18 May 12 | Egypt
A “farewell note” from prominent Egyptian journalist and popular talk show host Yosri Fouda, posted on his Facebook wall and published in Al Badeel independent newspaper on Thursday, sent shockwaves across a country bracing itself for its first multi-candidate presidential election in less than a week’s time.
In his post written in Arabic, Yosri announced that he would end his evening show “Last Words” in six weeks’ time. The show, broadcast live on weekdays on the private satellite channel ONTV (owned by business tycoon Naguib Sawiris), has earned the veteran journalist wide acclaim and a big following among a public that is thirsty for truth after decades of being kept in the dark.
In what he described as a “personal message to his devoted fans” Yosri stated that he had created the show in order to keep track of the fast-paced developments associated with the revolution and that he was proud to “have had the opportunity—together with my colleagues—to be part of the momentous events, as both an Egyptian patriot and a dedicated professional.”
Yosri reminded his fans that when he had taken on the challenge of presenting the show five days a week, he had declared his intention to quit once Egyptians elect a new president, (which had been expected before the end of last year) “but I felt obliged to continue when things got complicated.”
Yosri affirmed that the timing of his resignation was neither linked to his reading of the current political situation in Egypt nor to his judgement of the future of the revolution.
“I fervently believed then, as I do now, in the goals of the revolution just as I believe in the young people of Egypt who will overcome the challenges and not give in to despair. I am also convinced that my country is the most beautiful country in the world even though I cannot deny that it does have an ugly side,” he added.
The resignation drew an outpouring of disappointment and support for Yosri from thousands of fans on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, with many of his young supporters urging the veteran talk show host to reconsider his resignation.
“A huge loss at a delicate time! Egypt is now — more than at any other time — in dire need of her honest sons,” read a Facebook post by Ahmed Maher, Egypt’s Ambassador to the Philippines.
“Don’t abandon us,” was a plea posted by another fan, Omneya Zordok, a Sociology Professor based in Zagazig, on Yosri’s Facebook page. “You are the voice of truth that they have for long tried to silence,” she added
“They” clearly refers to the military rulers who have continued the repressive tactics of the previous regime, intimidating and threatening outspoken journalists critical of the military government. After his unbiased coverage of violent protests in central Cairo late last year, scores of Mubarak supporters organised a protest in February outside the administrative headquarters of ONTV in Zamalek denouncing what they described as the news channel’s “policy of incitement against the military council.” The protesters chanted slogans against Yosri Fouda and his fellow anchor Reem Maged. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had previously summoned Maged and two of her guests for questioning.
Meanwhile, co-hosting the first-ever Presidential debate in the Arab World telecast live on ONTV last week appears to have boosted the popularity of the star journalist, already recognised for his integrity and non- biased reporting.
Some fans drew similarities between Yosri’s decision to quit and an earlier decision by reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei to withdraw from the Presidential race. ElBaradei, who had been widely expected to participate in the upcoming election announced four months ago that he would not run for any office “in the absence of a genuine democratic system.”.
Aliaa El Badrawi, who coordinates the Year Abroad Students Program at the American University in Cairo, said: “I feel Yosri’s decision must have been based on complex issues which affected him negatively and which will also impact his audience in the same way — much like when ElBaradei was forced to pull out from the scene. I hope things turn out in such a way that he won’t have to leave with a heavy heart.”
Addressing Yosri himself, she stated: “you are very much appreciated for your ethics and integrity and you have certainly done a great deal at a critical time for Egypt.”
Many saw Yosri’s decision as a sign that he too had lost faith that any real democratic change would take place in Egypt.
“It’s a sign of hopelessness. He has lost hope that the revolution can bring about tangible change,” Sayed Tolba Allam, a translator at the Saudi Defence Ministry, wrote on Facebook.
Others suggested that Yosri may have been forced to tender his resignation through coercion or threats from the repressive military authorities.
“Yosri may be afraid that once Ahmed Shafeek [the Presidential hopeful supported by the military] becomes the next President as is expected — a series of “revenge assassinations” [of outspoken critics of the military] may follow,” was the scornful explanation offered by dentist Amr Moukhtar.
Several polls have indicated that Presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafeek, a former civil aviation minister under Mubarak, was among the three frontrunners in the presidential race. Widely detested by the revolutionaries, he has the support of the so-called “couch party”—a term used to refer to those yearning for stability but have opted to stay out of politics and were following the ongoing developments on television.
