We’re watching you

By Gehad Hussein
in Ahram weekly
25-03-2013 06:26PM ET

“One day we want to see that there is no need for our organisation.” A dubious comment when one hears it at first, but come to think of it, this might be the best thought-out plan ever, especially for an Egyptian election-monitoring, corruption-fighting movement.
“We are watching you”. No, this is not a bad Avatar spoof. It is the translation of Egypt’s one and only election-monitoring initiative, Shayfeencom. Despite common preconceptions that the group was formed after the 25 January Revolution, Shayfeencom actually was founded back in 2005, during the highly censored and infringement-based Mubarak regime.
Founders were television anchor and politician Bothaina Kamel, marketing consultant Engi Haddad and human rights activist Ghada Shahbandar. They decided that they had to put an end to the violations and infringements of the presidential elections in 2005, and that if they could not, they had to at least show the authorities that the people could see and understand what is happening.
Back then, the movement was called the Afro-Egyptian Human Rights Organisation, better known as AEHRO, and its members filmed violations. What happened afterwards was a disaster: the Judges’ Club decided to support AEHRO’s case and marched to the Supreme Court to fight the disgrace of the judges that allowed such violations, a disgrace that stamps the whole judicial system. The march was attacked and several were arrested, such as former presidential candidate Hisham Al-Bastawisi, current Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki and former vice-president Mahmoud Mekki.
The second major stand that was partly triggered and partly joined by AEHRO was in 2007 when journalists decided to fight for the freedom of the press on the steps of their syndicate. Women were beaten, sexually abused and some even raped. The case of these women was recently re-opened. Yet, the founders of Shayfeencom decided that they had to put their action on hold because it had become a matter of dignity, so they stopped being politically active in that sense.
After the revolution, the movement was reinstated and today it has a board of trustees consisting of 15 people and thousands of volunteers from over 16 governorates. The first elections monitored by the new Shayfeencom were the presidential elections of 2012. Ahmed Hafez, executive director of the movement, explained: “Our report shows that there was no systematic infringement, but there were several independent cases of violations. About 700 documented infringements were reported to the only legal entity we could: the National Council for Human Rights. They did not do anything with it. We’re following up, but we know they will not react, because there already is a president.” Since there were no direct violations from the judges themselves, no escalation was possible. One of the main problems was that the Civil Registry of eligible voters was not published. Without that document, nobody knows what goes on in the elections, because it reveals among other things, how many people are eligible to vote and how old they are.
The referendum on the constitution in December 2012 was slightly different, Hafez said. “In the referendum we decided not to monitor because what was built on falsehood is void, and the presidential decree that President Mohamed Morsi announced at the time was illegitimate. We cannot approve of something that is wrong since we are an anti-corruption organisation. Nevertheless, we kept our hotline open.”
 It turned out that there were systematic infringements: some judges left the booths and stopped monitoring them, some had two ballots in the voting room — one for yes-voters and one for no-voters, some boxes were brought in and out of the booths without permission, and some people were not allowed to vote in the first place. There was a total of 3,000 reported infringements, meaning there were over 30,000 violations, “and this is just the minimum ratio”, according to Hafez. “The last time we saw this number of violations was during the Mubarak era.”
After that Shayfeencom published a report saying that the constitutional referendum was forged in ways that might affect the results. It was — again — sent to the National Council for Human Rights which is currently led by Hossam Al-Ghiriani, the former chairman of the Constituent Assembly which drew up the constitution in the first place. Hence, nothing was done.
Today, self-funded Shayfeencom monitors all sorts of elections, from parties over syndicates to presidential elections. Not only is it expanding throughout the governorates, but it also received invitations from other Arab Spring countries to apply their experiences in Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Libya and Lebanon. “I think we are capable of becoming something much bigger. We grew so fast, it was like a roller coaster. And of course, if you have an international existence, you are much stronger,” Hafez concluded.
Self-governing in all aspects of life has become an unwritten rule in Egypt, and Shayfeencom is just another example of that trend.

How to Control Egypt...

Over the past month, we have been witnessing a Turmoil in the largest Arab country, Egypt, for the past month, we have seen on Youtube, images of Radicals calling for demolishing the Sphinx, and the Pyramids, we have seen radicals calling for child labor, and other mobs moving around burning down Political parties, whether they are the ruling party, or other parties such as the Wafd.

In the past Month, we have seen the first Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, demolishing major institutions in the country, following a systematic plan to control the entire country, and keep a strong grip on the country for more decades to come.

Yet how did they do this... and why... is the question...

the whole issue started with President Morsi announcing a decree which is made up of six parts, only two of these parts caused the chaos we are witnessing in Egypt.
The First part in the decree which gave Morsi full power and immune all decisions he takes, which pretty much puts him above the law, in his defense, he stated that the country is going through a transitional period, and he needs such authorities to clean the decay of corruption that was passed on by the Mubarak Regime...

