The Bright Side

Active Opposition - Our Path Towards Change.

Like many Egyptians the results of the first round of the 2012 presidential elections came as a shocking disappointment. A re-run between the Muslim brotherhood’s “spare tire” candidate Mohamed Morsy and Mubarak and SCAF’s puppet Ahmed Shafiq.  The worst case scenario that many feared is now reality and we cannot help but feel discouraged and devastated as we watch the revolution, which we lost our brothers and sisters in the fight for its victory, fade away into the hands of the regime that it rose against and the party that stole its rewards.

I’m not sure if I’ll vote in the re-run because honestly both candidates, to me, will lead to 4 years of complete instability and will lead to more loss of lives and more political prisoners. But I’m sure of one thing I will never ever in my life support a cowardly murderer like Shafiq who was in charge at the time of the massacre of “Mawk3et el gamal”, I’m sure none of you have forgotten the sight of the cowards on horses and camels beating and trampling over the protesters on February 2nd, 2011, these cowards which Shafiq said he thought were going to dance and join the celebrations in Tahrir. And after the incident what was his comment?? Oh ya, I’m sorry, we will give the people in Tahrir “bonbony” (sweets). Shafiq who has been quoted saying he has “immense respect for Mubarak” and that “Mubarak is my idol/role model” and that his relationship with El mosheer is like that of a married couple, not to mention his most infamous quote “Unfortunately, the revolution succeeded”. The man who is incapable of formulating a sentence on any TV channel got 25% of the votes, the man whose IQ appears to be below that of a 3 year old can possibly become our president. Well, if that happens than I congratulate Mubarak and his accomplices for they have won their immunity and SCAF for maintaining their power and the rest of the Egyptian people for not returning to how things were before Jan 25, 2011 but to conditions that are even worse. Congratulations to the revolutionaries, look forward to political prisons and military trials and to protesters, a man who killed you once will not hesitate to kill you again. 

If I do vote my vote will go to Morsy, but the prospect of him as president makes me not to want to vote at all. If he wins then hello Ikhwan dictatorship, hello to the new 7ezb watany, hello to USA remaining in control of our future, hello to even worsening conditions in Palestine and deteriorating peace talks, hello to useless legislation and continued underdevelopment. Hypocrites, yes they are, murderers, no they’re not…at least not yet. 

At this point I know a lot of Egyptians who want to immigrate and move out of the country and this is what I say to them: “Traitors!” It’s the only word that seems to fit when one leaves their country in need to protect themselves from uncomfortable living. It is clear that we cannot change our country through the parliament or the president for the next 4 years, so what should we do? Lose hope? Give up? No! We need to take an oath, each and everyone that we will continue what our brothers died for and since politics proves to be a failed way to do so, we will accomplish change and continue our revolution through what I would refer to as active opposition. 

What is this active opposition? Active opposition is that everyone dedicates all their effort, time and energy to developing this country.

• Give political awareness campaigns, why do you think people voted for these two? Ignorance!
• Go teach people in unprivileged areas (el 3ashwa2yat). If the population is educated then it can never be fooled, no matter how hungry they are.
• Carry out development projects in the poor areas and in the villages; make sure that everyone has a roof to live under with clean water and electricity.
• Carry out donation campaigns; make sure no Egyptian goes to bed hungry. 
• Help people form little businesses or help employ them in big businesses; employed people’s votes cannot be bought. 
• Start research on how to implement new energy resources in Egypt; SOLAR POWER!!! Come on, seriously! We wouldn’t need anything else if we had one solar power plant. 
• Develop a project to fix the garbage problem.
• And lastly, start with yourself! Exhibit the manners that you want to see in others, don’t cut in lines, don’t throw garbage, don’t sexually harass anyone, don’t break driving rules and laws, and prevent any of these if you see them happening. Don’t be a passive observant!  

