Graffiti of soldier in Zamalek

Graffiti in Cairo's district of Zamalek. I took the photo on December 26.

Human rights put to the test in turbulent Middle East

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif and Laura Schmid

   Cairo (dpa) - In June, a Bahraini military court sentenced activist Ali Abdulemam to 15 years in jail on charges of spreading false information and seeking to overthrow the government.

   Six months later, Maikel Nabil, an Egyptian blogger, was sentenced to two years in prison for using the internet to spread "lies about the armed forces."

   Almost a year after the death of Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi stirred up a political maelstrom across the region, human rights - one of the key demands of the Arab uprisings - are still being put to the test.

   There has been some good news. Tunisia's one-time dissident Moncef Marzouki, for instance, has been elected the country's president.

   But many activists are worried that the victory of the Islamist Ennahda party in the October election could yet derail the country's democratization efforts.

   "Tunisians revolted to establish a new system, where human rights are at the centre of reforms, not for giving the old system a religious component,” said Tunisian rights advocate Yassin Ayyari.

   According to him, Ennahda lacks an encompassing reform programme and "instead of addressing reforms, moves the debate towards sentimental, religious problems."

   "The most jeopardized human right is the right to be different," Ayyari told a recent panel discussion on human rights in Cairo. He said that many followers of Ennahada falsely equated criticizing the government with criticizing Islam.

   The rise of Islamism in the wake of the region's uprisings has triggered fears that the tide will impede the promotion of human rights, by subtly changing the mindset of the people and leading them away from their initial struggle for a new system that respects human rights.

   "The Islamist parties in Tunisia and Egypt focus on religion and thereby herd people away from the real issues on the ground," Khawla Mattar, head of the United Nation Information Centre in Cairo, told dpa.

   Dozens of Egyptians have been killed in 2011 in a string of clashes with army and police forces over the right to protest, she noted.

   Frej Fenniche, a senior human rights officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, believes that “human rights in Egypt have developed negatively” since the popular uprising that forced Hosny Mubarak out of office in February.

   According to Fenniche, the military rulers who took over after Mubarak have failed to implement the expected legislative changes.

   Worst still, they have also referred over 12,000 civilians to military trials – an average of about 50 a day - between February until August alone. Unlike in civil courts, defendants cannot appeal verdicts passed by military tribunals.

   “The reality on the ground is that the Supreme Court of the Armed Forces is adopting the inhumane methods of the Mubarak regime. Over the past months, we have recorded several cases of torture and excessive violations of the right to be tried before civil courts by the (ruling) military council," said Nehal al-Banna, of the Cairo Institute for Human Right Studies.

   The situation is not much better in the Gulf region, which has also been hit by a yearning for change.

   “There is no clear picture about the future in Yemen. There are realistic fears of a civil war as people increasingly distrust each other,” said Yemeni activist Hend al-Nasiri.

   A November Gulf-brokered deal involving a peaceful power transfer is still not complete, with forces loyal to long-standing president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his rivals occasionally locked in bloody violence.

   In Bahrain, pro-democracy protests have so far failed to topple their long-standing rulers, with the Gulf Cooperation Council  accused by activists of playing a key role in quelling the protests, either by force or through political means.

   “The grip of the Al-Khalifa (royal) family on power in Bahrain is still tight. They use excessive force to keep power, forcing many human rights activists into hiding," Hussain Yousif, a coordinator from the Bahrain Press Association, told dpa.

   According to Yousif, who fears detention and is in exile in Egypt, "everyone who critically speaks out in public (in Bahrain) faces arrest and false accusations."

   The United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems to be one of the few countries to have avoided the protests that have erupted almost everywhere else in the Middle East. Yet, government opponents say they do not feel safe. The case of five political activists detained for seven months on charges of insulting the Gulf country's president, for instance, have caused a stir.

   They were finally pardoned in November, one day after being sentenced to up to three years in prison, following strong pressure from international human rights groups.

