Tom in Egypt // توم في مصر

Egypt has surprised me on a fairly regular basis over the time I’ve lived here. Rarely, though, have I been left in such a state of near-disbelief after hearing a story as I presently am after reading of the ordeals of a fellow Manchester student, Sarah, and her friend Katie – just arrived in Egypt making the same journey to Alex as I did a little over two years ago.

Only a few weeks ago we were sat in my favourite café in Boursa, tea and sheesha in hand, chatting about expectations of Egypt, first impressions in Cairo and my own experiences of studying in Alex. Meeting a bewildered Sarah and Katie after they’d been here a day or so helped me to remember my own arrival in Egypt. The confusion, the excitement, the wonder. The sense of being a million miles from home. It would be fair to say that the first few days in Egypt are a traumatic, if frequently wonderful time.

Yesterday, as I sat down for my daily dose of Son of a Duck, I was left stunned by what had happened since Sarah and I last spoke a few days ago – when Katie had been feeling ill and Sarah had sent me an accidental text message. I won’t re-narrate the story, Michael and his flatmate Tom (writing a rival blog, bizarrely titled Tom-In-Egypt) have done a more than adequate job and I’d only be re-writing their posts anyway. No simple task with a scribe of Mr.Nevadomski’s talent. Anyway, read it.

Read these posts first: Vengeance and Hospitals - I wish I was joking...

And then read these posts: 3 to 7, and a Courthouse  - Order in the court!

Stunning, shocking, disgusting, terrifying. Memories of the hospital and Andrea’s experience there were quite enough for me, it’s a frightening place and I can only imagine how scary going there and having to have surgery there must be for Sarah and Katie. They’ve been in Egypt less than a month, that experience alone must have been unbearable.

The rest of the story? Simply outrageous. I can’t think of a time I’ve felt angrier at Egypt, or wanted to apologise as much as I do to the girls. Michael raises interesting questions on vengeance and justice; frankly I find it unacceptable that Sarah and Katie, whose heads must be spinning after the events of the last few days, be left with the pressure and responsibility of deciding a man’s fate. It’s abhorrent that they have had to watch the man be beaten twice. Now, to be forced to choose whether this man should walk free, or spend 3 years in an Egyptian prison, or 7?? Unacceptable. That the victim be allowed to sentence the criminal is barbaric. That two compassionate victims be forced to sentence the criminal and to live with the responsibility of that decision is inhumanely punishing to the victim.

I think I have an idea as to how I would react in their situation (if leaving Egypt and never returning were an option), but overriding any thoughts I have on how this man should be punished is an emphatic belief that Sarah and Katie should in no way be responsible for the decision they are about to have to take, and that for them to be put in that position is punishing them for a crime to which they were the victims.
I can’t think of a time I’ve felt angrier at Egypt.

My piece today on Bikya Masr announcing the launch of a new legal paper by the ANHRI. Just reading the title, and writing it on my own blog, makes me think about the difference between bloggers and "bloggers" as previously commented on in the Travis Randall article. I, of course, do not include myself as a blogger as I am discussing in the piece.


Life can be tough for bloggers in Egypt. The threats of imprisonment and interrogation have, for a long time, loomed large as authorities clamp down on “offensive”, controversial, or overtly critical material. Earlier this month, however, one Egyptian blogger ran into a new problem.

On September 3, Khaled el-Balshy – Editor-In-Chief of Al-Badeel newspaper, who also runs a personal blog at elbalshy.blogspot.com – was unofficially interrogated by members of the Interior Ministry’s Internet Crimes unit. The interrogation was not, however, over anything he had posted online, but over an anonymous comment that one user had left responding to a post. This is the first reported case of a blogger being held responsible for user comments on his site in Egypt, but other such stories have been reported in Syria and Malaysia, raising questions over where the responsibility lies for comments published on blogs.


As part of an effort to clear the murky legal waters surrounding anonymous commenting on websites, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has published a new legal paper on the issue. The new paper “Web Sites Owners And Administrators’ Responsibility Of Posted Comments”, available via the ANHRI website, makes a range of proposals to a variety of parties, suggesting ways that all involved could ensure that el-Balshy’s story is not repeated. Writing to “web site owners and administrators, bloggers, visitors who post opinion or comments, the public prosecution and the judiciary specializing such cases”, the paper stresses that whilst bloggers are responsible for what they write in their posts, neither they, nor the site administrators, are responsible for what other people post.

