<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	>
<channel>
	<title>Comments on: Police crackdown on anti-torture demo</title>
	<atom:link href="http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/</link>
	<description></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:50:03 +0000</pubDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3</generator>
		<item>
		<title>By: The Arabist &#187; &#8220;Obedience is starting to evaporate&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-243085</link>
		<dc:creator>The Arabist &#187; &#8220;Obedience is starting to evaporate&#8221;</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Jul 2006 06:50:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-243085</guid>
		<description>[...] Darkness on the Edge of Cairo by John William Salevurakis Every day I walk from my fashionable neighborhood to the university and pass a pair of very kind, white-uniformed police officers. They stand in their almost blindingly clean attire, only a block from my crumbling apartment building, smoking Egypt&#8217;s cheapest Cleopatra cigarettes and directing traffic. &#8220;Ya Pasha!&#8221; they shout, &#8220;Habibi!&#8221; This is my daily greeting as I pass and kiss each of them on both cheeks. Since I came here from Utah nearly two years ago, I have been &#8220;a ruler&#8221; and their &#8220;dearest one&#8221; nearly every day. I don&#8217;t smoke but they commonly offer me a cigarette so I will take the time to uneasily chat in my pidgin Arabic. We talk about mundane things like the summer heat or when I&#8217;ll again be visiting America or Europe. In Cairo, the mundane is really of immense value as a symbol. It is a social ritual, it seems, representing calm and a certain degree of material prosperity, a sign that one can afford to be concerned about such things pertaining to one&#8217;s self and others. With regularity, however, the calm is now broken on the edges of Cairo, and the darkness, fueled jointly by domestic and foreign powers, is creeping in from the edges of town. Everybody&#8217;s got a secret, it seems. On May 25th, Karim Al-Shaer and Mohammed Al-Sharkawy were arrested at a local protest and taken to the Kasr El Nil police station near my apartment. They were beaten and tortured, and Al-Sharkawy was sexually abused, and then turned over to State Security Forces, at which point their long-term futures became even more uncertain. The two were then allegedly denied medical care and remanded to the Tora Prison for a minimum of 15 days under Egypt&#8217;s widely criticized yet strikingly familiar &#8220;Emergency Laws&#8221; which have been in place, almost without interruption, for the last 38 years. A second protest on June 2nd (Correction: actually it was June 1st) saw the detainment of three Egyptians and an L.A. Times reporter who also had his camera smashed by police in front of the Kasr El Nil station. It was loudly and repeatedly noted by security: &#8220;There&#8217;s no permit for a protest today for the demonstrators. There is no permit for the coverage by reporters!&#8221; Historically, no one has asked any questions when faced with statements such as these . . . but that obedience is starting to evaporate. This cycle of demonstrations and arrests is becoming more frequent as the darkness extends further toward the heart of the city. The calm that generally characterizes Egypt in the region is shattered in support of journalists and judges who are being oppressed by the Mubarak regime. The mundane is perhaps most foundationally overshadowed by popular frustration over last year&#8217;s forced re-election of President Hosni Mubarak. It is common knowledge here that voter fraud was rampant and neither journalists nor judges are being allowed to voice this reality. Support for those who do voice it is then swiftly met with brutality or the credible threat of it. What&#8217;s more, the American government issues only occasional communiquÃ©s of concern regarding these events of repression and hails Egypt as a fertile root of democracy in the region. On June 2nd, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt expressed &#8220;disappointment&#8221; but continued to simply state: &#8220;We don&#8217;t know all the facts. We know that there are at least two sides to every story.&#8221; A day later, the U.S. State Department issued a statement in which Tom Casey said, &#8220;We are troubled by the recent reports that Mohammed Al-Sharkawy as well as Karim Al-Shaer were arrested and, during their arrest and detention, were tortured.&#8221; He continued to soften American concern by adding, &#8220;If those allegations are true, that would certainly be a violation of Egypt&#8217;s own laws&#8221; and &#8220;If the allegations are true, what we want to see happen is. . . .&#8221; What a repulsively inappropriate assertion of either doubt or diplomacy, given that a political activist in the region&#8217;s first true &#8220;democracy&#8221; was just reportedly sodomized with cardboard in a police station. Of course, maybe the definition of &#8220;democracy&#8221; is somewhat flexible as all of this was taking place a mere two weeks after President Mubarak&#8217;s son, Gamal, had met with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley while visiting the U.S. on &#8220;private business.