Egyptian Scribbles

Back on my blog... and Oman!

2008-03-28T00:12:00.003+02:00

It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog… sorry! But because I know it’s a good way to stay in touch with my friends, I’m going to post entries again – make sure you let me know what you think/ what you’re up to/ how you are!

I’m writing this from Oman. I’m here on a holiday with matt cipolla, a friend from Harvard Law School. This time last year we were in Papua New Guinea together… we like to choose odd places to visit!
My first impression of Oman (or the capital Muscat to be exact) was that it is clean and organized. After Cairo, it’s incredible to be able to breathe deeply and not choke!! I was also struck immediately by how many Indian people are living here. It reminds me of my days living in Nepal/ India. When I arrived last night, I could smell the curry and spices. And there were Indian men and women out walking vigorously, arms swinging, saris flowing. I’ve yet to see Egyptians out walking in this way – mainly because most people would get an asthma attack within 10 minutes (I’ve tried running around Zamalek and every time I wish I’d just stayed on the couch and eaten ice-cream..). It’s also striking that every man is wearing a white galabeya with a hat/ headscarf. There is much less western dress amongst the Omanis compared to the Egyptians. A man from the reception took pity on me this afternoon (I’m here alone at the moment until Matt arrives in a few hours). He gave me a lift to my new hotel and it was such a surreal experience! He was wearing a white galabeya and hat, but also Armani shades. He had a cowboy boot key-chain ring and house music was blasting from his stereo. So many contrasts!!

But I do miss Egypt and it’s chaos… I took our rental car out tonight to buy some dinner and did a somewhat illegal U-turn in the middle of the road. In Egypt, this would be a matter-of-course. Everyone everywhere is breaking the rules of the road (just do it quickly and honk a lot…that’s what I’ve learned while driving in Cairo). But I was told off here by a taxi driver who pulled up next to me… The roads are actually organized and smooth-running here!! It’s a shock to the system! I’ve become somewhat addicted to making up the road rules as I go along..

Matt is currently stuck in Kuwait but I am excited for him to get here so we can start exploring. There are mountains to see – and deserts and turtle-nesting spots (one of the biggest in the world). I’d just better obey the road rules!!
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Tolerance versus Blind Acceptance of Discriminatory Customs

2007-11-21T18:36:00.000+02:00

I liked this statement that I read today on the UN website entitled “Étude sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction et la condition de la femme au regard de la religion et des traditions”

"Not all traditions are equally valid, and those which run counter to human rights must be combated. It is essential to distinguish between tolerance, which is necessary, and blind acceptance of customs which may involve degrading treatment or blatant violations of human rights. In order to ensure that freedom of religion does not undermine women's rights, it is vital that the right to difference which that freedom implies should not be interpreted as a right to indifference to the status of women. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Where, after all, do human rights begin? In small places, close to home”."
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/III1.htm

What is wrong with the men here?

2007-11-21T15:51:00.001+02:00

Last night, as I was leaving my Arabic lesson, a young boy (maybe 14 max?) walked past me on dark and reasonably lonely pavement. As he approached me, he leant in and whispered something into my ear. He also grabbed my arm for a split second. I didn't understand what he whispered, but it was threatening and intimidating and certainly wasn't meant to be a pleasant experience for me.
I walked home and fumed (and occasionally cried) for the next 40 minutes. Why would such a young boy feel entitled to intimate and harass me in this way? What on earth is his view of women (and, of course, Western women in particular)?
I was wearing many layers of clothing that covered my arms and legs. I had on a pair of trainers and a coat that was buttoned to my neck (I was kind of hot, actually!). So I was not "on display" in any way... (just in case anyone thinks I might be to blame...)
As this blog makes clear, I am deeply saddened by the way women are treated in this society. As a liberated, strong, free woman, I feel that I am being pressurised every day to be meek and to cover myself and to stare at the floor. Ideally, it seems, I wouldn't leave the house.
One person has told me that I am a guest in this society and should leave if I don't like the customs. But this isn't "custom." This is a social outlook that encourages even young boys to threaten and subdue the women that pass them on the street.
I do not believe that society in the US or the UK is perfect. And I am not 'bashing' every aspect of the Muslim world or claiming that there is true equality between the sexes in any other country. But I am angry and dismayed and horrified at the deep-seated and very public sexism in this society. Even if the Quran does call for a 'barrier' between the sexes, this barrier should also be respected by men. The men, as much as the women, should lower their gaze and not intrude into a woman's personal space. They should keep their sexuality in check in public spaces. Here, men's actions towards women are tinged with violence and are intended to continually underline male supremacy. I feel strangled and it is a fight for me every day to not become subdued and a little defeated.
I do not care what women wear. I do not care if the sexes never look each other in the eye. But I do care that women are continually threatened in the street, are completely absent from political positions (Egypt was ranked 130 out of 134 countries in the "Women in Parliament" rankings, 2005: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/classif300906.htm), and that educational opportunities and even health care are nowhere near as readily available to women as to men (see World Economic Forum rankings on women's equality in Egypt at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf. Women's empowerment is ranked from 7 (highest) to 1 (lowest) and Egypt comes near the bottom at 2.38 out of 7).
I do not want one societal model that is implemented around the world. I value the differences that exist from culture to culture, including the degree to which religion is integrated into political and legal life. I accept the principle of modest dress and behaviour, as long as it is demanded of men as much as women. But sexual inequality and a culture of aggression towards and repression of women should be eliminated in every society. I feel in Egyptian society that there is a long way to go.
I am angered when I am living in the UK and US because I am very aware of the gender discrimination and 'glass ceilings' that still exist. As a woman, I face extra hurdles when I contemplate how to balance a career and children. I have to continually assess whether, if I choose to wear makeup or shave my legs, I am bowing to masculine desires and demands. I have to consider why I always feel the need to lose another few pounds in weight. But my anguish in those societies can't match the anger that I feel living in this society where I am physically and mentally assaulted by men every single day.

Friend asks me why I'm angry about Saudi Rape

2007-11-21T15:31:00.000+02:00

A friend wrote to me in response to my posting about the Saudi rape case and asked: "what exactly makes you angry about this? :)" He went on: "I can see why there is plenty in this case to make one angry, the mere fact that a 19 year old was savagely gang-raped 14 times is more than enough, but I still don't think that absolves the victim for her "crime." And what she did is a crime as defined by the Laws of the country in which she lives. Whether it is an appropriate or just law, and whether it accurately reflects the requirements of Islam are wholly irrelevant to the matter at hand. The fact is, she was committing a crime when she got into the stranger's car and (absent any absolving factors) she should be punished for it, irrespective of what happens afterwards. "

I have written a lengthy response to this comment (and it could probably have gone on for many, many more pages). My anger arises for a number of different reasons (as I explain). But one of the most disturbing things for me regarding this comment was the view of law as a mechanical tool that should be applied no matter what has happened to the criminal/ victim (ie the 19-year-old woman). Even if, for some reason I cannot understand, you believe that the woman should be punished for "illegal mingling", the fact that she was gang-raped and has to carry the scars of that attack around with her for the rest of the life should surely be punishment enough???

For more information about this case, see http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/16/saudia17363.htm
It turns out that both the woman and her male friend (the man who she was "illegally mingling" with) were gang raped by a group of strange men:
"The young woman, who is married, said she had met with a male acquaintance who had promised to give her back an old photograph of herself. After she met her acquaintance in his car in Qatif, a gang of seven men then attacked and raped both of them, multiple times. Despite the prosecution’s requests for the maximum penalty for the rapists, the Qatif court sentenced four of them to between one and five years in prison and between 80 and 1,000 lashes. They were convicted of kidnapping, apparently because prosecutors could not prove rape. The judges reportedly ignored evidence from a mobile phone video in which the attackers recorded the assault. "

I would be curious to hear people's response to the idea that, if a law is on the books, it should be applied regardless of the pain that might have consequently been inflicted on the individual who violated the law. I have put some examples in my comment on the original saudi rape posting (following Sage's comment). Any more comments/ rebuttals would be appreciated.

Cambodian Image - Khmer Rouge and Genocide Tribunal

2007-11-19T15:50:00.000+02:00

One of the most striking images from today's BBC "world in pictures".

"Cambodian boy Bum Leap, 15, sits by a shrine in Phnom Penh filled with remains of Khmer Rouge victims as a UN-backed tribunal rounds up senior members of the former regime."

This photo links with the news that Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's former head of state, was arrested and taken him to a UN-backed genocide tribunal.

I have friends working at this tribunal and I hope that it will be able to provide the people of Cambodia with the justice and resolution that they desire and deserve. Transitional justice is such a tricky issue....

Eritrean Pentecostalism - Refugees in Cairo

2007-11-19T11:25:00.000+02:00

I am currently researching Eritrean Pentecostalism.
The persecution of religious minorities in Eritrea is terrible. Here is one description from a (rather dated but still accurate) man who posted a comment on the BBC:

"I was doing my national service in Sawa Military training during the period 1999- 2001. During the two years period of my stay in Sawa, I witnessed an enormous amount of beating and torture to individuals who happened to be followers of Jehovah's Witness and Pentecostal (commonly known as "Pente") religions. I was, on many occasions, a prison guard to these people. The Jehovas are detained for refusing, according to their faith, to take the military training. But the "Pentes" are usually simply detained for reading bibles, praying in a group, singing gospels etc during the free time, even though they are good soldiers. Once they are detained their head is shaven, like the other criminals in the prison. 20-30 of them are detained in a 3x4 metal-house. They were allowed to go out only for 30 minutes in whole day. The perfect relaxation time for the detainees were when they were taken to load and unloads cement, food etc from trucks. They all prefer this work than to be locked in the container even though it is physically exhausting for them. But the worst time for all of them was during 'questioning' time. They were badly beaten to the extent that noses are broken, feet bleed. After the beating comes the notorious 'helicopter' torture in which your two legs are tied with your hands on your back. You are thrown in the sun and milk is poured on your body to attract the flies. It was the most inhuman treatment I have ever witnessed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3663654.stm

(The image on the RHS is from a website that deals with Eritrean conscientious objectors in general - Pentecostalists do not necessarily resist military service (unlike, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses). http://www.wri-irg.org/news/2005/eritrea-en.htm)

Saudi Gang-Raped Woman is Sentenced to Lashings and Prison

2007-11-16T11:22:00.000+02:00

This story made me so angry: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7096814.stm
It describes a situation in Saudi Arabia where a 19-year-old woman who was gang-raped fourteen times has, herself, been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison. She was given these lashes because she had violated Islamic rules about separation of the sexes and had been in the car of a strange man. Her punishment was increased after she appealed the initial ruling in the case. The judges said that she has been attempting to manipulate the media.
Also, her lawyer has had his license suspended and faces disciplinary proceedings.

Prayers

2007-11-16T01:16:00.000+02:00

When I am in my evening Arabic class, we generally stop to listen to the prayers from the mosque next door. This evening, my teacher sang the prayers to me - it was mesmerisingly beautiful. The rhythm and flow of the prayers were deeply spiritual. I only wish that all the muezzins have a voice as good as my teacher's!

This painting is from the Egyptian Museum of Modern Art in Cairo. I visited this gallery last weekend and this image was one of my favourites.

Arabic Calligraphy

2007-11-16T00:51:00.000+02:00

I went to a beautiful exhibition in the Cairo Opera House that featured Arabic calligraphy. Here are a couple of my favourite images - if you look close enough you can see me in the reflection of the right-hand picture!

Paper Streamers and Sunshine

2007-11-16T00:10:00.000+02:00

I'm not sure why there are so many streamers and paper chains hanging across the streets here in Cairo - maybe they are left over from the recent Eid festivities. Or maybe they are year-round decorations...

Regardless, I loved the way these silver pieces of paper were catching the light this afternoon on my walk through Zamalek. It's still lovely and warm here. Cairo natives tell me that it's unseasonably hot, but I'm enjoying the sunshine (when I can see it through the smog ;-)).

Burmese Embassy - down with the junta.

