July 29, 2005

Bad News

Due to the presidents surprise announcement yesterday of his intent to run for a fifth term of office (the announcement itself was of course no surprise it's the timing that took us of guard) there are large anti government protests expected.

 

Because of this our permit has been revoked and we are officially and unfortunately calling it off.

 

Some people are going anyway. This is a bad idea because it may have a detrimental effect to what this was set up to do. We started this to show Egypt and the world that there are those that strongly oppose terrorism. If there are mass protests the police are not going to be able to differentiate between our peaceful sit in and an anti government protest. If they break it up, particularly in front of the media, it could turn into a scandal. It will be shown that Egypt breaks up anti terrorism protests and would therefore have an opposite effect from what we tried to do in the first place.

 

This is a heartbreaking series of events but your safety is too important. We will try again.

 

We believe that most people will be contacted and the word spread enough, however, we ask that a few people go, and at the entrance ask the people to leave.

Some people are saying that it won't be as bad as it sounds and we should have gone ahead. I am not there to judge the climate but the people working with me are and I will respect their judgment.

To those of you who put your hearts into this you are my heroes, protest or no protest.

 

Karim Elsahy

Posted by Karim Elsahy at 13:00:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (14) |
Comments
1 - Hey, it's just a tiny setback and if something's
worth fighting for, you try again.

Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues and you know it don't come easy... (Comment this)

Written by: Mister Ghost at 2005/07/29 - 12:59:39
2 - Thank u Thank u Thank u...u have revived hope in many of us, hey uve even made some friends of mine (people whom ive been urging to become more active in our countries politics for ages), to participate and help in every way possible....we all owe u, and i gladly claim myself as your younger brother....cheers bro this is just the beggining of higher awarness and more activism in our country...lets hope we can do more good with these precious people, and the country we love.. (Comment this)

Written by: Tamer ElSahy at 2005/07/29 - 14:59:09
3 - karim.to the best of my knowledge that anti gov demostrations re Mubarak announcing his candidacy for a fifth or tenth time is planned for tomorrow..acutally conflicting iwth another planned vigil for the sharm bombing..it is all confusing the state security is freaked out as usual re any gathering and the emergency law gives them an upper hand..more than five people aggregating or so i believe..but am sure they are worried that this vigil could turn into an anti mubark thingy...it is always preemptive the the fear of the unknown..some defy the system and gather regardless-based on their constitutional right that is revoked by the normal laws..they just inform the authorities..others do not want to defy in order for it not to turn into something it is not meant to be and the main purpose of the gathering does not get diluted..both have a point of view...as for myself i will give it a shot and go...just waiting for a friend to pick me up--but am not an organizer so they really can not screw me that bad if they chose too... (Comment this)

Written by: Me,Myself and I at 2005/07/29 - 15:20:46
4 - Try again in a week or ten days.

The suggestion of people putting candles in their windows could be a good one, but you need time for word of that to spread. (Comment this)

Written by: Don Cox at 2005/07/29 - 15:50:20
5 - any news from the other planned event at elsawy cultural wheel? (Comment this)

Written by: zoss at 2005/07/29 - 17:27:58
6 - Please make this happen, when is not important. There has been almost nothing but silence from the Muslim world which is leading many to conclude that most Muslims support terrorism, at least when Americans or Jews are being killed. We could not even get a large gathering of Muslims in the US to protest the atrocities carried out in the name of Islam. (Comment this)

Written by: Rancher at 2005/07/29 - 18:22:49
7 - Was your original aim to clear the people's name or the regime's?

If the regime doesn't let you demonstrate for a cause like this, then they deserve the scandal. It's in their face, not yours.

Your freedom to demo as you please is more an immediate cause to protest for! When you snatch that right you'll be able to pinpoint and correct a lot more wrongdoing that led to this situation in the first place.

This is what somepeople have been trying to argue in the past few days and were hushed in the name of "unity at the time of hardship". *Hardship* didn't start on the day of the bombings. (Comment this)

Written by: Alif at 2005/07/29 - 20:12:27
8 - To all the people out there NEVER give up this is only the beginning of our journey together all of us to change the future of this country to enhance,to develop and make life better...
Thanks a lot karim for everything you're a strong person full of vigour who works with enthusiasm and optimism, thanks for trying and never giving up, you inspired us with all your strength and made everyone proud with all your strive...one last thing GET SOME REST FOR GODS SAKE!
the suborn girl ;) (Comment this)

Written by: Nadine Khaled at 2005/07/29 - 22:56:13
9 - Karim,

I guess you know how I feel about all this. I would like to post a word of encouragement to anyone who have thought about peace. Don't give up! (Comment this)

Written by: Twosret at 2005/07/30 - 02:54:21
10 - zoss just to clarify, the sawi thing is not an event, it is a space for people to express their grief/anger/whatever

the first day was a mild success, it is supposed to continue for a while, drop and check how it is going. (Comment this)

Written by: Alaa at 2005/07/30 - 06:20:11
11 - Coward (Comment this)

Written by: J at 2005/07/30 - 23:43:02
12 - Of course it is more important to save Mubarak 'embarassement' rather than actually dare to stand up to state sponsored terror that we are witnessing inflicted upon Egyptian students as well as Islamist terror. Did they teach you this at Harvard ? (Comment this)

Written by: J at 2005/07/30 - 23:45:16
13 - J- you have no idea what you are talking about, you live in a free country, not a police-state. Karim needs our support and encouragement, he's on the side of peace, non-violence, etc.
Karim, why do you think the western media doesn't give a care about this story? And do you think it is possible to contact ABC or NBC or FOX in Egypt and get them to cover this story properly ---- namely, that the people (or some of them )WANT to protest terror and are being stopped?

Shalom and Salaam
Eli (Comment this)

Written by: eli at 2005/07/31 - 16:36:57
14 - I've always admired you! The way you think, the way you act, ur courage and mianly your love to ur country no matter how far you are. I set you as a role model to people out there in the Arab world where you come out of your way to make the world a more peacful place. I will do my best with the help and support of everyone to go through this journey together and accomplish what you are trying to do ya Kimo. And this is to u, J i think is what u named urself while i think it should really be Coward on the other hand! Instead of critisizing and complaining of something u dont even know what u r even talking about, keep quite with ur comments to urself, i.e., shut ur mouth, and go do something useful in your life! Thank u ya kimo for waking us up and guiding us to what should have been done a long time ago and we will not give up no matter what. (Comment this)

Written by: Meesha at 2005/07/31 - 20:15:49
Write a comment