Cairo international Film Festival kicks off
Fifty-nine world nations represented by 150 movies, including 22 movies from nine Arab countries, will take part in the event. Egypt is participating with nine movies. The Spanish cinema is the guest of honor of this year’s CIFF. The nine Arab countries participating in the event are Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Bahrain in addition to host Egypt.
The festival honors four Egyptians; veterans actor Mahmoud Yassin, actress Boussy, Director of Photography Tarek el-Telemessany and set designer Nihad Bahgat. It also honors a number of Hollywood stars, including Kurt Russell, Denzel Washington, Charlize Theron, and Alicia Silverstone. US movie celebrities attending the festival include Director Stuwart Townsend, US actor Martin Henderson and British actress Julia Armond. Add to the star-studded list Susan Sarandon who won an Oscar for best actress in Dead Man Walking (1995), Goldie Hawn who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Cactus Flower (1969) and Mira Sorvino who won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite (1995).
Egypt State Information Service
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A not so glitzy way to live off Egypt tourism for Sinai Bedouins
An estimated 30,000 Bedouins in the Sinai peninsula are no longer able to make enough milk, butter and cheese off their animals. A severe drought over the past years has dried out available pasture land and is forcing them to eek out a meager existence out of the waste left by the coastal Egypt tourism industry in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
In the tourist resort of Nuweibaa, some 150km north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Gulf of Aqaba, a nongovernmental organization called Himaya (protection) is helping needy Bedouins. It collects and sorts garbage, selling some of the solid waste to cover costs and making the organic waste available free of charge to Bedouins it deems need help, allowing them to sell it on. Proceeds from the sale of the solid waste also help Himaya fund regional development projects, such as the renovation of classrooms in primary schools in South Sinai. Another is the creation of green spaces in urban areas.
More re Luxor Development Plan
Image via Wikipedia
Jane Akshar of Luxor News has posted an article by Ray Johnson, Director of the Epigraphic Survey Chicago House about the urban renewal program in Luxor and its effects on the local population, tourism, antiquities preservation, and the archaeological community. The following is an excerpt:
Since I started working for the Epigraphic Survey in 1978, I have witnessed the transformation of Luxor from a sleepy, charming, provincial town into a 21st century tourist mecca. In 1978 the horse and carriage and a few battered Mercedes were the main modes of transportation; Peugeots came later, and I remember when the first big tour bus hit town in the 1980s. I have witnessed a series of development programs that were launched largely due to increasing tourism. The most radical until now was the riverbank development project of the late 1980s that transformed the natural, tree-lined riverbank of Luxor into a concrete, terraced mooring and touristic area four kilometers long. In that project the existing infrastructure along the Corniche was respected, the riverbank was extended outward, the Corniche was widened, and a pedestrian walkway with garden areas was created along the edge of the riverbank for the local families and tourists alike which is still tremendously popular with everyone.
This current development program is the most ambitious one to date and is more radical than anything ever seen (even in the pharaonic period, which is saying something). As has been stated, the program has its good and its bad points.
The issues that the new development program address have been of concern to the Government of Egypt (GOE) and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) for a long, long time, but until now the SCA alone did not have the resources to deal with them properly. The main issues are:
1. The need to enlarge and upgrade Luxor’s infrastructure and antiquities site facilities to accommodate radically expanded tourism, east and west bank.
2. The encroachment of the modern community on antiquities sites, east and west bank.
3. The excavation and development of new antiquities sites (like the sphinx road between Luxor and Karnak temples) for tourism, but which (the thinking goes) will also safeguard the sites from future encroachment.
As most of you know by now, the Chicago House facility and its neighbors along the several kilometers of the Luxor Corniche are being directly affected by a new Corniche widening and development program sponsored by the GOE. Chicago House can live with these changes. But some of our neighbors are not so fortunate. One of the saddest parts of Luxor’s new development program is that rather than encouraging the mingling of the tourists with the local population, which enriches the visitors’ experience (and generates valuable income for the locals), the GOE’s policy promotes segregation of the two groups.
