person:mada masr

Egypt Fate of student union elections unknown as conflict widens between students and state | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/fate-student-union-elections-unknown-conflict-widens-between-students-and-

The Higher Education Ministry raised controversy last week when it didn’t approve the final results of student union elections in Egypt’s public universities, in which candidates associated with the protest movement garnered a major win.

After an electoral battle with the largely pro-government Voice of Egypt’s Students coalition, the president of Cairo University student union, Abdallah Anwar, and his counterpart in Tanta University, Amr al-Helw, both won the leadership of Egypt’s biggest student body as president and vice president. Both Anwar and Helw identify themselves as supporters of the January 25 revolution, and as proponents of academic and campus freedoms.

The union is composed of the elected presidents and vice presidents from student unions in public universities, their counterparts at Al-Azhar University, and one representative of private universities.

Outraged by the ministry’s reluctance to approve the results and declare them, the student community launched a hashtag on social media, “I support Egypt’s Student Union.”

Egypt Labor unrest from north to south | Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/labor-unrest-north-south

Thousands of workers across the country are protesting against what they call unfair employment with a spate of industrial actions that have picked up steam in recent weeks.

Protests have been concentrated at the Suez Canal Authority, at hotels and resorts in the Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the Shebin al-Kom Textiles Company in Monufiya, the state-owned Petrotrade Company in Alexandria and a fertilizer company in the Upper Egyptian City of Assiut.

In Suez, 2,000 workers employed by companies affiliated with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) have been holding sit-in protests and partial strikes for close to two weeks.

LE50,000 for foreigners to marry Egyptian women 25 years younger | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/le50000-foreigners-marry-egyptian-women-25-years-younger

Un amendement à la loi pour tenter de rendre la prostitution déguisée un peu moins courante. Pas plus de 25 annnées d’écart entre les deux mariés et surtout un « seuil » minimum fixé à 6000 dollars. (Mais tout cela reste fort théorique, l’essentiel des « pariages de plaisir » entre riches du Golfe et pauvres Egyptiennes se déroulant hors de tout cadre légal.)

Cases of parents selling off their young girls to wealthy foreigners are not uncommon in Egypt. In 2010, a criminal court convicted a broker, a Saudi businessman, a lawyer and the victim’s parents of sexually abusing a child. The parents were given a suspended sentence of one year in prison, the lawyer was sentenced to two years, while the Saudi man and the broker were both sentenced to 10 years in absentia.

The broker and lawyer had facilitated the marriage of the Saudi man to a 14-year-old girl, whose parents were paid LE10,000.

#égypte #mariage #prostitution

Novelists defend Ahmed Naji and editor in court, trial adjourned to January 2 | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/novelists-defend-ahmed-naji-and-editor-court-trial-adjourned-january-2

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sites/default/files/styles/poster/public/photos/news/Noor%20A.%20Noor.jpg?itok=bJf7nPOH

La main sur le bureau du juge, le très grand écrivain Sonallah Ibrahim... J’ai parlé de cette histoire dans un billet de CPA (▻http://cpa.hypotheses.org/5771). On dirait une photo des années staliniennes. J’y vois le témoignage d’un monde révolu...

#egypte #clichés_arabes

En Egypte, Ismaïl Alexandrani détenu pour avoir diffusé de « fausses informations »
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/12/02/un-journaliste-specialise-sur-le-sinai-detenu-en-egypte_4822083_3212.html

Le parquet de la Sécurité nationale égyptienne a décidé, mardi 1er décembre, de placer en détention provisoire pour 15 jours le journaliste et chercheur Ismaïl Alexandrani, accusé de publication de « fausses informations dans l’objectif de nuire à l’intérêt national et de troubler la paix publique » et d’appartenance à la confrérie interdite des Frères musulmans, ont indiqué ses avocats.

(…) Selon une source de sécurité à Hurghada, contactée par l’agence Associated Press, l’ambassade égyptienne à Berlin a notifié aux autorités aéroportuaires l’arrivée de M. Alexandrani. Il a été arrêté pour « coopération avec des organisations internationales de droits de l’homme » et « diffusion de fausses informations », a précisé anonymement cet officier.

En français, il a écrit notamment pour le @mdiplo et @orientxxi :
►http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2014/09/ALEXANDRANI/50786
▻http://orientxxi.info/auteur/ismail-alexandrani

cc @alaingresh

Official : Egypt will have 90 million residents by next week | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/official-egypt-will-have-90-million-residents-next-week

Pour être précis, il y en à 8 millions hors du pays. En d’autres termes, on est quasi arrivé à 100 millions d’Egyptiens. Facile à retenir.

#égypte #démographie

Crash avion russe Sinaï : l’Egypte contredit Moscou (qui parle d’"attentat") - Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/egypt-investigations-yet-confirm-russian-plane-crash-was-caused-terrorist-

TV anchors mock Paris amid terrorist attacks, Egyptian officials offer condolences | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/tv-anchors-mock-paris-amid-terrorist-attacks-egyptian-officials-offer-cond

Intéressant pour percevoir l’état d’esprit d’une partie de l’opinion arabe, même pas extrémiste.

