Inside Egypt Book

[Ebikatsu]

Sorry I gave the wrong title yesterday.

I started this book last night and it is fabulous.

Written by John R Bradley

From what I can see as i've only read one chapter and the dust cover is gone it covers Egypt Pre Revolution up to 'After Mubarak'.

Nasser in the first chapter is getting a real pasting!

Chapters include

Bedouin
The Muslim Brotherhood
Sufi and Christians
Torture
Lost Dignity
Corruption
After Mubarak

worth a look at.

[Glyphdoctor]

There's a chapter about Luxor...we discussed it here when it first came out. I was surprised to find that one of the people described in the chapter seems to be someone many of us might be able to identify!

[BBLUX]

Sounds like a "page turner". Must have a ook for it.

[Maggy]

I've got it.

[Ebikatsu]

There's a chapter about Luxor...we discussed it here when it first came out. I was surprised to find that one of the people described in the chapter seems to be someone many of us might be able to identify!

Good or bad?

[Ebikatsu]

I've got it.

did you enjoy it ?

Was it accurate?

[Maggy]

I did and It was.

[Karenh]

Think Ill look for that book next sounds interesting

[Maggy]

I got mine from WH Smith last year when I went for my annual holiday.

[Ebikatsu]

OMG

I am now 3/4 way through and it is just so utterly depressing to read.



In every way it just seems so accurate, and gives such a good expose' to the current regime and the thinking of the people.

I'm at the Luxor section now and all I can say is OMG!

I wonder if the 'teacher' on the West Bank's prediction of the future of Luxor and then eventually Egypt will come true?


Did you know that the police have virtually NO training in police work!
Their training is mainly strength based and not investigative.

Do you ever wonder why they have checkpoints and round up suspects randomly?

It's because they have a quota to fill and if they randomly pick up 100 citizens a day they will usually find about 2-4 % are wanted for traffic violations or other offences so instead of doing real detective work they just meet their quota but rounding up citizens!

This is a 'MUST READ' folks.

[HEPZIBAH]

I did and It was.

[face=Comic Sans MS]Maggy, please may I borrow it next time we meet. This may be the one you mentioned to me before, if not can I borrow both? Knowing there is a good book to read when I get to Luxor saves the worry of how can I possibly pack another thing in my bag! [/face]

[Glyphdoctor]

Police quotas can be worse than simply finding a certain number of real criminals each day. There are innocent people who are imprisoned and even die as a result of imprisonment because at certain points in time the police and the government felt it was politically expedient to look tough on certain types of crime. I once was in a forum for foreigners living in Egypt and I posted a survey and found most people knew at least one victim of false imprisonment and a few knew of people who had died. Personally I know of at least 2 deaths that can indirectly be linked to false imprisonment and one 3 year prison sentence where at least the victim did get out alive and well.

[Ebikatsu]

The 13 year old who was killed for stealing a packet of tea just made me weep

[Angela]

OMG

I am now 3/4 way through and it is just so utterly depressing to read.



In every way it just seems so accurate, and gives such a good expose' to the current regime and the thinking of the people.

I'm at the Luxor section now and all I can say is OMG!

I wonder if the 'teacher' on the West Bank's prediction of the future of Luxor and then eventually Egypt will come true?


Did you know that the police have virtually NO training in police work!
Their training is mainly strength based and not investigative.

Do you ever wonder why they have checkpoints and round up suspects randomly?

It's because they have a quota to fill and if they randomly pick up 100 citizens a day they will usually find about 2-4 % are wanted for traffic violations or other offences so instead of doing real detective work they just meet their quota but rounding up citizens!

This is a 'MUST READ' folks.

I have been considering reading this book for a while, but despite wanting to reading have been putting it off as I thought it would be a depressing read.

Ebikatus - what is the teachers prediction of Luxor? I would be very interested to hear about this.

