Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

A very short introduction Related British atrocities in Kenya

Saying that Lewis was a historian of “vast erudition” and “ a usually very good author” is very arguable.  The review though is good. Note that on the demographic ‘problem’ the current fertility rate in countries like Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia is similar to France’s (see fertility rates of each country on wikipedia). The question remains: it is about the form of economic development.  What Went Wrong

The BBC, for instance, does not commemorate the Rabaa massacre as it does every year with Tiananmen  Square massacre.

From the archive 1,000 ways to say no in Arabic

      Abdel Fattah el-Sisi  and Emmanuel Macron Egypt sentences former presidential candidate to 15 years . The former presidential candidate is one of at least 60,000 political prisoners estimated to have been jailed since Sisi took power in a  coup in 2013.

Middle East and North African countries carried out most global executions last year Meanwhile in  Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan …

The French who voted for Macron and those before him, who dined, wined, and had a laugh with Egypt’s dictators from Mubarak to Sisi, did they have the complicity of the people they voted for and their own in mind or only their salaries, the cost of living and similar issues? Eyewitness: journalist and activist Solafa Magdy

Between 1918 and 1998, US administrations restricted trade with sanctioned nations 115 times; 64 of these occasions were during the 1990s, and most of them were unilateral. By 1997, the equivalent of half the world’s population was living under some form of US sanction. Current debates within the EU over what to do about Russia have led to some rhetorical contortions. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen appeared to support the US position that ‘Nord Stream 2 could not be excluded a priori from the list of [preventive] sanctions’, adding, ‘We want to build the world of tomorrow as democracies with like-minded partners.’ But among the energy partners that might replace Russia, Von der Leyen cited an oil monarchy (Qatar), a dictatorship allied with authoritarian Turkey (Azerbaijan) and a country under military rule (Egypt)... Playing the white knight calls for spotlessly clean hands. You might think whistleblower Julian Assange, sought by the US and locked up in London, was a dream

Photos of female soldiers

Every year the corporate media reminds us again and again of Tiananmen Square massacre. How many times have we seen the same reporting and commemoration of Egypt’s Rab’a Square? It is probable that the number of those killed in the latter in the span of 12 hours was more than what the Chinese government forces killed between 3 and 4 of June. This is corroborated by Human Rights Watch itself not a leftist organisation or Chinese regime sympathisers. Most estimates cited on Wikipedia give a figure very similar to the number killed in Rab’a Square. Egypt is an ‘ally’. The regime is not a threat to ‘us’. Thus the hypocrisy.

Who will benefit?

Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Lines of succession

“A leftwing radical in some things, she was a time-server and opportunist in others; she made a late return to Islam but she also admitted to 14 husbands (there may have been a few more) and had a carefully cultivated reputation for debauchery.” In memory of Tahia

A collection of articles

The military and the economy in Egypt, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey

Farewell and thank you, Mona!

Tahrir revolutionaries famously chanted for “bread, freedom, and social justice.” Ten years on, hopes for freedom and social justice are quite far from most Egyptians’ minds. The vast majority are far too busy chasing after the daily bread that led off that short list of demands, struggling day in and day out to feed themselves and their families, and desperately trying to cling to what’s left of their basic human dignity, before even that is stripped from them. There is no denying that the situation is bleak. But at least for one night, Egyptians were able to celebrate and take pride in their cultural heritage, even as that too becomes little more than another weapon in the hands of the regime. The Military Mobilisation of History

“ This act of communal killing had ideological underpinnings in Nasserism and the brand of Arab nationalism that it propagated, which viewed the nation as an organic, harmonious whole with a clear popular will, rather than a myriad of different social groups with conflicting interests that needed to be mediated.” The writer suggests that the conflicting interests “needed to be mediated” and that “ a deep process of reconciliation” is the solution! Conflicting class interests under an authoritarian repressive regime is to be solved by reconciliation without overthrowing the repressive power relations? And since this goes back to ‘Arab nationalism’ and the type of the regime it has generated, why is it that since the 1950s, and not only in Egypt, ‘mediation’ and ‘reconciliation’ have not materialised? I wonder whether the writer while writing the article had the Arab uprisings in mind and how the regimes and the counter-revolutionary forces destroyed them or the decades of repression, pr

The prison population and prison conditions