Go Egypt! Hopefully this will spell an end to the way to long blockade of the Gaza Strip.
BBC News - Gaza-Egypt border crossing to open permanently
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The People We Have Come to Fear the Most*
A lot of awful things in this world are done in the name of something to provide justification - killings in the name of God/religion, corruption in the name of GDP growth, torture in the name of state security, slavery in the name of economic benefits.
America since the Civil War has struggled for equal civil rights. Figures like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Fredrick Douglas are recognized not only because of their heroism, but because they are constant reminders of all the struggles our country has overcome.
But have we really overcome?
President Obama needing to issue his "long form" birth certificate is a disgrace. The birther argument is essentially a reflection of deep-seated racism. But not only racism, but something even worse. It also reflects that there are Americans that continue to fear those with a different skin color or a strange sounding name. And not only that they fear these people, but that they believe their fear is somehow justified.
Racism is a funny thing. It looks very different depending on where you are. Sometimes it is a seemingly innocent comment and sometimes its riots or violence. In Egypt, it is not taboo at all for someone to comment on not liking "Africans." Or for someone to openly prefer having a nanny or maid of a certain nationality.
There is a mostly expat listserve called Cairo Scholars that I subscribe to, and one of the most memorable debates centered around a post someone had sent out asking for a "Phillipina maid." Her justification was that many Egyptian maids are unreliable or lacked work ethic - and she believed that those from the Phillipines would work harder for the same amount of money.
Another time, while speaking with an Egyptian friend, we began talking about the practice in the US of providing your ethnicity on forms like college applications. He asked what race he would be considered. I - this was early in my Cairo living experience - suggested he could probably put black or African since Egypt is in fact on the African continent. He was extremely offended by this comment saying that he was definitely NOT black - but maybe he was white, he asked?
As a white American female, I stick out in most crowds in Egypt. For the first time in my life I live as a minority. A minority both in religion and ethnicity. No Christmas lights in December, no Easter egg dye kits in the stores. Many Egyptians assume two things about white foreigners: that they are more qualified for jobs and that they are rich. Probably for many people this sounds great - but the first causes resentment and makes it difficult to make true friendships and the second is exceedingly annoying especially if you are in fact a struggling student barely making ends meet.
Once, in Cairo, my doorbell rang and my Asian-American roomate, Tiffany, went to answer it. Generally, I or another of my roomates would answer the door since we spoke better Arabic, but this time Tiffany answered. The guy at the door, one of our neighbors, asked Tiffany if her mistress was home assuming that Tiffany was our housekeeper. It didn't cross his mind that instead Tiffany was in fact an incredibly brilliant and well spoken undergraduate student at a prestigous college in California. Or just that she could be a tenant of the apartment and not the help.
Perhaps America has overcome enough that a negative reaction to being black is at least taboo to say out loud in most places. But is it?
Coming from a relatively small, racially divided town in Florida, racism is quite evident. And there are many people and places in town where it will be not uncommon to hear blatantly racist comments.
One time, my best friend in high school, who is Pakistani-American. was referred to shortly after 9/11 by a school employee working at the front desk as "Osama's neice." And it happened twice. Once after she had been reprimanded by the school.
The entire debate about the "Ground Zero Mosque." Which was neither on ground zero or a mosque - but would have been the problem if it was?
Affirmative action existing.
The statistics on black male incarceration rates. The number of innocent black men gunned down because they are thought to have a gun.
Arizona law to be able to pull over anyone just to ask for residency papers.
Immigration debate.
Hussein. Barack Hussein Obama. Hussein.
Hussein.
Hussein.
Hussein.
Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rally last summer in DC.
Taking America back? Taking it back from whom exactly?
So what is racism? What does it look like?
It looks like all of the above. It looks like an education gap between blacks and whites in America, it looks like racially motivated off-hand comments in Egypt, it looks like any assumption based on skin color alone, and it certainly looks like a group of Americans questioning, for the first time in our history, the birth place of a president because of the color of his skin and father's background.