The Second part of the decree is Morsi's orders of impeaching the Egyptian General Prosecutor (GP), which was put into post by Morsi's predecessor, Mubarak. According to Egyptian law, the GP has immunity, and by law, the only method to get rid of him is through his resignation.

Naturally, this massive "bitch slap" on the Egyptian Judicial system, has caused massive anger in the society, and has increased hatred to the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.

Studying the post-Iranian revolution, i have realized that the clerics of Iran have targeted what they called "the Secular" European inferior system, which was adopted and implemented in Iran in the year 1907, and The clergy's power to exercise near monopolistic control in civil  cases was due primarily to the absence of any effective centralized governmental control over the country's fragile legal system.

This enabled the Islamists to control the country, and demolish the legal system to start their own courts, and legislative authority that would not oppose decisions made by the higher Religious council in Iran.

It has become very obvious to me that in this past month, the Muslim Brother hood were trying to imply the same methods done in Iran, but they have failed to realize several important factors that will not allow them to succeed in monopolizing the Authorities and powers in Egypt, made up of Judicial system, the Ministry of Interior affairs, the Army, the Media, the Parliament and naturally, the Palace (President) and even the Movies and Music...

The Muslim Brotherhood might succeed in controlling a few of these powers, but they fail to realize that Egypt's Institutions are older than the entire history of the United States... and certainly older then Iran's...

Lets take a specific influential power ....
The Judicial system in Egypt... the history of the judicial system in Egypt dates back to the year 1151, when the first court was built in Cairo, and still remains to date, also known among Egyptians as "Beit Al-Qadi", or the Judges House... yet the Egyptian Judicial system was modernized, and properly established in 1805, which is only 6 years after writing the Bill of rights in 1789, and only 1 year after the Napoleonic-Code... making it one of the oldest civil legal systems in the world, and by far the oldest in the Islamic world, Africa and Asia... yes, even older then that of the mighty Ottoman Empire...

This might not mean so much to the Muslim Brotherhood other then that it is some romantic idea of how leading we once were, but the fact is, they need to pay attention that this simply means that the regular Egyptian, understands the importance of the Judicial system, and Highly respected in the culture of the country, and demolishing it will not be easily taken, and will be defended by the public, and indeed this is what we have seen going on in the past month, of millions heading to the streets, to defend the country's second oldest Institutions (the first being the Azhar of course).

What the Ikhwan have failed to realize when they wished to imply the Iranian scenario on Islamizing the Egyptian revolution, was that the times are not the same, communication is much easier, and the flow of ideas and information is unstoppable, in addition to the long history of having strong civil institutions, and secular authorities and institutions, such as the Media, the Army, the Ministry of Interior affairs, and naturally, the Independence of the Judicial System, and its historical movement, for decades...

For the past month, almost all marches i participated in, have chanted that "Egypt is too big for you" (you being refereed to the Muslim Brotherhood, and not Morsi alone), and only yesterday did i understand this, when the GP has finally resigned, after pressures from the Judges Syndicate.

Egypt is not some small unstable, easy to manipulate country like other African states, it is not a newly established young country like the Arabian Gulf States, it is not a country easily terrorized of Civil war such as the Arab Mashreq of Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, it is not a newly post-imperial country, such as the Arab Maghreb, Egypt might be illiterate today, might be a poor country, might have been neglected from the political scene in the region and the world, but it is a country of deep in-rooted institutions, strong institutions that each has the ability to oust any regime, no matter how strong that regime is, the institutions of the country are what makes it impossible for Egypt to fall like Iran, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia has fallen to Islamists, its impossible to keep information hidden in a country that was the third to start a Newspaper, 200 years ago, in a country that is the 6th in the world to start its own Television channels 60 years ago, and a Radio institution that has encouraged Egyptians to fight in the 1st world war.

Basically, how i'v seen it, is that Egypt is not Iran, and will never be Iran, our History, and our strong Institutions, with the help of Modern social mediums, and massive public organization is what will certainly save it from any MB monopoly, the MB does NOT have the support of the Military, which is starting to show its anger from the instability Morsi and his groupies have caused, the MB has no support from the Ministry of Interior affairs, the Media, the Public, and now, the Judicial system...

Lets see how Morsi and the MB will get out of this mess, alive...



[references]
*(History of Egyptian Judicial System)
*(History of Iran's Judicial System)

تعريف طائر النهضة

طائر النهضة هو من الطيور المهاجرة صغيرة الحجم ذات الأرجل القصيرة ترى أعشاشه فوق المآذن وأبراج الخطوط الكهربائية وقمم أشجار العالية. تقتات طيور النهضة على الحشرات والضفادع و الجراد الصغير. ويتابعه المتخصصين خصوصاً في مصر, لدراسة حركة طيرانه وترحاله عن طريق مراقبته ووضع حلقات معدنية حول أسفل رجله تحوي معلومات خاصة يتبادلونها لمساعدتهم لدراسة أحواله. يستبشر به العامة ويحافظون على أعشاشه فلا يخربونها, وقد يعاني مهندسو الصيانة عند تكليف عمالهم وفنيهم برفع أعشاشه من على الخطوط الكهربائية التي كثيرا ما تسبب دوائر قصر كهربائية و أزمة في الغاز و البترول, خصوصا في الشتاء عندما تبتل أغصان وقش العش, فتراهم لايرفعونها بل يعيدون ترتيبها وأبعادها قليلا عن الأسلاك الكهربائية.

