Tahrir Square | 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

Flag-waving in Tahrir video

9 July 2011 by ST McNeil

A short video clip from Tahrir Square yesterday: flag waving while shouting “the masses want an end to the system”.

Categories: Africa North, Photography • Tags: 25 January Revolution, 8 July, Cairo, Egypt, Israeli activists, Tahrir Square, thawura

July 8 Tahrir Square: Revolution 2.0

9 July 2011 by ST McNeil

The July 8 protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo was packed full of people. An estimated 100,000 attended from nearly every one of Egypt’s 160+ new political parties. Before the 25 January Revolution, there was a handful of registered parties. But following Hosni Mubarak’s exit, Al-Ahzaab have multiplied rapidly. I saw labour, environmental, fundamentalist, pro-Palestinian, secular, youth and veterans groups with tents and booths underneath the main tent in central Tahrir. They were all calling for a “purification” or Egypt’s leadership of [...]

Categories: Africa North, PalestineIsrael • Tags: 25 January Revolution, Cairo, Egypt, Tahrir Square

Still Revolting

1 July 2011 by ST McNeil

The soldier behind the machine gun turret was looking out over The Nile River through the enormous floor-to-cieling windows of the Cairo Press Center as I waited to fill in credential forms. Dressed in desert camoflauge, with a helmet and bullet belts, the soldier looked barely out of his teens, and had a pencil-thin moustache. “Mister Sam,” the press officer said, focusing my attention back on the beauracratic formalities, “when do you want to go to Gaza?” Too early, I [...]

Categories: Africa North, News • Tags: 25 January Revolution, 29 June Tahrir Square clashes, Al Jazeera, anti-Americanism, Egypt, press credentials, River Nile, soldier, Tahrir Square

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Cairo crazy, me sick

29 June 2011 by ST McNeil

Cairo hit me first with its size. The entire West Bank’s and Israel’s population would fit inside a suburb, it seemed to me as I entered its outskirts at dusk. I was suffering from decompression sickness, with a knot of pain in my stomach and fatigue draining my bones, but I was excited. Seeing Nura lifted my spirits. I knew it would be OK. She would take care of me. But then she blew my mind. Waking up the [...]

Categories: Africa North, Photography • Tags: Al Azhar Mosque, Al Gazira, Cairo, Mohandiseen, Tahrir Square, The Niza

ST McNeil

Environmental Convergence Journalist

Archives

Brand Justice and Development: Just call them a success

Flag-waving in Tahrir video

July 8 Tahrir Square: Revolution 2.0

Still Revolting

Cairo crazy, me sick