2007-11-15T23:44:00.000+02:00

When I was walking past the Burmese Embassy on the way home the other night, I notice this posting on the outside wall. The junta's oppression of the Burmese people is horrific. I wrote a report on the conditions inside Burma last year and talked with over 20 Burmese democracy activists who lived in Thailand, the US and the UK. I deeply admired their own self-sacrifice and that of their friends who remained inside Burma. This notice declares that the monks who recently demonstrated against the junta had "perverted" and sullied their religion by mixing it with politics. It makes me so angry to read this notice and know that hundreds of Burmese activists are rotting away in jail simply because they want freedom of expression and open elections. Whenever I walk past the Burmese Embassy, I think about these brave activists and pray that the junta will somehow be removed so that the Burmese people can emerge from the terrible oppression, poverty and fear that currently rule their lives.

Dead Kittens

2007-11-13T21:47:00.000+02:00

I was walking home from the postoffice this afternoon and enjoying the sunshine and a slightly cooler nip in the air, and then I saw this dead kittne on the pavement. There was a time when I would have sat down on the kerb and cried at the sight of this little thing, but fortunately I've developed a tougher skin over the years. But it's still sad to see the half-starved horses being beaten on the streets, and to find dead little cats on the pavement. It's just one other element of life here that makes the days a bit tougher.

Of course, there is also a great deal of animal pain and suffering in British and American societies, but it is kept hidden from public view in large factory farms and abattoirs. This is why I'm a vegetarian... But public and open animal cruelty is generally regarded as unacceptable and something that would generate disapproval. Are British and US societies hypocritical with regard to their treatment of animals? Of course. But I still appreciate the fact that beating a dog or an emaciated horse is not regarded as acceptable behaviour.

Balancing Acts around Cairo

2007-11-13T20:52:00.000+02:00

I'm continually impressed at the balancing acts I see people perform on the streets here. I didn't manage to photograph the guy with bread on his head actually biking - he biked past me and then the Danish Embassy security guard stopped him.

EIPR/ HRW report on denial of religious freedom in Egypt

2007-11-12T23:11:00.000+02:00

Today, EIPR published its joint report (with HRW) on the persecution of Baha'is within Egypt. This report is an excellent account of the way in which the Egyptian government denies freedom of religion within Egypt. Basically, all national ID cards (cards that are essential for routine activities such as enrolling in university, acquiring a driving license, travelling, drawing a pension etc...) require that the individual declares his or her religion. There are only 3 religions that can be selected: Muslim, Christian and Jew. There is no option for a blank. This means that the Bahai community in Egypt is denied basic rights and discriminated against in a terrible manner. Also, individuals who convert from Islam to Christianity face charges of apostasy and are denied the ID cards.

There was an impressive press conference held at our office today, with a range of foreign and Egyptian journalists. I was happy to see a report on the BBC website this evening:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7091412.stm

Some words of wisdom from Edward Abbey

2007-11-12T22:37:00.000+02:00

"We're all undesirable elements from somebody's point of view." Abbey's Road.

"Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others." A Voice Crying in the Wilderness.

Egyptian Museum of Modern Art

2007-11-12T10:18:00.000+02:00

I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon in the Opera House complex in Zamalek. I finally found some solitude and peace!! I even managed to eat a sandwich sitting on the steps of the Museum of Modern Art without getting harassed. And there was classical music playing over the sound system..... ahhhhhhhh......
There were some interesting pieces in the museum. I took photographs of the ones that really caught my eye. More of the photographs are posted on my flickr account and on my other blog, http://spiritualsustenance.blogspot.com/

On this blog, I've decided to post a picture entitled something like "crowding" or "over-population". It was in the section where modern artists had been asked to capture elements of life in Cairo. There were, of course, more classically 'beautiful' images, but this painting reflects the chaos and crowds in the street here and the reason why I'm finding it so difficult to get any kind of real peace...

Daily Torture to the Ears... Calls to Prayer

2007-11-11T20:09:00.000+02:00

Back in 2005, Muhammad Ahmad told the BBC that: "Rather than being a joy, to listen to the call to prayer is a daily torture to the ears." I could deeply sympathise with the description of the morning prayers given by Ahmad, a Cairo resident. My apartment is directly opposite a mosque and the morning call to prayer manages to rip into my sleep even with ear plugs firmly implanted (yes, yes, I know such firm implanation can't be good for the ears... but severe lack of sleep will also have bad effects...).

The BBC describes beautifully how:
"Just before dawn, Cairo resident Muhammad Ahmad is jolted out of his peaceful sleep by a thunderous azan, or call to prayer, roaring out from huge speakers attached to a very modest mosque two streets away.
A few moments later a second, even louder muezzin's voice joins in - not in time or in tune with the first call to prayer - summoning him to do his duty, this time at the local prayer hall just around the corner.
Over the next few minutes, at least half a dozen other voices of varying tunefulness join in - distorting the sound of the azans and making them sound like a military order.
Being invited to rise and pray is one thing, but discordant bellowing is quite another. ...

"Some of the mosques blast not just the roughly dozen sentences of the call itself," he wrote, "but all of the verses and actual prayers intoned by the local imam."
When all the local mosques do the same thing competing with one another in volume, what should be an announcement lasting at most two minutes goes on for 45 minutes, keeping the entire neighbourhood in a state of high alert.
"I'm not an irreligious man," he explains.
"But there were no loudspeakers at the time of the Prophet. Now, rather than being a joy, to listen to the call to prayer is a daily torture to the ears."

The main point of the article is to describe the controversy that arose in 2005 when the Ministry of Religious Endowments attempted to unify the call for prayer and have it broadcast from one spot. The opposition was allegedly huge, with citizens claiming that America had backed this idea (to silence radical muezzins in individual mosques), or that the Egyptian government was attempting to get its own message across by destroying the range of calls given by different muezzins.

So, 2 years later, nothing is resolved. And many people living in Cairo (yes, that would include me!) are left to suffer through a microphoned cacophony of tuneless prayers.

Women in Iran

2007-11-10T08:56:00.000+02:00

I have been reading this morning about women in Iran. My attention was drawn to the issue in part because Delaram Ali, a woman's rights activist from Iran, was recently sentenced to a flogging and two-and-a-half years in prison for working against the state. Amnesty International and other groups are calling for her release.
(see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7088310.stm)

The BBC also has an article on the "fashion police" in Iran and how the authorities are attempting to get Iranian women to dress more conservatively. The article is interesting, but what I found most thought-provoking were the comments that follow the article. Some people criticise the BBC reporter for being too negative: one woman asks "We certainly do not question what is worn by the average person on the streets of London, Paris or Berlin? So why is there such a great interest in Iran?"

Another woman emphasises the way in which wearing the veil can be empowering - but also stresses how heavy-handed governmental enforcement of women's dress can make lead to distorted social views of women. This is how the veil becomes an article of oppression rather than of liberation:

"The issue of hejab occupies the minds of women and men alike since the Islamic revolution in 1979. A woman convinced of the necessity of hejab feels that she does not wish to attract the stares of strange men by exposing her body and hair and stressing the beauty of her face. She wants to be valued as a person, not as a beauty. In many Islamic countries, women wear hejab, but with much more variety. While I like to cover up, I think that the authorities, when imposing hejab shortly after the revolution, went too far and were too restrictive. Thereby, they created sensivities in men that it is now difficult to get rid of."
Madleine, Tehran, Iran

Comforting day hiding in my room.... and Llangollen!

2007-11-09T19:56:00.000+02:00

I've had a wonderful day and I haven't even stepped outside of my house (maybe that's why it has been nice! ;-)). I started the day with an hour's silent meditation, then I did yoga, then I read a beautiful email from my friend in Chile, then I read about Quakerism and the quest for community and seeking a higher being. And now I'm planning on heading out to a Denali celebration in Cairo (a Hindi friend is celebrating this festival of light!). I've also been having lovely daydreams about the green mountains in Wales - and particularly Llangollen, where I was born. This photograph was taken this summer when I was visiting my mum. For me, it's heaven on earth! My mum and sister are in the photo - it's my screen saver on my computer because my mum's smile and the view over the 11th-century Crow Castle are always very comforting to see.

Solitude in the Quaker Faith

2007-11-09T17:39:00.000+02:00

I have been reading about Quaker faith and practice this morning. I wanted to share this quotation from one woman writing in the early 20th century. I am continually struggling with the degree of solitude that suits my personality, and I liked the perspective in this quotation:

"The amount of solitude which is attainable or would be wholesome in the case of any individual life is a matter which each of us must judge for himself... A due proportion of solitude is one of the most important conditions of mental health. Therefore if it be our lot to stand apart from those close natural ties by which life is for most people shaped and filled, let us not be in haste to fill the gap; let us not carelessly or rashly throw away the opportunity of entering into that deeper and more continual acquaintance with the unseen and eternal things which is the natural and great compensation for the loss of easier joys. The loneliness which we rightly dread is not the absence of human faces and voices - it is the absence of love... Our wisdom therefore must lie in learning not to shrink from anything that may be in store for us, but so to grasp the master key of life as to be able to turn everything to good and fruitful account."
Caroline E Stephen, 1908
http://quakersfp.live.poptech.coop/qfp/chap22/22.20.html

Nonsense!

2007-11-09T12:34:00.000+02:00

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it is a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities."-Dr. Seuss

I was looking at middlexeast's blog this morning (see http://themiddleeastinterest.wordpress.com/2007/11/) and I had to share today's posting... It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile too: courtesy of middlexeast!
I definitely could feel new brain cells waking up.. Working as a human rights lawyer and reading page after page of politics / law/ accounts of abuse can make life's realities all too present. This posting reminded me to turn the telescope around!

Amy Winehouse - what??!

2007-11-09T01:50:00.001+02:00

Ok... so just one of the songs I was listening to today was "Back to Black". What is she going on about when she says "And life is like a pie (pipe?) and I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside." Is this some cool drug reference that I'm too uncool to understand? I like to think she's saying "pie" because it reminds me of blackbirds baked in a pie, and pennies that were put in plum puddings for christmas. But I'm guessing it's pipe and I will be disappointed...

Storefront IV: Guns and Black-Clad Security Forces

2007-11-09T01:31:00.000+02:00

This was definitely my favourite shop for today! As I was walking in the downtown area, I passed this gun shop. My heart was warmed at the thought of guns being handed out over the counter -- I felt like I was back in the US! Particularly reassuring was the fact that I turned the corner and saw three black Egyptian security-force trucks parked on the street.

The photographs are a little dark, but I hope you can just make out the faces of the security forces staring out through the small barred truck windows. Big police and security force trucks just like this seem to be parked everywhere and, if you look up at them, you see dozens of pairs of eyes staring down at you from behind barred windows.

One little aside on the black-clad security forces (compared with the white-clad police). The men who serve in the security-forces are conscripted from the poorest sections of Egypt (where people live on less than $1 a day). They have to leave their families and come to live in Cairo for three years. They live in camps on the outskirts of the city where conditions are reported to be terrible. Whenever there are demonstrations or civil discontent, it is usually these security forces who are ordered to come in and beat up the citizens - they get all the government's dirty work...

Maybe the apartment is pretty, but the outside? Ugly as hell

2007-11-09T01:13:00.000+02:00

My apartment is lovely on the inside, but that doesn't mean that the walls in the corridor outside aren't dirty and crumbling, and that the lift doesn't look like it's about to snap off its wire! Every single lift in the buildings here (apart from the posh hotels) are nasty looking death-traps with doors that only half close and a faint smell of piss. The stairwells aren't much better, though I usually opt for these above the lifts (at least I can get off the stairs in a powercut!). In addition, every 'courtyard' in the centre of the buildings basically doubles up as a rubbish tip/ cat paradise. These photographs were taken from the 'courtyard' in the offices of AMERA, the refugee non-profit where I am doing some work. The building itself has a beautiful marble staircase and is located in the prestigious embassy district in Garden City. The British Embassy is directly opposite. But, as usual, there is a rubbish dump right in the middle of the building (and this is an exact replica of the 'courtyard' in my apartment complex). The keen-sighted blog readers can try to spot all the cats!

