Wael Khalil
Encyclopedia
Wael Khalil is a Egyptian political activist known for his criticism of the Mubarak regime, his activity during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and his blog WaELK.net which covers government, activism and sports.
He was a protester from the Egyptian opposition movement Kefaya. He also co-founded the 20 March Popular Campaign for Change.
In 2006 he criticized Egyptian police after at Sudanese refugees were killed at a squatter camp in Cairo. He said, "When you kill little babies, things have changed...We will try you, and you won't be able to travel abroad again."
in which editors had changed the position of president Hosni Mubarak
from the back of a row of heads of state to the front. On his blog Waelk.net Khalil posted the photoshopped image alongside the original taken by Associated Press, which showed Mubarak actually behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and United States President Barack Obama
at a media event at the White House
.
Egyptian Chronicles blog commented, "The photo scandal of the week which is making headlines worldwide is another triumph to the Egyptian blogosphere as the one who discovered from all the world is Egyptian follow blogger Wael Khalil...I repeat the one who discovered is Wael Khalil...Who said that blogs are losing their power in Egypt !!??"
and its aftermath.
In May 2011 Khalil spoke out for a second wave of protests in support of a "Friday of rage" against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
(SCAF). In an editorial in The Guardian
, Khalil's criticisms of the SCAF focused on rumors about pardoning Mubarak and members of his regime, physical or violent reactions of security forces during protests, the army's use of military trials against civilians, use of trials against protesters and 'normal citizens', and he also noted the prior successes which resulted from large protests in Tahrir square. He wrote, "The call for a 'second revolution' chimes with a growing restlessness and impatience at the pace of developments and the overall performance of the governing Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF)....We will be out again in Tahrir Square on Friday 27 May in order to assert that the interim power respect our rights and demands. The Egyptian people have earned their right to control the future of this country."
In July 2011 Al-Ahram
profiled Khalil's presence at a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf
, along with four other activists, which prompted a debate on Twitter about whether or not the activists represented to growing protests. At the meeting the group presented Sharaf with seven demands agreed upon by several organisations and movements. The meeting happened while in Tahrir square protesters gathered in their second major wave of activism.
, Khalil criticized support from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), which included a $3 billion loan. He said, "But many people, myself included, were unhappy with this news and the impact such a loan will have on deepening the country's debt and mounting debt servicing burden." Khalil equated help from the bank with "neoliberal[ism]", "imperialism", and the politics of the Mubarak regime. He blamed such policies for economic stagnation, deterioration, and growing inequality under Mubarak. Khalil cited IMF ex-employee and Mubarak regime finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who was sentenced to prison for corruption. He said, "I believe that this country's future lies not with the same highly paid, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats of the IMF, nor with their sacred indicators of budget deficits and market economics. Our future lies with a new home-grown economics that caters for the majority of Egyptians, the schools where their children are educated, the hospitals where they receive healthcare, and the jobs that guarantee them decent and honourable living."
In July 2011, Khalil criticized a proposed increase in Egypt's minimum wage
as insufficiently large. Khalil said the new wage, while "an improvement" represented an "example of the priority of the government to lean on the poor and working majority in order to protect the interests of businessmen and the established elite."
Khalil also supported the proposed budget's decreasing of the deficit but criticized the means to do so which he said put more burden on workers and pensioners rather than raising capital gains taxes. Khalil said, "We need to continue mass demonstrations to pressure the government, [because] it won’t stop with just the budget and the decision on minimum wage, but they will continue leaning on workers, on the country’s weakest side."
Khalil argued that in the movement for reform social rights were necessary as well as political rights. He said, "We must not only mobilize people, but also debate and explain specifically why social justice is important for [Egypt]. You cannot really say that you want democracy, and then after that you’ll [work to] get social justice. No. If you do it in this order, you’ll end up with nothing."
Media
Interviews
Personal life
Khalil is a software engineer by trade. On the 5th September 1996 Wael married Dr. Lamia Bulbul. On the second november 1998, they had there first son Ahmed Wael (Doda). Wael has one sister Azza khalil.Early activism
Khalil began his activism in 2000 as part of the Egyptian anti-war and anti-globalisation movement. He believes that political reform is rooted in the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movements. He also believes that dictatorship leads to imperialism.He was a protester from the Egyptian opposition movement Kefaya. He also co-founded the 20 March Popular Campaign for Change.
