A Decade of #Jan25

 Today is the 10th anniversary of #Jan25.

10 years ago today, I was alone in NYC, waiting impatiently, 6 hours behind, not knowing what the hell will happen.

Today, I find myself alone as well, but wondering what the hell happened, wondering how is it that even though everything changed, everything has also stayed the same.

10 years ago today, if only for a minute, we imagined we ruled the world. Everything was possible. 

الشعب ركب

The allure of what could be, possibilities of achievements, of change, of a better tomorrow, of living without fear, of retribution, of honor and of a future we deserve is the root of all the pain we have been carrying over the past decade. 

When I go through some of my older blogs and social media posts from 2011-2013, I'm always taken by how much we thought we had influence on decision making. How much we believed in our self worth, to the extent that we imagined we had a say in our country's future. 

I was 22 years old that day, hopeful, in awe of the giant that is the Egyptian people's vigorous spirit and will to change. And I can't even recount the times I've asked myself and other over the past decade, "where did everybody go?" Where are the thousand upon thousands that I had marched with over and over, calling for our right at the top of our lungs? Where are the residents of Tahrir square?

Today, I'm 32 years old, broken, crushed under the weight of the ghost of a revolution's past. The ghost of what could have been. If only!

And sometimes I wonder, should we have fought harder for our dreams? but who are "we"? and who are "we" fighting against? But one thing's for sure, it was never a fair fight.

I am thankful for the memories. 

The memories of a people full of hope and their burning desire to live a good life, longing for a better future for their unborn children, and their unwavering willingness to make their dreams come true, even if it meant paying their own lives as the price. 

But if I'm certain of one thing, it's that our souls have been touched by that dream, and that on that fateful Tuesday, 10 years ago, our lives changed forever. For better or for worse, be it the ones who are no longer with us today and have paid the ultimate price, or the ones withering away in prison for daring to dream, or the ones watching from afar in exile wondering if they can ever come home, or the ones who suffered so much that they had to let go of the dream or the ones forever entangled in this haunting web of euphoric sensations they might never feel again, we all did our best.

عيش، حرية، عدالة إجتماعية

 عيش، حرية، كرامة إنسانية

العلبة دي فيها إيه؟

إحساس رهيب بالذنب... كم الشهداء و المصابين و المساجين بقى فوق الوصف... مكانش ده اللي تخيلته يوم ١١ فبراير ٢٠١١... كنت متخيلة إن بعد سنة هنكون في مكان تاني خالص.. 

بحس بالذنب إن في ناس ماتت و أنا عايشة! بحس بالذنب إن في ناس مصابة و أنا كويسة! بحس بالذنب إن في ناس مسجونة و أنا "حرة" لو يجوز أصلاً اننا نقول على السجن الكبير ده حرية

وجع رهيب مش راضي يفارقني...

صرخات أب يوم فض إعتصام مجلس الوزراء و هو بيقول "أاااااااااه خودوني عند ابني.. ابني جوا.. أنا عايز أروح لإبني"

إنهيار ماري دانيل عند ماسبيرو بعد ما شافت مينا و اصحابها و هما بيهدوها و بيبكوا في صمت ناتج عن هلع

حرقة قلب أخو عصام عطا و هو بيقول عصام الناس نسياه عشان عاش فقير و مات فقير

دموع الراجل العجوز عند ماسبيرو و هو بيكلم نفسه "ابني فين؟ ابني راح.. داسوا على ابني بالدبابة... ابني راح مني"

ذهول أم محمد مصطفى و هي خارجة من الجامع بعد تشييع الجنازة.. مش مستوعبة المصيبة اللي هي فيها.. ذهول تام

كسرة نفس أبو رضا عبد العزيز أما كلمته أسأله عملوا إيه عند الدكتور و هو بيقولي "رضا خلاص مش هيشوف تاني يا آنسة"

آهات وجع أية بعد ما خرجت من مركز التعذيب في مجلس الشعب و احنا بنساعدها تمشي

و حاجات تانية مش عارفة حتى اكتبها.. كان نفسي ما نخذلهمش و مش عارفة الظروف كانت أقوى مننا و الموضوع هو اللي صعب ولا احنا اللي تخاذلنا بإن بعضنا ماكنش بيتصرف صح أو إن بعضنا زهق في نص المشوار أو بعضنا اللي إستهتر 

و اهه السنة فاتت و زاد على الشهيد ١٠٠ شهيد تاني و على المصاب ٢٠٠ مصاب تاني و على المسجون ١٠٠٠ مسجون تاني... هنعمل إيه؟

Reality Check

Sometimes its incredulously insane for me to grasp the magnitude of the Egyptian revolution. It might be in part because for me the revolution was a series of tweets and YouTube videos... but also because the immensity of the situation we're in is far too grave for me to deal with.

