Moment of Truth - Barack Obama at the table - Nicola Nasser April 2009
New US thinking? - Azmi Bishara March 2009
Will Obama listen? - El-Sayed Amin Shalabi March 2009
Washington continuing discredited policies - Abdus Sattar Ghazali March 2009
Imposing sanctions on Israel - Ezzedine Choukri Fishere February 2009
America's new(?) foreign policy - Muqtedar Khan February 2009
Obama is not going to change the essence of America's Middle East course
- Azmi Bishara February 2009
For Palestinians, so far, the new US president represents no change whatsoever
- Ramzy Baroud January 2009
"The Arabs are trapped between the anvil of Israeli belligerency and the hammer of US indifference to their concerns." (Hey, if all you've got is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail). - Ayman El-Amir January 2009
Isreal's Gaza myths - Jonathon Cook January 2009
PLO sells out Gaza - Curtis Doebbler January 2009
Accountability and the rule of law in America - James Zogby December 2008
Has the American neo-con riot run its course? - Stuart Reigeluth December 2008
Obama and Israel - Hassan Nafaa November 2008
The Republican campaign seems to be benefiting from, and stoking, religious defamation and hate speech - Abdus Sattar Ghazali October 2008


Open letter to President Obama - August 2008

Fixing the Gaza crossing (without much American help)

Egyptians' low opinion of America - November 2007
Failure of peace talks predicted - October 2007
Israel playing loose with the law  - September 2007
Calling Israel's bluff - September 2007
The misery of the Gaza siege - August 2007
Events in Ramallah -July 2007
Failure of Palestine Embargo - May 2007

Google Earth map of Independence Square ("Midan Tahrir") area

Nile is on the left - green circle towards the center is "Midan" Tahrir (Independence "Square") - The old Hilton (now "The Nile Hotel") is the white rectangular building nothwest of Midan Tahrir - the Egyptian Museum is the building north and a bit east across the street from the Hilton  - American University in Cairo is the block with green spaces south-southeast of Midan Tahrir - northeast of Midan Tahrir, all roads lead to Midan Talat Harb (Talat Harb Square) - bazaars begin on the streets leading away from Midan Talat Harb.

The large building at the center of the three pictures at the top of this page is the slightly curved building with the bright white sidewalks immediately south-southwest of Midan Tahrir and is a major administrative building - one gets one's visas renewed there.



Talat Harb street connects Midan Tahrir and Midan Talat Harb to the northwest and then continues into further shopping streets.

The bridge over the Nile on the road from Midan Tahrir has broad sidewalks which fill with quiet crowds of families and friends who walk the length of it on a cool summer's evening and much of the rest of the year as well.

The Cairo Nile tour boats are boarded on the beach straight out from the Hilton area. Some can be chartered in the evening for a very low cost per person to your group (even six or eight). "Evening" runs to 2am and 4am on hot summer nights as whole families are drawn to the fresh air of the river's bank where they walk the wide sidewalk.

The Google Earth map to the left captures the area between the Hilton and "Islamic Cairo". The Google Earth map below it is centered on the Citadel area.

In the upper map, the Hilton is the white rectangular building on the east bank of the Nile between the two bridges in the upper left of the picture - Islamic Cairo is the area with numerous blue dots towards the right edge of the picture, just above the picture's center line - the blue dots represent such attractions as the Citadel and the Muhammed Ali Mosque.

Islamic Cairo is ancient Cairo and an area about which Egyptians feel a great deal of pride. They will be a disappointed if you haven't visited the main sights.

The TourEgypt.net web page for Islamic Cairo is very complete and will make it clear to you how much there is to do and see.

The upper picture provides a good view of the walk from the Midan Tahrir area to Islamic Cairo. A beeline takes you through a lot of twists and turns but there are the routes by way of the arch of main avenues to the east-northeast and then southeast or the southern route - southeast and then east-northeast. Better to take a taxi and save your energy for the vast spread of Islamic Cairo itself. Or try walking back to Midan Tahrir from Islamic Cairo if you still have the time and energy. The walk is worth it - once at least - the industry and humanity on the beeline between the two areas is very absorbing.

Everywhere people will tell you, "Welcome to Egypt." And they mean it.

Plan to drink several liters of water if it is a hot day. Sit down someplace and drink lots of water if you start feeling disoriented and confused. It will probably be dehydration although it may come on so quickly you may wonder if it is "heat stroke". Dehydration will catch up with you quickly on a hot Cairo day.