What I was dreaming of today...

2007-11-09T00:51:00.000+02:00

After pushing through downtown Cairo in the dark (the electricity decided to cut out as I was half-way down a rather precarious staircase coming from a coffee shop), I spent a very happening Thursday night on the treadmill in the gym. I started thinking about a hike I did this summer with my little sister, Laura. We went up to the top of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales, and enjoyed some breathtaking views and clean, crisp air. What I would give for some peace and quiet, some open space and some good outdoor exercise.... the memories alone made me feel 100% better! Ok... I think pictures of Wales will have to be another regular posting. The process of putting them up on my blog will make me happier!

Midan Tahrir

2007-11-09T00:36:00.000+02:00

This "Times Square" of Cairo is called Midan Tahrir. I walk through this downtown square most evenings and attempt to navigate the crazy traffic and frantic crowds. I love watching the families who are gathered around the statue (can't work out who the turbaned dude is...), peacefully picnicking while hundreds of cars pump out fumes fit for a chain-smoker. I also think it's interesting to see the minarets and palm-tree lined (crumbling) promenades next to the flashing Sanyo/ Coca-Cola signs.

Loneliness

2007-11-09T00:08:00.000+02:00

I've been searching for a good poem tonight on loneliness, but this is a sensation that conjures up such melancholy and self-pity that the poetry on the topic is generally dire! So, self-pity aside, I wanted to jot down a few notes on my sensations of loneliness - a feeling that is not new to me because I seem incapable of staying in any one location or with any one person for more than a fleeting amount of time!
So... loneliness.... you tend to know it's creeping into your life when:
- you eat every meal alone and generally standing up.
- you end up spending hours on the internet reading strangers' blogs (I hate this!)
- you don't end up going to bed until 3am because you feel too hollow inside to be sleepy.
- you walk for hours at night because you can't face another long night at home. You walk even more at the weekends.
- you come home and see your roommate's boyfriend's shoes and know they are lying on bed watching a movie together.
- you are happy to see familiar strangers who go to your yoga class because their presence is comforting.
- you walk down the street and know that nobody is looking at you as an interesting and feeling human being but only as a foreigner (and one who is apparently readily available for sex!!)
- you start wondering a little too much why your relationships always fall apart.
- you have to fight back tears when you see couples and friends laughing together and showing affection.
- you start making a running commentary of your life in your mind and you talk about yourself in 3rd person (a sure sign that you're spending too much time alone!).
- the only people who talk to you all day are the men on the street who say "sexy, sexy, sexy."

Of course, all of these feelings are heightened, or even initially created, by boredom. Unbelievably, despite being in an incredibly new culture that never fails to surprise... I'm bored. Mainly because I sit at my desk all day and have nothing to do. But I'm trying hard to think of new projects and make new friends so all self-pitying and melancholic posts are eradicated from this blog!
But nobody should underestimate the difficulties of moving to a new city where you don't know a soul - especially when you don't speak the language. I always like to forget exactly how emotionally challenging this experience can be. But, fortunately, I also know that it generally gets better. So I just have to ride it out and look for the damn silver linings!

Bedouin family life

2007-11-09T00:05:00.000+02:00

As I mentioned in the previous posting, I went to a talk about Bedouins in Sinai yesterday. So it was interesting to read this article in the BBC about Bedouin family life:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7083696.stm

An audience of dissatisfied African men

2007-11-08T15:41:00.000+02:00

Last night, November 7, I went to a talk at AU on “Crossing the Border: Palestinians, Migrants and Bedouins in Sinai.” The speaker described the complex layers of cultures and ethnic groups that live and move through this section of Egypt. There were, she said, four principal groups: 1) Palestinians; 2) Bedouins; 3) Egyptian migrants; and 4) Illegal migrants.
The speaker described the thousands of Palestinians that have been trapped at the border at Rafah since Hamas took control of Gaza strip. A new word, she said, has emerged in the Palestinian dictionary to describe these people: “al-Alqyin”, or “the stranded.” She explained how the Bedouins, who had lived in this section of the world for generations, lacked basic legal rights such as property rights and citizenship. She outlined how the Egyptian government repopulated Sinai after 1982, drawing villagers from the Egyptian valley over to Sinai with promises of better salaries and housing.
But what struck me about the whole talk was not all this fascinating information about Palestinians, Bedouins and Egyptian migrants. It was the makeup of the audience who had come to listen to the talk. Over 75% of the people sitting in the room were African men. I have no idea where these men were from. I have no idea whether they are living in Egypt legally or illegally. But they did seem particularly fascinated by the topic of “illegal migrants.” Unfortunately, the speaker only brushed over this topic in the last minute of her 40-minute presentation. Knees jiggled nervously around me. When the speaker stopped, these men questioned her about the smugglers who traffic people across the border from Egypt to Israel: Was it just the Bedouins? Who was in overall control of this smuggling? Who controlled the border? The speaker’s answers were wholly inadequate (to be fair, this wasn’t her focus..)

I could only imagine what was passing through these men’s minds. Maybe I’m projecting stories onto them – maybe none of them have any intention of attempting to cross the border through the desert mountains. But it is likely that Israel is a potential destination for at least some of the men, despite the fact that Sudanese and Eritrean refugees have recently been shot by the Egyptian police as they were crossing the border, and despite the fact that Egypt has declared it is planning to return to Sudan some Sudanese refugees sent back from Israel (in violation of international refugee law). (see http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/EMAE-78FM49?OpenDocument; http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/three-migrants-shot-dead-in-2007-at.html).
When the speaker described the harsh conditions, the dangerous mindsets of the security force policing the border, and the rise in the use of violence in that region of the world… I couldn’t help but wonder if this was making at least some of the men’s hearts jump. I felt deeply grateful that I didn’t have to face this type of arduous journey in the quest for peace and economic opportunity.

"Manifesto of a Veiled Woman"

2007-11-08T15:37:00.000+02:00

At the “women in cyberspace” conference that I went to at AU on Monday night, Mona Eltahawy’s young sister told a wonderful story about the preconceptions that surround women who choose to wear the veil. Mona’s sister (whose name I didn’t catch – I will call her Laura, because that’s my sister’s name!) has decided to wear the hijab. She stated that veiled women in Egypt walk a tight line: the fundamentalists don’t like these women (they aren’t covered enough) and the liberals want to save every one of them. Laura described how, one day at college, she wanted to fill in a questionnaire on the topic of beauty. So she asked for a copy of the questionnaire and was told that veiled women were not allowed to fill it out. This led Laura to use her facebook account to vent her frustration. On facebook, she published her “manifesto of the veiled woman.” This manifesto included statements such as 1) I have sexual desires like any other woman/person; 2) I care about beauty. Laura said that she was sick and tired of being viewed as a vegetable.
Before long, she received a message from an Egyptian man who clearly could not cope with this open expression of sexual desire. Egyptian man told Laura that she was “a danger to society.” Egyptian men, he declared, did not want to marry women like this so Laura would have to (quote) “turn to homos.” Laura promptly blocked this charming man from her facebook account. But she made a final telling remark: cyberspace provided her with a relatively safe space to express her desires and individuality. And she was able quite easily to block the Egyptian man who took such offense. But if she had stood at a street corner and declared such beliefs, would she have been so safe?

Women in Cyberspace: Talk at American Univ, Cairo

2007-11-08T15:34:00.001+02:00

On Monday, November 5th, I went to a panel discussion at AU on "Her Space, Our Space: Girls and Women Pushing the Boundaries of Cyberspace." The panel was chaired by Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian journalist whose writings on the Arab world appear regularly in Arab and U.S. media. (see her website at http://monaeltahawy.com/). The discussion threw a fascinating perspective on the spaces women are using to assert their voices, and the subversive potential of blogs and internet use. Here are some of the highlights of the discussion:

Mona Eltahawy opened the discussion by describing how she became addicted to blogs – first through Kuwaiti, and then Saudi bloggers. She fell in love with one blog in particular: one that was written by “Saudi Girl”, a woman who dreamed of the day she could wear flip-flops and show off her toe ring and nail varnish. “I loved this girl!” Mona said. After giving a paper on blogs to a prestigious meeting of journalists, and urging those present to check out Saudi Girl’s site to discover the way women were using cyberspace to push boundaries, Mona discovered that Saudi Girl was actually Saudi Guy…. “But,” Mona said, “I wasn’t disappointed.” Instead, Mona described how she was thrilled at the layers of subversion and gender blurring that was at the heart of this particular blog. You can still read saudigirl’s “outing” on her/his webpage at http://saudigirl.blogspot.com/. S/he writes:
“It first started when I became livid by some of the idiotic arguments that certain public men were using to justify, or make apologies for, the dearth of women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I decided to write to these men in a public fashion. Why not write as a man you ask? Well, I thought it would be more effective (for the cause) if a woman demonstrated the total absence of logic in their arguments. So Alia, a character created for an angry email, became my Arab Amazon, fighting for her rights, and for the rights of all downtrodden Saudi women.”

The discussion at AU also touched on the fact that blogs were a good place for women to reinvent themselves, and to speak out in a way that was not allowed within day-to-day life. One veiled woman described how she started a blog after she spoke out in class and was met with cries of “What! A veiled woman speaking out! You should be quiet…” Writing a blog, she said, was part of her refusal to remain silent. On a blog, you cannot tell if a woman is veiled or not – indeed, you cannot even tell whether it is a woman or a man who is writing. In this way, the blog can override many initial social prejudices.
The discussion also touched on whether blogs were an effective way of changing society. Some of the older members of the audience argued that blogs were a form of escapism, and that it was important to travel and talk to people face-to-face. Just because you blog with two or three people from America or Australia, for example, did not mean you actually knew those cultures…
Can blogs really depose dictators like Mubarak? Who knows… but, as the panel pointed out, blogs were becoming a new media and a new way for the younger generation to assert their voice. We were reminded that two policemen were jailed on Monday for the torture of a prisoner in Egyptian jails – and they were prosecuted principally because an Egyptian blogger spread the video footage of the torture (see my posting on this story – Nov 6). So, the overall theme of the night was: blog! And get your voice heard…

Cairo Shopfronts III: Post-Office and Brooms

2007-11-08T00:07:00.000+02:00

There isn't much to say about these photos: I loved the image of all the back-lit brooms in the hardware shop and I liked the dude on the phone outside the post-office, complete with his headgear.

Cairo Shopfronts II

2007-11-07T23:54:00.000+02:00

Here are a couple more shopfronts that caught my eye this evening. The shop on the far RHS appears to sell underwear. The window display changes frequently and I'm continually amazed what appears on these models. Sometimes the female figures (like the girl model in this picture) are veiled. Sometimes the underwear is modest and unsexy. But most times there is a strange blend of hijabs/veils, and lingerie suitable for the most racey XX movies. What exactly is the woman wearing in this photograph?? I love the fact that she has a modest scarf draped over her shoulders and long sleeves covering her arms, but also has gaping holes all down her breasts and thighs! I guess we never know what women are wearing under their niqabs!

I also liked the photo of the flower shop with all the plastic flowers out on display. There are some beautiful fresh-flower displays in some of the houses and offices in Cairo. But more frequently, people have grand displays of plastic flowers -- if gold gilt and any other extra embellishment can also be incorporated, then all the better!

Brightly-lit Nile

2007-11-07T23:47:00.000+02:00

Ok...ok... I know I've already added a few photos that look exactly like this. But, at the moment, I'm still entranced when I walk home over the Nile and see the disco boats lined up, the permanent restaurant boats all lit up and the skyscrapers towering in the distance. I can't capture all the noise, energy and craziness that comes with this image. And I can't describe the hot and dusty wind that was tangling my hair as I took this shot. But I hope you can imagine some of what I feel every evening when I look down at the dark Nile surging below me, hear the latest Arabic pop tunes floating up from the disco boats and attempt to avoid any stray hand belonging to the men crowding the pavements.