Prior to January 25th I was a 100% against the revolution. I was one of those who deemed it a suicide mission that is bound to fail. Needless to say after watching the masses flood the streets of Cairo, Suez, Alexandria and other cities chanting the ever famous "Ta3'yeer, 7oreya, 3adala Egtema3eya" (Change, Freedom, Social Equality) I became quite positive that Egyptians are on to something. I was a wee bit more hopeful that maybe... Just maybe and I allowed myself to dream.. that we can do it!

Bravely and persistently my people fought and came through. But now that the fight is over and the smoke has cleared and while the majority have turned their backs thinking we won... It frightens me that I can still see the lingering shadows of darkness refusing to cave in to our will and freedom. 

That was merely the first round. Mubarak has stepped down, some of his front men were sacrificed in the process but the system and the corruption manifests beyond we ever assessed or thought. Round two is bound to be more vicious whether we plan to admit that or not.

Tahrir Square is no longer the Utopia we drew it to be. We are no longer one like before. "They" have infiltrated our "ranks" if you may. We keep looking out for violence and midnight crackdowns but for some inexplicable reason I don't see them happening. The defeat if we allow it to take place will come from within. While we are busy bickering about ideologies in some odd power struggle over the square and how it should be... they are getting to learn our weaknesses and creeping deeper within us, taking advantage of signs of internal divisions and lack of trust between us.

Revolutionaries who dedicated themselves to this cause are all honorable men and women... Rather heros. There is no right or wrong here but only different priorities and perspectives. In no way do I doubt anyone's faithfulness to the revolution. But I only doubt our capability and readiness to go through this second round. Not because we're a few, as we're many. Not because we're not dedicated, as we're passionate. But mainly because I'm a firm believer in this saying: "United we stand, Divided we fall."

The longer it takes us to realize that and find it in our hearts to stand together, the more time they get to prey on our vulnerability. It is time to forget all the differences and disagreements and to stop eyeing one another with suspicion. It is time for the revolution to continue...

خالد خالد يا ولد دمك هيحرر بلد

إسم التدوينة كان هتاف بيقولوه القليلين اللي كانوا بيحضروا جلسات محاكمة قتلة خالد سعيد رحمة الله عليه!  القصة بدأت من سنة زي النهاردة! شاب مصري اغتيل على أيد اتنين مخبرين! ضرب مبرح حتى الموت.. بس كان حد فينا يعرف إنه الشاب ده هيكون الشرارة اللي هتفجر نظام حكم دكتاتور حكم بالقبضة والحديد ٣٠ سنة؟

أنا بحاول افتكر المجهود اللي إتبذل قبل الثورة نفسها من توعية و من كتر الحاجات مش فاكرة! الناس اللي كانت بتغامر بروحها و تنزل وقفات الكورنيش! فاكرين اليوم اللي قبل الوقفة؟ فاكرين التعليمات اللي أدمن صفحة كلنا خالد سعيد كان بينزلها قبل كل وقفة؟ و التنظيم لأماكن التجمعات؟ فاكرين الناس اللي إتضربت في الوقفات من بلطجية و شرطة؟

طب فاكرين منظر الناس على كورنيش اسكندرية اللي يخليك تدمع و هما مسكين مصاحف و أناجيل و واقفين في صمت؟ أنا المنظر ده كان بيقشعرني جداً!

فاكرين المظاهرات الصغيرة نسبياً عند المحكمة و أهالي المخبرين لما كانوا بينظموا مظاهرة "مضادة" و يتهموا خالد بالادمان؟ فاكرين الأهرام لما كتبوا على أخو خالد إنه إرتد عن الإسلام و إعتنق اليهودية؟

فاكرين لما بعد ما خالد مات بكام شهر لم الأدمن طلب مننا نعمل حملة على تويتر و نستخدم هاش تاج خالد سعيد عشان العالم كله يعرف قصة خالد؟

يا ربي سبحانك! يمكن لو محدش كان إهتم بقصة خالد مكنش كل اللي احنا فيه ده حصل! يعني لما كنا بنهتف لو كان خالد إبن وزير كانت راس العادلي تطير كنت إنت سبحانك عارف إنه هيحصل و إن راسه هو و أسياده هتطير!! 

احنا لسة مخلصناش المشوار.. بس برضه اللي وصلنا له لحد دلوقتي كان بعيد عن أحلامنا! نفس جهاز الشرطة اللي كان راعب البلد بقى دلوقتي إلى حد كبير في مكانه الطبيعي.. مجرد عامل عند الشعب! نفس أمن الدولة اللي كان كاتم على أنفاس اللي جابوا أبونا دخلناه و فتشناه حتة حتة! العادلي مرمي فالسجن زي الكلب، مبارك إتخلع و الشعب بيتحرر حتى لو ببطق و كل ده في أقل من سنة! 

