Posts tagged Egypt

Egypt’s endangered Gazelles taken down by machines guns and pick-up trucks. Piece by piece, we’ll kill this planet yet… “Egypt’s gazelle population has decreased consistently and drastically for the past four decades mainly due to two factors: unregulated hunting practices and habitat destruction. Three species of gazelle used to live across Egypt. The Arabian gazelle is thought to have completely disappeared, as the most recent footprints of this mammal were found in the 1930s in Wadi al-Arish at the border with Israel. The slender-horned gazelle’s population is difficult to estimate, but according to Omar Attum, professor of biology at Indiana University Southeast who closely studies Egypt’s gazelles, the number of slender-horned gazelles is likely no higher than a hundred. “Slender-horned gazelles have low population densities. There have been some records of them in Siwa recently, but I really worry as the revolution in Libya has made weapons more widely available in a very large and porous border area,” he explains, stressing that whenever there is an armed conflict anywhere in the world, wildlife is threatened. Richard Hoath, British naturalist and author of the book, “A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt,” explains that the population of slender-horned gazelles is limited to an area southwest of Fayoum. “This gazelle is strictly a desert species; it is able to survive without drinking water its entire life, provided it can feed on desert shrubs and bushes,” he explains animatedly.” Source: Almasry Alyoum (via climateadaptation)


Egypt’s endangered Gazelles taken down by machines guns and pick-up trucks. Piece by piece, we’ll kill this planet yet…

“Egypt’s gazelle population has decreased consistently and drastically for the past four decades mainly due to two factors: unregulated hunting practices and habitat destruction. Three species of gazelle used to live across Egypt. The Arabian gazelle is thought to have completely disappeared, as the most recent footprints of this mammal were found in the 1930s in Wadi al-Arish at the border with Israel. The slender-horned gazelle’s population is difficult to estimate, but according to Omar Attum, professor of biology at Indiana University Southeast who closely studies Egypt’s gazelles, the number of slender-horned gazelles is likely no higher than a hundred. “Slender-horned gazelles have low population densities. There have been some records of them in Siwa recently, but I really worry as the revolution in Libya has made weapons more widely available in a very large and porous border area,” he explains, stressing that whenever there is an armed conflict anywhere in the world, wildlife is threatened. Richard Hoath, British naturalist and author of the book, “A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt,” explains that the population of slender-horned gazelles is limited to an area southwest of Fayoum. “This gazelle is strictly a desert species; it is able to survive without drinking water its entire life, provided it can feed on desert shrubs and bushes,” he explains animatedly.”

Source: Almasry Alyoum (via climateadaptation)

almasryalyoum.com

The army protects, it does not govern

The army protects, it does not govern

Flickr / mosaaberising

No More Protests? Egypt's Army Cracks Down

The bare-chested 20-year-old Egyptian turns slowly to reveal a broad back that resembles a work of sadistic abstract art — a bloody, bruised composition of pink, red and purple. Long, deep gashes had been sliced through his skin; welts, pinker and more superficial, crisscross his body. His upper left arm is a mix of purples, a cufflike bruise that wraps all the way around his bicep. His right hand is bandaged, one of his fingers sprained. He runs his good hand over his closely shorn hair. His wavy locks, he says, were shaved off with glass shards by the same people who beat him.

TIME

Mobile Upload: Headline: Has (Mubarak’s) Wealth Been Smuggled to Israel? … According to this article it’s the safest place in the world and is immune from prosecution due to Mubarak’s and Hussain Salem’s (pictured on the left) close relationship with Israel. So far Switzerland has been the most aggressive about freezing the former president’s assets in that country. The US and the UK, where Mubarak and his family also have interests, have been slow to react.

Mobile Upload: Headline: Has (Mubarak’s) Wealth Been Smuggled to Israel? … According to this article it’s the safest place in the world and is immune from prosecution due to Mubarak’s and Hussain Salem’s (pictured on the left) close relationship with Israel. So far Switzerland has been the most aggressive about freezing the former president’s assets in that country. The US and the UK, where Mubarak and his family also have interests, have been slow to react.

lib·er·ate  /ˈlɪbəˌreɪt/  [lib-uh-reyt]  –verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing to set free, as from imprisonment or bondage. to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government. to free (a group or individual) from social or economic constraints or discrimination, especially arising from traditional role expectations or bias.  Origin  1615–25: Latin līberātus (past participle of līberāre “to free”)

lib·er·ate  /ˈlɪbəˌreɪt/ 

[lib-uh-reyt] 

–verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing

  1. to set free, as from imprisonment or bondage.
  2. to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government.
  3. to free (a group or individual) from social or economic constraints or discrimination, especially arising from traditional role expectations or bias. 

