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Egypt and Algeria: Much More Than a Football Match

Tarek Amr · 19:11 · Middle East & North Africa

lingua → mg · es · fr · bn

Who would have believed that a football match could cause such tension between two nations? But the truth is, the tension between Egypt and Algeria has reached an unexpected level. Many bloggers believe that the match has nothing to do with the trouble on the streets now and like me, many are really shocked that some of the well known media outlets, have misunderstood the whole affair - they still believe that supporters of the national teams of each country are demonstrating and fighting each other because of the result of a match. Here's a breakdown of how the situation escalated - in the words of bloggers.

After the match that took place in Egypt, Algerian newspapers reported that Algerians had been killed (which has been denied later on by the Algerian ambassador in Cairo). Those rumors caused several Egyptian sites in Algeria to be attacked; Egypt Air's office was damaged. More than 1,500 Egyptian workers were also reportedly attacked and taken as hostages in riots; also, the Egyptian Embassy had to be surrounded by Algerian security forces for protection.

Ihab Omar wrote in his blog El Journaljy about those rumors:

ثم اتت الطامة الكبرى، حينما رأى الاعلام الجزائري ان الادعاء بوجود وفيات في المبارة سوف يدعم الموقف الجزائري بطلب اعادة المباراة، خاصة ان ملف المباراة تحت التحقيق بالفعل في الفيفا، و هكذا خرجت الصحف الجزائرية تتحدث عن نعوش جزائرية وصلت الي مطار الجزائر قادمة من مصر، جثث المشجعين الجزائريين المساكين الذين طاردهم المصريين الهمج في كل شوارع مصر

Then came the catastrophe, when the Algerian media claimed that some of their supporters were killed. They thought that by doing this, they can ask for the match result to be canceled, especially that this match was thoroughly monitored by the FIFA. The Algerian newspapers kept talking about Algerian coffins that landed in their airport coming from Egypt. Those coffins, they claimed, carried the bodies of the poor Algerian supporters who were attacked by the barbarian Egyptians on all the streets in Egypt.

Later on, the Algerian ambassador denied that any Algerian was killed in Egypt. But as Inferad wrote in his blog, it seems that rumors and the waves of violence after them were unstoppable.

وأشار السفير حجار إلى أن ما أشاعته صحيفة “الشروق” الجزائرية يوم الأحد عن مصرع سبعة جزائريين بالقاهرة عقب المباراة عار تماما من الصحة، مؤكدا أن هذا الأمر لا يمكن أن يحدث دون علم السفارة، منوها في الوقت ذاته بوجود إصابات بين عدد من الجزائريين نتيجة للتدافع أثناء خروجهم من استاد القاهرة عقب المباراة
يأتي ذلك في الوقت الذي أكدت فيه الخارجية المصرية تعرض العاملين في عدة شركات مصرية بالجزائر لإصابات واعتداءات جماهير جزائرية تقدر بالآلاف، جراء الإشاعات التي روجت لها الصحف الجزائرية لها عقب المباراة

Mr Hajjar, the Algerian ambassador in Egypt, has stated that what “El Chorouk” has published about the death of seven Algerian supporters in Cairo after the match is totally untrue. He also added that something like that can never happen without the embassy's knowledge, however some Algerians were wounded due to their rush out of Cairo Stadium after the match.
After that, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that many Egyptians who work in Algeria were attacked by thousands of Algerians who were driven by those rumors, which were spread by the Algerian newspapers.

During, and after the match in Cairo, the tone of the Egyptian blogosphere was still calm. Bloggers like Nile Wise wrote, how it's just a football match, and people should not over react:

مباراة كرة القدم بين الفريق المصرى والجزائرى تحولت وبشكل سخيف الى مايشبه اعلان الحرب بين الدولتين ,فالمباراة مهما كانت اهميتها للفريقين فانها فى النهاية مجرد مباراة نعلم جميعا أن مصر لم تتأهل لكأس العالم من 20 عام والجزائرلم تتأهل منذ 24 عام

The football match between Egypt and Algeria has been transformed into a declaration of war between the two countries. It's just a football match regardless of its importance to the two teams, especially that we all know that Egypt hasn't qualified for the World Cup for the previous 20 years, and Algeria hasn't qualified for the past 24 years.

