Tuesday, July 28, 2015

July 28, 2015 at 11:58PM


The #Groppi building in #downtowncairo #Blogger #Citizenjournalism #Cairo #Egypt #ThisisEgypt #Buildings July 28, 2015 at 11:58PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1SdEs0m

July 28, 2015 at 11:49PM


"Enfant de Nice" a florist in Talaat Harb Square, it has been there for decades. no filters used. #ThisisEgypt #Cairowalks #Cairo #Citizenjournalism #Blogger #downtowncairo July 28, 2015 at 11:49PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1ey4n06

July 28, 2015 at 11:34PM


Once a legendary cafe , chocolatier and patisserie in the heart of #downtowncairo , the famous Swiss Groppi. Currently owned by Egyptian company, it is closed for renovations. #Egypt #Blogger #Citizenjournalism #Cairo #Cairowalks #ThisisEgypt July 28, 2015 at 11:34PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1OzTyHu

Seen in Cairo : Talaat Harb square at night

Cairo's Talaat Harb Square
Source 

Seen in Cairo : The famous Talaat Harb Square at night crowded with cars as usual.

Anyone cares for Egyptian minors in Italy ??!!

Last month CNN aired a special exclusive on how children are smuggled illegally to Italy as part of The CNN Freedom Project. The shocking report by Nima Elbagir traced the trip of Egyptian minors from Kafr El-Sheikh in to Europe , yes Egyptian children and teenagers.
Nima ElBagir speaks to Egyptian minors in Italy 
Those Egyptian kids and teenagers are forced to work in prostitution and drug trafficking in Italy. Sadly enough the Egyptian minors turned to be from the common sad scenes in Roma Termini Train station.
That report was aired weeks before the visit of Egypt’s PM Ibrahim Mahlab to Italy where he signed a bunch of economic agreements with the Italian officials.
I doubt that he knew about what was happening to the Egyptian Minors in Roma Train station.
CNN is not the first one to speak about this horrifying experience of Egyptian Minors from illegal immigrants in Italy.
Egyptian Daily Al-Masry Al-Youm Investigative Journalist Mohamed El-Kazaz made a fantastic video report from Egypt and Italy about it last July.
The mirage of the other seashore by Mohamed El-Kazaz for Al-Masry Al-Youm
El-Kazaz spoke with Egyptian minors and Italian officials in Italy and smugglers and Egyptian officials in Egypt. He spoke with that teenage boy who described to him how Egyptian minors sell themselves to men and women to get money. It is heartbreaking on many levels.
Amazingly this award-winning report did not cause any noise as expected.
Yes the media does not care that much for those Egyptian minors.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Kodak Agfa Presents : Karnak Temples Complex

Last month, Luxor’s Karnak Temples Complex “It is not just one ancient Egyptian temple, but rather several ones” was back to the headlines around the globe in a very sad way unfortunately when an explosive device detonated outside it. Three men including a suicide bomber attempted to unleash attack in the temple but their attempt was foiled at the parking zone outside the temple thankfully to a taxi driver who suspected their behaviour. 

Now this unfortunate incident reminded me that I got a bunch of photos I took at Egypt’s oldest and biggest religious temples complex since ancient Egypt during a visit to Luxor governorate in 2012.
I uploaded the photos to Flickr but I did not share them during then because I was outside the country. When I returned back, it was Ramadan and we had its special posts about lanterns, Zeinab Khatoun, Al-Azhar and Buying Eid Al-Fitr clothes.

And I think now it is the best time to share those photos I took at the Karnak temples complex during my visit to Aswan and Luxor in winter 2012
Now It is never too late to share the photos and video from Karnak.
Warning: They are not the best. In fact, they are another lifeless boring Kodak Agfa shots.
Karnak Temple of Luxor


During then there were not many foreign tourists then in the temple. Nevertheless, the tourists in Luxor were more than in Aswan during then at least from what I see. Most of the tourists already I saw there were Egyptians. Already it was the Midterm vacation.
This was in 2012. I hope that what happened in June won’t affect tourism there. Of course, luckily the attack was in June not in winter during tourism’s prime time in the Upper Egyptian city.
The place is more than marvellous with its great ram sphinxes welcoming you.
DSC02859
The avenue of Ram sphinxes in Egypt Karnak temple
That 2.7 km ram sphinxes corridor used to connect between the Karnak temple and Luxor temple. Wait for another post about the  Luxor temple.
It is enough to see some of the inscriptions on the walls and pylons still keeping their colours after all those centuries.
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics in Karnak
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics in Karnak 

The hypostyle hall in the Precinct of Amun Re is breathtaking.
The hypostyle hall of Karnak
The hypostyle hall of Karnak 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

How to Fuel a Conspiracy Theory "Updated"

Two weeks after the bombing of the Italian consulate in Cairo , we find statements of Egyptian governmental officials about their plans of kicking out the locals of the long-time disputed  Maspero triangle. It is as if they were waiting for this opportunity to fuel Conspiracy theory among many skeptics!!

