The "I'm not alone"s of Egypt

One day, perhaps ten or twenty years from now, sociologists, psychologists and other experts will look at the amazing developments unleashed in the Egyptian society following the January 25, 2011 Revolution. I will attempt to address a couple of observations, one perhaps over discussed right now and another less so.

First, the revolt against authority across society, in the home, at schools and universities, in work places; from factories to ports to hospitals, to courts and within security establishment itself, even within established political movements and religious institutions. Egypt has seen doctors and judges strike, central security conscripts strike and the established Muslim Brotherhood has seen several of its youth split out into new parties more closely aligned with other revolutionary youth movements. Egyptian families have seen their sons and daughters defy them to camp out for days at Tharir Square protests. 

For decades, and perhaps for centuries, Egyptian society has been patriarchal and hierarchical. Under the series of military rulers since the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952 the added element of corruption grew reaching nauseating levels under Mubarak. The excesses of authoritarian behavior and corruption permeated every aspect of the society from former president Mubarak and his family down to the tiniest organizational unit, be it a small school, factory, or government clinic.

The success of the revolution in gathering the support of millions and eventually the overthrow of Mubarak has opened the lid on explosive levels of frustrations and sense of deep injustice against unreasonableness and authoritarianism everywhere. Egyptians have become hard to contain anywhere, there have been problems and protests against Saudi authorities and airlines dealing with Egyptian pilgrims; Egyptians no longer put up with much in their usual silence and patience.

Second and perhaps less noticed phenomena is what I call "I'm not alone" syndrome! Before January 25, 2011 a swath of Egyptian society felt isolated and angry, against the society at large, not just the regime itself. I recall the words of an explosive 2008 rap, railing against the Government, “ded el hekomah” or ”ضد الحكومه” where Ramy Donjewan cries out against the Government and those who accept to be insulted, those who accept their dignity be trampled upon. The sense of anger was so pervasive, that the amazing outpouring of happiness and pride, in my view, was not just from the success of overthrow of Mubarak, but also from seeing how many like minded people were out there.

Unlike the revolt against authority " I'm not alone" is far from universality within Egypt. Many are fully occupied with daily struggles of life, feeding a family, making ends meet and rarely have time, energy or inclination to pay attention to other issues and there are those who are focused achieving own personal goals or being entertained without much interest in societal or intellectual pursuits. A clear majority of Egyptians clearly belong to those two categories. The first category struggles for survival is clearly the poor, the later is often described nowadays in Egypt as the The Couch Party or Hezb El Kanabah حزب الكنبه those happily sitting on their sofas watching the events.

I will carve out a further category of Egyptians , those active supporters of religious movements or associations be them Muslim Brothers, Salafis or Copts. These groups already knew they were not alone, even before January 25, 2011. Generally their primary identifications are with their groups as “brothers” true Muslims or “Copts” and less so with the society or Egypt as a whole.

With the above exclusions, I have indeed reduced those I wish to label by "I'm not alone" to fewer than 10% of the population. So a few million Egyptians who thought they were alone, or almost alone, have discovered like-minded thousands within their immediate districts, millions across the country. It was amazing to see, in Tahrir Square, few months after the revolution, over fifty thousand people cheering Ramy Essam, yell out ( madanniya madanniya ) or civil civil calling out for a secular democratic state. Ramy Essam, the young man from Mansoura, brought his guitar as his weapon against the brutality of Mubarak police and thugs during the days of revolution last winter and became known as the Singer of the Revolution.

It is this group of leftists, liberals and unaffiliated who care, really care that found its voice and knew it was not alone after the revolution. Many are pious Muslim or Copts, few are atheist, some are very political and have been for years. The “I’m not alone”s are far from uniform combining people with very differing views and some would even find more in common with Islamists than with each other. The liberals within the group are often more perfectly aligned with Muslim Brotherhood on economic matters, whereas the Egyptian Left would make common cause with the Brotherhood on hatred for Israel.

Yet it is this group, the "I'm not alone"s that are now the most reluctant to give up the joy they found in the revolution and have become the biggest critics of the Egyptian Army Generals who control the country. And it is indeed this group that has been suffering the brunt of the excessive suppression at the hands of the army. Revolution Singer Ramy Essam was tortured at the hands of the army several months ago and despite of promises of investigation and justice this remains to happen.

As I write these words, a couple of prominent “I’m not alone”s come to mind. From the pro west liberal camp Maikel Nabil remains on hunger strike for staggering 85 days, in army prison since March, currently awaiting retrial after an initial sentence of three year prison has been annulled by the military itself. Amazingly, he has not been released, even on bail, pending his retrial for his anti military blogpost. Maikel Nabil has been classified as Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International and so has Alaa Abdelfatteh who is more aligned with the Egyptian left wing. Alaa too is currently languishing in prison awaiting military trial. Maikel and Alaa have refused to cooperate with the military tribunal system and are being severely punished for their daring to challenge the military courts jurisdiction over them as civilians. It is amazing that the Army rulers have shown significant leniency towards Islamists and indeed some who were serving sentences for the murder of late President Sadat were freed or allowed to return from exile.

The "I'm not alone"s took their celebrations from cyberspace into the streets. So rather than just tweeting 140 characters in cyberspace, the very same Alaa Abdelfatteh pioneered the concept of Tweetnadwa where people stood up and expressed their views on selected topics in 140 seconds. So not only did Egyptians perfect the use of social networks for revolution, they did not stop and moved beyond converging the cyber and physical worlds.

The "I'm not alone"s have produced amazing creativity in street arts, songs, poetry and most recently nude photography. A young Egyptian girl published totally nude artistic photos of herself in defiance of conservative customs to the utter bewilderment and anger at some Salafi ultra orthodox Islamists who advocate covering not only women’s hair but also face and hands. I heard of the daring Allia el Mahdi and her blog on the very same day I heard of a Salafi leader refusing to be interviewed by TV journalist unless she covered herself; what a contrast between the two acts. Allia speaks openly of her atheism and of her boy friend Kareem Amer, who was jailed and tortured for his atheism and her rejection of forced religiosity. Alia and Kareem are certainly in a very tiny minority in conservative Egypt but they are not alone and they know it.

The amazing courage and perhaps naiveté of the young Egyptian "I'm not alone"s of various strips create conflicted feelings in me, I am so proud of them, of all of them, even the ones I disagree with, I am so hopeful for Egypt, because a country with such great human wealth, with so much youth talent and courage, truly, has amazing potential; but I am also so scared for them and desperately want them to be free, safe and happy!

AA
November 18, 2011

Inconvenient History: tales of lesser discussed history of Egypt & Israel

As Egypt's relationship with Israel takes central stage for both countries, a look at some interesting little known historical facts may be beneficial for Egyptians and Israelis to explore. While I am in no position to offer ironclad guarantees of the accuracy of the various events and I lack the skill and knowledge necessary to offer various citations and references, I do however believe that the events cited here have indeed occurred largely as described. Oftentimes there are layers of fog surrounding events of the type covered here; less so with those here, most have just tended to get buried or be ignored, with the hope, that they fade away completely.


Egyptian popular mission representing the leading Muslim & Christian families traveled to Palestine to congratulate the Jews of Palestine following the Balfour declaration:

Contrary to the wide spread belief, the Balfour Declaration of 1917, was not, at the time, seen by most Egyptian intellectuals as a sentence against the Palestinians. Interestingly enough some Egyptian Muslim and Christian families held parties to celebrate the Declaration, the Muslim Governor of Alexandria sent a telegram of appreciation to Lord Balfour. A delegation of Egyptian Muslims and Christians led by another Egyptian Muslim, whose paper strongly advocated the then minority position of Arab Nationalism, traveled to congratulate the Jews of Palestine. Majority of Egyptians leaders didn't consider an Arab affiliation for Egypt at the time. The people who participated in that retrospectively misguided delegation were not received back as traitors or sellouts when they returned to Egypt. The majority of Egyptians who held more Egyptian nationalist views also saw the declaration as positive news. Perhaps those Egyptian intellectuals focused on the Decleration's guarantees of the rights of the native population of Palestine or saw certain positive aspects in Jewish nationalism the way Americans do today! This topic will be examined later.

