I did have time to notice that they tackle the lagging development (not that the rest of Egypt is shooting ahead, really) as a major problem. I agree, as would a lot of people i’ve met in the Sinai.  What’s strange is that i dont think the report makes any reference to the EC-funded SSRDP (The South Sinai Regional Develpoment Program), which is a little odd since it was such a public and exciting affair when i visited twice in the Summer. I’m not quite sure how anyone visiting South Sinai for non-sun-related reasons could managed to miss it.

Cairo – 24 December 2006

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) is highly concerned by the resolution of Qalubia governor to close Ahalina Center for Egyptian Family Support and Development (Ahalina). The governor’s resolution is aimed at revenge on Ahalina which disclosed the falseness of his mid-November statements that all slum areas in Qalubia governorate are completely supplied with utilities. Ahalina reported that many areas in the governorate are still lacking the minimum requirements of humanitarian life.

On 24 December 2006, employees from Shubra Al-Khima Municipality accompanied by policemen stormed into Ahalina headquarter and attempted to close and seal it with red wax, upon Qalubia governor’s resolution. The governor claimed that Ahalina is “inciting riots”; examples include submitting more than 11 complaints signed by the citizens of slum and deprived areas to the governor’s office. In addition, Ahalina issued a press release in response to governor’s false statements that the governorate has no slum or lacking-utilities areas.

More after the break.

Ahalina Center was founded early in 2006 with the purpose to provide tangible health, environmental, legal, educational, and other services for children, women, and men in Shubra Al-Khima city which lacks many of the basic utilities. Ahalina work is mainly based on volunteers, donors, and self efforts. However, it seems that such activities of Ahalina disturbed Qalubia governor and security forces to the extent that they decided to close it. That is particularly after the center succeeded to unmask the false statements of the governor.

“This revengeful resolution to close Ahalina Center is considered a sever violation to basic standards of human rights. Qalubia governor may be held accountable for misusing his power against an active civil society organization,” HRinfo said.

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information calls upon the civil community to defend Ahalina center against the unjust harassments, which clearly reveal the continuous rivalry between the Egyptian government on one hand and civil society activists and organizations on the other hand.

To read Ahalina’s Press Release in response to Qalubia governor statements:
http://www.hrinfo.net/egypt/ahlyna/2006/pr1211.shtml

Ahalina Section on HRinfo website:
http://www.hrinfo.net/egypt/ahlyna/

It’s probably too ealy to speculate and i’m not quite sure what the reprecussions would be. But maybe people on this side of the globe were a little too hasty with their collective sigh of relief. I hope not.

More info right here although i’d suggest google news for more updated info.

Similar examples crop up everywhere. In any interaction with the bureaucracy for example. In the metro. In any line, obviously. This got me wondering why Egyptians dealt so horribly with each other.

Cogitating on this while driving, i found it very difficult to reconcile with the fact that there is undoubtedly a very rigid, albeit unwritten, code on what is or isnt acceptable in dealing with people: How to address various people depending on their age, sex, marital status, profession, rank, degree.. what’s expected of each party in the case of hosting, engagement, employment, marriage, death.. And generally, Egyptians seem very keen on upholding this code.

It seems to me that although Egyptians have a very rigid set of interpersonal behavior regulations, this seems , at least for those in Cairo, to apply only to direct connections: relatives, friends, work-related acquaintances. There is obviously neither a sense of respect nor consideration involved during interaction in the public sphere. As such, people have no problems stopping in the middle of the street, blocking traffic. Or parking second row and leaving the handbrake up. Or cutting into an obvious (believe it or not i’ve seen a rare few) line. Whether or not this ever existed, i wouldnt know. After all, if you go back only a couple of generations (prior to mass transport and urban migration), you could make the argument that everyone anyone interacted with during their lifetime fell into the acquaintance category.

Anyway, while this lack of respect and consideration is a general problem, it is manifested much more acutely with marginalized/disenfranchised groups. This is obvious in Muslim interactions with, perceptions of and attitudes towards Copts. Think fish and sharks; Or Alexandria riots. But those are just big issues of a much more pervasive problem. To give an example, a (Muslim) friend of mine who was conscripted would tell me stories of how the Muslims used to take all the food and then give the Copts the leftovers. They started giving him a hard time when he tried to protest this treatment.