On Monday , Cairo governor Galal Saeed told CBC extra while visiting the Italian consulate that according to reports about 8-14 buildings will have to be evacuated. The governor added explicitly that the whole triangle would be evacuated sooner or later.

محافظ القاهرة يلمح لإزالة المباني المجاورة للقنصلية الإيطالية
محافظ القاهرة يلمح لإزالة المباني المجاورة للقنصلية الإيطالية
Posted by Talk show Masralarabia on Monday, July 20, 2015

Amazingly official statements and decisions concerning the Maspero square make many people believe in conspiracy theory and that the government-not the Islamic State was standing behind the bombing of the consulate in order to take over this high-value land whether online or offline.
Here is  #Maspero_Triangle Hashtag full similar comments on twitter. 

It is not only Pro-Morsi supporters who are speaking about how the "coup" regime will evict the people of Maspero despite the historical fact that Qatari investors had an eye on that cake in downtown Cairo for years.

April 6 Youth movement was the first Egyptian political movement to accuse the government indirectly


  1. A bomb at the outskirt of Mapsero Triangle 
  2. Forcible eviction of the people in Maspero triangle 
Then it ends the tweet with #Gang

The fact that the bombing took place early morning killing no Italian official and affecting minor part of the consulate made some people suspect the motive behind the bombing.

In addition to the strange statement issued signed by Islamic State-Egypt Province instead of the usual  Islamic State-Sinai Province claiming responsibility of the attack, which fueled the speculations especially there are couple of Egyptian slang words aka “parked car”.
Usually, Islamic State uses Classical Arabic in its statement.

Of course the Islamic State did not issue a denial but people can not stop pointing fingers to the government with what is happening in Boulaq or as it is called in the Medai Maspero triangle.

Since the days of Mubarak , there have been fights between the locals in Maspero from one side and the government and investors for another side over that important piece of land in the heart of Cairo.
We are speaking after about all a golden mine for investors mainly from the Gulf who want to turn that poor area into mega-skyscrapers garden selling units there for millions.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Their Eid inside jail

For the second time, a group of Pro-democracy young activists try to remind the people in Cairo that there are young protesters and activists detained unjustly spending their Eid inside the jail.
It is limited movement, but at least those young people try to do something when people are afraid to speak in public.
It is a limited movement where those young people chose their areas like Maadi and 6 October to spread their message.
Here are posters showing the young political detainees’ faces on  ads signs in Maadi.
Douma poster on advertisement sign in Maadi "Photo :Ahmed Kamel

Here is also a big banner placed Ghamra bridge in Cairo showing the children detainees in Egyptian prisons.
Hundreds of children spent their eid in Jail
"Photo: Menna El-Shishinni
Another group of young activists distributed popcorn packets with photos of political detainees at a Mosque in October city  to children and women.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Egyptian Chronicles present : Rumor of Love

Original poster of the film in 1960
It is a social traditional in Egypt to have new films in cinemas, it is a season for filmmakers.
Now in Egyptian Chronicles, there will be no screening for a
new film.

There will be a screen for an old film. As Omar Sharif passed away last week , I would like to Share with you one of his famous and popular roles in Egypt before he hit international stardom: His role as shy Hussein in the 1961-Romantic Comedy “Rumor of Love” or as it is translated in IMDB's Agony of Love

Now before he was that enigmatic Arabian El-Sherif Ali and Russian Revolutionary poet in Dr. Zhivago, Omar Sharif was Hussein , the dork of Port Said in the Agony of Love.


Directed by famous Egyptian director Fatin Abdel Wahab , the film had a first A Class stars during then including Omar Sharif , legendary actor Youssef Wahbi , Abdel Moneim Ibrahim and special cameo for Hend Rostom as well famous footballer then Adel Heikal  who was a close friend to Sharif.
In that films Egyptians were once again presented to the new starlet who would be a true legend later: Soad Hosni as Samiha.


The Agony of Love “1961”

Now one of the things I loved about Sharif was his honesty. He was extremely honest when he said that the true leading actor in this comedy was not but rather the legendary actor Youssef Wahaby and fine comedian Abdel Moneim Ibrahim.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.29 & 30”

The end of this season from Ramadan Radio Arabian Nights is coming as it seems.
Now Nour is mermaid now who is married to his beloved Seas Mermaid. They are supposedly happy, but there is something missing.

