Dr. Nabulo Mabaso, Deputy Medical Director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Ithembalabantu “People's Hope” Clinic in Durban expresses his satisfaction that support for marginalized communities (sex workers, men who have sex with men, and indigeneous people) was emphasized by conference organizers. However, he explains that this focus should extend to other marginalized communities and even currently isolated nations:

“There is still limited access to treatment. For example, my neighboring country, Zimbabwe, it might be politically unstable, but there are people on the ground who are suffering and because of sanctions that are being imposed funders are not going to Zimbabwe. At the end of the day, it's the lives of individuals and I hope the theme of universal access is really put into practice”.

George Kanuma lives in Bujumbura and is an activist for the France-based association Africa Gay and is a member of ANSS (National Association for HIV-Positive and AIDS patients in Burundi). He is content with the renewed emphasis on MSM (Men having Sex with Men) and sex workers at the conference (fr):

However, in some French-speaking African countries, discrimination is still very strong, he explains (fr):

“Il y a certain pays comme le Cameroun ou le Sénégal qui criminalise encore l’homosexualité [..] Il y a des cas aussi comme au Ruanda, la présidente de l’association gay et lesbienne au Ruanda ne peut toujours pas quitté son pays, parce que la police de l’immigration a pris son passeport.”

A few countries, like Cameroon or Senegal, still criminalize homosexuality. [..] There are also cases like the one in Rwanda, where the president of the LGBT association cannot exit her country because the immigration police is still holding her passport.

The Fimizore project in Madagascar was one of the recipient of the 2008 UNAIDS Red Ribbon Award. Balou, a trans-gendered sexual worker and her colleague Jeannie, are members of the project and they both weighed in on their hope and concerns for the conference. Like Kanuma, they both emphasized the need to end marginalization of sexual workers if we want to effectively fight HIV/AIDS (mg):

“Ny fanilikilhina indrindra no manankana ny MSM sy ny TDS hikarakara ny fahasalamany […] Io moa dia eo ihany ny fomba-drazana antsika malagasy, raha ohatra hoe msm dia tsy tafiditra am-pasan-drazana. Raha amin’ny autorites dia mahafa-po fa raha amin’ny societe civile, mbola mila fivoarana.”

Marginalization is what prevents MSM (men having sex with men) and TDS ( sexual workers) from taking care of their health [..] There are also the walls of traditional Malagasy culture. For instance, if you are a MSM, you will not be allowed to enter the familial cemetery (when you pass away). The official authorities have made great strides but the civil society has still a long way to go (in ending marginalization).

Finally, marginalized communities in the fight against HIV/AIDS are not only products of cultural intolerance or political agendas. They are also the result of economic hardships or plain geographical locations. In this video, on The Hub, Dr. Phillip Njemanze, in Imo State, Nigeria, explains the struggle for HIV positive people in rural areas to monitor their immune system:

“In rural areas in Imo State, CD4 testing is non-existent. This means for 3.5 million people you have only two centers that can measure CD4 count in the whole state [..] The most important thing would be, to be able to move around with the test and go where the patients are.”

Global Voices is well positioned to follow the nuances of this complex issue with authors tracking citizen media in nearly every country of the planet. This article is an attempt to place an overall narrative on the global food crisis with observations from our authors from around the world. Clicking on the links will take you to all the posts that have been referenced.

Let’s begin in the Caribbean. In Barbados, locals learn to deal with a 30% increase in flour prices, along with gasoline and diesel price jumps. Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Agriculture, denies there is a food crisis on the two islands, but locals notice an increase in chicken and flour prices. Cuba is trying a new agriculture policy of providing more land to private farmers.

Prices and shortages of food can be seen across Latin America, as many people are becoming desperate. Blame is being placed on both farmers and governments for their failure to act. Arab bloggers in Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt are also feeling the pinch, and writing about it too.

Worries continue to circulate in Cambodia that nearly 500,000 children could start missing meals due to a 20% increase in the price of rice. However, a dramatic increase in rice production may not be beyond hope in this country. Farmers here can cultivate two or three harvests per year on the same piece of land.

The latest riots

Protesters in Cairo lighting fires and throwing rocks at a barricade, April 7, 2008 - Photo by James Buck

Two days of riots broke out on April 6 and 7 in Egypt, where prices of staples have doubled since 2004 (and in some cases quadrupled). At least two people were killed and 111 people – including police – were injured (See our special coverage on Egypt's General Strike).

In Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, protesters blocked roads and burned tires, demanding the government cut taxes on key imports.

Just days later, four people were killed and 25 injured in riots in Haiti, where the prices of rice, beans, and fruit have increased 50% in the past 12 months. Less than a week after the violent demonstrations, Haiti's prime minister was ousted in a vote of no confidence.

For Natifnatal, a Haitian currently in Abu Dhabi, the food crisis offers simple math:

For those who don't even know the basics can present the equation: hunger + poverty + rising prices = demonstrations + the Prime Minister's resignation + violence, and argue that an increase in food aid would suffice to reduce hunger.

Even as a cargo plane crashed in Kinshasa on April 15 killing 75 people, Congolese blogger Du Cabiau à Kinshasa, ruminated on a more silent, less telegenic disaster facing the country: the doubling of food prices in the same week.

The effects on trade

So many countries of the developing world import a large percentage of the foodstuffs necessary to feed their populations. Rising prices means problems grow quickly. Even for food exporters, rising prices has touched a nerve. In Korea, one of the world’s most prolific rice producers, a Netizen argues that rice should be withheld from free trade talks, allowing the country to do as it seems fit with its strategic commodity.

Sometimes protectionism won’t be enough, however. As the price of rice has increased throughout Southeast Asia’s rice growing nations, governments were forced to plea for calm and pray that domestic prices would soon begin to fall. The situation is doubly bad for rice importers like the Philippines, where the poor have felt the brunt of the price increase. Indonesia, another importer, has canceled its imports due to high prices. Cambodia and Vietnam have abandoned exports. Bloggers in Malaysia report rumors of rice shortages. The Government of Brunei could move to subsidize food staples like cooking oil, flour, milk, eggs and chicken.

Milk in Japanese supermarket

For decades food prices in Japan have been in stasis, which is strange for a country that imports almost every staple other than rice. Not any longer. Price increased for the first time in more than two decades. The same goes for milk products, which consumers been paying for at the same rate for three decades. Beer, cooking oil, and soy sauce also experienced increases.

A silent killer

In Bangladesh, where people spend as much as 80% of their salaries on food, high prices for rice have hit the middle class. It’s much worse for the poor, as media reports confirm several hunger deaths. The country’s military chief raised the ire of many when he suggested people replace rice by eating potatoes.

In Tajikistan, where people already faced a winter-long energy shortage, it looks like more than 260,000 people are in need of immediate food assistance. Worries persist that this number could grow to 2 million by winter.

Talk about globalization. In Yemen, the prices of staples have risen while the cost of certain electronic goods have dropped. Kuwait has also seen price increases, no thanks to the falling U.S. dollar.

In Burkina Faso, where people felt the government sat on its hands as prices in some sectors increased more than 40% since the beginning of the year, riots sparked in several cities throughout the country in late February, resulting in plenty of property damage and more than 300 arrests.

At about the same time in Cameroon, anger over rising prices and falling wages sparked three days of violent confrontation with the military. Anger was also fed by President Paul Biya's attempt to change the constitution so he could sit for a third term.

The story is far from over. We’ll keep posting updates – so please check our Special Coverage page on the Global Food Crisis 2008 often.

Usnico´s other video stories are interesting and well done: one video tells the plight of African flood refugees, and another, well, it´s title tells it all: Fighting leaves Chad in Gruesome State.On LookingGlassLand, a varied sample of videos selected from the Internet Movie Archives can be found, including a Cameroonian storyteller at Yaoundé [FR], a promotional video for a Ugandan beauty pageant contestant [EN], and Italian photographer Carla Cinelli tells of her experience photographing woman in Burkina Faso [IT].

Nigerian VCDs at kwakoe by Paul Keller.

In many African countries, there are thriving movie industries. Such is the case with Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. Kulture Klash International presents the following video of the Nigerian Film industry organization convention, where US distribution of Nollywood films is discussed. If you are interested in knowing more about Nollywood and its videos, journeymanpictures has a documentary from 2005 where the unique and low-budget movie-making process is explained.

YouTube user rippleat uploaded the following 2 part documentary on artist Issa Nyaphaga from Cameroon. The film by Chris Hill lets the artist himself tell the story of how he learned to paint in a rural village in the traditional style, how he became a political cartoonist and was prosecuted for ignoring censors and then how he found asylum in France, where he later spoke in front of the French parliament for the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on behalf of refugees.

