2011 put to rest.

With HUSNY MUBARAK’s life ‘ALLAH YERHAMUH’ having come to an end and the 2011 revolution in mind, no draft or corrections made but a chronological stream of consciousness shared.

It always feels duplicitous to mourn a person’s death when there has been so much anger and frustration involved during that person’s life. Anger and frustration by those, perhaps even a whole people, who wished that he could have been more moral and less fundamentally careless and more compassionately attentive to their needs.
Yes, the feeling is that once a person dies we should still hold onto the resentment felt previous to their death or else be seen as hypocritical to oneself.
NOT SO.
It doesn’t have to be so.
We can still be sad for the end of a life, no matter how we perceived that life to have been spent. Mortality is something to be shared and its inevitability is something that urges us to do so. It is natural for any death to be mourned.
He like so many others before him was a prominent figure and with that I deliberately refrain from adding any adjective to sum up his once-upon -a -time position in life  .. for after death a person, regardless of good and harm we may have witnessed, is no longer ours to hold responsible, he is with his Maker who knows all ~~~ and, in short, apart from how a person’s life translates when poured into history books, our judgement is neither here nor there.
So I come to my main point of wrestling with my emotional response.
When we say Allah yer7amuh we don’t have to be in sympathy with what the person in his lifetime did, stood for or had a hand in bringing about. We need only to be in sympathy with ourselves, as erring humans and hope for His Mercy to be what counts in the end.

2011 Revisited

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Here today.. gone tomorrow?

When the popular masses took to the streets of Egypt their plight set in stone; innocent, fresh and purely motivated, their unadulterated fervour shook the world. 

They would succeed come what may; their aim was to oust the oppressive regime that had reigned unchallenged for over three decades. Direction was simple: forward, onwards and upwards. All else seemed unimportant, premature and even unnecessary. Take-off was undaunted and without a safety net.

The uprising was purely driven, untainted; like a burst of effervescent bubbles that carried no baggage, no vengeance, no thought for bureaucratic weights nor identified solutions; in its very strength an embodied weakness, a helplessness.

The revolution that followed could not have had such national and moreover universal appeal had there been any sinister agenda on board. The deep-rooted and yet uncharted harmony of the people could not be thwarted; no organised parties could make their foreboding malevolent incentives filter through unnoticed. There would be time for that later, just as there had been before. They would bide their time. 

For the new movement, as if protected by an invisible surrounding shield, it took days, nights, weeks and months of perseverance and nothing but the firmest resolve, hope for a brighter glimpse of an era to come, before the 'royal' mettle of presidential seat was finally cast off and molten. “Out with the old…”

Personal and shared dire hardship became defined starkly by poignant sacrifice of a few, those lying in the debris of the wake of a freedom aspired to. 

… In with the new?

Dead leaves were shed and promising green shoots already present in the constitution and seemingly in tune with the changing tides, magnanimously repotted.

In effect, vacancies advertised and signed up for simultaneously.

The promise of a new era. 

The youth groups, all abuzz, grabbed the vines and began swinging to and fro their bright ideas, some more grounded than others but all intrinsically laced with a tint of idealism; all in the hope of being embraced, adopted and securely planted. With every valiant swing, the potted verdancy becomes more and more discoloured; its innate corruption seeping through to the surface. With every attempt at reform, sterility encountered. Impenetrable veneer of regime, always backed by big ‘friendly’ biceps of a powerful deeply embedded army, loses no lustre. 

Frantic attempts in all directions, some wishing and clinging onto past securities, others hoping for their brighter dawn to turn into daylight and inevitably those with their own parasols seeking to deviate and overshadow the lot and all the while, the inferior diseased flora digging its roots in deeper and deeper. 

The coin of the revolution has been flipped, its momentum has dissipated. With every stark revelation of the regime's embezzlement and shameful conduct, its driving force of innocence unavoidably compromised. 

Here today… Still here today.

