oil, Sinai offensive, offensive media, child spies, the king’s travels and other amusements

30 June, corruption, detention, Egypt, أخبار الشرق الأوسط February 21, 2018

Although it is elections time, and everyone is focused on the sham elections, there have been other things going on in Egypt.

Government/Parliament

  • US’s General Tillerson was in Cairo meeting with Sisi. During the joint press conference in Egypt with Minister Sameh Shoukry, Secretary Tillerson stated: “The U.S.-Egyptian relationship is growing stronger every day as we work together to build a more secure, more prosperous region!”.
  • For several days Egypt was on high alert, mobilizing the army in Northern Sinai, issuing orders to hospitals to prevent staff vacations and closing schools, claiming there is a massive operation that will take place in Northern Sinai to fight terrorism. No known threats have been identified and people are in the dark as to what is happening. The military has only shown stock images of mobilization and some recent images and videos that do not show combat or engagement. A general stated that 2.5% of Egypt’s military has been mobilized.
    Parliamentary spokesperson said that “we are at war and need to stand behind our army.” This immediately followed the NYT article and perhaps it was a response to it to show that the army is capable. It also may be because of the upcoming sham elections and wanting people to support Sisi.
    Update from Mada Masr: The city of Arish is beginning to show signs of a food crisis, 13 days into the Armed Forces Operation Sinai 2018. Main markets have been devoid of fresh produce and supermarket shelves have been scarcely stocked with food products since February 11.

    Update: Sisi is shown in military attire  overseeing the ‘battle’ in Sinai.
    Update Feb 28: Videos surfaced of people in Sinai waiting in long lines for food and water. They say the government is starving them to death. [ElAraby TV also published another video of the same].

State of the Economy:

  • Minister saying we will not import any gas

    After the minister of petroleum announced in December 2017 that with the discovery of the oil fields in the Mediterranean, Egypt will be self-sufficient in gas by the end of 2018, a foreign newspaper announced that Egypt signed a contract to import gas from Israel.
    Israeli prime minister Netenyahu confirmed the deal and said there was a contract signed with Egypt to export gas to Egypt for 10 years at a cost of $15 billion. Netenyahu made the announcement with glee, stating that this was a ‘day of celebration’ for Israel, and that it will benefit Israelis greatly. It should be noted that Egypt used to export oil to Israel during the Mubarak era. It should also be noted that Egyptian pro-government newspapers had published before that Israel was stealing the gas from three oil fields in the Mediterranean. After news spread about the oil contract, Al Ahram official newspaper published an article stating that a governmental official said there was no such contract, after which several newspapers began writing about the benefits of the contract.
    Update: Sisi said that we scored ‘own goal’, praising Israel gas deal. DW German channel with Yosri Foda questioned why both Sisi and Netenyahu are happy with the deal. 

    CB

  • Chart showing debt rising in Egypt exponentially.
  • Data taken from the Central Bank’s reports:

 

 

Human Rights

  • Attorney General’s memo

    The Attorney-General issued orders to chiefs and other prosecutors to monitor social networking sites and take legal action against the “forces of evil”. Each official must report them.

  • Leftist Dr. Gamal Abdel Fattah (72) has been arrested from his home in the early hours of the morning of Feb 28th. His whereabouts are unknown.

    Zobeida

  • BBC’s Orla Guerlin  filmed and wrote a scathing report about Egypt’s crackdown on human rights and civil society. She also posted  this video of the mother of a forcibly disappeared girl called Zubayda who claims that her daughter has been raped and tortured in prison. The Ministry of Information’s Diaa Rashwan denied claims in the report in a statement, after which activist Mona Seif, Alaa Seif’s sister, responded with another scathing statement.
    TV host Amr Adeeb interviewed the alleged disappeared victim Zubayda who said she had escaped from her family and is now married and has a child. She said what her mother said was untrue and that her mother knew nothing about her. Social media pro Sisi accounts as well as TV hosts began attacking the BBC and Guerlin, claiming that there were no ‘forcible disappearances’ in Egypt. The foreign media, such as El Araby channel with Liliane Daoud questioned the whereabouts of Zubayda and questioned the issue of enforced disappearances.

    Alaa Abed

    Alaa Abed, a parliamentarian and former officer, member of the ‘human rights committee’ in parliament, stated that the story of Zubayda’s disappearance and torture was all lies and fiction. It should be noted that Abed has been accused and has law cases pending against him, of torturing victims. In addition, a complaint was filed with the Attorney-General accusing «Umm Zubaydah» [the mother] of attempting to incite the world against Egypt and defaming Egypt.

