28.05.2013 - Daily News Egypt

TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013 Daily news egypt 3www.thedailynewsegypt.comBeni suef doctor attackedassault results in a strike executed by angered doctorsBy Hend KortamDoctors in Beni Suef General Hospital’semergency department havestarted a strike in response to anassault on one of the doctors onSunday.The strike, which started on Sunday,has continued until Monday afternoon.Ola Yassin, the secretarygeneral of the Beni Suef branch ofthe Doctors’ Syndicate and a doctorat the hospital, said the doctorsare planning to remain on strike untilsecurity is provided.students and drivers protest in alexandriaBy Luiz SanchezAlexandria witnessed two protests onMonday, one led by students who hadcalled for the expulsion of the deanof the Alexandria University Faculty ofEngineering, and one by drivers lookingto dissolve their union’s management.Students from Alexandria University’sFaculty of Engineering called for thedismissal of the dean. The protest, accordingto the Revolutionary Socialists,was held in response to the dismissalof a student by the administration. Thestudents gathered at the universitycarrying signs accusing the dean of suppressingpolitical activities by students.According to the RevolutionarySocialists at the time of writing, thestudents managed to remove thedean from the building.On Sunday the Revolutionary Socialistssaid in a statement that one oftheir members, Mohamed Abu Hadid,The strike started when a man,known to be a registered convict,beat a doctor and tried to attackanother orthopaedic doctor with abladed weapon. “Security personnelwere there but did not intervene,”she said. After the assault, the offendergot on his motorcycle andfled the scene.The strike was started by orthopaedicdoctors who were laterjoined by surgeons and other doctorsfrom the hospital.Regarding whether or not thestrike will take escalatory steps,Yassin said: “Is there more than theemergency department in the biggesthospital in Beni Suef being shutdown?” The majority of accident victimsin Beni Suef receive their treatmentin Beni Suef General Hospital.Yassin said the syndicate supportsthe strike until they are providedwith security “in order to preservetheir lives”. After every incident, thedoctors are promised that there willbe more security, she said, adding thatthey have been hearing these promisesfor the past five or six months.Last October, doctors started aStudents at Alexandria University’s faculty of Engineering protest the dismissalof a fellow studentRevolutionary Socialists’ Facebook pagestrike demanding better pay, a higherstate budget for health and harsherpunishment against anyone whocommits a crime against hospitalstaff. On 19 May, the Doctors’ Syndicatepresented a new plan for securityenforcement inside hospitals.A doctors’ rights group calledDoctors Without Rights recentlydemanded that people who attackhospitals be charged with attemptedmurder. Along with the demand, therights group announced they will beorganising a protest in front of theMinistry of Health on 15 June.was being dismissed by the dean of thefaculty for a term. The group said hewas dismissed without facing interrogationand a disciplinary trial in whichhe could defend himself.Meanwhile, a second protest tookplace outside the headquarters ofthe Drivers’ Union in the district ofEl-Seif. According to state-owned Al-Ahram the drivers demanded electionsbe held to replace the currentboard of directors.Protesters are said to have beenangry because the union does nothold elections and are calling forreforms.The drivers are demanding a draftbe prepared outlining a proposal forrestructuring of the union, includingelections, in order to provide itsmembers with a better standard ofliving. The protesters also demandedhealth insurance which covers thedrivers for disabilities and injury.primary verdict suspendsinterior ministerContinued from page 1Article 123 of the penal code states:“Any public employee who refrainsfrom carrying out a court verdict isto be punished by imprisonment andsuspension.”“Nevertheless, this is a primaryverdict,” Eid said. “If Ibrahim challengesit, then the verdict will notbe carried out unless it is ratified bythe Court of Cassation.”The Ministry of Interior releaseda statement saying that the courtverdict was issued in absentia. Itadded that the ministry is currentlyBy Menna MouradChinese graffiti in the Temple of Luxorcaused outrage in China this week aftera tourist posted a picture of it online.The graffiti scratched by a 15 yearold on the temple’s wall spells out “DingJinhao was here” in Chinese characters.According to BBC News China, theteen’s mother explained that the graffitiwas scratched years ago when they werevisiting Egypt and that the teen is nowvery sorry for his actions.