A related issue is the encroachment of the modern community on the antiquities sites. The city’s clearing of the residential area around Karnak and creation of a huge plaza all the way to the river, occurred at the same time the residents of Gurna and Dra Abu El Naga were moved from their homes - which were then torn down - and re-settled in the newly constructed community of New Gurna to the north. This form of site management - clearing away all modern encroachment from the vicinity of antiquities sites - has been the ideal of the GOE and SCA for generations, conceived when there were far, far fewer buildings around Karnak or houses over the Gurna necropolis.
As has been noted, the sad reality for the scientific community and local population in Luxor - and in many cultural heritage sites all over the world - is that the prime motivation for the city’s new development program is increased tourism. The entire GOE is behind Luxor’s program, and the goal is clear: to create the means by which the maximum number of tourists can visit the maximum number of sites in the shortest time possible. The challenge of our community is to continue our conversation with the city, the SCA, and the local population to help Egypt mitigate any potentially negative affects on the antiquities sites that we are all committed to preserve.
Click on Luxor News for the full article.
Modern Egyptians living in the shadow of past greatness
“Can you believe our government can do nothing for us, and this thing that was built thousands of years ago is still helping me feed my family?”
Image by liber via Flickr
For citizens and foreigners alike, there is no escaping the truth that Egypt is inextricably linked in the public consciousness with pyramids, especially the Great Pyramids of Giza. Yet living in the shadow of past greatness is not always easy.
The pyramids are proof of Egypt’s endurance but these monuments to Egypt’s early ingenuity are also an ever-present symbol of faded glory. It is hard to escape comparisons between an Egypt that once led the world in almost everything and modern Egypt, where about 40 percent of the population lives on $2 a day.
The ubiquitous nature of antiquities has helped mold a collective consciousness, a national identity, that is uniquely Egyptian.
Egyptians, as a group, are extremely patient, though given the growing pressure of daily life, a bit less than they used to be. Their it-is-what-it-is attitude is often attributed to a strong religious faith and a conviction that all events are God’s will. Yet growing up and living amid so much history has something to do with that view, too; the abundant antiquities in everyday life are a constant reminder of one’s place in time.
These days, Egypt is rarely spoken of in a positive context. The education system is in crisis, and unemployment, traffic and pollution are all major problems. Top to bottom, the state seems to have seized up. When the historic Parliament building burned recently, firefighters bungled for hours before bringing the blaze under control. When a rock slide crushed a neighborhood, the authorities responded slowly, infuriating rather than rescuing. And at nearly every level, there is anxiety over who will rule when Mubarak is gone. The president, who is 80, refuses to clarify the issue of succession and seems out of touch with daily life in his country. His son Gamal Mubarak, who appears positioned to inherit the job, says that it is premature to discuss succession.
And there is ample evidence that Egypt itself can be expected to continue to endure. It may be down for the moment, but this country has survived the test of the time, a lot of time, where so many others have not.
Excerpted from an article by Michael Slackman for International Herald Tribune
A joyful encounter with the desert people of Egypt
Image by ©M o c c a . CHOCOLATA via Flickr
Forty-five tribes have populated Egypt’s deserts for millennia and yet their existence remains a mystery to the country’s urban masses. The Characters of Egypt Festival aims to showcase their ways of life. The aim of the festival is to provide a meeting opportunity for representatives of the various tribes that have inhabited different corners of Egypt’s deserts for thousands of years without previously encountering one another. Injy El-Kashef was there with his son Yassine.
“By the end of our stay Yassine and I were revived. I was purified from my urban burdens, and filled with the joy that only comes from experiencing genuine life. My son, whose expanding curiosity about the world we inhabit was satiated by the incredible amount of information he processed while having fun, has now learned about traditions, camel riding, fire- making, track reading, plants, astrology, and, most importantly in such speedily globalising times, about diversity. He has sung with the Nubians, eaten the Ababda’s food, heard the poetry of Sinai, balanced on the dancing poles of Siwa, jumped rope with the Farafraweya and prayed with the Bishariya for rain.”