    Update March 2:     Lawyer Ezzat Ghneim, lawyer for Um Zubaydah, went to the Civil Registry himself on March 1st to look for a marriage document for Zubayda but did not find any. He has disappeared since yesterday 6:30 pm. In addition, Um Zubaydah herself has been arrested.

  • Human rights activist Bahey Eddin Hassan was interviewed by Liliane Daoud on Al Araby TV. It was a scathing indictment of the Egyptian regime.
  • The Hisham Geneina/General Anan situation continues to deteriorate. Read the blog post on Justice Geneina.
  • Following an AFTE lawsuit, imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El Fattah will be permitted to receive books, letters and published materials after an administrative court ruled on Tuesday against the Tora Prison authority.  [Mada Masr]
  • ATFE issued report entitled Closing Windows.. Censorship of the Internet in Egypt
  • World Justice Report shows Egypt lagging behind significantly in the Open Government, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights categories, as well as Order and Security, and Civil Justice,  followed only by countries like Cambodia and Afghanistan.
  • European Parliament issued a resolution on executions in Egypt & called for halt of all executions. It noted that the war on terror has been used as ‘justification by Egyptian authorities to conduct large-scale repression’.

  • Journalist Asmaa Zeidan

    Journalist Asmaa Zidan has been sentenced to 5 years in jail after being arrested from her home. She is accused of insulting the President in a Facebook post.

  • Blogger and activist Islam El Rifai, known as El Khorm, who has been under arrest for ‘joining a terrorist group’ has had his temporary internment extended and renewed.  ATFE has a timeline of his case.
  • Head of prison service General Mostafa Sherhata says there is absolutely no torture in jails.
  • Two journalist interns for El Shorouk newspaper have disappeared on their way to work: Hassan El Banna Mubarak and Mostafa El Aasar. Their families have been looking for them and have filed complaints with the prosecutor general and others to locate them. Mubarak was talking to his friend at the Freedom of Expression center over the phone when his phone suddenly turned off and he has no responded since. El Aasar’s phone also was turned off.
  • Mosireen Collective created an archive of the Jan 25 revolution called 858 – an archive of resistance. It contains a collection of video documentation from the revolution.
  • Feb 6: On the international day of zero tolerance to FGM, Egyptian civil society is launching its anti-FGM Task Force (13 feminist and human rights organization).
  • Feb 6: The Supreme Military Appeals Court upheld death sentences against two individuals convicted of killing police personnel and possessing ammunition and weapons. They were sentenced by the Ismailia Military Court in Case 382/2013. Mada Masr.
  •  Egypt calls on children to spy on neighbours: Cartoon launched by Egypt’s interior ministry sparks outcry for trying to turn children into ‘informants’.

Censorship/Press/Media

  • Court punishes singer Sherine Abdel Wahab for her joke on the pollution of the Egyptian Nile River and sentences her to 6 months in prison, considering her a threat to national security.

  • Liliane Daoud

    TV host Liliane Daoud who had been deported from Egypt for exposing Sisi and his regime, and who now works in Al Arabi TV, has interviewed human rights activist Bahey Eddin Hassan about Egypt. She was attacked for a sentence which pro-Sisi media took out of context, claiming that she was calling for the foreign intervention in Egypt. She was literally named every word in the book. She was forced to respond on social media and stated that it was clear the Sisi regime cannot tolerate any kind of criticism and that her words were deliberately taken out of context.

  • Egyptian SNL team

    Egyptian Authorities banned the Egyptian SNL satirical program from TV claiming it was making too many unacceptable sexual references. This is an example of the program.

  • Two pro-Sisi TV hosts were arrested and imprisoned: Riham Said for faking child abductions on her program, and Tamer Amin for returned checks.
  • Egyptian Authorities blocked AMP Project. AMP Is an open-source website publishing technology designed to improve the performance of web content. It is widely used by blocked news websites in Egypt to bypass blocking. A few days later, Google suspended AMP websites in Egypt after this latest attack on critical media. CPJ [Center to Protect Journalists] issued a statement saying that the Egyptian public has a right to visit any websites.
  • Head of an Egyptian TV channel is heard on a leaked video threatening to rape a female journalist and that he wants what he said to be published. The audio was broadcast on host Gaber ElKarmooti’s program.

  • Journalism workshops?

    Egypt is conducting ‘training’ of journalists in matters of journalism and security. Those who attend and are ‘good’ and obedient will get a laptop and certificates and other things that make them ‘better journalists’.