“We want to apologise to the Egyptianpeople and to people who have paidattention to this case across China,” themother told media on Saturday.This incident came in the wake ofChinese official Wang Yang’s comment instate-run media about Chinese tourists’“uncivilised behavior” abroad. Amongother behaviours, he specifically mentioned“willfully carving characters oncarrying out the process of challengingthe verdict.The ministry stated that it isdevoted to carrying out all compensationverdicts issued beforethe January 2011 revolution. It saidEGP 84,647,621 worth of compensationshave been paid this year tofulfil 4,426 court verdicts, implyingthat the process of paying compensationsis time-consuming. It addedthat the ministry is coordinatingwith the Ministry of Finance to beable to afford carrying out all theaccumulating verdicts, some datingback to the 1980s.Chinese graffiti in egypt causes astir in Chinaitems in scenic zones”.Meanwhile, Egypt’s Supreme Councilof Antiquities was not aware of the incidentand the Ministry of Antiquities wasunavailable for comment.Archaeologist Monica Hanna said noone noticed the incident “because it waskept on a low profile by the ministry onpurpose”.Hisham Al-Shattury, secretary generalof the Tourist Guides’ Syndicate, saidany violation of the sanctity of antiquitiesshould be reported by guides to theTourism and Antiquities Police.Hanna said it is the responsibility ofthe inspector and the custodian to keepthe site constantly under surveillance.“The current status of archaeologicalsites and those of heritage value is reallymiserable, where years of accumulatedcorruption and current lack of securityis causing the very rapid loss of Egyptianheritage,” she added.Ramlet Boulaq criminal case postponed, verdict expected todayBy Ahmed Aboul EneinSouth Cairo Criminal Court postponedthe Nile City Towers clashescourt case on Monday after listeningto pleadings from defence lawyers.“We started our defence argumenttoday for the first 10 defendantsand the court postponed thecase. We will be defending the restof the detainees in the coming sessions,”defence lawyer MohamedAdel, a member of the Egyptian Centrefor Economic and Social Rights(ECESR) legal unit, said.On 2 August 2012 police officerYasser Ali shot dead Amr El-Bunni, aresident of the Ramlet Boulaq slumarea adjacent to the Nile City Towers,in Cairo’s Fairmont Hotel.The incident led to clashes betweenenraged residents and police in front ofthe tower. Police arrested 51 people inthe aftermath and charged them withrioting and vandalising the hotel.Residents have since been complainingof an arbitrary arrest andpolice brutality campaign. Somefaced arbitrary police raids on theirhouses, with policemen sometimesseizing their money or possessions.The prosecution investigated thoseclaims but charged no police officers.Defence lawyers from the ECESRtold the court many of the detainees,including children, had been torturedin detention. They also said police hadtaken several of the area’s womenhostages to force their male relativesto hand themselves in.Hamdy Al-Ghafir, one of the defencelawyers, revealed at a previous sessionthat a 16-year-old defendant had onlybeen arrested because his name wassimilar to that of another man on therun who is wanted for the case.Separate from the criminal caseproceedings, the residents of RamletBoulaq have filed a lawsuit against theCairo governor with the AdministrativeJudiciary Court demanding the reversalof his decision to seize their lands.Residents have long complainedthey have been facing forced migrationattempts at the hands of thegovernment allegedly on behalf ofbusinessman Naguib Sawiris whoowns the nearby Nile City Towers andwants the land on which their shacksare located for expansion plans.ECESR lawyers argue that a land seizureorder is illegal and that the governorshould have instead issued a temporaryeviction order. Land seizure decisionsare temporary and are usually takenwhen the government plans to renovate,restore or generally improve an area.The lawyers argue that in this casethe Cairo governorate plans to donone of these things, it just plans on removingthe houses there, which meansthe governor should have issued aneviction order not a seizure order.An eviction order requires the governmentto pay the evicted citizensfair compensation for having beenremoved from their homes. A landseizure order does not require thegovernment to pay such