتير ملو الخيال....والف مليون احتمال لكن اكيد....اكيد اكيد ولاجدال...جيفارا مات موتة رجال ياشغالين ومحرومين يا مسلسلين رجلين وراس خلاص خلاص....مالكوش خلاص غير بالبنادق والرصاص..دا منطق العصر السعيد عصر الزنوج والامريكان...الكلمه للنار والحديد والعدل اخرس او جبان...صرخه جيفار يا عبيد في اى موطن او مكان مافيش بديل مافيش مناص...يا تجهزوا جيش الخلاص يا تقولوا على العالم خلاص</span></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"> أحمد فؤاد نجم..1967</span></strong><a></a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1156978095046352152006-08-30T22:29:00.000+00:002006-08-30T23:01:21.096+00:00Farewell...<div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/5290.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/5290.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em><strong> "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”</strong></em> <span style="font-size:78%;">Naguib Mahfouz</span></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:78%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:78%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:78%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:78%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:78%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">His imaginary characters imposed themselves as a reality on my life... umm... 'imposed' is not the right word... i happily embrassed them into my world... or maybe they embrassed me to their world... actually i can no longer differentiate between my world and their world..... i saw myself residing within all his stories and his characters belonged to the world around me. His words filled many gaps in my vocabulary, his sentences carried the essence of my relationship with Egypt's air... with its soil... with its buildings...</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">i lost a teacher....</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">a teacher of life... of history... and of humanity... </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Send a note of appreciation and admiration</span> to the family that helped this man nourish us with his words, thoughts, and dreams. If you feel there is something you want to tell them or there is something you want to thank them for -<em>wherever you're living and whatever your nationality is</em>- then put your note as a comment below before the 15th of September and it will be sent as part of a letter from all those who are thankful for his family for helping him give us the best of his intellect. This is the very least we could do.</span></strong></span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><strong><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;">Please include your email in the note to be notified upon the delivery of the letter.</span></em><br /></strong></div><div align="center"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1154375304625462912006-07-31T19:37:00.000+00:002006-07-31T23:10:47.130+00:00HizbAllah Flags Flying high in the heart of London!<div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">I was sad and did not really know what to do... did not believe the demo would really help stop the suffering of the Arabs in Lebanon but i just felt i did not want to be sad and alone... maybe joining others would make it softer... those are random images i took of the demo..... no particular pattern.... just follow the photos...<br /><br /></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="247" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/IMG_1229.jpg" width="362" border="0" /> <p align="center">HizbAllah flags flying high in the heart of London.... Some people said that it was only Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), Salah Al Din, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and now Hassan Nasrallah who captured the hearts and minds of the Arab streets... i don't recall any other Arab leader whose picture was carried or whose name was chanted by the people in the street..... we're lucky to have lived and seen one of them I suppose.... </p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 358px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="256" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/IMG_1212.jpg" width="324" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Her little beautiful eyes invited me to capture her look... seeing the camera in my hand she gently pressed her little goat against her heart and looked directly at me.... her mom standing at the back with a photo of one of the Arab children who were burnt by the Zionists... <em>what are her eyes trying to say?</em></p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 348px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 271px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="262" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/IMG_1241.jpg" width="326" border="0" /></p><br /><p align="center">the demo was attended by around 8,000 participant who represented many organisations like <a href="http://www.stopwar.org.uk">Stop the War</a>, <a href="http://www.mabonline.info">Musilm Association of Britain</a>, <a href="http://www.palestinecampaign.org">Palestine Solidarity Campaign</a>, <a href="http://www.swp.org.uk">Socialist Worker Party</a>, in addition to lots of independant journalists and artists. </p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 334px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="256" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/IMG_1194.0.jpg" width="318" border="0" /></p><p align="center">Elhanan is a Jewish Rabbi from a Jewsih group called <a href="http://http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/">Neturei Karta</a>..... he gave me his card and on it i read "The Torah-true Jews who out of loyalty to the Jewish faith strongly oppose Zionism and it's outcome".... we talked for a while and i was astonished to know how opposed he and his group are to the establishment of the state of Israel.... the tag he is wearing in this photo reads "Judaism rejects Zionism".... he told me that they are here today to support the Arabs in demanding their rights... </p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 341px; HEIGHT: 279px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1203.jpg" width="497" /><br /></p><p></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 330px; HEIGHT: 254px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1213.0.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 329px; HEIGHT: 247px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1247.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><strong>Speakers I recognised</strong></p><p align="center"><strong><img style="WIDTH: 323px; HEIGHT: 242px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1176.jpg" width="497" /></strong></p><p align="center">Husam Zumlot - PLO Political representative in the UK. Husam is originally from Haifa as I remember and he used to be a student at LSE. </p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 335px; HEIGHT: 257px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1196.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center">Robert Fisk read some really moving words.</p><p align="center"><strong>and here are some other random photos......</strong></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 343px; HEIGHT: 281px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1232.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 351px; HEIGHT: 281px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1208.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center">Some quotes just make it to history... i think this is going to be one of them.... !</p><p align="center">so .... <strong>"FOKOO!!"</strong></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 349px; HEIGHT: 214px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1251.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 359px; HEIGHT: 240px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1197.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 370px; HEIGHT: 250px" height="283" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1233.jpg" width="392" /></p><p align="center">I never knew that you can actually get HizbAllah flags in London, and I never realised that it would be accepted and recognised to wave the yellow flags in London.... it proves once again that when you feel and know that you are right then lots of taboos fall down..... </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1151881474580186642006-07-02T22:55:00.000+00:002006-07-03T23:40:23.510+00:00Egypt's Future: Bright or Bleak - Discussion<p align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/IMG_1101.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_1101.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p><p><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Activism is starting to grow day after day in London and Egyptian activists are starting to exchange ideas, create common grounds, and try to make use of their presence in London. This time it was a discussion among some activists who wanted to attempt to question what they think Egypt's future over the coming period would look like and what chances does the establishment of real democracy had in Egypt. At many points in time the discussion hit the question "what can we do to share our part of the responsibility towards the calls for democracy in Egypt?", this was driven by the sense of responsibility and thirst to participate that was filling the air... there were many attempts to answer that question, many of them have been recorded below. </span></p><p><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_1118.jpg" border="0" /><br />Dr Yahia El Kazzaz (member of the </span><a href="http://harakamasria.org/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Kefaya</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Coordination Committee) kicked off the discussion by asserting that Egyptians activists abroad should focus their efforts in connecting with the activists inside Egypt and understanding their situation before communicating their message to the civil society in Europe to get them support in their quest for democracy and justice. Kazzaz stressed that activism in London will break the barrier of "fear" that was created over time among the Egyptians abroad from taking part in the struggle for their national causes and it will challenge the generalised lack of trust of any effort that came from outside the borders. He stressed that activists abroad should play a very vital role in exposing the brutality of the security forces and the government against reformers and it soliciting support to the cause from the civil society. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Dr Kazzaz then talked about the Kefaya experience in Egypt and how it followed the same scenario of challenging the perceived fears that were created by the government when it started organising demos in Cairo streets without getting the ministry of interior's permission for the belief that unlike the government propaganda protesting is an integral part of our rights that does not require a permission to be exercised. He pointed out however that the movement is only 2 years old so it is in the very beginning and people's expectations should take into consideration how young the movement is. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_1110.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Dr Mostafa Abdel Al stressed how the importance of not perceiving the inheritance of presidency in Egypt as 'fate' or something that cannot be opposed and rejected. He said that if Gamal manages in inherting power then this would take us back to the royal times which we revolted against. On a more practical level, the Egyptian cause should be explained and our role is to communicate with the civil society in the UK to convy this cause. He stressed that youth will be the bridge between the older generation living in the UK and the organisations that constitue that civil society as they would be more active and more capable of communicating with them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="WIDTH: 337px; HEIGHT: 283px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1100.jpg" width="497" /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Inas then stressed on the importance of communicating with the Egyptians abroad especially in the UK and trying to get them involved, and if not possible then at least make sure they know and understand what is happening in Egypt; this way we could be really adding value to the cause.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An important question was raised with regards to the US Aid and how it became so important to the government. Dr Kazzaz noted that stopping the aid at any point in time would be a disaster to the government as the whole regime would be completely exposed financially and economically. The finances to the securtiy appartus would be strongly affected as well. </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Nariman pointed out that the efforts, meetings, and </span><a href="http://elkhan-elmasry.blogspot.com/2006/05/may-25th-international-solidarity.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">demos</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> that already started in London should carry on and that we should focus more on bringing about a change without going into the details of what the poiltical and social systems to follow would look like as this would cause lots of deviations and different opinions depending on the ideologies and beliefs. She believes this could be discussed through a national dialogue under the umbrella of a democratic system. </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="WIDTH: 337px; HEIGHT: 276px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1113.jpg" width="497" /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Guy Tailor who was attending as an observer from </span><a href="http://www.resist.org.uk/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Globalise Resistance</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> which is an English NGO campaigning against globalisation said that it would be very important for any campaigning effort in the UK to network with the different NGOs, Trade Unions, and student networks in order to get public attention to the cause. He gave an example with the </span><a href="http://www.marxism2006.org.uk/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Marxism Conference </span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">that would be taking place from the 6th to the 10th of July in London, there will be 2 workshops during the conference that will be tackling Egypt and democracy in the Middle East. He said that those workshops play a very important role in raising awareness about the situation in the </span><a href="http://www.arabbay.com/arabmap.htm"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Arab World</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span> </p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 345px; HEIGHT: 274px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_1108.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mr. Kamal Bayoumi told us that the spirit in the air resembled what they used to feel as young men before the </span><a href="http://nasser.bibalex.org/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1952 revolution</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, spirit and enthusiasim are not the only resemblence he says, he saw and remembers the same kinds of slavery and torture that prevailed during the time of the King. He said that the ugly face that used to be there before the revolution is back again and is even worse.</span> </p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Omar said he'd play the devil's advocate for the sake of uncovering what we could have missed. He pointed that there is still no mass movement or mass demand for change in Egypt, all the calls for change are coming from a very limited and small class of intellectuals and activists who do not necessairly represent the nation. Omar said that none of those movements could mobilise more than few hundreds to a demonstration for example. The only group that can actually mobilise thousands is the </span><a href="http://www.ikhwanonline.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Muslim Brotherhood</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> but he is not sure if it represents the majority of the people. Dr Kazzaz however noted that Kefaya managed in 'initiating' the recent struggle and this is a very important value added that is not related to the numbers of those who support you but to what you have actually achieved and he believes that the very first anti regime demo that Kefaya organised was a very new aggressive step.</span> </p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mr Kamal Bayoumi wanted to end the discussion with practical suggestions, he said that any campaigning effort in the UK should depend on targeting three main groups if it wants to achieve something. First is the Egyptian youth studying and living in the UK, second are the Egyptian Senior citizens who are already settled in the UK, and thirdly the British Civil Society.</span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In order to translate that into actual practical steps, the attendees agreed that the proper starting points would be:</span></p><ul><li><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">form discussion groups that would always meet to discuss the current developments and give a chance for more people to listen and learn about what's happening.