Harleys in Sinai

Harley owners storm the desert By Schams Elwazer, CNN


April 8, 2010 -- Updated 1635 GMT (0035 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

CNN's Schams Elwazer takes her maiden trip on a Harley Davidson

Inside the Middle East joins the first Harley Owners Group rally in Egypt

200 bikers ride the American icon on a 460 kilometer route





(CNN) -- It was my first time on a Harley Davidson and I'll admit I was more than a little nervous.



I had only known for two minutes the man in whose hands (and riding ability) I was entrusting my life. It didn't help that camerawoman Raja Razek kept whizzing past at up to 160 kilometers per hour on the back of another Harley; my heart skipped several beats as I watched her contort into frighteningly precarious positions to get the best camera angles.



We were in Sharm El Sheikh in south Sinai to cover Egypt's First International HOG (Harley Owners Group) rally for April's edition of Inside the Middle East.



Ahead of the 7 a.m. start time, the sight was surreal -- 167 Harley Davidsons, a classic American icon, chrome glinting in the rays of the Sinai sunrise. A slice of pure Americana in Egypt as 200 people prepared to cruise through the 461 kilometer route.



The excitement was palpable as everyone made final tweaks, tightening bolts and wiping down mudguards; all decked out in the finest biker gear -- the ubiquitous leather jacket, bandanas, studded boots, designer sunglasses and even some chaps.







Video: Harleys in Sinai The smell: a heady cocktail of leather, exhaust fumes and asphalt, topped off with strong doses of testosterone and adrenaline.



At first we couldn't get over how un-Middle Eastern the whole thing seemed. But this faded. We could see blue glass "evil eyes" on the handlebars (good luck charms). Flags from all over the region flapped in the hot wind; bikers came from Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, and a handful of Europeans and Americans.



Then we hit the road, led by a full police escort.



"It's the closest you can get to flying," says Indjy Ghattas, a young Egyptian woman who is not only one of the few women riders in the country but is also the Harley Davidson dealer in Egypt and the organizer of the whole event. "It's the sound of engine, the vibration, the feel of it."



The roaring sound of a large pack of Harleys revving up and hitting the pavement is rather intimidating for the uninitiated. You don't hear it as much as feel it coming up through the ground.



We snaked along the winding road out of the city and into the ancient land of Moses. The terrain is vast, rugged and beautiful; the mountains streaked with lines of green, yellow, red and black.



Fifty-five-year old Egyptian-American Sherif Begermi is a veteran biker and looks the part -- white goatee, denim jacket with patches from various Harley events, and a stars and stripes bandana.



"When we first started riding [in Egypt], people didn't know what to make of us," says Begermi. "Police would stop us to ask us 'what are you?' Not 'who are you?' but 'what are you'?"



As we rode through Sinai's villages, I'm not sure the stunned but amused-looking onlookers knew what to make of us either. Sheepherders, women walking their kids out of school, men coming out of mosques. Everyone stopped in their tracks and smiled in wonder. A few waved.



Even a herd of camels on the side of the road stared in confusion at the sight of these strange shiny monsters roaring through the terrain.



At a stop for gasoline, we caught up with some of the riders.



Lana Medawar rode on the back of her husband's bike all the way from Beirut -- a 1200 kilometer trek. "I'm planning to learn how to ride myself, not only be a passenger behind my husband."



Ghattas says the passion is slowly catching on with women. "When I have a woman buying a bike I'm like the happiest person on earth."



Mohamed Fahmy rides with daughter Sherifa in the backseat in a pink Harley T-shirt. Asked if she plans to ride, both smile as dad says "Soon - hopefully not too soon... She wants to take my bike."



In contrast to the stereotypical image of HOG riders as outlaws, this event feels like a family affair and HOG enthusiasts say it is part of what makes Harley unique.



"Harley Davidson is a culture, it's a community," says Ahmed Mourad as he pays a gas station attendant. "Other motorcycles are only motorcycles."



Swiss-Egyptian Sherif Loutfi says he rode Japanese bikes (what HOG riders like to call "riceburners") for a decade but switched to the Harley three years ago. "They call it a mid-life crisis," jokes Loutfi.



Halfway through the ride, we stop for lunch near of Saint Catherine's monastery at the foot of biblical Mount Sinai and everyone takes a much-needed reprieve from the kidney-rattling ride.



