قمر على سمرقند - Moon over Samarqand

One of the most amazing Books, i have read, Moon Over Samarqand (Qamar 3ala Samarqand), by Egyptian Novelist Mohammed Mansi Qandil.
The 560 pages it holds takes the reader throught a trip of adventures, and coincidences that deeply discuss the power struggle in Both the Arab world, and Central Asia, it talks about Politics, Culture, Sex, Religion, and Demography, it also takes the reader throught the journeys of the lands of Uzbekistan, and its history and development, from a back warded tribal country, into a modern country trying to cope both its Islamic, Turkic culture, with the Russian Influence, and western Influence.


A journey through Central Asia and beyond, Moon over Samarqand is the story of one Egyptian’s quest for the truth. Seeking explanations to his troubled past through a long-lost friend in Samarqand, Ali’s travel brings him into encounters with the Uzbekistan of today, yesterday, and once upon a time. His tale embraces many tales—those of his confounding taxi driver, of Islamic activists, and of the criminal underworld, as well as stories of struggles against authoritarianism in Egypt. Woven among these are legendary tales of gypsies, khans, and madmen, of magic, treasure, and love. Drawing parallels between Uzbekistan of the Turks and Egypt of the Arabs and Pharoes, the novel shows diverse historical and modern connections between Central Asia and the Arab world. Painting a vivid portrayal of idealistic visionaries and brutal regimes, the novel explores power struggles between opposition currents and governments since the Uzbeki Soviet era and Egypt’s Nasser period.


The Book is available in Dar Al-Shorouk for Arabic, Diwan, and Virgin Megastores in City Stars Cairo, for English.
i personally recommend the readers to read it in Arabic, as its the original language of the writer.


Remarks: What i Hated most about the book is that it does NOT give you the ability to visualize the characters in the beginning, it gives you hints of how the character may look, which makes you use that part of our brains that we rarely use, the Imagination part... 


The book is a very good book to read to know more about the history of this region, that is connected the Arab World, Europe, and Persia on one side, with China, Japan, and Mongolia on another. 

What awaits Libya...

Tripoli is under Rebel Hands...FINALLY...
around 6 months ago, when the revolution sparked in Libya, i went down and was eager to help with ANYTHING i can, and bought this flag that its money was to go to Libya, and helped transporting good donated from Egypt to Libya...

I made a promise to myself that this flag will remain waving over my Room's Window untill Qaddafi is finished from Libya, i didn't know that our house would be under renovation, and all the furniture would be crumbled in my room, so now i cant take the flag off, to even celebrate with it. perhaps this scenario is very similar to whats happening in Libya, hectic times i believe await Libya, yet i personally feel that it is much safer for the revolution to finish faster than it is in Egypt.

Libya is starting from point one. with its first Constitution in over 4 decades, the first Parliament, Ministery Cabinet, Unions, Banking systems, Military organization, Police Department, News Agencies, pretty mush everything, which makes it hard to disagree, as they have the basics to agree on, which is the existance of these things, yet the struggle between the Islamists, Liberals, Nationalists, and Loyalists will remain to be the only similarity between Egypt and Tunisia on one side, and Libya on the Other side, in Libya's situation, ANY party would be better than Gaddafi.

I am Personally a Liberal Supporter, with Arab Nationalism Ideologies, which perhaps makes me Anti-Islamist, as i refuse the intervention of religion in the state, since it is NOT an Islamic thing, Islam never ruled a country, but it is more about putting basics, and laws for the individual, which only God has the right to judge, and not the state, tho the massive distribution of light weapons in the hands of radical Libyans is alarming.

Like Egyptians, most Libyans were never politically oriented, and lack the basic principles of a free country, except perhaps the ones who managed to escape when Gaddafi took over 42 years ago. and i personally believe that they are the Only people who will be able to make Libya overcome these political obstacles that even Egypt (the oldest Organized Government in the Arab World) is facing hard times dealing with.

the Question of "Where is Egypt Heading" has NOT been answered yet, but the question of "Where is Libya Heading" has not been asked.
i personally have no idea where Both countries are heading, but i can only hope for a free Liberal State in both as a best case scenario, or at least an identical System, as a worst case scenario, an identical system that would push for a Grand Unity between Tunisia, Libya and Egypt... who knows, perhaps Sudan might join in, and Syria, and Yemen :p

Tell us what you think, and where do you think Libya is heading?
a Libya Post Gaddafi...