There’s always a way to resist, even if it’s not through politics. I believe this is the strongest form of resistance; be active in building and developing your community and no one will be able to stand in your way. This is not the time to give up and lose hope! This is not the time to go back to being passive and disregarding our crumbling country! This is not the time to stop the fight! Maybe it won’t be through Tahrir, but this resistance will spread much further to every corner of Egypt and I hope to God Insha Allah that everyone will adopt this and thus in the next presidential elections we won’t be conflicted over choosing the candidate because each is worse than the other, we will be conflicted because both are as good as the other. 

!الثورة  مستمرة

The Missing “A”

I haven’t posted in ages and that is largely due to two points 

1. My terrible internet…It’s absolutely dreadful. 

2. Uni is not that easy this semester.

So I’m going to try to sum up everything that’s happened in the last few months, which is actually quite a lot.

January, February and March.

During my winter break in Dubai, I learnt that: 

• People really do change when they go to uni, not necessarily for the better or worst, they just change. 
• Lost friends can be regained and that forgiving and forgetting is much easier when you clear your heart of negativity and grudges. 
• Shopping with Maira is probably one of my favourite things to do now. 
• I will always feel like a Year 10 student in school. 
• I miss my family more than I thought I ever would. 
• I need to change my priorities. 

And so we move on to the second list as I placed the lessons I have learnt to formulate my newly improved and revised priorities in life. 

1. Allah. I’ve always been religious El7amdollah. Islam is a major part of who I am as a person and even though my faith has never diminished, I realized that I need to learn more about the intricate details and teachings of Islam. (Still need more work here: have to find a good class somewhere)
   Might I just add that one of the million reasons that I love being back in Cairo is the fact that I get to hear the beautiful call to prayer 5 times a day <3 
2. My Family. Trust me no matter how much you think they’re ruining your life or how much you can’t wait till you leave the house and go off to uni, give it 2 weeks and you will be crying in bed wishing your mum was there to give you a hug and tell you that it’ll all be okay. I never realized how much they really meant to me. Little things, sitting together while watching TV, eating mum’s food, a goodnight hug, going out for dinner, sharing interesting stories of the day, discussing issues and trying to resolve them, etc… The list goes on. Point is, I love my family and I’ve made a promise to myself that I will appreciate them to the fullest from now on because I’m truly blessed. 
3. Myself. This is an area which I haven’t really ever focused on. I’ve always feared being selfish and it has prevented me from actually living out my own life, instead of following around others while they live theirs. Well no more of that…like ever again. I’m not saying I decided to be selfish, I’m just saying that right now I’m working on setting out goals for myself and achieving them. ( I already decided to double major in psychology, I sent my research paper for a conference in uni, Social circle is widening. Point is I’m trying new things, I’m not scared of being on my own anymore.) 
4.  University. This includes courses and extracurricular activities. I wish to maintain my 4.0 GPA but I highly doubt that that is possible this semester. As  for extracurricular activities, I have found my calling. Resala AUC, hands down the best club I’ve been involved in since I joined AUC. It is one of the few clubs which doesn’t actually spend all it’s time and energy on events and concerts and entertainment. Every single member dedicates not only their time and effort, but their heart and soul to the club. I should have mentioned that Resala means message in Arabic and that’s exactly our mission. We go to a really poor slum area every Friday and teach the kids there English, Arabic and maths. The living conditions you will see will break your heart, but the smiles on the children’s faces and their excitement to learn will fill you with hope for tomorrow.
5.  Friends. I’m blessed with amazing friends and every once in a while I gain a new incredible friend. I love the fact that I can count my friends on my hands because they are people that I wish to know and love for the rest of my life, rather than just passers by. I’m there for them 110% and I know that they are for me as well. Something that I’ve also learnt over the last 3 months or actually the last 9 months is how hard it is to keep in touch with friends. It’s not that I don’t want to keep in touch, it’s that it’s really difficult when you’re trying to organize skype dates with like 10 different people. Definitely one of the drawbacks of living in Dubai. Everyone leaves. Everyone goes their separate ways and you hope to God that you still know each other in 5 years because you truly do want them in your lives. 
6. Sports. I have to thank my incredible friend Rouby for helping me rediscover my love for sports. We tried boxing last week. Incredible! 

