TAKE BACK JERUSALEM: THE SECRET CAIRO PHOTOS

These photos were sent to me today by an American friend who lives part time in Cairo. You will not see them anywhere else.

This is the exterior of the Media and Information Building.

It is a functioning building which houses the State Television channel, among other things. It is surrounded by barbed wire, as you can see. Not in the photo are the numerous machine gun carrying soldiers guarding it 24/7.

A couple of months ago over 40 Christian Copts were killed while demonstrating in front of this building.

This enormous building housed Mubark’s political party during his reign.

It was burned and looted during the revolution, along with virtually every single police station in the country.

These are typical election banners that overwhelmed Cairo prior to the election. They were huge and they were everywhere. They are done by hand, by calligraphers.

By law, each party's slate of candidates must have at least one woman candidate. However, the Salafi’s who are extreme compared to extremists, would not allow a woman’s face to be shown. So, they would either paint a flower where the woman’s face would be, or even better, show a photo of her husband and say

This man’s wife is running for such and such office.

This was a Muslim Brotherhood rally held about a week before the election. It was so crowded that these people were kind of milling around on the outskirts because they couldn’t get in. Notice the almost total absence of women. This is a few blocks from the iconic Tahrir Square, where the rally was being held.

This is a typical Cairo café. Kind of their version of Starbucks. The fellow in the wheelchair is having a smoke, which is very common. My guess is these two voted for the Salafi ticket.

This rally was held the day before the election. It was sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood with the the title “Take Back Jerusalem.”

There was a “kill the Jews” chant and theme to the rally, which went over very well.

The Muslim Brotherhood won about 40% of the Parliament seats. They are the more “moderate” Islamists as compared to the Salafis who won about 25%. The Salafis are backed by the Saudis.

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