NY Times 12/5; “Egyptians Vote In Run-off after Opposition Quits,”

“Egyptians voted on Sunday in a run-off parliamentary election which President Hosni Mubarak’s party will win almost unchallenged after the two biggest opposition groups quit a contest they said was rigged………”

“First Time…Security Harassment for ElBaradie at Cairo Airport,” EL-Destour, 12/5,

“تعرض الدكتور محمد البرادعي مدير الوكالة الدولية للطاقة الذرية السابق لمضايقات أمنية من ضباط أمن مطار القاهرة فور وصوله منذ ساعات، حيث استوقفه لأول مرة أحد ضباط الجوازات وقام بالكشف عن اسمه علي جهاز الحاسب المدرج عليه أسماء الممنوعين من السفر والمطلوبين أمنيا، وقام الضابط حسب شهود عيان رافقوا البرادعي في رحلته بمراجعة جواز سفره ورقة ورقة للتعرف علي البلاد التي قام بزيارتها خلال فترة غيابه عن مصر……”

Fahmy Howeidy, 12/4; “Two Reasons to Default the Election,”

“لا أعرف كم عدد الأسباب التى يمكن أن تؤدى إلى الحكم ببطلان انتخابات مجلس الشعب، التى أصبحت نزاهتها مجرحة من كل جانب، إلا أن أهل القانون استفزهم أمران اعتبروهما يمثلان إهانة للقضاء وازدراء به، إلى جانب تجريحهما لنزاهة الانتخابات بطبيعة الحال. الأمر الأول يتمثل فى انتداب ألفى قاض من وراء ظهر مجلس القضاء الأعلى، بالمخالفة للنص الصريح فى قانون السلطة القضائية الذى تنص المادة 52 منه على أنه لا يجوز نقل القضاة أو ندبهم أو إعارتهم إلا طبقا للقواعد التى قررها القانون……..”

Tarek Abbas, 12/4,” The Miracle Party”

“فتشت فى كل الدنيا وفى جميع بلدان العالم المتقدم والنامى والمتخلف وحتى فى عالم الجنون الزرق، لأجد حزبا مثل الحزب الوطنى من حيث الشكل أو الموضوع فلم أجد أبدا، فلهذا الحزب المبارك معجزات وكرامات تعز على الحصر، وتحتاج فى دراستها وفهمها وإدراك مدى عمقها، لأئمة فى تفسير أعاجيب السياسات التى قد يفشل أمثالى فى تحليلها والغوص فى بواطنها، فهو الحزب الوحيد الذى يفوز فى انتخابات دون مشاركة الجماهير تقريبا، ومع ذلك يفخر بجماهيريته وفوزه بأغلبية الأصوات، هو الحزب الوحيد الذى يرفض أن يخوض معارك حقيقية مع بقية الأحزاب ويصر على أن يعلن عن الانتخابات ثم ينظمها ثم ينفق عليها الملايين ثم يزورها ثم يفرزها ليخرج بنتائج لم تتغير منذ ثلاثة عقود……….”

Mokhtar Kamel Interview om Al-Horra TV

Carnegie’s Guide to Egypt’s Election

Amr Hamzawy; “Egypt’s Legitamcy Crisis in the aftermath of Flawed Election,”

“The first round of parliamentary elections in Egypt has left behind a political scene that is simultaneously frustrating and puzzling. The frustration is readily apparent—domestic observers and some local and international media correspondents have documented numerous violations that marred the elections…..”

Wael Kandeel; “Friday Praying at 10 PM”

“إعلان الوفد وجماعة الإخوان الانسحاب من جولة الإعادة بانتخابات مجلس الشعب لا تكفى لحفظ ماء وجهيهما.. فهما الكتلتان الرئيسيتان اللتان استخدمتا لتمرير المهزلة «حسب وصف القاضى الجليل الشافعى للعملية الانتخابية»، ومن ثم فإن المقاطعة بعد فوات الأوان لا تغنى ولا تسمن من جوع، وكأنها لم تكن لأنها أشبه بأداء صلاة الجمعة فى العاشرة مساء

Waheed Abdel-Meguid; 12/3, “The Ministers Representatives….Their Election Campaign”

“عندما يخوض وزراء غير سياسيين انتخابات برلمانية اسما ولكنها شديدة المحلية فعلا، لابد أن تخلو دعايتهم الانتخابية من أى نقاش أو حوار حول قضايا كبيرة تتعلق بالوطن حاضرا أو مستقبلا، وليس فقط من أى خطاب سياسى جاد……..”

