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.

Justice: Lebanese Kitrimaya Style

The story of the murder and mutilation of the corpse of an Egyptian worker in the Lebanese village of Kitirmaya is all over the news.

According to Al doostor newspaper, the deceased had been previously charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl from the same village ?! So either this guy was a Bona fide monster, or this is the same scape goat mentality we have here in Egypt--except of course Egyptian officials use the 'insane' and the mentally-challenged!

Vigilante-style justice is one thing but utter brutality is another. I would like to draw a few comparisons between what happened in Kitrimaya , and the infamous Nag Hammadi massacre.

Both were perpetrated because of , supposedly, heinous crimes. I say supposedly because , again supposedly, 'innocent until proven guilty' still applies as far as I know. The Nag Hammadi crime was supposedly , according to the ministry of interior, incited by a rape of a Muslim child. Mohamed , the tortured deceased in Lebanon, has also been implicated by an anonymous Lebanese official in a rape of a girl in the same village; how this ties in with the other crime, no one seems to be sure. In Kitrimaya, the angry mob took revenge into their own hands, making the act --even if Mohamed was guilty-- disgustingly barbaric. In Nag Hammadi, angry men took out their wrath, and turned it a vendetta into a hate crime; something that happens often around here: generalizations are very popular. I am just afraid that one more generalization could come about: Kitrimaya villagers killed an Egyptian; therefore a political crisis is in order between Lebanon and Egypt!
Let us not forgot that Lebanese officials, including the president himself, have  condemned the crime; and assured the public that it will not go unpunished.
Please, let us not turn this into another Algeria/Egypt face off situation. it did NOT happen because he was Egyptian; it happened because these villagers, who are not necessarily representative of the Lebanese population, are barbaric savages.