Sunday 28 July 2013

River Red/ Joy on hold

Bearing unbearable witness # Need for respite
Many 'believe' the present culling and killing in the name of cleansing is a sanctioned enterprise. 
orphaned

How is persecuting a group of people for their religious beliefs any better than being persecuted? The act of persecution itself is the evil and the act itself cannot be sanctioned no matter what 'cause' or 'cleansing' banner it upholds.  
Youssef slain by thugs/police?: a mother now mourns
All violence and oppression backed by power is abhorrent, inhumane and unjust.

sign reads: unidentified







The whole Egyptian scenario distinctly feels orchestrated right from the start with uncanny destabilisation in mind. Although, many Egyptians would appear blissfully oblivious, due to a dire need for relief and respite, a substantial number are being taught a lesson to tow the line now or die. Those who will concede happily believing their cause has been fought and won will quite as easily be duped into thinking they are actually in charge. As for those who don't concede, the polarisation in Egypt will cause them to either suffer being victimised or force them into submission in order to get by. More danger lies in the outward appearance people are judged by and oppression has unlimited facets.

If democracy is all about inclusion rather than exclusion, many would say that at present, the road to even a hint of democracy in Egypt appears as far as it is long.
Were we to focus on nothing but good faith in all intentions, the MB president Morsy should have resigned some time ago, in the knowledge that his rule could not 'deliver' promises of any kind ~ whether due to the original minimal 'win' following the Hobson's choice involved in the election process and/or due to the impediments infringing and restricting progress. For, had Morsy resigned due to overwhelming unrest and in the knowledge that he will be unable to deliver.. there might have been a chance of far less polarisation occuring and a chance for MB supporters to evade the inhuman persecution we now cannot help but bear unbearable witness to.

Indeed, any protester today will have to watch out for confusion surrounding his/her stance as to what/who he/she may represent. 

There can be no doubt of the ubiquitous presence of a 'deep state'. Heretofore solid obstructions in the form of dire shortages of water and electricity have miraculously dissolved since Morsy's ousting. There was indeed no need for a coup. The word itself appears irrelevant; always in charge behind the scenes, the moment to step back in was just a matter of time.
The only way forward for a people, if only in order to try and get ahead of the game being played however 'grand-scale' it may be, is to think, listen and tolerate one another.
**
**
Labelling does not help, all it does is villify everyone under the sun. MB and Military supporters become monsters and demons, in no special order. 
But perhaps most poignantly of all, the word terrorist so bandied and trite is the one to be most wary of ~ if a bullet gets you whoever pulled the trigger is the terrorist if you didn't draw first. 
*
For the purpose of morale as was ever the aim of this blog, a glimmer of hope might appear once we listen to all the different nuances of Egyptian society as is indeed well portrayed in the link of a one-off debate held in London and posted here yet again.
Treacherous games and 'powers that be' aside ... only through thinking and listening and finding common ground can we, as humans, ever get ahead.
LINK:  http://www.frontlineclub.com/egypts-new-roadma/?gclid=CJbj97vTxbgCFRMQtAodZEEAqw


* https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=672259712802260&set=a.362269433801291.103621.362231420471759&type=1&theater
**  http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/tomasss81/tomasss811108/tomasss81110800002/10318148-set-of-monsters-vector-15.jpg

Tuesday 23 July 2013

B L I N D S I G H T

Antidotes Anonymous

Monsters and Demons
Oppression Unlimited

The labelling that has become so popular in Egypt is nothing less than dehumanising. 
EVERYONE is labelled and less human for it.
All incitement to violence and oppression is nothing more than a power game being played, sometimes so manipulative that it makes people believe they are the ones in charge and that's when blindsight occurs. 
figuratively speaking: a justified sensory perception without conscious sight.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670832812944950&set=a.362269433801291.103621.362231420471759&type=1&theater
Egypt's New Roadmap~ Undefined

Is it enough for people to believe in people?
Link to Debate:
With anger making people unable to hear 
See only red
Unable to speak without shouting~ 
Feel disgust and dread

That's how violence is bred 
 
In the pockets of the players: The full game is played; cheering blocking minds to the past.
However, serendipitously water and electricity are back indeed.. not a coup then, just always in charge, covertly when not overtly~ just as the 'powers that be' continue to dictate.  

With recent incitement to violence and the Army's cringeworthy request for 'the people's' permission to come down hard on groupings of people rather than the more conventional address of thuggery itself, for which permission would hardly be requested... we have nothing less than a 'sanctioned oppression in progress', one targetting a factious part of society ~ regardless of individual tendencies or patterns of good or bad behaviour.