&#8221; At my university, I teach economic principles largely to the children of ministers in the Mubarak government or American students privileged enough to spend a semester or year abroad. When controversial political topics invariably arise, I make uneasy jokes about the room being bugged or offending someone&#8217;s father with my impending comments. Everyone laughs . . . but the darkness is here in my classroom, too, and perhaps only temporarily hiding behind the mundane graphical representation of supply and demand or the oblique writings of Thorstein Veblen. I still pass the usual white-suited police officers on my street. I still exchange smiles and handshakes and still get offered cigarettes. We chat about the mundane . . . the weather, my wife, our dog, and their families in Upper Egypt. I look at them and wonder, though, about the true reach of darkness into Cairo, from where it originated, and how far it will ultimately travel. I look at the policeman&#8217;s aging face, tobacco-stained teeth, and graying wiry hair, thinking only that this smiling gentleman could very well have been jumping on the stomach of a prisoner yesterday or penetrating another with whatever implement happened to be convenient the week before. A mundane object like a cardboard paper towel roll assumes a new horrifying aspect in hindsight. The calm here remains generally widespread, making the surface of daily life courteous, yet it is widely understood to be a faÃ§ade for the externally supported brutality maintaining it. The United States has found itself stuck fast in a tarry mass of its own prejudice and financial interests in Iraq and yearns for allies, any ally, in the region. The price for this is paid by Egyptians who are victimized in the name of domestic political stability as well as by Americans, even Utahns, who find themselves witness to domestic imprisonments without trials, remote European &#8220;interrogation facilities,&#8221; or warrantless domestic surveillance in the name of insulation from terror. Hearing I have contracted to stay in Cairo for another three years, people of varied origins &#8212; including Americans &#8212; often ask me if I feel &#8220;safe&#8221; in what they perceive to be the darkness completely external to their own lives. My response to Americans is simply, &#8220;Do you?&#8221; [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Darkness on the Edge of Cairo by John William Salevurakis Every day I walk from my fashionable neighborhood to the university and pass a pair of very kind, white-uniformed police officers. They stand in their almost blindingly clean attire, only a block from my crumbling apartment building, smoking Egypt&#8217;s cheapest Cleopatra cigarettes and directing traffic. &#8220;Ya Pasha!&#8221; they shout, &#8220;Habibi!&#8221; This is my daily greeting as I pass and kiss each of them on both cheeks. Since I came here from Utah nearly two years ago, I have been &#8220;a ruler&#8221; and their &#8220;dearest one&#8221; nearly every day. I don&#8217;t smoke but they commonly offer me a cigarette so I will take the time to uneasily chat in my pidgin Arabic. We talk about mundane things like the summer heat or when I&#8217;ll again be visiting America or Europe. In Cairo, the mundane is really of immense value as a symbol. It is a social ritual, it seems, representing calm and a certain degree of material prosperity, a sign that one can afford to be concerned about such things pertaining to one&#8217;s self and others. With regularity, however, the calm is now broken on the edges of Cairo, and the darkness, fueled jointly by domestic and foreign powers, is creeping in from the edges of town. Everybody&#8217;s got a secret, it seems. On May 25th, Karim Al-Shaer and Mohammed Al-Sharkawy were arrested at a local protest and taken to the Kasr El Nil police station near my apartment. They were beaten and tortured, and Al-Sharkawy was sexually abused, and then turned over to State Security Forces, at which point their long-term futures became even more uncertain. The two were then allegedly denied medical care and remanded to the Tora Prison for a minimum of 15 days under Egypt&#8217;s widely criticized yet strikingly familiar &#8220;Emergency Laws&#8221; which have been in place, almost without interruption, for the last 38 years. A second protest on June 2nd (Correction: actually it was June 1st) saw the detainment of three Egyptians and an L.A. Times reporter who also had his camera smashed by police in front of the Kasr El Nil station. It was loudly and repeatedly noted by security: &#8220;There&#8217;s no permit for a protest today for the demonstrators. There is no permit for the coverage by reporters!&#8221; Historically, no one has asked any questions when faced with statements such as these . . . but that obedience is starting to evaporate. This cycle of demonstrations and arrests is becoming more frequent as the darkness extends further toward the heart of the city. The calm that generally characterizes Egypt in the region is shattered in support of journalists and judges who are being oppressed by the Mubarak regime. The mundane is perhaps most foundationally overshadowed by popular frustration over last year&#8217;s forced re-election of President Hosni Mubarak. It is common knowledge here that voter fraud was rampant and neither journalists nor judges are being allowed to voice this reality. Support for those who do voice it is then swiftly met with brutality or the credible threat of it. What&#8217;s more, the American government issues only occasional communiquÃ©s of concern regarding these events of repression and hails Egypt as a fertile root of democracy in the region. On June 2nd, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt expressed &#8220;disappointment&#8221; but continued to simply state: &#8220;We don&#8217;t know all the facts. We know that there are at least two sides to every story.