It is even more evident in the treatment of women, especially in public. The way women are treated on the street is absolutely inexcusable and infinitely repulsive. The Eid mass-sexual assaults highlighted an already long-standing problem.

I think that Egyptian society needs to develop a “code” for public interaction. A social contract, if you will. But from where i’m standing, it sure as hell looks like we’re going in the opposite direction.

ADDENDUM: It seems I was misunderstood, so I’m adding this addendum.First, I’m not making claims about whether or not people think about what they’re doing. I believe that when making decisions the vast majority of people do not have respect for others they come into contact with in the public sphere. They are inconsiderate.

Second, I do not, under any circumstances, believe that we need to legislate a code for behavior. I ultimately have little faith in laws and their implementation. In any case, I think that laws – or, rather, legislation in a representative system as opposed to edicts (or rubber stamping) – are little more than a formalization of something that is already generally accepted in a society or community. What is generally accepted in a group most definitely evolves. And that is precisely what i’m talking about. Whether this is inculcated through school, the home, or public service announcements (although, if you’re talking about top-down enforcement and restricting freedom, i’m not so sure how different incorporating behavior into the “national curriculum” is from legislating it) may be subject to opinion. But the need for this sense to evolve is undoubtedly there.

I was reading the Ahram Weekly when i came across this opinion piece by Jonathan Cook. He essentially tears apart this recent report by HRW. He says:

“If one thing offers a terrifying glimpse of where the experiment in human despair that is Gaza under Israeli siege is leading, it is the news that a Palestinian woman in her 60s — a grandmother — chose last week to strap on a suicide belt and explode herself next to a group of Israeli soldiers invading her refugee camp.

“Despite the “man bites dog” news value of the story, most of the Israeli media played down the incident. Not surprisingly; it is difficult to portray Fatma Al-Najar as a crazed fanatic bent on the destruction of Israel.

[...]

“Just at the moment Fatma was choosing death and resistance over powerlessness and victimhood — and at a time when Gaza is struggling through one of the most oppressive and ugly periods of Israeli occupation in nearly four decades — Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its latest statement on the conflict. It is a document that shames the organisation, complacent Western societies and Fatma’s memory.

“In its press release “Civilians must not be used to shield homes against military attacks”, which was widely reported by the international media, HRW lambastes armed Palestinian groups for calling on civilians to surround homes that have been targeted for destruction by aerial bombardment by the Israeli air force.

“Noting, almost as an afterthought, that more than 1,500 Palestinians have been made homeless by these demolitions in the past few months, and that 105 houses have been destroyed from the air, the press release denounces Palestinian attempts at non-violent and collective action to halt the Israel attacks. HRW refers in particular to three incidents.”

There’s a little more right after the jump. To be honest, I am appalled. I dont recall when last HRW was this disappointing. Read the article to get Cook’s assessment of the factors that lead to their “disgraceful” behavior.

“There is a good reason to believe this reading of international law is patently wrong, if not Kafkaesque. Popular and peaceful resistance to the oppressive policies of occupying powers and autocratic rulers, in India and South Africa for example, has always been, by its very nature, a risky venture in which civilians are liable to be killed or injured. Responsibility for those deaths must fall on those doing the oppressing, not those resisting, particularly when they are employing non-violent means. Under HRW’s interpretation, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela would be war criminals.

“Human Rights Watch also applies a series of terrible double standards in this press release.

It refuses Palestinian civilians the right to protect their homes, labelling them as “human shields”, even while admitting that most of these homes are not legitimate military targets, and yet it has not said a word about the common practice in Israel of building weapon factories and army bases inside or next to communities, thereby forcing Israeli civilians to become human shields for the army.”

If you cant make it out:

25 years

An exhibition of Mubarak’s Era

(Ma3rad 3asr Mubarak)

(A Quarter of a Centure of Achievements) (Rob3 Qarn min al Ingazat)

And the first year of Mr Presidents’s Election Program (wal 3am al awwal lil barnamig il intikhaby lil sayyed il ra2ees)

The remaining lines go on including something about nazeef in the standard much-smaller-for-mere-prime-ministers-and-assorted-other-lackeys font size.