   According to Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, their freeing was a positive step.

   "But a commutation alone will not undo the government's terrible mishandling of this case," Whitson said.


Also picked up by Bikya Masr and Bahrain Spring   

Egypt's revolution is false dawn for women

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
   Cairo (dpa) – Hopes that the Egyptian revolution would improve the status of women in the Arab world's most populous country have been dimmed after a parliamentary election dominated by men and images of police beating female protesters made headlines all over the world.

   Women turnout in the first two rounds of Egypt's first democratic parliamentary election was high. Many waited hours in long lines to cast their ballots. However, less than 10 per cent of some 11,000 candidates vying for parliament seats are women, advocacy groups say.



epa

    “Many women voted for candidates who would not serve their interests,” said Naiera al-Leithy of the Al-Nakib Centre for Training and Democracy Support, a non-governmental organization that monitors the election.

   Under Egyptian law, two-thirds of parliament's 498 seats are allocated to party lists, with the other third earmarked for independent candidates. Each party list must have at least one woman, but her rank on the 10-member list is decided by the party.  

   Most parties have relegated women to the bottom five slots on their lists, minimizing their chances of winning a seat.

   None of the women who stood as independents in the first two stages of the election, held in late November and mid-December, has won.


   Amany Essawi, a 46-year-old government employee, is one of them.

   “Women did not have a say in the constitutional declaration" said Essawi, referring to a governing document unilaterally drafted by the ruling military council in March after former president Hosny Mubarak stepped down in February.

   "Very few were appointed in the ensuing governments. In fact, women have been sidelined from the democratization process,” said Essawi, who stood in Giza, Egypt's third largest city.

   Essawi believes that the media, educational institutions and women themselves must join hands to improve the status of Egyptian women and give them a greater role in society and politics.

   “The new parliament will be the one setting the educational standards,” she said, voicing little hope of future legislation to improve the status of women.

   Al-Leithy from the AL-Nakib NGO says that despite a high voter turnout, including among women, many Egyptians voted for candidates and parties they know little or nothing about in a country where the literacy rate among adults is 66 per cent.

   Many women rights activists feel that their fight is no easier now than under Mubarak.

   Women were actively engaged in the popular protests that ended Mubarak's 30-year, organizing demonstrations and giving first aid to people injured in clashes with police.

   That role has continued in recent weeks during violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo, where women demonstrators were attacked by police. An incident involving three riot policemen beating a woman and dragging her on the floor with her shirt ripped open, drew condemnation at home and abroad.

   A picture of the incident was printed on the front pages of some Egyptian newspapers and was aired by international broadcasters.

   "We – the women of the revolution - have worked hard to mobilize the streets. We have rich experiences and have a vision,” said Huda Nasrallah, a lawyer who is running in Cairo’s northern district of al-Sahel.

   “Instead of being honoured for our role in the revolution, we have been marginalized and even beaten,” said Nasrallah, who is running for the newly formed Socialist Popular Alliance Party.

   Thousands of women marched in Cairo on Monday to protest the incident and to demand an end to violence against protesters.
  
   It was not the first attack on women demonstrators under the ruling military council. Less than a month after Mubarak's resignation, some 200 women gathering in Cairo to mark International Women's Day were attacked and sexually harassed by a group of men.

   In March, a group of women detained by the army were beaten and forced to take virginity tests. The ruling military admitted such tests had taken place, saying they were necessary to prevent women from claiming they had been raped by security and prison officials.

   The tests were condemned by human rights groups as abusive and insulting.

   “Many people have blamed this girl rather than standing by her,” said Nasrallah, the parliamentary hopeful, referring to criticism for obscene behaviour leveled at the woman beaten by police. “We still need a long time to change society's perception of women.”

