bet on a country’s financial ruin?
What’s in their heart?
This is the kind of vapid rhetoric that convinces people on a regular basis that all politicians are conniving, calculating, power hungry liars.
I ‘m not disputing the existence of anti-semitic sentiment around the world. But, what has Israel been doing over the years to prove the prejudiced ones wrong?
What is difficult for most people to stomach is this tendency by the majority of Israeli citizens to condone their government’s antics. If they didn’t, they would be out on the streets protesting everyday. In fact, they wouldn’t vote for such governments in the first place.
Does that mean the Palestinians are right on every count? No, it does not mean that at all. I may be speaking out against Israeli aggression but I ‘m certainly not blind to any violence generated on the other side.
The only way I can see this ever being resolved is through the people. Both Israelis and Palestinians need to find ways to put equal pressure on their politicians to get back on the negotiating table and talk. Not the kind of rigid exchanges one usually finds in such an environment. More the kind of talk that comes from genuine self-respect and deep appreciation of human dignity. It doesn’t mean they will be instant buddies/agree on everything. But maybe they can at least understand the nature of their wounds- on all the different levels they occur- and focus on healing them, one day at a time.
That someone, despite appearances, cannot be Erdogan. Even though his indignation is understandable given the alleged deaths of Turkish nationals in the incident, a man whose nation has shown time and again a flagrant disregard for the rights of minorities and human rights at large cannot possibly be entrusted with that role.
It seems that some tour guides are working on a commission basis… I guess that is why they can be quite persistent as far as the souvenir shops are concerned. I can’t say for sure about my tour guide and she was wonderful in every way but I just got that feeling. In my case, it turned out for the best for the reason I mentioned in my previous post but also because she took me to places that sold top quality stuff. So, if I were to advise anyone else on their trip to Egypt and their visit to souvenir shops, I ‘d say go along with it if the tour guide insists and then decide once you have seen the items in question. If they don’t look good, don’t buy.
Generally speaking, Egyptians are very polite. I was pleasantly surprised. You might say they seem like that because they need tourism to boost their economy. Well, no. Even though it is true they do their best to attract tourists to their shops & restaurants, the feeling I got is that the kindness is authentic.
The only people who may be rude occasionally are those working for the police. Security is very tight everywhere you go and if you don’t immediately comply with all the rules & regulations, you might find yourself exchanging a few harsh words{I know I did!}.
As I was planning my trip, people who’d already been to Egypt would make unkind comments about the dirty streets and questionable restaurant kitchen hygiene. They all warned me against eating salads and raw food in general. Well, I did cause I don’t enjoy my food without salad. And yeah, I did feel sick & raised a temparature for a couple of days. But it was nothing serious and if I were to go back to Egypt today, I ‘d still order salad with my meal.
Earlier this year{June}, I visited Egypt for the first time- in this lifetime.
It was a trip I’d been planning to take for a long time. At some point, I was in despair cause I felt I was never going to visit Egypt, just as I was planning it, something would always happen to ruin it for me. But thank God, this year it did happen.
I had some very interesting, though not thoroughly pleasant, experiences in Alexandria. Cairo was much friendlier to me. For some reason, before going, I thought it ‘d be the other way around.
One such experience involved my driver stealing my brand new camera. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to prove it even though a few people believed me and urged me to report it to the police. I knew nothing would come out of it but I did so cause I felt it might get the message out to my driver and tour guide. And naturally, I immediately called my travel agent and arranged for another driver & guide.
Irony #1: I hadn’t taken any photos on this new camera yet, I was planning to do so the following day. Until then, I ‘d been using my Blackberry.
Irony #2: As soon as I got back home, I realized all the photos on my Blackberry had disappeared. I was so upset! But then I saw it as a sign, I felt that could only mean I was meant to return to Egypt real soon. In fact, in August I got an invitation to attend a special archaelogical event in Alexandria in October. But in the end I decided against it for several reasons.
Irony #3: Before all this happened on my second day in Cairo,{I went first there, then to Alexandria and then back to Cairo & Memphis} my tour guide{a different one from the one in Alex} suggested we visited certain places for souvenirs: a renowned perfume store, a jewellery shop and this place where they sold made-to-order papyri. She said if I was gonna have some special souvenirs from Egypt, I needed to get myself a papyrus, a cartouche and some Egyptian perfume oils. I tried to avoid it politely because I felt I wanted something else, something other than the standard sounenirs. But she was so persistent and I didn’t want to appear difficult & aloof… so I allowed her to convince me. In the end, I got all three. Plus some gifts for my family & a couple of friends. In retrospect, I ‘m glad I did cause if it weren’t for those, given all my pics were gone, I ‘d have nothing tangible to remind me of my trip. And you know, sometimes you just need that bit of tangibility…
The other thing I don’t understand about many Atlantis enthusiasts is how they say they have studied Plato and then come up with the most outlandish theories about Atlantis, esp the location.
Have they actually read *once* what the Egyptian Priest told Solon?
