The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh, in a public talk at the Ewart Hall.
Telephones Equipment Company workers in Helwan end strike
I received news that a strike had started in the Telephones Equipment Company in Helwan yesterday evening and ended today.
The company, which produces phone sets, was privatized either five or six years ago (My source was not sure about the exact date). The total labor force is more than 1000, I was told. It includes three groups of workers: Those who originally worked at the factory before it was privatized; those who were hired after the privatization; and those who are working without contracts as they haven’t been instated yet.
The ones who went on strike was the second group only, numbering 316 workers, demanding their five (or six)-year unpaid raises and bonuses. The strike ended today after the management promised to look into the strikers’ demands, but nothing concrete has been agreed up on, as far as I understand.
Egyptian Police officer jailed for refusing to protect Israeli embassy
Outrageous!!!
Police officer jailed for refusing to protect Israelis
CAIRO, Feb 25 (Reuters) – An Egyptian police tribunal on Sunday sentenced a police officer to six months in jail for refusing orders to go on guard duty at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, police sources said.
Muhammad Khalaf Hassan Ibrahim, a sergeant in his late 30s, had been in hospital on hunger strike in protest at his detention but he was able to attend the court session on Sunday.
The Egyptian police force is run on military lines and, as with military courts run by the armed forces, there is no appeal against the verdicts of the police tribunal.
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, but many Egyptians still regard the Jewish state as an enemy because the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not been resolved.
In a similar case in Britain last year, the police force excused a Muslim firearms office from guard duty at the Israeli embassy. But it said it took the decision because of a possible safety risk and not because of the man’s personal views.
Ibrahim’s lawyer was not immediately available to explain his client’s refusal to protect the Israeli embassy.