مقالة طائفية عن أحداث ماسبيرو.. حتى نعرف كيف يفكر الطائفيون

جاءتني هذه المقالة منذ دقائق على البريد الالكتروني. عادة ما ألقي المقالات التي من هذا النوع في سلة المهملات حتى لا تنتشر وتستخدم لنشر الكره والبغضاء بين أبناء الوطن الواحد، ولكني استثنيت هذه المقالة لأنها عن أحداث ماسبيرو التي حضرت بنفسي جزءا منها وأمضيت الكثير من الوقت في محاولة لأعرف ملابساتها من جميع الزوايا. واجبنا كمواطنين غيورين على بلادهم تقصي الحقائق وإظهار البروباجاندا الكاذبة على حقيقتها، والأكاذيب التي في هذه المقالة جلية كالشمس في وضح النهار لكل من له عقل يفكر به، ولكل من له قلب لم يخلو من الرحمة بعد. ها هي المقالة, دون زيادة أو نقصان: (تنويه: أنا مختلف مع هذه المقالة جملة وتقصيلا)

(ماسبيرو) و"قلب" الحقائق

ليلة بكاء الإعلاميات !!!
صلاح الإمام

ماحدث على كورنيش النيل مساء الأحد (9أكتوبر 20119) هو نتيجة طبيعية لسياسة التدليل التى انتهجها النظام الفاسد على مدى 30 سنة مع قادة التطرف المسيحى فى مصر، 
لقد تسلم الرئيس الفاسد الفاجر المخلوع مصر وعدد كنائسها لا يزيد على خمسمائة، وحبرهم الأكبر مبعد عن كرسيه فى وادى النطرون ، ويدير الكنيسة خمسة من الأساقفة المعتدلين ، 
فأعاد المخلوع الحبر الأكبر إلى كرسيه عام 1985 ، وتركه يبنى دولة كاملة الأركان داخل الدولة الأم ، وسمح له ببناء الكنائس فى كل شارع وحارة وفى كل ميدان وطريق ، 
بشكل يفوق بكثير حاجة المسيحيين ، حتى زاد عدد كنائس مصر ستة أضعاف ما كانت عليه عام 1981 ، بخلاف الأديرة التى يصل مساحة بعضها أنه يساوى مساحة كل مساجد الوطن العربى ، 
فكان كالتى أتت بالذئب الذى ماتت أمه وألحقته بشاتها يرضع لبنها ، فلما شب وقويت أوصاله واحتدت مخالبه وأنيابه ، افترس الشاة التى أرضعته ، 
  تمادى المخلوع الفاسد فى إكرام الحبر الأعظم ، الذى فى عهده باتت الصدامات بين مسيحيى مصر ومسلميها جزءً من حياتنا اليومية ، وفى نمو وازدياد ، 
وتسير بسرعة نحو مستنقع الحرب الأهلية ، وما كان هذا التدليل إكراما ، 
أكثر منه تدعيما لعزوته من الفاسدين المحيطين به فى كل موقع وفى كل ركن بالدولة .

انتهز الحبر الأعظم فرصة تدليل الحاكم الفاسد له ، وراح يبنى دولة متكاملة الأركان ، حتى إذا ما انتهى من ذلك ، خرج يحارب الدولة الأم التى رضع من ثدييها ونما جسده من لبنها ، 
فأطلق ميليشياته المسلحة فى الداخل تخرب وتدمر ، وأطلق أعوانه بالخارج تنبح وتعوى ، وجند كل الأبواق الإعلامية لصالح قضيته ومخططه الشيطانى .
كان تناول الإعلام لأحداث ماسبيرو تناولاً فجاً عقيماً فالمئات الذين خرجوا مسلحين بالسنج والسيوف والشوم والأسلحة النارية ، 
صورهم الإعلام وكأنهم حملان ، وجنود الجيش الشرفاء مجرمون وسفاحو دماء ، وتسابقت فضائيات البيزنس فى إدانة الجيش ، وكان صدفة غريبة أن يتصدر المشهد الإعلامى ليلتها "إعلاميات" تسابقن فى ذرف الدموع من عيونهن ، وخذ عندك هذه اللقطات :
ـ مذيعة فى قناة مملوكة لأحد رجال الأعمال الطائفيين ، 
بذلت جهدا خارقا فى تحويل البلطجية المجرمين إلى أبطال أصحاب قضية، وقتلاهم شهداء !!.

