Freies Politikforum für Demokraten und Anarchisten

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Traditionally, a new year begins with hope. But since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken hold of power in Egypt, hope has been hard to come by.

A couple of days ago, I was talking with an acquaintance of mine in New York who has recently arrived from Egypt and it quickly became clear that this lack of hope – and increasing anger – is our new norm.
His salary in New York can't even keep up with the hyper inflation back home. “We bought a washing machine for 3500 Egyptian pounds ($195) three years ago. That same washing machine was 17,000 EGP ($945) yesterday,” he told me.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/why-2017-year-sisi-will-sink-1419424018

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

On Jan. 25, 2011, protests demanding “Bread, Freedom and Social Justice” erupted in Cairo and other major Egyptian cities. Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia that 10 days earlier had succeeded in bringing down the autocratic Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime, the protests in Egypt began as demonstrations but quickly evolved into a full-scale revolt with tens of thousands of anti-government protesters gathering in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand “the downfall of the regime.” When longtime president Hosni Mubarak announced that he was stepping down less than three weeks later, the Tahrir pro-democracy activists erupted into jubilant celebrations that lasted into the early hours.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/egypt-january-revolution-anniversary-alive-challenges.html

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Egypt has increased the prices of subsidised sugar and cooking oil for the second time in three months, amid rising inflation and a struggling economy.

The decision, announced last week, increased the price of subsidised sugar by 14.3 percent – from seven to eight Egyptian pounds a kilo (about 40 cents), and increased the price of subsidised oil by 20 percent, from 10 to 12 Egyptian pounds.

Last November, Egypt suffered a sugar crisis that increased tensions in the country.

Egypt imports about one million tonnes of sugar annually, but an acute shortage of dollars has cut the imports by private traders, leaving the market short as the government scrambles to fill the gap.

Major food companies such as Pepsi halted production in Egypt after the government seized weeks of sugar supplies, amid nationwide shortages of the staple.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-increases-food-prices-second-time-three-months-1814861743

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Egyptians took to the streets in several cities on Tuesday in angry demonstrations at government cuts to bread subsidies in the face of a deep economic crisis and food rationing.

Reports and videos on social media showed crowds in central Alexandria protesting after bakeries refused to take paper subsidy cards, which many poor Egyptians use to gain a government ration of bread. Protests were also reported in Minya, Desouk, and the Imbaba suburb of Cairo.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-bread-riots-hundreds-take-streets-after-subsidies-cut-715780862

Egyptians go skiing in new mall as country's economy falls off cliff

It has Africa's first man-made indoor ski slope, 21 cinema screens and boasts Armani, Lacoste and Cristiano Ronaldo shops. And Egyptians have flocked to the Mall of Egypt, the country's biggest shopping centre, since it opened earlier this month.

But Cairo's new cathedral to consumerism has opened at a time when the country is suffering double-digit inflation and an austerity programme that has plunged millions into poverty.

Spanning 165,000 square metres dedicated to shopping alone, the Mall of Egypt's aims "to attract thousands of people, serving as the ultimate entertainment and shopping hub", the Emirati company that built it said.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-opens-africas-first-indoor-ski-slope-amid-economic-crisis-722433333

Egypt's spies hire Washington lobbyists to boost image

The Egyptian intelligence services recently hired two US public relations firms to clean up their image and improve their relations to Washington and the Trump administration.

The General Intelligence Service (GIS) - Egypt’s mukhabarat - are paying between $50,000 and $100,000 a month to communications firm Weber Shandwick and lobbying company Cassidy and Associates according to documents filed with the Treasury Department.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-infamous-spies-hire-washington-lobbyists-improve-their-image-115892884

Are security passes the solution to ending terrorism in Sinai?

Although it is not the first time Egypt’s security forces have cracked down on residents of the northern Sinai Peninsula — as the remote border governorate has suffered from marginalization since Hosni Mubarak’s reign — the war on terror declared in July 2013 by the Egyptian government has resulted in an even heavier security crackdown, compromising the freedom of movement of Sinai residents from and into the governorate.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/egypt-sinai-war-terrorism-security-passes-residents.html

How drop in tourism is altering life for Sinai Bedouins

At the foot of the tallest mountain in central-south Sinai lies an unexpected swath of green. It appears as if placed there by mistake, a color block in an otherwise terracotta red valley. Closer up, the elements of the smudge take shape, revealing a walled orchard, a field of tall leafy plants, olive trees and a tent. The buzzing of a generator can be heard.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/02/egypt-sinai-bedouin-mountains-tourism-jobs.html

'Cairo is killing us': Young Nubians dream of return to ancestral lands

It was only a day before the overthrow of Egypt’s strongman president Hosni Mubarak, on 11 February 2011, that Nubian activist Fatma Emam witnessed a scene that will forever resemble a country she had always dreamed about.

Emam was standing in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, when a group of people who were marching appeared, having come out of a side road. Tens of Nubians were chanting in their native Nubian tongue: "Daffi, daffi, wow Mubarak” or "Leave, leave Mubarak".
http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/right-return-unforgettable-nubian-dream-1658270112