Maybe this place should be called Caitro? Cats, cats, cats

2007-11-07T23:39:00.000+02:00

I've never seen so many cats in one city-- usually because where there are large populations of stray animals, most of those strays are dogs so that the cat population is kept under control -- or at least more hidden from view. Here, the felines rule. And they aren't just little skinny cats. They are true street cats: part cat, part tiger, with massive heads and thick necks. They are everywhere.... lurking under the parked cars, sitting in the middle of the pavement, up in every little nook and cranny of a building.
Given the central role that these cats play in my daily life, I decided that I should include regular random shots of cats on the street. So here is my first photo of a couple of cats on the wall directly opposite the office where I work.

Bumper to Bumper: The obstacle course of Cairo's pavements

2007-11-07T23:30:00.001+02:00

As I've mentioned in a previous posting, the cars here in Cairo are often parked bumper to bumper. I took a photo today of the cars that are parked outside my office so you can see why so many people end up walking on the road: you just can't access the pavement! The doormen (called bawabs) who sit outside most buildings here push the parked cars together -- either by pushing down hard on the back bumper so that the car 'bounces' forward, or by letting off the handbreak (if the door isn't locked!) and rolling it forward. This leads to great space efficiency on the parking front. But it also means that you have to be very thin, or agile enough to climb over the cars, if you want to get through to the other side. I'm going to start practicing my stunt forward rolls over the car bonnets...

Egyptian Shopfronts. Part I: Hijabs and stilletoes

2007-11-07T23:18:00.000+02:00

I decided to take photos of my favourite shop-fronts on my walk home this evening. I ended up taking about 10 photos (they're all up on my facebook account), so I will post them over a few days. The pictures as a group capture some of the crazy juxtapositions and quirks of Cairo: hijabs (veils) next to a shop with high-heeled diamente boots; open-air unrefrigerated meat; red dates; nasty local alcohol; back-lit dangling brooms...

I hope it will help you imagine a little better my long walk home at night. I'm never bored!

world's ugliest dogs?

2007-11-07T13:09:00.000+02:00

My dear friend Amber sent me this link and it made me chuckle at my desk today.. and also cry because 1) I'm a sucker for stories about rescued/ near death animals and 2) it's my period. Check out the gallery of photos for some damn ugly canines: http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/uglydogvote.shtml

Torture in Egypt

2007-11-07T11:56:00.001+02:00

Two stories about torture in Egyptian jails have made international headlines this week. The use of torture by Egyptian state security forces is endemic and is widely criticised by human rights groups in Egypt and abroad. Today, Amnesty International released a statement calling for "sweeping measures" against torture in Egypt. (see http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10145)

See also the commentary by arabawy (good Egyptian blogger) at http://arabist.net/arabawy/2007/11/06/boulaq-police-sadists-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/

Two Recent Stories:

On Monday, two Egyptian policemen were sentenced to 3 years in jail for torturing an Egyptian man, Emad al-Kebir, who was being held in custody. These policemen sexually assaulted and beat the detainee, and filmed the whole event so that they could use the footage to intimidate others. I don't know how they failed to consider the fact that this footage would likely become public... sure enough, you can see the horrific video online at YouTube.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7078785.stm

The second story that appears today regards an Egyptian man, Ahmed Saber Saad, who died after being held in custody and tortured for three days by police.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7082446.stm

Photo journal of 30-year-old Egyptian woman

2007-11-07T11:43:00.000+02:00

The BBC currently has a series of photo journals exploring families around the world. One of these journals is of a 30-year-old woman from Egypt who is a science teacher and mother of three daughters.
Two entries in particular were sad to read because of what they say about the status of women in Egypt. The captions state:

"It took Sherifa a long time to come to terms with the fact that she has three daughters and no boys. Relatives, she says, used to see her as inferior to women in the village who have sons.
"I cried and cried so much when the ultrasound scan showed that my third child, and last hope, was another girl. I am now completely over it. People still tease me about it, but I no longer get so upset. In fact I am happy with my three brilliant daughters, and above all it is God's will."

And:

"Accepting God's will is a theme with Sherifa's life and marriage. "My father was violent with my mother. I chose to marry Ouf because he seemed caring and tender. He used to spend hours standing outside my window," she says.
"After marriage, he changed. He became violent and would insult me in front of his family. I hated my daughters seeing this. We used to argue so much, but with time this passed. I learned that if I wanted to live in peace, I had to compromise, and it has worked." "

For the full photo journal, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/middle_east_egyptian_family/html/1.stm

Disco Boats... got to love them!

2007-11-07T01:06:00.000+02:00

Most people who have never spent time in Cairo probably imagine the Nile as a mysterious body of water that flows silently and steadily through the heart of the capital. Think again. I’m afraid bull-rushes and fellucas (sail boats) aren’t the predominant sight on the Cairo section of the Nile. Instead, the big rage is the “disco boat.” As you can see from the photograph, the ‘disco boat’ is basically a floating pile of fairy lights with loud speakers strapped to the sides. All manner of terrible Arabic music blasts from these boats, adding to the constant noise that bombards me on my walk home. My mum is visiting me in February. I bet she can’t wait to join me for some floating disco moves…

5 days of bleeding and still alive... just

2007-11-07T01:03:00.000+02:00

In the South Park movie, Mr. Garrison admits his suspicions about women: “I don’t trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn’t die.” Sometimes I also don’t trust this thing that insists on regularly bleeding and I wish I could escape it entirely! As yet another period approaches, and I face another series of sleepless nights, I began to reflect on the extreme discomfort that insists on visiting every month…

Anita Diamant has written a novel called “The Red Tent.” This title refers to a red tent where women in nomadic tribes used to congregate. Once a month, the women set up this tent and refused to move. They were obviously all on the same cycle and they would sit in the tent, gossip, bleed and … who knows… Cry? Shout? Moan?

Periods are strange and dominating things in my life. Every month, I find my body is taken over by what I call “my period self.” For about three days before my period, and for a couple of days afterwards, an alter being moves in under my skin, creating strange electrical currents down my arms and legs and into my stomach. I can still feel my calmer, rational, happy person there inside, but the period self insists on taking control. I am convinced that this period self is a manic depressive on crack. She takes an overdose of amphetamines and then inserts herself into my body. My mind begins to work over time. I get over-stimulated by ideas, I start attempting to do (literally) ten things at once and I can’t sleep at night. This might seem like a good time to be hyper productive… but no. While my mind is jumping up and down and doing somersaults, my concentration levels also deplete and I become overwhelmingly exhausted. So, basically, I walk around like an over-caffeinated crack addict who hasn’t slept for a month. It’s not a great feeling… particularly when it’s coupled with sharply painful stomach cramps.

I used to despair whenever this period self took up residence. I thought my life was doomed and I would never recover. I now recognize her face, know that she is only passing through, and I try to focus on the fact that I only need to endure her for 10 days. The problem is… I’m only left with 20 days of (relative) sanity in every month.

Where’s my red tent???

Mary Oliver's "Singapore"

2007-11-06T00:30:00.001+02:00

I have so much I want to write about this evening (went to a great panel discussion this evening about Arab women in cyberspace and justice triumphed in Egypt today when two policemen were jailed for torture) - but it's already late and I have to get up to go to a conference on migrant workers. But I promised myself that I would make one posting before going to sleep this evening. I wanted to share a poem by Mary Oliver, one of my all-time favourite poets. This particular poem is not one I read with much frequency, but when I read it before going to sleep last night, I was struck by the way in which Oliver manages to capture the subtleties of human interaction. In just a few lines, she shows how we can all make immediate, alienating judgments about people and how we can also, with something as small as a smile, overcome those moments of alienation and judgment.

The poem is called "Singapore":
"In Singapore, in the airport, / a darkness was ripped from my eyes./ In the women's restroom, one compartment stood open./ A woman knelt there, washing something/ in the white bowl.
Disgust argued in my stomach / and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.
A poem should always have birds in it. / Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings./ Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees./ A waterfall, or if that's not possible, a fountain rising and falling./ A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
When the woman turned I could not answer her face./ Her beauty and embarassment struggled together, and neither could win./ She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?/ Everybody needs a job.
Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem./ But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor, which is full enough./ She is washing the top of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps, with a blue rag./ Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing./ She does not work slowly, or quickly, but like a river./ Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.
I don't doubt for a moment that she loves her life./ And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and fly down to the river./ This probably won't happen./ But maybe it will./ If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?
Of course, it isn't./ Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only/ the light that can shine out of a life. I mean/ the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,/ the way her smile was only for my sake; I mean/ the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds."

On Being "Rushed" to Hospital in Cairo

2007-11-05T14:58:00.001+02:00

I’m not sure about the general logistics of dying in Cairo. But I do know this: if you are “rushed” to the hospital in an ambulance, you sure as hell aren’t likely to survive. I’m not talking about the medical care. I’m talking about the traffic. I’ve seen ambulances attempt to navigate the Cairo traffic on a couple of occasions now. Do cars get out of the way in a show of communal care?? Do they hell…. I admit that there isn’t exactly anywhere for these cars to go. Most pavements are 1) crowded with people and 2) have about a meter drop to the floor. And the roads are constantly packed. But I think a little more effort could be made so that the ambulance doesn’t simply sit grid-locked with the rest of the vehicles, sirens a-blaring… Usually, the ambulance driver gets on the microphone to make an appeal. My roommate told me that her boyfriend (who speaks Arabic) listened to one of these appeals. “There’s a man dying in here!! Move over!! Move over!!,” the driver screamed. “Are you heartless people who do not care about a dying man??” “Move over!! Move over!”. After a few minutes of screaming, the sirens stopped. “Fine. No need to move over now,” the driver continued to yell, “He’s dead.”
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Headlights optional...

2007-11-05T14:51:00.000+02:00

As you already know if you’ve been reading this blog, I do a lot of walking on the streets of Cairo. Much of this walking happens at night, on my way home from work / the gym/ some social gathering. For those of you who haven’t spent much time in poorer countries, don’t think street lights and nice pavements. Think impassable pavements (pot-holes/ piles of rubbish with cats/ parked cars), total darkness, non-stop hectic traffic, lots of men sitting on their arses, double or treble layers of parked cars at the side of the road etc etc. Most of the time, I’m at the edge of the street, alternately pushing myself up against parked cars to avoid the traffic, and walking further into the street to avoid the men…

Other little quirks that make the walk that little bit more interesting include the fact that:
1) Headlights are optional. Sometimes, if I have my ipod on, I won’t know a car is behind me until the very last minute. At that point, the driver tends to flash his (99.9% of the time it’s a ‘he’) headlights and then I have to attempt to duck between parked cars. Generally, the gap between the parked cars is so small that I have to plaster myself up against the car instead… (and try not to look at all sexual while doing it!). So headlights become a type of lighthouse beacon rather than a permanent fixture of night-time driving…
2) Over 50% of oncoming drivers seem to like to do an extra swerve towards me and away from whatever it is they’re avoiding (other pedestrian/ a random piece of furniture in the road/ a car that’s stopped for the hell of it/ a donkey). Sometimes I can almost feel the car brush up against me and I catch my breath in momentary fear. Is this another way for attention-starved men to feel manly???

Damned if you Do, Doomed if You Don't

2007-11-04T13:43:00.000+02:00

Lisa Belkin studies women in the workplace and her recent article on the topic was no surprise - but it still made me sigh in frustration (I'm guessing this is part of a much wider collective sigh amongst women!)

Emphasising the confusing status of women, particularly when it comes to behaviour in the workplace, Belkin starts her article: "Don’t get angry. But do take charge. Be nice. But not too nice. Speak up. But don’t seem like you talk too much. Never, ever dress sexy. Make sure to inspire your colleagues — unless you work in Norway, in which case, focus on delegating instead."