Nour is missing his father and mother. He feels sad that he left the land without saying goodbye to them. Frustrated and angry , he decided to head to old Sea Witch at the Sour sea with his wife
Princess Seas Mermaid. He wanted the old witch to find a way to undo or at least temporarily suspend that magical needle in his body so he can restore his human form.
The Old sea witch shocked him when she told him that she got no more magic and she could not help him.
Depressed and sad , Princess Seas Mermaid suggested that he would write a message to his dad on a deerskin and put it in a fancy box along with 100 pieces of gold and his father’s address so whoever found the box, he would take the hundred pieces of gold and deliver the message to Sheikh Mansour of Gor.
Seas Mermaid also put a curse on the box that whoever failed to deliver and decided to keep it for himself or herself.
Of course the box did not end up at Sheik Mansour’s house but it ended up at an old cursed lady in China as we know.
This was the story of Nour as inscribed on a deerskin, as it was read by an old man to the Sultan and his wife. Now the old Sheikh will tell the sultan and his wife what happened to sheikh Mansour.

Sheikh Mansour searched for his son but in vain as his boy seems to be vanished from the surface of earth. One winter and while taking a shelter at a waste and , a Jinn appeared to Sheikh Mansour who was crying for his son. The Jinn knew the story of Mansour and his son. He decided to help the old human. He told Mansour to head to the Dragon pond to see his sister Queen Sabrine who could lead him to his lost son. Sheikh Mansour should arrive the pond and cross it before Sunset otherwise he would miss meeting that Queen of Jinn.

July 16, 2015 at 04:02PM


Buying #Eid clothes from Wakilat El-Balah in #Cairo #Citizenjournalism #Blogger #everydayEgypt #DailyLifeCairo July 16, 2015 at 04:02PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1O8yFmg

Buying Eid Al-Fitr Feast Clothes From Al-Wakilat

Annually thousands of Egyptians from all over Cairo and Giza come to "Wakilat Al-Balah" to buy affordable clothes for feasts especially in Eid Al-Fitr.
"Wakilat Al-Balah" is one of the biggest popular markets in Cairo and Egypt for textile already. It is also the biggest secondhand clothes market in Cairo if not in Egypt.
From couple of days I passed through 26 July street which is considered the the entrance of the Wakilat which means in Arabic “The agency” and I found it extremely crowded with families and people buying affordable clothes.
Street Vendors selling clothes and shoes invaded for real the street on both sides as well sidewalks.

26 July street market
People come and affordable clothes and shoes from Wakilat Al-Balah's 26 July street
Here you can see a family buying shoes from a street vendor  
You will find in the 26 July street everything when it comes to clothes from adults to Children , from women to men , from XXS sizes to XXXL sizes , from shoes to bags to swimsuits and all that with affordable prices.
26 July street market
The side streets turn at this time in to open-air clothes shop 

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.28”

Now Nour is a Merman and also a Sea Prince who has got to prove himself to the King of Seven seas and Princess Seas Mermaid. He would live for two weeks in the sea town and try to help the people in the best way without prince power.

The two weeks are over. All the Princes all failed except one prince or rather a fake prince , our
prince Nour. Nour opened a Saddles workshop. The saddles already invaded the Underwater world and the King was impressed. The King decided to give his daughter’s hand to Nour. Honest Nour confessed to him who he really was. The King welcomes him and decided to let Nour marry his daughter Seas Mermaid. Yes at last Nour and Seas Mermaid are going to have their wedding party or rather celebrations for 40 nights.
The couple lived happily but it was not forever after yet 

July 15, 2015 at 05:28PM


A wooden balcony in Boulaq Abu Ela, Cairo in an old house. #Cairowalks #Cairo #Egypt #ThisisEgypt #Citizenjournalism #Blogger July 15, 2015 at 05:28PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1JhU4pF

Esraa El-Taweel says She is disappointed with Egypt

Freelance Photographer Esraa El-Taweel has sent her first letter from detention earlier this month and she requested her friends and family to spread it as much as they can.She recounts what happened to her and how she feels. It is very sad letter.
El-Taweel is detained pending investigation for 45 days after forcibly disappeared for more than 15 days. She is now facing charges of joining the Muslim Brotherhood and spreading false news.
Here is the letter translated in English by “Where is Esraa El-Taweel Facebook page ?”
1) "Among us, there is a friend who never feels tired; a friend who is always faithful, delicate, and if he says, he does."On Monday, 1st of June, Sohaib’s trial session was in court. I was talking to Umar on phone telling him about my fear for Sohaib wishing I could bear what he might face of unfair verdicts. Umar said that we will never undergo anything except what we have been destined to and what God has written to us. Umar told me we have nothing to do but to support him. Then he said, "let’s go out" and added “I will finish my work and then we can go horseback riding.”
2) In Time
On the same day in the morning, Umar suggested that I watch a movie called “In Time”. After watching it, I told Umar “Thanks God that we do not know what is hidden for us and that we do not know when we will pass away or what will happen. I tried to imagine if I ever knew the unseen/unknown/destined, I would be terrified.” When we were riding horses, I went absent minded, Umar asked me what I was thinking of; I said I was afraid that time will pass and we will not be together anymore.
Esraa and her cat woody