Demonising one group of people or another is not the answer.. People everywhere are praying for deliverance and on Facebook the words God bless Egypt are reiterated over and over again. 
Labeling 'point blank' every one under the sun does little more than encourage hatred and build irreconcilable differences even among the more tolerant.
"justjoinme"Facebook status:
"When someone beguiles himself/herself into misnaming hatred and bigotry to be patriotism and defense of civility, then we are on the highway to belligerence and nation subversion."

Another facebook status:
'....most are unable to see that the bigotry they so rebel against in their own personal space (and rightly so) is exactly the same bigotry (in kind) and  lack of tolerance they themselves exercise and feel so self-righteous about. The labelling that has become so popular in Egypt does nothing less than dehumanise a group of people. EVERYONE is labelled and less human for it.
...the power game in Egypt today leads people to think they are actually in charge when they are being manipulated to the extreme.. all in the name of 'cleansing'. Quite unprecedentedly, the people have actually been called upon by the Military to give permission to exercise force upon whole factious groups of society, not just the individuals causing mischief, for which surely no permission would be needed.  
... unless we start removing the demon and monster labels we have on everyone and remember that many people whatever they support are good people, we will find both senseless and premeditated violence accelerate. The thugs that are either hired or brainwashed or both are simply deranged human beings and they should be dealt with accordingly but the innocents around them are all being tarred with the same brush and that has to stop for humanity's sake. Tomorrow is a big day for Egypt, yet again~ and it does not bode well. We can but pray for deliverance.'

Overwhelming phobias and dictates~ when power is sought they are all equally terrifying
"The Egyptian people's embrace of the brutal military in Egypt is as baffling as it is burdensome to the country's fledgling democracy."
 "The Big Lie Egypt's Military (And America!) Are Selling The World" 
Read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ahmed-shihabeldin/the-big-lie-egypts-milita_b_3625408.html

"Behind the Scenes
This time the head of the military has been trying from the outset to stay in the background. The events of Wednesday night are clearly a coup -- the army has deposed a democratically elected president and suspended the constitution. Yet Sissi acted as if the generals had been compelled by the Egyptian people to intervene."

"Egypt's Cunning General: How the Military Plans to Keep Power" 

Read more:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/military-plans-to-maintain-power-in-egypt-after-coup-a-909386.html 

Morale once again at an all time low
We can but hope and pray for better times

Time yet again to revisit first blog post?
http://amit-glimpses.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/egypt-in-aftermath-of-furore-and.html 
Friday 26th July 2013
Are we talking bait? Safety in numbers? A bird's eye view does not provide the much needed comfort:

'On Wednesday, army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged Egyptians to take to the streets for mass Friday protests to "authorize" him to "confront violence and terrorism." '

Read more:
http://www.turkishweekly.netnews/153482/egyptian-intellectuals-unveil-initiative-to-restore-democracy.html








Thursday 18 July 2013

Locked in battle


perhaps not quite the peace offering
 
Read more:
http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-israel-says-it-has-allowed-egypt-to-boost-forces-in-sinai/1703002.html

Head to Head:
Israeli settlers: Patriots or invaders?
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/2013/06/201361310127499186.html
Above link is to a riveting filmed interview with participating audience 
~ locks loosened only to be tightened ~  solution......


http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/11757350/2/stock-photo-11757350-wild-goats-fighting.jpg  

http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/rams-banging-heads-for-web.gif   







Thursday 11 July 2013

'Death on the Nile' a Cat and Mouse tale

Solution: 'SMART POWER' versus...

..LORD VOLDERMORT
The War 'in vogue'
 

SSI Strategic Studies Institute / United States Army War College
Research Professor of Military Strategy
Dr. Max G. Manwaring 
"We have become engaged, again, whether we want to admit it or not, whether we like it or not... in a fourth generation assymetric war."

"War is compulsion and failing state
It's not an event, it's a process: 
If you do it slowly and quietly enough people will go to sleep.. if you do this well enough, long enough,   slowly enough.. benignly enough... your enemy will wake up dead."
*With studies suggesting we can in extremely traumatic situations, experience tonic immobility; when we essentially ‘switch off’ from a life-threatening situation
 ... Unless 'smart power' steps in, not 'fire power'... 
Egypt may soon find itself 'playing dead'.
IN English with Arabic subtitles:  
ALL EGYPTIANS
presents:
How does the West 'manage' today's wars?
see link here:
https://youtu.be/gc2vWCUil7g

OUTWIT. OUTPLAY. OUTLAST.