Egypt 2011 ~ Six years ago today

Monday, 11 April 2011

Egypt~
in the aftermath of furore and exhilaration, 
the picture shaken, a rosy regard for the main ruling force in Egypt, the army, becomes inevitable; wishful thinking protective of an effusive and genuinely pure uprising, to blot out the otherwise unbearable unease.
When dictators are propped up and supported so is the country's army; the Egyptian army is now viewed as a ruling unit independent of the ousted dictatorship but how independent is unclear. Egyptians without leadership, formations of youth groups with varying and at times conflicting agendas strive for radical change; all the while however, necessarily subjugated to the military rule which is now the gathering force.  

FB Anonymous Art of Revolution

The apparent stance of the army was never a straight-forward one. It would be rational to assume the army is always either overtly or covertly dictated to. Its funding is crucial. The military will naturally obey step by step whatever is advocated and outlined, whatever the circumstances. If a military force has backed up a certain regime it is unlikely to be dispersed or weakened when the regime crumbles. Soldiers are specifically trained to do as they are told and not to think for themselves. Any soldier who disagrees with the outlined strategy automatically risks facing inevitable ultimatums. As for the soldiers' seniors their motivations are intricately enmeshed with the overall fringe benefits; chief and eminent positions are conditionally attained and cognizance is not necessarily shared with those under their command. Individual integrity is rarely, if at all, independent of the general framework of the army's structure.   The paramount objective for the army is to preserve its basic skeletal strength. That is its duty.  
But most significantly: Whoever funds has puppet control.
  
It would be more than a little naïve to think that reform will just happen. Sadly and inevitably backlash is palpable. The unleashing of hard-core criminals demonstrates the extent of insidiousness involved. Every lunge towards change is counteracted by some discernible hindrance. This can only denote the regime, referred to as 'former', is indeed still ostensibly prevalent. Those individuals who were either ousted or feel presently under threat of being overruled have no intention of changing their ways but do have options unlike the majority of impoverished populace. The fact that Mubarak left office was only ever symbolic at best. There are those who imbued him with power, some who have no intention of exiting the covert yet luxuriously furnished seams of corruption they occupy. Rather Egypt were to crumble than their ill-gotten gains be scrutinised. Obscene affluence glares out vividly amidst broken pavements & broken spirits.

Reform is an uphill struggle. With no police force offering security the only answer is 'vigilantism' and that cannot be risk free. And yet, alongside such complications the tides of change have nevertheless furnished many Egyptians with a new-found sense of identity, a sense of national pride and a sense of accountability as contributing members of a society. These are valuable assets, once apportioned not lightly relinquished. Nothing is certain; there is no clear target to propel towards. Democracy is a concept that at best can only be semi-realised and even in countries where it is prominently more present its validity would soon expire without a people's aspiration & their willingness to test its boundaries.

Egypt will never be the same as it was before the popular uprising. This lists high on every individual's chart of aspiration; something to cling onto with hope. However undercurrents are severe and the tide is high; up a river without a paddle, confusion and bewilderment every step of the way. Corruption is indeed on many a level and intricately woven into the fabric of society on a varying scale; some of it is 'a way of life', nothing more. The relatively recent profusion of unaccountable wealth establishing itself in all aspects of society is highlighted by a similarly recent impoverished multitude of a nation; a contrasting anomaly in the wake of the uprising's high expectations and idealistic aspirations.
 
The fabric of an endgame has yet to unfurl itself. 

There are no guarantees, no terms and conditions, no small print, however every ounce of integrity and resolve could prove crucial and a necessary prerequisite for a brighter future.

Underlying Presence

When we come across a viewpoint so delicately angled so as to incorporate all factions of society and all aspects of a people's awakening, it has a direct and positive impact on morale; reflecting a hope both sound and grounded.

http://amroali.com/2016/01/triumphoftheegyptianrevolution/

Friend of the People.

The army is nothing... if not a friend and an ally of the people.
However, although the army is meant to serve in the best interests of the people, once it is given ultimate rule, its power becomes unmitigated.

Clearly, wherever power is concerned, balance of a kind is essential.

Any party unchallenged would bring about the same results; injustices prevailing, corruption escalating and the down and outs of society inevitably becoming more and more pronounced.

The way many of us see it is that unless political parties lay their differences aside, moderate their egos and work together to form a separate yet cohesive entity, one strong enough to represent citizens across the board.. then there can be no shift away from Military regime and detrimentally the army will never be allowed to focus on what it should do best: serve, defend and protect.

