Ahlawy vs Bawwabeen

Yesterday was the Ahly-Zamalek derby. Ahly fans are FIERCE. Zamalek fans are called "bawwabeen" or doormen, since, inexplicably, a lot of bawwabs are Zamalek fans (Can you tell I'm biased?). The two teams have a serious rivalry and police were gearing up for post-match violence. They banned lasers, lighters and flag posts, which meant that I was unable to take my cat's favourite laser pen and use its incredible range to distract the goalkeeper. Which of course, someone else was doing to the Zamalek goalie. We arrived at Cairo International stadium two hours early, and even then the amount of people was astounding. Shocking, if only because nothing happens on time in Egypt. Because we were a group of foreigners and girls, we cut through a giant pushing, shoving, and hissing line, went straight to the front, skipped all security checks, and were inside in a flash. Though I wouldn't have wanted to be crushed in line, it's kind of sad that we got preferential treatment while everyone else had to wait their turn. There were scores of riot police (sans shields) outside, and inside the stadium (avec shields), instead of facing the crowd, they were facing the players... watching the game. For security, kids dressed in kitschy sailor suits sat 20 meters apart on the track between the players and the seats, facing the supporters. Yet more riot police were stationed on the stairs in general seating, separating blocks of Ahly fans from each other, and a huge gap was left between Zamalek and Ahly fans. Obviously peace is the optimal state, but the academic researcher inside me was hoping to see some riot action later on. A couple of us had purchased some fine Ahly "Clup of the Centry" gear and almost everyone we passed commented on it with pride, yelling "Ahlawy!!!" at us and getting really excited that "people from abroad are Ahly fans!" As we walked to our seats, the call to prayer sounded out, and a smattering of men took to the corridors to pray. While we were ushered on by the police and overexcited fans, I was too timid to take the ultimate photograph - three men kneeling devoutly on an Ahly flag. Once inside, all I could see was a sea of screaming red; hand-held flags and flailing arms looking like the noodly appendages of epileptic millipedes, the chic-chic-chic of cellphone cameras capturing young men with their shirts off, little boys with Ahly headbands and red war painted faces dangling their feet next to overweight daddies in Man U, FCB and Ahly gear. The cheering had a distinctly Arab flavour, with balloon batons sounding out dabke rhythms. In between the instrumental versions of Toni Braxton love ballads, everyone chanted Ahly slogans, booed the Zamalek fans (Egypt has the greatest form of booing ever - "yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeee!!!!!") and sang for football nation.

The atmosphere was hyped and I couldn't help but get carried away with all the excitement, so much so that I might have accidentally smacked P in the face with a flag a few times mid-jump. Unfortunately the match was boring as all hell, with an incompetent referee who missed ALL the fouls, and there were only six (piteous) attempts on the goal. Here are some pictures of the action:

Dysfunction

So a frantic post on Cairo Scholars today listed a $500 reward for a lost cat. The email was titled "Emergency Plea: Delta Airlines Lost My Cat!"
Apparently Delta/Cairo Airports have topped themselves, losing a cat that was enclosed securely in an IATA approved cage. I have a similar cage, so I know there is no way the cat could have escaped unless someone let it out. I can only imagine what the poor owner was going through, but I am gobsmacked at the utter incompetence of Delta and the airport staff. Another tragic only in Egypt moment.

Best Egypt Week

After our whirlwind Thanksgiving trip I was kind of bummed out for a few days. But I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was sleeping until 4pm every day and going to bed at 3am. After I finally got back in the rhythm of things, I ended up having an INCREDIBLE week. Highlights included zero harassment, hour long walks by the Nile early in the morning (during which I once saw a weasel!) and a series of lovely evenings out, including a ragey house night with DJ Alexkid at the French Cultural Center. By far the best night out was a dance performance at El-Sawy Culture Wheel in Zamalek. It was called "Dancepiration" and despite the name and the tacky host of the evening, the dancers were phenomenal. There was a good bit of bboying and some amazing hip-hop moves, as well as an Egyptian comedian - even though he did his routine in Arabic and I'm sure I lost half the nuances, he still had me in splits. One of the dancers had adopted a stray cat and left it in the care of my housemate during the show, so I spent the two hours with a tiny kitten on my lap. Cairo's glitterati and teenage snobs were out in full force, and the evening left me with a subtler understanding of some of the quirks and joys of Egyptian society. There are things here that I'd prefer to live without, but it's still an amazing place.

Out of Africa

After a certain amount of time in Cairo, you get a "pollution cough." I'm pretty sure I have the black lung now, after the unbelievable amounts of dust, tar and smog I've inhaled. In order to keep loving Cairo, you have to leave periodically. So this week we spontaneously decided to head to the US and the UK for thanksgiving.