compensationsince the area is supposedly beingimproved for its residents.The Administrative JudiciaryCourt is scheduled to make a rulingon Tuesday.islam afifi fined egp 10,000 for libelling essam al-erianA criminal court in Cairo has orderedformer editor-in-chief of Al-Dostournewspaper Islam Afifi pay a fine of EGP10,000 and a temporary compensationof the same sum for committing libelagainst the Vice-Chairman of the Freedomand Justice Party and Shura CouncilMajority Leader Essam Al-Erian.In response, El-Erian posted onFacebook, “Thank God. If those whocommitted the same crime do notapologise, we will sue them.”Afifi was brought to trial after Al-Erian sued him for an article publishedin Al-Dostour in June 2012 that suggestedsecret meetings between MuslimBrotherhood figures, including Al-Erian and Deputy Supreme Guide of theBrotherhood Khairat El-Shater, wereheld to plan violence should AhmedShafiq be announced the winner of lastyear’s presidential race, state-run newsagency MENA reported.The article claimed that if Shafiq hadwon, the Muslim Brotherhood wouldhave had snipers shoot protesters onthe streets, and planned on assassinating300 public figures, including oustedIslam Afifi has been ordered by a criminal court to pay a fine and compensationfor insulting Essam Al-Erianpresident Hosni Mubarak.While he was found guilty of libelagainst Al-Erian, the court acquittedAfifi of additional charges, whichincluded: sparking panic among thepublic, disturbing the public peace,and harming the public interest.The prosecution said Afifi waspublically spreading false informationwith malicious intent.More media practitioners were putunder the limelight, with investigationsof Lamis El-Hadidi and three others beginningon Monday. They are being accusedof broadcasting recordings anddocuments that were attained illegally,documents that disturb public peaceand national interests, MENA reported.The investigations have beenopened up as a result of an episode inwhich TV presenter El-Hadidi allegedthat the Brotherhood was exchangingphone calls with Hamas during the2011 Revolution.We Are All Isalm Afifi Facebook page

Disclaimer: Commentaries publishedby Daily News Egypt do not reflect theposition of the paper, but the independentopinions of their authors.commentaryTUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013 Daily news egypt 5www.thedailynewsegypt.comthe sixth stage of griefOn a relatively hot summer night, inlieu of nothing, a bunch of revolutionaryfriends were discussing the stateof gloom that has befallen the majorityof the population, and came up witha theory: We have all gone throughthe five stages of grief throughout thisrevolution. The Denial Phase startedwith the first army attack on the squarein March; the Anger Phase started atthe 8 April attack until MohamedMahmoud Clashes in November; theBargaining Phase started with the parliamentaryelections (vote or boycott)until the presidential elections (votefor which loser/boycott/invalidate) andended with the constitutional declaration;and then the Depression Phasestarted in earnest. The debate centredon whether we have entered the AcceptancePhase, or whether that willhappen if the military commits a coup.I stayed out of the debate, since I wasalready at stage six, and been there for awhile: Moving on and enjoying life. Howcome? Well, weirdly enough, it all startedwith President Mohamed Morsi.Inexplicably, I have started to lovePresident Morsi more lately, and I finallyfigured out why: We are watchinga live filming of an Adam Sandler-esquemovie starring Mohamed Morsi. Likeany of the interchangeable AdamSandler movies, we have an out-of-hisdepthbuffoonish character that foundhimself coincidently in charge of Egypt,alongside his band of misfits. Embarrassingsituations galore and hijinksensue, while the “villainous” MuslimBrotherhood is unable to reach theirgoals to their utter frustration. If youdidn’t watch Adam Sandler movies(and why should you?), think “IsmailYassin in Itihadiya” or “The Mr BeanPresidency” and you are there. I personallycannot wait for the sequels tothis newly-introduced comic legend:The Adventures of Morsi in Space (wewill fire him there), and The Adventuresof Morsi in the Afterlife (spoiler:Mubarak will still be alive).It’s a cartoon. We are living in anamusing cartoon. And more thananyone, the Muslim Brothers are cartoonishcharacters. Look at Essam Al-Erian or Khairat El-Shater or even Beltagyand tell me that they don’t looklike cartoon villains. And not only dothey look like cartoon villains, they actlike cartoon villains and even want tocontrol the world like cartoon