ـ أما المذيعة الأخرى (الحزينة دائما) التى ارتدت ملابس الحداد ، 
تغاضت عن الشهود الذين رأوا بداية الاشتباكات المسلحة من جانب المتظاهرين ، 
واعتدائهم على جنود الجيش والشرطة ، واستحضرت مجموعة من أهالى المصابين المسيحيين ، 
ومعهم زكائب الأكاذيب ، والقناطير المقنطرة من الزور والبهتان .
ـ أما ثالثتهم فقد استضافت الطائفى الشهير وسيم السيسى ، 
والذى يتطاول فى كتاباته على رسولنا الخاتم صلى الله عليه وسلم ، 
فمكث طيلة وقت البرنامج يصب جام غضبه على السلفيين وعلى كل ما هو إسلامى ، 
ويستعرض كل أعمال البلطجة التى قام بها مسيحيو مصر على مدى العامين الماضيين ، 
ويطرحها على أنها وقائع اضطهاد !!.
ـ وإعلامية مرشحة لرئاسة مصر (!!) تقول لقناة البى بى سى : 
أنا سمعت بودانى بعض أفراد الجيش يقولون "الله اكبر" .. هذا جيش طائفى .. هذا جيش طائفى ، 
أى أن الجيش الذى عبر قناة السويس واجتاز خط بارليف وصنع المعجزات فى أكتوبر 1973 وهو يكبر الله اكبر، هو جيش طائفى طبقا لكلم الست بثينة ، وبالتالى فالمفروض هنا أن يتم تسريح هذا الجيش ، 
واستبداله بجيش جديد من هايبر ماركت، مع شهادة ضمان ، وشهادة أخرى تضمن ألا يذكر جنوده الله !!!.
ـ بين شلة الإعلاميات يظهر هنا "شخص" وسط نون النسوة ، 
إنه "أبوحمالات" حيث استحضر عبر الهاتف عماد جاد الباحث بالأهرام (الذى أفصح عن طائفيته البشعة) الذى بادر من جانبه وسأل الأخ "أبو حمالات" : 
لو كانت دى مظاهرة للسلفيين كان الجيش عمل معاهم كدا ؟ فيرد أبو حمالات بسرعة البرق : 
لا طبعا ، دون أن يكلف نفسه ويسأل ضيفه : 
متى فعل السلفيون مثلما فعل المسيحيون اليوم ؟ متى تعدوا على الجيش ؟ .. 
متى أحرقوا السيارات والممتلكات ؟ .. ووسط أصوات السيدات الإعلاميات اختفى أبو حمالات بينهن .
كان الأمر أشبه بمهزلة ، جيش من البلطجية خرج وقلبه مملوء بالحقد والكراهية ، 
مشحون من قبل كبرائه ، ومبهور بفكرة الشهادة ، تحركوا طبقا لمخطط مسبق ، 
أفصح عنه بعض كهنتهم أمام الكاميرات قبل أيام ، ورفعوا صوتهم بالتهديدات ، 
ولما بدأوا فى تنفيذ مخططهم الإجرامى ، بالتخريب والقتل والجرح والترويع ، استخدم رجال الجيش والشرطة حقهم فى الدفاع عن أنفسهم أولا ، ثم الدفاع عن مقدرات الدولة وهيبتها ثانيا ، فإذا بالإعلام يكشف لنا عن نظريات جديدة ومكاييل ومقاييس لم يعهدها البشر من قبل فى تقدير المواقف والأحداث .
كان المطلوب ـ طبقا لهذه المقاييس ـ أن يقف جنود الجيش يتلقون الرصاص والضرب بالسيوف والسنج ، 
والعصى والشوم ، كان مطلوبا منهم أن يتقبلوا المهانة على مرأى من العالم كله وهم صامتون ، 
وكان مطلوبا منهم أن يروا سيارات ومعدات الجيش تحرق وتتحطم أمامهم دون حتى أن ينظروا إليها ، 
أو كان مطلوبا منهم إحضار جراكن البنزين والمازوت وتقديمها للسادة المجرمين الأشاوس !!.
عقب حادث كنيسة العمرانية أذكر أننى كتبت مقالا هنا بعنوان "حادث العمرانية .. بداية التمرد المسيحى المسلح" ، ملخصه أن التمرد المسيحى فى مصر منذ تلك الحادثة انتقل إلى مرحلة أشد خطرا ، 
وهى الصدام المباشر مع من لا يلبى طلباتهم أو يتحفظ عليها ، أيا كان هذا الآخر ، 
ورغم أنهم فى تلك الحادثة أصابوا عشرات من ضباط وجنود الشرطة ، وأحرقوا سيارات وممتلكات خاصة وعامة ، وأطلقوا الرصاص الحى ، وقنابل المولوتوف ، وأغلقوا الطريق الدائرى ، وأهانوا كل قيادات المحافظة ، 
رغم كل ذلك خرجوا مظفرين ، فتم الإفراج عن كل المقبوض عليهم خلال أيام ، وأتموا بناء كنيستهم المخالفة ، ثم تكرر نفس السيناريو بعد ذلك ، 
ومازلت على رأيى الذى أعلنته فى مقال عقب حادث كنيسة القديسين بالإسكندرية ، 
بأن وراء الحادث أيدى مسيحية متطرفة ، للحصول على مزيد من المكاسب .
ووصل الحال إلى أن نرى أحد الكهنة يعلن أمام كاميرات التليفزيون بأنه سيضرب محافظ أسوان بالحذاء ، 
وأنه إذا لم ينفذ المشير طلباتهم خلال ثلاثة أيام "هو عارف ايه اللى ها يحصل" ، 
وبعد ثلاثة أيام وقعت الهجمة البربرية على قوات الجيش والشرطة أمام مبنى التليفزيون .

