Corrected by Sally: "Egypt democracy activist blogs from cell"
By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer Sun May 28,
(Corrections and commentary by The AntiSocialite)
"We covered the walls of our cell with graffiti of our names and slogans and Web site addresses," Abdel-Fattah wrote one time, referring to himself and fellow imprisoned activists. "We chanted and sang and the mood was great."
The duo call their blog Manalaa, a combination of their first names.
(What duo? It hasn’t mentioned his wife, Manal Hassan, yet.)
Young, secular and anti-authoritarian, they link the blogosphere with a democracy movement demanding reform from President Hosni Mubarak , who has been in power longer than they have been alive.
It posts announcements of planned demonstrations, political commentary, even photos — with names — of plainclothes security agents notorious for beating protesters. In March, the couple used their blog to organize a sit-in, where more than 100 protesters slept in a downtown
The number of political blogs feeding Manalaa has doubled each month for the past year, Hassan said. (Again, Hassan who? Manal hasn’t been mentioned yet!)
"Instead of opening sites like Al-Jazeera or the BBC, we open Manalaa‘s blog to see what‘s going on," said Abdel-Fattah, whose boyfriend, Ahmed El-Droubi, was arrested with Alaa.
(LOTS of errors here!
1- Why would Alaa open his own page to see what’s going on when he probably hears about things before most of his readers?
2- "Abdel Fattah" is ALAA, a man, who neither has a boyfriend, nor is single.
3- Girls with boyfriends can be disowned or stoned in Egypt! Well, the Egypt I remember, anyway. And I don't think things have changed so much that it's ok to be labelled "someone's boyfriend" in the international press! Maybe I'm wrong, though! (I'm sure Forsoothsayer will say that the Egypt in my head disappeared 50 years ago...) Maybe having babies out of wedlock will soon be as popular and accepted back home as it is here in the States. Ba3d el sharr 3alena.. :(
Back to Droubi, Ahmed el Droubi is another blogger who was recently freed.
Again, Alaa Abdel Fattah (aka ‘Alaa Ahmed Seif el Islam’) is the husband of Manal Hassan. Manal + Alaa = manalaa.))
Comments
Egyptian people tend to drop family names and use father's names where Europeans (and other Arabs) would use family names.
Hassan is Manal, but it seems they edited out the part where she is introduced.
The second AbdlElFattah is Salma
being in a hurry to get a story out is something i can well relate to, but there's no point in rushing so much that the story you just got in under the wire ends up confusing people who aren't part of the situation (99% of the readers, in most cases)!
At any rate, thanks for clearing that up! :)
anyway...7aram 3aleiki...stoned!
better comment late than never i guess.