Refused to tame

When Kareem Amer tells people he has spent four years in prison for blogging, many respond with raising eyebrows. "Sometimes I get the impression that people in Norway think blogging is about the little things in everyday life," he says. "For me, it was about being able to write what I wanted without being censored."

Kareem was born in 1984 and grew up in a religious, Salafio oriented and strict family in Alexandria. When he was 20, he started studying law at Islamic Al-Azhar University.

"I experienced so much injustice and oppression by the people around me that I couldn't finally go around and keep quiet about it," Amer says of how his need for expression grew stronger. “My dad didn't give my sisters a choice when it came to hijab – they had to dress religiously correctly from when they were little. Now, when they are adults, they must not go out of the house alone. It's not okay to treat other people that way. "

But something good came of it, Amer thinks. “The pressure to take Islamic law studies gave me a taste of religious authority. Every time my father spoke negatively or derisively about a writer, and he often did, I got an indescribable urge to read that particular author's books, ”he says. "At our house, ordinary newspapers and magazines weren't even allowed – they were immoral. One day I came home with a youth magazine called 'He and she'. My dad tore it into pieces. My mother believed that television was the one-eyed anti-christ mentioned in the Qur'an. "

Amer says it was a milestone to reach 16 – he could go to the library alone. "In Egypt you have to have your own ID card to enter the library, and you will not get that until you are 16. But from then on I lived, so to speak, in the library, and read absolutely everything I could not read at home or at Al-Azhar. So you can say that my family did me a favor and showed me the way of life, even if it wasn't the way they pointed it. "

Closed newspapers. Ever since Kareem was a little boy, he heard a lot of hate propaganda about the United States – a write-off that worked in the same way as was the case with books and popular culture. “I became very interested in the United States! I remember one of the propaganda cassettes I heard when I was ten years old took on something called 'child protection'. The preacher who spoke with horror said that in the United States, a child who was beaten by the parents could call for help from others – and the parents could risk jail, ”Amer says. “I, for my part, thought it sounded like a fantastic arrangement, thinking that maybe we had something like that in Egypt, too, without me having it. So I called the police. I told them the truth was that a person had held me and beaten me, several times. I could hear them taking me very seriously, and I was indescribably relieved. They asked for my address and were to come immediately. They wanted to know who had beaten me. In the consternation, I said it was my father. Then the interest cooled considerably. "Your father can do whatever he wants with you," they said, and hung up. "

Amer says that he didn't really do much active rebellion in the family. “Basically, I was just trying to avoid the treatment I saw my siblings receiving, and kept quiet in the background. But I thought a lot about myself, and longed to express myself. " As a young boy, he began writing articles on the human rights situation in Egypt and hoped to have them published.

But in Egypt, all the newspapers have their own political agenda and close ties with the authorities. Amer looked for a long time for a possible publishing channel for the articles he wrote. He began to submit to the newspapers, but soon discovered that it actually gave him more obstacles than opportunities.

"Critical articles are not published. Sometimes you are not directly rejected, but the newspaper offers to censor the article before it is printed. I always said no to that. I don't want to be treated like I'm doing anything wrong. But then, in 2004, I discovered the blog medium, and realized that it was a perfect channel – I could write what I wanted, and anyone interested in reading could find the articles themselves via the web, ”Amer says, smiling.

Just before the Egypt election in 2005, Amer began publishing himself online. "I thought it was high time that Mubarak resigned after sitting in power for 24 years. I also found a website where I could send messages to the Muslim Brotherhood. Thus, my articles were also sent directly to those concerned. I wrote about how they supported Mubarak as president, and about the authorities' strong ties to both the Salafi movement and the Brotherhood. I noted that the director of al-Azhar and the Islamic Research Council had stepped out and advised the country against holding elections, since we already had a sitting president. They thought free elections would be destabilizing. "

Beginning of the blogger movement. One month after Mubarak won the 2005 election with 88 percent of the vote, a street uprising occurred in Amer's hometown of Aleksandria. A CD with a piece of theater had been scattered around the city. Many believed the play was an attack on Islam, and the protests that followed turned into attacks on the city's copters who were blamed for producing the CD. Christian stores were destroyed and looted. "Fortunately, the security forces were able to prevent an attack on the church in the city, but this hysteria led me to blame Islam too much. And then I wrote my opinion on it on the blog. ”

Five days later, Amer was arrested by security forces. "They came in, ransacked the house and confiscated all my notebooks. My parents were shocked when they discovered what I had written. I was arrested at the police station. It was, of course, a completely illegal arrest – the authorities simply used the chaos in Egypt to harass dissidents. After sitting for almost 20 days, other bloggers in Egypt began asking questions about where I had gone. I was tracked down and set free after a campaign launched online. This was the beginning of the blogging movement in Egypt, "says Amer.

