The Other Side of Me

The past couple of days have been a series of accusations aimed at me for deciding to invalidate my vote. Shafiq supporters tell me that by doing so I am giving way to end secularism and have a religious fascist state. Morsy supporters tell me that by doing so I am giving way to end the revolution and have a militaristic fascist state. Sahfiq supporters stop here, because we think too differently, but Morsy's supporters, those of them who supported him in the first round and those who had to support him to get away from Shafiq, never stop throwing the worst accusations at me. Now I'm the one who is going to make Shafiq win, but not only this, I'm also stupid and need someone to explain things to me, I also act upon my hatred to MB and not upon the general interest, AND I'm not revolutionary enough, yes! Well, the simple truth is that by not giving my vote to anyone, I DON'T MAKE ANYONE WIN. If Shafiq wins, theoretically speaking, he'll win because of the people...

You know how many of the popular activists were worried of calling for a protest against Shafiq because they were afraid that people won't join? Well, people proved them wrong today. Because just as the results came out and we understood that the committee did nothing about the fraud cases and that Shafiq is actually going to be in the run-offs, they went directly to Tahrir. They went their without anyone asking them to or planning it or anything. The real Egyptians who are not the best political analysts, saw what's right and they did it. It's been crazy since Friday with people being stuck in a dilemma and not knowing what to do. You'd walk in the street, get in a restaurant or a shop and you'd see people talking about how they don't know what to do. Most of the Egyptians were praying for a third option all the time. And when the minute came and the third option didn't come to them, they went to get it. I went out in the morning with a depression that ...

She was forcefully married to him by a father who thought was doing the right thing. He hit her every night, he raped her, he made her work like a slave and stole all her money. She stayed with him and couldn't do anything. He made her pregnant and gave her hormones so she gives birth to twins, triplets and quadruplets and sold many of their kids. She lived with him for 30 years, accepting life the way it was, never thinking of changing it, never thinking she could do anything. But his brutality increased every year, until someday she couldn't handle it any longer but didn't know what to do. Until her younger sister who was going through the same story stood up and fought for a divorce and got one. She knew what to do, she asked him for a divorce, but he laughed hysterically and hit her until she lost consciousness. The next day she woke up knowing that there is no turning back, she will have to have her divorce. She fought and fought and fought and never gave up no matter ...

The truth is that revolutions don't just accept the best of the worst. The truth is that many of us are taking the easy way out. The truth is that a revolutionary choice cannot be morally incorrect. The truth is that some of us want to give up the fight because its just so hard. The truth is that we all know Shafiq should not be in the elections when he killed people, has corruption cases and there is a law, that was actually made specially for him, to prohibit him from running that was never implemented. The truth is that many of us plan to do nothing about it except voting for the MB. And the truth is that these people don't want to vote for Shafiq because he killed people, but would vote for the MB who left people dying in Mohamed Mahmoud and many times after and did nothing about it. The truth is that those people don't want to vote for Shafiq because he is against the revolution, but would vote for the MB who sold the revolution for their own benefit a long time ago. T...

In this time when we're all stressed out and can't even think straight. At the time when around 43% of us decided to steal our dream and vote for the worst two candidates. At this time I'd rather stay silent and not write a word. I am freaking out more than many because simply Morsy is not an option for me, just like Shafiq. But it's at the worst of times when you look back and see if you've done the right thing. It's at the worst of times when you think of what would you do if one of the worst two own, will you repeat the same mistakes? It's at the worst of times when you reach out to God and pray your heart out for him to get you through this and to a better result. When I look back I see that we haven't worked enough with people although we have the power to. Starting from the referendum that we should have learned from, to these elections. We either protested or talked together in our own bubbles without thinking of the rest of the country. Many of...

After standing in a line with the Heliopolis ladies who were mostly voting for Shafiq, I came back home wondering why would anyone do such thing? The most popular answer I got from the ladies was in fear of Ikhwan. Knowing that the percentage of Christians here is more than in other places, and knowing that us, the ladies of Heliopolis, can never live the life of Ikhwan with what Azza El Garf says about FGM and sexual harassment laws, with forcing us to wear or not wear something (even the veiled of us), with having men control our lives, with having someone control our religious practices it makes sense to be against Ikhwan. And being one of those ladies, I too am against Ikhwan and anyone who mixes religion with politics. Now this takes out Morsy (although I know a few who voted for him), and maybe Abo El Fotooh for some. So then I asked why not Sabahy? And they were all against him because of being a Nasserist because they're families were put under great harm because of nationa...

