20 Mar 14 | Awards, Egypt, News and features
Mayam Mahmoud, award winning Egyptian Hip-hop Artist (Photo: Alex Brenner for Index on Censorship)
Rapper Mayam Mahmoud uses hip-hop to address issues such as sexual harassment and to stand up for women’s rights in Egypt. The 18-year-old rose to prominence through her appearances on the popular TV show Arabs Got Talent. Aged 12, she was introduced to poetry by her mother. She began writing her own work, which soon turned into rap — still a male dominated music genre across the world.
From her song:
Girls in our society are divided
Into those who wear the niqab, those who wear the veil
And those who are in between
There are a lot of cases that depend on the girl
How she dresses
And how she looks
But this is not the rule
How can you judge me
By my hair or by my veil?
If one day you look at me
I am not going to be the one
Hiding her/my embarrassment
You cat call and you harass
Thinking this is right not wrong
Even if these are words
This is not the kind of treatment
These are stones
It is not her clothing that is inappropriate or wrong
It’s this way of thinking which is
Sometimes the clothing is too much
But you are the one to blame
One look can be could hurt
And it is not right of you to be staring
You deserve to be slapped twice on the face
Femininity in Egypt is divided into two parts
There is a difference between what men and women consider
And both are wrong
Who said that femininity is about dresses
Femininity is about intelligence and intellect
It is also about the way she was raised
And her religiosity
Girls have lost confidence in themselves
Now she puts in makeup
And dresses in different colours on top of each other
The problem is not with the girl
The problem is with the society that influences the girl every second
If you ask girls if they have good taste in dressing
They will say yes we have
But our lives can not be described
Our lives have become very materialistic
And everyone wants something that would endure
You get what you pay for
The expensive things are better than the cheap.
— Mayam Mahmoud
Read more about Mayam Mahmoud
This article was originally posted on 20 March 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
17 Mar 14 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi (Image: Nameer Galal/Demotix)
Amid deep polarisation and a widening crackdown on dissent in Egypt, the country’s military-backed authorities have now taken their conflict with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to a new front — houses of worship.
Egypt’s mosques have become the new battleground in the country’s political standoff, with the authorities recently introducing a set of measures to control religious discourse and silence pro-Muslim Brotherhood clerics they accuse of “mobilising anti-military protests and inciting violence”.
The latest measures include forbidding prayers in small mosques that are not under state control, and restricting sermons to graduates of Al Azhar University — Sunni Islam’s most prestigious institution. In recent months, no fewer than 55,000 imams lacking such credentials, have been dismissed from their jobs.
Ministry of Religious Endowments officials defend the move, insisting it is “necessary to stop lay preachers from exploiting the pulpits to advance their political interests”. For decades, the country’s mosques and universities have been fertile ground for enrolment of Muslim Brotherhood recruits and the spread of the Islamist group’s ideology. The Muslim Brotherhood , which rose to power following former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011, was designated a terrorist organisation by authorities in December.
In another controversial move tightening the state’s grip on mosques across the country, the Ministry of Religious Endowments has unified the theme of the weekly mosque sermons preceding Friday noon prayers. Previously, Egypt’s imams or preachers were free to choose the topic of their weekly sermons but it is now the ministry that decides what the imams should preach to the millions of worshippers attending Friday prayers.
Since the measure came into effect on 31 January, the ministry has announced a different theme each week on its official website, addressing topics that affect the daily lives of millions of Egyptians. In recent weeks, preachers have tackled a broad range of issues including developing squatter areas, environmental pollution and the role of youth in the society. The ministry has also been handing out guidelines to preachers at mosques under its control, warning that violators “will face dismissal and prosecution”.
Despite the warnings, some preachers remain defiant, refusing to comply with the instruction. They say they are the ones who should decide what to tell their followers.
“I will not be dictated by the state,” said Khalaf Massoud who preaches at the Montazah Mosque in the working class neighbourhood of Imbaba, adding that his duty is to “obey God” not “those in power”.
Other preachers have also denounced the measure as “a restrictive procedure that stifles free speech and religious freedoms”. But not all preachers are against the measure and some have even welcomed it, perceiving it as necessary for unifying the country and defusing current political tensions.
In an interview broadcast on CCTV on Friday, Imam Yasser Khattab who preaches in several mosques, said: ” The Muslim Brotherhood manipulated people and spread Islamist fundamentalism through their mosques. They incited hatred and divided the society in the last three years. There should be a stand.”
Since the toppling of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi by military-backed protests in July, clashes sparked by heated debate between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and opponents have frequently occurred in and around mosques after Friday noon prayers.
With a limited number of monitors to supervise the religious discourse, it is difficult for the ministry to keep track of rebel preachers refusing to abide by the new rule. Last week, four imams were summoned for interrogation at the ministry after they had allegedly called for anti-government protests during their sermons. The risk of criminal prosecution however, has failed to deter preachers like Massoud who vows to continue “to criticise any wrongdoings as people turn to me for religious guidance”.
The latest move by Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments is part of the widening crackdown on Islamists and comes hot on the heels of other repressive measures taken by the authorities to curb dissent. Since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the regime that replaced him has closed down TV channels and publications with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. It has also arrested and detained thousands of the group’s supporters while security forces have killed at least 1,400 Brotherhood loyalists. But with inadequate funding and insufficient manpower, it will be a daunting task for the ministry to exercise control over the country’s estimated 130,000 mosques — 10,000 of which are already independent of the state. Skeptics say it may be an impossible feat to undertake as the ministry’s resources are already stretched thin.