Leather jackets come off to reveal back braces. Conversations turn to day-jobs. Most of the riders are "weekend warriors," spending most of their days as upper-middle class businessmen; jewelry dealers, hotel managers, bankers and other white-collar professionals.



As fun as the ride is, one must take note of the fact that this is a hobby for the well-off. Even the cheapest Harley costs more than the average Egyptian makes in a year. Many riders we met own more than one bike and acknowledge the fact that, financially, this is a relatively exclusive club.



But Ghattas says Harley culture shouldn't be measured in dollars. "It's not a cheap hobby but it's not as expensive as people think."



"It's more than just an expensive toy," she says. "It's a dream."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/08/harley.rally.egypt/index.html

Work Permits for foreigners seeking work in Egypt

Manpower Minister for Egypt Mr El Boraei  has recently announced the enforcement of the 2003 Law updated 2010 regarding the issuance of Work Permits for foreigners seeking employment in Egypt.

Post revolution the new Government of Egypt intends to enforce rigourously the  Manpower Law No: 292 (2010) updated March 2011 to ensure employment for Egyptian Citizens post Revolution.

The law is as follows:

All Egyptian and Foreign employers within Egypt henceforth must comply with Manpower Law 292 (2010) updated 2011.

Employers:

All employers henceforth shall require that any application for a work permit for a foreign national within the employers workplace must ensure that the vacancy MUST be filled by an Egyptian National in the first instance. If the employer cannot find the apporopriate skills for that vacancy within the Egyptian polulace the employer must convince the Manpower Ministry that:

a) The vacancy is economically required by the nation of Egypt and in it's interest.

b) Convince the Manpower Ministry that all efforts to employ an Egyptian have been undertaken with proof ie advertising, interviews and have been unsuccessful in finding an Egyptian with the required level of skills needed.

c) Preference for said work permits will always be given to foreigners who are legal residents of Egypt before non residents.

If the Manpower Ministry finds that all measures have been taken in accordance with the law 292 and no Egyptian can be used to fill the vacancy the Manpower Ministry will issue a work permit for a foreigner for the sum of 1,500 EGP per annum. This cost is non negotiable if the vacancy term is less than one year. There is no refund payable.

The Work Permit will ONLY be issued to the employer on the condition that the employer ALSO employ 2 Egyptians at the same time to enable the said 2 Egyptians to be trained in the specific skill requiring the work permit. In short the employer MUST employ 3 employees to fill one vacancy with 1 skilled foreigner and 2 Egyptians in training.

The limit for the foreigner work permit will not exceed 3 years in each job vacancy. This allows ample time for Egyptians to be trained in the specific skills needed to fill future vacancies.
The Work Permit for the foreigner is renewable at the discretion of the manpower Ministry annually.
It is the employers responsibility to apply for the work permit.

Exemptions :

Nationals from the following countries do not require work permits to seek employment in Egypt.
Sudan
Italy
Greece
Palestinian nationals

Restrictions:

Foreign Tour Guides, Belly Dancers will not be given permits to work in Egypt.

Revoking the work permit:

On application should ANY information be found to be false by either Employee or Employer the Work Permit will be cancelled.

Any foreign employee found to have committed any misdemeanor within the Egyptian legal system ie theft, graft, indecency, sharing apartment or hotel with non spouse, public disorder, defamation of national or religious belief, adulterous relationships, will instantly have the work permit revoked and the guilty party will be deported to the citizens country of origin.

Zahi Hawass gets hard labour in prison

Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass has been sentenced to one year of hard labor and a LE1000 fine for failing to fulfill a court ruling over a land dispute. He has also been relieved of his duties as minister.
The sentence was issued by Councilor Abdel Hakim Abdel Hafiz of the Giza Criminal Court.
The plaintiff had filed a lawsuit against Hawass -- prior to his appointment as minister -- in which he accused Hawass of failing to adhere to a court ruling in favor of his opponent over a land dispute when he was in charge of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

 link

Great Day out and HELP EGYPTS GARDEN CENTRES!

If you want a great day out spend the day at Orman Gardens, near Giza Zoo, Cairo and help Egypts struggling Gareden Centres post revolution.

From now until the middle of May, 9am till 8pm every day there is a huge Flower, Tree, and Landscaping Exhibition there in the Gardens.