Now that I have 3 days till I turn 19, I have to admit I’m really proud of what I have accomplished so far in 2012. Though these achievements are more personal and are more or less about self development, I think they’re quite significant.

Oh, I forgot to explain the title, the missing “A”. My blackberry keyboard is messed up and the A letter won’t work. This provides for some very entertaining conversations with my friends. The funny thing is, they got so used to it, they can actually understand words which make absolutely no sense whatsoever. for example my friend Aya has now become “eye” and Mariam - “mirim” and away - “ewey”, it’s even funnier when I’m writing Arabic words using English letters. So what is the meaning behind the missing “A”?

Well firstly, it was a cool name and  I had no idea what to name this and secondly, that missing “A” to me perfectly embodied the power of human adaptation. We can honestly adapt to any situation that we might face, just like the missing “A”, things and people appear and disappear from our lives and yet we don’t break down or malfunction, we adapt. 

On a positive note :D

On a positive note, not everything in the country is totally hopeless! I am a very optimistic person (anyone who knows me will confirm that fact) I believe that being happy and smiling will make life better for you and everyone around you, I think it’s pointless to be completely miserable all the time, it’s tiring and boring and just depressing! And I think I’m starting to sound a little to pessimistic for my taste and so here is a recap of some extremely positive events that I’ve experienced over the last couple of months. 

Tahrir

The day my parents agreed for me to go to Tahrir square was one of the happiest days of my life. It was after the Mohamed Mahmoud street battle and I was so angry and so embarrassed that I couldn’t help, I felt so helpless and even though that day was violence-free, I still felt that by going I showed my support and that’s what matters, right? 

(On a side note, one of the most incredible things ever to witness is the sheer amount of students who lined up for hours at the university clinic to donate blood to the victims of the Mohamed Mahmoud street battle. At that moment I was so inspired to be a part of such a community…so proud!)

The day started with me waking up at 9 am to my dad’s reply of agreement and that was followed by frantic phone calls, texts and bbms to my friends to see who’s going and who wants to go with me. And so I ended up going with Mariam and Nour (a new friend from uni) and to say it was an adventure would be an understatement. First, we rode a mini bus to get there and a bus to get back, this was our first experience with public transportation in Egypt (aside from taxis of course) it’s mainly used by working class males so it was very interesting! 

Then we get to Tahrir square and WOW….words cannot describe that place, everyone should get the chance to experience being there at least once in their lives. In addition to the fact that you can find every single type of Egyptian (and foreigners for that matter) there, you can also find every type of Egyptian snacks, vendors, medicines, bullet shells, graffiti, posters, slogans, chants, etc… It is a mix of a carnival to celebrate the people’s freedom and a fight to maintain and totally obtain that freedom. I think in this case pictures will speak louder than words so here it goes. 

So many people! It’s incredible! 

This photo makes me cry! Rabena y7meeky ya Masr, ba7ebek! 

One of the best and most creative posters I saw there. 

It says “You won’t kill our revolution”

Cotton candy, one of the many snacks sold in the square. 

There are so many more photos but my internet is so slow I can’t wait to upload all of them. 

Elections

I voted for the first time in my life and I’m so glad that this was my first year! It was incredible, I waited in line for 3 and a half hours (some people waited for 6 hours and some for 5 minutes) but in the end no one complained, no one walked away. Everyone was so excited, so determined to become a part of Egypt’s first experience at true democracy that the time flew by. And what makes it more awesome, is the fact that the people I voted for won (Yepiiiii XD) 

Despite the current events and the horrors that I’m witnessing on the news, I still have hope, I have hope in a population which will not allow itself to be subjected to oppressiveness and injustice, I have hope in a country with a history that is so vast , a country that will never cease to make history. I have hope in the inspiring people who are out there fighting, while I’m in here writing and I have hope and faith in Allah who will guide us out of these murky waters to a brighter day. My dream for Egypt is so immense and I bet that every Egyptian has a dream just as big and that’s why I have hope! These dreams will not be crushed whether it’s by violence or injustice or hypocrisy….all of these people standing in the way of freedom and democracy will fail in the end. I have hope.  