As New York turned back Jews fleeing Nazi Europe, Alexandria welcomed them to Egypt, one of , just, four ports globally open to take in Jews escaping from Nazi atrocities

Sadly few highlight this historical fact. Yad Vashem, other memorials and Holocaust history in general offer no special recognition of the role that independent Egypt played saving Jewish lives. A disgusting byproduct of the recent rise of anti-Semitism in Egypt with the wide circulation of books of Holocaust deniers, few Egyptians are actually aware of this important generosity that Egypt and all Egyptians should be proud of.

Amazingly as large numbers of European Jews arrived in Egypt escaping Nazi Europe few wealthy Egyptian Sephardic Jews worried about backlash

While this was by no means wide spread, it is important to note the disproportionate attention certain Jew haters such as the marginal figure of Hussieni the Mufti of Jerusalem receives who some groups even absurdly suggest that his influence reached Egypt. Could a non Jew argue that the memory of the Holocaust should not be used for short term propaganda gains?

In reading about World War II and the horrors faced by the Jews at the hands of advancing Nazi armies, nationalist partisans be them Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian or just the local populations; it is amazing that Alexandria, the city with the largest Jewish population in Egypt, did not record attacks on Jewish property and lives when Hitler’s army was only 70 miles to the west.

As Alexandria’s western suburbs were being bombed, Alexandrians wanting to rid themselves of the British occupation attacked British soldiers but no real signs of hate or anger against Jews surfaced. The Jews of Alexandria worried about the advancing Nazi army but did not fear their Egyptian neighbors. This is strange when so much of the hate propaganda would have us believe that Egyptians and Jews are natural enemies.

While the then non peaceful Muslim Brotherhood had indeed started to attack Jews in graffiti around 1939 in certain cities, there appears to have been no such attacks at all during the time of impending entry of Hitler’s army into Alexandria.

Israeli Mossad Operation Susannah widely known as the Lavon affair: Six years after the establishment of the State of Israel, Egyptian Jews largely stayed put and minimal immigration to Israel occurred. Israeli Intelligence, in order to spur their immigration, as well as attempting to derail Egyptian American relationship, carried out a number of terrorist attacks in Cairo in 1954. The Mossad agents were caught, tried and imprisoned in Egypt. Following the defeat of Egypt in the 1967 war, the imprisoned Mossad agents were exchanged for Egyptian POWs and later, were treated to official welcomes by the Israeli Government and more honors as recent as 2005.

Many Egyptians would now be shocked to read the text of the speech of Zakriyah Mohieddean, Egypt's vice-president at the time talking of Egypt’s Jewish sons. The language of monkeys and pigs was hardly heard before the Mubarak era.

Various attempts to rewrite the history of the Lavon affair continued even into the twenty-first century. Israelis will at some point need to come to terms with the bloody history of their nation. Egyptians will need to learn that anti-Semitism plays to the hands of the Israel’s right wing which consistently advocates exclusivity as the only way to defend Jews from ever hateful enemies.

UK and France admitted conspiracy in 1956 Suez War, yet Israel continue to label it “war of self defense”. It is truly absurd that while the British and French have come clean about this trilateral aggression on Egypt and numerous books and archieves have now been made available for over two decades, Israel’s official version remains that the invasion of Egypt in 1956 was a war of self defense or just totally omitted from history.

This is probably one of the most blatant examples that show the need for Israel to come clean with its history. The Jewish and Israeli people will be more willing to make the concessions necessary for peace when they are more aware of facts. There are many disputed facts in the history of the various Israeli conflicts, perhaps the lies associated with the 1956 Suez war would allow more Israel supporters to look beyond state propaganda. We often hear of school books in Palestine and elsewhere teaching hate of Israel, this shows that history books need changing on all sides.

Not one Egyptian Jew lost his or her citizenship for being Jewish, yet many native Egyptian Jews left because of bigotry and distrust.

Egyptian citizenship laws were first introduced in 1929. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire residents had choices to make to become Egyptian, Turk or other nationality. Left over from the days of overt British & French domination following the invasion of Egypt in 1882, was a strange justice system that saw locals facing Egyptian Law, while foreign European minorities subject to their own laws and consular courts. Many of the affluent Jews living in Egypt for two or even three generations regarded themselves above the locals and pursued European citizenships; the Ladinos with more recent roots in Turkey or the Levant generally opted for Turkish or Egyptian citizenship. Following the Suez War citizens of France & UK were evicted from Egypt. Some Jewish families were divided as many held different European citizenships. The second wave of expulsions happened after the 1961 introduction of socialist nationalization laws which targeted foreign and Egyptian capitalists; its biggest exodus was actually for Greek and Italian Christians and included wealthy Egyptian Jewish, Christian and Muslim families.

Through the forties and fifties of the 20th century it appears that the Jews in Egypt who faced problems with the state were for reasons of communist affiliations, British or French nationality or anti capitalist laws. This would be entirely consistent with Nasser’s policies who viewed the exit of Egyptian Jews as a victory for Zionism and hence the earlier appeals for Egypt’s Jewish sons. It took few years after the Suez war for real animosity at the national level to start building up in the middle and late sixties.

Over the years I met many American Jews who told me of their Egyptian friends who were expelled from Egypt for being Jewish and it never failed that upon questioning it became clear that the friends in question never held the Egyptian nationality to start with, through their own choice, and had rejected the Egyptian citizenship for other opions and eventually left Egypt as part of a bigger story.

Yet for the ethnic Egyptian Jews, mostly “Karaite” whose mother tongue was Egyptian Arabic, were Egyptian citizens and were in all aspects part of the fabric of the “locals” ,rather than the world of the superior minorities. Egypt lost a great deal by losing its Greeks, Italians and its “foreign” Jews who were part of its cultural, industrial and merchant classes for generations. Yet Egypt's biggest loss will always be its native Jews who, those who trace their roots back thousands of years, those who wore the galabeya or tarboush, listened to Om Kalthoum music, ate mehshi and molokhiya. Ultimately it was bigotry, racism, mistrust of their fellow Egyptians that led to their gradual isolation and eventual sad departure from Egypt. Egypts’ Karaite Jews of Egypt left because of dwindling opportunity, increasing suspicion and obvious inducement for a better life. Sadly one hears of similar stories of discrimination and bigotry towards Coptic Christians nowadays.

Egyptians use Zionist as a non racist insult, Jews hear an offensive racist slur. This is not so much historical fact as an observation of current discourse, particularly post the January 25, 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The internet savvy Egyptians are trying to choose their words in Arabic and English carefully, they are forward thinking revolutionaries driven by values of freedom and justice. Egyptians use “Zionist” mostly to mean Jews who support the oppression of the people of Palestine. Yet many Egyptians proceed to use the common bigoted racist anti-Semitic slurs with the word Zionist, so we hear of Zionist monkeys and pigs and the like. The forward looking Egyptians are willing to live with Jews and make peace with Jews but not Zionists, the Salafi minority and their elk reject all other and worse of all Jews.

Yet to many Jews, Zionism is an identity, it is more about their pride as people, it has a lot to do with their affection for Israel but to most Jews and Israelis, Zionism does not equal oppression of Palestine or usurping their rights. So while some Egyptians want to use a non racist language, virtually most Jews and Israelis hear nothing but racist language. Some Egyptians have taken to hone their criticism against Israelis rather than Jews failing to note that often times, there is far more advocacy for Palestinian rights amongst Israeli Jews than non Israeli Jews.