الإنتشار

تمكنت طيور النهضة من الإنتشار في أكثر من 15 دولة عربية, إلا أن مازالت مصر تحتضن أكبر كثافة لهذة الطيور, و يعتقد العلماء بأنها تفضل التزاوج من طيور النهضة المتواجدة في فلسطين عموماً, و في غزة خصوصاً. فتم مشاهدة عدة طيور من النهضة المصرية في قطاع غزة. إلا أن لم يتم معرفة الوسيلة التي تستخدمها الطيور للوصول لأراضي غزة. إنتشرت أيضاً هذة الطيور إلي أفغانستان في العقد الثامن من القرن الماضي, إلا أن تزاوجها مع طيور الظلام أدى إلي إنشاء فصيلة جديدة من هذة الطيور.

طيور النهضة

يوجد منها 3 أنواع، تتميز جميعها بالأرجل القصيرة ، وأجنحة قصيرة، وتستطيع الوصول بطيرانها إلى ارتفاعات عالية بالجو، وهي تنتشر في معظم أنحاء الدول العربية, و أبرزها هي طائر النهضة الأخضر, الذي يقيم في مصر, و تم إكتشافة على يد عالم الطيور المصري, حسن البنا, فيتميز هذا الطائر على أخوتة في الدول العربية على الملاوعة, و المراوغة المحنكة, فيعرف كيف يصدر أصوات تجذب فريستة في الفصول الإنتخابية, عفواً, في الفصول الشتوية.

أول نوع من طيور النهضة هي طيور قصيرة لونها أخضر, لها جناحان, و "مؤخرة تعمل كالزعانف", و جسد و قلب و منقار قصير, و هي تستوطن مصر, و تميزها أصواتها العالية, و خبثها و كذبها لإستدراج فريستها, اما النوع الثاني هو طائر النهضة الأصفر, و هو يسكن في جنوب لبنان و فلسطين, و يعرف بصوته العالى, ليخيف أعدائه, و هو لا يحتاج بأن يستخدم أساليب الكذب و الخبث, فطائر النهضة الأصفر يعد أقوى من قريبة الأخضر, فيستطيع أن يظل على قائمة الأقوياء مستخدماً مسالمة الأخرين, و حب الأخرين للإستقرار و الهدوء, فدائماً ما يهدد بصوتة العالي بأنه سيقتل الجميع. أخيراً, طائر النهضة الأسود, و هو نادراً ما يظهر, و هو مزيج من طائر النهضة الأخضر, و طائر الظلام زي العرف الكبير, و هي طيور تسكن في أفغانستان, لكنها سريعة الإنتشار, و سريعة التخريب, شوهدت في اليمن, و الصومال, و ليبيا, و سوريا, و السعودية, و غيرها من بلاد المنطقة, كما تم مشاهدتها كثيراً في مصر منذ 2011.

غذائها

و مع أن هذه الطيور تعتمد في غذائها على ما يوجد في البحيرات من ضفادع ورخويات وقشريات، إلا أن الطائر الذي نتكلم عنه أدهش العلماء ؛ لأنه ينطلق بسرعة نحو أي منطقة مشتعلة في المروج ميادين القاهرة و ضواحيها,و بعد مراقبة طويلة، تبين أن النيران ترغم الحشرات على الهروب السريع أو القفز في الهواء ,عند ذلك ينطلق هذا الطائر الداهية؛ حتى يحصل على وجبة شهية من هذه الحشرات السهلة والذيذة، بواسطة إحساسه المدهش بوجود علاقة بين النيران في ميادين مصر والغذاء الوفير، يغنيه عن البحث الطويل في المروج أو البحيرات، عن الضفادع وغيرها من الكائنات..

ورغم أنتشار هذه الأنواع في معظم أنحاء العالم العربي إلا أن هذا الطائر الجميل الأخضر مهدد بالانقراض في أماكن كثيرة. فمع تزايد الوعي الإنساني لطرق مراوغتة في الموسم الإنتخابي. إلا أن مازال الجهل هو أكثر ما يغذي هذة الطيور.

يعرف بأن بعد الأكل, تحب ان تستجم طيور النهضة لتقضي حاجاتهة في مزارع المانجو, فتغذيها كثيراً.