In order for me to remain positive I should probably go study for my finals and start on that astronomy paper I have due on Monday. 

Stay positive! 

When?

I have this fear that after some time Egypt will run out of people to fight for it, not because they will lose their motivation and drive…No, because I fear they will all become martyrs in the fight for Egypt’s freedom. 

Every month we go through a few days of total chaos, violence, brutality, passivity and confusion which usually results in dozens of martyrs and hundreds of injuries. Some of these incidents included the Maspero massacre, Mohamed Mahmoud street battle, and the current sit in at the government cabinet’s headquarters.

The scenes that I have witnessed on Facebook and YouTube and TV have shown me several things. Firstly, that the violence you see in horror and action movies can actually exist in real life…scary fact: real violence is actually more gruesome. Secondly, that SCAF and the police forces have no freaking clue how to deal with any form of protests or unrest and them resorting to the same methods every.single.freaking.time. shows how they are not capable of guiding Egypt through this transition period and should loosen their grip on the power stick and give it to someone more adept to handle this situation. Thirdly, that the state media will never cease to be a complete and utter joke, their underestimation of the people’s intelligence is not insulting anymore, it’s just laughable. And lastly, that we as citizens of this country only wake up when it’s too late.

We are completely passive to what’s happening in the country, we do not realize that the revolution won’t change the country overnight that this will be a long struggle but it will be fruitful, more than we can even imagine. I have lost track of the amount of ministers that have changed in the post-revolutionary period and they have each proven that not only are they more incapable of handling this situation than SCAF actually is, but that they in fact do not have any real powers and are merely puppets. I feel like a replay button is pressed every month and this cycle rolls on. 

How many more people need to die before we wake up? How much violence must be inflicted in order for these to become crimes against humanity, crimes against our own brothers and sisters? How many more ministers will it take before we realize that they have no power? How many more false statements will be made before we realize that the authority and the media are lying hypocrites? When will we all just wake up? When will this all end? 

I should probably mention that my knowledge of the purpose of this sit in is very vague and I honestly do not care what it’s about. I object to this treatment, this violence, this brutality and this crime against my country and humanity! Every citizen has a right of peaceful protest whatever their demands are and whoever they might be! This is not only striping them of that right, but striping them of their life as well. I am personally convinced that these aren’t some thugs trying to disturb the stability of the country, but even if they were, I do not agree to this treatment of them! As the old cliche says violence is not the answer. When will you learn.

I ask you to search deep into yourselves, whoever you are, for a shred of humanity. If you see this as the perfect way to handle things then seriously go get some help, you need it more than these victims need your support. 

Ya Rab!

During the revolution, I was in Dubai and it killed me that I wasn’t able to be there, to help out, to participate in the fight to free my country from dictatorship and now 10 months later it’s as if we’re watching a playback of the first 18 days of the revolution except this time the army isn’t there to back us up, the chant ” The people and the army are one hand” no longer applies to the situation, unfortunately. Watching videos and footage of not only the police and security forces but our own army brutally beating and killing protesters is a sight that will haunt me forever. If my own army beats me, who is left to save me?  

I honestly was unsure whether it’s the right time for protests and what the protesters were demanding until I saw those haunting videos. With only a week left till the parliamentary elections, I wasn’t certain if the protests are necessary, I thought maybe we should wait till after the elections and see how they go. But the violence, the inhumane, unbelievable violence, that made me think well maybe the protesters do have a point, maybe the military isn’t as trustworthy as we thought it was. I wasn’t the only one who changed my mind, thousands have poured and are still pouring into Tahrir square against the horrors that have occurred these past few days. It seems that whoever is ruling the country gets infected with a stupidity virus, because they still seem to believe that violence and tyranny will solve any problem that they are faced with. But they need to understand something and they need to do so urgently! Fear and brutality no longer work as methods of intimidating the people and making them let go of their demands and forget their dreams of a better, brighter Egypt. 