Egypt's women up pressure on military over violence

By Nehal El-Sherif and Ramadan Al-Fatash, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – After she was beaten by soldiers during clashes in Cairo, ativist Ghada Kamal is more determined than ever to force Egypt's military rulers to hand over power to a civilian administration.


Egyptian women protest against military violence/AP

    “If there are still men in Egypt, they have to turn up in the streets to join us in our struggle against the military,” Kamal, a physician, told an anti-military rally in Cairo on Tuesday.
  
   The image of another girl, whose shirt was ripped by policemen who beat and dragged her on the floor during clashes last week, drew international criticism. Fourteen people were killed and nearly 800 injured in clashes that started on December 16.
  
   Thousands of women marched in the Egyptian capital this week, chanting slogans against the military, saying police and soldiers should be ashamed for the attacks on women.
 
   Placards raised at the demonstration read: “Egypt’s girls are a red line” and  “It's a shame on our soldiers to attack protesters and assault women.”

   Some women activists have threatened to take the case to international courts if the incident is not investigated and the culprits punished.

   In an apparent attempt to appease the protesters, the military rulers, who have been governing since former president Hosny Mubarak's resignation in February, expressed their ”extreme regret” over what they called transgressions against female demonstrators.

   “We fully respect Egypt's women and appreciate their positive engagement in the political life on the road to Egypt's democratic transformation,” said the junta in a statement on Tuesday.

   Its promise to punish the culprits did little to placate women activists.

   “The military council has been at pains to prevent women from engagement in making the future of post-Mubarak Egypt,” said Reem al-Khafesh, a female activist. “The military has even sought to degrade girls by subjecting them to virginity tests”.

   Al Khafesh was referring to virginity tests reportedly forced by military authorities on women detained during a pro-democracy protest in Cairo in March.

   Egyptian newspapers on Wednesday quoted the head of the military judiciary, Adel al-Mursi, as saying that the suspects in the incident were being tried before the Supreme Military Court.

   Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the military over the violence against women protesters.

   “This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," said Clinton.

   Meanwhile, a dozen Egyptian opposition groups have called for a fresh mass protest on Friday to condemn violence by police and soldiers against demonstrators.

   The rally will demand that the military expedite power transfer to a civilian administration by February 11 at the latest - the day that will mark the anniversary of Mubarak's ouster.

   The military has pledged to hand over power to an elected president by next July.

   “Instead of being honoured for our role in the revolution (against Mubarak), we have been marginalized and even beaten up,” said Huda Nasrallah, who is standing for parliament.

   “Many people have blamed the girl brutalized by the soldiers (at the weekend) rather than standing by her,” Nasrallah, told dpa.

   “We still need a long time to change society's perception of women.”  

Saudi prince buys 300-million-dollar stake in Twitter

Author: Nehal El-Sherif, Andy Goldberg

   Riyadh/ San Francisco (dpa) - Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal announced on Monday that he had bought a stake in the networking website Twitter in a 300-million-dollar deal.

   The Kingdom Holding Company, an investment firm founded by Al-Waleed, said that the "strategic deal comes after several months of negotiations."

   Al-Waleed is a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz. His net worth is estimated by Forbes magazine to be 19.6 billion dollars and he is well-known as a strategic investor is such iconic companies as Apple, Citigroup and News Corp.

  "The deal of 2012 is a gift to every Arab citizen. It demonstrates our ability to identify promising investment opportunities that are characterized by high growth as well as global presence and impact," Al-Waleed said in a statement.

   Twitter, one of the most popular networking and microblogging websites, has played a key role in the Arab uprisings that began this year. Activists have used it to spread news of protests and arrests during their rallies against Arab leaders.

  “We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years.Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend,” Ahmed Halawani, a KHC Executive said.

   Twitter, which claims to have more than 100 million users around the world, is said to be planning an IPO within two years. It raised 800 million dollars in June from a variety of investors in a deal that reportedly valued the company as high as 8 billion dollars. 

republished here and here

Egypt's rulers defend military violence, blame protesters

By Christine Bro and Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Egypt's military council on Monday blamed protesters for the violence that left 12 civilians killed since clashes in central Cairo began four days ago, saying the army had to intervene to protect public property.

