Doodles on Papyrus

The January women ...

2011-12-31T01:58:00.006+02:00

Years ago , the famous Egyptian novelist and columnist Sekina Foaad wrote a short story titled : Woman of June taking her heroine as a symbolic representation of the Six - Days war social ,political and cultural consequences on the Egyptians as a whole .Preparing for the first New Year's Eve without Mubarak , dear Zeinobia rocks on her blog summarizing one year of revolution in several women of different profiles and effects.

http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/12/egyptian-chronicles-woman-of-year-2011.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29

A Riche history : The café at the heart of revolutionary Cairo

2011-12-24T01:51:00.003+02:00

A very nice article in last week's edition of The Economist . Generally speaking , Riche is one of the most impressive classical Downtown cafes despite being a bit less lively than the others .. or this is how I feel about it . Just behind Riche , particularly in Elbostan Elsa'eedi St., lies Zahret Elbostan cafe' to which the famous Egyptian novelist and writer Mekkawy Saeed referred in his great book : The Downtown belongings , mentioning that the great revolutionary poet Amal Donkol called it : "the strategic depth of Riche Cafe' ". The other side of Zahret Elbostan , facing Sabry Abu Alam St. , is located just behind the famous KAZAZ ,one of the best known local food middle - class restaurants in Cairo Downtown area.

The article :

http://www.economist.com/node/21541715

Ahmed Harara ... seeing the invisible .

2011-11-24T22:24:00.007+02:00

85 million Egyptians are currently discussing nothing but the heroic , maybe tragic story of the Egyptian young dentist , activist , and blogger Ahmed Ali commonly known among his colleages as Ahmed Harara ( Harara حرارة in Arabic means : HEAT) . Harara , who had already lost his right eye on the bloody Jan 28th ( Friday of Wrath) , lost the left during the clashes which broke out between peaceful protestors and the Egyptian police in Tahrir Square since last Saturday . The 30 years old activist was not the only young man who sacrificed an eye for the revolution and referring to the current clashes particularly the famous activist Malek Mostafa and Almasry Alyom newspaper reporter Ahmed AbdelFattah were included among the injured , each of them losing an eye .. but what is really unique about Harara is not only losing both eyes successively through the two waves of the revolution , moreover it is his fascinating courage and the strange confidence with which he is facing his new critical situation as a young visually - challenged man who will be no longer able to enjoy many life pleasures or even resume his career. Harara amazingly covered each eye with a patch bearing the date of its loss indicating his pride of the price he had paid for a free homeland.

" I would rather live blind with dignity than abject with a healthy pair of eyes... !! "

With these few words he justified his great positive spirit and soul calmness shaking the hearts of millions who watched him on a TV show smiling and " looking" enthusiastically into a new bright future ... !!!! Not only did he present a new impressive example of Egyptian youth , but he came as another important indicator of the Egyptian upper middle class sincere involvement in the revolution .Some writers , especially many leftists , refer to this social class as an inert one that never reacts to a public situation and if it does than there must be an expected benefit of the reaction .. but here comes Harara as a new ring in a chain of glorious examples such as Wael Ghonim , Gawad Elnabolsy (who also lost an eye during the first wave of the revolution in January) , and others.

I am writing these words while my twitter timeline indicates Harara 's insistance on joining tomorrow 's demonstrations.Despite an ophthalmologist has already mentioned the young hero can restore his eye sight if he rests for a while till a medical intervention can be done , yet Harara - as it clearly appears - is determined to keeping his promise till the end .

Here you can find نيران صديقة " Friendly fires" Ahmed Harara 's blog , last updated on the 20th of November :

http://neeransadika.blogspot.com/

N.B : the attached cartoon is by the famous Brazillian cartoonist : Carlos Lattuf

Om Ali .. history of an Egyptian dessert

2011-08-28T16:30:00.003+02:00

My dear sister rocks on her new English blog . Om Ali is one of my favourite oriental desserts by the way:))))))

http://chatonthenile.blogspot.com/2011/08/om-ali-history-of-egyptian-dessert.html

Rare 1967 photos .. an injury never to be cured.

2011-06-05T00:44:00.004+02:00

I feel simply speechless ... !!!!! A few but rare , yet painful photos referring to the six days war , commonly known in Arab countries as :the 1967 relapse . I found them accidentally while surfing the web and they really took my breath.

http://pictureshistory.blogspot.com/2009/11/six-day-war-arab-israel-war-1967.html

To the great brave Syria .. with love

2011-05-21T01:13:00.002+02:00

May be they shot me dead ...