*Yes I acknowledge this title is based of a Dashboard Confessional title. It fit.
egypt, middle+east, arab+spring, islam, obama, usa
America since the Civil War has struggled for equal civil rights. Figures like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Fredrick Douglas are recognized not only because of their heroism, but because they are constant reminders of all the struggles our country has overcome.
But have we really overcome?
President Obama needing to issue his "long form" birth certificate is a disgrace. The birther argument is essentially a reflection of deep-seated racism. But not only racism, but something even worse. It also reflects that there are Americans that continue to fear those with a different skin color or a strange sounding name. And not only that they fear these people, but that they believe their fear is somehow justified.
Racism is a funny thing. It looks very different depending on where you are. Sometimes it is a seemingly innocent comment and sometimes its riots or violence. In Egypt, it is not taboo at all for someone to comment on not liking "Africans." Or for someone to openly prefer having a nanny or maid of a certain nationality.
There is a mostly expat listserve called Cairo Scholars that I subscribe to, and one of the most memorable debates centered around a post someone had sent out asking for a "Phillipina maid." Her justification was that many Egyptian maids are unreliable or lacked work ethic - and she believed that those from the Phillipines would work harder for the same amount of money.
Another time, while speaking with an Egyptian friend, we began talking about the practice in the US of providing your ethnicity on forms like college applications. He asked what race he would be considered. I - this was early in my Cairo living experience - suggested he could probably put black or African since Egypt is in fact on the African continent. He was extremely offended by this comment saying that he was definitely NOT black - but maybe he was white, he asked?
As a white American female, I stick out in most crowds in Egypt. For the first time in my life I live as a minority. A minority both in religion and ethnicity. No Christmas lights in December, no Easter egg dye kits in the stores. Many Egyptians assume two things about white foreigners: that they are more qualified for jobs and that they are rich. Probably for many people this sounds great - but the first causes resentment and makes it difficult to make true friendships and the second is exceedingly annoying especially if you are in fact a struggling student barely making ends meet.
Once, in Cairo, my doorbell rang and my Asian-American roomate, Tiffany, went to answer it. Generally, I or another of my roomates would answer the door since we spoke better Arabic, but this time Tiffany answered. The guy at the door, one of our neighbors, asked Tiffany if her mistress was home assuming that Tiffany was our housekeeper. It didn't cross his mind that instead Tiffany was in fact an incredibly brilliant and well spoken undergraduate student at a prestigous college in California. Or just that she could be a tenant of the apartment and not the help.
Perhaps America has overcome enough that a negative reaction to being black is at least taboo to say out loud in most places. But is it?
Coming from a relatively small, racially divided town in Florida, racism is quite evident. And there are many people and places in town where it will be not uncommon to hear blatantly racist comments.
One time, my best friend in high school, who is Pakistani-American. was referred to shortly after 9/11 by a school employee working at the front desk as "Osama's neice." And it happened twice. Once after she had been reprimanded by the school.
The entire debate about the "Ground Zero Mosque." Which was neither on ground zero or a mosque - but would have been the problem if it was?
Affirmative action existing.
The statistics on black male incarceration rates. The number of innocent black men gunned down because they are thought to have a gun.
Arizona law to be able to pull over anyone just to ask for residency papers.
Immigration debate.
Hussein. Barack Hussein Obama. Hussein.
Hussein.
Hussein.
Hussein.
Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rally last summer in DC.
Taking America back? Taking it back from whom exactly?
So what is racism? What does it look like?
It looks like all of the above. It looks like an education gap between blacks and whites in America, it looks like racially motivated off-hand comments in Egypt, it looks like any assumption based on skin color alone, and it certainly looks like a group of Americans questioning, for the first time in our history, the birth place of a president because of the color of his skin and father's background.