شكراً يا خالد! إنت يمكن تكون حياتك انتهت... بس إنت رجعتلنا احنا حياتنا 

ولا تحسبن الله بغافلاً عما يعمل الظالمون... صدق الله العظيم

ده إللي قدرت عليه؟ تهجرني و تتحداني؟

عمري ما هنسي لما مديحة صحتني على خبر إن الجيش نزل الشارع يحمي الثورة! و عمري ما هنسي لما شفت الفيديوهات بتاعت الناس و هي بتهتف الجيش و الشعب أيد واحدة لأول مرة! ولا الناس اللي طالعة على الدبابات عشان تبوس العساكر و تتصور معاهم! 

بس برضه عمري ما هانسه اللي سمعته بوداني يوم 9 إبريل ولا اللي حصل لرامي عصام و غيروا من تعذيب ولا البنات اللي تم إنتهاك حرمتهم ولا مايكل نبيل ولا عمرو البحيري ولا هانسي القرطاس اللي خدناه بعد الإستفتاء أما إستفتونا في سبع عشر حاجات و غيروا سبعين من غير ما ياخدوا رأينا  ولا هنسي اليوم اللي الجيش سمح فيه إنه يتم ضرب نار على متظاهرين مدنيين عزل و يصيب واحد في راسه و واحد في بطنه كنموذج للاصابات عشان إتجرأوا و اتظاهروا قدام سفارة إسرائيل! وكما نقلت الرواية ان المتظاهرين خدهم  الحماس و حاولوا يقتحموا مبنى السفارة في أي حل من الأحوال لا يجوز إستخدم هذا النوع من العنف اللي ممكن يؤدي لموت بعض المصريين! هو الجيش والشرطة دول مصروف عليهم دم البلد عشان يبقوا مايعرفوش يعملوا أي حاجة غير انهم يقتلوا؟ مفيش تدريب على فض الإعتصام أو فض الإشتباك بالقوة دون الحاجة لإستخدم السلاح؟ بالذمة يعني؟ يرضي مين ده بجد؟ 

أنا فعلا مش فاهمة مدى غباء اللي بيصدر الأوامر دي؟ هو كان مغيب مش عارف إنه في ثورة كاملة قامت عشان الظلم والعنف و معاملة الشرطة للشعب على إنه قطيع من البهايم؟ تاني؟ هنعيدوا تاني؟ هرجع اكتب كلام ضد الجيش ذي ما كنت بكتب ضد مبارك و ضد الشرطة أو ضد كل ظالم مش مدي للمصريين حقهم الكامل في الحياه كا بني أدمين؟ طب الواحد كان مخه فين أما مبارك المخلوع قرر تسليم السلطة للمجلس العسكري؟! يعني ايه أساساً؟ يعني احنا نثور و الناس تموت عشان هو بروح أمه يقرر مين يحل محله؟ طب و مين بقى المجلس ده؟ دلاديل مبارك؟ بأمارة ايه بقى؟ 

رجعنا تاني لزمن التحكم في الإعلام و إعتقال النشطاء و تعذيب بس مبقاش بقى فالأقسام ده كمان في المتحف المصري! المكان المقدس اللي الناس بتيجي من كل بلاد العالم تشوفه و احنا بناخد العيال جواه نحط السيخ المحمي في صرصور ودانهم!! عملنا ثورة و طلع عين أبونا عشان الواد يكتب عن تجاوزات الجيش فا يتحبس ثلاث سنين و يتحاكم في غياب المحامي بتاعه كمان! أنا بجد مش مصدقه اللي احنا فيه! 

و من عجايب الدنيا السابعة بقى هي بجاحة أم الداخلية!! بقى سايبين البلد تضرب تقلب يا ولاد ستين جزمة و الناس تتقتل و تتقلب يمين و شمال ثلاث شهور  و فالحين تبعتم أمن مركزي يضرب غاز مسيل للدموع عشان تحموا سفارة الصهاينة؟ 

ما هي حاجة من الاتنين.. يا نطاطي راسنا للمجلس و نسجدله ركعتين شكر كل يوم و نسمح للفساد يرجع ذي أيام مبارك يا نلحق نفسنا والفرصة لسة موجودة! حرام علينا و عيب علينا اننا نسيب حد يستعبدنا تاني! حرام علينا و الله!! ده مفيش واحد... واحد يوحد ربنا غير العادلي اللي مبارك ضحى بيه من أول يوم هو اللي خد حكم و حتى في قضية متفرقلناش أوي ذي مثلاً قتل الثوار ولا خالد سعيد! يا ناس حرام عليكوا احنا بيضحك علينا!! 

أنا هروح أنام! تصبحوا على وطن حر!

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." Abraham Lincoln

حسن و مرقس.. الكواليس

Yet another blog post about sectarian violence in Egypt! It is becoming more and more redundant by the minute! 

I will get straight to the point. I will not lie to you my dear imaginary readers, sectarian HATE ( Yes I did not say tension I said HATE) exists in our beloved country. We have muslims who hate christians (for no apparent reason) and christians who hate muslims (also for no apparent reason). 

In an attempt to be objective I will give u two examples: 

1- I know muslims who flat out said it to my face at some point of our relation "I hate christians" ... needless to say my respect to them is non existent (if you are reading this blog u know who u are & u're free to never speak 2 me again)

2- I know a christian tutor who charges muslims students more than she charges christians.