May be their dirty bullets targeted where I hide my country ..

In my heart ..

and my head..

nevertheless they couldn't see my fingers ...

grasping the flag till the end.

A few verses of mine dedicated to the heros of the glorious Syrian revolution. Viva Syria and down with Al-asad.

Help stop the bloodshed in Syria

2011-05-06T21:42:00.003+02:00

For the sake of humanity , justice , mercy , and liberty ,please sign this petition :

http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/help-stop-bloodshed-syria

A message to the Italian people ....

2011-04-18T01:05:00.005+02:00

A message from the Palestinians to the Italian people in several languages . As an Arab , as a human being , I approve of every single letter in these words. By the way I called for a similar action on my Arabic blog yet - luckily- these fellows were more active .

Thanks to my friend Ahmed Reda for drawing my attention to the video .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyNyjMTWeS8

Brave Heart ....

2011-04-16T21:40:00.017+02:00

What a coincidence to read the Egyptian Bedouin of Sinai Mossaad Abu Fagr 's nice novel Tale'et Elbadan (the name of a hill in Sinai ) only two days before the tragic death of the Italian journalist and activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza ... !!!! Simply the novel ended in a similar but less violent way , a bedouin kidnapping a Romanian photographer to answer back the regime's arrest of his friend .Here the situation is not much different : ignorance , repression , humiliation ,and beingcontinuously kept in a state of defence just to stay alive , to secure a space of land to consider home , made many young people easy targets for extremists to the extent of losing the ability to distinguish between an enemy and a friend who left his home ,his friends ,and his family to support their case and rights. Vittorio Arrigoni 's murder is a painful crime for which the heart of entire humanity is aching , but I am sure if he had been able to speak now he would have said :

" It is not the fault of my killers as much it is the fault who made them used to the colour of blood".

RIP Vittorio Arrigoni ... RIP Brave Heart .

Arrigoni's blog translated into English :

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fguerrillaradio.iobloggo.com%2F

By the way , the little boy portrayed gigving his back (on the blog's main page right hand side) is the famous HANDALA created by the late Palestinian caricaturist : Naji Elali

ِA prayer for GAZA ....

2011-04-08T22:58:00.005+02:00

(Along the days of the revolution and since it started, I wrote many articles in the newspaper Ha'aretz about your courage ,about how I cried when I saw the interview with Wael Ghoneim on Dream TV.There were many frightened people around me.Nothing is easier than scaring people,and nothing is simpler than getting frightened. In Israel, as in Egypt, many people are trying to poison and frighten the masses who want nothing but to live , to earn a living, and to enjoy life just in order to to control them easier. It is true that the Israeli government sympathized with Mubarak , but many Israelis were all day following the media and Twitter, praying for the safety of the demonstrators. I was involved in demonstrations aiming at supporting the Egyptians in Magen David square which we turned one day to Tahrir Square, I read there a poem of mine written on the pattern of haiku about poverty in Egypt: "As shoes shine in shopwindows at Talaat Harb st. / the Egyptians are walking barefooted ". I read in the megaphone poems of the brave Egyptian poet : Ahmed Fouad Negm in Arabic, where shoppers in the market heard me . Your people faced imprisonment and even death, and our police imposed on us a fine of 150 shekels...!!!! )

Here are the lines of the message written by Israeli poet Roy"Chicky" Arad translated from Hebrew to Arabic by Nael Eltoukhy. Considering also the brave movie by Israeli director Yoni Goodman of the tragedy in Gaza (you can watch it here), I think a
question: if this is the perception of Israelis themselves , what the expected perception from us as Arabs? Always we are called terrorists and barbarians, despite we do not commit massacres and we do not attack civillians or kill children.Perhaps in the past there were individual incidents like Munich 1972 but these were exceptions, and do not forget as well that it was Israel who started violence against civilians during the foundation of Israel as Dair Yassin (April 10 th, 1948). I have the honor of being a supporter of peace but peace without honor, without equity, without humanity, is never true .

If you believe in God, no religion approves of attacking innocent unarmed people. If you do not believe in God you are human .... and that's enough. Support GAZA even with good wishes at least.

2011-03-03T21:17:00.004+02:00

" It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

The first paragraph of Charles Dickens' wonderful A Tale of two cities that centered the theme of the French revolution 1789.How valid these words are now in Egypt ..!!

How AP's photographer got 'the money shot' of Charles and Camilla

2010-12-10T21:54:00.004+02:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/dec/10/news-photography-national-newspapers

A single image dominates the front pages of today's national newspapers. It shows an open-mouthed Charles and Camilla inside their Rolls-Royce during an attack by tuition fees protesters.