Once upon a time there was a Super Cat. It eyed a land from afar, a land of mice and pigeons ruled by small cats in awe of Super Cat's great big claws. The cats found it easy to control the mice but the pigeons were a little more tricky. Not only did they flap about noisily making the cats look silly, peck and squawk loudly when vexed but most frustrating of all was the fact they they could, when setting their minds to it... fly.  
With the stage set and velvety paw raised, 'ACTION!' roars Super Cat, the command heard only as a soft purr from afar.The play begins.
Scene One: Pigeon exposes misdemeanors of cat and is brutally killed. Pigeons and mice unite, aided along by unwitting minions of Super Cat. Pigeons flap about while frightened little mice scurry around.
Scene Two: Super gnawing powers are given to the mice, putting them in charge of the pigeons. Cats lurk and wait, watching the pigeons preen their wings, handing out self-aggrandizing mirrors to pigeons and mice alike.  
Scene Three: High-flying pigeons seek cats' help to curb mice ~ resulting in further injury and death.
Scene Four: Confusion, crushed spirits and more confusion. Who will take over now?

Soft and furry with claws retracted it taps away ~ swishing around players, tapping and bobbing, with careless observation focusing upon its target's every move; gauging ambit of playing field and remaining in full control. 
 The giant paw descends upon a nation's back.
 Eventually 'apparent death' slips in.
However, only when high spirits are irredeemably broken can an end to the play be in sight.

 "US has had a deliberate interest in establishing global hegemony through military power since World War II and discussed how events like the Arab Spring threaten such interests, as well as how the US responds to such threats and how its responses affect the world.
Chomsky argued that many US wars as well as the recent global economic crisis, both of which he tied to the risks of nuclear war and environmental collapse, are connected to US attempts to maintain such control.

He also continually criticized the US and Israel during his talk as prime examples of countries that deliberately breach international peace treaties, such as supplying arms to states that use them to violate human rights, to maintain their own interests."
   Ramadan 2013 
Looking back on days gone by, a 2011 post:' When the dust settles'
 http://amit-glimpses.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/when-dust-settles.html
Today the swell of grit and sand fill the air 
A storm brews beneath the surface, erupting at every chance.
Attempts to understand and deal with situation may start in a small note-book to become exceptional paragons of tact, tolerance and discernment, filling volumes~ 
or just as easily find themselves buried in a neighbouring back-yard. 

 Transcript of key points of address in video link:
"We have become engaged, again, whether we want to admit it or not, whether we like it or not... in a fourth generation assymetric war."
........................
"Its objective: not to crush another military organisation or to destroy a nation's capability of fielding a military force abroad.. the objective is to wear down slowly but surely the will of the targeted country for the purposes of 'gaining influence and eventually.. in reality the real objective is to compel that enemy to your will and whether that type of war is as bloody as traditional shock and awe or not.... the fact is that compulsion whether it is benign or not is still compulsion."
..........................
"The objective is to control or strangely come to the point of influencing another enemy or entity to your will"
"The common denominator is the thing we call 'destabilisation'"
...........................
"Destabilsation and the failing state
Military forces are not all uniformed, they are not all male they are also female they are not all adult they are also children ~ we have got to understand .. in order to deal with them.
Since they are transnational problems .. we need transnational solutions
and we have to go a step further:
we have to use 'brain power'. 
'Brain power' is the main weapon in this context: 'Smart power'. 
It's not 'fire power'."
........................