Belkin goes on to discuss the double-standards and confusing signals that plague the workplace:

"Catalyst’s [an organisation that focuses on women in the workplace] research is often an exploration of why, 30 years after women entered the work force in large numbers, the default mental image of a leader is still male. Most recent is the report titled “Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t,” which surveyed 1,231 senior executives from the United States and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes — defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspectives” — are considered less competent. But if they act in ways that are seen as more “male” — like “act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition” — they are seen as “too tough” and “unfeminine.”

One interesting study by a psychologist highlighted just one double-standard:

"He [the psychologist] is the author of one such study, in which he showed respondents a video of a woman wearing a sexy low-cut blouse with a tight skirt or a skirt and blouse that were conservatively cut. The woman recited the same lines in both, and the viewer was either told she was a secretary or an executive. Being more provocatively dressed had no effect on the perceived competence of the secretary, but it lowered the perceived competence of the executive dramatically. "

Good grief!! As Belkin points out, women just can't win.... Whatever culture I find myself in, I am enraged at the ways in which society oppresses women and assesses them according to different standards. We women just have to keep pushing at those visible and not so visible social, economic and sexual barriers!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/fashion/01WORK.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=fc0c03fe07914c0c&ex=1194325200&adxnnlx=1194176375-/7GgGL7xUve8xiU8i%2029VA

The right to access healthcare - US v UK

2007-11-04T13:19:00.000+02:00

After Giuliani's attack on the British healthcare system, I was happy to read an intelligent rebuttal by Krugman in the NY Times. Yes, the British healthcare system has its faults (mismanagment, some long waiting lines, overwork of healthcare providers), but -- as Krugman points out -- "there’s very little evidence that Americans get better health care than the British, which is amazing given the fact that Britain spends only 41 percent as much on health care per person as we do." Plus healthcare in Britain isn't simply confined to the wealthy. Everyone can access the care. This is a basic right of all citizens and governments should fulfil their duty to provide such services. Go Michael Moore!!

For the full article, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/opinion/02krugman.html?em&ex=1194325200&en=657b785c5eb61362&ei=5087%0A

Female Sexuality Part II

2007-11-03T02:08:00.000+02:00

I have continued to read about the topic of "women's sexuality" since my posting a few days ago. Of course, I've thought about this issue at length before: my Ph.D. was on how the women who fought for the vote in Britain negotiated their public/ private identities in their autobiographical writings. Their sexuality inevitably played critical roles in this negotiation.

But, as I mentioned in my "Female Sexuality Part I" posting, living in Egypt has made me look again at the power of my sexuality and the strange dynamics that exist between men and women. I liked one particular blog posting that I read today and I wanted to share the (male, Christian) author's views:

"Faced with the power that women have over men, a power men have had to control through de-humanization, social and economic control, sexual exploitation and physical violence, and the rhetoric of innate sexual difference, many men end up, in the end, a quivering puddle on the floor, terrified that a strong woman will discover and make public what has been heretofore a secret even to these men themselves (except perhaps in their darkest thoughts they dare not express) - these men just don't cut it [I don't totally agree that men 'don't cut it'...]. A sexually, socially, economically liberated woman is a threat on many levels. It is my contention, however, that the most elemental threat is the sexual element. There are various social and economic controls that still exist to limit the social and economic power of women. A woman who is sexually free, however, threatens men's view of themselves at its most basic level. [also unsure about this point....]

You might be wondering about the whole "Christian" element I spoke of above. It is my contention that all that I have written has been written from a perspective that views women as equal creatures before God, created with power and vulnerability, part of which is sexual. Unless we want to deny that sex is a good gift from a good God (as my other told me, "If God made anything better than sex, He kept it to Himself"; there is no better theology of sex that I know of!) we have to start thinking in more creative ways about human sexuality. We should begin by recognizing, as a social fact, the threat posed to men's well-being by strong, independent women. We need to recognize that threat as existing on multiple levels, and deal with it on multiple levels. We need a positive view of human sexuality, one not linked to outmoded social roles and easily avoidable biological consequences, and teach both boys and girls, men and women, about the power they have, and how it should be used creatively and positively; and about the dangers it poses destructively and negatively."

From: "Women, Women's Sexuality & the Right", http://whatsleftinthechurch.blogspot.com/2007_04_08_archive.html
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Extraordinary Rendition

2007-11-03T00:06:00.000+02:00

Hossam el-Hamalawy on arabist.net drew my attention to an upcoming series on extraordinary rendition. You can see the preview at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz80NWS9vvE.

I am continually surprised by how many people have never heard of the shocking practice of "extraordinary rendition." Basically, "extraordinary rendition" occurs when countries such as the US fly individuals to a third country to be tortured and interrogated. In this way, the US can continue to claim that it does not condone the practice of torture (??!!) and can insist that torture does not occur on its own soil. For a detailed analysis with a good account of individual experiences of extraordinary rendition, and how the practice violates international human rights law, see: http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss19/weissbrodt.shtml

The second-class status of Baha'is in Egypt

2007-11-02T18:28:00.000+02:00

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has been representing Baha'is in Egypt who are unable to access ID cards. Every Egyptian citizen over the age of 16 is required to possess an ID--without this document, you can't graduate from college, get a death certificate, travel etc etc. The problem is that you have to list your religion on the ID and you are limited to the choice of Muslim, Christian or Jew. There's no option of "baha'i" or "no religion." This leads to terrible injustice. An article in Daily News Egypt recently described the situation and mentions EIPR's role in representing Baha'is:

"CAIRO: Shady Samir, a 33-year-old business owner, lost his father two years ago. Yet, he is still paying the yearly taxes on his father’s business as if he was alive. Why? Because his father is Bahai and official Egyptian documents such as the death certificate only recognize the Christian, Muslim, or Jewish faiths.
For Samir’s father to be “officially dead” to the national authorities, he would need to convert and become a Muslim, Christian, or a Jew upon his death.
Official documents such as identity cards and birth certificates are a survival necessity. Citizens cannot enroll in school, receive medical treatment, take bank loans, or buy a car without their national ID card. Young children cannot even receive vaccinations against diseases without a birth certificate.
Those Bahais who refuse to pose as Christians, Muslims, or Jews are left in limbo, living as stateless people in their own country.
“Egyptian Bahais exist in nature but in the eyes of the state they are non-existent,” said Hossam Baghat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights (EIPR)."
See the full article at http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10046

damn mint kit kats

2007-11-02T16:57:00.000+02:00

Oh, horror of horrors.... I just went to the supermarket to do my weekly big shop. And I ended up with two packs of MINT kit kats...

A number of friends and family members have asked what I eat here. Well... (said with a somewhat sheepish smile), I've ended up mainly buying over-priced imported stuff that I recognize. Yes! I'm pathetic and failing to embrace a full Egyptian life. But the Egyptian food I've eaten so far has made me feel fat and/ or slightly sick. So... for breakfast I eat natural yogurt with fruit, honey and cashew nuts. For lunch I eat German pumpernickel bread with Egyptian white cheese (yeah! Egyptian stuff!). And for dinner I eat rice and vegetables and an occasional bit of tuna fish. I drink mango and apple juice. Sound a bit healthy?? Yeah. I agree. So today I hit the chocolate and biscuit stands and pounced on a "buy one get one free" kit kat offer. I love kit kats. I steal them shamelessly from my step-dad. But who the hell knew that they came in 'mint' flavour??? I got them home and my roommate said (not very convincingly I thought) "Yeah! mint kit kats".... Mint????!!! How had I failed to notice this extra chemical intrusion into my basic kit-kat joy?? So. I just ate one. And my mouth has an after-taste of fake mouth wash. Maybe this is god telling me to stick to healthy food ;-(

Wine Review

2007-11-02T15:43:00.000+02:00

This acidic wine with overtones of vinegar and nail-varnish remover and hints of bleach would make an excellent addition to any greasy, unappetising meal. The wine has a distinctive, alcoholic aroma from which even the least refined taste-buds would recoil. Of particular note is the way in which this wine, a bargain at 55 Egyptian pounds (or 5pounds 50 pence in British money), is able to induce extreme indigestion after one tiny sip. I have tried this out on a few friends and they have all reported identical reactions: a pain in the stomach and acid in the throat. Buy it at your local sainsburys before stocks run out...

(and, yes, the bottle is sitting on top of the toilet. And please note the rather dog-eared nature of the cork... I've yet to put a bottle opener in a cork here yet without the whole damn thing crumbling away (most of it into the acidic depths below)...)

Strange quirks at the gym

2007-11-02T15:31:00.000+02:00

I've been going to quite a few exercise classes at the gym-- something new for me because I usually workout alone. There are a few features of these classes that always make me laugh. First, there is a great deal of communal groaning and moaning and squealing.... I'm used to being in a serious workout environment where you suffer in silence. Not here. One sit-up too many, and the women are giggling and groaning and crying out for mercy. Sometimes it makes me laugh and I'm relieved to know other people are also suffering. Other times I want to tell them to shut up because it slows the class down and the instructor ends up chatting to them for 5 minutes... This type of group commentary is just one example of the way that Egyptian society is much more vocal and communal than you'd find in the US or UK. It's what makes everyone so friendly - and so interfering!!

Another strange phenomenum is the fact that a number of women wear bin bags (yes, bin bags) under their trendy adidas/ nike sports gear. They rustle through the whole class. And, by the end, there is a line of sweat on the women's trousers where the bin bags end. I guess these women think they are losing weight. I can just see that they are getting sweaty and dehydrated. And I can't help but imagine that they are wearing giant industrial nappies under their clothes... not a sexy image.

French boy raped in UAE - prejudice shown against 'homosexuality' no surprise

2007-11-01T11:53:00.001+02:00

I just read a heartbreaking story about a young French boy who was raped in Dubai that highlights the inadequacies of the rape laws in UAE--inadequacies that are certainly also evident in the Egyptian legal system. Despite the fact that he was raped by 3 men at knifepoint, the boy himself now faces charges of homosexual activity and has fled back to France. The UAE authorities also lied about the fact that one of the assailants had tested positive for HIV when he was in prison three years ago. The prejudice against homosexuals and lack of legal protection afforded to survivors of rape is unfortunately not surprising in this part of the world...
(Proviso: I am fully aware that the racial dynamics in this article might make some people uncomfortable--ie that it is a French national who is receiving all the attention while a UAE national would not get this type of publicity. I do not, of course, think that the rape is any worse because the survivor was French. UAE nationals cannot simply flee to Europe to escape these draconian laws.. and that's what's so terrible. I'm just pleased to see any publicity focusing on these issues).

You can read the story at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/world/middleeast/01dubai.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Also, his mother has set up a support group dedicated to her son at http://boycottdubai.com/. She is calling for reforms to the UAE criminal code so that child survivors of rape are better protected by the law. You can join as a member to show your support.

Talal Asad

2007-10-31T13:28:00.000+02:00

I have just read an interesting interview by Talal Asad (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center). He discusses human rights, secularism and the interaction between Islam and Western traditions. He makes very interesting observations about the interactions of the public and private in Islam. Here is an extract from his interview - an extract that highlights the importance of questioning what we mean by 'equality' and the benefits of individualism. I try to keep such questions at the forefront of my mind as I work within the world of human rights law:
"Of course there are people who are trying to rethink the Islamic tradition in ways that would make it compatible with liberal democracy. But I am much more interested in the fact that the Islamic tradition ought to lead us to question many of the liberal categories themselves. Rather than saying, "Well yes we can also be like you," why not ask what the liberal categories themselves mean, and what they have represented historically? The question of individualism, for example, is fraught with all sorts of problems, as people who have looked carefully at the tradition of individualism in the West know very well. The same is true of the question of equality. We know that the equality that is offered in liberal democracies is a purely legal equality, not economic equality. And the two forms of equality can't be kept in water-tight compartments. Even political equality doesn't necessarily give equal opportunity to all citizens to engage in or contribute to the formulation of policy. What do Islamic ideas about the individual, equality, etc., tell us about Western liberal ideas?
These are questions worth pursuing, I think. So instead of leaping up and saying, "Ah yes, we can all be liberal," I think it is more important to ask, for example, "What exactly does the liberal mean by tolerance?" It is easy enough to be tolerant about things that don't matter very much. That tends to be the rule in liberal societies. Increasingly what you believe, what you do in your own home, whether you stand on your head or decide not to, is up to you as an individual in liberal democracies. So who cares? The liberal tolerates these things because the liberal doesn't care about them. Yet tolerance is really only meaningful when it is about things that really matter. Even in ordinary language we talk about "tolerating pain". In other words, the kind of tolerance that really matters is something we ought to be exploring, thinking more about - and the ways in which the Islamic tradition conceives of tolerance (however limited that might be) helps to open up such questions."
http://www.asiasource.org/news/special_reports/asad.cfm

Egyptian men's obsession with their crotch

2007-10-31T11:08:00.000+02:00

If you have read some of my other postings about the level of sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo, it will probably be no surprise to hear that Egyptian men love to hold their crotches. I only wish that this sight was as attractive as the picture I have added to accompany this posting...