So step forward Matt Dunham and take a bow. He is the Associated Press photographer who was on hand to take what ranks as a stunning news picture.

It is one of those shots that will surely be republished endlessly in future. It will have historical value because it catches a moment in the political life of Britain and the life of the heir to the throne.

So how did he alone manage to get it? It appears to have been a mixture of luck, skill and determination. Dunham had been on duty for AP at Parliament Square since midday.

He was popping in and out of the police cordon when necessary to transmit pictures. But, as it grew dark around 6pm and with the protest becoming more violent and chaotic, he was refused entry.

He spotted a breakaway group of about 200 young protesters and decided to follow them. "There was a leading group who were out to cause damage," he says.

Their first act was to try to set fire to the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. "Then there was a cry about going to Leicester Square," he says. "They were kicking bins and trying to smash windows. It was all very fluid, moving all the time, so I just followed them.

"When we got to Piccadilly, they smashed the windows of Starbucks and were shouting about going to Top Shop. There were very few police around.

"By this time there were probably 300 people. Some seemed to be joining in after work." Others appear to have followed on from Westminster.

When they reached Regent Street, Dunham spotted two police outriders. Momentarily unsure of the reason, he then realised there was royal car behind them, though he had no idea who was inside.

"It was unable to move because it was surrounded," he says. "It was stuck in a gridlock. There were people kicking it and screaming. So I raced towards it and then saw it was Camilla and Charles.

"Charles seemed to be waving calmly at first, trying to be amicable, but then he looked worried. Camilla was visibly agitated. There were a couple of people taking pictures with their mobile phones, but I knew I was the only newspaper photographer around.

"I had previously turned off my flash because it had attracted protesters who had tried to wrench my camera away. But the light was so bad by this time it would have been impossible to get a shot inside a car without it.

"The adrenaline was running by now. So I turned it on and took five pictures. I realised they were important and I saw another guy shooting video on his phone.

"So I got him into a taxi and we went back to AP's offices in Camden."

His pictures were timed at 7.20pm, so he knew he was still in time to make the first edition front pages. As, of course, he did.

Dunham, 32, has been an AP photographer in the London bureau for five years. Born and raised in Buckingham, he studied documentary photography at university in Newport, Wales.

But this is his finest news hour thus far. To prove it, as an AP executive told me: "Matt is already something of a celebrity."

With Dunham's image having appeared in many US papers, including the New York Times, he was invited to appear on ABC's breakfast show, Good Morning America. That's what happens when you get "the money shot".

I'm sure he will get used to telling his story over the coming year because I imagine he will be picking up many a photography award.

2010-12-10T01:18:00.010+02:00

Thirty years without John Lennon .

( 9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980)

2010-11-25T12:53:00.002+02:00

Today , the 25 th of November, is The International Day For Elimination of Violence Against Women . By the way ,the UN November 2009 factsheet about Violence against Women is available here .

Rise in number of sunburnt whales

2010-11-12T17:24:00.002+02:00

If this is the case of whales who emerge on the surface of water only for some time, simply imagine what happens to humans who are continuously outside water !!!!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/rise-in-number-of-sunburnt-whales-2129648.html

Ramses Of Arabia

2010-11-08T22:49:00.001+02:00

A nice post by dear Zeinobia :

http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/11/ramses-of-arabia.html

Angelina Jolie's controversial film divides Bosnian rape victims

2010-10-24T00:57:00.000+02:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/23/angelina-jolie-bosnia-serbian-rape-camps?CMP=twt_fd

Norman Wisdom - a life in clips

2010-10-22T16:04:00.002+02:00

I felt upset when I knew about his death a couple of weeks ago .Norman Wisdom was much more than a comedian ..... a philosopher.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/oct/04/norman-wisdom-life-clips

30 Dumb Inventions ...

2010-10-16T23:04:00.001+02:00

hahahahahaha ...

http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/25371/30-dumb-inventions?xid=weeklytopten

Film festival: Can monkeys make movies?

2010-10-15T18:30:00.001+02:00

Wow ...!!!!

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/10/film-festival-can-monkeys-make-films.html

Nestle joins the obesity battle with KitKats for all

2010-10-14T00:40:00.001+02:00

I hope it works ... !!!! In this manner deserts can be allowed in a strict diet ... hahahahaha :D

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320311/Nestle-joins-obesity-battle--KitKats-all.html?ITO=1490

Hollywood's Most Married

2010-10-05T23:42:00.001+02:00

I adore black and white photos ..!!!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2pztXF/www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/50221/hollywoods-most-married?xid=liferss

Can Money Buy Happiness?