And blogs, like Inferad, believed that it was just the media in the two countries that has to be blamed. He asked people in the two countries not to believe everything they read and hear:

لا تصدق كل مايقال لك عن اعمال عنف ضد المصريين فى الجزائر ولا عن قتل الجزائريين فى شوارع القاهرة ..نعم هناك حالة احتقان يفتعلها الاعلام المتطرف بمساندة حكومات فاسدة وفاشلة هنا وهناك ..حكومات لا تعبر عن الشعوب بل استولت على السلطة بالقوة وتحاول الهاء الشعوب بمباريات الكرة والافلام العارية والصحافة الداعرة

Don't believe everything written about Egyptians being attacked in Algeria, or Algerians being killed in Cairo. Yes, there are bitter feelings created by the media and welcomed by the corrupt governments here and there - governments that came to power by force, and they want to drive people's attention to football, nudity, and tabloid newspapers.

Meanwhile, other bloggers like Al Journaljy, admitted that there may be some violence acts that took place in each country against the fans of the other:

في مباراة الذهاب التى اقيمت بين مصر و الجزائر هنالك في التصفيات الجارية حالياً، تم قذف اتوبيس المنتخب بالحجارة في شوارع الجزائر

During the match that took place in Algeria, the bus that was carrying the Egyptian team was pelted by stones in the streets of Algeria.

He then continued:

سهر الجماهير محدثين أكبر قدر من الضجيج و العربدة اسفل نوافذ اللاعبيين المصريين حتى لا ينعمون بالراحة والنوم لمباراة اليوم التالى

The Algerian fans spent the night making noise near the residence of the Egyptian players for them not to be able to sleep or take rest.

He also admitted that the Egyptian fans weren't any better than their Algerian counterparts, and that they almost did the same deeds before the match that took place in Cario.

و لنصل الي المحطة الاخيرة، الي مباراة السبت الماضى، بالطبع كان هنالك تجاوزات جرت من الطرف المصرى

And it comes to last Saturday's match, for sure there were abuses from the Egyptian side.

And that's what prompted Daily Barid write the following:

هناك أمر مؤكد بشأن أعمال الشغب من الجانبين المصري و الجزائري فهم ليسوا ملائكة والكل يعلم هذا ,ولكن من يفصل في هذه الأعمال هي السلطات وليس أحد آخر و يجب أن تتحمل السلطات مسؤولياتها الكاملة إذا كان هناك وفيات كما أشيع ولا أتمنى ذلك فالوحيد المسئول عن هذا الأمر هو القضاء و التعامل يكون كالتعامل مع أي قضية إجرامية ودون التوسع إلى أمور أخرى يجب على السلطات في كلى البلدين محاسبة جميع الوسائل الإعلامية غير النزيهة و التي ساهمت بشكل فاضح و شرير في إلهاب مشاعر الحقد بين أفراد الشعبين

For sure there was violence from the Egyptian and the Algerian parties. They aren't saints, and everybody knows that. But it's the governments who are responsible for dealing with those acts and not anyone else. If there were killings, than I hope that's only the Judicial system that should deal with it, and it has to deal with it as a normal criminal case only. The governments of the two countries should punish all those unethical media outlets that helped in creating such tension between the two peoples.

In fact all the above incidents can be considered as an introduction to what happened in Sudan last Wednesday. The Egyptian and the Algerian football teams were to play there one final match in order to decide the team that will qualify for the World Cup that will be held in South Africa next year.

Some bloggers were expecting violence acts against the Egyptian fans in Sudan. And that's why Lokmet Eish called for security forces to protect the Egyptian players and fans there:

بعد أخبار صحيفة الخبر الجزائرية المفبركة والكاذبة
مطلوب حماية أمنية خاصة للفريق القومى المصرى،وللجماهير المصرية المرافقة

After the fake news that were published in the Algerian newspapers, Al Khabar, special security forces are required to protect the Egyptian players and fans.

And the Sudanese did their best to secure the match with about 15,000 soldiers. But it turned out that even such a huge number of security forces was not enough. Zeinobia wrote about what happened in Khartoum in her blog:

Yesterday many Egyptians slept earlier in sadness after our defeat against Algeria, it is a game and we know we could lose and it is not the end of the world but while they were sleeping many Egyptians all over the world kept awake till the early hours of morning watching the night were our fans in Khartoum were being chased in the streets by crazy Algerian thugs if I may say.
Thousands of Egyptians have spent their night in fear hiding either in hotels or in restaurants or in Egyptian companies HQ in Khartoum or even in the houses of Sudanese for fear they would be killed on the hands of the Algerian thugs brought by military Algerian planes.
According to testimonies these Algerians in the Sudanese stadium were not the regular Algerian fans we used to see , they did not even sing their famous “1,2,3 Algerie”. They were professional thugs who emptied the markets of Um Darman from knives ,Swiss knives and swords for complete three days. Of course we have been warned but we did not think it would reach like this especially we have lost. Already for the record many Egyptians did not go for fear of something similar would happen.
The Algerian thugs chased our fans buses and cars with stones and bottles , several Egyptians have been injured for real. The Khartoum airport seems to be I do not know what kind of word to use , may be poor despite the economy there is booming ,really booming.
The whole night the country listened to terrifying calls from Sudan coming from celebs , journalists, MPs and regular fans who trapped in the streets of Khartoum for hours and did not know where to go.

