Nile_Salafy

I am nervous as I write this. I am in my cold prison cell after my first official exercise session – four glorious hours in the grass yard behind our block and I don’t want that right to be snatched away. I’ve been locked in my cell 24 hours a day for the past 10 days, allowed out only for visits to the prosecutor for questioning, so the chance for a walk in the weak winter sunshine is precious. So too are the books on history, Arabic and fiction that my neighbors have passed to me, and the pad and pen I now write with. I want to cling to these tiny joys and avoid anything that might move the prison authorities to punitively withdraw them. I want to protect them almost as much as I want my freedom back. That is why I have sought, until now, to fight my imprisonment quietly from within, to make the authorities understand that this is all a terrible mistake, that I’ve been caught in the middle of a political struggle that is not my own. But after 2 weeks in prison it is now clear that this is a dangerous decision. It validates an attack not just on me and my two colleagues but on freedom of speech across Egypt. All of a sudden, my books seem rather petty. I had been in Cairo only two weeks before interior ministry agents burst through the door of my hotel room, that of my colleague and producer Mohamed Fahmy, and into the home of Aljazeera’s second producer Baher Mohamed. We had been doing exactly as any responsible, professional journalist would – recording and trying to make sense of the unfolding events with all the accuracy, fairness and balance that our imperfect trade demands. Most of the time, it is not a difficult path to walk. But when the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be “Terrorist organization”, it knocked the middle ground out of the discourse. When the other side, political or otherwise, is a “terrorist”, there is no neutral way. As George W. Bush loved to point out after 9/11, you are either with the government or with the terrorists. So, even talking to them becomes an act of treason, let alone broadcasting their news however benign. The following day, the government fleshed out its definition of the term. Anyone caught handing out MB leaflets, or simply participating in protest marches against the government could be arrested and imprisoned for “spreading terrorist ideology”. The MB has lost much of the support and credibility once had when its political leader Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first democratically elected president just over a year and a half ago. And many here hold it responsible for a growing wave of Islamist violence, but it remains the single largest and best organized social and political force in Egypt. What then for a journalist striving for “balance, fairness and accuracy?” How do you accurately and fairly report on Egypt’s ongoing political struggle without talking to everyone involved? I worried about his at the time with Mohamed Fahmy, but we decided that the choice was obvious – as obvious as the price we are now paying for making it. The three of us have been accused of collaborating with a terrorist organization (MB) , of hosting MB meetings in our hotel rooms, of using unlicensed equipments to deliberately broadcast false information to further their aims and defame and discredit the Egyptian state. The state has presented no evidence to support the allegations, and we have not been formally charged with any crime. But the prosecutor general has just extended our initial 15-day detention by another 15 days to give investigators more time to find something. He can do this indefinitely – one of my prison mates has been behind bars for 6 months without a single charge. I am in Tora prison – a sprawling complex in the south of the city where the authorities routinely violate legally enshrined prisoners’ rights, denying visits from lawyers, keeping cells locked for 20 hours a day ( and 24 hours on public holidays) and so on. But even that is relatively benign compared to the conditions my colleagues are being held in. Fahmy and Baher have been accused of being MB members, So they are being held in the far more draconian “Scorpion prison” built for convicted terrorists. Fahmy has been denied the hospital treatment he badly needs for a shoulder injury he sustained shortly before our arrest. Both men spend 24 hours a day in their mosquito-infested cells, sleeping on the floor with no books or writing materials to break the soul- destroying tedium. Remember we have not been formally charged, much less convicted of any crime. But this is not just about three Al Jazeera journalists. Our arrest and continued detention sends a clear and unequivocal message to all journalists covering Egypt, both foreign and local. The state will not tolerate hearing from the MB or any other critical voices. The prisons are overflowing with anyone who opposes or challenges the government. Secular activists are sentenced to 3 years with hard labor for violating protest laws after declining an invitation to openly support the government; campaigners putting up “No” banners ahead of the constitutional referendum are summarily detained. Anyone, in short, who refuses to applaud the institution. So our arrest is not a mistake, and as a journalist this IS my battle. I can no longer pretend it’ll go away by keeping quiet and crossing my fingers. I have no particular fight with the Egyptian government, just as I have no interest in supporting the MB or any other group here. But as a journalist I am committed to defending a fundamental freedom of the press that no one in my profession can credibly work without. One that is deemed vital to the proper functioning of any open democracy, including Egypt’s with its new constitution. Ofcourse we will continue to fight this from inside prison and through the judicial system here. But our freedom, and more importantly the freedom of the press here, will not come without loud sustained pressure from human rights and civil society groups, individuals and governments who understand that Egypt stability depends as much as on its ability to hold open honest conversations among its people and the world, as it does on its ability to crush violence. We know it is already happening, and all of us are both moved and strengthened by the extraordinary support we have already had, but it needs to continue. Peter Greste Tora prison Note: Peter's handle on twitter [at]PeterGreste This is the last report Peter gave to Al jazeera the current events in Egypt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4Dun0gJUm4