Hassan Nafaa, 12/2, “Learned Lessons”

“لن أندهش إذا اعتقد السيد أحمد عز، أمين التنظيم فى الحزب الحاكم، والذى قاد معركة انتخابات مجلس الشعب، أنه حقق انتصاراً ساحقاً وفاز على خصومه بالضربة القاضية، لكنه سيكون واهماً إن انتابه هذا الشعور……….”

Fahmy Howaidy 12/2; “Please; enough Integrity”

“من يطالع الصحف الحكومية الصادرة يوم الثلاثاء الماضى (30/11) يلاحظ أنها ما برحت تلح فى عناوينها وتعليقانها وتقسم بـ«الثلاثة» على أن الانتخابات كانت نزيهة وشفافة، وأن الأمن كان فى أروع أدواره. من ثم فإن «الليلة الكبيرة» فى عرس الديمقراطية مرت على أفضل ما تكون. إلى غير ذلك من المبالغات التى افترضت فى الناس البلاهة والغباء…………”

Salama Ahmed Salama, 12/1, “Wedding or a Funeral”:

“ عندما تجد من السهل عليك كصحفى أن تكتب عن الانتخابات فى ساحل العاج، وكيف جرت معارك الشوارع فى بوركينا فاسو بين أنصار الرئيس الفائز والرئيس المهزوم، سوف تفهم على الأقل أن ما يحدث هو نتيجة لحروب وخلافات قبلية قديمة لا علاقة لها بالديمقراطية. ولن تأسف حينئذٍ على ما فاتك فى «عرس الديمقراطية» الذى شهدته مصر قبل أيام. وكان من سوء حظ العالم أن تمنع السلطات الرسمية المراقبين الدوليين من نقل مشاهده المثيرة والخطيرة!…….”

• Al-Khudairy; The Elections are the worst and most violent, 30/11/10

“اعتبر المستشار محمود الخضيرى، نائب رئيس محكمة النقض السابق، أن الانتخابات البرلمانية الحالية تعد أسوأ وأعنف انتخابات مرت على الشعب المصرى، بسبب إصرار الحكومة المصرية على الحصول على أكبر عدد من الأصوات دون وجه حق…..”

Foreign Policy top 100 Global Thinker 11/29/2010,  #20: Mohamed ELBaradie

“When historians look back to the moment when the post-Cold War reign of American power ended, they may well settle on 2010 as a crucial year. Everywhere, it seemed, there were signs that the long-predicted “rise of the rest” had finally occurred, whether in the newfound assertiveness of fast-growing China or the impatient diplomacy of new powers like Brazil and Turkey……”

• Financial Times, 11/29“It was dubbed the “as if” election long before the polls opened. As if anyone was going to believe that Egyptians would walk over each other to cast their ballots for the ruling National Democratic party, or that they were determined to punish the opposition Muslim Brotherhood. As if Egypt was a democracy in which elections were free and fair……”

• Robert Fisk 11/29/2010; “Egypt’s Election Magic Turns the Opposition almost Invisible,”

“Sobhi Salah Moussa looked pretty crushed as he stood in the hospital courtyard in this scruffy little town, as well he might. Despite the town being top-heavy with plainclothes cops and squads of riot police – the normal theatrical backcloth for all Egyptian elections – poor old Sobhi of the Muslim Brotherhood, a lawyer and still (up until yesterday’s elections, at least) a…..”

• New York Times 11/29/2010; “Fraud Charges Mar Egypt Vote”

“Egyptians went to the polls on Sunday to vote in a parliamentary election that seemed to unroll according to a wearily familiar script: scattered violence, widespread accusations of fraud and intimidation, and a sense among many here that Egypt’s long-dominant governing party was bent on entrenching its hold on power in a period of looming political uncertainty……”

Fiky Andrawes 11/29; “The Coptics and Democracy”;

«بكى البطريرك وقال هؤلاء سفهاء النصارى قصدوا مقابلة سفهاء المسلمين على تخريبهم الكنائس»”

الخطط المقريزية، مكتبة الآداب الجزء الرابع ص ٤٢٥. كان ذلك زمن الناصر محمد بن قلاوون والبطريرك يوحنا التاسع الموافق سنة ٧٢٠ هجرية وسنة ١٣٢٠ ميلادية. كانت تلك الفترة إحدى أصعب الفترات التى مرت بالأقباط والمسلمين…….”