*Yes I acknowledge this title is based of a Dashboard Confessional title. It fit.
egypt, middle+east, arab+spring, islam, obama, usa
Monday, April 18, 2011
He Almost Touched the Sun
Last week, former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were placed under investigation - sending his sons to Tora Farm prison and Mubarak under house (or hospital) arrest. The president many have and continue to compare to a pharaoh, flew a little too close to the sun and had his royal wings burnt off.
Why is this news significant?
Many overthrown dictators arrange for a refuge before stepping down from power. Most flee to some country willing to take them on as honored house guests.
Mubarak - whether from hubris or stupidity - decided to remain inside Egypt at his seaside palace in Sharm El-Sheikh.
He might have thought that his people in the army would forestall any legitimate investigation of his and his families misdeeds. He may have thought that he was bigger than any laws on paper or even any unwritten but expected ethical code of presidential conduct. For example, don't steal from your people. Or, try to help the poor not be poor.
His sons, with their Western educations, may have simply thought they had played the game so well that they knew all the rules. Or even that they had invented the game itself.
But, as most fairy tales go, the villain forgets his weakness and the hero is able to triumphantly slay the dragon and win the girl. Of course, the girl in this analogy I suppose is democracy. Or freedom.
The Mubarak's weakness was their inability to grasp that the unemployment they had caused through years of corruption and stealing of Egypt's economy, the growing separation between the rich and the poor, and the inability of so many to better themselves or provide for their families, had pushed Egyptians to their tipping point. Tunisia provided the spark, but the Mubarak's and their regime of cronies had already built up an impressive amount of fuel for the fire.
Mubarak and his sons being investigated for all of their to-long-to-list number of crimes sends a message to all world dictators: your populations can hold you accountable for your actions. For too long countries around the world (cough cough Saudi Arabia) have welcomed former dictators and offered them refuge.
This should not be the case. Hopefully this investigation will put the Mubarak's and many of those who benefited from them behind bars. And hopefully it will start a precedent of not allowing fallen leaders to flee the wrath of those they have scorned.
The questioning of Mubarak and his family is significant for Egypt because it allows Egyptians to have justice for the past 30 years of oppression. For the world, it will be an example of how to depose and expose a dictator.
Why is this news significant?
Many overthrown dictators arrange for a refuge before stepping down from power. Most flee to some country willing to take them on as honored house guests.
Mubarak - whether from hubris or stupidity - decided to remain inside Egypt at his seaside palace in Sharm El-Sheikh.
He might have thought that his people in the army would forestall any legitimate investigation of his and his families misdeeds. He may have thought that he was bigger than any laws on paper or even any unwritten but expected ethical code of presidential conduct. For example, don't steal from your people. Or, try to help the poor not be poor.
His sons, with their Western educations, may have simply thought they had played the game so well that they knew all the rules. Or even that they had invented the game itself.
But, as most fairy tales go, the villain forgets his weakness and the hero is able to triumphantly slay the dragon and win the girl. Of course, the girl in this analogy I suppose is democracy. Or freedom.
The Mubarak's weakness was their inability to grasp that the unemployment they had caused through years of corruption and stealing of Egypt's economy, the growing separation between the rich and the poor, and the inability of so many to better themselves or provide for their families, had pushed Egyptians to their tipping point. Tunisia provided the spark, but the Mubarak's and their regime of cronies had already built up an impressive amount of fuel for the fire.
Mubarak and his sons being investigated for all of their to-long-to-list number of crimes sends a message to all world dictators: your populations can hold you accountable for your actions. For too long countries around the world (cough cough Saudi Arabia) have welcomed former dictators and offered them refuge.
This should not be the case. Hopefully this investigation will put the Mubarak's and many of those who benefited from them behind bars. And hopefully it will start a precedent of not allowing fallen leaders to flee the wrath of those they have scorned.
