Celebration from Tahrir Sq - Cairo - Egypt

These are the images coming out of Tahrir sq on Friday 18/2 celebrating the success of the first step of the revolution. The words on this clip is not clear but the slogans says "people want to cleanse the system". Long Live Egypt.

God Bless Egypt

To all Arab leaders

Three things Arab leaders are worried about at the moment:

1- Their people

2- Facebook

3- Fridays

This is Egypt

Some said that Egyptians are not ready for democracy, that they need an iron fist to control them, that they are not ready for freedom and that they don't know what is good for them. However, for a nation that was never allowed to protest or ask for its rights or cry out in the face of injustice, they did pretty well so far....the only violence came from the police while the protesters shouting "Selmeya" which means "peaceful", the protesters turns their slogans into songs played out on guitars (see previous posts) and they formed search teams to check that those coming into the square where not armed or trying to cause trouble. However the most striking images that came out in the last few days were the images of the cleaning process taking place not only in Tahrir square itself but all over the country. One of the CNN reporters said: "for the first time we see people cleaning the streets after they finish their protests". For me, this is great nation that is proving that it is ready for real and true democracy, they deserve it and I have every confidence that they will work hard to get it. The next stage will be hard and no one is under any illusion that it will be easy, but if people work together then impossible is nothing. I am proud to be an Egyptian. Long Live Egypt.

The unity that helped us be here today

The whole world has been watching Egypt in the last 3 weeks with great anticipation of the people's movement and their peaceful uprising against injustice. In the middle of all the protests, attacks and political analysis, there were lots of voice expressing concerns for the future of Egypt and fears from extreme religious movement taking over in case of power vacuum in the country. These photos were a common occurrence in Tahrir Sq every Friday prayers where Christan men will protect their Muslim brothers as they kneel to pray (you can spot the cross tattooed on the wrist, a common mark for Christians in Egypt).

What the BBC did not show
On Sunday 6 February, Christians conducted a Sunday service in Tahrir Sq. The day was originally declared as a day to remember those who died during this revolution so far. In Egypt, public worship for Christians is completely forbidden, however as you can see in this video, not only did the crowed worshiped but they were surrounded by thousands of Muslims who were responded "Amen" to prayers.

In the video, the crowd are singing in Arabic "bless my county" and "peace to the Lord's people". The elder who led the service is Dr Ehab El Krat, from the Evangelical church of Aser El Dobara (situated right in Tahrir Sq) said that, 2000 years ago, a 30 year old man stood for justice and defended the poor and needy. He did this in peace, he gave up his life in peace. This man is Jesus Christ and his spirit is with us today to give us peace and to help us to defend our rights in a peaceful manner.

He also said that we need to keep asking God for peace and blessing to our nation and our land. The crowd chants "eed wahda" means "all one hand together".

For years we have been praying for Egypt and for revival in our land and now God is doing something marvellous among us and we need to stand up and be counted.

Lord Bless Egypt

LONG LIVE EGYPT

FREEDOM AT LAST

This is how the crowd responded to Mubarak last speech tonight 10 Feb 2011!

In the middle of the Egyptians revolution, the media played a very important role. However, while the cut of the Internet and the phone lines by the government, the Egyptian TV was -for many Egyptians- the only source of information. The top picture was the reality on Tahreer Sq on Friday 28/1 while the bottom picture was what the state media broad casted. No wonder that people are now asking for the media minister to resign from his job for misleading people.

Let us never forget

These are some of the young men and women who died in the last few days during clashes with the police. Until now, more than 300 killed, 2000 injured and thousands missing. All they are asking for is freedom, fair elections, end to government corruptions and a better future. We will never forget you guys, we will carry on till the end...Long Live Egypt.

The last few days were filled with tear gas, burning, attacks with camels on peaceful protesters, some 500 killed and over 2000 injured. However, since the start of this revolution, the Egyptians always found hummer in the way they put their demands and in their slogans. Here are some of the comedy side to the protesters making their demands very clear.

A sign in the shape of school report, student name: Mubarak, scoring zero in every subject (health, education, security, etc) with a stamp that says "failed".
In the last few days, the state TV mentioned that some of the anti Mubarak protesters were paid to be in the square and given a meal from KFC! This sign reads: "this person is wanted as he belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood and he gave meals in Tahreer square. Wanted cooked or alive".
A sing with an equation: nation+freedom -"someone"= stability.


مكاسب الثورة المصرية حتى الآن :
١. اقالة الحكومة الأردنية
٢. رفع قانون الطوارئ في الجزائر
٣. اعلان الرئيس اليميني عدم ترشيح نفسه للرئاسة
٤. تعديل الدستور الصيني
...٥. قمع الشعب السوري قبل ما يفكر يثور
٦. بقاء الرئيس المصري ولا كأن حاجة حصلت

These are the results of the Egyptians revolution so far:
1- The removal of the government in Jorden
2- The stop of the state of emergency in Algeria
3- Declaration from the president of Yemen that he will not stand for elections again
4- Change in some part of the constitution in China
5- Oppression of the people of Syria before they start to think of a revolution
6- The Egyptian president still here as if nothing has happened.