الوقائع كلها تتم وفقا لمخطط مسبق ، فهو يضرمون النار ويحسبون خسائرها ، 
وفى نفس الوقت يعلمون حجم المكاسب التى تزيد بكثير عن خسائرها ، 
وفى كل حادثة تقع يخرجون بمزيد من المكاسب ، وأضحى منطقهم هو تحقيق كل مطالبهم بإحداث المصادمات والمشاجرات ، 
ثم الظهور بمظهر المجنى عليه الضعيف الذى لا حول له ولا قوة ، 
ويذرفون الدموع كما التماسيح التى تدمع بعد افتراس ضحاياها ، 
ويملأون الأجواء بسحب من الكذب تحجب الشمس وتغمى الحقائق ، 
حتى أنهم بعد دقائق من حادثة ماسبيرو كانوا يصرخون فى كل الفضائيات بأن "الدبابات" تدهسهم (!!) 
رغم أن كل الدبابات انسحبت من كل شوارع القاهرة قبل نهاية فبراير الماضى ،
وليس ثمة دبابة واحدة فى أى شارع بالقاهرة ، ومع ذلك يصرخون بكل تبجح بأن الدبابات تدهسهم ، ونشروا صورا لجثث مشوهة وبعضها مشطورا لجزأين ، على أنها ضحايا حادث ماسبيرو ، وحقيقة الأمر أن هذه الصور بعضها عراقى وبعضها أفغانى ، 
وكلاهما ضحايا الأمريكان المجرمون الذين يمثلون بجثث المسلمين فى هذه البلاد ، 
دون أن يجرؤ أحد على إدانة ذلك .

ثمة نقطة أخرى لابد أن نضعها فى الاعتبار ، وهى الدور الفعال الذى قام به المحرضون على ما حدث ، 
ويأتى على رأسهم ـ قبل الكهنة ـ كاتبة تحمل اسما شريفا ...,, ، 
وتلعب دورا خطيرا فى إشعال الفتن والتحريض عليها ، هذه الكاتبة التى تكره بشدة كل ما هو إسلامى ، 
ومن أشهر كتاب اليوم السابع والمصرى اليوم ، ذهبت إلى ماسبيرو قبل يومين من الواقعة الكبرى ، 
وأمسكت بمكبر صوت ، وظلت على مدى 30 دقيقة تصرخ : فين الغيورين على دينهم ؟ .. 
أنا عايزة هنا 2 مليون .. لازم كل المسيحيين يخرجوا .. 
لازم تثبتوا وجودكم وتدافعوا عن قضيتكم .. إلخ من عبارات التحريض والتسخين التى يعاقب عليها القانون ، 
ومع ذلك استضافها برنامج تليفزيون شهير فى ذات الليلة ، لتصب جام غضبها على كل ما هو إسلامى !!.