First, on Wednesday, February 20, protesters in Ouahigouya and Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city, marched against increasing costs of oil, sugar, soap and other staples. These marches turned violent as protesters smashed signs, targeted government offices for vandalism, including demolishing the office at the government customs agency and damaging gas stations. All told, one hundred people were arrested in Bobo. The next day, demonstrations continued in Banfora, in the country’s south western corner, where protestors also vandalized offices and some ended up burning a statue dedicated to women.

Here’s a few impressions of the demonstrations in Bobo-Dioulasso, recounted by Mrs. Guevin in Africa, a Peace Corps volunteer visiting from Benin:

[W]e noticed large groups of men congregating on the streets and determined that this must be part of the strike. The shops on the streets were all closed and locked up. The men did get rowdy at times… they refused to let cars pass through the streets and I saw some guys trying to pull down the Stop sign on the corner.  They barricaded the street with big rocks and groups of people would come running down the street as if fleeing something. At one point the air became full of a stinky odor and the waiter at our hotel insisted we move inside because they were gassing the protesters.  Luckily for us we not harmed and the street we were on was not witness to the most violent acts of the day. In other parts of town, people broke windows, and took out street lights with rocks. They also tore down a statue of the Burkinabe President.

Usually it’s Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, where demonstrations begin and then move out to other parts of the country. Even as the downtowns’ of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouahigouya were still smoldering, organizers in Ouagadougou announced a march against high prices for the city on Thursday, February 28. With the government on notice, police and military clogged the roads, protected important businesses and attempted to keep groups from congregating that morning. It was all in vain.

Here’s a very good recap of the day’s events by Burkina Mom:

By 9:30, people had started burning piles of tires and trash out in the streets near the [downtown] Rood Woko market. The usual way of getting these fires going is for the demonstrators to grab people trying to pass by on motor scooters. They are forced to watch as their gas tanks are emptied onto the barricades. The vehicle is usually returned, as long as the person hasn't protested too much about their “donation” to the cause.

At the same time, things started up in the Patte d'Oie neighborhood, near Ouaga 2000. When I write “things” I mean: destroying traffic lights, tearing down billboards (especially the fancy electronic ones), burning tires and trash in the streets, blocking the roads and throwing rocks at vehicles that try to pass by. When you get down to it, it's not all that horrible. Yes, stoplights are expensive to fix, but at least they aren't trying to harm anyone. Most of this very minor vandalism is done by students- young men mainly.

Soon after, the northern neighborhoods like Tampouey and Dapoya errupted into similar bouts of mild vandalism. Some of the demonstrators were as young as 10 years old. In fact, the news accounts and the accounts of my friends all say the same thing: the protests here were unusual because there were many very young children involved.

“[T]here seemed to be an awfully high number of riot-gear clad police around the city as David and I set out on the truck to get a few jobs done,” writes Chrisanga, who was visiting Ouagadougou.

… after ,managing to secure Senegalese visas for the 4 pax who needed them we headed off to get some diesel… as we got closer to the service station we noticed a large amount of pillars of black smoke around the city… one next to the Shell where we were headed…. closer still we saw rocks being thrown and something that looked a lot like fighting… “I think I should turn the truck around” said I to David… “Good idea” he replied… by the time we got back to the hotel there was a fair few burning tyres on the street, alot of rocks around and multitudes of army and riot police swarming around the place.

From my blog, Africa Flak, I recount a story from a friend who, by chance, returned to town right in the middle of the demonstrations.

The group came in on the Ouahigouya road…but immediately after passing the toll booth, saw “a mass of black smoke in front of us…and ahead of us was a bunch of tires people were burning.” The group decided to turn around and circumvent the city to the north and attempt to enter from a different direction. However, they were also stopped by burning tires in the middle of road. They finally entered on a dirt road where tires were burning, but gingerly drove through them. “There were lots of people standing around, but I didn’t see any violence or anything.” Near one of the barrages…there was a large post blocking the road. The group also passed a group of soldiers protecting an office of a neighborhood mayor from any violence. After dropping the group off, the driver attempted to circumvent town on the beltway called “route circulaire” past Dassasgo and Wemtenga, but was eventually blocked by rioters. Eventually, and this is third-hand, he made his way to Gounghin where he ran into other demonstrators.

In all, some 200 protestors were arrested in Ouagadougou Thursday and one reported death (but still no confirmation of that mortality).