   "Our soldiers [used] self-restraint and were insulted. Rocks and petrol bombs were thrown at them," said Adel Emara, a member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

   “Using violence against protesters is a fake allegation circulated by mass media,” he added.

   During a press conference, Emara showed video of young men throwing rocks and petrol bombs at government buildings as well as interviews with alleged witnesses who said they were paid to attack the troops.

   The country is facing a "systemic plan" targeting its security, said Emara, adding that the military council had information that people gathered in Tahrir Square were planning to burn the country's parliament building on Monday.

   The building housing parliament is located a few metres away from Tahrir Square, near the cabinet headquarters, where the recent clashes took place.

   A cautious calm prevailed in central Cairo on Monday, for the first time since clashes began on Friday. Protesters are demanding that the military hand over power to a civilian administration.

   Ahmad Aggour, a 23-year-old protester injured by the military, said that the number of protesters had declined due to the violent clampdown.

   "This is not just a street war but a media war because now public support for the protests is so low. Many people are with the military council because they are receiving false information from state television," Aggour told dpa.

   "The military council wants these buildings to burn so they put the blame on protesters," he added, referring to a library containing rare books that was set on fire during the recent clashes.

   The army has erected a third concrete wall to prevent the protesters from reaching the nearby parliament and cabinet offices.

   Members of the opposition April 6 movement said that the ruling council had lied about not using violence on protesters and blamed it for the deaths and injuries of protesters.

   “Unfortunately the military is not admitting the truth,” the group said.

   The group showed journalists footage of soldiers beating protesters and using live fire against civilians. It also showed footage of protesters dousing a fire, discounting allegations by the military council that protesters were setting buildings on fire.

   “Despite all the violence that happened, including against members from our group, we will continue to adopt a non-violent approach,” Ahmad Maher, one of the founders of April 6, told reporters.

   The military council has also been criticized for using violence against female protesters.

   Military Council member Emara said that an investigation had been launched into an incident where a girl was stripped of her clothes in the street and beaten by army forces.

   The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned Monday what she described as the "brutal suppression" of demonstrations by military and security forces in Cairo.

  "The graphic images of protesters, including women, being brutally clubbed and assaulted, long after the point when they are showing any resistance, are utterly shocking," Pillay said in a statement.

   This latest violence is the worst since last month, when more than 40 people were killed in clashes between security personnel and pro-democracy protesters near Tahrir Square.

   Despite being praised for siding with the protest movement that forced former president Hosny Mubarak to set down in February, the military has since been criticized for using force against pro-democracy demonstrators and refusing to hand power to a civilian administration.

Arab uprisings give way to uncertainty in 2012

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - By the end of 2011, three North African countries will have ousted their leaders while a fourth, Yemen, appears on the verge of forcing out the president, although by more political means.

   Yet other countries appear to be trapped in a conflict between the people and their regimes, in a phase that - despite an increasing death toll and continuous protests - seems static.

   "Change is the magic word of the year, which started with anger and finished with uncertainty," said Basma al-Husseini, manager of Al-Mawred al-Thaqafy, a cultural exchange centre in Cairo.

   Within the region, the outcome in Syria is the most uncertain. After nine months of protests and the death of at least 5,000 people, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not seem to be giving up power soon.

   "Al-Assad is finished historically, but he can last well into 2012," said Sultan Al Qassemi, a commentator on Arab affairs based in the United Arab Emirates.

   He said al-Assad's remaining length of time in office depended on how desperately his local and international supporters were "trying to make a point."

   Arab countries have put pressure on Damascus to end the violence, but are not backing all uprisings across the region.

   In the kingdom of Bahrain, they stopped short of supporting pro-democracy protests.