The problem we have at present is that people revel in declaring they are either for or against the army. That should never be the case. 

The army is nothing if not a friend and an ally of the people.

However, cheering the regime for its tangible discrimination is not conducive to national unity, in fact it may be felt as nothing short of insulting; for those who have suffered, for those who have died and for those who continue to suffer and die at the hands of the astringent mistrials and sentences pronounced, too often without so much as a legitimate charge. Also equally insulting to the soldiers who are killed in crossfire, for either being incapable of judgement or for following blindly the bidding of ill-advised and ill-advising superiors.

Cheering moreover is tangibly felt to bear antagonistic undertones; as if to proclaim nothing took place of any significance in the political arena, as if the people of Egypt have now got it right once again and better than ever before, with the poorer faction seen as an inevitable side issue.. an inevitable consequence of nothing other than population explosion rather than one linked to drastically absent welfare. Most poignantly of all cheering as if all those nationals, citizens and soldiers alike who gave up their lives in a dream fight against corruption never mattered nor will ever matter or count at all.. cheering of the kind, in blunt terms, is nothing short of distasteful. For many good people it may well appear to hold national pride but sadly, at closer inspection, all it does is bow to the dictates of rhetoric.

I would go so far as to say it is pathetic to cheer an obviously strong regime that fails to deliver on a number of serious issues affecting all its citizens. After all, we cannot repeat often enough: The army is nothing... if not a friend and an ally of the people.

So dare to look closely enough and touch what lies beneath the surface and you will see that most people are not against military personnel themselves nor against the poor soldiers who on a continuous basis give up their lives for the country whenever and wherever called for.. 

NO, not against, quite the contrary. They simply do not cheer the regime itself for a reason.. a reason validated by nothing other than conscience; a pure and unadulterated conscience. We do not even have to have taken part in the January 2011 uprising to have one but we do have to remain in touch with our humanity to perceive one actually exists.

The following video is expressive of so much that has taken place and that continues to bubble under the surface. It is purely visual. 

The words uttered at the end simply establish it as one of many perspectives and the makers encourage others to take part in presenting their own.

https://youtu.be/CjiYxvsQYHI

هي دي مصر.. النسخة الحقيقية ‪#‎thisisegypt‬ youtu.be

Egyptian Cotton Fibre~ a fine parable of Egyptian integrity

Cotton harvesting in a field in Benha, Egypt. Photograph: Bloomberg

Egyptian cotton fibre is small in diameter but quite strong
Egyptian cotton hangs by thread after state subsidy axed

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/18/egypt-cotton-industry-farmers-subsidy-decline

  
The above is merely shared as an analogy.

  I never thought this would happen. I've always found Egyptian 'give and take' endearing in its bonhomie and humour and do so to this day. Thankfully it still prevails in buckets full.

However, skin-deep weirdness (such as that brought about by unnecessary plastic surgery) we see only too often worldwide seems to have embedded itself in Egypt's culture which I hoped would remain free of it. When I say embedded, I mean it is no longer skin deep. It has been digested, absorbed and regurgitated.
We all know how wonderful it is when beauty shines from within.. sadly its counterpart has come into fashion. Ugliness and distortion glares from without.

Good people everywhere, in all walks of life, appear helplessly subjected to insolence and snobbery on a daily basis. The very fabric of society appears to be disintegrating from fresh cotton and pure silk into rank nylon and sweaty polyester. 

A palpable example would be how some female TV presenters don't appear to know the first thing about addressing issues without first and foremost involving their egos... and when the cat claws come out it becomes clear that all they are out to do is 'outdo' one another... in bad manners and arrogance!

There are milieus and milieus... choosing or wishing to belong to one may come at a cost.

Egyptian cotton fibre is small in diameter but quite strong *

 Egypt has been and continues to be going through times so challenging that the pressures of belonging are like strong colours that begin to run into one another in a hot wash and national identity is wearing thin.