3) The Last Supper..After getting off the horses, we were clueless; where should we go for dinner? One of the things I love most about Umar is how he was always eager to experience new cuisines; every week, we tried eating in a different restaurant. He has never eaten at "Chili's" restaurant before, and the nearest Chili's branch was in Nile City in Zamalek. We sat at our table and happily ordered our meals. Sohaib called Umar saying "I am on my way to you, I will only order a salad". After finishing and exiting the restaurant, we found a big mirror and stopped to snap some photographs together. We took a lot of photos. Suhaib stood nearby to pray the evening prayer. We went out of Nile City once he was done. Suddenly, three men stopped us asking for our ID cards and our mobile phones, and then they forcefully pushed us into a micro bus. At first, I thought we were being kidnapped. I asked them repeatedly that I want to call my family but they refused. I looked behind me to find both Suhaib and Umar blindfolded. I asked one of the kidnappers who seemed to be their boss (the oldest) “Who are you sir?" He said “I am Hussam Farag “. I asked him "and What is the title of your Excellency?” He laughed and told me "I am an officer, and you'd better remain silent". After two minutes he ordered me to use my headscarf as a blindfold but it was short. Suhaib took off his T-shirt and the officer ordered him to hand it to me to cover my eyes with it.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.26 & 27”

Sorry that I did not an episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights last night due to technical problem. Suddenly my 8.1 windows laptop was hit by the infamous Blue Screen of Death “BSOD” and it seems that it was caused by one of our audio files unfortunately. I check my hardware and it was fine. In the end I deleted the file and downloaded it again and it worked fine thank God. I hope I do not see that “BSOD” again.
Anyhow back again to our tale the tale of the Cursed Lady’s wall. Seas Mermaid is back to both her mermaid nature and her sea world. She also returned back to her lover whom she meets everyday now on the sea shore telling him what happened to her.

After her return to the sea world, King “Sun-Gor” made it clear to her mermaid daughter that she had got to marry a sea prince as soon as possible. The Princes of seas were already coming to her court and she would choose a husband from them.
Back on land, Nour is giving a hard time to both his frustrated father and his poor wife who knows that he does not love her.
The seas Mermaid left on a promise to return once again to her beloved human.
Next day the lovers meet on the sea shore earlier than usual.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.25”

After seeing the evil sea witch punished for bad deeds at last , Seas Mermaid was in her way back home to her kingdom undersea to calm down her father , King “Sun-Gor” of the seven seas.
Tomislav Tomi

Back under the sea King “Sun-Gor” is devastated after all, his minister who followed Nour’s ship told him that the earthling was still alive while the Princess has disappeared and can not be found. family , Seas Mermaid did not kill Nour and is dead now.
That means one thing to the king and his
The king sends his guards to bring the evil witch but they returned back to tell him that she went missing too.
Crying over his daughter  , the King is surprised to see her alive coming through the city which received her warmly.
Seas Mermaid tells them all about her adventure.
Days later the sea princess is hit by another reality she has got to marry a sea prince as soon as possible. Still the Princess is still in love with Nour.
She meets Nour everyday telling him at the sea shore all about her adventures.
Tomorrow we will know what happens to the two lovers inshallah.

July 12, 2015 at 08:28PM



Downtown Cairo's famous Cafe Riche. Founded in 1908, this Restaurant and bar witnessed many of Egypt's political and artistic history milestones in making. 

Cafe riche in #Cairo #Egypt #Citizenjournalism #Blogger #Cairowalks #downtown #downtowncairo July 12, 2015 at 08:28PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1CxZSyn

July 12, 2015 at 08:12PM



Downtown Cairo's famous Cafe Riche. Founded in 1908, this Restaurant and bar witnessed many of Egypt's political and artistic history milestones in making. 
Famous cafe Riche in #downtowncairo #Cairo #Egypt #Blogger #Citizenjournalism #Cairowalks July 12, 2015 at 08:12PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1O3Qp2Q

