Don't forget!!

Fury over advert claiming Egypt revolution as Vodafone's

Vodafone advertisement produced by JWT that suggests the phone company helped inspire the Egyptian revolution.

Vodafone is facing a backlash in Egypt over an advert suggesting it helped inspire this year's revolution in the country.

The three-minute commercial featured excerpts from a Vodafone ad campaign entitled Our Power, which was launched three weeks before an anti-government uprising swept the country. The video goes on to show images from protest rallies in Cairo's Tahrir Square before claiming: "We didn't send people to the streets, we didn't start the revolution … We only reminded Egyptians how powerful they are."

The short film features screengrabs of Facebook and Twitter messages posted by Egyptians approving of the Vodafone ad campaign, then an audio recording of Hosni Mubarak's resignation as president being announced on TV.

In fact, many pro-change activists blame Vodafone and other mobile phone companies for following Egyptian government orders and implementing a communications blackout at the height of the revolution. They have condemned the advert as a "sickening" attempt to push up sales by "riding the revolutionary bandwagon", and an insult to the hundreds who died in the struggle to bring down Mubarak.

"Apparently this tagline inspired people to take the streets," said prominent blogger Mohamed El-Dahshan in one of many angry and satirical responses that have spread across the web. "I mean, never mind the years of activism, the protests, the decades of cumulated grievances, the terrible economic situation, the trampled political freedoms, the police brutality, the torture, etc. Nah – we just watched a Vodafone ad, and thought: 'Hey! We're powerful! Let's topple the president!'"

Vodafone has strongly disassociated itself from the commercial, which was produced by the international marketing firm JWT. "The company does not have any connection to this video and had no prior knowledge of its production or posting on the internet," said Hatem Dowidar, the chief executive of Vodafone Egypt.

The advert appeared on the public website of JWT, which was hired by Vodafone Egypt to mastermind its recent communications strategy. The agency said the video was for "internal use" only and "not intended for public display". It has since been removed from the website, as havecopies posted on YouTube.

Egyptians queued up to vent their disbelief online. One YouTube comment said: "Are you guys seriously planning on leeching something out of this after you cut the phones and internet, after protesters who were being shot at could not call others and warn them about being shot at by snipers because of you? SHAME!"

Pro-change activist and former Google executive Wael Ghonim, who became an international media star of the revolution following his arrest and subsequent TV interview about the ordeal, also denounced the advert as unethical and accused JWT of using his name in the advert without permission. Meanwhile, a new website namedihatevodafoneegypt.com has rapidly become an online sensation.

To make matters worse for Vodafone and JWT, both the original ad campaign and the latest video feature Adel Emam, a veteran Egyptian actor who initially denounced the pro-change protests in January and has been widely derided in Egypt for his close links with the Mubarak family.

Vodafone is one of several firms in Egypt that agreed to shut off its mobile and internet networks in the early stages of the revolt as the government attempted to isolate anti-Mubarak protesters. It also allowed the Mubarak regime to send out anti-revolutionary text messages en masse to subscribers. It said it had no choice and has since apologised.

The firm is facing a series of legal challenges over what some critics have called its "complicity in dictatorship". It is accused of passing on information about opposition activists to the Mubarak regime's security services – a claim seemingly confirmed by Vodafone's global head of content standards, Annie Mullins, in February 2009 but later denied by Vodafone Egypt.

"All companies in Egypt are trying to use revolutionary and nationalist imagery right now to drive sales and in most cases it doesn't concern me," said Ramy Raoof, an activist with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who had his own Vodafone Egypt service cut off for several months under orders from Mubarak's apparatus.

"But when the communications companies try it – the ones who handed out our personal information to state security, the ones who shut down our lines and who helped the government cut us off – it's too far. People are talking about compensation but we don't want money. We want to see people on trial."

Vodafone is not the only mobile firm to come under fire for its alleged use of revolutionary material for marketing. Rival company Mobinil launched a huge advertising campaign at Cairo airport with billboardsfeaturing quotes from world leaders such as Barack Obama and Silvio Berlusconi praising the Egyptian revolution, stamped with the Mobinil logo.

"We have not used any images of the Egyptian revolution at any time in any of our external promotional material," a Vodafone spokesperson told the Guardian. "Any suggestions to the contrary are incorrect."

• Jack Shenker
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 June 2011 15.15 BST

Aid EGYPT - the quest to help our heroes

As some of you that pass through my blog may know, I am a very proud and devout member and one of the managers to Draw a Smile. Draw a smile is now a registered charity raising thousands of pounds week by week by the invaluable effort of young people in the UK. It aims to do one thing only which is to Draw a Smile onto the faces of orphans worldwide. The majority of the group, self excluded are Egyptian which is why it made sense to start this astronomical task within a country they were familiar with. Draw A Smile now has a sister organisation called aidEGYPT which, of course was fuelled by the protests that started and ended this month.

Last Sunday I had the rare opportunity to attend a Draw A Smile/Aid Egypt function as a guest and experience the impact of the message myself and others strive so hard to deliver; that Together We Can!