When you are walking the streets, you are confronted with man after man nursing the contents of his crotch area. Every now and again, these men jiggle said contents around, or give them a good scratch. Particularly delightful is when you are in a taxi, and so are at eye-level with said crotches. You turn to look at the morning light over the Nile, and you are confronted instead with a policeman's hand firmly planted on his genitals. It's such a beautiful way to start the day... (and, in fact, was the way I started this Halloween morning).

Honk, Honk, Honk...

2007-10-31T10:56:00.000+02:00

One of the most dominating, never-ending noises in Cairo is the beeping of car horns. At any point in the day or night, you can hear these horns being blasted without regard for the eardrums of the people around. If you are unfortunate enough to be standing directly next to a taxi when it honks, then you are (as I have discovered) temporarily deafened.

But the problem is not so much the trigger(beeping)-happy nature of the taxi drivers, but the nature of the driving. Taxis and cars just stop (or break down) anywhere. If they decide that they want to look at something, say hello to a friend, drop off a customer... then they stop. It doesn't matter if this means that a junction is blocked. Nor does it matter if they are in the middle of the road.

But, while I understand the need for the honking, I'm wondering if there is a quieter, more communally-minded solution. Maybe there is a way of quietly administering a very small electric shock to the driver who pays no heed to the flow of traffic? I'm talking very very small, of course., and this shouldn't necessarily apply to the people who break down.. but at least then my dreams wouldn't be full of honks and beeps, and I wouldn't find myself suffering temporary deafness when I walk the streets.

(Yes... I see all sorts of potential human rights abuses arising from this electic shock solution... but there must be some way of administering it in a fair and equitable manner ;-)).

The Usefulness of Literature??

2007-10-31T00:27:00.000+02:00

I went to a very enjoyable Proust reading group this evening. The guy who was running it is working on a Ph.D. in comparative literature and had given some good thought to why he is pursuing a career in literary academia. All my old concerns and thoughts returned to me: why literature mattered, how anyone could justify a life studying and teaching fictional works. What he said really made me stop and think: We had been arguing for a while about the ‘usefulness’ of literature, but he paused and said that he had no problem with its lack of utility. In fact, he fully embraced the fact that literature was ‘useless’ and in no way integral to the process of staying alive. He wanted to teach literature precisely because it was viewed as useless within a capitalist society. He wanted to teach his students to stop and think and to spend hours reading just a few pages. He wanted to show them that life wasn’t all about making money and meeting deadlines. It was, more importantly, about learning to relate to other people and to spend time listening and empathizing. He believed this skill could be acquired through the process of reading (good literature) in a slow and deliberate manner. So, yet again, I find myself missing my academic life and wondering if I should return to a more creative path, or at least to a teaching career. Because I also deeply believe that people need to slow down and to spend more time really appreciating the interconnectedness of human beings, whatever their race, religion, nationality, gender….

The effectiveness of human rights..

2007-10-29T16:40:00.000+02:00

I am constantly questioning and assessing the role of human rights discourse, particularly in the legal field, and whether it can really make a difference to people on the ground. I think it's important that I remain acutely aware of the discord that can emerge between legal cases and people's actual lives.
I am attempting to think of ways to approach my desire to improve human relations and to reduce suffering that will really have an impact on individuals. With my literature background, I am looking at the creative projects used to promote human rights...
Today I have been reading Richard Rorty who writes:

"In my utopia, human solidarity would be seen...as a goal to be achieved. It is to be achieved not by inquiry but by imagination, the imaginative ability to see strange people as fellow sufferers. Solidarity is not discovered by reflection but created. It is created by increasing our sensitivity to the particular details of the pain and humiliation of other, unfamiliar sorts of people. Such increased sensitivity makes it more difficult to marginalize people different from ourselves... ....This process...is a matter of detailed description of what unfamiliar people are like and of redescription of what we ourselves are like. This is a task not for theory but for [other] genres..., especially, the novel. Fiction...gives us the details about kinds of suffering being endured by people to whom we had previously not attended....gives us the details about what sorts of cruelty we ourselves are capable of, and thereby lets us redescribe ourselves. That is why the novel, the movie, and the TV program have...replaced the sermon and the treatise as the principal vehicles of moral change and progress."
I have put more of Rorty's work on the bottom RHS of this blog, under 'quotations from books/articles I'm currently reading.'

Wearing a Veil .. my readings on the issue (I)

2007-10-29T14:08:00.000+02:00

I have begun reading a variety of articles and books on women in Islam, focusing particularly on the the wearing of the veil.
The article I am reading today describes the rise of "Islamism"--a political form of Islam-- and how educated, well-travelled women who are part of this movement decide to wear the veil as a symbol of pride and distinction. The author, Nilüfer Göle, (a prominent Muslim Turkish scholar) admits that it is a "puzzling issue, because they have become assertive by adopting a symbol of gender subservience and stigmatization." She describes the veil as a "stigma," but how it is now being used as a 'positive' stigma by many women:
"veiling as a sign that is seen as debasing women's identity - as inferior to men, passive and secluded in the interior family space -- is voluntarily adopted by women as a stigma sign, but struggling to become a new prestige symbol. In short, the meanings of the veil are undergoing a radical transformation by women who have had access to secular education and agency and claim their difference in spaces of modernity. The headscarf, symbol of backwardness, ignorance, and subservience for Muslim women in modern contexts, fights back to bcome, once again, as it has thought to be in the Islamic past, a symbol of distinction and prestige for urban Muslim women."
(Nilufer Gole, "The Voluntary Adoption of Islamic Stigma Symbols," 70 Social Research 810, 820-1 (2003)).

Female Sexuality... part I

2007-10-29T11:45:00.000+02:00

I have been thinking a great deal about many universal, age-old topics as I tramp the streets of Cairo. One of these topics is “female sexuality”… who hasn’t written or thought about this?? Living in Cairo, I am experiencing my sexuality in a completely new way. There are many elements of the society here that want me to regard my sexuality as a dangerous and unwelcome force that I need to keep well hidden. Because this is a male-dominated culture, with men crowding the public spaces, my sexuality is seen as a source of public disorder. Men, it seems, are naturally sexual animals and so it is the duty of women to prevent the men from becoming too excited. Yesterday, I wore a t-shirt that was a little more low-cut than usual. No, you could not see a hint of my breasts. But it also wasn’t all the way up to my neck. The hissing from men doubled or trebled. And numerous women also looked at me and my collarbones with disgust. Otherwise, I was wearing a long skirt down to my ankles and my hair was tied back. I wasn’t wearing makeup.
Yes… I know that I am in a foreign culture with strong religious beliefs and, as a visitor, I should show respect for Islamic customs. I wouldn’t wear a short skirt and tank top. And I understand and respect the religious convictions of many people here. But my perspective is not religious because, well, I am not religious. And I can see clearly how sexuality is being used as a source of repression and how, in many ways, women are the more powerful members of society because they are capable of ‘entrancing’ men with their bodies. But because of the male physical strength, the men have taken over the majority of societies in the world and women are forced to ‘regulate’ themselves so that the poor men can cope.
Today I am reading an article about how the Taliban controlled women and the private sphere in Afghanistan. The autobiography of one Afghan woman recounts how: “Women were not allowed to laugh or even speak loudly, because this risked sexually exciting males. High heels were banned because their sound was also declared provocative. Makeup and nail varnish were banned. Women who failed to respect such edicts would be beaten, whipped, or stoned to death.” (From Juan Cole, “The Taliban, Women, and the Hegelian Private Sphere,” 70 Social Research 3 (Fall 2003).)
The Taliban was a particularly oppressive regime with shockingly anachronistic interpretations of Islam. But I can feel the same type of attitude here: that women need to ensure that they are in no way provocative, in order to save the poor men from their sexual urges. On my better days, I feel sorry for the men on the street and pity their need to hiss at me. It’s a pathetic attempt to seem ‘manly.’ On the harder days, I begin to feel their aggressive shouts and stares get under my skin and undermine my strength. Last night, after walking the streets in my shockingly provocative t-shirt (with sleeves and just below the collar-bone), I decided to head to the all-women’s section of the gym and avoid any male attention. Constantly pushing against the male assertions of dominance can get tiring and I needed a few hours to feel comfortable with my body and not feel judged or sexually threatening. But these all-female rooms shouldn’t have to exist… it should be the men who are made to regulate their bodies and potential sexual urges. And it should be the men who are made to feel embarrassed and ashamed if they find themselves incapable of controlling their excitement at the sight of a woman’s body.

Egypt's media defy Mubarak at their peril

2007-10-28T13:58:00.000+02:00

An article from the Chicago Tribune describes the extent to which freedom of expression is being repressed in Egypt. The government is cracking down on any journalists (including bloggers) who are critical of Mubarak's regime. One major target has been Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the Al-Dustour newspaper. He reported in August of this year that President Mubarak (pictured opposite) was unwell, and rumours quickly spread that the president had died. The Egyptian government wasn't too happy about this!
The article is available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/monday/chi-egypt_slyoct15,0,7285323.story
Eissa seems to be keeping his humour going. He wrote that he was pleased to hear that you could take his i-pod into prison with him:
"I've found out that I'm allowed to take my iPod," he said cheerfully. "This is progress in the Mubarak era. Yes, they do torture you in your cell, but they allow you to listen to your iPod!"

Spreading the condom joy....

2007-10-26T22:52:00.001+02:00

My purse was stolen today and I had to cancel all my credit cards.... so I have been feeling thoroughly miserable. To cheer me up, a friend sent me a link to a great condom educational song from India ... watch it for yourself at http://digg.com/lbv.php?id=3835822&ord=1

This ludicrous, but highly amusing, video is very similar to initiatives that I saw in Papua New Guinea when I was there in March 2007. I was in PNG conducting interviews in remote highland villages. We were assessing the impact of a Canadian gold mine that is situated right in the middle of the highlands (owned by Barrick Gold). The conditions we found were shocking and deeply upsetting. But the wonderful condom/ AIDS awareness posters always made me smile (even if it seems to be only mildly encouraging men to actually use the condoms....). I loved this poster in particular... where the warrior condom man takes on the AIDS epidemic....

DONALD RUMSFELD CHARGED WITH TORTURE DURING TRIP TO FRANCE

2007-10-26T17:20:00.000+02:00

"October 26, 2007, Paris, France – Today, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the French League for Human Rights (LDH) filed a complaint with the Paris Prosecutor before the “Court of First Instance” (Tribunal de Grande Instance) charging former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. Rumsfeld was in Paris for a talk sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine. “The filing of this French case against Rumsfeld demonstrates that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice. Rumsfeld must understand that he has no place to hide. A torturer is an enemy of all humankind,” said CCR President Michael Ratner.“France is under the obligation to investigate and prosecute Rumsfeld’s accountability for crimes of torture in Guantanamo and Iraq. France has no choice but to open an investigation if an alleged torturer is on its territory. I hope that the fight against impunity will not be sacrificed in the name of politics. We call on France to refuse to be a safe haven for criminals.” said FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen. “We want to combat impunity and therefore demand a judicial investigation and a criminal prosecution wherever there is jurisdiction over the torture incidents,” said ECCHR General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck."That a criminal State representative should benefit from impunity is always unacceptable. Because the USA is the super power of the beginning of this century and, above all, because it is a democracy, the impunity of Donald Rumsfeld is even more insufferable than that of a Hissène Habré or a Radovan Karadzic", underlined Jean-Pierre Dubois, LDH President. The criminal complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture – and because the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court – it is the legal obligation of states such as France to take up the case. In this case, charges are brought under the 1984 Convention against Torture, ratified by both the United States and France, which has been used in France in previous torture cases. French courts therefore have an obligation under the Convention against Torture to prosecute individuals responsible for acts of torture if they are present on French territory (1). This will be the only case filed while he is in the country, which makes the obligations to investigate and prosecute under international law extremely strong."
http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article4829

On why my lungs are feeling so challenged....