For anyone with self-motivation, three options appear to exist:
1) Sling back the mud
2) Develop a thicker skin
3) Opt out of the equation and do your own thing.
The latter may be the most favourable when it comes to integrity and the the preserving of your own true sustainable identity which is what a society, a nation... is ultimately made up of. 


*http://www.cottontextiles.co.uk/egyptian-cotton-fibre-is-smaller-in-diameter-but-very-strong.html

Ramadan, a blessed month.

A post perhaps mainly for those who have doubts, who perhaps cannot grasp the concept of fasting or indeed for those many who consider Muslim fasting extreme:

Heralding in the month of Ramadan in 1901

There's far more to Ramadan than abstention .. Giving of yourself and giving to others is what counts and the idea is to ease hardship for the person fasting (through the devotion expressed which is reward onto itself) and to ease hardship for those in need by giving alms & nourishment. Doing both should be the aim but if someone feels unable to fast they must ensure they do the latter. Illness and travel are seen as two of the most plausible of extenuating circumstances that relieve a person from the otherwise obligatorily felt fast.

 

Mindset should be present to induce serenity through abstention. There is usually a psychological build-up to Ramadan which helps this process, which is at best accompanied with an eagerness to experience the holy month's blessings. If there is anger or frustration present then attempting to temper the mood would count towards the beneficial self-discipline acquired while fasting. Although that does happen, to some more than to others, it is however unlikely to occur often or even at all if fasting is purposefully intended and not begrudgingly embarked upon. Furthermore, it's a month where bad habits may well be kicked aside quite easily; addictions may become dissolved to a great extent. However, perhaps it would be correct to say: the human condition is as weak as it is strong and therefore the fast is not always as beneficial as it should be or as it is mapped out to be, especially so if over-indulgence after breakfast occurs. 

The famous Shakespearean quote "The  fault ... lies not in our stars..." comes to mind

Apart from regular prayer times, the reading of the Qur'an is another practice that many strive to abide by during Ramadan, requiring considerable resolve and perseverance and contributing considerably to the spiritual motivation of the physical fast.

 

The fast may well feel obligatory for all who abide by its principles, however it is important to understand that there can be or rather that there should be no coercion involved, only guidance. After all, if forced to fast, some may well think of drinking or eating when no one is looking and disregard the fact that then their fast would become null and void and that they have only managed to cheat themselves. 

In fact, when people ask that question: What happens if you cheat? 

It's a question that  truly makes no sense at all to anyone who fasts. 

The answer would involve a spiritual awakening rather than an explanation.

 

Photos source: Images for ramadan around the world

DDS (***see new link added)

Egypt unveils plans to build new capital east of Cairo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pgF7L-hnY

"Egypt’s direction of development is vitally important, though who will benefit from it remains an open question. For all the buzzwords at the conference regarding shared benefits and economic inclusion, Sisi has so far adopted a wearily familiar austerity playbook; although foreign investment could potentially be harnessed for the good of Egypt’s 90 million-strong population, as long as the state and its economy continues to be under the iron grip of military generals who brook no opposition and corruption continues to run rampant, it is hard to see how Sisi’s open-for-business Egypt will turn out any different from Mubarak’s."

Read more:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/15/egyot-sharma-el-sheikh-rumbles-grand-promises

**

 

DDS: The Dreaded Dubai Syndrome. First criteria: Build higher. Build higher. Build higher.

Before I get reprimanded for coining this phrase I should make it clear: Dubai (so I hear) may well be a grand and wealthy habitat for many a native as well as for many a visitor, perhaps even a very welcoming one at that~ and although I hurl no abuse of any kind towards it, I do HOWEVER ask it simply to contain itself.
The DDS is not Dubai's fault.
Dubai strives to endorse its own measures of progress, meriting its own rewards and therefore far be it from me to spurn its efforts or belittle them.
The DDS is the fault of those who follow it blindly and who furthermore defy the rules of nature in order to do so.
The ones who both willfully even if unwittingly ignore the solid, beautiful, wondrous nature of their own environment and wish to replace it with glitz and plainly speaking: a show of pseudo-wealth.
Those bedazzled followers who see an elegant space and convert it to one that screams affluence; those who see the classic features of a hotel as one to crank up a notch by giving it that DDS vibe; those who see a functional and purely styled office space as one that must necessarily include visibly expensive upgrading and an eye-catching feature or two or else forever be disqualified.
 