The Mubarak era saw massive increase of media criticism of Israel and of all things Jewish including the shameful serialization of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion on Mubarak’s own State TV, the rise of anti-Semitism in Egypt was a product of the state encouragement as a sanctioned channel for venting and activism and it also served the purpose of showing the US and the west the crucial need for Mubarak and his regime for ongoing stability. Long gone were the Sadat days of actively seeking reconciliation, Mubarak’s was the cold peace at the people to people level.

But this, clearly, is not the whole story, at a time of shocking images of live round the clock news coverage and citizen journalism; Israel is seen to be seriously out of step with its continued suppression of the rights of the people of Palestine, massive reprisals and collective punishment on a population occupied for generations. Israelis cannot stay silent on what is being committed in their name, day in and day out, and expect not to be hated. The continued right wing supremacist policies of colonial settlements, house demolitions, road blocks and “facts on the ground” are eroding the possibilities of peace and with Israel being a “democracy” are coloring all of its people with one big ugly brush in the eyes of many Egyptians.

Most Egyptians today are unaware of the deep roots of Zionism in Egypt and how most Egyptian political leaders and intellectuals looked admirably on Zionism even into the early 1930’s. In 1925 ardent Egyptian Nationalist Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed represented Egypt in the opening ceremony of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Some of the leaders of the Wafed Party in 1919 Revolution were also well known leaders of Zionist Associations in Cairo & Alexandria. Back then Jews, indeed Zionist Jews and Egyptians never viewed one another as enemies but friends. The Wafed Governments did not tolerate what they termed “Palestinian propaganda” from the one lone anti Zionist paper warning against evictions of Palestinians, they shut it down, while several Zionist papers were published in Egypt. The word “Zionism” did not have the abhorrent connotation it conjures today in the mind of the average Egyptian. Yet to Jews it still has the same lofty values that colleagues of Saad Zaghloul and Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed advocated.

The current events offer hope for change for the better but also offer a huge amount of uncertainty and fear. Perhaps looking at history we can see that the natural order is friendship between Jews and Egyptians or at the very least absence of animosity, perhaps Egyptians can learn to criticize actions and situations rather than labels and Jews and Israelis can revisit the history to see why a people who supported and welcomed them for many years have become so hateful towards them.

Ayman Ashour
August 29, 2011


Recommended Readings and Sources


I received a number of requests for sources and some readers wanted to read more on the various topics.

For political history and general views of Egyptians intellectuals and political leaders, I relied on readings in Arabic and English including The Question of Palestine by Edward Said and several of his other works. Leila Ahmed's outstanding memoir Border Passage, more than any other work helped me clear my views on issues of Egyptian identity and the more recent Arab identification. Other works that stayed with me included the controversial Enemy in the Promised Land by Sanaa Hassan and works in Arabic by Abed el Rahman el Refa'ay and others. Material I have encountered along the way but think had less influence on me were works by Bernard Lewis in English, Redwa Ashour and several others in Arabic.

For the Jewish experience in Egypt, I relied on Cairo, City Victorious which extensively used rabbinical records from Egyptian synagogues. The excellent Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt touched me deeply and I have also read  few other stories of  Jewish exits from Egypt.

Joel Beinin outstanding Stanford University research titled: Egyptian Jewish identities: communitarianisms, nationalisms, nostalgias, offers a concise review of material covered in more detail elsewhere. The paper is available on the internet and I have read several critical reviews of it as well but honestly have not been moved by them, perhaps Beinin just said what I wanted to hear.

I have also, through nearly 10 years as a co-moderator of an Arab Jewish internet dialogue group, and as member of in-person dialogue group in Boston, have heard directly of Egyptian Jewish experiences and was refered to countless articles and materials. Egyptian Jewish groups on the Internet continue to offer fascinating insight too.


My attempts to understand what the Holocaust meant for Jews come primarily from accounts of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors in dialogue; also readings of Primo Levy touched me deeply and on the use of the memory of Holocaust for political or monetary gains on The Holocaust Industry by Norman Finkelestin. I have suffered through several books in Arabic including those translated from French that deny the Holocaust or at least its full extent as well as theories on Jewish collusion with Nazi.


Reading on what I term “applied Zionism” or rather what actually happened on the ground in Palestine includes limited readings of Benny Morris and the amazing Hannah Arendt and closer to my own perspective was the outstanding work of Fay Afaf Kenafani: Nadia, Captive of hope and In Search of Fatima by Ghada Karami.

For the Lavon Affair I have primarily relied on Internet searches, one or two articles in Arabic and the also writings by Joel Beinin of Stanford referenced above. I have read minimal amounts of similar operations carried out in Iraq for the purpose of inducing fear in the Jewish communities to emigrate to Israel.

For the Suez 1956, I read few books by British politicians of the time including Descent to Suez and relied on the website of the Jewish Agency which until few years ago described the war as “campaign of self defense” but as of yesterday appear to have deleted all reference to it, or I may have looked it elsewhere.

I have reviewed  many of the books referenced above and the reviews are on " myAmazon reviews". 

Finally, I am neither a historian nor a researcher; I just happen to be an avid reader and also have a relatively good memory. The topics have been of great interest to me and I view the reconciliation between Egypt and Israel as critical for achieving peace in the whole region, I am also deeply moved by the historic and on-going suffering of both Jews and Palestinians.

The Hymen Obsession: Inequality & Harassment in Egypt

Some ten years ago I went with my family to an Arab American convention in Washington DC, at the dinner table there was another Egyptian American family and their late teenage son & daughter who told us of their experience moving back to Egypt for a couple of years. The son loved it but the daughter complained bitterly of her experience in Egypt; I am sure you can guess why: sexual harassment! A year or so later, while on holiday in Egypt some total stranger scolded my daughter and her friend for their lack of head cover, he walked almost 50 Meters on a relatively deserted North Coast beach to deliver his little charming playful lecture leaving my daughter who was just recovering from major brain surgery and her, fresh off the plane American friend, distraught.

It is the same story over & over again everywhere in Egypt, sexual harassment! You can read warnings about it in guide books and we hear about it in the news and you could see it in sickening details in movies like Cairo Time with young men chasing a woman the age of their mothers’. Egypt is ground zero for sexual harassment! ..but why? This is a question that perhaps trained sociologists are better qualified to answer. I can only throw few guesses, from the move to separation of boys & girls in education, increased religiosity and delays in marriage age to the general oppression that Egyptians have & continue to suffer from. As an Egyptian American I can see how I am treated in Egypt depending on which passport I produce be at an Airport or hotel. We Egyptians are treated with no dignity & respect by our police, our schools, our sport coaches and in turn we treat others with little or no dignity and respect. Often times the perceived weaker sex gets the worst of it.

Is it just that, or is more to it? My guess is that there is more to it, there is a fundamental, at best discriminatory, aspect to position of women in Egyptian culture; we are brought up with it, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, Muslim and Christian alike. It is a view of women as cross between a pet, object and a lesser being. I have memories of my mother pleading with A’am Naguib the father of our Christian servant child not to take her home to their village in south of Egypt to perform the “tohor” on the then 9 or 10 year old Attiat. “tohor” is a word meaning purification, the same word used for male circumcision. Few days later after that Coptic Easter little Attiat came back not able to walk, constantly bleeding after her “purification” I remember my mother scolding the father, but his face was beaming, he achieved something important. Genital mutilation has been imposed on most Egyptian women, to my knowledge only Bedouin Arab tribes representing about 1% of the population of Egypt have normally not engaged in mutilation of their women. Many of the brave Egyptian women on Facebook & Twitter and on the streets during the protests standing up to Mubarak’s police & thugs were mutilated as children and some of the children of the current Facebook generation are destined to the same fate.