You can spend the day wandering around looking and buying all the beautiful plants and trees and succulents and cactii, fruit trees, beautiful flowers and topiary, see honey being made by the bees in glass hives, buy goldfish, terrapin, budgies, koi carp, fish tanks, wander through landscaping exhibits, buy pottery, vases, pots, ceramics, Nubian and bdeouin handicrafts.

They exhibition is large with neatly spaced out rows to wander down. Everyone is very helpful and there are experts on hand to advise on planting etc. All kinds of tools, lawnmowers, fertilizers, composts, insecticides on sale. Herbs, flowers and trees of all descriptions and many unusual ones.

Wheelbarrow boys to cart your purchases for you to the car. Car parking is 5le and I'd advise you all to park inside trhe Gardens so it is easier to get your things back easily to the car although there is parking outside the gardens too. Right now the Lotus and Papyrus ponds have millions of tadpoles ( baby frogs ) swimming around them. Nice for the children to see.
Beautiful topiary on sale, tools, kiosks, and the sellers are very helpful without hassling you. You can wander around and look and buy in perfect peace.

Once you have loaded your car with plants and trees and stuff you can spend the afternoon sitting in the gardens under the tree shade and have a picnic.

It's a great way to help out the Egyptian Garden Centres and growers post revolution.
If you have a garden or balcony or just want to buy some nice house plants its the place to go. Prices are very good. All items were either normal what you would pay or below in the average garden centres.

Entrance is free, you just pay car parking at 5le.

Go along for the day and support our Egyptian Garden Centres and have a great day out till Mid May.

The Orman Gardens are right next to Giza Zoo, close to Cairo University in Giza. Car parking you use the main gate.

Have a great day out and help our Egyptian flower and tree growers.

I Wish You Egypt (By Omar Barghouti)

An open letter to people of conscience in the West.

I wish you Egypt!

I wish you empowerment to resist; to fight for social and economic justice; to win your real freedom and equal rights.

I wish you the will and skill to break out of your carefully concealed prison walls. See, in our part of the world, prison walls and thick inviolable doors are all too overt, obvious, over-bearing, choking; this is why we remain restive, rebellious, agitated, and always in preparation for our day of freedom, of light, when we gather a critical mass of people power enough to cross all the hitherto categorical red lines.

We can then smash the thick, cold ugly, rusty chains that have incarcerated our minds and bodies for all our lives like the overpowering stench of a rotting corpse in our claustrophobic prison cell.

Your prison cells, however, are quite different. The walls are well hidden lest they evoke your will to resist. There is no door to your prison cell -- you may roam about "freely," never recognizing the much larger prison you are still confined to.

I wish you Egypt so you can decolonize your minds, for only then can you envision real liberty, real justice, real equality, and real dignity.

I wish you Egypt so you can tear apart the sheet with the multiple-choice question, "what do you want?", for all the answers you are given are dead wrong. Your only choice there seems to be between evil and a lesser one.

I wish you Egypt so you can, like the Tunisians, the Egyptians, the Libyans, the Bahrainis, the Yemenis, and certainly the Palestinians, shout "No! We do not want to select the least wrong answer. We want another choice altogether that is not on your damned list." Given the choice between slavery and death, we unequivocally opt for freedom and dignified life -- no slavery, and no death.

I wish you Egypt so you can collectively, democratically, and responsibly re-build your societies; to reset the rules so as to serve the people, not savage capital and its banking arm; to end racism and all sorts of discrimination; to look after and be in harmony with the environment; to cut wars and war crimes, not jobs, benefits and public services; to invest in education and healthcare, not in fossil fuel and weapons research; to overthrow the repressive, tyrannical rule of multinationals; and to get the hell out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and everywhere else where under the guise of "spreading democracy" your self-righteous crusades have spread social and cultural disintegration, abject poverty and utter hopelessness.

I wish you Egypt so you can rekindle the spirit of the South African anti-apartheid struggle by holding Israel accountable to international law and universal principles of human rights, by adopting boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), called for by an overwhelming majority in Palestinian civil society. There is no more effective, non-violent way to end Israel's occupation, racial discrimination and decades-old denial of the UN-sanctioned right of refugees to return.

I wish you Egypt so you can fulfill your countries' legal and moral obligations to help rebuild the ravished, de-developed economies and societies of your former -- or current -- colonies, so that their young men can find their own homelands viable, livable and lovable again, instead of risking death -- or worse -- on the high seas to reach your mirage-washed shores, giving up loved ones and a place they once called home. You see, they're "here" because you were there... and we all know what you did there!