villains.It’s incredibly amusing, because theyare operating based upon cartoon logic,and you are not amused becausethey are sucking you into it. You areconcerned about the “Ikhwanisation”of the state, while forgetting that it’s amirage state, and one that failed theolder and stronger Mubarak regime,and they knew how to run it. Sure, theBrotherhood reign is destructive tothe economy, but it’s also destructiveto them, and while economies recover,they won’t. For example: Their cartoonishsolution to the diesel shortageby cutting off the electricity frequentlyfor a week but providing trucks withdiesel, then not cutting the electricityand not providing trucks with diesel.So now the residents are threateningbill collectors not to even knockon their doors. These bill collectorsare on strike, and soon you will findtruck drivers doing the same thing. Ifyou want to see how cartoonish thingshave gotten, please skip Morsi’s speechfrom the empty wheat fields where heasserts that this is the year where Egyptwill “import its wheat from Egypt”, andwatch the minister of youth press conference,which has been my comedichighlight of last week.Many of the revolutionaries arenot amused by this, but that’s becausethey are refusing to admit two things:1) They were participants in a “miragerevolution”; just like the mirage state;it looked it, but lacked all of the thingsthat made it real (messaging, grassrootscampaigning, social and cultural change),and 2) that the real deal is happeningnow, without them. Say what you willabout the effectiveness of the Tamarodcampaign, but its virality proves 1) thecreation of the larger Egyptian societythat is unifying against the Brotherhoodand 2) the rise of the second generationof revolutionaries, completely separatefrom the bickering and idiotic old guard(thank God), and far more successful.Or observe the meteoric rise of LikeJelly, a band whose fun music (a mixbetween humour, social commentarywith a dash of anti-Brotherhood messaging)has garnered thousands of fansall over the country and opened doorsfor a multitude of bands like them, andrevolutionising the music industry andcultural scene.Observe the hapless governmentwith its lack of solutions for the energyor housing crisis and juxtaposethis with Karmsolar, who are not onlydeveloping solar-energy applicationsMahMoud SaleMthat are competitive with fossil fuels,they are building an entire solar operatedvillage (energy, water, buildings)for 600 people at less than one milliondollars. Travel to Aswan and observethe development project “KenozNubia” started by a lone twentysomethingNubian woman called MayGahallah who made zero salary andnow has an operation and multitudeof volunteers and achievements onthe ground. Go to the showcase ofa company called Flat6Labs startedby an Egyptian-American investorcalled Ahmed Al-Alfi and look at thenew tech start-ups they have created(solar desalinisation machines,mobile phones that don’t need themobile operator networks or internet),and this is their fifth cycle. Thenrevert back to our current government,look at our new minister ofinvestment, who couldn’t even getpromoted to manager at Vodafonelast year, but got this job because heis a Muslim Brother; or look at theBrotherhood themselves and theirinability to keep their intelligent orpromising youth (the 13-21 crowd,especially those growing up in Brotherhoodfamilies, is abandoning themin droves) and ask yourself this: Doesthis look like a lasting regime to you?25 January is dead. Good riddance. Itwas too angry, repetitive and depressingat the end, and this is not how wegot rid of the Mubarak regime. We gotrid of them through humour, hard workand innovation, and we had fun doingit. Now, it’s all happening again, on thehands of people who are finally creatingsolutions instead of complaining aboutthe problems. Now, you can either partakeor focus on yourself; both choicesare equally valid, but get over your AcceptancePhase quickly. The sixth stageawaits you. It’s time to move on.Mahmoud Salem is a political activist,writer, and social media consultant.reducing risks: wheat supply in egyptWheat supply matters for Egypt’sfood security. Production is high butdemand is higher. Self-sufficiency inwheat is not a realistic goal givenlimits in water and land, as well asdismal agricultural investment levels.So, imports are high. Risks from bothdomestic and international wheatmarkets coupled with reduced purchasingpower from the currenteconomic crisis mean that consumersare now more vulnerable thanever. The issues are complicated, andwhile there are some protectionsfrom supply risks, further