• Salam Ahmed Salama, 11/28: “Predictions in the Elections”

لا أحد يتوقع أن يكون يوم الانتخابات غدا يوما فارقا فى الحياة السياسية المصرية، أو أن تسفر العملية الانتخابية ــ رغم كل ما أحاط بها من ضجيج، وما شابها من غرائب وعجائب لا تعرفها الديمقراطيات البرلمانية فى العالم ــ عن بدايات جديدة أو نهايات قديمة…….”

• Huffington Post Nov 28: Egypt:Trendsetter for Democracy in the Mideast?

“Without international monitors, and a continued crack down on opposition parties and independent media, experts anticipate an over whelming National Democratic Party (NDP) win in this weekend’s parliamentary election………….”

Egypt News Week of Monday 11/12/2010

• Fahmy Hewaidy, 11/22, “The Elections; its Halal and Haram;”

صباح أمس (الأحد 21/11) نشر الأهرام الخبر التالى: فى تحديها الصارخ لقرارات اللجنة العليا للانتخابات زارت (السيدة) جميلة إسماعيل المرشحة المستقلة بدائرة قصر النيل كنيسة المرعشلى بالزمالك (كما زارت) أحد المساجد بنفس المنطقة، فى إطار جولاتها الانتخابية، وحرر لها محضر لمخالفتها القرارات، واستغلال دور العبادة فى الدعاية الانتخابية.

• Watch Hamdy Kandeel Presentation in honor of Dr Alaa El-Aswani and his recent University of Illinois Award;
  • Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yst5bFXbP5E
  • Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzFmhT-9QQk
• Moataz Abdel-Fattah article in Shorouk 11/20/2010; “For Alaa to Die, Amr must be Back,”
  http://www.shorouknews.com/Columns/Column.aspx?id=337250
• Ibrahim Issa: http://www.dostor.org/editorial/10/november/8/31763
• Gala Ameen on Alaa El-Aswani: http://www.shorouknews.com/Columns/Column.aspx?id=333514
• Salama Ahmed Salama article on ElBaradie; http://www.shorouknews.com/Columns/Column.aspx?id=331828
• Alaa ElAswany, “Why they Advance while we regress”: http://www.shorouknews.com/Columns/Column.aspx?id=316904
• Alaa AlAswany, “Did all university professors become hypocrites?”: http://www.shorouknews.com/Columns/Column.aspx?id=299186

• Al-Masry El-Youm Article, 11/25/2010;

قرر وفد من تحالف المصريين الأمريكيين، زيارة القاهرة فى الفترة من ٢١ إلى ٢٩ ديسمبر المقبل، للقاء قيادات سياسية حكومية ومعارضة، وإطلاعهم على موقف التحالف من الانتخابات الرئاسية ٢٠١١ وضمانات المنافسة العادلة بين المرشحين والموقف من التدخل الأجنبى فى قضايا الديمقراطية والحريات العامة.

• Gabhat EL-Enkaz, 11/25/2010

• Egyptians abroad criticize the contradiction in…..; http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=275285
• Minister of Labor supports the rights of Egyptian Abroad to Vote; http://www.egynews.net/wps/portal/news?params=103909

• ALMASRY EL-YOUM 9/22/2010;
  http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=270572
• Al-Shourok Article by Salama Ahmed Salama, 9/25/2010
• Enkaz Misr September 24, 2010
• Al-AHRAM Newspaper 9/21/2010
  http://www.ahram.org.eg/296/2010/09/21/2/39903.aspx
• El-DESTOUR 9/20/2010
  http://www.dostor.org/politics/egypt/10/september/20/29434
• The Alliance Board Meeting Minutes
• AEA Board meeting minutes of August 29, 2010
• AEA President Mahmoud ELshazly interview with Al-Wafd Newspaper, read the summary here;
• El-Sherouk Article about AEA coming conference in September
• Roza EL-Youssef Article about AEA coming conference in September
• Roza El-Youssef Article about the Alliance;
• Al-Ahram Article on AEA Conference preparation, Al-Ahram August 23, 2010-08-23
• Elmasry ElYoum article interview of AEA President and his views of current events, September 5, 2010
• El-Destour interview of Sabry ElBaga, August 27, 2010

The role Arab Americans must play

By Sobhi Ghandour, Special to Gulf News

u  .