Our oppression and yours are deeply interrelated and intertwined -- it is never a zero-sum game! Our joint struggle for universal rights and freedoms is not merely a self gratifying slogan that we raise; rather, it is a fight for true emancipation and self determination, an idea whose time has vociferously arrived.

After Egypt, it is our time. It is time for Palestinian freedom and justice. It is time for all the people of this world, particularly the most exploited and downtrodden, to reassert our common humanity and reclaim control over our common destiny.
I wish you Egypt!

Omar Barghouti is a Palestinian human rights activist, former resident of Egypt, and author of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights (Haymarket: 2011)

Keep Egypt Clean Project

Facebook page of clean up days where Egyptian citizens take to the streets and clean them up.

Join in the fun and keep Egypt clean.

What we want to do is start a "Green Revolution" in Egypt. We want to make people environmentally aware of their surroundings, make this country a better experience, not just for the people living here, but also for the millions of tourists that come here every year. We are a group of regular Egyptians that have gathered through this Page. We are no one in specific. If you want to join us, all you have to do is "Like" this page, stop littering, tell others to stop, and start cleaning up!

Mission

Our mission is to change the mindset of the average Egyptian citizen, making him a cleaner person, and having a more positive attitude towards his hygiene, and the community's hygiene.

	KeepEgyptCleanProject@gmail.com

Keep Egypt Clean Project

Great new website about Revolution.

Principles of Tahrir Squared

TAHRIR SQUARED: MULTIPLYING THE TAHRIR EFFECT
1. Tahrir Squared (T2) is an initiative set up in the aftermath of the January 25th uprising in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt.
2. T2’s aim is to engender, report on and otherwise support initiatives that were and are set up in the spirit of the etiquette that was displayed in Tahrir Square during the uprising. In particular, the concern for the people of Egypt, without differentiation between the Muslims or the Christians, rich or poor, old or young, disabled or not, man or woman. That etiquette and concern are what engender within T2 the conviction that this is a truly unique moment in our time.
3. T2 is the expression of the will of young people who were in Cairo during the time of the uprising and who hope for the best for Egypt, the Arab region, the wider Muslim world and humanity, one and all.
4. The main activity of T2 is to:
a) provide information on civil society initiatives and political activities that are taking place in Egypt as a consequence of the new atmosphere of freedom;
b) provide information on civil society initiatives and political activities that are taking place in other parts of the Arab world that are likewise being touched by the same atmosphere, including Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain and elsewhere;
c) to provide a forum for discussions on a) & b);
d) to provide information on the situation in other predominantly Muslim countries in the same way, whether in the Middle Eastern region or not;
e) to provide information on the situation in other non-Muslim countries around the world;
f) to provide such information by way of articles printed elsewhere or blog posts placed on the site;
g) to provide such information through multi-media.
h) To enable initiatives and civil society actions through the work of T2and not just facilitating initiatives that are already out there.
5. Examples of ‘civil society initiatives’ might be as simple as clean-up crews in city centres, to being as complex as organising ‘town hall meetings’ around the Arab world, or encouraging environmental actions in Asia – if they are somehow inspired by Tahrir Square. Examples of ‘political activities’ might be discussions on the constitution and how to ensure political institutions are maintained or reformed in a way that allows for maximum public benefit through civil society activity. We view the political activities as necessary, but insufficient activities for T2 to support – while we view the civil society activities, while more important long-term, to be sometimes difficult to achieve without political activity.
6. T2 is not a place to begin any activity outside of the law. T2 is a place to help civil society develop within the law.
7. T2 recognises that in certain exceptions, the law has failed, and people have no choice but to take up arms to defend themselves – this has obviously been the case in Libya as a result of the actions of the regime. It never came to this in Egypt, however, which is why Tahrir Square never became the site of an armed revolt against the state. Rather, the state collapsed as a result of the army refusing to break the cardinal law of Egypt and humanity – not to take innocent human life, even when ordered.
8. T2 will be a place where the breakdown, when and if it happens, can be discussed and explored in a free and open environment.
9. In short: T2 will create an archive on these issues and activities, will spread and disseminate information on these issues and activities, will provide a space for all that energy that exploded from Tahrir Square to be utilised, and facilitate that, and will create new ideas directly to do things in the real world.
10. The first manifestation of T2 is, in the first instance, this website, which is located at www.tahrirsquared.com, which will be the manifestation of T2 activity as mentioned previously. All of this must affect people on the ground in the real world. There can be a virtual community, but its useless if it does not encourage, stimulate and carry out action in real life.