MUST SEE!!!Egypt Revolution 2011 Demonstrators Vs police Fighting

An Egyptian Revolution

Since the 25th of January, I have been so wrapped up with the events in Egypt, hardly sleeping and hung up on all sorts of media coverage. Between the Internet in the shape of twitter, Face book and YouTube and the different TV channels from El Jazeera to NBC and the BBC even the Egyptian TV, which I have to say provided the comedy factor during this difficult time by how it reported what was happening. However, blogging was taking a back seat as I felt somehow it was not fast enough in a - to quote the white house - very fluid situation! Today, I was thinking about the significant of the last few days in history and with the flood of information, I felt that in the middle of all these names, photos, statuses, tweets and clips; things will get lost and forgotten and we need to start to think about preserving the place of those brave enough to risk everything for freedom. So here is my very humble attempt with a selection of photos, clips and comments that were exchanged in the last few days. Some in Arabic and some in English, some written in a poetic style and some just came as jokes and black hummer, some brought me to tears and others made me fuming with rage, some from close friends and some from complete strangers. The one thing that join all these together is one cause, "Give us back our country"!

Why did it all start?
In an interview with Adel Emam (Egyptian actor), he was asking the question: "what did Mubarak do to deserve insults from people?" This question is repeated throughout the clip. Throughout the clip, there are images of why does he deserve this. Few headlines in Arabic
about electricity cuts and brutality against people. [be aware there are brutal images in this clip].




the first few days of the revolution



The million man march

the day of rage, Friday 28/1/11
Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." Benjamin Franklin

Unforgettable guy


An inventive way to avoid being hit on the head with stones :)
The sign read: "leave...my hand is hurting"
هاحميكي يا اما ويا ابويا هاحميك يا شجر التوت
هاحميكي بدمي وهاحمي الشوارع والبيوت

هاحميك يا نيل ويا بحر هاحميكي يا قاهرة يا اسكندرية يا بور سعيد

يا سويس يا كل شبر فية تراب اسمر

هاحميكي يا سمرة وهاموت وانا واقف بطل وحررتك من الطغيان

(a poem about protecting every part of the land)

Christians and Muslims stand together for freedom

And Christians men form a ring around Muslims to protect them during their prayers at demonstrations in Cairo.


And let us not forget all the women of Egypt, http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=47355&id=100001256040548&fbid=162572827127918


"But it turned out that the camel that was released on the protesters was originally from Israel, carries a foreign passport, trained in the Middle East and was originally a shark. It was also said that the camel was mentally ill and had some kind of “electric shock” that affected its behaviour".



Some of the martyrs who died in the clashes with the police and the government's thugs
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=332932&id=593045109&fbid=10150132914260110

أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل يُهمِّك من مات؟
هل تُهِمّك الدماء؟
هل تهتزين عندما تسقط البنايات؟
هل يهمك احتراق القطارات
وغرق العبارات
وزوارق الهجرة
وحوادث السيارات
أم يهمك فقط أن ننسى
ونحرق الحشيش
وقُرص الفياجرا
ونشاهد المباريات؟
*********************
أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل تهمك النساء؟
هل ترتجفين
عندما تُنتَهكُ الفتيات؟
هل تُهِمُّك المطلقات
اللاهثات في أروقة المحاكم
ومصلحة المعاشات
أم يُهمك فقط أن ننسى
ونملأ بطوننا
وأنت تملأين عنّا
صناديق الانتخابات؟
*********************
أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل يُهِمُّك الأطفال؟
حين ماتت الفتاة ظلماً
في عيادة الختان
وحين مات الولد ضرباً
هل عرفت الأحزان
هل يُهمك طفل الشوارع
وعقل في المدرسة فارغ
إلا من التفاهات؟
أم يُهمُّك فقط أن ننسى
ونملأ عقولنا بالفتاوى
ونحبا في الدار الأخرى
وأنت في المنتجعات
*********************
أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل تهمك الأبدان؟
حين عُلِّق المصري
في لبنان
هل شعرت بالغضب
وحين بيعت الفتاة حلالاً
لشيوخ العرب
وحين تباع أجزاء البشر
كقطع الغيار في المحلات
أم يُهمك فقط أن ننسى
ونحلم بشقة أوسع
وسيارة أكبر
وتكييف
وتزييف
ومزيد من الفضائيات
*********************
أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل يهمك التاريخ ؟
هل تهمك الذكريات؟
هل أصابتك القشعريرة
عند بيع الآثار
وسرقة الأفلام
واشتعال الوثائق
وسرقة اللوحات
أم يُهمك فقط أن ننسى
ونحلم بنمو الوديعة
ومزيد من الاستثمارات
ودرجات الأبناء
في غباء الامتحانات
أخبريني يا دولة المُسَكِّنات...
هل يُهِمّك حقاً من مات؟
هل تهمك الدماء؟
هل تهمك النساء؟
هل تهمك الأبدان؟
هل تهمك الأطفال؟
هل يهمك التاريخ؟
هل تهمك الأوطان؟
By Awsam Wasfi, a poem with questions to the country on daily issues and if anyone cares about ordinary people.