700 Days and Counting

Do you know that on Thursday Egyptian Freelance photographer Mahmoud Abu Zaid aka Shawkan had spent 700 days fro his life in detention and prison pending investigation for doing nothing except his job ?
Do you know that Shawkan is currently suffering from Hepatitis C and has to receive proper medical treatment as soon as possible ?
Here is what Shawkan said in his recent letter from prison.
Despair penetrated my red blood cells and kidney, my brain rejects sleeping and my body sweats continuously. Losing consciousness for a few minutes became a habit on a daily basis. My weak body, full of disease, became helpless to continue bearing hard imprisonment for two years, without any guilt except bearing my camera to shoot events with neutrality and objectivity
“Source : Freedom for Shawkan
Shawkan’s detention renewal was already adjourned to next 21 July by the court this week suddenly when the Freelance photographer’s detention pending investigation by prosecution was renewed for another 45 days 20 June !!!!
Esraa Mahfouz’s detention was also renewed today for another 15 days pending investigation.
حسبي الله ونعم الوكيل اتجدد لاسراء 15يومربنا ينتقم منهم ويشتت شملهم ويحرق قلوبهم علي اعز ما عندهم
Posted by Hanaa Ali on Saturday, July 11, 2015

Saturday, July 11, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.24”

And so the Good Queen of Venus saved our Seas Mermaid from the Evil sea’s Witch.
Things are turning good somehow to Seas Mermaid at last.

Queen Tahara found the Evil Magical Needle that turned to be an eyelash.
The Queen put it in the fire and said the magical words by which she summoned the evil witch to her court.
The evil witch begs for mercy wickedly but found none. The Queen orders her guard “Saturn” to take the evil witch and cut off her hair and eyelashes and then throw her in exile at the “Sour” Sea.
Seas Mermaid then asks the Queen to return back home under the sea because her family is extremely worried about her fate.
Indeed King “San-Gor” was too worried about his daughter who did not return back. He sent his minister to check on his daughter on the ship and the minister followed his order.
The minister returned back telling his king that Nour was still alive and that his daughter could not be found anymore. Heartbroken, the king ordered his minister to bring the evil witch from her prison

The Blast That rocked Cairo and Giza : Italian Consulate

I have just woke up from minutes ago on a huge explosion sound that rocked both Cairo and Giza.
For several minutes, it seems online that the source of the explosion was in Downtown Cairo. People living there confirmed the news and it turned out that ambulances and police headed there.
Some say it was near the Supreme High Court in Downtown Cairo, but it turned out that it is at the Italian Consulate and center in Downtown Cairo.
The Italian Center facade destroyed in the explosion
David Degner
Yes a bomb, a huge bomb targeted the old Italian Consulate or rather the Italian Club and Center in downtown Cairo at Galaa street. Journalist Omar EL-Hady who went there say that at least one person was injured and that the bomb was planted outside the old building.
Here is its location in downtown Cairo.
Italian Consulate in Cairo location

I went there several times to dine at the Italian club and I can safely say that it is badly secured.
Here is an alleged video showing the moment of the explosion from October bridge which passes over the old Consulate complex.

تأثير الإنفجار على كوبري أكتوبر أعلى شارع الجلاء بالفيديو لحظة الانفجارشيررررررررررررررررالتونسى
Posted by Observers on Friday, July 10, 2015

This considered an easy target, but it is also the first foreign diplomatic target to be bombed like that in Cairo since the wave of explosions and bombing started following summer 2013.
According to eye witnesses , the explosion was caused by a bombed car. The remains of badly destroyed car shuttered in the area was found.
Here is another video by journalist Wael Mamdouh showing the citizens around it !!



Friday, July 10, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.23 ”

Seas Mermaid decided to kill herself instead of killing her beloved Nour.
She decided to throw herself to the sea and she did it already. Of course. something miraculous happened as later she was there telling her story to her Nour.


Seas Mermaid threw herself into the sea, but she did not land into the bottom of the sea but the
By Levine Helmer 
bottom of a cloud-transparent –like-carpet-thing whose four corners carried by four-winged beings. The four-winged beings were laughing and thanking Seas Mermaid for her kindness.
Panicked and unable to speak, Seas Mermaid wanted to know what happened and who they were.

The beings introduced themselves and told them their story, which is as old as the fight between good and evil.
The evil in the world was represented in the evil old witch of the sea while the good was not on earth but rather planet Venus where Queen Tahara “Pure” live. Queen Tahara has a long battle of good vs. evil with the old witch of the sea. She knows everything about Seas Mermaid and decided to save her and put an end to the evil witch.

The four beings took our little Mermaid on their cloud-UFO thing to Venus where she met Queen Tahara who praised her courage to save her love.

The good queen decided to save the Mermaid by clearing her body from the evil witch’s magic. The Queen brought her cat Mesmesh to sniff our freaked Mermaid to see if she still got that Evil Witch’s eyelash/needle in her arm and it did find it. Then the Queen of Venus brought a special worm that would extract the eyelash from Seas Mermaid and the worm did the job.

And in not time Seas Mermaid turned back to her Mermaid’s nature.
The Queen then took the eyelash to burn it in order to get rid of the evil witch of the sea once and for all.
Tomorrow inshallah we will know who survived the good vs. evil battle.