In Pre Islamic Arabia baby girls were buried alive at birth for fear of the shame they may bring upon their families as adults, was genital mutilation the Egyptian answer to the same dilemma? The shame that can be brought upon a family if their daughter or sister got pregnant could be averted by interfering and reducing the sexual pleasure of women through mutilation, so instead of burying newborn baby girls, keep them for cleaning and cooking and also be available for man’s sexual pleasure; perhaps the word “tohor” or purification now make a bit more sense. While men often complain of the sexual desire of their wives I suspect Egyptian men are not just whining, Chinese women had their feet forcibly molded to small size, Egyptian women have their sexual enjoyment forcibly curtailed or removed.

Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike tend to be pious, devout and the vast majority highly observant of religious practice. To my knowledge Islam and Christianity both disapprove of sex outside of marriage and premarital sex is prohibited. I am, however, unaware of Islam or Christianity imposing stiffer bans or punishment on women than on men. Why is it that Egyptian families are happy and readily willing to send their young sons abroad for a semester or a post graduate education and more hesitant to send their daughters? Why do we Egyptian Americans tolerate or even approve our sons having girlfriends but freak out about our daughters having boyfriends? How many of us heard of Egyptian families shipping their daughters back to Egypt because they got “boy crazy” or were getting into that boyfriend stuff? In some cases whole families went back to Egypt or moved to some Arab Gulf country to escape the scary syndrome known as daughter’s boyfriend! The unequal application of what are essentially equal prohibitions is interesting to explore and dig into more to understand where it comes from; it is fundamental inequality drilled into us from birth.

In my own extended family over many years I have seen examples of discrimination against women as daughters, sisters and wives both dished out by men from my family and more often I have seen women relatives suffer at hands of husbands denying children visitation rights, denying divorce even where the husbands have taken second wives. Many Egyptians feel ashamed of discussing these horrible facts especially in English for fear it would damage the image of Egypt or Islam. Ask most non Islamist Egyptians on Twitter and they tell you they believe in equality, ask them if they are willing to marry a non virgin and then ask them if they have a problem with their sister or daughter having the same exact rights they had. We are not talking religions here, we are talking culture.

As a young father some 15 years ago, I was once about to leave on a long trip, I told my then 5 year old son, come on you are now the man of the house! The look on my daughter’s face, always competitive and nearly 18 months older stayed with me. I never repeated the words again; I caught myself falling into the trap of gender discrimination, what did I mean by “man of the house” was this innocent saying a harbinger for a new generation that discriminates against its women?

The Egyptian Jan25 Revolution showed amazing courage from Egyptian women starting from those who blogged and called for the protests to those who were in Tahrir for the 18 days that brought down Mubarak. Of the many amazing aspects of Jan25 was the reported absence or near absence of harassment in Tahrir; Egyptian women found their voice and place. Yet at the very same location, Tahrir Square, and almost one month after the fall of Mubarak, some 16 Egyptian women, who were protesting peacefully, were arrested, tortured and here it comes: subjected to the ultimate humiliation, state conducted mandatory virginity tests. CNN reported an army officer stated that the tests were conducted to avoid accusations of rape against the army and that that none were found to be virgin. I would have thought that showing all of them to have been virgins, even if one or two were married, would have been the exoneration the army needed to show that no "rape" per se occurred, but clearly that was not the real objective of the cruel tests. The objective was the sexual humiliation and ultimately the shame of these women. Those who conducted this shameful operation were well aware of Egyptian hymen obsession. the term counter revolution has been used a lot in Egypt recently, rarely have I seen such a clear example of blatant criminal counter revolutionary behavior, a cruel and violent attempt to take back Tahrir from these brave honorable women.

A sexual revolution in Egypt is most certainly not a goal of mine, neither am I writing to advocate premarital sex and promiscuous society. Egypt has too many pressing problems to deal with and the damage of promiscuity in terms of teen pregnancy, single parent struggle, sky high divorce rate and family disintegration are there for all to see in US and elsewhere. What is my goal then? In simple terms it is equality and real fundamental women rights, not a sexual revolution but rather an honesty revolution that allows us to get into the roots of our social ills. No society can move forward without advancement for its women, no equality is possible without owning up to the current highly unequal status of those fellow humans born with hymens. It is thought leaders of the society, men and women, young men and young women those who made Jan25 possible, the Facebook & Twitter people who can lead the change, towards real equality, not lip service equality and certainly not promiscuity.


Ayman S. Ashour
June 3, 2011

From Tahrir to Switzerland ..the Oracle physician turned hero!

I just returned from Lucerne (Luzern) Hospital here in Switzerland after spending few hours with Dr. Ahmed Ghareeb, a wonderful hero of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Ahmed is a physician who later studied IT and became an IT specialist with Oracle in Cairo. January 28th was one of the most violent days of the Revolution; Ahmed was trying to stop a Republican Guard armored truck from delivering what looked like tear gas canisters to the police. Ahmed thought the vehicle was regular military; he was confused as to why, when the Army was generally neutral or protecting the protestors, this particular vehicle was attempting to aid the police. Apparently the Republican Guards look like Army but receive orders directly from the Presidency. After trying to plead with the officer in charge not to aid the police, the officer, agitated, shouted “I will kill you mom’s boy!”; the vehicle ran him over. Ahmed lost consciousness immediately and was taken to a hospital. Eight days later Ahmed finally opened his eyes, he did not recognize his own mother. Following intensive treatment in Cairo hospitals during February and thanks to the support of Oracle, Ahmed’s family and many friends he was moved to the care of a specialist team in Lucerne on March 4 where he has been undergoing extensive tests and evaluations since his arrival.

I met Ahmed for the first time today, he is now able to use his laptop for short periods , talk coherently, but still not able to concentrate and has very serious damage to the left side of his face, left eye, and has lost hearing in his left ear. He will need a battery of surgeries to fix extensive nerve, bone and blood vessel damage, followed by attempts to fix hearing and repair of the damage to the eye. Ahmed’s first surgery is scheduled next week and could last up to 17 hours. Today, Ahmed was upbeat, positive, amazingly strong, courteous and so full of grace.

Ahmed Ghareeb is typical of the young people of Egypt who protested against the brutal oppressive regime of deposed President Mubarak. People from the middle and upper classes of Egypt rose for their dignity, out of a belief that Egypt deserves better than a thuggish torture ridden police state. Geeks, bloggers, employees of Oracle, of Google, university professors, dentists, writers, lawyers, singers and eventually all of Egypt rose peacefully for freedom and human rights; they made Egypt proud and the world looked on in admiration.

As Ahmed and I talked today, we discovered a common bond, our love for the Sinai Peninsula our love of the desert and Red Sea. Ahmed spoke to me about his passions with a wonderful sparkle in his right eye. Ahmed promised to show me the remains of giant whales 400 km inland in Egypt’s western desert in Wadi Hitan; a beautiful spot that Ahmed loves to camp in. I can’t wait for him to show me his favorite desert spots. With Ahmed’s determination, the support of his family and friends from Egypt and Oracle worldwide and the wonderful team of doctors who have cared for and will care for Ahmed, this will be soon, I am sure.

Ayman S. Ashour
March 18, 2011

The Egyptian Stock Exchange..What Next?

Invest in Egypt but don’t gamble against the odds on the stock market!

The Egyptian Stock Exchange has been closed since the early days of the January 25 Revolution. Following the toppling of Mr. Mubarak a chorus of calls for action, donations and investment in the stock market has been getting louder in the press, social media and even in SMS text messages from banks. The continued closure of the stock market has fueled a high level of anxiety amongst many and with so much excitement about the possibilities for change and progress the wonderful people of Egypt are willing listeners to advice that they think can help Egypt and its economy.