reducingvulnerability is certainly possible.With Egypt’s large and growingpopulation, even with past reductionsin fertility levels, demand hasand will continue to grow. As a water-poornation with less than 4% ofarable land, domestic production tofully meet wheat consumption hasbeen infeasible for some time. Significantincreases in domestic wheatproduction have occurred. Cropyield efficiency, the amount of wheatproduced per feddan of land, hasincreased by about 75% since 1980when noticeable improvements firstbegan. A decade later, the area underharvest began to increase andthe amount of wheat produced hasincreased four-fold since the start ofefficiency improvements.Despite these gains, Egypt facesa “quantity risk” in the short-term,and quantity risk will continue to risein the medium and long-term. Thismeans that the quantity of wheatneeded to fulfil demand may not beavailable, even if there are sufficientfunds for purchase. Meeting demandwith imports will remain a challengeif foreign currency reserves dropeven further. And domestic farmershave increasingly less incentive togrow wheat as profits have declined,squeezed between rising input costsand fixed government pricing. In themedium to long-term, water scarcity,climate change and populationgrowth will raise quantity risk.Quantity risk could be reducedthough not eliminated through domesticproduction, but not with thecurrent supply chain and system ofgovernment intervention. For example,the government, the largestpurchaser of wheat, announces thepurchase price some time after theplanting decision is made. To keepfarmers interested in growing wheatin future seasons, announcing thewheat price before planting beginswould reduce uncertainty of profits.So would a clearer understanding ofcosts and availability of major inputs,many of which are government provided,such as water, seeds, fertilisers,extension services, and rentedfarm equipment powered by diesel.In the current supply chain, manyof these inputs are unavailable atgovernment subsidised prices atthe right time, and farmers have nochoice but to seek black market inputswhere hefty margins are easilycollected because of the criticaltiming when inputs are needed incultivation.Reducing quantity risks would alsobenefit from reducing risks of postharvestlosses, estimated at 15% to20% of domestic production. For instance,wheat grown domestically isoften stored in open storage spaces,susceptible to rodents and bacteriabecause appropriate facilities are unavailable.In fact, Egypt has less storagecapacity, measured in months ofconsumption, than any other MiddleEastern country. This is true despitethe fact that it is reasonably well understoodthat as storage capacityincreases, wheat prices decrease, becausecountries can strategically drawdown on reserves or purchase morewheat depending on market prices.Wheat imports easily reducequantity risk, but the bigger issue isreally “price risk”. Price risk is therisk that wheat prices will be prohibitivelyhigh, making purchase difficulteven though quantity is available onworld markets. Since the food crisisof 2008, when food prices rose onthe back of high energy prices, wheatand other food prices continue to behigh. Food prices hit a new historicall-time high, higher than 2008 levels,in August 2012. Wheat prices decreasedby 11% in the ensuing twoquarters, October 2012 to February2012, after the southern hemisphereharvest, but were overall 15% higherthan a year before, from February2012 to February 2013. Most expertsglobally agree that food prices willnot return to pre-2008 prices andthat high and rising food prices andvolatility around these high prices arethe new norm countries must strategisearound. Given that wheat importswill remain essential for foodsecurity, a strategy to deal with thisnew norm is needed.There are a number of ways toreduce price risk, chiefly by reducingexposure to market volatility andIRIS BoutRoSby ensuring macroeconomic stability.Ample foreign currency reserves andexchange rate stability are important.However, the more critical issue isreducing exposure to market volatilitydirectly. Because even if Egyptcould successfully reduce demandand increase domestic productivity,the country will still remain a net importeror wheat and will thereforebe exposed to international pricerisks. Egypt imports more wheat thanalmost any country in the world.Egypt has chiefly sought to reduceexternal price risk through land acquisitionabroad. Land deals in the Sudan,for instance, are meant to meetdomestic demand using resourcesin a country with more arable landand less water scarcity. Unfortunately,this