2007-10-26T17:15:00.000+02:00

"CAIRO, Oct 19 (IPS/IFEJ) - Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18 million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day.A 2002 World Bank report estimates that pollution causes 2.42 billion dollars worth of environmental damage each year, about five percent of Egypt's annual gross domestic product. Industry is to blame, in part, the worst offenders being factories that burn mazot for power. Mazot is the heavy oil left over after more valuable fuel products have been extracted from crude oil; when burnt, it emits substantial amounts of the greenhouse gases said to cause global warming. The Ministry of the Environment continues to promise new measures to hold industry culprits accountable for air pollution, but has failed to put teeth into enforcement."
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39730

Kushari... how to get fat in Egypt

2007-10-24T21:11:00.000+02:00

There is a delicious concoction that you can buy in small shops in Cairo called "kushari". It’s a mixture of rice and pasta, and a small amount of lentils and chickpeas, and some dried onion and tomato hot sauce. One of the women at work told me that all foreigners like this mix… so I’m a predictable foreigner. It’s a good way to get some bellydancing pounds on my waist.

On wishing I had stocked up at duty free...

2007-10-24T21:04:00.001+02:00

In its infinite wisdom, the Egyptian government has banned the sale of all foreign alcohol. I don’t think you can get though life in this city without an occasional stiff drink, so I have been driven to try out Egypt’s finest… Tonight I am sipping on Omar Khayyam’s “Vin Rose.” Usually, I don’t go for a rose. But I thought some additional sweetness would mask the ethanol overtones. Omar Khayyam was an Egyptian poet and there is a small extract of his work on the back: “Dreaming when Dawn’s Left Hand was in the Sky/ I heard a voice within the Tavern cry/ ‘Awake my little ones, and fill the Cup,/ Before Life’s Liquour in its Cup be dry’.” (random capitalization verbatim).
Khayyam allegedly was a big drinker, and would continually be pulled before authorities who condemned him for his immoral ways. But he argued that wine was a necessary joy in life… and I wholeheartedly agree.
This wine is, so the bottle says, celebrating 125 years of production. That would be 125 years of headache-inducing hangovers. I haven’t even tried the Egyptian vodka that I bought this evening. My roommate said it might make me blind… But as long as it helps me sleep through the morning prayers, I’m a happy woman! The beer is also not that bad. I've stocked my fridge with Sakara at the moment ...
But next time I pass through duty free… I’m going to load up on Scottish whiskey, British gin and any vodka that won’t make me blind…

Sunsets over Cairo

2007-10-24T20:35:00.000+02:00

I walk home from work every night - an hour walk along crowded pavements and hectic, traffic-laden roads. I love to see the other people also on the street--business men in suits, people carrying home loads of tea or wood on their heads, college students in jeans and tight t-shirts (with a veil if they are women)... What I really love, however, are the sunsets over the Nile. My favourite part of the walk is when I cross a bridge over the Nile and I stop to stare into the swirling water below, lit up by the orange sky. There are numerous fellucas (small sail boats) out on the water and equally numerous, but less attractive 'disco boats', all lit up in gaudy colours with music blaring. The hour ends up passing very quickly...

New starts and finding the comfort of habit

2007-10-24T20:34:00.000+02:00

Moving to a new location is always a difficult and strange experience… I should know by now! Over the last fifteen years, I’ve lived in a small village in Wales, a small village in Nepal, Oxford, Dulles in Albania, San Diego, Berkeley, New York, London and Boston and, now, Cairo. At the moment, I am in the difficult stage of transition where everything seems foreign, I have no routine and I know few people. But gradually the layers of strangeness are peeling off and I’m beginning to see the trees for the forest… I’m beginning to realize that not all the men (of course..) are hissing at me. Many are yelling at their friends or a stranger across the street. I’m beginning to notice which streets are cleaner and easier to walk along. I’m building enough confidence to start looking at people rather than just staring at the floor. I know how long the prayers will last at the mosque, at what time the people in the apartments around me will start yelling at each other or slamming their windows. I know the more comfortable side of my bed and the way to get my shower at the right temperature.
Last night, I was reading Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time.” He described how his mind strained to feel comfortable in its surroundings. How, when you move to a new place, you are “convinced of the hostility of the curtains and the insolent indifference of a clock.” Finally, however, everything falls in place:
“Habit! That skilful but slow-moving arranger who begins by letting our minds suffer for weeks on end in temporary quarters, but whom our minds are none the less only too happy to discover at last, for without it, reduced to their own devices, they would be powerless to make any room seem habitable.”
I am waiting for habit to arrange my life here so that I can begin to feel more comfortable and more at home. It takes time, but familiarity always ends up arriving at some level…

Cats, cats and more cats

2007-10-24T20:15:00.000+02:00

If you are a cat lover, then Cairo can be tough on the heart. My roommate left the house yesterday and passed two dead kittens on the doorstep of the opposite apartment. She said they had been torn apart, probably by another cat. One small kitten was left alive and lay huddled next to its siblings.
When I got home this evening, this small kitten was crouched at the foot of my door. I tried to feed it, but it wouldn’t eat the food I left out. Instead, its mother arrived and ate the food and I later saw the kitten feeding from her. I wish I could adopt the little fluff of orange and white. But we already have a cat… and you just can’t adopt all the strays on the street.

"The Lost Boys of Cairo", Caroline Moorehead

2007-10-23T12:29:00.000+02:00

The Prologue to Caroline Moorehead's "Human Cargo" is called "The Lost Boys of Cairo." It documents her interactions with mainly Liberian refugees who are hiding in Cairo. It is a powerful piece of writing, with incredible snapshots of the stories of individuals who have lost everything and whose future is generally bleak:
"Fear, memory, expectations, endlessly deferred, rule in the quicksands of Cairo's refugee world. Psychiatrists say that it is important for peace of mind to live in the present, to come to terms with daily existence, and neither brood about the past nor attach too much meaning to the future; but the refugees trapped in Cairo today, haunted by terrifying memories of loss and savagery, seduced by a longing for a world they perceive as stable and fulfilling, cannot accept the present. Cairo is a prison sentence, to be endured because there is no option. They simply wait...
Cairo is not just one of the most polluted cities in the world; it is dirty, intensely overcrowded, broken down and full of rubble, with roads built up on legs above other roads in an attempt to dispel the traffic jams that paralyse the city for all the day and most of the night. Occasionally, between the brick and the cement, you catch glimpses of filigreed minarets, delicately carved porticoes and arcades, stately facades and the traces of sumptuous courtyards, earlier Cairos of the Islamic mastercrafstmen and Coptic merchants, when the city was a splendid place of pleasure garden and cool palaces, civil servants in their red fezzes strolled along tree-lined avenues and visitors drank sherbet in famous tearooms. It is the utterly derelict nature of the city today that partly makes possible its absorption of so many refugees - 200,000? 500,000? No one can say for sure. Around the city's edges, entrepreneurs keep constructing identical breeze-block buildings in ever-widening circles, leaving the top floor unfinished so that other floors can be added year by year. From the top of the buildings along the Nile, on the rare moments when the smog evaporates and the setting sun lights up the horizon, you can see the Pyramids of Giza, framed by the jagged edges of yet more unfinished blocks. Wherever the buildings are most derelict, the electicity supplies most sporadic, the water least reliable, there the refugees live." (pages 8-9)

A Refugee Story from "Human Cargo" by Caroline Moorehead

2007-10-23T12:23:00.000+02:00

One day a man in a country in Africa was arrested and accused of belonging to an illegal opposition group. He was sent to prison and tortured. In his cell was a very small window. By standing up very straight in the far corner of the room, he could just see a field outside. From time to time, cows came to graze in it. As the weeks passed, he grew to recognise their shapes and colours. One in particular pleased him, and he gave her a name. From that day on, whenever she passed his window, he talked to her. He told her about his wife and children who had disappeared, about his house and his parents, and the village where he grew up.
The day came when he was freed. He left his African country and went into exile, taking his cow with him. In his new country, he was offered an appointment with a doctor to talk through his experiences. On the first day, he arrived in good time, leading his cow behind him. When the receptionist ushered him into the consulting room, he made sure the cow had plenty of room to follow him. Week after week, the man and his cow attended sessions together.
Several months went by. One day, the doctor suggested that the moment had come for the man to bid farewell to his cow. He replied that it was too soon. Several more months passed. Then the morning came when the man accepted that he could keep the cow with him no longer. That day, he was extremely sad. He brought the cow with him as usual, and then, crying, told her that the time had come for her to go home. Saying goodbye to his cow made him weep more than he had wept for many years.

Cairo Metro

2007-10-21T23:02:00.000+02:00

The metro in Cairo was a wonderfully pleasant surprise – it beats London and New York for cleanliness and speed. And it only costs 1 Egyptian pound (around 10 pence in the UK..) What made the ride so pleasant was the fact that there is a women’s-only carriage at the front of the train. Finally I could stare at people to my heart’s content and not get immediately propositioned for sex…!! What a great thirty minutes of freedom!
The carriage was full of women and children dressed in all sorts of colours and to various degrees of conservatism. There were women dressed from head to toe in black, with sheets of material covering their whole body, with only a small slit for the eyes. These women even wear gloves… they made me feel extra hot as I stood in my trousers and shirt and felt beads of sweat trickling down my back.
The majority of women, however, were in a regular hijab – a headscarf that covers all the hair and frames the face. Some of these scarves were bright, decorated in sequins and small beads. Others were very plain and somber. The majority of younger women wearing the niqab had on jeans and tight tops—though the sleeves almost uniformly went to the wrist (a favourite style is a long-sleeved top with a little tank top over the top). The older women, however, tended to be wearing loose tops and long ground-length skirts.
One woman in particular stood out: a strikingly-beautiful young woman in an aquamarine scarf draped only loosely around her head. She was much darker than the other women and almost certainly wasn’t Egyptian. Her hair was in tight braids and her silver jewelry shone against her skin. Egypt is full of refugees fleeing from the numerous civil wars further south in Africa. The majority of cleaners hired by Westerners seem to be from African countries south of Egypt: Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Eritrea (see AMERA, an NGO working in Cairo with refugees, link on the RHS of this blog). I wondered about her story and whether she felt as much of a foreigner as I did, standing amongst chattering families and schoolchildren trying to finish their homework.
Generally, I think it will be hard to meet Egyptian women. Everywhere I go, there are crowds of men, but very few women. But I had so many questions I wanted to ask the women on that carriage: How do they deal with the aggressive Egyptian men? How do they feel when they are covered beneath so many layers of hot material? What do they think when they look at me with my t-shirt and uncovered head? What do they think of President Mubarak? If they had one wish, what would it be?

Fresh mango juice!

2007-10-21T14:36:00.000+02:00

There are numerous fruit stalls around Cairo that mash up the most delicious fruits... my new favourite is a glass of thick mango juice that only costs around 3o UK pence. I haven't got sick yet (touch wood, throw salt over my shoulder, don't look at a black cat etc etc)

Mobile phone stalkers - an Egyptian male obsession

2007-10-21T14:32:00.000+02:00

Egyptian men are not content with merely cat-calling and hissing. They also, I realise, all make sure that they have cameras on their mobile phones so that they can store images of "Western hotties." I dread to think what use these fuzzy pictures are being put to... eugh. I'm feeling more and more committed to "the right to privacy" as each day passes...

bellydancers, dwarfs and a strange Egyptian night...

