The Charlie Hebdo Attack: Are We Are Asking the Wrong Questions?

In the past few days, I've been observing the reactions on the ground in Egypt about the Charlie Hebdo attack. And I found it shocking and disturbing how very few people are asking the right questions. The ongoing debates seem to be all about whether one should tweet #JeSuisCharlie , #JesuisAhmed, or both; whether silence is an acceptable response; whether the outrage should be mainly directed at the cartoonists who didn't  respect our religion and thus supposedly endangered their own lives, or at religious institutions that are not combating extremism. It is all about blame allocation and haughty holier-than-thou attitudes across the board. Very little self-reflection is going on and very little awareness of the gravity of the rampant fundamentalism in our culture, its repercussions on us-- and the world-- for hundreds of years to come.

I see news like this popping up and very few people are actually paying attention and I wonder to what extent does most of society condone things like this:

Raif Badawi was sentenced to  10 years in prison, a 1 million Saudi Riyals and a 1,000 lashes. His cybercrime? Insulting Islam by calling for open debate about its interpretations and starting the website Free Saudi Liberals. What is even more astounding in this tale is that Raif’s lawyer, prominent human rights activist Waleed Abu Al-Khair, was also sentenced to 15 years in jail for “inciting public opinion” and undermining the regime.

And let’s not forget the two women facing "terrorism" charges in Saudi Arabia for the heinous terror-spreading crime of driving a motor vehicle. Public response was condemnation then "business as usual" for most and a thinly concealed desire for a women ban on driving in Egypt too.

One may be tempted to say that this is Saudi Arabia and that's what Saudis do but we, in progressive Egypt, are as freedom-loving as they come. Well, news like the three-year sentence Karim Al-Banna received for announcing that he is an atheist prove such optimism to be a fallacy.

Egypt Student Gets 3 Year Jail Term for Atheism

The cherry of the top of this news tour is president Sissi's condemnation of the Charlie Hebdo attack and his call to global leaders to join forces in fighting terrorism and closing down Takfiri groups' websites and portals. Takfiri, linguistically, is the 'ex-communicator', or one who declare others 'infidels.' If the world was to heed Mr. Sissi's call then they should shut down entire countries, Egypt included!

President Sissi calls to fight terrorism and close down Takfiri group websites

There is actually "Takfiri" residing in each and everyone who doesn't believe in freedom of worship, human rights and freedom of expression. And in our corner of the world, these Takfiris are state-sponsored. Heck, the state does its own Takfir. The state thinks it can maintain monopoly on Takfir. But the truth is it can't, these ideas spread like a malignant cancer infesting and infecting the whole culture. It turns most Middle Easterners / Muslims into bigoted, intolerant, freedom-hating people.

The current processes by which religion is handed down and spoon fed to the young is setting them up to be Takfiris-in-the making. They may then become recruited by the likes of ISIS, el Qaeda, or whatever forsaken bloodthirsty terrorist cell offers the severely disturbed ones a home and tribe to belong to.  I find the inability of Muslims worldwide to stop and self-reflect on what might be our contribution to the problem staggering. After all, God explicitly tells us that personal responsibility is the key to change, that all change starts with personal change :"God alters not what has befallen a folk until they alter what is within themselves" Ra'd verse 11. So perhaps the question is not whether or not you are Charlie, but the real question is how is the little Takfiri inside you feeding the circle of violence that is consuming us all.

If you decide you are not Charlie,that is ok. But the question remains: will you accept me when I say that #IamCharlie, and #IamAhmed, and also Loujain and Maysa and Raif Badawi and Waleed Abu Alkhair and Karim Al Banna? Or will you, like Mr. Sissi's judiciary, punish me? If you ask me, a Takfiri is as Takfiri does. We are treading in murky dangerous waters with head-chopping militants roaming in our region, on our streets, social media and our mosques and churches too. Can we really afford forfeiting personal responsibility and duty? I think not!

The debate is not whether you are Charlie or not Charlie, the debate is really whether you recognize how your outdated value system, culture, and your government's backwards policies and practices contribute to the problem.

Gay Men Jailed in Egypt: Everyone's Shame

Four men were sentenced to eight years in jail for engaging in "deviant" homosexual acts. These

men were reported by none other than their neighbours. Egyptian newspapers said that the neighbours called the Police because many "feminine-looking" men were frequenting an apartment rented by one of them.

 The Egyptian police searched the apartment and found make-up and female "garments", which apparently is evidence enough for them to arrest the guys and was proof enough for the court later to sentence them for eight years in jail!