Visit this fantastic new site here:

Tahrir Squared
Tahrir Squared Facebook page

Acquiring a copy of an Egyptian Marriage Certificate

All marriages which are registered with the Ministry of Justice in Lazghouly Square Cairo are entered onto the Egyptian Civil Registration main Computer. As are all births and deaths which have been registered.

To obtain a copy of a marriage certificate either partner can go to any Segil El Medani (Civil Registration Dept usually attached to police stations) and request a copy. You must show either your Egyptian I.D card or if a foreigner you must show your passport. ONLY the wife or husband can make the request.
The fee is 7Le.

URGENT CALL FOR AID CONVOY VOLUNTEERS IN CAIRO!

Time	24 February · 18:30 - 21:30
Location	Merryland, Heliopolis
Created by:	Lina Anjoukah
More info	To all the peopole who live in Heliopolis and Rehab and want to participate in the convey heading to assist our brothers and sisers in Libya, I'm starting this event but I'm going to need some volunteers in this, some ppl to help putting things in boxes and some ppl to protect the collected things: please note that we are not collecting money,just Meds, supplies and dry food. . The Medicines "most needed": _______________________ Cefotax 1gm Flumox 1gm Declophin amp Ciprofar 500+750 tab Dicynone amp Valium amp Pain killers Medical supplies : _______________________________ Solvents, and Reid salt and glucose 5% Surgical Sutures Devices to give solutions Cotton, gauze Surgical Sutures "different sizes" on silk needle and silk bottles for blood transfusion Devices for blood transfusion Plaster Cannula "different Sizes" Food _____________ Flour Rice Sugar Beans Powder Milk Pasta for further information please call: 0190026299 or send an email to: libyanconvoy@gmail.com

Sout al Horreya

Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam Song for the world.

My People

by Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) on Sunday, 13 February 2011

Dear Friends,
If you wish to take part in adding your voice to support people around the world still dreaming of being unshackled from harsh authoritarian regimes, you will soon have a chance to do so.

Yusuf has written a song which is inspired by the world shaking call to freedom and the removal of oppression from the peoples of Tunisia and Egypt, the song called My People will soon be available and you'll be able to send a recording of your voice to be used on the chorus - God Willing.

If you would like to join in, this is how:

1. Listen to the chorus, "MY PEOPLE", here
2. Choose one of the 3 part harmony samples, and record yourself singing the words "MY PEOPLE",
3. Then send your recording as an MP3/ Wav or Aiff (with no background noise please) to:

mypeople@yusufislam.ae

To Download Yusuf's MP3 Sample to your computer right click and select 'Download Linked File'

We will try to use as many submissions as possible. The deadline for receiving your contribution will be Tuesday 15th February, 3pm GMT.

The track once completed will be made available as a FREE MP3 Download.

SPREAD THE WORD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

link

For the Egyptian Martyrs

'Egyptian People' as 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Nominate us here:
 Sign petition here

Egyptian Revolution 11th February 2011

Ya Ya Masr!