I'm marked in history as a person who said no in a time when it could take my life. As someone who believed in everybody's right to live a just life. As someone who fought for her belief. As someone who was part of the first real Egyptian revolution. As someone who overthrew a dictator in 18 days. As someone didn't accept failure and fought 19 other dictators. As someone who didn't give up the fight. As someone who didn't, and won't, give up on a dream whose limit is the sky. As someone who will never let the blood of those who died go in vain. As someone who chose to fight all the dirtiness by being always clean. As someone who chose to vote for a greater good rather than only my own benefit. As someone who did her best to keep people believing in the revolution and its candidates. As someone who, even in the elections queue, tried to convince people to not give up on the revolution. As one of the very first Egyptians to vote in a presidential elections, as so...

I was watching Dr Manal Omar today (a psychiatrist) talking about how to make a right decision when uncertain about something. Her talk was about the elections and those of us who haven't decided yet who to vote for, but those steps can be applied to anything. I'm sharing them with you, dear reader, and if you have decided who to vote for, keep them, you might need them someday. They're supposed to be ten steps, but she only said nine compacting two of them into one. I promise to try to find the source and update this post with the ten steps as written by the author later. So without further ado, I bring to you nine of the ten steps to making the right decision: 1. Collect different information from different sources, both good and bad. Find the pros and cons of your choices.  - When it comes to the elections, list all the candidates' pros and cons that you collect from different sources, trusted ones, and make your first choice according to those findings. ...

Some see me as a crazy person because I can't find someone to vote for. Others see me as a crazy person because I won't boycott the elections. Others see me as a crazy person because I don't want to vote for one of the candidates who have the best chances of winning. I am not crazy, I just want to be clean of all the dirtiness in this game, my vote is my duty and if I don't choose to put it in the right square, then my conscious won't let me live in peace for one day. I can't vote for someone who I see as not the best in all 13 candidates just because he's OK and has the highest chances of winning. If I'm in a room with people all taking drugs, should I join them just because they're all doing it? Let democracy choose whatever it wants, but I won't just join the herd on something I know is wrong, not when I have a choice. I can't boycott because it's my duty to try to choose who's best in the 13 candidates, to try my best to ...

Vote for Shafiq or Moussa if you wish to have a never ending revolution. Vote for them if you want no stability, if you want the productivity wheel to stop for four more years, if you want no security. Why? Simply because Moussa and Shafiq will not come close to the revolution's demands, which will lead to more protests and no stability. One or both might think of dispersing protests violently, which will only lead to more people protesting! We will lose all stability, no production wheel will move, no security will be regained. We'll just stay in this mess with a broken economy and worse security until either the revolution wins or the four years end. Vote for Morsy if you want a new National Democratic Party with no difference except having the word Islam in their name. Whether you're for Muslim Brotherhood or Islamists or not, vote for Morsy if you want the parliament which is 41% Freedom and Justice Party members + 30% Islamists and allies of this party, to monitor...

After going through all the campaigns, I came up with these nicknames which are inspired from the campaigns and nothing else (just for the fun of it =)). Sabahy, the politician next door Abo El Fotooh, the father Ali, the young revolutionary air El Awwa, the teacher Morsy, the nobody Moussa, the bumptious Shafiq, the narcissist And the winners are..... Slogan Morsy: renaissance... is people's will. It's a magical slogan, with three words that go very well together and explains that the president won't ever have a magic stick to make dreams come true. Poster Simple and nice, perfect colors, font, smile and with the headlines of the program giving a shot of hope. Simplicity that leads to perfection. Commercial Although Amr Moussa's commercial is much better and probably much more expensive too, he partially ruins it by his snobbish looks and his blurred scenes. Abo El Fotooh's commercial is not as good, but he look...

Slogan Deeds....not words: this is the translation of a cliched American slogan. The meaning is not bad, but it's one slogan that needs to be proven more than any other. It is also one that revolves around Shafiq and only Shfiq, which makes it negatively different from the rest. The rest are either about the country or the people or the people and the candidate. This one is only about Shafiq and how good he is. Slogans that have the people as part of them are way better and give a feeling of unity, a sign that the president is a leader and the people are his team, that he can't do anything without their support. Egypt for all and by all: plays on the part about Islamists and how they might discriminate against Christians and Muslim liberals. It's something against Islamists, but not for Shafiq, this is how things should be. It hasn't said anything new, just like Moussa's "one people, one nation". Poster This poster is "elegant...

