Despite ban, activists protest in Down-Town Cairo
Ministry of Interior issued a statement 2 days ago warning that any gathering in Cairo will be illegal. However, activists did protest in various places in Cairo today to support Judges, Ayman Nour, and to stress their right to freedom of expression and demonestrations.
Today was a very long day. It started at 7.30 am. Activists were early birds to make sure they have access to streets before the police seals them like last Thursday. However, they kept roaming down town streets in small isolated groups of fives unable to connect together. Police chased them in Cafes, closed streets and opened others, and generally large amounts of uniformed and plain cloth police lined up everywhere.
At 8:30 press syndicate, lawyers syndicate were completely sealed. High Court was sealed even earlier. On the road leading to High Court lawyers were begging police to let them in as they have hearings scheduled today in court.
We kept moving from Talaat Harb, to Galaa street, to Mogama Mahakem, to el Fateh Mosque, to Talaat Harb and so on and so forth wanting to connect with any group but in vain.
50 brotherhood members were arrested while trying to gather at Mogamaa Mahakem in el Galaa street. We heard their Islamic chants inside the police trucks then got their calls. We then heard a protest managed to take place in Abbaseya. Also Cairo university was witnessing a parallel protest. Essam el Eryan said on a phone call he is down town with a group and trying to reach the court. In few minutes his phone was not answering, then switched off, then we heard he is arrested while later we learned Mohamed Morsy was arrested too.
Finally, a protest – above 500 people – started at Souk el Tawfikia street right beside Hisham Mubarak law center. There was a Kefaya poster, socialist demonstrators, and syndicate of agrarians baners. Protestors chanted “There are judges in Egypt who fear no one but God”, “No for inheritence”, “Freedom Freedom where are you? The government is separating us from you”. Uniformed and plain cloth police (secret police) attacked the protestors with sticks and clubs, punched them with their hands, pushed them to the ground and kicked them with their feet before arresting them. Opposition sources say 400 were arrested today while government say only 240.
The photos that I took feature 11 arrests. Only a selection is published here, the whole collection is at www.misrdigital.com . If you want a better quality photo leave your email and I will send it to you.
Today I have seen at least 15 arrests (some i couldn’t capture on my lens) associated with beatings, punshing, threatening of reporters and photographers.
An old man (non protestor) was pushed by the thug on a taxi. Another old man was completely confused by what he perceived as a group of men severely beating one man. For him, there looked all civilians so he tried to separate the clash w yehaddy el nefoos (calm things down).
Protestors kept re-gathering and re-assembling in a new place whenever they were disbursed. Their number though was getting fewer everytime. After each attack they would withdraw to a new location and stand hand in hand facing the formal and secret police, confronting them and resisting – but not attacking – the police.
” target=”_blank”>This video shows you the confrontations. Protestors stand hand in hand, secret police attacks from the side, state security seals the street and attacks from the front – clashes, beatings, arrests.
The protestors started at Souk el Tawfikia street (right next to Hisham Mubarak Law Center), to al Gomhoreya street infront of Sydnawi, to Ataba, to el Gabarooni alley, then Assem alley, then finally Kamel Sedky street in Faggala. In Faggala the protestors treated the journalists – who were very brave to endure all this besara7a – to cold orange juice. It was irresistable after this endless running – not walking – for hours. Finally a smile could make it out to our faces.
Returning Down Town, in Talaat Harb street, Muslim Brotherhood parliament members protested to support the judges. They were joined by Kefaya, el Ghad, and Youth for Change activists. Someone told me George Ishaak was there but I haven’t seen him anywhere today. The brotherhood MPs said there are 30 members inside the court and others at Cairo University and midan el es3aaf also protesting. Yet, their political immunity didn’t stop the secret police from circling them -me included- on the side walk beside cinema metro. At this point, a foreign photographer broke the circle of police so a group of women were freed – me included bardo. We walked few steps then realized we are missing a friend. We went back, finally managed to get Dina and Saneya then left. As I went to pick up my car, el Ghad members were protesting in their balcony which overlooks Talaat Harb square.The day ended with bad news though. While Mekki was found innocent, Bastawisi got a severe reprimand. Judges club refused the verdict and Meeki vowed to appeal. Some even worse news followed; cassation court upheld criminal court rule against Ayman Nour and six other defendants.
Hello, nice web site keep up.
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Stronger Blogging
We all know that some bloggers were detained and so some of other bloggers are much worried about that. We don’t know for sure what is going to happen. El3en Elsehrya suggested in a post entitled The Test that the only protection bloggers may have is gaining more strength. I believe that one of the means to gain strength is to be more popular especially among those who are not activists. So, I decided to make a list containing all blogs that I know and which are concerned with the political and societal scene in Egypt with not so much posts about the author’s self. This way, I can link to it from any instant messaging programme and from any newsgroup I use. The list doesn’t reflect my own view it is just a list of those blogs concerned with the current scene in Egypt. It doesn’t matter who goes public, what counts is that we must make blogging more popular. The list is still limited.
I am asking all of you to email me any links of blogs that meet the criteria I mentioned above so I up-date the list every time I receive links. You will find my email in my profile Boring Lips. And I also asking you to link to this post even from your blogs. Send the link to as many people as you can. This way blogging will become stronger as more people will be aware of it.
Security by hiding has been proven to be the least successful method. Our only protection is to be popular so that we are protected by people’s awareness. Also, this way will spread all of our ideas among a much wider audience.