شيخ الأزهر من جانبه حاول القيام بدور فى طريق التهدئة بحكم موقعه ، فحاول الاتصال بالبابا ، 
لكن شنودة رفض الكلام معه ، وامتنع كل رجال الملة الأرثوذكسية عن حضور اجتماع بيت العائلة ، 
فالرجل وحاشيته باتوا ينظرون لرجال الدولة على أنهم رعاع لا يجوز النزول لمستواهم والجلوس معهم أو الحديث إليهم ، 
وانتقلت القضية إلى دوار الصاوى تحت كوبرى مايو ، وظهر أمام كل كاميرات الفضائيات مجموعة قيل أنهم "حكماء الأمة" ، 
وكان فى مقدمة هؤلاء الحكماء نجيب ساويرس ومايكل منير (مهجرى متطرف وأمريكى الجنسية) 
وعمرو حمزاوى (علمانى متطرف وأمريكى الجنسية) وشلة من اليساريين والعلمانيين والملحدين ، 
رأوا أن المسيحيين فى كل أفعالهم على حق ، رأوا أنهم دائما وأبدا على حق ، 
وأن مطالبهم مشروعة ، وقتالهم كفاح مثل كفاح الزنوج فى أمريكا ، وأنهم لابد أن يحققوا ما حققه مسيحيو السودان ، الذين نجحوا فى تأسيس دولة خاصة بهم !!.

انتهت المقالة.

Still A Long Way To Go.. But We'll Get There

After the incidents of Bloody Sunday at Maspero, where the army mercilessly butchered 19 people who did nothing wrong except protest peacefully to be given their basic human rights, the air in Cairo reeks of anger, confusion, desperation and sadness.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has successfully managed over the course of the past seven months (since march 19th, 2011 to be exact, which is in my humble opinion THE turning point in this revolution) to dismantle any sort of threat that might loosen its grip on power. Long gone are the days where all Egyptians stood together as one and protested for the right to scream in the face of tyranny and injustice in middle of winter.

The current political landscape is so polarized that it's almost impossible to find a voice of reason, a middle-of-the-road political movement that can truly represent and be the voice of the non-political, restless, and silent majority who want nothing more than to just live. I won't even bother to mention political parties, they are so insignificant, so amateurish in their message and in their work, so unpopular on the street, so easily played by SCAF, that no one pays attention to them. Many of the so called activists try to rally people around fairly popular slogans of "freedom" and "social justice", but the crudeness of their method (protest, strike, protest, strike, and when all protests and strikes fail to reach critical mass, protest and strike some more) has totally turned people off. They are so caught up in their own political dogma and in the new found fame (dare I say, fortune?) to listen to anyone outside their very small circle. All SCAF had to do to isolate these activists is just let them do their thing, because they are so far off what the overwhelming majority of Egyptians really care about right now, and that is security.

SCAF understood that since day 1, and has successfully managed to paint every political ideology that is any different from what Mubarak's regime had to offer as anti- stability and security. The Islamists? They're fanatics who don't have any respect for human rights or personal freedoms. The liberals? They want Egypt to be a moral black-hole; they desire a decadent society that commits and cherishes every vice known to man. The leftists? They are atheist communists in disguise who want to revive the old Soviet model and try to prey on the poor with promises of an easy life and a classless society. The Copts? They want to build a church on every corner, have connections abroad that want to undermine Egypt's government, and believe that Muslims took this land by force from them, its rightful owners.