Great 15 min video, crystal clear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA8BCoBw#t=0

So you want technical official reports by engineering firms to be given here on this forum ?

You have a point there for sure, technical should say their opinion for sure, and that;s what some of them did on the website I posted when I started the thread, also there;s a few of them talking in the first couple of minutes in the video on the same website. Did you watch what they said ?

There should be a lot of videos out there for buildings that collapse by controlled demolition, Bring some and post here and lets see the difference

until I see something that makes sense, this is for sure a free fall of controlled demolition

I didn't pick any, these people are not even muslims to start with, they are looking for truth. Its very clear that WTC7 was controlled demolition with a free fall. or else every building on the same block would collapse the same way, wish clearly didn't happen. Do you have video of any other building ? They must have rerecorded it, but maybe not.

These are some buildings that were demolished that same way. And also the engineers explained it well in the video posted earlier

Then other buildings next to WTC7 should have collapsed also

So you are saying WTC7 collapsed due to damage caused by the collapsing other WTC's ? In the video there are other buildings next to it, wont you ask why they didnt collapse too ? There are engineers in the video and they are talking about a free fall thats considered high school physics, they are not muslim either, so they are not defending members of my religion, they just want to know the truth Report says it was "normal office fire" that caused the collapse of WTC7 Its all in the first minute

Fair enough :) I dont worry about bites lol I saw this part, but too much multitasking, he is an ex preacher that converted to Islam, I believe he explains part for fighting with none muslims well. There are other 2 parts you will find, I didnt see them till now in fact, but I assume they will give explanation as well.

WTC 7 is clear that its demolition act, I can not say other wise or else I will be lying to my self. And I heard about a lot of americans converting to Islam after 911 But the thing is, WTC 7 is very very clear, no plane hit it !

WTC7 can no way collapse like that with out demolition, and demolition needs planning.

A convert to Islam from Christianity showed me a link how South America was brought into Christianity, but she showed me it years back, I don't have it saved, I will find it and see also the reactions on christians to it, its only fair to compare it that way.

But that can't be the case now, Back then that's what empires did, wouldn't you agree about other empires spreading with sword ? like Roman, Persian etc

In Islam there are different schools and understandings of Quran and Hadith, If the case is like what the video says, you will find 100% of muslims going to war with none muslims, which is not happening, Even in time of prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, it was not the case, none muslims entered Islam with just learning what it is, no sword. Hundreds of years ago, Islam was spread through Aisa through trade, so no sword either. Again different of opinions exist is Islam, even how to pray has some different of opinions. I hope I have explained well, I don't mind to help more if I can.

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I don't use a prayer rug most of the time, if there's one fine, if not I go on the ground or use anything that is clean if there is some dust or something

I don't agree

we alikum eslam, good to hear and yes it gets busy in real life for sure, I'm very slow here currently my self.

Welcome to the forum and for sure you are doing the best thing, asking real people rather than the news, enjoy your stay

salam alikum, welcome, hope you will enjoy it here insha Allah, and Canada is cold :)

Welcome, I am sure everyone will do their best to help out

Welcome to the forum, Sure everyone here will do their best to help you out.