She also wrote about the Egyptian fan who lost her eye due to this incident, and compared it to what happened 20 years ago when an Algerian football player caused another Egyptian fan to loose his eye too:

You must know that an Egyptian Citizen called Marwa Abdel Karim has lost her eye , it seems that there is something about eyes and Algerians from 20 years Baloumi did the same thing to another Egyptian citizen in 1989 too.

Also Bani Adam Maa Waqf El Tanfeez wrote here about what happened in Sudan. He also wrote about the videos published online that warned the Egyptians from going there, and those showing Algerian fans with knives in their hands:

أولا أعتذر عن سوء فهمي للموضوع و قيامي بمبادرة تعمل على نبذ التعصب و للأسف كتبت عنها الجرائد الجزائرية .. مما يجعلني أشعر بالعار الآن
لا أعرف كيف لم أصدق كلامهم .. فقد شاهدت بعيني فيديو أسمه ( تحذير لكل مصري ) يقول فيه كل ما سوف يحدث و أنهم سوف يرسلون بلطجيه و لصوص و مسجلين خطر للانتقام من المصريين
بعد فهمي للموضوع أري أن الحكومة الجزائرية و سفيرها في مصر مشارك في المجزرة التي حدثت

I am really sorry, because I misunderstood the whole thing and called for an initiative to stop the violence between us and the Algerian newspapers wrote about it. I really feel sorry for that now.
I don't know how I didn't believe what they said. I saw one of their videos [on YouTube] called “Warning for every Egyptian”, where it stated everything that was going to happen and that they were planning to send armed criminals to take revenge on Egyptians.
Now I see that the Algerian government and its ambassador participated in the massacre.

He then continued:

أرسلت مصر خير أبنائها لمشاهدة المباراة لإضفاء نوعا من السلام و الحب ..
فمن في الوطن العربي كله ؟ لا يسمع محمد فؤاد ؟؟ من في الوطن العربي كله لا يحترم الفنانة فردوس عبد الحميد . من الوطن العربي كله لم يضحك على كوميديا الفنان احمد بدير ؟؟ و غيرهم و غيرهم
أنهم رموز مصر و رموز الوطن العربي كله
بينما أرسلت الجزائر أبنائها من قاطعين الطرق و مسجلين الخطر و غيرهم و نقلتهم على قواتها الحربية ؟؟ كما أكدت وسائل الإعلام أمس أن الجزائر كانت تستخدم الطائرات الحربية ؟؟؟
أذن الجزائر تكره مصر ؟؟
نعم
الجزائر تكره مصر …. الجزائر أعلنت الحرب و نحن كنا نقول وردة لكل جزائري
هل رأيتم شعب يتصرف بساذجة مثلا !! بالطبع لا

Egypt has sent the cream of it's society to watch the match, as a call for love and peace.
Who in the Arab world doesn't listen to Muhammad Fouad [an Egyptian singer], or doesn't respect Fardous Abdel Hameed [an Egyptian actress], or didn't laugh at Ahmed Bedeir's comics. And many many others.
They are pan-Arab idols.
While Algeria on the other hand has sent its warlords and criminals who were transported by military jets.
So, it's clear that Algeria hates Egypt. Yes, Algeria hates Egypt, and had declared war on us, while we kept on saying a rose for each Algerian.
Have you ever seen idiots like us before? Sure, no.

And now it's official, the media, people in the streets, and the Egyptian government are all mad over what happened in Sudan.

Zeinobia wrote here about the reactions of Egyptian officials:

Egypt has summoned our Egyptian Ambassador in one of the strongest move up till , one of the major points that our relations are from bad to worse with Algeria rapidly
The Algerian Ambassador is no where to be found in Egypt , I think he is starting to pack his stuff.
The security of the Algerian Embassy in Brazil St. in Zamalak is competing the security measures of The U.S , Israel and Denmark Embassies.
There have been calls to attack the Embassy since early morning in the facebook beside calls to
The Egyptian football association has issued an official statement rejecting and condemning the attack on our fans , it is expected that we will report to the FIFA
The EFA has withdrew from the North Africa football association
An Egyptian cinema production company “ The Arabic company for cinematic production and distribution” has announced that it is going to boycott Algerian festivals.