At the same time, the ANHRI is keen to reserve the right of parties offended by website viewers to complain, and, if deemed necessary, for the offending content to be removed. They outline different options offended parties could take, suggesting that if they desire topic or content material removed from a site, they should inform the administrator in writing – emphasizing that no administrator or blogger should be legally questioned until they have received such a complaint in writing and been allowed time to act or respond.

The paper calls for parties and public figures to show restraint in making complaints, stating that “public figures are subject to criticism and a tolerance margin is required. If they accept to take public responsibility then they have agreed to live outside their privacy shell.” Such calls are important, although they may seem fanciful in a country where a civil servant was handed a 3 year jail sentence for penning a short satirical poem about the president.

The ANHRI has, for some time, worked as a defender of freedom of expression across the Arab world, and the defending the rights of bloggers has become a major part of their work. Their legal stand concludes with a timely reminder on the importance of protecting freedom of expression as a basic human right: “Finally , It should be taken into account that restricting freedom of expression has more negative consequences that misusing freedom of expression.”

In this crazy world where all too many people are so quick to take offense at the slightest criticism, and in the Arab world where governments are equally quick to haul away bloggers for interrogation, this legal paper is a timely call for common sense to prevail, and for that the ANHRI should be thanked.

I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to say Eid Mubarak to Tom in Egypt readers! Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan and today is the first, and biggest day of Eid al-Fitr celebrations. I won't go into the religious traditions of the celebration, Wikipedia has a thorough entry on the feast that's worth a read if you're interested, but it suffices to say that it's a very big deal here in Egypt. I also found a beautiful series of photos on HuffPo showing how Eid is celebrated around the world

Sadly, recent Eids have seen some pretty nasty incidents involving serious sexual harassment in downtown so we're hoping to avoid a repeat (as is the government by the looks of things). Andrea and I are getting into the spirit of things and are organising a small dinner for a few friends, hoping that we have enough cutlery and crockery to go round! Our good friend Clare arrived last night, just in time for the party, and is going to stay with us for a while, which is very exciting as I haven't seen her since I left Manchester just over 3 and a half months ago.

Everything else is going well, I have a few days off from teaching so will hopefully get a few more pieces written for Bikya (follow here on Twitter) in the break. Ramadan has been nice, but it will be nice to be able to hang out in a few downtown 'ahwas  and speak a bit more Arabic. This is something I really want to knuckle down on over the next few months, as I've gotten a little lazy. Last week I noticed that, because I was writing and working in the days for Meedan, I wasn't really speaking much Arabic at all apart from exchanging a few greetings with people at the ETC - this can't be allowed to continue! In spite of this, I'm reading a lot of blogs and news pieces, and (as you may see via my GoodReads status) I'm also getting stuck into a great pair of novels - Bahaa Tahir's Wahat al-Gharoob (recently translated by the man who lives down the street Mr. Humphrey Davies) and one of my favourite books when I read it in English, Mourid al-Bargouthi's Ra'aytu Ramallah (I saw Ramallah). Either way, talking more is something I'm resloved to working on, hopefully whilst drinking tea and learning to play backgammon in a local coffee shop.

Here are links to a couple of new pieces I've written and had published on Bikya Masr.


Egypt: Kefaya distances itself from Gamal supporter

 (15/09/2009)
CAIRO: Egypt’s Kefaya opposition movement has distanced itself from remarks made by founding member, Dr. Hany Anan. Speaking on Egyptian television channel O-TV last week, Anan stated that he would support Gamal Mubarak, the son and likely successor to Hosni Mubarak, as a presidential candidate on the condition that he agreed to abolish article 77 of the Egyptian Constitution, which allows presidents to hold unlimited consecutive terms in power. (Click here to read more of this article)
 

Egypt: American University enters Swine flu scare, suspends classes
(16/09/2009)
CAIRO: The American University in Cairo has announced that classes will be suspended starting from tomorrow until October 3. The move comes as part of a bid to prevent a new outbreak of H1N1, Swine flu, in Egypt, and follows the Egyptian government’s postponing the start of the academic year in public schools and universities. (Click here to read more of this article)


Sadly, (or happily, she can't decide) this second piece of news means that Andrea has another enforced break from CASA due to swine flu. This gives her more time to do the reading she needs to finish (lots and lots) but I'm sure it's an annoying break in momentum. I just hope for everyone on the programme's sake that rumours about the academic year being pushed further back turn out to be just rumours.