Dubai: The invention of artificial pearls in 1926 and the Great Depression in 1929 caused a collapse in the international pearl market, which resulted in Sheikh Saeed looking for an alternative source of income and Dubai becoming one of the leading re-export ports in the world. In 1966, oil was discovered in Dubai, which changed the country beyond recognition and led to Dubai becoming the vibrant, modern, business-centred city-state it is today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Dubai
Visibly sophisticated both in technology and decor, Dubai has earned the above phrase. However there we have it. Perhaps it was that turnaround in economy that allowed it to sweep itself into the sky as if effortlessly led by a vision but one thing is more often than not left unsaid: that very direction it chose was only one of many it could have followed. 

For some time now, just as icing is to an already too sweet cake Egypt appears to adopt wherever it can that debilitating concept of high rise in the most disastrous fashion imaginable, brash and inharmonious with environment and even more alienating to the humans who have to endure being cut off from light and ever encroaching walls of cement.  

My responses are purely intuitive and naturally affected by what might indeed be discerning taste albeit acquired on a less than intellectual level. However there are those who can explain this phenomenon in a processed and well-linked up manner relating to their particular field of expertise. There are architects, designers and artists who avoid the DDS like the plague, knowing full well that it harbours germs of all that is non-organic and that more often than not go against the laws of simplicity and elegance, two prime features of harmony and well being intrinsic to purity of design. There are those who indeed abide by that, however they do not match up in number to those who don't.

And now here we have it: Cairo, a city so ancient and prolific in its history, so magnificent in its heritage, so opulent and wealthy in ways measured not only by strict, time-enduring criteria but by echoes that resonate in every Egyptian heart and in many who have visited and felt its energy. A city indescribably invigorating in spite of all the chaos that envelops it. It does not begin to compare with so many other far less inspiring capitals of the world. 

Yes, a capital it is and it appears inconceivable how any one in their right mind could possibly wish to take that title away from it.

 
All those who wish to escape the capital City of Cairo... by all means do so. By all means build new complexes, new resorts where some of the elite may set up and call it home, where the same wonderful weather and other favourable conditions Egypt offers all year, year in year out continue to exist; where traffic jams are minimised and where only the best services exist. Build yourselves the high rises you aspire to and see as a mark of progress and modernity so infinitely grand so as to come close to the Dubai you choose to so idolise. Build yourselves an idyll and call it what you will.

BUT PLEASE DO NOT CALL IT A NATURAL PROGRESSION FROM THE CAPITAL CITY OF CAIRO. 
 
I could even add that perhaps, with just a little good will involved, some of the profits of a new city may reach the ghetto left behind... the capital written off, derelict and neglected, left to pick itself up with nothing but its own drained resources to rely upon. But saddest of all is the infinite emotional loss felt through such an extraordinary lack of appreciation expressed in the mere thought of its replacement.

It is that feeling of abandonment that hurts most. Amid plans to build that new metropole a rasping scream drifts across the sands: CAIRO, lie still ~ along with your treasures buried. Buried due to a lack of faith in your heritage and your incredible potential. 

Cairo, a city among cities, sucked dry by those who are out to exploit and abuse, pilfer and contaminate, trash...  and who have no desire to do other than just that. 

Cairo... be still, we hear you no more and perhaps if you just lie there and wait we might filter a little across and save you ~ but not before we have had our fill and not before we can convert you with our tender loving care linked affectionately to our so highly prized DDS.
*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTsP2SL_uZ0
Friday, April 12th 2013 AUC Tahrir Square Learning from Cairo: Panel 1: Urban Political Change: Southern Perspectives Video of Presentation by Khaled Fahmy.