&#8221; A day later, the U.S. State Department issued a statement in which Tom Casey said, &#8220;We are troubled by the recent reports that Mohammed Al-Sharkawy as well as Karim Al-Shaer were arrested and, during their arrest and detention, were tortured.&#8221; He continued to soften American concern by adding, &#8220;If those allegations are true, that would certainly be a violation of Egypt&#8217;s own laws&#8221; and &#8220;If the allegations are true, what we want to see happen is. . . .&#8221; What a repulsively inappropriate assertion of either doubt or diplomacy, given that a political activist in the region&#8217;s first true &#8220;democracy&#8221; was just reportedly sodomized with cardboard in a police station. Of course, maybe the definition of &#8220;democracy&#8221; is somewhat flexible as all of this was taking place a mere two weeks after President Mubarak&#8217;s son, Gamal, had met with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley while visiting the U.S. on &#8220;private business.&#8221; At my university, I teach economic principles largely to the children of ministers in the Mubarak government or American students privileged enough to spend a semester or year abroad. When controversial political topics invariably arise, I make uneasy jokes about the room being bugged or offending someone&#8217;s father with my impending comments. Everyone laughs . . . but the darkness is here in my classroom, too, and perhaps only temporarily hiding behind the mundane graphical representation of supply and demand or the oblique writings of Thorstein Veblen. I still pass the usual white-suited police officers on my street. I still exchange smiles and handshakes and still get offered cigarettes. We chat about the mundane . . . the weather, my wife, our dog, and their families in Upper Egypt. I look at them and wonder, though, about the true reach of darkness into Cairo, from where it originated, and how far it will ultimately travel. I look at the policeman&#8217;s aging face, tobacco-stained teeth, and graying wiry hair, thinking only that this smiling gentleman could very well have been jumping on the stomach of a prisoner yesterday or penetrating another with whatever implement happened to be convenient the week before. A mundane object like a cardboard paper towel roll assumes a new horrifying aspect in hindsight. The calm here remains generally widespread, making the surface of daily life courteous, yet it is widely understood to be a faÃ§ade for the externally supported brutality maintaining it. The United States has found itself stuck fast in a tarry mass of its own prejudice and financial interests in Iraq and yearns for allies, any ally, in the region. The price for this is paid by Egyptians who are victimized in the name of domestic political stability as well as by Americans, even Utahns, who find themselves witness to domestic imprisonments without trials, remote European &#8220;interrogation facilities,&#8221; or warrantless domestic surveillance in the name of insulation from terror. Hearing I have contracted to stay in Cairo for another three years, people of varied origins &#8212; including Americans &#8212; often ask me if I feel &#8220;safe&#8221; in what they perceive to be the darkness completely external to their own lives. My response to Americans is simply, &#8220;Do you?&#8221; [...]</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: The Arabist &#187; State Security Prosecutor renews Sharqawiâ€™s and Sha3erâ€™s detention</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-220544</link>
		<dc:creator>The Arabist &#187; State Security Prosecutor renews Sharqawiâ€™s and Sha3erâ€™s detention</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:04:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-220544</guid>
		<description>[...] Egypt extends jail time for pro-reform protesters, including one who was sexually abused and severely tortured CAIRO, Egypt (AP) _ Prosecutors on Wednesday extended the detentions of 50 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and two other activists who were among hundreds arrested for taking part in pro-reform protests earlier in April and May. The public prosecutors office also ordered medical treatment for one of the activists, Mohammed el-Sharkawi, who said he was tortured and sodomized at a Cairo police station after his arrest on May 25. El-Sharkawi, 24, was grabbed, punched and kicked by more than 15 men in plainclothes after he had participated in a peaceful protest outside of the Journalists&#8217; Syndicate in downtown Cairo. Another activist Karim el-Sha&#8217;er arrested with him was also beaten. The 50 members of the Brotherhood, have been in jail since protests on May 11. Since April, police have arrested hundreds of activists involved in peaceful protests of disciplinary hearings for two reformist judges. Authorities can hold detainees for up to six months without trial under Egyptian law. On Tuesday 164 Brotherhood protesters and 21 non-Brotherhood secular activists ordered held for another 15 days have already been in