ياتيكم الفيلم فى أربعة أجزاء . A Canadian documentary film At Night They Danced directed by Isabelle Lavigne about a group of Egyptian belly dancers, in 4 parts. Watch in 1 2 3 4 إعلان فيلم “وفى الليل يرقص” لإيزبيلا لافين . Trailer of “At Night, They Dance” - 2011 with thanks, shoukran, to salmadahab.
(via nuestrahermana)
Three youth activists in Egypt have been charged with the crime of “tarnishing the president’s image,” a move that many see as evidence of declining freedoms in post-revolution Egypt, reports our partner paperAl-Hayat.
Egyyyypt nooooooo whyyyyy? :(
(via kuchibooty)
Protests on Tuesday again. And also tonight. Protests forever.
Also, they officiall will be boycotting the vote instead of voting no on the Constitutional Referendum. Which is not going to end well.
Yesterday, in a mainly symbolic move, Egypt’s largest industrial and agricultural city, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, declared itself autonomous from the country and the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. This is coming on the heels of almost two weeks of protests, where several people have died and hundreds have been wounded. Last night several hundreds of thousands of people marched on the Presidential Palace, but fortunately the situation remained peaceful, even with the presence of a Brotherhood protest only three miles away.
It is still an uneasy situation, but things have remained peaceful, which gives me hope that everything will settle down and we can continue with finals uninterrupted. That being said, protests will probably continue through this week up until the constitutional referendum, unless they cancel it, or move it back, although at this point pretty much everyone is just too angry to care. All the rumors flying around about Muslim Brotherhood “torture chambers” or news that Morsi is set to make a declaration that gives even wider powers to the already practically independent institution that the military is becoming are not helping.
Is it bad that I want things to get worse so I can get evacuated to Turkey and not have to take my Arabic final?
Top: The dome of Cairo University where the protests are taking place.
Bottom, Left: Protesters marching down Dokki Street, a block away from my apartment.
Bottom, Right: Police praying in the center of Mesaha Square. They have three large trucks parked across the street. Only slightly reassuring, but so far the protests have remained peaceful (the only death was caused by falling tree). The Police are actually probably staying as far away from Tahrir as possible, because their presence in the square usually is what leads to confrontations.
All pictures taken from the balcony of my apartment and the apartment upstairs.
Not even 1 pm yet, and we can already hear chanting.
In a “better for them, worse for me” move, the Muslim Brotherhood has switched their protests from Tahrir square where the opposition has been protesting, to Cairo University, which is located a mere 10 minute walk from my apartment. By noon, thousands of pro-Morsi/pro-Islamist protesters had already gathered. Around 12:30 I was in the kitchen cooking up my lunch, when I realized that I could hear very faint chanting. This is from a window that points away from the direction of the protests. From the balcony, that faces towards them, they were slightly louder, but we still can’t hear what they are saying. It is very eerie.
Matthew says that people may march through Mesaha square, which is the area my (15th floor) apartment overlooks, but my guess is that most marches will opt for the wider/more visible Dokki Street a block over. Here’s hoping for no marches, because if they pass through Mesaha, they are almost guaranteed to be heading for 6th of October bridge, which ends up right in the middle of Tahrir. If they march to Tahrir, there will be blood.
More updates to come.
It sounds like Orcs. Straight up LOTR type shit. Heeyyy study abroad.
Liberal and secular opposition groups announced plans Nov. 28 to hold rallies in downtown Cairo’s Tahrir Square Nov. 30. Meanwhile, officials with the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, rescheduled the time and place of a demonstration previously slated to occur Nov. 30 outside of Cairo University; the new demonstration will occur on Dec.1 in Tahrir Square.
iJet alets
no no no no no no no no no no :( stupid stupid.
Louis Armstrong plays for his wife in Giza, 1961
my blog has been kinda Egypt heavy lately but this. is. so. precious.
(via desireeandmarie)
Thousands march to Tahrir as pressure piles on Egypt’s Morsi
CAIRO — Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi faced nationwide protests Tuesday after digging in his heels over a controversial decree granting him sweeping powers, in the most divisive crisis since he took power in June.
Thousands of lawyers left their syndicate chanting, “The people want the downfall of the regime,” — the signature chant of the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year— as they made their way to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square.
Several other marches were preparing to set off from around the capital to join thousands of protesters already in the square to denounce Morsi’s decree.
In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, several hundred gathered in Qaitbay square, with two large marches expected to join them later.
“Down with the rule of the Supreme Guide,” they chanted, in reference to the head of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Morsi ran for office.
A rival rally in Cairo by the Muslim Brotherhood in support of the president was called off to “avoid potential unrest” but that has done little to abate the division among supporters and foes of Morsi.
“The Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution” read one banner in Tahrir. Another said the president was “pushing the people to civil disobedience.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood are liars, read another.
Sporadic clashes between police and protesting youths continued into the afternoon near Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
“We will stay in Tahrir until Morsi cancels his declaration,” protester Ahmed Fahmy, 34 told AFP.
Several universities and public schools cancelled classes in anticipation of larger protests, but so far everything has remained fairly calm here. We’ve had a couple large marches pass through Dokki, but none so far in the square where I live. Tahrir, however is a different story. People are saying these are the largest protests since the revolution, quite a feat considering that most people have work on Tuesday, work they probably want to keep since the rapid decline in Egypt’s market a few days ago. The Muslim Brotherhood were supposed to hold their own counter-protests today, but called them off at the last minute “in order to avoid bloodshed,” but I can tell you this is not going to prevent supporters of the party from gathering.
So far there have been a few clashes, but nothing too serious. Only four deaths have been reported, most recent happening only hours ago in the square (cause: tear gas suffocation). Of those three, two were teenagers, including a fifteen year old Brotherhood supporter who died a few days ago in another city. Honestly, most of what is going on is happening in more rural areas. Some people say that the 2011 revolution was just the beginning, and that now we are going to be seeing an uprising among the lowest of Egypt’s poor, which appears to be what is going on right now.
additional notes:
- Judging by tweets, many in Tahrir are first time protesters
- There are also apparently a fair number of women
- Those interested in reading live tweets from Tahrir can follow the #nov27live tag on twitter
- The Muslim Brotherhood’s English language twitter (@ikhwanweb) is a really fascinating look at how Morsi’s party is responding to the protests (hint, not well)
