The NDP synagogue

in «Local & Regional» by moftasa

In April 2008, in Hadayeq el Qobba I stumbled upon this synagogue which was turned into a public affairs office, NDP office, a nursery and a small mosque.

Taking photos is strictly prohibited. But I managed to snap some shots while claiming that I am studying architecture and interested in the building style.

This is apparently the most looked after synagogue in Egypt. Thanks to Farouk Hosni. Probably the next president of the UNESCO.

UPDATE …

Blindfolding

Blindfolding is commonly used by security forces that physically torture people. It works by making the victim disoriented and fearful. A person will lose his orientation to place and the sense of direction first. Then, if applied long enough for more than a day, it can make some experience visual hallucinations. It makes a blow, a kick or an electric shock unpredictable and thus far more distressful.

These were some of the effects on the …

Why was the death of Mervat Abdel Fattah not as spectacular?

in «Politics & Human Rights» by moftasa

On October 2008, in Samalut, Menya, few hundred kilometres from Cairo, a pregnant 36 years old woman was woken up, terrified, early in the morning along with her husband and their 8 years old son, by 5 police officers looking for her brother-in-law. Mervat was kicked by police officer Ahmed Anwar in her stomach, she fell and in 10 minutes she died. Her 8 years old son, Sayyed, witnessed the assault and the death of …

Services available at St Andrew's Refugee Services

in «Politics & Human Rights» by moftasa

I work with lots of refugees. Many of them experienced torture and escaped horrors in their homeland. Helping them overcome their psychological difficulties, make them feel they are safe and telling them that there might be hope in the future is hindered by their financial situation, lack of free medical care and education, xenophobia, sexual harassment and unemployment.

Chose to employ a refugee or donate money:

Services available at St Andrew's Refugee Services

Donations: We …

Microsoft blocks Iran and Iran blocks Facebook

in «Local & Regional» by moftasa

Microsoft has blocked access to Windows live messenger (i.e. Hotmail webmail and MSN chat) to people living in Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba and North Korea. The reason is that the company suddenly realised that it doesn't do business with countries sanctioned by the U.S. At the same time, Iran blocked Facebook ahead of the presidential elections because a candidate is using it successfully for his campaign.

Microsoft's decision doesn't mean that people in …

Killing 300,000 thousand innocent pigs is the most gruesome act of unjustifiable killing of animals I will ever witness

I said this earlier and unfortunately I did witness a part of it on Youtube and Vimeo and it is horrible.

I know petitions are of no value when it comes to changing policies here. But they make you feel a bit better.

Or perhaps not.

Sorry to bring this to your attention again, it is very depressing.

UPDATE: Thanks to Lobna for pointing out that I am challenged …

Now you can leave comments on my blog with your twitter sign-in thanks to @disqus

in «Blogging & Personal» by moftasa

One additional reason to love Disqus:

Twitter is a fast growing service that millions of people (including all of us here at Disqus) use to easily update and get updates from friends. We recently released the ability to tweet out comments for commenters with a Disqus Profile. This allowed people to share their comments on Twitter and bring in new voices to the conversation (see this in action).

Today, we released a new feature for …

No more Internet pornography in Egypt

Blocking porn sites is not the main issue here, there are ways to circumvent censorship and if people want to watch porn, and they do, they will resurrect VHS.

image0

A chart fromGoogle Insightshowing the search for the term "sex" and "سكس", originating from Egypt and from 2004 till now. The annual dip in search, marked with the red R, coincides with the month of Ramadan.

This ruling is like legalizing the monitoring of …