detention since April. Four others, including two women, were ordered released Tuesday. The Brotherhood, an Islamic-based political party that is formally banned but usually tolerated by the government, won nearly 20 percent of the legislature&#8217;s seats in last year&#8217;s elections, making it the largest opposition bloc. [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Egypt extends jail time for pro-reform protesters, including one who was sexually abused and severely tortured CAIRO, Egypt (AP) _ Prosecutors on Wednesday extended the detentions of 50 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and two other activists who were among hundreds arrested for taking part in pro-reform protests earlier in April and May. The public prosecutors office also ordered medical treatment for one of the activists, Mohammed el-Sharkawi, who said he was tortured and sodomized at a Cairo police station after his arrest on May 25. El-Sharkawi, 24, was grabbed, punched and kicked by more than 15 men in plainclothes after he had participated in a peaceful protest outside of the Journalists&#8217; Syndicate in downtown Cairo. Another activist Karim el-Sha&#8217;er arrested with him was also beaten. The 50 members of the Brotherhood, have been in jail since protests on May 11. Since April, police have arrested hundreds of activists involved in peaceful protests of disciplinary hearings for two reformist judges. Authorities can hold detainees for up to six months without trial under Egyptian law. On Tuesday 164 Brotherhood protesters and 21 non-Brotherhood secular activists ordered held for another 15 days have already been in detention since April. Four others, including two women, were ordered released Tuesday. The Brotherhood, an Islamic-based political party that is formally banned but usually tolerated by the government, won nearly 20 percent of the legislature&#8217;s seats in last year&#8217;s elections, making it the largest opposition bloc. [...]</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Hossam el-Hamalawy</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-215687</link>
		<dc:creator>Hossam el-Hamalawy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jun 2006 19:01:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-215687</guid>
		<description>I received several emails from friends and Arabist readers who kindly offered to buy me a new camera instead of the one that was smashed by the security thugs. I want to thank you all for your kindness and generousity. I will get a new camera from my savings. But if you really wanna help, then please circulate info about the situation in Egypt among all your contacts and local representatives; email your congressmen and MPs; and if you were lucky enough to be born in a country where the police doesn't sodomize your right to protest, then picket the Egyptian embassy or consulate in your town calling for the torture to stop.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I received several emails from friends and Arabist readers who kindly offered to buy me a new camera instead of the one that was smashed by the security thugs. I want to thank you all for your kindness and generousity. I will get a new camera from my savings. But if you really wanna help, then please circulate info about the situation in Egypt among all your contacts and local representatives; email your congressmen and MPs; and if you were lucky enough to be born in a country where the police doesn&#8217;t sodomize your right to protest, then picket the Egyptian embassy or consulate in your town calling for the torture to stop.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: jodetoad</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-214561</link>
		<dc:creator>jodetoad</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jun 2006 08:47:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-214561</guid>
		<description>I'm forwarding your post to several people.  A "government" that hires thugs to beat its own people is no government.  A "President" that behaves like Mubarak is sickening.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m forwarding your post to several people.  A &#8220;government&#8221; that hires thugs to beat its own people is no government.  A &#8220;President&#8221; that behaves like Mubarak is sickening.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Fanto</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-214140</link>
		<dc:creator>Fanto</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:37:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-214140</guid>
		<description>If we announce daily or weekly that there will be some demonstartions here and there, we shall make their lives as hell even though if we don't show up...:)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If we announce daily or weekly that there will be some demonstartions here and there, we shall make their lives as hell even though if we don&#8217;t show up&#8230;:)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: LoganNphilly</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213679</link>
		<dc:creator>LoganNphilly</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jun 2006 02:37:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213679</guid>
