FIVE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. List of Illustrations xi
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. Note on Transliteration xvii
6. Foreword xix
7. Introduction, by Collective Antigone 1
8. 1 ANONYMOUS
9. A DIARY OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN PRISON 51
10. 2 ALAA ABD EL-FATTAH
11. TORA PRISON, CELL 1/6, WARD 4 58
12. JAN. 25, 5 YEARS ON: THE ONLY WORDS I CAN WRITE ARE ABOUT LOSING MY WORDS 60
13. 3 ANONYMOUS
14. FRAGMENTS OF A COPTIC PRISONER’S DIARY: ON THE MARGINS OF A BIBLE 64
15. 4 AYMAN MOUSSA
16. “SCREAMS OF MY MIND” 69
17. 5 AHMED ABDALLAH
18. TRUTH ABOUT GIULIO 74
19. 6 AHMED GAMAL ZIADA
20. THE RECEPTION 78
21. THE GIFT 82
22. 7 AHMED DOUMA
23. “BEING AWAY HAS ITS IMPACT . . . AND OUR ABILITIES HAVE THEIR LIMITS” 85
24. SEEKING REFUGE IN THE DARKNESS 86
25. 8 MOHAMED MORSI
26. A MESSAGE FROM DR. MOHAMED MORSI TO THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT 92
27. 9 MOHSEN MOHAMED
28. TIME 95
29. ON THE ROAD 95
30. ON THE BURSH AFTER DINNER 98
31. THE LIGHT ISN’T SURROUNDED BY GUARDS 100
32. DISAPPEARANCE 103
33. SERGEANT 105
34. 10 ABDELRAHMAN TAREK (MOKA)
35. THE “INTAKE” 110
36. 11 MOHAMED NABIL
37. “HEAPS OF FLESH UNDER THEIR CONTROL” 113
38. 12 SARAH HEGAZY
39. “AMIDST ALL THIS, ALL WE WISHED FOR . . . WAS A HUG BY OUR MOTHERS” 115
40. A YEAR AFTER THE RAINBOW FLAG CONTROVERSY 116
41. A DEDICATION 120
42. FAREWELL 121
43. 13 YARA SALLAM
44. “DID YOU SEE AYA IN QANATER PRISON?” 123
45. HOW WE GOT USED TO THE SCREAMS OF THOSE ON DEATH ROW 125
46. I LOST TRACK OF TIME IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD: ON COPING WITH PRISON AND ITS AFTERMATH 126
47. 14 IBRAHIM EZZ AL-DIN
48. “BORED OF TORTURING YOU!” 129
49. 15 MOSTAFA AL-AASAR
50. “WE ARE MUCH WEAKER THAN WE SEEM” 133
51. “DESTINED FOR MISERY” 134
52. RAMADAN NIGHTS IN PRISON 136
53. 16 SANAA SEIF
54. WHEN THE LAW IS NOT THE LAW ANYMORE 141
55. DEATH’S CHILD 143
56. ON THE VIGIL OF THE ARREST 146
57. ABOUT PRISON, BOOKS, CHAOS OF THE MIND, AND THE STATE SECURITY OFFICER 148
58. 17 PATRICK GEORGE ZAKI
59. LETTER NUMBER 1 152
60. LETTER NUMBER 2 152
61. LETTER NUMBER 3 153
62. 18 MALAK AL-KASHEF
63. A HUNDRED DAYS 155
64. 19 KHALED LOTFI
65. WHY AM I HERE? 159
66. 20 SHADY ABU ZAID
67. FLOWER FOR A FRIEND 162
68. TEXT ENGRAVED IN BOAT 164
69. 21 SHADY HABASH
70. “PRISON DOESN’T KILL, LONELINESS DOES” 167
71. 22 GALAL EL-BEHAIRY
72. A LETTER FROM TORA PRISON 169
73. 23 WALID SHAWKY
74. SHADY HABASH: A TURNING POINT WHERE THE CIRCLE ENDS 175
75. 24 RAMY SHAATH
76. DEAR FAMILY AND LOVED ONES 180
77. DEAR LOVE 180
78. 25 HAITHAM MOHAMADIN
79. “DO YOU LISTEN TO UMM KULTHUM?” 185
80. 26 ABDELRAHMAN ELGENDY
81. AMMAD 189
82. LUMOS 192
83. 27 ANONYMOUS
84. A DAY IN THE LIFE . . . WE CREATED A DREAM NO POWER CAN ERASE 197
85. “WE CANNOT HUG OUR CHILDREN”: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD DETAINEE 197
86. I AM AFRAID TO DIE IN PRISON 201
87. AS IF PRISONS WERE DESIGNED TO KILL US 202
88. 28 ISLAM KHALIL
89. FIVE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS 204
90. 29 JOURNALISTS IN PRISON
91. SOLAFA MAGDY 208
92. ESRAA ABDEL FATTAH 210
93. SHEREEN BEKHEIT 211
94. KARAM SABER 212
95. HISHAM FUAD 213
96. AHMED TAREK (ARNOUB) 214
97. ANONYMOUS FEMALE JOURNALIST 215
98. HASSAN AL-BANNA MUBARAK 216
99. 30 MAHIENOUR EL-MASSRY
100. PRISON IS A MICROCOSM OF SOCIETY 219
101. WE SHALL CONTINUE 222
102. ABOUT GAZA DURING THE 2014 ATTACK 223
103. ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF SHAIMA AL-SABBAGH 224
104. 31 MOHAMED RAMADAN
105. KNOWING YOUR TORTURER 228
106. 32 MOHAMED EL-BAQER
107. THE PANDEMIC IN PRISON 232
108. 33 COLLECTIVE LETTERS
109. TO THE LEADERS OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, FROM THE YOUTH OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD 234
110. FROM WOMEN PRISONERS 237
111. CRY FOR HELP FROM QANATER WOMEN’S PRISON 239
112. LETTER OF DISTRESS FROM DETAINEES AT SCORPION PRISON 240
113. 34 BASMA REFAAT
114. QANATER WOMEN’S PRISON 242
115. 35 MONA MAHMOUD MOHAMED
116. WHY AM I IN PRISON? 245
117. 36 ISRAA KHALED SAID
118. I’M HERE BECAUSE YOU DID WELL, MOM 246
119. 37 GHADA ABDEL AZIZ
120. “FROM THE WORST PLACE” 248
121. 38 MARWA ARAFA
122. DEAR BIG WAFAA 251
123. 39 ESSAM MOHAMED ATTA
124. LETTER 253
125. 40 ANONYMOUS
126. LIFE ON DEATH ROW 255
127. 41 IBRAHIM AZAB
128. KISS MY COMBAT BOOT 258
129. 42 ANONYMOUS
130. SOUNDS OF THE EXECUTION CHAMBER FROM THE ROOM NEXT DOOR 261
131. 43 ANONYMOUS
132. I AM NOT A FAMOUS DETAINEE 263
133. 44 YASSIN
134. YASSIN AND HIS PRISON PAINTINGS AND NOTES 265
135. 45 MAHMOUD ABU ZEID (SHAWKAN)
136. INFORMANTS IN THE MORNING 277
137. 46 SONG OF SUBMISSION 280
138. Afterword: A Message to Egyptian Political Prisoners, Ngügï Thiong’o in Conversation with Collective Antigone 283
139. Selected Bibliography 297