الهجرة

أفادت مراقبة هذة الطيور على مدار كثر من 60 عاماً ,بأن أعداداً كبيرة من طائر النهضة توقفت عن الهجرة وذلك بسبب إستقرار الوضع لها في بلادها العربية, فقديماً كانت تهاجر هذة الطيور لما تشهدة من معاناه مع طيور أخرى في المنطقة. وأوضح مولينا أن طائر النهضة الأخضر قصير الساقين والعنق والمنقار وهو من الطيور التي يعشقها السعوديين وقد بلغت أعدادها في أحدث إحصاء لها وكان ذلك العام 2012 م،3 مليون زوج,

Radio Interview with CII

Listen to My Interview concerning recent events concerning the Film titled "Innocence of Muslims" with the Channel Islam International, broadcasting from South Africa, Very Good Questions were asked... naturally i had my "analysis" contributed their as well... click on Picture to hear it out...

So Leave your Comments, and don't forget to Join

Also Follow me on Twitter @ahmedhafeztweet

CNN Cairo's EPIC FAIL

With the attack on the US Embassy in Cairo following the Film that was produced by Copts Expats in the USA, calling for an Independant Coptic State, in cooperation with the Loony  pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, and author of "Islam is of the Devil" whom threatened to burn the Quran back in 2010, and did so by 2011 coincidentally, today marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, marking the death of around 3,000 Americans, and the start of the War on Terrorism that left tens of thousands of Dead in Afghanistan, and hundreds of Thousands in Iraq.

To start with, i greatly respect what the Coptic Churches announced, concerning the Teachings of Jesus, and teaching Tolerance and mutual respect to all faiths, which is a monotheistic commandment, and greatly respect the American Embassy on how they dealt with the situation so far. moreover, i strongly support the freedom to protest, or even strike, but do NOT support the acts occurring today against the US Embassy, as the American Government has absolutely no power over this issue, by law that is... (unless it was anti-semetic).

Yet this Blog Post is about neither, they are concerning CNN's article and tackling of the issue...
the CNN Article, contributed by Brian Walker, Paul Criockshank and Tracy Doueiry seems to have had a MAJOR Hole and a missing piece of information in their reporting today.

Article started with...

Cairo (CNN) -- Angry protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and tore down the American flag, apparently in protest of a film thought to insult the Prophet Mohammed.

A volley of warning shots were fired as a large crowd gathered around the compound, said CNN producer Mohammed Fahmy, who was on the scene, though "it is not clear who fired the shots".

Egyptian police and army personnel have since formed defensive lines around the facility in an effort to prevent the demonstrators from advancing farther, but not before the protesters affixed their standard atop the embassy.

The black flag, which hangs atop a ladder inside the compound, is adorned with white characters that read, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger," an emblem often used in al Qaeda propaganda.

" It was unclear which film upset the protesters"

Excuse me??????

what do you mean with "it was unclear which film upset the protesters "... you know how long it took me, on my laptop, with bad Internet, to find that link? probably less than 5 minutes of on and off online searching, Parts of the film was actually screened on some Salafists channels and other International Media today...  (yeah, Salafists channels, but we will get to that later).

ok for a start, the Film is called (محاكمة محمد), or in other words Muhammed's Trial (personal translation from Arabic), and the story is about this coptic guy who happens to get beaten up by some salafists, while the Police are watching and excited about the whole scenario, the bleeding father goes back home, and decides to tell his son, who is wondering about his father's wounds, about the Prophet Muhammed, started with some slurs, and idiotic things usually said by Western Idiots about Islam, jumping to the Pedophile, Barbarism, Slavery, Killings, Domestic Violence,  nature of Islam, that we all know about, yet surprisingly Homosexuality, which i have to admit, is a rather interesting turn in the Film, naturally, all of these things were a visual conversation, or actions of the Prophet.

Moving on, the article states the US Embassy of the Issue, which i Highly respect, since perhaps one of the Best American commissions, (in my opinion) is located in Cairo, issuing a statement, yet not sure if it was pre or post the attacks.

The U.S. Embassy said that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."

"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the statement said. "We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

Ok, so far the Article has some holes in it, obviously CNN is focusing its best reporters in other Hotspots, covering more affiliated topics to the US readers such as "What to Expect from Apple's Wednesday events", "jerry the king lawler in stable conditions" and my Favorit most popular stories today, "how Airport Wi-Fi and Mobile services are Lacking".

Yet the Best part of the article has been BY FAR the comments below from the readers... so i was planning on sharing with you my top 10 Favorite comments, it was such a hard decision to check those 300 comments, some were naturally intelligent, and unbiased, others were just sheer stupidity, and some were pretty witty, actually made me want to share them with you, but just decided to stay with the "Stupidity comments" ...

Comment #10

I guess we shouldn't expect people who are stuck in the 12th century to know the difference between Americans and the Dutch. 

Comment #9

If I lived in Cairo and was upset about a Dutch film, I think I would raid the Netherlands Embassy. But that's just me, I ain't built right. 

Comment #8

And how much money does the US give Egypt in aid money? How much money is spent in Egypt by American tourists? Didn't the Egyptian Prime Minister just declare that Egypt is coming back? I wouldn't spend my money there, thanks to their new-found "Islamic" freedoms!