		<description>Can you access paypal, I will gladly donate towards you getting a a bunch of new ones. Ones with easily removable memory so you can pull the memory as they pull the camera from you. Your blog reminds me of the cost of freedom and shames me for the stance many in my country take at times. You and all those who champion freedom in a land where it's not truly known should be lauded as the heroes you are.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Can you access paypal, I will gladly donate towards you getting a a bunch of new ones. Ones with easily removable memory so you can pull the memory as they pull the camera from you. Your blog reminds me of the cost of freedom and shames me for the stance many in my country take at times. You and all those who champion freedom in a land where it&#8217;s not truly known should be lauded as the heroes you are.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Anonymous Coward</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213359</link>
		<dc:creator>Anonymous Coward</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 23:24:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213359</guid>
		<description>I've posted some links to your blog from a couple of mine ... even an experienced 60s radical hippie anti-war protester like me is having a hard time grasping the situation you are in. 

Some tips from the 1968 Chicago political riots ... recruit a fast runner to stay between you and a clear exit, and have someone on a scooter waiting to evacuate you.  If you get in trouble, you throw the camera (or film or SD card) to the fast guy and they run like hell to the scooter to keep the images safe.

Carry a crap camera or two ... use them as bait for the goons while you get the good one to safety.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve posted some links to your blog from a couple of mine &#8230; even an experienced 60s radical hippie anti-war protester like me is having a hard time grasping the situation you are in. </p>
<p>Some tips from the 1968 Chicago political riots &#8230; recruit a fast runner to stay between you and a clear exit, and have someone on a scooter waiting to evacuate you.  If you get in trouble, you throw the camera (or film or SD card) to the fast guy and they run like hell to the scooter to keep the images safe.</p>
<p>Carry a crap camera or two &#8230; use them as bait for the goons while you get the good one to safety.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Hossam el-Hamalawy</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213358</link>
		<dc:creator>Hossam el-Hamalawy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 23:21:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213358</guid>
		<description>Alia-- I corrected the typo.. Cheers.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Alia&#8211; I corrected the typo.. Cheers.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Madness</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213331</link>
		<dc:creator>Madness</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 22:52:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213331</guid>
		<description>You are truly brave, the people around here complaining about how the police behave doesÂ´nt have a clue. Bookmarked your blog.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You are truly brave, the people around here complaining about how the police behave doesÂ´nt have a clue. Bookmarked your blog.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Hossam el-Hamalawy</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213261</link>
		<dc:creator>Hossam el-Hamalawy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 21:34:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213261</guid>
		<description>Thank you all for your concern and for your kind words. They are very much appreciated.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you all for your concern and for your kind words. They are very much appreciated.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: praktike</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213194</link>
		<dc:creator>praktike</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 20:36:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213194</guid>
		<description>Damn, that was right next to my old apartment ... sorry about your camera, and thanks so much for getting this account out there. Bastards.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Damn, that was right next to my old apartment &#8230; sorry about your camera, and thanks so much for getting this account out there. Bastards.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Alia</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213160</link>
		<dc:creator>Alia</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:56:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213160</guid>
		<description>Ya Hossam,
proud you guys are staying strong. Don't stop. Someone's bound to tire and it WON'T be us. So proud that women and academics and proffessionals are taking such interest in the fight kaman. this way teh youth won't feel they are being sacrificed. Begad fe3lan proud.. I can imagine how it feels like a surreal war zone, with the trucks stationed all over the place, and the amn, and all the challenge, and fear and danger and wrath adn anger in the air.. bas when you come to think of it , it is a battle.. sa7? Not realy one for freedom, ad ma heyya one over the country.. people are finally speaking up and saying 'la2 BETA3TEY..!'.. or at least that's how i feel.

