http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php The thoughts of Samia Serageldin. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:35:59 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss092 ramy@thecairohouse.com ramy@thecairohouse.com en Today, February 4th, is the anniversary of the so-called ‘Battle of the Camel’, the decisive turning point of the Revolution of January 25th, when the peaceful democracy protesters in Tahrir were able to beat back a vicious onslaught by pro-Mubarak thugs who attacked them on horseback. A week later, Mubarak ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=279&c=1 Tahrir Today, the first anniversary. I was there, along with so many people I met whom I knew, famous writers, major businessmen, doctors, professors. An immense crowd, at least as big as February 4th, and the same spirit: determined but cheerful and peaceful. Men, women and children, many young people, ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=278&c=1 Egypt’s Revolution : First Anniversary, Part I So you had a revolution…and now, you have the first democratically-elected parliament in sixty years. Today was the day when the new parliament was seated, and all of Egypt watched the spectacle in the hemi-circle parliament hall as newly-elected candidates stood up to take ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=277&c=1 It's rather disconcerting, being in Cairo these days. I imagine it must be like looking through bifocal glasses: close up, daily life carries on as usual, the social and cultural calendar as busy as ever; but in the bigger picture, every day brings 'fresh alarms', and the current crisis in ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=276&c=1 The day before, there had been thousands of people demonstrating against the brutal stripping and beating of women protesters at the hands of the Military Police. But on Saturday, when I went to Tahrir Square for the first time since March of this year, it was quiet and somewhat ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=275&c=1 My interview with Frank Stasio of NPR's State of Things runs today at noon U.S. East coast time. Frank will be asking about the state of Egypt today. In the week since I've been in Cairo unsettling events have cascaded one after the other. http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=274&c=1 At a recent reading, I am seated right next to the cartoon effigy of Daniel Wallace.... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=273&c=1 Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for thirty years under emergency powers with the justification of ‘après moi le deluge’, an argument that played better in the West than at home. He presented his military-backed regime as the sole bulwark against the flood waters of fundamentalist Islam. Never mind that, in effect, ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=272&c=1 The first inkling, for many of us in Cairo last February, was the sinister text messages that appeared on our cell phones. I remember my eighty year old mother calling me in alarm: “The military forces are sending me SMS (as text messages are referred to in Egypt) to tell ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=271&c=1 As one of five editors, I am very excited about the just-launched South Writ Large online magazine of Stories, Arts, and Idea. It explores the South as state of mind, linking the U.S. 'South' with the Global 'South' in an increasingly connected world. An outgrowth of the meetings at UNC-Chapel ... http://thecairohouse.com/blog/index.php?p=270&c=1