A few weeks have gone by since my last proper (or improper?) entry, so I'm sure I have lots to tell you. Where were we? Ah yes, on the train from Alex to Cairo. The week following my return to Cairo was filled with copy editing all over the city and interspersed with Meedan shifts and the start of some exciting online community development work there. It also saw the start of Ramadan, which is a wonderfully special time of year here in Egypt. Yes, it means that it can be difficult to get a bite to eat during the day, yes it means that people are sometimes grumpy at around 5.30, yes it means traffic can be chaos just before Iftar (the breaking of the fast) and yes, it means it's tricky to get a beer. I love the party atmosphere every night though. Streets downtown are full of people until the early hours shopping, buying clothes, sitting in cafés and generally embracing the holiday spirit.Great fun, and we still have a three day long Eid to look forward to!

Aside from enjoying Ramadan, I have started teaching at the ETC again - 12 hours, two levels, plenty of challenges -and made an unexpected trip to Alexandria to sort out my visa and pay a visit to a certain Mr. Nevadomski. Because I have received two residency visas from Alex (I studied abroad there 07-08), that is where my files are. As such, immigration officials in Cairo would/could not process my late application for a visa extension, and I had to make a Joseph style return to the city where I was registered. Only without the donkey. After some tedious waiting, and after a fine for overstaying my tourist visa, I was finally given the extension I had requested, but am now faced with having to go back to Alexandria to try and collect the multiple entry stamps I need to prevent my visa from becoming void if I leave the country. All quite complicated and not a lot of fun!

As the more regular readers amongst you may have noticed, I have started writing more regularly for an Egypt-based site, Bikya Masr, where I hope to continue writing in the long gaps between Meedan shifts and teaching. As we're talking about the blog, there is some housekeeping and introductions to be done - I've added various applets down the side from some clever sites that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone:

• My beautiful Meedan blog badge, showing the most recent event, my most recent translation and my most recent comment - all in beautiful Arabic as well as English.
• My Diigo roll of links I'm tagging as I find them, complete with comments. Usually, but not always, interesting stuff I read about the Middle East.
• My Good Read widget - a good-looking and well-resourced online library of sorts, allowing you to track what you've read, what you thought about the books and see what friends are reading. Be warned, this is completely addictive and you will quickly be trying to remember every book you've ever read.

I've also temporarily retired Jumbled Notes, as it really isn't seeing enough action, and have replaced its tag on Tom in Egypt with an "About" section offering a brief 3rd person introduction to yours truly. Soon to appear is a blog-roll of other blogs I regularly read and may be of interest.

What else, what more? The new apartment is working wonderfully (one AC broke as I was writing this entry); Andrea is doing well and has started back at CASA, where she will be reading an Arabic novel a week. An important, and enjoyable, part of the summer has been getting to know some of her coursemates better and I'm looking forward to spending the next 9 months or so experiencing Cairo and Egypt with them. Also importantly, in addition to the aforementioned Mr. Nevadomski, it's been great to find out that more of mine and Andrea's friends will be returning to Egypt; Clare and Naya.

All in all, we're both excited to be here, although we now have to start plotting next year - more on this in the not too distant future.

I hope you're all well, please keep in touch - I have thus far been disappointed with the quantity of comments, dear reader - and please continue to read Tom in Egypt!

Salam, love, peace.

Here's a piece published today on Bikya Masr. I'll carry on pasting stuff into here, but I'd really recommend you have a look over at BM - particularly if you're interested in current affairs in Egypt.