</span></div></li><li><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">inviting more people to attend the discussions</span></div></li><li><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">compiling names and contacts of the Egyptian activists in the UK and putting them in contact together as well as coordinating their efforts</span></div></li><li><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">writing to newspapers about the situation in Egypt as this is a very effective method in the British society</span></div></li><li><div align="left"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">organisin exhibitions, publiuc meetings, demos about what is happening in Egypt to attract attention to the cause.</span></div></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1149543160026649352006-06-05T21:18:00.000+00:002006-07-04T00:00:07.823+00:00UK Journalists Supporting their Egyptian Colleagues<div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/IMG_0971.0.jpg"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0971.0.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />The Cause is getting more attention.... more and more of the civil society organisations worldwide are starting to notice what is happening in Egypt and the calls for democracy are finding more and more ears to listen. This time it was the </span><a href="http://nuj.org.uk"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">National Union of Journalists in the UK (NUJ)</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> that organised today's demo in solidarity with the Egyptian Journalists Dina Gamil and Dina Samak that were attacked by the Egyptian Security forces on May 25th while kidnapping Sharkawy and El Sha'er, both Dina(s) were not beaten however their car was badly damaged by the Police Thugs.<br /><br /><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 349px; HEIGHT: 266px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0973.jpg" width="497" /></p><br /><br />The Demo was attended by around 30 protestors who represented some of the active organisations in the UK like </span><a href="http://www.stopwar.org.uk/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Stop the War</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, </span><a href="http://www.resist.org.uk/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Globalise Resistance</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, The Cairo Conference, Media Workers Against War, The Egyptian Committee in Support of the Egyptian Judges, and </span><a href="http://bectu.org.uk"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theater Union (BECTU)</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> . The demo was in the heart of Central London in front of the BBC building and it lasted for around an hour.<br /><br /><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 335px; HEIGHT: 240px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0982.jpg" width="497" /><br /><br /><strong>Arwa</strong> is a young Egyptian jounralist who is a member of the NUJ and she was one of the reasons behind the succcess of this demo. Arwa managed in getting the support of the NUJ for the cause and she submitted a letter to the Egyptian Emabssy on the May 25th demo that was signed by the Sec Gen of the NUJ.<br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><img style="WIDTH: 339px; HEIGHT: 254px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0969.jpg" width="497" /> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 341px; HEIGHT: 235px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0988.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 349px; HEIGHT: 216px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0980.jpg" width="497" /></p><p align="center"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><em><strong>There were three speeches given by a representative from the NUJ then by Chris Nineham from Stop the War then Arwa read a final statement from the NUJ.</strong></em><br /><br />The NUJ representative said that both Dina Gamil and Samak were NUJ members so the demo is not simply a stand in support to fellow journalists but it is in fact a stand against an attack on the NUJ itself.<br /><br /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 335px; HEIGHT: 273px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0975.jpg" width="497" /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /><br />Chris Nineham talked about the support the USA government is giving to dictatorships though it always cliams to be supporting democracy. He also pointed out the brutality with which the Egyptian police dealt with the recent peaceful demos.<br /><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="WIDTH: 349px; HEIGHT: 243px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0977.jpg" width="497" /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br />Arwa read a final statement by the NUJ that condemned the attacks on journalists in Egypt. You can read the full Press Release by the NUJ far below.<br /><br /></p></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="WIDTH: 359px; HEIGHT: 268px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0979.jpg" width="497" /><br /><br />It is very important to note that all the thanks should go to Somaya Zadeh, an Iranian member of BECTU who manaed in getting them to issue a statement condemning the Police Brutality, Somaya is currently working on a Campaign against War on Iran. (Somaya is in the white shirt with shirt hair - 2nd from right in the photo below)<br /><br /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img style="WIDTH: 363px; HEIGHT: 266px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0980.jpg" width="497" /><br /><br /><br />There were some Arab journalists who attended in solidarity with their Egyptian colleagues as well, some of them are working with the BBC Arabic service.<br /><br /></div><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 365px; HEIGHT: 242px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0981.jpg" width="497" /></p><p><br /><br />In the photo below you'll find from right to left John Rees (Vice President - Cairo Conference) , Chris Nineham (Stop the War Coalition) and Guy Taylor (Globalise Resistance). The three of them have attended the last Cairo Conference.<br /></p><p align="center"><img style="WIDTH: 353px; HEIGHT: 277px" height="373" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/IMG_0991.jpg" width="497" /><br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </span></p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">IMPORTANT NOTE: after you finish reading this report please make sure you watch th video available at the link below, it is a video of the latest "Al Hakika" program by Wael El Ebrashy. This episode is very important as the guests are Ahmed Bahaa Shabaan (Kefaya) & Abeer El Askary on one side and Mohamed Abdel Fatah Omar & Nabil Luka Bebawy on the other (both Bebawy and Omar are current members of Parliment and former High Rank Police Officers). The episode is a very true bitter reflection of our reality. <a href="http://www.copts-united.com/Copts_United_N/TV_Video_Clips/vdo/Dream_4June_2006.htm">You can find it here.</a> </span><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /></div></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong>Find below the Press Release that the NUJ issued few days before the demo:</strong><br /><br /><strong><em>NUJ calls demonstration after Egyptian journalists attacked</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br />The NUJ is to hold a demonstration outside Bush House, London, on Monday (5/6) in support of two BBC producers - both NUJ members - who were attacked after covering a meeting of the General Assembly of the Journalists’ Syndicate in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.<br /><br />The attack on Dina Samak and Dina Gameel (who had been covering the event for the BBC Arabic Service) took place at 5pm on May 25 as they were leaving the syndicate's garage, accompanied by another journalist from a weekly newspaper, Gihan Saaban, and a young trainee Karim Al Shaer.<br /><br />The security agents outside the building pointed at their car and in less than a minute a taxi turned up, blocked the way, and about five thugs got out and surrounded the vehicle. Around 15 to 20 more thugs came from both sides of the street and started hitting the car, breaking the windscreen and a side window while swearing and shouting.<br /><br />They tried to drag Dina Samak out of the car and succeeded in grabbing Gihan Saaban. While Karim Al Shaer was shouting and trying to defend her they took him out of the car, beat him in the street and put him in a police car. At this moment, a number of judges and journalists rushed out of the building and the thugs left.<br /><br />On the advice of the Journalists’ Syndicate, the journalists went to file a complaint at the Maarouf police station in Cairo. They were kept waiting for over two hours and when they finally were seen, police refused to register their complaint. On 27 May, the Journalists Syndicate lodged a formal complaint with the Attorney General about the entire incident<br />This is not the first time that a BBC correspondent in Egypt has been attacked - Mohamed Taha was once attacked while covering parliamentary elections. And a number of journalists are still in detention after being arrested while covering, or taking part in the demonstrations in solidarity with reformist judges.<br /><br />Journalists in Egypt are now targeted not because of their political views but because of the very fact that they are journalists. Dina Samak's husband, a journalist, was arrested more than a month ago and is still held without a charge.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1148596259514572792006-05-25T21:56:00.000+00:002006-05-27T17:03:04.380+00:00May 25th - International Solidarity<strong>First : London</strong><br /><br />The Demo in London gathered around 76 activists from Egypt and all around the world, they all had a very 'active spirit' which was reflected on the chanting that rarely stopped.....<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0875.0.jpg" border="0" /> <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0886.jpg" border="0" /><br />Speaking of the chanting, it was led at most of the times today by the outstanding Belinda..... though Belinda is originally from Mauricius she showed extreme passion while leading the chanting that people were asking who is this young passionate Egyptian girl with this unfamiliar accent... ??..... Find below a photo of Belinda leading one of the chants....</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0892.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><p>The guy at the embassy who was video taping last time was there this time as well, still from behind a curtain... this time though all the young Egyptians led by Khaled started singing "Shayfeenak.... Shayfeenak..... Shayfeenak....." . What is more surprising is that every time they sang "Shayfeenak" this guy shyed away and disappearred behind the curtain.... this was then followed by cheering and clapping.... (he's showing his hand and the video cam on the top right window in the photo) and below is a photo of the protestors cheering after he shyed away behind his curtains.... </p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0891.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0865.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p>Remember the Old English Lady I told you about from the Public Meeting, she came to the Demo... I knew that behind her old face there is a wonderful story...... It is <strong>Chanie Rosenburg</strong>, a lifelong activist and <strong>anti-Zionist</strong>. In her youth she and her husband, Tony Cliff (founder of the Socialist Workers Party of the UK) fought to unite Jewish and Arab workers in Palestine. After Cliff was imprisoned by the British mandate authorities they fled to London (in 1947).She now sepnds her time monitoring Israeli checkpoints. Next to Chanie is Heba who is a young Egyptian activist who was doing volunteer work in Pakistan before returning back to the UK... she was one of the dynamos during the past few days..... </p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0930.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Heba was not the only one from the Egyptian community in the UK to actively participate, Ramy was supportive and helpful, he has outstanding hand writing that he used to make many of the banners (together with Yassin & Ashraf who have exceptional Arabic hand writing). Ramy was doing volunteer work in Palestine before returning to the UK. He is the guy in the photo below.... </p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0878.0.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><strong>Kefaya</strong> was represented by Mr. Kazaz, the active movement sent Mr. Kazaz as a representation to show their support for our campaiging effort..... next to Mr Kazaz is Ashraf who was a great help during the last few days as well with his handwriting.... </p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0864.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0931.jpg" border="0" />Arwa Assem, an Egyptian member of the <strong>NUJ (National Union of Journalists)</strong> came with a letter signed by the Secretary General of the Union. The letter was directed to the Egyptian ambassador and it expressed solidarity with the pro-democracy demonstrators, detainees, and movements. It also condemned the brutal attacks on the Journalists in the Cairo streets while they were covering the demonstrations. Photos below shows Mr. Kamal Bayoumi and Araw giong to the embassy to hand in the petitions and the letters to the Ambassador. </p><p></p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0924.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><br />Hoda read some translated parts of the letter that was sent by the female detainees (Rasha, Asmaa, Nada) from their prison in Qanater.<br /><br /><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0901.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p>Tarek came from Cambridge and Nadia came from Paris (as she missed the Paris Demo) to participate in the demo....</p><p></p><p></p><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0919.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p></p><p>Mr. Kamal Bayoumi talked about the developments in Egypt and the mistakes that were done in dealing with the increased opposition. </p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0915.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p>Nik Rack from the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers gave a speech on behalf of the Haldane Society, they signed the petition that was handed to the embassy. He talked about their solidarity with the demands for democracy in Egypt.</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0916.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p>Guy Taylor spoke on behalf of the Globalise Resistance Movement....</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0911.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><p>Chris Nineham spoke on bahalh of Stop the War coalition....</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0910.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>There were representatives from the University of East London as well who came in solidarity with the Judges and the detainees..... </p><p>and here are some more photos of the demo....</p><p></p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0885.0.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0863.0.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0874.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0873.0.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p><strong>Second: Seol:</strong></p><p>Here are parts of a report by CJ Park and photos are below.....</p><p>Dear friends,</p><p>Here is a short report of yesterday's protest in Seoul.</p><p>On May 26, 1:00PM, around 50 Koreans in support of Egyptian democracy activists gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Seoul . Last time anti-war and human rights activists stood in front of the Egyptian embassy was on 9 June 2005 to protest against the government*s vicious attack against the Kifaya movement on 25 May, 2005, now dubbed as the ※Abu Ghraib prison on street.This time the protest wraps up for now the 3 day international day of action originally called by the Assembly of the Social Movements which met in the2006 European Social Forum in Athens, Greece. A series of internationalprotests begins in Paris on 24 May and continues on to London, New York,Washington DC, Chicago, Athens, Montreal, Toronto, Beirut, Hague, Cairo on25 May and ends in Seoul on 26 May. Truly it is international solidarity atits finest.At the gathering point, I saw familiar faces and new faces. People who came last year showed anger that the situation in Egypt has gotten worse.However, everyone cheered when they heard news reported by Socialist Workers in UK that a victory was made among political detainees held in the notorious Tora prison outside Cairo. The detainees released a statement condemning prison authorities for their treatment and launched a hungerstrike. After one day the governor relented. They are now free to move between cells and prison authorities have supplied them with food, medicinesand newspapers..</p><p>.....As a closing, a representative from Catholic Human Rights Committee readloud the solidarity statement that resolves anti-war and human rights activists in South Korea to continue to spread the words to all circles of Korean society and building solidarity with democracy activists in Egypt. As a human rights activistsaid, "Victory for Egyptian democracy is a major defeat for US imperialism,This means it is a victory for Palestinians, Iraqis, and South Koreansfighting against US imperialism."