Comment #7

cut off the foreign aid, then we'll see how much they hate us.

Comment #6

if we did not 'exploit' them, they would starve.   Its like sitting on top of a gold mine without any tools to dig.

Comment #5

We are indeed fortunate here in America. When a large group of people here get upset, they simply go on strike 

Comment #4

That's the way muslims express their gratitude to those who supported them during their revolution. This shows how despicable these people are.
We should let them go back to medieval times and live in obscurantism.They seem confortable in it.

Comment #3

They did this on September 11th?   Way to make friends.

Comment #2

It's too bad the Egyptians are now muslims.  Back in the day, they used to have very cool gods like Anubis, Isis and Ra. 

And finally... BY FAR the BEST comment in those roughly 300 comments made on the article...

Comment #1

The response should be swift and harsh. First of all, end every bit of aid to Egypt, and any going to Libya. Second, remove the embassy staff. Third, apply targeted and painful sanctions that will force the entire population to pay for the pathology of their government and culture. Fourth, blockade and work with allies to isolate the countries. Apply pressure until the country begs for negotiations.
They're playing hardball, it's time we do so as well.

Tell us which is YOUR favorite comment... and what's your response to it..

PS: i will NOT be sharing the Video, which i found, as it it too degrading of Muhammed (PBUH), and my respect to this person, as a Human, before being a Muslim is what makes me forced to not share it...

Link for the Entire Article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/11/world/meast/egpyt-us-embassy-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

مدينة العرب...

تهويد القدس هو مصطلح يستخدم لتعريف الأفعال التي تقوم بها إسرائيل كدولة, و الإسرائيليين كمواطنين لتغير ملامح القدس العربية.

القدس هي مدينة بناها اليبوسيين, و هم قبيلة كنعانية سكنت فلسطين قديماً, قبل هروب موسى عليه السلام من جيش فرعون. بُنيت المدينة بإسم بناتها, فسموها يابوس. في الألفية الرابعة قبل الميلاد, إقتحمت جيوش النبي داوود, بأمر من الله ليدخل القدس, و بالفعل, إنتصروا بني إسرائيل على اليابوسيين, و بدائوا بتغير ملامح المدينة الكنعانية, بتغير إسمها, من يابوس, إلى أورشاليم, أو مدينة السلام, و ظلت القدس مدينة يهودية, حتى ظهور المسيحية. إضطهاد اليهود من قبل الإمبراطورية الرومانية, و فقدت القدس معالمها اليهودية, لتكون أحد المدن المقدسة في المسيحية, خصوصاً لنشئة المسيحية فيها, و ظهور المسيح في فلسطين عموماً و القدس خاصتاً, و أخذت المدينة, بسكانها المستنصرين طابعاً جديداً, و تبنوا لغتاً جديدة, و هي الآرامية, و لم تبنى بنوا القدس طابعاً جديداً, ثم جاء الإسلام, ليفتح مدن الشرق القديمة, و ليبني هوية جديدة موحدة له, ممزوجة ببعض, فإمتزجت اللهجات, و الثقافات, و الفن, و الموسيقى, ليصبح للشرق هوية و ثقافة واحدة, و هي الثقافة العربية, فأغنوها, و طوروها, لتكون فريدة من نوعها, و لتكون ثقافة قوية قادرة علي الصمود في وجه أي ثقافة أخرى, بل من شدة قوتها, اعتنقت الثقافات المحيطة لها الكثير منها, في تركيا, و بلاد فارس, و دول جنوب الصحراء, و حتى دول المتوسط, فالثقافة العربية سهلة التميز في إسبانيا, و إيطاليا, و قبرص, و اليونان, و مالطة الحديثة. و ظلت هذة الثقافة تنموا و تتطور, لتستوعب كل الثقافات القديمة في الشرق, في مصر القبطية, و العراق الأشورية, و الشام الآرامية انذاك, ليصبحوا مستعربين, و عرب.

تظل القدس مدينة السلام, لكن في الكتب, و الروايات. ففعلياً واجهت مدينة القدس غزاةً عدة, من الصالبيين, و التتار, و العثمانيين, و البريطانيين, و أخيراً, مع تائسيس دولة إسرائيل عام 1948, و مع إحتلال القدس عام 1967, تواجه الأن المدينة خطراً جديد, خطر التهويد... فأردت ان أبداء بحثي عن هذا الخطر, و ما سر عدم إكتراث المجتمع الدولى لهذة القضية الهامة, التي قد تحدد مستقبل المدينة في أي تسوية مستقبلية بين العرب و الإسرائيليين.

تصفحت في عدة صحف و قرأت عدة مقالات من الإنترنت, و ذهلت من حجم التهويد الذي يتم في القدس.

بدأت في قرائة أول القوانين التي تم سنها لضم القدس الشرقية الى الدولة اليهودية الحديثة.