[Ebikatsu]

I think everyone who lives or plans to live in Egypt NEEDS to read it.

The police section was the most awful section because we always have a sense that police are protectors and are professional.
When you live here and if you ever have the misfortune to visit a police station, and not even as the criminal it is a huge eye opener on brutality and sub human treatment.
I have been in one twice and thank God not on the criminal side!

I would never dream of reporting anything unless it was a murder.




The Luxor section I have just started so won't know all of it till tonight when I finish it but at the beginning there is a teacher on the West Bank who 'moonlighted' as a hotel receptionist at night.

Apparently Luxor is known as the male prostitution capital of the middle east.

He talks of the mainly British and German old women in their 60's etc married to young Luxor lads.
Archaeologists from John Hopkins Univ have studied temple reliefs in the Temple of Mut which show booze and sex rituals used to appease Pharoanic gods. They say that 90% of the males in Luxor and most of the foreign visitors who use booze and sex today defines life in Luxor.
The teacher said that on the west bank there are 2 districts with new villa's and businesses. He said that they were almost exclusively bought from western money. Usually older women buying and setting up home and business with local boys. he feared that the land which was Egyptian and used to be handed down to children through the generations was being lost. As was their dignity in marrying old women in Luxor.
Also Egyptian men were marrying Israeli women which is a big worry for the government.
The heritage is carried through the female line and the government is scared that what the Israeli's have done to Palestine could happen to Egypt with massive settlement, so the government is taking steps to ban marriage to Israeli women in Egypt.

[Angela]

Ebikatsu - Like you, I had the misfortune of visiting a police station (again - not as a criminal) and what I saw was very shocking to say the least and is an experience that I will never forget.

I couldn't resist it anymore, so have ordered the book on Amazon express delivery so should get it tomorrow.

[Ebikatsu]

I would like say it was like Keystone Cops but that might make some think it is funny, and in no way is it funny.

Some very brave people allowed their thoughts to be put in that book!

[Maggy]

Yes Hepzi of course you can borrow it. I've been racking my brain trying to remember what the other book was,I'm sure it will come to me eventually.

[Glyphdoctor]

The teacher said that on the west bank there are 2 districts with new villa's and businesses. He said that they were almost exclusively bought from western money. Usually older women buying and setting up home and business with local boys. he feared that the land which was Egyptian and used to be handed down to children through the generations was being lost.

This part is one of the biggest unspoken problems. The foreigners' investments have driven up the property prices to ridiculous levels. That's great for those who have property, but locals who don't have property and don't work in the tourist business and don't want to cheat foreigners for a living who lead honest decent lives are now priced out of the market. There are people who earn less than 1000LE a month in Luxor, sometimes much less. And then you have people buying places for 1 million. It's insane.

Luxor is a more desirable area than some other parts of Egypt in some ways, but what sets it apart from the rest of the country really is the monuments. And for most people who are investing in Luxor, that is only of marginal importance if at all. So there is no reason for property to be as expensive as it has gotten there except for the fact that there are foreigners with shitloads of money willing to throw their money into property.

There are some places in Cairo or Alexandria that are more expensive, but there are also parts of Cairo that are of equal desirability or even more desirable in terms of the amenities available that are cheaper than Luxor.

Anyway, I've done a lot of reading about the period leading up to Iranian Revolution and it is quite spooky how many parallels there are between that period and Egypt today, even in many small details. One thing that was happening before the Iranian Revolution was that foreigners were buying up property in Iran. Well, the Revolution put quite an end to that. I would not be at all surprised if in a few years we see a lot of foreigners trying to unload all those nice villas for whatever few piasters they can get...People also forget that Nasser took lots of property away from foreigners and they were only allowed to own property again in 1989.

[drwho]

quote: Also Egyptian men were marrying Israeli women which is a big worry for the government.

That's a relief, at least some integrity shines through, and those Israeli girls with their amazing bone structures, second only to Yemeni ladies....