Slogan We're ready for the challenge: using "we" has its charm, is explains that Moussa's project is one that needs everyone to take part in, as he puts it. The challenge is not the best choice though, it is a sign of the power of the we, yet I can't help ask myself who exactly are we challenging? It seems to be inspired from Obama's "yes we can" (shows in the commercial), except it focuses on an unexplained challenge rather than that we can. It's not bad, but could have been better, especially when considering the endless amount of money Moussa's campaign has. The rebuilding of Egypt: too obvious, also gives a feeling that we're now a complete failure and that he'll turn everything upside down. It doesn't go with him being a very slight reformer. His plan is to almost leave things as is, and this doesn't go with the slogan. Yet even if it does, it still gives a feeling that we're a mess of a country and only him ...

Slogan Renaissance... is people's will: this slogan is also one of the best. Renaissance is what we all want, and that's what they're program is about; the renaissance project (also a very good choice). By people's will they give the impression that the program can never be achieved unless it's the will of the people and they work for it. Poster Very very very ugly poster! Terrible choice of colors! I'm aware they're using the flag's colors, but the whole poster is red and black except for one line! This is horrible! Red is blood and anger, and black is corruption and dark ages. Why? These are the worst colors they can ever use for a candidate's poster. The font is also unfriendly and uncomfortable, and although they were kind enough to write his name in white, they again chose black for 2012. How stupid is that? His smile is too weak that I can't even see it, he has this lame and weak look, one that is far from helping him winni...

Slogan With justice.... rises Egypt: This is one of the best slogans; without justice Egypt shall never rise. Justice is the highest priority, the top need for a civilized country. The campaign's definition of justice might not be the best one, but if we imagine that this slogan carries the true meaning of justice, then it's definitely the one of the best. Post The poster is almost meaningless, neither good, nor bad. The background color signifies the sky, which is not bad. His name in red is a bad choice, red signifies anger and blood, the font is OK. His look has something very uncomfortable, it is sort of a cunning look. TV Commercial None of the three commercials have anything to do with justice, they're just stupid examples of equality that should not even be said because they're too normal to be the reason to vote for someone. This is how Egypt has to be with or with without Awwa. The stupid commercials ruin the slogan. On the ground ...

Team: I have only seen parts of debates between American candidates but, comparing to these, the team has done a very good job. The debate was very well organized and the anchors did their jobs very well. Yet, it started 15 minutes later than it should have and was very highly commercialized. Also the fact that it started at 9:15 and ended after 2:00 am was very....tiring! There should be some analysis afterwards too done by some experts. Amr Moussa: I thought Amr Moussa would have done much better than that, luckily he didn't. Being a diplomatic person, he nearly didn't answer any question clearly. He was very nervous and ill-tempered and was angered very very easily many times. He was also very bumptious and snobbish and looked down (literally) to everyone. He also moved too much and made very stupid gestures. His answers to the anchor's questions were not good, but his questions to Abo El Fotooh got him many times and made him look like an Islamist who'...

Slogan Bread, freedom, social justice and We'll make their dream a reality: Khaled Ali's campaign is very poor unfortunately, so the advertising is not very professional. So I found two slogans both are revolution's chants... Sort of lack of creativity, but this is their way of proving that he's one of the revolutionary candidates. Both are nice and revolutionary and since these chants are the revolution's demands they make sense. But they could've done better with creating a new revolutionary slogan. Poster   Very simple with the flag colors. He has a look of a dreamer, this is a problem. I'd rather he looks straight to us, not down and not up. We want a realistic person, yes someone who can make dreams come true, but not a dreamer who looks to the sky and forgets to look ahead. The font of the slogan is awful! A Halloween font, very very very bad choice. Yellow is a nice, friendly color, good choice. Him not wearing a tie is a very old c...

Slogan The Powerful Egypt:  a nice slogan that gives a shot of hope. His explanation of a powerful Egypt is one that is economically, politically, scientifically and militarily powerful. One that will give power and dignity to every Egyptian. The fact that his program makes it sound like an impossible dream is not the slogan's problem. The one problem with the slogan is actually within us; the minute I read it I remember the old regime that only showed its power on its people. Yet, of course this is not what he means. Poster Choosing the color orange signifies energy which gives a feeling that his aim is hard work that will lead to the powerful Egypt, very good choice. Also having the sky and the shining sun in the poster makes you think that the sky is his limit. Choosing a scene from the revolution to say that he is a revolutionary candidate was not really needed, it's his actions, slogan and program that should say that. Plus, not every person who took par...