عام 1967, تم التصويت على قانون في الكنسيت (البرلمان الإسرائيلي) و سمي بقانون القدس, و كانت مبادئه كالتالي:

1.    أورشليم القدس الكاملة الموحدة هي عاصمة إسرائيل.

2.    القدس هي مقر الرئاسة، الكنيست، الحكومة والمحكمة العليا.

3.    تحمى الأماكن المقدسة في القدس من أية محاولة لانتهاكها أو منع الوصول الحر إليها.

4.    تتمتع القدس بأولوية في مشاريع الحكومة التطويرية.

5.    تمنح الحكومة لبلدية أورشليم القدس ميزانية سنوية خاصة لتطوير المدينة.

و من هنا, بدأت حكاية تهويد القدس. فعملية التهويد في المدينة شملت الأسماء العربية, و المعالم الحضارية, و حتى الأراضي و البيوت. ففي عام 1967, تم إنتشال حارة المغاربة بأكملة, لتنضم لحارة اليهود, و تم نقل السكان الفلسطينيين الى خارج المدينة, ليتم إستبدالهم بمهاجرين يهود, و مع مرور الوقت, أعتقد العالم ان الحي اليهودي, هو حي قديم من أحياء القدس. في عام 1970, تم توسيع الحي ليشمل اجزاء من حارة الأرمن. بالرغم من أن تم العديد من الإنتهاكات من قبل الجيوش العربية يوم دخولها القدس عام 1948. إلا أن في عام 1970, بدأت إسرائيل في التوسع في حارة الأرمان, و إعادة تسمية أهم شوارع القدس القديمة.

و من هنا, بدأت إسرائيل في التحرك السريع, و القوي لتهويد القدس, و طمس هويتها العربية, إسلامية كانت او مسيحية. التهويد بدأء بمصادرة الأراضي, و الإستيطان, من خلال ضم مناطق أخرى خارج القدس القديمة لتكون ضمن حدود المدين’ مما أضاف للمدينة حوالي 20,000 ساكن يهودي, و اليوم باتت المدينة العربية محاصرة بكتل إستيطانية لتقلب الميزان الديمغرافي للمدينة.

الخطوة الثانية التي سعت الدولة الصهيونية في تفعيلها, هو تهجير الفلسطينيين, و سحب الهويات منهم, لتكوين  واقع جديد يكون فيه اليهود النسبة الغالبة في المدينة. و تمت هذة الخطوة على الملاء, فتصريحات رئساء وزراء إسرائيل كانت واضحة, فقالوا:

أرئيل شارون: 

أن القدس ملك لإسرائيل وأنها لن تكون بعد اليوم ملكا للأجانب.

 شيمون بيرز:هناك ضرورة للتهجير الجماعي للفلسطينيين من مدينة القدس والذين يقدر عددهم بنحو 

240 ألف مواطن.

و بدأت المخططات الإستيطانية لهدم 68 مسكن, و تشريد 200 أسرة مقدسية. لكن لم تقف عملية التهويد هنا فقط, بل شملت أيضاً تهويد الآثار, و المنشئات, و المقدسات العربية, الإسلامية, و المسيحية.

اليوم, تعتمد أربع مسارات متوازية لتهويد القدس, من خلال الثقافة, الجغرافيا, الديموفرافيا, و الهوية الدينية. فتم إعادة تسمية القدس في كل اللائحات, و اليفط لتصبح أورشاليم, بدلاً من القدس, حتى اليفط المكتوبة بالعربية, الخطوة الثانية هي من خلال تطويق المدينة العتيقة, ذات أغلبية عربية مسيحية و مسلمة, بمستوطنات, لتعزلها عن باقي الضفى الغربية, الفلسطينية. كما تضخ مؤسسات تعليمية المال في المدارس الواقعة في القدس, لتعليم تاريخ القدس اليهودي فقط, في المدارس العربية القديمة. كما هناك الخطر الدائم من الإقتحامات لساحات المسجد الأقصى, و هو من أقدس الأماكن لدى المسلمين. فيقطحمة اليهود المتطرفين تارة, و الجنود الإسرائيليين تارة أخرى, بالإضافة الى تدشين و إعادة بناء الكثير من الكنس حول ساحة المسجد الأقصى, بقباب عالية, تكاد ان تضاهي قبة الصخرة الشهيرة, بقبتها الذهبية, و التي أصبحت رمزًللقدس.

ديموغرافياً تعد القدس اليوم مدينة منقسمة الى 35% فلسطينيين مسلمون, و مسيحيون, و 65% من اليهود, و من المتوقع ان تصل الزيادة السكانية الفلسطينية الى 40% بنهاية هذا العقد, ,لذا تسعى اليوم حكومة نتنياهو من إنشاء العديد من المستوطنات الجديدة حتى تقلب الديمغرافيا في القدس, ففي عام 2007, تم إعتماد ميزانية في إسرائيل ب200 مليون دولار, لجذب سكان يهود للسكن في القدس.