In the aftermath of any violent protests in Burkina Faso – they take place about every 18 months or so – expatiates living here begin playing a favorite pastime: try to read between the lines of the protestors’ stated objectives to decipher their real objectives. This is where the anger of Burkinabé can be compared with people from Cameroon. Previously pointed out, both countries share the fact they are stable, former French colonies with leaders who came to power back in the 1980s. Both Presidents are nearing the end of their constitutionally mandated term limits. The 75-year-old Paul Biya and his supporters have proposed to modify Cameroon’s constitution to extend his mandate to one more seven-year term. Blaise Compaore, in power since 1987, may win one more five-year term. (Fun fact: both presidents are married to women named “Chantal.”)   

Let’s start with the stated objectives, which are easy to list, but numerous. From Girl Raised in the South, who lives in a village near Bobo-Dioulasso:

The price of goods (soap, sugar, cooking oil, gasoline) has been rising dramatically here. In my village I have heard grumblings about this. Evidently, the rumours had been spreading for days that people were going to hold a demonstration to protest the rising cost of living, or in their words, “le vie est chere” (The life is expensive).

From Under the Acacias:

The riots appear at first glance to be a popular uprising, the spark for which was recent increases in prices. We have all noticed these price rises and the word on the street accuses the new prime minister, Tertus Zongo of being behind them.

However, while steep price rises have indeed occurred recently, and the government should probably have acted earlier, all may not be as it seems. Zongo has been trying to crack down on corruption, and insisting that import taxes owed to the government – often avoided by “special arrangements”- be properly paid. This is one factor that apparently has been behind the rises.

Taxes on the wealthy are supposed to help the government pay for education and development and decrease dependence upon external aid. However, powerful and wealthy traders who offer bribes to avoid paying heavy taxes are not happy that their scams are being scuppered.

The day before the Ouagadougou protests, February 27, government ministers met the press to attempt to divert public anger about instituting new taxes, the recurring theme of high prices of foods and goods (along with government inaction) and to hopefully head-off the demonstration. The ministers pointed out that food prices continue to rise around the world and they announced to fight these increases with a three-month suspension of customs duties on such goods as powdered milk, rice, sugar, salt and pastas, costing the government roughly $6.6 million in revenue. 

Burkina Mom pointed out that more than a few saw through the limits of this three-month moratorium.

But the government plan for peace and order was defeated because- guess what? It looks like [Politician and demonstration organizer] Thibault Nana (and probably lots of other smart folks) know how to read. Foiled again, Blaise and fat cat pals! Nana and others no doubt listened to the radio, read the newspapers and immediately realized that the Burkinabé people were being thrown a bone. An insultingly tiny rotten bone.

 In Africa Flak, I had a somewhat different take on opposition politicians during an emergency meeting of political parties to try to address the issue of high prices:

As the country’s political parties met yesterday to hash out an agreement to bring down prices, Ouagadougou’s Mayor Simon Compoare was manning the barricades. A photo in the local paper showed the city’s diminutive mayor with a cell phone in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other, surrounded by security police and presumably barking out orders. When a pair of local reporters approached him for a quote, he barked: It will have to be later, I don’t have the time.

It provided an interesting contrast between a somewhat distressed Compaore out on the streets and a meeting that look like it could have taken place at some Disney World hotel.

The governmental meeting – and the photo of Simon – showed to me the divide between those in power (including those standing next to men with guns) and those without power seemed about as insurmountable as could be in its present iteration. For all the bluster from the opposition about how the government had done nothing but watch prices rise these past few months, where were other parties and their ideas even two weeks ago. Even after last week’s riots, ideas were scarce. Like administrators, they only jumped during a time of crisis. Is that what we would call exhibiting good leadership?

English-language Bloggers living in Ouagadougou noticed the alacrity at which workers tidied up and repaired the downtown district. In the outlying neighborhoods, however, where damage was most likely worse because of less police presence, you can still see the scars of burnt tires, smashed stoplights and broken signs.

It’s too early to tell the residual effect these demonstrations will have on the political culture of Burkina Faso. However, in the short term at least, few people and few members of the local media are happy about the role played by the security services during the demonstration in Ouagadougou. Burkina Mom argues that their behavior made the situation worse:

The police arrived and made a show of force. The demonstrators threw stones. The police replied with tear gas. Cecile (our cook) says it was terrible.- the CRS in trucks, chasing down the people (many of them children!) as they fled the gas. The worst thing was that the huge clouds of gas affected even the people who stayed home, closed up in their courtyards.

