Dispatches from Cairo #10: Military violence escalates over the weekend

Over the past weekend Downtown Cairo has once again borne witness to scenes of disgusting military violence leaving 10 dead and over 430 wounded. Despite attempts by security forces to confiscate all cameras in the area, several instances of horrific brutality have been caught on video, rendering useless any attempts by the military to deny the claims.

Egyptian Democracy?: Maikel Nabil and SCAF's assault on freedom of speech

This article is also posted on MidEastPosts under the title Egyptian Blogger Jailed: What Sort of Democracy is This?.

While in excess of 12,000 individuals currently languish in military jails, one case in particular has caught the attention of activists and the media alike, causing many to cast a darkly ironic glance at the “free and fair” electoral process currently underway in Egypt.

Maikel Nabil, a Coptic blogger, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison and fined L.E.200 (around £22) for “insulting the military” in a blog post he published in March entitled “The army and the people were never one hand”.

Dispatches from Cairo #9: Election Results Amid Continuing Sit-In

Over the last week and a half Cairo has been enveloped by a sense of elation, as the population participated in the initial round of voting for the country’s first free and fair elections in over thirty years. On the 28th and 29th of November voters queued across the capital for up to five hours, at times enduring cold and wet conditions. Lines of people sprawled across the city, winding around buildings, and stretching across roads. 

Election Update #2

This article is also posted on MidEastPosts under the title "Egyptians Brace for the Final Results in First "Free and Fair" Elections".

Ballots are being counted in the nine governorates that took part in the initial round of voting in the country’s first free and fair elections. Final results are set to be announced this evening.

Election Day #1

This article is also posted on MidEastPosts under the title Turnout "Surprisingly" High: Day One of Egypt's Elections A Promising Start.


Turnout appears to be extremely high as voting kicks off in Egypt today. Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) declared he was “surprised” as it was “higher than expected". 

Egypt's Uncertain Future

This article is also posted on MidEastPosts under the title Egypt Protests: So, Who's Got the Plan Then?. An updated version is available on the MasterPeace blog.


Crowds are continuing to gather as night falls on the fifth day of protests. Yesterday’s “million man march” was an impressive display of determination and courage in the face of arbitrary violence from Central Security Forces (CSF). So far at least 33 people have been killed and 1,700 wounded. After a ceasefire was agreed earlier today CSF have just forcibly retaken control of Mohammed Mahmoud Street and Falakky Square resulting in further casualties.

Dispatches from Cairo #7: Revolution 2.0?

The seventh installment of my Dispatches from Cairo series is now posted on The Daily Organ.

The largest protests since February have rocked Downtown Cairo over the last few days, leaving at least 3 dead and 800 injured. Events began on Friday, when Islamists mobilised to occupy Tahrir Square, their numbers in the tens of thousands. Since this relatively peaceful beginning the protests have broken down into chaos, with pockets of violence concentrated in several side-streets. 

Photo diary of the last few days of protests.

*NOW UPDATED WITH PHOTOS FROM MONDAY 21ST NOV*

Friday November 18th: Protesters march up Kasr el Aini after Friday morning prayers to join those gathered in Tahrir Square.

Some useful sources for those of you with a vote...

The Arabist has posted a fantastic map by Jacopo Carbonari detailing the religious vs. secular, and right vs. left convictions of the various parties. It also includes information on the coalitions and blocs in existence. It's slightly out of date, so check the comments underneath for updates.

If you're still not sure where you stand a "Voting Compass" has been made available by Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The compass was designed with input from academics and collates information from party manifestos, statements and websites to help you decide which parties policies are most in keeping with your own beliefs.

Dispatches from Cairo #6: The Election Countdown is Underway

The sixth installment in my Dispatches from Cairo series is now up on The Daily Organ.

Egyptian elections will be kicking off on the 28th of November, but despite their looming presence, coverage has been relatively low, as has anticipation.

Demystifying Egyptian Elections: Is This the Most Convoluted Electoral System Ever?

Commencing on November 28th, Egyptian elections are set to be a drawn out and extremely complicated process, lasting over three months, with every voter having to visit a polling station between 2 and 4 times. 

Mubarak: The Trial of the Century Must Be Above Reproach

This article is also published on both the MidEastPosts and MasterPeace blogs.

On August 3rd, as the entire Arab world watched with rapt attention, a legal circus unfolded in the police academy building in New Cairo, temporarily designated as a courthouse. While inside lawyers shouted over each other, and one went so far as to demand a DNA test as he believed the real Hosni Mubarak had died in 2004, outside street clashes took place between pro- and anti- Mubarak protesters and riot police stationed there to “keep the peace”. The importance of this trial can barely be understated, and it is for this reason that it must be held in conditions entirely above reproach. In this regard, the process has thus far been only a partial success. 

Promise of Arab Spring Failing to Deliver for Middle-Eastern Women

This article was posted recently on both the MasterPeace and the MidEastPosts blogs. 

The Arab Spring has, not for the first time in the history of Middle-Eastern protest movements, proven beyond doubt that the women of the region are willing to, and capable of, taking their equal place alongside men in society, in both their public and private lives.

Tahrir is Dead. Long Live Democracy!

This is an article I posted on the MasterPeace blog in May, immediately after the "second day of rage". While many more concessions were made by SCAF following continued protests, including the pushing back of elections, I believe that the central point of this article, that Tahrir protesters are no longer representative of public opinion in the country at large, still stands.

Egypt held its “second day of rage” on Friday, otherwise known as “Revolution 2.0” and the result was flat and disappointing. On the original Day of Rage on Friday 28th of January, the mood was one of conviction and fervor. The chants and slogans had the weight of a united populace behind them. In stark contrast, the atmosphere in Tahrir Square on Friday 27th of May was uncertain and the chants somehow rang false. Despite the claims by those admitting people to the square that there were one million present, the numbers were clearly only in the tens of thousands, and the majority of them appeared to be spectators. The previously good-natured culture of protestors bringing large amounts of food and drink to the square and then handing it out for free to their fellow-protestors in a show of comradeship has been replaced by an aggressive army of vendors selling tea, packaged snacks, popcorn and candy-floss. 

France Banning the Burka: an affront to Liberté, Égalité and Fraternité

This is an article I posted on the MasterPeace blog back in April, when France became the first in a succession of supposedly "liberal" European democracies to ban the wearing of the face-covering Islamic veil. The ban has now spread to Belgium and Italy, and the arguments contained in this article can be applied to those countries as well as to France.

A few days ago, France’s ban on the face-covering Islamic veil came into effect, and all I could think was ‘what the hell were they thinking?’