Ps. Ahdaf and Laila 'Soueif'</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ya Hossam,<br />
proud you guys are staying strong. Don&#8217;t stop. Someone&#8217;s bound to tire and it WON&#8217;T be us. So proud that women and academics and proffessionals are taking such interest in the fight kaman. this way teh youth won&#8217;t feel they are being sacrificed. Begad fe3lan proud.. I can imagine how it feels like a surreal war zone, with the trucks stationed all over the place, and the amn, and all the challenge, and fear and danger and wrath adn anger in the air.. bas when you come to think of it , it is a battle.. sa7? Not realy one for freedom, ad ma heyya one over the country.. people are finally speaking up and saying &#8216;la2 BETA3TEY..!&#8217;.. or at least that&#8217;s how i feel.</p>
<p>Ps. Ahdaf and Laila &#8216;Soueif&#8217;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Janjan</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213154</link>
		<dc:creator>Janjan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213154</guid>
		<description>We in the US have no clue about how brave you are in Egypt. God bless you and your efforts.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We in the US have no clue about how brave you are in Egypt. God bless you and your efforts.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: SP</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213153</link>
		<dc:creator>SP</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:08:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213153</guid>
		<description>Glad you got out, Hossam, was worried briefly. How surreal political activity in Cairo seems, doesn't it - your description of the small war zone in the midst of posh tourist-land with people looking on curiously and sometimes averting their eyes as they go about their business is very telling.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Glad you got out, Hossam, was worried briefly. How surreal political activity in Cairo seems, doesn&#8217;t it - your description of the small war zone in the midst of posh tourist-land with people looking on curiously and sometimes averting their eyes as they go about their business is very telling.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Hend</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213142</link>
		<dc:creator>Hend</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:11:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213142</guid>
		<description>All I can think of right now is how grateful I am for ppl who love this country this much.
As for your cam, ma3lesh khadet el shar w ra7et :) although sadly khadet 7agat tanya kaman</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>All I can think of right now is how grateful I am for ppl who love this country this much.<br />
As for your cam, ma3lesh khadet el shar w ra7et <img src='http://www.arabist.net/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> although sadly khadet 7agat tanya kaman</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Dan Tschirgi</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213123</link>
		<dc:creator>Dan Tschirgi</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 14:19:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-213123</guid>
		<description>Hossam,.
   Sorry about the camera. Keep up the good work and take care.
All Best,
Dan &#38; Conchita</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hossam,.<br />
   Sorry about the camera. Keep up the good work and take care.<br />
All Best,<br />
Dan &amp; Conchita</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Rantings of a Sandmonkey &#187; This is the only thing I will blog today</title>
		<link>http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-212949</link>
		<dc:creator>Rantings of a Sandmonkey &#187; This is the only thing I will blog today</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jun 2006 11:09:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://arabist.net/archives/2006/06/01/police-crackdown-on-anti-torture-demo/#comment-212949</guid>
		<description>[...] JUST READ THIS!  Permalink &#8226; Trackback URL [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] JUST READ THIS!  Permalink &bull; Trackback URL [...]</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
</channel>
</rss>