It seems that this very violent reaction (approved by the mayor of Ouagadougou, who was on the scene) set off a much more violent chain of protest- The parking lots of two government offices were immediately attacked and many vehicles destroyed. Some bank builings and other office buildings were attacked. Lots of other cars and small stands were targeted.

As the city turned to calm almost immediately, a demonstration post mortem from Africa Flak:

Someone told me that if word gets out that the police abused some of the 200 people who had been arrested; they will start protesting against them. This is in opposition against the minister of security’s speech last night commending the work of the police. The front page of one newspaper showed a soldier grabbing a young protester; a second picture showed another being pushed down in the back of a truck by a bunch of riot police. Let’s just say he has a look of fear on his face. It’s hard to tell if there is another person already lying in the bed of the truck.

One group that may think of striking: Students. A majority of the demonstrators appeared to be young, and they may have been the targets of police brutality. Even if not, the students are much better organized than most other groups. And, at 16,17, 18, who didn’t mind a day off from school?

So far, at least six and as many as two-dozen people have been killed. Police have been firing tear gas at protesters, sometimes dropping canisters of gas from helicopters.

In Bamenda, a city in northwestern Cameroon, protesters pursued by paramilitary police reportedly used school children as human shields.

As the crisis mounts, Cameroonian bloggers and their readers, many writing from abroad, express concern for loved ones and debate the country's political future.

Le Blog du Prési, written by a Cameroonian man living in France, writes in a post entitled “The Hour is Grave“:

C'est par ce titre qu'un ami intitulait le mail qu'il nous adressait ce lundi. Et pour cause, de nombreux affrontements et blocages paralysent l'activité dans les principales villes camerounaises, Douala en particulier. La raison à tout ceci, le prince veut modifier la constitution pour s'offrir quelques années de plus de règne, en meme temps, il asphyxie la population obligeant les transporteurs à se mettre en grève et le mélange de tout ceci donne un cocktail explosif qui a malheureusement un effet boomerang parce qu'handicapant encore plus ce peuple déjà bien mis à mal.

A reader named Edouard, currently in Cameroon, responds, saying the crisis is far more widespread and serious:

“L'heure est grave”. Mes frères, vu du Cameroun, le mot n'est n'est pas fort. Ce n'est pas seulement Douala quio chauffe. L'Ouest, le Sud-Oues, le Nord-Ouest et Yaoundé sont en ébullition.

La tension est montée d'un cran ce jour dans la capitale. Et figurez vous que c'est actuellement l'armée (les militaires) qui assurent le maintien de l'ordre. Il y a eu du feu un peu partout, et surtout à Mokolo et Tsinga. Même la poste centrale a été paralysée.

L'affaire a dépassé la grève des transporteurs terrestres. Je me tape environs 30km en aller et retour pour être au bureau. Mais depuis hier, notre journal n'est même pas imprimé. C'est par Internet qu'on essaye d'informer.
Les lendemains sont incertains.

Another reader, PrincesseDi, writes that people in Cameroon have simply had enough, and expresses concern about her family and friends:

Je ne dors plus, je pense a ma famille, mes amis, tout ces etres chers restes au pays. Que vont-ils devenir? Tendons-nous vers in genocide? J'ai vraiment peur pour le Cameroun… Les populations en ont marre! 6000 frs la bouteille de gaz, 100frs le litre d'huile de palme, 350 frs le morceau de savon, 20 000 frs le sac d'engrais, plus de 600 frs le litre de carburant…. Pour quels salaires? Et Son Excellence de dire “l'ordre regnera par tous les moyens”

Ou va-t-on?

On Rue89, an independent, participatory news website in Paris, a reader named Azza writes that not even France's support of Biya may be enough to save him:

Encore un dinosaure de la Françafrique qui tente d'imposer par la force la continuation de sa démocrature à une population qui n'en peut plus du népotisme et des élections truquées.

Jusqu'à présent, il a toujours pu compter sur le soutient de Paris pour faire des bras d'honneurs répétés à sa population qui n'ose plus rêver de sa liberté.

Anglophone readers at Dibussi Tande's blog, Scribbles From the Den, were optimistic that the unrest might help usher in a long-awaited political renewal.