Abdeit bism elli ala al alam rageeb
Ya khaleg al ensan min teenen rateeb
Wi khaleg al jannat l’eshhab al habib
Wi khalagt elli wogoudha nass wi hajar
Al khatawi elli megassemha al kareem
Wel hagawi besaheb al arsh al azeem
Wi a’oudhou berrahman min sharr al rajeem
Westakhert Allah wi naweit al safar
Min ard Sina elli biha esht wi radeit
Wi shebe’t fiha min al maaani wertaweit
Wi katabt beit al she’r yom enni naweit
Ajabel wojouh al nashama wabtesher
Ehna doyouf Allah fi Marsa Alam
Fiha rajal, fiha hayaa, fiha karam
Wi fiha osoud yeshhad lahom hebr al galam
Wi yeshhad lahom seif al maragel fil khatar
Wi magsoum li fi rehleti aaref naas
Min sobou’ al badeya khayr al jenas
Yengedou koll el maani bel ehsas
Wakhoss nasen tefham bebo’d al nazar
Wi taheyya lel sho’aar fi yom al sebagI begin, in the name of He who watches over the pen,
O Creator of man from damp clay
And Creator of Heaven for the Prophet’s companions
And Creator of that the men of which are fuel.
Steps are divined by the Provider,
And supplications are raised to the God of the Throne,
The Merciful is my shield against the Devil’s evil.
I prayed for Allah’s guidance intending on travel
From the land of Sinai whence my content living,
Where I have wandered and quenched my thirst.
I wrote these verses the day I sought
To meet the faces of brave men and rejoice.
We are Allah’s guests in Marsa Alam
Where we found manhood, grace and generosity,
Lions, to which attest the ink of our pens
And the chances of valor in menace;
I am destined to encounter on my travel
Lions among the Bedouins, finest of races,
Safeguarding values with their passion.
To the foresighted I dedicate my words,
And salute the poets on this day of match.The above lines are by Sinai’s tribesman Haj Hussein Eid, winner of the Characters of Egypt poetry award.
Extract from an article by Injy El-Kashef for Al-Ahram Weekly
Egyptians welcome Obama victory
Americans woke up in Egypt Wednesday with the realization that in a short few months they will no longer be stigmatized by U.S. President George W. Bush when they tell an Egyptian they are American. Instead, a thumbs up signal might accompany the mention of one’s citizenship rather than a thumbs down and a “Bush is bad.”
The vast majority of Egyptians believe the Obama win is a stepping-stone for the United States toward regaining its moral strength in a region that has been at the heart of anti-Americanism.
Still, not all Egyptians were happy to see Obama earn the presidency. Coptic Christians mainly supported Republican presidential contender John McCain because some felt he would continue the war on terror.
Either way, Obama’s victory was historic for the Middle East, which has long looked to the U.S. for change. With his African origins and strong conviction to move the United States in a new direction, hope for a new direction remains in the hearts and minds of a majority of Arabs who have longed for a different American route in their world.
Official Emblem for Egypt 2009 unveiled
The Official Emblem of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 was unveiled today during a ceremony held in Cairo.
The Official Emblem represents a harmonious fusion of Egypt’s glorious ancient civilization with today’s modern culture. The shape of the sphinx represents the millenary essence of Egypt, while the golden colour symbolises the sun, the desert sand and the golden kingdom of the Nile. The use of red, black and white embodies the colours of the Egyptian national flag.
Glorious past and future for Alexandria
Modern Alexandria sits on top of two great civilizations. A battle to reclaim its past and to build according to Alexandria’s rich cultural heritage is led by Dr Mohammed Awad, architect, historian and director of the Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Center.
His campaigning has earned him respect and enmity in about equal measure. His most controversial action was to promote the idea of erecting an equestrian statue of the city’s founder, Alexander the Great. Designed in Greece and presented as a gift by various Greek associations in 2000, the monument enraged many Egyptians who – only 2,331 years on from the event – still viewed the Macedonian as an imperialist conqueror.
Image via Wikipedia
Another of Awad’s notable campaigns was in the mid-1990s when he took a stand against the bulldozing of the site where the city’s new library was to be built without prior archaeological excavation work. The library was the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, intended to revive the spirit of the lost Alexandrian library of classical times. Completed in 2002, it is a giant 160-meter-diameter glazed disc that emerges out of layers of history and tilts its face to the Mediterranean. Its solid granite drum is inscribed with characters from every known alphabet, some 120 scripts, while the great amphitheater of the reading room sits 2,000 readers. The library is only the second in the world to hold a full copy of the Internet Archive, which is a snapshot of every page hosted on the web between 1996 and 2006, or 1.5 petabytes (that is 1 followed by 15 zeroes) of data stored on 880 computers. This July it was host to Wikimania 2008, the annual conference for people involved in web-based Wikimedia projects. Last October the Bibliotheca celebrated placing its 555,555th book on the shelves (Euclid’s Elements, appropriately enough a product of the original Library of Alexandria).