There's also another interesting line in the article describing the arrest. The reporter stated that the neighbours "almost finished them off", but the police officers took them swiftly away.

Now, I have been living for the past fifteen years in Egypt and there is one thing I'm sure of about the Egyptian police: they are not a friendly, responsive bunch.

I called the Police on my neighbours on two separate occasions in the past fifteen years. The first was because my next door neighbours were holding a wedding in their own backyard and they were firing celebratory shots in the air scaring my week-old baby to tears every time. The police officer I talked to hung up on me.

The second time was to report a domestic dispute-- the screams of a woman being brutally beaten and the loud roaring insults of an abusive husband. This time the police responder asked if I heard any gunshots and when I said no, he also hung up!

So why oh why does the police--and the courts--care about people's sexual behavior behind closed doors, on private property? We can throw in religion as the easy answer, but I believe the rot runs much deeper. All in all, people in Egypt are not as religious as they'd like to pretend they are. They let a LOT of things go--just so long as it does not threaten their patriarchal society.

Patriarchy-friendly Causes: Bring'em On
Activists in my corner of the world are so predictable, they rarely surprise me anymore. The pick and choose their causes on a whim.

There are two sets of causes: those that threaten patriarchy and those that can be made patriarchy-friendly. For instance, when it comes to women's rights, sexual harassment is a patriarchy-friendly cause. After all, it has to do with "honor." It's a cause that readily gathers supporters and mobilizes activists. Whereas something like Female Gential Mutilation finds much more apathy and down-right resistance--being labeled as "not important now" or "not a priority."

And here allow me to describe a new Syndrome, authentically Egyptian, and proudly adopted by many post-revolutionary revolutionists: the Not-A-Priority-Now Syndrome. Its symptoms are easy to spot and the underlying aetiology is clear: causes that threaten societal hierarchy and patriarchal norms.

Some of the regular victims of this syndrome are: Bah'is who want their religion acknowledged in official papers, Christians who want churches built, Nubian minorities who are seeking long-ignored right, women who want laws to protect them from margination, atheists who are arrested and thrown in jail for their beliefs or lack thereof.

But of course, the ultimate sufferers are the guys with alternative lifestyles--the homosexuals, the gays, the black sheep of  a beaten-down male-dominated society. No one shall stand for them. No one will utter even a cry of dismay. Because, well, they are "feminine" males. They are guys who are being "done to" instead of being the ones doing the "doing."

This is why our revolution is failing us, because the revolution of the mind is far from being completed. When rights, for ALL, are considered worth fighting for, then we can talk about living the dream we've been fantasizing about since the ouster of Mubarak in 2011.

One of my favorite all time quotes about the Egyptian revolution is a quote by the visionary Mona El-Tahawy. She says that our political revolutions will fail, unless we have social and sexual revolutions that push them into the home. I wholeheartedly agree and I think that the sooner Egyptian activists realize this, the sooner they can wash away the shame of their silence and their turning away from the very ideals they promote.

Freedom: A New F-Word ?

Article first Published on BikyaMasr


I'll let you in on a little secret. When I was a dreamy teenaged my parents --especially my dad-- itched when they heard the word Freedom. 


And I believe that most, if not all, Egyptian and Middle Eastern parents still shudder in fear when they here their young one speaking of their demands for Freedom.


"FREEEEEE???? What do you meant you want to be FREEEE?" A parent from our culture always says. 


"Do you want to be homosexual? Do you want to have sex? To do drugs?? Istaghfaro 'llah *asking God for forgiveness*" The parent usually breaks down into tears at this point. "What have I done to deserve such a child? God help me! Why can't you be more like me at your age huh?"


One said parent might've even had a normal adolescence with mistakes that they hate to admit. And if you were ever to confront them they'd say: "well, I want to you to be better than me. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did." 


The examples are many. But one very common and almost ubiquitous example is the hijabi and/or Niqabi mama who forces the islamic dress on her daughter. 


The mother who, in her day, wore whatever she pleased and dated the guy she eventually married asks her daughter to "cover it all" and abstain from even talking to boys. 


"My parents were not very religious so they didn't teach me right from wrong. But I'll be DAMNED if I watch you be promiscuous!" This, naturally, reads "Do whatever you want as long you're sneaky enough to fool me."


To most of the 'older' generations, Freedom is promiscuity and promiscuity is the root of all evil. 