As a student, Amer often ended up in conflicts with his professors. "I never really wanted to study at the Islamic University, but the system in Egypt is that if you first go to al-Azhar's schools, you have no opportunity to switch to public schools or universities. You're trapped. My family didn't even let me choose a scientific direction on al-Azhar, I had to take the Sharia studies. It was too much for me, ”he says. “I ended up arguing with the professors in the middle of the lectures. I am convinced that human nature is such that we grow up and want to be free, but along the way we are oppressed and broken by the society around us, we are tamed. My own father was a communist in the 80s, and wanted to study theater science – but his father thought artists were some such, and would not allow it. Imagine what life could be like if we didn't let others control our choices. ”

Amer continued to comment freely on the blog even though he had already been arrested. “One day I was called in to the principal. He showed me one of my articles and asked if I had written it. I said yes. The principal made me sign a declaration that I showed up at the office and confirmed this, ”Amer says.

"Soon after, I was called in for questioning with the police. I didn't want to meet. I could not agree that the authorities should control people that way, and I do not respect laws that restrict my freedom, so I contacted a lawyer. Unfortunately, many of the human rights lawyers in Egypt are just looking to milk their own cake, and my lawyer was a friend of the investigators. He persuaded me to attend the interrogation, which ended up being sentenced to permanent deportation from the university. "

Amer lights up when he comes to the end of this story: “And it felt like I was released from prison! Suddenly I had other opportunities open. ”

Was imprisoned. But the joy would prove to be short-lived. A few days later, Amer was re-arrested and sentenced to four years behind bars for blasphemy and insulting the president. "Basically, I had written nothing but that I believe in basic human rights," says Amer. The verdict was appealed twice, but both appeals were rejected. "According to the law, I should also have been released after serving half the sentence, but I was detained for 'security reasons'. They are so scared. Now I'm really just trying to get over this period of my life, and move on. I spent four years in prison. That's not the worst thing that can happen. " Several organizations acted to get Amer released. In 2012, he came to Bergen as a free city writer via PEN International.

Amer wonders about the Islamic movement in Egypt. "I wonder where it really comes from. It is a disaster that they have so much influence. The Islamic Brotherhood has been banned, but it happened for the first time in the 50s and has nothing to say in practice. In the 70s a lot changed in Egypt. Many foreign workers came to the country, and people began to increasingly define themselves as Muslims – as opposed to the unknown 'others' – and many Islamic movements flourished,' Amer says. “In addition, since then, we have been subjected to a massive missionary operation from Saudi Arabia, which has never forgotten that Egypt invaded their country sometime in the 1800th century. They will take revenge by winning an ideological war. "

Most of all, Amer blames Anwar Sadat: “He allowed the Brotherhood to run its activities to quell the Communist movement. All the madness in Egypt today stems from that. Extremism was a very marginal phenomenon, but it has emerged thanks to politics, under the umbrella of the state. ”

In addition, Islamists have learned to turn their backs on the wind, according to Amer: “The Salafis supported Mursi, but when things started to look bad for him, they distanced themselves. When he was deposed, they could again say 'we support the regime', and went out loud against the Islamic Brotherhood. "

"At our house, it wasn't even allowed to have ordinary newspapers and magazines – they were immoral."

Feminism. The chaos makes it difficult to see a future for Egypt. Amer has chosen to distance himself. "It gets too much for me. I have to live on. When I look at the news, I see no hope. I do not believe that Islam can be reformed. The president keeps talking about Islamic reform just so that we are not defined as terrorists, "says Amer, who believes open discussion is impossible:" A popular talk show in Egypt addressed the topic of Islamic reform, and the host argued that Islam itself is not the problem. He believed it had developed in the wrong direction because Muslims put too much emphasis on following the sun, that is, everything Muhammad did and said. The host thought we could put this aside – 'since it's human choices, we can decide for ourselves whether or not it's good for us,' as he said, "Amer says. "The day after, the host woke up to a full frontal attack from al-Azhar and was convicted of blasphemy, and the TV show was taken off the air. When the host tried to defend himself by saying that he had only done what the president asked – to reform Islam – the response from the authorities was that such reform must take place within al-Azhar. They will not leave it to individuals to choose for themselves. It's a power circus. ”

"I am convinced that human nature is such that we grow up and want to be free, but along the way we are oppressed and broken by the society around us, we are teased."