2010-10-03T13:27:00.001+02:00

Nice ... !!!!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-money-buy-happiness

Marijuana Soda? Medicinal Users Now Have Smoke-Free Option

2010-09-30T20:45:00.002+03:00

Interesting ... !!!!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7zNIt3/newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/30/marijuana-soda-medicinal-users-now-have-smoke-free-option/

Chernobyl: Unlikely Tourist Spot

2010-09-24T20:34:00.001+03:00

Very impressive photos of the unlucky town that witnessed the worst nuclear incident in the human history .

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/26NRC7/www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/49261/chernobyl-unlikely-tourist-spot?xid=liferss

Great Arabic love stories

2010-09-17T18:34:00.003+03:00

A very nice article by the Egyptian Ahdaf Soweif :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/17/1000-novels-arabic-love-stories

Eureka ! How moments of genius happen

2010-09-13T20:09:00.001+03:00

Very Interesting ....!!!!!!

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/eureka-how-moments-of-genius-happen.html

Library Papers Show Early Tolerance for Muslim Faith in America

2010-09-12T21:26:00.002+03:00

Simply great ...this data is a true surprise to me .

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0205/tolerance.html

Is it the true solution ???

2010-09-07T01:07:00.008+02:00

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-29/us/florida.burn.quran.day_1_american-muslims-religion-cair-spokesman-ibrahim-hooper?_s=PM:US

" I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. "

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. "

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. "

Some quotes by the truly great man : Martin Luther King, Jr . I wonder what he could have said if lived to witness our painful dark days !!!!!!!

By the way , I adopt this opinion as a liberal personality who believes in respecting the other , not only as a Muslim !!!!

2010-08-24T23:22:00.000+02:00

I really liked the ad ...very touching .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhxsFmvEwYw

Why I lie to my children

2010-07-10T23:27:00.002+03:00

Nice Article in The Guardian :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/10/divorce-children-lies

2010-06-28T21:32:00.003+03:00

I really liked that article in The Guardian :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/28/el-alamein-mine-victims?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The S Word: Islamic science: The revival begins here

2010-06-28T20:16:00.001+03:00

I really liked that topic on "New Scientist" Website

The S Word: Islamic science: The revival begins here

A Brief History of The Happy Meal

2010-04-30T16:46:00.002+03:00

I really liked the topic ....

By Kayla Webley - TIME
Friday, Apr. 30, 2010

The Happy Meal

A Man For All Seasons.

2010-04-25T19:51:00.006+02:00

Pursuing peace is the only avenue which is compatible with our culture and creed.

Advertising space

2010-04-19T00:10:00.003+02:00

http://www.4shared.com/file/251536079/101f179a/Advertising_space.html

There's no earthly way of knowing
What was in your heart
When it stopped going
The whole world shook
A storm was blowing through you

Waiting for God to stop this
And up to your neck in darkness
Everyone around you was corrupted
Saying somethin'

There's no dignity in death
To sell the world your last breath
They're still fighting over
Everything you left over

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

And
No one learned from your mistakes
We let our profit s go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space

Through your eyes
The world was burning
Please be gentle
I'm still learning
You seemed to say
As you kept turning up

They poisoned you with compromise
At what point did you realise
Everybody loves your life
But you ahahh

Special agent for the man
Through watergate and vietnam
No one really gave a damn
Did you think the CIA did

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

And
No one learned from your mistake
We let our profits go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space ooooohh

I saw you standing at the gates
When Marlon Brando passed away
You had that look upon your face
Advertising space

No one learned from your mistakes
We let our profits go to waste
All that's left in any case
Is Advertising space

I've seen your daughter
Man shes cute
I was scared but I wanted to
Boy she looks a lot like you

I really adore that song by Robby Williams and I do not know why it always reminds me of the late King Farouk I , perhaps because his biography has always been favourite to porno journalists since the military coup July 1952.

The Einstein you never knew

2010-04-17T00:27:00.000+02:00

http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/41492/the-einstein-you-never-knew

Very Interesting...

Hi....

2010-04-17T00:05:00.000+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm-z5smrrT8

A friend of mine shared this nice video on her FaceBook wall ... I found it quite interesting indeed especially that I like Russell Peters . By the way,this first post is dedicated to dear Zeinobia, whom I consider the best Egyptian blogger in English.You can find her blog Egyptian Chronicles here

Have a nice time