Monday 8 July 2013

Truth stands alone

To believe in free thought in order to arrive at a destination where truth abides is not an easy feat and is often mistaken for arguing for argument's sake which more often than not proves inevitably flawed.
In the following video which includes a participating audience, respect plays an essential part in hearing out different perspectives rather than crashing down on them in one fell swoop. 
Having listened to it and with respect, as an individual, no more and no less, i voice my deeply considered concerns about focal points voiced therein.
If we are sincerely to believe in One God then it follows our belief that there is One Truth. That Truth may have many if not infinite starting points but only one final destination. Picture an eye with the centre of the pupil being the truth and its circumference comprising all the elements of an eye that integrally aim at producing sight itself. They all work towards one goal. 
We do not need to be aware of every detail in order for sight to exist, we need only to be aware that without them we may indeed see no light. Figuratively this applies equally in the way we regard our faith. Faith is us being guided towards the Light. Whatever you name it, it is still nevertheless that One Light and unlike ourselves that Light is a constant regardless of whether we are guided to it or not. 
Allow me to explain this point further using the proverbial tree that falls in a forest with no one around. Does it make a sound? Many would say this question cannot be answered since the event has not been witnessed by anyone and therefore if there was a sound it could not be heard by anyone. Only the presence of acumen of a kind, be it one based upon scienctific, philosophical or spiritual aspects of the event can allow us to probe further. Here I use little other than intuitive rationale: Our thoughts are unlimited and in essence free from restriction but only of use to us if rooted in aspiration towards eventually arriving at a conclusion, a destination. Ultimately however, the conclusion stands firmly alone, independent of our perceptions. So, although no one could indeed convince anyone else that the tree did or did not make a sound, the truth of it being one or the other is that which holds supremacy. We do not need to be personally subjected to it in order for it to be so, we do not need to be individually involved in a situation  in order for it to exist. Our humility is in accepting an answer does exist, whether we are around to witness it or not and above all to have the capacity to distinguish between the finite and the infinite, the latter being one we can only ever conceptually aspire to understand. Truth is only Truth if it is seen to withstand all confusion and falsehood; in order for it to remain a constant it needs us not. However, it is us who in all matters affiliated to this world need it. It is us who can only ever hope to reach up towards it through our complex, changeable, indecisive and ever-aspiring natures. 

Whether we look deep into ever-expanding realms of galaxies or ever-diminishing nuclei of atoms we are always left in awe of the unsurmountable evidence of the infinte, of design, of His presence.

There is therefore a paradox involved when saying that we believe in One God and therefore One Truth and yet profess not to believe in the supremacy of Truth itself. 
We are all free to choose what we believe in and infinite nuances of infinite beliefs are there for the picking however to declare that nothing has supremacy is to declare that this declaration itself is supreme which detracts substantially from our humility and suggests our subjectivity is beyond all else. 
When we serve our Maker we do not rid ourselves of our entitlement to think, reason and deliberate, we truly serve when we in fact do so rather than not. 
We serve when we reach out towards understanding our own perspective and with necessity encounter that of so many others along the way; when we believe there is indeed free will and therefore freedom in choosing. 
We serve when we abide by an inherent wish to be guided and comprehend that even though guidance comes in many shapes and forms, ultimately, we are guided by Him alone
The wisdom of scholars who have made it their life's mission to study, delve and absorb information that may be crucial in containing seeds of faith cannot be disparaged. Yet, with notability there comes responsibility and tolerance is key and perhaps just like in any field of expertise fallibility is sadly not rare. 

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/headtohead/2013/06/201361091619207870.html 

Finally, for all intents and purposes, the title of this debate may for some appear misleading keeping in mind the saying: 'A good craftsman never blames his tools'.

Saturday 6 July 2013

'Egyptians-without-borders'





a beautiful small Cairo mosque

www.euronews.com








Sherine Garrana
IN ENGLISH, video addressing Mr.Obama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sInoCZ3RHLs 
IN ENGLISH, video 'Egypt, the next President'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDm2PrNV1I 
 Non-optional surgery~ addressing a 
political impediment far removed from Religion itself. 

 All guidance is left to our Maker and our Maker alone. Scholars are there to help with our understanding when understanding is sought. In Islam and indeed all sprituality there can be no coercion involved since that would eliminate our free will which is in direct balance with our fate.

Although many muslims and non-muslims alike continue to judge  rather than reach out to understand one another, condemnation often follows and therein lies the gravest error of all. Our hearts lie within, invisible and unheard no matter what our appearance suggests or bespeaks.

Crucially, for peace on earth, I can only hope that the general consensus be this: When we refer to Islam, it be seen as a religion that embraces all others, not discarding but rather including all spiritual belief systems from time immemorial. As a muslim who is keen to protect rather than defend the religion of Islam, a faith deep enough to withstand all slurs by its critics and abuse by its own followers I believe it best to add little else here.

