This is a family space, a way of communication between three sisters and the world. It's just our everyday conversations, thoughts, feelings and beliefs made public!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Their Islam...
The report was about the discrimination and violence against non-Muslim minorities in Iraq after the American invasion.
Two incidents captured my attention, in one of them a nine years old boy was forced to jump through fire by unidentified militants because he refused to turn into a Muslim, and in the other a woman was raped in front of her husband because she was not covering her hair !!!
I can put million exclamation marks but this won't stop me feeling shocked that any sane person who claims to be a Muslim can actually believe that raping a woman is justified more than her refusing to cover her hair.
Islam prohibits attacking women, children and elders, who belong to any party that is at war with Muslims, so how can anyone justify attacking women and children who are at peace with Muslims and have never attacked or harmed anyone?
I just can't imagine what kind of dirty minds that guides people who do these things.
If in Islam, a nine year old boy is not even considered old enough to be punished for not praying, then how can these stupid people give themselves the right to question him about his religious beliefs?
I blame no one for hating Islam if that's how Muslims act nowadays.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Hala Show and our Educational System
One of the three girls is a college graduate, the other has a high school diploma, and yet when you hear them talk you have the feeling that they are not educated at all. I am not saying this to insult the three girls and I don’t plan to judge them or their decision to participate in Hala Show program. The only thing that concerns me is that the Egyptian educational system has deteriorated to a degree that produces such girls.
Again I am not trying to undermine anyone here, but I was just chocked of the way those girls expressed themselves and the way they managed this issue.
Our Educational system produces ignorant persons, that’s the conclusion I draw from the whole fuss about “fatayat el leil” issue.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sunnis, Shiites and America’s Allies
Egyptians are known of their love to the members of the house of prophet Mohammed, and for that reason a writer once said that “Egypt has a Sunni mind and Shiite heart”. And I, like many Egyptians, wonder who is to benefit from this escalation of the recent tensions between the followers of the two sects of Islam? It might help us in answering this question, if we noticed that the ones who expressed their worrisome lately about the rise of the Shiites and all this nonsense are Jordan’s king, the Egyptian president and the Saudi monarch, which are all American allies. What a coincidence, right?!
It is very obvious that this escalation of the fear from the so called “Shiite Crescent” serves only the United States and the regimes that consider itself America’s allies in the region. For the United states, it’s part of the standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program, and for the Arab regimes, it’s the fear of what the groups allied with Iran, like Hezbollah, have disclosed: that Israel can be beaten.
I believe that some of the proactive events involving Shiites that took place recently in the region is more of a social “Intefada” than a sectarian statement. The Shiites in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have long been deprived from many political, economic and social rights, they are the poorest and the areas the live in are the most deprived of facilities and services, they are also denied the right of performing their rituals publicly in most areas of Saudi Arabia.
Sometimes, I just thing that we will all be better off if our governments stopped manipulating our religious feelings and trying to provoke tensions between us for its own purposes. Sadat tried in the past to dig a wedge between Muslims and Christians in Egypt for political reasons and we can all see the consequences of this now, so please spare us another fight over religious identities.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Power of The Veil
This is what Newsweek wrote in its November 27 issue in a report trying to follow the shifting political and social forces behind the use of the veil.
And indeed, the veil gained an unusual importance in the hearts and minds of Muslims all over the world, that it is enough for an Egyptian minister to express his personal dislike towards the veil, in order for the Muslims in Egypt to forget the sexual harassment that happened to some girls in downtown Cairo under the day light, or the “historic” speech of president Mubarak about the amendment to the article 76 of the constitution, or even the inflammation in Lebanon, the violence in Iraq, the deaths in Palestine.
I wonder, why does the veil occupies such a HUGE area of Muslim minds? And I don’t mean to judge the veil by my question, I will not pretend that I have the enough religious knowledge to say if its right or wrong, and I am not even interested in starting this argument, but what I mean is, why does some thing like covering women’s heads have this power to “liberate, oppress rally and device” as the Newsweek put it?
As far as I know, the veil, and by this I mean covering a woman’s hair, was only mentioned twice in the Qura’an. And it is supposed to be something between the worshiper and God, it doesn’t have bad or good implications on someone else other than the woman that decides to wear or not to wear it.
So, why all the fuss? What about things like bribes, rape, murder, steeling? Why does the daily reporting of crimes like this in the mass media fails to grab the attention of the people and to make them angry?
Friday, August 25, 2006
Saving Ramsis II
The government said it’s removing the statue from it’s place in Ramses the second square to save it from pollution!!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
The Lack of Personal Space
I mean you can’t walk in the street without people hitting your shoulder as they walk, and this seems to be a very common behavior, that no one stops to apologize and it seems that no one asks for such an apology. It’s as if people have lost the feeling of the sacredness of their bodies and of other people’s bodies as well.
They allow themselves to push you to pass or knock on your shoulder to urge you to move faster.