Clearly these are all lies, but SCAF is taking full advantage of the decades Egyptians have spent under rulers who made sure that we don't understand or even know "the other". And in the middle of all this confusion, the average Egyptian has gotten away from following political news outside of what he hears at the office's water cooler. I don't think Egyptians are to blame here. In even the most advanced democracies, 98% of the population is politically active only one day in the calendar: election day. This is a fact that SCAF knows all too well and political activists love to ignore. You cannot have a meaningful protest every Friday, much less a meaningful one every day by every union. In the meantime, Egyptians are tired. They are weary. They don't get why all these protests and strikes are happening. They don't understand why Copts are upset. They don't know why things haven't changed for the better after the revolution and frankly, they don't want to know. they're back to their cafe, their soap opera, their work. You go to Heliopolis or Maadi, and life there is so far removed from Tahrir and its action that you might think they exist in a different country, much less the same city.

However, I'm not as upset about all of the above as much as I am about how numb we have become to news about human rights violations. Try to see readers' comments on news regarding new torture allegations against police and army officers, or about a church that was torn down, or a political activists who's summoned before or even jailed by the military judiciary. The comment you see from people who are mostly educated, belong to middle-class and use the internet are nothing short of devastating. Where is our humanity?

One a positive note, things are not that bleak. The revolution is not dead. The street may not be as active as it was back in march, but it's still much better than how it was pre-jan25. But we have to come to peace a few facts:

1- Protests are so yesterday. The worst thing you can do when a protest fails in gathering enough support is to call for another protest soon after to make up for it. There hasn't been a really successful protest at Tahrir since the one on July 8th. Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) and other Islamist groups played it smart since then and a have focused on campaigning instead of protesting. Activists, due to their uncompromising attitude and revolutionary zeal have completely ignored the fact that we're having election in mere months, even threatened boycotting elections altogether, and instead focused on labor strikes and demonstrations in front of key governmental buildings. The results of the activists strategy have been mixed, but never enough to quiet them down or shut them up.

2- SCAF will stay until presidential elections are held. This is simply a fact. I believe they really don't want to rule. That they just want a puppet president. Instead of pushing for moving the elections up the calendar, try to use the time we have to campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections since they will determine who will end up drafting the constitution. This shouldn't be done via protests because SCAF uses protests as an excuse to judtifying staying longer to maintain a minimal sense of stability (or so the public believes).

3- Get out of your ideological corner and try to reach out to people in the middle. Political parties as well as activists are too comfortable sitting with like-minded people that when you ask each of them what Egyptians want you get a different answer. Islamists think Egyptians go to sleep and wake up with only one thought in their heads: applying Sharia. Liberals would be fooling themselves if Egyptians want unlimited freedom (although limited freedom is no freedom at all, but I digress). Leftists think Egyptians buy their anarchist drivel despite the dozens of Egyptian proverbs that are all about respecting authority, and yes, workers and farmers want authority too. The changes each of these groups want for this country are far too radical to be imposed in an election. Changes to society and the way it behaves come from the bottom up, not from the top down. Therefore, all the fear-mongering should stop. Islamists won't be able to force women to wear veils. Liberals won't force you to wear skimpy clothes. Leftists will probably adopt the very same free market ideas they love to hate if they get to power.

Things are not as bad as they seem. I'm not saying that what happened in the last few days did not deal a major blow to Egypt and its image abroad, but like the saying goes: "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." If it wasn't for all the humiliation and suffering and brutality that we endured as a people for decades, we wouldn't have had something as beautiful as jan25. Now is not the time to fold. This is where the going gets tough. I'm sure we're more than up to the task.

The Truth about What Happened with Sahar Maher in front of the Military Courts Building (C28)

This is a translation. The Arabic original can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=392796&l=02f80e8860&id=103622369714881

Below is Sahar Maher's story, written in the first person. These events took place today:

I was filming using my phone camera at the demonstration that was in front of the Military Court. We were lifting banners of Maikel Nabil and calling for an end to military trials for civilians and the release of those taken in from the march that was at the Ministry of Defense. We were standing on the street in front of the courts, not inside the court’s premises. Suddenly, an army colonel came from inside and started shoving people aside and told them if you want to demonstrate do so without talking or yelling or banners. He threatened those arguing with him that they’d be beaten and taken in. All this time I was filming and then he suddenly attacked me, twisted my arm, and took my phone. Then he handed my over to Lieutenant Ahmed Zakaria and told him: Take her inside. I went in with him and then he took me upstairs to the office of the Chief Military Prosecutor. I waited for an hour and a half thinking that I’d take my phone, but then I was taken to the office of Captain Ahmed Shawky to be interrogated.