But Bibliotheca Alexandrina is far more than books. The hope is that the library can act as a catalyst for nothing less than an intellectual and cultural rebirth of the city.
At the heart of Alexandria is the Eastern Harbor. At one extreme of the harbor is the library, at the other the 15th-century Fort of Qaitbey, built on the foundations of the Pharos. A recent invitation to submit schemes for the redevelopment of the historic district resulted in proposals from a host of international starchitects including IM Pei (creator of the Louvre Pyramid), Mario Botta (who designed the Church of Santo Volto in Turin, Italy) and the Chicago-based partnership Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, designers of New York’s Freedom Tower.
Right now, however, all attention is on another, equally ambitious headline-grabber: the Underwater Museum. The sea has done a far better job of preserving ancient Alexandria than humanity has. In recent years a team led by French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur has discovered hundreds of stone blocks lying on the seafloor, subsequently identified as belonging to the Pharos lighthouse. A team headed by fellow underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio has brought to light large numbers of statues, sphinxes and ceramics in an area that he speculates may be the site of the palace of Cleopatra herself. It seems a large area of ancient Alexandria lies underwater just meters off the shore.
New museum or not, there is already significant new investment in the city. The commercial Western Harbor is in the process of being upgraded, while construction has begun on a new Alexandria International Airport. The moribund local hotel and dining scenes also received a shot in the arm with last year’s opening of the Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria.
Following years of pressure on the government a new law was recently ratified that makes it illegal to demolish the city’s listed buildings – a list Awad compiled and which runs to more than 1,000 items.
“The problem,’ says Awad, ‘is going to be what do we do with buildings that we save?” In the case of the Antoniadis Villa, a palatial 19th-century residence set in landscaped gardens, an answer has been found. Currently undergoing restoration, when complete the villa will house the headquarters of the Alexandria & Mediterranean Research Center. There will also be a museum and education center, and accommodation for visiting academics, writers and artists.
“People who are interested in culture are a small, marginal group,” says Awad. Marginal they may be, but with the Antoniadis Villa, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 1,000 protected heritage buildings, a possible underwater museum and, who knows, a city center redesigned by Mario Botta, they may have done enough to open a new chapter in the illustrious history of the city founded by Alexander.
Excerpted from an article by Andrew Humphreys for CNN Traveller
Bus accident in Egypt kills 6, 26 injured
A speeding tourist bus overturned in southern Egypt, killing six Belgian tourists and injuring 26 other Belgian passengers early Friday. The bus crashed en route from Aswan to Abu Simbel, a famous tourist attraction.
Twenty one of the injured had been taken to the Abu Simbel International hospital. Egypt’s state-run news agency MENA said four of the injured were in critical condition and were evacuated by military helicopters to hospitals in Cairo for surgery.
Egypt has a history of serious bus and car crashes because of speeding, careless driving and poor road conditions, with at least 8,000 people killed in accidents in 2006, the most recent statistics available.
Egypt awarded Outsourcing Destination of the Year at the 2008 National Outsourcing Association Awards
Egypt was awarded the prestigious title of Outsourcing Destination of the Year at the National Outsourcing Association’s 2008 Awards held in London, beating rivals Philippines and Romania to the accolade. The CEO of Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency, (ITIDA) Dr. Hazem Abdelazim, received the award on behalf of his government during a glamorous ceremony at the Park Plaza Riverbank.
According to the judges, Egypt won the award due to its language skills, young population and growing list of global sourcing investments. It has soared in the popularity stakes in the last few years as an offshore destination for Europe. The awards, which are in their fifth year, aim to reward organizations for success in outsourcing projects, as well as raising awareness of the importance of best practice in outsourcing. The awards acknowledge achievements in IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing, as well as sector specific achievements in telecommunications, finance and utilities.
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By N2H