#catastrophe_arabe

Thousands demand release of teenager arrested 2 years ago for wearing anti-torture shirt | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/thousands-demand-release-teenager-arrested-2-years-ago-wearing-anti-tortur

Mohamed was arrested while he was headed home on a microbus on January 25, 2014 for wearing an anti-torture t-shirt and a scarf commemorating the 2011 uprising. Since then, courts have repeatedly renewed his pre-trial detention without formally charging him.

#egypte #frères_musulmans

A statement by Hossam Bahgat on his military detention, interrogation | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/statement-hossam-bahgat-his-military-detention-interrogation

Mada Masr contributor Hossam Bahgat recently published a statement on his Facebook account in which he documents the events that took place during his three-day detention by military intelligence and interrogation by military prosecution, from Sunday November 7 until his release today at Tuesday November 10 at noon.

A translation of Bahgat’s statement by Mada Masr reads as follows:

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has expressed any form of solidarity during the three days in which I was “hosted” by the Egyptian military.

It is not the appropriate moment for me to narrate all the details of the past three days, so I will only document the events that took place briefly.

On the morning of Sunday November 8, I headed to military intelligence headquarters in response to a written summons that was delivered to my house three days earlier.

Almost 12,000 people arrested for terrorism in 2015: Interior Ministry | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/almost-12000-people-arrested-terrorism-2015-interior-ministry

In an unusual moment of transparency, the Interior Ministry disclosed that 11,877 people have been arrested on terrorism-related charges since the beginning of 2015.

#égypte

Whatever happened to Middle Eastern studies ? | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/politics/whatever-happened-middle-eastern-studies

Whenever I come across one of the new positions, conferences, and research projects framed in terms of Islamic studies, I cannot help but think of the millions of inhabitants of the Middle East whom a university administrator or planner has seen fit to dismiss or disregard with a turn of phrase – the millions who are necessarily excluded from Islamic studies because they are not believers. And in turn I cannot help but think, perhaps with a wisp of nostalgia: Whatever happened to Middle Eastern studies?

Quand les édudes sur le Moyen-Orient deviennent des recherches sur l’islam... Un phénomène bien entendu présent en Europe mais rarement évoqué.

#orientalisme

Des parents manifestent pour dénoncer les conditions d’éducation en Égypte - Mada Masr ▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/death-sexual-assault-and-mass-food-poisoning-first-week-school - Mada Masr
Sur @mdiplo ▻http://sanstransition.tumblr.com/post/65683295426/en-egypte-des-classes-en-qu%C3%AAte-de-r%C3%A9volution

Sisi and the youth | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/sisi-and-youth

“The youth are upset, it is very obvious from the low levels of political participation in recent elections. Their voices are not heard. Are we really willing to talk to the youth and listen to their criticism? I doubt,” he says, mentioning that his older son moved to Canada this year to escape the situation in Egypt.

(...) Amr Abdel Rahman, head of the Civil Liberties Unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, however, explains to Mada Masr that while Sisi’s regime has a clear strategy to confront terrorism and security, this strategy seems to be completely absent when it comes to youth.

“There are two conflicting factors here: The regime is worried about its declining popularity among youth, there is a huge cultural gap with the youth that the regime already acknowledges. But at the same time there is a security obstacle [from the regime’s perspective]: Any reform means undesired concessions,” he says.

#égypte #jeunesse

The strange Middle East focus of Banksy’s Dismaland | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/culture/strange-middle-east-focus-banksys-dismaland

http://www.madamasr.com/sites/default/files/homs.jpg

Azzam is just one of nine Arab artists Banksy selected for the month-long show. While much media coverage has referred to participants being from around the world, a perusal of the Dismaland website reveals that the only non-western region significantly represented is the Middle East.

Most artists within the exhibition are American or British, with one from Australia, one from Ireland, and four Europeans. Then there’s one Iranian and three Israelis, presumably to “match” the three Palestinians, as well as three Syrians, a Saudi, an Egyptian and a Syrian-South African artist duo.

#dismaland #banksy

Could an Egyptian Madres de Plaza de Mayo be taking shape?
| Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/politics/could-egyptian-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo-be-taking-shape

On the other side of the world, in Egypt, ties have been forming among families queuing to see their loved ones in front of prisons, courts and police stations. Does this mark the beginning of new small, decentralized social movements that could influence decision-makers, or merely forums for venting about and representing their own suffering and that of their imprisoned children?

These micro movements have a feminine character, as they are formed primarily of the mothers and sisters of detainees. The women involved didn’t meet in one of Cairo’s fancy hotels; on the contrary, they met while desperately waiting for permission to enter various prisons. They met sharing their pain at being separated from their kids and the economic hardship of coping as their breadwinners sit beyond prison walls, or their loved ones await trial or serve sentences for breaking the Protest Law.

And when the visits finally happen, they part ways for a while and come back together again afterwards to share their news, which is often more bitter once it has been fueled by stories of their loved ones having been attacked, beaten by police, or stripped and forced to endure another cold night in prison.

