Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Cairo: The Last Days (Part 2)

Well, if they think they can easily shove me out and forget about it definitely they should think again.

I have been with the National Front since the very start. True the Front existed since the 1940's, but I'm referring to their late resurrection during the late 1980's and 1990's. My name is Amin Tolba and I'm one of the so called "New Generation Steers." or as sometimes referred to as the Guidance Office New Guard.
While other groups chose the way of direct violence to create turmoil and attempt to get to power, I was absolutely against it.
"My brothers, shooting a president or tourists or putting a few bombs in Tahrir Square is not the way that will get us to rule this country. Hear out my plan." And They did…
By the early 2000's, the Front had infiltrated and had some or total degree of control on almost everything in Egypt: University student Bodies, Professional Syndicates (engineers, doctors, lawyers,…), Government Ministries, National TV/Radio, Judges Union,… You name it. We were every where. Ultimately, this lead us to power in 2011.

I walked out of my little sorry room in Arish. I saw a glimpse of my own reflection on the door stained glass window and I wondered. The young man who used to walk in demonstrations in his neat dark green coveralls and black mask is now long gone. All what remains is an old fat and bald sort of a soldier, stumbling in his pale green army suit, drenched in sweat.
I gave my life to the Front. Once they got in power, I was completely forgotten. Instead of giving me a ministry or a public company or something where I can get to spend the rest of my days in ease and peace, The Head Steer called me: "Brother Amin, we have bestowed on you our great confidence. We appoint you the Head of Security in Northern Sinai."
I can nearly see him this Son of B… sitting at the old Royal Palace and laughing with the other bastard Ahmed Ammar, my so called friend and comrade and the new Minister of Petrol and Energy. He has his own airplane I was told. All I have is an Army Jeep and the Sinai Bedouins shooting at me and my men almost every night.

The Front rise to power was too easy, almost inevitable. All the lethal elements were there: An aging dictatorship, a very poor country (the UN officials calling it the Mediterranean Bangladesh) and people drowning in ignorance, sickness and despair.
"The Front is the Solution and We Will Change the Constitution." Our slogan was like a drug to the masses. Most of them did not even know what constitution meant.
Everyone wanted to change the status quo and We seemed like a viable choice at a time, especially for the unknowing majority. A religious group who got out of his way and got into politics; speaking in the name of God and promising a better life in this world and heaven thereafter. Nothing could beat this deal…
What the common man did not know is that religion and politics do not mix. Or to say the least they do not mix well. Just like heaven and earth, could these two mix?
Politics has nothing -and never had anything- to do with religion. The only religion politics know is the religion of power and the faith of using all the means possible to obtain it and preserve it.

It was may be 7pm on this early October night when I took off with my Jeep. I was only accompanied by my young right hand guy Mahmoud. I've been arranging and anticipating this meeting for may be 8 or 9 months now. We drove for like 2 hours towards the heart of Sinai and into its high mountains. The unpaved road twisted endlessly up and down till we finally reached the specific GPS point. Our rendezvous were already there.
"My name doesn't really matter, I am here representing the Kingdom and some of its friends. The Front regime has gotten absolutely out of hand and I believe that it is up to us now to put things right." Said the man with the dark blue jeans and khaki sweater. He was in his early 40's and obviously the boss of the party meeting us.
Before, I could reply by anything, he opened a suitcase stacked with Dollar Bills. "This will help you to insure the allegiance of the Bedouins and most of your men." He added smiling.
"We shall arrange for the triggering event in Cairo. Also, I'm coordinating with Nabil Fawzy Militias from Upper Egypt." I responded "Everything will go as planned!"
We shook hands and he walked towards his car. Then he looked back "Also, a continuous supply of ammo and weapons will be secured through our contacts in Elate." He drove away.