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Taiwan: Science park expansion dispute

vergilyeh · 14:41 · East Asia

lingua → bn

Recently, the Executive Yuan in Taiwan has passed a bill in favor of Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) fourth stage expansion. The construction plan has drawn the attention of ecologists and caused heated discussion in the Taiwan blogosphere.

Jeremy explains the problem of the construction plan in a blog post “They Don't Care About Us”:

中科四期落腳彰化二林，其附近是有台灣米倉之稱的稻米重要產銷專區，濁水溪的水資源更是灌溉出全台數一數二的西螺與溪湖果菜市場，彰雲兩縣的沿海更是有產值數十億的養殖漁業，包括外銷的台灣鯛與著名的王功牡蠣等。中科四期的廢水排放設計草率，可能讓沿海養殖漁業全毀，蔬果稻米染毒，縣民五次北上陳情，卻換來環評委員會擱置爭議，仍是有條件通過中科四期開發案，…

Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) fourth stage expansion project is located in Erlin,Changhua . However, the area is also known as “The Bread Basket of Taiwan”, which is famous for its quality rice. Nearby, Jhuoshuei River supports the two biggest vegetables and fruit markets, Siluo and Sihu Markets. The haphazard design of water treatment system in Central Taiwan Science Park will very likely ruin the aquaculture along Changhua and Yulin County coastline which generates billions of NT dollars annually. The industrial water will also contaminate farmland and waters that nourish Taiwan tilapia fish and Wanggong oysters.

Citizens from the affected areas visited Taipei five times to explain their situation to the authorities. But the Advisory Council on the Environment Environmental Impact Assessment Subcommittee decided to put aside the disputes and approve the Central Taiwan Science Park fouth stage expansion project with some conditions.

As the driving force behind the expansion of of CTSP is the myth of I.T industry, blogger Munch points out that the industry will not save Taiwan's economy, on the other hand the current mode of production will result in a crisis:

中科四期的問題，不是通過與阻擋的戲局，它不是開始，也不會是最終，因為台灣高科技產業，其實只是高級代工產業，權充國際生產鍊的高等加工廠。當無法在設計與行銷創造獨特，依賴產品代工的生產，在科技產業低利潤的年代，只能不斷擴廠，開發更多的科技園區，以量能來彌補不足，然後在高產都無法創造利潤，最後就是移轉投資、整廠遷移，留下的是已遭破壞的土地。

The problem concerning CTSP is more than whether to approve the construction or not. That won't solve the problem. The so-called high technology industry in Taiwan is now playing the role of sub-contractor for the international production chain. When they fail to sell their original designs, they can only produce for others. Now that high tech products' profit rate is getting low, they can only rely on expansion. They have to build more Science Parks in order to increase their production capacity. However, when they fail to make profit by increasing their productivity through expansion, they will shut down their plants and reinvest their money elsewhere, leaving a ruined land behind.

In order to campaign against the CTSP expansion, a group of young people set up awebsite and launched a photo signature action.

However, in response to the call for a peaceful march against the CTSP 4th project a farmer, Oulisan（歐力上）, which means “an old guy” in Japanese and Taiwanese, asked if the young organizers were ready to practice an alternative way of life:

我是一個中年彰化農民，坐四望五之年，心中一直有一個疑惑，每一個父母希忘自己的孩子書念得好，將來有競爭力，可以進入高科技廠就業(就是你們反對的對象)，有一個穩定的收入，有一個平安幸福的一生，幾乎沒有人希望自己的孩子回家務農，因為工作辛苦收入少得可憐，這是父母的看法。

I’m a farmer in Chunghwa. I’m forty something and therefore understand why every parents want their children to focus on their studies. They hope their children to be more competitive in the job market and find their way to high tech companies - to have a stable job and a happy life ever after. Nobody wants their kids to come back home and become a farmer because farming demands hard work and has little income. This is parents' rationality.

