Egypt | ST McNeil

Brand Justice and Development: Just call them a success

9 December 2011 by ST McNeil

Beneath all the din of an Islamist Trojan Horse following the despots’ downfall is simple, savvy electoral strategy: promise jobs, preach broad cultural values, and call for justice and development. While Al Jazeera spread Mohammed Bouazizi’s revolutionary flame to Cairo and beyond, another pattern is emerging from the ashes of Ben Ali and Mubarak. It is best seen in the election results between the straits of Hormuz and Gibraltar. Who is getting the votes? The winners in Morocco, Tunisia, and [...]

Categories: Egypt, Middle East, Tunisia • Tags: 25 January Revolution, Cairo, Egypt, Ennahda, Justice and Development Party, Mediterranean, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, Racshid Ghannouchi, Tahrir Square, Tayyep Erdogan, Tunisia, Turkey, Zen El Abdine Ben Ali

Not another Twitter Revolution

23 September 2011 by ST McNeil

The Jasmine Revolution and the January 25 Revolution are not Twitter revolutions…sorry, but sometimes you just need to beat a dead horse. Only 131,204 Egyptians used Twitter as hundreds of thousands massed in Cairo earlier this year. Just 35,746 Tunisians tweeted along Avenue Habib Bourguiba and Le Kef during the days of rage and tear gas. Barely two percent of Egyptians and five percent of Tunisians log onto Facebook (nine million together), no doubt socializing with the Arab world’s other [...]

Categories: Africa North, Egypt, Middle East, Research, Tunisia • Tags: Cairo, Digital Evangelism, Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Zuckerberg, Moammar Gaddafi, Net Delusion, SISMEC, social media, Tahrir Square, Tunis, Tunisia, Zen El Abdine Ben Ali

How to get out of Gaza. Kind of.

26 July 2011 by ST McNeil

I have crossed many borders, most with my brother Ben in southern Africa, but Rafah was the worst. The Palestinian National Authority stamp I now have in my passport is by far the hardest one I’ve acquired in the last 26 months of traveling. After pocketing a stone from the Philadelphi Strip, Hussam and I drove to the Rafah Border Crossing. He told me I’d have plenty of time – it was noon and the border closed at four. While [...]

Categories: Egypt, Middle East, PalestineIsrael • Tags: Cairo Press Office, Egypt, Gaza border crossing, Hamas, Palestinian passport stamp

Tunnel and Pilgrimage

21 July 2011 by ST McNeil

“Ya Hussam, inta baa’rif Rachel Corrie?” I asked the taxi driver last Sunday: Hussam, do you know Rachel Corrie? Sadly, he did not. Dropping the clutch to second gear, we pulled onto the main road running north-south along the coast of the Gaza Strip, from Rafah to Gaza. The sun had risen an hour earlier over historic Palestine and modern Israel. The heat and light was slight. The blue waters of The Middle White Sea, the Arabic translation for the [...]

Categories: Egypt, Middle East, PalestineIsrael • Tags: Gaza, Gaza tunnels, Philadelphi Strip, Rachel Corrie, Rafah border crossing

Jazz, Rap and Oud in Gaza

16 July 2011 by ST McNeil

From what everyone tells me, the jazz, rap and oud concert in The Gallery, Gaza’s premier venue, was abnormal. Since Hamas took over, music has been limited in the isolated territory of coastal Palestine. Rappers were forced to sign contracts stating they wouldn’t spit rhymes, according to rumour. But two nights ago, I and about two hundred others, listened to a rocking German jazz band. The all-female band enraptured the male-majority audience with their chops as well and blonde locks. [...]

Categories: Egypt, Middle East, PalestineIsrael, Photography • Tags: blind oud player, Gazan music, German jazz, video

ST McNeil

Environmental Convergence Journalist

Category Archives: Egypt

Brand Justice and Development: Just call them a success

How to get out of Gaza. Kind of.

Tunnel and Pilgrimage

Jazz, Rap and Oud in Gaza