Alaa Al-Aswany: Do You Know Miss Eileen Erson?

Three reasons for the emergence of Miss Eileen Erson
In his article for DW Arabia, Alaa Al Aswani is known for his reading of what Miss Eileen Erson did in Sweden.

Alaa al-Aswani is a tireless advocate for democracy in 

Egypt. He speaks to all who seek more democratic 

alternatives to authoritarian systems.

July 24, 2018

Do you know Miss Eileen Erson?

Often you do not know it because the Egyptian media of the intelligence did not mention anything about it, but focuses on the news of football players and the grams of movie stars and singing and most importantly the great achievements of the unique achievement of Sisi President genius.

Eileen Erson is a Swedish girl in her twenties who studies social work at the University of Gothenburg and has volunteered to help refugees who have poured into Sweden to escape war zones. The issue of refugees raises a dispute between the Swedes. Human rights defenders consider sheltering refugees a humanitarian duty and an obligation under international law, but punishing terrorist acts that kill Westerners in the name of Islam has helped right-wing parties persuade Swedes to close doors to refugees. The Government of Sweden has begun to pursue the policy of forced removal of asylum-seekers after their applications have been rejected. Human rights activists objected but the Swedish government was not obliged to oppose them and continued forcibly repatriating the refugees.

Activists learned that a 52-year-old Afghan refugee would be forcibly deported from Gothenburg to Turkey and from there to Afghanistan. Eileen Erson bought a ticket on the plane and installed it. When the pilot asked passengers to sit in their seats and tie the belts ready to take off, Eileen opened her mobile phone live on Facebook and announced that she would only sit down after the Afghan refugee who was forcibly deported. It was impossible for the pilot to take off before Eileen sat down and the passengers split between supporters and opponents of her position. A passenger with an English accent on Elaine tried to grab her mobile phone but stopped him and shouted at him.

Which is the most important thing you have to save a human life or your jet lag? I am here to save the life of a man who will be forcibly deported to Afghanistan where he will be killed there.

Airport authorities announced that they would not use violence to force Ellen to sit down and soon the authorities decided to drop the Afghan refugee from the plane. The passengers met the decision with applause as Eileen cried and said:

I am happy because I have done my human duty.

Eileen has become a champion of social networking, but right-wing members have been angered as they prepare to sue Eileen for disrupting the plane, fining her a fine or imprisoning her for up to six months. I trust that Ellen will face her trial bravely and will use her to defend the refugee issue. What Eileen did is great and the source of greatness is not only her courage and her political awareness but the extent of her humanitarian commitment. People usually defend the rights of those who share religion or nationality. But a Swedish Christian girl defends an unnamed Afghan Muslim man and challenges her country's immigration laws to save his life. The affiliation to humanity that Eileen represents is the highest type of belonging because it defends human rights merely because it is a human being regardless of religion and gender. Why did a girl like Eileen appear in Sweden and seldom appeared in Egypt. There are three reasons for Eileen's appearance:

First: the rule of law

Sweden is a democratic country where the law applies to everyone from the head of state to the most basic citizen. Human rights are reserved there, will not be arrested Eileen will not be beaten and tortured with electricity in the security of the state will not be fabricated charges because the Swedish judiciary is not prestigious but an independent judiciary and therefore when Elaine took this position in the plane was aware that it is in the protection of the law.

Second: Public freedoms

The media in Sweden is not affiliated with intelligence, as is the case in Egypt, but it is an independent free media whose job is to convey different views so that the citizens will have their views on real knowledge. The demonstration and holding meetings and addressing the masses are fundamental freedoms protected by Swedish law. Because it participated in a demonstration and the Swedish parliament is elected impartially and it reflects the will of the people, and its function is to hold the government accountable, not like the Egyptian parliament, which was formed in the intelligence offices to be the main function of approving the president's decisions and congratulating him on holidays.

Third: Civil State:

Sweden is a civil state governed not by religion or militarily and it respects the religions of all citizens. Thus, Eileen has come to realize that all human beings and their religious beliefs must be accorded the same respect. If Elaine had originated in Egypt or an Arab country, she would have heard the Friday preachers call for healing for the sick of Muslims only and consider non-Muslims infidels that should never be equated with Muslims. Eileen would certainly hear lessons about the principle of "loyalty and innocence" imposed on a Muslim loyal to Muslims only and impose on him hatred of non-Muslims and prevent him from their loyalties and not become like them with God, and Eileen will also learn that the resurrection will not even Muslims Muslims beat the Jews and kill them all so that the stone He will say and say: "A Muslim there is a Jew who hid behind me ... kill him." These thoughts that are repeated every day in our societies prevent the formation of a tolerant and noble personality such as Elaine because we often learn religion in the context of hatred and not in the context of human love.