Egyptian Revolution 11th February 2011

The future is in their hands

Friday 11 February 2011

by George Galloway

There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen.
The peoples of the Arab world, and therefore the rest of us, are now living through those weeks - described in words used by the Russian revolutionary Lenin a century ago.
Revolution is back on the agenda, on the front page of the New York Times even, at just the time when globalised capitalism is mired in its deepest economic crisis for generations and the seemingly almighty power of US imperialism is being demonstrated to be anything but.
The overthrow of the Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia last month, triggering the heroic and ongoing uprising of the people of Egypt, the most populous and strategically significant Arab country, was a real revolution. So is Egypt's.
There was a foolish and shortlived attempt to dub the revolutionary uprising in Egypt the "Lotus revolution," but no amount of cheap advertising copy can devalue the profound and welcome changes that millions of Egyptians are fighting for.
The fate of that movement lies in the balance this weekend, as people across the globe take to the streets today in response to a call from Cairo for international solidarity.
But the courage of the protesters in Tahrir Square, in Alexandria, in the great port city of Suez, and in every town and city in Egypt, has already settled some questions definitively.
How long have we been told in the West that the poor benighted people of the Arab Muslim worlds are incapable of taking their futures into their own hands?
All the lies deployed to justify the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan took this great lie as their premise - that the West must bomb and blast the people of those countries into "democracy" because they are incapable of changing their societies themselves.
The fall of Ben Ali and the rise of the Egyptian masses has put paid to that essentially racist stereotype. The women in Egypt - young and old, with hijabs or not, university educated and from the slums - are showing that they do not need Laura Bush or Cheri Blair giving a faux-feminist gloss to F16s to liberate them. The sisters are doing it for themselves alongside men drawn from across the base of Egyptian society.
And the US State Department, British Foreign Office and French Quai d'Orsay don't like it one bit. It's not only their close personal connections with the torturing regimes of Ben Ali and Mubarak which now stand fully exposed. We know a little about Tony Blair, who still found Mubarak a force for good as the death toll from his clinging onto power climbed above 300.
More is at stake than these politicians' personal connections with Mubarak. The cornerstone of decades of US and Western policy of holding down the mass of the people in the region in the interests of oil, corporate control of trade and investment and Israel is shattering. Every Arab despot ruling the region almost without exception from the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf knows it. Which is why the wind of change that is intoxicating their people is bringing a chill to each of those regimes.
And that's why the State Department and its counterparts, caught flat-footed over Christmas with the revolution against Ben Ali, have been bending might and mane to contain the revolution in Egypt. How could it be otherwise? Half the population of Egypt is on less than $2 a day, when the price of a kilo of tomatoes has increased fivefold in 12 months to exactly that daily wage.
The inspiring resurgence of the movement on the streets of Egypt has created further crisis for the regime and for its Western backers, who had to become more forthright in pushing Mubarak to go. They would prefer to have kept him. They would prefer to keep the regime without Mubarak, in the person of Suleiman. They are risking this revolution deepening and radicalising, so that when the regime's key figures do fall the great fountain of humanity in Egypt's streets will not be satisfied but will demand much more by way of political and social justice.
At the time of writing the heroes of Egypt were looking to do just that, with strikes spreading among government workers and calls for marches on government buildings on Friday.
For progressives in the West this is a historic development, and everyone must play their part to help ensure that progress wins in Egypt, not bloody repression in the name of the party of order.
We must ruthlessly expose the hypocrisy of our governments. When they express support for the Egyptian revolution it is as a rope supports a hanging man. They want the army to be the bedrock of any future regime. They do not mean the army of 1973, which bravely fought against Israel. They do not mean the army of soldiers fraternising with their brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers in the streets. They mean the army of the Egyptian high command, the generals, who have been bought and paid for by Washington and who will do its bidding.
When Cameron, Clinton, Hague or Obama talk of democracy in Egypt and the region what they mean, to paraphrase that great Algerian St Augustine, is god grant them democracy, but not yet.
Hillary Clinton spelt it out. Democracy, she said, is not only about process, it is about outcomes. Quite right. But the outcome they fear is that any remotely democratic government in Egypt or Jordan would not produce the outcome of supine adherence to Western interests and the state of Israel.
In Egypt, according to Pew researchers, 82 per cent of people have a negative view of the US, and just 17 per cent positive. It's no mystery why. And so we hear desperate warnings from neocons, liberal imperialists and even some on the social democratic left against the chaos that will result from "snap elections." Egyptians, they say, must wait. But as Martin Luther King reminded us half a century ago writing from a jailhouse in Alabama, wait nearly always means never.
The final bogeyman is the creature David Cameron chose to summon up in his bierkeller rant in Munich last week - fear of Islam, hatred of Muslims, Islamophobia.
We cannot have democracy because the wrong guys may win - in this case the Muslim Brotherhood. Leave aside that the Brotherhood is just one opposition force among many and that it aspires to the kind of government represented by the AK party in Turkey, moderate and efficient by any measure.
The argument in fact has little to do with the Muslim Brotherhood or any other Islamically inspired political organisation. It is about refusing to accept a change that would threaten Western interests, that might inspire a unified Arab world to use its immense natural resources for the good of all the people there and the good of humanity as a whole.
It is, in short, an argument with the simple purpose of demobilising forces pushing for revolutionary change and democracy in Egypt and beyond, and strengthening the fingernail extractors, electrocutors and assassins who Western hegemony relies on.
But I do not see it working, even though it will intensify the racist atmosphere against the 18 million Muslims and immigrants living in Europe, who may well feel that the direct fight for a better future in the Maghreb and other regions they hail from is a fairly good model for struggling for a better life for all within Europe itself.
The sands of time have run out for the pharaoh. He may yet unleash rivers of blood in a bid to hold on. But this wind of change that blew sweetly first through Tunis and now Cairo will not stop there.
With it comes the possibility of undoing the legacy left from the colonial era of Sykes and Picot, of Edwardian gentlemen carving out new states and spheres of influence on the back of a napkin.
And the biggest outstanding injustice of all is Palestine. If the Egyptian regime falls to this great wave, the gates of Rafah will fall too and with them the siege on Gaza. Already the breeze is blowing in the West Bank against those who have enriched themselves while selling every Palestinian aspiration in the sham negotiations with Israel.
What is unfolding now in Egypt is not simply an national revolution, or even just an Arab revolution - it is a moment that holds out the prospect of the most profound change in the way the world is ordered, an historic event in the global struggle of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter.
Victory to the Egyptian revolution!