This has long existed since before I was born 23 years ago so please lets give each other's minds the respect we deserve and not blame what happened in Imbaba on the "Counter revolution" or "Israel" or  "The ex regime" or "Amn el dawla" (Secret service).  Salafism is innocent from those who would commit such acts of civilian murder and who falsely label themselves as salafists. This unexplained hatred has existed since before those extremists had the floor to themselves and were allowed the space to act and destruct.

I honestly don't have a solution to get us rid of the monster about to step over our revolution and crush all its success into pieces.. but I can only ask a few questions that might lead to some answer.. one day! 

A- Who benefits from creating such chaos by bringing out the genie of sectarian tension?

B- Why is the military council meeting with extremist "Sheikhs" like Sheikh Zoghby? WATCH VIDEO

C- Why is the army prosecuting peaceful protesters & bloggers in 3 days but failing 2 find the instigators of this incident?

D- Why haven't Essawy the Minister of Interior & Tantawi the Commander in Chief of the Army not submit their resignation after they failed in protecting the 9 civilians who died and the 150 injured?

E- Where is the police and when are they going back to the job they are being paid for in spite of not doing?

F- Why didn't the military council MAKE Kamilia Shehata submit to the order she received to show up at the General Attorney? 

G- Why is the law prohibiting protests being enforced on protestors when it is in objection to the army but not to those "Salafists" when they either want Kamilia, Abeer or are miserable about what happened to Osama Bin Laden?

H- Why are we allowing for Egyptians to live in their own country with fear & treated like second class citizens? 

Please.. if you have answers to any of these questions feel free to answer them in the comment section! The sooner we admit to the problem, the sooner we'll be able to fix it!

من عهد م القرآن هبط
نزل هنا عمرو ...وربط
بينا ، وبينكم ياقبط
عهود - وداد متســـجلـّه

 

أبونا ناسب بسخروس
وإسم خالي جرجيوس
وجد أمي فلتاؤوس
وانا إسمي طه أبو العــــلا

بيرم التونسي  

زنقة زنقة دار دار بدنا نشيلك يا بشار

I tried to understand the psychology of torturers.. I researched & the reasons I found (if you're a psychologist and I'm wrong plz correct me) were pretty much unsatisfactory.. I couldn't swallow them as reasonable enough to have a human being quite literally transform into a monster.

According to Science Week.. "virtually anyone can be aggressive if sufficiently provoked, stressed, disgruntled or hot" and the researcher or psychologist who wrote the article used the Abo Gharib case to explain how those four reasons applied into transforming those US soldiers into psychopaths.

So out of trying to understand more about the mechanics of the human brain I attempted to apply those 4 reasons to some other cases such as the case of Khaled Saeed, the 28 year old Egyptian brutally beaten to death on the streets of Alexandria by Egyptian Secret Police or more recently incidents in Syria and I failed miserably. 

Please watch the following videos before continuing this post:

http://tinyurl.com/3n8sa73

http://tinyurl.com/3s5ouss

http://tinyurl.com/3pdsvth

Two of those videos are of Syrian children or maybe teenagers who were captured by Syrian police/army while out on the street protesting against the tyranny that is Bashar Al Assad's regime. What possesses a human to do this to a child? How would an innocent child merely calling out for freedom and democracy provoke, cause stress, disgruntle or cause a change of climate that deems him worthy of such humiliation?

We saw in the 1st video how they forced the kid to kiss some officer's feet, beat him up, filmed him as they pretended to sodomize him, filmed him naked and finally as if all that was not enough someone peed all over him will the person filming added instructions such as "on his face".. 

This makes me question the sanity of those hired by Arab dictators to work in police force. For example in Egypt (plz someone correct me if I'm wrong) police officers are graduates of the police academy, I dont think anyone else can apply to the job, according to what I know which might not be a 100% right, to be a policeman you have to be a graduate of the police academy.

We have seen similar videos of abuse on part of the Egyptian police, one of the main motives that drove the January 25 revolution was to put an end to the police brutality in Egypt. This in turn reflects on what those people LEARN at that academy of theirs..!! Do we know if there is a psychology class? Are there seminars on human rights and how not to violate them while performing their jobs and maintaining order in the country? (I know some people will be snickering at the questions) Of course the answer is HELL NO!! 

These should be incorporated into the system through which these "students" are brought up to become POLICE MEN.. protecting the people and working for their safety.. not psychotic maniacs turning into a Nazi at the first chance they get!!

According to PolicePsych which is a journal for Law Enforcement and Public Safety: "In law enforcement each crisis situation is unique so it is difficult to train for all possible scenarios. However, officers generally perform well after training even though they cannot always accurately report their decision making process. Repeated and varied training builds self confidence and allows an officer to function well under stress. Refinements in virtual reality training may help even more."

