February 11, 2011
It matters not what Chomsky said, nor what Žižek wrote (they are right, as usual, but the news is what you should be looking at this moment). Listen to the sound of triumph on the streets for yourself. Yes we need to be realistic to know that this does not mean that all struggles will cease immediately. The reforms are going to happen one step at a time. For now the time is theirs: the crowd in Tahrir Square, the persistent faces on every street of Cairo and Alexandria and elsewhere in Egypt, and people everywhere who pushed for this transition. The way you look tonight, Egypt. Inshallah.

It matters not what Chomsky said, nor what Žižek wrote (they are right, as usual, but the news is what you should be looking at this moment). Listen to the sound of triumph on the streets for yourself. Yes we need to be realistic to know that this does not mean that all struggles will cease immediately. The reforms are going to happen one step at a time. For now the time is theirs: the crowd in Tahrir Square, the persistent faces on every street of Cairo and Alexandria and elsewhere in Egypt, and people everywhere who pushed for this transition.

The way you look tonight, Egypt. Inshallah.

12:38pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuwNYy30tzuA
(Notes: 315)
  
Filed under: egypt 
January 28, 2011
My first glimpse into the Egyptian society came from the novel, The Yacoubian Building, which follows the lives of residents of the building. Both rich and poor, all were victims of the corruption and institutional failures of the country. Later, the controversial book was made into a best-selling movie. Perhaps, there is no better way to acknowledge the uncomfortable truths about life in contemporary Egypt - that Mubarak and his friends conveniently refuses to acknowledge - than to watch it on the big screen. The Yacoubian building depicted in the novel served as an insightful and alarming introduction to the unique charms of Cairo and the ugly that it masks. Collectively, the characters raise the eminent issues that plague Egyptian society: from social inequality, corrupt dictatorship, to religious fervour. Recent events and developments prove this: it is wise to read extensively, within the pages are chilling plots that might just turn realistic one day. Note: read this for a better idea of what is going on; Al Jazeera live stream > your paid CNN channel.

My first glimpse into the Egyptian society came from the novel, The Yacoubian Building, which follows the lives of residents of the building. Both rich and poor, all were victims of the corruption and institutional failures of the country. Later, the controversial book was made into a best-selling movie. Perhaps, there is no better way to acknowledge the uncomfortable truths about life in contemporary Egypt - that Mubarak and his friends conveniently refuses to acknowledge - than to watch it on the big screen. 

The Yacoubian building depicted in the novel served as an insightful and alarming introduction to the unique charms of Cairo and the ugly that it masks. Collectively, the characters raise the eminent issues that plague Egyptian society: from social inequality, corrupt dictatorship, to religious fervour. Recent events and developments prove this: it is wise to read extensively, within the pages are chilling plots that might just turn realistic one day.

Note: read this for a better idea of what is going on; Al Jazeera live stream > your paid CNN channel.

2:02pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZuwNYy2nZMAj
(Notes: 6)
  
Filed under: egypt books 
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