The public transport is another nightmare. People are canned like sardines, sitting so close like intimate friends, and it seems that no body is disturbed by the fact that in order to reach the door when your bus stop comes, you have to touch at least 20 passengers!! And by “touch” I don’t mean a quick contact of shoulders, which is normal given the level of crowdedness, but that actually your whole body gets in touch with the queues of passengers as you struggle to reach the door before the bus moves again.
I know it has always been crowded in Cairo, especially in public transportation, but what astonishes me is that no body seems bothered with it!! They don’t even notice this.
And it’s not only your “skin” that is violated, it’s your ears and your nose too. I mean you are forced to know personal details about people sitting by your side in the underground for example, as every body is talking loudly with each other.
People are violating your personal space all the time by the very loud mobile ring tones, the overly loud cassette players, the deafening microphones in mosques transmitting the whole prayer procedures and especially the Friday ceremony,…etc.
I remember one of my professors at college saying that “personal space” is actually an original human right , and I just hope that people in streets of Cairo start recognizing and claiming this right.
Friday, July 14, 2006
أفكار متناثرة عن جنود حنبعل
والحقيقة أني لم أكن ارتدي عبائة سوداء أو نقاب أو حتى خمار، بل بنطلون جينز وتي شيرت وغطاء صغير للرأس ولكن يبدو أن هذه الملابس كانت "طائفية" أكثر من اللازم بالنسبة لرجل الأمن التونسي لدرجة توقيفه لي بسببها وفي اليوم نفسه قابلت في قطار الأنفاق سيدة تونسية مسنة نظرت إلى بسعادة وقالت "يزين سعدك" وكان سبب دعائها هو السبب نفسه الذي طاردني الشرطي التونسي من أجله "ارتدائي الحجاب
Saturday, June 03, 2006
A word about our Bedouin brothers
When the first waves of investors started flowing to Sinai, the Bedouins found the places they used to live, feed their sheepو and fish in "occupied". The investors from Cairo or "Elwady", as the Sinai Bedouins refer to other parts of Egypt, failed to understand how center is the land and the palm trees in the Bedouin culture. To them having a Bedouin claiming that he owns some land in which they built one of their resorts on and then the next day another Bedouin asks for compensation for a palm tree he owned in the same land, was a joke, and worse it made them think of Bedouins as deceivers and dishonest people.
The same ignorance from these investors of the Bedouin culture made them refuse to hire the Bedouins to work due to their failure to adapt to the modern concepts of time and work duties. If these investors were concerned about anything other than their profits, they could've tried to engage Bedouins in jobs that appeal to their notion of time and work like hiring them as guides or any similar job. But unfortunately they didn't and the Bedouins were left out in the cold and denied the profits the tourism brought to their homeland.
Things became worth when some local Bedouins formed some kind of a gang that did unlawful activities in the area, and the government sent police forces whom members came basically form Cairo and Delta, unfamiliar with the Bedouin mindset, and they just went on arresting any one in a “Jelbab” and “Oqaal”. And since then the security approach was the one adopted in dealing with any problem in the area.
After the 2004 Taba attacks police arrested 3,000 people, many of them suspects' family members, and detained and tortured them to extract information. Such collective "punishment" for the Bedouins in the area was sure to produce anger towards the Egyptian government, which adds up to the explosive mix of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy in the area.
Over the years and under these circumstances the Bedouin culture changed fundamentally, and the Bedouins found themselves trapped between old Bedouin traditions and modern ways of live and problems brought to the area by tourism. Which produced a condition that one Egyptian sociologist called “cultural pollution” that took place in the area, and made the once proud unique Bedouins drug dealers and bombers.
Despite all that I still don’t believe what they say of the Bedouins’ loyalty to Israel or terrorist organizations, I won’t also claim they are loyal to Egypt, because loyalty to Bedouins means one thing… family and tribe. And I regret our failure to turn this notion into loyalty to our beloved Egypt and Egyptian brothers.
Friday, April 28, 2006
الأزمة الطائفية في مصر: واقع أججته النخب الدينية وبالغ فيه الإعلام
هذا التطور الكئيب في العلاقات بين المسلمين والمسيحيين في مصر لم يحدث بين يوم وليلة، فقد شهدت الفترة الأخيرة عدة صدامات بين الجانبين بدءا بالضجة التي أُثيرت حول إسلام السيدة وفاء قسطنطين، وحتى أعمال الشغب التي أعقبت عرض مسرحية قيل إنها تسيء للرسول -صلى الله عليه وسلم- في كنيسة بمنطقة محرم بك بالإسكندرية، والصدام الطائفي الذي وقع في إحدى قرى جنوب مصر في يناير الماضي وخلف ثلاثة قتلى وعشرات الجرحىوتؤكد هذه الأحداث أن اعتداء الإسكندرية ليس حدثا معزولا
وينتشر النفور الذي وصل إلى حد العداء أحيانا بين الأقباط والمسلمين في مصر أكثر بين أوساط الشباب، الذين شكلوا أغلبية المشاركين في الصدامات الأخيرة بين الجانبين، ويعود في جزء منه إلى تزايد إحساس الشباب المصري بوجه عام بالاغتراب وافتقاده لمشروع قومي يحتشد وراءه واضطراب مفهوم الهوية المصرية لديه، ما دفعه للبحث عن تلبية الحاجة للانتماء في كنف الجماعات والمؤسسات الدينية. هذا الشباب لا يملك الخلفية نفسها التي يملكها جيل الآباء الذي خاض مسيحييه ومسلميه معا التحديات التي واجهت البلاد في الستينات وخاضوا معركة التصنيع وحاربوا العدوان الأجنبي جنبا إلى جنب.