"This is the time. This is the place. We have to make a stand. We have to give in to the will of God. It is His will that we should put an end to the Tyranny that is eating our country. Our lives are worth nothing. We give it happily to restore the rule of Allah…"
The entire camp roared with enthusiasm.
I put on my ultimate serious face and the thought lingered in my mind: Does anyone sincerely believe this nonsense?
How could they believe that any God -if one really existed- would let or allow thousands may be even millions to die in his name??

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Cairo: The Last Days (Part 1)

Part 1:

June 17, 2015:
I got stopped again today at a security check point. The soldier who stopped me was merely a boy in his 17, 18 at the most. His beard hair was no more than pale patches here and there on his face. But, The old desert green uniform and his Afghani soft wool hat gave him a menacing look.
"ID,.." he said averting looking at me directly. He checked the ID and looked at me quickly. "Hide you hair woman!" he said harshly while handing me back the document. Hastily, my hand ran to push the fallen hair lock under the veil and I walked away as fast as I could.
Since, the last couple of explosions down town, security measures have been very tight. Even here in Heliopolis (Haii El Safa, they now call it) there is practically a check point on the corner of every major street.
Tarek came back very late from work. His pipes manufacturing business has been doing very good lately. However, his problems also increased dramatically. He always shared some work details with me.
"I'm practically paying everyone I deal with", he said, disgusted, during supper. "The labors' office, the social insurance, taxes, local authorities,.." are all on my private payroll. "I'm doing all the work and everyone else is getting the profit…"
Tomorrow, I'll go to visit mom. She moved very far at the very end of Nasr City. Now, with the new, unwritten, law preventing women from driving. I'm only left to the wretched Microbus to take me there.

July 10, 2015:
I am so bored.
Tarek spends most of his day at work and I'm left trapped here at the house. It is true I never really worked since I got married 15 years ago but in the old days there was so much to do. Even on an absolutely empty day, I could still read the papers, watch TV or even sometimes surf the net. Now, I'm a little bit living in a closed sphere. Since the National Front came to power 4 years ago, they have been bit by bit restricting our exposure to the outside world. It all started with the very strict law against satellite dishes and cable networks.
"They only undermine our faith, promote imperialism and show sex and nudity films and series," The Guidance Office announced. An ultimatum of 2 days was given to get rid of all dishes. These who did not respond got a 20,000 LE fine and 20 lashes.
So, I'm left stuck with 2 TV channels that only talk about the after life and a paper that has the unique job of promoting the Guidance Office ruling members and mentioning every day some fake facts about how Egypt is the greatest country on earth…

July 28, 2015:
I got a letter from Adham today. It was dated June 15, 2015. Well, it did not take that long. I heard from some friends that it takes at least a month for a letter to get through the huge pile up at the Central censorship office. It was his words but the hand writing was of a grown up person…
It has been now almost a one and half years since we sent Adham to his Aunt.
"Schools here are crap. Besides, he will get a chance to see the world. Do you remember the World honey?"
Adham is only 12. At 12, a kid should be with his mom. I put the letter in my closet drawer and cried.

Three years ago, I was so mad when I noticed the surge of people and businesses, local and foreign, leaving Egypt.
"Nothing has changed." I used to say to my friends. "They can never be more corrupt than their predecessors!" "At least, this government was chosen by the people. They are men of faith as well as politicians." I used to repeat this over and over.
Tarek, on the other hand, had more insight.
Once the old government was overthrown, my step sister who she and her family happened to have Italian Passports, left the country almost immediately.
"We have too much at stack here and as you said nothing Really has changed." Said Tarek to me.
However, I noticed that little by little he is shrinking his business and reducing his "heavy" belongings. He sold his office and worked from the factory. He sold his parents house and an empty lot of land he owned. He even tried to sell our little house in Marina. I was so against it and even cried hard to dissuade him. I wish I hadn't. Now, Marina is a ghost city and the house is worth nothing...