I went in and found that he already opened a case, charged me with two misdemeanors, and has prepared questions. He told me that Lieutenant Zakaria has prepared a memo saying that I was inciting the crowd and calling for an unauthorized demonstration and that I was filming “Secret” Military estate.

The two charges were as follows: Demonstrating in front of the Military Judiciary and filming Military estate and secrets. I was interrogated for about an hour, with him asking why I was demonstrating, my relationship with Maikel Nabil, why I was inciting the crowd and calling for violence among other things.

Then they left me outside the office for a couple more hours and after all that he handed me my National ID card telling me that the misdemeanors will be taken to court on Tuesday in front of a court marshal. And he made me sign a pledge to be present or else they’re sentencing me in absentia.

And when I got out I found out that the Egyptians film director and the foreign photographer have been released without being interrogated. They were told to come back tomorrow (Oct 5^th) to get their stuff. I on the other hand was interrogated, will be tried and my phone was confiscated.

What Egypt Can Learn from Georgia's Police Reform

There is no doubt that when Egyptian activists called for mass protests on January 25th the symbolism of that date wasn't lost on all Egyptians. January 25th is national holiday in honor of the police, where former president Hosni Mubarak usually gave a speech and decorated fallen police officers posthumously. To many, the Egyptian police force was a symbol for all that was wrong with the Mubarak regime: corrupt, brutal and above the law. The death of Khaled Said, who was beaten to death at the hands of two police officers in the street six months earlier was on the minds of many who marched onto Tahrir square on that fateful day. If there was any doubt on how Egyptians felt about the police, such doubts were crushed on the "Friday of Anger" three days later, where in merely four hours the entire security apparatus of the Mubarak regime broke down, leaving the people to fend for themselves against thugs and looters.

After Mubarak's ouster, police reform became a priority in the eyes of most Egyptians, but due to political uncertainty and the incompetence of The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), so far the changes that occured within the ministry of interior has been cosmetic. The fact that the police still operates under the Egyptian emergency law, which has been in effect since Anwar Sadat's assassination and gives the police the ability to imprison any suspects without proper evidence or a trial, is a big concern. Some argue that it is impossible to root out corruption and brutality completely from the Ministry of Interior, and that by doing so there might be a risk of completely losing all sense of security, something that many Egyptians would rather avoid.

States of the former Soviet Union faced a similar problem with their polices forces after the fall of the USSR, and perhaps the most impressive and successful example of police reform took place in Georgia. Of course, it didn't hurt that they now have an elected president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is Western educated and committed to nation-building and consolidation of liberal democracy.

The first thing they did was to form a new normative base for the ministry of interior according to the principles of international law and human rights protection. Fighting corruption was the priority of the ministry and accordingly a new structural unit was formed. The main aim of this unit is to expose the crimes conducted by state officials, including the representatives of their own unit. In 2005, 120 high-rank state officials are detained and arrested convicted in taking bribes. The Ministry paid special attention to protecting human rights; so it created the Human Rights Protection and Monitoring Main Division, which checks the record and the health condition of suspects, held in temporary detention cells. Since then no fact of mistreatment of prisoners has been reported in the temporary detention cells, which for decades have been a place of torture. The leadership of the Ministry keeps under strict control every violation of human rights by the police officers. After introducing human rights protection mechanism in the Ministry of Internal Affairs many police officers have been penalized for torture and other ill-treatment related crimes. In particular, 4 police officers were arrested, 13 were dismissed from work and 113 were put under investigation for mistreating detainees.

Of course, there can be no reform if the officers themselves weren't committed to reform. Recognizing the necessity of creation of professional and educated staff has attached special attention to the reform of police and security academies. The latter was liquidated and the academy of police was equipped with the newest devices and literature.The system of training and recruiting of police absolutely changed. Starting September 1st, 2005 the MIA together with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other donors began realization of the projects of assistance to the Georgian police.