</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.alltogether.or.kr/2005new/photo/photo/20060526/IMG_3234.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.alltogether.or.kr/2005new/photo/photo/20060526/IMG_3194.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.alltogether.or.kr/2005new/photo/photo/20060526/IMG_3312.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><strong>Third: New York:</strong></p><p>By Shehab Fakhry<br />Here are more photos of the New York demonstration:<br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/album?.dir=fb55re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/album?.dir=fb55re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=">http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/album?.dir=fb55re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=</span></a></a></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sadooka/my_photos</span> </p><p>The photographer is Sherif Sadek from Akhnaton films [<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://akhnatonfilms.com/" target="_blank">http://akhnatonfilms.com/</a>]. </p><p><strong>Forth: Montreal:</strong></p><p>video of the demo at <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EcZHWebnE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EcZHWebnE</a></p><p><strong></strong></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1148518332563689012006-05-25T00:35:00.000+00:002006-05-25T01:58:39.053+00:00Preparations for London Demo<div align="center"><strong>NEVER in my life have I felt so MOTIVATED, INSPIRED, and PROUD.....!!!!<br /></strong><br /></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0834.jpg" border="0" /><br />The members of the Egytian Committee in Support of the Egyptian Judges got together at the <strong>University of London</strong> (no.. not at all.... the University is not part of the demo, but universities here are opened to activists of all sorts to prepare for their demos, have meetings, debate, discuss, argue...etc. so it is very natural that it attracts activists from all over the country who spend their time there getting the best out of their minds and enslaving their talents for their causes..... a big THANK YOU to the <strong>9th of March group</strong> who are trying to revive the same concept in Egypt.... we will prevail one day... i'm sure)<br /><br />I will not say much... i will leave the talking to the photos.... we were sitting at the Students Common Room ... students from all around the world came to us and asked about what we were diong and why, we kept on explaining... clarifying... answering.... they tried reading our Arabic banners and we translated.... they seemed to like our English Banners.....<br /><br />No words would be enough to describe how dedicated and passionate those guys were: Ashraf, Heba, Hoda, Inas (she distributed flyers from one street to the other), Ramy, Rania, Salah, Tamer (also distributed flyers in the rainy London Streets) and Yassin. We missed however the efforts of Omar, Sherif, Dina and Nariman who would be joining us tomorrow at the Demo...... chapeau to the wonderful committee.....<br /><br /><strong>anyways..... check out the photos.....</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0847.jpg" border="0" /></div><p><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0831.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0855.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0830.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0849.0.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0844.0.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0841.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p><strong>And here are some of the banners.......</strong></p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0858.1.jpg" border="0" /></p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0859.1.jpg" border="0" /> <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0848.1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0860.1.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p align="center"><strong>Let's hope we would be capable of making something out of May 25th...</strong></p><p align="center"><strong>Hands Off our Judges!</strong></p><p align="center"><strong>Release Our Detainees!</strong></p><p align="center"><strong>Democracy & Justice Now!</strong></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1148413430845827042006-05-23T19:41:00.000+00:002006-05-23T19:54:25.353+00:00London Demo - May 25th<div align="center"><strong>Called for by the Egyptian Committee in Support for the Egyptian Judges (London - Chicago). Supported by Stop the War Coaliation, The Cairo Conference, Globalise Resistance, and Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers</strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 373px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 471px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="475" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/London-Demo2.0.jpg" width="415" border="0" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1148337236027997762006-05-22T22:06:00.000+00:002006-05-23T00:58:06.943+00:00The Story of The London Public Meeting<strong>Believe it or not</strong> but there were more people attending this meeting that the demo, I have a feeling we are actually getting our voice across.... we were around 65 this time.....<br /><br />We got this comment from Heba Moussa (she was one of the attendees of the Public Meeting) and I thought I'd share it with you:<br /><br /><em>"Everyone it was FANTASTIC and INSPIRING to see all of you today at Lancaster Hall meeting..I got a massive rush of adrenalin having so many like minded people and voices packed into one room..it was really great, I don't know how come I never knew about all of you before...I've obviously been looking in the wrong places! Will see you Wed and Thursday!'If you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito!. Heba Moussa "<br /></em><br />anyways.... more about the meeting itself....<br /><br /><strong>Just 2 weeks ago</strong> if anybody had told me that we'd be standing in front of the Egyptian Embassy in London voicing our anger about the government actions I'd have definitly said this is way too optimistic for me.... Now... I found us not just remembering stories about the beautiful Saturday 13th of May when we deicded to break this barrier of fear and take an extra step towards freedom..... but also remembering this night when we felt that we are not alone.....<br /><br />The idea of campaigning for the Egyptian cause among the British public never seemed an attractive one for me... I always thought how we should concentrate our efforts in only making sure we get all the Egyptians here and back home to have a common stance against the government.... now I can tell you that I was definitly wrong.. and I was not only wrong because it is important to explain to the "Public Opinion" world wide what is happening in Egypt, but more importantly (at least for me) I felt that I was not alone and that there were others who really understood what we were talking about.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0698.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p>Take a look at the old English lady in the Photo below, I do not really remember her name but I'd definitly never forget what she had to say.. I remember very well that while Mr. Kamal Bayoumi was talking about how many of the English activists marched in protest in the streets in 1956 against the British Government for teaming up with France and the Zionists and attacked Egypt she looked at another old fellow and simled gently at him as if saying "do you remember that time?" .... I automatically guessed she was there, after we finsihed our speeches she raised her hand in enthusiasim as she had something to share. She told us about her trips to the Cairo Conference and how at the first year she attended the conference it was difficult to get to the meeting place because of the 'tanks' and the armed soldiers who were everywhere around it.... (i looked at her old age and realised how stamina is not really related to an age, it is a matter of a lively spirit and cause to live for).... she then talked about the last Cairo Conference she attended (the forth) and how she was impressed with the totally different of young men and women protesting outside the conference venue because of the closure of a newspaper... she wondered .. where did the soldiers go? and she was very proud those young protesters managed in occupying this space from the armed soldiers. (my dear lady... the soldiers are trying to take it back from us.... ). She spoke of how this new spirit that is filling the Cairo air will change the whole of the Arab World....</p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0775.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Captions from the Meeting.....!!!</span></strong></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">not intending to go in order but just wanted to mention the</span> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">parts that made me think or things worth mentioning..... </span></p><p align="center"><strong>The Story of a Regime</strong></p><p align="center"><strong><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0669.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p></strong><p></p><p>Mr. Kamal Bayoumis (Egyptian Committee in Support of Egyptian Judges) started the meeting by narrating the story of the regime that started since the assassination of Sadat, he talked about how the way the regime was functioning facilitated the concentration of nearly all of the authorities in the country in the hands of one man. He spoke of how this unprecedented concentration of authority was a tool that was used afterwards to crush whoever stood in the way of the executive power and how it is the Judges, the students, the protestors, the prfessors, the engineers..etc. are the one who are paying for it at the moment. He spoke about the current dynamism that is spreading through the Egyptian society fueled by the unmatched brutality of the regime that is fighting for its life in what seems to be its last fight. </p><p align="center"><strong>Yvonne Ridley</strong></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"></p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0697.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>Yvonne is a British journalist who was kidnapped in Afganistan a while ago, she returned bacl to the UK with a lot to tell about her experience. She is currently presenting "The Agenda" program on the Islam Channel which is one of the most progressive channels in the UK. Yvonne was chairing the session and she talked about the history of the Egyptian security forces in using brutal and violent means in dealing with the regime's opponents. She said that she will make sure she talks about the Judges cause at her program to give her viewers a better understanding of what is happening in Egypt. </p><p></p><p align="center"><strong>Blogging the Egyptian Resistance</strong></p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0703.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p>I really had nothing to say, so I decided I would tell them about my experience with blogging and how it opened up so much for me in terms of getting to know more people, and in getting more exposed to the real Egypt that is far beyond the official newspapers. The oppression that youth is suffering from pushed them away from the normal places where they could voice their opinions to the virtual world whrere the government had less control and where their identities could be kept safe if they wanted to. This oppression pushed them to make the best out of their blogs to express what they want to say and to reflect the reality of their lives in Egypt... the result was a huge Egyptian blogsphere that contained blogs talking about all sorts of topics from politics to poetry to economics to story telling to culture...... The youth managed in devicing a new form of resistance that the authorities are still trying to catch up with but the witty bloggers are not easy to catch just like the mercury slipping off your hands. I still remember how I worked with a group of bloggers after the May 2005 demo in collecting and documenting all the testimonials and stories about the government brutality of that day, the result was a document that reflected many of the encounters of that horrible day in Egyptian history. Though I never saw nor met them before we got closer and I started feeling that I became part of a larger group that is tied together by its love for its country. I STILL have not met any of them but we are always in touch and they had their contribution to our London demo (whether by sending flyers or by publicisng the demo on their blogs).... so long live Egyptian bloggers who managed in taking the fight to where the government is helpless. WE WILL NOT FORGET OUR 6 DETAINEES!!</p><p></p><p align="center"><strong>Ahmed Orabi</strong></p><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/IMG_0732.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><br />Anne Alexander<strong> (Stop the War Coalition)</strong> told us abot a story from our history that I find very interesting. She told us that the Egyptians are from the very first nations to fight Imperialism, and they did not just do that locally in Egypt but they actually gained international support even in the UK itself. She told us about Ahmed Orabi and how he was popular in the UK and how the Egyptian cause was viewed as a Just cause at that time.... his popularity was to the extent that English lawyers volunteered to travel to Egypt to defend him against the Imperialist British occupation. This story proved to me once again that when your cause is 'just' it automatically attracts the support of all those who believe in justice.<br /><br /></p><div align="center"><strong>The Road to the Cairo Conference</strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left">John Rees (Vice President of the Cairo Conference) talked about his journey with the Cairo Conference and how it started with visits to Cairo that invloved meeting with small groups of activists that gradually grew until it reached its peak with the huge demo that occupied El Tahrir square after teh invasion of Iraq. He said that the current movement pro democracy movement materialised when the national movements agains the war on Iraq realised it stood on the opposite side of the government who did not strongly oppose the war on Iraq. At that point the question of how 'real' is the reflection of the government of the true hopes and fears of the people are, this was the first spark that initiated the current movements. The Cairo conference now has become a gathering for many international and national organistions that oppose the violent aggressions on both Iraq and Palestine by the Americans and the Zionists. It also includes those organisations that oppose globalisation with all its threats to the welfare of the people. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="center"><strong>Egyptian Youth in the UK</strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left">A very important discussion was sparked e has by a question that Ramy (photo above) had asked. Ramy was wondering why the Egyptian youth living in the UK was not involved in the campaign and why Egyptian youth in general was not interested. Many dismissed Ramy's comments and said that the Kifaya movement depends largely on the support and activites of its young members, and in the UK many of the members of the Egyptian Committe in Support of the Judges are from youth. Ramy has a very strong point however as the Egyptian community in the UK is the second biggest Arab community and thus the participation of the Egyptian youth should have been much more. It is still the beginning however and maybe Ramy's note whould be a motivation for us to stretch our targets and try involving more and more Egyptian youth in the UK. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="center"><strong>Dynamos behind the Scenes</strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center"></div><div align="left">There were lots of dynamos behind the scenes that participated one way or another to the day and the coming demo on Thursday. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Guy Taylor (Globalise Resistance), Chris Ninehaim (Stop the War), and the Egyptian Committee members: Rania El Malky, Alia Mossallam, Dina Soliman, Sherif El Sayed, Omar Massoud, Inas Ismail, Hoda Baraka, Nariman Youssef, Dina Soliman.... Finally a thank you to Somaye Zadeh the Iranian girl who managed in getting the endorsement of her syndicate (BECTU) on an announcement condeming the current police attacks on the protestors. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147936963510095512006-05-18T07:11:00.000+00:002006-05-18T07:22:43.530+00:00Public Meeting - May 22nd - London<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/meeting22.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 379px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 498px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="446" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/400/meeting22.jpg" width="328" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147569208996279942006-05-14T00:20:00.000+00:002006-05-15T23:00:29.716+00:00The Story behind the London Demo...<strong><em>Just before I start telling you about the day and how it changed lots of the perceptions I had about us (us means Egyptians in the UK or London specifically) I just want to share with you the feeling i had upon seeing 2 situations that summarised a lot of what was giong through my mind:<br /></em></strong><br /><br /><br /><p align="left"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/police%20explain.