I know in the Syrian case the entire regime has to fall like in the Tunisian/Egyptian examples and then the rebuilding would begin. But I think its most necessary for the people of Arab countries undergoing significant political changes to focus on the importance of public awareness of Human Rights, to focus on making sure that psychological training is included in the curriculum of the Police Academy to make sure that the rule does not remain that it is acceptable to humiliate a fellow citizen.. a human being just because you're in a powerful position. There must also be a crucial demand for strict laws against anyone who strays and resorts to violence and brutality and abuses his/her power. 

I hope that this post opens more eyes of citizens of the world (although I highly doubt "the world" reads my blog) to how gruesome the situation is currently like in Syria.. Please try to place as much pressure on your government's as possible to impose sanctions on the Syrian government in attempts to minimize the casualties, injuries, arrests that eventually result in videos such as the above that we end up watching while sitting in the comfort of our own beds. This can be done by simply raising more awareness of those around you about the Syrian revolution.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies... but the silence of our friends"

Martin Luther King Jr.

ليه يا دنيا الواحد؟

I have been trying to hold myself from falling into this pit of depression. I tried to listen to the various tweeps who desperately called on Egyptian revolutionaries inside and outside (and yes I consider myself one and if you disagree I honestly don't give a rat's ass) not to give up, not to lose hope that change is still possible.. I tried.. but I am human and this is my breaking point.

Today.. Essam Sharaf the Egyptian PM met with his Cabinet and issued a law the.. wait for it... criminalizes anyone who plans/stages sits in that "halt work" as long as the emergency law is in effect and the penalty for those who break the law is a full year in prison or paying a 500,000 LE fine. Ok! Let's back up 4 a second here..

1st: This is a very vague law, there is business going in Egypt seven days a week! There is no dedicated space for protests/sit ins so what if people want to object to something.. what do they do? Bump their heads against the wall? This leaves it open to the army, gives them absolute power over determining what constitutes a work halting protest and an "acceptable one". Also from our experience, the Emergency law has been in effect for like 28 years? I for one do not believe it's going to end at any time soon.

2nd: Some people will say this is aimed to put an end to the individual demands or union demands or worker demands...
A- According to article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Egypt has signed each human is guaranteed the right to peaceful assembly. So all these people regardless how "ridiculous" or "pointless" (not my words) their demands are, have every right to demonstrate and ask for their "rights" as long as they maintain peaceful assembly.
B- Let us assume that these small numbers calling out for whatever it is they want are the main reason behind this law being issued.. does this mean u take away a basic human right from the MAJORITY? Is this fair?
C- There have been endless reports of violations on part of the army.. how can we (alazeen kafaro bel geesh - the ones who do not believe in the holiness of the army) protest to these violations and OBVIOUS abuse of power (in the eyes of alazeen kafaro bel geesh)? Where can we show our discontent with the fact that power has been taken from a dictator called Hosni Mubarak and handed to a COUNCIL of dictators?

Is this even normal? Could this ever happen in France? Germany? USA? Italy? NEVER! This is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable..

From the 25th of Jan until the 11th of Feb, Egyptians were calling for Mubarak to step down, to be replaced with a CIVILIAN COUNCIL, for the corrupt figures to go to TRIAL and for the end of Emergency law and a new democratic constitution.

Please take a minute to think what exactly from these objectives has ACTUALLY happened other than Mubarak being sacrifices so that the rest of the regime can continue to cling into power. I fail to understand how on earth did we trust the army and allow Tantawi who is Mubarak FREAKIN BEST FRIEND become our "ruler". The same argument used against Shafik should've been used against him.

Mubarak has NO LEGAL RIGHT to put Tantawi/Military council in charge.. but he did, they gladly accepted and now we are stuck with them.

The constitution LOST ALL VALIDITY once the president stepped down.. it should have been thrown INTO THE POOPER the minute Mubarak stepped down but the Military council chose to keep it and have us go through the ordeal of the referendum that seems to have been nothing more than method of agenda setting through the way it was turned into a Muslim/Christian struggle of power.

All the corrupt figures are being "questioned" although I am DEAD SURE that DA has all the proof he needs to press charges and have them go to trial.

WHERE IS MUBARAK?

I am sorry to say this but the way I see it.. we are back at square one. The revolution is on the verge of failure (I just can't bring myself to say it failed). During the height of the secret service's power there was no such thing as BAN of protests.. These protests are what got the military council into power. Essam Sharaf said he gained his legitimacy FROM TAHRIR SQUARE and now he signs this law??

I will say one last thing... I know this will cost me a lot, possibly many arguments that will not end well I am sure.. But I have to say this..

The only solution I see fit in this current situation is to go back to the streets, to call for new Million Man Marches... To take things into our own hands once again and to fight as ferociously as we can to ensure that all our demands are met.

يا ناس يا ناس يا مكبوتة هي دي الحدوتة... حدوتة مصرية 

وحياتك لافضل أغير فيكي لحد ما ترضي عليه

Yesterday the referendum on the constitutional changes took place and the results came out as 77% yes to 22% no with a participation rate of 41% of all the eligible voters.