strategy to reduce price risk hasother risks. As an owner of land, thisassumes risks from bad weather andpolitical disruptions in the host country.It might be difficult to export aharvest to Egypt from a country thatstruggles with its own food security.This strategy also ignores that marketsoffer more flexibility than capitallocked up in land, forfeiting the choiceof which country to procure wheatfrom depending on harvest and price.A number of other strategieswould reduce price risk, some withgreat potential for cost reductions.If Egypt used certain financial instrumentsto protect against price risk,for instance, up to 20% of the costs ofinternational wheat purchases duringthe height of the food crisis couldhave been saved. Between November2007 and October 2008, whenwheat prices were at a then historicall-time high, Egypt imported an estimatedseven million metric tonnes ofwheat. Actual prices are unavailablebut estimates put the wheat importbill at about $2.75bn.A hedging strategy based on futuresor options contracts wouldhave saved somewhere between$150m to $600m of that $2.75bn,depending on the strategy. Optionscontracts allow for the purchase ofwheat at an agreed price by a specifieddate with no purchase obligation.A futures contract allows for thepurchase of wheat of a standardisedquantity and quality and for an agreedprice with payment and delivery at aspecified future date.The degree to which these financialinstruments are utilized dictatesthe amount of savings. Contracting25% of purchases in this mannerwould have saved closer to $150m.Purchasing 100% of wheat this waywould have saved close to $600m,according to a 2009 report co-publishedby the World Bank, the FAOand IFAD. Utilising these contractsrequires skilled personnel but theyare very feasible and are essential tofood security strategies for a numberof countries. Given how muchwheat Egypt imports, it is puzzlingwhy these types of contracts or anyof the other more modern pricerisk management mechanisms availableare not already in use. The costreductions are needed, particularlygiven the high budget deficit.International wheat prices continueto be high and volatile. Sinceself-sufficiency is not a realistic goal,Egypt will remain vulnerable as a majorwheat importer. Price risk andreduced purchasing power from thecurrent economic crisis are mostrelevant today, but quantity risk willalso continue to rise. The governmentdoes utilise a variety of mechanismsto reduce supply risk, such as land acquisitionand price controls, but thereis room for significant improvement.Risk management strategies reducingexposure to market volatility and increasingdomestic production levelsneed to be constructed with considerationof all available options, not justthose used in the past. Attention to thesupply chain, affecting both domesticallycultivated and imported wheat,and the incorporation of modernprice risk management mechanismsare critical components of that strategy.The challenges are complicated,more so than this analysis suggests,but these risks are real and increasing.Vulnerability can be reduced.Iris Boutros is an applied economistand strategist. She focuses onbalanced growth, investment anddecision-makinga country afraid of its parliamentBy Rana allaMThere is not one political faction thatwants to hold parliamentary electionsnowadays, except maybe the Salafis.Elections were expected to beheld in the next few months, rightafter the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.However, everyone seemsto be dreading these elections, despitethe show to the contrary.It seems that all parties are relievedby the continuous postponement asthe draft law keeps being rejected bythe Supreme Constitutional Court.The single difference between theparties is that the Salafis continue togain more ground than the secular oppositionor the ruling Muslim Brotherhood(MB), as a 180-degree shift intheir stance with the government inrecent months has given them extrapush on street level. In the previousparliament, Salafis won nearly 25% ofparliamentary seats, the Brotherhoodwon over 45%, and the rest went tovarious other parties.In the 2011 parliamentary elections,Islamists were fighting a single battleagainst secularists and civil state advocates,and 70% of voters gave theirvoices to the Islamist bloc, withoutmuch distinction between the Salafisand the Brothers – they voted for theso-called “religious lot”. Now thatthe Brotherhood has proven a failureboth in managing the country and inimplementing their agreement withthe Salafis to turn Egypt to an Islamicstate, the Salafis have turned