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Israel vs Egypt

Ok, so the Title might be a little misleading, but the Truth is, Tensions between Egypt and Israel have been GREATLY increasing n the past couple of days.
ok... so this is what happened... couple of days ago, Israel was attacked by a Group of Militias, whom they claim are Palestinians, even tho Hamas has stated that they weren't their guys, (Israel refuses to believe that their might be non-Palestinian militias in their lands for some reason...), anyway, this group of militias has attacked the City of Eilat, in the Southern Tip of the country, 15 km from Egyptian city of Taba...Israel naturally reacted to this, by attacking them, via air... which led to the immediate death of 2 Egyptian Guards, wounded 3, where one died later on...
As soon as this hit the Arab Media, Egyptians headed simultaneously to the Israeli Embassy, which is located on a Tower overlooking the Nile. Later that night, Egyptians protesting in front of the Embassy, which, to be honest, was a surprise to me to be maintained as peaceful... set 5 demands... which we will talk about later down this blog.

OK, so we have Militias Attacking Israel, Israeli bombing them, and killing 3 Egyptians by mistake, and Egyptians Protesting against Israel...

I personally do NOT think that a War will happen between Egypt and Israel, for the simple reason of that neither sides can afford it.
Egypt with its HUGE Problems, and financial Deficits, Political Crisis, and Economical Crisis, as well as instability, will not be participating in any war within this decade or the next decade at least. on the other hand,     Israel, which is starting to look like a sitting duck in the midst of Arab Uprisings all around it, and loosing Vital USA Allies, and instability in Syria, Palestinian state proposal next month, Egypt's political vagueness, as well as Jordan playing it safe, in addition to Lack of security over the Gaza Border line, which means plenty of weapons have been smuggled into Gaza will NOT be risking a war with ANY party, perhaps a few airsrtikes over Gaza, just to show that the Netenyahu Government is taking some action against someone who killed 8 Israelis in Eilat...

So... Both Sides will not be having any wars, yet why are their still thousands of Egyptians Protesting against Israel and most importantly why are they protesting...?

Obviously the Egyptians are over reacting, yet i believe that this overreaction is a positive overreaction, for the past 3 decades, Israel has found comfort in killing Egyptian Guards, with a puny government refunds for the victim's family, as well as not asking for any apology from Israel. which gave the impression of the low cost of Egyptian lives in the eyes of Israel, this is perhaps the main reason why Egyptians are over reacting, to send a Clear Message to Israel, that this indeed is a new Egypt, a country that depends on 85 million, and not a one man show anymore. With this established, the protesters have called for 5 demands.

1- Closing the Embassy in Cairo - this is not against any agreement, as the Camp David agreement only calls for Diplomatic representations between the two states, which means that both Embassies on both sides can have a decreased diplomatic representation of a simple diplomatic office, for Public Interests.
2- Expel the Ambassador - i believe that this action will indeed be taken if Israel does NOT do fast steps of a clear governmental apology, and not a stupid remark by Ehud Barak (Minister of Israeli Defense) of "i am sorry this has occurred". and i believe this action might be taken as a last resort for the embarrassed military Junta government.
3- the Cease of gas exporting to Israel - which Egypt is not capable of applying according to the Laws of Egypt, the verdict announced recently overtakes the agreement with Israel, Jordan and Syria.
4- the cease of the QIZ agreement between Egypt, Israel and the United States - i personally believe that this agreement is helping with both the Egyptian and Jordanian Economies, tho i do not think that the percentages of products in it is fair, yet i believe that it should be altered and not demolished.
5- Withdrawal of the Egyptian Ambassador in Tel Aviv - i believe that this demand should have been met by the Egyptian Government on the First day, or at least by the time the Protesters have reached the Israeli Embassy.

Even tho these demands will NOT be met, due to the lack of professionalism that the Egyptian government has, and the military council's fear of pushing the country into war, yet i believe that the majority of Egyptians will NOT be satisfied with anything less than these demands, what surprised me most and i believe is the indication that these stands are not related to the killing of these 3 Egyptian soldiers, but rather the dignity, and mutual respect between Egypt from one side, and Israel and the USA from another, is that non of the voices i heard were talking about compensations, or indemnity for the families of the soldiers.


I believe that Israel needs to realize that a new Arab World is forging around it, one that cannot be summed into 
Leaders, but rather into the entire population itself.


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Explaining the Blog is the best Thing to Do in any Opening Post, or so i Believe... this Blog will be simply Discussing my PERSONAL Analysis of on going events, Historical Events, and Future Possibilities, mostly Politically. the Blog will also include my reviews of books i read, and my Quest in Searching for a political party to join...

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