Tuesday 30 August 2011

Panda under the Tree

Artist unknown. Photo taken on Fri 26 August 2011 on Mohamed Mahmoud Street off Tahrir Square


I first discovered Panda in Tahrir on one of the walls of the Mogama3. Smitten by Panda and following a few more sightings, I decided to make it my mission to locate Panda around the city. 

If you have seen Panda, please post a comment with a location, so that I can take more pictures and document its whereabouts around Cairo. Thank you.

Monday 29 August 2011

Saturday 27 August 2011

Flagman the Superhero who loved Egypt



The Amazing Flagman by Carlos Latuff
This is the story of the Amazing Flagman. It's the story of a man called Ahmed Shehat whose action I feel came to represent more than a symbol of protest.


Flagman is a superhero who stood opposite the face of despair. He took a stand and in doing so ignited a feeling of hope again.

A young Egyptian told me: Flagman showed us if Egyptians set their mind to something they can achieve it.

Flagman's like the heroic child of Jan 25 which stood up for Egypt's dignity. 

Flagman put a smile on people's faces again.

Give peace a chance


Jan 25 gave Egyptians the right to express oppressed sentiments freely. 

The Sinai incident provoked a deserved public outcry. Unquestionably Egypt and its people deserve dignity. 

But as Egypt works to become a modern democratic state and as it takes a dignified stand in international and regional affairs, I ask of Egypt to always start with the premise of peace. 

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Panda: Under the Bridge

Fri 12 August 2011, under the bridge near El Ahly Club 

Fri 12 August 2011, under the bridge near El Ahly Club

Thanks Divadalliaa for helping me find Panda. This sighting was under the bridge near El Ahly Club.

I first discovered Panda in Tahrir on one of the walls of the Mogama3. Smitten by Panda and following a few more sightings, I decided to make it my mission to locate Panda around the city. 

If you have seen Panda, please post a comment with a location, so that I can take more pictures and document its whereabouts around Cairo. Thank you.




Saturday 13 August 2011

Mubarak's Trial

Like every Egyptian, I didn't believe Mubarak's trial would actually take place.

I arrived at the Police Academy, where the trial was being held, at around 8.45 a.m. on August 3rd. I didn't have a permit to go into the court, but instead I found myself among countless other international media outlets, following proceedings on a large screen.

The question on my mind: Was Mubarak really going to be trialled?

It was only until we saw his helicopter arrive, of which I got a long shot, that it seemed I was about to witness an unforgettable moment in Egypt's post Jan 25 history.

Seeing Mubarak lying on a hospital stretcher, in a cage along with his two sons Alaa and Gamal, the former Interior Minister Habib El Adly and a few other accused, seemed surreal. The trial seemed like a play set in a Greek arena. Many Egyptians commented on the theatricality of it all. I was waiting for vegetables to be hurled at the cage.

Seeing Mubarak on a stretcher aroused my sympathy. I felt the process did't show humanity, if it required the disposed president to be wheeled in on a stretcher. I'm 100% for this trial, but I feel it needs to be handled humanely, regardless of 30 years of inhumanity under Mubarak.

Post Jan 25 should espouse universal human rights regardless who is on trial. A friend later remarked that the stretcher was probably part of an act to arouse people's sympathy. Maybe I was manipulated by the conditions surrounding the trial, but that did not change my opinion that Mubarak should be tried.

On a philosophical level, aside from all of his crimes, as I said before, Mubarak robbed millions of their right to dream.

I talked to some of the mothers' of martyrs, a heart breaking experience. At one point, I felt like I was crossing the line into a very private moment, thanks to my camera.

At another point, stones were thrown at us from somewhere. Things just blew up in an instance. People started running to the other side of the road, taking shelter until the attack had ended. Someone claimed the stones were being thrown at us from inside the Police Academy. But I wasn't sure if this was true. The commotion had started so suddenly, it was hard to trace it back to its source.

Pro Mubarak supporters were sitting in an area that was cordoned off. I managed to interview two supporters and it seemed like a psychedelic experience. An Egyptian producer later told me, they were most likely paid supporters, which judging by what they said, seemed very feasible.