Egyptian Revolution Jan 25th 2011 - Take what's Yours!

Egyptian Revolution Jan 25th 2011 - Take what's Yours!

Where to get supplies in Ras Sidr

Ras Sidr stretches for 90Km along the coastal South Sinai Peninsula.
It is dotted on the coastal side with various resorts, and on the opposite side of the Sharm el Sheikh Road by desert.
From the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel, your first step onto the Sinai and heading towards the South and Sharm el Sheikh you will pass a few bedouin villages, the first one being Oyun Musa. This is where the Moses Springs are and the Oyun Musa Fortified Artillery Museum and bunker (both open to visitors).

Passing Oyun Musa and heading South you will pass the resorts on your right and a few olive and tamarind groves on your left.
If you need very basic groceries Oyun Musa village has a small store.

There are also a few small grocer shops on the entrances of a couple of the first few resorts.

There is one petrol station not far after the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel and three more in Ras Sidr Town.

Fresh camel milk is sold from two small wooden kiosks with a camel painted on the front and sides by the side of the road on the right as you head South. Both are between Oyun Musa village and Oyun Musa Fortified Artillery Bunker.

There are a couple of coach stops serving snacks between Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel and Ras Sidr Town and a further four coach stops with two in Ras Sidr on the main highway at the entrance to Ras Sidr, and at the village of Abu Suweir about 5KM south of Ras Sidr Town has a further two coach stops.


The village of Abu Suweir has a few grocer shop stores and hardware stores and on Tuesday mornings Abu Suweir has the bedouin market two KM up the Abu Suweir Main Road, which sells hardware, fresh fish, live poultry and sheep, dried pulses, clothing, pots and pans and various foodstuffs.

The main area for shopping is Ras Sidr Town. At the entrance to Ras Sidr just past the police station there is a large souk area.
The souk has a few large grocers and many smaller grocery shops all types of groceries, Egyptian fast food, phone cards, newspapers, cigarettes,mobile phones and electronics.

Plumbing supplies, electrical supplies. Swimming and diving gear and toys. Clothing and bric a brac.  Carpets and bedding and beds. Carpenters making furniture and kitchens. Tiling shops and bathroom fittings. Baths and showers. Bicycles for sale and rental. Fresh fish, poultry and fresh meat. Fresh bread.

You can buy fishing rods, swimwear, goggles, snorkels and fins. Trunks, shorts and swimsuits of all types. Scarves and bandanas and sunglasses. Sandals, trainers, beach shoes, deck shoes and diving bootees. Football shirts, holiday wear, footballs, and other beach toys.

There are two internet cafes. One stationery shop and a post office.

There is a large general hospital, a few doctor surgeries and one medical testing lab.

Shark WARNING!

A WARNING has been issued by the Egyptian Government to bathers in the Red Sea resport of Sharm el Sheikh to avoid swimming in the waters due to shark attacks which have left 2 dead and 3 injured.

Swimming is prohibited, at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. Egyptian authorities have indefinitely closed the resort's beaches for swimming after oceanic white tip sharks mauled three Russians and a Ukrainian tourist last week, and tore the arm off an elderly German tourist on Sunday, killing her almost immediately.
Marine biologists and environmental ministers are meeting in Alexandria to discuss the matter.