I’m now in Egypt, but I feel more helpless than before, an hour drive away from Tahrir and still I can’t seem to go there (My parents would kill me!!), I wish I had the courage to stand up to my parents or even to lie to them and stand up against myself, against my own stupid fears. While others are doing all they can to help, getting beaten, inhaling poisonous gas, getting dragged across the streets, losing their eyesight and even their lives, all I seem to be able to do is provide moral support through my writings. I watch the scenes on TV and an internal struggle starts inside me “I should go!” “No, you will die!” “I should try to help in anyway I can!” “But it’s a war zone over there, it’s not like last time, the army will not protect you” “I feel so helpless, I need to do something!” and I’m sorry to say, that unlike the thousands of brave people in Tahrir, I’m too scared. I admit it, I’m terrified.  

A protester who lost his right eye on January 28th and his left eye on November 20th. A true hero. 

Protesters helping an elderly man escape the violence.

These scenes, these people, that’s what gives me hope that no matter what, we will succeed in our fight for freedom, we will have a better, brighter Egypt inshallah. 

Ya Rab! Give me the courage, give us all the courage to get through this! Protect this country and its incredible people, ya Rab!

Allah y7meeky ya blady <3  

Never thought someone would try to convert me in Egypt!

I never thought this would happen to me in Egypt out of all places…Remember those international students I was telling you about? Well, they’re really sweet and everything but we were hanging out today and after talking about music and them inviting me over for a jamming session (started getting scared then), the conversation moved onto faith and God and religion and it lasted for an hour and a half. Which is great because I love having conversations about faith, I’m so interested in how everyone experiences faith in different ways. BUT this was not a conversation I particularly enjoyed. I was really interested in what they had to say about Christianity and their faith because I have many christian friends and I’ve already heard a lot about it and it’s just extremely interesting to hear different interpretations.

I think I showed my interest and was very respectful of their views and it’s not as if they were offensive or anything but every time I would explain my view or my faith the answer would be … “nahh, I dunno, cause if Jesus is not in your heart then you are not saved…” They kept saying how they are so thankful that they have been blessed enough that God can work through them to spread Jesus’ love to the women in the Middle East because no one here does that for them. I’m so sick and tired, just frustrated by people just assuming that Arab/Muslim women need someone to help them! 

I for one made my own decisions, even though I was born a Muslim,  I still choose to be a Muslim as well. I was never forced into anything, I covered my own hair, I choose to wear the hijab, I don’t date because I think it’s stupid at this age, I follow the teachings of my religion which tell me to be honest, modest and kind. I’m not oppressed and I am just as intellectual as you, if not more. So please, please I beg you anyone, everyone stop assuming that your way of thinking is the only way or the correct way. Accept others and their faiths even if you don’t necessarily agree with them. Respect people for their different beliefs because if you think you are any better than others, if you have this superiority conflict and you think your belief is the one that will save others from their “wrong” beliefs then that’s just sad. 

Living in Dubai has taught me a lot of things, lessons I will carry with me for the rest of my life, but the most important has to be acceptance. Such diversity in religions, ethnicity, nationalities, race, opinions, beliefs and values at first was a shock, but after 5 years one learns to appreciate how truly special it is. As I said before I love having conversations with people about faith and religion, and I had countless of those with my friends in Dubai. I learnt about Hinduism and the different Gods, Christianity and its various sects, Atheism and the reasons behind it and I came to a conclusion that has matured over the years. I found that no matter what religion or beliefs we hold, we are all simply trying to understand the world around us and our faith whether its in Allah or Jesus or Buddha or Krishna or even science, our faith is in a higher power that allows the absurdity and chaos of the world to somehow appear orderly. For me there is no doubt in my heart that that higher power is Allah, for you it might be Jesus or Buddha or Krishna and we should all respect and accept that.  

As cheesy as it may sound we really aren’t that different, why try and make us different? 

Anonymous asked: Who's Leila?