   Rallies in Oman and Kuwait were swiftly contained by the rulers, while the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sent its troops to help the Sunni Bahraini royal family end protests led by the Shiite majority.

   "Right now, the Gulf is the only bloc working closely trying to preserve one other," Al Qassemi said, adding that he did not expect any changes in the Gulf region in the "next two to three years."

   In Yemen, the GCC intervened with a political solution to the crisis that gave outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity.

   However, the power transfer deal did not quell the protests, with activists still camping in the squares, calling for the persecution of Saleh.

   Transitions in Tunisia and Egypt have made greater progress but, to the disappointment of many, the post-revolution phase has been marked by protests, violence, and apparent power struggles between political groups.

   "I'm most optimistic about Tunisia," said Florian Kohstall, a German political researcher based in Egypt. "The elections for the constitutional assembly were very transparent and marked the beginning of a new era."

   In October, Tunisia became the first "Arab Spring" country to hold elections, which were described as "remarkably free and fair."

   "Contrary to Egypt, elections in Tunisia can be interpreted as a real break with the old system," added Kohstall, who heads the Cairo office of the Free University of Berlin.

   Tunisia has seen less violence than Egypt, Libya, Syria or Yemen. By comparison, the Egyptian transition was marred by intermittent clashes between protesters and police forces, as well as attacks on the country's Christian minority.

   In Egypt, some activists believe polls will take their revolution to a new political level. Others fear it will give legitimacy to the ruling military council, appointed by the ousted leader Hosny Mubarak.

   A first round of elections was frowned upon after initial results showed big gains for the Islamists, notably the Muslim Brotherhood's newly founded Freedom and Justice Party. Similarly, in Tunisia the Islamist party Ennahda won the highest share of the vote.

   There are fears that Libya could follow Saudi Arabia in adopting a strict interpretation of Islamic law, after the country's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in September that any "law that violates the Sharia is null and void legally."

   Geographically located between Egypt and Tunisia, Abdul Jalil's reassurances of maintaining a moderate society in Libya have not removed such concerns.

   Al Qassemi believes that Islamist gains are a positive step, whether in Egypt or Tunisia.

   "They have been an unknown entity for the people for eight decades, now they will leave the realm of the mysterious and enter reality. They need to be allowed to fail," Al Qassemi said.

   However, according to him, it was too early to judge which of the Arab countries would reach their goals first. "This is not an overnight issue," he said.

   While some observers remain optimistic about the future following the Arab uprisings, Lebanese columnist Mohamed al-Sammak warned that people who have revolted once can do it again, if their goals are not achieved.

   "Through such transition, it is normal to go through difficult and complicated times," he said. "Yet, it is important that it does not become a new disappointment, because if that happens, it would set the stage for a new set of movements seeking change."

Youth’s fight for democracy shifts from Tahrir to parliament

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – Like dozens of young Egyptians standing for parliament, Amr Abdel Hady does not have much money to spend on campaigning.

   So he has spent most of the past weeks walking around the streets in his district in Giza near Cairo to canvass potential voters.

   “They could see I was coming alone to talk and listen to them. I have neither bodyguards nor campaigners,” said Abdel Hady, who is running as an independent.

   The 34-year-old is running in the second round of Egypt's three-stage parliamentary elections. The second stage began Wednesday in nine of Egypt’s 27 governorates.

   The two main Islamist parties, who were officially licensed after the ouster of former president Hosny Mubarak, came top in the initial round of the polls, which run until mid-January. Liberals, meanwhile, lagged behind in third place.

   The surge in Islamists' gains at the ballot box has triggered fears that freedoms will be restricted in post-revolutionary Egypt.

   “I've been asked this question many times: 'Are you a liberal or a (hardline) Salafist?'. My usual answer is: ‘I belong to a moderate family, who know how to enjoy life',” Abdel Hady told dpa.