Protesters having fun with the slogans


So far the revolution is still going strong and the end is near.

The End is near .... Hold on tight

By Pierre Kroll welknow belgian press cartoonist in "Le Soir", great newspaper in Belgium

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

A Thousand Questions...simply amazing!

Trick or treat, victory or defeat?

As Halloween approached, for the first time ever, my daughter had lots of questions about the subject. In the past we always did not like any of the Halloween stuff, we knew that we celebrated light and salvation in Jesus and that death and darkness were not on the menu at all in the shape of Halloween. But this year, the conversation started with all questions about the history behind Halloween as we researched it before and knew all about its background in the past. My daughter question was “why do not we do something fun and still celebrate light and salvation, celebrated the old way it used to be”. In fact it used to be All Hallows Eve which was tied directly to All Saints Day celebrated on November 1 of each year to commemorate the old saints who have past on. These “saints” were heroes and martyrs for the Christian Faith. This was a tricky discussion for me. As a child growing up in Egypt, we never heard about Halloween, and so as a mother I was happy to follow the church line not to celebrate Halloween. However, I was faced with the dilemma this year with my child clearly understands what she wanted to do and not wanting to be following the crowd blindly and equally wanting to have fun while sticking to our values.

Looking at Christmas, there is so much focus on the tree, the gifts and Santa, does that mean that we will ban Christmas? No, but we will keep the message alive and keep the focus back on what really matter, the birth of the king who saved us.

So when it came to Halloween, I agreed to a small party for few friends, with no death, skeletons or any scary things. We did crafts and played games and visited few houses of people we knew –rather than some glorified begging for sweets- and the kids had fun. I painted their faces and had mine done as well and was praying all thorough the night for God’s protection to be on all of them.

I remember that similar discussion surrounded the harry potter books and whether as christian we should read them or not with the links to witchcrafts and magic and so on. I really believe that if you have your “holy spirits eyes on” you can see God in everything. Before my daughter went to bed tonight, she said that she had a great day, we prayed and thanked God that Jesus is the light of the world and that he conquered everything that is dark and evil. I trust that if i make a big deal out of little things without full explanations and complete convections especially when my daughter is approaching her teens very quickly, it is more likely that she will grow resenting her faith. After all as Cliff always says, “why do we let the devil have all the fun”?

"I am still not sure about God"

This is what my daughter announced as she was settling into bed! At that point we just finished praying and thanking God for the day. She said: "I am still waiting for some scientific evidence to make sure that God created the world". I was surprised by the word "still", as she is only 9 years old and has not been looking for evidence for the existence of God that long! I listened to her as she put all her ideas across and I was really fascinated that no matter how old we are, we are looking for assurance that what we believe deep down is the right thing. She said that the "big bang" doesn't really make sense and that to have come from monkeys was really silly. But she wants to see a sign..a big gesture..then she said.."I have only one thing that I know is true, the bible and it was written by so many different people that it could not have been all made up". I was glad and reassured at this point :) We had some discussion and I love the fact that we can share all the questions, ideas and even the doubts. God is like that with us, he loves us so much and he does not mind when we come to him as his kids and ask all kinds of questions, HE loves us to chat with him more than anything else. As for the time being, I am asking for wisdom, a lot of it and quick!!

Yacoubian Building

This is the trailer for "Yacoubian building" movie, with the biggest budget ever in the history of the Egyptian cinema. It is based on the best selling novel under the same name by Alaa Al Aswany. I watched the movie and it is very brave attempt to address the changes in the Egyptian society. The fiction in this movie is so real that makes it scary to watch knowing the level of corruption, the secretes, the link between religion and politics and the huge gap between the rich and the poor. Great movie and I am surprised that it was released for public viewing in the first place.

Church time

An excellent cartoon from the Asbo Jesus website.

Sad news

About a year and half ago, I wrote about a big car accident that involved my old church back in Egypt. Sad to say that it has happened again. This time, in 2 different accidents in the space of one week, 2 dear friends have lost their life. There are a number of people still in hospital with broken bones and other injuries. The church is in shock to say the least. This is not a usual rate of road accidents in this part of the country and the obvious questions is

WHY?

On an online forum, people are posting messages and condolences, others are airing frustrations and condemnations to the church. It is a sad time and some are attacking the leadership of the church and declaring that this is God's judgment on his people. The church family is mourning the loss of 2 prominent people who have been serving the Lord for a long time and I have been personally blessed and guided by them as a young christian. The question is, how can the church mourn and still focus on God, the comforter, the redeemer and the saviour without blaming God or each other. We are all called to examine our hearts and repent, on a daily basis and not only when crises comes.

Only God in his mercy can deliver us.