This article was posted on March 17, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
14 Mar 14 | Awards, Egypt, News and features
Rapper Mayam Mahmoud uses hip-hop to address issues such as sexual harassment and to stand up for women’s rights in Egypt.
Women played a significant role in the demonstrations that eventually toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. In the aftermath, however, the problem of sexual harassment has become what activists now describe as “an epidemic”.
The 18-year-old rose to prominence through her appearances on the popular TV show Arabs Got Talent. Aged 12, she was introduced to poetry by her mother. She began writing her own work, which soon turned into rap — still a male dominated music genre across the world.
“It’s got a lot of people talking about whether it’s possible for a veiled girl, or even a girl, to do this,” she says. “The girls in this field are thought to have bad morals. So it’s hard to find someone to work with her, to create a beat, to master the track.”
In order to develop her own voice, Mayam tries not to listen to western Hip hop and her songs tackle harassment and victim-blaming head-on – condemning Egyptian society for accepting harassment as part of everyday life, and for laying the blame for it on women rather than men.
“I won’t be the shamed one,” she says in one of her raps. “You flirt, you harass and you see nothing wrong with it. But even if it’s just words, these are not flirts, these are stones.”
Nominees: Advocacy | Arts | Digital Activism | Journalism
Join us 20 March 2014 at the Barbican Centre for the Freedom of Expression Awards
This article was posted on March 14, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
06 Mar 14 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa, News and features
(Image: Al Jazeera English/YouTube)
The trial of 20 journalists charged with spreading misinformation and aiding or belonging to a terror cell has been adjourned until March 24.
Only six of the defendants — including three who work for the Al Jazeera English (AJE) service — appeared in court on Wednesday, eighteen days after pleading not guilty to the charges levelled against them.
The widely publicised case known to Egyptians as the “Marriott Cell” case is a test for the new Egyptian authorities’ tolerance of free speech and press freedom, say rights organizations and press freedom advocates. Last week, journalists in cities around the world held rallies outside Egyptian embassies to express their solidarity with the Al Jazeera detainees. Meanwhile, an online Avaaz petition launched a few days before the resumption of the trial on Wednesday and calling for the release of the detained journalists, had already collected more than 50,000 signatures by the time the court session opened at the Torah Police Institute in Cairo.
Al Jazeera has rejected the charges, expressing its disappointment at the trial’s adjournment. “Our journalists were simply doing their job, covering and challenging all sides of the story in Egypt,” Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, said. “To continue to keep them behind bars after such a long time in detention is simply outrageous, so we continue to call for their immediate release.”
Australian journalist Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian AJE Cairo Bureau Chief Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed, arrested on December 30, remain behind bars at Cairo’s Torah Prison after the judge declared the trial’s adjournment “to allow more witnesses to be heard”. Abdulla El Shamy, a fourth Al Jazeera journalist who has been in jail since August 14 and is on hunger strike to protest his confinement, did not appear in court on Wednesday.
At Wednesday’s session, the judge examined “the evidence” provided by the prosecutors in the case: equipment seized by the police when they raided the hotel suite used by the Al Jazeera team as a makeshift studio. To foreign journalists attending the trial, the set of cameras, laptops , mobile phones and electrical cables displayed in court looked much like the regular set of tools used by journalists to do their work.
At the start of the session, Soheib Saad, one of the defendants shouted out from the steel cage “journalists are not terrorists.” He was arrested at a checkpoint and told the court he had been tortured by members of the national security apparatus before being brought to prison. He added that he had been denied family visits for 40 days and was not getting enough food. Soheib also told the judge he did not know what he was doing there as he had no connection with the detained Al Jazeera journalists.
Mohamed Fahmy pleaded to the Judge to release him on guarantees from the Canadian embassy that he would not travel abroad. “I would never betray my country,” he insisted. Fahmy whose right arm was in a sling because of a shoulder injury sustained before his arrest, complained that he had been denied medical treatment for his injury and that he was sleeping on the floor.
Peter Greste spoke little during the session, merely responding with “I’m here” when he heard his name called out by the judge. With no interpreter on hand to translate the court’s proceedings, he appeared frustrated that he could not understand what was being said in the courtroom.
An eyewitness from national security services who testified in the case admitted that he did not know the difference between Al Jazeera English and the network’s sister channel Mubasher Misr, accused by many Egyptians of being a mouthpiece for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. “I am not a media person so I wouldn’t know the difference,” he told the court. Asked if he believed Mohamed Fahmy was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared by Egyptian authorities in December to be a terrorist organisation, he replied, “Fahmy works for a network that incites violence and portrays Egypt as being in the midst of a civil war so yes, he is a member of the terror cell.”
Another witness who is also a member of Egypt’s national security apparatus and who will testify at the next court session told Index outside the courtroom: “This is a war for Egypt’s very survival, for its existence. Anyone posing a threat to the country’s national security must be annihilated.”
In a country rife with conspiracy theories of plans by external powers to destroy Egypt and divide the country, his chilling words do not bode well for the fate of the Al Jazeera detainees.
This article was posted on March 6, 2014 at indexoncensorship.org