These numbers portray many things. First of all it showed us that one of our many opponents inside our own country is ignorance. Also another opponent is political awareness illiteracy. Of course these two major issues can be traced back to the 30 glorious years Egypt has spent under Mubarak. He worked his ass off in fact its the ONLY thing he ever did with dedication to make sure the majority has no clue about anything that goes on in the country and to be like a herd pushed around by their shepherd.

Before you jump up my ass I do not mean that ALL those who voted Yes are ignorant illiterate easily manipulated persons. There were voters who were a 100% convinced that this is the right thing to do and for extremely valid points and that is perfectly acceptable and rightful. I am talking about the grassroots masses who were manipulated by Jihadists, Salafis & Muslim Brotherhood into thinking this is a war against Islam and if you vote Yes you will be aiding Islam. I know now that they merely took advantage of a card in their hand to steer things in their way but to be honest I just cant say that the end justifies the means.

And like I criticized these actions I also am not a fan of the no voters who tried pressuring yes voters by scaring them from extremism by using the Iranian/Afghani examples. Not only that this is politically incorrect as nothing that is going on in Egypt right now will by any means lead to these scenarios but it is also ethically wrong.

What should've been done and what also NEEDS to be our main focus right now is to educate the people. Tell them the WHOLE TRUTH. Make sure thy fully understand all the pros and cons of the situation as it is and let them judge. Unfortunately I'm outside of Egypt currently but had I been home I would've started a massive campaign with the help of all my dedicated passionate friends and even twitter acquaintances to educate that ignorant majority that believed that saying YES to an invalid unfair constitution means a "win" for Islam.

I am just SICK of people using the name of my religion for their personal gains. SICK to my stomach of it. Whether its Bush wanting oil and calling us all terrorists and waging "crusades" against us or the Islamists who want political power and utilize the name of Allah in doing so. It's just WRONG and it has to stop.

This is what we have to do, we need to reach out to the ENTIRE country. We need to utilize the media people who we know are on our side in order to help us do that. Let's find the specialists who are willing to give lectures all over Egypt zanga zanga beet beet dar dar!! The forming of political parties needs to be done with the supervision of those people who know how politics work. We need to think and act like our "enemy" does and be a step ahead at all times. This will require A LOT of training, volunteer work, preparation and patience. I know what I am saying sounds vague but if you like the sound of it you can consider it sort of a guideline or a brainstorming session that you can pick up on and continue. Most importantly we need to do this UNITED. Work together for one goal and that is a better Egypt.

We can't by any means let the Muslim Brotherhood have all the space they need inside the Parliament. Our representatives need to be more at all costs. They claim they wont target presidency... but who trusts them or believes them? They twist Gods words for their personal gains.. what makes their word trustworthy? And then God knows what will happen if they ever reach presidency...

To be honest, I always said that I dont mind the MB & that Mubarak never gave them the chance 2 show us what they're all about and therefore we can't judge them and I wasn't even opposed to them heading a government. I used to argue saying "they're not stupid, they won't go to extreme measures it won't turn into a Wahhabi rule" however after they got their chance to perform without Mubarak's iron fist.. I take it all back. I want a president who convinces me with a rational argument to vote for him and not a president who scares me into it. Mixing religion and politics will never work. Khalas.. it just won't. If they force it, we will end up losing politics and losing religion.

On another note (last thing I will say) I need to point your attention to a few facts, eye openers as to what the Egyptian society has currently reached.

A few weeks ago Aboud El Zomor assassin of late president Sadat was released. He is being treated as a hero who returned from exile. Given way too much media attention and congratulated for finally being freed. He was allowed to go on national TV to say that he is convinced that killing Sadat is religiously acceptable and that it was the right thing to do.

On the other hand Dr. Mohamed El Baradie, Noble Peace prize winner was assaulted as he went to cast his vote along with his family. The army "mysteriously" disappeared from the polling station right before he arrived. People were throwing rocks at him and he was treated as if he is responsible for everything that went wrong.

Yesterday Wael El Komy one of the Secret Service heads in Alexandria who is responsible for most of the torture cases that happened in that city was released along with his assistants or lower level policemen who worked with him.

Around 4 weeks ago Amr El Beheiry a young protestor was detained as he stood up against the injustice and army offenses.. he was subjected to military court and sentenced to five years.

لم نجتريء أن نرفع العيون نحوه

لم نجتريء أن نرفع العيون

نحو عارنا المميت

أمل دنقل 

يا خوفي يا بدران

I wanna take you back to 1964 and leave Egypt all together and talk about Brazil for a second.

On the 31st of March 1964, the Brazilian military started a coup against the president Joao Goulart also known as Jango. They had the help of the Senate President Auro Moura Andrade as well as the governors of major cities like Minas Grerais, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 15 days after the coup, the army Chief of Staff, Marshal Humberto Castello Branco became the president (appointed by the Brazilian congress that was supportive of the coup, not the choice of the Brazilian people).