On world suicide prevention day, a story of oppression and despair in Egypt | Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/lifestyle/world-suicide-prevention-day-story-oppression-and-despair-egypt

“Suicide of a worker in Salam for failing to provide for his children.”
“Worker hangs himself in Mansoura due to financial crisis.”
“Worker hangs himself in Helwan due to financial and psychological crisis.”

Each of these headlines appeared on the inside pages of daily Cairo newspapers over the past three months, with each story giving remarkably similar details of deaths in scattered locations.

Egypt’s suicide rate has been rising over the past 10 years. In its 2009 “Egypt in Numbers” report, the state statistics agency CAPMAS noted that 104,000 people attempted suicide that year — an 8,000-person increase. Of those attempts, 5,000 were successful.

Unholy terrors: A box of tomatoes, a hip-hop group and the Supreme Council of the World | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/unholy-terrors-box-tomatoes-hip-hop-group-and-supreme-council-world

Hurricanes, earthquakes and all-too-familiar sandstorms are not acts of nature — instead, they are weaponized events orchestrated by a secret world organization intent on laying waste to nations including Egypt.

After espousing this theory on his talk show recently, TV personality Tamer Amin has become the subject of much ridicule on social media. Last Saturday, guests on his show promoted the idea of a global Jewish conspiracy headed by the Supreme Council of the World, which uses the weather to target and destroy enemy countries.

“So, instead of hitting them with a missile,” Amin repeated, aghast, “they send a meteor.”

Sex in Arab cinema | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/culture/sex-arab-cinema

Sex in Arab cinema

Belle rétrospective sur la question.

Imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El Fattah speaks from Tora | Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/imprisoned-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-speaks-tora

Alaa Abd El Fattah, outspoken software tecchie, blogger and political activist, has spoken to the media for the first time since he began serving his latest sentence at Tora Prison.

Abd El Fattah is serving a five-year prison sentence for being at a civil gathering in front of the Shura Council in November 2013 to protest a constitutional provision allowing the military to court-martial civilians.

The questions were sent by journalist Moataz Shams al-Din to Abd El Fattah’s mother, mathematics professor Laila Soueif, who put them to her son during a visit. On the way home she wrote down his responses and relayed them back to the journalist. No papers were exchanged between Alaa and his mother.

Recently, the courts upheld a one-year sentence against Abd El Fattah for “burning down the headquarters of [presidential candidate] General Ahmed Shafiq.” The prosecution has also brought another case against him for “insulting the judiciary."

In latest crackdown, Social Solidarity Ministry dissolves 10 more NGOs |
Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/news/latest-crackdown-social-solidarity-ministry-dissolves-10-more-ngos

In its ongoing crackdown on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Ministry of Social Solidarity shut down another 10 organizations on Tuesday. The ministry also moved to dissolve the administrative boards of another 29 NGOs, while reportedly “reconstituting” the board of one other organization.

Pourquoi les décès de détenus « politiques » se succèdent dans les prisons égyptiennes ? Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/dying-prison-failed-infrastructure-or-premeditated-neglect

In the past two months, at least five people died in police custody after being arrested on politically related charges. Four of the detainees belonged to the conservative Jama’a al-Islamiya group, while another was accused of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization.

Three of those Jama’a al-Islamiya members died in the past 10 days alone.

The police say that the deceased were already in poor health before they were detained, but their families accuse prison authorities of deliberate medical negligence.

Peut-être la plus large manif depuis la loi les rendant quasi-impossibles : des milliers d’Égyptiens manifestent pour leurs conditions de travail - Mada Masr ▻http://ow.ly/QJABX

Thousands of public sector workers took to the streets on Monday in protest against the civil service law issued in March, which they say negatively impacts up to 7 million individuals by decreasing their income, increasing the managerial powers of administrators and introducing a host of vaguely worded regulations that could infringe on basic workers’ rights.

A LIRE : 10 ouvriers morts, 145 blessés en 1 an sur le chantier du « nouveau canal de Suez » - Mada Masr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/what-sisi-didnt-say-about-labor-conditions-constructing-new-suez-canal

What Sisi didn’t say about labor conditions in constructing the New Suez Canal

On en entend moins parler que des ouvriers du Qatar...

Sur @orientXXI ►http://orientxxi.info/magazine/egypte-canal-de-suez-encore-un,0727

Water shortages bring suffering to Egypt’s countryside | Mada Masr
▻http://www.madamasr.com/sections/environment/water-shortages-bring-suffering-egypts-countryside

http://www.madamasr.com/sites/default/files/photos/features/Water.jpg

“The issue of water is that it is not a priority to the government,” says Khaled Wasif, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources. Only a fraction of the money needed to maintain the water supply network is actually allocated each year by the government, he says. 

Though the responsibility for managing water is scattered between various ministries, and authorities, the most important entity for ensuring Egyptian citizens receive clean water reliably is the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater. A public company that operates and maintains the network of pipes, the HCWW says it has been so under funded in recent years that it cannot properly do either.

In 2014, the HCWW estimated they required LE15 billion a year to function properly, including LE3.2 billion just to provide basic maintenance of the existing network. The cabinet only assigned them LE700 million.

#eau #Égypte #priorités