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/police%20explain.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />1. This young fellow in the photo above is the son of Osama Roshdy who is one of the active people around here and he really helped a lot in setting the day, I found him giong to the police officers (who were dispatched by the local government to set up the place where we should stand, protect us, and see if there is anything we need) and he started talking to them, i did not really understand what was giong on until i realised that the blue banner he is holding is the one that has all the torture pictures of last Thursday. He was trying to tell the police officers about why we are here and about what is happening in Cairo, he was trying to tell him how the word "Police" has a totally different meaning where he comes from than here in the UK. Upon seeing that I realised that this is what we are really trying to do.. we want to get the message across to Europe, we want them to know about our Judges, our cause, our government, our suffering.</p><p align="left"></p><p align="center"></p><p align="left"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Bayoumi-sign.0.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />2. Mr. Kamal Bayoumi was one of the "Fedayeen" working against the English occupation of Egypt before the revolution, he then lived and experienced the 1952 revolution, the 1956 war, then he participated in the buliding of the High Dam in Asswan, afterwards he saw the 1967 defeat and the 1973 war. "Beat the Judges... Arrest the Journalists... WE will Previal" is the sign that Mr. Kamal held up high in front of the embassy, it suddenly came to me how it is a very true represetation of what he went through and of the stamina that stands behind his ever calm ever refreshing face. He fought the Imperialists, the Zionists, and now Dictatorship... he participated in building the High Dam and now he is supporting us to build our High Pride. It is so fascinating to have those kind of people who bind all your history together around you, it is so fascinating to always feed on their support, passion, encouragement, and stories... to always feel that you are a continuation of a strive for a dream that seemed so many times very close to be fulfilled but then suddenly disappeared. Those people teach us the meaning of how to "pursue" what you believe in no matter how many times you get disappointed, they teach us how to grow and tame a resilient "stamina" that would carry us forward and help us defy what might be impossible obstacles... and so Kamal Bayoumi carries on with his fight and we start ours. </p><p align="left">---------------</p><p align="left"><strong>How it all began:</strong></p><p align="left">We are a group of Egyptian young professionals, students, journalists, doctors, activists who are currently living permanently or temporarily in the UK. Most of us are very active participants in the cultural, political, and social scene in the UK and specifically London. We represent nearly all of the political spectrum in Egypt but it was never really reason for disagreements, rather, this diversity always exposed us to different ideas, approaches, and it really helped us in creating a very active social shpere that overlapped with other Arab and English communities in the UK. Like so many other Egyptians living abroad we are still very well connected with Egypt either on a personal level or through following up with its news and events. Still like so many other Egyptians we feel like we have a country that we are losing to somebody else who might carry the same nationality as ours but not the same values that we were taught our nation represents. Realising that there is a lot that we can add to convey the voice of the Judges and their supporters to the world we decided not to be marginalised again and to make sure we do make use of our contacts, resources, and talents. The result was <strong>"The Egyptian Committe for Support of the Egyptian Judges - London"</strong>. </p><p align="left">The intention is not a one off demo that reflects a sudden enthusiasim that would die away after a while, it is rather a sustained international campaign that engages with the different influential social and media circles in Europe that would help present the views of our Judges to Europe and specifically the UK. We aim at creating more awareness of the Egyptian cause and offering a counter argument to the official version that is usually propagated by the government abroad. We aim at making the support that the current UK government shows to the Mubarak regime a liablility and a burden through increasing the English public awareness to the consequences of that support and how it negatively affects the lives and security of Egyptian civilians who have to deal with the bruitality of the Police thugs. We aim at strengthening the point that there is a lively movement calling for freedom in Egypt that seeks to achieve democracy without the need for any intervention from the Western governments, a movement that is currently standing shoulder to shoulder with its Judges against thugs. </p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"></p><p align="left"><strong>London Demo - May 13th 2006 - Minutes of the day<br /></strong><br /></p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Crowd-View.0.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Release Our Detainees!</span></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Hands Off our Judges!</span></strong></p><p align="left"><br />I arrived at 11:55 with 3 banners that i prepared the night before as well as some flyers that were contributed by the Egyptian Bloggers who supported us. People started arrivying at 12 pm in front of the embassy, we were not that many in number yet however so we decided to stand on the corner untill enough people arrive, by 12:15 there were around 25 of us so we moved towards the entrance. To my surprise we found out that the police (whom we had takesn permission from previously to demonstrate in front of the embassy) had come and arranged for us the place where we will demonstrate (an instant comparison comes to mind with our honourable thugs), they put some iron barriers to identify where we should stand, some signs to re-direct the traffic and then five polic officers stayed with us for protection and help if needed. </p><p align="left"><br /></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Crowd-9.jpg" border="0" /> <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Soha-sign.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>One of the embassy staff was outside the entrance delivering some stuff to the inside of the building while we were gathering, when he saw us starting to gather he made a phone call and then two other diplomat looking guys came out (casually dressed) and took a glance at us before making some other phone calls. By the time it was 12:35 Dr. Kamal El Helbawy (Ex Ikhwan Speaker in Europe) had arrived with so many plackards that he prepared for that day. Mr Mohamed Abdel Hakam Diab (Journalist at Al Qods El Arabi) arrived while we were still gathering as well and he handed out to us the statement that would be delivered to the ambassador that we prepared the night before (he did some editing to it and removed the word <em>"Excellency"</em> or in Arabic <em>"Sa'adat Al Safeer"</em> from addressing the ambassador because he said it is against the Egyptian constitution) Sherif El Sayed arrived with some more packhards that he and some other friends prepared the night before. Some other Egyptians who we did not know from before arrived and they said they knew about the demo from the email chains that were going around.<br /><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Signs.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/From-Back.0.jpg" border="0" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>A quick count of the numbers at around 1:00 showed that we were slightly over 50 demonstrators. At that point, Anne Alexander the representative of the <a href="http://www.stopwar.org.uk/">Stop the War Coalition</a> (her photo below while giving an interview to the BBC correspondant Inas Ismail)asked me if she could deliver a small message to the people from the coalition. Anne started speaking in a very clear Egyptian Accent Arabic about her time in Egypt studying Arabic at Alexandria University then she talked about the support the Coalition is going to give us over the coming period, she asked us to continue with the pressure on the government and to start thinking about contacting other NGOs and movements to build up support for the Judges. She pointed out the importance of working towards organising a demo on the coming May 25th to further support the judges. </p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Anne-Interview.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Embassy Security</strong></p><p><br />While we were standing we noticed that at one of the balconies of the building just next to that of the embassy (it is probably the residence of the smbassy staff) there was a man shooting us with a video camera from behind a curtain. Some people from crowd started shouting "Camera.. Camera".... and then suddenly without prior coordination from those demonstrating they all picked up their video cams and their cameras and started taking photos and shooting the guy. The coward then hide himself behind the curtains and stopped shooting, the people started laughing and clapped in a celebration of their petit victory. (In the photo below it is the second window from the left in the red building next to the brown embassy building, he was gone by the time i took this photo... i was not quick enough.)</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p align="left"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Embassy%26Crowd.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Ahmed El Azzazy</strong><br /><br />There are some rumors in London now that Captain Ahmed El Azzazy from the Central Security Force (Amn El Dawla) who was a key figure in the May 2005 demonstrations as he was one of the main torture machines of those days demos has been transfered to the smbassy in London as a reward for his efforts back in Cairo. You can find the Kefaya accusation against him and other security officers <a href="http://harakamasria.org/node/2244">here</a> (he is number 7 on the list). It is said he was transfered to London to heat the competition between the rest of the thugs back in Cairo (definitly all of them would prefer the luxurious life of London to the dirty job of beating up those stupid angry protestors... the more the kicking of the protestors chests the higher the chances of a transfer to London or who knows.... maybe New York). This information will still be verified and if proved true then we will see the possibility if he could be legally pursued here in the UK for his crimes.<br /><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Sherif%26Nariman.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Above are protestors from whithin the area permitted by the police and below is Mrs. Safa El Sawy the Ex President of the Arab Club in the UK.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Safa-sign.jpg" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/Crowd-View.jpg"></a><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/1600/Front%20Row.jpg"></a><br /><strong>Speeches</strong></p><p>There were some speakers at the end of the demo that ended with some cheering and the chanting of the Egyptian National Anthem, below is a brief of the speakers and what their speeches were about:</p><p><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Nasr-talking.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><p></p><p>Mr. Ahmed Nasser: He talked about the current situation in Egypt and specifically about the recent events that involved the public torture of protestors in the streets of Cairo. He attacked the Mubarak regime fiercly and pointed out the panic attack that it must be going through at the moment.</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/khadeeja-talking.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>Dr. Khadeeja Safwat: she is a Sudanese Ex Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University. She talked about the current political situation and its reflection on the Sudan. Dr Khadeeja stressed that the politics of both countries are strongly intermingled, and she confirmed her support for the Egyptian Judges in their cause. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/AbdelAl-Talking.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p>Mr. Mostafa Abdel Aal: He is an Egyptian Liberal living in the UK, he talked about the importance of our efforts and about the feared Presidential Monarchy. He was synical of the fact that 70 million Egyptians were waiting for a president's son to be born, riased, and trained to be a president as if they do not have one single person who is qualified to take over. </p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Diab-talking.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p></p><p>Mr. Mohamed Abdel Hakam Diab: He is a Journalist with Al Qods Al Araby newspaper and one of the founders of the Egyptian British Cultural Forum. He talked about the importance of participation of the younger generations in the current movements. He stressed the fact that current brutality manifested by the regime is a sign of irrational decisions and confusion.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/Helbawy-talking.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>Dr. Kamal El Helbawy: he is the Ex Speaker of El Ikhwan in Europe, he talked about the importance of coordinating our efforts and making sure we inform the public in the UK about what is happening in Egypt. </p><p><strong>Finally</strong></p><p>One more step beyond the borders of fear, one more step towards freedom..... </p><p><strong>Wait for us on Thursday May the 25th.</strong> (more information to follow soon). </p><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147376568043066942006-05-11T19:39:00.000+00:002006-05-11T19:42:48.056+00:00London Demonstrations to Support Judges<div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">In Support of an Independant Egyptian Judicial System...<br />In Demand for the Immediate release of the detainees....</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#660000;">In Demand for Democracy</span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br />The Egyptian Committe for Support of the Egyptian Judges - London<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />is organising</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />A Demonstration in front of the Egyptian Embassy in London<br /><span style="color:#000066;">Saturday 13th of May<br /></span><span style="color:#330099;">12pm - 2pm</span><br /></span><br />26 South Street, Mayfair, W1Y 6DD<br />Nearest Tube Station: Green Park</strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147303019834457182006-05-10T23:05:00.000+00:002006-05-11T01:39:59.330+00:00محاولة قتل "16" واستمرار تعريض حياة "23" آخرين للخطر<div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;">نحن المختطفون</span> من أمام نادي القضاة ودار القضاء العالي والمحتجزين بسجن محكوم طره نكرر تضامننا التام مع القضاة، ضمير مصر، في كل مطالبهم، وندين استمرار نظام مبارك في تعسفه معهم وتمريره المتوالي لحالة الطوارئ.. وتصعيده لأساليبه القمعية ضد التحركات الإصلاحية.<br />ونؤكد أننا رغم ترحيبنا بدفع جزء يسير من ثمن حرية شعبنا، فاننا نؤكد في نفس الوقت تمسكنا بأبسط حقوقنا الإنسانية، ولو كأسرى حرب، ونعلن إضرابنا عن الطعام لحين تحقيق مطالبنا آلاتية</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong> </div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">التحقيق مع ضباط امن الدولة والبلطجية الذين فضوا إعتصامنا بوحشية وأهانوا علم مصر وداسوه بأقدامهم.. بأوامر</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">مباشرة من الضباط <span style="color:#990000;"><a href="http://www.manalaa.net/files/image/walid_el_desoky.preview.jpg">وليد الدسوقي</a></span></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">.<br />التحقيق مع ضباط امن الدولة الذين حاولوا قتل "16" مختطفاً مننا، بحشرهم مكبلين الأيدي في عربة تراحيل مُحكمة الإغلاق <span style="color:#990000;">وإيقاف شفاطات التهوية،</span> عقب التحقيق معهم بنيابة امن الدولة في مصر الجديدة، ولست ساعات كاملة، من التاسعة مساء الخميس 27-4-2006 حتى الثالثة فجر الجمعة 28-4-2006، وترك السيارة بهم على الطريق السريع بطره، مع علمهم بخطورة ذلك على حياة المختطفين</span></strong></div><div align="center"><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">وقف تعريض حياة "23" مختظفاً مننا للخطر بإستمرار إحتجازهم وسط السجناء الجنائيين، والتحقيق مع إداراة السجن في تجاهلها </span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">لبلاغنا الرسمي بتاريخ 4-5-2006 عن إنتشار تجارة المخدرات والأسلحة البيضاء في هذه الزنازين.</span></strong></div><div align="center"><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">التحقيق مع ضباط أمن الدولة الذين إختطفوننا من شوراع وسط القاهرة، على رأسهم <span style="color:#990000;">وليد الدسوقي،</span> بتهمة سرقة المتعلقات الشخصية لنا، والتي تتمثل في كاميرات تصوير واجهزة محمول ومبالغ نقدية، والتحقيق في تجاهل إدارة السجن لبلاغتنا في هذا الشأن مما يكشف خضوعها التام لتعليمات امن الدولة بالمخالفة لقانون الطوارئ نفسه.. وللائحة مصلحة السجون</span></strong></div><div align="center"><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">التحقيق في تهديد مندوبي أمن الدولة لنا في السجن بالتعذيب الوحشي.. كما يفعلون مع الجماعات الإسلامية على حد تعبيرهم.<br /></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">السماح لنا بأداء الصلاة في المسجد وإدخال الصحف والمجلات كما تنص لائحة السجون.