He remained in power for 3 years and was dubbed as an authoritarian dictator.

He was followed by Costa e Silva who was elected by the same congress through indirect elections. His period of presidency is known to be one of the most oppressive times in the history of Brazil. He suppressed all forms of opposition using his "police force" :) Things were so harsh that citizens resorted to "terrorist attacks" on army HQs to fight against the military rule oppression.

In 1969, Silva had a stroke that caused him Cerebral Thrombosis (blood being drained from the brain) and was removed from presidency (It was a common belief given the press censorship during that time that he was not really ill and that was a cover up). Instead of being replaced by his prime minister, three armed forces ministers formed a "military junta" and took power.

Brazil then had reached its peak of dictatorship, the army was not the least bit willing to give up their reign for civilian rule. The military junta of the three marshals gave its power (yes GAVE) to Emilio Medici who has the worst reputation of the 20 yes TWENTY years of military rule in Brazil. The highest rates of repression, tortures and press censorship were during Medici's rule.

He was followed by two other presidents, one coming from the military and the other was the Secret Service chief!! Notice that since 1964 till 1985 the Brazilian citizens were not allowed to choose a president. It was then that Brazilians took it to the streets, demonstrating for their rights of living in a democratic country and succeeded as in 1985 they elected their first CIVILIAN president Jose Sarnay.

Still there? Good.. Now back to Egypt...

You will probably think i'm implying that the army might end up taking over power and Egypt will face such a horrid future. Well no, I merely chose to share this part of history so that people would have an insight on why we should be VERY CAREFUL with who we trust.

Let us not forget that since 1952 we haven't had a NON military president.. and when we overthrew the 30 year old Pharaoh he was replaced by a military council. At first they were the revolutionaries back bone.. but now I'm extremely concerned and worried.

The immense human rights violations they have committed so far are extremely disturbing! Wasn't this one of the main reasons we revolted against Mubarak? How come the same people who would see videos of Egyptian police brutality and scream with anger can now watch videos of Egyptian army brutality and defend them. The two arguments I've heard the most so far are "It's not the army its police dressed up as army" and "They were torturing thugs"!!!!

I ask you to take a moment and watch this video where a young man called Ramy who says he was detained by the army when they forcefully ended the sit ins in Tahrir square on the 9th of March. Ramy Testimonial

I ask you to think of Amr El Beheiry who was detained by the army, prosecuted in a military court and sentenced to FIVE WHOLE YEARS of prison only because he was among the protestors in Tahrir.

Let us be rational and not fall into the arms of anyone who says come give me a hug. You don't know.. they could be hiding a knife and won't hesitate to stab you in the back.

غدر الزمان يا قلبي ملوش أمان

 هيجي يوم تحتاج لحبة إيمان

و قلبي إرتجف وسألني أأمن بايه

أأمن بايه محتار بقالي زمان

و عجبي

مصر يامه يا سفينة... مهما كان البحر عاتي

Sectarian tension is a fact of life in Egypt. Not all Muslims like Christians and not all Christians like Muslims.

But its ok... the 1st step towards recovery is admitting the reality of the disease.

Over the past two days there has been a wave of attacks on Christian houses, individuals and churches. Let me start by asking a question. Through out the entire month and 2 weeks of the revolution as of January 25.. has their been one single incident of sectarian violence? Did anyone other than me see footage and pictures of Christian protestors forming human shields to protect Muslims protestors as they prayed the Friday prayers in Tahrir square? Did anyone other than me see the footage and pictures of Muslims organizing a sunday mass in honor of the Christians martyrs?

Let us note a few points:
A- The police force has been withdrawn from the streets of Egypt since day 4 of the protests.
B- The beginning of the end for state security in Egypt has started as of 3 days ago.
C- The ex regime has long been known to fuel sectarian fires 2 divert attention from their corruption.

Accordingly.. I will establish a break down and its entirely up to my imaginary readers to decide if I make sense or not.

Highest ratios of sectarian tension in Egypt happens in Upper Egypt where people still believe in concept of vengeance or "Al Tar" as you can see from Reuters' compilation of major sectarian violence incidents in this article http://t.co/ITg9eyD. And in a country where illiteracy rate according to UNICEF is 30% as of 2009, you must know that probably the highest rate of this 30% is compiled in the little villages and towns in the upper part of Egypt. (I'm sorry I'm unable 2 provide a credible source for this assumption - you're most welcome to research and either confirm my info or negate it)

Those attacks that have happened over the past couple of days were either in a small upper Egyptian town or in a slum area in Cairo which doesn't really differ in terms of illiteracy rates/ignorance/sporadic violence.

These people in the areas in which those attacks have happened have been aware of the lack of Police since day one of the withdrawal.. if their attacks on christians happened out of pure "hate" and they were merely waiting for a chance.. then they had ample time to do so since the 29th of January. "Something" or "Someone" must have provoked them or caused an increase of fury amongst them to start these attacks.. and by all means I DO NOT mean that this provocation or whatever it was happened by Christians please do not misunderstand my point and read till the end.

