Fadfada

For the past couple of months and like every single Egyptian in the whole world I’ve been following the drastic changes that happened and still happening in my country Egypt. If someone ever told me that I would live to witness a revolution, one that resembles those I used to watch in old Egyptian movies, or that this revolution would result the stepping down of Mubarak I’d say he or she is dreaming of LaLa land, but it did happen and I’ve witnessed a great revolution. I still remember when I used to face situations where I encounter corruption and I would die to blog or tweet about it but my friends and family would worn me against it saying it could cause me trouble or put me in danger and that I’d never know who’s out there listening. Though I used be frustrated but eventually I would listen to them because deep down there was this fear clutching to my heart, fear of getting into trouble. Now and thanks to brave young men and women who stood up for themselves, for me and for all Egy...

What makes any woman a mother? Is it merely carrying a child inside her womb for 9 months? Or is it feeding a child of her breast? If you ask me I would say neither, I don’t think that these are the things that make a mother, at least not my mother. I met my mother when I was 7 years old. My biological mother died when I was six and my father re-married again after her death. I guess he thought he wouldn’t be able to handle both me and my brother on his own or he simply realized the fact that no one can ever replace a mother in a child’s life. My father married Karima, or Koki as I like to call her sometimes. Karima is an Arabic word used as an adjective to express generosity. I believe there isn’t a better word in the whole world to describe my mum than this. I can’t really remember the early days of meeting Koki, but they tell me that when I first saw her I hid behind my dad, but I was also the one started calling her mum shortly after she married him. I decided to write these lines ...

This Post is part of Kolena Laila initiative I chose to wear the Hijab when i was 15 years old. My family was against this decision and my mum tried to convince me to delay this step claiming that I am too young and when I join college and see my friends dressing up and changing hair styles every now and then I would get jealous and might take it off. But I held my ground. it was my life and I had the right to choose. Now, it has been 14 years 5 months and 15 days and i have never regretted this decision. I chose to join the Faculty of Arts and study English Literature. If you are familiar with the educational system in Egypt you would know that the Faculty of Arts is not exactly classified as one of the top faculties to join. My grades were really high and my family tried to convince me to join something else, but I loved Literature and I knew I wouldn't be comfortable studying anything else. So I held my ground. it was my life and I had the tight to choose. It has been 8 years s...

The first time I heard about Kolena Laila was through a tweet from my cousin. I was really intrigued to find out more about it. I mean, why Laila? Why not Samia, or Rawya or any other name? Kolena Laila or "We are all Laila" is a virtual initiative on the blogosphere that calls to review values and prevalent ideas related to females, and how society enacts them with no consideration of their impact on women themselves. The call here is not to propagate a certain value or culture, but it is rather a call to criticize and review our own daily behavior, with a true desire to change and purify our attitudes in life. The idea started with a group of female bloggers, and despite the fact that Kolena Laila was founded by bloggers from Egypt, the founders assure that it is for all Arab women in general, not only Egyptians. Why Laila? Simple, it is an adoption of the heroine’s name from the novel "The Open Door", written by the Egyptian novelist " Latifa El Zayyat ...

Yesterday President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed both houses of parliament and during his speech he showed his support to banning the Niqb (a veil which covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of their Hijab). Sarkozy attacked the Niqab describing it as “a sign of subservience” that suppresses women's identities and turns them into "prisoners behind a screen." What amazes me is that Sarkozy assumes that all women who wear the Niqab are forced to do so and he didn’t stop for a one minute to consider that may be … just may be some women wear it because they truly believe that it is part of their religion’s teaching and they are willingly following it. I am a Muslim woman and I don’t believe in the Niqab but I wear a scarf on my head (Hijab) that was my choice and my belief. However even though I don’t believe in the Niqab I don’t think that anyone has the right to deprive a woman from her own freedom of choice. Every woman has the right to choose what to wear...

Yesterday was the first time for me to attend the Arab Media Forum. I had a meeting at the morning but luckily I finished just in time to catch the session I was really interested in attending; “Daily Newspapers: Crisis in the West, growth in the Arab World." We have all been arguing about the death of printed media and the rise of digital and social media. Yet one year ago, The National newspaper was launched in the UAE and a couple of months ago Alrroya Aleqtisadiya newspaper did. In Egypt I honestly lost track of newspapers launched as every now and then I hear of a new one. My colleague just read that a new printed newspaper will launch in Oman. Does this look like a growth in printed media or what? So I was really looking forward to the session hoping it would shed the light on the reasons behind this growth or proving the death of printed media, especially with the prominent media figures speaking and attending. I was expecting a great debate and a heated discussi...

I have been in the UAE for two years. For the past year and six months I have been working in PR and so far I enjoy it. However, ever since I started I couldn’t help noticing that weird love/hate relationship between media and PR here. So many times I have read and heard journalists talking about how the PR industry is woeful and PR people are a mere hindrance to them. I kept quiet till I read today’s article in The National . I really liked it when Tala was talking about the ethics of journalism and said “some of us...” I liked how she acknowledged that some journalists understand true journalism and others don’t. I just wish that she did the same talking about PR because, believe it or not, there are good PR people out there just as there are bad ones. I really don’t think that Tala met or dealt with every single PR person here. I agree that PR shouldn’t be the journalist’s only source of information. But why not be one of many? I know my client’s business better than any...