While I am not an economist, I have been at leadership positions of public companies in the US & Europe and I have also been an adjunct lecturer on mergers & acquisitions for a number of years. So what I express here is my personal view as a practitioner who has to deal with issues of stock price, investor sentiment and public markets in general day in and day out and as also as an educator of business students looking at how companies create value and how they are valued.

International investors evaluate numerous factors to make their decisions about expanding their investment in a company, sector or country. Egypt has many important attractions, large population, excellent strategic location, availability of foreign language friendly work force, good access to markets and so forth. However, certain factors have impacted investment in Egypt negatively, specifically corruption, arbitrary & corrupt taxation and an inefficient, slow and often corrupt justice system.

Political stability is another key issue that has affected attitude towards investment in Egypt and likely will continue to do so. I fear that the current plan chosen by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to install a temporary constitution and only move to a permanent one after a round of presidential and parliamentary elections followed by further elections for a drafting committee and further referendums, will prolong the period of uncertainty. The Egyptian Military caution is understandable on a number of fronts and a gradual approach that allows for the building up of democratic institutions over a year or two under a relatively benign military rule has its attractions, but also its price, a price from uncertainly over process, intent and what the ultimate outcome may look like and its desirability.

In a theoretical “perfect market”, the value of a company or a business is a function of one’s view of the future cash profit that a particular company would generate for its owners; stocks or shares represent fraction ownership of a company. Obviously people can have differing views on what the future may hold for a company and thus there will be those willing to buy and others willing to sell. If we assume company in the tourism industry in Egypt, the prospects for future profit and cash generation would have been seen as promising over the last few years, however, today there is little doubt that 2011 will be a difficult one for the tourism sector in Egypt. Companies in the tourism sector may actually make less profit or actually lose money; the value of these companies and their shares is therefore reduced in a “perfect market”.

The situation in any stock market is far from that of a “perfect market”, there are other factors that affect share prices; basic supply and demand for the actual shares and expectations of this supply and demand. If one hears that a shareholder in a specific company will be selling a large block of shares, it is likely that this could affect the price per share. So as we look at a company like Ezzsteel with its Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Ahmed Ezz in prison facing a number of charges, it is unlikely that many investors will be wanting to acquire shares in Ezzsteel when the market does eventually open, arguably many would want to sell shares. The prospects of the steel industry may not have materially changed by the January 25 Revolutions yet, the supply and demand situation of the shares has likely changed. The ownership of a significant percentage of companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Market is concentrated in the hands of large shareholders and it is the perceived and the actual attitude of these large shareholders that could have a decisive effect of the share prices of their companies.

The stock market when it does open in Egypt will likely see a drastic reduction in value because of the expected economic weakness at least for 2011, because of the uncertainty surrounding several prominent business families with large controlling blocks in many listed companies and there will likely be further penalty associated with a perceived higher political instability risk. The positive sentiment associated with the competent corruption fighting government of the new Egyptian Prime Minster will likely not be enough to counter the three big negatives. So there are good reasons for the stock market to go down.

Experience has shown that betting against economic fundamentals can only work in the short term but rarely so in the long term. People who want to avoid or minimize the collapse in the Egyptian stock market need to focus their effort on the three causes; the share prices are the outcome, just the symptoms. A campaign to encourage buying Egyptian made products domestically and internationally would contribute to the health of Egyptian companies more than buying few shares from co-investors of Mr. Ahmed Ezz while his own shares remain frozen. Promoting tourism in an intelligent campaign with significant price reductions and improvement in service is critical to save jobs and businesses in the tourism sector.
Most importantly, is the further thoughtful review of the plans to achieve the objectives of the January 25 Revolution as adopted by the Military. Plans and process to rid Egypt from corruption fix the justice and dispute resolution system and remove the old dictatorial system of Government need to be transparent and inclusive.

Egypt today stands at a high place, admired by the people of the world for its peaceful revolutions and while the army may have hesitated and bungled a number of important matters, it continues to be seen positively globally. In short there is tremendous goodwill by the world Government, people and investment community towards Egypt; now the key priority to focus on the fundamentals.

AA
March 12, 2011

The Amazing Tahrir

Wisdom of the ancient Egyptians is contained in the famous Book of The Dead. Egyptians celebrate feasts going to cemeteries, the world grandest tombs are our pyramids, when it comes to death, we excel, right? I always thought being Egyptian American was the ultimate philosophical contradiction in terms of outlook on life and death! Wrong, the Egypt that I saw on Twitter and Facebook for the past few months and specially since "#Jan25" or the January 25, 2011 Revolution is very much alive, not cynical but open, optimistic, tolerant, inclusive and vital. The outpouring of positive energy and creativity in all facets of life is beyond description and imagination. Enough adjectives and here are highlights of my seven hours in Tahrir Square.

On arrival ID checks and two patdowns, searches, organized, smiling, apologized for search and a big “Welcome to Tahrir”. ID checks to confirm not employed by police or other undesirable internal security apparatus for those are the trouble makers in post Jan25 Egypt! Traveling from Cairo Airport to nearby suburb Naser City to downtown, I saw virtually no police, amazing when they are normally ultra visible. Funnily enough, I only saw just limited military on my way to the airport, one tank and 3 soldiers to be accurate; yet Cairo felt more organized and safe than normal!

Inside Tahrir it felt like being in a surreal world, like being in a concert, carnival or even an amusement park. People selling flags, drinks, all types of foods and souvenirs; all handing out lots of smiles. Occasional spontaneous chants and mini marches memorizing martyrs, mocking or calling for the trial of former regime members or wanting their money. In normally classist Egypt, people were mixing easily, chatting and always smiling. I always thought Egyptians while having a wicked sense of humor were normally sad and subdued, in fact Egyptians normally ask forgiveness of God whenever they have a good laugh with the short prayer for God to make this laughter for a good thing or “Allah yegaloh khier”; the Egyptians in Tahrir were smiling and laughing unapologetically and optimistically; it was their right to be happy, finally!

Lots of people were passing leaflets; some rejecting the proposed constitution, others offering help to clarify their constitutional views, another for some presidential candidate with a ten point plan: number 9 was "A considered and thoughtful plan to reduce the number of spinsters". The big emphasis from most is ending detentions, ending the hated State Security apparatus and the new constitution.

My own brother insisted on buying a Libyan revolution flag when he saw someone walking by carrying one. He wanted to show solidarity. By noon the area was getting very full of people when the Muslim friday prayers were held. Amazingly people knelt down for prayers all mixed up, men, women, Christians, Muslims; some men asked women to sit down for prayers, some did, others didn't. It was relaxed and comfortable and the Imam addressed the sermon to Egyptians Muslims and Christians and called on the Shiekh of Al Azhar to be an elected not appointed post.

Women who were very visible in this revolution were also visible in Tahrir, the majority had their hair covered, many didn't and some had the once dreaded face cover. My own prejudices against the veil fell apart as I saw assertive activist women taking part in the revolution fully, no back seats and many if not most calling for a secular civil state.

For me, one of the main faces of the revolution is the wonderful and articulate Asma Mahfouz, an activist blogger whose courage, determination in her video blogs helped galvanize the movement and actually got people out on Jan 25. This modest girl with the headscarf shamed the nation into getting out to protest against Mubarak as she recounted stories of being a girl amongst a handful of protestors in the face of truckloads of Central Security. I didn't see Asma in person but I saw many like her.