The status of the Arab community in the United States truly reflects the state of division that prevails in the Arab nation. In fact, Arab immigrants in the US do not constitute a unified community that reflects its Arab identity. Immigration to the US does not change the mentality of Arabs, as they do not become different from what they were in their home countries. The Arab immigrant usually leaves his country for various economic, political or security reasons, or to look for a better standard of living. These reasons do not require Arab immigrants to engage in political work or even think of it because they have other priorities. Arab immigrants need a long time for getting used to and interacting with the US community before getting involved in the American political life. Also, Arab immigrants, who did not experience democracy in their home countries, do not have the passion for political work in general. This is simply because they are scared of political work, and when they leave their home countries, they fear getting involved in politics even more, as a result of their unpleasant past experiences. New Arab immigrants to the US find themselves struggling with the issue of identity. This is the true reflection of the Arab world for about 30 years, when the Arab identity was the basis for establishing Arab organisations and centres that emphasise the common cultural identity of Arab immigrants from different parts of the Arab world. Herein lies the importance of efforts by the Washington-based Centre for Arab Culture and Dialogue (Al Hewar Centre) in terms of focussing on the common Arab identity and calling for Arab Americans and Arab immigrants elsewhere to interact with each other on the basis of this identity. Low number The number of Arabs in the US is 3 million out of a total population of 300 million. Arabs constitute no more than 1 per cent of the total population. There are many reasons for the inability of Arabs to bring about changes to the US political life. Among these are the low number of Arab Americans, who cannot make noticeable changes in the US, even though most of them are highly qualified. Another reason is that Arab immigrants work individually, and not collectively as one bloc. There are a number of Arabs in US politics, but this does not mean they support Arab issues. This is simply because they are Arabs in name only, and do not have any loyalty to the Arab nation and its issues. Arabs in Michigan constitute one of the largest populations of Arab Americans in the US. Arab Americans are divided into many different and even conflicting groups, and thus they have not yet affected American political life, with the exception of Michigan’s Arab Americans, who have successfully managed to get one of them elected as a member of the Senate. The Arab media and intellectuals repeatedly make a wrong comparison between the status of Arab Americans and that of Jewish Americans. Arab Americans are relatively new arrivals in the US, while that is not the case with Jewish Americans, who have been here for a long time. Arabs came from different countries to one country, while Jews in the US are American citizens who effectively contributed to the setting up of Israel for Jews from all over the world, in the occupied Arab lands. Success of Zionist lobby Arabs, however, should not be blamed for the success of the Zionist lobby in gaining absolute support from Washington. The US is not a neutral party in the Arab-Israeli conflict but a strong ally of Israel, since the creation of the Jewish entity. This is why it is still arming Israel to the teeth and extending blind political, financial and moral support. And this makes any comparison between Arabs and Jews unfair. The Jewish lobby in the US deals with one relationship – the Israeli-American one – while Arab American institutions are caught between more than 20 Arab countries and the US. The relationship between Arab Americans and Arab countries is totally different from the relationship between American Jews and Israel, which has led to the so-called identity crisis among Arab Americans. Above all, there are differences between Arab Americans who were born in the US, and those who were born in their home countries, and later on came to the US and got American citizenship. Another category is Arabs who came to the US, and have not yet become American citizens, and thus are unable to play a bigger role in politics. This category of Arab immigrants does not interact or communicate with American society at all. Another important reason behind the absence of Arabs from the political scene is that they are from various religious and sectarian backgrounds. Therefore, some rush to belong to religious organisations, which exclude half of the Arab community from the American political scene. Other Arab Americans isolate themselves from what is happening around them due to personal reasons. It is noteworthy that half of Arab Americans are Christians, who immigrated to the US since the early 20th century from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, and were followed by consecutive waves of immigrants from Iraq and Egypt. Apart from the Arab community in the US, there is the Muslim community, which includes Arabs, and non-Arabs, from non-Arab Asian and African countries. What is noticed here is that half of the Arab community are Christians, while more than half of the Muslim community is made up of non-Arabs. Consequently, we are talking about two populations – the Arab community, and the Muslim community (which is estimated at 6 million, constituting 2 per cent of the total population and almost equal in number to Jewish population.) Coordination Therefore, both the Arab and Muslim communities are required to coordinate their stances and interact with each other through Arab and Islamic centres in the US. If such integration takes place, it will be of great benefit for both communities and their joint role in influencing US policy. There are Arab and Islamic institutions in the US working towards improving the image of Arabs and Muslims in the US. Apart from political issues, improving the Arab and Muslim image in the minds of Americans is very important due to its relationship with American public opinion and media as well as with educational and academic institutions. Institutions such as Al Hewar Centre are working to improve the image by conveying the reality. Projecting the true image of Arabs and Muslims is the main objective of these centres, which seek to improve the status of the Arab and Muslim communities, and also makes them aware of the issues that are important to their Arab and Muslim culture. This approach is in line with the efforts of Arab Americans to participate in US political life, so that they are able to play a more effective role in American society. * Sobhi Ghandour is the director of Al Hewar Centre, Washington.