جخرافياً, تمكنت إسرائيل من العزل التام بين القدس العايقة, و البقية من الضفة الغربية, من خلال الجدار العازل, حيث أصبح يمثل واقعاً لحدود تفرضها إسرائيل, لتدخل من و تمنع من تشاء لأرض معترف بها دولياً بأنها أراضي فلسطينية محتله.

وإعلاميًا تدير إسرائيل معركة "التهويد" بطريقة لا تقل أهمية وتأثيرًا عما تقوم به على الأرض، حيث تروج للقدس عالميًا كمدينة يهودية، وذلك من خلال تنظيم الجولات السياحية في المدينة وفق مسارات يتجاهل المقدسات الإسلامية بالمدينة، إضافة إلى إقامة جعلها منطلقًا ومقرًا لإقامة المهرجانات والاحتفالات بالمناسبات اليهودية الدينية والقومية.

كما تروج حكومة نتنياهو إعلاميًا لأحقية اليهود في إقامة صلواتهم بالمسجد الأقصى، و إن محاولات الجماعات الدينية المستمرة لدخول الأقصى إنما ينبع من حرصهم على إقامة شعائرهم دونما رغبة منهم في استفزاز الفلسطينيين الذين لا يحترمون كون المدينة متعددة الثقافات والأديان، وذلك كخطوة خبيثة تهدف إلى تدشين أمر واقع جديد يتمثل فيما يتم الترويج له حاليًا من تقسيم الأقصى مناصفة بين المسلمين واليهود على غرار ما آل إليه حال الحرم الإبراهيمي بالخليل، أو تدويله باعتباره تراثًا إنسانيًا مشتركًا لا يخص العرب أو المسلمين وحدهم.

في رائي الخاص, فأنا أرى ان نتنياهو يرفض وقف الإستيطان مقابل بدء مباحثات السلام مع القلسطينيين, هو دليل قاطع على انه يحاول شراء الوقت, ليعزز المكانة اليهودية في القدس, و ليسرع من عملية التهويد, و هذا و يتضح هذا من خلال نسبة الزيادة في بناء المستوطنات شرقي القدس, كما هو في إعتقادى ان عملية تهويد القدس, هو السبب الرئيسي لرفض العضوية الفلسطينية, فهذة العضوية, ستتمكن فلسطين من منع إسرائيل من تنفيذ مخططاتها من تهويد لمدينة معترف بها من قبل الأمم المتحدة انها عاصمةً لدولة فلسطين العربية. يجب على العرب ان يحاربوا هذا التهويد, و ليس بالديبلوماسية, إنما بالمال, من خلال شراء أسهم, و السيطرة على نفوذ الشركات و المؤسسات التي تعمل على تهويد القدس, و حثها على فعل العكس, و هو تعريب القدس..

مراجع:

http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BF048CFC-42E6-44CA-9849-75B8758E61B9.htm

http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ED4DD990-FCBD-476F-977E-4073CF760613.htm

http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0183625D-0082-4CD7-85E1-B3998E41B48F.htm

http://aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1175291

http://aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1171089

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http://aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1170714

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http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8A42F99F6-0A6B-410F-805C-90C9E7B1DC9C.htm

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http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1097480

http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1099429

http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1099369

http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1099243

http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1099082

http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1098771

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3F611380-F76D-47B2-A4D1-6A92756C8C92.htm

Follow me on Twitter @ahmedhafeztweet

Interview with Muftah.org

About Muftah...

Muftah launched in May 2010 to provide incisive analysis on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that eschewed Western obsessions with terrorism, oil, and Islamism and, instead, highlighted issues and concerns that mattered to the region’s people.

While they believe this work is crucial to improving foreign policy toward MENA, they also aim to move beyond the policymaking community to reach a broader audience in the MENA region and English-speaking world interested in understanding, supporting, or participating in the indigenous, grassroots efforts currently underway to transform regional countries.

The Arab Spring has taught them that the key to positive political and social change lies at the intersection of various disciplines. With this philosophy in mind, Muftah features articles on the social sciences as well as on topics like art, culture, music, and innovation/entrepreneurship. By featuring analysis from a variety of different sectors, they hope to highlight the opportunities for socio-political change that exist at these inflection points, and to encourage those in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as those who care about the region, to adopt a more holistic approach to understanding and improving MENA.

Muftah is committed to fostering free and open debate about regional issues by featuring articles from diverse (sometimes conflicting) perspectives and working with a large and eclectic group of writers that include academics, practitioners, activists, and members of the MENA diasporas.

As the region continues to change and transform, they hope in a positive direction, Muftah are committed in evolving with it.

I have had relations with Muftah members through my twitter account, and have participated in several twitter chats concerning regional topics, i was then contacted by the editor of chief, Maryam Jamshidi, for an Interview concerning Shayfeencom...