RIP Omar Sharif (1932-2015)

Egypt has lost today its most renowned actor in the world Omar Sharif. The 83-years old actor passed away in Cairo in hospital after having a heart attack.
Omar Sherif in 1960s photo shoot at some museum either in New York
or Paris
Sharif by Van Leo in 1950s
Sharif was battling Alzheimer's disease for months according to his only son, Tarek.
Born in Alexandria in 1932 for a rich Lebanese family, Michel Chalhoub’s fame in started with ’s The Blazing Sun under the new name “Omar Sharif”
Youssef Chahine
It was a life changing film on the professional as well personal levels. During that film Sharif met his future wife , Faten Hamama for whom he converted to Islam and married in 1954 after one hell of a love story that was the talk of the town during then considering the facts that Hamama was married to famous director Ezz El-Din Zulfukor and Sharif was Christian. The couple had one son : Tarek.
The Couple got a divorce in 1974.
Legendary diva Faten Hamama passed away earlier this year.
Sharif’s turning career point was when he starred in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia as El-Sherif Ali , a role that would earn a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting actor-Motion picture and a Best Support actor Oscar nomination.

July 10, 2015 at 07:36PM


The Maspero building of radio and TV #Egypt #Buildings #Nile #Citizenjournalism #Blogger July 10, 2015 at 07:36PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1L3ednC

July 10, 2015 at 06:24PM


#Cairo afternoon#Egypt #Nile #Blogger #Citizenjournalism July 10, 2015 at 06:24PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1KUNhrL

Thursday, July 9, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.22 ”

The old sea witch is now telling what happened with Princess Seas Mermaid to her father King San-hur in an attempt to defend herself against his anger.
We continue listening to our tale this Ramadan, the tale of the Cursed Lady’s Wall.


The witch told the king of the seven seas, San-Hur what happened between her and his daughter whom she turned to a a full human.

The king is furious. The old wicked witch tells him that she expected that to happen and so she searched for a way to make his daughter return back to him. She gave to him a magical serpent that turned into a dagger.

The Witch told the king that if that dagger reached to Seas Mermaid and she used it to kill her human love Nour, then everything would return as it used to be including her mermaid nature and voice.

The king orders his men to detain the old witch while he would go to his daughter and save her life at the Yellow sea. His niece told him that she would go instead of him because she may convince Seas Mermaid to kill her love better than him.

That’s how she found Princess Seas Mermaid crying while unable to speak on the ship. She convinced her to kill Nour by the magical dagger. “When his blood appears on the magical dagger’s blade, you will return to her Mermaid’s nature and voice, you only have to do it before dawn” She told our little mermaid. 
Unfortunately during then Seas Mermaid decided to take the hard the decision to kill her prince charming Nour. She sneaked inside his cabin to find his dad sleeping beside him. She could not do it as he was dreaming about her mentioning her name during his sleep.
She kissed him and decided to throw the drag into the sea. She also decided to kill herself and throw herself.
She did throw herself to the sea and then …
We will know tomorrow inshallah in another night from our Ramadan Arabian nights. 

Kodak Agfa presents : A quick look to Al-Azhar Mosque

Kodak Agfa is active this Ramadan, touring from time to time in Islamic Cairo thanks to the Holy Month.
From two weeks ago I got an Iftar Invitation at Hussein Famous Quarter in the heart of Khan El-Khalil and I could not stop myself from taking my camera and take shots for everything in that historical rich area.
Luckily for me I took a couple of photos for the famous Al-Azhar Mosque’s exterior before going into the world of Khan El-Khalil and narrow passages.
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque 
Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most important and influential Islamic Sunni Institution is located in the heart of Fatimid Cairo.
You may know the current most important Sunni institution world was originally founded in 970 by North African Fatimids to spread Shiism in the world. Now Sheikh Al-Azhar declares the fight on Shiism directly in some historical irony.
DSC09152
Al-Azhar Mosque 
Al-Azhar is currently being renovated as you can see. I hope that the renovation is done correctly.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.21 ”

Evil Sea witch by Russian renowned
illustrator Boris Diodorov 
And Nour was not dreaming after all and the Seas Mermaid was not an illusion. Seas Mermaid came back to him as a Mermaid revealing to him that she was Yasmine, the Mute girl his family adopted. She began to tell him about happened in her world.

Seas Mermaid is telling her love about what happened to her and how she gave up her undersea life to become with him and how she devastated after his marriage from the princess as that meant she
would die the next following day.
Then she knew from a sailor on the ship that Nour was sick , she went to see him. She saw him from a porthole on deck surrounded by his father and his men when a familiar voice called her from the sea by her real name “Seas Mermaid”
It turned out to be her cousin who told her what happened under the sea after her departure to the human world. King San-Hur of the seven seas ordered the arrest of the Old sea witch so she could be brought back to his court. Standing in front of the king , the old witch began to defend herself.
Tomorrow inshallah is a new tale. 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.19 and 20 ”

Nour lost it completely and is back speaking about his beloved Mermaid. His wife, princess Dalal decided to stay and support her ill husband. Yasmine has just disappeared.
All that happened in our tale for this Ramadan , the tale of the Cursed Lady’s Wall. Tonight there will be a double bill episodes.