Photo by: João Bolan *

** pic shared on FB by

Muhammad Salah

*Photo submitted by Sara Habiba FB
via

Marcahuasi Project

'Go Back to God'

Facebook statuses and links:

“It’s not Islam; it’s a perversion of Islam, and to label these militant externalities as Islam is to legitimize their actions."
 “If you don’t have religious fallibilism, you have immense problems. This is what happens when you have these exclusivist, self-righteous monsters out there who are absolutely certain and who think their God given certainty enables them to act with impunity.”
“The Prophet said there will be people who look like us and speak with our tongue, but they are preachers at the gates of hell.” He added, “We’re not denying the fact that these people are motivated by ‘religion,’ but it’s a perversion according to our own tradition.”
Read more...  much more, here in this lucid article:
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/03/05/3630340/prominent-islamic-scholar-refutes-claims-isiss-links-islam/

~~Old Syrian woman stands up to ISIL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7H00OUf1lA

~~I don't think I can repeat this often enough:
"Out of inhumane conditions, inhumane responses are born." WHY should Muslims all over the world who follow Islam in the spirit of surrender and peace feel ISIL is any more linked to them than it is to those who actually commit nothing but violence and coercion of some kind without mentioning it being in the name of their particular religions? Wake up world, when people become so warped there is an underlying problem that needs addressing and the matter is POLITICAL.
The way the world is condemning Islam for all atrocities and violence committed by ISIL is not just abysmal but actually quite an easy way out. They would rather have every Muslim swear upon the Quran that they do not condone it than address the matter in any depth whatsoever. It adds insult to injury to the principles held by all ordinary law-abiding Muslims and targets a faith that promotes only good-living and never EVER condones the killing of any innocent civilian whatever be their religion, whatever be their race, whatever be their personal and reserved inclination.
Look around you world ~ I mean LOOK and then look again and see what the world has become and how people are suffering... Forget 'IN THE NAME OF WHATEVER' an atrocity is committed.. of which there are so many names in so many guises~ subtle and subtler still ...
Think beyond the last one highlighted by the media, and then ... in the words of the brash interviewers grilling Muslims just for being Muslim: 'WORLD, GET OVER YOURSELF!'
Here is the link referred to above:http://www.doamuslims.org/?p=1807 
Shared by B. El-Wakil :
"Apparently, unless actively stated, Muslims advocate beheadings because you see, we don't have blood in our veins, but rather a venomous ooze designed to kill one thing: your freedom. So glad this Sky news anchor told me that. Now I can "get over myself".
"I would like to ask her though if she advocates slavery and the economic destruction of Africa. I hear some British people did that. I don't think it's racist to presume she's identical and interchangeable with all white people, right?"

How Muslim of them..! .. ?! Islam teaches us to respect talent and God-given gifts and never to waste them
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-isis-take-sledgehammers-priceless-assyrian-artefacts-mosul-museum-video-1489616


All Muslims who truly feel Islam running through their veins will not give it up because of a few murderous ignorant blood thirsty people to whom for one reason or another so many are drawn.
ISIL does not and cannot represent Islam in any shape or form, however much they may believe their actions to be in the name of Islam they just cannot be. Islam does not promote any killing of any innocent who are no threat whatsoever and therefore no entity who does so, be it ISIL or any other with political agenda, can be one that conducts itself in the spirit of Islam itself.
ISIL is just another evil personified ~ I am getting to the point i wish to make, please bear with me:
We look into the eyes of evil everyday everywhere and this evil just takes on different forms. In Religion and I here refer to Islam, Allah asks us to beware of him, the evil one, known by so many different names. It alerts us to how it will change its form and creep stealthily into people's minds through whispers and warp their will to its own ends. (Almost there, please continue reading..)
And so I ask you: Why wouldn't it (that evil with so many names throughout the history of mankind) perform its evils in the very name of Islam that threatens its success? Why wouldn't it attempt to break down the very religion which poses as a threat to it?
It can only triumph if it meets its ends which is the renouncement of faith itself.
Yes, Islam is a threat to arrogance, hypocrisy and injustice, all the things evil tends to exhibit all over the place all over the world and in ISIL Islam is its prey: It whispers: 'You are the true Muslims who fight in its cause and who are thus entitled to do the most atrocious of acts in the name of Islam.'
It directs the wills it has subjugated in order to discredit the faith worldwide.
There will be a turn around however, one day,whether we personally witness it or not..
Of that every true Muslim is secure.