As a human rights advocate, Amer is also involved in women's rights. “One of the writers my father forbade me to read was Nawal Saadawi. As a teenager, I searched her books at the library, and they have had a great influence on me. I was lucky enough to meet Nawal after I escaped from prison. It is felt that we have a generational gap between us – we think differently – but I have been incredibly inspired by her ideas of feminism and freedom. For example, I do not see the hijab as something positive. Most are either forced or pushed by societal norms to use it. This can change if women are allowed to choose – that is, they should not be pressured to take it off, but they must make their own decisions. ”

Amer talks about another liberal writer who recently started a campaign in Cairo, urging women to come to Tahrir Square and take off his hijab there. He writes that they should not be afraid of being attacked – there must be men there to protect them. Amer is skeptical of the action. "He also assumes that women are weak and need protection. Women are oppressed and discriminated against because they are too weak to claim their rights when they see themselves as weaker people in need of protection. We must stop protecting! Women are harassed by men – and then should they be protected by men? There is only one more round in the same circle, ”Amer says enthusiastically. "Women get to go through a lot in social media too," he continues. “Egypt has some sarcastic websites. One of them published a fictitious news that a cure for all viruses had been found – and that Nawal Saadawi was taking the cure, but still died. That's bad enough in itself, but what's worse is that people don't even take the sarcasm: they jump right on and spread such 'news' as if it were God's punishment against the evil feminist. I tested it myself once – I tagged Nawal Saadawi in a tweet, and 97 percent of the answers I got were pure hatred directed at her, ”he says. “A younger Egyptian feminist activist was subjected to a fake death ad labeled 'God's Revenge'. As she is still publishing, she has started tagging her posts from the Hell site in Norway. 'Writing from Hell', it says then. She has humor. "

Amer smiles and lowers his shoulders: "Now I just want to get on with my life here in Norway. My book on the experiences in Egypt is growing slowly but surely, and I have started the process of getting into higher education. It's a long way to go – I have to start high school and take language training – but I can finally follow my dream of studying what I want myself. It's good to be free. "

Koehler is a translator and writer.

Excerpt from Kareem Amers blog

Blogs and social media have become important for regime-critical people who are censored by government and traditional media channels. But the fact that blogs are more rampant does not make them risk-free – on the contrary, political bloggers are arrested and imprisoned in many parts of the world. In Egypt, Kareem Amer became the first blogger to be explicitly arrested for publishing their opinions. On February 22, 2007, he was sentenced to prison sentence for promoting anti-religious ideas, and for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.
The following excerpt is from a blog post Amer wrote in June 2012, which depicts the stay at Hadra Prison in Alexandria.

The prison stay

The first days of custody at Hadra Prison were tough. I never imagined that I would ever be forced to shave off all my hair, or get dressed naked in front of the guards and body-checked to make sure I didn't bring money or drugs.

Then I was put on a smooth cell. The only thing in the cell was a blanket. I lay on half the blanket and covered my body with the other half. The winter in Alexandria is bitter and cold. The twenty minute minutes I had to go to the bathroom every day were the only time I had outside my cell for two months. I am not kidding when I say that what helped me get through this hard time was the story of Sophie Scholl. She was with me in spirit. I know it, deep down. My stay was contradictory. Even though it lasted forever, I always smiled and joked with the guards – who had expected me to break up from the first moment. But Sophie, as well as another girl I was in love with, helped me to endure.

Sahar, Sophie Scholl of our time. I had not met her more than twice before I was arrested, but that was all it took. This girl helped me, without touching me for anything. She was no more than nineteen years old when I first met her during a visit to Cairo. She stood out from everyone else.

Sahar was – and still is – a free woman in the proper sense of the word and with all its associations. It is rare to meet people who live what they believe and believe. But that month was such a month. No one has the right to take the liberty of a young girl who has faith in herself and has realized the depth of her freedom. She paid a high price for it, but that has not changed her. I will not go into more detail about it – it only concerns her.

I just wanted to thank some of those who helped me, as I had to think about when I was in prison. I can say, without exaggeration, that I could stay alive because of them.

When I was put on a smooth cell in ward C of Hadra Prison in Alexandria, I saw a picture of a young woman carved into the wall. I pretended to be Sahar. Then I started to put my own psychological resistance plan to life. My tools were some sheets and a pen I got from some other inmates. I started writing a special type of diary. The point was not to record difficult incidents in prison. Rather, I tried to communicate with myself and the carvings in the wall that resembled the girl I loved. In a place where I could not find anyone else who looked like myself. I began to imagine that Sahar was in my cell every night. I wrote and told her what I did every day.

I am not kidding when I say that what helped me get through this hard time was the story of Sophie Scholl.

Both the guards, the officers and the other prisoners wondered how I could smile every day, despite the harsh prison days. I got no visit. Only a friend of my brother came, but he was expelled by the guards. I imagined Sahar reading everything I wrote. Sometimes I tried to figure out what she wanted to write back. This dialogue continued until I escaped.

In reality, I had no way of communicating with the real Sahar before escaping from prison. In spite of everything that has happened, I will always appreciate and bring with me the friendship I have had with this beautiful and friendly man.

Translated from Arabic by Vibeke Koehler.

http://www.kareem-amer.com