   A lawyer, a political activist and a writer, Abdel Hady was one of millions of Egyptians who took to the streets across Egypt calling for Mubarak to step down earlier this year.

   He decided to run for the new parliament to push for a “balanced constitution and a government that can achieve the goals of the revolution.”

   Mubarak was forced out of power on February 11 after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians camped in central Cairo's Tahrir Square for 18 days.

   The military council, whose members were appointed by Mubarak, has been ruling the country since then.

   Although credited for its support for the January 25 revolution, the military junta has been criticized for using force against pro-democracy demonstrators since then and setting a slow pace for reforms.

   “The council has acted as though no revolution had taken place. It should have barred Mubarak’s loyalists from running in these elections,” Abdel Hady said.
 
   He added that exposing these loyalists to the public was another reason for his decision to stand for parliament.

   Despite his few resources, Abdel Hady's political ambitions are high. He plans to run for the presidency in 2017 when he is 40 years old.

   “If I win in my bid for the parliament, my experience will be a great asset for me. If not, I'll focus on outlining my presidential campaign to prove that a young man can rule Egypt. I am hopeful,” said Abdel Hady.

   Unlike Abdel Hady, Doaa Bishry was not involved in politics before the anti-Mubarak revolt. However, she decided to run for parliament.

   "I felt I finally got the opportunity to participate in shaping the future of my country," she said.

   "I also wanted to show that we, the youth, can be present both in Tahrir Square and parliament, and that the revolutionary and political movements can work on parallel lines," said Bishry, who is running on the ticket of the newly formed Al-Adl (Justice) Party.

   Over the past few years, Egypt's youth have played a key role in organizing protests against the Mubarak regime, extensively using social media.

   "This is the parliament of the revolution. I am convinced that the revolution is still under way,” said 25-year-old Mohammed Gamal, the youngest Egyptian contesting a parliamentary seat.

   He is running in the southern province of Minya, where elections are to be held as part of the final round on January 3.

   “The new parliament marks a crucial stage to complete the revolution," added Gamal.

   According to a report by the United Nations in 2011, 25 per cent of Egyptians are between the ages of 18 and 29.

   Gamal is a member of the newly formed Al-Tayar al-Masry (the Egyptian Tide), a moderate Islamist party whose members defected from the influential Muslim Brotherhood.
 
   It is part of the Revolution Continues Alliance that supports many young activists vying for parliament.

   "We want to restore Egypt's status that was mired in corruption and hypocrisy for decades," Gamal said.

Insecurity adds to Egypt's economic woes, experts say

Authors: Laura Schmid, Nehal El-Sherif

   Cairo (dpa) - Ten months after a popular uprising deposed former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak, reality has hit the country's economy hard, according to experts.

   "Egypt has hit a point of unpredictability, where the risks of investment exceed the possible revenues," said Gerhad Krause, the head of economic reform at the Delegation of the European Union in Egypt.

   "Legal security is at a critical stage," Krause told dpa.

   According to him, many foreign companies worry that Egypt's new leaders could "hastily sweep away business-friendly reforms," under pressure from a growing disenchantment with the private sector.

   Egypt's economy has been gripped by labour strikes, political upheavals, a lack of security and a sharp devaluation of the local pound since Mubarak's overthrow in February.

   John Kerry, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in Cairo at the weekend that re-establishing a certain level of security in Egypt was vital in order to attract foreign direct investment.

   "The most significant challenge right now is the economic challenge," Kerry said, in reference to a total economic loss of 7.5 billion dollars since January.

   German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said last week that, without political stability in Egypt, it would be tough to reverse the ongoing investment outflow.

   "The preconditions for foreign investments are democratic structures, the protection of human rights, the rule of law and an effectively operating administration," Roesler told a business meeting in Cairo.

   Mohamed al-Mahdi, the managing director of Siemens in Egypt, said the telecommunications manufacturer - which has been operating in Egypt for 110 years - had plans to expand in the country.