Eileen is the best human model of democracy, while hypocrites, cowards and fanatics are the natural product of fascist Arab military or religious regimes.
Democracy is the solution

Alaa Al Aswani: Have we lost the battle of change in Egypt?

Alaa Al Aswani: Have we lost the battle of change in Egypt?!

[Browser translation here -- original at DW.]
There is a state of frustration among the revolutionaries in Egypt because they feel that the revolution they have made has been stolen twice. Once when the Muslim Brothers betrayed them and colluded with the military council against the revolution in return for their coming to power, then on June 30 there was a real revolutionary wave demanding an early presidential election against a president who canceled the law by the constitutional declaration. Then the old regime jumped on events and created a repressive military dictatorship that represented the counterrevolution. Have we lost the battle of change in Egypt and ended up? Apart from emotional slogans and phrases we will try to answer with a few objective facts: 

Alaa al-Aswani is a tireless advocate for democracy in 

Egypt. He speaks to all who seek more democratic 

alternatives to authoritarian systems.

First : the nature of the revolution

Revolution is a unique moment in human behavior in which people forget their personal interests and are ready to die for freedom and dignity. Revolution differs from protesting against a particular decision or uprising in order to improve living conditions, revolution aimed at radical change of state and society. The phrase "the people want to topple the regime," echoed by millions in the January revolution, meant not only the change of Hosni Mubarak but the overthrow of all old ways of thinking and behavior. 38 per cent of Egyptians are under the age of 35 years. These young people revolted not only because they reject the situation, but because they reject the way their parents deal with these situations. While parents see the solution to a contract in the Gulf for wealth creation, the youth of the revolution rejected individual solutions and insisted on changing their country. The Sisi system is dominated by known revolutionary names, who are thrown into prison and seek to break their will with solitary confinement and torture.

Major Generals Egypt's rulers do not understand that torture may destroy the revolutionary life but does not eliminate the revolution because it is an idea and ideas do not die. The millions who forced Hosni Mubarak to step down and forced the military council to try Mubarak are still alive and are in every family, every city, every village and every neighborhood. The future will be the property of these young people and not the property of the elderly rulers by virtue of the laws of nature and history.

Second : Díaz vs Sisi
The dictator Porfirio Díaz

He ruled Mexico with a fist of iron from 1884 until 1911 and when he took power he called a meeting attended by all the ministers and then grabbed his left hand with a loaf of bread and with his right hand a heavy stick and said to those present:

Here is my way of ruling: This bread will be accessible to all citizens, but any citizen who asks for more than bread will love this stick on his head.

This was Diath's equation: to deprive the people of their political rights and to grant them jobs, housing and education. Many rulers have applied the Diath equation and have settled in the government for years, but the Sisi system does not apply the formula of bread or stick, but applies the equation of stick or stick. It grants privileges to the categories on which it relies on its control, while it does not care about the suffering of the majority of the people, because the powerful machine of repression is capable of crushing anyone who opens his mouth to oppose injustice. Dependence on repression alone has never succeeded in establishing any political system. People are a double-edged sword. At some point people will realize that repression will fall on them anyway and they will have nothing to lose.

Third : The date of validity of the Propaganda

The Sisi system uses an old-fashioned propaganda machine based on full media control and direction, and gives media space to a group of "political mentors" who explain to the people aspects of the genius of the leader and the seriousness of conspiracies made by traitors and agents (of course anyone who opposes the leader or does not recognize his genius).

This type of propaganda was common for decades and was used by Nazi, fascist, socialist, Baathist and Nasserist regimes, but it was simply no longer valid in the time of the communications revolution. The Sisi system has spent billions on propaganda so that the minds of the Egyptians have the required specifications. The propaganda has succeeded a little at first, but it is losing its validity day after day because the citizen can not believe the propaganda of the regime and lies its daily suffering. The copy of the propaganda that the Sisi regime is implementing is actually poor. Who look at us every night of television rather than being an industry of public opinion turned into cartoon characters that make people laugh and bewildered.