هذه الهوة بين الشباب المسلم والمسيحي وإحساس كل منهما بأن "الآخر" غريب عنه غذاها، رجال الدين المتشددين من الجانبين المسيحي والمسلم، لا سيما مع تزايد المساحة الإعلامية الممنوحة لهم وإصرار بعض القنوات التلفزيونية على استضافة عناصر متطرفة من كل جانب للتحاور بصدد قضايا لا يمكن الاتفاق عليها، ما يعطي الانطباع بوجود صراع بين الدين الإسلامي والمسيحي
ولوحظ خلال الأحداث الأخيرة تحول في مواقف النخبة المسيحية التي امتنعت لوقت طويل عن إلقاء اللوم على المسلمين في أي صدام بين الجانبين وحاولت دائما التأكيد على أننا جميعا مصريون وأن أيادي العابثين والقلة المتطرفة تقف وراء أي خلاف
وللبابا موقف آخر غريب يتعلق بإسلام السيدة وفاء قسطنطين، وهي زوجة قسيس أعلنت إسلامها وقال زوجها إنها أُجبرت على التحول إلى الإسلام، فقد اعتكف البابا في أحد الأديرة لدى ذيوع قصة السيدة وفاء وطالب الحكومة بتسليمها إلى الكنيسة، رغم عدم وجود أي مسوغ قانوني لتسليم سيدة راشدة إلى الكنيسة التي لا تملك سلطة عليها، ولم يتراجع حتى وافقت الحكومة على تسليم السيدة وفاء حيث نُقلت إلى أحد الأديرة ولم يعرف مصيرها حتى الآن
وواقع الحال في مصر يُشير إلى وجود قدر من التعصب ضد الأقباط، إلا أن أي اضطهاد يُمارس ضدهم، هو حدث فردي وليس موقفا منظما أو جماعيا من مسلمي مصر ضد مسيحييها، ورغم تسبب بعض أفراد النخبة المسيحية في إثارة خوف أقباط مصر دون داع إلا أن اللوم الأكبر يقع على عاتق المسلمين، باعتبار أنهم الأغلبية التي كان يجب عليها احتواء المسيحيين وتهدئة مخاوفهم
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Learning it the hard way
After the delivery, which was by a cesarean operation, I discovered that I should’ve learned how to latch my baby well to the breast, how to increase my milk supply, how to avoid soar nipples, and to cut a long story short, I should’ve read about breastfeeding more than anything else concerning newborns.
I know I can’t tell you all that I’ve learned in one article but I will tell you two things: First try to breastfeed your baby, the benefits for both you and your baby outweighs any exhaustion, lost time or any other reason that you may think of to not nurse your baby, The Second is that you should learn how to prepare your breasts for nursing from your last three months of pregnancy, this includes:
- Rubbing your nipples softly with a warm towel to open the holes that get shut from accumulations over the years, and you should do this daily.
- Stimulating your nipple in order to give it a form, so that your child can easily find it.
- Learn good latch and positioning.
The other thing I discovered was that you should never believe what they say about some women having low milk supply, that is all women can produce enough milk for their babies, they just have to do three simple things: eat a balanced diet, drink to thirst, nurse every two to three hours.
Believe me it’s as simple as that, but I learned it the hard way. I believed what they said about low milk supply and that you can’t breastfeed a twin exclusively. And during the first few weeks after their birth I used to nurse one and give the other one formula then switch on the next feeding. I didn’t know then, that by doing this I was telling my body that I don’t need that much of milk, so my body started producing lower quantity than my babies needed. After reading about the topic I realized how wrong I was and I started trying to increase my milk supply again. I read a lot of suggestions and what worked best for me was eat well, drink to thirst and nurse often, but to avoid starving my kids until my milk supply builds up (which takes few weeks), I used a simple system, I nursed them as long as they wanted and if they stayed hungry after that (which reminds me that you should read about hunger cues), I gave them a small bottle of formula so that they don’t feel hungry, but also not to feel full that they’ll refuse to breastfeed the next feeding.
These are the basic rules that I learned and I hope to explore this issue more in the coming days.