As a result of reforms, 87% of Georgian people have trust in the police (Only the Orthodox Church supasses that number). For comparison, the president's administration gets 57%, the rest of the government 56%. In the past the noted indicator was below 10%. Now a Georgian police officer receives a salary of $ 500-700 (which is higher than the national average), doesn’t take bribes, is polite and punctual.

Stephen Sestanovich, an influential Russia expert at the Council on Foreign Relations wrote on the merits of Georgia’s police transformation and advised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to follow suit. “Only one political leader in any post-Soviet state has ever attempted this kind of institutional upheaval, and the comparison is an ironic one for Medvedev. For that leader is … Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, who soon after becoming president in 2004 fired more than 80% of the country’s police officers…But however awkward the parallel may be, there are lessons in it for Medvedev. Saakashvili’s reform succeeded precisely because it was so radical.”


Below are pictures of several police buildings in Georgia. All new police stations are made as transparent as possible so that any passer-by could see what was happening inside.

Inside the Georgian DMV. It's shocking how organized it is, isn't it?

How can you be a brutal police officer if this is where you dine?

Sources:

1. Success of Georgia's Police Reform Is A Function of Sovereignty, Jamestown Foundation Blog, April 12th, 2010, http://jamestownfoundation.blogspot.com/2010/04/success-of-georgias-police-reform-is.html

2. Reforms at The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, http://police.ge/index.php?m=196&lng=eng 

3. Georgian Police Before and After Reform, English Russia, August 20th, 2011, http://englishrussia.com/2011/08/20/georgian-police-before-and-after-reform/

You're Either With Us or Against Us?!

While scrolling through my twitter timeline, a guy I follow, a hard-core Egyptian leftist, retweeted what I found to be a very offensive tweet. It wasn't offensive in that it was an attack on a certain group of people per se, but it was offensive due to its aggressiveness. A translation of that tweet is below. I will not mention the name of the quote's author because this post isn't about him.

"To my fellow leftists, please don't align yourself with liberals and raise your independent banner if you still have any self-respect"

Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that politics is the art of compromise. I thought that anyone who's been following politics for a few months in any vibrant democracy would come to realize that fact. To me, politics is about a group of people who, while having a common desire to see their country better, see different ways and ideologies are best at reaching that goal, and in order to decide on what is THE way to fulfill their goal, politicians decide to give a little, take a little.

Now to some people that might sound like you're selling out, that you're giving in, and in a country where the electorate is getting more and more polarized, politicians find it easier to appease their constituents rather than try to sell the idea of compromise. The results when no compromise solution is agreed upon are there for everyone to see. Not only bad for the chances of those politicians getting re-elected, but also bad for a country that is desperate for progress. A prime example of a broken parliament is the US Congress. Almost every single vote on any subject (whether it's related to foreign policy, the economy, education, healthcare, you name it..) has become a routine job where the elected official caucuses with people who have similar political views, and as a bloc they vote Yay or Nay. Party-line votes are a sham, and they're often not the wisest. I thought decision should be decided by thoroughly studying the case at hand and making an informed decision. Silly me.

So how does that bode for Egyptian politics if every political force decided to walk alone, to stay pure? I say they will suffer, and the country would suffer would them. I don't want trickle-down economics, but I don't want socialism either. I don't want normalizing with Israel, but I don't think not working with them to solve the Palestinian struggle is a good idea. Some people think that middle of the road solutions makes everybody a loser. I say it makes everyone a winner. That person you work with who doesn't share your economic philosophy might not work with you on increasing the standard of living for the poor if you're not going to work with him on issues of freedom of speech and women's rights. Politics is not for simpletons. Politics is not for puritans. If you don't want to compromise your "principles", you'll be marginalized, and you'll get farther from your ultimate goal for this country, not closer.

People laughed, and cried, at George W. Bush when he said in his speech to the joint session of Congress on September 20th, 2001  "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." regarding his planned invasion of Afghanistan. To most of the world the statement seemed foolish and reckless. And his decision was obviously not the wisest since this war is now officially the longest in US history.

I sincerely hope Egyptians are spared this sort of mentality and rhetoric.

Rage Against The Elite

 It's April 2008. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are engaged in a fierce battle for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Hillary is way behind in the delegate count and is desperately trying to rally support from white-blue collar Democrats, which is a demographic group that Obama is having difficulty winning over.

