An Egyptian holds a candle and at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo December 31, 2011. Egyptians held a ceremony in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to commemorate those killed during and after the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak’s regime. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
“The last thing I remember before the riot police surrounded me was punching a man who had groped me. Who the hell thinks of copping a feel as you’re taking shelter from bullets?”
Bruised but defiant: Mona Eltahawy on her assault by Egyptian security forces
Mona Eltahawy’s tweets about her assault in Cairo made global headlines. Here she tells her full, extraordinary story for the first time
Read it.
As Clashes Continue in Egypt, a Media War Breaks Out
On the third day of clashes between security forces and protesters in the center of the capital, a new battle broke out Sunday between Egypt’s state-run and independent media over whom to blame for the violence.
Read more —> NYTimes
Egyptians line up to cast their votes in historic election
Voters stood in long lines outside some polling centers in Cairo well before they opened at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), a rare sign of interest in political participation after decades of apathy created by the mass rigging of every vote.
“We are very happy to be here and to be part of the election,” said Wafa Zaklama, 55, voting for the first time in a parliamentary . (source)
Egyptian activist Mohammed Ezzeldin at Occupy Wall Street’s special assembly in Washington Square Park on October 8, 2011
(Source: The Huffington Post)
The 8 wealthiest industrial countries, meeting at the G-8, urged that the world give Egypt, Tunisia and liberated Libya (‘emerging democracies in the Arab world’) some $40 billion in aid. The sum will make headlines but there is less to it than meets the eye.
The G8 is only ponying up $10 billion itself, and that is only in the form of relatively vague promises of a sort that have often not been completely followed through on in the past. It is urging that the Gulf oil states to give $10 billion, though some of them, like Saudi Arabia, were not actually very happy about Hosni Mubarak being overthrown and it is not clear that they will want to help grassroots democratization succeed. That $10 bn. may or may not come through, and if it did it might have strings attached that would actually be undemocratic.
Then the G8 is urging that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank provide another $20 bn., but that aid is likely to be in the form of loans.
But Egypt alone is carrying $80 billion in debt, and its debt servicing costs have risen because its credit rating has been downgraded in the wake of the political crisis.
Tunisia is even worse off, with 1/8 of Egypt’s population but a debt of $50 billion racked up by the Zine El Abidine kleptocracy. Before the crisis, Tunisia had been looking to borrow nearly $3 billion this year just to pay the interest on the old debt and cover budget shortfalls (caused by the ruling class stealing the country blind).
So the G8′s idea of getting these countries further in debt, and making vague promises on direct aid, isn’t probably actually very helpful.
Read the rest of his entry here.
Had to see this coming. All that talk of erasing debt went right out the window, huh?
(via dominickbrady)
Egyptian woman and activist Bothaina Kamel announced her candidacy for president of Egypt.
“I intend to run for [the] presidency in 2011,” Kamel wrote. Coinciding with the announcement, she also changed her profile description to “Journalist & Mother and Egyptian presidential nominee.”
Kamel was active before and during the 18 day revolution that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. She is known as being a supporter of the youth movements and a familiar face at almost all pro-democracy protests in previous years leading up to the January 25 movement.
Kamel began her career in radio where she hosted a popular radio show called “e3terafat li’leya,” or “Nightly Confessions,” where anonymous callers told her personal stories. She later moved to television, and until recently hosted “argook ifhemny,” or “Please Understand Me,” where she interviewed many social and political figures in Egypt.
She announced the news on her twitter account.
(Source: abudaii)
Before she was arrested, tortured, stripped and subjected to a “virginity exam” — all for her pro-democracy activities — Salwa al-Housiny Gouda admired the Egyptian Army.
Her odyssey is a reminder that the Egyptian revolution that exhilarated so many around the world in January and February remains unfinished. The army is as much in charge as ever, and it has taken over from the police the task of torturing dissidents. President Hosni Mubarak is gone, but in some ways Mubarakism continues.
Ms. Gouda, a 20-year-old hairdresser, is unmarried and strong-willed. She threw herself into the democracy movement early this year, sleeping in a tent on Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, the movement’s epicenter.
Like the other activists, she focused her rage initially on Mr. Mubarak and on the police, rather than the army. “I trusted the army,” she told me, and she and other protesters often chanted slogans like, “The army and the people are one.”
But that was an illusion. Never squeaky clean, the army has increasingly taken over the role of domestic security from the police and seems fed up with disorder.
![abudai:
Egyptian woman and activist Bothaina Kamel announced her candidacy for president of Egypt.
“I intend to run for [the] presidency in 2011,” Kamel wrote. Coinciding with the announcement, she also changed her profile description to “Journalist & Mother and Egyptian presidential nominee.”
Kamel was active before and during the 18 day revolution that brought down former President Hosni Mubarak on February 11. She is known as being a supporter of the youth movements and a familiar face at almost all pro-democracy protests in previous years leading up to the January 25 movement.
Kamel began her career in radio where she hosted a popular radio show called “e3terafat li’leya,” or “Nightly Confessions,” where anonymous callers told her personal stories. She later moved to television, and until recently hosted “argook ifhemny,” or “Please Understand Me,” where she interviewed many social and political figures in Egypt.
She announced the news on her twitter account.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj1umo4VLN1qzatqbo1_500.jpg)