是的，農村不快樂，當你們年輕人響應「聲援農村」行動時，有沒有想過，自己將來是回家務農還是投入其他收入較穩定的職場？你們的熱心關懷自身所處的土地，歐力上我百分之百支持，但是如果你不想回歸農村，又基於環保理念反對產業，將來台灣將空有荒廢的土地，而沒有產業，身為未來台灣社會舞台主角的你們，將如何自處？

Yes, the farmers are not happy. When you young people launch the campaign to support agriculture, have you ever thought about your own choice in the future? will you choose to work in a farm or prefer to have a stable job? I fully support your love and care for our land. But, if you oppose industrial development due to ecological reasons, while at the same time, you don’t want to become a farmer. The land in Taiwan will be empty without agriculture and without industry. As the future key actors of the Taiwan society, how will you position yourself?

This is indeed a critical question for the young activists. In fact some young people have decided to choose farming as a way of life in the past few years. Meanwhile, ecological groups has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the construction may lead to the lowering of the underground water levels and ground sinking. GVers in Taiwan will also continue to keep a close eye on these issues.

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Poland: Catholics Propose Adding Cross to National Emblem

Sylwia Presley · 00:45, November 21st, 2009 · Eastern & Central Europe

lingua → es

The recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Soile Lautsi, who was offended by crucifixes displayed in her child's school in Italy, states:

The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities… restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions.

The Polish parliament, however, has decided [POL] to continue allowing handing out crosses in Polish classrooms and on other public premises. And a Polish association of Catholics, Unum Principium, has also proposed including the symbol of the cross in the national emblem of Poland. Currently, the emblem has a white eagle in a golden crown on red background, but Krzysztof Zagozda, the association's spokesman, refers to the national emblem from 1927, when the eagle's crown had a cross incorporated on top of it. He explains the group's proposal [POL]:

Including cross in national symbols is important for patriotic reasons. For many Polish citizens it expresses separateness of a kind or fight for independence. Hence why we need to restore it.

Image source: Wikipedia

This proposal has generated over 500 reactions on the forum of Poland's main daily, Gazeta.pl.

Maruda.r questions the above statement [POL]:

It's not entirely right, as Polish eagles were wearing different crowns: […] Emblems, coats of arms change - they reflect certain status, which is not there any more. We might as well reach out for the chicken placed on coins in Piast times.

Feurig59 states [POL]:

Carry the crosses in your hearts. Not everything has to be shown off - worn off symbols, whose meaning is carried by very few in this country, but everyone is scrubbing and polishing their ‘gods', so everyone could see how strongly they feel about ‘tradition' and what a good Pole and Catholic they are. Makes me sick:(

Michelange75 points out [POL]:

As a Catholic I say - No. Those people do not understand that this leads to antagonisms within Polish society and a loss of trust in the church for many Poles. Are we to experience the mistake of Western countries, where churches stand empty. That is what those chauvinists and pseudo-Catholics want. If so, than in this entire war over the cross and entire aspect of moving crosses away from school ordered by Europe, and which we do not seem to have to respect, Polish Catholic church will lose. It's totally irresponsible.

This statement is followed up by a response from ludwigvanbeethoven, who is a Protestant [POL]:

Catholics believe themselves as the only right faith, but I am asking - why? As a protestant, I demand all churches in Europe to look like protestant ones. […] Religion should be an inner business of each citizen, and not a huge balloon and sour faces, that Brussels does not want to include common values into their constitution.

On another site, AdamM sounds very sarcastic [POL]:

But Poland is to be a province of Vatican, so it's easier this way. Of course during GCSA exams we will pass religion too, and on our CV's we will need to put dates of our baptism, first communion and confirmation as well as the exact amount of money given during each mass. We will let out on our streets policemen who will check if we all carry crosses and know how to pray, and for those who protest, we will build stakes. We could also do with dusting off the Middle Ages torture machines so that the conversion is smoother.

A Northern Irish Polish forum contains a discussion on how having a cross in the emblem differs from having it next to it one wall; the main thoughts are expressed by 33lncr [POL]:

Aaa, those are the guys from the Madonna concert affair [cancelled due to protest of Catholics], so the case is clear… Seriously, though, for me it's only an add-on to a picture with a bird. But when I think of it rationally, what has the cross to do with Poles - atheists or Poles-other-believers, who are also patriots, what does it have to do with Poles-Catholics who are not patriots at all (I know the last one is in our country almost an oxymoron, but logically speaking quite possible)?

There are a few supportive opinions, though, like the one expressed by Krzysiek [POL]:

I support them. Poland is a Catholic country and we should protect our faith and show it somehow. If someone is unhappy, they should go to France where Catholics have practically nothing to say, and the majority of people believes in Islam.

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