While sitting on a curb facing the "Mogamma" the central administrative building of the state on Tahrir Square, another young Asma with a large tatterd bag came collecting the empty bottles, cans and food wrappings; an hour later a young man came in for the same purpose. They went about their tasks silently, unobtrusively, not complaining, not uttering a word. I found myself rushing ahead of them to collect the garbage with my hands to put in their white bags. I felt humbled by the courage, organization and dedication of those beautiful young people of Egypt. For Jan25 is a revolutions that cares about what it leaves behind, it cleans after itself.

At about 1 pm, the newly appointed Prime Minister of this country of 85 Million people walked by us with no visible guards to the make shift stage at the edge of the Square. I saw him and took few photos with my phone, but the audio did not cooperate, I could not hear what he said and the crowd was intense. Fireworks in the midday sun of Cairo and loud chants erupted, I found out later it was his pledge to achieve the will of the people. Closer to 3pm I walked around the rest of the Square listening to many speeches by men and women in the different corners of this wonderful Republic of Tahrir ...all people believing in a better future. Doubtless the various factions that brought Egypt to this success will splinter into Socialist, Arabist, Liberal, Islamist, Egyptian Nationalist and others, one has to feel a certain amount of gratitude towards the hated Mubarak for making it possible for these various groups to unite and learn to work together so well.

Many thoughts and fears still crowd my head, but I wanted to communicate what I saw, perhaps still a bit raw and full of emotion and excitement. I still hear the young man who was selling flags and painting faces lamenting that Friday March 4 was likely the last big protest, I hope he is right and being Egyptian American and now mainly a Tahriri, I have to be optimistic.

AA
March 6, 2011

Amir Eid and friends Sout Al Hourya CNN interview

Hosny Zeft is gone ..this is for you mother!

“Hosny Zeft” is how my mother always referred to the deposed president of Egypt. While linguistically inaccurate I would equate “zeft” to garbage or rubbish as used in Egyptian Arabic. So to my mother the President of Egypt was Hosny Rubbish, she never referred to him as just Hosny or “el riess” the president, or Mubarak, it was always Hosny Zeft, Hosny Garbage, so consistent she was in her use of this name that one would be forgiven to believe the man’s last name was indeed Garbage.

My mother was always an ardent Egyptian nationalist with tremendous interest in politics and world events; she was the first in the family to boycott the state controlled Al Ahram, the big daily of Egypt and to seek out weekly and eventually daily opposition papers. In the early days of her Alzheimer family members were treated to lengthy rants about Hosny Zeft and his various ministers repetitively. We would often plead with her to tone it down in public places but this would aggravate her more, so Hosny Zeft it was all the time.

My sheer happiness for the success of the Egyptian Revolution and the way this success was achieved are simply beyond words. After three weeks of terrible distraction and an emotional roller coaster of fear, worry, anxiety, anger and hope, the thug and his regime are gone, the Mubarak’s era is no more! Still, I remain overcome by emotions ranging from sadness for those who paid the ultimate price and those who have been tortured and maimed to deliver this salvation to joy and elation at a united progressive organized peaceful movement that defeated the torture and propaganda machines of Mubarak.

I wanted to much to be able to discuss the events of the last three weeks with my mother, I so longed to hear her cheer for the protestors, I imagined trying to dissuade this feisty 82 year old lady from going to Tahrir Square. I wanted to hear what she thought of Egypt finally finding its voice, revolting for dignity and ultimately the getting rid of Hosny Zeft. I speak to my mother on the phone daily and try to get the discussion to Hosny Zeft …over the 18 days of the revolution the name registered once with mammi, …. yes there is still Hosny Zeft deep inside below the thick fog of Alzheimer. In that one call, on the 17th day, she still remembered a Hosny Zeft that should be indeed be damned….but for now my mother wants ice cream and football on TV. Perhaps after this stressful ordeal she is right; we all need ice cream and soccer on TV!

Ded el Hekomah …What does it mean?

Roots of the January 25 Revolution in Egypt


The powerful Egyptian rap Ded el Hekomah is the anthem of the Egyptian Revolution. News analysts, security experts, orientalists and all types of talking heads have for decades talked of the grim choice the USA and the West have in Egypt; corrupt dictatorships or Islamist western hating, war mongering instability like that of Iran. Pity they did not take some time to look beyond their prejudices and listen to “Ded el Hekomah”. Egyptian Rapper Ramy Donjewan song is a beautiful passionate cry against a brutal government, against injustice, thuggery and torture against the killing of innocents.

Ramy rages against dictatorship and even against the victims of oppression for their silence, for putting up with injustice and for thirty years of dictatorship. Ramy urges people to speak out against the oppressive government …”kefayeeh noam” enough sleep! … “kefayeeh moat” enough death! ... “kefayeeh sekoot” enough silence! ...“kefayeeh zolm” enough injustice … ”ana ded el hekomah” I’m against the government! …”ana ded illi ya’abel yetthan” I am against those who accept humiliation! “ana leya aeemah” my life has value!

The beautiful poetry of Ramy Donjewan speaks to universal values of freedom & justice; the American Founding Fathers would have strongly approved of every word and sentiment in “ded el hekomah”. What a surprise to the western talking heads and policy makers … Egyptian youth share the same basic universal values of other people, they do value their lives, they want freedom of expression, they want justice and opportunity; and guess what, they are not too keen on getting brutalized, tortured or killed. What a surprise! And, it is not just the youth we have seen Egyptians in their sixties and seventies take to the street to support the revolution.

The policy makers and their orientalists advisors failed to see the revolution coming as they projected prejudices against the people of Egypt through a process of generalization and stereotyping; lumping in different countries and cultures. The absurdity continues as “experts” talk of their concerns of Egypt splitting up confusing tribal societies in countries thousands of miles away with Egypt; perhaps the world first nation state with substantially same boundaries for millennia.

The reality, before all of us to see on CNN, BBC and Aljazeera, is that Egypt has a foot in the first world with millions of educated people; heavy users of internet and modern communication; they rap, they tweet, have lots of tweeps and Facebook friends, they work for Google, they demonstrate with iPhones, blackberry and even iPads and many are multilingual. This perhaps is the world’s first revolution led by what we Egyptians call “mistreheen” or the “comfortables”, those with education, jobs and some material wealth, the middle and upper classes of the society. Yet Egypt is a third world country with tens of millions of people living on below $2 a day. Daily tweets remind the pro democracy protestors to help the poor on their way to Tahrir Square.

The Egyptian Revolution is no bread riots; it is the “mistreheen” revolt for dignity, self respect and freedom on behalf of all of the people of Egypt. This is about an old nation waking up; finding its voice and showing the world values of social justice & cohesion, religious tolerance & unity. What may come of the Egyptian Revolution is still up in air, for now silence and wavering in supporting the brave people of Egypt is complicit support of thuggery, brutality, torture and criminal oppression of the will of the people. We should all be singing … ana ded el hekomah .. ded el hekomah … ded el hekomah.


AA
February 9, 2011

Outrage in Egypt …why? What next?

I am completely outraged by what is happening in Egypt and to the courageous young men and women of Egypt who took to the streets peacefully and beautifully asking for their freedom, for liberty & democracy. My contribution is, rather than going into the horrors committed by the Mubarak regime, I will focus on some background and address the questions that seem to occupy the mind of many in the west.

Some have claimed that the January 25 peaceful demonstrations were mere copy cat events of those in Tunisia. Let’s first look at why Jan25, and Jan25 in particular, and how #jan25 became such a huge tag on Twitter. The 25th of January is the Egyptian National Police Day or “Eid El Shortah” . The Police & internal security forces of Egypt, numbering in the millions, are a major part of the grievances of the people of Egypt. The Egyptian police has become notorious for the humiliation, abuse, torture and brutal killings of whomever they get their hands on, be they peaceful geeky bloggers, news reporters or organized Islamist or Arabist opponents of the regime.