<br /></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">التحقيق مع إدارة السجن لتميزها للسجناء الأثرياء وأصحاب النفوذ، بفتح زنازينهم طوال النهار ومعظم الليل، وبدون رقابة، في حين يتعرض السجناء الفقراء للإذلال الدائم.<br /></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">توقيعات</span></strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147300935324919312006-05-10T22:34:00.000+00:002006-05-10T22:45:06.196+00:00نداء القوى الوطنية للتضامن مع القضاة<div align="center"><a href="http://www.manalaa.net/files/siteband-right"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 164px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="180" alt="" src="http://www.manalaa.net/files/siteband-right" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"> تدعو القوى الوطنية المصرية الموقعة على هذا النداء جماهير الشعب المصري للتضامن مع قضاة مصر الشرفاء في مطالبهم الخاصة بإصدار قانون استقلال السلطة القضائية المقدم من نادي القضاة، وبالإشراف القضائي الكامل على كافة الانتخابات، وبإلغاء إحالة القضاة الشرفاء إلى المحكمة التأديبية.وتطالب القوى الوطنية بالإفراج الفوري عن المعتقلين من كافة التيارات السياسية المتضامنين مع القضاة في مطالبهم المشروعة.نعم لاستقلال القضاءلا للاستبداد والطوارئعاشت الحركة الوطنية المصريةشارك في المظاهرة الجماهيرية تضامنا مع القضاة يوم الخميس الحادي عشر من مايو في العاشرة صباحا أمام دار القضاء العالي</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">.</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير - كفايه</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الحزب العربي الديمقراطي الناصري</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الحزب الشيوعي المصري</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">الحملة الشعبية من أجل التغيير - الحرية الآن</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">جماعة الإخوان</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حركة 9 مارس لإستقلال الجامعات</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">.حركة أدباء وفنانون من أجل التغيير</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حركة الشارع لنا</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حركة صحفيون من أجل التغيير</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب الاشتراكيين المصريين - تحت التأسيس</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب التجمع الوطني التقدمي الوحدوي</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب الشعب الاشتراكي</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب العمل</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب الغد</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">حزب الكرامة</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">شباب من أجل التغيير</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">منظمة الاشتراكيين الثوريين</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">نقابة الصيادلة</span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">نقابة الأطباء</span></strong> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1147010368675173012006-05-07T13:53:00.000+00:002006-05-07T15:30:23.376+00:00Same Enemy.. isn't it?<p align="centre"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/copts.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 322px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 245px" height="245" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/copts.jpg" width="824" border="0" /></a></p><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">You could talk forever about the problems that exist between Christians and Moslems in our society. Some of them are true, others exaggerations, and some are mere imaginations. We never tried 'responsibly' facing our problems and discussing it... a mistake.... this is true... and now we're paying for it. Our common enemy is more intelligent and knew how to buld upon it... we're like two captives fighting together and never realiszing their own strength..... Naji El Ali saw it 20 years ago ... it is so striking how a joke 20 years ago still applies... do we ever grow? do we ever learn?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1145312628923700142006-04-17T22:23:00.000+00:002006-04-17T22:29:07.486+00:00Our Courts .... Our Right!<div align="center">For an Independant Judicial System <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/268/3293/640/Judges.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/268/3293/320/Judges.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1137976287250768742006-02-06T00:24:00.000+00:002006-02-07T22:00:52.876+00:00The Hebrew Class – The teacher and the mates! – An Arab in Diaspora- Part 3.<div align="left"><br /><strong>How</strong> can you feel the beauty of the sea if you do not understand the language of the waves? How can you unravel the mysteries of the sky if you cannot read the signs of the stars? I snatched those two thoughts from the imaginary life that I created for myself to escape to whenever I feel lonely and I returned to the ruthless land of ours where the sky is never clear and where the sea is always distant. What would happen if I decide to apply the rules of my imaginary world here at home? Maybe there is wisdom in imagination that could help me survive the strident reality around me. Breaking the boundaries of prudence was never one of my traits but my imagination fueled the last attempt to cross the stringently controlled boundary.<br /><br />How can I understand the reality of my diaspora if I do not speak all the languages needed to find my way? How can I solve a problem if I do not grasp its logarithms?<br /><br /><strong><em>I will learn Hebrew….<br /></em></strong><br /><strong>The Jewish Cultural Center<br /></strong><br /><em>“Ah!… You are with Vaghdit!”…</em> said the receptionist after looking for my last name among dozens of lists that were laid haphazardly on her desk. She was in her mid forties with wrinkles starting to dig their way through her face. Her reddish brown hair reminded me of the old women I used to see walking outside my school in Korba back in Cairo; and it gave me an idea as to how they looked twenty years before I started attending my school. My classroom was down in the basement, and right before I descended the stairs I passed by a white broad table where plenty of flyers and brochures were displayed. I grabbed one of the brochures and a flyer as I wanted to know more about the center activities, I put them in my copybook and I started looking for class “LG3”. The classroom door was opened; there were few table put together in the form of a rectangle around a desk that stood in front of a white board that was not properly cleaned. Around the tables there were around nine students, I noticed a man in his fifties with a nineties style pair of glasses, a young skinny blond girl, a brunette with long curly hair, a young European with a light beard and a Jewish scull cap (Kippah) covering the upper tip of his head, and a young guy who looked Greek or Arab. I sat at one of the corners of the rectangle with all the ones that I have noticed directly in front of me and I did not really care who was sitting next to me.<br /><br />As soon as I settled in my place I decided not to look at the others and I heard them starting to have silent conversations about the assignment they had to do and the teacher who they obviously liked (I had missed two classes as I was traveling so I was attending starting the third session after the beginning of the course). While waiting for the teacher I tried to make myself busy with the brochure and the flyer that I grabbed few minutes earlier. The brochure contained the different activities and courses offered by the center, there was a whole department about the holocaust, some music classes, Jewish history, Yiddish (Eastern European Hebrew), and some current affairs courses. At the end of the brochure there were biographies of the teachers and I looked for the biography of my teacher Vaghdit; it read “Vaghdit Goldman, was born in Israel and has completed an MA in American Studies. She also taught Hebrew at Andrews College”. The flyer was even more interesting, it read…<br /><br /><em>Hidden Gentile (Christian), Hidden Jew<br />Thursday Mornings, 10:30 am starting Thursday 19th November<br />Lecturer: Jonathan Lich</em></div><div align="left"><em></em></div><div align="left"><em>The Jewish empire known as Hollywood was born to a Jewish mother called Creativity and a Jewish father called Paranoia. This uneasy marriage of talent and fear begat a bundle of hyper-kinetic children called motion picture studios, where movies were made by Jews for the Gentile world outside. This was a pretty straightforward business known within the gilded shtetl as “goyim nachis”, which paid huge financial dividends for all concerned.<br />There was only one constant negative amidst all these scrambled golden eggs. There was a veritable Jewish battalion working in every off-screen capacity at every studio, but what to do with the Jews, both real and imagined in front of the camera? The Jewish studio heads did not want to upset their Christian meal tickets by showing either characters or actors who looked and/or sounded too Jewish. Nobody wanted Cossacks stampeding through Beverley Hills. Then as now, their answer to their problems, whenever possible, to have Gentiles play Jews (Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, Alan Bates as Yakov Bok in ‘The Fixer’ Jessica Tandy as (Driving) Miss Daisy, etc…) and to have Jews play Gentiles (Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes, Edxward G. Robinson as Rico ‘Little Caesar’. Kirk Douglas as Spartacus, etc...). Has Hollywood succeeded in masking its Jewish predicament?<br />By discussing the frenzied machinations and viewing the results, HIDDEN GENTILE HIDDEN JEW, provides an answer.<br />8 weeks: ₤88<br /></em><br />I did not really get a chance to think about what I read in the brochure or in the flyer, as my thoughts were interrupted by Vaghdit’s entrance. She was a very tall well built woman in her thirty’s with long wavy dark hair. Her footsteps were loud enough because of the effect of the finely pointed heels of her boots on the wooden floor. An air of initial seriousness suddenly prevailed through the room before she greeted us with a stretched smile that eased the prevalent tension. She turned her head towards me and looked me directly in the eyes saying “who’s the new face?.... will you introduce yourself?”, she said it with an obvious eastern accent. As soon as I mentioned my name and profession I noticed signs of interest on her face which prompted me to the nature of the forthcoming question, it was what I expected… “where are you from?” she said. “Egypt” was my reply, to my surprise the effect of the word did not just appear on her face but on the faces of the two sitting beside me, I had not noticed them before but I could not avoid them after they completely starred at me with a very welcoming smile (I wonder why?) one of them (sitting right next to me) was a woman who looked in her late forty’s with dark hair and semi closed brown eyes, the other a very young girl with light brown hair and wide brown eyes (unlike with the woman sitting between her and myself). Why would they suddenly be interested in me as soon as I referred to Egypt? What connection or relation do they think they have with me? I decided to leave the question unanswered believing that I would find out very soon. My attention shifted back to Vaghdit who bombarded the next logical question in the series of I am impressed mode that she suddenly acquired “and why do you want to study Hebrew?”…. I had rehearsed million of times the answer for that question and many other questions that I had anticipated to make sure I do not look tense or worried when crossing the barrier of prudence. My answer came out in a very dull, traditional, and monotonous tone “learning more languages makes you more capable of understanding others, besides, living in my part of the world you become more exposed to the current conflict, thus, learning Hebrew would give me access to more resources.” Vaghdit’s reply was very dull and traditional as well, but for some reason it annoyed and disgusted me “I hope we had more people like myself and Ahmed in this world” she said (you do not even know who I am? I do not even know who you are to wish for my name to be grabbed with you in one bucket. I thought she was being very hypocritical and abused the fact that I am Egyptian.).<br /><br />Vaghdit explained to me that I would be slightly disadvantaged because of the fact that I missed the previous two classes and thus I needed to take a private lesson with her to make up for those two classes. She was talking in front of the whole class which gave me the impression that this was part of the center policy with students who missed classes. I noticed a strange move at the exterior corner of her eyes as she was telling me about the private lesson as if she was giving me a hidden message, this contributed to my initial discomfort towards her. She started the lesson by reviewing what they did last session, so we started by asking each other where we are from. <strong><em>“Meh eifoh atah?” (?התא הפיא מ)“Ani meh Angleya?” (הילגנאמ ינא) (where are you from? I am from England),</em></strong> these two sentences kept on wandering around the table from one tongue to the other with each one of us putting the name of his country until I realized we had a good combination from Slovakia, Cyprus, England, Scotland, and Sweden. We kept trying to refer to the alphabets and the text to make sure we are up to speed with the reading. It was very interesting to “unlock” a new dimension that I never experienced before. It was my very first time to read Egypt in Hebrew and to listen to it being said <em><strong>(Metsraym : םירצמ),</strong></em> why did it create such a feeling of cold nudity to read or listen to the word Egypt in Hebrew? What kind of experiences, thoughts, perceptions steering within me that created this feeling the resembled the making of the cold breeze on a sweating body? I trembled while scripting the Hebrew letters that spelled Egypt in my notebook and I suddenly realized I might be on the right step towards unraveling the mystery of my diaspora.<br /><br />While reading Vaghdit stopped at one word and asked if we knew how to read it, her body movements were always sudden and violent when she got excited and that was the attitude with this word which made me wonder what kind of a word it was. She said explicitly actually that this was her favorite word in the whole language, our failure to decode the word and her lack of patience pushed her to say loudly with enthusiasm<strong><em> “Israel!” (לארשי).</em></strong> I did not have the textbook yet so I had to share with someone, the brown eyed woman on my right offered to share her book with me (she still sustained the very intimate warm smile on her face which further provoked my curiosity to what she thought we had in common or what she liked about me). The girl sitting on her right intervened every now and then with few words or with pointing her finger at the words we could not read nor find in the textbook. I felt both of them had decided to take some sort of responsibility towards me and I was wondering if it had to do with the brown color that had flooded our six irises.<br /><br />We went for a break at the center’s café, Vaghdit had insisted that we all go to the café so we would have the chance to spend some time together talking. On our way to the café I was approached by one of the class mates. Bill decided to learn Hebrew because his son was married to an Israeli and he wanted to get closer to his grandchildren. I assumed from what he said that his son had migrated to Israel and I decided to ask him more about his son, however, we were interrupted by the young brown eyed girl who started talking to me ignoring Bill who was telling me about the previous two classes. “My father loves Egyptian movies” she said, “he used to explain them to me as I do not understand Arabic”… so I found myself asking “are you an Arab?” and she went “my father is originally Yemeni and his mother is Iraqi, they migrated to India when he was young then to Israel, he lived there for a while before migrating to the UK and marrying my mother who is English, so you can say I am half Yemeni, half Iraqi, and half English”. I was impressed with the combinations but kept thinking of the reasons behind all of the moves in Rachel Hafaz’s father, and what were the intentions, plans, and hopes behind each move. I always viewed Israel as the final destination for the Arab Jewish migration but obviously there were some other routes that I did not know about. Rachel then told me about her trips to Egypt, the food she liked and the cities she enjoyed most, she carried on about her plans to visit Yemen to see where her family originally comes from. She was studying medicine and the reason she is learning Hebrew is that she was preparing for her year abroad in Israel. Bill had already left us and started a conversation with Vaghdit who loved gathering more and more people around her to listen to her stories that she told with a very loud voice, I felt guilty for getting carried away with Rachel’s explanations and ignoring Bill’s presence. While I was talking with Rachel the woman who was sitting next to me approached us and Rachel smiled at her, they obviously had already known each other. Serena Goodman was an Iraqi Jew who was kicked out form Iraq in the early seventies, her family moved to the UK and settled there, some of her relatives however migrated to Israel and that is why she is learning Hebrew, she wanted to be more capable of communicating with the second generation that was born in Israel as she frequently visited Israel to visit the other branch of the family. While looking at Serena’s face I noticed that her lips, eyes, and head movement showed a systematic tension reflected in a sudden mild contraction that occurred while she was talking (I wonder what kind of experiences had had left its scar over her nerves?). Serena told me her family (including herself) was imprisoned in Iraq before being expelled, she said it was a very tough experience, however, she still has lots of good memories in Iraq. She told me that her family was very off and very well educated so they did not have to migrate during the fifties nor the sixties, it was only the poor Jewish Iraqis who migrated because they had limited options and saw it as a chance for a better life. Her family however did not want to leave the country until they were forced to migrate after the six day war. She still had traces of Arabic on her tongue and she told me about the scenes she remembered from Egyptian movies. The break was over and the three of us went back to the class together and I realized they had put me with them in the “Arabic Clan” of the classroom, I felt they had decided that our brown colored eyes and the Arabic blood that ran through our veins was an enough reason to put us together in one category in front of the others, I felt it made them more secured as if they were looking for somewhere to belong and they finally somehow found refuge in me. The initial friendliness was explained but I needed to know more about the motives that were rooted at a deeper level than the color of the eyes or the origin of the blood.