Removal of a left-behind item in a surgical operation requires a second operation if only for basic recovery. Possibly a contentious statement to make in the fragile days ahead and certainly one that must be seen with due perspective. 
St.Mark's Coptic Cathedral Alexandria
Islam does not require to be force-fed to Egypt. Islam is part of its identity, its culture and its very ethos. Perhaps all who have ever lived in Egypt and who speak the language and catch the anima of its phrases would agree that Islam by definition is present in its spirit, 'surrender to our Maker' is there in every breath we take. This by no means excludes the integral ancient Coptic spirit that presides within Egypt for centuries.   Muslims and Christian Copts alike practise their faith and indeed more often than not share in each others' celebratory well-wishing through inherent respect for tradition if nothing else. Egyptian synagogues, churches and mosques are a testament to this even though political events in the Middle East with Judasim being mistaken for Zionism have confused and disturbed such roots to an almost insurmountable extent.
Always politics gnawing at the roots.
restoration of snagogue, Cairo

From: http://news.discovery.com/history/eqypt-synagogues-restoration.htm
Jewish sites are as much a part of Egypt's culture as mosques or Coptic churches, according to Egypt's Ministry of Culture.
THE GIST- Egypt will shoulder the costs of restoring the country's 11 historic synagogues.

And yet, with forceful swing of the pendulum present shocking so-called safety measures are suggested as seen here by Major General Sameh Tarabulsi: The closure of mosques at dawn.
Closing mosques for dawn prayers is being declared a safety measure and how temporary would remain to be seen. This is declared with reference to the desperate measures many of the ousted factious groups may stoop to with a motto of 'kill or be killed' and driven to murderous deeds in the knowledge that they will be imprisoned in due course. However, why they would choose to attack in particular those who pray is anyone's guess. Apart from the widely shared belief that all sin is shifted to the perpetrator should a person be killed during prayer, surely every person wishing to pray or congregate in prayer must be entitled to use their own discretion. To impose such an embargo neither is nor can with all consideration be the answer.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qeBbZYXWHI  (in Arabic)

Time to break out of a rut in Egypt

Robert Kagan, The Washington Post
 "Morsi was not only an incompetent ruler but also in many ways an undemocratic one. He imposed restrictions on the media and excluded the opposition from important constitutional decisions. He ruled not so much as a dictator but as a majoritarian, which often amounted to the same thing. With a majority in parliament and a large national following, and with no experience whatsoever in the give-and-take of democratic governance, Morsi failed in the elementary task of creating a system of compromise, inclusiveness, and checks and balances."
Read more:



*"Egypt’s second revolution: Questions of legitimacy


Democracy is constituted by the express and active will of real, living people, not by a box; this is especially true when these people are engaged in an on-going revolution, charting their and their nation’s future



Hani Shukrallah , Thursday 4 Jul 2013

"The US government, a substantial section of mainstream Western media and the ousted Muslim Brotherhood all seem to agree: what took place in Egypt over the past few days was a military coup, a setback for the country's alleged "transition" to democracy. Irrespective of the variety of vested interests involved, what the three detractors of one of the most potent popular revolutionary upsurges in modern history share is contempt. Twenty-two million signatures (at nearly 50 percent of the nation’s adult population) are collected demanding the ousting of the president; the same demand is made by some 17 million people (at nearly 30 percent of the adult population) as they hit the streets throughout the country, in what has been described as the biggest demonstration in the history of mankind, and they do so against a barrage of threats and predictions warning of 30 June’s "rivers of blood," and stay there.
Unprecedented it may be, yet not really worth seeing (the Washington Post persisted in speaking of "rival demonstrations" between Morsi supporters and the "opposition"), it is not democracy; it is the army and the "deep state." Nothing short of the most profound sense of contempt for these very people could explain such utter blindness.
For the Muslim Brotherhood the contempt is deep-seated within a doctrine that constructs the leaders of the Gama’a as the ultimate interpreters of God’s will on earth, and as such owed blind obedience, and a lot of hand-kissing, by their "flock" – little wonder then that a rebellious Egyptian people have come to call them "sheep."
From the Western side of the above equation – and I am still dealing here with ideological perspective rather than crass interest – it is the equally deep-seated conviction that such people as Arabs and Muslims are incapable of insisting on the sort of "liberties" that "Western Man" takes for granted."
Read more:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/4/75712/Opinion/Egypt%E2%80%99s-second-revolution-Questions-of-legitimacy.aspx


*"Have no doubt, Egyptian citizens are determined realists. They have overcome the fear that imprisoned them for so long but they are yet to reach a new national equilibrium. They care deeply about overcoming repression, social injustice and economic incompetence. And they will not hesitate to return to the streets in their millions should the army have ambitions beyond helping them collectively to press the rest button on the revolution and its legitimate objectives."
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mohamed-a-elerian/interpreting-recent-egypt_b_3554488.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications







* Two articles submitted by 
Hala Halim,  Amira Nowaira