  • The representative of the National Telecommunications Agency denied responsibility for the block of websites and confirmed that the decision was issued by a security agency and not by them, criticizing the Foundation for Freedom of Thought and Expression in its lawsuit to challenge the decision, directed at them instead of the security authorities. NTA cited fear of confronting the security agencies directly. The Administrative Court decided to postpone the appeal for 25 March.
  • TV host Amani ElKhayatt got in trouble again after she made comments about the Oman Sultanate which Sisi visited this week. She said it was a small country that was connected to colonialists ?? This caused a social media row when Omanis attacked Egypt’s media. It should be noted that ElKhayyatt had been suspended and interrogated several times for negative and untrue comments about Morocco and other issues. The Media Syndicate says they are now investigating.
    After her suspension was suspended, ElKhayatt returned to her TV program. On Feb 25 she stated that there are US congressmen who are supporting terrorists.
  • A Russian belly dancer’s video went viral on social media which prompted the police to suddenly discover that there is this dancer named Johara and to arrest her for ‘lewd’ behavior as well as not having a permit to work in Egypt. She was released a few hours later but is in the process of being deported for being a ‘national security threat’. Her lawyer said she is the only Russian dancer who actually has a permit to work in Egypt and he also said the video of that dance with that particular dress was not taken in Egypt.

Education:

  • Letter approving Lasheen’s return to his university position.

    Yassine Ahmed Lasheen, the university professor who, on AUDIO TAPE clearly blackmailed his female students with nude pictures and several complained of his corruption and harassment, and was suspended, has now returned to his position at the university.

  • Cairo’s Choueifat International School temporarily closed after suspected meningitis outbreak

Religion:

  • Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s official religious institution that is responsible for drafting Islamic edicts, called on citizens to support the military and police at the outset of the major security operation. Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church issued a similar statement shortly after, echoing its solidarity with the Armed Forces. Mada Masr
  • Orthodox Christians in Menya  of the Bani Mohamed Soltan village have attacked and destroyed an events hall that belongs to the Evangelical Christians. The fight was over the events hall and the rights of ownership which a judge earlier had assigned to both parties of the conflict. [Feb 8]

Archaeology:

  • A verbal fight broke out between former Minister of Archeology Zahi Hawwas and Egyptian archeologist Monica Hanna over the contract that Egypt signed with a company to give King Tutankhamun and 166 of his treasures a tour to several US cities and other countries for 5 years at a cost of $116 per piece per day! Hanna basically stated that she wanted answers to several questions: how much was the cost of its insurance? why would such treasures travel in the first place, contrary to the law, and who gave permission to make any such contracts? More importantly, how does this ‘encourage’ tourism to Egypt? Hawwas on the other hand responded by saying that she ‘hated Egypt’ –  the typical response of anyone objecting to anything these days – and claiming that those pieces that are traveling are duplicates, so they are not really unique and that they will help bring tourists to Egypt. Hanna began a social media campaign #not_unique and posted images of some of the treasures that were traveling that were exceptionally unique.  It  turned out that the company that made the contract with Egypt, which is Arts & Exhibitions International, had filed for bankruptcy in 2016.
    The Minister of Antiquities stated in response that this was no ‘secret’ contract and that it was published in newspapers – to which Hanna responded that they published only the ministerial decision and NOT the contract with the foreign company. While there are rumors that the contract is for $50 million, some observers claim that the exhibition in LA alone will bring revenue of up to 272 million.
    The Egypt’s Heritage Task Force filed a complaint to ban the treasures from travel.
    Hanna said she reserves the right to sue Hawwas over his personal attack on her.Not_Unique:
  • A rare dinosaur skeleton has been discovered and unearthed in Egypt’s Mansoura, and was thus named Mansourasorus. According to the discoverers, Mansourasaurus is the most completely preserved land-living vertebrate from the post-Cenomanian Cretaceous (~94–66 million years ago) of the African continent.
  • 4000-year-old tomb of Fifth Dynasty prominent woman named Hat Bet discovered near Pyramid of Khafre on Giza Plateau

Lost in translation:

  • Sign to Serapiom Ferry is translated as Infectious Serabiom

Infectious?

  • Lesbian hacker virus?

 

Absurd quotes – State of Hypocrisy

  • Security expert

    “Egyptians should tolerate difficult living conditions. One meal per day is enough.”
    – Adel El Saidi, ‘security expert’.  Incidentally, this is the obese guy on the right.

  • “I call for the arrest of President Sisi because he stole the hearts of Egyptians without permission.”
    – Basma Ibrahim, a TV hostess.