againstthem. They have now built upon theBrotherhood’s failures to gain groundon the streets by openly opposing theMB, and in many cases, questioningtheir religiosity, calling them infidelsand “traitors of the Islamic project”.Salafis work mosques in rural andurban Egypt, with TV channels tovoice their opinions, and millions oflisteners – millions who are frustratedfrom their daily burdens and hold theBrotherhood responsible.The Salafis have presented theirposition in opposing the MB throughall-time-winner logic: the MB is notimplementing the Islamic Shari’a,therefore the country is doomedand will never rise. This is simple logic– and goes straight to the hearts ofthe millions of semi-educated religiousEgyptians. And what alternativeis presented to these millions? Zilch!The rest of the opposition bloc isat a standstill. On with their pressconferences and TV appearances, onwith their internal elections and infighting,and nowhere near the public.These millions who have not evenheard of the opposition’s fronts andalliances are only provided with theSalafis as an alternative.The irony is that the secular oppositionknows that, and although theycontinue to criticise the elections lawdelay, they know it is for their bestinterest. They have failed over the pastyear to create wide public awarenessof what they stand for, be it liberalism,socialism or anything in between.The Muslim Brotherhood, for theirpart, would rather postpone electionsindefinitely. They already havetheir Shura Council to pass whateverlegislation they want, so why wouldthey hold elections in these dire timeswhen the man-on-the-street is cursingthe day they came to power?To hold elections in September (asinitially proposed) would be the mostidiotic move the Brothers could make.Picture this story: it is mid July, andthe very first week of Ramadan. A manwakes up sweating from the heat, hisdecades old electric fan not working,for there is no electricity. He gets outof bed, hoping for a shower, but thereis no water because the water generatorstopped working too, as there is nopower. He stops himself from cursing,for this is the holy month and he is fasting.He leaves the house to get to work,but there is not enough gas in the car,heads to the station to stand in a twohourlong queue of people waiting tofill their cars and trucks with diesel. Halfhis day gone, he heads to work, thenattempts to get back in time to breakhis fast, but the traffic is horrible and hespends an additional hour on his wayhome, in the heat of July and the thirstof fasting. Finally he gets there, only tofind some fool and falafel, while his wifeexplains that meat and chicken pricesare beyond their limited budget. Hereluctantly eats, prays and decides towatch some TV, but by the time he is relaxedin his chair, the power is cut again,and there is no entertainment, and noair conditioning (even through his littlefan). By the time the power is back on,the TV is showing the Freedom andJustice Party leaders campaigning forelections.Do you honestly think that thisman will vote for them? Absolutelynot; he will, without a second thought,give his voice to the religious, Godfearingother bearded men: the Salafis!r.allam@thedailynewsegypt.comFollow @Run_RanaDaily newsegyptEditorMaher HamoudRana AllamChairmanMostafa SakrChief EditorSaad ZaghloulDeputy EditorLaurence UnderhillPolitics Editor Sara Abou BakrArts & Culture Editor Adel HeineBusiness Editor Dalia AliArt DirectorAbdel-Azim SaafanSales and Marketing DirectorRamy KamalCirculation ManagerSally KandilPublished by Business News for Press, andDistribution under License from the SupremeCouncil of Journalism12 Haroon St., Dokki, Cairo, EgyptTel: +202 37486853 | Fax: +202 37486936info@thedailynewsegypt.com

8 Daily news egypt TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013art & CUltUreaida el-ayoubi returns towelcoming audiencesBy Fanny OhierAida El-Ayoubi in concert with guest singer Amir Eid at El Sawy Culturewheel in CairoEgyptians have waited for Aida El-Ayoubi to return to Cairo’s musicalspotlight, and finally she was there,centre stage at El Sawy Culturewheel.On Sunday, El-Ayoubi gave her fans herfirst big concert since she retired fromEgypt’s music scene, appearing morethan comfortable to be back on stage.She began the concert with oneof her first hit songs, Ala Bali, settinga brilliant tone to the whole performance.Finally, she was on the stage,filled with energy for her adoring fans.In the first rows, people werewhispering the songs they knew byheart along with El-Ayoubi. El SawyRiver Hall, which is an outdoors theatrealong the Nile, was packed. Thecaptivated crowd kept applauding inrhythm and saluted the singer’s perfecthigh notes by cheering loudly.Aida El-Ayoubi is an Egyptian singerand oud player. She became famous inthe early 1990s with her songs Ali Bali,Men Zaman and Rafiq Omry. Ali Bali, asong many interpret as a love song, isin fact dedicated to her brother, whowent abroad to study. Despite beingsometimes misunderstood, El- Ayoubi’ssongs seem to express her kindpersonality and optimistic outlookon life. In order to take care of herchildren, she left the music scene forseveral years until 2004.