Free Zeid Hamdan

Update:
According to Zeid's facebook page, he's been released, lets hope that turns out to be correct, and that is the end of the story. Mabrouk! The message:

"I am free now , thank u for your help !"

According to the gifted lebanese alternative musician Zeid Hamdan's facebook account, he´s currently held at the police station of the Palace of Justice in Beirut. The reason being the song "General Suleiman" about Lebanon´s President.

This was Hamdan's status update on Facebook.

“Message from Zeid in prison: Dear friends, I am now in the prishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifon of the police station of the palace of justice in Beirut because of my song "General Soleiman". They are prosecuting me for defammation of President Soleiman. I dont know, until when I am staying in prishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifon. Please mobilize,” http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

There is a facebook page in support of hamdan's release.

More on Hamdan's arrest. Some more info can be found here.

Angie Nassar's interview with Hamdan in September about the song that apparantly caused the commotion can be found here.

A bit more on Zeid Hamdan here.

My favourite, and Zeid's tribute to the Arab revolutions is Eskat al Nizam

He has also worked with Egyptian singer maryam Saleh in the song Eslahat, and they performed together at the London "Shubbak festival" and in Rome earlier this month.



More on Hamdan's music here and here.

Six months since January 25th

Six months ago today , the Egyptian Revolution began, this is my tribute to the brave men and women whom risked their lives for a better future for themselves and their country. First among them the 846 + martyrs who never came back. The heroes in this ongoing revolution is the Egyptian people.

Six months on, Ex-president Mubarak is gone , but the system is still in many ways intact. The best way to honour our martyrs is to keep pushing for justice, and the change of the system that kept the pride people of Egypt back for such a long time.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the ones whom was given their authority , by Mubarak, not the people , has proven to be just as bad as one could have expected , and Egypt has lost precious time and momentum , but in the long run i have no doubt that the Egyptian people will come out of this in the same way as they took charge of their own destiny on January 25th. Egypt is changing, and has a bright future.

Fangary speech

Mohsen al Fangary has been my favourite "love to hate" personality in the post-Mubarak era, but today,s speech, if that's what you want to call it.. (It was more like a barking dog, telling the nation, von oben what the SCAF had in mind.

The SCAF communication skills leaves much to ask for , and the tone in which they chose to convey their message this time should come as surprise to no one.

It has been clear from the time of Field Marshal Tantawi's so called speech at the graduation cermony of the new police officers that he dosent have a clue about whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhat the revolution was all about, or that he dosent care. If that is the case for all on SCAF is perhaps premature to judge, at least i can't.

I had very low expectations on SCAF from the outset, and nothing during the five months since has changed my opinion. The sooner they leave, the better. If roumers on Firgany becoming the new Interior Minister turns true , nothing will be better. The focus on PM Sharaf and what he can do or not is misplaced. The power is in the hands of SCAF , and their priorities is not the same, and has never been the same as the Jan25 revolution. They want to change as little as possible, while claiming to be the ones safeguarding the revolution and it´s goals.

It's really ironic that the same man captured saluting the 847 martyrs of the revolution in one of it's most iconic moments is the same man barking to the nation today.

UPDATE:

This is the brilliant brazilian cartoonist @CarlosLatuff's take on the relationship between Fangary and the Jan25ers.



A little bit more on the cartoonist can be found here.