The Egyptian revolution has not achieved democracy yet, but it has created a new awareness in society and given the Egyptians a new vision of the world that made them rethink everything, from their false sanctification to religious preachers who turned out to be charlatans and even discovered that corruption everywhere even football management and their realization that Egypt Will only advance separation of religion from the state and the return of the military to barracks. These are the lessons of the revolution that taught us what we want and how to be the state that we will establish.

Historians say that "contemporary veil" in the sense that when we live events less our ability to see them in their historical context. The revolution may not occur, but if it happens, it is never defeated and it is impossible for the situation to return to what it was before the revolution. A few years in the calculation of history is just a moment in the lives of peoples. Those who rule Egypt now have not read history and will soon learn that the revolution is impossible to eliminate because it may sometimes be broken but in the end it must triumph and achieve its objectives.

Democracy is the solution.

Alaa Al-Aswany "Who Supports Hassanein Rashid?"

Who supports Hassanein Rashid?

In his article in DW Arabia Alaa al-Aswani writes about the case of Hassanein Rashid.
Hassanein Rachid was the subject of international media attention this week. He is a 32-year-old British Muslim citizen who works as a computer programmer and teaches religious lessons at mosques in England. Hassanein was convinced of the ideas of the extremist "Islamic state organization" and used his experience as a computer engineer to set up secret groups on the Internet where he and his colleagues planned terrorist attacks to kill as many English "infidels" as possible. In addition to shooting and dropping bombs, Hassanein called for innovative ways to kill unbelievers such as poisoning fruit and ice cream in restaurants and food shops. He then called for the killing of Prince George, the grandson of the Queen of Britain, a child under the age of five, but Hassanein considered killing him a legitimate duty. The address of the school where Prince George is learning and called for his death early in the morning when he entered school.

Alaa al-Aswani is a tireless advocate for democracy in 

Egypt. He speaks to all who seek more democratic 

alternatives to authoritarian systems.

Many commentators have taken revenge and asked why we mourn the victims of Western terrorism and do not mourn the Arab victims killed by the US military. Some even reminded me of the Algerian victims killed by French colonialism. Such anomalous thinking assumes that we either mourn the Western victims or the Arab victims, although we must mourn any innocent person if he is unjustly killed regardless of his religion and gender. The most dangerous thing in this thinking is that it adopts the logic of terrorists. It considers that all Westerners are responsible for crimes committed by some US military soldiers.

The most basic rules of justice are that responsibility is personal. Everyone is responsible only for what he does and not what others do. But those who think of retaliation do not recognize personal responsibility and adopt the logic of collective responsibility against Westerners, just as the extreme right in the West considers Muslims responsible for terrorist crimes because they are Muslims Like them.

The racist terrorists and rightists all espouse the principle of collective responsibility. Here, we discover the paradoxical position of these retaliation. They are blaming the victims of terrorism from the Westerners, because in their opinion they are all responsible for the crimes of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, when these Muslims are persecuted in Western societies, they protest that it is unfair to be treated in this way because they are Muslims because Not every Muslim is a terrorist. That is, they apply collective responsibility to Westerners and refuse to apply them to themselves.

The comments I have read on the subject of Hassanein Rachid have proved that some of us are still mentally absent from the concept of justice, which is regrettable but natural because we grew up in tyrannical societies and no one treats us fairly, so sometimes it is difficult for us to treat others with justice we did not know.

The worst thing that has been revealed by the comments is that many of us evade recognition that Islamic heritage (not Islam itself) actually carries ideas that incite violence and terrorism. After every terrorist operation in which innocent victims fall in our country or in the West, we usually stop with wonderful words about the tolerance of Islam and we enthusiastically assert that the terrorists represent only themselves and Islam is innocent. We simply escape from confronting the truth. Those who kill innocents in the name of Islam are based on their crimes to doctrinal opinions, which no one will discuss and refute. Anyone reading the rule of killing unbelievers in Islamic jurisprudence will discover that we will not eliminate terrorism unless we get rid of this jurisprudence written by human beings like us centuries ago and we were able as Muslims to create a new chapter compatible with civilization and respects human rights regardless of religion and gender.

Democracy is the solution

Alaa Al-Aswany -- Do You Support the Sovereign Republic?