The questioning of Mubarak and his family is significant for Egypt because it allows Egyptians to have justice for the past 30 years of oppression. For the world, it will be an example of how to depose and expose a dictator.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Ex-Dictator on Trial
Ex-President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons have been detained for questioning regarding corruption and other abuses of power. It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out and the psychological effects of the punishment of an ex-Middle Eastern dictator will have on other rulers in the region....
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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Revolution Unending
So after a five week absence from the Middle East, I'm back in Cairo.
My initial reaction to being back - after being in Dubai during much of the "revolution" and then being home in the US - was that nothing had changed. The road back from the airport hadn't changed, people still hassled at the airport for a taxi, all the familiar landlmarks that make Cairo home were still there, and even Tahrir Square was almost completely back in order.
The only major change was the near complete removal of the Mubarak posters and images that used to pepper the city. My personal favorite, was the larger than life-size picture of Mubarak (taken most likely 30 years ago) in a pair of aviator sunglasses on the side of the Ministry of Social Solidarity on Qasr Al-Aini. No more.
This is why it has been hard for me to realize that Egypt is in flux. Cairo is no longer the safe city it once was, with numerous reports of petty theft and heated arguments between police and civilians. It's necessary to be much more cautious.
Then Friday we had heard there was going to be a big protest. I think many people brushed it off initially. However, by the next morning we heard that the military had used force/violence to try and break up the protest. On Saturday, April 9, more people came to Tahrir Square to renew their call to prosecute Mubarak and his family and for the military council governing the country to act more swiftly.
Today, Tahrir Square was again closed to traffic, upending traffic patterns in the city.
I think that there is a high possibility right now that things may get bad again - and by bad I mean not being able to laeve the house for fear of safety. Right now it's just a matter of avoiding a specific area and I of course hope that the movement will find a way to continue peacefully and that the army once again shows restraint.
There are many different opinions in Egypt right now (which will wait for another blog post) but one thing is for sure - the revolution was not just about ousting former President Hosni Mubarak. The revolution in many Egyptians minds' is about overturning an entire way of life, one that revolved around corruption and extortion.
I hope that Egyptians can continue struggling onwards until they have created the country that they want and will be able to create a future for themselves and their families. This passed weekend has proven, that this is a revolution unending.
My initial reaction to being back - after being in Dubai during much of the "revolution" and then being home in the US - was that nothing had changed. The road back from the airport hadn't changed, people still hassled at the airport for a taxi, all the familiar landlmarks that make Cairo home were still there, and even Tahrir Square was almost completely back in order.
The only major change was the near complete removal of the Mubarak posters and images that used to pepper the city. My personal favorite, was the larger than life-size picture of Mubarak (taken most likely 30 years ago) in a pair of aviator sunglasses on the side of the Ministry of Social Solidarity on Qasr Al-Aini. No more.
This is why it has been hard for me to realize that Egypt is in flux. Cairo is no longer the safe city it once was, with numerous reports of petty theft and heated arguments between police and civilians. It's necessary to be much more cautious.
Then Friday we had heard there was going to be a big protest. I think many people brushed it off initially. However, by the next morning we heard that the military had used force/violence to try and break up the protest. On Saturday, April 9, more people came to Tahrir Square to renew their call to prosecute Mubarak and his family and for the military council governing the country to act more swiftly.
Today, Tahrir Square was again closed to traffic, upending traffic patterns in the city.
I think that there is a high possibility right now that things may get bad again - and by bad I mean not being able to laeve the house for fear of safety. Right now it's just a matter of avoiding a specific area and I of course hope that the movement will find a way to continue peacefully and that the army once again shows restraint.
There are many different opinions in Egypt right now (which will wait for another blog post) but one thing is for sure - the revolution was not just about ousting former President Hosni Mubarak. The revolution in many Egyptians minds' is about overturning an entire way of life, one that revolved around corruption and extortion.
I hope that Egyptians can continue struggling onwards until they have created the country that they want and will be able to create a future for themselves and their families. This passed weekend has proven, that this is a revolution unending.
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