Egypt posts record EGP629b primary surplus in 2024/25    EGP swings vs. USD in early Sunday trade    EGX launches 1st phone app    Egypt achieves record primary budget surplus of EGP 629bn despite sharp fall in Suez Canal revenues    Escalation in Gaza, West Bank as Israeli strikes continue amid mounting international criticism    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Resumption of production at El Nasr marks strategic step towards localising automotive industry: El-Shimy    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, UNDP discuss outcomes of joint projects, future environmental cooperation    United Bank achieves EGP 1.51bn net profit in H1 2025, up 26.9% year-on-year    After Putin summit, Trump says peace deal is best way to end Ukraine war    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Jordan condemns Israeli PM remarks on 'Greater Israel'    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, bilateral ties in calls with Saudi, South African counterparts    Egypt prepares to tackle seasonal air pollution in Nile Delta    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt, Colombia discuss medical support for Palestinians injured in Gaza    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt's govt. issues licensing controls for used cooking oil activities    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Egypt's Sisi: Egypt is gateway for aid to Gaza, not displacement    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Present and Tense: A blow to justice
Published in Daily News Egypt on 27 - 05 - 2006

I was offered the job of a justice minister in a hurry and almost took it. But Sophie, my therapist in Vienna, advised me against it. "With your design firm in Milan, a pending court case in Palermo and your frequent trips to Mogadishu, do you really think you have the time? I took her advice, but not for the reasons she mentioned.
I cannot be a justice minister. You know why? Because justice is such an illusive concept. Had there been justice in this world, everyone would be born in the sex, creed and class of their choice, and then allowed to change these periodically as their tastes developed.
Obviously, this is not going to happen. Look at the world around you. No one is happy with where they are. The Americans want to be in Iraq and the Iraqis want to be in Kuwait. The Lebanese want to be in France and the Syrians want to be in Lebanon. The Moroccans want to be in Spain and the Spanish in Tahiti. And they all have good reasons. How would I ever bring about justice? I shouldn't even try. But being an obsessive compulsive, I often do. I will give you one example.
I like the Kefaya people. I run into them often at Beano's and Cilantro, and I admire their sense of dress: Casual, nonchalant and appropriately conservative. In the few times we chatted, my infatuation by present and former dictators put them off. So now I just sip my cappuccino from a distance and memorize their faces. Last week, I noticed that none of them showed up for their usual croissant and e-mail checking. So I called Ahmad.
"What's going on? Is there a new coffee shop in town? Where has Kefaya gone? Ahmad knows everything. He locates people for me and others when he isn't hanging around the big blue trucks you see downtown quite often these days. I think he owns the trucks. Recently, I asked him if he would lend me a truck or two, personnel included, for a small job in Menya, but he demurred. "I can get my own, you know. I told him.
Now here is the reason I like Kefaya. Despite our political differences, I have respect for anyone who simply by showing up on a street corner on any given day commands the attention of thousands of men in riot-control gear. I have worked on movie sets before, and let me tell you this. The kind of deployment you've seen in Cairo lately would have taken Fellini's assistants months to prepare. Kefaya should be on my side. Together we'd be a fantastic team. But they just don't care.
I have to tell you what Kefaya has done to my boys of late. I've been working for two years now on a special program for the underprivileged children of Cairo. Someone had to do it. It's like a ghetto over there - violence and abuse at home, sexual frustration, economic hardship and low self-esteem, not healthy at all. You wouldn't want your kids to grow up there, I am telling you. So with a little money from a European fund, I started a project to enhance awareness and living standards.
The girls were given assertiveness classes, and the boys got some therapy and a couple of martial arts classes. When Ahmad told me a few months ago that he was hiring helpers, I recommended the top 10 boys in martial arts. My boys don't get to ride in the big black trucks, but they stand quietly nearby and run errands. The boys loved it. It was like being movie extras, they told me once.
Last week, three of my boys came back to the center in tears. My Kefaya friends called them "dogs of the state. Ahmad was there when it happened. He told me later that when the boys heard that particular insult, they froze in their tracks. They stood there in the middle of the road, looking at each other, forgetting to grab the man in the checkered shirt across the street. All the oppression of a heartless life in the ghettos flashed before their eyes, and months of group therapy were blown in the wind.
Now I know I haven't done enough for Kefaya. I could've supported them on the independent judiciary thing, but my loyalties, as usual, were divided. I did send them books about Pinochet and Noriega when they were taken into police custody. I do want to help out, and it wouldn't hurt Kefaya a bit to stay on my good side.
But things are really tense between us now. They've insulted my boys, using a patronizing label that shows callousness and lack of sympathy. Now my boys weigh 300 pounds each and look quite mature when they stand around shaking their bamboo sticks in the middle of a protest, but they're only 19. How would you feel if on your first real job outside the hood, someone half your size called you a dog? As I said, there is no justice in this world. And yet I've tried.


Clic here to read the story from its source.