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نعرف أن بعض المدونين قد تم إعتقالهم و هذا يقلق البعض. إحنا ما نعرفش إيه إللى هيحصل على وجه التحديد. العين السحرية اقترح فى مدونة إسمها الإمتحانThe Test إن الحماية الوحيدة للمدونين إنهم يصبحوا أكثر قوة. أعتقد أن وسيلة من الوسائل هى إن ناس أكثر من النشطاء و غيرهم يعرفوا و يهتموا بالمدونات. عشان كده عملت قائمة بأسماء المدونات اللى بتكلم عن الحالة السياسية و الإجتماعية فى مصر و لا تضم الكثير عن حياة صاحبها/صاحبتها الشخصية اللى أنا عرفها. كده أقدر اربطها من أى مكان…مواقع تانية أو أدي الرابط لكل اللى أعرفه. القائمة لا تعبر عن المدونات التى أحب أطالعها و لكنها تتضمن على المدونات المهتمة بالموضوع مع إختلاف أرائها.
لأو ممكن تبعتلى أى روابط لمدونات مشابهة ده هيساعد كثير. الإيميل بتاعى فى البروفيل. و ياريت تربط للقائمة من البلوج أو من أى موقع تانى. ممكن كمان تستخدم الم س ن عشان ناس أكثر تعرف عن البلوجز. بالطريقة دى ناس أكثر هتعرف إحنا بنقول إيه.
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Comment by Boring Lips — 2006/05/19 @ 3:35
I tip my hat for you and every one who went out and dared the devil and his dragons,there is a light in the end of the tunel ,and the price of freedom is not cheep but the reward is awsom , victory to egypt
Comment by moe abdulla — 2006/05/19 @ 7:56
What a Calamity!!!! Is this the kind of democracy the present regime is building in the country?
There is no comparison between the quality of your report and what the western media has reported to its users.
Comment by MKN — 2006/05/19 @ 16:57
Behind all this hullabaloo is masked bravado heading straight into a brick wall.
Comment by alienkain — 2006/05/19 @ 18:45
I forgot to add, all that you mentioned & the pictures & the demonstrations,in essence, is Much ado over nothing.
Comment by alienkain — 2006/05/19 @ 18:48
نورا ..
أنا حقيقى خجلان من نفسى لما باشوف اللى انتى بتحاوليه ..
و مع ذلك انا باحاول فى اتجاه تانى جايز يكون مُجدى بعد زمن ..
احييكى و متضايق من نفسى ..
Comment by يوسف — 2006/05/22 @ 2:07
بعض البشر شجرة سنديان.. تقف وتصمد في وجه الريح والعواصف .. وتثمر في عطاء استثنائي للآخرين
إرادتك تمنح كثيرين شعوراً بالقوة.. ومثابرتك زاد لمن يبون هذا الوطن في معركة إنقاذه من براثن الطغاة
نورا يونس: ما أجملك
Comment by Yasser Thabet — 2006/05/22 @ 19:01
hi nora younis
plz send me all the pic which you have it
ok
i want to call you
see my site
ok
i wait you .
Comment by Ahmed Mky — 2006/05/27 @ 20:10
Yo! You probably don’t remember me, but we met briefly in the Greek Club last summer after the unemployment-themed protest at Abdeen. I discovered your blog a couple of days ago – it’s very Nora-ish. This is a compliment.
Comment by Brian Ulrich — 2006/05/30 @ 7:26
[…] . . . about torture, suppression of dissent, and other thug-like tactics on the part of Egypt’s government. Whoever is writing (and taking pictures of) this stuff has got it all wrong. According to the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, who gave a long speech yesterday to the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Hosni Mubarak is a full-fledged, small-d democrat who is committed body and soul to the following progress in Egypt: To strengthen the electoral systems and political parties in Egypt; […]
Pingback by LDWorldWide » Blog Archive » Forget what you read — 2006/06/01 @ 10:13
Thanks for this great piece of photo journalism. It’s good to see bloggers in the region being active on the street, not just on the Internet. But be careful of course!
Much support
Comment by chanad — 2006/06/01 @ 23:10
Salam Nora,
Great blog. Keep it up.
I’m an Egyptian journalist currently doing an MA in the UK. For my final project, I am building a website about Egypt’s political blogs, aiming mainly to report on the conversation taking place on these dynamic new spaces. It also serves as a hub for bloggers, a forum for commentary by experts and journalists on the state of the media in Egypt as well as on the future and impact of citizen journalism.
I would appreciate it if you’d agree to an interview for me to post on my site. An email interview would be fine, but I would much rather speak to you in person. I am willing to call you at your convenience and I don’t have a problem at all if you prefer to remain anonymous. I am only interested in your blog persona and the formidable waves it’s creating.
Please contact me by email at rania34@gmail.com.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Rania Al Malky
Comment by Rania — 2006/06/04 @ 6:31
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Please help me to get the E-mail and phone number of Dr. Rushdi Said
Thanks
Adrian
Comment by Adrian — 2007/05/25 @ 20:34
Hi Nora
I am currently a student at the University of Minnesota and I am doing a research project here in Cairo on how bloggers in Egypt are pushing the limits of feedom of expression and press. I would love to meet with you and talk about your exprieces as well as the recent UN confrence in NY on press freedom. Your response would be much appreciated
Lisa Eimer
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Comment by leime09 — 2007/07/03 @ 10:53