What should be done about the Renaissance Dam? What should Egypt do about Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam? That was the question asked over social networks by millions of Egyptians who were divided over the options that President Mohamed Morsi and his government have concerning the dam which threatens to reduce the amount of Nile water Egypt receives. Amir Mustafa believes that Morsi should have started his presidency by solving this important issue in order to save the country's national security. “I think Morsi could have delayed his Muslim Brotherhood's plan to control the state's institutions and focus on protecting Egypt's sovereignty and resources,” he said. However, Ahmed Ali disagreed, saying the dam crisis was the result of 30 years of negligence by Mubarak's regime over the issue. “Yes, we all understand that this is Mubarak's mistake, but I think Morsi and the military have been ruling the country for over two years. Why didn't they do anything?” Mustafa asked. Mohamed Qadri talked about how Egyptian decision-makers in the government and opposition are weak and do not have the skills to make decisions related to national security. “It's enough to watch Morsi's emergency meeting with opposition groups to see the real crisis we have in Egypt: we do not have capable people running the country,” Qadri said. He asked why Morsi did not seek the help of former intelligence officers and retired Egyptian diplomats who have worked on the issue in the past. Amina Abdallah suggested that Morsi should press the US and Israel by using all the cards that Egypt has to end the crisis and at the same time try to have a good stable relationship with Ethiopia. Destroying our heritage with our bare hands Mohamed Al-Shahed wrote in his blog Cairo Observer about the demolition of a historical Islamic site with the permission of the local authorities: This week a gate that belonged to a large residential complex, which was already demolished, was bulldozed with the permission of the authorities. The demolition has caused outrage and protest by concerned citizens. The gate appears to date from sometime between the mid-18th century to the early 19th century and was located on Bab Al-Wazir Street in the heart of historic Cairo's Darb Al-Ahmar district. The building was once the home of Egypt's grand mufti (1921-1928). The demolition comes at a time when the heart of historic Cairo has been continuously under assault losing entire historic houses (typically three stories) which have been replaced by taller, higher density modern apartment blocks as tall as 10 stories. Domestic architecture, no matter how old, is rarely registered as a monument, which means that the primary elements of historic districts such as Darb Al-Ahmar are extremely vulnerable in the face of real estate speculation, typically within the informal economy sector which involves paying large sums by the developers to the authorities in order to turn a blind eye to their building frenzy. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, the official responsible for the development of the Historic Cairo project at the Antiquities Ministry, deflected the news by arguing that the gate was of no historic significance and that the demolition was completely legal. This incident raises several persistent questions which have not been answered regarding Cairo's urban development, particularly in historic areas The most pressing question is who in Egypt today determines what counts as heritage/patrimony and who decides on the categories? There are multiple governmental bodies responsible for different and often overlapping kinds of heritage often governed by outdated rigid categories which often have orientalist or colonial origin. For example, the vast and vague category of “Islamic Architecture”: What is and what is not “Islamic” architecture? This gate was determined undeserving of protection because it was not “registered as an Islamic monument”. In fact, the decorative motifs seen in this gate can be found in many residential structures from that period and they often go undocumented and dismissed because they do not easily fit into 19th century categories of Mamluk, Ottoman, Fatimid, etc. There are house gates with floral motifs, others with faces carved above the portal and others with letters or family symbols. Such diversity and architectural individuality do not interest the official institution of antiquities (governed by dated art historical categories imposed from elsewhere), because these houses are/were part of the every day and often belonged to families with no notable members. Spaces of the every day, even if centuries old and well-built and expressing innovative building craft, are not part of the record. It is shameful that over a decade into the 21st century, in a country like Egypt and a city like Cairo, which had and continues to have a high density of historic structures waiting to be adapted and incorporated into an urban economy, there is yet to emerge a sufficient system to deal with this heritage properly. Lack of imagination and corruption in peacetime are causing damage to Cairo's urban heritage at a rate that could only be matched by a natural disaster or war. All these bureaucracies within the Egyptian government have together failed to emerge with a vision for the protection and development of Egypt's historic urban centres in ways that save heritage, and allow for social continuity (no evictions) and economic prosperity. Tweets “The lives of people should not be toyed with and exposed to deep injustice for crude political purposes and spin.” @Bassem Sabry “Turkey and Egypt have in common weak political oppositions making protest against authoritarian ways seem the only viable avenue for change.” @Kenneth Roth
“No freedom of association in Egypt if government can interfere with NGO decisions or deny NGOs funds they need to operate.” @Mona Al-Attar “There's a difference between transparency and the president running through the streets confused.” @Timothy E Kaldas “If the National Salvation Front runs for elections, they really should run on impeaching Morsi. They will not lose.” @Sandmonkey “This is the state we reached about Ethiopia: Ayman Nour was discussing ways of spreading rumours of military action against Ethiopia on live TV.” @The Big Pharaoh “The only real long term safety for Egypt in Nile water resource is in closer economic cooperation with its southern neighbours.” @Salama Moussa “You have to wonder if Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood just wanted to make opposition politicians look like irresponsible idiots.” @Andrew Hammond