<br /><br /><strong>The Sephardim among us….</strong><br /><br />Vaghdit started the class by asserting the difficulty of the phonetics of the Hebrew language…. “there is one exception to us here in the class and there is one person who is going to be capable of pronouncing the letters tha way they were intended to be pronounced, it’s Ahmed…” I knew I would have an advantage in learning the language due to the resemblance between the Arabic and Hebrew letters, however, what Vagjdit said afterwards struck me in the face…. “the reason why Ahmed has an advantage over us in pronouncing the letters is because he is a Sephardi”, (I was in complete shock to what I heard, what the hell was she saying? I am not even a Jew? Why on earth would she apply their own internal classifications on me?), she then continued “we the Ashkenazi people have a difficulty in pronouncing the ‘h’ in Ahmed’s name because we did not have it in our Yiddish nor Polish nor the other European languages we spoke before we moved back to our land.” (at the point I realized I might have discovered a potential reason why Rachel and Serena might have connected to me, we are all Sephardim after all, wait a second, I am not a Sephardim! Am I?). Vaghdit (noticing my surprise) then told the whole class “Ahmed looks like a typical Jew anyways… whether you like or not he looks like a typical Jew from Tel Aviv!” (what? A typical Jew? What does a typical Jew look like in the first place? If I am not mistaken Jews were as diverse as any other religion on earth, the Moroccan Jew did not look at all like the Polish Jew, it is true they all came from Beni-Israel but there diaspora introduced so many other races into their blood. I felt I was being kidnapped from my own skin! Now I am not just Sephardi but I looked like a typical Jew as well). Later that day Serena told me how the first waves of the Sephardim migrations to Israel were put into camps to isolate them from the Ashkenazi population. They were less educated, cultured, and exposed, Serena added that they were even given regular showers as they were perceived as less clean that the Ashkenazi. The image of the Sephardim did not improve except after the later waves of migration during the fifties and sixties which included the more educated of the eastern Jews. The Ashkenazi (Western Jews) did not however teach their children how to pronounce the letters correctly and the easy Western pronunciation remained generation after the other as a difference between both clans.<br /><br />At the very end of the class I found myself classified as a Sephardi who has this special talent of pronouncing funny letters due to his eastern origins. This Sephardi formed with two others of his type the Arabic clan of the class. The inner feeling inside me was totally in compassion with the Sephardim as if I was really one of them and not just falsely put into the same category with them. It was my very first time to be directly categorized based on my stock. Categorization stood very firmly in my mind against what Sayed Darwish had taught me, I then realized that he had given the Sephardim (would it be wrong if I say ‘us’?) more rights than what was given in Israel, the words he sang in the name of three anchors of our society (Moslems, Christians, and Jews) strived to stand in front of the categorization that swept through my mind.<br /><br /><strong>The Private lesson….<br /></strong><br />Vagjdit had indicated during the class that she needs to sit with me for two to three hours to cover what I had missed during the first two sessions. I was very hesitant as to whether I should go for the private lesson or not, I had a discussion with Alia and I told her honestly that I was not comfortable about meeting up with Vaghdit, after telling her about what happened during class she wondered why I never expressed my disagreement with Vaghdit regarding the categorization she imposed on me, I told her that this is not my battlefield and I am not willing to go to any side arguments, I was there only to learn and I should be very clear about that with myself or else I would not get the benefit I wanted from the course, my battlefield was somewhere else after I grasp the language. After thinking of what I really wanted from the course I decided I would go for the private lesson, I called Vaghdit and we agreed to meet in a café beside her house. The café was very crowded and we were sitting on a very small table, it was the very first time in my life that I sit that close to an Israeli, actually, to be more precise, it was my very first time to sit with an Israeli on the same table, I had contradictory feelings of pride & guilt, I was proud of my effort to understand but I felt guilty for the fear of not being qualified to handle such a situation properly. She excused me to get a cup hot chocolate and asked me if I wanted anything to drink, I explained that I was fasting that day so she apologized for having to drink the hot chocolate in front of me. She started by explaining the Hebrew alphabets and how to write and pronounce them, in my mind I was relating every letter and every word with its equivalent in Arabic, I was very fascinated by the resemblance and for the very first time I felt I was getting stronger and stronger with every new letter I was learning. I had intended to keep the two hours session only to Hebrew but Vaghdit insistence on opening up discussions led to some political and social discussions. I tried to be vague as much as I can with what I think and what I really believe, I was reminding myself all the time that this was not my battlefield; I was only there to learn. Vaghdit was the kind of a person who loved giving speeches and I think she noticed I was very reserved when it came to discussing political and social matters so she decided to take it upon herself to tell me all about herself and her political thoughts, she told me about her experience with the army and how it is a very important contributor to building characters, and about the constant tension she was experiencing in Israel due to the usual unrest before she moved to the UK six years ago. When it came to politics I had commented of how I though negatively of Sharon so she explained that he was a father of the nation and a very strong political leader who was capable of pulling Israel out of its tough times. She was a witty woman, I had the feeling that she sensed my resentment of her pride so she uttered a sentence that was very out of the context of what she was talking about, I think she was trying to give a warning…. “we are there to stay!” she said …. “and we will remain there!” …. I wanted to answer back saying “but you left!” but I reminded myself that this was not my battlefield and I just looked at her and smiled. I wonder what made her make it a point to make this statement, what feeling did I convey that made her feel the need to assert her stances?”<br /><br /><strong>Izkor</strong><br /><br />After some classes Vaghdit became known among us for her military attitude with us, she acted as if we were soldiers and she was our commander. Her repetitive stories about how she loves to eat meat contributed to how she was perceived among a class that had high inclinations towards vegetarianism. I personally liked meat but I was very much offended every time she referred to her eating and it contributed to how I perceived her. I could not put into perspective however how she became to be perceived as the commander until I saw a documentary by Eyal Sivan called ‘Izkor: Slaves of Memory’ (Izkor is the Hebrew word for remember). The documentary talks about the Israeli educational system and how it promotes victimization as a part of the children’s awareness of their existence. It reminds them of their slavery in Egypt and how they escaped it, it reminds them of the holocaust in Europe and how they escaped it until they became free men and women. Songs with children raising their heads from the floor upwards while chanting how they fought for their freedom until they attained it from their enemies were shown. The main theme of the documentary was the fact that this victimization they planted within children had become later the ‘excuse’ they used to slaughter others, it was the excuse the whole society used to justify the injustice done to the Palestinians, the documentary challenged the idea of the Jew as an eternal victim. During the documentary the director tried to challenge the teachers about the concepts they were conveying and that’s when I noticed the resemblance between the way I perceived those teachers and the way I perceived Vaghdit, the same unchallenged self confidence, the same adherence to untested ideas, the same refusal to discuss, the same strictness, the same strive for domination, and finally the same loud voice with the sharp tone.<br /><br />At the end of level one of the course Vaghdit decided that we should have a gathering and she proposed a well known Jewish restaurant. I was very adamant about getting involved with any kind of social relationships with Vaghdit nor with any of the classmates as I was not sure about the value added from socialization. It was very easy to come up with an excuse for not going, Vaghdit however refused to hear the word ‘no’ and she added my name to the list without my consent, I made it very clear that I would not be going but to my surprise she told me that I would come. I was very annoyed with the attitude and it further asserted my perception of the commander in charge who would not take no as an answer.<br /><br /><br /><strong>The Book & The Food… stripping me naked!<br /></strong><br />When I finally bought the textbook I was very excited about exploring it, I wanted to get a strong hold of each and every word in the book. Perfecting the language for me became like the art of sculpture, I wanted to mold the clay in my hand in whichever way I desired, it was the key to the castle.<br /><br />The prologue to unit one of the book had a map, the map was titled Israel and it showed a complete undivided land extending from the Golan heights in the north to Elate in the south and from the river of Jordan in the east to Rafah in the west. I was furious! it was a public robbery! According to which law or according to which concept was all that space engulfed? I checked the back of the book to see who published that book and it read as follows “ Academon, The Hebrew University Students’ Printing and Publishing House. Jerusalem 2000”. I felt I was stripped naked of my clothes., how could it be so easy to draw maps? How could it be so easy to draw lines that would reflect your domination over others? How could it be so easy to alter reality? It is true I felt helpless, but it gave me a stronger reason to learn the language. The same feeling occurred again during class when Vaghdit spoke of the Israeli Shawarma, the Israeli Hommous, and the Israeli Falafel. It was a killer however when she asked us to follow her to the café yelling <em>“yalla”.</em><br /><br />For the very first time in a long time I felt I was moving in the right direction; it seemed the diaspora is manageable, but I knew what I was doing was not enough, I had the key but I did not know where the castle to be opened is.<br /><br />Next time I will tell you about the castles I found… but will I find an end to my diaspora in any of those castles? </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1138570202371134612006-01-29T21:30:00.000+00:002006-01-29T21:39:52.746+00:00Once upon a time.......<div align="center"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="absMiddle" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/268/3293/640/nasser-timemagazine-1958[1].jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/268/3293/320/nasser-timemagazine-1958%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1134317378976594892005-12-11T16:03:00.000+00:002005-12-11T18:07:18.120+00:00Living on my Feet.... I hope!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;"><br /><br /><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;"><strong><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/640/tank.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="249" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/585/813/320/tank.jpg" width="266" border="0" /></a></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><strong></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:180%;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Emiliano Zapat<br /></span><br /></strong><span style="font-size:78%;">picture from Arna's children web site.</span></span> <a href="http://picasa.google.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1132456701283735292005-11-20T03:13:00.000+00:002005-11-25T12:01:52.760+00:00The trip to Bethlehem – An Arab in Diaspora! - Part 2<strong>“We must return to values and honesty of discussion. There can be no military solution to what ails us, Arabs and Jews alike. This truth leaves only the power of mind and education to do the job that armies have been unable to accomplish for over half a century”</strong> Edward Saiid (2001)<br /><br />is it?<br /><br />I wondered….<br /><br />But did I have a choice?<br /><br />I don’t think I did….<br /><br /><strong><em>(Long ago during my childhood, I watched on TV the story of “The Green Chicken” “El Katkoot El Akhdar”. Unlike all its yellow feathered brothers it had green feathers. They lived and fed together in their beautiful little cage and everyday a beautiful little hand would slowly sprinkle corn over their heads until they wake up and start eating, dancing, and playing. Until one day The little Green Chicken decided to leave the cage. He wanted to see more, to know more, he did not want to wait for the corn sprinkled every morning by the little beautiful hand. He left the cage to discover a whole new world that I discovered passionately with him. I still remember and feel how he felt when he visited the scientist, the carpenter, the peasant, the worker, the engineer and the doctor. I still remember how he used to sing and dance after every visit celebrating his “new discovery” and celebrating the few millimeters added to his little red comb that stood elegantly on top of his head. I still remember how he felt when he decided to go back to visit his brothers in the little beautiful farm and they still waited for the little hand to sprinkle the corn every day. I still remember how it felt seeing they did not grow any red combs on top of their heads unlike my heroic Little Green Chicken. I remember deciding to take the path of the Little Green Chicken.)</em><br /></strong><br />Just like a blind man lost in the desert I was willingly accepting any guidance on where I should go. Dazzled by all the thoughts I did not have a clear vision of what I should do. A map in my hand of a land I never set my foot on, a wisdom of an old man resonating in my mind, and a big question waiting to be answered… “what should I do to end my diaspora?”<br /><br />Queensway… a nice West London neighborhood known for its Arab restaurants and bookshops. The usual tiny London streets that are slightly louder than the rest of London but not as loud as Edgware road. Arabic is frequently heard and falafel is always few shops away. Its spirit is always fueled by an endless supply of immigrants coming in search of money, food, freedom, and beauty. Each searching for what is lost at his part of the Arab land, each believing in the London promise of providing what is longed for.<br /><br />There in Queensway…. One night….. few months ago…. I attended a lecture by Abdel Bari Atwan (Editor in Chief of Al Qods Al Araby newspaper). He was talking about the usual “Arab – Israeli” conflict (it feels like a compulsory topic that each and every writer, politician, professor…etc. should “talk” about – it’s always the “talk” that annoys me, that frustrates me, my diaspora started because of a “talk”, it prospered through “talk”… it is living the age of the “talk”). It was a chance to take my questions, my concerns, my feelings…. Maybe he knows a way…<br /><br />As usual…. Endless supply of words, comments, opinions, debates, disagreements but it all had the very same theme of “what’s happening <em>there</em>” (oh my God… there… I wonder what is Emilia doing there now) and “what we should about <em>them</em>”. But what is “<em>there</em>” and who are “<em>them</em>”? do I really know? Do I really understand? And why do I always have to listen to “talk” about “<em>there</em>” and “<em>them</em>” and why do I always have to be a prisoner of discussions, debates, and words? Will I be another yellow feathered Chicken waiting for words to be sprinkled on top of his head every morning? Did it really save me from my diaspora? The thoughts wandered in my mind for a while then I realized that I never asked the right question and I never asked the right people and that lecture was another proof. I went to that lecture carrying with me the wrong set of questions and the worst of mindsets. It felt like playing tennis with a rock, in the same manner the rock couldn’t bounce off the court my questions couldn’t bounce off his mind. Instead, it just fell to the ground… motionless.