]]> http://aeamisr.org/news/the-role-arab-americans-must-play/feed/ 0 http://aeamisr.org/news/reflections-by-dr-samia-harris/ http://aeamisr.org/news/reflections-by-dr-samia-harris/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:12:09 +0000 Admin http://bachuk.com/clients/AEA/news/reflections-by-dr-samia-harris/ Continue reading →]]> We the Egyptian people all over the world still hope to see true Democracy in Egypt during our lifetime.

The Girl from Shobra

It is really my pleasure to vote!!

We in the United States of America are truly blessed and fortunate to be able to vote in all National, State, and local elections. This is a freedom that we can use to practice the right to vote. Unfortunately it is taken for granted in our society. That is why I thought to write on the subject. I get so sad when I ask people if they have voted or will vote and get told that they have not, either because they did not realize the importance of their true action or are looking for excuses, whether legitimate or trivial (such as I had to work today, traffic was bad, I had to feed the children dinner, I forgot, we were working on homework, the voting line was too long or I did not register earlier). All these excuses and more may be legitimate but they may amount to “the dog ate my voting card”.
I look around with amazement and shock every time I vote. I stand with pride, happiness, and excitement. I get in line early in the morning, greet the wonderful volunteers and ask them “Is the line long?”  I like it when I am told the line is long. That means it has been busy and steady. I proactively show off my American privilege, by putting my voted sticker on to show it to all the children at Prince William Academy. At Prince William Academy all the children practice voting, calculate the results, graph it and announce the winner. We put it up front so parents and children can talk about it.
One year I even volunteered with the election board, attended the training, and worked from 5:00 am till 2:00 am. That year Al Gore won at the precinct I was serving. Even though I was exhausted that night, I was still smiling, because I saw for myself the most amazing action, I lived the moment where democracy is practiced freely! Where people lined up freely to have their own will influence the society they live in. In order to exercise their right to vote people with special needs were served timely in line. No one bullied, hit or prevented any citizen from voting freely. You may wonder why I am talking about this. It’s because I was born in a country that up until now does not grant its citizens this right. During the last election of Egypt I was told that thugs attacked women and old men to prevent them from voting for their choice; and on the higher presidency level, it did not matter, as there were no choices. Egyptians still do not have the right of Democracy, and its citizens do not have the pleasure to vote. It is not because the Egyptians did not pay their dues, as for sure we did. My father fought in Alameen as part of the Second World War because of the promise from Great Britain to free Egypt. My uncles, fought in 1952 to keep Egypt free, and I participated with many strikes during my University years to demand democracy.
We the Egyptian people of multi-nationality still hope to see true Democracy in Egypt during our lifetime. Then it will be my true pleasure to vote in an Egyptian Election just as free and with pleasure as I vote in an American Election.

by

President, Prince William Academy
drsamiaharris@princewilliamacademy.com