Thursday, November 8, 2007

An Ending without Closure

Tarek woke up with an unusual uneasy feeling deep inside. He has been going out with Touta for 6 months now. And it all seemed like a dream. He loved her from afar for years. Now that they are together he couldn't help but to love her even more. For the past few weeks however, the ride got a little bit tough. Nothing out of the unusual. After, the initial "I love you just the way you are" phase, it is normal for the gears to grind against each other. He was just hoping that this period will be shorter that longer.
After, a more than mild argument, there was no contact for a couple of days. Then Just yesterday, Tarek has called touta. But he could not get through to her. She was not at home and did not call back.
"I'll call her again today" he said to himself.
"She's in the bathroom, she'll call you once she gets out" came the dry answer from the maid.
She never called.
Now, 10 years, a wife and a kid later; Tarek still feels a squeeze in his heart when he remembers this story.

We all passed through this situation in one format or the other. It might be at work, with friends or even within our family. However, I believe that a love ending so abruptly and inconclusively is perhaps the most painful. (That is unless you have a beloved one in the army and is Lost in Action somewhere.)
Each story has to have a solid end. We were brought up this way. A sports match has a result, an essay has a conclusion, even some of Youssef Shahin movies have a well defined end and a love affair must have a closure.
Just imagine this, you go out with the boy/girl of your dreams on a first date. Everything goes perfectly well and then you never hear from him/her again. This open finish is unacceptable for most. The obvious reason is "why?", "what went wrong?", "Don't I deserve an explanation?" a couple of words on the phone, sms or even an email or a message on Facebook??
Relationships come to an end all the time but they don't just vanish into thin air for no reason.

Well, Actually they do and the more serious and long term the relationship is the most prone to sudden and inexplicable failure it is.
The most prominent reason of the Break-up in a serious relationship is nothing!! In the famous book "Drifting Marriage", it is concluded that around 70% of marriages (and this can be expanded to all long term commitments) end for no specific or major cause. By time, under the pressures of life and by accumulation of minor squabbles people just drift apart. From lovers, to roommates to strangers. One of them then just walks a way.
As put very simply by 12 years old Dina: "One day my dad left home."

I think that there is nothing more painful than a story -whatever this story might be- without closure. At this instance, one is left empty and lost. He has so many words left unspoken. His mind and emotions are trapped within the merciless walls of "what if's" endless possibilities and his heart is stalled lingering on a deserted trail.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

At the Movies: El Shayateen..

Since I was a little kid, I was a big fan of the El Shayateen El 13 (The 13 devils) novels.
It was a series of books intended for youngsters in which a group of young Arab adventurers fight evil under the leadership of a mystery man called Mr. Zero.
Each one of them belonged to a different Arab country and used a code number besides his name. No. 1 was Ahmed from Egypt.

The movie full name is called El Shayateem, the Comeback.
Hence it is about the return of a reluctant Ahmed for a new adventure; after what appears as a failed mission that took place 20 years ago.
This time the fight is against a vicious Antiquities smuggling gang. The movie contains a couple of nice twists and is entertaining as a whole. Especially bearing in mind that the this is the first full feature for a young director/scenario writer.

The movie starts with the wrong assumption that everybody has a back ground of the original stories. This left 90% of the audience quite clueless for perhaps the first 15 minutes. Then another slow half hour was lost watching Ahmed attempting to gather up his team as well as bits and pieces of the conspiracy at hand.
The movie picks up some pace after that when the action begins. Although, in my opinion, a specialist in action sequences was badly needed. Too much hand held camera and fast camera motion do not necessarily mean suspense and action!! The film music was basically a series of 1970's motives, a little bit more effort and tunes were also needed there.
All the girls in the movie seem to like Ahmed but nothing materializes; as he is too preoccupied in his current mission as well as full of remorse over the last adventure that went bad a long time ago.

So after 2 hours, all the bad guys are neutralized except for their leader who escapes in anticipation of a sequel.
Do not hold your breath though, I do not think this sequel will see the light any time soon.