Leila = Awesomeness XD 

Proud AUCian :D

I’ve only been at University for 2 weeks now and I’ve already joined a strike (to be discussed later), skipped class, met international students, went to uni on my day off, missed the bus 3 times (probably more to come), and I’m going to my first concert here this Thursday inshallah :D So excited!!!!!! 

The Strike: It started September 11th, Students, workers, security guards, and some faculty members joined together in solidarity to demand basic rights from the administration. Those demands included the removal of the 9% tuition fees increase, introduce tuition caps on existing students , inclusion of students in decision making forums and meetings, publicizing of the university budget so we know where our money is being spent. They were also demanding human rights for workers, the workers responsible for the plants and fields on campus were not allowed to use the bathroom after a 16 hour workday, they had one uniform per year, no contracts, paid by the day, and extremelyyyyy modest salaries. The security guards were being treated inhumanely by their supervisor, their salaries also very modest at 1250 pounds per month, some of them were being fired after 15 years working at the university for no reason other than to cut expenditure. And so on and so on. 

So the student union organized these strikes and they would urge students to come and join, they would march around campus with megaphones and it worked. That drew us to them, but what kept us there, supporting them and what caused me to miss a couple of classes is talking to the workers, whose stories are nothing less than heartbreaking and the saddest part is these are probably some of the better off workers in Egypt. Talking to these people, I realized that if I do not support them I would have failed myself. I know some people would say, if they don’t like work there, let them go find it somewhere else or that they are better off than most people in Egypt, but the way I see it is, we are at a moment of change and even though they are better off than most people in Egypt, their salaries wouldn’t even be enough for me to survive for a month let alone a worker with his wife and 3 children that he needs to support and send to school. Just because injustice occurs everywhere in the country, doesn’t mean it should exist here. I mean if we want to change conditions in the country doesn’t it make sense to start with the place most capable of implementing those changes, a place where democracy, justice and human rights are supposed to prevail, if a minimum wage of 2000 LE cannot be granted to AUC workers then how can we expect it to be established as the minimum wage in Egypt? 

Anyways, an agreement was reached after 8 days where almost all of the demands were met and that only happened after a week of constant protesting and show of solidarity that the workers and students had. I was so inspired and so proud to belong to a place with such values. AUCians are usually looked at as a bunch of snobby, elitist, spoiled brats and that myth has totally been shattered after a couple of weeks here. They are the complete opposite, they are everything I admire in a human being, intellectual, brave and stand up for other peoples rights even if its not in their best interest. I’m so proud to be a part of them, to be an AUCian. 

Classes: English Lit is kindda boring :S I never thought I would say that but it’s sadly true :(  Hopefully it will get better soon, we only had a couple of classes and the book we were reading wasn’t that great. Astronomy is awesome but I wish we would get to the star gazing part sooner! RHET 201 is amazing! Political science keeps getting better and better and Economics is not that bad, we’re doing supply and demand which I took in school before so it’s pretty simple :) El7amdollah! 

Friends: People here are so sweet! This international student walked up to me a couple of days ago and asked me where I got my shirt from and then her friends came and we started talking and just hung out for like an hour and it was awesome, I always wondered why international students would come study here, they love the middle east! It’s pretty amazing :) My friends and I go to uni every Tuesday, it’s our day off but we love uni too much to leave hahaha! We go to the pool, the gym, play some sports (FAILED at squash! FAILED! haha) and just hang out till it gets dark. Have I mentioned how beautiful night time is there?! Oh this saturday we’re planning a primary class reunion so far it seems to be working :D I can’t wait, I haven’t seen some of these people in like 7 years! I went to their graduation last week to watch my amazing sister (she’s not actually my sister but she might as well be, been best friends for 16 years) Mariam graduate :D It was incredible! 

Missing the bus: I wake up at 6 every Sunday and Wednesday to catch the 7:20 bus which gets me to uni on time for my 8:30 class …. I have failed to wake up for three times now and have a feeling this will happen a lot. This is why I need my mom to live with me haha. This reminds me I have to go because it’s 1:10 now and I have to wake up in less than 5 hours …. 

That’s it for now :)  
Will update you soon!