<br /><br />“Why can’t I go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem?” I asked him. “if I have a claim there how can I just talk about it and not go there and claim it back?” I continued. “How can we leave it completely in their hands with our families under their control without even the attempt of being there?” …. “isn’t my physical existence there in itself a claim of my ownership?”… “isn’t my mere existence among the besieged Arabs a support?” ….. “What is preventing me from going there?” ….. “is it just a visa stamp that carries a six pointed star?” ….. “is that it?”….. “is that all?”….. “is this why I’ve been deprived of my there and of my fellow them?”…. “why can’t I just go to help?” …. “why did Emilia my Jewish friend had the right to go and help while I’m stuck in your words?”……<br /><br />While I was letting it all out, and while all the questions were hitting him one after the other I noticed his eyes…. They were moving quickly, once to the right and once to the left (I wondered why?)… his eyes were sensitively reacting to every sound and every move in the hall (did he hear me?)….. he probably heard my question…. (but did he listen to it?)……<br /><br />Those confused eyes suddenly focused on one target… my face…. And they started getting narrower and narrower, and then he waved his hands with disapproval and spoke to the audience with extreme wonder… “From all the cities of the face of this Earth you don’t want to visit except Jerusalem and Bethlehem!!” he said with apparent resentment. “Can’t you just hold yourself back for a while from tourism until we get our rights back?” I felt so betrayed by his apparent lack of concentration, I felt so misunderstood, I kept on trying to correct his misunderstanding but his dominating sharp voice and his violent body language stood firmly in the way of my hopeless shouts.<br /><br />And it was over…. Or …. I thought it was over……<br /><br />Few minutes afterwards she raised her hand…. I met her one time before and we had a brief chat. I never really read any of Ahdaf Soueif’s books but I read some of the articles she wrote in “Mezzaterra”, I was not a fan of very long novels and I generally preferred politics so “Mezzaterra” was the my perfect read for her as it was a compilation of political essays she wrote in different occasions. She raised her hand and it seemed everybody was wondering what would her question be…..<br /><br />“First of all!” she said “I’d like to clarify the point of my Egyptian colleague who was asking about visiting the occupied land, I think what he meant was related to activism and volunteering to help the Palestinians and Arabs living in the occupied territories. Lots of our youth are deprived of the opportunity to be exposed and involved in the conflict and a great part of this deprivation comes from the fact that it became socially and politically unacceptable for them to go to the occupied land.”<br /><br />“Second of all!” (and I did not really concentrate with the second of all as I was so much under the effect of the nausea of the ‘first of all’ … I felt ‘understood’ and ‘appreciated’). I felt a smile slowly taking control over my face while I was looking towards her with appreciation. As soon as she finished her comments she turned around and looked at me then tilted her head downwards a bit with her eyebrows moving upwards as if to draw a question mark while murmuring a word that I imagined would be “tamam keda?” I left the answer for my smile to take care of and obviously my smile did the right job of saying “thank you” as she turned her smiling face away again swiftly in approval as if to say “anytime!”<br /><br />Unlike with my questions, his wandering eyes were focused this time on Ahdaf and showed extreme interest and concentration. Her comments were of course followed by approval and affirmation by Atwan who did not find anything wrong with what she said. (I guess it was my fragmented thoughts reflected in my bombarded questions that prevented him from understanding what I really wanted to say….)<br /><br />For some reason I came out from that lecture with a new understanding of the Edward Said words as if I saw it in a new light that I never discovered before. The extreme contrast between the Said liberal approach and the Atwan traditional use of vocabulary that is limited to phrases of praise and attack magically highlighted one word that was there all the time but I never really concentrated on understanding and implementing it ….. “Educating” …. This is the key …. “Educating” …. This is what I need at the moment…<br /><br /><strong>From “Education” to Bethlehem…</strong><br /><br />Let my soul reside in my thoughts rather than in my body, let it be what I aim for, let my whole existence mingle with it in an eternal blend of satisfaction (I wish). However, I need to make my thoughts worthy of my soul; I need to make them comprehensive, deep, challenging, and mature. They will not be comprehensive unless I learn, they will not be deep until I think, they will not be challenging unless I question, and they will not be mature unless I communicate them to other souls.<br /><br />Where can I do that? How can I do that? And the answer kept on climbing my brain cells from the deepest of my mind as if it was already there from long ago waiting for me to call upon it. “<em>Go there</em>!” suddenly took control of my reasoning and guided me to what I had to do next (there was this inner conflict that was tormenting me… do I want to do it only to prove to myself that I can? Do I want to do it only because I am jealous of Emilia? Do I have a strong argument of why I want to do it? Do I know its value added?…. I never really tried to answer any of those questions and I do not think I can, I just decided to make the best out of the energy that I have without looking at its origins, to use the flame without knowing its fuel. It is wrong I know, or ‘maybe’ it is wrong, but I guess I still have to learn more about the inner energy that moves me, is it jealousy? Adventure? Challenge? Cause? Belief? I realized that until I resolve my inner conflicts I just have to get the maximum value added out of what I had at the moment).<br /><br />“Go <em>there</em>” had to develop to a plan, to a clear goal, to a maximum utilization of resources. I had to blend the inner energy not only with emotions but moreover with pragmatic reasoning (will I build thoughts strong enough to sustain my restless soul?). My starting point was my own personal qualifications and how I can relate them to “education”, what is it that I can have that could add value to others? What is it that I can “contribute” with? How can I become part of the solution and not just another ‘tourist’ of the problem? I realized I have a relatively good background with youth development and that this experience could be one of my tools to become an “agent of change” rather than a “tourist”. The starting point has got to be an “active participation” and I realized that Edward Saiid had put the proper framework for this “participation” (I hope he had been alive to talk to me but I did not think he would have wanted me to want to talk to him, ‘act upon what you believe in’ I imagine is what he would have advised me to do). This framework is “education” with all it carries of “knowledge” and all what it implies of “strength”.<br /><br />Simple search on the internet was my path, keywords like “Palestine”, “refugees”, “camps”, “development”; “youth” were my hints. Few days passed with no clear result for my search, I found so many articles, analysis, reports, but it seemed there was nothing that would give me a chance to be an “active agent of change” as I wished to be. At the very end and after I consumed a great portion of my rather limited supply of patience I came across what I believed and still do believe would be my ideal ‘entrance’ to the problem. Not just to becoming part of its solution, but first to properly understand it and ‘relate’ to it in a manner that would make me look with a more ‘comprehensive’, ‘deep’, ‘challenging’, and ‘mature’ eye.<br /><br />The location was Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. The organization was a youth run NGO that was established by the camp youth to actively encourage the refugees be part of the solution to their problem. They organized a yearly international camp for the refugees and international volunteers to maximize the exposure of the refugees and to show the international volunteers the ‘real picture’ they never really saw. “This is it…” I said to myself, and a complete clear picture of how I could contribute presented itself persistently in front of my eyes that it took control over my concentration to the extent that I could not be anymore the ‘multi-task’ person I am used to be and I had to put everything aside for a while until I deal with my ‘new discovery’. (I wish you were here my dear Little Green Chicken, I know you would have been proud of me)<br /><br />Diab was one of the organizers of the camp and a member of the NGO, he was the first one I got to know from the team. I called him and explained all what I want to do. “A workshop about Self Development” I explained to him…. “two workshops actually… one for High School students and the other for university students… the final aim is to try to find out with the youth how is it possible to develop oneself in spite of the occupation, the curfews, the raids, and the limited resources”. I realized that my experience at university and during my volunteer work after graduation would be of great value added to those youth, I had a strong belief that they could find a lot of useful tools, thoughts, ideas, or maybe just hints within what I had to say. I strongly believed as well that self development is immune to the worst of circumstances and the toughest of challenges; I strongly believed that self development stems from a strong will, proper vision, and stamina. I wanted to share with them what I believe in and try to find out with them if it true or not. I sent a full proposal with all my ideas, intentions, hopes, and motivations. (Did I really understand what Edward Saiid wanted me to do? Am I really doing what he would have wanted me to do?)<br /><br />They welcomed the idea very much and officially invited me to organize the workshops during the international camp in Bethlehem that was due to start in a month time from the day I sent the proposal. (How easy it was to leave the ‘audience’ and join the ‘struggle’! All it needed was a ‘motivation’, ‘action’, ‘idea’, and ‘patience’. How come I was always a prisoner of such a ‘thin’ barrier of ‘passivity’ that deprived me of doing what I really wanted to do and achieving my inner self? How come I was always a prisoner of others ‘words’, ‘opinions’, and ‘judgments’ that I lost the sense of what I really wanted to do? How beautiful it felt to realize how ‘thin’ this barrier is and how ‘invincible’ I used to perceive it with my old eyes? How encouraging it felt to replace one yellow feather with another green one)<br /><br /><strong>The Six Pointed Star Visa…<br /></strong><br />Had my grandparents known that their grandson was planning to get a Six Pointed Star Visa in his passport they would have had prevented that even if it meant not planting the seeds of life to his parents. They would have probably preferred dying with no children at all rather than seeing their children giving birth to an Israeli Visa holder. I thank God they all died before having to witness that day and I thank God my only chance of meeting them is a promised heaven when I would have all the time to explain, elaborate, and challenge.<br /><br />The procedure to get an Israeli visa from Egypt was very well known to me. Go to the Tahrir Complex; submit a request to get the Visa, issue a temporary Passport and deposit your original passport with the government, then finally apply to get the Israeli visa. However, I live in London and I could not go to Egypt during the month I had to get the visa before the camp, and this meant that my only chance was to get the Israeli visa from London (it still felt very humiliating though to have to get this visa to enter my land, it felt like the whole history of the struggle is to be summarized in the one stamp to be printed in my passport). There had to be an alternative procedure for those who live abroad I imagined, I had to check with the Egyptian Consulate to see what I should do in order to make sure I “Go <em>There</em>” following the proper procedure (I did not want to break all the taboos at one time, I still do not think I could take the sinister looks and attitudes if I do not follow the procedure)<br /><br />Lina is a friend of mine who is working at the Egyptian Consulate, I explained to her all the usual procedure and I wondered if she could help me find out about the procedure that would apply from those residing abroad. She heard me with great admiration and a smile that never parted her face, I felt a sincere motivation to help and a real understanding of where my thoughts stemmed from. She promised she would check with the deputy and explain to me exactly what I should do.<br /><br />and there was a surprise I never expected….<br /><br />Lina called me the next day on my work phone from her office phone and told me that we cannot speak on that phone, she said would call me on my cell phone from her cell in a while (what? What is this? Is this a kind of a joke?). She called few minutes later on my cell phone (from her cell phone this time not her office phone) and she said “what I am going to tell you at the moment is not official” (her voice sounded embarrassed which made me feel she is carrying bad news). She then explained…. “There is no specific procedure for Egyptians living abroad to visit Israel, you normally have to go to Egypt to get security approval, however, I explained to the deputy your cause and what you want to do and the fact that you are going to a workshop in the occupied land. He told me ya Ahmed that the best you could do is to come to the consulate and tell us that you lost your passport then we would issue you a new one. You can then use this new passport to go and when you come back just inform us that you found your old passport and we will tear down the new one.” (Oh my God! This explains why this deputy did not want to give an official reply, this explains why they did not want the phone call to be recorded, this explains her embarrassment!) What the intelligent deputy did not understand however that every Egyptian living in the UK is carrying a Visa in his passport and to leave the country with an empty passport is a disaster in itself and this is besides the fact that I would have to use two Egyptian passports to travel. At that point I would have thought that I am just a victim of the usual ignorant deputy who did not know much about his job and about the regulations, however, a very interesting advice that he passed to me through Lina revealed more than just a lazy employee. Lina added “Ahmed, to be honest.. he asked me to tell you that what you are intending to do is not wise, he wanted to remind you that ‘what your home needs should not be given away to the mosque charity’.. you should rather try to help Egypt with its problems rather than trying to help the Palestinians”. She finally added “the deputy said that they are not going to be responsible for you in any away when you go there or if you face any problems in Egypt.”<br /><br />I realized how easy it was for the deputy to justify for himself his passivity and to decorate the walls of his little prison of words with a nice frame carrying the “mosque charity” quote on it. It was not just the fear of helping or taking responsibility (this is very understandable in the case of government employees who are usually taught how to give up on abusing the capabilities of their minds or discovering new ideas with their senses) but moreover, it was the fact that he had to justify for himself what he said and decorate the little prison of “talk” and “words” they created for him with quotes that are wrongfully used for a fake cause. I thanked Lina very much for her help and we both realized that proceeding with the workshop meant that I had to go to the Israeli embassy directly without the consent of the Government and which would prevent me from visiting most of the Arab countries if I do get the stamp on my Passport and not on a separate paper (which they do sometimes).<br /><br />It was such a painful experience to have to explain to Diab what happened and before that it was such a disgusting feeling to realize that you could be controlled by those who are less understanding, less tolerant, and less exposed. My father told me once what a colleague of his at the army used to say “Egypt will never progress as long as the most stupid are ruling the most intelligent.” But I do not think this is the case, rather, there will be no progress unless each and every person realizes his/her potential. The point in time when individual potential realization is achieved is the same point when progress naturally follows. Thus, intelligence is second to ‘will’, ‘tolerance’, and ‘education’.