The Southwesterner:

At long last the awakening is taking place and guess what, my phone conversations yesterday morning and evening reveal the kumbaya happened in all the four corners of The Cameroons. From the North, South, East and West, what is to come is still in the making. The winner will be all of Cameroons children.

Innocent Ndifor Mancho:

Today the sons of Cameroon have realised that they need to take their destiny into their own hands. The essingan brotherhood and its band wagon of political charlatans for decades have manipulated elections, constitutions, human rights, justice. they have manipulated the police and the army, the students and the teachers. they have manipulated the youths and the elders. Of course, they forgt the very old wisdom that u can only fool all the people some of the time.

Nga Adolph:

It is time for opposition forces in Cameroon to make sweeping political capital out of this,for if we miss the “train” this time around all hopes of bringing about the much needed reforms will be lost irredeemably.Make no mistake,the momentum must increase and accelerate to engulf the whole nation just like a tide sweeps through every nook and cranny of a beach.

Mona El Shazli [1], started her 11th of February episode from “El Ashera Masa’an” with this phrase:

“By the referee’s Koffi Coudja’s whistle, he didn’t –only- mark the end of the match, but an open invitation for thousands and thousands of Egyptians to go to the streets and celebrate the victory. And let the Egyptians live a night of mere happiness, like they’ve never been happy for so long.
And what really astonished me not how the Egyptians were happy, but how other Arab countries were as happy as well. A splendid night indeed, with such unity of feelings all around.”

Under the title “Reflections of the blessing of consolidation with Gaza” [2], Arabawy extracted a part from a BBC article:

“Defending champions Egypt won a record sixth Africa Cup of Nations with a fully-deserved victory over Cameroon. The only goal of the game came in the 77th minute when Mohamed Aboutrika pushed home a Mohamed Zidan pass after a mistake by Cameroon’s Rigobert Song.”

Adfortiori described in his blog post “Masr! Masr! Masr!” the reactions that followed the match on the streets:

“For a country that is so deeply impoverished and repressed, constant frustration gave way to almost inexpressible joy. The girls on my floor sobbed uncontrollably, and so did some of the men on the street. Cars stopped willingly for young men bearing flags, drums, and flaming aerosol cans. Voices, hands and horns combined flawlessly in the same universal 1, 2, 3 and 4 rhythm and vocabularies were reduced to “Mabruk” “Masr!” and “Oh lay, Oh lay” no matter how comfortable you were with Arabic.”

Zeinobia -as well- commented under the title “We are the champions”:

“The sounds of the horns began to be heard , I swear if I have energy I would go to the street in the car with my camera. Today Egypt will stay in happiness till dune. Hard luck for the Cameroon , they played great still people of the Cameroon forgive but we need this victory more than you , we need this joy , this happiness.”

Just to mention, this is Egypt’s sixth time to clinch the tournament's title, and the second in a row after last year's win in Egypt. The this forced The Arabist –like many other- to question:

“But is anyone competent enough to explain why the team always screws up when it comes to qualifying for the world cup?”

Shaheda, or the Myrter wrote :

اشار منتخب مصر انه سيتم التبرع بجزء من مكافأة الفريق اثر فوزه لبناء مسجد في كوماسي عاصمه غانا” حسب معلوماتي الضعيفه رياضيا ” .. وحسب ما اظن سيكون اول مسجد يبنى في كوماسي … جزاهم الله خير الجزاء …

“The Egyptian national team hinted that part of its reward would be directed towards building a mosque in Kumasi. And as far as I know, that would be the first mosque there. God bless them. “

Arab bloggers joined in the celebrations too.

From Moroco:
Kaoutar, under the title “Boss, shoof, Masr bte3mel eh!” or “Look, Learn from what Egypt is doing” wrote :

“Compared to many other teams – and I wouldn’t exclude the Moroccan national team – the Egyptians have proved that mastering the game itself is not the only prerequisite for a squad to become champion. Nor is it the abundance of financial resources. The team spirit that reigns has a real magic effect. Look how respectful they are towards each other and towards their coach and how united they are even in the way they thank God after each goal.
And then look how ruthless they are during the whole match. The way they play makes you feel that they truly care! I am not writing poetry here, but I did see the Egyptian legendary “namoutou namoutou wa ta7ya Masr” (we would die to give life to Egypt) dominating the game during yesterday’s match.”