As soon as we arrived in London I had to outfit myself with boots and gloves. We returned to all our favourite haunts, caught up with friends, indulge in cider and were happy to be 'home' for a few days. In NYC, we went to Duane Reade probably every day, watched too many episodes of Top Chef, went out too much in Brooklyn and spent time with the fam. Then we headed to New Hampshire, and stuffed ourselves silly with green vegetables, turducken, and pumpkin desserts. P is used to eating meat all day every day, but I can't really handle that, and Egypt is particularly hard in that respect. I kind of just grabbed every single green vegetable I could see on this trip, to make up for the lack of fresh produce one is forced to suffer through in Egypt. When we got back to London it was snowing (eek) and miserably cold. We had just enough time to see the Christmas decorations up in Carnaby street before we left for home. I was kind of sad to leave, but I was so relieved to arrive in a warm climate. Here's hoping that our little break will give me renewed patience to deal with al-shawar'3a, aka the mean streets of Cairo.

Israel and Occupied Palestine

This week we traveled to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Needless to say, the trip brought up many complex emotions, and confirmed what I already knew about the injustice of the situation. However, we found everyone we came across to be warm and friendly, and I would highly recommend a visit if you can swing it.

We crossed the Egyptian border at Taba, managing to avoid both the Egyptian and Israeli passport stamps. Being brown, I was questioned - nay, interrogated - by Israeli border police for 15 minutes, until they were satisfied that I had no connections to Pakistan.

Since we missed the bus to Jerusalem, we hopped on one going to Tel Aviv, where we had the best breakfast ever at Benedicte, and walked around for a few hours, noticing how eery and European the city felt. The next morning we took a sheroot (shared taxi) to Jaylem. P and I both hate sightseeing, so our version is just incredibly whirlwind stop-offs and one picture at the "must-see" sights, then off to the more leisurely and enjoyable activities of exploring and spending all day eating. We ate hummous every meal for 5 days straight - that's how good it was, and stayed in the Eastern quarter. It was incredible to see the mashup of people in the holy city - an interesting place for us atheists - the tourists (mostly Polish), Armenians, Greeks, Palestinian Muslims and Christians, orthodox and not-so-orthodox Jews. After a day and a half of Jerusalem, we went to Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is based. Pete got a haircut and we went to Yasser Arafat's tomb. Eid was just around the corner, so the streets were full of people shopping. The contrast between the Israeli side (green) and Palestinian side (dry and brown) was ridiculous. As we left, two soldiers, armed to the teeth with gigantic machine guns, inspected our bus and our passports.

Given our personal experience, I would like to urge everyone to join me in a consumer boycott of Israeli Settlement produce. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the conflict and the situation: Palestinians are being forced into smaller and smaller areas while their land and resources are confiscated, routinely denied freedom of movement, and separated by a growing "security fence" which is 8 meters high (twice the height of the Berlin wall) that is referred to as the Apartheid wall. Israelis claim it is necessary for security, but it's built in a way that cuts off Palestinian areas from each other and from access to resources that are rightfully theirs according to international law. What we saw was disturbing and unsettling. P and I had no problem getting through ominous checkpoints at the wall that look like high security prisons, but it's not so simple for Palestinians. At the Bethlehem foot passenger checkpoint you have to walk 200 metres enclosed by grates to arrive in a holding area that looks like a warehouse, go through a turnstile, pass through security, put your bags through xray machines and walk through a detector, go through another turnstile and wait in line to show your documents. It took us almost an hour to get through, but lines can last much longer. We saw a group of schoolchildren being hassled. Imagine having to go through airport security every single day on your way to work, or on your way to the hospital for an emergency, or to go to school. This is the reality for Palestinians. Palestinian people engage in non-violent resistance every single day just by going about their daily activities; activities like work and going to school that the occupying forces make incredibly difficult.

While I realize it's not possible to boycott all the products listed, and all the companies that contribute to human rights abuses in Palestinian territories, there are a few significant ones. Such boycotts have been instrumental in weakening support for the apartheid regime in South Africa and I hope they will eventually have a positive influence in destroying Israeli apartheid. Boycotts generate bad reputations and apply economic pressure for change.

Please take a moment to read how your individual actions can help:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=203
http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/9#cont2

Products you may be most familiar with are Intel, Motorola, Caterpillar, Estee Lauder, Jaffa oranges, Coca Cola and Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics. Produce that starts with the barcode 729 denotes Israeli origin.

The full call to boycott can be read here:
http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52

Pictures to follow!