Bibi comes to town

It’s been a busy couple of days for Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Last week he held talks with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, where apparent progress was made over a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, regarding a prisoner exchange between the two factions, and about the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Following Meshaal’s visit, Suleiman released a new set of proposals to the relevant parties in Palestine, based heavily on prisoner exchange and multi-party elections early next year. After two long years of division, there is a feeling that time is running out for reconciliation, particularly under Egyptian supervision: an unnamed Arab league official described this new plan as “Egypt’s last chance.” Suleiman is the man charged with the unenviable task of ending this division, and forging a Palestinian representative with the authority and willingness to provide a legitimate partner for negotiations with Israel. Egypt’s last chance is a chance, nonetheless.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is Suleiman’s next guest in Cairo (how many people can claim to having met both the leader of Hamas and the Israeli PM within a week? – answers on a postcard). His visit comes on the back of a newly authorized 455 homes to be built in the West Bank and statements to the effect that any proposed freezing of settlement activity would exclude some 2,500 homes already being built in the West Bank, as well as any building in annexed east Jerusalem. Bibi arrives in town tomorrow, but how will he be received by Mubarak and Suleiman?

Will this meeting be stiff handshakes, plastic smiles and platitudes – the diplomatic equivalent of a discussion about the weather? This would suit Netanyahu, who will want to talk about gas, Shalit, the Rafah border and the smuggling tunnels, the lack of an aforementioned negotiating partner, perhaps even Farouk Hosni’s UNESCO nomination. Anything but the settlements.

Or will Suleiman cut to the chase? After two years of mind bogglingly excruciating diplomacy to mediate between Fatah and Hamas, Suleiman can see the faint glimmer of the fruit of his labor. The two parties are actually considering his proposal, each set to respond within the next 48 hours. With an agreement signed, we could plausibly expect a united, elected Palestinian government in place by early next year. But Suleiman knows that if Netanyahu continues to authorise the building of settlements in the West Bank his work may all be in vain. Whether Hamas, Fatah, Meshaal, Abbas or any other leader or group, anything other than a complete and permanent cessation in settlement construction is unacceptable: no Egyptian crafted, moderate, legitimate Palestinian representation would want to negotiate with Israel under the current circumstances. After two painstaking, thankless years, it must take every shred of human restraint for Suleiman not to scream this at Netanyahu.

Will Mubarak and Suleiman be able to succeed where the US has not in securing a settlement freeze? Unlikely. But with George Mitchell also visiting the region next week, they could certainly apply some timely and hard fought pressure.

Here's a post published today on Bikya Masr, about an American refused entry at Cairo airport last week.


When I tell people I’m an international rugby player, they take a second glance. “Surely not?” I see flash across their eyes as they assess my less than athletic physique. I’m no Jonah Lomu, but it’s true. Well, sort of. I’ve played rugby for an international team? Well, sort of. I’ve played against a national team? Well, sort of. In truth, I played as part of an Expat XV who beat an Egyptian XV (not recognised by the IRB at the time) in the first match where an all-Egyptian team was represented. On a school playing field in Maadi. For the first half.

It’s not entirely inaccurate for me to describe myself as an “international rugby player” although it is misleading. My deception, however, is harmless. The way Travis Randall has been portrayed in the national, and now international, press is quite the opposite. When Travis was stopped at the airport everyone’s minds flashed straight back to Wael Abbas being similarly detained in Cairo on his way back from Sweden, back in June. Updates via Twitter, laptop and phone seized, no reasons given. Whilst Wael’s detention is certainly no less deplorable, the two men’s stories bear little resemblance. Rather, the media and human rights groups – perhaps out of laziness or perhaps more sinister reasons – recycled Wael’s story changing a few minor details; times, names, places. Travis Randall the freelance writer and sometime consultant thus became Travis Randall the American activist and blogger.

Being an activist and blogger here in Egypt is not for the faint-hearted. One cursory online search reveals the important and brave role bloggers play here, at tremendous personal risk. Look no further than Abbas’ blog Misr Digital or Twitter account. This is in no way to say that Wael Abbas is any more legitimate a target for Egyptian Authorities, but rather that when people say “blogger and activist” in an Egyptian context, this is what springs to mind. The national and international media knows this and are now using these associations to their own ends.

Travis Randall is a blogger. Well, sort of. Travis Randall is an activist. Well, sort of. He has a blog that had, before he was refused entry, been in disuse for over 2 years. It is an infrequent personal record of one young man’s time in Egypt, the kind of stuff probably read by family and friends back home. It reminds me a lot of my own blog, attracting around 4 hits a day, three of which are almost certainly my mother. He once attended a 10 person rally in support of Gaza during the Israeli war on the Strip in January. It wasn’t mentioned on the blog, though.

“Travis Randall, American blogger and activist” isn’t entirely inaccurate, but it is dangerously and irresponsibly misleading.