The charity Dinner was held at Assaha restaurant renowned for its ambient interior and high standard food although none of the 100+ attendees that Sunday night noticed a bit of it. Along with a fantastic speech given by a young UK Egyptian male that decided to go over during the crisis and see what was going on for himself, was this video made by a fellow DAS member and friend.

It is my pleasure to share it with you all, whom ever may be watching and hope that it breeds the same level of consciousness into you that it did in me.

Allahu Akbar

NIQABITCH

Once you get over your shock, and you open your mind and drop your own prejudices, I hope that you find this protest to be what it is, a freedom of speech.

These ladies retaliated to the ban on niqab and hijab in France by producing this protest of their own. You may not like it but they certainly have a point.

By mixing the sacred with the profane they illustrate the ridicule we bring ourselves by placing such importance on fabric. Yes! I wear the hijab! but I wear it for my own reasons that are largely assosciated with religious ones but that is neither here nor there. One of the reasons I wear it and keep it is because I feel that I should be free to wear what I want in as much of an abundance as I like or as little for that matter.

Maybe it is the boom of the fashion industry that have ours and other western societies so obsessed with outward appearence, I don't know.

Some people hate these woman for what they did, and I'm sure the majority of which were muslim! can you believe it!!!!!! muslims! like me, asking for the right and freedom to wear what pleases them and yet tearing these women down for exorcising the same right- ok sure they were doing it purely for provocation - but as long as we want freedom of speach then we will have to listen to a whole lot of things that we don't necesarily like or want to hear and we shouldn't complain whilst doing so either.

The message is clear! freedom for all and hipocracy for none, its just a shame that they had to walk in the shoes of those they are trying to reach out to... NO I don't mean muslims, I mean hypocrites.

Think what you will, I commend them and I'm proud to do so

Immortal Technique Concert 04/06/08

Yesterday I fell in love,
it was such a nostalgic feeling, it came entangled with inspiration.

Along with Marmite, Public parks, and my mother, the up and coming Hip-Hop scene has given me another reason (on the ever shrinking list) to be proud to be British.
Not a pride of arrogant intent but the type of pride that hopeful foundations lye on.

Standing in one of the most eclectic crowds I have ever seen I listened to a 17 year old tell me about 'his ancestors growing into tall feathers with ink dripping from there feet writing the words that can still be read today', it was obviously said with a bit more lyrical finesse but you can see where I'm coming from, a 17 year old!

So you can Imagine the rest of the warm up, each performer topping the one before it eloquently articulating the problems that we chose to ignore. Where other rappers before them couldn't find any other words but 'F*CK THE POLICE', these guys break down political history all in the time it would take to tie your shoe laces!

I can't wait to check out some of the snippets I heard in full detail.
To understand what I'm hyping up look out for artists such as 'Low Key' of the Poisonous poet's crew, and 'The Peoples Army' crew.
I have to give a special mention to 'Low Key', Karim you stole the show big time!

ObAmA, oBaMa, ObAmA!!!!

I'd obliterate Iran...


....if there was a launched nuclea attack against Isreal. Said Hilary, once she was president.

Na NAKON!!!!!

here we go again, weapons of mass destruction.

VOTE BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!

20th Century theft!!

NEWS FLASH!!!

I have just been informed from reliable sources that the school that was attacked upon was for pre-soldiers of the Israeli army! yea, I wondered too how it was weired to have a school for 18-30 year old men only!

Gunman kills 8 in jerusalem attack!

Bismillah, may god except them into Jenna with mercy.

SO with that being said.......

I feel Sympathy I do really, but you have to take it into perspective that these people are being starved and the only one they can reach for retaliation of making a point is other civilians.
Al-Hamdulilah (praise to God) I have never been in such a situation where the only ammunition I have is my own body for sacrificing, and I can't even begin to imagine what I would do if that were the case. My prayers are with the culprit of this brutal attack so that Allah may forgive him of his plight for freedom!

BUT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THIS;

The title of the article in the Metro was 'Gunman kills 8 in Jerusalem attack!'

but what about the last lines of the article

"Last week, Israeli forces launched a raid into northern Gaza in which more than 120 Palestinians – including many civilians – were killed."

YOU DO THE MATH!

And if you can't here's the stats to help you;

2000-2005

1 Israeli for
every 4 Palestinians were killed

2006

1 Israeli for
every 30 Palestinians killed

2007

1 Israeli for EVERY 40
PALESTINIANS!!!!!!

Seumes Milne

Of course! .....

....I am aware of the Gaza crisis and the ongoing battlements between Palestine and Isreal AND thats about as far as my knowledge go's.

This is due to the fact that before I became biased with a religious point of view (i.e in my aethiest days), I had heard tons of conspiracys of such like as to why and what was the cause and reason. Which, back then was enough for me to brush it from my shoulder as another world crisis that I could do nothing about.
And even now that my social factors have changed I have selfishly tried to stay as seperated from it all as possible.

....Because'WHAT CAN I DO!!!!!!'
....Then yesterday I read this article as prompted by someone at work,

and now....

....There has to be something 'WE CAN DO!!!!!'

check the link below...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/05/israelandthepalestinians.usa