#KhaledSaid is another big tag on Twitter and Khaled Said Facebook page has hundreds of thousands of members, Khaled would have celebrated his twenty-ninth birthday on January 27, had he not been brutally tortured and killed by the Egyptian Police a few months ago. Khaled’s optimistic hopeful face is on the mind of many of the protestors, what was done to him is there for all to see on Facebook, he was brutalized.

While Egypt has lived under Emergency Laws for 30 years and the Police & other internal security forces have been nothing short of totally ruthless in their suppression of outspoken dissent, the Security Forces failed to protect Egypt against the New Year Eve massacre in Alexandria, this terrorist attack on a church during this last New Year’s Eve left 23 dead and scores maimed. This massacre put ordinary Egyptians Muslims and Christians on a State of Alert and caused a great deal of self reflection. Egyptian police failed to protect ordinary Egyptians despite the stated threat by Al Qaida against Egyptian churches and the response to the attack was equally dismal. Doubtless the success of their Tunisian neighbors helped in opening the eyes of the people of Egypt to their power against the oppressors but the Alexandria massacre delivered a clear message: The violence of the state does not serve any purpose except enriching some in the regime at the expense of the masses, public security is only security for the regime and ruling classes.

Is the Mubarak regime vital for Egypt’s peace with Israel? As a strong advocate for peace and co-existence with Israel the answer to me is a clear no. Mubarak failed to continue with the policy of normalization with Israel started by his predecessor President Sadat, instead Mubarak played a dangerous game of building a strong relationship with Israel on the state level while presiding over the creation of immense waves of anti Jewish hatred. Mubarak’s propaganda apparatus through state owned and controlled media fed the flame of hate. My recollection of my childhood in Egypt at the height of Egyptian Israeli wars was fear of Israeli bombings; the hatred of Israel and all things Jewish had never been at the levels of Mubarak’s Egypt, ground zero for today’s anti-Semitism. Mubarak can’t be good for peace between Egypt and Israel nor for stability. The stability offered by Mubarak is nothing but the most fertile conditions for malignant hate that undermines any lasting peace.

Similar is the myth that Mubarak is a critical ally for the west against Islamism. The Egyptian Islamist movements have had a strange love – hate relationship with Mubarak’s regime. On the one hand Mubarak has opposed the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in politics, yet Islamists have had a free hand running mosques, schools and clinics. Egyptian society under Mubarak has been radicalized and the Salfi extremist strands of Islam, traditionally alien to Egypt, have spread; women in burqas were rarely seen on the streets of Cairo or Alexandria before Mubarak, now they are everywhere. Yet Mubarak brutally suppressed, imprisoned and forced into exile virtually all of his secular opponents and unleashed massive propaganda attacks against them; Ayman Nour and Saad Eddin Ibrahim are perfect examples for Mubarak’s heavy handedness against secular opponents. Mubarak wanted to be the only viable acceptable alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood, no room for others.

The Jan25 revolution, led by the youth, middle class and the educated classes of Egypt and eventually supported by the lame opposition parties and the Islamists, is good for Egypt, is good for the Middle East, good for peace and good for the West.


AA - Feb 2, 2011

2011 New Year Massacre

The ten point swift and serious response to the brutal suicide terrorism in Alexandria that President Mubarak and the Egyptian Government should adopt immediately should look something like this:

1. Public recognition of the existence of a sectarian problem, society splitting up, lots of hate, suspicion and desire for isolation on both sides. No problem can be solved when we deny its existence, so the first point must be to be honest about the deterioration that has taken place in the last four decades.

2. Removal of religious affiliation from birth certificates and ID cards. It is absurd to treat faith as if it were an ethnic or tribal affiliation.

3. Adopting civil law for marriage, divorce, inheritance and the like. Individuals can opt to follow religious law if they so wish, but a Muslim must have the right to leave a valid will that does not get disputed on religious grounds following her/ his death, to adopt children if he or she so chooses and a Copt must have the right to divorce and remarry if he / she so wishes. The civil law can allow for and regulate polygamy too and grant easy divorce rights, so the civil law need not “western” style, but needs to be uniform and addresses the most glaring injustices against women that continue to go on in Egypt.

4. Establish common laws for zoning, construction, renovations for houses of worship be they churches or mosques including shia'a mosques.

5. Introduce world's religions as a mandatory subject in all schools. Ensure that all children receive education about what Copts, Catholic, Jews, Shia’a Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists as well as Sunni Muslim really believe, not what is wrong or missing in other faiths. While we are at the education part, perhaps fund few TV programs to teach people why Copts reject to be labeled a “minority”; it is not that they claim to be a majority, but they as a whole view this word to mean non Egyptian going back to the colonial days when foreign “minorities” had their own Laws and were tried under a separate justice system. This is why Copts hate to be labeled a minority, not because they want to take over the country as some Friday prayer Imams regularly allege.

6. Introduce new Law dealing with discrimination allowing for stiff civil penalties for victims. Perhaps a successful professor of gynecology would be more deterred if he had to cough up few hundred thousands Egyptian Pounds for a pattern of discrimination in grades against Coptic students. (Mr. President: perhaps you would also consider the same for torture while you are at if not too much trouble / distraction).

7. Introduce new laws and enforce existing laws dealing with hate and incitement. Set example of adoption of these laws and start with someone like Qardawi who condones the killing of Israeli civilians. This is where the slippery slope starts and the Anti Jewish hysteria and hate moves across to all who may be different.

8. Instigate an independent (for real) investigation to find and remove any judges, police or prosecutors who show leniency or discriminate in the application of Laws when the accused is a Muslim and the victim is a Copt. While you are at it, get the Mufti and Sheikh Al Azhar to reaffirm equal application of the Law including the death penalty on a Muslim for killing a non Muslim. Mr. President: while this is blatantly obvious to you and many others, it is not to a large number of people and our Coptic brothers and sisters need to hear this from you and others.
9. The President, ministers, governors, deputies from Parliament and Shoura must be visible attending events in churches on regular basis. Mr. President, we need as a society to reassure all Copts that their houses of worship are safe and that Egypt is their country.

10. Last but not least, Egypt should be in an official State of Mourning when a massacre of the nature of what happened in Alexandria occurs; this is what a national State of Mourning is for, it is not just for the death of Government officials or heads of neighboring countries.

May the victims of the tragic massacre rest in peace, may the loss of their lives cause a Government and a nation to wake up. I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish them all the strength and patience to deal with the horrible loss. I wish the injured physically and emotionally quick healing and finally to the extent possible, I wish all Coptic Christians a good Christmas full of healing, strength and hope for better times soon.

Ayman S. Ashour
January 3, 2011

A Passion for Justice: Sherif Fam (July 22, 1936 - August 31, 2010)

I am always fascinated by those rare occurrences when a brief human interaction leaves a lasting effect. I first came across Sherif Fam shortly after 9/11 as part of an Arab / Muslim / Jewish / Israeli dialogue group. I came to know of the group through an Israeli friend and I was invited to the home of a Jewish doctor, the son of Holocaust survivor. The members of the group had different styles ranging from wanting to express their own views and listen to others in honest, true dialogue to those with a more debating style. One grey haired man with a small build spoke very quietly and calmly about issues of morality, justice, humanity and suffering. This man spoke with a great deal of knowledge, very calmly, yet passionately about the humanity of the Palestinians.

We all tend to like to pigeonhole people,. I had originally thought that the man was a Jewish peace activist, perhaps an American Jew or, because I did not really hear the typical Israeli accent, an Israeli who had rejected Israel in his youth and moved to the US. It was the complete lack of aggression, I would even say compassion, which he used to talk to those who opposed his views that struck me, he must really know where they come from. The discussion moved on to the rise of attacks against Muslims in America after 9/11 and with the same keen sense of justice the man spoke about human rights and equality. Someone then mentioned that this man’s name was Sherif Fam and that he was a Coptic Christian Egyptian.