In the March 19, 2011 referendum that followed Mubarak's deposition, there were two strange phenomena about Egyptians' behavior: first, they rallied and queued to vote (which confirms that their departure from the previous elections was due to their knowledge that they were forged). The second phenomenon is that people have forced senior state officials to stand with them in the queue. This was something new for officials who are used to ignoring queues and going directly to vote, but people have so firmly blocked them that the governor of Cairo did not accept the idea of ​​standing in line and he left without casting his vote. In the same period leaked the registration of the director of security of the lake, speaking with his officers, saying:

- Whatever happens you will remain the masters of the country.

The term "masters of the country" was repeated by a great figure in the regime, who said clearly:

- Yes, it is our children's right to inherit our positions because we are masters of the country and others follow.

If the Egyptian revolution has one goal, it is that all Egyptians are before the law. That the law should preserve the rights of the lesser Egyptians and that senior officials, including the President of the Republic, should be held accountable. Seven years after the revolution, Egypt has become worse than Mubarak. In Egypt we only use the term "sovereign" when we talk about intelligence, army and police.

The meaning of the sovereign authority is that it takes decisions that are not subject to the law. The world knows the parliamentary republic and the presidential republic, but we in Egypt are living in a "sovereign" republic governed by a privileged class of sovereigns with privileges that make them above law and accountability. It is known that there are groups of sovereigns who do not pay traffic violations. Tax laws are applied strictly to young professionals and employees. The wealthy can always pay the fees of senior accountants for tax evasion.

The law on maximum wages in the state became a dead letter after the employees of sovereigns were excluded from its application. Last week, parliament approved a law that gave President Sisi the right to choose who wants senior military leaders to enjoy the financial privileges of diplomats, ministers and military all the more dangerous that these The lucky leaders will be immune from any legal accountability without the approval of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. If a commander killed a person, then the public prosecutor may not investigate him unless he is approved by the army command. If there is no agreement, there will be no investigation and no case.

This law is undoubtedly the strangest in the history of Egypt and it undermines the idea of ​​the state from the ground because it grants the president the right to immunize certain persons according to his will so that they are not subject to the law to which the rest of the citizens are subject. It is the sovereign republic that governs us. The law in Egypt is not applied but is used against people without others. After the Sisi took power, the Egyptians were surprised by the reservation of Abutrike's funds and the inclusion of his name in the lists of terrorism. The intelligence-directed media launched a strong campaign against Abu Treka accusing him of treason and financing terrorist groups. His own money, Abbotrecke fought a long legal battle that ended with his victory when the Court of Cassation ruled that his name be removed from the lists of terrorism and his case reviewed before another Chamber.

It is strange that the media Wael Al-Barashi has announced in his television program about negotiations between Abutrek and officials who are demanding the player to make a public apology to Mister Tantawi because he was furious with Abutrike when he once refused to shake hands with him. The crime of Abu Trika, the real is not financing terrorism, but angered Marshal Tantawi and when Tantawi angered all the organs of the state and oppressed Abutrekha and Nklt and reserved for his money and almost received him in prison had not left Egypt. If Abutrique wants to satisfy the state, he must satisfy Tantawi because Tantawi is the state. Can a society advance under these concepts? Those who rule Egypt have not read history, even if they read it to realize that any country can never live by building bridges and roads, but rather by respecting human rights.

Nationalism can not be achieved by the songs, dance reviews and emotional words of the president, but the patriotism means that the state treats its citizens with justice and respect. The deterioration suffered by Egyptians is mainly due to injustice and corruption, not to the increase in population and lack of resources, Sisi said. The fact that a few people enjoy sovereignty over the rest of the people is the shortest way to the deterioration of society because it divides the people into a few arrogant and humiliated and humiliated majority.

Dear Egyptian citizen
Do you support this sovereign republic? If you support them, you are a sovereign and defend your privileges, but you accept that you remain loyal to the country's masters and recognize that you are less than them and do not equal rights with them. You are not entitled to complain that you are receiving the degrading treatment that you deserve because you agreed to it. But if you reject the sovereign republic, you do not need someone to guide you to the path. I reject injustice and continue to seek justice and freedom no matter what the price you pay.

Democracy is the solution

Via The Root -- Cops Are White People's Cousins

Curated for my blog from The Root. And if you don't know about The Root there's not much I can tell you here. You gotta lot to learn.