“When I first returned, it was forreligious chanting,” she says. “That iswhy the whirling dervishes were includedin the concert. When I sing thechants of Imam Al-Bokhary, the dervishesadd great spiritual ambiance.”Not only dervishes joined her performance,but also Cairokee singerAmir Eid joined her on stage. “Thesong with Amir was not planned,” Aidaexplains. “He was in the audience anddecided to be a guest singer.” Together,they mixed traditional and contemporarymusic. In the revolutionary songEl Midan El-Ayoubi’s crystalline voiceharmoniously complemented withEid’s Cairokee rock style.“There’s positive reception to themusic I perform, and people nowadayslike to listen to all types of music,” shecomments. “Things are different nowbecause there are more outlets forsingers like me and for young people.In the past, most singers were restrictedto performing at weddingsor night clubs. Now, something likeEl Sawy Culturewheel is a great placefor young musicians, and it is also anon-traditional stage.”Backstage, when the concert wasover, El-Ayoubi’s eyes sparkled withexcitement, “It was my first big concertin Cairo. I had another one in Alexandrialast week, but it’s the first one inCairo since I retired,” she added. Witha large bunch of flowers in her armsand a constant smile on her face, oncemore, Aida El-Ayoubi left the stage.However, it is not for long this time.“We, Cairokee and I, are planning aconcert together during the summer,”El-Ayoubi said with a grin.Art should make a statement and Culture is what surrounds us.Mahmoud Ismail GawishFilm discusses issues ofmortality and incestBy Fatma IbrahimThe Netherlands-Flemish Institutescreened two-time award winningfilm The Last Days of Emma Blank onSunday, directed by one of the mostfavoured Dutch directors, Alex vanWarmerdam. Originally released in2009, the film is drenched with darkand absurd satire, which requires anopen-minded audience to extract thefilm’s intended meaning.Emma Blank (played by MarliesHeuer) is dying of cancer and has afew days to live. She lives in an isolatedseaside villa along with her servants.She is demanding, cold and pushes herservants beyond indignation. Not oneof them actually bothers with the factthat she will die in a few days.It is confusing at the beginning,because you do not know why theywould put up with such a devilish attitude.Emma never smiles; she shoutsall the time and throws abuse at everyone.As the plot slowly reveals itselfthough, we come to know that theyare not really her servants; Emma hasforced her own family to take on theroles of her servants and family pet.Her husband is the butler, Haneveld.Her daughter is the house cleaner,Gonnie. Her sister is the cook, Bellaand the nephew is the gardener. AndTheo, the man-dog? He is her olderbrother.It does not take a lot to realise thatthey are all just in it for the potentialinheritance, so when Emma revealsthat all the money was lost in thestock crisis, their ugly sides start toemerge and they swear revenge forthe way she treated them.Screen grab of the dark and absurdmovie The Last Days of Emma BlankThe director was successful inshocking the audience with his darkcomic scenes, portraying the atrocitiesthat people can commit for the sakeof money. The relationships betweencharacters in the film are also a bitshocking and somehow off the norm.Haneveld is still married to Emma, buthas a love relationship with the cookBella, who is also her sister. Gonnie,Emma’s daughter and the house cleanerhas an intermittent relationship withher cousin, Meier, although she does notreally love him. The most absurd of allis Theo, the man-dog, who is Gonnie’suncle, but wants her for himself.The Last Days of Emma Blankwon the Golden Calf award for BestScreenplay of a Feature Film and LabelEuropa Cinemas award, both receivedby Van Warmerdam in 2009. It wasalso nominated for Best Actor (GeneBervoets) for the role of Haneveld,the butler, Best Production Design(Geert Paredis) and Best SupportingActor (Alex Van Warmerdam) for therole of Theo, the man-dog.ca.movies.yahoo.com