Marmite.

You either love it or hate it. 

Marmite is the thick spread covering Egypt today.
Although my personal preference is irrelevant I do declare and solemnly swear:
I love Marmite.
An oath for all to abide by lest we are put to the stand and are sworn in, to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Before reading any further, the Marmageddon path must be averted ~ its rich texture not overlooked
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WufZK3xpz0Y
There will always be those who turn a blind eye to injustice, who either do not care or see it as well-deserved. But there is a constant that remains at the heart of the matter; what can possibly justify the jailing of journalists who do nothing other than their job?
Ecstatic, relieved, grateful?
All of the above. Peter Greste is released after a grueling 400 days of imprisonment for 'aiding and abetting a terrorist group, so officials said.'
However it should be noted that although formerly it was declared that the matter was entirely a jurisdictional one, Peter was freed through presidential amnesty.
Now, Egypt awaits the release of the other two, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, jailed for similar offense, though no evidence stands up in court.

"The timing of Greste's release came as a surprise, just days after Egypt suffered one of the bloodiest militant attacks in years. More than 30 members of the security forces were killed on Thursday night in Sinai, and ensuing comments from Sisi suggested he was in no mood for compromise." http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/01/us-egypt-jazeera-idUSKBN0L51JJ20150201
Either way: Opportune Release. And it must be repeated, we are truly grateful, relieved and indeed ecstatic. Thank you.

Timing is everything in politics.
Peter Greste is released, just as the fate of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto is so cruelly sealed by the murderous gang ISIL. The world is watching and sees all in black and white. With evil so clear, a contrasting action glows whiter than white.
May the release of the other two journalists, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy follow. After so many days, weeks and months ~ all once released, even if falsely accused, must declare themselves free of resentment ~ grateful for small mercies.

But just to squeeze a little more out of the marmite metaphor, let us see how large a surface it can cover. Perhaps we should try mixing it in with a flavour-enhanced milkshake, it might even become more palatable for those who cannot appreciate it in its pure state.
In place of the holier than thou religiosity there is now a frothy holier than thou patriotism, with a franchise for national pride and identity.
Anything that remotely questions authority of present rule is condemned and labelled as a negative influence and a threat to national security. There can be no parties grouping in order to eventually instigate a democracy, there can be no allegiance to any thoughts or ideas of reform that do not abide by that general consensus: the sanctity of Military Rule. For any free thought to exist there must be a consequence, for marmite in its pure state is no longer deemed fit for consumption.


Egypt may appear to be back to square one. Tahrir Square now remains etched in the memory of a few as a fleeting moment  in time; one free of milkshakes but then again one of so many in the course of Egypt's history that its after taste may well be considered negligible.*

And yet, beneath that frothy surface a pulse continues to beat, inaudible to those who have added a deaf ear to the blind eye, a pulse that beats even though silenced by fear. Somewhere among the glory lies an abyss ... where hope and despair merge.
A faint whisper is carried by desert sands where once a spring of hope sprang ... 'Free all detainees'

"Oh gosh! I'm watching a few sunsets ... I haven't seen those at all for a very long time... watching the stars... feeling the sand under my toes... the little things... this has been like a rebirth and you realise that it is those little beautiful moments of life that are really precious and spending time with my family of course too...THAT'S what's important.. not the big issues." 
Peter Greste in his first interview after release.
 "If it's appropriate ~ if it's right for me to be free, then it's right for all of them to be free and for those who are convicted in abstentia to be free of these convictions."
For video link click:  
http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/02/02/watch-first-interview-with-peter-greste-after-his-release-from-an-egyptian-prison/ 
 
 

*For a rounded summary of what appears to be Egypt's eternal struggle, following some notable figureheads may aid general perspective. 
In no particular order: eminent historian Professor Khaled Fahmy~ Short story writer, novelist and political and cultural commentator Ahdaf Soueif, ~ among other notable journalists, writers and figureheads such as Bilal Fadl, Yosry Foda and Alaa el Aswany; for although some may have lost general appeal and popularity they nevertheless retain immense credibility through their astute and insightful, long-term observations and acknowledgement of the fact that there is no, can be no, easy fix.