Arabisc: An Ode to a Jailed Egyptian Security Guard
As usual Egypt again keeps us busy this week, where a security guard has been sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to guard the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.
Egyptian blogger Nora Younis, posts a poem by Majeed Al-Barghouthi dedicated to jailed Egyptian security guard Mohammed Khalaf Hassan Ibrahim. Ibrahim, as I have mentioned earlier, had refused to obey orders and guard the Israeli Embassy in his country.
شرطي أمين
واقف حارس .. حارس مين؟
مصر الحرة
مصر الثورة
مصر الناس المحترمين
لما الضابط أمره يرابط
علشان يحمي سفارة .. مين؟
قاللو سفارة اسرائيل
عند الجيزة
جنب النيل
عم محمد رفض الأمر
أصله حالف ألف يمين
إنه حارس حارس مين
مصر الحرة
مصر الثورة
مصر الناس المحترمين
Is a trusted cop
He is a guard..guarding whom?
Egypt the free
Egypt the revolution
Egypt the country of respected people
When his officer asked him to guard
to protect the Embassy of whom?
He was told the Embassy of Israel
Near Giza
Next to the Nile
Uncle Mohammed refused the order
For he has sworn
That he would only guard
Egypt the free
Egypt the revolution
Egypt the country of respectable people.
In another post, Nora also writes an update on Ibrahim's condition, saying that he has been sentenced to six months imprisonment and is on hunger strike.
وكما تم إحالته إلي التحقيق أمام النيابة العسكرية، التي أمرت بحبسه احتياطيا خمسة عشر يوما، وتم التحقيق معه على أساس امتناعه عن العمل، … حيث تم منع أي زيارة عنه والضغط عليه لإنهاء إضرابه عن الطعام
وبتاريخ 25 فبراير أصدرت المحكمة العسكرية بالجيزة حكمها بحبس أمين الشرطة محمد خلف ستة اشهر بعد أن استمرت الجلسة ثلاث ساعات
وبتاريخ اليوم 28 فبراير 2007 تم نقل أمين الشرطة إلي سجن القطا العسكري .. في وضع صحي متدهور نتيجة للإضراب.
In conclusion, Nora urges all those interested in the case to sign a petition, calling for the guard's immediate release.
This seems to be a particularly busy period for Egypt's bloggers and courts, following the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman to four years in prison last week.
These two court cases aren't the only ones which are keeping Egypt's bloggers up, for the Muslim Brotherhood, which also seems to want to a share the limelight with Kareem and the security guard, is entangled in another court case there.
According to Reuters report, a Cairo court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on the assets of 29 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement. The public prosecutor ordered the freeze on January 28 after accusing them of money laundering and other offences. The Islamist Brotherhood has dismissed the decision as a politically motivated attempt to disrupt the organisation's activities.
Blogger Abdulrahman Ayyash posts pictures of the crowds which gathered outside the court house here while his fellow blogger Abdulmonem Mahmood posts more pictures and a commentary on the trial.
11 comments
Yeah, so respectable that they arrest people for thinking.
The Ode to the jailed Mohammed Khalaf is written by Majeed Al-Barghouthi, A Palestinian poet and writer; it was quoted by Dr. Ibrahim Hammami. Thank you for correcting your blog accordingly.
*The Honest Guardian
Mohammed Khalaf Hassan Ibrahim
Uncle Mohammed is an honest guardian
He’s standing guarding,
Guarding whom?
Egypt the free,
Egypt the revolution,
Egypt of respected people.
When an officer ordered him to protect
the embassy of whom?
The embassy of Israel, he was told,
Near Giza,
Next to the Nile,
Uncle Mohammed refused the order;
For he has sworn a thousand times
That he would only be guarding whom?
Egypt the free,
Egypt the revolution,
Egypt of respected people.
The officer, shouting, fuming,
Jailed Mohammed!
And when people have complaints
They go to the police
And Uncle Mohammed is a policeman
To whom should he complain?
Allah is all-seeing,
And all-knowing,
Uncle Mohammed is not afraid
Next day morning,
He was fasting,
And praying with the prisoners.
Get up like him!
Fast like him, with the fasting!
Uncle Mohammed,
May Allah make you faith prevail;
Say Amen,
Say Amen.