2007-10-21T14:16:00.000+02:00

I'm slowly (or maybe quickly!) being introduced to the strange intricacies of Cairo nightlife. On Friday, I began the night at the lovely rooftop Nile Hilton bar, "Mojitos". This is a new bar with an incredible view over Cairo. And there are plenty of Egyptian women there, dancing away in skimpy outfits. Halleluiah!
But the Nile Hilton was not where I was able to discover the truly bizarre, seedy side of Cairo nightlife... That awaited me in full form in a bellydancing club (read whore-house) that we went to after Mojitos. Saying goodbye to the glitz and glamour of the Hilton, we meandered through the streets of Cairo to a small brown door with very few markings. I was expecting a dimly-lit, smokey dive with lots of little booths. Think again. Smokey it was. But it was more like a greasy-spoon cafe, with bright neon lighting and small tables pushed up against the wall. The place (of course!) was crowded with men. As we stepped into the place, hands went to pockets and the mobile phone camera sessions began (see my posting on this Egyptian obsession).
We sat down at a table next to a group that included a sheesha-chain smoker and a dwarf. Yes, dwarf. This small guy was attracting the most attention from the bellydancers and they kept dragging him to his feet so he could shake his booty for the rest of us... very very weird. The women were generally dressed in somewhat boring tight jean/ low top combinations. But the makeup on every single woman's face was fit for a drag queen. Then the drag queen herself emerged (though I think she was female - if not, then I praise the surgeon who managed to construct those breasts and hips and stomach). She wiggled her way, stomach leading, over to our table, allowed us to stuff handfulls of notes into her cleavage, and then strutted her stuff. I was mesmerized. Cristina, my roommate, got up on her feet and did a wonderful dance-off with the queen. But, as the dwarf got in on the action and the bellydancer's bum wiggled in curious treble-beat time... the Egyptians definitely won the night. Multiple photos of my slightly horror-stuck face are probably stored in a number of Egyptian mobile phones around Cairo. I just hope that they haven't made it yet to any seedy porn sites...

A sleepless night: domestic abuse

2007-10-17T08:21:00.000+02:00

I barely slept last night. I think the barrage of sights and smells and noises in this city has over-stimulated my mind. I drifted in and out of a light sleep until morning prayers at 4am. These prayers begin with “god is good, god is good….” And then something like “It’s better to be praying than asleep.” At that very moment, I would have preferred sleep. Just as the prayers fell silent, a woman began screaming and pleading and crying in one of the apartments either below or opposite me. I opened my shutters to try to see her, but she herself was behind closed shutters – in the “privacy” of her own home. This is why so many feminists and domestic violence activists have resisted the idea of a “right to privacy.” There is concern that it is a right that will be used to block interventions into the home when women and children are abused. But this is not what we are working on at EIPR. Instead, the right to privacy is seen as a vital individual right that includes the right to health care, housing, and food. It encompasses the freedom to enjoy a balanced emotional life and to choose a religion without state interference.
How anyone defines this right was, of course, no help to the woman who continued to cry for over an hour. Her screams were all the more upsetting because of the quiet morning darkness. I just hope that some of my legal work can ultimately contribute to bringing greater protection to vulnerable individuals, and to shifting the often grossly-distorted power balances that exist between human beings.

A guide to Sheesha… the ubiquitous Egyptian water pipe…

2007-10-17T08:17:00.000+02:00

A guide to Sheesha… the ubiquitous Egyptian water pipe…
1) Ensure that the mouthpiece is not encrusted with too much nasty crap. Those with particularly weak constitutions can request a plastic cap to cover the mouth bit (but that means you’re a total wimp… )
2) Breathe in deeply so that the water bubbles into a fury
3) Try not to choke (particularly if, like me, you don’t generally smoke) as you allow the caustic apple/ watermelon / lemon flavoured smoke to attack your throat and lungs
4) Blow out and gasp for oxygen
5) Repeat a few times
6) Finally get extremely dizzy and put your head against any available pillar/ chair/ friend
7) Don’t think too much about cancer – living in Cairo is in any case equivalent to smoking 30 cigarettes a day…. So what does an extra carcogenic kick matter?

Right to Privacy... any ideas?

2007-10-16T22:29:00.000+02:00

It was my first day at work today. Over the next 10 months, I will be focusing principally on "the right to privacy." I want to find out as much as possible about both the philosophical and practical foundations of this right... so if anyone has any ideas or research tips, please let me know!

An evening walk home in the rain...

2007-10-16T21:03:00.000+02:00

I walked home from work tonight. It took an hour to go from Garden City, where my office is located, across a bridge spanning the Nile and up the length of Zamalek, the island where I live. The wind was rough, and as the call for prayers rose from one of the mosques I passed, the dust was whipped into my hair and eyes. The sky was glowing red from the pollution – it reminded me of sunsets I’ve seen over Los Angeles… And the pavements and roads were packed. People (but mainly men) were everywhere – hanging over the bridge staring into the Nile, swinging off the street lamps, rushing into the traffic-jammed streets. Whenever you are out in Cairo, it is impossible to forget that this is a city of 20 million people. You just can’t need or expect much personal space.
Such large quantities of people can be reassuring in some ways. Despite the constant harassment, I don’t actually believe I will be attacked. Maybe this is over-confidence – but I’ve already seen how, whenever any kind of altercation or accident occurs, people swarm around to sort things out, mediate, intervene. So I assume at the moment that people would also instinctively prevent any potential attack on me.
So I felt safe as I walked. But also a little melancholy. It’s hard settling into a new city when you have no routine and few friends. And even harder when you have to walk past horses that are barely alive, so thin that you can count their ribs—horses that are being used to pull carriages for mainly Egyptian families, and are whipped until they finally gallop along any stretch of open road. I hate even looking at the boys/ men who own these carriages, because it seems to encourage them to ‘show off’ by whipping their horses even more. It makes me so angry… And, of course, there are the hundreds of emaciated cats that lurk under every parked car and in the corridors of every building.
Thirty minutes into my walk, it started to rain, and the smell of horses, and dust, and car fumes was intensified. So I put in my ipod and walked home in the rain—in a surreal world of Bob Dylan and damp Egyptian smog. I think I will increasingly need this kind of musical escape… Cairo is a demanding city and unless I’m careful, it could drain every ounce of my energy. So I need to make sure that my ipod is always on hand so I can remember to ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’ ;-) …

Gold's Gym, Cairo - a Nile view!

2007-10-16T20:35:00.000+02:00

I'm about to join Gold's Gym in Cairo, which actually floats out right onto the Nile - a sort of gym boat... It's a little expensive but it has an incredible view of the river. You can run on the treadmill, check out the most steroid-pumped men in Cairo and watch the boats run up and down the Nile. It's beautiful! A real inspiration for working out... which is good because I need to get rid of as much stress as possible by pounding on the exercise machines!

Harassment on the streets...

2007-10-12T16:51:00.000+02:00

Should I dress like the women on the billboards or the women in the street??

A number of people have asked me what I'm wearing here in Egypt... I did consider wearing a veil before I flew over here. I'd heard that the harassment of Western women who walk on the streets is getting worse and wearing a headscarf can minimize this nuisance. But none of the Western women I've talked to here wear anything on their head. Most just wear what they'd wear back at home (though you're not going to see mini skirts/ boob tubes etc!) I'm definitely leaning more to the conservative side.. I try to cover my legs and most of my arms, despite the fact that it is so hot and sticky. I'm also trying to avoid anything that hugs my figure. You become extremely aware of any VPL possibilites when you know you're being stared at all the time and thought of as a semi-prostitute...

Overall the harassment is a complete pain. Men are continually hissing, making comments about 'sex/ riding me (ie sex)', clicking their tongue... I've mastered the skill of staring at some nondistinct point in the sky or around knee height. I'm also wearing my big sunglasses as much as possible so I don't accidentally catch a man's eye. It's tiring and a real nuisance. It's horrible to be objectified as a sex object - any feminist instincts I have are being doubled by the minute ;-)

The beauty of morning prayers

2007-10-10T14:27:00.000+02:00

This is a daylight picture of the mosque opposite my apartment. There's a night-time photo below of it lit up for Ramadan.

I was a little worried about the noise levels of the 5am prayers, but it was wonderful to hear them floating into my sleep this morning. It was haunting and deeply spiritual: a rhythmic call to the heavens that made god seem very present. It's Ramadan here at the moment and people's faith is very much evident - as the sun sets, everyone turns to food and drink after a day of fasting. Taxi drivers stop in the street to grab a glass of water from the pavement; families gather together around tables set up in public spaces to share their meal together. It is an incredible communal experience.

A'isha

2007-10-10T13:11:00.000+02:00

Ok... I'm truly in love. With a cat. My maternal instincts have been touched - I just want to take photos of A'isha whenever she moves. She's naughty, with a real street-cat attitude - she's continually pouncing on me, my flatmate, and anything else that moves. But isn't she cute???? When I'm on the computer, she finds a bit of my leg to perch on, and then also tries to crawl under the computer and stick her head up between my legs. In the photos here, I have my computer on my lap and she's sitting on my legs. She's like a toddler that needs constant attention... (oh... do I sound like a new mother?? Is this boring to everyone else?? Will this blog become a tribute to a cat? ahhhhhh)

Her name is A'isha, who was a wife of Muhammad.

In the wise words of Wikipedia:

Aisha bint Abi Bakr (Arabic عائشة `ā'isha, "she who lives", also transcribed as A'ishah, Ayesha, 'A'isha, or 'Aisha, Turkish Ayşe, Ottoman Turkish Âişe etc.) was a wife of Muhammad. In Islamic writings, she is thus often referred to by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين umm-al-mu'minīn), per the description of Muhammad's wives as "Mothers of Believers" in the Qur'an (33.6), and later, as the the "Mother of the Faithful", as in Qutb's Ma'alim fi al-Tariq (pps6). She is quoted as source for many hadith (traditions about Muhammad's life), with Muhammad's personal life being the topic of most narrations.
Aisha is a controversial figure because of differing portrayals of her in Shia versions of Islamic history and her role in the First Fitna (first Islamic civil war) at the head of an army against Ali ibn Abu Talib in the Battle of Bassorah.

My new apartment in Zamalek, Cairo

2007-10-09T23:03:00.000+02:00

These are some pictures of my new apartment in Zamalek. Zamalek is a small island in Cairo - I'm in the far north of the island, where it meets at a point, so I have the Nile on either side of me! My flatmate (Cristina) and I have a mosque directly opposite our apartment (see photo!) It's all lit up for Ramadan at the moment - I wait to see how well I cope with the 4am daily prayers!

We have the cutest little cat. My flatmate called her "Aisha" - which is the name of one of Mohammed's wives. Some stricter Muslims aren't too happy with this choice of name (one taxi driver shouted at Cristina when he heard the name). But it's a beautiful name... and I'm beginning to learn to pronounce it properly...

Aisha likes to follow us around at all times. She has been collapsing on my computer all night, and then digging her claws into my leg. I hope she'll grow out of this....

2007-10-09T22:38:00.000+02:00

Ok.. this is a random photo of me that has nothing to do with Egypt. It's a photo my sister took of me in Italy this year. But I have to post it here so I can put up a profile picture ....

Learning to play chicken on Cairo roads

2007-10-09T22:18:00.000+02:00

It's the end of my second full day in Cairo and I'm getting a little more confident at crossing the roads here. I've learned to pick out a strapping man who is also quick on his feet (this is a skill in itself), to position myself on his left-hand side, and to then run across the road when he does.... The traffic is just like this in India, but I'd forgotten how much you take your life into your own hands when you cross these types of roads. You literally have to confidently step out into speeding traffic and dodge around the various layers of oncoming vehicles. If you hesitate at all, then you are lost....