   "But the political and legal framework have to be free-market friendly," he told dpa.

   In November, the Central Bank of Egypt said the investment flow to the country had fallen by 20 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year.

   At present, the sluggish Egyptian economy provides little hopes for a quick recovery, experts say.

   Rainer Herret, the head of the German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Cairo, stressed that besides defining clear legal rules, boosting the Egyptian economy had to be a top priority.

   "If the economy doesn't reflate quickly, sales will plunge further and international companies operating in Egypt have to consider downsizing," he said.

   Unemployment rose to 11.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, according to government statistics. Egyptian stocks have almost halved in the past 11 months.

   Moreover, crime has soared since Mubarak's ouster in February, despite government promises to plug a nationwide security vacuum.

   However, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Mahmoud Eissa was optimistic, arguing that the smooth course of the initial round of Egypt's three-stage parliamentary elections was a good step in regaining international trust in the country's stability.

   "Investment opportunities are abundant and promising," he told a recent business gathering in Cairo. "Egypt offers lucrative options for foreign companies."

Jokes mask Egyptian fear of Islamist poll gains

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – A liberal Egyptian gets a magic lamp and rubs it. When a genie appears, the man asks him to make all the Islamists  vanish. The genie frowns and says: “Why? What did we do to you?”

   This is one of a dozen jokes Egyptians have been exchanging over the past days, as estimates show that the Islamists are heading for  winning around 60 per cent of the seats of the new parliament.

   The Islamists' surge at the ballot box has triggered nationwide debate about potential extremism in post-revolutionary Egypt. Famed for a legendary sense of humour, Egyptians spice up their discussion with jokes, the overtones of which are unmistakable.

   “A Salafist man hails a taxi. He then orders the driver to switch off the radio, saying: 'There were no radios at the Prophet Mohamed's time.' Few minutes later, he asks the driver to put off his cigarette 'because there were no cigarettes at the prophet's time.'

   "The driver gets angry. He stops the car and kicks the man out,  saying: 'There were no taxis during the prophet's time. You wait for a camel here!”

   In the run-up of the elections, the Salafists – who follow a strict interpretation of Islam that resembles the Saudi Arabian school of thought – stirred controversy by covering statues and replacing the pictures of their female candidates on campaigning posters with either a flower or the candidate's husband name and picture.

   A Salafist leader, Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, provoked an outcry this week when he said that novels of Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mafouz promoted "prostitution and atheism" and that democracy was  "blasphemy."

   Two Islamist groups have already dominated the first round of voting for the lower house of parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is in the lead, followed by the ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nour, while the liberal alliance, The Egyptian Bloc, has trailed third.

   Political jokes are also popular with Egyptian social networking websites, which played a key role in drumming up support for protests against the regime of former president Hosny Mubarak.

   “They (Islamists) plan a new Harry Potter series on torment in the grave,”  goes one joke, referring to Muslims' belief that the dead are brought to the book for their deeds in graves.

   "Red Riding Hood becomes The Girl in the Black Niqab (full-face veil)," according to other anti-Islamist humourists.

   Banned and oppressed under Mubarak, the Islamists are competing in the elections for the first time after having their political parties officially recognized following the Egyptian revolution.

   Making fun of authorities has been an integral part of Egyptian daily life for ages. Jokes are often exchanged on public transport, in cafes, by email and short text messages.

   “The joke is a powerful weapon,” celebrated Egyptian cartoonist Mustafa Hussein told dpa. “Jokes are usually used by one side to try to undermine authority or power of another. Even in wars, jokes and caricatures are employed to demoralize the enemy," he argued.

   "In Egypt's case, this is normal due to the diversity of the post-revolutionary society. Even within the Islamists, there are moderates and radicals,” Hussein said. “Many people in Egypt are  worried about religious dictatorship. While the liberals hold seminars to voice their fears, ordinary people fight back the rise in Islamism with jokes.”