***********************
Majeed Al-Barghouthi
http://www.majeedbarghouthi.net
***********************
Translated by the poet.
***********************
Notes on the story:
Mohammed Khalaf Hassan Ibrahim, an Egyptian security guard, refused to obey orders to guard the Israeli Embassy in Egypt. (16 February 2007).
On Feb 21 (Reuters) said he faced a disciplinary committee over his action, according to security sources. The sources said the officer had gone on hunger strike over the matter and had been admitted to a Cairo hospital in protest against the conditions of his detention, where he remained in serious condition. On February 25, the Military Court of Giza sentenced him to six months in prison after a three-hour trial.
I cannot go into your blog frontpage to correct one typo, and I am not supposed to do so.
So please amend the 3rd line before the last in the ode to read as follows:
May Allah make your faith prevail;
Best regards..
Majeed
Dear Mr Al Barghouthi,
Thanks for pointing out the mistake, which was as a result of wrong information supplied in the blog we merely translated. The ‘error’ has now been fixed. Hope you have a good day!
While the punishment might be harsh, does Mr. Barghouthi or the blogger advocate a system of law where the individual police officer is free to choose which tasks to undertake, based on his or her political preferences?
If so, can the officer decide this oon the spot, possibly leaving institutions or individuals unguarded, or must he report his preferences in advance, making it possible for his superiors to assign others?
Where might such an conscience-based system of law and public security have been successfully implemented?
Helge Ogrim, Oslo
In response to Helge or the blogger, the British Police excused a Muslim police officer from guarding the Israeli embassy in London on moral grounds. Pc Alexander Omar Basha, part of the Metropolitan Police’s Diplomatic Protection Group, asked for special dispensation not to work at the embassy because of his ethical objection to Israel’s bombing of Lebanon, according to the Sun newspaper.
This is one solution, why make the issue out of proportion? the other solution is to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the US occupation of Iraq. Do you believe that Arabs are free under such occupations?
Also, Ms Helge, I quote The Daily Telegraph of 06/10/2006
**********
Muslim police officer excused Israel guard duty
By John Steele, Crime Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:29am BST 06/10/2006
Scotland Yard said today that a decision to excuse a Muslim police protection officer from duties guarding the Israeli embassy during the Lebanon conflict in August was not taken for “politically correct” reasons but because the armed constable expressed concerns about the safety of his relatives in Lebanon.
If Britiain, the creator of Israel in Palestine, could solve the problem of LAW, then why Egypt – An Arab country affected by the Israeli acts in the area, could not? We are humans too.
Majeed point out possible avenues for solving this issue. And he is right; there are interesting parallels. In Norway, health workers can be excused from partaking in abortions on moral grounds. Does Israel excuse some soldiers from serving in occupied territories?
So my first (gut) reaction might have been based on a parody of any policeman being able to pick and choose. This may be unlikely to happen, as it would harm the career prospects of the individual.
But I personally oppose this rather new-found right of police officers. Alexander Omar Basha in my opinion had no honorable reasons for refusing to protect a foreign embassy in London. Would Majeed support another officer’s right to excuse himself from protecting the Iranian embassy?
(BTW; Helge is a man’s name in Norwegian.)
Helge
Mr Helge: You asked: Does Israel excuse some soldiers from serving in occupied territories? Let me ask: Would you support the occupation of any Norwegian territory? I am sure you wouldn’t. Do you support any people who oppress and occupy another people? It is a matter of principle. That is the larger perspective of the issue, the root cause of major tragedies and minor problems in our part of the world. Focussing on an individual’s case was my means to point at the whole picture.
You said that the pick and choose behaviour would harm the career prospects of the individual, but what about the career prospects of nations in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan? Whole nations suffer daily under Israeli and US occupations. Branches and leaves of evil are many, (according to Henry David Thoreau) but the root of evil is one: Oppressive occupation by a military force of another nation or nations. Is that a matter to be seen into? and that individual,s behaviour is a crime to be punished on the spot?
Finally you said: I personally oppose this rather new-found right of police officers. Do you oppose this new-found right of Israel to occupy and torture Arab Palestinians daily and the US new-found right to destroy Iraq and Afghanistan and kill Iraqis and Afghanis? For what? Is it just for oil supplies and the protection of the Israeli unjust occupation of Palestine? These are the questions.