I was conducting an interview with someone, when the crowd flared up again. This time it seemed more serious. Apparently Pro Mubarak supporters and Mubarak opponents were fighting. Stones flying in the air. Again I couldn't determine how it all happened, as things ignited in less than a minute.

I ran to a sheltered area filming some of what was going on and I watched, from a distance, riot police move in to disperse the fighting crowd. Things calmed down eventually.

I decided to go home at that point. Job done. Another eventful day on this journey.

Next act: August 15th.


Monday 8 August 2011

Twitter, Islamists and Stereotypes

The Islamists Cometh was the original headline to this blog entry, as my first draft was set against a backdrop of rage. 


Before going to Tahrir's last Millionia (a million protest) on Jul 29, I did a quick hashtag search of the word Tahrir on Twitter, to get the latest updates from activists and journalists on the ground. 

As I read some of the #Tahrir messages, I came across a specific tweet, that prompted this blog entry. It was by a (female) journalist who tweeted: 

"Interesting that salafis apparently wanted their voice heard today, yet many of those I approached refused to talk to me." 

After reading this tweet, I went to the square expecting to encounter the same type of brush off, but my experience of Tahrir was very different to that of the journalist in question. Every Islamist I approached, spoke to me. 

I was angry that a single tweet had sent out to the world, a presumptuous message that reconfirmed one of many negative stereotypes associated with Islam these days. In defence of the journalist, I have no idea of the surrounding circumstances that led to her opinion. 


But the point I'm trying to make is about Twitter and its power to exaggerate the truth. One tweet can be equaled to one pixel. One tweet can impossibly tell a complete story, just as one pixel can impossibly provide a full image. 

As I arrived in Tahrir, I watched Islamist groups flex their muscles in a show of strength, vis-à-vis the secular political groups, who suddenly seemed to disappear like a speck of sand in a large arena. I was angry at that.

Although I arrived in the early evening when the Millionia was no longer in full throttle, I saw a Tahrir I no longer recognised. It conjured an image of an Islamic fundamentalist state that I didn't identify with. 


The representation of Islam as an absolutist political ideology had successfully added to the pool of negative imagery surrounding Islam in the media. I was angry at that.


Tension was in the air and it felt like a classic "us" versus "them."

After overcoming my rage, I acknowledged that I didn't want to fall into the trappings of Islamist typecasting; Islamic fundamentalist groups like the Salafis of Egypt are portrayed as evil. 


I also dislike the term Islamist, as it is dangerously generalist.


As I began approaching salafis, I realised the action of talking to each woman and man individually helped breakdown a wall, brick by brick. I also recognised this process would require more than a single afternoon in Tahrir.


My final encounter was with a young Salafi doctor in his 20s/30s, who left an impression on me. He was mild spoken and eloquent. He belonged to the Salafyo Costa movement, a group of young Salafis keen on breaking down some of the prejudices against them. Salafis drink cappuccinos too.




If I had the right to stand in Tahrir, so did they. If I had the right to express my opinion, so did they. But the question left on my mind was, if Islamic fundamentalists were in power, would they tolerate my right to stand there too?
































Friday 5 August 2011

Where is Panda?

Panda on El Horreya Cafe
My second sighting of Panda was on one of the outside walls of El Horreya (Freedom) Café in downtown Cairo, on the 22nd of July 2011. 


I first discovered Panda in Tahrir on one of the walls of the Mogama3. Smitten by Panda and following this second sighting, I decided to make it my mission to locate Panda around the city. 


If you have seen Panda, please post a comment with a location, so that I can take more pictures and document its whereabouts around Cairo. Thank you.







I love Panda

Panda on Mogama3, Tahrir 

This is Panda, discovered in Tahrir on one of the walls of the Mogama3, on the 22nd of July 2011. Smitten by Panda and following a further sighting, I decided to make it my mission to locate  Panda around the city.

Translation of line next to Panda: "El Mushir is making me very sad." El Mushir is Field Marshall Tantawi who now heads up Egypt's ruling military council.

If you have seen Panda, please post a comment with a location, so that I can take more pictures and document its whereabouts around Cairo. Thank you.