I havent really been following the papers the last few days, and i dont watch tv so i’m not sure if this is the start or just part of what is evidently Mubarak’s most recent publicity campaign. This will probably be amusing, if it isnt too frustrating.

We has just finished off our ta`meyya and batates sandwiches and were waiting for our shishas (we were biding time not too far from the press syndicate where at that point some thirty people had assembled long before schedule). My american journalist friend (now in Lebanon) who was covering the 25th of May protest, proclaimed his belief that history has proven the effectiveness of protests in creating regime change. I dont know what the statistics are, but the statement strikes me as probably untrue. Someone else later pointed out, and i would tend to agree, that while it may be true that a lot of regime change was catalyzed by mass protests, that says nothing for the category of protests that we’ve seen recently. Yet, another conversation yielded the highly speculative guesstimate of requiring something in the order of 50,000 participants.

I dont think street activism will solve Egypt’s problems – not least of which is a defunct regime. At least not any time soon. And people that take this path often pay a hefty price.

Anyhow, later in the afternoon, at a favourite downtown haunt, a friend related the opinion of a foreign AUC professor. They had been discussing protests and activism. The professor, as i understood, stated that if he were a disenfranchised youth in Egypt today he would emigrate. The reasoning, was that there is no hope until Mubarak dies, so you may as well leave.

Cop out? To each his own, i suppose, and that’s fair enough. That aside, i will bitch about it. First, this is what is commonly known as brain drain.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume you are interested (whatever that may mean), disenfranchised (and probably young) Egyptian. I cant understand how a history professor can make a statement that seems to demonstrate a frighteningly naive perception. Can he possibly be so deluded as to think Mubarak’s death is going to change anything? Common belief seems to acknowledge Gamal’s heir-ness (not to be confused with MJ). Perhaps; perhaps not.

Regardless, barring a miracle, there will most likely be some form of orchestrated handover be it to Jimmy or other. As one recent column pointed out, there is a strong historical tendency in this country. Personally, i think that if you leave expecting to come back when things get better, you’ll be gone for life. Besides, Mubarak is well on his way to six feet under. My guess is, if you stick around for a while, he’ll kick the bucket before the current state of emergency elapses.

And even if he dies before he’s finished paving the road, and even if there is some form of regime change, Egypt isnt ready for it. I think it’s a little silly to assume that anything will really change beyond a little reshuffling at the top as patronage ties are realigned. But even assuming that somehow a large enough hole is blown through the structure; that the entire corrupt system collapsed entirely, there is no visible, viable alternative. None that doesnt suffer from mostly the same flaws of the regime. But aside from widespread corruption and a generally autocratic, patriarchal and uni-directional discourse, the opposition remains completely immature (or aged to the point of senility) on the political, organizational and intellectual levels.

Placing the Muslim Brotherhood aside for a moment, the Egyptian opposition has for all practical purposes no connection with the general population. Despite decades of bold proclamations and vows of championship, the vast majority of the population have absolutely no idea who these people are. They are little more than ideologue remnants of an age (or several) gone by. I’m sure many may be well-intended, but that only goes so far. There is undoubtedly a severe deficit in their thought. As far as i can tell, and i’m sure i could always be wrong, there are no elaborated programs for the economy, political and social life, foreign relations or otherwise. Nor is there any real organization, no public mobilization. In sum, they are far from mature. While they bear a large portion of the blame, the last fifty-some years havent been particularly fertile times for political organization or developing theory.

Though i’m probably far from qualified to comment on the Muslim Brothers (not that that’s ever stopped me before), i will say that despite their seemingly well-leveraged position in Egyptian public life, i am skeptical of their ability to consolidate power, let alone run a country. Hizbullah they are not. But even if they could pull it off, we all know how healthy one-party systems are.

Since i seem to have rambled, I’ll come to the point: Egypt requires much more than sporadic protests, half-baked propaganda by the opposition or timely deaths.