Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Congrats to our friend the Ranting Sandmonkey for his publication in the Christian Science Monitor. He's calling for some tough measures against his own country (boycott! divestment!), but given his closeness to the issue (the Egyptian government has been going after bloggers) makes it difficult to criticize. You can see some of the back and forth in his comments thread. Good luck Sam!
Needless to say, their detention is scaring other opposition bloggers - present company included - into thinking that they may be next. My blog has been receiving more and more hits from Egyptian government Internet provider addresses, but I tell myself I am just being paranoid. So what if the ministry of information visits me about 30 times a day? They must be fans!...
...For all of the aforementioned reasons, I call upon you to boycott Egypt financially.
I am not just asking the US State Department to suspend the $3 billion in annual aid sent to the Egyptian government. I am asking every person who reads this to not visit Egypt, not buy Egyptian products, and not invest in companies that invest in Egypt. I am asking you to completely boycott Egypt and everything Egyptian until this government stops silencing dissent.
Don't get me wrong. I love my country. But the current regime has to be stopped, and the only way that's going to happen is if it is no longer supported.
Currently, there are 20,000 political prisoners in Egypt, held for years without charges, or evidence, and subjected to daily torture. We have increasing unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty rates. Judges who report election fraud get suspended and beaten on the street. Corruption and looting run rampant on every level of the government. The only reason the regime has survived for 25 years and counting is because of foreign aid and tourist dollars. You help it survive.
As an Egyptian-born citizen who lives in Egypt, I ask you to stop "helping," please.
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