Cops Are White People's Cousins

Michael HarriotSunday 1:23pm
Filed to:WHITE PEOPLE CALLING THE POLICE ON BLACK PEOPLE

University Of Central Florida Police officer Pablo Vargas
receives a hug from Christine Gigico

Most of the time, life reveals the truth with a gradual slowness that allows us to grasp difficult concepts. But on a rare occasion, the universe will take mud and make itself a brick with the sole purpose of hurling it at your head.
The following is an approximate excerpt from a conversation I had last night about the not-so-new trend of white people calling the cops on black people:

Him: You shouldn’t say it like that. You don’t want to make people hesitant to call the police. You don’t hesitate when you call the police, right?
Me: I’ve never called the police.
Him: Never?
Me: Never. I didn’t realize that until just now. Now that I think about it, I don’t ever remember being around when anyone called the police.
Him: So who would you call if you needed help?
Me: My cousins. Duuuuh
Him: I don’t mean moving a couch, nigga. I mean like if someone was breaking into your house or your car shut off on a dark road.
Me: Same answer.

That’s when it hit me:
Police are white people’s cousins.

I have always found that it is easier to understand complex concepts if you distill them down to an apt analogy. For instance, I finally accepted Taylor Swift’s remake of “September” by analogizing it to being born with an inverted anus on the side of your head. Her music sounds like the whole world is shitting in your ear.

Your cousins always have your back. While I have never personally reached out to a family member when I noticed a suspicious-looking dude napping in my college dormitory or lingering at my job behind the counter at Starbucks, I can guarantee you that someone reading this has seen someone looking at them strangely and called a cousin to ask: “Do you know this nigga?”

Just think about it. If you happened upon a cookout, who is the first person you’d call? Your cousins! Perhaps BBQ Becky simply wanted to invite her cousins to the impromptu family reunion. Maybe 911 is white people’s speed-dial for cousin Chad and we were all overreacting.

#CookingOutWhileBlack: White Woman
Calls Cops on Black People Cooking
Out in Oakland, Calif., Park

Every black family has one person whom they consider to be the “smart cousin.” It is such a universal truth that political pundit and truth-teller Angela Rye changed her Twitter handle to “Cousin Angela” (and recently, NOT yo Cousin Angela) after I gave her that nickname and black people immediately understood the reference. Among the Harriots, I serve as the family’s personal Google search bar. They call me whenever they want to know anything.

Even though I am not a lawyer, my cousin Metia calls me when she has legal questions, just like the mayonnaise dollop nicknamed #PermitPatty did when she dialed 911 to ask if an 8-year-old needed a license to sell water outside her apartment complex.

And most families believe you shouldn’t publicly air the family’s dirty laundry. Maybe that’s why white people push back so hard against the facts that prove cops shoot and kill black people disproportionately. They know it’s true, but they can’t snitch on their cousins.

I certainly understand that line of thinking. We all have a cousin who everyone knows is fucked up, but we love them anyway. Most of us have a family member who has a criminal past, suffers from substance abuse or just is a generally fucked up person. You can laugh about it among your aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. But if someone disparages your cousin, you warn them to keep fam’s name out of their mouth.

White people are the same way with the police. To white people, all cops are heroes who would never shoot someone unless they truly feared for their lives just like all your cousins are fine, upstanding citizens who never once combined their $3 with your $6 to buy 3 mice from the pet store and put them in your neighbor’s mailbox to pay her back for telling your mom and aunt she saw you two sneaking out of the window to perform in your junior high school’s talent show...

Allegedly.

If you’ve ever been around a black family, you realize that we feel most comfortable around our cousins in the same way that white people are set at ease by the presence of the police. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been around white people and wish I had an official cousin escort.

It all makes sense now.

So whenever you wonder why that person who looks like a bottle of Elmer’s glue wearing wraparound sunglasses seems so eager to have the police around, remember that boys in blue are not law enforcement officers to white people. To us, they’re dangerous strangers, but Caucasians call the cops in their time of need because, when the police show up, for white people...

It’s a family reunion.

Michael Harriot  World-renowned wypipologist. Getter and doer of "it." Never reneged, never will. Last real negus alive.  TwitterPosts

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I started a collection of links along the same theme but it became too long to manage. It started with a now-famous event at Starbucks.