It was an unforgettable day that honored the entire of Egypt not only journalists, with journalists flocking to defend their syndicate headquarters after being violated and stormed by police forces. May 4, 2016 will be written in the history of the Egyptian press with letters of light and will be a source of pride for journalists in future generations. Large numbers have attended the general assembly despite the siege of the police forces and thugs who verbally and physically harassed journalists, standing side by side with the police. The journalists did not back down and continued to struggle for their profession. This ugly siege gave them vigor, determination and stubbornness, and held a general assembly with great success and has taken decisions. Some will respond that police have sacrificed for the nation, it is true, of course, and the righteous martyrs deserve all appreciation and pride, but this does not justify repression and violation of the law, corruption and insulting citizens. If the police are sacrificing for the home because of the nature of their profession, the journalists also sacrificed for the nation by virtue of their profession and their consciences. They are always exposed to the risk of injury and death, imprisonment and detention; however, they never stopped sacrifices. The walls of the journalists' union overlooking the Abdel Khaliq Tharwat Street bear photos of journalists who have sacrificed their lives for the homeland. Husseini Obodeif sacrificed his life while being at the height of his youth for the homeland. He was targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood group and his camera was stolen for reveling corruption and crimes through photos he took during the constitutional declaration in front of the Ittehadeya Palace. Mayada Ashraf, a young journalist who covered the Ain Shams clashes between Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand and police on the other, stood in the middle of the battle to fall martyr for the country. Ahmed Mahmoud, who was covering the events of the January revolution and the glorious martyred after he was shot in the vicinity of Interior Ministry, leaving behind a wife and children. Tamer Abdul Rauf, who was martyred during a curfew imposed after the resolution of Aatsama «fourth and Renaissance» which is doing his job in the coverage of events. Away from Egypt, hundreds of reporters and journalists are being killed while covering wars in the volatile regions in the world, such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, it is true that the number of journalists who have sacrificed their lives in the exercise of their work does not amount to the number of policemen who sacrificed their lives, simply because this is the duty of the police and therefore they carry weapons constantly, but journalists are armed only with pen and camera, being subject to reprisals and oppression of the corrupt or detention if they publicly announced their opinions. We also give our lives and souls for the homeland although it is a profession of searching for troubles. Journalists do not trade in their blood, no one knows anything about the families of the martyrs of journalists and they did not take compensations. I wrote more than once that the major political crises in Egypt are frequently caused by the lack of political advisors. In the midst of the crisis of Regini, the country entered in the crisis of Tiran and Sanafir Islands, and then that of the journalists' union. The state is always having new crises, because unfortunately there is no rational man among you.