In March, Yosri’s name had appeared on a list of outspoken journalists, writers, politicians and activists to be referred to the Military Prosecutor for investigation on charges of “incitement to demolish the state” and for “driving a wedge between the people and the military rulers.” This, after a complaint signed by 700 civilians against 12 public figures (including two parliamentarians)was filed to the Prosecutor General. The move is a repeat of a Mubarak-era practice that allowed the state to crack down on voices of dissent without direct confrontation.
Although the reasons behind Yosri’s resignation are yet unclear, what is certain is that his decision has deepened the confusion and worry Egyptians feel in the run-up to the presidential vote. The de facto military leader Field Marshal Tantawy has reassured a sceptical public that the elections will be free and fair. But many have been left wondering what has driven Yosri to quit, and why he has decided to announce it now?
09 May 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Two Egyptian journalists were reportedly beaten while in military custody. Ahmed Ramadan and Islam Abu al-Ezz, of the online independent daily Al-Badil, said unidentified thugs beat them with swords while covering clashes in Cairo’s Abbasiya neighbourhood on 4 May. Shortly after the attack, the journalists were arrested and their belongings confiscated. They said they were beaten with sticks and kicked repeatedly while being held in the military prosecutor’s office.
04 May 12 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Violent clashes between protesters staging a sit-in outside the Defence Ministry Headquarters in Cairo’s Abbasseya district and unknown assailants killed at least 20 people on Wednesday and left scores of others injured.
The violence began in the early hours of Wednesday when unidentified men in plain clothes attacked the peaceful sit-in —apparently with the aim of dispersing the protesters who had camped out there for several days.
Supporters of Salafist former presidential candidate Hafez Abou Ismail had marched to Abbasseya on Friday evening to protest his exclusion from the presidential race. They were later joined by other activists: mainly liberals and members of the 6 April Movement. They all demanded an end to military rule and a swift handover to a civilian government.
“What started as a peaceful demonstration has turned into a bloodbath,” cried Iman Mohamed, an activist who had joined the sit-in a couple of days earlier. She added that the assailants had fired gun shots and used Molotov cocktails and tear gas. Some of the protesters responded by hurling rocks and stones at the assailants, others engaged in fist fights.
“I saw several men wielding batons and another carrying a sword,” said Haytham Sallam, another protester who had arrived at the scene Wednesday morning.
“People dropped dead right in front of our eyes,” he added.
There was a brief lull in the early morning hours before clashes erupted again at 9am and continued for several hours. Most of the dead had sustained fatal head injuries or had been shot in the head. The attackers had also used bird shots and dozens of injured protesters were receiving treatment at a makeshift field hospital set up at the scene or in the nearby Demerdash Hospital.
Some protesters suspected that the assailants were security force members disguised in plainclothes. “How else would you explain the use of tear gas and bird shots?” quizzed Sallam. Others said the use of “thugs” to break up protests had become “an all-too- familiar tactic “ adopted by some elements in the government so that they would not directly take the blame for the violence themselves.
Military soldiers and riot police set up barricades around the area but most protesters said they had done little to break up the clashes or calm the situation. Seven political parties boycotted a meeting that had been called for Wednesday by the military council as rumours spread that the ruling SCAF was planning to postpone the presidential election scheduled for 23 and 24 May.
To allay concerns the Deputy Head of SCAF, General Sami Annan was quoted by Egyptian state television as saying the military was looking into transferring power to an elected president on 24 May (after the first round of elections) instead of at the end of June as had earlier been planned.
The announcement did little to quell public anger, as several protest marches to Abbasseya were organised later in the day by political parties and activists. Another million-person march has also been called for Friday by the Freedom and Justice Party to express outrage at the authorities’ response to the violence and pile pressure on SCAF to sack the government of Prime Minister Kamal el Ganzouri.
In another development, three presidential candidates have suspended their campaigns in honour of those who died in the latest wave of unrest.
Meanwhile back in Abbasseya, protesters issued fiery warnings to SCAF against any delay in the presidential election. ” If there’s any postponement, it will set off more unrest that would be difficult to contain,” warned activist Dina Nasr.
Journalist Shahira Amin resigned from her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV in February 2011. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
30 Apr 12 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
The detention of an Egyptian human rights lawyer shortly after his arrival in Saudi Arabia last week to perform Umrah (or lesser pilgrimage) has evoked outrage and a wave of anti-Saudi protests in Egypt. The case has brought to light the deep resentment harboured by a sizeable portion of Egypt’s population against the oil-rich kingdom for alleged rights violations practiced by the monarchy against Egyptian migrant workers. It has also caused a rift between Egypt and the ultra-conservative Gulf country — one that has culminated in the withdrawal of the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt.
