Tag: military

95 US soldiers called to active duty in Egypt

Posted on 13/01/200829/12/2020 By 3arabawy

About 95 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers will be deployed to Egypt as part of a one-year activation.
Most of the soldiers will come from the Iowa City-based Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment 109th Medical Battalion. Officials say the unit will receive a sendoff ceremony early next month before training at Fort Lewis, Washington, and deploying to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
The battalion is being activated under several missions, including the war on terrorism and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The soldiers will provide command to three companies that remove explosives and offer logistical, medical and aviation support to troops in the region.

Qursaya residents skeptical of Ahram report on scrapping mega-project

Posted on 03/01/200825/03/2015 By 3arabawy

From the Daily News Egypt…

Residents of the island of El-Qorsaya have vowed to continue their campaign to resist eviction from their homes despite reports published by the state-owned Al Ahram newspaper that plans to build a tourist complex on the island have been scrapped.
According to the report, which appeared on the newspaper’s front page on Wednesday and which is entitled “Government cancels plans for tourist project on El-Qorsaya, upholds residents’ rights,” the Agricultural and Irrigation Committee of the People’s Assembly together with government representatives had decided to cancel plans for the construction of a tourist complex.
The report states that the decision was made after MP Muhammad Aboul Enein and Azab Mostafa made urgent appeals to the Committee about islanders’ fears that they would be expelled from their land.
The article claimed that the government has succeeded in “presenting a model of democracy for the protection of citizens’ rights.”
Artist and El-Qorsaya resident Muhammad Abla is more circumspect.
He told Daily News Egypt, “This report is simply false. This PA committee doesn’t have the authority to make these sorts of decisions, it can only make recommendations.”
He also questioned why the decision had not been reported in any other newspapers, and said that the campaign to save the island would continue until the report is verified.

“I was born here and I’ll die here”

Posted on 21/12/200722/12/2020 By 3arabawy

Sarah Carr reports on the solidarity conference with the Qursaya Island residents:

“I was born here, my father was born here and my grandfather was born here. The army came to frighten us when it should be protecting us. We cannot sleep at night, cannot work without worrying that at any second something might happen to us,” said one resident.

“I was born on this land and I’ll die here. We have never asked for anything from the state, and we want nothing from it now — except that it leaves us alone,” one resident said.

“I’m a farmer. If I leave the island what will I do? I don’t know any other trade. Should I sit on a balcony and hunt birds?” he added.