   Some doctored  photos were posted on online forums. One picture shows signs on bathrooms changed into a woman wearing a full-face veil, and a man with a long beard.

   “Egyptians are known for turning almost everything into witty jokes,” Duha Sami, a 40-year-old who works for a marketing company, said. “I remember jokes that are decades old now, and they really make historical sense. They reflect the political and economic state of the country at that time.”

   During the 18-day revolt that ousted Mubarak earlier this year, the iconic Tahrir Square was filled with protesters holding satirical placards. One read: “Leave. My hand is hurting me!"

   Another showed a computer message reading: "Cannot install freedom. Please remove Mubarak and try again!"

   But the latest joke from Egypt comes ahead of Christmas: “In order to move freely this year, Santa Claus will be disguised, wearing a knee-length white robe, wide trousers and a makeshift turban over his head.”

Republished here and here  Also in Spanish

Elect a pyramid: Egyptians vote by symbols

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – When asked who he voted for, Egyptian student Ahmed Mohamed said he chose a pyramid, a tennis racket and an eye drop bottle. His friends had to decide between a tank, a gun, a lotus flower, a toothbrush and an eye.

   Like many voters in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of former president Hosny Mubarak in February, Mohamed memorized the symbols of the candidates he wanted to elect.

   It is estimated that up to 30 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people cannot read and write. The use of symbols alongside text was first introduced in the 1950s.

   As the number of candidates have increased over the years, so too have the number of symbols.

   Before campaigning began, each of the 11,000 candidates from an array of parties vying for the 498 seats in the lower house of parliament was given one of some 150 symbols used to make voting easier for the illiterate.

   In one province, two parties were vying by the Nefertiti and the Sphinx symbols.

   When voting began on Monday, ballot sheets showed pictures including a tap, a calculator, an ambulance, fruits and animals, a chandelier, scales and a rocket. The same images had been used on campaign posters.

   The High Elections Commission said it had assigned the symbols randomly.

   With some constituencies giving voters a choice of 130 candidates, remembering names has not been easy, even for the literate.

   "The list is long and the candidates have their full name printed on that ballot. I needed to make sure I am marking next to the one I want, so I double check the symbol with the name," said Mohamed, a 20-year-old engineering student.

   Each voter is supposed to choose two individual candidates and one party list. Two third of the seats will go for party lists, while the remaining third will be for individuals.

   “The symbols have made it much easier for me,” said first time voter, Marian Mikhael.

   “Without them, I would have spent half an hour trying to find the names of the candidates I chose in the sheet,” she said, while leaving her polling station in central Cairo.

   Candidates had built their campaigns around the symbols.

   "Jump into the ship, it will carry you to safety," a voice over a loudspeaker called from a car emblazoned with posters of a candidate who was assigned the ship symbol, in Cairo's working-class district of Shubra.

   Another candidate was given the teddy bear as a symbol and his slogan became: "If you do not like my style already, give me back my teddy."

   While many candidates were able to use the images in a positive way, some parliamentary hopefuls were angered by the symbols assigned to them.

   Sayed Sulaiman, an independent candidate in the northern Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba, said he was humiliated when he was given a dress as a symbol. He filed a complaint with the electoral authorities and the dress was replaced with a baseball cap.

   Visibly absent from the election were the crescent and camel symbols that Mubarak's ruling party had used for decades.

   The symbols have been been the subject of jokes exchanged among voters, some of whom went as far as suggesting conspiracy theories behind their assignment. There were those who wondered if the party using the tank symbol is subtly promising to side with the ruling military.

   The Islamist parties were accused by some of choosing their symbols to help them spread a positive image among voters.

   The Salafist party Al-Nour, which means light, was given the lantern, while the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party got the scale.

   At one polling station there was laughter where posters showed one woman got the "rocket", which is used in Arabic slang to refer to an attractive young woman.