Three days ago Egyptian citizens stormed into a few of the state security building, taking them down and  starting the 1st step in achieving one of the primary goals of the revolution that has been declared since day one and that is the disbanding of the current state security with its current form. Coincidentally or not, this happened the same day Ahmed Shafik ex PM resigned or was removed (we'll never know). The storming of the building happened AFTER citizens started noticing and reporting smoke coming out of the SS building & concluded the SS were burning valuable documents. Why did this only happen when Shafik resigned and a new PM elected by the protestors took over the Cabinet?

The SS with leadership of ex Interior Minister Habeeb El Adly are now being convicted with having been behind the Two Saints Church of Alexandria bombings.. they have always had the reputation of being behind sectarian tension in attempts to divert the attention of Egyptians from political opposition. It is a very odd timing and unnaturally fishy for those attacks to take place right after the SS faces a VERY harsh blow such as losing their Nasr City fort to protestors and losing many valuable documents that are continuing to be leaked. They are fully aware that their days are numbered.. right now a few Who has the benefit to start this sort of sectarian anger right now during this specific time and why have these attacks ONLY happened in these specific areas where the people are driven by their emotions and will respond to vague slogans due to their lack of education and limited rationale.

If the people in the village were really told that a muslim man was having a sexual relation with a christian woman (or the other way around I'm unsure but someone on my FB claimed to be from that town and was told this story by locals) they will instantly believe it because their minds are unbelievably narrow and they will be driven by the emotions of vengeance and honor to start attacking one another.

If the people in the Cairo slum area were really told that a fight erupted between a Christian and a Muslim garbage collectors (this is the wildest spreading rumor on Twitter) and that they fight ended with the Christian murdering the Muslim.. they will also be instantaneously moved by their anger and discontent and will start attacking one another.

The question here is... who's benefit was to start those rumors or spread these very destabilizing pieces of info (if they were true which I highly doubt)? Who would benefit the most out of the country falling into a trap of sectarian violence in the midst of a snow white clean revolution where the Christian & the Muslim shouted hand in hand for the fall of the regime that has long tried to separate them? Who would benefit most from applying a plan that is based on the divide and conquer method?

I will leave you with holy words of God.. our God as Egyptians... Muslims & Christians:

و اعتصموا بحبل الله جميعاً ولا تفرقوا

and in this case حبل الله means: God's religion.. and in Islam God commands us to respect all other religions.

Ephesians 4:1-3
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

أحلام الفتى الطائش

I write this note hoping that sometime ahead in the future I will look back at it and have tears of joy and not pangs of pain and despair!

Today is January 25th yet where I live it is still 2:23am so in a few hours the start of what could be the biggest revolt in the history of Egypt since probably el sawra el 3orabeya will take place. (I deliberately ignore the 1952 events becuz that was not a revolution that was a coup.. enqelab, or at least I think so)

I am insomniac! I can't sleep, I am far too excited to fall asleep, I used to get this sort of crazy edginess combined with mad eyes and millions of thoughts when I was a kid and it would be the day before going to the North Coast or ... *gasp* SHARM EL SHEIKH!

But I'm not a kid anymore, these places barely excite me.. but tomorrow... tomorrow is a different story! Even though I am not entirely convinced with the planning and organizing of the "revolution" and even though until only yesterday I was completely pessimistic.. I am now raving with hope!

What if tomorrow brings another day of revolution? and another? and another? and then either Mubarak calls Ben Ali and sees if he can be his roommate in that suite in Riyadh or he just calls it quits and says I decided to retire wi kefaya 3aleko keda! WHAT IF WE SUCCEED? I could just burst out with happiness I'm afraid i'll pee my pants!

I remember as a kid I asked my grandpa "Howa ana ama etwaladt kan meen el ra2ees" and he said "7osny Mubarak" and then I asked "Tab howa ana lama yekoon 3andi welad haykoon meen el ra2ees" and he said "Bardo 7osny Mubarak"! Will we dare disappoint Gedo and change that????

But I do have a few questions, I dont mean to rain on your parades BUT has anyone thought of what happens next? Who's the next leader? I mean we can't just expect to create chaos and then leave it at that? We don't have a plan do we? Also what if we ..... fail? What if the security forces crack down on people so hard tomorrow that everyone goes running home? What if they impose curfews? What if nothing changes regardless of how many days of revolution and strike?

I don't think we'll need to answer most of these questions... insha2allah we will find our way to freedom!

Ahmed Oraby stood up to the Khedive in 1881 and gave his famous speech! I wish someone would remember to REMIND Mubarak of what Ahmed Oraby said that day...

لقد خلقنا الله أحرارًا، ولم يخلقنا تراثًا أو عقارًا؛ فوالله الذي لا إله إلا هو، لا نُورَّث، ولا نُستعبَد بعد اليوم