On Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:59:17
Press release on the thwarting of examination and police assault.
We demand you to uphold the student movement against repress and deprivation of examination.
On being intercepted from examination and assaulted by the university guards, a number of Ain Shams University have engaged in a sit-in against the decision of “deprivation”, and the arbitrary measures the university is undertaking against the student movement activists.
Five students were restrained from examining, despite obtaining an adjudication from the court of law to rescind that decision. Afaq Eshtirakeya center declares its condemnation and denial of those repressive and arbitrary decisions and practices, the regime is applying, and thus announces its full furtherance of these students’ right of examination, expression, and organizing their movement.
It affirms, at the same time, that the repress practiced, and the deprivation of examining, along with physical assault are evident police and repressive practices, and that it will not stop the student movement nor silence their voice.
Hundreds of students of the Egyptian universities have already been attacked ; additional to tens who have been prevented from examining, as well as having had their right of expression and demonstration abolished. Thus we demand you to stand in solidarity with us against the arbitrariness and repress, practiced by the authority and the university against the students
see article here
Altered image in state-run paper shows Egyptian president in lead role at Middle East peace talks
Al-Ahram’s doctored image of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and other leaders at the Middle East peace talks in Washington. Photograph: Al-AhramEgypt‘s oldest newspaper today defended its decision to publish a doctored photograph that appeared to put president Hosni Mubarak at the forefront of key figures at the Middle East peace talks in Washington.The original photo showed US president Barack Obama walking in the lead on a red carpet, with Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II slightly behind.
But the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper altered the image in its Tuesday edition to show Mubarak in the lead, with Obama slightly behind him to his right, then placed it over a broadsheet article titled “the Road to Sharm El Sheikh”, referring to the Egyptian Red Sea resort that hosted the second round of negotiations.
The original photograph of the five leaders. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty ImagesEgyptian bloggers and activists said the picture was an example of the regime’s deception of its own people. Critics also said the photo was an attempt to distract attention from Egypt’s waning role in the Middle East peace process.
But the newspaper’s editor-in chief, Osama Saraya defended the decision in an editorial today, saying the original photo had been published on the day talks began and the new version was only meant to illustrate Egypt’s leading role in the peace process.
“The expressionist photo is … a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Mubarak in the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other,” Saraya wrote. The photo is still posted on the newspaper’s website.
Opponents of Mubarak’s near three-decade rule seized on the controversy to criticize the government, which is accused of widespread abuses aimed at suppressing dissent. Wael Khalil, the Egyptian blogger who first called attention to the altered photo, said it was a “snapshot” of what he called daily deception about a number of issues, including democratic change and social justice.
“They lie to us all the time,” he said. “Instead of addressing the real issues, they just Photoshop it.”
Saraya accused critics of launching a smear campaign against Al-Ahram, which was first published in 1876. The newspaper has enjoyed the widest circulation in Egypt but has faced a growing challenge in recent years from a new breed of private publications and the internet.
It is not unusual for Egyptian newspapers to retouch pictures of senior officials to improve their appearance or light.
Egypt opposition angered at government for allowing the fleet of more than 12 ships to cross Egyptian manned waterway, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports.
By Jack Khoury
More than twelve United States Naval warships and at least one Israeli ship crossed the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea on Friday, British Arabic Language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Saturday.
A U.S. warship.
According to the report, thousands of Egyptian soldiers were deployed along the Suez Canal guarding the ships’ passage, which included a U.S. aircraft carrier.
The Suez Canal is a strategic Egyptian waterway which connects between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
According to eyewitnesses, the U.S. battleships were the largest to have crossed the Canal in many years, Al-Quds reported.
Egyptian opposition members have criticized the government for cooperating with the U.S. and Israeli forces and allowing the ships’ passage through Egyptian territorial waters.
They said they viewed the event as Egyptian participation in an international scandal, and added that the opposition would not sit with its arms crossed while the country allowed a fleet of U.S. and Israeli military ships to cross.
– Egyptian security refused to allow food and medicine supplied by the Egyptian Pharmacist syndicate to reach Gaza.
– A delegation from the Egyptian Parliament was first allowed to reach Al Arish but without their donation of building supplies. The delegation itself was then prevented from crossing into Gaza.
– Egyptian authorities turned away many Palestinians wishing to cross into Egypt including Gaza health minister based on objections from Israel.
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