Qursaya Island

I'd mentioned before this story about the Egyptian military's attempts to takeover an island south of Cairo in order to build a new development, which means kicking out the farmers and other inhabitants that live there. There has been anecdotal evidence that the military is getting increasingly greedy about encroaching on the civilian sphere, particularly when it comes to prime land and business. Some, perhaps many, would say that has always been the case. But it's worth reading the AFP dispatch (one of the only English-language stories on the issue to my knowledge, although the independent and opposition Arabic press has given it plenty of coverage) in light of the movies Hossam posted today, which show the islanders' fight against soldiers and include a documentary on the island.