And the pseudo-liberals we have roaming round in the land of the Nile have a curious way of fighting for Freedom. They offer up assurances that when granted our freedom, we will be good boys and gals and use it properly and respect the social norms and rules and what have you. 
HA!
Freedom, people, is the right to be FREE. To choose your way and find that spark in your soul that's worth living for.


Those who deny us our Freedom do nothing, other than frustrate. Because whether they like it or not, or want to admit or not, we ARE free. Each and every one of us is free to wake up and go rob a bank, or kill our neighbor, or chop our ex in tiny morsels. But we don't because we CHOOSE not to, because we accept moral responsibility and cherish righteousness, at least most of the time. 


And this is precisely why we, as opposed to animals, are responsible for our acts before God. God gave Adam and Eve Freedom the moment he gave them Free Will. He told them not to eat the Forbidden Fruit but left the tree right there in front of them. Their test, as is ours, is fighting temptation. 


So dear Salafi Wahabis or whatever you can call yourself today, please remember that, in the words of William Wallace (aka. Braveheart), you can take away our lives, but you can't take away our freedom!

Omar Sharif Jr. First Egyptian to Ever Come Out

Omar Sharif Jr Twitter Avatar 

Omar Sharif Jr. grandson to international actor Omar Sharif and Egyptian actress Fatin Hamama just published an article in which he officially comes out of the closet and identifies himself as "half jew" because his maternal grandparents were both Jewish.


I believe that most Egyptians will merely regard him as a the male counterpart of Aliaa El Mahdy, the girl who got nekkid for a photo shoot on her blog. But since Aliaa had some boob to show the hungry male audience, her blog went viral in a matter of a few hours.

Omar Sharif's pictures are less provocative and well, let's face it homosexuality is hands down (no pun intended) THE biggest taboo in Egypt, and perhaps all of the Arab world.

Omar is, as far as I know, the first Egyptian to ever identify himself as gay. i doubt that he will find support among Egypt's pseudo liberals, because no one in Egypt would want to be caught dead supporting homosexuality. Homophobia is identified as the accepted social norm around here, and the treatment that the 'unholy' homosexuals deserve.

What I find most astonishing is that Omar Sharif Jr. identifies himself as Egyptian. Most gay Egyptians I know that got the chance to skip town and acquire another nationality have completely denounced their Egyptian-ness--but not Omar. He even thinks he can come back to Egypt and be welcomed here one day.

Omar Sharif Jr. says that he writes this article as a "litmus test" calling for a reaction from his fellow Egyptians. He wonders if he is welcome in Egypt.

What do you think?

George Clooney Arrested in a Protest: Just Like Egypt?

Yes. We're talking about THE George Clooney, super star and dedicated human rights activist. He was arrested while protesting in front of the Sudanese Embassy the inhumane mass murder and genocide in the Nuba mountains. That's the Nuba mountains in Sudan, not the Egyptian Nuba of course.

PHOTO: REUTERS

George Clooney was arrested like any common protestor--except of course for the fact that hundreds of cameras were recording every second of the arrest. Now, I can hear all the pro-tyranny people in Egypt rejoicing: "Seeee! In your face! Protestors get A-R-R-E-S-T-E-D even in the United States of America. So quit blaming our most beloved Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) for arresting protestors!"

I hate to burst your bubble O' you anti-protest peeps. Mr Clooney was arrested for an act of civil disobedience: he and the other protestors were blocking the entrance to the Sudanese embassy. The police warned them three times not to cross "the police line" and when they did, police officers on site arrested George Clooney and a few other activists. George Clooney &Co were taken away in plastic handcuffs (also known as Zip Ties) and they continued their chanting against the criminal Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir.

George Clooney had planned this protest, and knew that they will be arrested. Clooney knew that the arrest of a mega star like him would bring his cause to attention. So he accepted the cuffs willingly.

Mohamed Hassan: Even the Poor should donate to 'save the economy'

And to compare this to the sad situation of Egyptian Super Star Sheikhs such as Mr. Mohammed Hassan who rally for their cause by asking poor people to donate to it, you begin to understand where my undying appreciation for George Clooney comes from.

Even though many people would just disregard this arrest as a 'media stunt.' I like it, because it is a stunt that works.

Now, thousands of people worldwide will google George Clooney's arrest and try to find out more about why he did. Thousands of people will now know that somewhere in Africa, Omar Al-Bashir is murdering and starving the People of the Nuba Mountains. And if this is how Clooney uses his fame and stardom, then all the power to him.