Origin 

1615–25: Latin līberātus (past participle of līberāre “to free”)

naomionline

Uninstalling Arab Dictator 1.0


TUNISIA: ████████████████ : Done! 100%
EGYPT: ████████████████ : Done! 100%
LIBYA: ███░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : In Progress … 20% … Please Wait…
BAHRAIN: ██░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : In Progress … 6% … Please Wait… 
YEMEN: █░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : In Progress … 3% … Please Wait… 
ALGERIA: █░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : In Progress … 3% … Please Wait… 
SYRIA: ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : Awaiting Initiation
JORDAN: ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : Awaiting Initiation
MOROCCO: ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : Awaiting Initiation

Egypt and Other Thoughts… Part I

The words “free” and “freedom” have been used, abused, and thrown around like cheap slippers since 9/11. Nevertheless, it is an important concept because it defines the liberties a state provides its citizens. It is important to realize the importance of societal liberties and the rights and responsibilities that come with them. Citizens should be allowed to live their lives how they see fit, they should be able to speak their mind against the government and express grievances without fear of persecution, and they must not be discriminated against by the state for any reason. 

The vision of an Arab and Muslim country that is free and stable as a counter balance to the negative stereotypes abound about the Middle East is, for me, the single most important aspiration about the Egyptian Revolution. Instead of a country of emigrants, I hope the people who left because of Mubarak’s regime and because of the lack of opportunities return to Egypt, reversing the brain drain and help build the country back into a position of leadership in the Middle East.

Certain “experts” on the Middle East have come on US mainstream media channels and conveyed their fears of an Iran-style revolution. I think such speculation is based on fear more than anything else. Egypt is significantly different than 1979 Iran, and has more in common with Turkey than the Islamic Republic. Among the things that contribute to such an analogy are:

  1. The Egyptian Military, as guardians of the Constitution and the will of the people. The Egyptians, like the Turks, highly regard their military and trust it more than any other state institution. However, unlike the Turkish Armed Forces, the Egyptian Military does not play the role of “protectors of State ideology”.
  2. There was a clearly defined leader in the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Khomeini, who had the support of a guerrillas and rebels, in short he practicaly had his own militia, and that is not the case in Egypt.
  3. Iranians voted to be an Islamic Republic and install a theocratic constitution as a counter to the ‘Westernizing’ and ‘unIslamic’ policies of the Shah. It is unlikely that will happen in Egypt because the movement for reform there has very little to do with religion and more to do with economic opportunities, freedom of expression, removal of emergency law and putting a stop to the injustice that emanates from police brutality.
  4. The Muslim Brotherhood, if in the future it takes hold and becomes the governing party, has a schism within its ranks. There are the more progressive, younger members and the more conservative, older ones. The younger ones might diverge and create their own party, similar to Turkey’s governing AK party which was formed from within the more conservative, Islamist Virtue Party.

Hosni Mubarak bent the system so much that it ultimately broke, and the sharp edges were used as weapons against him. Now that he is out of office, the Egyptian people have won an important battle in the restoration of their rights, however, the war against injustice and the lack of opportunities is not yet over. The success of both the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions will be decided upon in the next couple of years.

Scene at Tahrir Square in Cairo today (Feb.18th). Exiled Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi led the Friday prayers there. He delivered the last speech in Egypt in 1981 after the assassination of then President Anwar Sadat (Hosni Mubarak’s predecessor) and had been banned when Mubarak took over over his association with the Muslim Brotherhood. Sheikh Qadrawi has been residing in Qatar since 1962, having been sent there by Al Azhar to head the Qatari Secondary Institute of Religious Studies. He currently has a weekly show on Al Jazeera dealing with Islam and society.

Scene at Tahrir Square in Cairo today (Feb.18th). Exiled Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi led the Friday prayers there. He delivered the last speech in Egypt in 1981 after the assassination of then President Anwar Sadat (Hosni Mubarak’s predecessor) and had been banned when Mubarak took over over his association with the Muslim Brotherhood. Sheikh Qadrawi has been residing in Qatar since 1962, having been sent there by Al Azhar to head the Qatari Secondary Institute of Religious Studies. He currently has a weekly show on Al Jazeera dealing with Islam and society.