Scores of protesters gathered outside the Saudi Embassy in Dokki on Tuesday demanding the immediate release of activist and lawyer Ahmed El Gizawi who was tried in absentia and sentenced to one year in prison and 20 lashes for insulting the Saudi monarch. El Gizawi had earlier sued Saudi King Abdalla Bin Abdel Aziz for “the unlawful detention of Egyptian workers in Saudi prisons without charge.” He was arrested on arrival in the Saudi kingdom despite having obtained an entry visa to perform the religious rituals of Umrah.
In a show of support for El Gizawi, the protesters chanted “down with the Saudi family”. They vowed to take their revolution to Medina. Some waved their shoes in the air in a sign of disrespect for the Saudi authorities.
“It is unacceptable that Egyptian authorities are turning a blind eye and allowing Egyptians to continue to be stripped of their dignity after our revolution, ” retorted an angry middle-aged protester.
“If Gizawi is not released in the next few days, we will take matters in our own hands,” threatened another.
Protesters’ cries of “one hundred lashes for the Saudi Ambassador” could be heard several blocks away from the Embassy.
The issue is the subject of a lively debate on social media, which is once again being used by the activists to vent their frustration. This time the anger is directed at the Saudi royal family, not the Egyptian authorities. Facebook posts and tweets on the issue teeter between humorous sarcasm and offensive insults.
“You have recalled the Saudi Ambassador. We are hoping that the next step will be for the Saudis to stop the sweeping tide of Wahhabism exported to us from Saudi Arabia,” noted cyber-activist Yasmin Amin.
“When a Danish cartoon insulted Prophet Mohamed, Saudi officials did not react but when King Abdalla was insulted by an Egyptian lawyer, the Saudi Ambassador in Cairo was recalled to his country,” read another Facebook post.
Many of the activists are sceptical about Saudi accusations that El Gizawi was trying to smuggle narcotic tablets into the country — a serious charge punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials have tried to appease the public, saying they are “in constant contact with Saudi counterparts to diffuse the crisis.”
Since the oil boom in the seventies, millions of Egyptian migrant workers have traveled to the oil- rich country seeking jobs and better lives for themselves and their families. But earning higher incomes has not come without a price. Graphic stories of their maltreatment by Saudi nationals and authorities have for years been reported by the Egyptian press fuelling anger and deepening the divide between the peoples of the two countries (staunch allies under ousted President Hosni Mubarak).
Before last year’s mass uprising in Tahrir Square, Egypt was a popular holiday destination for many Saudis because “Egypt is a freer, more open society and because of its affordable holiday rates,” according to a Gulf tourist who did not want to be named. Many wealthy Gulf holiday-makers frequent Egypt’s nightclubs, gambling casinos and brothels, lavishly spending petro-dollars on alcohol and prostitution because of restrictions on both in their own countries.
In a country where tourism is the number one foreign currency earner and a source of livelihood for millions of Egyptians, Egyptian authorities have for years encouraged tourism from the Gulf turning a blind eye to some of the negative aspects this type of tourism brings, such as the seasonal marriages that are commonplace in Egypt and which are considered a form of human trafficking: Deprived Egyptian families “sell” their daughters in marriage to wealthy Gulf visitors seeking brides who are often a lot younger than their ageing grooms. Many of these elderly husbands abandon their young Egyptian wives after a few brief months (sometimes weeks) returning home to their countries never to be heard of again. In many cases, the brides become pregnant and are left to fend for their children on their own after the disappearance of their “husbands”. Worse still, these child brides are exposed to an increased risk of HIV/AIDs because their husbands practice polygamy.
Liberal Egyptians are also concerned about the growing tide of Wahhabism, a rigid type of Islam exported to Egypt in recent decades from Saudi Arabia. Ultra-conservative Salafi principles like the face veil or nikab for women are a manifestation of this trend, rejected by Egyptian secularists. Many intellectuals and liberals complain that Egypt has been “Saudised” thanks to numerous Saudi-funded satellite channels infiltrating Egypt’s airspace during the Mubarak era. There are increasing suspicions that Saudi Arabia is pouring millions of petro-dollars into Egypt to fund Islamists who want Islamic Sharia law to be the source of all legislation in the country. “The Saudis are ready to do whatever they can to stop our revolution from reaching their shores,” explained Ibrahim el Toukhy, who owns a Red Sea tourist resort.
“We had our revolution to claim Egypt back from the grip of the Saudis, ” said political analyst Emad Gad from AlAhram Center for Political Studies. “Egypt has always been moderate and must remain so.”
In the meantime, the fate of one Egyptian rights activist hangs in the balance.
Journalist Shahira Amin resigned from her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV in February 2011. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