Over the years Sherif and I met occasionally either at dialogue groups, where he was rarely in attendance, or Arab American functions. Sherif appeared to me to be tired of dialogue, perhaps he felt the truth was eminently clear, for all to see, in terms of the on-going suffering of the People of Palestine. If people chose to close their eyes and hearts dialogue or none was not the issue; it was the suffering on the ground that needed addressing. I am not sure if Sherif ever disapproved of the on-going “work” of dialogue but I think his sense of fundamental justice was all encompassing.

Years later I woke up on a Sunday morning and turned my radio dial to hear Weekend Edition on NPR. Instead I heard a familiar voice, the voice of Sherif Fam on the radio, hosting “This Week in Palestine” on a college radio station, something produced by Truth & Justice Radio …the same calm, passionate voice, speaking on behalf of the oppressed.

I think I met Sherif one last time at an Arab American dinner in Boston in 2008 where his radio program was honored. A few days ago, I heard of the passing of Sherif Fam at the age of 74. Sherif touched my soul with his passion, his sense of justice and his commitment. I will always remember his smiley, welcoming face, his eyes full of sparkle and passion and his calm determined demeanor. Sherif Fam has left an impact on many people and I will always cherish my memories of him. His family and his grandchildren should always be very proud of a truly great, understated man, his work and his impact.

Ayman S. Ashour
September 25, 2010

Reflections on Zionism, Islamism, Peace Talks, Identity

Disjointed reflections

I see the current waves of "Islamism" to be a non-liberal counter reaction to and an Islamic version of Zionism. Both, to me, are nationalist movements not religious. So, I, an Egyptian American and a Muslim am supposed to feel more in common with a Hui Chinese Muslim, than I do with my next door Jewish neighbors or my Egyptian Christian childhood friends. In certain respect Islamism suggests that Islam becomes the main identity I have, the “only” group I belong to. So a religious movement with nationalist soul and color…

With Zionism you see the reverse, a nationalist movement with religious wrappings. You can be an atheist "Jew" yet still belong to the Jewish people; clearly an alternate non-religious, national identity. This very point as I know causes a lot of stress in Israel between the secularists who see Judaism and Jewish more of an overarching identity that accept people of Jewish origins regardless of their religious beliefs and views. The religious clearly see it differently and for them religion is so central in their own life and some of those interpret religious text in ways that are exclusive, others accept religion in an non exclusive fashion but also adopt secular Zionism.


I see Zionism in different parts, one is the rise of the Jewish people and their identification as a nation by themselves and others, second is the claim for a homeland, third is the choice of Palestine for a homeland.

With the oppression the Jews have suffered throughout their history at the hands of whichever majority they lived under it is hard for anyone to stand against the desire to be considered as a nation. The way I see it, what right do I have telling the majority of East Timorean people they are not a distinct nation, if the majority of Texans wanted to be a separate nation that is their call. The Jews have plenty of reason to want to proclaim their own identity even before the WWII holocaust.

Second is the claim to a homeland, where never again Jews can be a minority living under the whims of the majority at times accommodating and friendly and at times oppressive but almost always suspicious and watchful. That too is understandable and again if the majority of Jews want it I am all for it. Even if a minority wants it and don't wish to impose it on others then power to them.

The third and most troubling aspect is really in applied Zionism not in Zionism itself, is the choice of Palestine for the homeland. Zionism, a secular nationalist movement, needed to capture the imagination of the non secular Jews and hence the introduction of Palestine rather than Tasmania or other relatively unpopulated piece of real estate. In doing so applied Zionism undermined a basic foundation of Zionism of never again living as a minority or even facing that possibility.

So today’s' applied Zionism has to wrestle with this sad contradiction of being a liberation movement and a colonial movement, of being a movement that is race blind towards Jews yet racist towards non Jews.

The Secular advocates of Zionism betrayed their secular principles to attract more Jews, to protect more Jews and to liberate more Jews, they mixed their secular vision with biblical history and focused on Palestine and they gained a great deal of success that would probably never been possible had they opted for any other piece of real estate apart from Palestine. The price of this success has to be either giving up the vision of never again facing the possibility of being threatened of becoming minority OR giving up Zionism as a moral liberation movement and turning it forever into a colonial supremacist movement that aims to subjugate the natives forever.


AA - updated from Feb 2, 2007

On Minerates, Switzerland, Egypt, America and Saudi Arabia too!

The new Swiss Law is nothing new! The reason only four Minerates exist in a country of over four hundred thousand Muslims is that the Swiss Cantons have refused for many years to grant building permits for mosques; only four minerates have managed to get through. Of the four minerates that exist one or maybe two qualify for a "real" minerate, the others are like a small rises, accidental architectural feature that few people would recognize as Islamic. Before the referendum, this was one of the main reasons I personally decided not to move my primary residence to Zurich despite my commuting back and forth to Switzerland since 2003. Once, I had sought a mosque near me for the Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan and stumbled across a lot of information about the problems with the planning permits; I was shocked, saddened and hurt. It is good that the referendum finally brings out much publicity, so this shameful issue is finally out.

Switzerland, a country I do very much love, has never been a bastion of political correctness on issues of freedom and equality; its brand of referendum based democracy means that it is often out of step in its laws. Swiss women had the right to vote over fifty full years after their Egyptian counterparts. In some Cantons in Switzerland women got the right to vote in 1990's ...so being in the heart of Europe does not necessarily mean being free and progressive. While Egyptians male and female have had the vote for decades, they continue to await for the these votes to count through free and fair elections, only then will we Egyptians be able to show what racism, bigotry and small mindedness really mean. My American side has an insurance policy against such stupidity, known as the United States Constitution. So, when Americans vote freely to mix church and state or vote their racist prejudices, sooner or later, the courts overturn such votes in favor of a more equal and tolerant society. In short, the Swiss are no more racist than others, arguably a lot less. The liberal party in Switzerland is indeed racist; it gathered the signatures to bring the minerates issue to a referendum and very few people actually bothered to vote. I hope that sooner or later, not only would the referendum be overturned but also the planning permit issue at the Cantonal level will get better.

Saudi Arabia is often brought into this discussion; Islamophobes point to Saudi Arabia’s abhorrent restrictions on religious freedom as a way to explain away newly imposed restrictions on Islamic expressions in different parts of Europe and Saudi apologists argue that laws such as the minerates ban are a vindication for Saudi’s stance. I have heard the argument that Muslims can’t be expected to give churches and synagogues the same level of freedoms that Muslim demand for mosques in the West. An argument of “unequal and we mean it!” or “no reciprocity and deliberately so!” The argument is based on Islam believing in Christianity and Judaism while Christianity and Judaism have no theological space for Islam. Such arguments trouble me as much as the original Swiss Cantonal planning restrictions did. Saying that Muslims believe in Christianity is misleading, Muslims believe in their own versions of Christianity and don't believe that the Christians beliefs practiced today are valid. In short, Muslims do not believe in Jesus being the Son of God or that Jesus was crucified for the salvation of mankind and those who believe in him. Muslims can define Christianity as we wish but that is not Christianity as seen by its adherents.

Some Egyptians have used the Swiss Minerates referendum to argue for more (or less) freedom for the Coptic Churches. In down town Boston Muslims hold their Friday prayers at the basement of a Church. In the aftermath of 9/11, the archbishop of Catholic Church in Boston along with leaders of many Protestant churches came to our Wayland mosque and prayed and kneeled with us in solidarity, this would never happen in Saudi for now certainly not Switzerland nor Egypt.