To Follow Muftah on Twitter - @muftahorg

To Like Muftah on Facebook - /muftahmagazine

Q: Shayfeencom, which means “We Are Watching You” in Arabic, was founded in 2005 to support free speech and democracy in Egypt. Tells us a bit about the organization’s early days. How broad was its membership, what sort of projects and initiatives was the organization involved with, and how successful was its work?

Ahmed Hafez (AH): Shayfeencom began as a movement to end corruption. Its message was clear: although the old regime believed people were blind to its corruption, Egyptians had always been aware of these practices despite their silence. We named the movement “Shayfeencom” to send a message to the regime that we were not blind and could see its corruption.

The movement was launched by three women, Engie El-Haddad, a marketing professional, Bothaina Kamel, a news anchor on Egyptian national television, and Ghada Shahbendar, an academic. At the start, Shayfeencom’s membership was limited, and far less broad than it is today.

The movement began with a campaign to monitor Egypt’s 2005 parliamentary elections. As documented by a Shayfeencom report, there were over 4,000 cases of electoral irregularities throughout the country. Based on these incidents, we filed an official lawsuit with Egypt’s General Prosecutor.

The Prosecutor’s office failed to acknowledge our claim so we turned to the Judge’s Syndicate, an organization providing support to Egypt’s judges and coordinating judicial lobbying efforts. Through the syndicate, we were connected with judges willing to assist us with our claim.

The regime responded by bringing suit against those members of the judiciary supporting Shayfeencom’s legal efforts. The regime also brought libel charges against the movement’s founding members. Although many of the cases were fabricated, several leading judges supporting our movement were imprisoned, including Judge Hisham Bastawisi, Judge Zakaria Abdel Aziz, and Judge Ahmed Mekki. These judges were later released after the 2006 Judges Protest.

In the early days, our most successful work involved sidestepping stated-controlled media and using the internet and social media, particularly YouTube, to report events inside the country, a strategy that has subsequently become very popular in the region.

Q: How did Shayfeencom respond to the early days of the Egyptian revolution?

AH: Since 2008 and after release of the BBC documentary on Shayfeencom, Egypt’s state security curtailed the movement’s activities. However, we soon resurfaced under the name “Egyptians Against Corruption” (EAC) and sued the government to force implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption, which the Egyptian government had signed in 2003.

EAC worked with the April 6th Movement and the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page to rally for the January 25, 2011 protest.

Following the Revolution, EAC and Shayfeencom merged under the Shayfeencom banner.

Q: How has the organization’s work changed and developed since Mubarak’s ouster?

AH: After the re-establishment of Shayfeencom, our methods changed dramatically. In 2005, we knew using social media would be a revolutionary idea. We believed Shayfeencom’s rebirth should be even stronger and more revolutionary, stretching beyond Egypt to the rest of the Arab world.

We began preparing for the recent Egyptian presidential elections months before it was announced, collecting thousands of volunteers from across Egypt’s 27 governorates. We provided these volunteers with training, and, through word of mouth, our work reached tens of thousands of official and non-official election monitors.

Members of the public took it upon themselves to keep an eye out for electoral irregularities. If a citizen witnessed a violation, he would call our hotline to report it. Reports were also coming in through our Twitter account and Facebook page. Reported violations would immediately appear on our website, as unconfirmed. A few minutes later, official monitors would either confirm or deny the reports. In just two days, we received reports of over 1,000 violations from every corner of Egypt.

At the same time, we have remained true to our roots and have continued to act as a watchdog, anti-corruption movement. Our movement will continue to further its work through the internet, which allows us to more easily document violations while also making our work more effective and accessible and harder for the government to control.

Q: How collaborative is Shayfeencom’s work? Does the group work with other kinds of organizations inside Egypt?

AH: Yes, we collaborate with several organizations, some of which adopt our initiatives and others which use Shayfeencom as a method to report violations. We have previously collaborated with Egypt’s Kifaya movement, which aims to positively influence democratic life in Egypt, the March 9 movement, which advocates for the independence of Egypt’s public universities, and several Egyptian political parties.

Q: Has Shayfeencom’s work broadened to reach other countries in the region?

AH: While I am not fully aware of the places where Shayfeencom has spread, we do know there were plans for creating branches in Lebanon, Jordan, and Yemen.  We have had very little contact with these groups, but hope to collaborate with them in the future.

Q: How do you see Shayfeencom’s work developing in the future?

AH: I believe we have started something that will continue beyond our lifetime. Our strength lies in having no political orientation or affiliation. We are fighting against forces that go beyond political ideologies and differences. We are a large group of people who self fund the organization to benefit Egypt, and to bring an end to decades of corruption. I believe our work will expand to include health, education, media, and other pressing social issues. I can only hope that the day Shayfeencom ceases to exist is the day Egypt is ranked among the least corrupt countries.

*Ahmed Hafez is a founding member of Shayfeencom.

for Full Original Interview on the Muftah Website click the link below.

http://muftah.org/we-are-watching-you-an-interview-with-ahmed-hafez-co-founder-of-egyptian-movement-shayfeencom/