<br /><br />I did not feel bad, and I still do not feel bad about what happened. It might have been annoying and oppressing for a while but I then realized that I had gained a new understanding of what Edward Saiid had wanted me to do, and I realized I managed to escape from the little prison they created for us, the little cage with their words sprinkled on top of our heads every morning while we eat, dance, and enjoy. Maybe I did not make it all the way through to where I want to go yet, and maybe I still do not know the way by hard; but at the very least I know I can make it.<br /><br />I will “Go <em>There</em>” one day, maybe not now, but I will do it because I know I can and because the more I know the stronger I get and the less they can stop me.<br /><br />For now, there is a brand new path to follow, I would have never imagined that the failure of this trip could have opened the door for this brand new path. A path I never imagined I would ever take to try end my diaspora. It is true a door was closed but I have a better understanding of my diaspora now and I stepped my foot unto a whole new path.<br /><br />I will not give up and will pursue my new path till the very end, maybe it will save me from my diaspora, and if did not, I will take a new path with delight and hope.<br /><br />Will tell you more about the new path soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10484702.post-1130280551832438772005-11-18T22:46:00.000+00:002005-11-25T12:04:51.393+00:00When my friend migrated to Israel! - An Arab in Diaspora - Part 1.<span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Make sure</strong> <span style="font-size:85%;">you empty your mind from any estranged thought….. make sure you use the deepest routes of your brain and the warmest veins of your heart to let my words pass through them, maybe you can help me, maybe you can guide me out of my diaspora…. Yes… diaspora…. And not just a physical one…. But a mental one as well…. A diaspora that was capable of provoking my thoughts all around me just like the Cairo March winds provoke the yellow dust and colors the sky with this light orange canopy that soaks the water out of your throat and leaves you in need of a single drop of water. So will you be my single drop of water?<br /><br />I was not intending to tell this story until I find myself capable of doing something about it as it was totally occupying my existence and I was wholeheartedly sparked to defy my diaspora, the diaspora that Emilia helped me discover.<br /><br />During one of those periods when a certain thought or mood completely controls you and shapes you inner self that you lose contact with the time dimension and leave the thoughtful dimension to rein your life for a while I experienced two incidents that changed how my soul sits within my body.<br /><br /><strong>The first stroke…..</strong><br /><br />It all started back in Berlin when we were all gathered together to study philosophy, literature, and arts. From all around the world were our origins and thus were our dreams, hopes, and imaginations. it was eighty of us or maybe a bit more confined together in the largest of mindscapes and the smallest of landscapes. Two weeks into our experience the eighty started dividing into smaller and smaller groups until I ended with a nice but challenging group that never stopped asking, wondering, and comparing. It was my very first time to deal with a Jew on a personal level. Emilia was an American Jew who came for the very same reason that we all came for (or maybe we pretended to come for). Our talks took us from politics to religion to arts to philosophy to sports to jokes and for every story there was always a Spanish, an American, an Arab, and a German version. It was like the very first time I saw a white beam of light splitting itself into seven harmonious colors in our dark wooden school lab, the same excitement and the same anticipation with each one of us looking at the beam of light and trying to understand the works of nature and the wonders of God. I suddenly realized I was not the white light I believed I was, I turned out to be just one color of the spectrum and the world around me the rest of the spectrum. Our conversations were like the spectrum making a full turn and penetrating the prism from the opposite side to form a one strong beam of white light again. Only then that I saw the real white light.<br /><br />Emilia and myself, two colors of the spectrums who I thought would be full of repulsive charges pushing them away from each other got closer and closer like any other friend I would have had back in Cairo. My interaction with her helped me understand the striking fact that I discovered before my travel to Berlin that a major Arab philosopher who lived in Arabic Spain called Moses Maimonides (Moussa Ibn Maimoon) was Jewish. It made me understand how it was possible for him to contribute to the “Islamic Philosophy” though by definition he was not a Muslim and when I say “understand” I’m just referring to the “feeling” associated and not the “thoughts” as our relationship was not that deep, it was a mere casual friendship at that point in time. We frequently talked about politics and of course it did include the Arab – Israeli conflict but it never reached the stage of opposition or extreme conflict as she never mentioned Zionism and I never mentioned my Arabism. Those discussions were hovering around the political situation at that time, certain events and misfortunes but it never went into the ideology. I always perceived our relationship as the healthy relationship that should exist between a Moslem and a Jew, and “healthy” in my mind meant a relationship between two human beings who enjoy mutual respect and always keen on extending bridges between their minds and wisdom between their hearts. It was my very first time to discover and enjoy the separation between Jewish and Zionist.<br /><br />At the end of our studying program which lasted for around two months we became a close group and we vowed to meet again. Six months later it became possible for a brief reunion in Cairo that lasted for around a week as we were all attending a conference. I invited them to stay at my family’s place in Cairo as I thought it would be an outstanding chance for my family to meet my friends and particularly what I thought my precious discovery of the American Jewish friend. Our outings and tours of Cairo included lots of my Egyptian friends as well and it felt satisfying to expose them to what I was exposed to in Berlin.<br /><br />Emilia stayed at our place for an extra three days after my other friends left and she spent lots of quality time talking to my parents (especially my father) and some other relatives. She integrated easily both inside the house and in the street to the extent that she knew where and when to bargain and she showed an outstanding capability of negotiating really low prices. My family enjoyed her stay and she left a nice memory.<br /><br />During those three days it was the very first time that ideology came into the picture and it was the very first time that she realizes the Arab nationalist tendencies of my family and myself, she discovered that my father fought with the Egyptian Air Force in Yom Kippur (1973). I sometimes noticed the hidden shock on her face that she tried to hide and I sometimes wondered if her continuous questions were a reaction to the shocks she was getting from what she heard. She maintained a consistent silence however about her ideologies and I did not really bother to uncover anything she did not want to unravel.<br /><br />After Emilia left we all stayed in touch through an e-group that gathered us together and sometimes through personal emails. We shared our thoughts, our stories, our development, our comments… etc. This e-group witnessed our enthusiastic reactions to what happened around us, sometimes it was a venue for action proposals, sometimes venue for projects, sometimes for the mere sharing of thoughts and ideas. It witnessed our travels as well from one country to the other and I was lucky to stay in touch though I changed countries 3 times during that period. The e-group maintained its role for around three whole years until a day that I would never forget.<br /><br />It was a usual morning when I checked my email to find the usual messages from the different e-groups I’m subscribing to, I skimmed through the titles as I always do to see which one had a “no subject” title to check them first as I always think they carry surprises and because they provoke my curiosity to uncover their sender’s intentions and thoughts. Afterwards I skimmed through the senders and I found an email from Emilia to the group titled as I remember “Hello Hello”. The email seemed like a boring one with the usual beginnings of the “hellos” …. “kisses”.. etc. then there was a very brief paragraph that nearly read as follows:<br />“I decided to migrate to Israel, I’ll be working with the government on a social development project, I’ll be living in Jerusalem and will be waiting for all of you to visit… Shalom”<br /><br /><br />Up till this moment I failed in describing to others how I felt at that point in time because I couldn’t find the right words to draw the exact image of the feeling that were stirring within the inside of me. It was a very disturbing moment in terms of my sudden realization of a hidden aspect of a person I thought I knew well enough (or maybe a hidden development in the life of this person that I failed to notice). The other source of confusion was my sudden bombardment with “this is unfair” “what will I do” “do I tell others?” “do I tell my family?” “is the line I drew between what is Jewish and what is Zionist imaginary? Does it exist only in my mind?”<br /><br />There was a feeling of “shame” a feeling of “helplessness” a feeling of “idiocy” a feeling of “weakness”….. but I never found the word to describe the combination of all of them together…. Maybe it’s “frustration” but frustration does not really reflect shame… maybe it’s “disgrace” but it does not really reflect weakness….. I’m just trying to find the word to convey it well to both your hearts and your minds……<br /><br /><em>How come a person I thought I knew so well is suddenly “on the other side?”<br /><br />How come she has the right to go to the land I always dreamt of stepping my foot on and I can’t?<br /><br />How come she gets to actively contribute to her cause and I can’t?<br /><br />How come I’m left alone?<br /><br />How come I feel so weak?<br /><br />What will I do?<br /></em><br />I then realized my defeat, I then realized my ignorance, I then realized I know nothing about myself when I claimed to know all about my enemies and my friends.<br /><br />I’m an Arab in diaspora……. A diaspora of thoughts, a diaspora of will, a diaspora of imagination…… with no control over my present nor over my future…..<br /><br />Emilia (my friend) is there right now adding value to the cause that I dreamt all my life of facing, challenging, and defying. I did not even get a chance yet to face the ideology but how can I do the same? Am I just reacting to her migration? Am I just reacting to this evident betrayal? So what!!!! Maybe it’s just a reaction but maybe I can build on it….. (how can I build on it when I don’t even know enough about myself, my history, my existence?)<br /><em>Can I go there? I don’t think I can…<br />But have I tried….??? I never did…<br />Can I help without going?... I don’t know…..<br /><br />This is not fair….. this is not right…… .<br /></em><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>The second stroke…</strong><br /><br />And in the midst of my confusion and in the midst of my tension and as if I was doomed to be punished for my ignorance, indifference, and diaspora another arrow came straight across my existence. As I was watching the doomed “Al Jazeera” and during one of their reports from the holy sacred city of evil and dreams, the city of nightmares, the forbidden city by the laws of the cowards and the powers of the filthy….. Jerusalem…… they interviewed an Israeli academic who was commenting on the political aspect of the conflict (a mid fifties white man with light grey hair shining under the studio lights and a double chin slightly coming off his chemise as if to warn him of an expected fatness. He was wearing a metallic pair of glasses that further highlighted his apparent sophistication and a beige suit with a dark tie and a light blue chemise). As the anchor finished the question and during the usual silence between the question and the answer that reflects the usual “time difference” I was anticipating him to take a while until the translator finishes his job of pouring the words into his ears in Hebrew….. instead…… my whole existence was entirely shocked to find the respected expert replying in perfect Egyptian Accent Arabic….. a perfect colloquial Egyptian that reflects something further more than a shrewd student caring for the tiny details of a foreign language…… it reflected a perfected knowledge of a native….. yes …. A native….. oh my God…. This man is Egyptian….. no sorry… this man is Israeli…… no no… sorry…. This man is !!! is what?<br />Who is this man? One explanation arises from the bottom of my messy brain….. then it knocked on my head with a heavy hand…..<br /><br /><em>a migrant…..<br /></em><br />this man used to be with “us”… among “us” …. Then suddenly he’s “on the other side”….. The side we knew so little about until we developed the fear of knowledge then the fear of knowledge ignited the fear of power….. then the fear of power expelled our brains into the diaspora….. and here I am an Arab in diaspora…..<br /><br />Ooh my God.... I feel so weak… I feel so helpless….. I feel so alone….. I feel like I’m sliding off the slope of a magnificent mountain and I’m approaching the edge….. here it is coming…. Here it is coming…… there is nowhere to hold to the mountain…. Not a single crack to capture with my hands…. Not a single protrusion to hold to….. sliding strongly against the rocky slope and feeling the pain of each and every friction with the sharp stones….. with the provoked dust all around me… all inside me…. All within me…. No alternative to the free fall at the end of the slide….. no alternative to the deadly end of my diaspora….. until suddenly …..<br /><br />A stick….. a wooden stick….. my hands caught a wooden stick hammered to the steep slope…. The wooden stick started shaking but it was strong enough to hold me ……. (where did it come from?) …….. it’s Salman Abo Setta….. he hammered the wooden stick to the sliding slope…. (will it hold me long enough)….. it is holding me strong enough…… at the very least up till this moment…….<br /><br />Salman Abo Setta….. a magnificent man….. a shrewd geographer…. He offered me the very first hint to find my way out of my diaspora…… it took him ten years….. ten years to end his diaspora…. (But how long will it take me?)…. It is true he is still in physical diaspora outside of his own land… but at the very least he ended his mental diaspora….<br />“The Atlas of Palestine in 1948” was his route to salvation. He froze history, he gave me the very first hint to where I should go…. He unraveled all the misleading covers of reality.. he faced all the molesting of history… he showed us the place we left …. The place we left both mentally and physically…. He gave us the right name of the place to go back to… with all its villages, its towns, its tiny alleys, even its description….. Salman abo Setta was strong enough to endure ten years of extensive research.. his loyalty to the cause fed his stamina until he provided us with a map to where we want to go… until her provided us with a photograph that once seen nobody can take from us….. he provided us with “knowledge” and knowledge provided us with “Ownership”……<br />I met him in the House of Commons while he was talking about the ten years journey and he pulled me off the sliding slope (I still feel it won’t handle me for too long)… I came out of the lecture with one aim in mind….. to get a copy of the atlas of the truth… the atlas of the real Palestine as we left it…. (is it enough to sustain me? Do I just need the atlas?)….. I managed in getting one of the last two copies in London at that time…. I opened it and on the very first page it said:<br /><br /><em>“To the people of Palestine…. Past, Present and Future.”<br /></em><br />Salman abo Setta, a mid sixties Palestinian whose face never complained from carrying this modest calm smile. A smile that inspired me to strive to end my diaspora… I look at the elegantly presented and comprehensive atlas and wonder….. what next? What will I do? Now I have the atlas in hand, I have the reality in hand, I know where I want to go back to…. But how will I go? Then…. A new realization came to mind….<br /><br />It’s all about the starting points…… when “the other” actions always starting with a full thorough knowledge of those who happen to be “us” …. A full detailed knowledge stemming from the fact that many of them were once among “us” and stemming from the fact that the rest came from the “audience” of “us” and “them”….. whereas our starting point is always…… “observations”… “analysis” …. “studies” …… but never a direct exposure…. Never an “experience” ….. never a “certainty”…….<br /><br />I will not give up to the myths and restrictions….. I will go to the land…. I will learn the language….. I will acquire the “knowledge”….. the Arab Nationalist guides did not help me… the Islamists promises did not satisfy me….. the Amr Khaleds of this world did not end my misery……<br /><br /><em>I will end my diaspora with my own hand…… and will tell you very soon about it….. </em></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>proudly so…..<br /></em><br />Signed<br />An Arab in Diaspora<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1