Nour and his princess bride reach the city of Gor where the people have been anxious to see and his princess bride. For the people’s shock, they find the young groom chained in a stretcher and carried to his father’s palace. Sheikh Mansour already ordered that his son to be chained in order to protect it from any suicidal thoughts.

Dummies guide to what happened in Sheikh Zuweid : The Aftermath

Wednesday was saved for really thanks to the Egyptian air forces which gave IS militants in Sinai one hell of an unforgettable night or rather lesson for real. This is post is the second one about what happened in Sheikh Zuweid. There are lots of stuff that happened and are happening that need to be read again and again and to be talked about again and again because what happened is alarming

Sheikh Zuweid trapped in the crossfire

Now here is quick info about the city of Sheikh Zuweid which found itself in the heart of a crossfire it was not ready for by any means.
Located between the cities of Al-Arish  and Rafah , the city is inhibited by not less than 60,000 people according to Wikipedia. I tried to search in the Central Agency for public Mobilization and Statistics “CAPMAS” but I failed to get the simple info I am seeking about the total population in its new shiny website. So yes , one was worried things would escalate dramatically and the Egyptian air forces “EAF” would unleash the hell to stop IS militants from putting their black flag on Sheikh Zuweid police station at any cost.
At least 4 civilians were killed in the attack last Wednesday. There were also reports at least two civilians including a senior citizen were killed by the ABM militants on Wednesday because they did not let them use their homes and rooftops.
Sheikh Zuweid on map
The city needs aid now urgent according to Sheikh Zuweid and veteran Sinai correspondent Mostafa Singer , an urgent aid in everything whether medical supplies or food supplies. Already on Friday, militants bombed the electricity station in the city killing two workers at the station and forcing it to go into darkness.
According to Singer and other locals reporting from Sheikh Zuweid , the electricity company workers are another unsung heroes in the city along with doctors and paramedics.
A photo from the city by Ayman Mohsen after the clashes
Many of its local residents are leaving their houses and the cities moving to Al-Arish to escape that on-going war between the army and militants , just like their brothers in Rafah who were forced to evacuate their homes as part of that security plan.
Nevertheless,  some people in the city refuse to leave especially from the elderly as well youth.

Monday, July 6, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.18”

Nour is wondering once again about his beloved Mermaid while he is married officially to Princess Dalal and Sheikh Mansour is angry that his son is back to his madness and would embarrass him in front of his bride princess. Meanwhile Yasmine, our little mermaid just disappeared. All that happened in our Cursed Lady’s Wall. Tonight we continue our tale for the 18th night in Ramadan.
By Anne Anderson

Nour is now awake after a horrible nightmare, screaming for his beloved mermaid. He tells his Mermaid but he can not find her anywhere. He reveals to his father his nightmare. He saw himself throwing away the Sea Mermaid. He also tells him that he only married the princess to please him.

He insists  that what happened to him was real and he was not imagining stuff. He goes then searching for Yasmine whom he understood at last that she was his mermaid.

Princess Dalal knew the truth from her maid.

She tells Sheikh Mansour that she wants to return back home and the old man convinces her that she should stick to her sick husband who had a tough experience in the sea from a couple of weeks ago.

Yasmine, our little mermaid has disappeared and no one knows what happened to her.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.16,17”

And Nour is going to marry the princess while his beloved mermaid is besides but she can not speak and he can not recognize her in one of the most silliest ironies ever.
We continue our Cursed Lady’s Wall tale here


Nour is heading to the Gemstones isles to marry the princess. He brought with him Yasmine in the trip. His father is concerned but what the king and princess say if they see Yasmine and his son girl , she will die the next day”.

Nour asks her if she loves him and she kissed his hand to show how much she loved him. Nour tells her that he loves the mermaid and if it were for him, he would not get married anyone except the mermaid.
reminded him that he adopted her. Yasmine or rather the Seas Mermaid cries day and night because she remembered what the old sea witch told her “If Nour marries another
They arrived the Island.
Princess Dalal is a bit a jealous from that beautiful girl accompanying Nour everywhere.
The King asks Sheikh Mansour  about her and Nour tells him that she is his sister. The king asks her hand for his nephew who saw her and was fascinated by her beauty. Nour tells them that she can not marry the prince because she was already married.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2015 : The Cursed lady’s Wall “Ep.14,15”

We are back to our Ramadan Arabian Nights. I had to stop last Wednesday the episodes to mourn the Egyptian soldiers and civilians who were killed by IS militants in North Sinai on Wednesday and nobody cared to mourn them for real. I thought the least thing I can do here is to show some respect for their souls.
Now we are back to our tale , the tale of the cursed lady’s wall. We stopped at the story of our little Mermaid who gave up her sea life and voice to find her love Nour on land. We will complete from here with two episodes.