In 2006 he criticized Egyptian police after at Sudanese refugees were killed at a squatter camp in Cairo. He said, "When you kill little babies, things have changed...We will try you, and you won't be able to travel abroad again."
Al Ahram photo scandal
In September 2010 Khalil reported on an altered photograph in Al-AhramAl-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
in which editors had changed the position of president Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
from the back of a row of heads of state to the front. On his blog Waelk.net Khalil posted the photoshopped image alongside the original taken by Associated Press, which showed Mubarak actually behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and United States President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
at a media event at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Egyptian Chronicles blog commented, "The photo scandal of the week which is making headlines worldwide is another triumph to the Egyptian blogosphere as the one who discovered from all the world is Egyptian follow blogger Wael Khalil...I repeat the one who discovered is Wael Khalil...Who said that blogs are losing their power in Egypt !!??"
2011 Egyptian revolution
Khalil was active during the 2011 Egyptian revolution2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 and is still continuing as of November 2011. The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil...
and its aftermath.
In May 2011 Khalil spoke out for a second wave of protests in support of a "Friday of rage" against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces consists of a body of 20 senior officers in the Egyptian military. As a consequence of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the Council took the power to govern Egypt from its departing President Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011.The junta meets regularly, as...
(SCAF). In an editorial in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Khalil's criticisms of the SCAF focused on rumors about pardoning Mubarak and members of his regime, physical or violent reactions of security forces during protests, the army's use of military trials against civilians, use of trials against protesters and 'normal citizens', and he also noted the prior successes which resulted from large protests in Tahrir square. He wrote, "The call for a 'second revolution' chimes with a growing restlessness and impatience at the pace of developments and the overall performance of the governing Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF)....We will be out again in Tahrir Square on Friday 27 May in order to assert that the interim power respect our rights and demands. The Egyptian people have earned their right to control the future of this country."
In July 2011 Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
profiled Khalil's presence at a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf
Essam Sharaf
Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf is an Egyptian academic who has been Prime Minister of Egypt since 3 March 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005.-Early life and education:...
, along with four other activists, which prompted a debate on Twitter about whether or not the activists represented to growing protests. At the meeting the group presented Sharaf with seven demands agreed upon by several organisations and movements. The meeting happened while in Tahrir square protesters gathered in their second major wave of activism.
2011 Budget policy
In a June 2011 editorial in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Khalil criticized support from the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF), which included a $3 billion loan. He said, "But many people, myself included, were unhappy with this news and the impact such a loan will have on deepening the country's debt and mounting debt servicing burden." Khalil equated help from the bank with "neoliberal[ism]", "imperialism", and the politics of the Mubarak regime. He blamed such policies for economic stagnation, deterioration, and growing inequality under Mubarak. Khalil cited IMF ex-employee and Mubarak regime finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who was sentenced to prison for corruption. He said, "I believe that this country's future lies not with the same highly paid, unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats of the IMF, nor with their sacred indicators of budget deficits and market economics. Our future lies with a new home-grown economics that caters for the majority of Egyptians, the schools where their children are educated, the hospitals where they receive healthcare, and the jobs that guarantee them decent and honourable living."
In July 2011, Khalil criticized a proposed increase in Egypt's minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
as insufficiently large. Khalil said the new wage, while "an improvement" represented an "example of the priority of the government to lean on the poor and working majority in order to protect the interests of businessmen and the established elite."
Khalil also supported the proposed budget's decreasing of the deficit but criticized the means to do so which he said put more burden on workers and pensioners rather than raising capital gains taxes. Khalil said, "We need to continue mass demonstrations to pressure the government, [because] it won’t stop with just the budget and the decision on minimum wage, but they will continue leaning on workers, on the country’s weakest side."
Khalil argued that in the movement for reform social rights were necessary as well as political rights. He said, "We must not only mobilize people, but also debate and explain specifically why social justice is important for [Egypt]. You cannot really say that you want democracy, and then after that you’ll [work to] get social justice. No. If you do it in this order, you’ll end up with nothing."
External links
Official sitesMedia
Interviews