Then a recording comes out from a San Fransisco fundraiser that featured Obama as the keynote speaker. He said: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

To heartland conservative Amercian's, these statements sounded "elitist", and Clinton herself used the e-word that has been used for decades by Republicans against Democrats, from Nixon to Bush 43, to vilify Obama and paint him as an out-of-touch liberal. Long story short, Obama survived the controversy and went on to secure the nomination. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, in Egypt, we keep hearing the word elite (nokhba) and elitist (nokhbawy) a lot these days, and it's used by politicians and political activists of every stripe. But what do these words really mean? According to Merriam-Webster, elite is "a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence". At first glance, this definition does not sound offensive. In fact, it sounds flattering. So why is it that the word has such a bad reputation?


I believe it's because of our inclination as human beings to find someone who we can blame for all our misfortunes and frustrations in order to deflect criticism from ourselves, and also because the elite, in any society, are always a minority. In short, elites are the punching-bags of society. No one will rise up to defend them because defending a minority, especially one that has power and influence whether by wealth, education or position, won't score you political points or endear the not-so-elite masses.


And this is where we are today in Egypt. Leftists calling economic liberals elite. Liberal calling Muslim Brotherhood leadership elite. Islamists calling secularists elite. No wonder the word has lost all its meaning and has become a symbol of all that is anti-democratic and offensive.


So in today's political landscape, who are the true elitists? Well, it's simple: It's the talking heads on TV. Those, who through the no.1 media tool in Egypt that is Television, have filled the airways with nothing but noise and vitriol. Leftists who shout "elite" are themselves being elitist because they have appointed themselves guardians of the working class. Liberal who shout "elite" are being elitist when they claim that their way is the only way civil liberties will be the norm in Egyptian society. Islamists are being elitist when they take the moral high ground for no reason other than their belief that because of their religion they have all the right answers to solve Egypt's problems.


So here's my appeal to all of them talking heads: We don't want your egos to get in the way of our aspirations. Egyptians have a lot in common, and listening to you people talk in TV it sometimes makes me wonder how we as a people are even able to stand each other.


Being elite isn't bad. Ahmed Zewaill and Farouq el Bazz are elites because of their great scientific minds, and we are damn proud of them.Magdy Yaqoub is elite because he is one of the top surgeons in the world and we are proud of him. And yes, El Baradei, who I still don't support for president up to this point, is elite and we are proud of him.


It's not the elites that are the enemy, it's those who think elite is a dirty word. Elites are our pride and joy. Elites give us hope for a better future and bring out the best in us. Elites are those who inspire their fellow countrymen to be elites themselves. That's not so bad, is it?

First Things First

OK, so this is officially my first post ever. Who am I? I'm just a liberal Egyptian. I've always been into politics, but since politics was dead in Egypt prior to the January 25th revolution, I was merely a spectator. But now there are no taboos in Egyptian society anymore right? Well, no. And that's where this blog comes in.

Egypt is a conservative country. Egyptians are religious, conservative people. One might think, especially someone who is not familiar with MENA (Middle-East and North Africa), that after the revolution we have been liberated from all the shackles that have been holding us back as a country and as a people. Things like religious freedom, tolerance, gender discrimination, ignorance, poverty, religious fanaticism.

Addressing these taboos will be what this blog is about. Everyday there seems to be an new controversy spurring dialogue (or to be more precise, argument and bickering and name-calling). Controversies that are either political, social or economic in nature. What I'll be trying to do in this blog is address these issues from a liberal standpoint.

I believe in liberalism. I believe in its logic and its practicality. Ideologies that are impractical are doomed to fail, because the world has real problems than need real solutions. Most Egyptians don't know what liberalism is, probably due to the fact that the old regime scored political points by labeling liberalism as closet-atheism. That liberals are people who fornicate and drink and party with no regard to cultural norms. This blog will try to give its readers and idea to what liberalism would look like in a conservative society like Egypt's, and try to address everyday problems that we as a people need to solve, rather than sweep under a mat.

Thanks for taking a few minutes of your time to read this opening post. Now let's get to work.