Poor Cairo

In this New York Times article about the poor in Cairo, Gamal Abdel Naser is the only leader mentioned by name--he's faulted for raising high expectations of the people by giving many government jobs and promising cradle-to-grave care. Nothing is said about Anwar Sadat's "open door" economic policies, which are continued by the Mubarak's regime. So while you get lots of complaining about the government--basically its generic corruption-- no names are named.

I wonder why.

Here's a bit of nationalist propaganda called "I'm an Egyptian" that does not include Cairo's poor. Yes, there is a fisherman in the video, but it's a guy fishing with his son for leisure. The street people we see are an artist, a young man with a laptop, an older couple on a date, and younger men and women strolling leisurely together. Veiled women are kept in the background--way in the background--you actually will miss them if you blink. This is despite their dominance on the actual streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt. The advertisement is sung by the Lebanese Nancy Ajram. Perhaps she was hoping to appease the Muslim Brothers who keep attacking her in the Egyptian parliament because they don't like her dresses. Didn't work. The fashion patrol are still after her.