From Jordon:
Roba, wrote under “On Winning”:

“And so this year, the Iraqis won the Asian Cup and the Egyptians won the African Cup. The commentator yesterday was going crazy over that. Well, mabrook to both the Iraqis and the Egyptians, who have both finally given us Arabs something to enjoy. I wish I captured the energy at the little corner cafe in Shmesani as the watchers yelled, shouted, and threw advice at the television, until everyone finally jumped and started clapping and cheering when Abou Treika put in that winning goal. I hope they both have good luck at the World Cup qualifiers.”

From Yemen:
Omar Barsawad wrote a post with the title “A well deserved win for The Pharaohs”:

“Last evening, with a little help from a mistake by the Cameroonian captain — Rigobert Song — defending champion Egypt defeated Cameroon 1-0 and won the trophy of the Africa Nations Cup for the sixth time! A record of the continental tournament. The Egyptians, as always, were: controlled, organized and continuously kept attacking. And they won despite being infancied to win in Ghana.
What is most admirable and applaudable of the Egyptians, is that — unlike all major soccer teams in Africa and the Arab world who depend on expensive, foreign coaches — Egypt has one of their own as the coach: the shrewd Hassan Shehata. Shehata has succeeded in winning the African Nations Cup after failing three times as a player for his country. Congratulations to Shehata and to Egypt! Hopefully Egypt will take their dominance and keep their momentum into the build up towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Hopefully, a team from Africa will win the cup — then.”

For Palestine things were totally different. For what Abo Tarika did, showing his inner T-shirt written on it “Sympathy with Gaza” meant something even deeper than what he really was thinking. And it –really- turned him into “a hero” in everyone’s eyes.

Noura Yunis, an Egyptian blogger, started the talk with a thank you to her Palestinian friends who congratulated her last night after the match, and mentioned a piece of news from El Jazeera:

قناة الجزيرة: عشرات الفلسطينيون تجمعوا مساء أمس بعد المباراة أمام مكتب التمثيل المصري في غزة، والجانب الفلسطيني من معبر رفح، رافعين أعلام مصر

“Hundreds of Palestinians gathered yesterday after the match in front of the Egyptian representation office to the Palestinian national authority, raising the Egyptian flags.”

But that was not everything.
Nawara Negm, an Egyptian blogger, wrote two posts - one immediately after the match, with only one word and a picture..

“Abu tarika”.. and the picture says “We are all Abu Tarika” for young Palestinian students in their schools.

Later on she explained -in another post- why she cried when she saw those other two very moving pictures.

Palestinians kissing the famous picture of Abu Tarika.. with the “Sympathy with Gaza” written on his T-shirt.

We Love you Egypt.

And from Palestine, Hiyam confirmed the above image stating:

“I have never before seen the Egyptian, the Pharos football team so strong - and never before I have seen such a life spirit and such remarkable people as the Palestinians - they will never, never give up the struggle. The Palestinians on Gaza Strip celebrated and encouraged the Egyptian football team to win, in the finales between Egypt and Cameroon, in the Football Championship of the African Nations, on February 10, 2008.
At a time when the Israelis have besieged Gasa Strip, and after the closure of the wall erected by the Israelis in 2005,between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, Palestinian football fans was carrying posters depicting the Egyptian football player, Mohammed Abo Tarika, in his world-famous T- Skirt, with the words ” Sympathize with Gaza”. written on the inside of the T-Skirt..”

A well deserved victory. A well deserved best goal keeper for “Esam El Hadary”, A well deserved best player in 2008 African Cup of Nations for “Hosni Abd Rabou” [3] and a well deserved thank you goes to the man of the match “Abu Tarika” for his playing and his respectable way of expressing his opinions, despite how Google removed Abu Trika’s “Sympathize with Gaza” images from the internet.

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[1] Mona El Shazli: A young female Egyptian presenter, who is famous for her talk show “El Ashera Masa’an” or 10pm. The show discusses daily local affairs. Al Shazli proved to be a great success because of her knowledge, and simple way of presenting.
[2] Arabawy was hinting tp the moment when Egyptian footballer Abo Tarika showed his T-shirt with the text “Sympathize with Gaza”, in the Sudan Vs. Egypt match during the African Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008.
[3] Both “Esam El Hadary” and “Hosni Abd Rabou” are players in the Egyptian national football team.
[*] you can see a few more photos in here: http://baki-neko.livejournal.com/72265.html