The Seas Mermaid is now semi-adopted by Sheikh Mansour who named her Yasmine. His wife loves her as a daughter. Nour considers her as a sister but he can’t deny that he is attracted to her due to her resemblances to his beloved Mermaid.
Sheikh Mansour seeks help from the Grand priest in the city in order to see a solution for his son, Nour who has gone mad for the mermaid.
 Sheikh Mansour wants him to marry Princess Dalal but his son insists that he would marry his beloved Mermaid. Mansour also believed that Nour’s condition improved after Yasmine’s arrival.
Zohara treats her like daughter. Nour treats her like a
The Grand priest then suggests that Nour would marry Yasmine as well Princess Dalal. Sheikh Mansour agrees and decides to speak with his son about that suggestion. At dinner , the father asks the son whether he loves the mute girl or not and the son says that he does not know if he loves or not or even if he loves her for herself or because she reminds him with his beloved Mermaid. While the father and son are speaking , Yasmine/Seas Mermaid makes a sign that she wants to write down something. The Mansours now found a way to communicate with Yasmine and they may know finally who she is.
To another night

Dummies guide to What happened in Sheikh Zuweid “That Wednesday”

Last Wednesday North Sinai witnessed a true battle if I may say between the Egyptian armed forces and the IS-affiliated Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis “ABM” for several hours. It was indeed the longest battle North Sinai specifically the city of Sheikh Zuweid has seen since decades if I am not mistaken.
I covered it for my work back in Cairo and I think it was better to wait at least 48 hours to write about it here so things could be clearer.
This is the first part of my posts about the Battle of Sheikh Zuweid.

The facts we have got:

  • Early Wednesday morning , at 8:06 AM Sky News Arabia TV channel reported on twitter that 5 security checkpoints were attacked.
    Sheikh Zuweid police station
  • At 8.59 AM, Sky News Arabia reported that not less ten army personnel were killed and injured in attack of a bombed car at one of the checkpoints in Sinai.After that by nearly 15 minutes the news channel reported that 30 military personnel were killed and injured in an attack on two checkpoints.
  • Nearly 25 minutes later, the channel quotes an official source that more than 30 military personnel were injured and killed in an attack on two checkpoints in North Sinai.
  • At the same time , Pro-Regime Al-Watan published news on its website that the El-Rafaei military checkpoint was wiped out completely and all its soldiers and officers were killed according to Sky News Arabia. I have not seen that news on Sky News Arabia’s different twitter accounts to be honest.
  • At 9: 45 AM , Sky News Arabia reported on twitter that not less than 60 Egyptian military were killed. The number was shocking and unprecedented. Almost all newspapers and websites like Tahrir website took the news from Sky News Arabia. The Emirates-based news network proved to be trustworthy when it comes to military news in Egypt as well news from Sinai. The channel itself is close to the regime and to the army so everybody took the news without a second thought. At the same international News wires services began to speak about not less 30 security casualties above them Reuters and its Cairo-based Aswat Masriya website.
  • At 9:56 AM, the official Egyptian armed forces spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir issued that short statement on his official Facebook page.

صباح اليوم الموافق 1 / 7 /2015 ... قام عدد من العناصر الإرهاببية [تشير المعلومات الأولية أنها تقدر بحوالى (70) عنصر إرها...
Posted by ‎الصفحة الرسمية للمتحدث العسكري للقوات المسلحة‎ on Wednesday, July 1, 2015
“In the early hours of 1/7/2015 a group of terrorists “Initial information estimates with 70 terrorists” launched a concurrent attacks on five checkpoints.Out troops fought back immediately the terrorists and killed from them 22 and destroyed three {Land cruiser} carrying anti-craft missiles. Ten of the armed forces brave men have been injured and killed so far. Our troops are still chasing the terrorists and sweeping the areas around the checkpoints. The clashes are still go on.”
  • As the news became viral, the Islamic State-affiliated Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis or as it is known now “Waliyat Sinai” issued a statement on Social media networks claiming responsibility of the attacks in what I considered the fastest issued by the Sinai-based terrorist group. It usually took days if not weeks when that militant group issues a statement. 

Thursday, July 2, 2015

July 02, 2015 at 12:05PM


Thursday's newspapers in #Egypt after the Islamic state's attack on Egyptian armed forces in North Sinia. #Citizenjournalism #Blogger July 02, 2015 at 12:05PM via Instagram http://ift.tt/1FUgQBx